Since I conjured his name in the last post without explaining any further, I suppose it’s time to re-dredge up Cabel Sasser‘s video masterpiece from late 2006 for those that haven’t seen it. It’s not a bit stale two and a half years later, particularly that glorious soaring finale.

Sasser, a true 64-bit renaissance man, is co-founder of Mac software house Panic (creators of Transmit and Coda), and the — publisher, I guess? — responsible for bringing both the official Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy T-shirts to life, and — as above (or over here, which has earwormed me for days, and I don’t even fully understand the context) — an ace composer when he sets his mind to it.

Oh, and he had a pixel-art infused wedding so tastefully and gorgeously designed that I swoon with the vapors just showing it off to people.

Media Molecule recently mentioned that they’d be working more closely with artists to bring new sticker packs and content into LittleBigPlanet, but Sony is also extending that, they have announced, to levels themselves by “inspiring individuals and interesting personalities,” under a new ‘LittleBigPlanet Originals’ campaign.

The first level, shown above, comes from studio artist and Family Guy affiliate Joe Vaux (who previously combined both undertakings at LA’s “Family Guy C.R.A.P. (A Collection of Rare Art Pieces)” exhibit), and will continue with more levels by Sarah Burke (presumably the Canadian skier?), and Nathan Cabrera (profiled on the Mother Boing in 2003).

Play the levels by searching for PSN username ‘LBPOriginals’, read more about Vaux’s thoughts on creating the level via the PlayStation blog, and see his original iam8-bit piece Reset below.

LittleBigPlanet “The Patch” – Family Guy’s Joe Vaux [PlayStation.Blog]

ONE SHOT: TAN NUYEN’S SUPER FAMICOM INTERSECTION

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5.19.2009

Brandon Boyer

1 Reply

“Just Super“, part of Tan Nuyen’s Nymphographics series [via TinyCartridge].

Somewhere in between WiiWare debut favorite LostWinds (for its vulnerable directly-controlled character and 2D platforming), Crayon Physics (for its elaborately pieced together machinery), iPhone scribbler Trace — and, as always, a tip of the hat to the visionary Harold and the Purple Crayon — Danish indies PressPlay have revealed the first video for their self-published WiiWare debut, Max and the Magic Marker.

While a platformer at heart, PressPlay have said that the Crayon Physics nod goes deeper than the paper surface: its physics go so far as to create heavier objects out of those made with more ink, a resource that can be returned by erasing earlier drawings. The best part, though: the way Max and the game’s world pop in and out of marker-doodled outlines when you pause to draw your own additions.

The studio hasn’t yet revealed too much further information on the official site, outside naming fellow Danish/Balkan/klezmer-y hip-hop group (!) Analogik as the composers of the game’s soundtrack, who, on further streaming, turn out to be kind of awesome.

PressPlay say they hope to have the game out by this fall, “hopefully.”

Max and the Magic Marker [PressPlay]

NEW FALLOUT 3 DLC: THE WASTELAND GETS EVEN WIDER STILL

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5.19.2009

Brandon Boyer

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Continuing, for now, to keep their promise of a game that never ends, Bethesda has just announced two more expansions to Fallout 3‘s Wasteland, with Point Lookout, a “massive new swampland area filled with new quests and content,” due in June, and Mothership Zeta, in which players will “experience an alien abduction first hand and find out if they’re tough enough to survive,” coming in July.

At the same time Bethesda has announced that PlayStation 3 Vault 101-ers will finally be getting their chance to take advantage of the widened Wasteland with the last, first DLC package Operation: Anchorage, coming in late June, followed every 4-6 weeks thereafter by The Pitt and Broken Steel, the most recent pack that finally did away with the end-game and level cap.

And, finally, for those that have been waiting and don’t want to fiddle with the content drip-feed, October will bring the release of a Game of the Year edition of the game that will include all five packs for the same price as the original release.

Fallout 3 [Bethesda]

PlanetInAction’s web-game Ships obviously skews heavily toward the Flight Simulator X/Densha De Go! niche of the games sphere, and is therefore light on what we might call ‘thrills’ beyond taking in the scenery, but its premise is too keen to ignore: it’s entirely built on top of Google Earth tech, letting you take the wheel of cruise ships (and zeppelins!) and travel along a true to life simulation of the globe.

I’ve noted a few games that use satellite imaging tech to bring in some semblance of realism and recognition to action games — The Last Guy and Square Enix’s 0 Day Attack on Earth, most notably — but this is a much more robust beast, and tech that hopefully will evolve over coming years.

Ships [PlanetInAction, via Google Earth blog]

GDC AUSTIN GETS INDIE GAMES SUMMIT, OFFWORLD JOINS ADVISORY BOARD

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5.19.2009

Brandon Boyer

4 Replies

Attn. all indies: GDC organizers Think Services have just officially announced that this year’s GDC Austin will be including, for the first time, a two-day Independent Gaming Summit similar to the one that’s been gaining big traction at GDC’s conventional convention earlier in the year.

The call for submissions has just opened via GDC Austin’s IGS site, noting that the summit hopes to bring together and “highlight the brightest and the best of indie development, with discussions surrounding business models and methods, promotion and marketing, deep game design techniques and inspirational case studies.”

On a more personal note, I’ve joined IGF Chairman and Gamasutra director Simon Carless, Flashbang’s Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink, and fellow Austinite Adam Saltsman (coincidentally the creator of the just-released Fathom) as one of the Austin IGS’s advisors, and we’ll be banding together over the coming months to make sure there’s many excellent things happening both on-site and off- that week.

The Austin IGS will be held September 15th and 16th, 2009, with the main GDC Austin running through the 18th. More information on the GDC Austin proper can be found here.

GDC Austin Independent Gaming Summit [Think Services, via Gamasutra]

TEAM FORTRESS TEAM TEACHES HOW TO FACEPLANT WITH GRACE

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5.19.2009

Brandon Boyer

2 Replies

Valve teaches the rest of the industry how best to deal with a PR flub (say, oh, I don’t know, accidentally leaking your own video over the weekend): you own it with class and style by awarding yourself an unlockable achievement, and publicizing your internal HR rampage to hunt down and back stab the person responsible.

Team Fortress 2 [Valve, via Tom]

ONE SHOT: DUNCAN HARRIS’S FALLOUT 3 PHOTOGRAPHY

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5.18.2009

Brandon Boyer

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UK writer Duncan Harris (whose original postcard-pretty set I noted in Offworld’s earliest days) returns to Fallout 3‘s Wasteland six months later and finds dangerous high school girls in trouble, and.. jesus christ.

View his entire set of images here for more from the apparent new master of in-game photography.

Today’s other best Fallout 3 development: Japan’s ‘agoministrator‘ re-imagines the game as a 70s TV drama, with perfect pitch freeze-frame introductions of all its major players. The coup de grâce groupshot at 1:27-1:40 is a little bit mindblowing. [thanks much, Super Punch!]