Caturday Excursion!

ACHAT? More like A CAT! LOLOLOLOLOLOL. Umm yeah.

Saw this bad boy on the noticeboard of a supermarket. I know what I’ll be checking out this Samedi entre 13h00 à 19h00!

Good Game SP for MANIA

It's the lighting, not jaundice. OR IS IT?

While I was working at Good Game and Mania magazine, I’d always wanted to do a photo feature on the show but refrained from doing so because of the conflict of interest. It was frustrating because here I had access to the set of Good Game, its presenters, and a tonne of props to produce a really fun feature for kids but I had to keep putting it off for obvious reasons. Even when my contract with the ABC expired, I was still apprehensive about doing a feature on Good Game because I was concerned that there would still be a conflict of interest, so I ran it past my editors and the people at the ABC and only proceeded when I got the green light. The feature I ended up producing was for Good Game Spawn Point and basically introduced Bajo and Hex to Mania’s readership. I did a short Q&A  and then did a photoshoot with the two presenters.

So was it weird interviewing the people I work with? Not really. Both were used to being interviewed and I was used to asking silly questions for Mania, so it wasn’t that big a deal for either of us. I got them into the studio and they sat in their usual chairs, joking with each other and texting on their iPhones (they’re both a bit attached to their phones – if they’re not texting, they’re Tweeting or checking Facebook). When it came time to photograph them, I think being friends with them was an advantage inasmuch that I could tell them exactly what I wanted them to do without worrying that I was asking for too much. I’m sure I said “Ok Hex, now can you facepalm Bajo? Yep, a little more violent please” a few times and asked for an excessive amount of enthusiasm from both hosts. They were both great sports and Bajo seemed fine with copping a number of palms to the face.

I think the issue of Mania with my feature in it is on sale now, although I’m not entirely sure because I left for France before the issue went to print. *shrug*

PICTURES AFTER LINK.

National Tournament On A Purple Bus

Gaming bus in Place de la Victoire

Prior to coming to France I was told that the country had a really large gaming scene; significantly larger than Australia’s, which excited me muchly. But since my arrival, I haven’t really been keeping my eye out for games at all – in between adjusting to living in a foreign country, enrolling into university, dealing with the French bureaucracy, and trying to conserve body heat by sitting in positions that make me really small, games haven’t exactly been hot on my mind. That is, of course, until today.

GRAND NATIONAL VIDEOGAME TOURNAMENT PHWAAAR

A large purple bus was parked in Place de la Victoire this afternoon when I got off the tram with a spruiker standing beside it going on about some tournament and luring unsuspecting passers-by onto the bus to play Xbox 360 games. I approached the bus to see what it was all about. My French isn’t very good and I still get incredibly nervous whenever someone speaks to me in French, so as soon as the spruiker saw me approach, he tried to get me to sign up to compete and asked me which game I wanted to compete in. What I wanted to say to him was “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” (What is this?), a line which I have used many times before and normally rolls off my tongue with ease. But in my moment of nervousness, I said “Je vais réfléchir” (I will reflect).

Yeah. What the shitting fuck, Tracey? I will reflect? What the butt does that even mean?

He laughed, gave me an entry form, and sent me off on my way.

Christmas Time At Good Game

If you've ever wondered what sits on the back shelf of the Good Game den, here's some of it.

I worked at Good Game for almost a year and in that time I took a tonne of photos. Using my phone, my compact digital or my DSLR, I took a photo on every shoot I ever went on and then some more around the office because I’m insanely sentimental. I was meant to post these photos up around Christmas time when we filmed the Christmas special, but I never did because more important things got in the way, such as my search for discounted thermal pants for my trip to France (and in case you’re interested, the search was successful and I now have a woollen wardrobe that not only protects me from the cold but also makes me look demented in five different ways).

Here’s a few!

Bajo wore Transformer cufflinks for this episode but always needed help putting them on. HEX TO THE RESCUE!

This was the least Asian pose in the batch. I am slightly embarrassed, but also somewhat impressed by my consistency at reinforcing racial stereotypes.

WHAT A BUNCH OF CUTE CATS!

Some of those photos were taken on my compact digital and the first and last one my DSLR, hence the difference in quality. All the best with season 6, cats!

So I’m In France…

I actually bought a bunch of these toast plush toys in bulk and brought one with me to France.

Hey kidlets!

So I’ve hopped on a plane and flown to France where I’ll be studying for a year. If you’re interested in my French adventures, you can wander over to my silly little travel blog, which can be found here.

I don’t have internet in my studio apartment at the moment and am mooching off internet off a friend, so posts will come through extra slow. In the coming days/weeks I’ll be posting up things that I’ve been meaning to post for ages, namely photos and bits and pieces from Good Game.

Also, before I forget, I have an article on the fall of Red Ant Enterprises that is in the upcoming issue of Hyper magazine, so keep your eyes peeled. PEELED LIKE POTATOES. And then go and buy it (and proceed to rub it all over yourself).

