WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the People.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States, for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

A game that is, thankfully, very aware that it is a game at times.

In honor of the Fourth of July, I’d like to spotlight one of the few efforts of Square’s American branch in the late 1990s.  Actually, to be honest, it is the only effort that ever hit store shelves – Secret of Evermore, the quirky follow-up to Secret of Mana that has nothing in common except a similar combat system and the word “secret.”  The best way for me to describe Secret of Evermore is with a mathematical equation:

Secret of Mana + Earthbound = Secret of Evermore + WIN!

Thank you, thank you.  No, I do not have a math degree, but thank you for assuming.  Evermore combines the weird, B-humor of Earthbound with

This guy helps you cross a desert, but he's a better tour guide than Charon.

the primary elements of Mana: equipment and spell rings, charging weapons, art style.

Evermore is the clearly inferior product in terms of the actual game, since it is much easier in certain areas and generally less solidly constructed.  For example, instead of acquiring new spells every couple of hours, like in Mana, in Evermore you have to be told spells by certain characters, some of which are hidden or who you never really encounter in a casual playthrough.  I remember gazing at an issue of Nintendo Power and being shocked by its listing of about 25 spells, since I was in the last area of the game and had about a dozen.

Spells still level up like in Mana, but annoyingly, you have to purchase ingredients to use them as opposed to having MP.  If you have a ton of money, this makes it a little easier to power level your spells, but it means you have to fight a lot more as opposed to using the free recovery spots in Mana.  The game also gives little indication of what spells are better.  For example, you acquire Sting after Flash, but Flash is better for the most part.

Despite these flaws, I still love playing Evermore for a couple reasons.  First, the American influence definitely shines through in the story’s plot and characters.  You play a spunky, sort-of-hero archetype; imagine a PG version of Bruce Campbell.  He is a bit self-aware of his situation, comparing himself constantly to characters in fictional B-movies and noticing some of the absurdity of the main plot, which has you venturing through four different areas of Evermore – prehistoric, Egypt-kinda, Medieval Times and the science fiction future – in order to find a way back to Podunk.

Second, you get to use a bazooka.  Yes, a bazooka in a RPG.  And it is just as powerful as you would imagine, and if you use it on something mechanical, that mechanical enemy will often blow up in a nice little poof.  There is something fundamentally satisfying about this.

And finally, I enjoy Evermore because it is so wildly divergent from every other RPG out there, even to this day.  Earthbound was the first game released in America to be REALLY out there, as you used baseball bats to attack enemies and ate hamburgers to restore health.  Evermore followed in its path, but outside of those two SNES titles, I’m hard pressed to name other RPGs that have a clear American influence.

Most games are set in that odd “ye olde times” era, with characters using swords and guns side-by-side.  The good Shadow Hearts games – the first two – have a bit of an American feel, but they’re set in Europe roughly around the World Wars.  The third game was in America, but it stunk.  The Persona games have a modern setting, but they clearly take place in Japan, with references to weird sushi crap I’ve never heard of and nobody with an Americanized name.  (Tangent: Do Japanese and Chinese girls get tattoos with American lettering?  I’d like to think they do.)

Because of these factors, Evermore will always have a place in my heart, even if it isn’t the greatest of all-time.  If you’re looking for something besides the typical “Save the princess with swords!” experience, then hunt down a copy of Evermore.

Thanks to NFOpocalpyse, who’s review and photo gallery helped me with the images.

Seems like Funny or Die thought so too. Check out this shout-out to the sci-fi classic below, and happy Fourth of July from Blast!

Many however have quite the negative view of AlJazeera, especially the Arabic network. They give a voice to terrorists and have, in the past, aired some seriously anti-Semitic programming.

But AlJazeera English is the station that’s on its way to Canada, not AlJazeera Arabic. AJE was established just three years ago and even though it is, like Aljazeera Arabic, owned by the Qatari government, it operates independently from its big sister station.

I watch AlJazeera English regularly on Livestation. It’s a quality all-day news channel that reports on issues much like CNN does, but from a differing, more localized and internal perspective.

CNN’s coverage of American politics is hard to match. It’s comprehensive and seen from all angles. It’s quality. Why? Well it operates from the area on which it reports, the U.S. Atlanta, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and New York City. Everything is covered. Here.

