Posted by Xander
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:09:00 GMT
Charlie Brooker is a not-quite-well-enough-known-as-he-should-be british writer/telly person in the employ of ‘The Guardian’ paper. He also produces some brilliantly wry programs acting as commentary to society’s relationship with TV, the news media and most recently games.
Embedded is the first part of the 50-minute episode which covers everything from Street Fighter II to Perfect Cherry Blossom. The rest of the program is also online on youtube as well as on the UK-Accessible BBC iPlayer. Similar to the ‘Rev Rants’ of Destructoid’s Anthony Burch, only with a somewhat bigger budget, it’s an interesting and entertaining deconstruction of videogame culture. Whether viewed from the mind of an indie games developer, a general enthusiast or simply someone fed up with half-hour, half-arsed sensationalist pieces on gaming addiction featuring at least one fat guy who has customised his chair to double as a toilet, I cannot recommend it enough.
Posted in Nerd Love, Social Impact, Videos | Tags CharlieBrooker | 42 comments
Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin
Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:32:00 GMT
You may have seen this reported elsewhere, but “arthouse” game creator Jason Rohrer is hard at work on his first retail release, a turn-based, two-player strategy game for the Nintendo DS “about diamond trading in Angola on the eve of the passage of the Kimberly Process.” This first struck me as a heavy subject for a handheld game, but the fact of the matter is there are countless games about counter-terrorism, war, monsters, death… I’m apparently just a bit desensitized to certain topics!
I asked Jason for more details on the game and he was kind enough to oblige. Pictured above is his paper prototype of the game. He’s still ironing out the design, but he got approved as a developer by Nintendo last week and programming should begin soon. He was reluctant to describe the gameplay itself this early, which is understandable, but he says there are no big surprises here, so all will be revealed before release. Oh, and he’s making every bit of the game himself, right down to the box art.
Posted in Mobile / Handheld, Social Impact, Strategy | Tags JasonRohrer | 29 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:14:00 GMT
Mobigame’s Edge is available once again on both the US and UK App Stores. I shot David Papazian and the rest of the team an email to ask them if they could explain what happened, exactly, and will update this post if and when I receive a reply. Thankfully, I don’t see a “Used under license” notice anywhere on the site!
While you’re at it, you should check out the entries for the unofficial
Edge a competition for Games Competition
that some members started here on the forums. These games, which were made as parodies and solely for entertainment purposes, are pretty damn funny! Shown above is Edgecrement, an entry by well-regarded independent developers and artists Adam Atomic Burrito Farts, Pootoing, and Brandon McFartin.
Posted in iPhone, Business, Social Impact, Community, Developers, Competitions | Tags Edge, EdgeGames, Mobigame | 16 comments
Posted by Xander
Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:05:00 GMT
Classic abandonware/freeware portal Home of the Underdogs has brilliantly returned from the grave. There really isn’t much else I need to say, except that it has been sorely missed and I will forever owe a debt of gratitude for being the site that introduced me to Nikujin.
Welcome back!
(Source: Rock, Paper, Awesome)
Posted in Social Impact, Freeware | 43 comments
Posted by Xander
Wed, 20 May 2009 13:15:00 GMT
Uberleben was actually released at the end of last year, but it must have passed me by. At 100mph. Plummeting into the centre of the earth.
Uberleben is a multiplayer survival game, where each player takes the role of a suicidal power ranger equipped with a parachute. The aim is to survive the fall longer than your peers, ultimately trying to reach the safe drop zone at the bottom which will be a set distance away depending on the difficulty (including a possible ENDLESS setting). Same screen multiplayer has always been a special kind of fun, and Uberleben spreads this kind of enjoyment by allowing SEVEN players at once. Of course you’re going to require a few controllers to get the full compliment of people in game but ultimately it’s worth it as the ‘FIGHT’ option can mean contact with another player will punch them in a certain direction. This of course allows for a heavy emphasis on foul play, which combined with same-screen multiplayer will probably cause many games to end in bitter rivalries and hopefully one or two TIGDuels. Alone it may not seem like much, but with enough people it turns into a suprisingly compelling distraction. At least until someone makes a new Marshmallow Duel.
(Source: peachboy’s blog)
Posted in Multiplayer, Social Impact, Freeware | 20 comments
Posted by Xander
Mon, 18 May 2009 17:40:00 GMT
If you happen to be in the area of ‘Manchester, England’ anytime from now until September, you’d do well to stop by the Urbis Centre to check out their Videogame Nation Exhibition which is an exhibit mostly surrounding the British games industry. Interestingly, as spied by Negative Gamer, there’s actually a small section dedicated to indie smash-hit Darwinia. The exhibit as a whole seems to cover everything from the DSi right down to the early days of ‘Jet Set Willy’ and the old bedroom programmers like The Oliver Twins. It’s interesting to see such a thing created surrounding video games, and for there to be an indie presence is rather heartwarming. Be sure to check it out if you have the chance, as it sounds like a worthwhile trip, but if that’s impossible then check the Negative Gamer link for a bunch of photos from the event (Such as the one heading this post).
