IGF '09: The Awards Ceremony

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Yes, Matthew rocked the TIGJam shirt. Now that’s indie.

Posted in Nerd Love, Videos, IGF / GDC | 14 comments

Brass Restoration

Posted by Xander Sun, 22 Mar 2009 02:20:00 GMT

Okay, probably not what you were expecting to see, but hear me out.

Brass Restoration is a Visual Novel by Japanese based Twincle Drop and translated by Yandere Translations. Unlike a lot of Visual Novels however this was released as a free game, so the translation installer actually includes the full game in its entirety.

The story surrounds a young musician who suffers a cruel accident that robs him of his arm. This leaves you making the occasional choice which slowly affect his life after the accident. Will he be able to mend the connection he had with music now that he can’t create as he used to, or will he instead forge new relationships as a result?

You’ve already left haven’t you? Bugger…

Well if you are still reading, here’s why you should care.

Read more...

Posted in Nerd Love, Adventure, Casual, Windows, Freeware | 42 comments

Relay for Life - Indie Music Cancer Drive

Posted by Derek Yu Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:01:00 GMT

Last year, Josh “TwiTerror” Whelchel and the independent game community raised over $800 for Relay for Life, a program sponsored by the American Cancer Society to help patients with cancer and to honor those who have died. Josh did this by selling copies of the very excellent Spirit Engine 2 soundtrack for $5.

For this year’s Relay for Life he’s hoping to raise even more by giving donors (of at least $10) a digital soundtrack that will contain music from a variety of talented musicians, including Kyle Gabler (World of Goo), Alec Holowka (Aquaria, Paper Moon), and my good buddy David Saulesco (Eternal Daughter). If you donate $25 or more, you’ll receive the soundtrack on disc. Not only that, but Josh will throw in a free copy of his upcoming album for anyone who donates $10+!

It’s a fantastic deal by itself. The fact that you get to beat up cancer at the same time makes it a must-have! Let’s try to blow Josh’s $1500 goal out of the water!

Posted in Nerd Love, Music, Community | Tags AlecHolowka, DavidSaulesco, JoshWhelchel, KyleGabler | 18 comments

TIGJammin'

Posted by Derek Yu Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:40:00 GMT

Our first TIGJam was a hell of a lot of fun, but unfortunately, it only happens in one spot (the Flashbang Studios in Phoenix, Arizona), once a year (September). If we had our way, it would take place in an orbital space station, and we’d come and beam people up right from their bedrooms once a month. Alas, the coffers are running dry these days – not because of the economy (manhugs and womanhugs are recession-proof), but because we spent a lot of money on research and development of a reasonably-lifelike android of Jeff Lindsay that will be attending GDC this year in his absence. (Look out, the routines we wrote to manage waste removal are slightly buggy.)

But enterprising game makers have found truly indie ways of extending the jam to new places and new times. Those jolly Brits put together a hell of a TIGJam in London last October, and earlier this month, the Dinowaurs team hosted their own jam in the midwest (despite my ultimate FAIL in not properly promoting it on the front page).

Now Matt “YMM” Thorson (FLaiL, Untitled Story), ChevyRay (SkullPogo), and the Canucks want to throw a jam in western Canada (Edmonton, Alberta, specifically) in May. Interested parties should follow the link and sign up, so that Matt and gang can decide whether there are enough takers (and when the jam should take place, exactly). MAKE IT HAPPEN.

If you’re interested in hosting a jam, or proposing a jam, or just want to talk about jams (please, no jelly lol), hit up the TIGJam forums. So that until we get that space station operational, the spirit can live on, all frickin’ year. One love.

Posted in Nerd Love, Community, Developers | 16 comments

Cactus' New Site

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:34:00 GMT

Cactus has updated his site with a new pinked-out style and sexy banners and everything. It makes my brain feel dirty, but in a good way. Plus, he’s added his most recent works, bringing his grand total of released games to forty (40!). Crazy.

Oh, also, there are new screenshots for Brain-Damaged Toon Underworld, Mondo Nation, and some WIP goodness. Word.

Update: Aha, the BDTU screens are on the Lofi Minds site. My bad.

Posted in Nerd Love, Games and Art? | Tags cactus | 17 comments

Play-Make.com

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:02:00 GMT

This post is long overdue. Shame on me!

