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Editor's note: The Pixel Revolt gents are taking the week off, but they do have a couple of homework assignments for you for the next episode on Aug. 10. -Jason

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We've got some good news and some bad news, folks.

The bad news: Jeff's in the process of moving, so we're going to miss our usual biweekly Tuesday schedule for Pixel Revolt. The next episode is now scheduled for Tuesday, August 10.

The good news: You have one more week to answer the community question!

What setting (time/place) do you most want to see in a video game?

My choices are Mars and the 12th century. I've already got a title lined up: Medieval Martian Mayhem! It would pit space knights against cosmic trolls and moon dragons, and it would be totally awesome.

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Editor's note: Omar takes on some pretty weighty topics in this one. I think we can all agree that games could use more diversity and less stereotypes, although I'd say that the increasingly common create-a-character option is a big step in the right direction. - Demian

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When I use the word "race," I don't mean to refer to Orcs, Elves, or Dwarves. However, I don't blame you for being confused. Instead, I'd like to discuss the notion of race and cultural identity in the context of video games.

It doesn't require too much research to conclude that most video game characters are white men. Beyond that, they are usually white men between the ages of 18 and 40. While there are a few outliers to this rule, the mainstay of video game development has been to create a world and story which surrounds a white person, or is told through the eyes of a white person. I've been playing video games since I was a toddler, and yet, I've only had one or two opportunities to play as a character who exists in the same ethnic demographic as myself.

With a few exceptions such as Akuji the Heartless and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Carl Johnson, all the black protagonists of video games are either real-life celebrities (Shaq Fu, Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City, Moonwalker, Wu Tang: Shaolin Style) or otherwise pre-existing personalities (Blade and Spawn). The few non-White characters which do exist normally reinforce negative stereotypes (Shadow Warriors' Lo Wang) or aim for irony and fail (Daikatana's Superfly Johnson).

Either way, it's clear that very little creative effort has gone into fabricating interesting, amiable, or heroic non-White, non-male protagonists.

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Some gaming tattoos are pretty cool, and others are just plain ass.

Cultural Blips:

• Tetris tattoo pieces together nerdy heart. This Tetris-inspired heart tattoo is a wee bit aww-inducing. Well, if your heart is made of falling blocks. Ours? Cheeseburgers. [Geekologie]

• Nuka-Cola Quantum -- it's not the real thing. But this fan-made soda pop from Fallout 3 sure does look real. Wonder if it comes in zero radiation. [Offworld]

• Nintendo GameBoy Coin Pocket is small enough to fit in any hole. We love our DS, but it's way too big; it hardly fits in our back pocket. These little Game & Watch-style GameBoy keychains, though? You can pack at least four or five these guys back there. Maybe more. Especially if you're on the Fat Princess diet. [technabob]

• Pac-Man oven mitt prevents oucha-oucha-oucha. Keep your digits burn free with this officially licensed Pac-Man oven mitt. Perfect for when you want to make a killer batch of pellet brownies. [Geekologie]

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Andy "Anubis" Baran -- a former writer and editor at EGM, EGM2, and Expert Gamer -- passed away this past Sunday from pancreatic cancer. His friends and former coworkers shared some memories in an earlier post about Andy (and here's another from one of his friends/fans), but for this one, we'd like to fulfill a small wish of his.

Several months ago, Andy was preparing a series of stories for Bitmob about his early years in the gaming-magazine industry. He never got to finish them due to his steadily worsening condition, but I do have early drafts of the first few parts he was able to get to.

I'm happy and honored to be able to post Andy's last articles, cobbled together into a two-part series (they're long, but worth reading...especially for the juicy insider nuggets that are sure to piss some people off). I know he wanted to share these stories with everyone. Please read on after the jump.

(Part Two here)

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Evolution of an Industry, part 1
By Andrew Baran

Click for an enlarged view.

It's been awhile, so you may not recognize my name, but longtime Electronic Gaming Monthly readers may have at least heard of Cyberboy, my overused alias. I had the pleasure of 10 years (1991-2001) working at Sendai/Ziff-Davis on nearly their entire range of publications, including EGM. I spent one of the longest tenures on the magazines, during a momentous shift of the video game industry as a whole.

My editorial responsibilities spanned a diverse range, from news to reviews and everything in between. Starting with the NES era and culminating in the days of Xbox, I had the privilege of witnessing a huge cross-section of the industry we all love.

A lot of things change over 10 years, and this can be clearly seen in the business of technology, which directly impacted video games on nearly every front. To put it simply: The company I had joined was nowhere near the company that I had left. Not only did the magazines and the process behind them change, but the entire industry underwent some sort of mystical transformation around us as well.