Thank You

I was commissioned to paint this around a year ago. I charged beans. Absolute BEANS. As such, I think I actually lost money while painting this. I am not business savvy.

I appear to have run out of photos of my friends sticking their heads up the arses of other friends, so a picture of a painting will have to suffice.

This post is here to thank everyone for reading Zero Light Seeds in 2009. I didn’t have the balls to start a blog in 2008 — the thought of putting myself out there without a masthead or broadcaster to hide behind was nothing short of terrifying — but with a bit of a nudge from friends, I finally grew an enormously heavy pair in 2009 (duct tape is the way to go, kids) and began ranting on the intertrons.

If you’re reading this, I’d just like to say a big thank you for taking the time to drop by. If you’ve commented, I’d like to thank you for being pleasant about it and not hurling abuse in my general direction. And if you’ve ever encouraged me to keep this thing running, then we should totally make-out. And by that, I mean we totally should not make-out. Geez, what kind of a person do you think I am? I AM A ONE-MANG WOMANG (and so on and so forth).

Have a wonderful new year, crazy cats! Don’t drink too much, eat plenty of vegetables and quit smoking. I offer sage advice.

Bisous,

Tracey

WORK: PixelHunt – Ninja Blade Review

At first, I thought a ninja cat would be a cute idea. But the more I look at this picture, the more uncomfortable I get. Hold me.

Hey crazy cats (or should I say ninja cats? LORF I JUST DID A LAME LOL, LOLOLOL), issue 10 of PixelHunt is out and I’ve got a review in there. It’s free to download and view at your leisure, so do check it out when you get a moment and some bandwidth. Below is the full, unedited review.

WORK: Hyper – Mario And Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story Review

I’m not a very coordinated person, so I was pretty excited to be given a RPG where I could play and have fun without worrying about running myself off a cliff, as is my wont. Case in point: a few weeks ago Jeremy Pencil asked me to play some New Super Mario Bros for him so that he could record some footage. “I just need you to collect heaps of coins and stay above five lives, Tuppences. It’s heaps easy,” he said, giving me a pat on the head.

He returned half an hour later and I was still in World 1-1 with no lives left.

Yeah, I’m just no good at certain games. But here’s a review of a game that I was good at.*

Games In Sand

Not pictured: the mote we built to stop the water from the ocean from destroying our 'shroom.

I went on a beach adventure with friends. We made things in the sand.

Goomba is angry because he hates the beach and the sunshine.

Only the silly white friends got burnt because they didn’t wear enough sunscreen/hats/stay in the shade. The recommended amount of sunscreen that one should wear is one teaspoon full per limb, with re-application throughout the day. I am serious.

Not pictured: me yelling at the ocean to stay the fuck away from my mushroom.

After we made these, we jumped onto them and went home to play board games and eat hot chips.

WORK: Hyper News – NZ Gamers Get The Short End Of The Straw

Here’s an old bit of news that was once new at the time it went to print. I really should follow-up on it to see if anything has changed, but first I need to stop distracting myself and write my essays. Hit the jump for the article I wrote for issue #192 of the ever lovely Hyper magazine. Issue #194 is on-sale RIGHT NOW. I’m sure this piece of information will excite many of your in the general pants region.

—

REVIEW: A Very Mario Wedding

[Written with the expressed permission of Darren. I asked him on the night!]

Not pictured: me eating the cake.

Initially, I was going to write a review of Darren and Amanda’s wedding.

“Hey!” I thought to myself as I stuffed my cake hole with delicious…err…cake. “Since Darren is a games writer and reviewer and Amanda plays games and I, too, play games, you know what would be REALLY clever? A REVIEW OF THEIR WEDDING LOLOLOL!”

Yeah, I was pretty chuffed with myself. So much so that I rewarded myself with more cake. Om nom nom.

But then it hit me – this isn’t a game. This is real life. Heck, this is their real life. Am I really going to treat the lives of these two lovely individuals — whose love is more real than any fuck-tonne of pixels could ever be — as a game? Is this what their marriage is to me? A friggin’ videogame judged by visuals, sound, cake, and gameplay?

After much chin-stroking and contemplation about this ‘real life’ business, as well as the marriage of Daz and Da (who are the sweetest couple you will ever meet), I had an answer. YES!

So here’s my first wedding review.

Tip To Get Girls Interested: Stop Being So Patronising

I was originally going to use a photo of myself from when I was 15-years old and playing videogames at my friend's house. It then occurred to me that I looked like an emaciated sweatshop child who'd been dropped as a baby. So here's a picture of a cute blonde girl trying to clap her hands during some maths game.

I remember the best way to pique my interest as a child was to show me people having fun while they were doing something.

