THE ONE-SHEET SKATING BRILLIANCE OF PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES VIRAL DEBUT
I was entirely set on passing off PopCap’s new viral video for their oft-blogged Plants vs. Zombies as little more than cutely disposable, but then, 30 seconds in, it suddenly turns so inexplicably and sublimely bizarre that I can’t stop hitting replay.
Plants Vs. Zombies home [PopCap]
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ŠVANKMAJER DOES GOO: PORTLY PIG’S CLAYMATION CREATION, THE PAINTER’S SIGN
Created by Portly Pig Studios as part of GameTrailers’ ongoing Life Imitating Goo / Goo Imitating Life Contest, The Painter’s Sign channels World of Goo via the macabre real-world/clay stop-motion vision of Jan Švankmajer, and is more or less a shoe-in to take the top prize.
The Painter’s Sign [GameTrailers, photos of the set creation, Portly Pig MySpace, via 2D Boy]
Previously:
- Listen: 2D Boy's free World of Goo soundtrack – Offworld
- Scream real loud: the playable origins of World of Goo – Offworld
- 2D Boy's World of Goo: The community updates – Offworld
- Indie Games Summit: Ron Carmel explains 2D Boy by the numbers …
- Indie Games Summit: 2D Boy/Polytron's top 10 ways to market your …
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LISTEN: CELEBRATE BRAID’S PC RELEASE WITH ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, REMIXES
As Xbox Live Arcade flagship title Braid makes its PC debut (or mostly, anyway, the Steam release seems to have been delayed to tomorrow, check Impulse, Greenhouse and Gamersgate for the download and demo), artist David Hellman updates to note that an “official” soundtrack has been put together for sale with all of the tracks licensed for the game.
With contributions from Jami Sieber, Shira Kammen, Cheryl Ann Fulton and two remixes by Jon Schatz, the album is being offered for download at a variable rate — set your own price between $5 to $18 — or on CD for an extra $6 on top of that (UK and Euro prices also available).
Sieber, Kammen, Fulton and Schatz – Music from Braid [Magnatune, via David Hellman]
Previously:
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THE NEOGAF COLLECTION: A CRITERION APPROACH TO GAME COVER DESIGN
While it’s clear that not everyone has the same grasp on what makes a Criterion cover a Criterion cover, there are enough that do in this latest collective burst of creativity from the NeoGAF forum that makes it very worth mentioning.
My favorites? See above, especially the Eric Carle-ish open question of Noby Noby Boy and pointillist death-burst of Killer 7.
NeoGAF Collection Collected gallery [via fimoculous, original neogaf thread]
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ANOTHER LOOK AT KNYTT CREATOR’S WIIWARE DEBUT NIGHT GAME
Keeping up a media “blitz” as understated as the game itself, IGN has posted an extended look at Night Game, the forthcoming original WiiWare title from Nicalis, the same studio behind the WiiWare remake of cult indie hit Cave Story.
As noted in the accompanying interview, the music for Night Game is being provided by Chris Schlarb, one half of I Heart Lung, who have recorded a few albums for indie-game loving Offworld favorite label Asthmatic Kitty. Head to Lung’s Asthmatic page for more samples.
NIGHT GAME VIDEO ON IGN [Nicalis]
Previously:
Dark was the night: the first look at Nicalis's WiiWare Night Game …
Offworld: The Offworld Guide to IGF 2009 (pg. 4)
WiiWare Cave Story getting new downloadable content – Offworld
A deeper look at Knytt Stories – Offworld
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IAIN REEKIE’S POSTHUMOUS GRIM FANDANGO CUSTOM TOYS
They might come a decade too late to cash in on the game’s release, but Iain Reekie’s custom sculpey figures of main character Manny and speed demon Glottis from Tim Schafer’s LucasArts swan song adventure Grim Fandango would still make an excellent posthumous mass produced toy, if anyone’s willing to procure the license.
