Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates regarding Four Swords Misadventures 8. This year has been rather troublesome for me and I had very little time (and sometimes very little interest) in continuing the series.

Plain and simple, my life took a 180 degree turn this year for some reason with so much crap going on and I've been seeing things differently now. Almost as if I'm not having as much fun as I used to with flash. As much as I want to continue the series and all, there are times that I think to myself "what's the point? I barely make anything out of it." Though I acknowledge that I do have a fan base that cares for the series, I really would hate to disappoint them about it.

However, I haven't truly decided on canceling the series just yet. It's going through limbo at times since I got more important things to take care of. Mainly class assignments and family related things. So yeah...

If you want to help out in some way to keep the series going, you can message me if you like to audition for later episodes, but currently I'm not accepting voice actors for ep. 8.I got enough on my plate already in that area. I'm also looking for pixel authors. I need someone to make original custom sprites and backgrounds for the episode. the guy I originally hired for it bailed out on the project, so that's another reason why this has been delayed. any additional help will be appreciated

Again, sorry for having you guys wait for over 17 months. I'll have this series going again once I get things settled. BTW, just to show you that the series isn't dead, Here's an upgraded version of the Zelda II based intro that a fan made for me for the episode. Click here to see it.

Til next time.

Ever since I started animating in 2004, there have been quite a handful of projects that I abandoned over the years. Some were cancelled due to lack of creativity on my part, others were cancelled due to technical issues and other reasons as well. Overall there will be the occasional project that will originally look good on paper but comes out differently during development, sometimes with negative results.

I feel like sharing this list of projects that I have cancelled over the years just to show you guys what other things I originally had planned, but gave up on them after some time.

SF Vs. DBZ Budokai (Series): those who originally seen these old flashes knows what I'm talking about. Originally I had planned to make more crossover fights with characters from both franchises, similar to Marvel vs Capcom. However, after a negative backlash in ep. 2 where I had Ryu beat Goku, I was pressured to make a more accurate ending by having the DBZ characters win in ep. 3. I abandoned it altogether afterwards seeing that it was pointless to argue with other DBZ fanboys over a MUGEN styled fight with other characters.

Intergalactic: VG remake: during my "VG style" days I actually developed a flash parody based on an old Beastie Boys music video. It was mostly a shot by shot reenactment of the video done with sprites from Ultraman King of the Monsters 2 and Gundam Wing: Endless Duel (all 3 from the SNES) with Mario, Crono and Link as the Beastie Boys. It was odd and random and the concept had potential, but what happened? A computer Virus corrupted my old computer and I was forced to reformat it completely. I made a backup of the flash file burning it in a CD along with a bunch of other stuff, but I later found out that it was scratched and I couldn't recover neither the fla file nor the swf file. I attempted to work on it from scratch, but eventually gave up on it.

Ken Casanova 3: This flash was a SF parody where I made Ken Masters act like Johnny Bravo getting his ass kicked by women who don't appreciate any of his pick up lines. I was actually working on this at one point and was halfway done. However, due to another virus I had to reformat my old PC's hard drive and didn't have a flash drive to save the project in at the time. I was gonna work on it from scratch after losing the file, but I later gave up on it and worked on something else.

UN Squadron: The Danger Zone: This was originally going to be a music video tribute to one of my favorite side scrolling Shoot-em-ups on the SNES with the popular Top Gun song "Highway to the Danger Zone". Originally I made an intro for it, but after that I couldn't figure out how to continue making a flash involving mostly airplane sprites. I abandoned it shortly after.

Goku Vs. Superman: Another crossover fight that was going to be a music video with the song Man made God by "In Flames". after so much debate over who was the strongest of the two, despite sharing similar origins, and certain abilities, I wanted to create a balanced fight as an AMV. I was going to continue it, but I had hardware problems at the time and lost the file when my computer died on me. I was able to recover the file at one point but I decided no to work on it after that fearing a potential "Superman Curse" in it. I'm not superstitious, but it was a "better to be safe than sorry" kind of thing. Curiously, 2months after I made a Superman gag in MK Mishaps 4, My laptop's hard drive crashed on me, causing me to nearly lose the flash file for FSM 7. I was lucky to make a backup of it and I've been doing that ever since.

Starting with an idea is easy, It's developing it that's the hard part sometimes.

