[Veteran indie game creator Edmund McMillen, known for his work on 2005 IGF Grand Prize winner Gish, Time Fcuk, and Super Meat Boy for WiiWare, shares his opinions and manifesto on making indie games, with 24 clear do-s and don't-s to make your art thrive.]

One of the most common questions I'm asked in interviews is, "Do you have any advice for independent game developers who are new to the scene, or tips for developers in general?" Well, I actually answered it this time: I came up with this list of indie do-s and don't-s.

Now, I'm going to make clear that I'm not perfect and I'm sure as the years go by this list will change. But from where I stand right now, having made independent art/games for a living for the past 10 years, the advice below is crucial to all indie game designers, and all artists for that matter.

Also note that when I refer to a "designer" or "artist," I include programmers. All aspects of art have a fine balance of the technical and creative; just because programming is viewed as a technical field does not mean it is void of creativity. The creative is visible in the work as a whole rather than in the specifics. Light and shadow are vital technical aspects of illustration, but without creativity the piece is nothing more then a photocopy of the subject, void of any personal touch or presence.

This is a list for the creative designer who strives to be independent. This isn't advice on how to monetize your Flash game or survive financially by copying existing trends and juicing the public for their cash. This is a list for artists who are driven by the desire for creative freedom and/or to "just make some cool shit people will love."

Anyway, here's the list. Take what works for you and leave what doesn't:

1. Be honest.
When I say "be honest" I mean to speak from your heart. Don't be manipulative or condescending in your work; treat the player how you'd wanted to be treated. Honesty is extremely valuable when making art.

2. Realize you're making art.
Game designers are artists and have advantages over non-creative jobs; think about what they are and exploit them. Your goal shouldn't be to make tons of money. If it were, you would have gone to business school or become a doctor. This is a creative field and should be treated as such first and foremost. Financing your art comes later. This is probably your greatest advantage as an indie designer.

3. Design from the heart.
Write / design around things you're passionate about. Put yourself into your work and show the world who you are. What do you love? What do you hate? Why? All notable film makers have a stamp, something that appears in their work and speaks to who they are. These themes will always come through to your audience, giving your work a sense of your self.

4. Take big risks.
Try to innovate the hell out of anything you make. From how your game plays to how it looks, be unique and you'll stand out. Push your personal limits, try new genres, mechanics and aesthetics. Experimentation and risk are the keys to growing as an artist. Don't be scared of failure; you don't have much to lose and you'll only learn from your mistakes.

5. Don’t bite off more then you can chew.
If you're just starting out, think small, then think smaller. If you start on something big you won't finish it and if you do you'll be burnt out and probably won't make another. A filmmaker never starts his career with a blockbuster movie. One of the easiest mistakes to make starting out is letting ambition drive you down a path you're not ready to travel. Slow down, take your time and start simple. Prototyping is crucial for all designers.

6. Practice (make lots of small games).
Make lots of small ideas quickly; build on the ones that work. If you look at any successful or "fully realized" game in the indie scene you'll note that it began as a simple prototype. If you get an idea that feels right, simplify it. Strip it to its core element; this element will become the glue that holds your work together. The stronger the glue the more you can add. On the opposite end, if the glue isn't holding, move on. Don't waste your time trying to fix something that won't work. If it's not interesting or fun in its primitive form, it's not going to be when it's finished.

7. Make the games YOU want to make.
Go with what moves you. If you're no longer feeling something, put it down and work on what you want. I've found that all of my best games were ones I made quickly and felt passionate about. The ones that sucked were ones I lost interest in but forced myself to finish. If things have gone sour and you feel yourself losing interest in a project, try looking at it differently. A simple change of perspective or reinvention of an existing mechanic can make all the difference when you're losing motivation.

8. Stand out.
Don’t make something that looks or feels exactly like an existing work. When people experience something new they're more forgiving of its design, and in the end your creation will get more attention. This should be obvious, but somehow goes over the heads of most designers. If you notice a trend in aesthetics or play mechanics: DON'T DO THAT. Avoid trends; innovate and break new ground. Stop making goddamn ninja and zombie games and if you're making a shooter don't put it in space. Seriously.

9. Think critically.
99% of game design is critical thinking. Try to find holes in your designs: if you can't fill them, move on to something else. Before you set out to work on your project you should have already given plenty of thought to how it might NOT work. Start asking how these core elements cpi;d be exploited and how might things come back to haunt you in the future. Thinking critically is the key to avoiding later conflict; always look before you leap. Take a step back from your project. Consider it the same way you would someone else's work. If you hadn't made it, what would you see as its strengths and weaknesses?