So, naturally, a news channel operating out of the Middle East would give the world a more authentic idea of what is going on there than, say, CNN, whose headquarters are a long way from the Mid-East.

You wouldn’t rely on the BBC for American political news, so why are we forced to watch CNN to learn about the Middle East? After all, CNN’s global sister stations aren’t available to us here in the U.S. and Canada.

The current vast news landscape is made up largely of Middle Eastern issues. AlJazeera’s main headquarters are right smack-dab in the middle of the Middle East: Doha, Qatar, just off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. They also have broadcast stations in Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington D.C. They air at least one 30-minute news show from each base everyday.

In addition to the four headquarters, AJE has 69 bureaus set up all over the world, many of which are in the southern hemisphere. They also employ 1,200 staff of more than 45 ethnicities.

That doesn’t sound too oppressive to me. These stats make them the most diverse news network in the world.

If you watch the channel you’ll know their anchors, reporters and weathermen come in all colors. As a person of color, that’s a nice thing to see on TV. Finally.

Many of their staff is also women.

I admit I’ve never watched AlJazeera Arabic, aside from all the terrorist videos that have become infamous in the West. I’ve heard the negative criticism and the allegations of anti-Americanism toward the AJA. I’ve also seen some of the proof.

But that doesn’t mean AJE isn’t a quality, unbiased organization. It operates independently from AJA and caters, purposefully, toward a Western audience.

You only have to watch programs like “Witness” and “People & Power” to understand the quality of AlJazeera English. Seriously, download LiveStation and watch those programs. They are phenomenal examples of how AJE brings attention to important issues that get either get lost in Western mainstream media filters or go undetected on news radar.

About 80 per cent of AJE’s stories relate to the Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, about twice as much as the BBC and CNN.

AJE’s reporting of not only Middle Eastern issues but also those issues that affect the forgotten areas of Latin America, Africa and Asia are without a doubt superior to those few pieces produced and released by CNN and the BBC.

The rest of the world needs a voice. AlJazeera English is it. So please come on down to Canada.

BLAST: To start, let’s get a bit of background on Gaijin Games. What would you like the people to know?

Chris Osborn: Gaijin Games is your friend! The current incarnation of this company began in September 2008: just three guys (Alex, Mike, and Chris) and one dream (BIT.TRIP). We all had a common interest in creative freedom and the emerging downloadable market on the consoles seemed to be the perfect place to bust out some tight and supremely rad little games. Oh, and we’re all gamers, and we are truly in this industry for the love, not the money. We also pride ourselves in being as “green” as a small game studio can be, and that value helps drive day-to-day decisions. As mentioned, we’re also quite friendly and absolutely love meeting fans. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog.

BLAST: Where did the idea for the Bit.Trip series come from? Was it always meant to sport this retro style?

CO: BIT.TRIP began as a concept quite a while ago actually. Born over a lunch at the famous Saturn vegetarian diner if I remember correctly. The idea was simple: make a sweet rhythm game using 8-bit/chiptune music as the soundtrack. The Atari look-and-feel followed naturally from there. So yeah, it was retro from the get-go. Once we started the project, we planned out the whole series and storyline. So expect a nice, continuous story arc from beginning to end, albeit very open to interpretation! However, CommanderVideo initially wasn’t the of star of show. He was meant as a minor character planned for one of the later BIT.TRIP games. But once we saw his concept art, we knew he was destined to rock out the whole series!

BLAST: How about the inspiration for CORE, specifically? Bit.Trip BEAT looked like Pong with just as much emphasis on “Trip” as “Bit”, so what prompted the creation of this new entry?

CO: CORE follows BEAT in evolution: both for CommanderVideo and gameplay. BEAT looked back to one of the earliest game genres: spinner/paddle games, as well as forward to modern, rhythm games like Rez. As game consoles evolved, so did their controllers with the introduction of digital button-based designs. Likewise, we go from BEAT’s smooth, analog control to CORE’s rigid, on/off, mechanical vibe. Visually, we have taken the same trippy, old-school style from BEAT and refined it in subtle ways. New color schemes, cleaner HUD design, etc. You’ll also see a lot of machine-influenced art in CORE that echoes this digital vibe. But don’t worry, fans of the TRIP in BIT.TRIP will feel right at home in CORE!

