No Media Kings Updates

Build Your Own Indie Arcade Cabinet

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:30:00 GMT

Last year I organized a project where we gutted an '80s era arcade cabinet and filled it full of indie games. Jph Wacheski, the chief retrofitter, wrote the article below for people wanting to do the same in the most recent Broken Pencil.

Lots of people are making their own games these days -- point-and-click tools like Scratch and GameMaker are making it more accessible for non-programmers, and it's easy to get your game out there via the internet. But wouldn't it be even cooler to get you and your friends' games out there on an old-school arcade cabinet?

The old cabinets are generally made to play one specific game, but you can re-fit it with a PC and a display and wire up the existing controls to make playing new games possible. Many people have been doing this to run emulators of the classic games -- MAME cabinets can run hundreds of old games on a single cabinet. The Hand Eye Society, Toronto's videogame culture collective, wanted to do a similar thing, but with locally made games. They debuted the Torontron, which plays six hand-crafted games by Toronto indies, at the last Canzine. Jph, who did the retrofitting, takes us through the steps he took.

Read on...

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Roundsdoctors and Hexslingers

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:43:00 GMT

Two recent book trades that I felt I got the better deal of -- A Dream on Two Wheels and A Book of Tongues.

Wheels is a smart and whimsical cyclist alternate reality written by Sarah A. Chrisman, who not only handmakes her books but also a selection of hats you can wear while reading them. Lovely!

Tongues is a baroque masterpiece. The worldbuilding is as dense and rich as China Mi�ville's, and the cowboy sex smells of�Jean Genet's forbidden machismo. The fact that this outlaw confabulation has come from a debut novelist from Toronto and a Toronto publisher of excellent weird spec-fiction just makes me extra-excited.

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Promoting the Hell Out of It

Tue, 04 May 2010 01:16:00 GMT

Hey, we're putting out a graphic novel treating the Rapture irreverently -- we're damned anyway, might as well get the word out about Sword of My Mouth! First up -- science-fiction powerhouse io9.com is running a contest where you can win a copy of the print edition by rewriting my dialogue. It's had a hundred entries in the first six hours, but there's 18 hours left!

Secondly -- what with the urban farming theme and spring being here and all, we figured it'd be fun to make seed packets marketed for the post-Rapture world -- ones that don't need the light of God to grow. (The first twenty people to bu y a copy of Sword of My Mouth at the Toronto launch get one.) So Scott made a nice design and Shannon went to take some pictures "in context" as it were at a garden centre. The photo and the altercation that followed with the manager follows over here!

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Roofed, a Preemptive Spin-off Game

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:06:00 GMT

I made a text adventure videogame for the jayisgames interactive fiction competition that you can play now. Because they're on my mind -- Tate's making steady progress on the rough edit for our new lo-fi sci-fi feature -- it features two characters from the upcoming Ghosts With Shit Jobs movie, the Karrento Brothers.

So if you're up for a bit of transmedia fun, you can play the game before the movie's released.

You and your brother's job -- scouring the city's highest spots for a rare building material in the year 2040 -- is already hard enough. Now Anton's gone and gotten you trapped on a rooftop. Your acrobat bloodline will help you with the deadly heights, and your brain will figure out the genmodded plants -- but will you be able to cope with having the most annoying big brother alive?

Play it now.

The jayisgames Casual Game Design Competition #7 gave people two months to make a text game with an "escape-the-room" theme. It's got a cash prize of $1000, pretty high for a IF comp, and an engaged audience of game players. I'm looking forward to checking out the other 30 or so entries!

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Wrapped!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:52:00 GMT

We finished shooting Ghosts With Shit Jobs, the new lo-fi sci-fi feature I wrote, just before Halloween. We're currently looking for volunteers to help with post-production duties such as:

soundtrack composition

special effects and titling

colour correction

audio post and ADR

If you or someone you know are into finding out more, drop us a line! We unfortunately can't pay up front, but click through to see if you're excited enough by what we've shot so far to help us out anyway.

In 2040, a generation of Torontonians have grown up after the economic collapse of the west. The movie consists of episodes of a documentary series popular in mainland China about the bad jobs some white people have � the plucky and resilient souls unlucky enough to be born into the slums of North America are both amusing and moving to the Chinese audience.

Oscar is a digital janitor, and has to manually cover up logos for copyright reasons in the future's answer to Google StreetView maps.

He doesn't really know why he's on a show about bad jobs, because he thinks his job is pretty great � he gets to see history come alive in front of his eyes, like the garbagemen who fancy themselves like archaeologists.

But the long hours and loneliness are getting to him, especially since the death of his mother.

Gary and Karen are babymakers. They assemble robot baby dolls for the children of the wealthy in Asia.

They're so indistinguishable from real babies that the crying, diapers and feeding of a half-dozen units at once is driving the couple a little crazy and straining their relationship. Both of them are hugely overqualified for the job, but while Gary has a reasonable ten-year plan, the more ambitious Karen would do anything to be making battlebots now.