Posted in Games and Art?, Social Impact, Developers, Technology | 5 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:31:00 GMT
Faith Fighter, the controversial browser-based fighting game where you could pit your favorite deities against each other Primal Rage-style, has been pulled from the creator’s website, following a brief statement from the Organization of the Islamic Conference condemning the game as being “incendiary in its content and offensive to Muslims and Christians.” Molleindustria, who also developed the game Operation: Pedopriest, explains why they removed the game, citing a failure on their part to communicate the inherent irony of the game, which was created shortly after, and partly as a response to, the uproar over the Danish newspaper cartoons which depicted the face of the prophet Muhammed.
A more detailed write-up can be found here, on the liberal news and opinion blog The Huffington Post. Faith Fighter can still be played on Newgrounds.
TIGdb: Entry for Faith Fighter
Posted in Browser Games, Social Impact, Fighters | Tags Molleindustria | 66 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:23:00 GMT
Super Energy Apocalypse: RECYCLED is the first title from the newly-formed Brain Juice Games. It’s an entertaining and polished strategy/tower defense game with a sustainable energy theme (its creator, Lars Doucet, took an internship at the Houston Advanced Research Center during its development). In the game you’ll tap various natural sources (wind, solar, coal, nuclear, etc.) to power your camps and protect them from zombies who invade during the night. But you have to be aware of the waste you create, which makes the zombies stronger – garbage trucks will need to haul away the trash to landfills and recycling centers.
Unfortunately, while the message is certainly worthwhile, it gets slightly lost in the post-apocalyptic narrative, in my opinion. From an educational standpoint, more real-life facts about the world’s energy consumption and its consequences would have been great. As it was, I was thinking more about killing zombie mutants than conservation while playing the game.
I also never felt like a developed a solid strategy. This is partly because the zombie assaults are so frantic – zombies of all types overrun the map pretty quickly. Visually, it’s hard to tell who’s attacking what, or how much damage anything is doing. And before you know it, it’s all over – the coming dawn destroys any zombies that are still left standing. Regarding the resources, I never saw any real downsides to using any of them (another reason why the conservation theme got sort of lost on me). Mind you, I was playing on “Super Normal” difficulty (the middle of three).
None of the aforementioned problems really prevented me from having fun with the game. As with most tower defense games, it’s enjoyable just to lay down weapons and watch things die. But I think more could have been done to develop the game’s strategy and overall theme (more educational games, please!).
TIGdb: Entry for Super Energy Apocalypse: RECYCLED
Posted in Browser Games, Social Impact, Strategy | Tags BrainJuiceGames | 12 comments
Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin
Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:56:00 GMT
Hurrah,
the Polytron site is live! And I’ll be darned if it ain’t the slickest thing ever. More good news! Fez is planned for a 2009 release.
Here’s the press release, direct from Polyplex One:
Montreal, Thursday the 22nd of January , 4:29pm, Montreal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Polytron Corporation is proudly excited to announce its friendly takeover of Fez!
The venerable multimedia multinational giant today announces it has taken control of the production of highly anticipated indie darling sensation Fez. The rights to the game were transferred from indie darling sensation collective Kokoromi, who demanded nothing in return but a dream, and a wish.
Winner of the 2008 IGF Excellence In Visual Arts Award, Fez also features 2008 IGF nominated design innovation.
Polytron is vibrating with glee at the prospect of bringing it’s much needed decades of experience in the field of computer entertainment to Fez, and its team.
Confident in its dedication to the project, Polytron projects a release in 2009.
More screenshots here. (Check out the new and also improved art style!)
More press after the jump.
Read more...
Posted in Platformers, Unique / Bizarre, Social Impact, Technology | Tags PhilFish, Polytron | 39 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:42:00 GMT
Andy Schatz offers up a great gift for the holidays: his ecological sim Venture Arctic is free until 2009. In his own words:
Somtimes it takes a little while to get to know a game before you fall in love with it. This is one of those games. I just want everyone else to be able to get to know it as well.
Merry Christmas!
TIGdb: Entry for Venture Arctic
Posted in Macintosh, Social Impact, Community, Windows, Sim | Tags PocketwatchGames | 6 comments
