PSN TO GET BLOCK-PUZZLER EXCLUSIVE CUBOID
Tomorrow’s PlayStation Network exclusive puzzler Cuboid looks as though it’s shaped up well, and fits in nicely with a recent spate of spatial block puzzles (or, at least, with the recent release of the iPhone’s excellent platformer Edge [more on that soon]).
Following that, though, I’m having a hard time sizing up the remainder of the year for PSN originals: apart from Titan Studios’ mutliplayer strategy Fat Princess, Boolat’s spinning-top platformer Topatoi, Media Molecule’s port of Rag Doll Kung Fu, the ‘two or three’ subsequent PixelJunk games Q-Games recently teased, and SCEJ original garbage-piling puzzler GomiBako my vision is quite clouded.
Cuboid Coming Soon Exclusively to PSN [PlayStation.Blog]
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MST3K-OFFSHOOT ADVENTURE DARKSTAR BACK ON TRACK?
GameSetWatch’s early morning link-dump pointed me innocuously to news that adventure game Darkstar is “content complete” with just “testing and QA” left to finish before a Christmas 2009 release. That in itself didn’t stir much interest until I realized (re-remembered?) the game stars a who’s-who of former Mystery Science Theater 3000 glory (Joel’s Cinematic Titanic half, anyway, as opposed to Mike’s later Rifftrax cohorts).
A bit of research later (from what appears to be a since-deleted copy of an ancient Wikipedia article), I realize the game’s been in production since late 2000 (long enough for me to wonder if it’d ever been on and subsequently dropped off my radar), and, to be honest, looks the part with a pre-rendered and composited style that instantly dates it considerably.
Comments on the original news seem to carry a healthy dose of skepticism, and, after watching a snippet, I’m curious as to just how straight the game will play itself, despite Joel, Trace, Frank, J.Elvis and Mary Jo’s all-star involvement, but for now I’m filing it under cautiously optimistic.
Darkstar [via GameSetWatch]
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FALLING DEEPER INTO (I FELL IN LOVE WITH) THE MAJESTY OF COLORS
I, too, fell in love with (I Fell In Love With) The Majesty of Colors, Gregory Weir’s melancholic Cthulu-ish rumination we featured early in December, so I was quite pleased to see a full postmortem from Weir pop up on GameSetWatch, where Weir explains the genesis of the project:
Inspired by Lovecraftian themes, I had the idea of an enormous creature from beneath the waves discovering the world above. When I think of the deep ocean, I imagine darkness and a lack of color. When I think of color at its simplest, balloons come to mind: floating spheres in primary shades.
Contrary to what many players have guessed, the game was not actually based on a dream I had. I was aiming for a dream-like atmosphere, but the concepts came from a more prosaic source: brainstorming. My actual dreams are typically much weirder than “Majesty.”
Check the link for more from Weir on how the game developed, how the monster lost one of his tentacles, and more business minded thoughts about indie Flash development.
Postmortem: (I Fell In Love With) The Majesty of Colors [GameSetWatch]
Previously:
Gimme Indie Game: I Fell In Love With The Majesty Of Colors – Offworld
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PIXELJUNK EDEN, OSMOS TOP 2009 IGF NOMINATIONS
The Independent Games Festival has announced its list of finalists for this year’s competition, culminating with this year’s awards show on March 25th. Topping the list of nominations is Q-Games’ fantastic PixelJunk Eden, which nabbed Visual Art, Audio and Technical Excellence spots, as well as Hemisphere Games’ cellular puzzle game Osmos, which earned Technical and Design nominations, as well as a nomination for the overall Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Other notable entrants include Amanita’s Machinarium, the latest point and click adventure from the maker of the brilliant Samorost series, Between, the Esquire-curated game from Passage creator Jason Rohrer, and high-concept fan-favorite You Have To Burn The Rope from Mazapan.
Hit the jump for the full list of nominations. (more…)
See more posts about: IGF, Offworld Originals, PixelJunk, Q-Games
BOVINEDRAGON UNVEIL IPHONE TRASH-COLLECTOR GOMI
I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Bovinedragon’s free iPhone platformer Trace [AppStore] and its mix of MS Paint naivete with frankly excellently done draw-your-own stick-figure action/puzzling, so I was pleased to note this morning that they’ve updated their site with new details of their upcoming title Gomi. (Japanese for ‘trash’), the game finds its hook in an environmental motif that sees you reclaiming the world from, so far as I can tell, polluters, industrialization, and… baby seal clubbers?
