NGR Medals
Mandatory Newgrounds Rumble link
Much like the game itself, adding medals to NGR took much longer than anticipated, but they're finally here, so you can just go back to urging me to put Master Chief in there or what have you. There are a handsome 13 medals, which should keep you pretty busy. The difficulty is ranged from "Oh, that's it?" to "Why would you do this to me?", but I found them all pretty fun to chase out. Also note Mindchamber's sexy work on the icons.

NOTE:The previously mentioned bug preventing Eventually-ending Story and Transgressive Compulsive has been fixed. Clear your cache, reload, and start a match. You should receive the medals you missed.

Before the angry tide rolls in, here are a few tips on some of the trickier medals:

"C-C-Combo Breaker" AND "C-C-Combo Maker" - both of these are much easier when you do not limit yourself to one opponent. The combos and parries are not counted per-opponent. They're counter per air trip.

"Meat Shield" - Henchmen are decent opponents for this. Their guns are standard power, but their HP is abysmal. The infinite ammo challenge level is not as good as you'd think for this medal.

"Wall Street Brawler" - Earn 5000, THEN buy your unlockables. It's 5000 at one time. Not 5000 all-time.

"Survival Horror" - Just.. get good at the game. Learn to parry - it's essential. Don't spam one attack at all the time, they wear down after repeated use. Don't use a damage tank like P-Bot or S'asshole, they have low HP. Always.. ALWAYS get the health pickups.

"Transgressive Compulsive" - Don't forget that completing Training and unlocking everything is part of game completion.

Feel free to PM me if you find serious bugs with the medals. I will reiterate though - there will be no more character updates. I'm afraid your words are wasted on those requests. Before I close this particular topic, I just wanna thank PsychoGoldfish, Mike, BoMToons, Liljim, Wade, and anyone else who provided medal support during this whole thing.

Sandy Eggo
I'm sure a lot of people will be talking about the con, presumably with more interesting stories than me. So I'll just say that it was a lot of fun and any big NG fan should surely attend at least once in their life. Got to meet a bunch of the people I've been meaning to for ages, and the nights are just as much fun, if not more.
Yes, I know how it's spelled.

Reemus Wrapup
I know it's practically illegal to even mention the game, much less link to it these days, but I wanted to say a few words about The Several Adventures of Reemus: Chapter 3 on account of this being my first post since its release.

While the game ended up taking longer than expected (seems to be a running theme here), it was a lot of fun to work on, and the finished product is a beaut. Zeebarf presented a completely contrasting experience to my time working on Johnny Rocketfingers 2. There's no ego about the guy - always open to ideas, never cracking the whip, and totally understanding about my day job interfering with the project regularly.

Even the fallout has been really fun. Zee and I have had a lot of laughs linking each other to reviews. Some people see one legitimate complaint of a bug (the first launch actually had a few), and suddenly anything that didn't go their way is a glitch. Hell, some didn't even realize they were supposed to start playing after the cutscene ended. But you take the good fans with the thick :P Still really enjoying this crazy Flash game makin' business. Still able to promise there'll be more from me in the not so distant future.

PS - I'm going to the bar. Let's see if some crazy fan can beat me to all 13 medals. You have your chance now :P
PPS - Your save files should still be fine. Some of you might already have a few medals once you start playing.

NOTE: This post contains a few mild spoilers about movies you've either already seen or probably won't ever.

If any of you have perused my profile, you might have noticed All Dogs Go To Heaven listed under my favorite movies and some might have thought it was a joke. This couldn't be much further from the case. The golden age of childrens' animation lasted well over a decade, but it's long dead. This was a time when the industry wasn't averse to grit, darkness, or the good old-fashioned horrors of reality. While the endings were still generally happy - and there's nothing wrong with that - you could surely expect blood, tears, corruption, death, failure, and a lot of other themes that today's kids' movies can be arsed even to allude to.

