BECAUSE HE COULD: ZELDA II: EXPIDITIO LINCI
Translator ‘tempestas_caput‘ doesn’t seem to offer any explanation as to why he’s translated Zelda II into Latin, so we just won’t ask. But it’s not the only game getting his “sleeping language” treatment: he’s also gone alone, dangerously with the original Zelda, and is making his way, even more ambitiously, through Final Fantasy III.
I’d add something profound, but it already took me too long to realize I couldn’t even find an online translator that could tell me how to say “because he could” in Latin.
Zelda II: Expiditio Linci [Romhacking, via and ‘error’ image courtesy Auntie Pixelante]
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IT DON’T MEAN A THING: ANOTHER LAST LOOK AT NOBY NOBY BOY
Namco’s official YouTube channel has updated with a last look at Keita Takahashi’s PS3 downloadable Noby Noby Boy — finally due for a release next week — and it’s as brilliantly opaque as ever. No hints at why there’s a swingy-thing, or where it came from, or why we want to be wrapped around it.
That said, one of the things I’m most excited about following its release is a flood of YouTube videos (with the game’s integrated recording and uploading) just as quietly meaningless and inexplicably amusing as this.
It’s equally amusing that the game’s official website (already in its 3rd or 4th iteration) has now switched to a checkerboard display of tomatos, green peppers, and corn on the cob. It’s full of surprises.
o–o [Namco, via Siliconera]
Previously:
It's a stretch: Explaining Katamari creator's new Noby Noby Boy …
Another new look at Noby Noby Boy – Offworld
Noby Noby Boy stretches further into February – Offworld
Happy Holidays from Offworld (feat. Keita Takahashi) – Offworld
See more posts about: Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
THE DUBIOUSLY-RELEVANT GAME-LINKS HIDDEN INSIDE MADEFOREACHOTHER
By now you’ve probably spotted the undeniably adorable ‘madeforeachother.com’ TV ads, and probably passed them off as hawking another new dating site, but the truth, it turns out, is much stranger and more wonderful. Strange: because it’s actually a quasi-viral spot for Frito Lay’s chips and dip (of all things), and wonderful, because just look at that site.
While it’s not formally games-related, there’s quite a bit here that tells me that the site’s designers (New York’s Blacklist, the best I can tell) are as well versed in games as any of us. See, especially: the little yellow ball’s vaguely de Blob-ish tale, and then scroll down t– oh, wait! Aha, you can play a little Sardine Hero via the crawdad under the sea, or play a little a S.T.U.N. Runner-lite game down the Jalapeno Highway.
All fantastically designed stuff, and a structure which reminds me quite a bit of LittleBigPlanet artist Rex Crowle’s own GoodThingsShouldNeverEnd website for Orange.
MadeForEachOther [err.. Frito Lay]
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I’M YOUR PUPPET: MEDIA MOLECULE/SONY REVEAL OFFICIAL SACKBOY TOYS
It’s an idea so obvious I’m surprised the announcement has taken this long: tucked away in a Valentine’s pack related post on the official PlayStation blog, Sony and Media Molecule have announced that toy-maker Mezco (who, most notably, are behind the official Goonies line of toys) have been given the license to create a line of toys based on LittleBigPlanet‘s Sackboy.
Sony says the company is debuting the line, “featuring an assortment of 4″ scale Sackboys in all his textured and stitched glory, displaying various characters, poses, and costumes,” at the 2009 International Toy Fair, and the first photos look well modeled and nicely articulated.
While I’m pleased, I’m concerned there might be a missed opportunity to make a Sackboy toy the official games culture Munny/Dunny, and would love to pass it up the chain of command that a blank Sackboy vinyl and accompanying custom art show is even more obvious and necessary.
Sack it to Me (Love is in the Air Edition) [PlayStation.Blog]
Previously:
LittleBigWatch: Free instructions for your Sackboy stitch-up …
New Rolito toy: Patapon X our one true heart – Offworld
The Munny shot: Earthworm Jim edition – Offworld
Reactor-88's Dig Dug Dunnys – Offworld
Nokia gaming up reality with Yamake – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
‘DETAILED’ IS A STRETCH: MORE ON THE LEFT 4 DEAD DLC
I’d forgotten I was looking forward to watching GameTrailers TV for the first details of the recently announced DLC for Valve’s Left 4 Dead, and it’s good thing I didn’t wait up. Shacknews points to the episode online where, after an extended look at GTAIV‘s own upcoming DLC, the L4D announcement boils down to, essentially, a sentence fragment: “Dead Air and Death Toll maps for multiplayer, survive as long as you can ‘across 12 maps’ in the Survival mode.”
Whether that means record-keeping and global ranking in Survival, and whether that means new maps or across a selection of the current locations is still Left 2 Be Announced.
