YOU’RE MY OBSESSION: PUZZLE QUEST: GALACTRIX DEMO GOES LIVE
As I mentioned in December, Infinite Interactive’s sci-fi themed Puzzle Quest follow-up Galactrix is one of my most anticipated 2009 titles, based almost solely on the fact that the original game has wound up on nearly every one of my supported devices: I currently have dedicated characters on my DS, PSP, Xbox 360 and, most recently, my iPhone, and happily chip away at the same areas on each based on whichever I’ve got on hand.
But now I’ve got better reason: publisher D3 and Infinite have set a Galactrix demo live that lets you putter with the game’s match-3 battle interface, and already I’ve lost a good part of the morning to its hexagonal wiles.
Though I don’t quite have its particular vocabulary yet (the help gives only the briefest overview) It’s all too instantly familiar to a Puzzle Quest regular — each three or more pieces matched add to your equivalent bank of ‘mana’, purple for experience, white (presumably) for money, and blue for shield regeneration.
It’s that last bit that gives Galactrix its extra strategic kick: as a regenerable force, keeping your shields up becomes an utmost priority, as does moving in for repeat attacks once you’ve got your opponent’s defenses on the ropes. And the playfield’s mines, this version’s ‘skulls’, amplify their damage the longer they remain on the field (unlike PQ‘s randomly dropped/spell-amped flamers), so minimizing their effect on you by clearing them as soon as possible, or holding them to maximize damage to your opponent, also adds to the depth of play.
Whether Galactrix will garner the fast word-of-mouth cult hit status of the original Puzzle Quest, or — as Popcap CCO Jason Kapalka recently claimed, its very shape will prove a turn off for casual customers — remains to be seen, but I can say that even my brief time with the demo has made the game climb several rungs in my most-wanted ladder.
Play Puzzle Quest: Galactrix [Infinite Interactive, game site, via GameCyte]
Previously:
Things We Lost In The Snow, pt 1: PuzzleQuest hit the iPhone …
Nintendo's Wii/DS outlook: The Offworld view – Offworld
Othello gets Puzzle Quest treatment with Neopets Puzzle Adventure …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
REVOLVINGDORK’S SUPER MARIO LAND ETCHED EEE PC
The last bit of Monday Morning Metal: ‘revolvingdork’s Eee PC etched with the entire map of the original Game Boy Super Mario Land “from the familiar layouts of 1-1 to the climactic battle with Tatanga in the clouds at the end of 4-3” has, to my mind, never made a better case for laser etching everything.
Logo etching detail [Flickr, via GamOvr]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
INFINITE AMMO TEASE IPHONE PUZZLER HEROES AND VILLAINS
Doing due diligence on keeping up with the work going on at Offworld fave Infinite Ammo, the team have updated with new concept art for Heroes and Villains, a prototype game idea they’re busy porting to the iPhone.
As with their recently mentioned larger project Marian, we’ve only got bits and pieces to go on, but in a late November update, Ammo head Alec Holowka dropped one little tidbit on its gameplay, calling it “Lemmings meets [Blizzard platformer] The Lost Vikings meets Awesome,” which is basically all I needed to hear.
Heroes and Progress [Infinite Ammo]
Previously:
Infinite Ammo teases their Marian-ette – Offworld
Bringing Gamma home to you – Offworld
Bit Blot's Aquaria hits Steam – Offworld
See more posts about: Infinite Ammo, Offworld Originals
THIRDPROJECTJUNO’S SHINEYS MAKE A REAL ROCK BAND STAR
The only thing disappointing about ThirdProjectJuno’s iconic games-smithing is the fact that they’re not for sale (claiming copyright issues, which surely hasn’t stopped a nation of etsy sellers). Above is my favorite of the bunch, a necklace linking all of Rock Band‘s instruments, but I’d also be hard pressed to only choose one between the Tetris ring, Metroid pendant, and NES D-pad.
Thirdproject Shineys [via GamOvr]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
SURE PLAYS A MEAN MARBLE: MARBLE MADNESS FINISHED IN 2:30
In other morning video madness: the only thing more amazing than this Marble Madness expert play video is the champ’s seemingly flailing double-palm whack technique (the original niconico video’s tags include ‘bloody muscle pain’ for good reason).
People are already comparing it to TGM HOLiC’s unbelievable Tetris: The Grand Master 3 video which — if you haven’t seen it already — will leave you speechless, particularly when he continues to play with the fallen blocks turned invisible.