As for FSM 8, It's sort of in limbo at the moment. I had my hands full with a bunch of stuff this year. I haven't cancelled it, yet I haven't had chance to continue it either. But I'll find a way to keep it going. It's a huge project and will take quite some time to finish it. If you want to help in some way, send me a message.I'm not looking for more voice actors though. I got enough for the episode already.

Anyone remember Beavis and Butt-Head? This was the show that I grew up with as a kid, before South Park debuted. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Sure, these two were controversial during their time, but they're stuff is tame compared to what Eric Cartman does nowadays.

Hell, I'm so psyched over these new episodes that I've been watching their oldschool stuff for the past few months. Viewing some of their episodes as well as some of their memorable Music Video moments. Classic stuff! I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.

Seriously though, MTV should have brought them back sooner. I hardly watch MTV nowadays because of all the reality shows they keep throwing at us. I mean, Jersey Shore? 16 & Pregnant? WTF? The same goes with most of the crappy music of this generation.

BTW, is it weird to point out that Justin Bieber (ugh, yes him...) and Lady Gaga are anticipating their return to MTV? Well, as long as they bash the hell out of today's God awful MTV Generation (Including Gaga & Bieber), then I'm happy. I just hope Beavis & Butt-Head help make some much needed changes to the channel. Check out the new clips if you haven't seen them yet.

This is gonna be cool. Uh huh huh huh.
:P

Who hasn't bumped into these kind of games these days? Every now and then there will always be a game controversial enough to piss someone off, then the news media causes moral panic, then politics later plays a role in what to do with these controversial games. Personally I believe that videogames and politics just don't and shouldn't mix, but that's my opinion.

Sometimes, worse case scenario, a game causes so much controversy that it could end up banned in several countries(depending on their laws) due to the game's depiction of either gory violence, racial profiling, satanic references,profanity, high sexual content,rape, bullying, defamation, the list goes on and on.

Even NG had it's share of controversial games too over the years, believe it or not. (The Torture Game, V-Tech Rampage, just to name a few)

Interestingly, Even the most controversial game can be the most desirable, even if it is out of curiosity. Sometimes it isn't even the game that causes controversy, it's the Obsessive players who attempt to recreate or reenact events that are seen in the game for some random reason AND THEN the victims start playing the blame game with the videogame industries. There are even games that, even though they're "historically accurate" they're portrayed in an extremely negative light.

In wikipedia there's a good list of controversial games as well as a list of banned games that's interesting to read up on if you're curious. I should also point out the games that got my attention the most because of how shocking they are or how laughable the excuse to ban a game is.

Mortal Kombat: From day one this was the game that popularized blood and gore in a fighting games. It has received several lawsuits about kids killing others because they saw it in the game. And now the latest game was banned in Australia for its content. It's because of this game That the ESRB rating system was born on the 90s.

GTA: The game that has often been dubbed as "The Terrorist Simulator" and is responsible for several Deaths and lawsuits over the years. It has been condemned in several countries and banned in Brazil.

DOOM: The Game that popularized FPS and introduced Satanic imagery. The game was somewhat responsible for the Columbine Massacre in 1999 and other school shootings, but there's no proof to this matter.

Resident Evil 5: Unintentional Racial Profiling. A white Guy killing people in Africa. Self explanatory (I'm not racist btw).

Rapelay:A Hentai game where you're objective is to rape a mother and her two Daughters. This game has no happy ending. you either get run over by a subway train or get stabbed by a revengeful schoolgirl while you rape her. This caused controversy after someone tried to sell a copy of the game on Amazon.com in and since then has been banned in several countries because of women's rights.

Dead Or Alive Dimensions: A Fighting game that has ""three underage Characters" in skimpy outfits and a free range camera. The game was banned in Norway, Sweden and Denmark because they consider 17 year old girls as "child pornography"... Really?

Mad World:A beat-em-up Sandbox game dubbed "The most Violent Videogame Ever" and it's on the supposedly "family friendly" Wii. Banned in Germany.

JFK Reloaded: A historical reenactment of the John F. Kennedy Assassination. It's a FPS where you play Lee Harvey Oswald armed with a sniper rifle. WTF? That's all I can say.

I can go on and on with this, but I'll leave the rest to you guys. If you know any other controversial games, feel free to mention them. .

If you decide on playing these kind of games, well, play them at your own risk.
Gamer discretion is advised... :P

Over the years I feel like I unintentionally divided the fans of Four Swords Misadventures when I replaced SpikeDaPenguin for baldboy64 for the role of Red Link. But to be perfectly clear for those still new to the series, Spike chose to quit voice acting after ep.3 and I had no choice but to find a replacement at the time, which is why baldboy64 was chosen instead.

