8BITAR HERO: PROCEDURALLY GENERATED ROCK BAND FROM REAL-TIME NES AUDIO
Filed under “something I had no idea I wanted to do, until I realized I had the opportunity to do it”: Insignificant Studios’ 8bitar Hero procedurally generates four Rock Band patterns from the audio of someone playing an emulated NES game, all in real-time.
If it sounds a little bit like magic, maybe start with Insignificant’s ‘For Dummies’ explanation (essentially summarized above), then dip a toe into the technical chart, then perhaps graduate to the full, exhaustive ‘For Intellectuals’ writeup to see what’s happening behind the scenes.
Creator Arthur ‘Mr. Podunkian’ Lee (also behind indie PC platformer The Underside) is still working out the final UI kinks, but plans to have the final kit together by the end of spring, at which point it will hopefully become a mainstay of retro-geek parties everywhere.
8bitar Hero home [Insignificant, via TIGSource]
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THE ENDLESS FOREST: FIRST WIIWARE SHOT OF EDMUND MCMILLEN’S SUPER MEAT BOY
Says Edmund McMillen of the first work-in-progress shot of his WiiWare remake of Newgrounds flash game Meat Boy (WiiWare at left, original on the right):
Heres the 1st shot of super meat boy side by side with the original flash version.
Im currently going through and remaking the forest chapter, while Tommy gets the tile engine in place. The goal is to have a playable demo by June 1st to show at E3 and so far that’s looking very possible.
That background is a mockup (imagine more depth and lighting effects in the finished version), but it can give you a basic idea of the direction im going with it, that direction being “crap your pants awesome” if that hasn’t been apparently clear by now.
McMillen also reveals that he went in for a developer interview to be published on Nintendo’s official wii.com site, though he adds, in warning to all future indie devs: “Were you guys aware that wearing blood stained aprons to a Nintendo interview was frowned upon… i wasn’t sent that memo.”
I sleep to the sounds of squrils making love to buzz saws [Super Meat boy!]
Previously:
Get physical with new Super Meat Boy cinematic trailer, papercraft …
Savory new details of Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy – Offworld
Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy getting revamped for Wii, PC – Offworld
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H.GRENADE PROVIDE CIRCUIT STRIKE.ONE UPDATE, FIRST IPHONE SCREENSHOTS
If you’re wondering, as I was, what’s become of H.grenade’s Unity-developed iPhone shooter/node-hacker Circuit Strike.One, everything’s apparently still on track: creator Shay Casey has posted a lengthy progress update, also noting that the title being published by Chillingo (the same publisher behind Zen Bound, Sneezies and, I’ve also just discovered, Flashbang’s previously mentioned Touch KO).
Explains Casey:
I wish I could say that things were moving quicker, but I am only one guy. I work pretty much 12+hrs per day on this game and have since Nov. Does that mean it’s going to be the best thing since the wheel? Probably not. Will it sell as well as iShoot that was done in 6 weeks, maybe not. But, at least you know I have put my blood + sweat into cs.one because it is the kind of shooter that I have always wanted to play.
I don’t like to compromise and I think that too many iPhone games just don’t push the capabilities of the device. Instead they design around it or rely on gimmicks often letting the device dictate what they produce. Trying to push the envelope is seriously challenging, but worth the effort in the long run.
He’s also included a raft of UI screenshots and a few gameplay shots as above: check his post for more details, and head back to the original post to see the game in motion.
+ // circuit_strike.one / progress // + [forums.toucharcade, Circuit Strike.One home]
Previously:
H.grenade reveal iPhone shooter/hacker Circuit Strike.One – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
LITTLE GAMER BOY: CLOUDSPARROW’S CUSTOM GAME BOY PLUSH TOYS
Essentially one of the most adorable games-related handmade plushes on the face of the earth, ‘cloud sparrow’ is now taking orders via Etsy for these custom little ‘Game Boy’s, made to your own specifications (including, as shown, swank leopard/zebra print).
Gameboy Plushie [Etsy, via little-scale]
Previously:
Roll your own Mr. Saturn Earthbound toy, Metroid hat – Offworld
Savory new details of Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy – Offworld
New Rolito toy: Patapon X our one true heart – Offworld
Offworld: Toys Archives
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PLAYING WITH POWER: MATT MECHTLEY MODERNIZES THE NES POWER GLOVE
Nintendo and Mattel’s 1989 experiment to bring wearable VR control to the masses may have ended with a whimper, but Flashbang programmer Matt Mechtley is celebrating the NES Power Glove’s 20th anniversary by trying to do it right:
I loved the Power Glove for what it represented — a precursor to virtual reality, a way for humans to directly manipulate computers, like an artifact from some sort of alternate future Earth.
I realized one day that we’re actually living in that future. It doesn’t look the same as we imagined it, but the necessary elements are all there. It’s been 20 years now since Mattel released the Power Glove, in 1989. Especially in the last few years, the availability of sophisticated sensing equipment to hardware hackers has grown by leaps and bounds. Technology like programmable microcontrollers, accelerometers, and Bluetooth are readily available — and cheap. In short, the time is ripe to re-make the Power Glove — and make it right.
Mechtley has “replaced the ultrasonic sensors with an accelerometer, the proprietary microcontroller with an open-source Arduino, and the wired connection with Bluetooth,” but to what end? Currently he’s feeding the device into Unity, or, more specifically, Flashbang’s recently blogged iPhone boxing game Touch KO, which you can see in motion via the video above.
