Posted by BMcC
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:42:00 GMT
According to Shih Tzu (indie gaming’s ambassador to the East), Pixel has mentioned on his BBS that he’s interested in making an RPG. More than that—he’s already begun preliminary work on it!
“I’d always steered away from working on an RPG, but now that I think I’ve finally got the requisite know-how, I’ve decided to give it a shot,” the famously modest developer says. “But already it’s more of a challenge than anything I’ve done before...”
There aren’t any details on the game itself yet, except that Pixel “would like to avoid anything too large-scale, yet still make it fun to play… somehow.” He goes on to apologize in advance if he never finishes it. (Aw, we’d still love you, Pixel!)
Well, I’m pretty excited! How about you?
Also: Any updates, Shih Tzu?
(Source: Shih Tzu)
Posted in RPG, Developers, Previews | Tags Pixel | 13 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:17:00 GMT
So we all raged a bit about Blast Works, and then Davide “Gendo Ikari” Mascolo suggested that maybe instead of sitting in our room with the lights out, listening to Linkin Park, we get proactive and write Budcat and Majesco an e-mail. Good idea! So I sent one out.
And lo and behold, I got two very quick reponses. One, from a Jeremy Anderson, Managing Partner at Budcat Creations, and one from a [representative who asked that her name be removed] at Highwater Group, who does PR for Majesco. The [Highwater rep] sent me a fact sheet and told me that Majesco would be in contact with me, but I haven’t heard from them yet. Jeremy, however, addressed my questions, and you can see what he said (along with my e-mail) after the jump.
Read more...
Posted in Shoot-em-ups, Community, Wii, Developers | Tags KentaCho | 30 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:38:00 GMT
There’s a short interview with Kenta Cho up on Siliconera where he talks about Blast Works and console development. Some choice quotes:
“Since the original TUMIKI Fighters is very simple shmup, additional new features are essential for making it up into a full game. I don’t know details of features such as the hangar and the editor but they sound very interesting. The only thing that concerns me is whether the game becomes too complicated to play by adding these features. I like a simple and intuitive gameplay.”
“I’m interested in developing a game for a console and now I’m trying to write some prototypes in XNA. XNA is a great environment to experience the development of the modern console game.”
I’m a bit saddened that it seems Kenta Cho is not involved more in the development of this port. The fact that he seems unaware that Blast Works is now going to include, at the very least, rRootage, but possibly also Gunroar and Torus Trooper, makes me uneasy. Not sure why Siliconera didn’t ask him about this.
The guy seems incredibly easy going and happy to see his games on consoles. But if there were ever a time when I’d like to see someone’s name in front of a game title, it’s now.
Posted in Shoot-em-ups, Community, Wii, Developers, Interviews | Tags KentaCho | 41 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:11:00 GMT
I’m back! What a wonderful break. Lorne gets brownie points for posting in my absence. During the Indie Rapture he, and he alone, will join me in the Indie Kingdom of Heaven. (It’s a cardboard box outside a warehouse in Hoboken.)
I want to point you fine folks today at the metablog, wherein discussions are taking place concerning Robotology, their current project, its history, and lots and lots of physics. Does “David Wu’s amazingly awesome implicit-Euler-based solver” sound amazingly awesome to you? Then you best be getting yo’self down to the metablog, post haste! (Get it? Post haste? Maybe not…)
(Source: GameSetWatch)
Posted in Community, Developers, Physics | Tags metanet | 9 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:36:00 GMT
The random Gnome’s random lair has posted some very random news about random independent adventure gaming. Random!
They can be wildly innovative, copyright infringing, in full pixelated 2D, remakes of classic games, political, silly, absolutely shite, pop, over 500MB, excellent, boring, free or very cheap; anything at all. And, unlike commercial games, especially the ridiculously expensive ones which we’ve been living with for quite some time, they just can’t be proclaimed dead. As long as people ordinary people care for them, they’ll be around.
