BEAT CONNECTION: GAIJIN SEND US ON A SECOND VIDEO BIT.TRIP
Games blog Joystiq got their hands on a new trailer for Gaijin Games’ upcoming WiiWare game Bit.Trip: Beat, and this one does a fantastic job of allaying any fears that the Beat would be a walk through the 4-bit park.
It also gives an even stronger sensation of how tightly integrated the music will be with the gameplay: the first used its dot-reflections as flourishes over the underlying melody, but this better conjures a feeling of making the music with skilled play.
Also, Gaijin, if you’re listening (and if you are, can you drop me a note via the upper right link?), this is a long shot, but I promise to gift the game to each and every one of my Wii-owning friends if you can manage to shoehorn in DS connectivity that lets me use Taito’s add-on paddle controller.
Bit.Trip: Beat
Previously:
Beat: My god, it's full of bits – Offworld
Gaijin Games taking the Wii on a Bit.Trip – Offworld
See more posts about: Bit.Trip, Gaijin, Offworld Originals
HOW GRIDPLANE HELPED THE XBOX 360 DROP ITS BLADES
You may have already seen these data visualization concepts Portland design team Gridplane did for Google which made the rounds earlier this week via the tech/design blog set, but hiding one project over (as I never thought to click away to) was a project making waves on the games blogs today.
The company, it turns out, was involved in doing concept work for Microsoft’s New Xbox Experience, and the image set is a fascinating look at the evolution of their thought process, still showing a visual reliance on the original Xbox 360’s blades before blowing them out completely into a far more nebulous and spacious area, actually quite similar to the one we ended up with (particularly its new friends list).
The list of participants was just as surprising — Gridplane creative director JD Hooge and motion designer Nando Costa were both key players in the early days of the Flash art/design scene (when Flash MX was an exciting blip on the distant horizon). The former was involved in the excellent Flash Math Creativity book, while the latter was part of a burgeoning tech/design scene that popped up briefly in Chicago, one that would also spawn Iminlikewithyou founder Charles Forman, who’s managed to transform his original hepcat faux-dating site into a hotspot for casual multiplayer games.
XBOX Experience [Gridplane]
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ANNABELLE KENNEDY JOINS FEZ CREATORS POLYTRON
In other good indie staff-up news, Fez creators Polytron send word that Annabelle Kennedy will join the short-list of Fez devs as the game’s animator (alongside designer Phil Fish, programmer Renaud Bédard and musician Jason ‘6955‘ DeGroot).
Kennedy might not yet be the most familiar name, but indie followers will surely have seen her work, if not from the ridiculously adorable “cover art” for Rescue: The Beagles, then likely the various Fez (above) and Cave Story fan illustrations she’s done over the past few years.
Attractmo.de recently ran an excellent feature on Kennedy, where she also talked more at length about Tiny Survival Horror, her “candy coated survival horror” that she’s producing entirely on her own, and from the feature’s included screenshots and character art looks like it’s coming together quite well (though presumably Fez may preclude progress on that) — she’s definitely one to keep a close eye on from here on out.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH [Polytron]
Previously:
Polytron affirm essential awesomeness – Offworld
Only on Offworld: Polytron/Kokoromi's Anaglyphic super HYPERCUBE …
Gimme Indie Game: Rescue: The Beagles – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Polytron
THE FEVER PITCH: FIRST IMAGES OF SPACE INVADERS EXTREME 2
As predicted, Famitsu has uploaded its full preview of Taito’s March surprise, the second DS installment of Space Invaders Extreme, and its still half-puzzling Bingo Fever mode, in which you match panel colors in any direction by shooting down invaders of the corresponding hue.
The preview also details a number of the other new features, some more easily understood than others: I get the panel view and how it corresponds to power-ups (similar to the first game), but I’m still slightly ashamed to admit to feeling a bit dense about the workings of its multiplayer mode shown at bottom, which appears to involve sending super-sized UFOs to stymie your opponent’s game, but isn’t explained in much more depth.
I’m cautiously optimistic: while the new arcade-cab monster Necker Cube backgrounds have certainly properly woo-ed me, I’m not entirely convinced the game is actually necessary given the richness of the first, and bingo does not an instant seller make. But there’s still time for Taito to pull a few more cards from up its sleeve, and its entirely possible that letting it dazzle me in motion will make all the difference in the world.
Space Invaders Extreme 2, another classic reborn [Famitsu, spotty Google translation]
Previously:
Space Invaders Extreme 2 gets.. invader bingo? – Offworld
Space Invaders getting even more Extreme? – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
CONTRAPPOSTO: JOHN MALLAMAS’S INTRICATE TOY CUSTOMS
More shoulda, coulda toys that aren’t yet: John ‘Jin Saotome’ Mallamas made a name for himself earlier last year with a spread in Wired on his various comic book custom toys, but his custom twin Contra figures are particularly notable because get a load of that fantastic (and magnet-swappable, apparently) spread shot.