Interestingly enough, I got a message from Spike over the weekend stating that he wanted to reprise the role due to "fan demand". This caught me completely off guard, yet it also left me with another dilemma. This time I want to know your thoughts about who's the better Red Link for FSM.

Spikedapenguin's take on the character (ep. 1-3) was that he was more Gung-ho and short tempered.

Baldboy64's take on the character (Ep. 4-7) gave him a "more bark than bite" approach with a bit of a sharp tongue.

Personally, I like both interpretations and choosing which one's best is like choosing between two of Daffy Duck's alter egos (lunatic vigilante vs. greedy glory hound). Don't give me the typical "this is YOUR series, you decide" excuse. I want to know what you guys like because I'm making this for you guys.

Either way I'm planning on having both VA's in the project somehow. I'll figure it out at some point.

On a side Note, I'm looking for someone else to help me make some original custom Zelda sprites for the episode. Anyone else willing to lend a hand? I'd appreciate the help.

Hi guys. Just thought I'd keep you updated with Four Swords Misadventures 8. The episode is in pre production and is on temporary hold for various reasons.

First off, my university has kept me very busy this semester and sometimes it gets harder and harder for me to keep up each year. The good thing is that I'm really close to graduating as a Telecommunications engineer (which focuses on radio, TV telephones, internet and other related stuff. It's a Jack of all trades, just to get an idea) and I should be finished sometime next year.

Second, I'm waiting for some remaining custom sprites that I require for the episode. SSX9 is currently helping me out with this, but I still need a few more custom sprites and backgrounds that I suggested for the episode.

Third I'm waiting on Osuka to finish some original artwork for a particular scene. His artwork will make a limited appearance in this episode since he's busy developing 2 other top secret projects that have been on hold for quite a while. It's something that we co-developed, but haven't got off the ground yet, so hopefully we'll get them out sometime later this year.

Fourth, I'm thinking of adding more medals in this episode too. However, I don't want to abuse this idea too much. I'm only using it as a way to summarize FSM 8 as much as possible since it will be my longest episode yet (around 30 min.). Now, if this episode doesn't satisfy your needs, it's not my fault. Blame the spoiled noobs who demand longer episodes with less quality. The only way I can fail is by satisfying everyone, and I can't do that.

Lastly, I'm still missing voices from one of my cast members. Mainly, the VA who Voices Blue Link. He has gotten a bit problematic over the years, usually pulling a Houdini on me because he lives a busier life than mine, which is understandable. However, I just don't have the heart to replace him because he still wants to be a part of this series. I don't want to ruin the chemistry and the charm of the series, if you know what I mean. What do you guys think I should do?

On a side note, like any comedian, I've been going through a stage of depression lately due to certain events that have been happening in my life. I've been dealing with financial issues (I appreciate a Paypal donation if possible, though I doubt most would be interested) family issues (my 79 year old grandma has a concussion and currently dealing with slurred speech for the last 6 months) and personal issues (breaking up with an old GF who was my closest friend and my inspiration). It's been a very bumpy road for me these past 6 months and moving on with my life is the only choice that I have. Normally, I don't like to talk about my life publicly. I'm usually a very private person. But still, I want you guys to understand too. It's a hard life. :/

Oh well, the show must go on. Thanks for reading...

Does anyone remember the old days with Atari, NES and SEGA when realism didn't matter and the graphics were creative and original? Over the years I've played a lot of games in my life, but what I find curious is that more and more games are striving to look more realistic ever since the 16-bit era of Video games (like Doom and MK for example), maybe even earlier than that. Though I don't mind the approach at times, I just think "realistic graphics" in gaming is being abused a lot lately, like in sport simulation games, adventure games and especially in First Person Shooter games. Now, don't get the wrong idea, I'm just saying that with realistic graphics in games, characters just start to look generic over time. Of course, this varies on the game's stories and characters.

Take "LoZ: The Wind Waker" For example. This game was initially criticized for looking "too cartoony" to most Zelda fans and even some players described it as a kiddie game, when it was intended for all audiences. Why? Because gamers were spoiled with the concept of realism in future titles and we wanted the character to grow up along with us. Now, looking back, I admit that TWW is an artistically beautiful game, though a bit easy at times since most of us adapted to OoT's control scheme. However, seeing that this game didn't sell very well, what did Nintendo do? Introduce Twilight Princess to win back their lost fan base with realistic graphics and a more mature storyline, though later they continued with Wind Waker style graphics in future DS installments.