BLAST: In BEAT, you use the motion control functions of the Wii Remote to move your paddle back and forth, which I think gave it an added old-school vibe. How do you control CORE?

CO: CORE uses the Wii Remote held sideways, like an old NES controller. However, this time around you are using the +Control Pad and the 2 Button for control. Pressing the +Control Pad in any of the four directions will aim the core’s beam, and then hitting the 2 Button will activate the beam, blasting away any beats in its path. So while playing you essentially are controlling the “note” with your left hand, and playing “rhythm” with your right. This aspect brings CORE much closer in gameplay style to traditional rhythm/music games, in contrast to BEAT which is bit closer to a shooter. We also added a screen-clearing BOMB that can be activated with the 1 Button, just in case you get overwhelmed. Still, there is a very subtle use of the motion control, see if you can find it!

BLAST: How many titles do you plan on releasing under the Bit.Trip name? Is there a chance they will be bundled together at retail when all is said and done on WiiWare?

CO: BIT.TRIP is a six game series. Expect them all to carry the same retro flair, but trust me, we’ll be mixing up the gameplay and visual style just enough to keep you interested from start to finish. If only I could leak what’s happening with Game 3! Suffice to say we are VERY excited about the magic going around the office right now. Once we finish off the WiiWare versions, I’m sure we’ll discuss a retail version since it makes perfect sense. But no, we don’t have any concrete plans as of right now.

BLAST: Will CORE support any features outside of standard gameplay, such as online leaderboards?

CO: CORE is similar in scope to BEAT: three (very) challenging levels, a high scores screen, and the credits! No online leaderboards this time around. However, we are investigating that feature for future releases. If we ever do, we want to make sure it’s done right, and that it will meet all the expectation players have for it. Just like BEAT, expect Europe and Japan releases coming up soon too! We can’t wait for the North American release on Monday, and we hope all of you love our game just as much as we do! Enjoy

Bit.Trip CORE releases Monday exclusively on the WiiWare service. We will have a review for you shortly after. Thanks to Chris Osborn and Gaijin for taking our questions!

Luckily, Capcom provided us with a few screenshots prior to taking off for the long weekend, so now we can sit and stare while we wait for burgers and hot dogs to be cooked on the grill.

The 7-year-old will estimates his estate to be worth more than $500 million at that time. It gives his entire estate to a family trust and names his mother Katherine Jackson, as a beneficiary of the trust and the guardian of his children.

The children are named in the will as well, but conspicuously absent from the document is Jackson’s former wife, Debbie Rowe. She is the mother of Prince and Paris Jackson, 12 and 11 years old respectively, and according to People, her lawyer will likely wage a custody battle. Jackson and Rowe have fought for custody of their kids once before in 2005, three years after the will was written.

If anything should happen to Katherine Jackson, Michael named Supremes singer Diana Ross as the children’s guardian.

People also points out that the entire estate will be in question because of Jackson’s recent financial problems.

In short, the will does little to settle the confusion surrounding Jackson’s death.

In this column I won’t discuss seasonal trends or dictate or ‘recommend’ what you should or shouldn’t be wearing, but I will write about people in the industry who are designing, creating and curating things of artistic integrity and worth. Fashion should be a form of self-expression; something that is personal and emotional, not something that is prescriptive, limiting or static. Not to say that this column won’t be biased; I plan to write only about people and things I like, it’s just up to you to decide if you agree.

A designer who I admire and adore is JCDC — Jean Charles de Cajabajac. This guy is a total fashion hunk. Suave and old school, yet incredibly contemporary, his designs are mad cool. And I mean, literally, a mixture of fashion insanity and cooler-than-cool logos and graphic designs.

Jean Charles recently brought his French label to London in the form of a fashion gallery in Conduit Street, and guess what? He personally and exclusively talked to me about why he chose central London as his destination of choice and how he plans to conquer the USA.

“I chose Mayfair because it is at the corner of two symbolic streets for me: Saville Row, where my father and I used to be dressed at Chittleborough and Morgan, and Conduit Street where my dear friend Vivienne Westwood’s store is located,” he said.

I asked Jean Charles if his connection to England had been effectively reinforced by having his own “fashion gallery’’ in London. “The fashion gallery is part of my universe, and this store is my place in England,” he responded.

What about a store in the USA? “I love America, that would be exciting!”

