CHELL’S BELLS: PORTAL ON THE IPHONE, PORTAL IN A TOWER
There seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding the night’s much-posted video of Portal running on an iPhone, which, unfortunately, is simply a single-room fan recreation by some still-unnamed devs after a few weeks hacking about in third-party engine Unity (the same tech driving Flashbang’s Blurst games), but agreed on all counts that it’s a nice piece of kit, whether or not it goes anywhere in the end.
To make up for any potential disappointment, though, I’ll cap this the same way Alice did on her Wonderland blog, with a recreation of Still Alive being played on the UCSB campus’s Storke bell-tower:
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Portal
ONE SHOT: COREY LEWIS’S DARKSTALKERS MONTAGE
Seattle illustrator/comic artist Corey Lewis (creator of many very fine images like this) reveals his contribution to Udon’s previously mentioned art book tribute to Capcom’s classic supernatural fighter Darkstalkers.
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
TWEET (#2660535370)
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
ONE SHOT: BJöRN HURRI’S CLAUDE LE CAMBRIOLEUR
Former Dungeon Runners and current Creative Assembly (Total War) concept artist Björn Hurri posts this French-flavored pixel montage from a “project I have running on and off”, which I genuinely, deeply, hope is a game where you play as the cat burglar.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
ONE SHOT: KIDMISSILE’S GOT LOVE FOR THE WIZARD
Kidmissile comes up with easily one of the most obscure 8-bit puns ever set to fabric, but makes up for it with the infinitely more graspable Space Invaders follow-up. [via OFP]
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
TRAILER OF THE MONTH: AN EXTENDED LOOK AT INSANELY TWISTED SHADOW PLANET
Found, appropriately, via Phil Fish, who called out the original teaser trailer in his Indie Games Summit session as one of the best examples of hooking an audience with an unmissable video: a new, extended look at Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, the forthcoming game from artist Michel Gagne and FuelCell’s Joe Olson.
Based on the world Gagne created for the Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets animations shown on Nickelodeon in 2005, Fish is right: there isn’t a single second of this video that doesn’t make me want to play, though it’s still unclear when we might be able to. New posts at the game’s blog seem to all but ensure an eventual Xbox Live Arcade release alongside the previously planned PC version, which could put it months away.
But that’s a bit beside the point: the point is it’s trumped its own record and become one of the most bluntly wicked trailers I’ve laid eyes on since The Last Guardian, and re-rocketed the game back up my most-anticipated list.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
SUBATOMIC BRINGING IPHONE TOWER DEFENSE GAME FIELDRUNNERS TO PSP
In an exclusive report on Sony’s renewed and rejuvenated initiative to bring smaller (read: indie) offerings to the PSP and its on-device PlayStation Network Store (which I noted earlier as probably the most important aspect of their PSP Go! announcement, especially combined with its subsequent drastic devkit price drop), the company has told Develop that it’s already signed some 50 studios for new content, both games and apps.
Chief among them, or at least, the most recognizable game/studio? Subatomic, who Develop have revealed will be bringing a new exclusive version of their iPhone tower-defense hit FieldRunners to the PSP.
Subatomic’s Ash Monif told Develop that Sony’s plans were “about bringing the lighter, lower barrier content to the PSP that has been so successful in other categories… You don’t see this happening at Microsoft and you even don’t see it happening at Nintendo yet.”
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
ONE SHOT: FANGAMER’S PACKING SLIP IS JUST A BOX
My new favorite thing about Fangamer’s Metal Gear merchandise: your upcoming orders will be shipped with this packing slip, which doubles as Snake’s legendary cardboard disguise.
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
CLUB BENEFITS: NINTENDO REWARD FANS WITH MARIO HAT, PUNCH-OUT!! MINIGAME
Several weeks back I took an entire Sunday afternoon to dig through the garage and fish out every first party DS and Wii game I’ve ever owned, and went through the arduous process of cracking open each one to register it on Club Nintendo. The Game & Watch Collection DS game was basically reward enough, but, if you haven’t been personally notified yet, there’s a newly announced bonus in it for members that reached Gold or Platinum level.
As seen at right, Platinum level members can now choose from two new gifts free just for having participated: a cotton/poly “life sized” Mario hat, which is nice (and would look cutest slung side-long on your unsuspecting child’s head, Yoshi’s Island-Mario-style), or, a special downloadable version of the Wii’s Punch-Out!! remake that pits you directly against your in-game coach, Doc Louis. It’s a tough call between the physical and the digital, however exclusive the latter, and I’m still not settled (we have until August 11th).
For Gold members, though, the choice is clearer: you’ll be receiving a 2010 desktop calendar featuring a different game per month — neither wearable or playable, but no booby prize itself. Log in to your Club Nintendo account to see if you’re eligible for either and to claim your prize.
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
GENE THERAPY: TAITO BRINGING SPACE INVADERS INFINITY GENE TO IPHONE
Back in some of Offworld’s earliest days I mentioned an obscure addition to the Space Invaders family tree: Infinity Gene, a vector-sharp retro-future take on the series made specifically for Japanese mobile phones (as below). The then-recently-announced DSiWare seemed a logical choice for the game to eventually move to, but Taito have just got in touch to let me know they’re taking it in a different direction: the iPhone.
And that’s perhaps the better move it could’ve made, so as not to compete against its own Extreme brothers, though they are quite different games. Where Extreme kept you tethered to that X axis, Infinity Gene will let you — from what I understand so far — move your ship around the screen at will via touch controls, and, as above, comes equipped with a new rapid-fire laser that puts it much more in keeping with later arcade shooters than the original Invaders.
Infinity‘s true evolution, as its name suggests, happens by collecting the gene clusters seen at top right which will, at times, break you out of the action and bring you to a new evolution screen that informs you which new capabilities or weapons you’ve unlocked. And its enemies have evolved as well, with new impenetrable shields (seen top left), new weapons, and massive screen-filling bosses (my favorite bit of the video, apart from the terrifying Zuntata score: ‘A HUGE ENEMY — “The Moon” — BREAK INTO THE BATTLE’).
Taito says the game will be available “in the very near future”.
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
