SAVORY NEW DETAILS OF EDMUND MCMILLEN’S MEAT BOY
And finally, one that you actually can get your meaty paws on: as progress on the commercial WiiWare/PC version of Edmund McMillen’s Super Meat Boy moves forward, he updates to say that partner-in-plush Danielle White has created the first ever Meat Boy toys, the first 15 of which come with limited Meat Boy buttons. Race you.
And, as I missed it at the time, his new Meat Boy blog lists some of the features we can expect from the enhanced version of the game: a “100% remade graphics and engine,” over a hundred levels across five chapters, boss fights, a versus mode, and — though “it’s still too early to tell” — possible co-op play and a level editor.
While I’ve got the wish-list open, I’d also like to sincerely request a line of Aether toys, perhaps with retractable tongue (and an eye-hook for hanging) and velcro-removable Boy rider? It is to dream.
Meat Boy plush! [Edmund McMillen]
Previously:
Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy getting revamped for Wii, PC – Offworld
Edmund McMillen gives us No Quarter – Offworld
Gimme Indie Game: Glaiel and Schubbe give us Closure – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: ELAINE BRADFORD UNINTENTIONALLY PROTOTYPES NOBY TOYS
Currently on display at Houston gallery Art League Houston, Elaine Bradford‘s ‘Museum of UnNatural History’ exhibit, which makes as good a case for eventual Noby Noby Boy toys as anything: take note, Namco!
Fiber Arts: Freaks of Nurture [Lime & Violet, via .tiff!]
Previously:
It's a stretch: Explaining Katamari creator's new Noby Noby Boy …
Noby Noby Boy stretches further into February – Offworld
Another new look at Noby Noby Boy – Offworld
Happy Holidays from Offworld (feat. Keita Takahashi) – Offworld
See more posts about: Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
BEHEMOTH SHOW HOW TO BUILD A BETTER UNDEAD CYCLOPS
Ever wonder how Behemoth designer Dan Paladin creates the gorgeous vector art that adorns Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers? Wonder no more: here’s 19 minutes of Paladin drawing and animating Crashers‘ Undead Cyclops boss and its adorable little death knight minions.
Undead Cyclops Boss [Vimeo, The Behemoth]
Previously:
The Behemoth talk Castle Crashers balance, ladies – Offworld
Castle Crashers gets Kinged – Offworld
The Offworld 20: 2008's Best Indie and Overlooked – Offworld
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
WORLD OF GOO’S KYLE GABLER GIVES TOP 7 GLOBAL GAME JAM TIPS
In the Global Game Jam‘s first ever (and ridiculously awesome) keynote, 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo creator Kyle Gabler — an expert on rapid dev, having helped found Carnegie Mellon’s Experimental Gameplay project — gives his top tips for fresh-faced indie devs, covering the importance of audio, originality, and (channeling… Tyra Banks) looking your best for the media.
You also get bonus cameos by IGDA’s Jason Della Rocca and Susan Gold, as well as Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho and Audiosurf‘s Dylan Fitterer! It’s a must-watch.
As we noted yesterday, 5pm on Friday marks the beginning of the inaugural jam (supported by IGDA, cross platform engine Unity, and Mekensleep, creators of DS Offworld-favorite Soul Bubbles), and will see 2,000 participants at 53 locations in 23 countries taking 48 hours to create a game.
We here will be making the rounds covering our respective local jams: I’ll be doing my damndest to make it to Austin Community College over the weekend to see how things progress, Gadgets’ Rob Beschizza will be at Carnegie Mellon (where the 2D Boys are said to be dropping by), and the Mother Boing crew will be on West Coast duty. Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!
Previously:
Global Game Jam (48 hour videogame dev marathon) this weekend …
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
WHAT’S IT GOING TO BUILD THEN, EH: ‘A LEGO ORANGE’ IMAGINED
Corvus Elrod’s imagined version of A Clockwork Orange done up Lego-game-style makes me as uncomfortable to read as I imagine Elrod wanted it to: it’s a bit heavy handed at times (as, I suppose, it should be), but the post-Ludovico twist at the end was a nice touch, as is its deliberately destructive design:
Unlike you’d expect from a LEGO game, however, the majority of the game features absolutely no building. None at all. It’s all destruction and ultra-violence. The closest thing to a constructive action is in the Milk Bar, where pouring and drinking milk mixers from different taps slightly alters your interactions with the game. One drink slightly speeds up your movement, another makes you a bit stronger, yet another alters the coloration of the lighting in the levels, casting everything in a ghastly purplish hue.
A LEGO Orange [Man Bytes Blog, via Infovore]
See more posts about: Meta, Offworld Originals
PIXEL PORN: THE BRILLIANTLY HONEST YAR’S REVENGE, ASTEROIDS, STAR RAIDERS AD
The most amazing thing about this Atari 2600 ad which purportedly ran in theaters in 1982 is that it doesn’t try to upsell any of the action you’d end up getting at home: no 8×8 sprites turned magically into full-color cartoons or live-action heroes, it simply demonstrates and sexes up the gameplay in all its low-bit glory.
