The Tetris Effect

“The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art.” John Lasseter.

Video games are everywhere today. It has transitioned from arcades, into our phones, and now into our pockets. It is a time when developers are looking back at our short history in the industry (since the 70s and 80s) and have asked themselves what made those games so enjoyable. Hell, a lot of them, grew up with the arcade and first few console cycles - Atari, Comodore 64, NES, Sega Genesis are the most popular. But one game is surviving the test of time since it’s creation more than two decades ago; it has spear headed this new market of casual games that has reached out to more people than the core market of console and PC games. This game is Tetris and I call this: The Tetris Effect.

So why is Tetris such an influential game and why is it’s influence still being felt even today?

Something is Changing at Dichosis Studios

Something is Changing at Dichosis Studios

Recently I’ve been thinking about what makes something successful. Last night at the time of this writing I hit 100 likes on my studio’s Facebook page and after watching the Comic Book Heroes documentary air on ABC1 last month I can feel something needs to change before I’m too far down any particular road to turn back.

Bite Marks

Bite Marks Front and Back Cover

So far 2013 has proven a good year for independent works with the multitude of small festivals and a welcome addition to our city’s convention circuit but there’s something I still feel is lacking; a way for local creators to get their work reviewed and noticed. It’s something that I want to try and pull together over the next few months with a dedicated podcast channel and online review. 

So this is my attempt at trying to build some momentum for the artists in the Perth comics community. I’m starting with local creator Ronnie Ryder and his comic, Bite Marks (inks by Justina Davis on pages 1-8). Over the weekend I was able to talk with Ronnie about his process, background and future works.

Building Dichosis Studios, an alternative comics publishing house

Welcome to Part Two of my arts practice blog post where I’ll navigate through my experiences over the last 6-10 months in establishing and running an independent comic studio. So this post should hopefully help anyone looking to start up a new artistic endeavour regardless of what category you fall into be it comics, illustration, photography or whatever you’re into.  

Dichosis Studios at Perth Supanova 2013

Before I start I’d like to point out that this post will run over two parts and over two weeks. Part One will discuss my personal thoughts as an artist behind a table in Artist Alley and Part Two will navigate through my experiences over the last 6 months in establishing and running an independent comic studio. Really I’m aiming to address two different sets of people: the Artist and the Business person, though I often consider myself to be right in the centre of overlap as these halves come together. 

Announcements From The Channel Four News Team: ATBI, Summer Edition

forever summer.

Howdy there! It's been awhile, hasn't it? Time flies when you choose for it to as time is merely a human construct! Anywho, some things. I must tell you them. 

I have a job now! This job awesome. On a scale of Duplo to Lego, it's Star Wars Lego. However because of said job my summer duties are not possible here on ABTI. So instead of the site going dark, it's being handed over to some folks I know I can trust to supply you with a steady stream of geekery. This will begin shortly, and the content will be far more diverse than anything I could ever give ya'll. So enjoy! Oh and make sure to check the new Meet The Crew page, where your new contributors will be introducing themselves.

That's it! Well...

Okay, that was it. See you on the other side!

Amazon Debuts Kindle Worlds, Triggers All The Feels

So in case you were buried under a rock or communing with squirrels yesterday, here’s the low-down on this ho-down. Amazon debuted a new section of Kindle publishing called Kindle Worlds. Despite sounding like a crappy RPG it was revealed to be something ever more divisive than a weird literary version of Farmville that annoys your friends with status updates. It was revealed to be an attempt to monetize fan-fiction.