10. Play games.
You can't expect to learn anything if you aren't playing what's out. Even if they suck, games that sell well in the mainstream do it for a reason: pick them apart and find out why. If you don't play them, you won't know what NOT to do when you make your own.

11. Dissect existing formulas.
All game "genres" are formulas. Level design, teaching rules, jumping patterns: it's all according to a formula. Pick apart those formulas and see how they work. Play a shit load of games: find out what elements you like, decide why you like them, then redesign them. It's as vital to be able to deconstruct a game's formula as it is to be able construct one. In most cases you'll learn much more from deconstruction. You already have thousands of existing formulas at your disposal.

12. Grow up.
Chances are you're not a fucking kid anymore, so if you feel like making a more adult game, do so. When you’re indie you don’t have to answer to anyone, so stop designing games like you have to have to pass ESRB. I'm not saying everyone should make porn games, but why do all video games seem to have immature themes? People aren't stupid: stop treating them like they are. Speak through your work like you would to your friends, design for yourself and don't censor your ideas.

13. Go outside.
The world outside your room is important. It can also be very inspiring. Go take an adventure, then come home and write a game about it. That’s what Miyamoto did. I believe that you can't be inspired without living. Life is what every artist pulls from; how could you pull from something that wasn't there? We all strive to be great, and most of us tend to obsess over our work, but it's important to have balance. Go do things that don't involve video games and computers. Don't become stagnant.

14. Stay balanced.
Many designers are prone to depression or other mental disorders. Take care of your brain and, most importantly, yourself.

15. Stay Grounded.
No matter how good you think you are there'll always be someone better. stay humble and accept that you're not perfect. A designer's ego can easily put up walls that will stunt his growth just because he doesn't want to admit he might be wrong. The moment you think you have nothing to learn is the moment you should quit. Be honest with yourself, admit your flaws and shortcomings and accept that you're probably wrong.

16. Be open to feedback.
If a bunch of people say your game is lacking in some area, but you insist it's perfect, chances are you're wrong. It's hard to take critical feedback, especially when it's right. Loosen up, stay humble, remember you're not as great as you think you are. If players agree that something's wrong, you should probably take a step back to reconsider what you're doing. But don't make the mistake of just doing what your audience expects. If they have an issue with something, figure out why. If people don't like how your game controls, this could mean one of hundreds of things, from how things move in the game to what buttons it uses. When responding to feedback, ask specific questions and try to find the root of the problem. Don't attempt a quick fix by just cutting out the problem.

17. Work with people.
People are nice. Some are good at things you aren’t. Game design uses your whole brain; chances are you’re lacking in some area. Find someone who can fill your hole. In my experience, there's a yin/yang dynamic between a person with a technical mind and one with a creative mind. I've found in this a perfect marriage of ideas and approaches. That's not to say this will be everyone's experience. But I do think it's important to work with at least one other person. The indie game designer can easily become a hermit and having someone else in the room to validate an idea can be the one thing that stops you from becoming that recluse who bathes with bleach.

18. Network.
Talk to other designers, fans, the media about what you're doing. You might gain some perspective on how others view your work, maybe even make a few friends. There's no shame about wanting to talk to people about your work. The biggest misconception is to assume that people don't want to hear about creative folks. They do. Writers love to write about you, fans want to know about your next project, and designers want to share their ideas and experiences with you. Talk!

19. Be excited about your work.
If you can't get excited about something you’ve done, how can you expect others to be? Talk about your work and sell yourself as well as your game. If your work doesn't excite you, why are you doing it? If you're not happy doing what you do, stop. It's impossible to be properly motivated unless you love what you're doing; don't be scared to let that passion spill into the press. Being indie means making your own rules: if your own rules don't excite you, rethink them.

20. Join communities.
Indie game communities are booming: join one. You don’t have to post anything, but reading them will give you an understanding of the dos and don'ts of beginning game development, as well as insight and opinions about design in general.

21. Learn a little about business.
Business sucks ass, but it's important to know something about it so you'll know if you're getting fucked over. This goes hand-in-hand with networking: ask like-minded people about business situations they've been in. Find out how much things go for, percentage cuts, sales numbers and the best places to sell your wares. It's easy to get caught up in a seemingly amazing publishing deal if you have no perspective on how things work, and just as easy to get totally fucked over and lose your intellectual property in the process.

