Street Fighter 4 Gameplay Video

So yes I am a Street Fighter fanatic(reading any earlier post will tell you that) So here it is, courtesy of 1Up.com, the first ever video gameplay of Street Fighter 4. While it does look impressive I'm not quite sold on the art direction. The full 20 minute video is available for download at 1Up.com(along with a fantastic breakdown of the series for their 4 weeks of Street Fighter 4) and is a pretty good watch depending on what you want to learn about the upcoming game. But seriously, we all just want to see the money shots(the in game fighting people). Enjoy ;P

Happy Holidays

Hello people,

I know, I know I'm really late with this post but what can I say? The holidays are a busy time. Just wanted to drop by and hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, a safe New Year and, happy holidays. Until next time, take care, be safe, and God Bless.

Best Regards,

-Sonny

Some links to check out

"I am a part of all that I have met"
-Alfred Tennyson

Here are a couple links for you guys to check out. Other designers, photographers, and some cool places online that I happen to peruse on a daily basis. Check'em out.

Designers

Nitin Anand
http://www.nanand78.com/index.htm

Yothin Chanyontpatanakul
http://yo21.com/main_001.html

Carlos Gomez
http://www.emcees.net/

Lee Payne
http://home.comcast.net/~l33/

Lee Doel
http://www.thefunkhouse.co.uk/

Jill Quindiagen
http://buki.deviantart.com/


Photographers

Juliet Nicole
http://www.julietnicole.com/

Alexis Harrington
http://www.alexisharringtonphoto.com/

Clients

Duarte Design
http://www.Duarte.com

ESV Productions
http://www.mannyvalencia.com

Entertainment

/film
http://www.slashfilm.com/

JoBlo's Movie Emporium
http://www.joblo.com/

X-Entertainment(get your mind out of the gutter)
http://www.x-entertainment.com/

Retro Junk
http://www.retrojunk.com/

SuperHeroHype
http://www.superherohype.com/

Technology

Gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com/

Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/

Street Fighter!!!

Sprite Rips
http://www.zweifuss.com/

Special Thanks to:

BlueMouse01

wangruyi

I saw a dragon fly by!

I am a big fan of the Miami/L.A. Ink shows(and am awaiting the new England Ink) and on L.A. Ink there is an artist who says when he's waiting for inspiration he's waiting for a "dragon to fly by." So in the same sense, I have seen a dragon fly by. The dragon in my case is vectorized pin up girls. I was always amazed by how much detail artist could achieve in Illustrator, Corel Draw, FireWorks, etc... but have found my own way. Using my handy dandy "Bamboo" wacom and some newly found inspiration of the old school pin-up girls, I have a new artistic motivation. And I love it.
Although I do have to say that Miami/L.A. Ink may have been more influential in working on these pieces, I do love the way they came out. Links coming as soon as I finished. Until next time, peace love and happiness.

Animals vs. B-Boys

So ridiculous I love it!!!

Gym Class Heroes - Clothes Off

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween folks. Don't scare people too bad. You might get hurt(see below)

Tiger Power!!!

Hidden Agenda has just completed it's entry in the Tiger Balm "Can you beat this?" video contest! Our entry(known as Tiger Power) is a stick figure going through the motions of multiple sports when he eventually breaks down from all the pain. But that's no problem for him since he has TIGER Balm!!!(wow corny as hell)

Anyways, we have a lot of competition going up against 127 entries. The top ten will be chosen by November 1st with a voting for the winner running until the 13th. The winner will be announced on the 15th. Hopefully we make it to the top(with the help of your votes). Check out the video below and hit the link for the competitors.

Until next time as Vash the Stampede would say "Peace and LOVE!!!"








http://www.youtube.com/contest/tigerbalmcontest

I got 13 out of 25

Another designer buddy passed this on to me. The sad thing is it's mostly true.

25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer

(In no particular order)

1. You’ve almost rear-ended the car in front of you because you were analyzing a font on a billboard.

2. You get pissed when a free Photoshop brush you download is less than 1000px in size.

3. You’d rather study the paisley pattern on your boyfriend/girlfriend’s shirt than listen to what he/she has to say.

4. You can use keyboard shortcuts at light speed, blindfolded, but you can’t type a paragraph of text without staring at the keyboard.

