FIRE FIGHTS: PIXELJUNK 1-4 BECOMES PIXELJUNK SHOOTER
With its previously mentioned naming contest now concluded, Q-games — creator of the PS3 downloadable series Pixel Junk — has officially donned its latest fluid mechanics/subterranean rescue game, simply, PixelJunk Shooter, from a body of entries that also included Depths, Atlantis, Caves, Blaster, and S.O.S.
Also unveiled, the game’s logo above, which captures quite nicely the shifting interplay between its water, fire, and rock elements. See the last Offworld entry on the game for the first full trailer.
PixelJunk Shooter [Q-games, via PlayStation.Blog]
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, PixelJunk, Q-Games
CALAVERA CONVERSE: KYOZOKICKS’ GRIM FANDANGO SNEAKERS
The latest wearable art by Nicholas ‘KyozoKicks‘ Tonks, creator of the previously featured Noby Noby shoes: this gorgeous set of Grim Fandango sneaks which reiterate that love is, sadly, for the living. [via Double Fine]
Previously:
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LONELY ROLLING BALL: KELLBOT’S KATAMARI DAMACY TRACKBALL CONTROLLER MOD
NYC Resistor collaborator Kelly Farrell shows off her latest project: a gazing-ball trackball controller that plays Katamari Damacy the way we should have realized it was meant to be played all along.
How does it work? Kelly explains:
It uses an optical mouse to track the ball. I gathered up some cheap PS2 controllers, ripped out the potentiometers on the analog sticks, and replaced it with a digital potentiometer and an arduino. The arduino takes signals from a PS/2 mouse and adjusts the potentiometer accordingly…
Originally I wanted to use one of those giant yoga balls, to really get the scale. But it turns out those don’t roll very well on ball bearings. Luckily Adam had one of those mirror balls folks put in their gardens. Or at least I assume they do, no one I know has a big enough yard to put lawn ornaments in.
Life-Size Katamari Lives [Kellbot]
Previously:
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ONE SHOT: MEDIA MOLECULE’S LITTLEBIG-DREDD COMIC COVER
LittleBigPlanet creator Media Molecule’s collaboration with and tribute to UK comics legend 2000AD will be released this week, and the studio’s starting the daily reveal until then, beginning with the first shot of Sackboy Judge Dredd above (alongside Judge Anderson), and the more recently revealed Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha.
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, One Shot
LOVE TO INFINITY: THE LATEST LOOK AT CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2
Scraping up the last of the long-weekend news, the trailer for Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4 followup, Modern Warfare 2. A game so flagrantly big-budget, realistically modeled, and combat-driven may seem an odd fit for the usual Offworld fare, but I’ll let you in on a secret: Call of Duty 4 was one of the smartest games I played continually throughout 2008, and my vote for (no joke) MMO of the year.
Granted, its single player game didn’t quite ring with emotional impact for me as it seemed to do for most (I’d already experienced a more lo-fi version of its desperate, crawling climax a year before in undersung PS2 gem Raw Danger), but the rank-rising, challenge-based and XP driven multiplayer game was the first online shooters since the earliest days of Half Life that would hook me so completely, a crown only stolen by Left 4 Dead.
What we don’t get above, unfortunately, is any further details on how that half of the game will have evolved, but it’s what I’m anticipating more than any other aspect.
Modern Warfare 2 [Infinity Ward]
Previously:
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
1-BIT RETRO: PIXEL BEARD’S BEARD SNATCHERS, 1954
Here’s a work in progress video of Will ‘Pixel Beard‘ Faulds’ Beard Snatchers, 1954. The Flash game with its 1-bit who-needs-colour aesthetic hearkens back to the original Mac OS System 1.
If this an aesthetic you enjoy, also be sure to check out Ace Team’s (of ZenoClash renown) previously covered The Malstrums Mansion.
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MAD VILLAINY: TRAPDOOR TEASE IPHONE RHYTHM GAME YOUNG VILLAIN ACADEMY
Montreal based creator of “extraordinary playthings & diversions” Trapdoor recently sent over this batch of screenshots of their upcoming iPhone game Young Villain Academy, about which they haven’t revealed much, except to say that players will play as “an unwilling student of a once legendary super villain,” who complete lessons by performing “a variety of dangerous trials using rhythm style game mechanics.”