Though critics will now truly have a game to lambast as the iPhone’s low budget Loco Roco (Rolando having proven itself sufficiently self-standing), the clearly unabashed lifting and downgrading of its style, along with its dash of Katamari and even just a hint of Mario Galaxy‘s island-hopping reassures me that they know precisely what they’re doing, and could end up creating something quite nice.
Gomi [Bovinedragon Software]
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REQUIEM FOR A RETROSHOOTER
Filed under tremendous pity with some glimmer of hope that exposure might bring it back to life, oeFun founder Ian Dunlop — former programmer on games like Thief: Deadly Shadows and now head of his own Austin based indie that’s focused on the DS and iPhone — has released video of his now-abandoned original Wii production.
Known then as RetroShooter 2050, Dunlop has described the game’s hook as so:
The game was a simple point-and-shoot game with a twist. Each level represents a decade in our history starting in 1940 and ending in 2050. The concept was that people in the future (2050) made this game and it is their interpretation of historical events that represent the levels features and enemies. This rosy / filtered look on the past by some future historian is what gave the game it’s unique ideas and look.
The game supported two simultaneous players and featured music synced to the games action. The demo features one level from the year 2000 and ends with a boss.
I recall when Dunlop was touting Wii development as “a direction in gaming that I’ve been wanting things to go now for a long time” and ideally suited for indies, so the sting is sharp to see a game that, even for as clearly Rez inspired as it is, had a strong vision and would have been a boon for the platform.
» Blog Archive » RetroShooter 2050 [oeFun]
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GIMME INDIE ENGINE: TIGSOURCE COMMUNITY’S BALDING’S QUEST
Over at TIGSource, work has continued anew on a fantastic community effort: Balding’s Quest: The Quest of Guy Balding, which isn’t so much a standalone game as it is a fully extensible 2D PC engine ready to be reconfigured with its own map, animation and dev editors.
Clearly a work in progress, development has been ongoing since early 2007 and for now consists of a pack of loadable maps which, from all that I tried range from difficult to brutally difficult. They’re so hard, in fact, that I nearly skipped mentioning it altogether, but Balding’s overall pleasant squish in every interaction and animation was so spot on (see also: Spelunky) that it comes recommended if only for a quick feel, although be sure to let us know if you manage to create something amazing, as well.
Balding is back! [TIGSource]
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SHOOTING WATCH GETS AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE USER GUIDE
Just a single day after getting my own recently reissued version of Hudson’s long-coveted Shooting Watch — Japan’s digital ‘trainer’ meant to help strengthen your button-tapping muscles up to par with the hummingbird-fingered Takahashi Meijin — and wondering aloud what those two secret functions might be, 1up’s reliably niche Ray Barnholt comes through with an unofficial English language guide.
Obviously in need of some serious work, my own top score has never reached higher than my very first run of 8.2 button taps per second, half that needed to unlock what turns out to be… a random number generator. Well, that and the infinite respect of your peers/ability to explode watermelons at will, obviously.
If you’re feeling left out and strapped for cash, homebrew coder ‘retrohead’ has created a watermelon-enhanced version of the unit for the DS, or you can order your own at any number of online import houses.
The Unofficial Shooting Watch User’s Guide [Retronauts]
Previously:
Into the mind of the Meijin – Offworld
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‘SEAMSTER’S DIY GIANT ATARI JOYSTICK LAMP
Ending the day where we started, only 100 percent less destructively, Wonderland has discovered new plans recently added to Instructables for this wicked Atari 2600 joystick lamp, with a shade smartly done up in classic game covers — though, as Alice points out, it is solely for the tool/router/saw/sander/clamp-enabled.
Giant Atari Joystick Lamp [via Wonderland]
See more posts about: diy, Offworld Originals
GIMME INDIE GAME: BENZIDO/RYAN CHISHOLM’S EVACUATION
Officially today’s most dangerous time-waster is Benzido/Ryan Chisholm’s deceptively difficult airlock puzzle, Evacuation. Procedurally generated (and therefore somewhat uneven from level to level — particularly when it inexplicably crowds all crew into the cockpit) and spanning some 200 levels, your goal is simply to open color-coded locks to eject invaders off your ship, while not exposing crew to either the aliens or the vacuum.
Evacuation [via TIGSource]
See more posts about: Gimme Indie Game, Offworld Originals
