Pico Day is this weekend. I wish I could go this year. I don't know if Tom's planning on doing Tank Awards during Pico Day, or if that will come later, nor if the Tankies will include 2011 and 2012.

I think Abobo's Big Adventure is a nominee for 2012. I hope we win since we've gotten the shaft as "Game of the Year" from all the other web competitions out there. I wouldn't mind losing too much to Fancy Pants or Madness though.

I went to two Pico Days in the past. It was a blast both times. There's nothing like meeting the real people behind all the stuff you see on this web site.

One incident in particular stands out to me:

My most recent visit was in 2010 (I think) and, for some reason, there was a fake rubber phallus floating around the NG office. I was sitting in the TV area watching a movie or playing streetfighter or something and Stamper came over with the little rubber wiener. He shoved it down his pants and pulled it out through the front zipper in his shorts.

Mind you, this particular rubber device was very lifelike, so it appeared Stamper had exposed himself and was just sitting there nonchalantly enjoying the television program with his flaccid junk hanging out. Well, Tom eventually walked up and started having a conversation with us. At one point his eyes flicked down to Stamper's shorts and a very strange look crossed his face.

I believe that, if memory serves, Stamper then started yanking the protrusion around violently and began blurting out exotic jungle sounds. I was in tears from laughter and Tom just shook his head and walked away.

THIS IS THE KIND OF FUN YOU CAN HAVE IF YOU GO TO PICO DAY!

P.S. I found this picture of the Boston Bomber wearing a BoMToons shirt:

Life:
The Flexicade Kickstarter is close to being born. I got together with my best bud Matt this week and we worked around the clock to build the "Mark 3" version of the Flexicade cabinet. It turned out really well and looks better than most arcade cabinets you see in public these days. Plus, it's 4 PLAYER!

Check out this album of pics from the build!

Big thanks to Luis for the Chibi Knight marquee and side art.

I got lots of photos and film footage to edit together a Kickstarter video. Stay tuned!

Death:
Roger Ebert passed away. He was an advocate for movies and games as legitimate art forms.

If you have a sec, do the following:
1. Sign up for the Flexicade alerts list at the top of our site if you want to be notified when we launch the Kickstarter.
2. "Like" us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FlexiCade
3. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlexiCade
4. Admire this photo of my friend Matt, the engineer behind FlexiCade :-)

Me and my best bud from high school launched FlexiCade.com!

We are working on building our final prototype of a customizable arcade cabinet that supports 4 players, can be full size or table top, and can break down into a simple bundle that can fit in a car trunk for traveling. It can also run MAME, Flash, or consoles to round out the idea that it's "FLEXIBLE!"

We've already built 2 prototypes, one is the arcade cabinet we used to show off Abobo's Big Adventure at Comic Con for the last few years and the "Mark II" is a 4-player version of it.

The "Mark III" (the version we're currently working on) will hopefully work out all the last bugs of production so that we can offer these through a Kickstarter campaign at a reasonable price.

Sign up for the mailing list on the site to get notified when we launch the Kickstarter. Also do the social media thing and follow FlexiCade on Twitter and Facebook.

In other news: Rog, Pox, and I will be at FGS on March 24th in San Francisco. If you're going, make sure to stop us and give us high-fives.

While we're together I'd like to do our own "Let's Play" video commentary play-through of Abobo just to show people the thought processes that went into it.

Older News>>

Here's a generic update:

1. Follow my Twitter for more frequent nonsense posts.

2. I'm working on a kind of cool game with someone kind of famous! It will involve the Flash twitter API and have the voice of this guy you will probably recognize FROM MOVIES! Can you guess who it is?

3. I've been swimming, lifting weights, and eating low carb to try to get into better shape, been making pretty good progress, but still have about 15 lbs to go to be where I'd like to be.

4. Got a new DSLR camera that takes amazing photos/video. Check out the picture of the anodized aluminum Settlers of Catan pieces my buddy made below. I'm learning about photography terms and best practices. My 50mm prime f1.8 seems to be the shiznit at the moment. Part of the reason for getting the camera is to make a legit looking video for a Kickstarter (see 5 below).