Trapdoor also note that the game’s obvious 50s retro style extends beyond the fantastic artwork to the game’s audio and gameplay. Hit the jump for three more screens, as we all patiently await the long-promised first video and new details. (more…)
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JAMES KOCHALKA’S FEVER DREAMS: YOU FELL ASLEEP PLAYING NOBY NOBY BOY
Offworld’s Monster Mii and Superf*ckers Review creator James Kochalka has a youfellasleepwatchingadvd moment with his PlayStation 3 in this recent entry of his fantastic American Elf diary strips (one of my top two web-comic subscription recommendations).
Previously:
- Offworld: Superf*ckers Review Archives
- Offworld: Monster Mii Archives
- The Insomniac Elf: SirLondon's James Kochalka-inspired game – Offworld
- Listen: James Kochalka's Superf*ckers theme video – Offworld
- It's a stretch: Explaining Katamari creator's new Noby Noby Boy …
- Synthesizer Noby: the 29 new musical options of Noby Noby Boy …
See more posts about: James Kochalka, Noby Noby Boy, Offworld Originals
ONE SHOT: DIE GUTE FABRIK’S SWAMP-OPERA CONCEPT, MUTATIONE
Concept art for Nils ‘Die Gute Fabrik‘ Deneken’s adventure/platformer/soap opera Mutatione, which takes place “in a mutant-inhabited swamp village with the same name.”
See more posts about: Die Gute Fabrik, Nils Deneken, Offworld Originals, One Shot
WEEKEND WATCHING: OUR TOP NETFLIX INSTANT-WATCHING PICKS
It’s been a few months since we last gave each other recommendations for Netflix on 360 weekend watching, and with things popping up and down on the service weekly, I think it’s high time for an update, particularly for this extended three-day blowout.
Here’s my quick rundown of the top things that shouldn’t be missed:
Let the Right One In: Tomas Alfredson’s take on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel of the (basically) same name skyrocketed itself to one of my top movies of 2008 (landing it square next to Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York) for making a vampire horror movie that isn’t a vampire horror movie (despite what its stateside trailer may tell you), one that I watched four times in the first two months after its release.
It’s a coming of age story, it’s a story of isolation (on everyone’s part) and of broken, dependent relationships, that ends on a note of indistinguishably mixed hope and resolute sadness when you carry the story forward in your mind. It’s also gawpingly gorgeous, and everyone’s got good hair and wicked style. Do not miss this.
Party Down: With the first season coming to a close Friday night, you now have no excuse to not sit down and watch what I’m going to call right now as the first, best new American comedy series since.. maybe Curb Your Enthusiasm? It’s not just the cast, though that helps, a lineup which includes former State member Ken Marino, Adam Scott (who you remember as the guy who saved it with his solo in the best part of Step Brothers), Freaks and Geeks/Adventureland’s Martin Starr, and Lizzy Caplan (aka My Hollywood Girlfriend; you know her from Cloverfield and as The Only Real Reason To Watch True Blood).
The premise: each episode is a separate LA occasion worked by the titular catering service Party Down, staffed by former/fallen/would-be actors, which sounds like a perfect setup for easy hijinks, and often is, but is always very smartly tempered with an undercurrent of life-reflection — taking the easy, low road after being knocked down. Actual pathos, the kind that the American Office has been managing to scrape together each week since that brutally, Who’s-Afraid-Of-Virgina-Woolf-ishly dark Dinner Party episode. But, also, it’s very, very funny.
Those are my two top, but there’s also, of course, the first season of Graham Linehan’s IT Crowd (which I have intended to talk more about on Offworld for months, let’s do that soon), Søren Larsen’s documentary Lynch, which won’t sell you on David Lynch if you’re already a skeptic, but is an essential peek behind the transcendental curtain if you’re a fanatic, and the Short Films from his box set also recently reared their head on the service, too.
Also from around the network, BBG’s Joel has recommended this documentary on unsung music producer legend Tom Dowd and guest blogger Tiff Chow has had nothing but good things to say about CJ7, the Chinese ‘E.T.’ reimagining from Shaolin Soccer/Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow.
Anyone else dug up any diamonds or have anything to recommend? Let us all know via the comments!
See more posts about: Offworld Originals, Weekend Watching, Xbox 360
