Self-Styled: The Graphic Arts of Code Redd Net

Code Redd Net has never had a budget, or an office, or an art department. Everything we've done, Chicken Man and I, we've done ourselves, on our own time, with our own skills. Some of our attempts were, shall we say, a trifle amateurish. This has resulted in some rather humorous graphics floating around in our archives, from the (g)olden days of Geocities. I've tried to utilize these old files whenever possible on the blog, but there's some that, stubbornly, just don't have a place around here. Here's a collection of these dated, perhaps unused, images.

As you can see, for a time we liked to have banners at the top of each page. I remember when we had a Beats page, even if nobody else does. Also, we really dug Rush Hour 2. And I don't know about you, but my favorite is certainly the News banner. Mr. T, Bill O'Reilly, and is that Peekaboo Jones from TimeSplitters? Goodness, yes it is.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Chicken Man nameplate collection. Obviously, we tried out a few different styles over the years, but none, I wager, were as aesthetically unappealing as that second one.

Man, I miss my Tour Bus, like Chicken Man misses his Lair, I'm sure. Anyway, we had some interesting ideas for pages. Grillz existed primarily as a means to making fun of X-Play and other things we disliked at the time, and I'm only guessing when I tell you that I think Toasts was its opposite, though we never wrote any that I know of.

What you see here is are a few makeshift logos for games and movies that, at the time, had not been released yet. Incidentally, both Spy Hunter 2 and Rush Hour 3 were decidedly mediocre. You can see it in Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's faces below; Jackie looks off into the distance, horrified, while Chris seems concerned, but stoically determined to meet his fate, that being the end of his relevance in pop culture.

Oh, and thank the good Lord these redesigned logos were never used. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I changed our name from "Code Redd Net" to the infinitely grotesque "The Code."

Finally, here's some random pictures I found in the archives. Not sure what they are doing in there, but perhaps they'll help to cleanse the palate. A sorbet, if you will.

Thrasher Presents: Thrasher's Top Ten Video Games, Part Five

This pick is a very special one for me, as you'll soon find out. But let's recap first:

Everything or Nothing (PS2)
Freedom Fighters (PS2)
Crazy Taxi (PS2)
NHLPA '93 (SNES)

(Needless to say, this is not from the PS1 version of Thrasher. Did you know there was a Game Boy Color version that got dusted before it could be released? Me neither, and it's too bad.)

Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (PS1)

I believe I covered this one in depth for GameFAQs when I was 13. Honestly, with an opening salvo like "I am a true diehard skater," how could you not want to read on? Furthermore, what I liar I was at that age. I couldn't even ollie. Still can't. But I did know every inch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Thrasher was an awesome alternative to its outlandishness. This was the Skate 2 of its day. Where THPS went over-the-top, Thrasher pushed for realism. Tricks needed to be planned carefully in Thrasher, as opposed to the more accessible THPS, where slaming the buttons would more often be rewarded than penalized. Both have their own place in my heart, truly, but this game had a few things going for it, principally the old-school hip hop soundtrack, which was presented with an honorary Code Redd Net Award. Bails were humorous things to see as well, especially when Chicken Man and I hooked up for a multiplayer mode called Sick Fix, where we competed to land the most impressive slams (most involving an oncoming subway train). And those were good times, breaking bones in deserted stations. THPS made me a fan of skateboarding, but it was Thrasher that got me on a skateboard for the first time, and it was Thrasher that got me into Run DMC. Plus, I got my alias from this game. Big surprise, I'm sure.

A Hip Hop Primer, Thanks to Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (1999)

I've been playing a whole lot of Skate 2 for my 360 lately, and as much as I love that game (and I certainly do), the abundance of Thrasher Magazine references reminds me of that other skateboarding game I cherish, Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy for the PS1. There are many, many reasons to love Thrasher, but perhaps most of all, I love the soundtrack. Which reminds me, coincidentally enough, that though Thrasher was quite deservedly nominated for Best PS1 Game at the inaugural Code Redd Net Awards (losing, as fate would have it, to another seminal skateboarder), it clearly should have been rewarded for its fantastic beats alone. So, without further ado, allow me to present Thrasher with an honorary CRN Award for Best Game Soundtrack. Congratulations to all parties involved. Here's your prize:

If you're interested, this gentleman has kindly put together a list of all the funky beats and old school classics in the game. You would do well to search them out.