Joyous day! Everyday Shooter has finally made its way to the PC, via Steam. I’ll be honest, I had only gotten a taste of this game before, on the IGF show floor in 2007. It was fun then, but I gotta say, it really deserves to be played in one’s own room, with headphones on. Challenging and beautiful – one of few games where graphics, sound, and gameplay are completely harmonious with one another.
Try it! It’s definitely worth the $8.99 you’ll be paying for it (discounted from $9.99 for this week).
The Game Developers Rant has become somewhat notorious over the years, what with Greg Costikyan’s infamous 2005 rant that started him on the rocky road toward Manifesto Games, and Chris Hecker’s inflammatory “the Wii is a piece of shit” comment in 2007. When people go see the rant, they expect blood to be spilled.
But man, leave it to Jon Mak to buck tradition. This year, attendees got a surprise, when Jon, instead of ranting, cranked up some electronica and ran down the aisles, throwing balloons into the air. The balloons, which were covered with cryptic messages, were batted about by the audience. Eventually, Kim Swift (Narbacular Drop / Portal) was ushered to the podium by Mak and was asked to scream as loud as she could (!). Which she did.
Be sure to check out citizenmike’s blog post for a more detailed rundown of Jon’s presentation, and head here (GameCareerGuide.com) for a recap of the Rant as a whole. And Sean “th1s” Chan has provided some video of the balloon orgy in question:
Continuing with the 1UP theme, 1UP has an interesting article up called “So You Want To Make A Game” which features interviews with Tower Defender Paul Preece, Madman Jon Mak, and Finnish Rock God/IGF Champion Petri Purho, giving advice on love, life, and game development. (Mostly game development.)
P.S. I’ll have some super-special exclusive GDC content for TIGS in the near future, but I need to collect myself first. I was not ready for this insanity.
Jonathan Blow has called out for submissions for the Experimental Gameplay Workshop in 2008. The EGW is a series of live presentations about innovative or interesting game designs (both WIP and finished). It’s part of the Game Developer’s Conference that takes place in February.
Past games have included Katamari Damacy, Ragdoll Kung Fu, early versions of Braid and Everyday Shooter, Jim McGinley’s Jugglin’, Kyle Gabler’s Experimental Gameplay Project, and Masaya Matsuura’s visual-rhythm game Mojibribbon (depicted left).
Participants are expected to give a 10-15 minute live presentation about their game, including slides, and answer questions at the end of their presentation. The deadline for submissions is January 15th.
Sony also temporarily discounted several older downloadable PS3 games on the PlayStation Store. Calling All Cars, fl0w, PixelJunk Racers, and Everyday Shooter have all been reduced to $4.99 through November 29.
Although this quote seems to be from an ill-informed opinion from GameSpot (since when, less than 2 months ago, did Everyday Shooter become old), I’m hoping that all those out there with an indie affection and a PS3 will finally purchase these indie games they might have been holding off on for one reason or an other.
Jon Mak’s award-winning “game album” Everyday Shooter has just been released on Playstation Network today, in full HD, at the low, low price of $9.99 USD. If you have a PS3, buy it immediately, I say! If you don’t, convince a friend to—Go in on it with them if you have to. (That’s what I’m going to do.)
Congrats, Jon! Can’t wait for the PC version.
Derek’s Update: Check out this Playstation “Personality Profile” on Jon where he admits that he recently bought five pounds of hash (browns)! Thanks, Petri!
What better way to spend a quiet Sunday evening then to watch a panel from this year’s Independent Games Summit, featuring Jon Blow, Jon Mak, Jenova Chen, and Kyle Gabler! This panel was one of my favorites of the summit. Each of the panelists came from a different perspective… together they really got at what was exciting about indie games for me. The four P’s, yo: passion, personality, and potential. And Pinnovation.
But yeah, I can’t believe Steve dissed me so hard at the end. Unfortunately, I don’t remember my question. I think I was going to ask Jon Mak about what hair products he uses…
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
