1up.com’s Jeremy Parish is probably one of the most intelligent game journalists around, so when he spread news that he was putting a book of works together from both himself and his staff, I knew it was something to keep my eye on. After all, Jeremy is one of the few professional game journalists that actually knows how to write well, and even when I disagree with the guy, his points are always valid. In addition, the rest of the team over at his personal website, Gamespite.net, are also a bunch of talented individuals. When Gamespite Quarterly was release about two weeks ago, I decided I’d order my own copy.

Quarterly is a compilation of articles and reviews from the staff at Gamespite, in which I gather each Quarterly issue will have a theme. In celebration of the Gameboy’s 20th Anniversary, the first issue is nothing but love for Nintendo’s little machine that could. Many of the features are actually straight off the website, while some of them are new to the book (though I believe even those new ones will end up on the site eventually). So what’s the point of buying a book where all the content will be available for free on the web at some point? Because I can’t help but downright respect a grassroots venture such as this. I love the idea of having a physical book encompassing all of the Gameboy’s rich history, and it helps that nearly all the reviews and columns are well written and thought out.

The book offers a brief history about the Gameboy itself, along with brief looks at its rivals like the Atari Lynx and the Sega Gamegear. There are plenty of reviews on well known Gameboy titles like Mario Land and Fall of the Footclan, as well as some more obscure titles like Gargoyle’s Quest. Staying somewhat current, the book even offers looks at the recent Casltevania title on the DS, along with a few other modern games. It all comes together quite nicely, and it makes for a great read in short bursts since most of the articles aren’t more than a page or two.

I guess my love for the Ninja Turtles will never truly fade. I’ve loved the Turtles since the second or third grade and while I didn’t really follow the comics, newer animated series, and the terrible live action series, I’ll always have a special spot for them.

As a grown adult, I still enjoy my fair share of TMNT merchandise. A buddy of mine handed me this super sweet “Artobiography” about the original TMNT comics that is full of all sorts of great content. The book is packed with tons of drawings, story boards, character designs, and behind the scenes insight all compiled by Kevin Eastman himself. It’s a great book, even if looking at it now shows me that Eastman and Laird weren’t exactly the greatest artists. That doesn’t matter because their idea was so solid, and their work ethic so dedicated that they were able to take TMNT from their small apartment and turn it into a world wide phenomenon that has become ingrained in culture as much as anything from Marvel or DC.

Second, I ordered a beat up copy of TMNT: Fall of the Footclan for the original Gameboy for a whole six cents off eBay. The thing looks like it’s been through a bomb blast, but I cleaned it up, threw some double A’s into the old green beast and played through the first stage of the game. I loved this game back when it came out, but it’s a rather average action game these days. Since I didn’t want to deal with the ancient Gameboy screen, I ended up playing through the whole game using Super Gameboy. There was some great TMNT fan service in here including lots of great stills right out of the pilot episode of the cartoon. Sure, it’s really dated now, but back then Gameboy games just didn’t have graphics that looked like the real deal.

In this day and age, just about anyone can self publish a book. Many artists have taken up the title of authorship and have released their own books featuring sketchbooks, instructional guides, and an array of comic books. One of my favorite character designers, Ben Balistreri, recently finished up work on his comic book, “Seaweed”. According to Ben, it took him nearly six years to accomplish the task as he single handedly produced all the artwork found in this over-sized book. It measures a good 12×15 and all 64 pages are in glorious color.

The story is about a pirate, Seaweed, and his first mate, Poisson, who have a chance meeting with a bat named Mildew who is looking for The Devil’s Cookbook which can grant anyone who has it practically enternal life. As you can see, everyone here is an animal or fish of some sort. It reminds me a lot of the early Disney shorts where everyone is an animal, or like how in the Goofy shorts there’s an entire hockey rink of Goofies. There’s not a human in sight in Seaweed’s world and I think its all for the better.

As usual for Mr. Balestreri the art is top notch. The line work is stunning. I am constantly amazed by Ben’s pencil and ink work, and “Seaweed” shows it all off with positive flair. The second half of the book is a collection of sketches and some insight into Ben’s process. This part is printed on a different stock of paper and gives it the feeling of a second book. Most of all of drawings have been featured on his blog in the past, but they beautifully reproduced here and look fantastic.

I like stuff about zombies. Sure, vampires are cool and I guess werewolves have their moments (few and far between). There’s just something about zombies that gets me where it counts. I mean, is it so unthinkable that a virus exists that could turn humans into mindless, flesh-eating monsters? I’m sure there’s some military research program out there devoted to creating a biological “zombie bomb”, I mean look at all the other weird shit they come up with.

Anyway, since Halloween is right around the corner, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite zombie related movies, books and video games. I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover something new. In no particular order…

28 Days Later – DVD & Blu-Ray

If you’re like me, you have probably found yourself scowling at your back door around 2 AM, realizing that it would be very easy for a zombie to gain entry to your home. Maybe you’ve already spent sleepless nights lying in bed pondering how you could close your attic door from the inside, and figured out a method to survive up there over a long period of time. If you sleep with a Katana less than 5 feet away from you at all times, then “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks is probably the book for you.

The title pretty much sums up exactly what this book is all about. Written in an instructional guide format it provides you with everything you need to know in the event of an outbreak of the undead. Ranging from practical knowledge about Zombie physiology and proper corpse disposal methods to weapons and home fortification, this book is an absolute asset. You may be saying to yourself “But Steve, a Zombie invasion? Ludicrous!”. Well… that’s the exact kind of mentality that gets motherfuckers killed. Worse than killed actually, you will become one of them: a mindless, automation bent only on the consumption of human flesh. Me? I’m not taking any chances for the well being of my family.

The book does an excellent job of breaking down many misconceptions Hollywood has given us of the proper way to handle a Zombie attack. For example, you may be familiar with the idea of the hero racing through a mob of zombies with a chainsaw, lobbing off heads and screaming like a madman. While this makes for good entertainment, The Zombie Survival Guide teaches us that weapons like Crowbars, Cross-bows, Bolt-action Rifles and the Japanese Katana are actually the best weapons to use against a Zombie.