Ska Studios » Vampire Smile

Merchtastic

Michelle — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:25:50 +0000

Ska Studios has some shiny new duds for you to check out in our merch store. You probably noticed we’re phasing out some older Vampire Smile designs in favor of the newer, bolder threads that were found at the last PAX East. We’ll also be selling all of these shirts at the upcoming PAX Prime.
To those who were looking for one of the old shirts, sorry folks, but that’s the way the thread…(puts on sunglasses)… unravels.

Check out some more images of our current shirts in this fine gallery. You can also see some finer detail for the VS Clean and VS Rock on their respective wallpapers at the Vampire Smile website.

Good Morning Gato #61 – What You Looking At?

Dustin "SuperDunner" — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:15:14 +0000

That’s our little monkey-cat Gato just hanging out. You can see that her claws are dug deep into the furniture as she looks into the camera with a face that questions everything, yet at the same time questions nothing. Deep.

Anyhoo, this week we unveil the secrets behind the creation of our life-sized Violence Hammer, confirm some of our E3 plans and say “goodbye!” using third person narrative. Come on in!

Hammer Time
It’s officially official: Michelle has gone blog crazy, but in a good way, of course.

Following a detailed account of her journey to Ska Studios and all thing plushie, Michelle decided to post an intersting Weapon Smithing blog that explains the creation of the life-size Violence Hammer featured at PAX East ’11.

James models the hammer like Vanna White
Whether you want to build your very own Violence Hammer, want to learn what went into making it or just like to look at pictures of styrofoam and cats, I encourage you to click over to Michelle’s blog to get Violence Hammer educated. I’m told that plans to create a replica Dekkentozter have been put on hold indefinitely due to Gato not being a fan of water guns.

E3 Celebration
Programming note: If you’re in the Los Angeles area or will be attending E3 2011 this June, be on the lookout for Ska Studios. James, Michelle and myself will be randomly walking around downtown LA as we take in the sights and touch all those fancy E3 game things. Give us a shout out if you’ll be in the area and, if the stars align allowing for a meetup, be sure to bring a gift. Presents are always welcome.

Dustin’s Goodbye
And now for the juicy news! This blog, the one that you are reading right now will be Dustin’s last. Effective today, Dustin is no longer a part of the Ska Studios team and will be leaving for other opportunities on the west coast. He will leave behind his adoration of the indie lifestyle, his love of the Ska community and his affection for the most adorable cat ever: Gato. (He will not miss Neko, though.)

In all seriousness, working at Ska Studios for the past year and half has been an absolute blast. I got to be part of a crazy talented team, got to meet many of you at events like PAX and was fortunate enough to be a part of some stellar Ska games including ZP2KX and Vampire Smile. From hence forth, the lovely (and artistically inclined) Michelle will be taking care of you and all your digital needs, but you can still find me lurking around the internets. (blam!)

It has been a crazy fun ride and know that you will all be missed. Thanks for the continued support. Dustin out <3

Good Morning Gato #58 – Totally Not Camera Shy

Dustin "SuperDunner" — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:30:35 +0000

What a nice picture of Ska Studios’ two resident cats. And while Neko may shy away from the camera’s flash (her insecurities do get the best of her sometimes), Gato has absolutely zero camera phobias. Gato is full of pride and confidence and is always ready for the lens. Cat, camera and confidence aside, it’s time for another informative edition of Good Morning Gato.

Even Moar Music!
Based on your enthusiastic demands, we’ve added new music to the Ska Studios music store and you’ll be overjoyed to hear that we’ve included the missing Vampire Smile solos!

The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Missing Solos Soundtrack features the music of all six mini-game solos from the game, including my personal favorite “New Canon”. As a bonus, all of the indie’licious tunes from Zombies & Pterodactyls 20XX has been added to the music store as ZP2KX The Whole Soundtrack.

Every single megabyte of music in the store is available for “pay what you want”, so download as many songs as your MP3 player can handle.

Summertime Studio
It’s technically spring here in New York, but the weather has been feeling more like a muggy summer than the expected cool breezes of springtime. With that, Ska Studios’ dehumidifier has been taken out of winter retirement and has been put to use, thus creating a more comfortable working space. Unfortunately, spiders too have come out of their winter hibernation and have decided to invade. My ongoing mantra: kill all arachnids without hesitation or any lingering remorse.

I bring up these topics as a forewarning that future Ska games may include inspiration from such surroundings. Say, for example, in a game like Charlie Murder. If you find yourself in a sweltering jungle fighting an army of mini spiders with some sort of dehumidifying weapon, then you know where such an idea came from.

(Second) Best Easter Egg Of 2011 (So Far)
According to GameFront, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile features the second best easter egg of 2011. (Exclamation point!) Admittedly, it’s a bit early to be making a “2011 best of” list, but who are we to complain about placing second on any list? Watch the easter egg’ness below and have a fantastic weekend.

New Vampire Smile Solos and ZP2KX Tunes!

Dustin "SuperDunner" — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:30:19 +0000

Today, we’re offering a helpful boost over the mid week hump by adding all-new Vampire Smile and ZP2KX indie tunes to the Ska Studios music store.

Available for download are two new albums including the pterodactyl-inspired ZP2KX The Whole Soundtrack and the much-demanded six song The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Missing Solos Soundtrack. Both albums (and individual tracks) can be digitally acquired via the Ska Studios music store for the very reasonable price of “pay what you want.” Have a happy hump day!

Good Morning Gato #57 – Piercing Yellow Eyes

Dustin "SuperDunner" — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:03:47 +0000

It’s a super short update this week, because it’s “vacation season” here at Ska Studios and I have a plane to catch. As a result, Gato is one depressed cat. Nobody invited her to go on vacation, so she has to keep her adorable yellow eyes at home and wait for our arrival. Don’t feel too bad for her, because the last time she traveled, our little Gato ended up with a horrible case of motion sickness and suffered from “crazy-insane freaked-out cat disorder”.

Music To My Ears
We heard you loud and clear: You wanted access to the musical awesome that is The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile soundtrack. I really don’t blame you, it’s quite the magical mix of awesome rock tunes, intense beats and emotional riffs. That’s why I worked with James earlier this week to not only make the Vampire Smile soundtrack available, but also music from Dead Samurai and Z0MBIES. I should also mention that all the music is available for the going rate of “pay whatever you want!”

Be sure to check out all the awesome Dishwasher and Z0MBIES tunes at the bandcamp hosted online music store at music.ska-studios.com. And to those who have been requesting Vampire Smile guitar solos, you can expect a separate guitar solo album in the future as well as some ZP2KX audio greatness. Stay tuned.

Vampire Smile Feedback
Just a short note to remind you that we encourage any and all feedback about your experience with The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. Praise, complaints, suggestions, compliments, we want to hear it all. Simply express yourself here in the comments, over on our Facebook page or @reply us on Twitter. We’re still listening and who knows, your awesome feedback could help shape future Ska Studios titles.

END
That’s it! My vacation is about to begin and I must made quick travel to the airport. We’ll chat soon, I promise.