H.GRENADE REVEAL IPHONE SHOOTER/HACKER CIRCUIT STRIKE.ONE
“Casual games for hard core gamers” maker H.grenade have uploaded the first footage of their debut Unity-developed iPhone shooter/node-hacker Circuit Strike.One, and there’s not much to do but gawp.
It showcases some of the strongest UI work iPhone gaming’s had since the App Store opened its doors (little surprise, as grenadier Shay Casey appears to have cut his teeth on UI design for games like Silent Hill V), and is rife with fantastic little touches like the occasional spectrum glitch-out lightning flash.
Even better, the devs say what the video’s missing is “Rez-style synchronized AV effects” to an original soundtrack that’s promised in the next look at the game.
Circuit Strike.One [H.grenade]
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ON WIRES AND PUMPS: PERSUASIVE GAMES TALKS JETSET, APP STORE OPACITY
G4TV have posted a new interview with Persuasive Games’ Ian Bogost taking a deeper look at the development process of their recently mentioned location-aware iPhone airport security parody Jetset, giving Bogost some air-time to not only express some frustration with the opacity (or lack thereof) of Apple’s approval process (and thusly explaining the late-January appearance of a snowglobe), but also its selectiveness on just what the company deems ‘offensive’:
Their first gripe was about what they claimed was offensive sexual content in the game, which amounted to a couple things that we had included based on these stories.
There was this guy in Chicago a couple years ago, who had this penis pump that he was trying to take in a carry on. Someone asked him what it was, and they thought he said it was a bomb, or he was joking and he said it was a bomb. And there was this kind of international story about this whole thing because it was funny but also it really highlighted the kind of embarrassment of having a personal item exposed to the world. And so that was one that they were uncomfortable with.
We had also included a woman’s underwire bra, because there’s just a whole mess of stories about the underwire in women’s brassieres setting off certain metal detectors when their sensitivity is raised. And this has led to actually quite a large number of complaints about, you know, inappropriate groping by agents. So these are two items that Apple found offensive I guess. And you know, the thing about the penis pump, is that yeah ok maybe it’s a little off-color, but I can also buy Austin Powers on iTunes, which is just riddled with penis pumps and the consumer in that case is given the choice about what to think about that content, Apple’s not making it for them.
Despite the roadblocks Persuasive hit with the game, Bogost also makes note of two more forthcoming similarly news-worthy and “anti-panic” games coming to the platform later this year, via the link below.
The Making of an iPhone Game & Things That Make Apple Uncomfortable [G4tv.com]
Previously:
Touch me I'm slick: Persuasive Games' experimental Jetset – Offworld
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LET’S DIG: GLOBAL GAME JAM GAME BROWSER GOES LIVE
The Global Game Jam has officially drawn to a close, and now the real work begins: mining the output for any hidden gems.
The Game Jam teams have uploaded all of the worldwide output for download here, and the Independently Speaking blog has already got underway at pointing toward some notable entries. I’m about to start to do the same myself and will update with any excitement I unearth, and please do the same with anything amazing you find (or created and are proud of!) via the comments.
Previously:
World of Goo's Kyle Gabler gives top 7 Global Game Jam tips – Offworld
Global Game Jam Continues! Here's live video (without kittens …
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LEFT 4 LOVE: ALEXANDRIA NEONAKIS’ LATEST VALENTINES
The yearly return of new games valentines from Halifax illustrator Alexandria ‘beavotron‘ Neonakis is one tradition I could really get used to. It started with Katamari, Colossus, and Warcraft, moved on to Team Fortress 2 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and now her set of five Left 4 Dead cards above (plus one group-shot bonus) suitable for printing and startling someone with.
Alexandria Neonakis [Beavotron, Deviantart, via the always excellent VGArts]
Previously:
Left 4 Dead: Savage beyond belief – Offworld
Left 4 Dead: the twits don't stand a chance – Offworld
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AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR: OLLY MOSS TAKES ON SILENT HILL
Olly Moss soars through number five of his 9-game “Classics” cover art series, this time with the horrible, gnawing dread of radio static in Silent Hill. This leaves four, and then (did I miss this before?) a “big screen print” of all nine (yeah!).
Olly Moss’s Videogame Classics [Flickr]
Previously:
Olly Moss's Penguin-inspired Videogame Classics covers – Offworld
Olly Moss's Man With The Golden Gear – Offworld
Olly Moss brings a touch of class to Black Mesa – Offworld
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KENTA CHO IS DOING SOME WONDERFL THINGS
Japan based indie dev Kenta Cho is about as household a name as it’s going to get for fans of bullet-hell shooters. He’s the man behind nearly every abstract/vector shooter you’ve seen ported from one device to the next: rRootage, Noiz2sa, and most notably TUMIKI Fighters, which recently came to the Wii in modified form as Majesco’s Blast Works.