22. Don't worry about being poor.
Indie game designers are starving artists. Be frugal and humble. Again, your goal shouldn't be financial gain first and foremost, If it is, you will most likely fail. A profitable indie game designer is a rare thing. If you value money over "a job well done" then this isn't the field for you.

23. Try to make money.
Selling your work, getting your games sponsored, using online ads or asking for donations are all means of making money from your work. You need money to eat, so try to make some.

24. Have fun.
If you're not having fun then quit. You only live once; there’s no reason to keep doing something if it's not making you happy.

[Edmund McMillen is an independent game designer & illustrator based in Santa Cruz, CA. Best known for his work on Gish, Braid and the upcoming Super Meat Boy. Edmund has also spent the past 6 years working on honing his craft by releasing smaller, more personal online projects like Coil, Aether and Time Fcuk.]

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog co-editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days on his sister 'state of indie' weblog.]

This week on 'Best Of Indie Games', we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week.

The delights in this edition include a shooter that pays tribute to classic and modern day shoot 'em ups, an action-oriented platformer where you play as a blaster-toting secret agent, a new submission for the Experimental Gameplay Project's art game theme, a procedurally-generated arena shooter that took inspiration from Warning Forever, and a retro-style platform game that involves destroying robots and collecting coffee.

Here's the highlights from the last seven days:

Game Pick: 'Genetos' (Tatsuya Koyama, freeware)
"Genetos is a vertical shooter that pays tribute to many classic and modern day shoot 'em ups, where the enemies and weapons evolve as you progress from one stage to another. The game offers plenty of configuration settings that cater to players of all skill levels, although some of the advanced features like invincibility and the boss rush mode are only available after you've beaten the entire game at least once."

Game Pick: 'Transdimensional Hellspider' (Linley Henzell, freeware)
"Transdimensional Hellspider is an procedurally-generated arena shooter in which the evolution of every new boss is based on how the previous one is defeated. There are six ships to choose from for the mission, with their only differences being the special weapon that can only be fired after a short charging period."

Game Pick: 'Blasting Agent' (Darthlupi and Tim Hely, browser)
"Blasting Agent is an action-oriented 2D platformer with gun upgrades, collectible treasures and awesome boss battles, featuring chunky pixel art contributed by one Robert Lupinek (The Cleaner). You play as a blaster-toting secret agent on a mission to save the world from being taken over by a terrorist group, which means infiltrating their secret base with guns ablazing and your adrenaline level on an all-time high."

Game Pick: 'Every Day the Same Dream' (Molleindustria, browser)
"In Molleindustria's Every Day the Same Dream, you play as a white-collar worker who goes through the same routine of driving to the office daily, but deep down inside his soul he harbours a yearning to take the path less travelled. This is where the story begins, as players try to figure out ways to break away from the monotony of adulthood life. Every Day the Same Dream was made in under a week for the Experimental Gameplay Project's art game theme."

Game Pick: 'Johnny Platform Saves Christmas' (Craig Forrester, commercial indie - demo available)
"Johnny Platform Saves Christmas is the sequel to Craig Forrester's Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp and is packed full of retro-style platforming with a Christmas-y theme. On each of the game's 100 levels, your job is to collect the coffee, destroy the robots and get to the exit. Well worth investing your hard-earned MS Points on."

Posted by timw at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Swedish indie developer Zoink Games AB began shopping around this video for its "Wii plush puppet game" recently, showing off its unique concept with the hopes of picking up publishing and distribution partners for Wiiwaa.

In the game, kids shove a Wii remote into a stuffed animal's mouth, moving the toy around like a puppet to direct their on-screen character. The ingenious setup has players waddling the plush toy to walk, rattling it to shake off enemies, and tossing it up to throw the game creature into the air.

Wiiwaa features more than a dozen different minigames and also asks players to take care of the virtual character by keeping it clean, feeding it, and making sure it gets enough sleep and recreation. Zoink plans to release more videos of the game through Youtube and its

"The Wiiwaa plush toy expands the game from the screen and into the living room," says Zoink's creative director Klaus Lyngeled, who came up with Wiiwaa's concept "Your hero and friend is right there with you, and you can continue playing with him even after the game console has been switched off."

