These blog posts are tagged “indie games”
Attract Mode's east coast warrior, Matt Hawkins, is curating a fine selection of games next month at Babycastles, NYC's best indie game arcade. Most of the games will be there all month, but the opening party is the must-attend if you live anywhere near New York. It's also the only night you can check out Super Hypercube due to all the specialized hardware involved. Check out the details below. Hmmm, I wonder how cheap the flights are from LA to NYC right now…
August 5 at 8:00pm - August 6 at 1:00am
Silent Barn
915 Wyckoff Avenue
Queens, NY
SUPER HYPERCUBE
by Kokoromi and Polytron (with appearance by PHIL FISH)
special musical guest GLOMAG
Also Featuring:
CALVIN & HELLEN'S BOGUS JOURNEY
by Hellen Jo / Calvin Wong / Derek Yu
Untitled
Deth P Sun / Cactus
RESCUE THE BEAGLES
16 x 16
KATAWA SHOUJO
Four Leaf Studios
LOVE LOVE 2
TYO / Seitron & Art Inc
Don't forget to RSVP
Adam
July 27, 2010
arcade / artxgame / Babycastles / Cactus / Calvin and Hellen's Bogus Journey / Calvin Wong / Derek Yu / Deth P Sun / events / FORT90 / Glomag / Hellen Jo / indie games / Jonatan Söderström / Matt Hawkins / NYC / Phil Fish
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This interview with Dylan Cuthbert and Kentaro Yoshida of Q-games is all over the place in a good way. Find out about the history of Japanese indie games, Interdisciplinary collaboration, plans to move the PixelJunk series into 3D, and a bunch of other good stuff.
Adam
July 23, 2010
Dylan Cuthbert / E3 2010 / indie games / PixelJunk Shooter 2 / interview / Jeriaska / Kentaro Yoshida / Nobuoo
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Dang. I just realized that I never posted a few of the video interviews we did at E3! Luckily Gemini Rue looks just as good now as it did a month ago, so I think you still should be able to enjoy this.
Again, thanks to Jeriaska for the great job he did shooting and editing these!
Adam
July 23, 2010
E3 2010 / events / indie games / Gemini Rue / IndieCade / interview / Jeriaska / Joshua Nuernberger / Nobuoo
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This is a fun one. Jenova Chen talks about his third title for the Playstation Network, Journey, a gorgeous online game that focuses on exploration. He also discusses thatgamecompany's approach to sound design and his previous collaborations with musicians Austin Wintory on flOw and Vincent Diamante on Flower.
Adam
June 21, 2010
E3 2010 / indie games / flOw / Flower / Journey / interview / Jenova Chen / Jeriaska / Nobuoo / thatgamecompany
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Yes, it will be fun as all get out // Yes, you are invited // rsvp on bookface
Forget all those snobby E3 parties for "industry only" folks; we're taking it to the streets (or at least to the parking lot).
We're throwing an E3 party this Monday night at GR2 in the calm before the storm. Come hang out with your friends, relax, and enjoy fun games and delicious food before the flurry of craziness begins Tuesday morning.
This is the first Game Night at Giant Robot. It's a bi-monthly low-key event we're running to help build up the VG community in LA. This first one is all about the excellent Bit.Trip series by Gaijin Games. The equally excellent Gaijin Games crew will be in attendance, so here's your chance to school them at their own games.
More reasons to come:
- Games projected on the side of the building (!)
- Bit.Trip themed menu items next door at Giant Robot's restaurant: gr/eats
- Photo-realistic graphics and life-like conversation system
- Because I love you
Check out the the press release for the nitty gritty. (Thanks for putting the release together, Martin!)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Pre-E3 Party at GR2
Game Night with Gaijin Games
Monday, June 14, 2010, 7:30 - 10:00 p.m.
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276
In conjunction with the Attract Mode videogame culture shop and LA Game Space, Giant Robot is proud to host Game Night, a pre-E3 party putting a spotlight on Gaijin Games. Gaijin Games is a small indie studio from Santa Cruz, CA that makes the Bit.Trip series of retro pixelated games for the Wii. Their work will be projected on the side of the building and the actual developers will be in attendance to hang out and play with fans. There will also be Bit.Trip-themed food available at gr/eats.
Game Night is a new event that will be taking place at GR2 every two months. Each evening will feature a different developer and its games in a relaxed, community-building setting. Because of the onset of E3, many members of the videogame industry are expected to attend the inaugural gathering, which will be a great opportunity for the game-playing public since most parties related to the Electronic Entertainment Expo are invitation-only.
Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, as well as an online equivalent.
Game Night will take place on June 14 from 7:30 - 10:00. For more information about Game Night, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact:
Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311
###
Adam
June 10, 2010
events / Gaijin Games / Giant Robot / indie games / Bit.Trip / Los Angeles
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5 Minute MMORPG was conceived by the good people of the Copenhagen Game Collective for the 2009 Nordic Game Jam. More tinkering and polish produced the (not so) massively multiplayer satire game you can play for free. In your browser. Right now.
The most interesting aspect of 5 Minute MMORPG is the built-in lag. Meant to mimic “real” MMOs, the feature causes more lag when there are more players alive. It is a mind game that forces you to predict the other players' actions. As the match progresses and players die, the lag dissipates and it becomes a fast-paced action game.
Before you join in on the fun, I recommend putting the word out on Twitter. It worked for me! I've tried playing this game before, and it's about 1000x more fun playing with your friends than the bots that usually fill up a match. If you want to know the next time we all jump in for a game, make sure to follow me on Twitter. I'll keep you in the loop.
Adam
March 23, 2010
Copenhagen Game Collective / indie games / 5 Minute MMORPG
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Black Pants Studio recently released the demo for Tiny and Big - Up That Mountain, a game in which you slice and grapple your way up a mountain to regain your burgled briefs. That's right; your tighty-whities were stolen from you, and you need to use your super-powered lightsaber to chop things up and get them back.
Bonus points to Black Pants Studio for their charming character designs. Big actually reminds me of No-Face from Spirited Away. (So there's one more reason not to trust him, just in case the undies thievery wasn't enough for you.) Inspired character design is one area that still seems to be lacking in videogames. And I'm not just referring to the clichéd space marine or tragically badass warrior. Indie games and bigger productions alike are often guilty of insipid player characters.
In addition to good marks for its original gameplay device and character design, the Tiny and Big demo is incredibly fun to play. But don't take my word for it!
No, seriously. Don't take my word for it. I wasn't able to get past the menu screen. It kept crashing my laptop.
If you are lucky enough to get the game running on your machine, let me know what you think of it in the comments! And if you have any tips for getting the game to run on a Macbook Pro, I'd appreciate those as well!
via IndieGames.com
Adam
March 20, 2010
Black Pants Studio / indie games / Tiny and Big
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Pretty impressive, eh? 4fourths by indie duo Mikengreg was one of the featured selections at the Gamma IV party last week. It's a four player co-op game with a great aesthetic and an interesting mechanic. Each player controls their actions with one button, so it's easy to jump in and have fun.
According to the 4fourths website, this version is only a demo of the full experience. On what platform(s) will the final game be available? Considering that it's built with the Unity engine, there are a lot of possibilities: Win/Mac, iPhone/iPad, Wii, Xbox360, or all of the above.
Adam
March 17, 2010
Gamma / indie games / 4fourths / Mikengreg / Unity
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Blink Works created this profile of Alec Holowka & Infinite Ammo as a promotion for the Winnipeg New Media community. It captures a lot of what I think everyone loves about the indie game scene: art, collaboration, rags to riches* success…
I also appreciate the teaser look at Das Cube. Is this coming out soon? It's been in development for ages in “iphone years”.
Via TIGsource
* Heh.
Adam
December 06, 2009
Alec Holowka / indie games / Heroes + Villains / Marian / Paper Moon / Infinite Ammo
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I just added 3 new products to the shop.
Miniboss T-shirt by SEIBEI — $22
Unicorn Dream Attack - Love Bits — $12
Calvin & Hellen's Bogus Journey Instruction Booklet — $4
The Miniboss t-shirt was designed by David Murray for his t-shirt company, SEIBEI. David is a cool dude, and he's got a lot of talent, so expect more SEIBEI lovin's from Attract Mode in the future.
Love Bits is Unicorn Dream Attack's ode to your heart. It's really good. If you are into chip music, definitely check that one out.
And finally, Calvin & Hellen's Bogus Journey Instruction Booklet is Calvin Wong's ridiculously funny faux instruction booklet for the game he made with Hellen Jo and Derek Yu for Game Over/Continue. It's one of my favorite items in the shop, and it's only $4! Designed, printed, folded and stapled by the loving hands of Calvin himself.