Welcome to an ongoing series that will showcase the editorial process, a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most popular gaming magazines for its time evolved and grew. I will also delve into how the industry functioned, a look at how the Internet changed everything, plus the driving forces of technology and fads. I hope to give you a glimpse behind the curtain at the fun, work, and sacrifice that it took to bring the love of all things gaming to the public.

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Editor's Note: To answer Nigel's question below, "Who gives him the right?"...we do. We'll give him the right by front-paging this sucker. We back this post 1000% and would love it if the world would re-read it right before PAX, Tokyo Game Show, CES, E3, etc. -Shoe

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I am writing this after having attended Comic-Con. I had a great time as always -- it was awesome. What wasn't awesome was the droves of people who thought it OK to be flatulent. Let's go over some rules:

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Wow, another big game got delayed? Is this the sign of the video game apocalypse? Yeah, we think so, too! Heeeelllllppppp!

News Blips:

• Dark Void won't see bright retail space until next year. Yep, Capcom's next big action game got delayed. Man, hearing this news and also finding out earlier this morning that only one Mega Man game came out this year makes us wonder if Capcom is doing OK. Listen, guys, if you want to talk, let us know. We're here for you. [1UP]

• Microsoft says Gearbox is not making Halo game in case you want to believe them. It's been rumored for a while that Borderlands developer Gearbox is secretly working on a Halo game, but the Halo Waypoint Twitter says that's not true. And we all know, if it's on the Internet, it must be true. [Joystiq]

• Avatar: The Game requires fancy technology to see fancy technology. Turns out if you want to see the fancy 3D effects in the Avatar game, you have to have a HDMI port and a 1080p TV. Oh, that only rules out about a crapload of people. Better than a mega crapload! [MTV Multiplayer]

• New games too demanding for 360 Games on Demand service. Later this fall you'll be able to download full 360 games through Xbox Live's Games on Demand service. You just won't be able to download new games as Microsoft says that won't happen for a while. You mean we still have to go to stores to buy games? Ugh -- soooo annoying! [GameSpot]

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That's, right. If you click on this blog and follow the link to the at1UP Podcast, you can listen to a lovely reunion of former EGM staffers talking in real-time. Live*

Former EGM Assistant Art Director (and current 1UP Designer) Mike Cruz joins former EGMers Crispin Boyer, Michael Donahoe, Greg Ford, and Jennifer Tsao as they reminisce about the good ol' days of working on one of those things called a magazine (remember those?). They also yap about the future of EGM, raising farms on Facebook, and Greg Ford's future at DeVry College.

It's just like old times. Even Batman and Robin show up to uhh-uhh-uhh it up!

*not actually live.

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Don't get us wrong, we're really stoked for Halo 3: ODST, but not having Master Chief in the game is like having a Star Wars movie without Jar Jar Binks. Criminal.

Video Blips:

• Halo 3: ODST doc missing Master Chief, annoying singing monks. Is this really a Halo game? [GameVideos]

Continue after the break for a non-blurry Blur trailer, Fat Princess in Home, and a digital Daisy Fuentes.

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The latest from Mega64 isn't really about games all that much, but hey, it's Mega64.

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Mario Paint was an interesting title for the Super Nintendo. It wasn't so much a game as it was a creativity tool. It shipped with a mouse (Yep, the SNES had an official mouse), which was used in conjunction with a rudimentary MS Paint-like program to create (in my case) not-so-beautiful works of art. There was also a minigame in which you'd use the mouse to control a fly swatter and swat flies, though I'm not sure where that fits in with the whole "art" concept of the game.

Here's a video of someone using Mario Paint that will give you a good idea of what it was like. You don't really need to watch the whole thing, but skip around a bit to see some of the different modes.

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You gotta hand it to the folks over at casual gaming publisher PopCap. They, like us last week, have noticed the insanely amusing Evony ads popping up around the Internet and managed to brilliantly poke fun at them. And when we say we gotta hand it to them, we mean with two hands. Preferably in a cupped position.

Cultural Blips:

• Plants vs. Zombies ad heavy on melons. We didn't want to play this game before, but we'd be total boobs to ignore zombie boobs. [Offworld]

• Samuari Mario excels at Bowser-slaying, sucks at fixing clogged crappers. Here is what a classic Mario vs. Bowser battle would look like if it took place in feudal Japan. Minus the random dinosaur, of course. [Super Punch]

Click for full version

• Mega Man timeline keeps on ticking. A community member over at Destructoid made this timeline showcasing every Mega Man title released by year. Only one game for 2009? Lazy, Capcom. Really lazy. [Destructoid]

• Recession Mario contemplates life-changing jump. Looks like times are tough in Mushroom Kingdom, too. You'd think Mario would have invested his coins better. Guess that's what happens when you're addicted to mushrooms. [TinyCartridge]

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