REMINDER: GameSetContest: Pitch a Raroo Fun System Game and Win JUMP! or SWAP!
[We're reposting this up top, since the deadline is tomorrow. Mister Raroo is looking for the best ideas of new games for the (fictional game console) Raroo Fun System. Channel your inner game designer and come up with something nifty! Up for grabs are "tokens" for free downloads of Arkedo Series - 01 JUMP! and Arkedo Series - 02 SWAP! for XBox 360! Just remember to put fun above all else and be creative.]
A Few Quick Thoughts About Fun in Gaming
In case you haven't guessed, the Raroo Fun System is a work of my imagination. But the fact that it doesn't actually exist hasn't stopped me from thinking up plenty of silly game concepts for it! Starting with Mister Raroo's Hauntastic Voyage to Ghosty Ghost Island, I've since expanded the fictional catalog of games by creating trailers via Nintendo's amazing Flipnote Studio.
The Raroo Fun System is now home to such would-be classics as Galaxy Intruders, Police Chicken: Interrogation Specialist, and my personal favorite, Hungry Walter (he likes hamburgers!).
As the name of the system implies, the Raroo Fun System is basically my tribute to the bygone era in which games had one main purpose: fun! While I appreciate the complexity that exists in many modern games, I often miss the simple, straightforward approach to game design that was often the standard during the 1980s and early 1990s. It was during that time period in which my love for video games blossomed, so it makes sense that I have such a soft spot for video games which put an emphasis on fun above all else.
It's no surprise, then, that developer Arkedo's game-a-month series of independent titles for the XBox 360's Indie Games Channel has captured my interest.
I was already an Arkedo fan thanks to both Nervous Brickdown and Big Bang Mini for the Nintendo DS, and the developer's first two Indie games, JUMP! and SWAP!, are also right up my alley. Arkedo's games truly seem to put fun at the forefront of design, making them a perfect fit for the contest I'm about to detail!
Okay, On to the Contest!
We have three "tokens" for JUMP! and three "tokens" for SWAP! to give away--that's six winners! Not bad, eh?
Here is the scoop: Pretend, if you will, that the Raroo Fun System is real. Now, imagine you are a video game developer interested in making a game for the Raroo Fun System.
Make a pitch for a game that you'd like to create for the system. Be sure to give the game a title, describe its gameplay, and present a strong case for why it's worthy of being on the Raroo Fun System. Still with me? Good! Now down to the nitty-gritty.
* The contest runs from now until 11:59 pm (PST) on Tuesday, November 10, 2009.
* Only one entry per person, please! (That's all that will be judged, anyway!)
* Submit your game pitch in the Comments field for this post.
* Include a valid e-mail address in the E-Mail field when you post your pitch (don't worry, your e-mail address won't be published on the site).
* If you're really inspired, feel free to make a screenshot or animation of your game idea and link to it. (That's not required to win, though!)
* Proper grammar and spelling won't hurt (hint, hint), so proofread!
* Our crack team of judges (well, okay, me) will review the entries and send an e-mail with the game "tokens" to the winners.
* This contest is subject to change or cancellation without prior notice. (It probably won't be... but just in case!)
The winning entries will be highlighted in an upcoming post here on GameSetWatch, so stay tuned. The legions of Raroo Fun Systems owners are depending on your creativity! Good luck! And, of course, have fun!
Comments
How about a game called, JACK-A-THON. The premise is there are five friends in a neighborhood somewhere in America. They are all good friends,but jokers as well. So when one friend,we will call him Majid, comes from Saudi Arabia, the joker friends play a variety of jokes on him, from the "new deaf friend", to the ultimate summer ending joke called, "Jack-A-Thon"
Posted by: Josh Levy | November 3, 2009 9:38 AM
Angry Walter
Yes, the Walter of Hungry Walter fame is back--and he's ANGRY! The premise of this game is simple: make...Walter...ANGRY!
Some possible mini stages:
1. Move Walter's burger.
2. Poke Walter in the belly.
3. Kiss Walter's girlfriend.
Posted by: Angry Walter | November 9, 2009 12:41 AM
Laila Leapwell and the Lecherous Lemurs!