[Via Technabob]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

[As game packaging becomes more complex and the audience more diverse, its design becomes more difficult -- in a neat piece, our own Christian Nutt talks to Justin Carroll, who worked on Modern Warfare 2's box, to find out about the art of game boxes.]

Game packaging is becoming increasingly elaborate. As Collectors Editions and limited steelbook cases become more and more prevalent -- in an effort to make games stand out on the shelves and lure in hardcore collectors -- the art of designing packaging becomes incredibly complicated.

So what exactly goes into the process? What makes a good game package, and how do you handle the restrictions of working with marketing departments, and working within the templates the console companies lay out?

To find out more, Gamasutra spoke to Justin Carroll, partner and creative director of Hamagami/Carroll. The company recently completed the packaging of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, including the frankly insane Prestige Edition, complete with night vision goggles.

Does packaging matter in creating buzz with gamers?

JC: Absolutely. But for a number of reasons, the balance of power in marketing communications is shifting away from the package. The package is one of the important touch points in connecting with consumers -- there's still that wow factor when a new shooter product hits the shelf, (or an awww factor for something cute like the Littlest Pet Shop games).

Also, the question presupposes a core game audience. As the market expands with casual games and new platforms, "buzz" takes on a different meaning -- what buzzes a 35+ female consumer is a lot different than what jolts a World of Warcraft junkie.

As elaborate packaging becomes more prevalent, does it still stand out?

JC: I think so. But like what happened with the music industry in the '70s, the package keeps shrinking, which makes it increasingly difficult to differentiate in a meaningful way. We always compare game packaging to a billboard -- you have about three seconds to grab someone's attention and deliver a message -- but in this case it's a walk-by rather than a drive-by.

More elaborate packaging communicates a deeper story about the game, and also connects to the passion the gamers and developers share about the game. To me it's about authenticity. We created the collectors edition packaging for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. The Mythic/EA teams sweated over every tiny detail of that package with us, and that really shows in the final results. You can't bullshit a core audience.

Also, the majority of packaging on the shelf is still in the 1st party templates, so the elaborate Collectors packs grab your attention. If you had a hundred Collectors Editions sitting on the same shelf it would be a different story.

Does that create an arms race, in effect, where packaging becomes more elaborate? Some things we've seen in limited editions are a bit ridiculous.

JC: I guess it does start an arms race but still, if it's an authentic experience it adds value. There comes a point though where the economics will stop supporting it. We used to do a lot of packaging for educational software.

Those old-school PC boxes got more and more elaborate just to communicate the benefits, with multiple flaps, varnishes, inserts -- it became like packing a CD inside an illustrated encyclopedia. Eventually the market became oversaturated and the price point crashed. I think most ed software is a direct download now.

But with the killer AAA titles it will always make sense. Look at Infinity Ward's "unboxing" video for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Prestige Edition on YouTube (we did the packaging). Over three million views to date. Obviously someone thinks that over-the-top package offers something valuable.

How much input do you have and how much comes from the marketing team at the companies? For that matter, how much input comes directly from the game developers?

JC: Every company is a little different, and it often depends on how powerful the developer is. We just created the packaging program and print identity for Modern Warfare 2 with Activision and Infinity Ward. That was the coolest, truest collaboration we've ever been involved with. As you can imagine, expectations were huge and both developer and publisher were intimately involved at the highest levels, with every minute detail.

But it's always collaborative to some degree. Developers are always immersed in the game and have their steadfast beliefs and marketing departments are always looking at the retail shelf and thinking big picture.

Our job is to listen to both parties, add our own insights, cook everyone's passions into a viable visual strategy and give them back a powerful solution. They're looking to us to add the visual magic -- otherwise you would throw a screen shot on the front and call it a day.

When it comes to series, how can you make sure each stands out, yet also fits in with its predecessors?

JC: I wish I had a quick formula for that. Obviously there's a lot of up front research involved, and everyone involved with the process is constantly gut-checking every concept against what's been done before. It's really about identifying the essence of that brand, and coming up with exciting new ways to visually express that essence.

How much marketing and psychology goes into it versus artistry?

JC: The marketing is something you have to lock in your head, then you forget it and do something as cool as possible, then circle back to make sure you still haven't gone off the reservation. For example, I've always loved the Mario Kart Wii package (which we didn't do). That pack front hits on so many levels, but I doubt that the designers went down a checklist when they were in the process of designing it.

Some of the Japanese casual game packaging cracks me up too, when they throw some awesomely weird non sequitur image on the front and it sells millions. Luckily I'm not too sensitive or it would invalidate my whole existence.

