TO GIRL, WITH LOVE: CUSTOM NOBY NOBY BOY SNEAKERS
It really honestly doesn’t get much better than this: Kotaku reader ‘Tonks’ sent in his custom pair of Noby Noby Boy sneakers which, naturally, feature a BOY made of a lace threaded entirely through the shoe.
Attn: Namco licensing department — strongly consider official versions.
Sweet Noby Noby Kicks Give Me Nightmares [Kotaku]
Previously:
Only on Offworld: your first look at Panic's Noby Noby Boy T …
It's a stretch: Explaining Katamari creator's new Noby Noby Boy …
Keita Takahashi bringing Noby Noby Boy to the iPhone – Offworld
Offworld: Fashion Archives
See more posts about: Fashion, Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
INDIE SPIRITS KEEP ME STRONG: WATCH MEGA64’S IGF/CHOICE AWARDS INTERSTITIALS
You may have already spotted these in low quality form via GameSpot’s streaming version of the Independent Games Festival and Game Developer Choice Awards shows, but now offered in full res, above is Mega64‘s highlight video of the night that (co?)incidentally captured much of the underlying unspoken tension and spirit of this year’s ceremony. The unpunched ‘uhhh’ is, of course, Alien Hominid/Castle Crashers artist Dan Paladin.
Also do not miss: their more traditional Metal Gear Solid 4 video in collaboration with series creator Hideo Kojima, and their spot on parody of Chris Dane Owen’s virally loved Shine On Me video, entitled Topher Great Payens “The GDC.”
Mega 64 home [MP3 of ‘The GDC’ also over here]
Previously:
GDC video: Watch the 2009 Independent Games Festival Awards – Offworld
GDC video: Watch the 2009 Game Developer Choice Awards – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
NICE SHOT: OLLY MOSS’S ‘SHOOT THE BADDIES’ NOW IN PRINT
Before designer Olly Moss made a name for himself around these parts for his retro Penguin Classics inspired videogame cover art series, one of his most viral designs was this ‘Shoot the Baddies’ print, featuring a series of shooting range cutouts of enemies so iconic that I probably shouldn’t even have to name them.
After bringing the design in wearable form to Threadless, Moss has just mentioned that it’s now available as a hangable print from design shop inPRNT, in three sizes and alongside two excellent other designs. Head there for pricing and availability details.
Print of Shoot the Baddies by Olly Moss [inPRNT]
Previously:
Moss gets modern: GTA's most wanted America – Offworld
Olly Moss brings a touch of class to Black Mesa – Offworld
And then there were four: Olly Moss takes on Silent Hill – Offworld
Olly Moss's Man With The Golden Gear – Offworld
Olly Moss's Penguin-inspired Videogame Classics covers – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Olly Moss
TEA AND CHEESE’S “8-BIT WATER SLIDE… IN REAL LIFE”
Created for a UK waterslide-themed competition, Tea and Cheese’s adorable 8-Bit Water Slide video needs little exposition or explanation, apart from saying that the duo apparently “desperately” needs your vote. So, as Chunnel did, I’ll add a link for you to do so.
8-BIT Waterslide in REAL LIFE! [via Chunnel]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
FREE TRIP INTO THE RAINBOW VEIN: REALITY-ENHANCING IPHONE APP RJDJ FREE WITH SOCIAL UPDATE
Though clearly not explicitly a game, one of my all-time favorite iPhone apps, RjDj, is celebrating its latest update — which concludes a long undertaking to bring more social elements to the app — by giving away both the full RjDj Album app [iTunes link] and its motion-sensing RjDj Shake followup [iTunes link] for free for a limited time.
What’s RjDj then? Allow me to cut and paste a bit from my pre-Offworld blog post:
Pick apart the acronym — Reality Jockey, as much as Disc Jockey– and it shifts a bit more into focus: it’s a compilation-album-like framework divided into song-like “scenes” (each with its own cover art and individual composer), but as opposed to passively listening to each, RJDJ acts as a reality-altering real-time audio processor that modifies and enhances your surroundings.
Frank Barknecht’s Gridwalker, for instance, generates harmonious bleeps not entirely far off from Eno’s Bloom, but modifies their intensity based on the volume of the input. Sit quietly and Gridwalker slowly drips out its subtle tones, but move into a noisy crowd and it responds in kind with a more hyper pitched composition.
What’s genuinely surprising is just how potent its comparatively mild hallucinogenic powers are, particularly the ’scene’ from New Zealander (and former Sidhe staffer!) Damian Stewart. I’m (mostly) sure it’s not just the latent techno-hippie in me that’s suddenly shot into full bloom, but taking it for a test drive with a late night cigarette break was a revelation: his ‘Eargasm’ transformed every exhale into a glittering swirl of reverberating air and distant suburban dog barks into sudden colorful bursts. Essentially, if you’ve ever wanted to live directly inside that warm nostalgic analog echo that molasses-drips from every Boards of Canada album, your magic key is an App Store download away, as witnessed by this demo video above.
