Pads & Panels

Split/Second hit shelves yesterday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. A review should be coming soon, but to hold readers over until then, we’ve posted our video interview with Split/Second‘s franchise design director Paul Glancey, who was kind enough to take some time at PAX East to answer our questions. In the video, he explains how the single-player campaign works, the strengths and weaknesses of the game’s three main auto types, as well as “Power Plays” and how they’re used to wreak havoc on the various stages and competitors. Bill Jones interviews, films and edits. Video is filmed and presented in HD.

Cool People #2 – Garry Booth

Garry Booth caught the attention of Pads & Panels with a t-shirt design called Wii Exploded, a rendering of a dissected Nintendo Wii. We exchanged emails with Booth in April to get the low-down on his art and game-related designs.

Name: Garry Booth

Age: 25

Location: Long Beach, Calif.

Website: www.egofresh.com

Interview by: Bill Jones

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What first got you interested in art? What influences your style? (more…)

Cool People #1 – Richard DaLuz

Readers who have been following Pads & Panels from the beginning know a little bit about Richard DaLuz already. He’s the guy who built a Super Nintendo into a toaster and brilliantly called it the Super Nintoaster. We figured he would be the perfect person to help launch the “Cool People” series, so we exchanged emails. With his notable sense of humor, DaLuz tried to explain his fascination with stuffing consoles into toasters, as well as many of the other projects that can be seen on his site.

Name: Richard DaLuz

Age: 27

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Website: www.stupidfingers.com

Interview by: Bill Jones

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So why did you start stuffing crap into other crap? Or to be more specific, why did you start putting consoles into toasters? (more…)

Shawnimals Earth Day Interview

Interview by: Bill Jones

Shawn Smith, aka Shawnimal, is the Chicago artist behind the designer toy line Shawnimals and last year’s critical Nintendo DS hit Ninjatown. Smith launched a new limited-edition toy series this year based around the anthropologist Professor Fliggins, and today heralds the release of a special eco-friendly plush in honor of Earth Day, the Forest Spirit Wee Ninja. Pads & Panels caught up with Smith last week at New Wave Coffee in Chicago during the Bits + Pieces collaborative art show with fellow Chicago artist Blutt. Smith chatted about everything from Earth Day, to Professor Fliggins to Ninjatown. (more…)

Video Games Live

Interview and Photos by Bill Jones

*Note – This interview was scheduled to appear early this year in AMP Magazine, the publication many of us wrote games for before launching this site, which is why the interview is dated by a couple months. It is still relevent and informative, however, and Video Games Live is highly recommended if it comes through your town.

Video Games Live is an experience unlike any other – a unique melding of the nerd world, its electronic recreation and the high-class of an orchestral and choral performance in a true theatre that breaks down the haughty conventions with audience participation and a rock show vibe while bringing to life many of videos games’ best compositions on the stage. After experiencing the show first hand last year, we had a chance to talk to its mastermind, Tommy Tallarico last December. Always the entertainer, the television host/writer/game composer/producer gave the magazine plenty of insight into his program, which is bearing down on its fifth anniversary of being on the road this year.
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