Posted by Tim
Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:32:00 GMT
Derek’s going to strangle me for posting ten items at once, but just like smoking, drinking and that other thing it’s a difficult habit to get rid of.
The latest (which is quite moldy by now) iteration of Download This features DEFCON, Titan Attacks and 1213. Titan Attacks is great (there’s a free version of it entitled Puppy Invaders) and 1213 is pretty good as well, but I must be the only lunatic who isn’t entirely convinced by Introversion’s latest effort or any of their previous ones.
I mean, if you’ve fought a war would you still want to relive it by playing a video game? I’m quite baffled by the fact that most kids who loved titles like the Battlefield series, America’s Army and Counterstrike never served in the army. Either that or they make excuses when asked to join the military service. Hmph.
We can hang the bloke who made Super Columbine Massacre RPG but his game is really no different than the ones put out by corporate companies.
Posted in Community | 42 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:03:00 GMT
Man!...ifesto Games is scheduling an IRC chat to discuss that most horrible of questions, are games art? Well, we all know what Roger Ebert thinks… what do you NHP-TIGS readers think?
Personally, yeah, I think you could consider video games an artform. Why not? How is it hurting anybody to call games art? The fact that it’s a commercial business, that games are mass-produced products, makes no difference to me. Why should it? Every other artform is commercialized – packaged and repackaged for a mass market.
Video games have altered the way we interact and the way we think. They are an inexorable part of our every day lives, even if you don’t play them. They can be socially conscious, poignant, visually beautiful… hell, even Grand Theft Auto is social commentary if you see it as a reflection of an urban culture obsessed with sex and violence. They make people talk.
And in response to Ebert’s quote that video games “represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic…” I would say tell that to the young Chinese kid who bonded with his dad through Zelda, who understood the power of visuals and music by watching the snowy intro of Final Fantasy VI, who felt genuine despair when Nei battled Neifirst in Phantasy Star II… and who basically became inspired to create himself because of the games he played as a kid.
Posted in Games and Art?, Social Impact, Community | 40 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:17:00 GMT
The website for next year’s Game Developer’s Conference is now live! Of note to indie enthusiasts is the Independent Games Summit and the addition of two new GDC passes geared toward that summit.
And GDC will be in San Francisco again this year, so feel free to stop by my house afterwards for drinks! (No, not really.)
Posted in Community, IGF / GDC | 2 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:16:00 GMT
The first GooTube video posted on TIGSource! Golly!
I always knew Dan Paladin, the artist behind Castle Crashers, was in the Klan (and a pervert – c’mon “Castle Crashers?”). Now we have proof! This game should be banned, pronto.
Also, yes, I know this is old as hell.
Posted in Community, Videos | Tags TheBehemoth | 13 comments
Posted by BMcC
Thu, 26 Oct 2006 07:11:00 GMT
It’s been up for a while, but Game Tunnel posted its October 2006 Indie Game Monthly Round-Up.
It features apocalypse simulator Defcon, DigiPen student project Toblo, and breakout clone/hardcore porno Deep Ball Defender, among others. And the winner is… Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso?
Whatever! Just make that I, Mario post die!
Posted in Community | 5 comments
Posted by BMcC
Mon, 23 Oct 2006 11:20:00 GMT
Real quick—GameSetWatch brought this to my attention, and I think it’s pretty darn cool. (At least on paper.)
I, Mario is a community driven, brutally realistic re-imagining of the Super Mario universe that was sparked by a hypothetical writeup on the OC ReMix boards by interesting and probably Irish guy Shael Riley.
Check out the I, Mario Wiki and the Official I, Mario Forum for thought provoking concept art, discussion, and an ever growing design. Don’t hesitate to get involved if you have something to add! I’d love to see this project go all the way, though there are numerous potential roadblocks on the horizon.
There’s an interview with Shael over at GSW that does a better job explaining things just begging to be read.
Digest and discuss!
EDIT: Upon digging deeper into the wiki and forum, I’ve found just as much misguided, fan-fictiony garbage as cool, thought-provoking concepts. But it’s still early on, yeah?
(Source: GameSetWatch)
Posted in Remakes, Community, Interviews | 26 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:17:00 GMT
Edmund McMillen threw me an email after reading my post from yesterday, wanting to clarify his role in creating Blast Miner. I definitely owe him that much!
He basically explained that Cryptic Sea is a two-man team who wanted to make a small game to get back into the swing of things after their break from Gish. And he totally stands by the game.
Which he should! And honestly, a creator should never feel obligated to do a certain kind of work to please an audience. As someone who likes to develop and draw, I’ve been on the wrong end of that stick. So I feel terrible for pushing it on Edmund and want to apologize to him for that.
Does it really change my mind about Blast Miner? No, it doesn’t. I still think there are flaws in the gameplay and presentation that add up significantly. And I really would have liked to see something a little more bizarre in terms of a theme. But to assume that he did not stand by the game himself was a bad way to illustrate that point. Sorry, man.
Posted in Community | 1 comment
Posted by Tim
Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:28:00 GMT
Practically the best indie game podcast right now, because the rest of the competition just closed shop and disappeared.
You’ll hate listening to the programme if you make crap games and throw a tantrum when receiving constructive feedback. Others will enjoy the honesty, something most indie game sites lack.
(Photo stolen blatantly from oddbob’s blog)
Posted in Podcasts / Audio, Community | Tags GrahamGoring, TheArsecast | 11 comments
Posted by Albert Lai
Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:05:00 GMT
It is with mild trepidation I unveil my own, personal project, Legion
of Literacy, a website that provides a place for amateur developers and
wanna-be developers alike to congregate and do what they do best laze around
create a game! It is oriented more towards the people who are unable to find
a team to work together, rather than established coders and designers who have
no trouble getting a team together (though they’re welcome too!)
The idea is that game proposals are submitted to the main forum, and then developers
(artists, coders, writers, etc.) sign up for the ideas that they wouldn’t mind
working on. It’s all hopelessly utopian and I do a better job explaining it
on the site than in this tiny box of text.
Most of the framework had been laid down, and only a community separates this
website from bleak abandonment and hasty abandonment!
Posted in Community, Developers | 8 comments
Posted by BMcC
Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:17:00 GMT
Gotta hit my quota!
Here’s an average little shmup called PixelShips Retro. You select a spaceship and fly around shooting other spaceships that don’t look like your spaceship.
Now, I was interested in this game at first. The developer was all like, “160 ships to collect! 80’s style original graphics and sound!” And the intro screen was pretty rad.
However… the game is rough around the edges. Real rough. That, and the developer decided to push it as heavily-crippled shareware. Disappointment!
So many indie developers complain about how few shareware games make real money, but look at how many are just simply unprofessional. My theory is, great games will sell. Will time prove me right?
Posted in Shoot-em-ups, Community, Windows | 14 comments