5. You’ve had “Software Nightmares,” when you’ve been working way too much.

6. You consider meals interruptions.

7. You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving.

8. You clean your keyboard more often than you wash your car.

9. You’ve intentionally given up trying to explain your projects to non-designers.

10. You see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.

11. You’d rather organize your desktop than your sock drawer.

12. When you heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia, you had a Design Orgasm.

13. When you look at Album art all you see are grunge Photoshop Brushes. (Then you see the album art a couple minutes later)

14. You’ve Photoshopped out a watermark for a comp or mock-up.

15. You’ve actually $paid for a font.

16. You’ve totally slaughtered a great design concept because the client thinks he/she knows best. (everyone thinks they are a designer)

17. The amount of words you’ve written with a sharpie labeling burned discs total more than the amount of words you’ve read in novels.

18. You’ve had to explain to a client that a layered file wasn’t part of the deal.

19. You’ve kept a ragged concert ticket just so you could scan it.

20. You’ve nicknamed the OSX spinning wheel. (and not affectionately)

21. You bookmark a resource more often than you have a fun night out on the town.

22. You’ve intentionally overbid a project because you can sniff out a bad client from a mile away.

23. You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.

24. You have an amazingly huge font collection, and an amazingly short temper.

25. If you had a penny for every mouse click, you would have been a trillionaire 3 years ago.

I am a SF GEEK!!!!

Ok I can admit it, I'm a computer geek. I would prefer to spend hours looking up photoshop brushes and new fonts to download than watch TV. I would rather search through a gazillion freeware applications just to find a program that will type my name out for me in 2 keystrokes. Heck I would even spend hours searching the web for the perfect emulator port of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 than eat or sleep(dreamcast emulator is a boo). Which brings me to my geekiest of all obsessions...STREET FIGHTER!

Bypassing collecting original comic book sketches, old wrestling tapes, and ebay bidding wars for dvd recordings of VH1's I ♥ the 80's(part 1, 2, and 3) and I ♥ the 90's to become top dog in my geek book is no easy feat. But I will admit that this obsession began long ago thanks to the two loving people I like to call mom and dad. You see back in the early 90's my parents owned a donut shop. And as custom with all laundromats, 7-11's, and yes, donut shops of the time, arcade machines were a must. So when my parents purchased their latest donut shop something beautiful happened. Inside the shop were 3 arcade machines. My life as I knew it, would never be the same.

Of the 3 games2 of them would rock my ten year old world to the core. That's right Street Fighter 2(duh) and Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition(yah this was early in the Street Fighter series where massively long titled installments were just beginning). Don't get me started on SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2 TURBO HYPER X send a midget to clean your house for you FIGHTING EDITION (WTF?!?!).

Anyways, upon first glance I was hooked. I mean besides the obvious fact that boys + video games = $$$ I was entranced by the fact that there were drawings on the screen that I could actually move(yes I was a sad child). My mom took notice of this and did something I will never forget. She paid a kid playing one of the arcades(with two quarters of course) to teach me how to play. And man did I SUCK. But over time I learned more. I watched regular kids playing like a hawk while in my mind scoffing at their mistakes. I was learning new techniques, combos, and how NOT to act when losing(hint: screaming at the machine while customers are just walking in - not so good for business). When no one was playing I would sit aimlessly watching the intro animation for hours learning how to better myself as an artist and an animator ;P I would draw hundreds of pictures of Blanka, Ryu, and oh yes, Chun Li. Yes Street Fighter ruled my world. I got good(real good) but never entered any tournaments or anything too drastic. My dad never really helped with this problem as he was always bribing me to do more work just for a chance to play. "You want a quarter? Then go clean the icing trays!!!" But as with all good things it had to end. The machines weren't bringing in as much money as they used to and they had to go. I was sad. I still remember the day the game guy came, packed the arcade onto his truck, and took off. I think I even hugged the machine before it went.

So now with that lovely back story in place you understand my compulsion to Street Fighter. It sparked a side of me I didn't even know I had...the gamer side. While it would be years later until my then girlfriend(now wife) would ever get me my first real game console(PS2 Baby) I was a hardcore - fighting game - arcade freak. Now that I'm older game consoles and games don't seem to interest me as much(my favorite gaming system is M.A.M.E. for god's sakes). Arcade cabinets are going the way of the dinosaur it seems and sometimes you just have to let go.

But not yet!!! Capcom has just announced that they will be releasing Street Fighter 4. It's been almost 10 years since a Street Fighter game has come out since SF3 and now THIS. Velvet ropes have parred and champagne has poured from the sky. With this new trailer posted below you can bet I'm amped. And while yes arcades are very scarce to come by now, and 2-D fighting games have lost a lot of their popularity, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be one of the first ones in line to play when this baby comes into the world(I married a labor and delivery nurse, could you tell?). So long live Street Fighter, Capcom, and the fighting game genre. You give good memories and hope to us old school/old fart gamers. And I'm only 25 for Christ's sake.

Quarter Life Crisis - Who Me?!?

