Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:11:00 GMT
GAME. TUNNEL. MAGAZINE. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, we’re now about two steps away from a Game Tunnel movie, Game Tunnel video games, Dan MacDonald bobbleheads, a Russell Carroll centerfold in Playboy… you name it. And you know what I have to say to that?
Good on them! No really, I think it’s a great idea and a big step towards maybe someday having a “legitimate” (i.e. non-web) small-press game rag on the store shelves. And that rag will be called TIGSource Magazine. (I kid, I kid.)
GRAPHICS: The design is amateurish – I’ve never seen rounded boxes and primary colors abused like that. However, more importantly, it’s very clean and there are lots of pretty pictures.
SOUND: It’s a magazine, dumbass. There’s no sound!
GAMEPLAY: I hate reading PDF’s on my monitor, but that’s no fault of Game Tunnel. The layout is simple and effective as such!
CONCEPT: Great idea! They should diversify the staff, though. Because I’m pretty sure more people play indie games than white males with glasses in their 20s and 30s… I could be wrong. The two-page reviews are too damn long, also. Put in some more editorials and features. Maybe from some developers?
FUN: Yes! Fun! I love fun!
VALUE: Well, it’s fucking free, ain’t it?
OVERALL: Game Tunnel holds up better as a magazine than a website, especially since reviews and columns (the meat of their content) tend to roll out pretty slowly. It’s a fun and informative read and I think it’s a great boon to the community. This is a nice start, guys!
VERDICT: ALWAYS, ALWAYS try before you buy. Especially if it’s free.
Posted in Community | 12 comments
Posted by Eos
Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:47:00 GMT
Speaking of competitions, SHMUP-DEV has just announced their AutoFire 2007 Shooter Competition. There’s a nice booty for the winner – tons of free games, and of course , the $250 prize money.
There’s only one basic rule for the contest – you guessed it – “The game must have an autofire feature. It can be the primary and only weapon, a powerup, or another weapon in the game.”
There’re already 5 titles in the registered entries section. So make sure you register and post before the deadline of January 1st if you’re interested.
Posted in Shoot-em-ups, Community, Competitions | 1 comment
Posted by Shabadage
Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:21:00 GMT
Well, another Retro Remakes Competition has ended (kinda). While the final judging results won’t be avaliable for some time (December according to the site); the entries are all up for download.
The magic number sits at 73, yes, 73 entries into this year’s compo. That’s 73 more reasons to visit The Retro Remakes Homepage than usual.
Or you lazy people can just hit this link to get a look at all the wonderfully juicy, deleciously sweet, and oh so much fun remakes.
I apologize for the lack of a picture with this news post; but it’s rather late, and I don’t have the brainpower to muck about with pictures at the moment. Just use your imagination. [I added one for you! -Derek]
Posted in Remakes, Community, Competitions | 4 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:25:00 GMT
Digital Eel is offering the full version of their trippy Snake-esque game Plasmaworm for free as part of a promotional deal with Manifesto Games. You have to register as a user at Manifesto by September 15th before you can download the game. You must also name your firstborn Greg Costikyan. As in, “Greg Costikyan” would be your child’s first name. Yeah, two words. That’s right. Like, I was going to name my daughter Bruce, after Bruce Lee, but now her name is Greg Costikyan Yu.
Posted in Community, Windows, Action / Arcade | 7 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 30 Aug 2006 16:06:00 GMT
Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio Express (beta) has been released today! As mentioned earlier, XNA Game Studio is a set of tools targeted at students and hobbyists who want to develop games for Windows and XBox 360.
With Express you can develop commercial titles for Windows only. In order to distribute your XBox games, both you and the person playing will need a “Creator’s Club” subscription ($99 for a year, $49 for four months). Next spring Microsoft will release the Professional edition which will allow you to sell your XBox games.
Hmmm, is XNA supposed to be like DNA, except, you know… X-treme? Like if you made a man out of pure Mountain Dew.
