I’m pretty sure that we’re reaching the point of indie video games being produced at the same quality level as mainstream systems like Wii or PS3. Take for example flOw, a game that started out as an MFA thesis project in game mechanics and ends up being finding a home on the Playstation 3. I feel like Crayon Physics Deluxe is going to end up falling into the same category.
The game is ultra simple, you need to make the ball touch the star, that’s it. The reason this is so fun is that you have to use your imagination in order to make that happen. watching the trailer, it looks like it would be an absolute blast to play. This game is totally made for either the computer, or one better, the Nintendo DS which has a stylus already. I think games like these really go to show that indie gaming community are pushing more boundaries than the bigger video game developers. How many more war or racing games do we really need?! The most creative games of the last 10-15 years are games like Parappa the Rapper, Ico, and Katamari Damacy, which pushed the envelope of what’s creative and interesting.
Crayon Physics Deluxe doesn’t have a release date yet, but it did win the Best Game at the Independent Games Festival which netted the developers $20,000. That should definitely help the game get some legs, so hopefully we get to play it soon!
I came across these new screenshots from the upcoming Street Fighter IV and thought I’d share. I’m guessing that everyone on earth has probably played Street Fighter II before, and if you haven’t, you might not have hands. So what Capcom has done is taken that same SF II look and feel, and jazzed it up with a bunch of fancy new graphics. The lighting effects, motion blurs, and particle systems all seem to be pretty top notch, as you can see from the video slideshow above. Definitely excited to see this / do that Blanka roll thing at people.
Wired put up a really great gallery/article with some updates about Spore.
First off, the game is being released September 7th for Mac, PC, and Nintendo DS, all at the same time. That’s still quite a ways away, but Will Wright has figured out how to keep everyone happy till then… a Creature Editor! It’s going to be released a few months before the game comes out, and will allow you to make creatures just like you do in the game. It’ll tell you as soon as Spore comes out, and allow you to import the characters you’ve made as well.
Another cool detail they’ve leaked is that you can start the game at any point. So if you don’t want to start out in the “cell” portion of the game, you can jump directly into the making of your creature. I think this could be helpful especially if you’ve played the game a million times and are sick of being a tiny shrimp in the evolutional tide pool.
I guess there’s also something hidden in the center of the universe, which you can try and find once you get the space travel ability. Will Wright and his creative team have totally done it again, and I’ll be posting more of these nerdy posts as more info becomes available.
I don’t own a TV or a Wii, but watching all of the awesome looking trailers for the new Super Smash Bros. Brawl makes me want to get both. They’ve definitely stepped up with the amount of gameplay there is, with solo and group missions, a ton of mini-games, and even playable retro games like the original Mario Bros. and Metroid. What’s also amazing is the new cast of characters, which includes new character’s like Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Kid Icarus, which was one of my favorite games for the original Gameboy.
The video above features all of the character’s “final smashes”, which is basically like a mega power up for the characters. Some of the smashes are way more useful than other’s, but characters like Mario and Link definitely have an advantage. Check out the video and get excited.
Growing up, I was a hardcore Super Mario Bros 2 fan. I wasn’t cool like all of the other kids who played Super Mario 3, I enjoyed the campyness of Mario 2. You got four character to choose from, the slot machine after each level to win more lives, the potions that opened doors to bizarro worlds… what wasn’t to love?
Andrea Vadrucci must have been like me, as you can see in the video above, who’s spiced up the classic soundtrack with some punk-ish drumming. My favorite part is at about 2:05 when he gets to the boss battle music.I can totally picture Princess jumping on the eggs that Bird-O shot out and throwing it at her, and when it hits her she makes that pained sound. That sound brought me such pleasure as a small child.
Also, his double bass pedals are pretty fun. It’s a pretty dorky idea, but it certainly made me smile this morning.
Exciting news for those of us who love to play games that take away your social life! Will Wright’s upcoming game Spore, which is coming out “some time” this year, has been announced that it will be released side by side with the PC version. This is a first for computer games, as most Mac gamers have to wait months and sometimes years to play the same games as PC owners. In fact, it looks like EA Games is trying to reconcile this difference by making all of their games drop at the same time.
I’m particularly excited about this because the game looks amazing. I can’t wait to create an amazing looking critter and then DESTROY with it. But I’ve also heard rumors that the game is…. boring… and that’s why it’s been delayed so much. I can’t see how that can even be possible, but maybe it could be monotonous? I dunno, I’m gonna’ camp out for it.