Now with Skyward Sword, the same thing is happening again. Some players support the new artistic style inspired by impressionism, while others simply don't like how it looks expecting something more realistic and hi def. My point here is: STOP JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good variety of games every now and then, but people need to realize that realistic graphics don't always make a better game. In my opinion, there always needs to be a good balance of graphics, control, gameplay, music, and story, otherwise if you focus more on certain elements rather than the game as a whole, the game itself will be completely unbalanced.

Now all ranting aside and out of complete curiosity, what kind of Games do you prefer?

A) Games with an artistic and original appeal.
B) Games with a realistic and serious approach.
C) I don't care as long as it's fun to play.

OK, for those who don't know what I'm talking about, Animax is a 24 hour animation channel dedicated to anime.

Before all this, In Latin America, the channel was originally known as Locomotion from 1996-2005, which had more variety in terms of animation with American cartoons for Teens and adults, foreign short films,experimental animation,Stop motion, 80s cartoons(like He-Man, G.I. JOE and G-Force), even introducing South Park to the Spanish speaking viewers. It was a great channel full of so much nostalgia.

Then around 2000-2001, the channel started showing more Teen and Adult anime series and films like Robotech, Cowboy bebop, Evangelion, Saber Marionette J and many others, including OVAs. The channel was my main source of anime back then. By the time the channel grew, it became more anime oriented and it was around 2005 that Sony bought the channel and re-branded it as Animax. Now, the channel in it's early years introduced me to other anime shows like Shin-Chan, Full Metal Alchemist, Get Backers ,Samurai X and DeathNote to name a few and I'd tune in frequently to check out the new stuff.

However, in late 2008, the channel started changing it's lineup by adding more American Programming instead, like Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 and other shows from the 90s onwards....What the fuck were they thinking!? This is Animax! The channel was practically built for Anime! Where's the anime? Well sadly, the anime programming was now reduced to a late night Time slot from 1AM-6AM. A load of bullshit.

Seriously, what's the point of calling this channel Animax now when the channel hardly shows any animation? That's like saying that MTV is focusing less on Music Videos and more on Reality shows(oh wait...) or Cartoon Network showing more live action Programming (OK, another bad example...).

Well the channel clearly went downhill over the years, with viewers going as far as calling it "Gringomax" because of it's American programming and now today the channel is shutting down because of this fuck up and is being re-branded over here as another generic American channel full of old sitcoms that nobody watches.

This saddens me that a channel with so much potential was reduced to a pile of shit. Now I have no choice but to search for this stuff online until a spiritual successor of this channel decides to appear in Latin America.

RIP Animax.

This is going to sound crazy, but it happened. For those who aren't aware, last month I was looking or voice actors who wanted to audition for a part in the next episode of Four Swords Misadventures 8 that I'm developing. Then randomly, out of nowhere, I got an email from Justin Bieber asking if he could be in my series.
Apparently he's a big Zelda fan too and has been a fan of my series for quite a while. It's an awesome opportunity. I already selected him for a special part in the episode! Say whatever you want about him, especially the Trolls, I don't give a damn anymore. This kid will make the next episode EPIC! Bieber=More Views=more money for me via Ad Revenue!

I seriously can't wait to have this out later this year! The fans are gonna flip out! :D

Don't believe me? Click here to read the email he sent me.

Update: It's not true guys. I would never do anything THAT crazy... It was a fun little prank though. :P

Here's the intro I made for the next Four Swords episode. I drew it as a little experiment. I'm a bit mixed about it and I'm fully aware that I need to polish up my drawing skills, so go easy on it. I did, however, get an offer from a fan to help polish up this intro, so you'll possibly see an updated version of this in the future.

The series itself will still be done in sprites, (with some additional artwork in some parts). I might require some additional help with a few custom sprites based on certain characters that I need for the episode. if you're interested,please let me know and I'll credit you for them.

As for Voice acting, I do have 5 spots open at the moment(4 male, 1 female). Send me a demo reel at hadouken_dude1984@yahoo.com if you want
to audition.

Update 03/17: The auditions are over and the actors have been selected for the project. Thanks to everyone else who participated.