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Homestar Runner is back with a few laughs before 2016 ends
The internet felt like a kinder, simpler place during Homestar Runner's heyday. As if to combat all the bad vibes 2016 has given the world, we have a new video featuring Homestar and shirtless luchadore Strong Bad reading a children's book about a sports competition. Predictably, it's incredibly charming. Without giving too much away, there are some solid Mr. Mister and Night Ranger references, as well as a gag about the obsolescence of Adobe Flash.
Strongbad is back and he's rapping about fisheye lenses
We knew that the gang at Homestar Runner was coming back, and now that they're here it's hard not to be a little excited. In their triumphant return, Coach Z and Strongbad (pictured above) take a kind-hearted jab at '90s rap videos and their predilection for fisheye lenses. How? With a rap clip of their own, naturally. It sounds impossible, sure, but the new clip almost feels like a warm hug from the internet.
The return of Homestar Runner is imminent
Do you fondly recall anxiously awaiting a new installment of Strong Bad Email? Yeah, me too. Well, the creators of the Homestar Runner series of web cartoons are resurrecting the project following a popular April Fool's Day episode earlier this year. In an interview on The Jeff Rubin Show, co-creator Matt Chapman broke the news that he and his brother Mike are going to dust off the characters for some new content. After determining that the faithful were still eager for more -- even after the long hiatus -- the duo plans to start back up at a yet to be announced date, with a site redesign and a YouTube archive on tap as well. "Maybe it was a fluke just because it was the first one we've done... but just based on that alone, it was enough to make us want to give it a try again," said Chapman. With the rise of social media since the pair was last at it, here's to hoping Strong Bad makes the leap to Twitter. If you're not familiar, do yourself a favor and catch up before the new stuff drops.
Watch this rundown on the 'Pre-history of Online Video'
Hokay, so here we go: before the likes of Leroy Jenkins, that kid David who went to the dentist and Keyboard Cat blew up on YouTube, there wasn't exactly a centralized place to check out the latest videos your friends were talking about. Instead, those of types clips went viral via email and at places like eBaum's World, or, in the case of StrongBad Emails, on a sort of network all their own. In the clip below Hank Green, host of Crash Course and brother to The Fault in Our Stars author John Green, gives a quick rundown of what online video was like prior to YouTube. We highly suggest watching it; it's worth your time, we promise. And if you've been online for as long as we have, it's likely to bring back a few fond internet memories. Should the video not satiate your thirst for nostalgia, however, perhaps a Homestar Runner chaser (...or three, or four) will do the trick.
Willow Garage PR2 robot learns to sort socks for $10k prize (video)
We've been following the evolution of the Willow Garage PR2 robot for a little over a year now, watching as it learned to mooch electricity and hustle pool sharks. That, as it turns out, was only the beginning. The robots are now up for general pre-order should anyone want one (priced well into the "if you have to ask" range, surely), and to celebrate that Willow Garage founder Scott Hassan put up $10k to sponsor a video contest of the PR2 robot doing some impressive things. The winner is a video called "Sockification" from a crew at UC Berkeley in which the PR2 shows some... enthusiastic sock sorting skills. You can see that one embedded below, along with our personal favorite: an ode to StrongBad and his lightswitch rave.
Telltale Games may be releasing all games for Mac
Telltale Games has been rocking the retro lately, doing great things like bringing Secret of Monkey Island and Sam & Max back in new forms, and releasing new episodic classics like Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Now they might be doing so on the Mac: rumor has it that they'll be releasing their whole catalog on the Mac as soon as next month, just in time for an appearance at Macworld Expo. Apparently there are many Mac fans both on the team and in the customer base, and they're just figuring out a way to do it. Sounds awesome to us -- Telltale's stuff is already available on a few other platforms (both PC and consoles), but they have a history of putting fans first, so we might even expect some goodies to come with a Mac release. We'll have to wait and see what they've got planned. [Via IMG]
Telltale details first Strong Bad episode, 'Homestar Ruiner'
If our recent interview and the latest screenshots from Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People weren't enough to a satiate your interest in harassing the residents of Strongbadia, publisher Telltale has released some additional details for the forthcoming adventure game's first episode, titled "Homestar Ruiner," which will be released over WiiWare and the PC in June.According to Telltale, the plot, for people who care about such things, will see the bobble-headed Strong Bad scheming to win the tri-annual 'Race to the End of the Race' while also working to get a disgraced Homestar Runner from loafing around his domicile. As mentioned in the past, the game will include a variety of mini-games and other diversions, two of which Telltale has now revealed to be Snake Boxer 5 from Homestar's fictional game development studio, Videlectrix, as well as the ability for players to create their own Teen Girl Squad comics. SO GOOD!%Gallery-22983%
Joystiq interview: Holy crap! Telltale talks Strong Bad
It won't be long before our wallets are drained of life thanks to Nintendo's freshly delivered digital download service, WiiWare. However, we're saving a few Wii Points under the mattress for Telltale's upcoming episodic take on iconic internet flash cartoon, Homestar Runner, in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. It's dot com. With the series announced to launch in June and new first episode details expected to drop later this week, we headed over to Bubs' Concession Stand for more information on the upcoming game. Of course, he wasn't much help, though he did point us over to Telltale, where we spoke with marketer extraordinaire Emily Morganti about all things Strong Bad. For the complete breakdown of what went down, hit up the interview below and pop open a one -- just make sure it's cold. A one which is not cold is scarcely a cold one at all. Gallery: Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Secret Collect. reveals itself on the DS
Just when you think we've established what the Nintendo DS is capable of graphics-wise, homebrew developer Phillip Bradbury comes along and smashes those preconceptions with a Videlectrix port for the ages. If you thought Population: Tire shook the scene with its innovative touchscreen controls, prepare to be brought to your knees by Secret Collect. Epic in every sense of the word, this remake is half Indiana Jones, half God of War The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:"The greatest secrets man has ever known have been scattered all over the globe and its [sic] your job to find them."Homestar Runner's Strong Bad stars in the game, represented by a magnificently detailed, red square. You'll navigate the agile hero through fifteen blocky mazes and collect yellow squares to advance to the next spine-tingling level. Picking up the blue power-ups (also squares) will boost your speed, keeping you ahead of the labyrinths' treacherous monsters -- so treacherous, they're invisible to the naked eye! The original Flash version is also available online for those of you who either lack the tools to play homebrew games or don't have enough room on your hard drive for the 18KB download.