Mallamas’s Flickr stream is a treasure trove of other spot on customs: Gordon Freeman and his gravity gun (or, alternately, blood-spattered crowbar), God of War‘s Kratos, and a free-hanging Bionic Commando.
Jin Saotome’s Dangerous Toys [John Mallamas]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
SAVORY NEW DETAILS OF EDMUND MCMILLEN’S MEAT BOY
And finally, one that you actually can get your meaty paws on: as progress on the commercial WiiWare/PC version of Edmund McMillen’s Super Meat Boy moves forward, he updates to say that partner-in-plush Danielle White has created the first ever Meat Boy toys, the first 15 of which come with limited Meat Boy buttons. Race you.
And, as I missed it at the time, his new Meat Boy blog lists some of the features we can expect from the enhanced version of the game: a “100% remade graphics and engine,” over a hundred levels across five chapters, boss fights, a versus mode, and — though “it’s still too early to tell” — possible co-op play and a level editor.
While I’ve got the wish-list open, I’d also like to sincerely request a line of Aether toys, perhaps with retractable tongue (and an eye-hook for hanging) and velcro-removable Boy rider? It is to dream.
Meat Boy plush! [Edmund McMillen]
Previously:
Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy getting revamped for Wii, PC – Offworld
Edmund McMillen gives us No Quarter – Offworld
Gimme Indie Game: Glaiel and Schubbe give us Closure – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: ELAINE BRADFORD UNINTENTIONALLY PROTOTYPES NOBY TOYS
Currently on display at Houston gallery Art League Houston, Elaine Bradford‘s ‘Museum of UnNatural History’ exhibit, which makes as good a case for eventual Noby Noby Boy toys as anything: take note, Namco!
Fiber Arts: Freaks of Nurture [Lime & Violet, via .tiff!]
Previously:
It's a stretch: Explaining Katamari creator's new Noby Noby Boy …
Noby Noby Boy stretches further into February – Offworld
Another new look at Noby Noby Boy – Offworld
Happy Holidays from Offworld (feat. Keita Takahashi) – Offworld
See more posts about: Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
BEHEMOTH SHOW HOW TO BUILD A BETTER UNDEAD CYCLOPS
Ever wonder how Behemoth designer Dan Paladin creates the gorgeous vector art that adorns Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers? Wonder no more: here’s 19 minutes of Paladin drawing and animating Crashers‘ Undead Cyclops boss and its adorable little death knight minions.
Undead Cyclops Boss [Vimeo, The Behemoth]
Previously:
The Behemoth talk Castle Crashers balance, ladies – Offworld
Castle Crashers gets Kinged – Offworld
The Offworld 20: 2008's Best Indie and Overlooked – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
WORLD OF GOO’S KYLE GABLER GIVES TOP 7 GLOBAL GAME JAM TIPS
In the Global Game Jam‘s first ever (and ridiculously awesome) keynote, 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo creator Kyle Gabler — an expert on rapid dev, having helped found Carnegie Mellon’s Experimental Gameplay project — gives his top tips for fresh-faced indie devs, covering the importance of audio, originality, and (channeling… Tyra Banks) looking your best for the media.
You also get bonus cameos by IGDA’s Jason Della Rocca and Susan Gold, as well as Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho and Audiosurf‘s Dylan Fitterer! It’s a must-watch.
As we noted yesterday, 5pm on Friday marks the beginning of the inaugural jam (supported by IGDA, cross platform engine Unity, and Mekensleep, creators of DS Offworld-favorite Soul Bubbles), and will see 2,000 participants at 53 locations in 23 countries taking 48 hours to create a game.
We here will be making the rounds covering our respective local jams: I’ll be doing my damndest to make it to Austin Community College over the weekend to see how things progress, Gadgets’ Rob Beschizza will be at Carnegie Mellon (where the 2D Boys are said to be dropping by), and the Mother Boing crew will be on West Coast duty. Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!
Previously:
Global Game Jam (48 hour videogame dev marathon) this weekend …
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WHAT’S IT GOING TO BUILD THEN, EH: ‘A LEGO ORANGE’ IMAGINED
Corvus Elrod’s imagined version of A Clockwork Orange done up Lego-game-style makes me as uncomfortable to read as I imagine Elrod wanted it to: it’s a bit heavy handed at times (as, I suppose, it should be), but the post-Ludovico twist at the end was a nice touch, as is its deliberately destructive design:
Unlike you’d expect from a LEGO game, however, the majority of the game features absolutely no building. None at all. It’s all destruction and ultra-violence. The closest thing to a constructive action is in the Milk Bar, where pouring and drinking milk mixers from different taps slightly alters your interactions with the game. One drink slightly speeds up your movement, another makes you a bit stronger, yet another alters the coloration of the lighting in the levels, casting everything in a ghastly purplish hue.
A LEGO Orange [Man Bytes Blog, via Infovore]
See more posts about: Meta, Offworld Originals