How many treatments and revisions can a package typically go through?

JC: It can be painful. I think we worked on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for almost two years, and we must have done 300 concepts. I'm sure there are others that we knocked out in the first shot over a weekend but I can't remember one. I'd say the projects tend to fill the time you have.

What about the backs -- they're so crowded with information in multiple languages, specifications, etc -- how can you manage to make an impact these days?

JC: You're right, with the first party templates there's increasingly less space to do anything. A lot of it just comes down to dedicating as much thought and effort to the back of pack communication as you devote to the front. Simple and effective is extremely hard to do. You just have to learn to work within the limitations.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Released to Xbox Live Indie Games yesterday by Stegersaurus Games, Battle Beat is a strategy game that has you commanding a squad of soldiers and defending your world against a strange assortment of aliens -- blue blobs, half-men/half-bulls, and some very sad-looking moles.

The twist with Battle Beat is that it's designed to be played with instrument controllers from music games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band (you can use a standard Xbox 360 controller, but that doesn't seem as fun). Ever since seeing Retro/Grade's rhythm-based shoot'em up levels, I've been dying to see more games adopt this sort of control scheme!

Battle Beat also has segments in which you blasts falling ships (?) and fly through obstacles with a jetpack, both of which seem like decent distractions if you get tired of the main strategy campaign. You can grab the game from Xbox Live Indie Games for around 400 Points, and a demo for free.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Though Thexder Neo ESRB's rating page indicates a release for both PSP and PlayStation 3, when Square Enix published the downloadable game for just the PSP last October, some presumed the home console mention was a misprint, especially when press materials made no mention of the PS3 edition.

Square Enix, however, revealed through its Downloadable Games page on Facebook that it's still working to release Thexder Neo for PS3 in 2010. "With PS3 graphic[s], Thexder Neo becomes more Thexder," says the company's Akira Kokushoh. "Can't wait to show you. Checking would be almost done!"

For those of you unfamiliar with Thexder, it was a well-received action game featuring a Macross-inspired robot that transforms into a jet. It was originally released in Japan in 1985 for the NEC PC-8801, but both Square and Sierra licensed the title from developer Game Arts (Lunar, Grandia series) and ported it to the NES and several PC platforms.

Thexder Neo is a remake of the original 8-bit side-scrolling version but with 3D graphics. I haven't played the PSP release yet, but from what I hear, it's just as unforgiving as the first one.

[Via GamerBytes]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

As the New Year steams happily into view, we've happily preloaded the posting device with this set of links - some old, some new, all reasonably interesting, we hope - about the art and business of indie games, starting off with a piece from Denki about why bigger publishers don't explore indie funding more.

Also in this set of URLs - games being used in teaching, that neat Wired piece on Duke Nukem's tangled history, RPGsbebroke returns with some as ever priceless commentary, a Harvard journal looks at indie game pricing, and lots more besides.

Happy new year:

Small, Hip, Exclusive, Indie « Denki
'Put simply – why have major games publishers like EA, Activision, etc. not siphoned away a tiny percentage of money, to find, fund and publish new indie games?' Not enough money, thus far... but hey.

JOLT Digest » Digest Comment – Independent Game Developers on the Xbox 360 and iPhone: How Lawyers Can Save Them | Harvard Journal of Law & Technology
Interesting piece on indie game pricing, law issues on a Harvard-affiliated site.

Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem | Magazine
Awesome longform Wired piece on 3D Realms and THAT saga...

Best New Blogs of 2009 — The Bygone Bureau
It does have Andy Baio rhapsodizing over the sadly (mainly) departed Offworld, but I thought this list was nice because hey, it has some NON-game related blogs you should care about. So care!

Interview with Tale of Tales « Play as Life
Always good interviews.

RPGs be broke, think indie gaming is over
The return of the prodigal: 'would u rather have: fl0wer 2 or ff7 remake? i think u know what id pick lol!'

The Potential of Gaming in the Classroom from 1UP.com
'After learning what videogames could do for a classroom full of students, I soon found myself responsible for both designing and teaching a college composition course over the next three semesters. I knew then what I had to do.'

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't have plans yet for tonight or the rest of the holiday weekend? If you're anywhere near Alexandria, VA (several miles away from Washington, D.C.), head over to MAGFest, the four-day Music And Gaming festival. Along with its rooms dedicated to console, tabletop, LAN, and arcade games, the event promises tournaments, auctions, an indie game showcase, and several panels.

