Whether these pixel pirates form part of Hufsky’s micro/massive Puit Wars, their own game, or are indeed nothing more than a quick-sketch seems a bit beside the point: their tiny Ed Emberley-esque expressiveness is enough for me, and the screen’s proof that all I need to see is a numeral and “pts.” to compulsively want to play.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
Oh, and let’s just get this one out of the way, too. You know, normally I might give a video that climaxes with a tri-tone Game Boy Mario humping an orgasmic Lara Croft’s leg (bleeding then into invaders and even Pong paddles getting in on the action) a kneejerk pass, but directors, uh.. MUSCLEBEAVER, somehow make it work.
The ‘BEAVERS say the animation — which wraps up the evolution of games into five minutes of insanity effect ultraviolence from Mario to Monkey Island to DOOM to a bucolic Azeroth nightscape — was worked up as the prologue to a German documentary on World of Warcraft addicts, but no word on whether the full docu ever made it to air. [via ZenAlbatross]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
It’s been some six months since I last mentioned Sega’s meta-comedy WiiWare game Pole’s Big Adventure, and by now, it would seem the chances of it making its way stateside are close to nil, but the game’s continued to be a surprise favorite in Japan despite apparently resting itself on one-off gags, riding the charts for at least several months after its initial release.
Other signs of its on-going appreciation: local top games/design/fashion label King of Games has just revealed its first Pole design (following two more by Super Channel), a varsity ring-T featuring the moose-outfitted Poacher, and comes packed in its own special canvas bag — reminiscent, KoG says, of the ones school gym uniforms would come in. [via TinyCartridge]
See more posts about: Fashion, King of Games, Offworld Originals
My favorite part of Cactus’s video for Death Party, the followup to his 2008 game Shotgun Ninja (available as part of the Cactus Arcade package [zip]) isn’t the continuation of its pre-retro graphics with more decidedly modern mechanics, it’s the deep storyline he gives it on his blog, like a throwback to Atari/C64 back-of-the-box hyperbole:
A small guerrilla squad, called Death Party, undergoes rigorous training to be sent on a mission to take out the mysterious dictator ruling their home land. But how will they uphold their morale as they discover the citizens have all been turned into mindless addicts from drugs introduced into the local water supplies? They soon find themselves in a battle against an over powerful enemy, fighting for no one but themselves. Meanwhile the plot of their adversary seems to expand beyond their wildest imagination.
As usual, it’s always a bit premature to get hopes up for Cactus games that may or may not see the light of day, but, he says, there’s still hope for a few additional levels and a release soon.
See more posts about: Cactus, Offworld Originals
And so, the cycle is officially complete: from games, to their Post-It note stop-motion animated equivalents [2], now to games rendered in Post-It-Vision, as Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho releases his first entry into the revivified Experimental Gameplay Project’s debut competition.
Post I.T. Shooter — as he’s called it, in a not-so-subtle nod to Graham Linehan’s IT Crowd (the game’s main character is named Moss) — is an extension of the fractal invaders we saw Purho toying with last month, and sees you pitted against invader after oversized invader, all displayed in a jerky, faux-hand-animated Post-It note style.
It’s more difficult than you’d imagine, if only because those oversized pixels don’t leave much room for careful maneuvering — especially as the chipped-at invaders fire more and more frantically — but for a week-long experiment, you couldn’t ask for much more genuinely audacious artistic design.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
A first-pass rough draft of Shaun’s living room, as modeled by the team behind Left 4 Winchester: a Shaun of the Dead mod for the PC version of Left 4 Dead which, despite some hang-ups, is apparently still on its way.
The current plan is a five-map campaign that’ll take us from Shaun’s Pad, to Mum’s House, to Lizz’s Flat, to the Winchester itself for a final showdown, where the jukebox will, of course, summon the horde. Apart from some obvious metaphorical zombie-differences to be solved, this should be a new all-time favorite mod, provided the team can manage to hold it together.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
Your last look at the Ghostbusters DLC pack coming this Thursday to LittleBigPlanet, offered here because I mean, really, how wicked is that retro-illo Stay Puft at top left?
And, as a bonus, a closeup and personal view of the extra costumes teased last week, my favorite still the (what we’re now calling) “universal no” ghost.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
Greyscalegorilla’s current “Five Second Project” — in which animators and motion designers are given a couple weeks to create a five second video — is on a theme close to our hearts: “old video games.” The entries, which at last count number up to 100, are collected in this Vimeo channel.
A hundred videos might seem like a lot to go through, but at five seconds each it should take no time at all. If that’s still too ADD for you: a pair of our personal favourites. Above, William J. Meyer’s slightly-longer-than-five-seconds take lends Donkey Kong a helpful hand, and below, Joe Clay’s Super Mario Bros. video also takes a turn for the 3D, but in a crazy glitch-out and “blow the cart” kind of way.
The above is especially enjoyable as a fan of the glitched-out aesthetic, which can also be seen in Brad Chmielewski Old Video Games Data Mosh and Sean McDonald’s wonderfully teasing Get Ready to Play… the Greatest Game Ever.
Five Second Project: Old Video Games [GreyScaleGorilla]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
By way of French act Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours — who released a new running-through-the-streets-of-Nice music video a mere two weeks ago — comes a chiptune-powered tribute to fellow French musicians Daft Punk: DA CHIP!
The 11 track compilation, featuring covers by the likes of EvilWezil and Random is perfectly suited for your next lo-fi French electro dance party (as witnessed in JDDE3J’s Aerodynamic cover above). DA CHIP! is provided as a free download with individual bonus tracks available on the site.
See more posts about: Listen, Music, Offworld Originals
I linked a preview version of this earlier in the week, but thanks to commenter ‘littlebugger’ for letting us know that he’d uploaded the full hour-long episode of Passage creator Jason Rohrer and design vet Chris Crawford meeting on arts program Durch die Nacht mit (Into the Night with), which everyone seems to be agreeing is one of the best games design chats they’ve witnessed in a while.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Weekend Watching