That, and it’s sinister as hell.
Atari 2600 commercial – The Fly (Yars’ Revenge, Asteroids, etc., 1982) [YouTube, thanks, Alex!]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
A QUICK LOOK AT MARVELOUS’S EVEN QUICKER HERO FOR 30SEC
2009 doesn’t seem to have too much in store for Sony’s PSP at the moment (though I’m currently quite amped to try the just-released demo of Irem’s portable Disaster Report/Raw Danger sequel, the PS2 games being amongst my top 10 for the console), but one game destined to become an Offworld favorite is Marvelous’ Hero for 30Sec.
Thanks to this just-released trailer uploaded by Tiny Cartridge, we can get somewhat of a closer look, though the actual gameplay remains cloudy. What we know is this: the game follows four different characters in a traditional (and retro-pixel) RPG quest, but only allows each character 30 seconds at a time to do their deeds via quick-burst minigames.
The ‘hero’ plays a sidescrolling level-up quest, the ‘princess’s game is a top-down shooter, the ‘knight’s quest is a bird’s-eye action game, and the ‘demon lord’s game plays as a real time strategy to defeat knights trying to attack it.
The game has been announced for Western release (but not yet an American one), and is one I’m anxiously awaiting more details on: check Famitsu for more screens of the game’s gloriously 16-bit look and feel.
Hero for 30Sec [Marvelous, via Tiny Cartridge]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
ICO CREATOR LOOKS BACK AT COLOSSUS DEVELOPMENT
1UP’s just-published interview with Ico creator Fumito Ueda looking back at spiritual sequel Shadow of the Colossus some three years later was interesting not so much at what it revealed about the game, but about the practicality of Ueda in his approach to its creation.
Both games are heralded as some of the high-water-marks of games as art, and Ueda wins points for his approach the narrative debate (“there should be game design first and a story that suits the design, not the other way around”), and commercial intentions (“if I were to choose between something that sells for a moment and is forgotten, and something that doesn’t sell much but is remembered, I would choose the latter”).
His response to the hero dynamic was interesting, though:
Making a lead character female seems to be fascinating cinematically, but I picked a male character since most game players are male, and they need to become emotionally involved with the lead character. However, recently there have been many female gamers, so it is possible to have a female leading character, I guess.
And it was interesting to see that in both games, unlike most other adventures which are built on the very foundation (see: Zelda), Ueda deliberately left out unlockable weapons that would operate as “skill changes” — keeping the player on an even keel throughout.
As for what the team is doing now, nothing much has been said other than the above teaser image used for a recruitment ad, and a comically unhelpful appearance on the PS3’s Mainichi Issyo channel (aka, where those Sony cats come from), where he showed up and parted with nothing more than a drawing of the cats being chased by a colosso-feline.
Shadow of the Colossus Postmortem Interview [1UP]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Shadow of the Colossus
PIXELZ ARE SO SMALL: DEERHOOF’S NEW ‘BUCK AND JUDY’ VIDEO
While there aren’t any Game Boys or otherwise 8-bit chips anywhere to be found, I’m letting the chunky pixels of C Spencer Yeh‘s wonderfully meaty new video for Offworld fave Deerhoof stand as the main reason why you’re seeing it here. Get a little musical peanut butter in your games chocolate!
Unfortunately, Blurt apparently doesn’t allow for embedding, so head over there for the full thing
Kill Rock Stars has now officially released the video to YouTube, but after watching above, head here and here, where you’ll then understand why Deerhoof are Twin Peaks deputy Andy Brennan’s favorite band.
Deerhoof “Buck and Judy” premiere [Blurt Online, via Robin]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
BAFTA TO HONOR PONG/ATARI HEAD NOLAN BUSHNELL
Though the Academy hasn’t yet announced its official lineup for this year’s BAFTA Game Awards, it has sent a release noting that ‘Pong pioneer’ Nolan Bushnell will be this year’s Fellowship award winner. The honor is “presented for outstanding achievement through a body of work,” and last year (its inaugural year for a games-related award) was presented to Spore/SimCity creator Will Wright.
Academy Chairman David Parfitt said Bushnell’s contribution “is nothing short of remarkable; he ushered in an era, the legacy of which is the vibrant, evolving industry we see before us today.”
Bushnell is, of course, the entrepreneur behind both Pong and Atari’s foray into home consoles, who now spends his time heading uWink, the touchscreen enhanced ‘social entertainment restaurant,’ as well as chairman of Austin’s GameWager, which lets players compete in online games for prizes.
The full list of nominees for this year’s BAFTAs will be released on February 10th.
British Academy Video Games Awards
Previously:
Miyamoto, Spore awarded Jim Henson Honors – Offworld
Wii Fit tops 2008 Japan Media Arts Festival games entrants – Offworld
Getting crafty with Foldskool and Cubecraft – Offworld
What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 2600) – Offworld
See more posts about: atari, Offworld Originals, pong
