Holy christ. This has been a difficult week. Where do I start? Hmm… how about where things on the site began spiraling out of control.

Okay first, my apologizes to Scot Halbach (ArcZero) who had to wait forever for some proper recognition on his artwork THE META KNIGHT which appeared on the site on Sept. 5th. I am more than happy to provide proper credit for anything that gets posted on the site, and I’m sorry it took over a week for me to get that updated. I think this brings up a good opportunity for me to remind submitters that you should always provide a source in your submission email if you have one. It just makes things easier for everyone!

Next up… Untooned Kirby by Ferryn. Who would’ve thought such a disturbingly weird pic would make my life a living hell? Not only was it the most dugg submission we’ve had on the site, but it was also linked on quite a few gaming blogs. Oh sure, the attention is great and all, but the spike in traffic actually killed the server at one point (thanks for nothing Dreamhost). So yeah, I’m going to be getting some more info on upgrading the site’s server this weekend because having the site crash like that sucks and I don’t think it’s acceptable at all.

Speaking of crashes (hmm, just from that segue alone I’m going to hell) Sept. 11th was a weird day for the site. There are many submissions that come in that I’m hesitant about posting because they’re borderline inappropriate, and I mean, I don’t know… I guess I never really decided where the line was going to be drawn as far as offensiveness goes. I mean we’ve had lesbian Mudkips, vinyl Birdo cosplay, Team Fortress 2 dildos and even a joke about Christopher Reeve’s spinal injury… but even against all that I have to admit that these 9/11 themed submissions that I posted we’re in the poorest of taste.

Still, I’ve always been of the opinion that censorship is out of control and that free speech is one of our most important rights to defend, and it’s difficult for me to come out and say “No these are wrong and should never have been made.” As an artist I’ve always detested the idea of censorship, and although many people know my work to be quite inoffensive in general, I’m glad there have been artists out there that push boundries and make statements (whatever those statements may be). And hey, if you want a perfect example that involves gaming, take that 911 Space Invaders piece that was shown at Leipzig. It sincerely bothers me that something like this was taken down due to pressure on the artist!

But at the same time, I understand that people coming to this site aren’t looking for potentially offensive imagery or art, they come here for a quick joke or two… and as the guy acting as editor I probably should have put some more thought into whether these particular submissions should have actually gone up. Honestly though, my natural tendency is to just put something up and see what people think. I seriously thought the comments discussion for these two were incredibly interesting to follow and I think I’ve learned a lot about what people come to expect from the site. Unfortunately it seems that in general the feelings on these two are mixed, and I still haven’t come to a decision for or against removing the entries. To be honest, I’m almost more interested in keeping the discussion around than the images themselves. But I guess to me this is more like a great art critique, and I know that’s not what people come here for and/or care about.

So anyway, long story short, I will make a decision on keeping these or deleting them in the next few days. I’m sorry I haven’t responded to everyone who emailed me personally about this subject, but I think it’s a lot easier for me to write my thoughts out here than to reply to each of you individually. Anyway, let me just say if I’ve offended anyone this week, I am sorry.

Of course, feel free to blame Nick Soapdish! You know, the guy who made them! I just posted them! >___>;

And finally, despite all the antics this week, I feel it’s worth mentioning that this week was Halolz one year anniversary! Thanks everyone for submitting pics, commenting, and just straight-up reading the site on a regular basis! I seriously can’t believe the site has been going for a year straight (minus a brief hiatus). I’ve got a few ideas in the works for improving the site, so hopefully at least a few people will stick around to see them! >__<

– Shawn