While this is a sentiment I've carried for almost as long as I can remember, what sparked me to finally write something about it was my recent acquisition of a copy of Watership Down, a dark story of fear and oppression born out of the UK. By it's premise - a group of rabbits search for a new home - it sounds like it could exist in this day and age. Dig a little deeper into the subject matter, and you'll see it most certainly couldn't. Until Kehaar, the drunk Russian seagull shows up, this isn't a journey lightened by comic relief, it's one marred by danger. The group is hunted by animals, shot by farmers and conspired against by other warrens. The climax of the movie features several graphic deaths ranging from throats being torn out to lacerating tosses through the air. I'm not saying all the blood is necessary, but the themes carried in this movie could better prepare a kid for the real world than the fairy gumdrop bullshit you'll find in Space Penguins go to Space or whatever the hell's in theaters now.

Flash forward to 1989. Childrens' animation as a respectable purveyor of storytelling is in its last throes. Donald Bluth releases an admirable stronghold against the oncoming tidal wave of cutesy drivel piling up in the industry. All Dogs Go to Heaven took a few steps towards what today's kids movies represent, but still told a compelling and gritty story, especially for its time. A glance at its cover and it looks wholesome, but make no mistake, this movie follows the story of two smoking, drinking dogs, one of whom co-owns a gambling bracket. Not long into the movie, his business partner gets him drunk and runs him down with a car in an act of unbridled greed. Our hero, Charlie, condemns himself to Hell by escaping heaven and returning to the world of the living. He reunites with his friend Itchy, at which point they proceed to exploit an orphan's ability to speak with animals as a means of rigging horse races.

So how pissed am I when we have to consider something like The Incredibles "daring" in this day and age, just because it deals with some bleak views? It pains me that nothing like either of two aforementioned movies will ever be released again. It's depressing that I'll find more childrens' movies I respect by looking backward than will ever be released during my lifetime. It absolutely kills me that the mainstream idea of 'style' in 3D animated movies revolves almost completely around proportions.

If I ever have kids, I'm not taking them to see Ice Age 7. We're popping my All Dogs Go to Heaven cassette into the dusty VCR and making sure at least one more kid ends up aware that sometimes life spits in your drink and pushes you down the stairs. I'm not gonna be the parent that blames the media for their own failures as a caregiver. I can only blame them for piling all of the best childrens' stories of our time onto a dead cassette format.

End rant. Sorry if that got pretentious, long-winded or melodramatic :P

As a faithful few may recall, I said I'd post a picture with the Tanky I received for heading Newgrounds Rumble, once that arrived. Some engraving delays on Tom's end followed by some technical issues on mine have placed this several months later than intended, but here it is. The trophy is a beast, easily heavy enough to kill small animals when dropped from chest height. Do not doubt me - my experiments were relentless. Needless to say, it's one of my more prized possessions and easily the best piece of NG memorabilia I own.

So not to make this post completely useless, let me tell you a bit about what's keeping me busy these days. Unfortunately, office work is stealing most of my time, though one of the projects coming up might be cool enough to bring to your collective attention - we'll see. When I've got time to myself, I plug away laboriously at my long-running and probably never-to-be-released rpg project, Everfrost. Here's a screenshot for those interested:
http://www.negativeflash.com/ef-ss1.jp g

And tanky pic to follow :O Yes, it's mirrored. What do I have, 30 seconds to fix it? Fah!

So I've just landed in from this year's NG Mod Meet and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. I'll start by thanking the hell out of the staff for picking up the bill on this huge weekend, and for all of the planning that went in. The staff presence during the whole thing definitely kept morale up in a big way too.

Beyond the whole cabin idea working out perfectly, the crowd this year was great, despite missing a few I hoped would make it. Didn't really get a chance to say proper goodbyes to most, or talk all that much, so here - for your viewing disinterest - was my one-line impression of each attendee.