I started writing in primary school because I saw that my friends were having so much fun writing their own little novellas; I took up the violin because the virtuosos I saw on television always looked like they were having a lot of fun while playing, and it’s the same reason why I started playing videogames. One day I saw my older brother playing with our Famicom, he looked like he was having fun, so I wanted to have a go, too. And as I kept playing, the more he kept handing down games to me that he’d exhausted, and the more my friends would start lending me the games that they had enormous amounts of fun playing. So I got to play the games that they loved – the games that were special to them.

Years on from when I played my first game, wrote my first story, and played my first hideously squeaky note on the violin, my interest in anything can still be piqued in the same way. Show me that something is fun and enjoyable and I might just give it a go. And so it came as a surprise to me when IGN AU published this article a few days ago, detailing ways in which a gamer can get his lady friend interested in videogames.

No, scrap that. I wasn’t surprised. I was appalled. I felt like I was reading a guide from the 1940s on how to welcome women into the workforce, and by the end of it I was expecting a dot point suggesting: “Girls like to maintain their appearance, so make sure you encourage your lady to have breaks while she’s gaming so that she can moisturise her hands – she wouldn’t appreciate having her thumbs callused by the D-Pad!” Thankfully, such a dot point did not exist, but the ones that did exist were pretty darn patronising.

I like to think that girls have taste and a brain. I like to think that they can be moved by a story that is told well, engaged by gameplay that is mesmerising, laugh at humour within a game that is well constructed and executed, and become attached to vast virtual worlds that intrigue and offer the possibilities of adventure and exploration. And I like to think that any girl – or any person for that matter – can become interested in videogames if they are introduced to a good one.

So maybe if we want to get girls involved, we should show them something fun. Maybe we should start off by sharing the games that we love; the kind of games that stimulate our minds and take our imagination to places we’d normally struggle to dream up. Maybe, instead of coming up with a list of ten ways to patronise women and make them feel as though they’re incapable of understanding the kind of gaming that doesn’t require waggling, we should just show them how much fun we have playing great games, and then give them a go. They might appreciate it. I know I did.

Assassin’s Creed II In The Herald’s “S” Supplement

Further down, in a picture that got cut out when I photographed this page, there’s a guy wearing an old-man-beret-ish-type hat. He looks like a tosser. I think this is worthy of note.

Hey Kate, they weren’t breathing down the necks of girls because they’re not used to being around the ladeez. They were just trying to absorb the other guests’ T-Energy.

WORK: Pixel Hunt – Buzz! Brain Of Oz

Racism is really bad in the areas marked by the flags. It's also pretty bad in areas that aren't marked by the flags.

This review was published in issue 9 of Pixel Hunt, an online magazine put together by my freelance colleagues.

Game: Buzz! Brain of Oz

By-line: Tracey Lien is as unAustralian as they come, except for the part where she’s a citizen.

An open letter/review to Buzz! Brain of Oz.

Dear Buzz! Brain of Oz,

I understand that the franchise you’re a part of has sold squillions of copies around the world, and that you’re a big hit at parties. I understand that many families love you to bits, that friends have bonded over the questions you’ve thrown at them, and that you’ve brought mother, father, grandparents, and children together so that they can bicker and argue over the batting average of Sir Donald Bradman (at least, that’s what you did for my ex’s family and, FYI, it ended in tears). Look, I get that you’re a big deal, and I can appreciate you for what you are. But by golly, Brain of Oz really sucked.

I Met The Voice Of Mario – Charles Martinet!

Charles Martinet and I in the GG office. Giant question mark proudly brought to you by rad production coordinators who work within the ABC. Neato Mario brooch by some lady with big, red curly hair who I once met outside of Sydney. She was making bibs or something.

Ohai, internets! It has been a while since I last updated, and with good reason! You see, maintaining a blog is a bit like using Tamilee Webb’s Abs Of Steel (from the same series as Buns Of Steel, but with an abdominal focus). The moment you take even the shortest of breaks from doing it, it becomes too easy to not do it, and before you know it you’ve left so much time in between steely workout sessions that you become intimidated by the workout itself and are scared to go back to it. So here I am with abs no steelier than before and a blog that hasn’t been updated in weeks. But whatever. LIKE ANYONE CARES.

So, aside from not doing Abs Of Steel or updating Zero Light Seeds, what have I been doing? Well, I’m glad you asked, Internets! I’ve been fulfilling my role as news editor at Hyper magazine, writing for a few other publications (there’s a Pixel Hunt review that I’ll post soon, as well as a review for Official Nintendo which I’ll post when the magazine comes out), interning, enrolling in French boot camp (I’m serious), drawing cars with faces on them (also serious), and interviewing the likes of Charles Martinet, the voice behind Mario, Luigi, Wario, and a squillion other videogame characters. He was heaps rad – perhaps one of the sweetest, most energetic, funny, and lively people I have interviewed for Good Game, or any outlet for that matter.

Anyway, this update was just to let you all know that the blog is still alive and I still have abs of flab. Because you all care, of course*.

*Not really. I apologise for the interruption. Please go back to your regular lives and I’ll ring a cow bell to get your attention when I think I’ve got something amusing to say.