Anton and Toph are silk collectors. Twenty years ago a herd of gigantic spiders ran amok over the eastern seaboard after a genelab outbreak, leaving behind buildings swathed in spider web silk.

Although highly toxic and difficult to collect, people like Anton and Toph risk their lives to get it � it's worth its weight in gold as an ultrastrong building material.

Anton, the enthusiastic and delusional older brother, loves the idea of becoming famous for collecting the Tower silk. Toph, the more intelligent younger brother who actually does the collecting, knows it's a deathtrap.

Serina is human spam. She makes a living by mentioning brands and products in casual conversation, and is credited based on their status and wealth.

Because of the life she's chosen, she's disconnected from friends and family but protected by a lipstick-sized tazer and her �people� in the Nigerian cartel.

A chameleon and professionally skilled at reinvention, her good humour and friendliness is only skin deep � beneath it is a cold and ruthless survivor.

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Wrapped!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:44:00 GMT

We finished shooting Ghosts With Shit Jobs, the new lo-fi sci-fi feature I wrote, just before Halloween. We're currently looking for volunteers to help with post-production duties such as:

soundtrack composition

special effects and titling

colour correction

audio post and ADR

In 2040, a generation of Toron tonians have grown up after the economic collapse of the west. The movie consists of episodes of a documentary series popular in mainland China about the bad jobs some white people have � the plucky and resilient souls unlucky enough to be born into the slums of North America are both amusing and moving to the Chinese audience.

Oscar is a digital janitor, and has to manually cover up logos for copyright reasons in the future�s answer to Google StreetView maps.

He doesn�t really know why he�s on a show about bad jobs, because he thinks his job is pretty great � he gets to see history come alive in front of his eyes, like the garbagemen who fancy themselves like archaeologists.

But the long hours and loneliness are getting to him, especially since the death of his mother.

Gary and Karen are babymakers. They assemble robot baby dolls for the children of the wealthy in Asia.

They�re so indistinguishable from real babies that the crying, diapers and feeding of a half-dozen units at once is driving the couple a little crazy and straining their relationship. Both of them are hugely overqualified for the job, but while Gary has a reasonable ten-year plan, the more ambitious Karen would do anything to be making battlebots now.

Anton and Toph are silk collectors. Twenty years ago a herd of gigantic spiders ran amok over the eastern seaboard after a genelab outbreak, leaving behind buildings swathed in spider web silk.

Although highly toxic and difficult to collect, people like Anton and Toph risk their lives to get it � it�s worth its weight in gold as an ultrastrong building material.

Serina is human spam. She makes a living by mentioning brands and products in casual conversation, and is credited based on their status and wealth.

Because of the life she�s chosen, she�s disconnected from friends and family but protected by a lipstick-sized tazer and her �people� in the Nigerian cartel.

A chameleon and professionally skilled at reinvention, her good humour and friendliness is only skin deep � beneath it is a cold and ruthless survivor.

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Everybody Dies an Indiecade Finalist

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:48:00 GMT

The most excellent festival Indiecade has nominated my illustrated text game Everybody Dies as a finalist in their annual competition. Even better, they're flying me out to Los Angeles to take part in the whole conference, which includes hanging out with the other awesome finalists and talks by the designer of Katamari Damacy (Keita Takahashi) and the Sims (Will Wright).

It's been tremendously encouraging to see the response to Everybody Dies, so much so that I've started planning a new adventure game with crazy-talented artist Ben Shannon.

Click through for more!

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Help Us Destroy Toronto

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:08:00 GMT

We're a few weeks away from diving into shooting Ghosts With Shit Jobs, our no-budget faux-doc about Toronto having descended into third world status, and we have a few more holes to fill. Even if you're not a fit for any of these acting roles, crew, locations, any leads appreciated! And yeah, being a no-budget movie means that no one's getting paid up front and it's non-union. Experience appreciated, but often not necessary. Sanford Kong's awesome concept art below should get you in the mood. Get in touch at casting@lofiscifi.com with any questions/ideas, feel free to forward this email or the following link:

http://nomediakings.org/vidz/help_us_destroy_toronto.html

...to any interested parties.

Actors

The Documentarian: An older Asian man, 40+.
The restaurant owner: A 30+ Asian man or woman.
The down-on-her-luck lady: A 40+ Caucasian woman.
The high-flying businesswoman: A 30+ Asian woman.
A well-off older gent: A 50+ man.
Extras/Backgrounders: If you don't fit any of these, we'd love to have you as one of the crowd of doodlefaces.

Art Dept./Crew

Sound: if you're available and reliable, we can train you.
Lighting: If you like to sculpt with shadows, let us know.
Wardrobe: Can you imagine what folks will be wearing in 2040? Know how to customize Value Village finds?
Set dec: We have to dress up locations so they look different. Hopefully you have better ideas than "a lot of tin foil".
P.A.s: If you're willing to be an extra pair of hands for the experience.