The central London store, curated by Anthony Stephenson, is definitely a fashion haven amongst the chaos of the city, and who knows the next stop for JCDC might be America?

***

Another designer you just have to know about is the lovely cutting edge menswear designer Katie Eary. She was featured in the recent English edition of Vogue and is set to go international any time. This is what I found out after a catch up (or rather, a mini interrogation session) with her on Facebook.

BLAST: When did you realize you wanted to be a designer?

KATIE EARY: I was always an artist at heart, and so putting my mind to anything creative was always enjoyable. But for me, The Saatchi Sensation exhibition was a turning point in my life. I became an avid fan of all things Brit Art! It was also a wake up call! How was I going to make an impact? If Emin, Hurst, Quinn, Lucas (the list is endless) were doing all this cross-examining of taboo subjects how could I make my own impact? Everything seemed to be exhausted in all areas of creativity… All this except maybe Menswear. And so, 14 years later…

BLAST: 
If you could describe your style in 5 words, what would they be?

KE: Ab Fab, Punk, refined, nautical, magpie.

BLAST: You were recently featured in Vogue, how did it feel being featured in the most famous, most respected fashion publication in the world?

KE: I love Vogue, they have been so, so supportive, and to actually be featured is a real honor, and feels great to believe that they believe in me.

BLAST: Lets play Desert island discs. Fave Track/artist?

KE: My Black Hearted- but in general everything by PJ Harvey.

BLAST: Fave artist/piece of work
?

KE: Marcus Harvey — I thought the portrait of Margaret Thatcher using the dildos was just genius. But in general I can’t say he is my fave, I have too many!

BLAST: Fave designer/piece of clothing?

KE: Givenchy leather inserted jeans and Balmain military jackets.

***

A music /fashion star that you have to look out for is a singer named Mpho ( pronounced: mmm fo). She is releasing her debut single Box N Locks in July. The music video is influenced by an 80’s pop Bowie esque style and Mpho’s fashion sense is a mix between Lady Gaga Futurism and Beyonce sassy-ness. Check out the bright orange mirror top with larger than life shoulder pads in the video below — such a crazy cool look.

Well that’s it for now folks. Hope “y’all” enjoyed my first column. Don’t forget to log onto my blog for even more info on not just fashion, but music and art  as well.

Peace, your girl from London, SY. XOXO.

BLAST: What did you do for inFamous? What was it like working on this game?

BILL HARMS: I wrote all of the dialogue for the game, and also worked with the designers in plotting out some of the story’s finer details. For example, the player originally didn’t meet Kessler until much later in the game, and that was something that we moved up to an earlier point in the game. I also directed all of the voice actors.

Working on inFamous was a blast. Things were pretty crazy from the get-go because the writing was running late when they brought me in, so there were a lot of late nights and weekends. That said, it was important to everyone working on the game that it had a good story, so I got a lot of support.

BLAST: What other games have you worked on in the past?

BH: InFamous is the fifth game that I’ve worked on. The very first was writing the script for Rise & Fall (developed by Stainless Steel Studios and published by Midway), and then I worked at Gas Powered Games for two and half years or so. While there, I basically managed all of the writing for the company and got to work on both of the Supreme Commander games (the original game and its expansion pack), Space Siege, and some early work on Demigod.

BLAST: What were your goals with inFamous? How has it turned out?

BH: The primary goal was to give the player the sensation that they’re a realistic super hero. In the world of inFamous, there are no masks, no secret identities, etc. Cole is just Cole, he’s not “Lightning Man”. The same goes with the villains, they just go by their names. It was a lot of fun exploring that idea in terms if not only how Cole reacts to getting powers, but also how the people around him react. If super heroes were real, I think they’d be miserable — everyone would want a piece of them.

The critical reception to inFamous has been overwhelmingly positive. (Right now we’re in the mid-80s on Metacritic.) Sony did some great marketing for the game, including running commercials during the NBA playoffs and in movie theaters. It’s certainly the biggest launch I’ve ever been a part of.

BLAST: Tell me about your comic book projects!

BH: Right now I’m writing “Impaler,” an ongoing horror series that’s published by Top Cow. There’s a trade out for the first story arc, and we’re currently half way through the second arc. The art is by  British artist Matt Timson, and “Impaler’s” basic conceit is that Vlad Tepes, the “historical” Dracula is actually a vampire hunter. In fact, as vampires threaten to destroy our world, he’s the only chance we’ve got. “Impaler” was a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award, and the reviews have been great. Even if someone loves horror but doesn’t read comics, they’ll be able to get into Impaler.

