So there’s this game called Minecraft out, ok? And it’s not really a game as much as it is a sandbox with building blocks that allow you to do some wondrous things! The designer also took the words “building blocks” a bit too literally as you can see by the pic of the pink piggy, but don’t let that deter you, you’ll quickly grow to love the 3D throwback to 8-bit gaming!

The game is set to be sold for 20$ when it gets officially release, until then you can get it for the paltry sum of 10$ while it’s still in beta! Considering how many hours you’ll surely sink into this squarish gem it’ll be hard for you to find a better bang for your buck.

(more…)

After a few weeks of either not liking the shop contest of the week (another ad placement?) or just not having the time, I’m back in business with a new entry!

Hope you like this one as I actually am a big fan of Mister Hung. If not of this music, then at least of his name!

Let me know what you think:

(more…)

After a 2 week hiatus, Kotaku’s weekly photoshop is back! Which means I’m back as well with another submission!

This week’s theme is strange to say the least. We were tasked with showing video game characters and/or iconic video game weapons behind an X-Ray screen.

I couldn’t think of anything witty or clever so I just followed the instructions and am crossing my fingers

Oh, and my first submission, Pepto-Kirby, made top 20 by the way

(more…)

Nearly a year ago, my friend Sebastien nudged me in the direction of this pretty cool and addictive game called Elements. I’m surprised to say that Elements has kept me playing on and off since.

What kind of game is it? Well it’s a free, web-based, flash, card, video game. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it?

It can be described as a poor man’s Magic Online, and it generally doesn’t have the balance and professionalism that Magic Online does, but it’s  far from just a clone. There are several elements that makes Elements (bad pun intended) stand out from it’s big daddy.

(more…)

So Kotaku is having a weekly Photoshop contest. The most recent being about showing what video game characters would do for money if times were hard. I decided to join in on the fun.

I’ll try to participate every week if possible, and I’ll of course post my entries on towardsmecca. This should theoretically mean that I would be posting weekly. Let’s see how long that lasts

Below is my entry: Pepto-Kirby! Enjoy

UPDATE: My entry made it to the top 20!!! YOOHOOO!!

(more…)

I guess towardsmecca.com making it through it’s second year is barely an accomplishment since I’ve barely posted this year at all. 2009 has been a ridiculously busy year for me with my second child, Maryam, being born. Also, I worked on the high-profile iPhone game Modern Combat: Sandstorm and that was a HUGE time investment, but it paid off

(more…)

I’m not much of a facebook normally, I log on only when I get a notification of a message by e-mail, so obviously I was pretty neutral about the announcement that Facebook was making it’s way to the X-Box 360. Still, I had to give it a try, and I’m sure glad I did!

I was expecting a heavy, clunky, feature-to-feature adaptation of Facebook on the 360. Instead, whoever developped this app was smart enough to strip it off a lot of non-essential bells and whistles and in-so-doing sculpt a mostly enjoyable experience out of a normally mundane one.

(more…)

So here we are: 1 year, 115 posts, 842 comments and 115,992 unique visitors later and we’re still alive and kicking! What can I say, as I said in the first post, I didn’t know if I had it in me to even keep up with posting on a blog, now I can’t imagine life without it

So what has happened in the last year in my life? My son is 11 months old today My loving wife is still the love of my life! I’m still a game designer and loving that and have thus far worked on 2 released games with a third on the way! I’ve rediscovered two long lost loves: Magic the Gathering and Professional Mixed Martial Arts.  Haven’t touched my “work in progress” novel at all since last year though, and I’m really disappointed about that…

(more…)

In my endless trek to experience what the entire internet has to offer, I found myself on a free online comic called Slaughter Inc. I was immediately taken aback by the sheer quality of the comic in both art and writing.  Each page looks like a hand-painted work of art and the dialog feels straight out of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

The subject is right up my alley too. I don’t know what’s wrong with me these days but I can’t seem to get enough of zombies! From re-watching Shawn of the Dead, to being alarmingly addicted to Left 4 Dead … and now Slaughter Inc? What’s next, looking for brains in the frozen food section of my local grocery store?

(more…)