Locations We have insurance.

a luxury car/limo
a bar
a doctor's office
a doctor's waiting room
a convenience store
a toy store

Get in touch at casting@lofiscifi.com.

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How to Enjoy Research

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:09:00 GMT

We've just launched the mini-site for Sword of My Mouth, making the first two issues (and commentary from me and Shannon) available for subscribers and people who've pre-ordered the graphic novel. It's the first third (48 pages) of the book so far, and we'll be adding a chapter every other month until we launch the complete graphic novel edition at next year's Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

One of the things we did differently with this book was research, and so I'll take this opportunity to write a bit about that.

Keep reading...

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Ghosts With Shit Jobs: Casting Call

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:11:00 GMT

We're in pre-production for a new lo-fi sci-fi movie called Ghosts With Shit Jobs. Involving many of the same people as our last one, Infest Wisely (imdb / official site), it's also a no-budget, multi-director project written by me -- but with approximately a million times more planning. We're going to be starting shooting this summer.

In 2040, a generation of Torontonians have grown up after the economic collapse of the west. The movie consists of episodes of a documentary series popular in mainland China about the bad jobs some white people have -- the plucky and resilient souls unlucky enough to be born into the slums of North America are both amusing and moving to the Chinese audience.

We're doing auditions on Saturday, June 6, 12-4. If you're in Toronto, please check out the roles we're trying to fill -- there's a variety of ethnicities and ages.

Visit http://nomediakings.org/vidz/ghosts_with_shit_jobs_casting_call.html or keep reading...

We are looking for non-union actors for the following roles. If you have any questions or are interested in trying out email your details to casting@lofiscifi.com and we'll give you the details for the auditions on Saturday, June 6, 12-4pm in Parkdale, Toronto.

Oscar is a digital janitor in his 20s/30s, and has to manually cover up logos for copyright reasons in the future's answer to Google StreetView maps. He's doesn't really know why he's on a show about bad jobs, because he thinks his job is pretty great -- he gets to see history come alive in front of his eyes, like the garbagemen who fancy themselves like archaeologists. But the long hours and loneliness are getting to him, especial ly since the death of his mother.

Gary and Karen are baby-makers in their 20s/30s. They assemble robot baby dolls for the children of the wealthy in Asia. They're so indistinguishable from real babies that the crying, diapers and feeding of a half-dozen units at once is driving the couple a little crazy and straining their relationship. Both of them are hugely overqualified for the job, but while Gary has a reasonable ten-year plan, the more ambitious Karen would do anything to be making battlebots now.

Anton and Toph are silk collectors in their 20s. Twenty years ago a herd of gigantic spiders ran amok over the eastern seaboard after a genelab outbreak, leaving behind buildings swathed in spider web silk. Although highly toxic and difficult to collect, people like Anton and Toph risk their lives to get it -- it's worth its weight in gold as an ultrastrong building material. Anton, the enthusiastic and delusional older brother, loves the idea of becoming famous for collecting the Tower silk. Toph, the more intelligent younger brother who actually does the collecting, knows it's a deathtrap.

Serina is human spam in her 20s/30s. She makes a living by mentioning brands and products in casual conversation, and is credited based on their status and wealth. Because of the life she's chosen, she's disconnected from friends and family but protected by a lipstick-sized tazer and her "people" in the Nigerian cartel. A chameleon and professionally skilled at reinvention, her good humour and friendliness is only skin deep -- beneath it is a cold and ruthless survivor.

Other parts

the Documentarian, an Asian man (Mandarin speaking a plus)

the show host, an Asian woman (Mandarin speaking a plus)

Harry, a heavyset Caucasian in 40s/50s/60s

Tom, an alpha male office worker in his 20s/30s

Leo, a beta male office worker in his 20s/30s

Avinash, an east Indian male in his 30s/40s

Nat, a Caucasian male in his 20s/30s

Mr. Wilson, a Caucasian male in his 40s/50s

two eight year old boys

two Asian men, 30s-40s

a man in his 60s-70s

This is such an ambitious project that if you're interested, I'm pretty sure we'll find a part for you to play -- it might be as a background extra or it might be as a Director of Photography, but you won't know if you don't get in touch!

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A Self-Publishing Comics Primer

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:27:00 GMT

One of the coolest thing about the comics world is that it doesn't dismiss self-publishers the way the lit world does. Maybe because it's a less pretentious field, or a newer one, or that drawing talent is more quickly discerned at a glance. Certainly it helps that one of the more prominent awards and grants, the Xeric, is open only to self-publishers.

Comic artist and former No Media Kings intern stef lenk received a Xeric grant for her illustrated booklets TeaTime 1 and 2. Whether you've got a project that you're submitting to the next Xeric deadline at the end of this month, or if you're just interested in hearing about the nuts and bolts of comics publishing from printing to promotion, you'll find stef's opinions and experiences in the article below food for thought.

Read the article...

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