Since Lainy Voom and I put out a casting call for videogame-inspired Second Life avatars for a machinima project we're creating, she's received at least eight submissions. Thing is, eight of the avatars are creations of one Resident, Fenix Eldritch, and they're so marvelously realized, I had to share them here. If you've played any of the games they're associated with, you'll probably recognize them even in this thumbnail-- click the pic, to get a full view.
In case you don't, they are, clockwise from top right:
- The Prince from Katamari Damacy
- A Zerg Hydralisk from Starcraft
- Mr. Saturn from Earthbound
- NiGHTS from Nights into Dreams
- Skull kid from Zelda: Majora's Mask
- Vile from Megaman X
- Nightmare from Soul Calibur
- Samus Aran from Metroid
Great as these avatars from Fenix are, we're still looking for more. Got an avatar based on a classic videogame you want to feature in Lainy Voom's upcoming machinima? Read submission details here. Bonus if they're extra iconic, strongly associated with a console or massively selling franchise-- say, I dunno, Mario or Master Chief.
Update, 10:25pm: What inspired this videogame beastiary, which characters were the most difficult to create, and why doesn't he sell them? Fenix explains after the break.
On Inspiration:
"I grew up playing video games, so they've always had a special place in my mind. I think it's an incredible nostalgia high to be able to recreate something you enjoyed from your childhood the way you can in SL. It's much the same way that others draw fan art, or produce custom mods for other games. SL happens to be my medium of choice.
On Degrees of Difficulty:
"Of the avatars pictured, I'd say it's a tie
between Samus and the Hydralisk. Both have gone through several
iterations. I've completely rebuilt them from the ground up at least
twice already and they're still not finished. To that end, none of my
avatars are really finished. I'm always going back and making
adjustments, trying to do a better texture job or what have you. I
guess I'm really picky about it all.
On Not Selling His Videogame Avatars:
"Not to toot my own horn, but I can't count the number of times people have approached me while working on one of these and asked if it was for sale. I've been called lots of things for saying no, but I think I like 'Hermit' the best. I have no desire to acquire money in SL, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to build. Give me a sandbox and I'm content to spend all day there, creating something-- usually with a video game inspiration. Second Life is many things to many people and for me, it's a hobby. I think the best comparison is to building ships in a bottle in real life (if you're into that). I put a lot of effort and of myself into these works, and because if that, I feel connected to them. I take pride in showing them off, but I think it would feel less special if I saw a hundred copies of them buzzing around.
"I'm like that with with most of my works actually. The Firefly ship I built in Burnet (briefly mentioned in one of your past articles) is the only persistent copy in-world, and I like keeping it that way. I like calling it unique in a world like SL. I think this opinion is heavily influenced by my time spent in the public sandboxes... seeing careless avatars spam the entire sim with copies of one particular build. I would hate to see that with my own work."
OH my gosh I have to have NiGHTS. It strikes me as tragic, too, that the Grid is currently lacking a NiGHTS Into Dreams... tribute. That is, I've not seen or heard of one anyway. Yet it makes so much sense.
Posted by: Vidal Tripsa | Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 09:02 AM