Press Start Q & A! |

Now available at Darkmaze.com!

Greetings Press Start Fans!

Because Press Start Adventures is now available on DVD at DarkMaze.com, I’m taking questions today about all things Press Start! More info about Press Start in the links below, but let’s get right to the Q&A!

Cole Eckert Asks:

If and when can we expect Press Start 3? And will we finally get a live-action appearance from God’s most devoted follower, Trenton Belfast?

Excellent questions Cole!

Press Start 3, or rather future Press Start projects in general remain a possibility. Every now and then I double check with Ed Glaser and say “Hey I know we’re both busy with
X, Y, and Z; but I’m still game for more Press Start stuff some day!” And so far every time he’s come back and said, “Me too!” So that’s a good sign!

I suspect much of the dedicated cast and crew would be game too. The question that we’ll have to answer if and when the time comes is what form would the next Press Start
project take?

Another live action movie could present scheduling and budgetary concerns. We stretched the locations, props, and costumes of the first two movies beyond the normal limits of a Dark Maze shoestring budget. So how would we make a third live action film that offers a unique and worthwhile experience?

More animated Press Start stuff sounds more practical, and yet selfishly speaking, it’s a lot

Live Action Trenton Belfast. Let's make it happen!

more work for me. So the best answer for now is don’t expect any announcements soon, because we’ve got some stuff to figure out. But don’t lose hope altogether either. Things could happen.

As for a live action Trenton Belfast, I would LOVE that! This picture may come back to haunt me, but there’s me at the Press Start 2 premier dressed as live action Trenton. He’d make a practical live action character in that he’s humanoid and dresses simply.

I briefly considered writing Trenton into Press Start 2, but there wasn’t really an organic way for him to just sort of pop in and out of the story (for scheduling reasons I wouldn’t have been able to play him as a principle character.)

If there’s more live action Press Start I’d like to make Trenton happen. Flood Ed Glaser’s office with letters.

Dennis VD Voort asks:

Which character is most fun to write for?
Who rules hell now? Skippie?
Will there be another season? (obligatory)
Name your favorite episode. (Mine is episode 2)

Numbered questions! I feel like the editor of a Marvel Comics letters page! 🙂

Count Vile is most fun to write for! Mostly because I can imagine Peter Davis
delivering the lines. I also enjoy Trenton and Buzz Porcupine.
The current ruler of Hell is unknown. Last we checked, there were only two dudes down there, a tree and a building inspector. Perhaps one of them is ruling Hell? Then again, according to the Soul Tournament rules established in “Final
Fright,” the current ruler must be overthrown to take on the mantle. So maybe in a technical sense Vile is still in charge, just not doing his job? Good mysteries to explore in a future Press Start project for sure!
As explained above, it remains a possibility, but nothing is decided yet.
I have a handful of favorites, but I think I’m most proud of “Up to Code.”

Vince Fisher asks:

When will there be new Press Start Adventures?

(Hm, Vince tricked me by asking for a specific time or date, phrasing the question under the assumption that new episodes were definitely coming. How can I handle this…)

There will be new Press Start Adventures… when… Ed Glaser and I are simultaneously winding down from whatever various other projects we have going on… and decide to figure out how best to approach more Press Start stuff.

(Phew!)

TurkishProverb asks:

Is there a particular video-game archetype you felt you didn’t get a chance to
cover in the series?

Good question! Between three seasons of the cartoon and two live action movies we
covered a lot of ground. Considering its immense popularity we never really had a good Halo gag though. The neat thing about videogames is that there is an endless supply of new ones, so I think there are a lot of games, genres, and series that have popped up or gained popularity over the past five years or so that we didn’t touch on.

We did a pretty good job with the gaming character archetypes though I think: the generically noble RPG/Adventure game protagonist, the Violent Ninja, the Space Marine, the Omnipotent Sorceror, the Lex Luthoresque Big Bad Businessman, shopkeepers, hags, anthropomorphic woodland heroes, goons, thugs, turtles… we didn’t miss anything that keeps me up at night I guess.

Bobby Powell asks:

I just bought your movie Press Start. It was funny, and damn awesome. I loved it!

My questions is this: What order does the series go in? I know you have two live action movies, and an animated series. I’m new to the series, so I don’t know.

First of all Bobby, I’m thrilled that you’ve discovered Press Start and hope that you will spread it to your gamer friends like some kind of wonderful infection!

Your question is an important one. In general, know that the two movies can be watched and enjoyed separately from the series without confusion. But if you really want to experience the entire Press Start saga in proper chronological order, here’s how to do it…

Season 1 of Press Start Adventures: Episode 1 “Pit Fallout” through Episode 14 “Megabusted”
Dial V for Vile (Optional, but these live action shorts take place before the first movie and can be found on the Press Start 1 DVD)
Press Start the live action movie
Press Start “Bio Haphazard” (A live action short which can be found on both the Press Start 2 DVD, as well as the X-Strike Studios DVD Resident Horror)
Season 2 of Press Start Adventures: Episode 15 “Devil May Die” through Episode 24 “Mirror Match”
Season 3 of Press Start Adventures: Episode 25 “Darksolicitors” through Episode 39 “Spawn Point”
Press Start 2 Continue the live action movie

There are also a handful of non-continuity dependent shorts that you can actually watch at any point:

The Press Start Holiday Special
The Press Start April Fool’s Day Special
Four super short cartoons which will be on the PSA DVD: “Speed Run,” “Fowl Play,” “Bubble Trouble,” and “F.U. Zero”
The Japanese Doll Commercial (found on the Press Start 1 DVD)

Ben Obby Ryan asks:

Aside from video games themselves, what were some of your inspirations to writing Press Start? Particularly, what do you think influences your style and humor?

What a cool question, Ben, thanks for asking! My humor, and by extension the style of humor in Press Start was in great part shaped the many excellent movies, TV shows, and cartoons I watched growing up.

: Zack, Sam, and Lin-Ku are off on another adventure… hey waitasecond!

I attribute a huge part of that to what I like to call the “Golden Age” of The Simpsons (seasons 3 through 8 or so). When I was writing the rough draft for Press Start 1, I tried to emulate classic Leslie Nielsen movies like Airplane and Naked Gun.

I also happened to be watching a lot of Futurama at the time, so I think that seeped in on a subconscious level. There are some eerie analogues between the main trios of each series (not to mention Zippy and Nibbler’s head deally-boppers, and Trenton sounding like a poor man’s Zapp Brannigan.)

There was a reviewer at the time of the first movie who described the dialogue as “Seinfeldian.” Again, I didn’t try to inject Seinfeld-esque dialogue in there, but it was kind of neat to hear that given that it was another favorite show of mine. I think to a point, all writers just kind of absorb, adapt, combine, and rechannel the stuff they enjoy.

So I guess that wraps things up for now! Thanks again to all you dedicated Press Start fans for your gaming humor patronage! And don’t forget to pick up Press Start Adventures right here!

Dark Maze Studios: http://www.darkmaze.com/

Press Start Adventures: http://www.darkmaze.com/pressstartadventures/

Press Start the movie: http://www.darkmaze.com/pressstart/

Press Start 2 Continue: http://www.darkmaze.com/pressstart2/