EVILBLDG: JIM ROSSIGNOL ON THE GAME DESIGN’S ARCHITECTURE OF ‘EVIL’

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5.15.2009

Brandon Boyer

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Over on the regularly wonderful BLDGBLOG, our Ragdoll Metaphysics columnist Jim Rossignol writes on the how designers architect the forms of “evil” in games from rote gothic constructions to cases where the environment is the enemy itself. Says Rossignol:

I suspect… the ways in which game designers architecturally represent evil are becoming too much a part of our everyday imaginative discourse to remain affecting. They’ve begun to lose their danger. The connection with the inhumanity that makes the enemy so thrilling has started to fade via over-familiarity.

Where the evil lair becomes a little more interesting is when its nature is ambiguous – but nevertheless disturbing. Half-Life 2’s Citadel is an example of this. The brutal gunmetal skyscraper that looms over a nameless Eastern European city, below, appears deeply threatening. But, like everything else in the Half-Life 2 universe, it is unexplained. It does not seem inherently evil. The structure moves and groans; it is a machine of some kind. It is something constructed and mechanical, rather than the clear manifestation or emanation of an evil force. The Citadel is not a fire-rimmed portal to hell, nor a windswept ruin. Nor is it a volcano base. It could even be somehow utilitarian. In fact, it’s reminiscent of the real Moscow’s own television tower.

It is, perhaps, even incidental to the scourge that Half-Life’s denizens face: alien infrastructure. It is only later, as the plot uncoils the inner architecture of the Citadel, that you come to realise that it is the enemy: the lair of an alien force that must, ultimately, be destroyed.

Click through for much more.

Evil Lair: On the Architecture of the Enemy in Videogame Worlds [BLDGBLOG]

The most frustrating demonstration video you might ever watch is still worth seeing for the first footage of Id/EA’s Wolfenstein RPG iPhone port: the turn-based version of the PC classic that we’ve also recently officially learned will be headed to Xbox Live Arcade.

Though the DS version of Id’s Orcs & Elves is as close as I’ve come to the studio’s RPG engine (which was also used for the mobile’s Doom RPG), I’m just going to go ahead and assume for now that in the right hands, it’s not quite so wildly ineffective.

Wolfenstein RPG [Id/EA, via TA]

HALF-BAKED SNAKE: ROHBY’S METAL GEAR CUSTOM VINYL

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5.15.2009

Brandon Boyer

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The limited edition of 10 sold out three days later, but it’s not too late to at least gawk at Rohby’s custom Metal Gear vinyl, and hold your breath for the next three in his tribute series to the game, starting with Sons of Liberty‘s Russian Soldiers. See more of his work (including a wicked Soundwave Decepticon Mad-L) via his Flickr and his bloHg [via toycutter].

As I’ve mentioned several times before (of note, in the turn of the year’s Offworld 20 list), Sony’s google-maps-enhanced top down superhero rescue game The Last Guy is one of the PlayStation 3’s overlooked downloadable gems.

And just when I thought all hope would be lost at ever seeing an expansion to the game, andriasang brings news that not only will it be getting a full Blu-ray retail release in Japan, along with three new levels, previous purchasers of the downloadable version will also be getting a $5 add-on pack that includes those levels alongside a patch for now-requisite Trophys and “other features.”

No word on where on earth the new levels will take us, but either way — if you haven’t already — do yourself a favor and add it to your ‘something for the weekend’ list in anticipation.

The Last Guy [PlayStation, Sony Japan]

Videogames are brilliant, aren’t they? Namco brings a port of its original arcade game Muscle March to WiiWare in Japan on May 26th. The premise? If it’s not abundantly clear above: after a pro football player steals the all-important protein powder, it’s up to March‘s rippled stars to strike the pose of the wall-smasher in front of you to keep the march moving and bring the thief to justice.

The downside: there but for the grace of Namco do we ever see this leave Japan, and the various regions’ WiiWare channels are hard-locked to each piece of hardware. Namco, if anyone’s reading: of course we do want this. It worked for Katamari, right? And even partners-in-fitness Cho Aniki earned itself a Virtual Console release. Let’s see what we can do.

Muscle March [Namco, thanks to Kotaku for the original video]

ONE SHOT: J.OTTO SEIBOLD’S MYSTERY GAME SPRITES

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5.15.2009

Brandon Boyer

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Artist and children’s book illustrator (and former star of my now-defunct record label) J.otto Seibold previews a mysterious set of video game sprites via his flickr. I’m sure I have no idea what’s going on here…

So how will Activision, Tony Hawk, and upstart Chicago developer Robomodo reinvent the skating game to take on the heavyweight board-porn of EA’s fantastic Skate franchise? As they’ve been hinting at for at least a year, it’s all in the controls, and so, as above and below: the new board controller.

How does it work? Speculate for now and ask again after its official E3 debut, and watch Spike Jonze/Ty Evans/UNKLE’s ‘Heaven’ video (which you see a few brief seconds of in the trailer) in the meantime to at least appreciate the art of the board while you wait.

Tony Hawk: Ride [Activision, Robomodo]

If you’ve been holding off on downloading Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, Tarsier‘s PS3 action-man remake of the original indie brawler (created by Media Molecule co-founder Mark Healey) you’re in luck. For the next week, Sony is giving the game away via the PlayStation Network as the first ever sponsored promotional deal.

PlayStation Store Update [PlayStation.blog, original PC version home]

Voxel, by motion graphics studio Ubik, music by Domino/Double Six’s Jon Hopkins. [via Coudal]

AyesDyef‘s Garry’s Mod madness: a version of Nintendo’s all-star brawler Super Smash Bros done up Team Fortress style. Click here for the comparison video. [via Valve]