<html>

<head>
<title>loonygames presents: Pixel Obscura - game cinematics reviewed weekly</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css">
a { text-decoration: none; }
a:hover { color:000000;  text-decoration: underline; }


</style>
</head>

<body bgcolor="#FFF4D0" link="#3333FF" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000">
<center>
</center>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="58">
  <tr> 
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="left" valign="top"> 
      <div align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i><img src="../../images/logo_new.jpg" width="182" height="63" border="0" usemap="#logoa"> 
        </i></b></font></div>
    </td>
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="center" valign="top"> <center>
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2373963192914918";
/* 468x60 */
google_ad_slot = "3417104156";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 60;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>
</center>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font size="2">about</font></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<div align="center"> <br>
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0">
  <tr> 
    <td width="72%"> 
      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
        2.1</font></a>://<a href="index.html"><font color="#7C420E">pixel obscura</font></a>://<a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E">1</font></a>, 
        2</font></b></h5>
    </td>
    <td align="right" valign="middle" width="28%"> 
      <div align="right"> 
        <h5><a href="../../cgi/printme.pl?url=%252F2.1%252Fpixel%252F"><img src="../../images/icons/print01.gif" width="27" height="27" align="baseline" border="0" alt="switch to printer-friendly version"></a></h5>
      </div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr> 
    <td align="center" valign="top" width="25%"> 
      <table border="0" width="99%" bgcolor="#D7B582" align="center" bordercolor="#E0E0E0">
        <tr> 
          <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> 
             </font> <p><webdog><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#693A0C">What's 
           new today:</font></b></font> 
          
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../../index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">New!!!</font></b></a><br></b>
  The archives have been cleaned up, dead links fixed, and the printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments on the main page!</font></p>

 
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Livin' 
  With The Sims</font></b></a><br></b>
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/pixel/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Pixel 
  Obscura </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Josh Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../rl/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Real 
  Life </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Check out our newest comic strip, <b>Real Life</b>! Updated daily!</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../uf.1" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">User 
  Friendly</font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Updated daily!</font></p>
<p></webdog> </p>
 
            <p></p>
            <p> </p>
            <p></p>
             
            </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr bgcolor="#D7B582"> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <p align="left"><font size="-1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#00025E">Random 
                Feature:</font></b></font> </font> </p>
              <p>
<p align="CENTER"><img src="../../images/freak_thumb.jpg" width="102" height="120" align="MIDDLE"></p><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../1.7/feat">The Community Summit</a>: Our exclusive chat with the folks who run your favorite gaming pages (from our seventh issue).</font></p>

<i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> 
                </font> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="99%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" name="">
                <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Search 
                the Archives!</font></b></font> 
               
                 <INPUT TYPE=text name=q size=12 maxlength=255 value="">
 <INPUT type=submit name=sa VALUE="Google Search">
 <INPUT type=hidden name=cof 
VALUE="LW:216;L:http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/images/logo1.jpg;LH:55;AH:center;S:http://www.loonygames.com;AWFID:13a298c7abe84fd0;">
<input type=hidden name=domains value="loonygames.com"> 
<input type=hidden name=sitesearch value="loonygames.com">               
</div>
              </form>

              <p align="left"><i> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
    <td width="75%" align="center" valign="top"> 
      <table width="90%" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center">
        <tr> 
          <td width="50%" valign="top"> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <table width="98%" border="0">
                <tr> 
                  <td width="55%"> 
                    <div align="left"> 
                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">Pixel 
                        Obscura: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        Adventures in Candyland</font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 