Laila's husband-to-be, Lucky, lands lad-napped by a gang of lecherous pirate-lemurs, leave it to Laila to save the day!
While Laila can't use force (She's a firm believer in peaceful resolutions; also, Lemurs are endangered -- and cute!) it's lucky for lithe Laila that's she's a world renowned gymnast, acrobat and athlete!
Pole-vault over pirate traps, backflip your way around guards, and do sweet tricks on Uneven Bars luckily and inexplicably scattered just about everywhere you go! Can you make it to Lucky before he finds himself lost in lemur-love-limbo!?
Posted by: P.F. | November 9, 2009 12:04 PM
Diaper Disaster!!
You're a parent who loves videogames, and your baby loves watching you play.
You are playing a series of minigames. The better you play, the more excited your baby gets and the more his/her diaper starts filling up.
Bank your points by taking a game break and changing a full diaper. Wait too long and you'll have an epic explosion all over your new sweatpants.
Posted by: Adam Robezzoli | November 9, 2009 1:28 PM
Sword Dancer: Kill with Rhythm.
A Rhythm fighting game based on attacks with swords and shield defenses. Every stage has a song that have beats that must be used by every character to perform attacks and defenses.
During the span of the song, the players switch between attacking, defending and sword duels. Depending of which note a player hits to attack, it will result into a high, medium or low attack -the same for the defender-, making the game a delicate combination of timing and strategy, while fighting with the time limit imposed by the lenght of the song.
Posted by: Axel Christiansen | November 10, 2009 8:00 AM
How about...
DYNAMITE!!!
You are Joe Dynamite, a contractor whose job it is to demolish abandoned buildings. Unfortunately, your budget is very limited (Joe is a spendthrift, after all), and you only have the budget for one charge of dynamite per job. Place the dynamite in the spot on the building to do the most structural damage.
Buildings become more and more complex as the game goes on, and each blast is rated on a scale of "Dynamite." to "DYNAMITE!!!!!" It's 255 levels of building-blasting mayhem! A decent programmer might even be able to insert procedurally generated bonus levels and a building builder for unlimited replay possibilities!
So, something like Red Faction: Guerrilla, without all of the nasty combat or parallels to terrorism. With very limited ammo. In 2D.
Posted by: Mike Schiller | November 10, 2009 8:24 AM
How about:
_R_oger
_T_akes
_S_cience
The game takes place in a chemistry classroom, where students have to divide themselves into the strongest possible lab groups. You have to corral the smart kids to your ever-expanding lab area-of-influence in real time, all while making sure the stupid kids stay at their bunsen burners. You do this, of course, with a vast array of chemical compounds including:
* Super-slippery juice: sends any student sliding along his current path
* Super-sticky juice: Freezes even the fatest students in their tracks
* Sodium pentathol: Makes stupid kids masquerading as smart kinds reveal themselves as fools.
AND MORE!
Posted by: Kyle Orland | November 10, 2009 9:01 AM
Job Hunt 2009
The economy is in the crapper and you just got laid off. You have been with the company for a long and don't have any experience for anything else.
So the goal of the game is go and find a job. You will have to talk to different employers to try and get hired. You will have to choose the right things to say to the employer. If you say the right things then you have the job, if you don't back to searching again. When you get hired you actually get to play the job. From there you work yourself up to gain experience.
Posted by: Doug Klein | November 10, 2009 10:36 AM
Presenting: Gotcha Gacha Gato!
Join the Gachapon Bandito himself, Gotcha Gato, in his journey to collect every capsule toy ever! Spin your coins correctly and bounce them around obstacles to fit them in the Gachapon dispenser. You must, however, watch out for silly little kids looking to steal your beloved trinkets! Features include:
Hundreds of unlockable characters--dozens in every stage! Each with unique characteristics to add hours of play.
Stylish monochrome graphics!
Travel to over twenty Awesome Onion stores in Gotcha Gato's quest to collect every capsule toy!
Perfect to play for five minutes or five hundred!
(And here's a link to a mock-up of the title screen: http://imgur.com/3MAg1.gif)
Posted by: Michael Griffin | November 10, 2009 6:57 PM