RjDj’s latest version allows you to open your own personalized RjDj.me homepage and share your recorded songs directly with the website, and will soon connect with social networking services like Facebook and Twitter and support blog widgets for spreading your creations.
The RjDj team will also soon support iPhone 3.0 for in-app purchases of new ‘scenes‘, and frequently host new “sprints” to build a new community of scene creators and artists.
All in all it’s a brilliant undertaking from one of the original founders of web-music mainstay last.fm, and couldn’t come more highly recommended. Be sure to share your creations with us!
RjDj home [RjDj Album iTunes link, RjDj Shake iTunes link]
Previously:
RjDj: Live ambient soundscape generator for iPhone, which is way …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
NEWS GAMES: THE CROOPIER’S WEEKLY EXPERIMENTAL PROCESSING MINI-GAMES
Abelardo Gil-Fournier’s “independent game situation archive” The Croopier is an experiment in creating weekly Processing-driven games which starts innocently enough: pathfinding a ninja across various obstacles, riding cherry blossoms as an ant, or tracing a clockmaker’s imaginary and vaguely Vib-Ribbon path, inspired by the discovery of a message inside Lincoln’s pocketwatch (right).
Move into the archive more deeply, though and Gil-Fournier attempts to take on much headier and more timely subjects: Venezuelan constitutional amendments as pachinko, the movement of money through tax havens as a rhythm game, and a reflection on the bombed home of Palestinian astrophysicist Suleiman Baraka as a constellation making game.
The Croopier [via digitaltools]
Previously:
Secret message hidden in Lincoln’s pocketwatch – Boing Boing
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
S’RATH INVADERS: NGMOCO SHOW OFF IPHONE STAR DEFENSE CINEMATIC
The latest trailer for ngmoco’s upcoming 3D spherical tower defense game Star Defense might not show off any overt gameplay, but I bring it up here because it may be the highest/first near-console quality cinematic we’ve seen for any iPhone game thus far, don’t you think?
Star Defense home [ngmoco]
Previously:
Attack on B612: ngmoco's Star Defense in motion – Offworld
Ngmoco tease spherical 3D tower defense iPhone game Star Defense …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
SO SICK: SPACESICK’S 8-BIT TITLE SCREEN FOR A NES GAME NOT YET MADE
More Friday art fun: I’ve previously mentioned Mitch ‘Spacesick‘ Ansara for his (still unfinished!) work on a “It’s a Dig, Dig, Dig, Dig Dug” motion graphics sequence (and his widely-blogged I Can Read Movies series), and now he’s just put together this fantastic intro for a Spacesick NES game we hope some day actually gets made (little help, SnowBro/No Carrier?).
Ansara’s apparently had NES on the brain lately: see also his recent 8-bit Wildlife Council ads.
Spacesick NES Game Idea [spacesick]
Previously:
The meme in motion: Spacesick's It's a Dig, Dig, Dig, Dig Dug …
UUDDLRLRBA-Rock: 8-bit Guitar Hero comes to the NES – Offworld
PlayPower turning NES/Famicom clones into learning tools for the …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
HAVE YOUR ONE MORE GO: MAJORA’S MASK ADDED TO EUROPEAN VIRTUAL CONSOLE
With their hand seemingly forced by One More Go’s recent ode to the Zelda game too few have played, Nintendo have updated their European Virtual Console lineup with the surprise addition of the Nintendo 64’s time-travelling sequel Majora’s Mask.
Much of the subsequent discussion around the column was centered on finding a way to play through the game, so hopefully this is a signal that it’ll be coming stateside in the next few weeks as well.
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask [Nintendo Europe]
Previously:
One More Go: Majora’s Mask, or How to be your own hero of time …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
GAME, SET: WATCH LITTLEBIGPLANET ARTIST REXBOX SERVE UP LAYER TENNIS
I’m not sure how many in the games sphere have been paying attention to Coudal Partners’ game of Layer Tennis, so if you’re not familiar, the gist is that two competitors (read: designers) volley a single file (read: PhotoShop doc) back and forth every 15 minutes, adding, subtracting, and generally modifying each other’s work.
Why you should care: this week’s competition is between Made In England’s Cookie (Simon Cook, fresh back from his cross country trip walking from Mexico to Canada) versus friend of Offworld and LittleBigPlanet/Grip Wrench artist Rex Crowle.
Check out their setup in the MIEngland offices here, watch the progress of the match here (use the intro/numbers underneath the header to navigate), and listen in on the audience chatter here via the #lyt twitter feed.
Layer Tennis 06: Battle of Britain [Coudal, pic above courtesy Media Molecule’s preview]
Previously:
Weekend watching: Rex Crowle's Grip Wrench – Offworld
A little Grip Wrench Meat for your iPhone – Offworld
LittleBigWatch: Media Molecule Adds Metal Gear – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
