“What kind of a fucked up person would give me a dog to eat?” Vinnie shoved his mug of beer disgustedly, like it was the offending chef.
“Now you see what we’ve been dealing with. The Church has their hooks in more than anyone could possibly imagine and there’s no way to know just how far they’re going to go.” Jack stood up and pulled his shirt up to his chest. It was filled with intricately carved scars, with a thick single scar running around the bottom of his belly, like a perverse belt. “They did this. They gashed their alien words into me and put something inside me. Something alive. I could feel it twisting as they held me in their hospital.”
“They have a hospital?” (more…)

Black Jack gave Vinnie a look that was harder than a college freshman overdosing on Viagra, before he opened his mouth and started filling in the details of how deep in shit Vinnie was.

“It’s the funny thing about the Church; they’ll never just kill you outright. It’d be too easy. They gotta fuck with you first, get inside your head, make you want to off yourself. A lot of people do. There’s only so many that can keep from losing their shit and even fewer that can stand up to them. You know the one-percenter motorcycle clubs, right?”
“‘Course. Ninety-nine percent of everyone does the right thing, plays by the rules. Ninety-nine percent of everyone is a bunch of pussies. Only one percent gets on their bikes and raises Hell.”
“Same idea here. The Church’ll take ninety-nine percent of everyone they touch and crush, kill or make them worthless. One percent stands up and throws the shit right back in their face and bangs their mothers in dirty motel rooms.”

A rousing “Hell yeah!” erupted from the table as the bikers hoisted their mugs and renewed their assault on their livers. After an impromptu belching contest, Vinnie started up his story again. (more…)

Invocation of the muse:

This ain’t so much an invocation as it is a string of uttered profanities to the chick I keep chained up in my imagination.

Bitch! Oh, you bitch!
Let me tell my tale right.
Let me tell my tale true, ‘cept for the parts that make me look bad.
May the dark times sound sinister and may the golden times be in a 3:2 ratio.

All right. Let’s go.

The motor’s running. We’re wasting gas. (more…)

Tougyuu, also known as ushi-sumo or Bull sumo, is a spectator sport native to Ryukyu Islands of Japan, especially in the Okinawa Prefecture. Although sometimes known to Westerners as “Okinawan bullfighting”, it is drastically different from Spanish or Portuguese bullfighting as the matches are between two bulls, instead of a bull and a human and there is no authorized bloodletting. It is similar to the Swiss sport of cow fighting.

During matches, the bulls lock horns and attempt to force each other to give up ground. Each bull has a coach who helps to keep the bulls locked in conflict and encourages their bull to win. The match is over when one of the bulls tires and withdraws, losing the match. The coaches take great care to prevent the bulls from harming each other and the fight is immediately over if one of them accidentally gores the other. (more…)

Originally published in JIVE Magazine on 4 November 2002. 

The game Off-world Resource Base or O.R.B. has been in development for over 4 years and is now in the home stretch. The game promises to take Real time strategy to the next level, implementing an interface that is completely 3 dimensional, yet not so cumbersome to overwhelm the average player. With 4 years to work with, O.R.B. has an intensive physics system that features galaxies with correct planetary orbits as well as debris from destroyed ships that will stay around and can even be used for cover.

The game pits two races against each other that are offshoots of the same genetic source. The game feature two races that have evolved into entirely different beings, creating different strategies and technologies (yes, you can steal the opposing side’s technology) for each of them. From what has been released from Strategy First, the plot has been worked into an intriguing piece of science fiction. In addition to having a great plot and game engine, the design team is releasing all the tools required to make campaigns for the game, with the exceptions of model editors (3D studio max isn’t cheap, folks) and graphics editors (just open up MS Paint or Photoshop or Fireworks, you’re already set). Yes, this means that they’re releasing all the camera tools, event scripting and such to create your own cut scenes and create an entire galaxy designed by you.

JIVE got a hold of the very busy Paul Thibault, executive producer for O.R.B. and got even better news than we were expecting. (more…)

Originally published in JIVE Magazine on 7 August 2002.

One of the East Coast’s most beloved Hardcore DJs, Jare Fox said farewell to his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, last year and moved to Rochester, New York. Since then, he’s been on a whirlwind tour of Canada and throughout the US. Developing his own progressive style of Hardcore that his fans have dubbed Jarecore, he is currently on top of his game.

JIVE caught up with Jare for an interview: (more…)

Originally published in JIVE Magazine on 17 June 2002.

