ONE SHOT: PAC-MAN’S YESTERYEAR THEME PARK
This picture (and its accompanying YouTube slideshow) is making heavy rotation via technabob, my guess is because we’re all still nostalgic for this time where a theme park license didn’t mean some whiz-bang video-ride production, and was instead just a place to clambor and a games fantasy come to life. I know for a fact that six-year-old-me (as is glaringly obvious from the photo) would have been all over this.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
LISTEN: JOSH STAFFORD’S VIDEOGAME MIXTAPE SONGS TO FRAG BY
Released as part of Yewknee’s ongoing Summer Mix Series — which opened up the floor for anyone to curate and upload their own MP3 mixtape (I still have yet to make my own, though you do have me to thank for the Pavement song on the Texas-themed tape) — Josh Stafford’s Songs To Frag By is most notable for not going the easy route and solely mixing in chiptunes/converted NES soundtracks.
A few of those are, of course, represented (see: the requisite YMCK), but Stafford did an excellent job of digging up songs from the game/music periphery, starting all the way back with Buckner & Garcia’s Do The Donkey Kong (the lesser-heard sibling of early 80s standby Pac-Man Fever), to the Mega Man rock-opera-concepts of The Protomen, to Del the Funky Homosapien’s name dropping hip-hop “classic” Proto Culture, to the open and closer tracks from Offworld favorite Mario-remaking one-man-band XOC.
The full tracklist:
01 Super Mario World Course Clear – XOC
02 Bit Rate Variations in B-Flat (Girl) – Beck
03 Super Mario Land (Radio Version) – Ambassadors of Funk feat. M.C. Mario
04 Mega Man 2 (Title Theme) – Year 200X
05 II B Unrest In the House of Light – The Protomen
06 Do the Donkey Kong – Buckner & Garcia
07 Technology Boy – Bachelorette
08 Sabita Tobirano Daihachi Tengoku – YMCK
09 Punch em Out – Swell +N remixes
10 Where’s My F_ing Genesis – Charles Hamilton
11 Khaos Unique Proto Culture – Del The Funky Homosapien
12 The Legend of Zelda Tribute – Swell Session vs Koji Kondo
13 Tetris – Powerglove
14 Super Mario World Death Game Over – XOC
If not the best games-related mixtape made, it’s at least one of the most novel. [via Yewknee]
Previously:
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ONE SHOT: SAMUS ON A SPECTRUM
Metroid star Samus, done up by artist ‘Diver’ in ZX Spectrum impressionism, via PixelStyle, presumably taken from this Soviet Spectrum gallery.
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals, One Shot
SOUNDS BRüTAL: TIM SCHAFER SOLVES A RUBIK’S CUBE TO BRüTAL LEGEND’S SOUNDTRACK
Not the soundtrack itself, mind, but Double Fine music director Emily Ridgway reading the hundred-plus list of included songs representing Brütal Legend‘s who’s-who of heavy metal, from 3 Inches of Blood to Wrath of Killenstein.
My favorite addition? Two tracks from Anvil, who, if you’ve seen the recently released documentary (and if you haven’t, do so soon), you know are basically just about the nicest people on earth and who entirely deserve to have a few extra minutes to shine here.
The entire track list is included behind the jump.
Previously:
See more posts about: Brütal Legend, Double Fine, Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
IT’S THINKING: ROBIN BAUMGARTEN’S AI-CONTROLLED INFINITE MARIO
And so it begins: above is the first public entry into the previously covered Mario AI contest, with Robin Baumgarten’s A*-enhanced run, which pulls off a major coup halfway through when it walljumps out of a pit (he explains: “In this version of Mario, when you’re jumping while sliding on a wall, you jump backwards and upwards away from it”).
Read more about his solution via his site, where you can also see his entry into the DEFCON AI contest mentioned here long, long ago.
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FANTASTIC FEST HOLDING UWE BOLL-JUDGED VIDEOGAME ADAPTATION FILM CONTEST
Mentioned here primarily for some Austin-local love for our Alamo: the theater chain has just announced via its blog a new contest in association with G4TV for indie filmmakers to create short, two-minute movie adaptations of their favorite un-adapted games.