I’m also in the early stages of writing a second book for Top Cow, and I also wrote a Wolverine one-shot that came out right before the movie.

Be sure to check out Bill Harms’ other work if you enjoyed inFAMOUS, and if you haven’t tried inFAMOUS yet, then go experience that as well.

Some people are just sweet. That’s actress Mimi Michaels: she’s sweet, she’s smart, she’s quirky, she’s cute… and she has a penchant for running around terrified in horror flicks. Recently Blast got to shoot the breeze with Mimi about her upcoming project, the TV miniseries “Meteor: Path to Destruction.” But first we had to talk scary.

BLAST: You’ve been in a lot of sci-fi and horror movies—”Backwoods,” “Shark Swarm,” “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust”—what do you like about working on thrillers like that?

MIMI MICHAELS: I wasn’t drawn to horror to begin with. I like working on drama and I love the dark stuff, but somehow I was booking all these dark horror genres, and I guess I just work well in horror. I like the intensity, and the psychological aspect. With “Boogeyman 3″ it was much more than just your typical horror movie. It had to do with the complexity of the human psyche. I looked deeper and didn’t just see it as a horror, one-dimensional thing. Plus, I like to run around and scream.

BLAST: Do you like getting scared? Would you go out and see a horror flick on your day off?

MM: It probably wouldn’t be my first choice. It’s tough for me to get scared, so when it does happen I’m actually quite exhilarated by it. When it can really move me like that… it’s fun.

BLAST: Have you ever been scared by a movie that you were in?

MM: We shot “Boogeyman” in Bulgaria during the wintertime. It was very dark and eerie, and there were moments where I felt a little trepidation. It wasn’t necessarily when we were on set, but I felt a little fearful… for my life!

BLAST: But you’re not just the horror movie girl. You played Aimee Semple McPherson in a biopic. Was playing an evangelical preacher anything like your experiences in horror movies?

MM: That was my first feature when I moved out to LA and it was a really incredible experience. It was a real meaty character. I played a pretty wide range in her ages, from about 15 to in her 40s. That was also difficult, and I was young too so I was still learning the ropes. She had such an interesting, compelling life, and I felt lucky that I got to just become her. It was very dramatic, kind of a roller coaster ride.

BLAST: Tell me a little about the role you play in the upcoming “Meteor: Path to Destruction.”

MM: I play Jenny Crowe, the daughter of this cop, and he has a feud going on with another good cop gone bad. Basically they have this confrontation, things get ugly, and Michael Rooker’s character Calvin Stark kidnaps me. Actually, I’ve been kidnapped several times in movie contracts. While this is happening as the subplot, meteors are beginning to shower down on earth, and it’s an apocalyptic, world-coming-to-an-end drama while there are these sort of subplot dramas going on in the midst of it. It was fun.

BLAST: We’ve all seen natural disaster movies before. What surprises can viewers expect from “Meteor” that they haven’t seen before in meteor-destroys-the-earth plots?

MM: What I like about “Meteor” is there are so many different stories going on. It feels like you’re watching several different films, but the common denominator is that the meteors are coming and the world may end as we know it. It’s about how everyone deals with this and different relationships. It’s really interesting to watch each character and their unique situation: how they cope with whatever drama is happening in their life, and how they sort of rise above it.

BLAST: So we have meteors falling from space, raining disaster on all mankind. It sounds like good quality drama and good quality sci-fi. Are you a fan of other sci-fi movies?

MM: I love sci-fi movies! In fact, I love alien movies and just “What else is out there?” But meteors are cool. My brother actually purchased a couple of asteroids. We were always into the sciences, so I definitely like sci-fi stuff.

BLAST: Here’s something I promised to ask. What’s the ideal date for Mimi Michaels?

MM: My ideal date, wow! Let me think about this one. I’d probably go the simple route: dinner, movie… maybe a walk on the beach. I know that sounds cheesy. A good first date would be a nice dinner and a movie, getting to know each other… and then maybe seeing some horror movie or sci-fi! I’m a simple gal.

Catch “Meteor: Path to Destruction” on NBC in July.