Ivan “Russia’s Gift to Gaming” Safrin (“toastie” on the forums) has launched a sexy new indie gaming blog, all grey and pink and personal, featuring significant contributions from Adam “Host of Killer Pool Parties” Saltsman (a.k.a. “adamatomic”), called Play-Make.com. It’s more developer-centric than the average blog, with many links to postmortems, exclusive interviews, and other excellent things.

Beyond that, it provides a new perspective on The World of Indie Games, if you’re interested in that sort of thing. (And my guess is you are!) I love how personal it is. There’s even some juicy behind-the-scenes details on the first TIGJam!

While I’m writing this post, I might as well mention that Ivan’s been The Official TIGSource Photographer since Gamma 256. You can find his photos of numerous indie events on his Flickr photostream. (That is, if you really want to get an idea of just how infrequently I bathe!)

I was going to add this to the External Links section, but apparently I already did when I first sat down to write this post!

Posted in Nerd Love, Developers, Technology | Tags AdamAtomic, IvanSafrin | 9 comments

2009 IGF Main Competition Finalists!

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:11:00 GMT

‘Tis mighty stupid of me to have posted BQ yesterday, completely forgetting the nominations for this year’s Independent Games Festival were coming out today! Oh well, what can ya do:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:
- Blueberry Garden
- CarneyVale Showtime
- Dyson
- Night Game
- Osmos
Excellence in Visual Art:
- Cletus Clay
- FEIST
- Machinarium
- PixelJunk Eden
- Zeno Clash
Excellence in Audio:
- Blueberry Garden
- BrainPipe
- Musaic Box
- PixelJunk Eden
- Retro/Grade
Excellence in Design:
- Musaic Box
- Night Game
- Osmos
- Retro/Grade
- Snapshot
Innovation Award:
- Between
- Coil
- The Graveyard
- Mightier
- You Have To Burn The Rope
Technical Excellence:
- Cortex Command
- IncrediBots
- The Maw
- Osmos
- PixelJunk Eden

Congrats to the nominees! 30% more entries this year than last year’s huge amount. (Find out more at IGF.com!) Whole lots of awesome, a little bit of WTF?, and my impressions after the jump…

Read more...

Posted in Nerd Love, IGF / GDC | 76 comments

Crayon Physics Deluxe on January 7th

Posted by Derek Yu Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:27:00 GMT

Here’s something to be super excited about: Petri Purho’s long-awaited Crayon Physics Deluxe is finally heading to the PC on January 7th, and he’s doing a week-long series of daily updates to celebrate the release! Fans who pre-order the game before tomorrow will receive the game a few days earlier, on January 4th. It was also announced that CPD is now being published on the iPhone by none other than Hudson Soft (the creators of Bomberman and Adventure Island).

Crayon Physics Deluxe was the grand prize winner of the 2008 Independent Games Festival, and is undoubtedly one of the best indie games I’ve ever played. Congratulations, Petri!

Posted in Nerd Love, Community, Physics, Previews | Tags Kloonigames | 23 comments

Happy Holidays From TIGSource!

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:55:00 GMT

Indie-tastic Greeting Card by Annabelle Kennedy.

Posted in Nerd Love | Tags AnnabelleKennedy | 50 comments

Happy Aquaria Day!

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:55:00 GMT

HD trailer here.

Well, Aquaria has been out for over an Earth Year now (as of December 7th). Pretty hard to believe. I remember back in the day when it was all, “Why don’t these damn turtles move?!” And now look at it. All grown up and shipped and critically acclaimed and everything.

Here is the newest trailer ever, in honor of the game’s anniversary and, more excitingly, Big Update. This weekend, Bit Blot will release Aquaria version 1.1.1 (for Windows). This patch includes “widescreen, graphics and audio enhancements, improved puzzles, a new/awesome map system and more.” And a reduced price.

Alec and Derek have been working hard on this update since the game launched, addressing all the feedback the game’s received. (And that’s a lot!) If there was ever a time to get Aquaria, it’s now. (Yeah, I’m talking to you—no more excuses!)

Congrats, guys! A series of increasingly complex high-fives is in order.

NOTE: Dunno why this ain’t been posted yet, but a Mac version is also now available.

Posted in Nerd Love, Macintosh, Highly Recommended, Adventure, Windows | Tags AlecHolowka, BitBlot, DerekYu | 36 comments