MAGFest will bring in game industry legends like Sid Meier, game culture personalities like the Angry Video Game Nerd, and twelve different bands like Metroid Metal. Several chip music performers and VJs will also provide music and entertainment: Animalstyle, Zen Albatross, Enso, No Carrier, and more.

Though the festival formally begins tomorrow, MAGFest is holding a Secret Agent-themed New Year's Eve party starting at 8PM tonight, promising performances by Jake "Virt" Kaufman, Double Ice Backfire, and others. If you haven't pre-registered, you might need a full-weekend badge to get in, but if your James Bond outfit looks super suave, maybe you can charm your way into the guest list.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[We've covered New York's awesome chiptune-based Blip Fest for a few years now - here's our 2006 write-up and a 2007 mega-report (though we skipped a 2008 in-depth report.) But GSW's committed NYC correspondent Matthew Hawkins has returned with a frankly mammoth write-up on this year's fest, held earlier this month.]

Every winter for the past couple of years, New Yorkers with an ear for 8-bit music have known what to expect: the Blip Festival. Formed in 2006 by two local dudes, who also happen to be celebrated superstars in the world of the chiptunes, Bit Shifter and Nullsleep, along with a little help from their various colleagues and good friends at the net label they run, 8bitpeoples, and the local performance art space that has become the de facto HQ for NYC chipunters, The Tank, Blip Fest has been since 2006 the grand stage in which all 8-bit musicians have aspired to stand upon. Name a heavy hitter from the world of NES/Game Boy/etc music, and he or she has been a featured performer. Hence the burning question once fall began to approach... what else is left?

I first began to ask this question after hearing about Blip Fest Europe, which took place in Denmark over the summer. Myself, and others, made the almost natural assumption that the show was hitting the road; after bringing pretty much every single notable act from the world of beeps and boops to NYC, it only made sense to share the love with some other lucky city. What else needed to be done back home?

Perhaps my ignorance is already downright offense to some, but it gets even better: eventually word did arrive that Blip was happening once again in NYC this winter, yet I then found myself not nearly as jazzed as in the past, and for a variety of reasons. Mostly due to the seen it/heard that feeling that I had developed. Make no mistakes, I'm good pals with some of the best of the best, and as much as I love Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, and Glomag, I've seen then perform like a billion times by now (hence why I haven't been to hardly any chiptunes shows since the previous Blip) and was aching for something new, something different.

And that's what's precisely what I got. Once names for this year's festival were finally dropped, all my friends scratched their heads as to who the heck were these people. Whereas I because instantly excited; I too barely recognized anyone, which meant new discoveries and new potential favorites. It was also more than abundantly clear that during this time in which I had stopped paying attention, the whole world had passed me by.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the increase in excitement surrounding the festival; you not only had the festival itself but countless other chiptune related events surrounding it. The night before was a Pre-Blip open mic at The Tank, which is in the heart of Times Square, yet I decided to check out the chiptune workshop and indie arcade opening at Babycastles, which is another art space in the basement of Silent Barn, a music space in the heart of Ridgewood, which is either Brooklyn or Queens depending on whom you ask.

On one side you had the aforementioned indie arcade; highlights included Jottobots, which I had been dying to get my hands on ever since its debut at the Giant Robot/Attract Mode show earlier this year, which I believe was its only other appearance (please correct me if I'm wrong) and everyone's favorite, Canabalt, along with its creator, Adam Atomic, who was hanging around that night.

And on the other side of the room you had a table filled with circuit benders, all creating their own chiptune producing devices. My favorite would have to be the guy using a Jiffy box as a circuit board!

Helping them along the way were Kunal and Syed, who not only runs Babycastles, but are also members of Loud Objects, that group which soldered circuits as a performance piece at Blip Fest 2007. Didn't totally get what they were going for at the time, but looking back, it was pretty neat. You also had Little Scale, one of the featured performers of Blip Fest 2009 on-hand, with his custom modded Mega Drive...

The original plan was for him to take everyone's workshopped creation and throw together some kind of massive mix, but it was running late and he had to jet. So instead, the evening ended with Adam sharing some thoughts and insight behind his game. My favorite tidbit was the learning how Canabalt's animation is essentially an homage to Out Of This World/Another World and Flashback. How many frames is that run cycle btw? 32, which elicited a “Smooth!” reaction from one guy in the room. Adam claimed that it was actually quite easy to take the original 16 or so and simply expand upon it, mostly since there’s only like two colors to play with.