Adam
November 27, 2009
apparel / Calvin and Hellen's Bogus Journey / Calvin Wong / Chiptunes / Unicorn Dream Attack / Derek Yu / Game Over/Continue? / Hellen Jo / indie games / music / products / SEIBEI / shop
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Sparky's Star Guard was one of the first games I covered when I started this blog back in January.
It's finally finished, and here are a few reasons you should go play it:
- Plays like a minimalist Mega Man with less bosses.
- Excellent visual design and animation.
- Unlimited lives and generous checkpoints ward off frustration.
- Time-tracking and point system encourage speed runs.
- It's a Flash-based download, so it will work on PC + Mac.
- It's free.
Also, check out Sparky's work-in-progress Tin Can Knight.
Via Pixel Prospector / indev
Adam
October 07, 2009
indie games / Star Guard / Sparky
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Eric and I teamed up Kyle Pulver and J Otto Seibold to make the 5th game in the artxgame series, Jottobots. The game is the center of J Otto's solo (besides the game) art show tonight at GR2. The art will remain on display until July 8th, but you only have one night to come check out the game.
Kyle worked long hours on Jottobots, and that time and attention is apparent as soon as you see the game in action. Combine the quirky character art by J Otto with clever level design, a slick 2D engine and tons of hidden secrets and you have the World's Greatest 5-minute Metroidvania. Yes, I just went there.
Come play with us!
June 13 - July 8, 2009
Reception: Saturday, June 13, 6:30 -10:00
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276
Adam
June 13, 2009
art / artxgame / events / Giant Robot / indie games / Jottobots / J Otto Seibold / Kyle Pulver
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After 3 days of being immersed in videogames at E3, I decided to unwind with Derek and John at one of my favorite spots... Arcade Infinity. Not only has AI been stocking an impressive collection of new releases (Action Cop, BlazBlue, King of Fighters XII), but they've also cycled in some of my old favorites like Project Justice and Final Fight.
There was one game, however, above everything else I played that night, that I knew I had to share with you.
Yes, you just saw a Nazi tank fight some buff guy with a limp mohawk. The gallery at the bottom of the post shows an even better match up: the tank versus a nun wielding dual revolvers. The World War II inspired brawler is called Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf Achse. It's ridiculous, fun and actually a pretty solid fighter. If you are anywhere near LA, I recommend you stop by and drop in a few quarters.
Adam
June 12, 2009
arcade / indie games / Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf Achse
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I'm super grateful to the guys at Area5 for devoting a good chunk of their latest CO-OP episode to the Game Over/Continue? event. The whole episode is great (even the Squarespace commercial is worth watching), but if you want to scrub ahead to the GO/C coverage, it starts at about the 27 minute mark.
It's an entire episode focusing on indie games, starting with innovative IGF titles like Blueberry Garden and The Unfinished Swan and finishing with an extended look at the art and games of Game Over/Continue.
These guys know what they are talking about. It's not surprising that the best video coverage of the videogame scene is being created by people who understand and appreciate indies as much they do the mainstream.
I was bummed at the thought of The 1UP Show coming to an end. But since its rebirth as CO-OP, I think the show has been better than ever. Like Jason says in the episode, they are free to cover what they want instead of doing things like running around GDC trying to film trailers and other nonsense. Hmmm, freedom and time to focus on quality… It's amazing what a little bit of independence can do.
Adam
April 06, 2009
Anna Anthropy / Area5 / art / artxgame / Cactus / Calvin and Hellen's Bogus Journey / CO-OP / Derek Yu / Deth P Sun / events / Game Over/Continue? / Giant Robot / Hellen Jo / indie games / Octopounce / Jonatan Söderström / Petri Purho / Saelee Oh / San Francisco / Souther Salazar
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I think it’s really important to be conscious of how the output of the gaming industry might homogenize our thought processes and sometimes stunt our creativity in coming up with new play mechanics …… that’s definitely something that’s stuck with me throughout discussion in this class and influenced me as a designer.
Still, I think the rhythm genre has a lot of untapped potential.
— George Michael Brower
Good music, interesting drum patterns, minimalist design and a huge projected playfield are more than enough to convince me. Rhythm Game I was created by George Michael Brower for his final project in a game design workshop at UCLA. The game's brief post-mortem is worth a read for an inside look at what didn't make it into the game, an earlier video and some photos of how George hacked together the drum controls.
via Anamanaguchi's tweet
Adam
April 01, 2009
DIY / George Michael Brower / indie games / Rhythm Game I / student
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Wow. The Game Over/Continue? show at GRSF last Friday was crazy and fun. A big “Thank You!” to everyone who came, all of the game makers and artists, and the whole Giant Robot crew. Hugs and thanks are also in order for Brandon Boyer, Jenn Frank and Eric and JC over at Tiny Cartridge who all did a lot to help promote the show.