The winner (is the kicker) will be selected by infamous BloodRayne/Alone in the Dark/House of the Dead/Postal director Uwe Boll, and will have their work screened at the Alamo’s yearly Fantastic Fest blowout.
The deadline for the contest is Sept. 4th, so, soon, and full submission information and rules are available at G4.
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BOY, ‘NIP’D: HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN NOBY NOBY BOY CAT TOY
Presumably this’ll work just as well as a toy for your favorite non-feline as well, but over on the official PlayStation Europe messageboard, forum member pudgeeagogo has posted full instructions to knit up your own catnip-drenched Noby Noby BOY, if you can stomach the horror of seeing his innocent little •.• face getting mercilessly torn at by your pet’s razor-toothed maw.
The instructions are embedded under the jump, as well, only because I’m terrified the thread will one day disappear and all this hard-won knowledge will go with it. [via Gus]
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See more posts about: Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
LISTEN: PIXELJUNK EDEN CREATOR BAIYON, IN THE HOUSE
This clip just about has it all: PixelJunk Eden‘s audio/visual director Baiyon spinning his trademark blend of house/trance at Kyoto’s Club Metro, to an adoring crowd of frame-dropped and light-smeared kids & adorable mod-striped short-haired girls, while wearing — best of all — the T-shirt he received for speaking at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. [via Nobuooo]
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BUY IT NOW: STEAM WEEKEND DEAL SLASHES INDIE GAME PRICES
Not to be outdone by rival digital download service Direct2Drive, Steam has posted its own weekend sale on bundled indie games, this time curated by Braid dev Jon Blow and 2D Boy’s Ron Carmel, who have selected the so called “absolute, autonomous, freewheeling, grassroots, nonaligned, nonpartisan, sovereign, unconstrained, uncontrolled, unregimented games pack” to include: AudioSurf, Blueberry Garden, Braid, Crayon Physics Deluxe, Darwinia, Everyday Shooter, Gish, Mr. Robot, The Path and World of Goo for thirty bucks.
The lesser but similarly synonymous “autarchical, self-governing, self-reliant, self-ruling, self-sufficient games pack” will get you a pared down bare essentials selection of: Blueberry Garden, Braid, Everyday Shooter, The Path and World of Goo for twenty.
It is my opinion that you should not sleep on this one.
Steam: INDIE GAMES SALE [Valve]
Previously:
- The Offworld Guide to IGF 2009 (pg. 1)
- Listen: celebrate Braid's PC release with original soundtrack …
- Crayon Physics gets Wall-E-fied
- Ragdoll Metaphysics: Introversion on Mathematical Cities, Gaming …
- Full disclosure: Introversion publish confidential Darwinia+ docs …
- The dynamic fluids of Chronic Logic's Gish
- Bread and cream: Tale of Tales' The Path hits Macs
- At the core of the World of Goo
- Listen: 2D Boy's free World of Goo soundtrack
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HIDDEN GEMS: PASSAGE DEV CREATING BLOOD DIAMOND DS STRATEGY GAME
It took me more than a few reads to make sure this was on the level, but it would appear to be so: in an interview with ‘social/artistic’ games blog Press Pause to Reflect, Passage, Gravitation and Primrose designer Jason Rohrer (also currently consulting for ad agency Tool) tells the blog his current project will actually be actually his first retail release.
According to the blog, Rohrer says he’s at work on a DS game to be published by Majesco in 2010, and here’s the kicker:
It’s a two-player strategy game about diamond trading in Angola on the eve of the passage of the Kimberly Process.
The politics of diamond trading in the region (and surrounding areas) has been a minefield for the past few decades, the diamond miners themselves suffering human rights abuses and proceeds of the trade of the so-called ‘blood diamonds’ going to fund local insurgencies/conflicts.
It’s not subject matter that would pop immediately to mind for a handheld title, but I suppose were I to choose someone to metaphorically reduce it to a 2-player strategy game, Rohrer would be somewhere up there near the top of my to-call list. [via Destructoid]
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