Now I see he’s discovered a new platform, Japan’s Wonderfl, a new service that lets you code ActionScript in one pane and have it update in playable live on the right, with the ability for other users to fork and build off your code.
You can catch his Flash experiments via his Wonderfl home page here, or skip directly to the meatier games like Ascii Art Ship and CircleCycle. None are quite as feature complete to the level of his other games, but that’s quite the point: feel free to pick up his slack where you can.
And if you’ve got any Wonderfl thngs to show us yourself, let us know via the comments below.
ABA Games Posted Codes [Wonderfl, via The2Bears, via IndieGames]
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WARTHOG FROM HELL: OXM TEST-DRIVES HALO’S TRANSPORT
In a fun left-field feature done by former workmate and friend of Offworld Alistair Wallis, Official Xbox Mag takes a trip to Peter Jackson-related special effects house WETA for a Top Gear-type tour test-driving the Warthog, Halo‘s signature four-wheeler vehicle: a remnant of the since-canceled live action film Jackson was set to produce:
While the rounded acrylic windshield might look incredible in-game — and on film, too — the fact that the left-hand crease lines up exactly with the driver’s line of sight could be considered a bit of an issue. Suddenly, I’m a little worried again, and this is before he even starts explaining the three different steering modes: front-wheel steering, four-wheel independent steering, and a frankly rather frightening prospect he refers to as “crab mode.”
“It lets you drive sideways,” he explains cheerily.
We Drove The Warthog! [OXM ONLINE]
See more posts about: Meta, Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
UUDDLRLRBA-ROCK: 8-BIT GUITAR HERO COMES TO THE NES
Right, we’re only a few hours in and it’s going to be hard to top this for best new development of the week: following remakes on the Commodore 64 and text adventures, Kent ‘SnowBro’ Hansen and Andreas Pedersen have created D+Pad Hero — rhythm action for the NES — and it’s entirely excellent.
The game uses a bizarre mix of DDR arrows with Rock Band-like strums (and, smartly, its responsive audience): only the A and B buttons are used to hit notes, but overlaid arrows are this game’s version of colored fret-buttons. The result is a game that feels like learning to walk all over again (and is strongly recommended for a joypad only), but genuinely comes together as you stick with it.
Included are Hansen’s chiptune remixes of G’n’R’s Sweet Child of Mine, A-Ha’s The Swing of Things, Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, and Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel (and oh man are Jackson’s yips and ooh-hoos cute in blip-form).
Grab an emulator, grab the rom, and let us know how you perform via the comments (my Sweet Child record currently stands at a paltry 16350, with 411 hits and 199 misses).
Previously:
Champion of Guitars: text adventure Guitar Hero gets real – Offworld
Guitar Hero 1.0 begging for real-life remake – Offworld
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SUPER MEAT BOY GETS MUSICAL, AND NINTENDO GETS FORWARD
Edmund McMillen continues to drip-feed information on his forthcoming de-luxe WiiWare/PC remake of Newgrounds Flash platformer Meat Boy, this time with the first listen to the game’s soundtrack, a gristly rock number courtesy dbSoundWorks‘ Danny Baranowsky (whose site offers a number of other wicked samples, and a snazzy stadium rock header).
McMillen and co-dev Tommy Refenes also talked with fan-site WiiWare World about the release, where (surprising at least me) McMillen notes that the WiiWare remake is actually the result of Nintendo approaching him for content for its downloadable service, which shows how aggressively the company is reaching out to the indie community, after tirelessly promoting games like World of Goo both home and abroad in the runup to WiiWare’s debut.
Epic Super Meat Boy title track!
Previously:
Savory new details of Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy – Offworld
Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy getting revamped for Wii, PC – Offworld
Edmund McMillen gives us No Quarter – Offworld
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SATURN-INE: ANOTHER MOTHER/EARTHBOUND TREAT WE CAN’T HAVE
As if Nintendo’s staunch refusal to address the plaintive wails of Western Earthbound fans weren’t torture enough, toy company Banpresto has now announced a limited run of plush Mr. Saturn toys, which, at an apparent ‘life’-sized four-apples high (take that, Smurfs) and with a fully poseable single hair, might be just about the mother (yuk yuk) of all the Earthbound goods released so far. Wonderfully, the plush even comes packed in a box marked Escargot Express — Earthbound‘s in-game delivery service.
Mr. Saturn plush details [Net-You, via GameWatch (google translate)]
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