(Source: Joystiq)
Posted in XBox Live Arcade / XNA, Community, Developers | 7 comments
Posted by Eos
Sun, 27 Aug 2006 22:56:00 GMT
Hi there, I’m one of the slew of new writers here. Derek, desperate to establish a female narrative in the male-centred world of gaming, knew that he must find another authentic “girl gamer” to fulfill this task, grovelled and begged until I agreed to write for TIGSource.
The first order of business would be this game I found while reading IGDA’s Sex & Games news source. It’s
called VirtualHottie2 (NSFW). I had some trouble categorizing this one, as I am new (any constructive criticisms or comments for the newbie would be appreciated!). Anyway, I just could not figure out whether it belongs in “Adventure” or “Shooters?”
So this piece really is not just another reaffirmation of how well sex sells, it will revolutionize the way beer-guzzling is animated. You can enjoy the “stunning detail and 3d animation” here.
Also, Clickable Culture gives a stellar example of their stunning artwork.
I read somewhere that these types of games don’t usually succeed because gamers condemn the terrible gameplay and apparently everyone else is too shocked at the content to buy such a game. But the first game must have been extraordinarily orgasmic for them to make a sequel.
Posted in Adventure, Community, Previews | 10 comments
Posted by Max
Sat, 26 Aug 2006 12:37:00 GMT
File this one under “you heard it here second,” but Penny Arcade has teamed up with Hothead Games to develop their first title, an episodic little ditty called Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.
No word yet on how exactly it will be distributed, beyond some sort of episodic “digital download,” target for initial release on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
As Hothead claims to be an independent developer, it would appear that the boys behind PA have succesfully managed to avoid selling out.
In the meantime: Dear god, what has been wrought?
Press Release,
Gamasutra Coverage,
Kotaku Coverage
Posted in Macintosh, Community, Linux, Windows, Previews | 8 comments
Posted by ARelativelyHotGirl
Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:32:00 GMT
Cory Doctorow took a break from whacking off to Disneyland to post “Manifesto went live today, filled with amazing-looking games, the likes of which I’ve never seen. Congrats, Greg!” on BoingBoing.
An excerpt from Man! Festo Games’ motto: “The machinery of gaming has run amok. Instead of serving creative vision, it suppresses it. Instead of encouraging innovation, it represses it.”
Hyperbole/repetition/mindless chest-thumping aside, ManifestoGames DOES offer some VERY innovative titles. Take for instance, the top featured $20 game Mudcraft. It apparently stars people made of poo. I think that World of Warcraft game stole its name or something. “At least download the demo, for chrissakes.”
Also featured is Aveyond, “a game you wouldn’t be surprised to find on your SNES or Genesis.” It’s very innovative. I think Squaresoft stole the idea of Final Fantasy VI from these guys via a time machine or something.
Welcome to the future of indie gaming. “Who doesn’t like playing in the mud?”
raises hand :’(
Posted in Community | 24 comments
Posted by Tim
Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:26:00 GMT
It’s nice to see Steam picking up speed when it comes to supporting indie games (though it’s pretty much debatable if the games on offer are indie in the first place).
Seventeen of PopCap’s wonderful games will be made available on Steam starting this August 30th, while presumably DEFCON’s release date was pushed back due to the fact that they were trying to conclude this deal.
Posted in Community | Tags PopCap | 2 comments
Posted by Tim
Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:21:00 GMT
It’s that time of the month again for Game Tunnel’s most anticipated August Monthly Round-Up.
Some interesting picks in there, like The Blob (must try that), Shlongg (think I heard about it from someone), Virtual Villagers (I’m quite sure this was Jay’s recommendation), Avast! (the link is wrong, unfortunately), Grass Roots (NSS still rules), Plasma Spheres 3D (reviewed by ARelativelyHotGirl on TIGSource last week) and a few others.
Had to fill up that paragraph to make sure the image doesn’t go over the line!
Posted in Community | 2 comments
