FROM GOLDENEYE TO GARDENING: THE FANTASTIC FOLIAGE OF BONSAI BARBER
You will be forgiven for overlooking the release of Zoonami‘s WiiWare debut Bonsai Barber several weeks back — I might have too, if I didn’t know firsthand the pedigree of the studio behind it. Zoonami is, as it turns out, the studio founded by former Rare designer Martin Hollis, one of the foundational design team behind Nintendo 64 Bond shooter GoldenEye 007, who left in the midst of Perfect Dark development to strike out at his own studio.
In the intervening years, Zoonami had thus far only eked out a single game, DS/PSP minigame/Sudoku mashup Zendoku (which, much to its credit, is the only Sudoku game that’s actually managed to hold my attention for more than a round or two and is well worth investigating), with another two years passing until Barber‘s release.
Of course, there’s nothing that overtly ties Goldeneye and Bonsai together to say that fans of one would be instantly drawn to the other, except to say that both are, truly, exceptional games. (more…)
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REFORMAT THE PLANET DIRECTORS VISIT INFAMOUS DEVS SUCKER PUNCH
Speaking of studio visits, I might have entirely passed by this series of Sucker Punch video diaries describing the concept and development of just released PS3 exclusive action game inFamous if producer Paul Levering hadn’t recently sent them in.
Levering is, as you might recall, one of the producers behind the ongoing BlipFest DVD series and chiptunes documentary Reformat The Planet, and 2 Player Productions’ now-signature style manages to make beautiful shots out of even the simple talking-heads.
Part one is above, see part two and part three.
2 Player Productions [Thanks, Paul!]
Previously:
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OFFWORLD PSA: NINTENDO’S RHYTHM HEAVEN ITUNES VISUALIZER IS AMAZING
I spent longer than I’d like to admit trying to put together the ultimate Hudson Mohawke – Polkadot Blues YouTube sample that would prove just what I mean, but for now you’re going to just have to take my word and the image above.
Tiff sent me a heads up yesterday that tucked away in amongst the Flash navigation at Nintendo’s website for DS favorite Rhythm Heaven was an official iTunes visualizer, and though it continually crashed her Mac, it runs beautifully on my PC.
As I would come to find out, what it proves beyond reasonable doubt is that nearly every piece of music is exponentially better when accompanied by: effete frogs, erlenmeyer flask-shaking lab partners, thick-lipped Moai heads, guitar wielding ghosts, and dogs done up in rocket-mech suits, all throbbing and pulsing to the beat.
Let the Rhythm Heaven site come to a complete load and check the left nav for the link. [Hope you get yours working, Tiff!]
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ONE SHOT: ELLIOTT BURFORD’S POSTHUMOUS REGRET
Eternity’s a long time with no Mole Mania. From the sketchbook pages of Elliott Burford (who also has strong words for Tetris).
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LAND OF THE RISING SUNNY: SIMON PARKIN’S NANAON-SHA STUDIO VISIT
Says UK journalist and Offworld contributor Simon Parkin of his latest upstart photo series WorkStation:
Offices are offices, whatever their location, but having visited a number of development studios across the world, I still find it interesting how diverse they can be in the details. You can tell so much about the minds and ideas that inhabit a desk just by looking at the detritus on and around it.
WorkStation aims to be an intermittent feature, offering a window into the development environments of studios around the world.
And he’s started it off in as wonderful a place as I could imagine, Parappa dev NanaOn-Sha‘s Tokyo studio, with, as above, a full size figure of WonderSwan oddity Rhyme Rider Kerorican and more Parappa/UmJammer Lammy merch than you could ever fathom. Visit Parkin’s Chewing Pixels blog for the whole set.
WorkStation #1: NanaOn-Sha [chewing pixels]
Previously:
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ONE SHOT: SCOTT C.’S KEEPING THEM AT BAY
Devo as fearless Earth Defense Force, by Double Fine artist Scott C., part of Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight‘s ongoing ‘Quiet Storm’ exhibit (though my favorite may be Simon and Garfunkel’s magical Friendship Trip).
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MUG SHOT: CAPCOM KOREA’S PROMOTIONAL SERVBOT COFFEE MUGS
Apologies for the lack of updates lately — I’ve been suffering from extreme under-the-weatherness for a few days now — and for the brief catchup I’ll be doing to get the site back up to speed.
As mea culpa, I offer another in a long line of objects to covet (and to keep your eyes peeled on eBay for): this set of Dead Rising Servbot mugs, meant to be served during your own dawn of the dead, and emblazoned with both series producer (and Mega Man creator) Keiji Inafune’s john hancock and Mega Man sketch.
The don’t-call-them-Lego-headed Servbots continue to be a Capcom series favorite, most notably for their appearance in what might have been the studio’s top three shining moments of the PlayStation era: action/puzzler The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, a game I’d desperately like to see come to the PlayStation Network store for PS3/PSP play.
Say “Good Morning” with a Servbot Coffee Mug [Capcom-Unity]
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ONE SHOT: FOTOLOGICO’S INVASIóN ESPACIAL EN LA CAPITAL DE ESPAñA
Madrid invaded, by Fotologico. [via GamOvr]
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GHOSTWIRE: AUGMENTED REALITY GAME PREPPED AS DSI DOWNLOADABLE
While it may not be the full blown environmentally-aware augmented reality game we’ve been promised for years now, Swedish studio A Different Game’s Ghostwire — just announced as in development for the DSi’s downloadable DSiWare service — is a fine step in the right direction.
Originally created for, as above, Nokia mobiles, A Different Game describes Ghostwire as a “collection and adventure game” that lets players use the camera, microphone, and on-screen frequency modulator to help unearth (un-aether?) spirits around you, who each have unique riddles to solve to bring their wandering souls to final peace.
The DSi version mockup, as above, includes a number of cute updates, most notably the use of its player-facing internal camera to catch yourself in the frightened act. A Different Game’s official site has more info and video of the award winning mobile version.
Ghostwire [A Different Game]
Previously:
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ONE SHOT: LITTLEBIGPLANET ENCOUNTERS A TROUSER MALFUNCTION
Happy I caught this when I did, as it’s now been stricken from the record: Media Molecule’s latest 2000AD crossover reveal was plagued by the dreaded trouser malfunction early this morning, but the Sack-Rogue Trooper has since been restored with pants stitched tight in place.
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