I drove up to San Francisco on Wednesday, and by Thursday night I was starting to stress just a little bit. Only Anna and Saelee had finished their game, and Cactus hadn’t even started yet! Luckily that night Cactus, Derek, Hellen, Calvin and I were able to make a trip over to Deth’s studio. Cactus started coding while Deth was painting and scanning his art. A part of me thinks Cactus was procrastinating just to prove that his GDC lecture, Four Hour Game Design, was more than just talk.
When everyone arrived at the show on Friday evening with their finished games, I was really impressed my mind was blown. All of the games were original, quirky and totally fun to play.
…that is, once you were able to push your way through the crowd and play them! There were way more people at the show than any of us had expected. People from every corner of the indie game scene showed up, and it was great to finally meet a bunch of “internet friends” in real life. It was particularly inspiring talking with Jim Munroe about all of the cool projects he has going on in Toronto.
Looking back through the pictures now, I’m noticing there were a bunch of people I didn't get a chance to talk to. Oh well, too many cool people, too little time. I guess we will have to wait until next year, Messhof, Tiff and Tale of Tales duo.
The games were only available to play the opening night of the show, but all the videogame-inspired art will be at the GRSF gallery until April 15th. If you are in San Francisco, you should definitely check it out. I’ll even provide a map for all you lazy lamb chops.
Keep checking the feed for another blog entry focusing on all four games from Game Over/Continue.
Update: Well, there's really no reason for me to give you a post summarizing the games when Brandon has already done it better than I could have.
Photos via my phone and Giant Robot’s Flickr
Adam
March 31, 2009
Anna Anthropy / art / artxgame / Cactus / Calvin and Hellen's Bogus Journey / Derek Yu / Deth P Sun / Eric Nakamura / events / Game Over/Continue? / Giant Robot / Hellen Jo / indie games / Octopounce / Jonatan Söderström / Petri Purho / Saelee Oh / San Francisco / Souther Salazar
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Phil Fish and company are here to ease your sadness that the Attract Mode shop hasn't launched yet.
Wipe your tears with these beautiful Fez shirts! Watch Gomez cycle through his various animations in hi-tech plastisol.
Available exclusively from Polytron's newly launched PolyShop v.0.1.
Adam
March 19, 2009
indie games / Fez / Phil Fish / Polytron / t-shirts
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I can't wait to see everyone at the show!
What's this artxgame thing? Could there possibly be more collaborations in the future? Interesting…
Adam
March 16, 2009
Anna Anthropy / art / artxgame / Cactus / Derek Yu / Deth P Sun / events / Game Over/Continue? / Giant Robot / Hellen Jo / indie games / Jonatan Söderström / Petri Purho / Saelee Oh / San Francisco / Souther Salazar
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Brandon over at Offworld announced an exciting project today that I've been cooking up with Eric from Giant Robot.
The Game Over II show will open on March 27th at GRSF in San Francisco.
We've partnered up artists and indie game makers to create four new games that will be showcased at the event.
The Teams
If you are going to be in San Francisco for GDC, make sure to stop by! GRSF is only a few miles away.
Go check out the post at Offworld for all the details, and keep watching this blog and Giant Robot for more updates.
Also, a big ‘THANK YOU’ to all the artists and indies that are participating. I can't wait to play your games!
Adam
February 11, 2009
Anna Anthropy / art / Cactus / Derek Yu / Deth P Sun / Game Over/Continue? / Giant Robot / Hellen Jo / indie games / Jonatan Söderström / Petri Purho / Saelee Oh / San Francisco / Souther Salazar
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It’s an exploration to what actually defines a game. You can win or fail in the game, but there is no user input or interactivity of any kind. I was tempted to leave the graphics out completely, but I figured that the white progress bar is abstract enough.
— Petri Purho
Developers: Petri Purho, Heather Kelley, Jonatan Söderström
Release Date: February 2, 2009
Platform: PC
Price: Free
Download
Via Polytron Corporation
Adam
February 04, 2009
Cactus / Heather Kelley / indie games / 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness / Jonatan Söderström / Petri Purho
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