So one of my best friends just turned 25 recently. Out of the original four of us buddies he is the baby of the group so I've taken to calling him little bro. After speaking to him recently he seems to be headed into the same problem most people around my age(mid-twenties to early 30's) are facing...a QUARTER LIFE CRISIS!!!(Dun, Dun, Dun)

Now I was introduced to this phrase as a lyric from a John Mayer song("Why Georgia," so at least he can add coining a phrase to an unknowing audience to his resume aside from dating Hollywood blonde's). Very much akin to the mid-life crisis, the quarter life crisis affects those from their late teens to their early thirties. It is a time mostly dealt with fear, anxiety, insecurity, self-doubt, and in some cases, depression. The length of these episodes can last anywhere from a few days to a few months or longer. This problem is usually brought upon by those experiencing major changes in their lives with difficulties dealing with said changes(i.e. graduating, unemployment, the whole WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE?!?!?! thing) I have seen friends and co-workers become victims to this problem and various solutions taken upon by the same people(mostly large amounts of alcohol and curling into a ball on the bathroom floor weeping uncontrollably) But enough about me ;P

This issue is mostly associated with getting older and the lack of benefits that occur with a rise in age. Think about it, at 16 you get your learner's permit/pink slip - one step closer to vehicular freedom, at 18 you can finally buy all the cigarettes, lotto tickets, and porn you want(well at least you're doing it legally now), and at 21 it's party time. You can buy all the alcohol you want (again, at least your doing it legally this time). But at 25 what is there to look forward to? Lower car insurance? Freshly graduated with no secure job? Fear of being alone the rest of your life if you don't find a partner the minute that clock hits midnight signifying the exact moment you turn 25?!? (Ok, that last one was a bit much but it could happen.)

Well all I can say to those who are experiencing it is it'll pass. Just try to suck it up, get a hair cut, and get a job. At least this way you'll keep yourself occupied until you know what you really want to do. And if you really don't want to grow up yet, go for your masters right after you graduate from college. Then you'll have two more years to go before you have your 2nd quarter life crisis(happy, happy, joy, joy)

Below is a video I made for my Radio, TV, and Film class while I was going through my crisis. The professor thought I was being so real with my piece she gave me an "A." Just another example of art imitating life (Warning: Graphic Scenes may cause uneasiness, seriously)

The Role Model Program

While basking in the glow of victory from winning the Gizmodo.com contest (see previous post) would be ideal, Hidden Agenda is already hard at work on our next project. We will be working on a viral campaign for a non-profit organization known as "The Role Model Program." Hidden Agenda will be making a 45 sec- 1 minute PSA encouraging people to help volunteer as role models for today's youth. Thus far the program has recruited doctors, CEO's, managers, and celebrities to help promote their program in the past. We hope to help bring more awareness to such a wonderful organization. I'll keep you posted on our plans for the project and hopefully have some scripts/storyboard ideas for you guys soon enough. To learn more about the program click here.

Laptop Confidential II: The Gizmodo Informant - We WON!!!

My video side project "Hidden Agenda" entered Gizmodo.com's "Laptop Confidential II" contest and WON!!! The contest required that there can only be one actor playing multiple roles, the video had to be 1 minute long, and that it's shot in the "film noir" Sin City style. After planning it out my partner and I decided to go with an interrogation scene between a detective and clueless mad scientist. We had originally planned and shot a lot of footage that was quite comedic but had to cut it down majorly for the one minute time limit. We even had the black and white silhouette effect from Sin City but that had to go too. You can notice how the time limit affected us in the final version when you hear the detective's voice over call the mad scientist an "asthmatic freak." This was because we shot a scene where the scientist was laughing so hard he broke out into an asthmatic fit and needed his inhaler. (The storyboard for that scene can be seen below)Oh well what can you do?

On behalf of Hidden Agenda and myself, we would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who voted. Thank you to our friends and family for there support, to all employees of Southern Wine & Spirits across the country who voted, and to our friends and family overseas, thank you for your votes, they helped us make it to the top. We hope to have continued success with all your support.

We posted the video on numerous video sites and had a bunch of our friends post on their myspace pages, personal web pages, and whatnot. Apparently we got a good amount of hits from all over. Checkout the video and feel free to comment or send me an email. Also check out the Hidden Agenda Account on YouTube to see more videos.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the new Sonny Chhen blog! Here you will find updates on projects I'm working on, sketches, random ideas, and whatever else is on th table. Hope you enjoy and keep coming back for more updates.

Thank You and Best Regards,

Sonny H. Chhen

Website:
Schhen.com

Videos:
Hidden Agenda

Art:
DeviantArt