Blueberry Garden by Erik Svedang
Congratulations Erik for taking home the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and $30,000.
Tale of Tales, the developmers behind the IGF 2009 Nominated The Graveyard, have finally released The Path. The Path is an experiment in Horror, a macabre retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Simple, enjoyable, and emotionally moving, I find Music Catch 2 to be one of the more pleasant experiences as of late. The premise is simple, catch notes with your cursor as you listen to the music.
For me, this is a step in the right direction for gaming, though I wish the idea were taken a little bit further. I would have the visuals more representative of the music for one, perhaps by making the appearance of notes less random and more organized (maybe something along the lines of Music in Motion). The interaction with the game is also not very expressive of the music, it seems to just be a game attached to music and visuals (unlike say, Extra Extend Extra Extreme).
Still though, I beleive everyone can enjoy Music Catch 2, which is a sign of a successful game in its own right.
The first Music Catch can be played here.
Auditorium, by Dain Saint and William Stallwood, is a game about discovery and fascination. The game successfully merges music, art, and video games into an interactive experience. There are no instructions on how to play the game, but discoverying how to play for yourself is part of the experience.
A brilliant step forward in interactive storytelling, Opertoon presents Ruben and Lullaby by Erik Loyer.
Nominated for Achievement in Art for the 2009 Independant Games Festival, this will be one of the first games I get when I get an iPhone.
For those with an Xbox 360, you may or may not know of Microsoft's XNA developer kit, which allows anybody with the time and talent to make games for Xbox Live Arcade. Announced at GDC 08, effective immediately, you can now download the XNA Community Launcher, which let's you download free demos of the games made by these talented people. Among them is the Dishwasher, a game that plays similar to Devil May Cry in 2D.
More on the Dishwasher can be found at my previous post here.
I love it when people turn video games into more than just a form of entertainment. Video games are a culture, a lifestyle, and a form of expression. More information on this art project can be found here.
The ignorant woman who started the "Mass Effect is interactive pornography targeted to 15 year olds" rumor, Cooper Lawrence, wrote a book that was released on January 1st. Less than a month old, her book has nearly 400 negative reviews on Amazon. My advice to her, don't insult an entire community of sexually frustrated internet savvy nerds with a lot of spare time on their hands.
I actually contributed, being a lover of video games, and I hope you will write a negative review of your own. If you have any reservations about being "mean" to her, then I think this person's review summed it up best.
"I have not read the book, but if the author can talk about subjects she has no insight into whatsoever, then I can certainly give my 2-cents about a book that I have no insight into. The only thing I do know about the author is that she is a complete hack, and I would not trust her opinion on anything."
Isn't it great that you can find her novel under the tags: ignorant, hypocrite, garbage, and terrible?
If Fox News can fuck up the facts and humiliate themselves this much, then take into consideration how much "news" is being reported on this "fair and balanced" channel. Thanks to Keighley for trying to educate morons, but alas to no success, because they are Republicans.