5. Working on a new arcade cabinet prototype (in anticipation of a Kickstarter campaign) + designing a logo for the arcade thing + gotta make a website/devblog and set up the social mediaz for it.

6. I'll be attending FGS in March because Abobo is nominated for a Mochi award. I'll be taking a break from my low-carb diet on that day. I think Pox is coming out too so that will be a fun reunion!

7. Working on a revamped version of BoM Beat Battle with a new graphical more cartoony/fun style and lots of characters built in Unity for a mobile platform launch. It's going slowly, but surely.

8. I've got Chibi Knight 2 on the backburner. It's huge in scope to meet my vision for it so is extremely intimidating, but the small amount I've done so far looks and feels REALLY nice.

9. I was feeling a bit depressed about approaching my mid-30s and not having any significant work-related breakthroughs to show for it... maybe a bit related to the season, but I'm pulling out of it and feeling hopeful for the future. I have some ideas for games I think would be great on consoles and mobile, I just need to get the right mojo going with the right people to get them out to the world.

First off, today's the last day to vote for Abobo for GOTY and best Action Adventure Game. Click here, then click the checkbox at the top of the page, then click "vote" next to Abobo.

THANKS!

Next, I need your help in making some decisions for a Kickstarter offering limited edition 4 player Abobo Arcades:
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1330508

Here are our favorite names, which do you like best? (We want to highlight the fact that it can be a tabletop, full size, and break down small enough to store/fit in a trunk for travel)

A. FlexiCade
B. TransformArcade
C. ReadyCade
D. VersaCade
E. TakeArcade
F. CarryCade
G. AdaptArcade
H. RollArcade
I. MightyCade
J. MorphArcade
K. [ Your Idea Here ]

DOUBLE THANKS!

Abobo's Big Adventure is a year old and no longer on the "Best of the year" NG collection page.

But, it is up for Best "Action Adventure" game on jayisgames and also Game of the Year.

http://jayisgames.com/best-of/2012/action-advent ure/

Give Abobo an anniversary present and vote for him (you can vote once a day for the next week or so). Check the box at the top of the page to also give it a vote for GOTY.

Luvs n' Kisses,

--Nick

I was in a bind last Wednesday. I was supposed to show a biographical video of a local community member at a community dinner. I had everything filmed and a script written but...

WOOPS! I FORGOT TO GET A VOICE ACTOR!

Enter Newgrounds:

1. I made a user-page post requesting voice acting, got a bunch of demos almost immediately, and chose someone to work with (http://shock-dingo.newgrounds.com/).

2. I used http://www.Newgrounds.com/dump/ to share the voice demos and the script with the voice actor.

3. I had a PERFECTLY recorded sound file the next day and met my deadline.

4. ????

5. Profit

Thanks for being awesome NG and providing sweet collaboration tools! I'm grateful for the NG community, and proud to be a part of it.

HUGE thanks to Shock-Dingo for swooping in and saving the day. I highly recommend his talents if you're looking for a professional, fast, and talented voice-actor.

I'm making a little biography video for a community event and I need someone to do their best "Morgan Freeman-like" voice over as:

"That narrator who tells biographical information while still pics pan across the screen"

I need maybe 2-5 minutes of audio
Please comment here or PM me if you're interested and link me to some voice samples.

I love you in advance.

I turned on Portal Defenders Halloween mode by default for today!

If you haven't see it yet, check out the game with special Halloween costumes on everyone:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/484931

My family received an early "treat" this Halloween. New baby boy, 7 lbs. 14 oz., 21 in. long!

I'm considering quitting life to just stare at him all day :-D

I will likely be adding a new baby to my family this week! Our due date is this Friday! It will be a man-child.

Nervous and excited, just thought I'd share with my NG homiez.

Help Kickstart this baby by clicking here!