Fronted by Ronan Harris, and featuring Mark Jackson on percussion, VNV Nation has emerged in the past few years to become a powerhouse performer in the Electronic Dance scene. VNV Nation, which stands for “Victory Not Vengeance”, was originally formed in 1990 in London, England by Ronan. This pair of live performance artists have captured huge amounts of success and will continue to do so, as they finally start to get recognition from the more mainstream Electronic Music crowd, with their Trance Industrial sound. Hot from their successful FuturePerfect album, their US tour is currently on fire. JIVE caught up to Ronan and had a chat with the genius behind VNV Nation’s music and deeply meaningful lyrics. (more…)

Originally published in JIVE Magazine 14 June 2002 

Aggressive Inline
Yes, that’s right, it’s another pro skater game. It’s by Acclaim, so you know they know what they’re doing, but I can’t help but wonder if they’re beating a dead horse. Trying to wrest control back from Activision in this market of “extreme games”, it looks like they’ve taken the lead, at least for the time being. There’s really not too much I can say about the game. It’s a pro skater game. They all look more or less the same to me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the genre, but there’s a sense of sameness to it all.

Burnout
While I didn’t get a chance to see this game in action, and racing games really aren’t my forte, I really just had to show you this screenshot. Man, that’s pretty. The fact sheet says that crashes are modeled spectacularly and that you’re rewarded for near misses and taking chances for speed and thrills in this street racing game. All I can say is, “Cool. Hope you pull it off.”

Legends of Wrestling 2
Wrestling games are another genre that’s been done to death. But this one still looks like fun. Deep customization of your create-a-wrestler, all your favorite wrestlers from Andre the Giant and Jerry “the King” Lawler to Big Poppa Pump and Sid Vicious. This game has all the big stars. While it doesn’t have the wrestlers that never got pushed, it does have almost 70 that did. If their storyline mode works out well, this game could very well be responsible for a lot of fans missing their favorite wrestling shows on TV.

UFC Throwdown
It’s time for the Ultimate. Fighting. Champiooonnshiiiippps. Yeah. UFC has a new game coming to PS2 and Gamecube and it looks like it’s going to beat its way into your console. All the action you love from the Octagon, is on your console and looking better than ever. The moves are more realistic than in previous games. If you wish that you could step into the ring with Tito Ortiz, but don’t want to get pounded into submission, this is your answer.

Originally published in JIVE Magazine 14 June 2002. 

SÖLDNER – Secret Wars
Don’t ask me about the name, I have no idea what they’re trying to get at. The game looks nice, it would have made great competition for Operation Flashpoint, had it been released last year. On the plus side, a unique feature is a simulated political system. For every mission your mercenary cell completes, fails, or doesn’t take, countries will change their view of you. That could play a huge role in the game. It looks to be an interesting twist on the strategic war game idea.
Impossible Creatures
Not since War, Inc. was there the ability to modifying your forces this extensively. Only with War, Inc. you were making tanks, planes and more conventional forms of offense. In Impossible Creatures, you make animals, by mixing and matching limbs, heads, and torsos. As you progress in the game, you get a wider array of body parts to choose from, each with its own special abilities and weaknesses. Mixing the right combination to make the right beast for the right job is tricky, but that’s what the game’s all about. Very weird game, but lots of real fun.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
“Begun, this clone war, has” Yeah, whatever, Yoda. Let’s see some action! And you will! This game puts you in the middle of the battle scene at the end of Episode 2 and then goes from there. Featuring fast paced combat with over 30 different units, and non-stop action as the game rolls through 6 huge campaigns, each on a different world, this game gets the adrenaline flowing and doesn’t let up until the closing cinematic rolls.
(more…)

Originally published in JIVE Magazine on 14 June 2002. 

Worlds of Warcraft
With Warcraft 3’s plot leading straight into this, this massive online role-playing game has the solid backbone of a good story line. Showcasing fantastic graphics and an awesome amount of game play, this entry into the massive online role-playing game genre is marked for greatness. With Humans, Orcs, Elves and Dwarves about to be turned loose on the digital world, I have to wonder if battle.net’s servers can support the huge influx of people that it will have.

Customizable classes, thousands of weapons and a gigantic world, including areas of Azeroth not previously seen all make this something to definitely check out. This is a must have for the Warcraft fan and something that the RPG addict will want to get their hands on.

Acheron’s Call 2
Yes, that’s right, the massive online role-playing game that took so many of you from your loved ones is back, revamped, remapped, and ready to kick ass. The graphics in it look beautiful. You’ll be able to recognize places from the first Acheron’s Call, but radically changed. The plot will be introduced slowly but steadily, with hints spread first, then quests given, then ramping up into huge story line missions, transporting you to unique dungeons and teleporting you to new and interesting places. The game looks like a hell of a lot of fun. It’s facing stiff competition in the arena of MORPGs, but few can truly resist Acheron’s Call. (more…)