Left 4 Dead DLC details [GameTrailers TV, via Shacknews, Left 4 Dead home]
Previously:
Why Left 4 Dead has the best tutorial ever… and why you never …
Left 4 Love: Alexandria Neonakis' latest valentines – Offworld
Ragdoll Metaphysics: Left 4 Dead, The Thinking Man's Braindead …
Left 4 Dead: Savage beyond belief – Offworld
Surly Hate Machine: Dance to everything Left 4 Dead's Francis can …
Left 4 Dead: the twits don't stand a chance – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
APPLE CLASSIC OREGON TRAIL COMING TO IPHONE
As they did with the iPhone version of Digital Chocolate’s Tower Bloxx, games site IGN has posted the first screenshots showing that classic Apple II game The Oregon Trail will be making its way to the iPhone in coming months.
No additional details have yet been provided, but judging by the screens it’s clear that it will be an updated version of Gameloft’s mobile phone remake. The Gameloft game site includes an emulated version of the mobile port (the last link of the ‘about the game’ section), where you can get a taste of the game’s lush Euro comic style, injected humor, and its hunting minigame, which will obviously be updated to reflect the phone’s touch screen.
The Oregon Trail Screenshots, Wallpapers and Pics [IGN, Gameloft mobile game site]
Previously:
Virtual Apple ][: Browser embedded game design lessons – Offworld
Interview with creators of Oregon Trail – Boing Boing
You Have Died of Dysentery t-shirt from Oregon Trail – Boing Boing
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
AVOID MISSING: THE PONG MUSEUM OPENS ITS VIRTUAL DOORS
Recently opened to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ralph Baer’s first TV-displayable version of the game that would come to be known as Pong (or is it the 42nd? Let’s just call it 40-ish), the Pong Museum has curated a staggering amount of information on the game in its myriad earliest forms (including scans of each of the consoles themselves, even).
Even better, though, is the video Baer sent in to the site of he and hardware tech Bill Harrison playing some of the first ever rounds of multiplayer videogames, showing a surprisingly organic looking game compared to the strict vectors of the later versions (this version had a separate knob for fakeout curveballs).
The site’s webshop even includes a DIY build-your-own-Pong-kit, which, unfortunately, appears to be PAL only for now, though they do ship to the US.
pongmuseum.com – and the ball was square… [Pong Museum, via Coudal]
Previously:
BAFTA to honor Pong/Atari head Nolan Bushnell – Offworld
Gaijin Games taking the Wii on a Bit.Trip – Offworld
Beat connection: Gaijin send us on a second video Bit.Trip – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, pong
OURS IS NOT TO QUESTION WHY: PAUL ROBERTSON’S CAKEDOGG AND PRESENTCAT
Submitted without commentary: Cakedogg and Presentcat (spot all her games presents for a special prize!), from ‘Pirate Baby’s Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006‘ and ‘Kings of Power 4 Billion %‘ creator Paul Robertson. For the non-epileptics in the house, the party version.
Cakedogg and Presentcat [Paul Robertson]
Previously:
Paul Robertson pumps pixels for energy drink – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Paul Robertson
CAPCOM UNLEASHING MORE UNDEAD HORDES WITH DEAD RISING 2
That viral video that made the rounds late last week that seemed to point to a new entry in Capcom’s Dead Rising series turned out to be right on the money: Capcom has just sent word that Vancouver studio Blue Castle (they of 2K’s arcade baseball series The Bigs) are currently at work on a new PS3, Xbox 360, and PC version of the zombie survival game.
Details are still scarce, but Capcom says the game is set years after the original game, with the zombie virus spreading to (
), the DR equivalent of the glittering world of Vegas (though it’ll also, happily, be taking us back to
).
The original Dead Rising was perhaps the most faithful recreation of Romero’s conception of the shambling hordes, if a brutally unforgiving one, with its much maligned sparse save-point and underlying forced restart structure that undercut its sandbox appeal for many. It’s something the upcoming Wii remake is making an effort to fix, and something that, hopefully, we’ll see in this sequel.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
LISTEN, TOO: ANOTHER PICOPICT YMCK NES MEGA-MIX
As with the last, while I can’t embed it here, do yourself the favor of heading over to Tiny Cartridge for the second in their series of ripped theme tunes from Skip’s DSiWare downloadable PicoPict.
As with the happy hardcore of YMCK‘s Bowser-battle theme, this one’s a remix of a number of classic NES themes that shifts seamlessly from Super Mario‘s world 1-1 to the square-wave purr of Excitebike‘s engines to a Legend of Zelda overworld mix nearly the same half-note off as Konjak’s below.
And with that, I actually am off to buy the game.
PiCOPiCT’s “Ending” (Credits) song by YMCK. [Tiny Cartridge]
Previously:
Listen: YMCK's Bowser-busting hardcore Mario remix – Offworld
DSi getting more downloadable Art Style, Tetris Attack – Offworld
See more posts about: Listen, Music, Offworld Originals