Night one began with... hate to be negative, but... a certain degree of trepidation. Another reason why I wasn't initially jumping for joy for this year's installment of Blip was due to memories from the previous year's. Specifically the crowd; my complaints regarding the rambunctiousness has long been a point of contention with certain performers and show goers, but I totally understand their point of view, at least the former's. If I were an artist, I'd be super stoked if I was causing the crowd to go nuts, enough to incite a gigantic mosh pit and crowd surfing galore. Though it's a different story when you're in the thick of things and just trying to enjoy the music, without errand kicks to the back of the head.

But less time spent discussing the nuances of your average mosher at a chiptunes show as opposed to one you'll find at a regular old hardcore show the better. Yet that being all said, quite a few others also recalled how oddly aggressive the audience was last time. The thing is, each edition of the Blip Fest brings together a somewhat different crowd, and this year, the attendees somewhat mirrored the vibe of the proceedings. Which long story short, was serious business; more so than any previous 8-bit music show that I've personally attended, it was for the true devotees and connoisseurs, the faithful. Not to say that they weren't there for a good time of course!

To state that Blip 09 almost didn't happen would be both over-dramatic and misleading, but the fate of the festival was at one point on somewhat shaky ground. Times have been tough for everyone this year (like you all needed to be reminded this for the billionth time), so the event's organizers faced an uphill battle from the very start, though when a very important grant from the state that they have heavily relied upon in the past was denied, new plans were drafted.

Key to this was The People's Fund To Support Blip Festival 2009. $5,000 was the goal, and close to $9,000 was reached. Quite the achievement, which perhaps contributed to the feeling of accomplishment and ownership that marked the entire event. Many of the show goers were simply ecstatic to be there, and felt as if it was truly theirs, since in many ways it was.

Blip 08 was held at The Bell House, situated in the middle of the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which feels like the middle of nowhere, despite being situated smack in the middle of two very popular and happening neighborhoods (Carroll Garden and Park Slope), and that's where Blip 09 was held as well. But it definitely felt different this time around; hard to say why precisely, but whereas the setting was definitely foreign, as well as somewhat awkward, this time the place felt nice and warm, almost like home.

Again, spirits were high, with a sense of camaraderie, as many got together, not just to enjoy the music, but also enjoy each other's company. Or to simply hobnob with superstars from the world of indie gave dev, including the aforementioned Adam Atomic, along with Phil Fish, creator of Fez, the one game that's on pretty much everyone's most wanted in 2010 lists. Dude pretty much spent the entire at the bar instead of the show floor proper, but his outfit was a sponsor, so he certainly was entitled to do whatever the hell he wanted.

It was also the place to make stuff; the first thing I saw upon entering the building were two guys sitting on couches at the lounge, punching up code on their laptops (which I foolishly didn't think of taking a picture, but at least ByteJacker snapped some videos. I would discover later that it was a fellow from Gaijin Games, and another from Robotube, in the midst of creating their title, which they actually finished that night.

I was under the impression that it was going to be playable at the show, and Chris Osborn of Gaijin would later explain that it was indeed the plan, until they realized that putting their laptops... which they use to do all their work back in HQ... in the hands of inebriated show goers was perhaps not the brightest of ideas. At least everyone can play the game right here, right now.

Okay, enough talk about everything else: what about the music? Night one was as hoped: unexpected, though rocky.

Silent Requiem was a great choice to kick things off, whose beats were loud and fast, intensely rhythmic. Though I personally found his transitions to be somewhat awkward, but certainly not deal breakers.

Failotron was all over the place, but his pieces had a great sense of cohesion, tranquil and melodic, and as a result told a fine story. Sucks that he had so many technical issues; a corrupt Game Boy cart (excuse my untrained ears and its inability to discern if he was using LSDJ or Nanoloop) required the utilization of back-up files, played via a laptop. It's generally preferred that each artist perform their compositions via the hardware they were written in, but stuff like that just happens unfortunately.

Leeni, the girl from my old stomping grounds of Seattle and who immediately followed, also had similar issues, but at least most of her performance is based upon her vocal talents and was easily able to deal.

As much as I was looking forward to discovering something new, I was always happy to see and hear a familiar face, such as Minusbaby, who I've been a big fan of since almost forever. His mix of ambient and dancehall simply needs to be experienced, especially live (though the same exact thing could and should be said for every chiptune artist).

