Today’s brilliant one-off gag: b3ta user ‘ianwarren’s Guitar Hero 1.0, which I’m hoping someone’s already on top of actually coding.
[b3ta, via The Internet Now In Handy Book Form]
See more posts about: Meta, Offworld Originals
With AtomicToy’s fantastic Dude-A-Day project currently making the design/culture blog rounds, I’d hoped Andy Helms would make good with the games related dudes, and, happily, the dude’s been abiding since its late October get-go: Half-Life, Metal Gear, and Mega Man abound.
As Helm’s style also brings to mind the double fine work of Psychonauts/Brutal Legend artist Scott C., I’ll also note that the latter has been going great guns with his own Double Fine Action Comic — I’ve been extra sweet on his recent founding father kick.
dude-a-day [atomictoy, via Pica+Pixel]
See more posts about: Andy Helms, Offworld Originals
Combining Japan’s apparently resurgent enthusiasm for electronic novelty banks and our own ongoing love affair with All Things Invader during Taito’s seemingly bottomless and endless treasure trove of 30th Anniversary tie-ins, CScout’s Japan Trend blog brings news of Takara Tomy’s just released Space Invaders cocktail cab bank.
While it doesn’t actually play so much as count your 100 yen coins with a new on-screen invader each time, its attention to detail, with the itty-bittiest instructions panel and color overlay (making it Space Invaders Part II, for the pedants), still manages to get a lustful rise.
Space Invaders retro tabletop game bank [Trends in Japan – CScout Japan Blog]
Previously:
You've got to spend to save – Offworld
Space Invaders evolve on Japan's mobiles – Offworld
Space Invaders about to Get Even on WiiWare – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
Though presumably it’s just a happy accident, ThinkGeek’s newly offered ‘Umbrella‘ umbrella is the perfect gift to say “let’s ward off the drizzle, and the undead, together.”
Umbrella Umbrella [ThinkGeek, via Wonderland]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
From one Umbrella to the next: while it doesn’t quite ‘snap into’ the parodical punch of the previously mentioned Macho Man mod (or, indeed, the nauseatingly glorious ‘sexy beast’ Boomer thong), Zac-UK and jonmag’s meticulous recreation of Resident Evil‘s Raccoon City (an obvious and fitting crossover if ever there was one) looks as though it’s shaping up quite nicely:
The campaign places the four survivors on the abandoned streets of Raccoon City after a truck crashes into their car. You head on foot to the police station in hope of rescue. Upon entering the station you receive help from an injured cop who points you in the direction of the sewers to escape the infested city, however the 4 survivors soon end up discovering the reason behind the infection when they come across a top -secret high tech research facility owned by the ‘Umbrella’ Corporation.
[Bioh4zard 2 via Kotaku]
Previously:
Left 4 Dead: Savage beyond belief – Offworld
Left 4k Dead: Left 4 Dead in 4KB of Java – Offworld
Ragdoll Metaphysics: Left 4 Dead, The Thinking Man's Braindead …
Why Left 4 Dead has the best tutorial ever… and why you never …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
Flashbang’s latest tweet on via their official Blurst account is my new maddeningly opaque “what are they building in there” tease: the company says flight404’s generative and rhythmically pulsing beast, which bursts into a jet black flock of ravens on every kick, is apparently “one of many visual inspirations” for their next game, which makes me wonder if they’ve actually kicked the “mythical/extinct creature plus outlandish physical activity/heavy machinery” habit.
[Relentless, The REV, via Blurst]
Previously:
What's he building in there: Introversion's Subversion – Offworld
Gimme Indie Game: Minotaur China Shop, happiness in shattery …
Riding the iPhone's Raptor Copter – Offworld
See more posts about: Blurst, Flashbang, Offworld Originals
Next month sees the release of The Sims 3, the second sequel to one of the most popular videogames of all time. What’s interesting about the series is not simply its success, but the fact that it has essentially created a genre of its own. There are very few social people-sim games, and none that can even pretend to rival The Sims. I think Sims 3 will be the last Sims title that will launch with that kind of comfort zone. Its time as a one-game genre will soon be up.
The Sims is a game that has, quite deliberately, tapped into the mainstream of modern life, not just mechanistically (in a game about everyday lives), but aesthetically and fictively (with stories about, er, everyday lives). All of which led me to think about where it is that The Sims connects to culture generally. Where outside games do we see similar methods? Where are the resemblances and likenesses across media? Where else does this kind of appeal-to-everyday stuff really connect with our culture? I’d say it was in soap opera. (more…)
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Ragdoll Metaphysics
Today’s guardedly optimistic revival: casual MMO developer Jolt (they of the recent Google Maps enhanced long-distance trucker MMO Trukz [which friend of Offworld Mathew Kumar recently detailed]) have announced a revival of Infocom’s foundational text adventure Zork as a browser-based casual MMO.
Though they haven’t yet detailed how the game itself will operate, they have said Legends of Zork will provide a persistent world for all its players, who will take the role of a “laid-off salesman and part-time loot-gatherer, as he explores the Great Underground Empire.”
Reassuringly, it looks to be as much a labor of love as any: the game’s blog notes that “Double Fanucci also makes an appearance, in the form of a full deck of 174 Fanucci cards that you can collect and use to improve your skills,” and furthermore says that its multiplayer return will extend to grouping for tougher quests and arena battles.
The young and the rookies can have a look at Matt Barton’s exhaustive History of Zork feature via Gamasutra, or play the first three games in the franchise online via ReZork to bone up as we anticipate the game’s launch.
Legends of Zork – The legendary adventure returns, to your browser.
Previously:
The irony being no-one even reads them anymore – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
Q-Games head Dylan Cuthbert has blogged to Sony’s official PlayStation outlet to note that their previously promised patch for Offworld 20 highlight PixelJunk Eden will be available tomorrow, adding a new multiplayer camera and a still undetailed “new control system.”
Even better, Cuthbert says an “Encore” version of the game is in development, offering only a teaser that the new expansion will add “crazy stuff,” though the notion of new Baiyon tracks (note that the Eden musician/designer has just released a new EP, Tachikanae) is more than enticement enough.
PixelJunk Eden: Tending to Our Lovely Gardens [PS.blog]
Previously:
Pixeljunk Eden, Osmos top 2009 IGF nominations – Offworld
PixelJunk Eden patch promises mercy – Offworld
Sony's own inspired holiday sales – Offworld
The Offworld 20: 2008's Best Indie and Overlooked – Offworld
See more posts about: Baiyon, Offworld Originals
The latest in Tibori’s Dotter Dotter series: the most adorable imagined version of Reversi ever created, featuring Kirby and rival Meta Knight.
The Kirby reversi [Dotter Dotter]
Previously:
Dotter Dotter's 3D pixelcraft – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