Jonas - what can I say, the lumpy bastard is growing on me
Paul (uberbarista) - Damn, dude, you really pulled your shit together. I'd tap that meat.
Adam (CaptainBob) - Gotta admire your willingness to drink, no matter the conditions.
Steve - Stopped modding but still comes to the parties. This guy is great.
Karl (BlueHippo) - Like looking into a mirror that makes you appear younger and better-looking.
Malachy - Did not plug the sink with barf this time. If this trend continues, I think I like 'im.
Matt (mightypotato) - Glad we got a chance to talk more this time - you've got a good sense of humor.
Keith (avie) - Alright, it's about time I visit Endless. I'll do that after this post.
Lindsay (mamatequila) - Probably the coolest mom I know, and that's a competitive category.
Steven (Sardonic) - Always nice to have another Flash guy at these things. Hope you keep comin'.
Viktor (Rucklo) - Easily one of the better surprises of the trip, particularly considering I thought that furry in your display pic was you.
Anna - Friendly and receptive - I hope we didn't nerd you out too much.
Chris (JoS) - Thanks for fun road trip. Work on your indoors voice though <3 lolz
Swain - Wasn't there. Dick. <3<3
Shawn - Glad you're at so many of these things. Always have at least one guy whose company I know I'll enjoy.
Louis (Pox) - Always a highlight. Funny to look back on our first trip to the meet 4 friggin' years ago.
Luis - Thank God there's at least one other guy mixing up faggy drinks so I don't look so bad.

Well that was indulgent and unnecessary. On to more of the same.
I was hoping that my tanky would be ready for pickup, but it was delayed by some tinkering with the engraving. I was gonna post a picture of myself wielding the tanky, lookin' all proud and joyous, but in its absence, I guess this is just me wielding a bottle of zinc supplement, lookin' all confused and disheveled.

I bust balls because I love, Tom!

Edit: It seems silly to reply to each individually saying the same thing, so I'll just say it up here - thanks for all the comments and kind words :)

Okay, so as many of you know, NGR won Game of the Year here on Newgrounds. First of all, I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude for this. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Jose, myself, and - to a lesser extent :D :P :3 Luis - really put our mind and soul into creating games like this. When such an immense part of the community feels that we've really done something great, it is an elating experience, and I cannot give enough thanks to the community, staff, and everyone else involved.

As a present to you all, we've added Fancy Pants Man to the roster. He was supposed to be in the original game as the 11th character, but Brad got busy with school and it didn't happen. Now, a year later, he has graced us with a uniquely feeling character, and I love Fancy like one of my own. Give Brad your thanks for his donation.

That said, it's NGR's birthday. What a sexy coincidence. I'm sure some people think it was set up, but it was not. I was stressing the hell out all day and refreshing right up until the last minute. This is a big deal for me, and solidifies my commitment to NG. I'll be here for a while, so if you like my games, and if you like games made sexy by Mindchamber and/or Luis, expect more of it. I'll be here a while. Luff to the community. Send PMs, leave reviews, I'll be here. BAI.

Hiya.

As you could have just read in the Newgrounds Rumble author's comments, we've updated the game to include Hank as a character and Nevada as a level. I wanted to make the level more interactive than the others, so I added Jesus as a mobile hazard, and threw in the improbability drive to drop off a good chunk of the level partway through. I was pretty proud of it when I finished. This lasted until about the time I received Jose's sprites for Hank, at which time I wept a little. I feel like my level is a good reflection of Madness Combat, but Hank is an homage to Consternation that might make even Krinkels gawk a little. Needless to say, he looks great and should add some new fun to the game. His gun-heavy attacks make for a different play mechanic that I think I'll have to get used to before I have a lot of fun with it, but you be the judge. He's only available in versus now, but watch out for story mode and survival additions soon.

I chose not to front page this because Mindchamber's frontpaging an article regarding the same and I don't wanna join the frontpage flood just yet.

Hello friends,

As some of you may know, I co-own another site besides my own called WiiCade.com. WiiCade has been offering Wii-compatible games since the launch of the Wii itself, and we've just recently launched our third complete overhaul of the site. Some of the new features include:
-Awesome new additions to the WiiCade API including Nunchuk support, online multiplayer, WiiMote twist and distance from the screen, and 4 simultaneous WiiMotes
-A full redesign of the layout, look, and scheme
-Increased submission functionality including submission editing and unlimited sandbox
-Fancy javascript shit!

So it's definitely worth checking out. Developers especially, we'd love to get some more interest from you guys. Wouldn't it be neat to make a sniper game where you zoomed in by bringing the WiiMote closer to the screen, or a piloting game where you steered your craft through narrow spaces by twisting the WiiMote to rotate? And all this possible with 4 players, too.

That link again is http://www.wiicade.com , woo!

Hullo thar. I don't have much to say. Just wanted to get a post out there so people could start leaving messages about how much they hate my games in a nice and public setting.