It’s true. Nothing ever dies in independent gaming. I’m pretty sure there’s some guy out there who’s a fan of Sewer Shark who’s working on a fantastic new FMV game in his spare time.
Check out the rest of the Gnome’s blog, too… it’s fun times.
Posted in Adventure, Community, Developers | 11 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:05:00 GMT
Everyday Shooter, official E3 trailer:
Jon Mak on Everyday Shooter, artistry as a game developer, and “innovation:”
Hahaha… I love Jon! The interviewer might as well have been a cement brick. Gotta stay until the end, it’s awesome.
De Blob gameplay video:
It looks fun, although I wish there was more interaction with things other than buildings. I also second that the original blob character design was better. But then again, you have to remember that they’re marketing for people like this:
“The wii version will be better then the PC, also because the blob doesn’t look like a chode” -Kojjiro, YouTube user, probably not his school’s valedictorian
That’s it! Have a great weekend, folks!
(Sources: Indygamer)
Posted in Videos, Developers, Interviews | Tags JonathanMak | 45 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:07:00 GMT
Gamasutra reports that Pop Cap has bought casual developer Retro64, turning it into one of its satellite studios. In other words, Retro64 has been assimilated into the core and the buzzing of the hive mind just got a little stronger…
Retro64 is a development studio / casual portal that recently developed the casual game Venice, which was published by Pop Cap, and also hosts the Indiegamer forums as well as Game Tunnel.
What we have here is definitely a “casual bloc” forming… a “Gem Curtain” behind which millions of creative minds will die under colorful, gem-toed boots of match 3 oppression. Indie gaming cold war for the win!
(Source: Indygamer)
Posted in Community, Casual, Developers | Tags PopCap | 15 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:22:00 GMT
“We’re boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play,” [EA Games CEO] Mr. Riccitiello said in an interview.
Good on you, Chief! Now if we can just get him to say that he touches himself while he plays Cave Story…
(Source: Indygamer)
Posted in Community, Developers | 8 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:27:00 GMT
With the death of the giant laser show / burlesque club that was the old E3, and the rise of what it supposedly a toned-down, more exclusive new E3, it feels like independent games are the smart, well-dressed classmates that are getting invited to a teaparty that E3’s mom is making him have for his birthday instead of the huge kegger he wanted to throw for CliffyB. This is courtesy of Indiecade, which, in this analogy, would be like indie games’s mom, who called E3’s mom and convinced her to invite indie games because she felt they were spending too much time on their homework and needed to have some fun. In the end, E3 has a great time and with the help of his new friends (and the magic of montage) he actually raises his GPA to a C+ and gets his high school diploma.
Check out the line-up after the extended. It’s a good crop of games and developers:
Read more...
Posted in Community, Developers | 7 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:13:00 GMT
One thing I love about games are the stories within the stories – the ones that are not created by the developers, but by the players and their experiences. Dwarf Fortress is a game that is more or less built around this idea. Zach Adams spins fantastical yarns that his brother Tarn then makes possible within the game’s engine. Excitement, tension, and high drama arise naturally from the player’s choices and their interactions with the game’s ruleset.
Actually, while reading this “Let’s Play” succession game of Dwarf Fortress, even the more mundane events that occurred were interesting to me, because of how they were framed. Like this journal entry, for example:
12th Hematite, 1052: Today one of our apprentice carpenters fell asleep on the bridge and was swept away by a flood, never to be seen again. On the same day, the metalsmith gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Doren Clearingsilvers. Also, mandrills stole several objects we had lying around outside, but nothing important. Just a few bits of clothing and an iron helmet.
Diablo took the Roguelike genre and dumbed it down and gussied it up. It’s a fun game, but there aren’t many compelling stories in there that Blizzard didn’t come up with first.
(Source: GameSetWatch)
Posted in Roguelikes, Community, Developers | Tags TarnAdams | 12 comments