                        <a href="mailto:citizen21@hotmail.com">Josh Vasquez</a></font></div>
                    </div>
                  </td>
                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 1&nbsp; <br>
                      November 9, 1999&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </table>
              <h5 align="right">&nbsp;</h5>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><loonystart>This Candylandish 
                adventure/drama is taken a step further when there actually is 
                a plot waiting to be unearthed by our furry or round or generally 
                odd little friends. In the new Sega Dreamcast game <b>Sonic Adventure</b>, 
                the famous, mercurial blue hedgehog undertakes such a challenge.</font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The scene 
                opens on the metropolis at peace, people and traffic milling about 
                in the rhythms of urbania. Suddenly danger rears its head in the 
                form of water gone mad: manholes spout lethal torrents, the sewers 
                overflow and, most troubling of all, the ocean surrounding the 
                city is rebelling in a rather tidal way. There seems to be something 
                at work here, some preplanned menace to home and country. We soon 
                see what it is as a particularly sentient acting tidal wave pierces 
                a skyscraper and begins to take hideous shape on the other side, 
                losing its globular mass in favor of a well defined dragon beast 
                replete with gnashing teeth. Enter our heroes. As the soundtrack 
                swells along to the giddy heights of a rock-ish anthem, Sonic 
                and his companions race to the rescue.</font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Many 
                fine touches are sprinkled throughout the piece. The first two 
                instances are sound based, a tool often utterly overlooked by 
                video game cinematic designers. As the water bursts forth onto 
                the city, the creators don&#146;t succumb to the dreadful temptation 
                of garishly over intense sound effects, but rather mirror the 
                fluidity (forgive the pun) of the crisis with the hushed rippling 
                of vaguely electronic music like drowned wind chimes. </font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When the 
                dragon beast is taking shape, vibrating and shimmering, the only 
                sound is that of a radio being tuned, the warbling tones and frenzied 
                static that wraps itself around the ghostly voices you can hear 
                between stations. </font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It may 
                not be deeply profound art, but the fragment distinguishes itself 
                as a thoughtful approach to something often thrown at the viewer 
                as so much fodder. The song I mentioned earlier, an arm pumping 
                rock-pop ditty that would feel at home in the Transformers movie, 
                has a kind of campy charm as a roguish stab at attitude that would 
                be terminally jokey had it not been played out with such brightly 
                colored, furry &#147;actors.&#148; There are a few visual gems 
                as well.</font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Intercut 
                between flashes of the drowning city is a first person shot of 
                moving forward at great speed, the player sharing Sonic&#146;s 
                world view as he races to help. By way of strict narrative drama, 
                the trick helps build a lovely comic book tension and, in keeping 
                with the idea that the gameplay offers a newly enhanced environmental 
                perspective, it gives the player a view never before indulged 
                in the Sonic canon. The city itself is nicely realized, a try 
                for realism that sweats a beautifully cartoonish ink. The approach 
                to editing is entirely consistent with the tone, something that 
                in a tight little pitch like this is crucial. As is fitting with 
                the candy striped ambiance, the &#147;camera&#148; cuts closer 
                to characters rather then zooming in and refuses to linger on 
                any one face for too long. Perhaps the single greatest clich&eacute; 
                in all trailer type presentations is the &#147;characters turning 
                to face the camera&#148; bit, and in<b> Sonic Adventure</b> it 
                almost becomes reflexive. When the velutinous members of the Sonic 
                universe play out this same old cliche, they come across as spoofy 
                and place the viewer at an ironic distance from the material. 
                Whether intentional or not, the humor works because it doesn&#146;t 
                produce a mocking laugh so much as a knowing one.</font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The novelty 
                comes in watching good old Sonic having to solve a dilemma that 


                holds challenges beyond those offered by collecting rings and 
                dodging giant balls; it&#146;s like putting Buster Crabbe&#146;s 
                1935 <i>Flash Gordon</i> into <i>Total Recall</i>. The opening 
                cinematics of the game highlight this by washing out the environmental 
                colors in a realist stance and yet keeping the original <i>Banana 
                Splits</i>-esque character designs: the &#147;real&#148; and the 
                hyper-unreal as one. <b>Sonic Adventure</b> is the perfect hybrid 
                to symbolize the recent trend in video games of bleeding together 
                the past and the present. The old is brushed up, given a new coat 
                of paint and hurtled into a strange new world, Like black darts 
                thrown onto a white board, each is cast into stark relief by the 
                another and yet that &#147;conflict&#148; makes the whole a much 
                more fascinating picture.</font></p>
              <p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">- 
                Joshua Vasquez is the resident film critic here at loonygames. 
                He also writes for the Internet film site <a href="http://www.matineemag.com/">Matinee 
                Magazine</a>.</loonystart></font></i></font></p>
              <p></p>
            </DIV>
            <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E"><b><font size="+1">&lt;&lt;Prev</font></b></font></a></font></p>
            
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>about</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="35%"><a href="../../../index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i>loonygames</i></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="65%"> 
      <div align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF">  </font></div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Pixel Obscura 
  is &copy; 1999 Josh Vasequez. All other content is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. 
  Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, you cartoonish villian, you.</font></i></p>
 <map name="logoa">
  <area shape="rect" coords="52,47,112,59" href="http://www.bluesnews.com">
  <area shape="rect" coords="3,3,179,46" href="../../../index.html">
</map>
</body>
</html>