Flash memory oddity reveals image of Jesus and / or Gandalf
Now that we've got our own CNC hot-air gun to draw images of Jesus and Mary to our heart's content, we're not so very surprised to see those revered images popping up in odder places, like this here flash memory. Revealed by transmission electron microscopy, the folks at Chipworks found this familiar image of the Messiah on a 4GB Samsung flash memory chip. Dick James explains: "We often get dark fringe lines in the silicon, and in this case it looks like there was some holy influence." However, we're not so sure this is a dead-ringer for Jesus. As some staff at El Reg have pointed out, the dude also bears a striking resemblance to Gandalf, and we're seeing more of a long-haired, bearded Strongbad at play here.
Trogdor burninates with Viidelectrix update
The Homestar Runner crew has added to its Viidelectrix lineup with two new titles: Trogdor! and Duck Guardian One. Viidelectrix's ported flash games are formatted and designed to be played on the Wii's Internet Channel. These retro-styled titles often feature Homestar Runner regulars like Strong Bad and The Cheat. Trogdor! stars the site's beefy-armed dragon on a quest to stomp peasants and burn down villages. This release takes advantage of recent Wiimote API advances, enabling gamers to use the directional pad and all of the buttons on their controllers. Duck Guardian One employs the standard point-and-click controls, but has you fighting for a nobler cause. With the help of various rays, you are in charge of protecting a traveling group of ducks from bombs, robot heads, and other everyday hazards.Perhaps this Viidelectrix release of Trogdor! means that an upcoming port of Peasant's Quest can't be too far off? We hope so![Via Wii Rally]
Enter: Strongbad gaming
Be careful, brave readers: upon playing these games, you head may a splode. Fans of Strongbad can now drink up a wonderful dose of flash gaming, via the Opera internet browser. Viidelectrix currently has four games available, developed with the Wii in mind, with more scheduled to come. These might not be paragons of game design, but fans of the series will certainly enjoy the meta-humor and references contained therein.Where the heck is Peasant Quest? That game was awesome. Flash gaming on the Wii: 1.5 times neater than doing it in front of your computer.
Homestar Runner games make Wii's HEAD A SPLODE
First Trogdor gets his theme song featured in Guitar Hero II, now some of Homestar Runner's retro-tastic games are being adapted for use on the Wii web browser. What's next -- Stinkoman 20X6 on Xbox Live Arcade? Basically, the Wii versions of these games just use the Wii remote to replace the computer mouse, or use the pointer to control a character rather than the keyboard directions. While these adapted games play well enough, they wouldn't even be necessary if Nintendo would open up the Wii remote D-pad for simple directional input on Flash animations (apparently hackers are working on just this problem). Only four titles from the massive Videlectrix catalog have been optimized for the Wii remote as of yet, but the site alluringly promises "more to come." We can't wait for the Wii version of Duck Guardian One. Those robot dogs don't stand a chance against our Wii remote skills.
Full Guitar Hero II setlist with 24 bonus tracks
No sooner did we let y'all know that DethKlok, the fictional band in Adult Swim's Metalocalypse, would be making an appearance as an unlockable bonus track in Guitar Hero II, than we found out the entire bonus song list ... 24 tracks in total! It appears certain Wal-Marts, depending on how many copies of Guitar Hero they sold, have demo kiosks with the sequel set up and ready to rock! Twenty-four low-res pictures later, we know the entire list of unlockable songs. Combine those with the forty tracks already confirmed, and you've got yourself quite the rock feast.A notable addition: Popular Flash cartoon -- and Nintendo Tag Team Wrestling alum -- Strong Bad's metal/dragon opus Trogdor (The Burninator). Check out the video -- and the entire 64-track setlist -- after the break, then play the Trogdor game, to hone up on your burninating.[Thanks, notafan]
Homestar Runner on your iPod
The brothers Chapman, the creative siblings behind Homestar Runner, have entered the crazy world of podcasting... kinda.They have made available for download a few classic episodes of Strongbad email for download in iPod friendly video format. As we all know, though, in order to be considered a 'podcast' there must be a RSS feed with enclosures, however, technicalities aside this is some funny stuff.Everybody to the limit!