See more posts about: Arcade, Offworld Originals
LISTEN: LEENI’S 8-BIT KABUKI ‘UNDERWORLD’
A fantastic way to start the week: chiptune musician Leeni describes her latest album ‘Labyrinth‘ as “Danny Elfman, Elliott Smith and Bjork [collaborating] on the soundtrack to Castlevania or Zelda” and has marked its debut with this 8-bit mole-man kabuki video for ‘Underworld’ by Niina Koivusalo and Ville Konttinen.
There’s much more to be had — chippy Thom Yorke covers, even — via her 8bitcollective page and home site.
[Leeni.us, via the increasingly excellent Attract Mode]
See more posts about: Listen, Music, Offworld Originals
WEEKEND WATCHING: LOOK AROUND YOU MAKES ITS U.S. DEBUT
Unlike last time’s Weekend Watching, this one’s something you’ll have to actually tune your TV to: this weekend (at the very enviable time slot of Sunday at 1am — set your Tivos, probably) will see the Adult Swim debut of BBC2 comedy Look Around You, an Offworld favorite from Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz.
A pitch perfect parody of yesteryear’s ‘technology of tomorrow, today’ programs (if you can follow the chronology there), I offer the most relevantly Offworld-ian bit above as a taste, and, once you’re finished with that, an emulated version of 80’s classic Diarrhea Dan, the F. Scott Fitzgerald-inspired toilet-based game featured in the clip.
[Look Around You – US trailer, BBC Minisite]
Previously:
Weekend watching: Rex Crowle's Grip Wrench – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
LITTLEBIGWATCH: WILL SCOBIE’S LITTLEBIGPLANETOID STICKER PACK
Following its debut release from Brighton-based illustrator Matt Buchanan, Little Big Planetoid has released their second excellently curated designer-series sticker packs, this time south England illustrator Will Scobie with a nice mix of loopy lines and cubic creations, collected via custom in-game levels.
Once again, until LittleBigPlanet allows direct HDD uploads the pictures are of semi-dubious quality, but Planetoid promises the levels will be reworked when the game allows.
LBP Designer Sticker Pack #2: Will Scobie [Little BIG Planetoid]
Previously:
LittleBigStickerPacks – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
VINTAGE AD, VINTAGE NOTION, VINTAGE VIOLENCE
Unreality’s list of 20 vintage videogame ads is a decently selected list of classic franchises and fun comic art (see Atari’s Mario Bros. ad), but most striking is this ad for Wizard’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a 180 turn from most modern marketing (bar, perhaps, Postal or Manhunt), brazenly using its violence as both a selling point and a healthy anger-management pursuit.
Even better, the above video of its actual gameplay.
20 Awesome Vintage Video Game Ads [Unreality, thanks Tom!]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
HARMONIX HEAD RIGOPULOS ON PS3 AMPLITUDE, IPHONE PLANS
Ars Technica’s latest interview with Harmonix head Alex Rigopulos has scored an effortless Unison Bonus with my heart, and it’s got little to do with the state of the music industry’s involvement with Rock Band going forward.
Instead, (and finally!) Ben Kuchera presses Rigopulos on the idea of working with Sony to get the studio’s earlier work, particularly the Sony-owned Amplitude, done right via the PlayStation Network:
Rigopulos: I would love to. That game is still close to my heart. I love it. I’d love to do a sequel to Amplitude, actually. It’s an issue of prioritization… For us, that lingering question of “what are we going to do about Amplitude” is still very much out there. I would love to come back and do it right for the PlayStation 3, for example.
And, even better, gets him to elaborate on the studio’s obvious next best move: the iPhone, a place I’d love to see HMX show the Tap Tap ilk just how it’s done, either with a reworked port of its outrageously under-appreciated iPod game Phase [buy it now if you haven’t already], or something more original:
Rigopulos: Believe me, we’re looking at the iPhone. If we take a stop on that platform, we want to do it right, so we’re thinking about the specific attributes of the iPhone so we can make it the right step where we can make the product that’s the right product for that platform. We could just do a port of Phase, but I’m wondering if there isn’t something that’s more ambitious that we could do as well. I don’t think we have any specific plans there yet, but needless to say, we’re looking at it.
King of Rock: Ars talks to Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos [Ars Technica]
Previously:
Going deep on music with Harmonix – Offworld
Rock Band bucking the sequel trend in 2009 – Offworld
See more posts about: Harmonix, Offworld Originals