Make the Future You Imagined: The Power Glove — 20th Anniversary Edition [Biphenyl, full Instructables write-up, via twitter]
Previously:
Touch-KO: An early look at Adam Mechtley's iPhone boxer – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
LITTLE BLOCKS: MELON DEZIGN’S I FEEL LIKE A COMPUTER VIDEO
Though it would eventually be disqualified for using unlicensed music, Melon Dezign‘s I Feel Like A Computer demo (from the same studio behind some actually quite excellent official Beatles videos) from the 2003 Assembly scene competition might be the best video featuring both Donkey Kong and John Travolta.
Melon Dezign [Pouet scene entry, via n0wak]
Previously:
Linger In Shadows devs among scene.org award finalists – Offworld
Pixelz are so small: Deerhoof's new 'Buck and Judy' video – Offworld
Caveat Enzo: The Lost Levels' Early Sheets video – Offworld
Offworld: Music Archives
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GIMME INDIE GAME: CRACKERBLOCKS’ ENVIRO-BEAR 2000: OPERATION: HIBERNATION
We’re only hours in, but barring some cosmically monumental development, this week’s (and very possibly this month’s?) most delightful indie game will surely remain Crackerblocks’ Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation: Hibernation.
Created as part of TIGSource’s ongoing “cockpit” competition, the PC game sees you playing as the titular bear with five minutes to collect pre-hibernation sustenance by — naturally — driving a sedan into trees and through ponds to collect loose berries and freshwater fish.
All built around simulated physics, the challenge comes as your cab soon fills with unwanted junk — pinecones, leaves, wasps, rabid badgers and discarded bones — and quickly turns into a game of micromanaging the chaotic situation with nothing more than a single paw.
It’s fantastically manic and unapologetically absurd, and any would-be quibbles about the touchiness of its vehicular controls are instantly headed-off and negated by the bare fact that bears don’t know how to drive cars.
Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation: Hibernation [TIGSource forums]
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THE INSOMNIAC ELF: SIRLONDON’S JAMES KOCHALKA-INSPIRED GAME
It started with a dream: comic artist (and Offworld’s Monster Mii / Superf*ckers Review creator) James Kochalka recently devoted one of his daily diary strips to a game idea he’d fixated upon during a feverish nap, only to find a week later that a fan called SirLondon had created a playable PC version called The Insomniac Elf in his spare time.
Mostly, anyway: while SirLondon’s version doesn’t seem to obey the letter of the node-path law (leaving a node in any direction is allowed, and other nodes don’t necessarily illuminate in the way Kochalka described), and he has added reams of new ideas to Kochalka’s framework, most admittedly quite clever, and some which still need tweaking.
Though still a work in progress (and much improved since the original v0.3 I’d originally played), the greatest thing holding it back is its masochistic difficulty and utterly opaque rules.
You’ll eventually discover, for example, that walking through nodes is necessary to advance to the next level, but 90 percent of the time offers nothing but punishment (more, faster snakes), and the default melee attack is so short-ranged and weak that it establishes a negative-double-whammy: new players are instead encouraged to wander aimlessly, avoiding everything until they accidentally stumble across the boss attack, which, at the first level, will typically kill you almost instantly.
Stick with it long enough to dig up powered up swords (the first of which should maybe be the default), new items (bombs, glasses), other members of Kochalka’s family, and various clever “bad luck” modes — the game truly is just a few difficulty-softening tweaks away from being the first best American Elf game.
The Insomniac Elf [SirLondon, original American Elf comic]
Previously:
Offworld: Monster Mii Archives
Offworld: Superf*ckers Review Archives
See more posts about: James Kochalka, Offworld Originals
DSI LAUNCH PARTY PARTNERING WITH I AM 8-BIT FOR T-SHIRT, PRINTS, STICKERS
The biggest reason I’m gutted to be missing Nintendo’s DSi launch party at Los Angeles’s Universal Studios’ Citywalk Gamestop: the company has very, very smartly teamed up with original game/art crossover show I Am 8-Bit to provide limited edition T-shirts, prints and sticker packs for attendees featuring Gabe Swarr, John Pham, and Matt Furie.
Above is Swarr’s print design as somehow procured by Siliconera featuring his take on a number of Nintendo icons. Swarr, Pham and Furie will be on hand to autograph the prints, and I will be any LA resident’s new best friend if someone procures at least an extra sticker pack to forward on to my Offworld home.
The launch party will take place tomorrow, April 4th from 9p-12a and will offer, you know, the actual DSi, as well (more on that next week).
This Is The Swag You Can Get At The DSi Launch Party [Siliconera, Nintendo DSi home]
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UNIQLO ADD RALLY-X, PHOENIX WRIGHT, DENSHA DE GO! T-SHIRT DESIGNS
Well spotted by Tiny Cartridge, the next three T-shirts in Uniqlo’s massive licensed game shirt series from Namco, with their smartly iconic Rally-X shirt, Taito with a very understated Densha De Go train simulator design, and Capcom with their excellent Phoenix Wright ‘Objection!’ design that probably would have put a dent in Way of the Rodent‘s own similar Wright design, except that it appears the Rodent store may be (temporarily?) missing in action.
Has anyone verified whether these shirts are making their way into the NYC based Uniqlo outlet?
ユニクロ UT: UT×Japan Game [Uniqlo, via Tiny Cartridge]
Previously:
Uniqlo unveils massive UT×Japan Game T-shirt campaign – Offworld
UNIQLO teases new games finery – Offworld
Offworld: Fashion Archives
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