GameSetLinks: Naija Circa Aquaria, Tremendosa
Eureka! Ulrikaa! It's totally the weekend, which means the GameSetLinks shenanigans can continue unabated into the non-work week - starting with Derek Yu's concept art evolution for Aquaria's (pictured) lead character.
In other top linkage action, we have some kind of scary Donkey Kong Country-worshiping webisode, Variety on whether Activision and SAG are smooching, some kind of Penny Arcade/Marx Bros comparison, and what game piracy means to your kids, dammit.
Gotta getta linked-up:
Bit-Blot Forums: 'Character Development - Naija'
Showing how the lead character for IGF winner Aquaria was developed, with lots of neat sketches.
The Brainy Gamer: Hail Freedonia!
Comparing Gabe & Tycho to Groucho & Harpo, sorta!
Team Genius - 'Boyfriends' - Donkey Kong (Country)
Wha some kind of insane webisode geek R&B ode to the SNES game - via XAmount
The rebirth of grue - Feature - Adventure Classic Gaming
Possibly written as a school paper, but good overview anyhow: 'Interactive fiction is constantly evolving, further and further away from the simplistic adventure game concept of its roots.'
A Tree Falling in the Forest: It Was Time for "The Talk": Parenting Anti Piracy Edition
'When it comes to games, we address piracy issues at a macro level, but not at home.'
The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety: Screen Actors Guild thanks videogames that use its contract, almost all Activision
'Is Activision the only publisher that's using the SAG contract on a regular basis?'
Automated Super Mario World Orchestra « Desert Hat
'A self-playing Super Mario World level that produces sound effects in time with a massive medley!'
Crap artist can't get job, whines about it - Polycount
Interesting discussion thread (with borderline unfair title) on a recent Game Career Guide article about getting into the biz, from a frustrated newbie.
GamOvr - Pix for game geeks
A new site and a '...collaborative effort to share video game pictures we find interesting' - a neat visual collage concept.
Negative Space (1.0) - beyondDS
'Negative Space is a homebrew puzzle/platform game for the NDS, based on the concept of negative space' - very avant DS homebrew, based on Squidi-concepted Flash game.
Comments
That automatic Mario level was a stellar example of a modding scene that has been around for a little while. It seems to have started with levels that put Mario in the most precarious of situations as he's whisked through a level, and then grew to include musical synchronization. (YouTube has a bunch of Automatic Mario videos, but in several the video and audio aren't in sync.)
I get the impression that it's a form of competitive art. The modder's work is creative expression, certainly; underlying it, however, are the directives of putting Mario in imminent danger and finding tricks that no one else has used to good effect, resulting in a kind of one-upmanship with regard to precision and style.
Posted by: Cyranix | May 31, 2008 7:04 AM
Hm, Kriss, I think I didn't understand the Squidi story in enough detail before referencing that.
I changed the reference to 'Squidi-concepted' which is technically true :)
Posted by: simonc | May 31, 2008 8:00 AM