Using screenshots doesn’t quite do justice to the games, so, above, Poke London’s Chris giving a live demonstration. Print the necessary symbols and play the games at RubberDuckZilla.com — with extras unlockable with a copy of yesterday’s Sun newspaper (which I’m probably too late on, sorry). [via Rex, see also: the RDZ TV ad]
Shh, let’s not talk. Just click through for Sony’s first unveiling of twelve gorgeous high resolution shots of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus followup The Last Guardian. (more…)
Following the release of their Star Defense alongside Apple’s WWDC keynote, iPhone publisher Ngmoco recently held a showcase of their upcoming games in the pipeline at the W’s XYZ bar, including Rolando 2, Touch Pets: Dogs, and their still-unnamed touch-and-shoot FPS.
Peering over Simon Oliver of Hand Circus’ shoulder, I watched as he demonstrated some of the newfangled treats coming to the much anticipated Rolando 2. Expanding upon its original cast to include a colorful bunch that range in character and physicality, the game has teamed up with writer Micah Wright (scriptwriter behind the Destroy All Humans series, and, interestingly enough, a handful of episodes of the 90’s Nickelodeon show The Angry Beavers) to bring a more developed narrative with quirkier character personalities.
Oliver simulated how girthier Rolandos will be of great use in some of the new water-oriented puzzles (whereas smaller Rolandos bob helplessly at the water’s surface) and gas-filled Rolandos take to the levels floating instead of rolling for a unique range of physic-based puzzles. New power-up fruits will provide a variety of abilities, and new vehicles like the revenge-fueled “Spikey Death Ball” will allow players to obliterate level enemies when they couldn’t do so before. Aside from the “Boom Finger”, which upon charging allows players to tap-bomb pathway obstructions, it would be a shame to spoil too many of the terrific goodies in Rolando 2, due for a release sometime soon this summer. (more…)
Platinum Games weapon designer Muneyuki “Johnny” Kotegawa discusses the staggering amount of detailed attention that went into the design of Scarborough Fair, the guns used by the eponymous Bayonetta in her upcoming sexually charged (no, really) PS3/360 debut.
There’s something about Röyksopp that brings out the best in everyone, as with Bang-yao Liu’s Savannah College senior project DEADLINE, which sees Liu procrastinating via low-bit post-it pixel versions of Breakout, Pole Position, et al. See also: the making-of. [thanks, Tom!]
Microsoft’s motion recognition system, Project Natal, presents an abundance of possibilities for the future of videogames. The discussions arising from the abolition of the physical control device were one of the highlights of E3: a chance to see entirely new game mechanisms, and to break down the barrier that seems to have been created by complex interfaces.
But it’s the appearance of Milo – a simulated, on-screen boy who responds to human interaction – which is perhaps the most telling event. For sheer novelty alone he stands out: he is a modern day automaton, a simulation that we can’t help looking on as a little bit alive.
This specific direction of Natal tech also suggests a number of futures for videogame evolution. It’s moving towards the interface that human beings most readily understand: language and interaction with other people.
What’s critical about Milo’s unveiling is that he’s tied to a new technology which allows a game console to recognise users, and respond to physical cues – movement, speech, even physiognomy. The artificial person as a character in our everyday gaming lives is suddenly just a little bit more concrete. (more…)
Infocom’s Steve Meretzky and Douglas Adams on the ‘set’ of their Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy text adventure collaboration (which can be played online here). Scanned from the original slide (and available in even higher resolution) by Jason Scott, who offers the photo as proof that his text-adventure documentary Get Lamp is “alive, and is continuing, and will be finished.”
Also spotted for the indie devs among us: web game portal Kongregate has just launched its latest developer-focused initiative, Collabs, a section of the site devoted to showcasing individual artists and musicians in order to foster further collaborations for new indie games.
To kick off the section, Kongregate’s also giving away cash to top-rated submissions each week, who then go on to a final round with a grand prize of two MacBook/cinema display/[Wacom tablet/Ableton & Akai hardware] home studio centers.
I essentially resolutely refuse to chime in with ongoing posts elsewhere covering the asinine kneejerk ‘Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott’ because, flatly, we don’t have the first clue what Valve are planning to do for either the retail release of the sequel, and even less their continued plans for the expansion of the original.
It’s interesting, of course, to see a developer inadvertently shoot themselves in their own survivor foot by doing nothing more than providing a fantastic, free service to its community (here, the Team Fortress 2 audience) for the past few years, and stirring up a hornet’s nest of car-alarm-angry infected by even suggesting they might have to pay for additional content.
‘Nuff said there, then, and I won’t stretch the metaphor any further, but I will add these new screenshots of the upcoming dirty south expansion (with nice, wide extras under the fold), and idly wonder aloud what it might mean that Ellis (aka ‘the hick-looking one’) not only appears to change his hat, but also his pants (possibly into fire-retardant slacks?) over the course of the shots, and note that Valve recently said that The Wire’s Chad Coleman (‘Cutty‘, aka ‘the one that started the boxing gym’) will be doing the voice of Coach, aka ‘the one in the awesome shirt’, which is a Very Good Thing. (more…)
Attention indie devs: Indie Games Fest director Simon Carless writes in to note that submissions are being taken for Tokyo Game Show’s “Sense of Wonder Night”: the festival’s own celebration of all things indie and experimental, with a screening committee including Carless himself, Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, and Kenta Cho, creator of every good freeware shooter you’ve played over the past decade (including the Wii’s Tumiki Fighters remake Blast Works).
You might’ve seen some of the output of previous Wonder Nights without really knowing it: it was at last year’s show that Ian Dallas first showed off extended footage of his first person void-painter The Unfinished Swan (embedded above), alongside other entrants like PixelJunk Eden creators Q-Games, Gomibako (just released last week to the U.S. PlayStation Network as Trash Panic, and Daniel Benmergui, who showed off his previously mentionedI Wish I Were The Moon.
The submission deadline to be included in this year’s show is August 16th, and check the Wonder Night’s YouTube page for more videos of last year’s demonstrations.