Glottis & Manny custom figures [Iain Reekie, via SuperPunch]
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LISTEN: STALIN VS. MARTIANS OFFERS SOUNDTRACK MP3S, OPENS PRE-ORDERS
Have they gone too far? I think it’s possible they might’ve gone too far*.
Either way, with pre-orders just opening on “all leading digital download portals worldwide” for Dreamlore/Mezmer’s upcoming PC arcade/ real-time-strategy game Stalin Vs. Martians, the devs have also created a new page for fans with free downloads of a number of the soundtrack selections you’ve seen in previous video teasers.
Included are original teaser trailer composer Ilya Orange’s tracks Chastushki and My Pocket Stalinizer (!), a track from the Jerry-Lenin-headed “legendary Russian glam-rock band” Lady’s Man (says Dreamlore: “You wouldn’t believe, but Lenin is not a pseudonym, it’s a real surname.”), and — of course! — Hong Kong-based twee pop band My Little Airport, with a song title even Dreamlore haven’t bothered to translate from the original Chinese (my favorite of the bunch).
Find all the musical gifts here — the game is due for release on April 20th.
*(Whether or not you agree might have everything to do with your take on Lazytown.)
Stalin vs. Martians home [Dreamlore Games, Mezmer game home]
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GIMME INDIE GAME: THE CATASTROPHIC INFOGRAPHICS OF JIGGMIN/AEIOWU’S EFFING HAIL
The next logical step after infographics, the fairy tale music video? Infographics the game. Collaboratively created by indie devs Jiggmin and Greg ‘aeiowu‘ Wohlwend of Intuition Games, Effing Hail‘s cleanly textbook-illustrated graphic conceit is the instant draw, the game’s just as interesting an exercise in indirect control.
Your task is simple: control an updraft of air to keep falling hail in the upper levels of the bee-, sea-, dee- and effing-spheres so that it has time to grow into massive stones, which you then let fall free to crush an increasingly complex ecosystem of houses, skyscrapers, planes, satellites and civilians themselves below.
The game is only hampered by its just-on-the-side-of-too-restrictive time limit, though, granted, it’s intentionally about making the most of that time, and, like Katamari, can quickly snowball (no pun) into a near-unstoppable winning streak under the right conditions.
It’s a steep uphill climb to learning those conditions, but unleashing massive destruction does do nicely as its own reward. The game could still do well with a tutorial or unlockable sandbox mode (again, like Katamari) as stress relief after racing against the clock, but, even without, is one of the best indie developments of the month.
Effing Hail home [Intuition Games, Jiggmin]
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SKELETONS ALIVE: AARON MEYERS’ SPORE CREATURES NOW IN AUGMENTED REALITY
Taking his original skeletal creations one logical leap further, Aaron Meyers has used the Spore API and ARToolKit to produce augmented reality versions of the day’s top 100 Spore creatures, or simply step through the gallery one by one in your browser via the basic Flash visualizer.
Spore Skeletons [universaloscillation]
Previously:
Fragile things: Aaron Meyers' API-driven Spore skeletons – Offworld
Data-mashers at the ready: Maxis opens the Spore API – Offworld
Pixel art Spore creations – Offworld
EA details Spore's 2009 PC, Wii, DS expansions – Offworld
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WILL WRIGHT DEPARTS EA FOR LONG-TIME SIDE PROJECT, STUPID FUN CLUB
In a surprise announcement, EA has just sent out word that Sims and Spore creator Will Wright has officially left the company in order to focus on his Bay Area side project, The Stupid Fun Club, a venture he co-founded several years ago with Mike Winter.
EA will be investing the SFC, owning equal parts with Wright himself, and, says the release, “has the right to develop game concepts that spring from Stupid Fun Club projects.”
As it turns out, I actually spent the better part of a day getting a first hand tour of the Fun Club in the summer of 2006, and can report that it is as absolutely magical place as you might expect: imagine a toned down version of JF Sebastian’s toyland workshop from Blade Runner constructed with early-oughts technology, and you’re getting close.
I’ll update in the next few days with a full report of the things I saw there, or at least the ones that I’m allowed to talk about.
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