1up.com scored a true coup with a week-long exclusive look at Hothead’s DeathSpank — the action/adventure game crossover from Ron ‘Monkey Island/Maniac Mansion‘ Gilbert.
Check their preview special for the first real tidbits of gameplay information, from its marriage of loot-collecting/Diablo-esque action RPG and LucasArts-ish adventuring to the simple pleasure of its Animal Crossing-ish rolling cylindrical world.
Apparently not content with just bringing you what continues to be the internet’s most original games-related podcast (with the latest of its fantastic This American Life-inspired episodes having just been released), A Life Well Wasted series creator Robert Ashley has all-star tag-teamed up with oft-mentioned designer Olly Moss to create limited edition Giclée prints for each of the four episodes, and it’s basically impossible to pick just one (particularly after you’ve just bought Moss’s similarly phenomenal official poster for TV series Lost).
Ignore for just a few minutes the fact that there’s an already admittedly excellent stripped down Flash version of DICE’s Mirror’s Edge, because Canabalt — the just-released Experimental Gameplay entry from Fathom and Flixel creator Adam ‘Atomic‘ Saltsman and musician DannyB — strips that down even further, and better.
Consider it, maybe, the souped-up Tiger/Game & Watch LCD version of Mirror’s Edge, then: you have one goal, and one button, and the goal is to run, and the button is jump, and the game comes from simply maintaining breakneck momentum as you leap from rooftop to randomly generated rooftop.
Saltsman is an unabashed devotee of the Hollywood action flick, and the fact that his last recommendation was Peter O’Toole film The Stunt Man seemed somehow appropriate the instant you take your first dive through the game’s opening breakaway window. And then he moves on to John Woo, scattering a flock of doves skyward as you leap to the next roof, and then like take your pick from any sci-fi action/disaster as the first crashing alien ship rumbles past the screen, or you first notice the megalithic monsters trampling the far background.
For a five-day start-to-stop development it’s exceedingly confident and exceptionally accomplished: in keeping with the Experimental Gameplay’s ‘bare minimum’ theme, there’s a laundry list of things Saltsman could’ve added (I’m still not sure what my high score is from the 30-40 playthroughs today — I’m too busy compulsively slamming the retry button to take the half second to notice), but nothing he could have taken away, and it’s going to be quite some time before you find something so simple so thrilling again.
Canabalt [AdamAtomic, super-wide HD version for hi-res monitors]
What’s next for Rolando artist Mikko Walamies? All we’ve got to go on for now is this ultra-vertical deep-space artwork for his next games venture, which may or may not be related to Rolando-creator Simon Oliver’s next game, which he’s just let slip will not be for the iPhone.
Tigers with lasers, fire-breathing grizzlies, and stunt-jumping polar bears: it’s obviously a wallpaper for Grand Theft Auto creators Rockstar Games (available in all monitor/iPhone/PSP sizes). [via Steve Gaynor]
When a remake of EA’s cult strategy game Archon was first announced for the iPhone, I made a humble request that multiplayer classic M.U.L.E. be next, and while I won’t take even an atom’s worth of credit, Raph Koster has spotted news that a remake is indeed in the cards.
Melanie Bunten Stark, daughter of original M.U.L.E. creator Dan Bunten, has just launched Ozark Softscape — a new site dedicated to the Bunten legacy — and joined the World of M.U.L.E. Facebook fan-page with news (from May, actually) that the licensing process was underway so that work could begin on an online version of the game. More interestingly, Bunten Stark also posted more recently to say that an iPhone and mobile version were also being planned.
There’s no word on precisely who will be handling the remake, though it looks to be closely overseen by the Bunten family children, and if I could only have one re-iterated request, it’d be that whomever is involved might think about tapping Niklas Jansson and his brilliant remake character concepts (above) for the updated version.
Follow the Facebook page, the World of M.U.L.E. site proper, and the official Ozark site for updates as they arrive.
Bryan Lee O’Malley nails a perfect pastiche of Capcom’s Super Gem Fighter (Mini Mix) promo with this Scott Pilgrim cast poster. Just too good not to link up, really.
Update: Should you want to get your hands on one of your own, O’Malley writes that it’ll be available at PAX for $5 apiece, with all proceeds going to Child’s Play, and it should be available online eventually.
[New Scott Pilgrim Cast Poster – thanks Simon!]
My adventures here in the Bay Area are winding to a close, but, as I mentioned as I was leaving, I’ll be going out with a bang this Sunday night seeing Anamanaguchi, Mr. Spastic, A_Rival, Crashfaster and Starpause, as part of Dutycycle’s first 8bitSF show, 7-11:30 PM at San Francisco’s DNA Lounge, 375 11th St.
If you’re not quite sure what you’d be getting into, you can download a 10 song sampler EP here, and start early with us as friend of Offworld DocPop and 8bitSF host a burger-laden pre-party at Zeitgeist starting Sunday at noon.
See 8bitSF’s post for full information, showtimes, and directions to the DNA Lounge, and be sure to come say hi! See you all there.
There’s a good amount of both padding between there and here and very light questions from the TV crew, but skip to the 6 minute mark on the video above to see G4’s recent profile of Fez creators Polytron for, if nothing else, new footage of the game’s world — including a wicked bullet-time rotating explosion — and musician Jason ‘6955’ DeGroot disappearing into his hoodie. [via Polytron]
Remember that scene in Ghostbusters 2 where they spray the Statue of Liberty with slime and then control the animated statue using nothing more than a simple two button NES Advantage arcade stick? Did you ever wonder what the control scheme for that would be? There’s a shirt for that.
Busters Advantage T-Shirt [Split Reason]
