Events
CrucialFest Day Three Recap @ Area 51 and Urban Lounge...
Festivals where there is a large number of bands—with an equally large number of influences and references—causes the brains in most writers to melt out of their noses. … read more
CrucialFest Day Two Recap @ Urban Lounge – 2015
The evening started with the band Døne, a two-piece comprising of Cache Tolman (bass/guitar/vocals) and Andy Patterson (drums). they were definitely the most “metal” of the evening. Musically, they had moments that combined doomier bits like Electric Wizard, but with the melodic sensibilities of a musical child produced by Stone Temple Pilots and Jimi Hendrix. … read more
CrucialFest 5 Recap: Area 51 – Day One
It’s finally here! My musical Christmas is here (I should have a beer advent calendar) and oh boy, was it a fun first night. In a matter of six hours, I saw eleven bands. While bouncing between the booze and sans-booze rooms at Area 51 (a venue I haven’t been to since I was 17. It hasn’t changed a bit.) I had my face melted off on multiple occasions. … read more
E3 2015: This Is The End – Day Three
Today was the last day at E3 and I think I finally saw almost everything that they had to offer. I bring home with me fond memories of frantically trying to collect the pins and stickers that Nintendo was handing out, getting hammered on beer with the good folks at Gamechurch, getting treated to a great lunch in the press room, watching live feeds of IGN and Attack Of The Show, and, of course, getting to play all the new video games before you! … read more
E3 2015: It Gets Weird – Indies and Indiecade –...
My third and final day was more of a social experiment than anything else. I have a full roster of both triple A and indie games that will require my immediate attention over the next few months, and I managed to score a playtest with every game that was on my wishlist—so what else was there to do? When you reach this point at E3, there’s only one option: Go see all the weird shit that Indiecade and the College Games Competition have to offer. … read more
E3 2015: Breaking Down The Walls with Rainbow Six –...
The last day of E3 was a clean up day for me, but when everyone else had the same objective, it really made things difficult. I wanted to get my hands on so many different games, it just wasn’t going to happen. With something as dense as this, there’s just no way one person could ever see everything they wanted to in three days. … read more
E3 2015: Must Play All The Things! – Star Wars:...
The last day at any video game convention is always a mad scramble to play the games you haven’t yet, or to replay favorites. You get in line early and rush to whatever game means the most to you—for me, that was Star Wars: Battlefront. Getting there early meant I got to play a few other games before my precious time was up. … read more
E3 2015: Division Street – Day Two
To begin day two, I had to get my hands on one of my most anticipated games of 2016: The Division. Ubisoft initially revealed it two years ago and until now, they hadn’t shown any true game play, or even a playable build of the game. After waiting for nearly two hours to try it out, it was well worth the wait. … read more
E3 2015: Prepare to Party Hard with Dark Souls 3...
The best thing about E3 is that a mind-altering video game experience is always waiting just around the corner. Even when I think that I’ve seen every genre or game mechanic that there is to see, some crazy-ass developer comes up with something that makes me redefine what a video game is. On my second day of E3, I dug deep into the fertile loam of publishers tinyBuild and Bandai Namco to find a lineup of games that tested my boundaries in all the right ways. … read more
E3 2015: Old and New Loves – Starfox and Yarny...
I finally made my way out of the west hall today to do some exploring in the south hall. I couldn’t leave the West Hall without finishing up with Nintendo’s biggest games—Starfox Zero and Super Mario Maker. In the South Hall, I found one of the most beautiful platformers I’ve ever seen. … read more