Chromix was the first performer of the night to remind everyone that the instruments they're using is primarily associated with video games, via his cover of the Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2 (which actually sounds better as a Game Boy tune as opposed to the Genesis original, believe it or not). Though my absolute favorite from night one would have to be Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours, whose French infused pop and sweat got the whole crowd hot and bothered....

But it was one particular move that was the biggest hit, an ode to Nullsleep, whose fond of doing the following on-stage: thrust your right hand out, snatch some energy that's floating out there in the air, and then slowly draw your fist in. After seeing Jeremiah perform for close to six years now, it had never occurred to me that he's been doing the same move every single time! Another highlight was Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours's dancing buddy on-stage. Wish I had taken some video, cuz that guy cut the rug like nobody else.

Afterwards was Albino Ghost Monkey, a small town kid that finally made it in the big city (guy's originally from Wisconsin I think) and was clearly enjoying every single minute of it, with his infectious enthusiasm simply enhanced his set. As for the closer, it was another French guy, this time wearing a rabbit mask; Eat Rabbit's offerings was precisely what one might imagine: wacky and even at times creepy circus music, but in 8-bit format...

Night one had been immensely enjoyable, as well as very much successful; turn out was awesome, especially for a Thursday night. Friday's was even greater, to the point that it was sold out. I was somewhat afraid of a change in mood, to something similar to the year before, but that thankfully was not the case.

Yet another really great about this year's edition was the change from four nights to three. When I asked the festival's publicist, Jenn de la Vega, what prompted the shift, and the response was: "Everyone has finals to deal with." A humorous reference to the pure number of attendees, as well as performers, who are all currently attending NYU, Parsons, and the numerous other colleges across the city. Though The Tank's quite personable and hard working intern (who unfortunately was forced to man the merch table the entire time) had the full explanation:

"As it was, we had all experienced the absolute HELL of the 4th day. After four days of going to bed at 4-5am and waking up at 10am to get back in time for a workshop, we all thought that the 4th day was just TOO much. Everyone hated life on the 4th day. Also, everyone got the blip-flu this year and the 4th day would have been sparsely attended, or the flu would have gotten that much worse."

Funny enough, despite the fact that there were less days to the proceedings, everything just felt bigger, more fleshed out. When asked about any specific challenged going into this year, the intern again noted that the fund-raising effort was a tremendous asset, but overall, extra help and extra planning was what ultimately led to success:

"Kickstarter was important to the preservation of how big blipfestival was this year. [It] was a smart play that turned out well and proved that our community puts it's money where it's mouth is. While the days of the festival shrunk from four to three, the lack of initial money was not a factor in this decision. The organizing team expanded to account for a number of different things; this year we had 8+ people working on the festival for a couple of months to get everything just right.

We had a crack publicity/sponsorship team this time and we added the much needed help of wordsmith Peter Swimm [the festival's media manager] to liven up all the our avenues of output, and Chris Burke [aka Glomag] who slayed dragons to keep our artist relations alive and well. So personally I would say that our aim was not to present simply MORE concert, it was to thicken the quality of the concert that we had."

And it did feel like a well oiled machine, even to the casual observer, as well as a bigger deal, with all the big name sponsors and local indie radio station WFMU being on-hand to share the good vibes to the rest of the world. They helped to make those who were on-hand feel especially fortunate. Social media also played a significant role; of course there was an official Twitter feed, and attendees were asked to add #blip09 while at the show when broadcasting, which many were more than happy to oblige.

But back to the music. Night two kicked off with Disasterpeace, Starscream, and Fighter X; all three units comprised of young dudes fusing 8-bit sounds across the aural spectrum, everything from prog rock, to trance, to metal.

More than anything, the current crop of chiptuners continue to demonstrate the versatility of 8-bits. When asked about the scene as a whole these days, Jenn noted:

"It's bustling! More and more fans are trying it for themselves. It's become less about "videogame" culture, but more about music production. Some of the younger generation weren't even around for when the originally NES came out. It's fascinating to see them pick up a Game Boy with LSDJ and treat it solely as an instrument."

So 8-bits sounds great, but what about 16? Just as good, as demonstrated by Little-Scale, who got the warmest reaction of all the new faces the entire weekend. The wall of sound that he created with the help of his custom Mega Drive is hard to put into words, though tribal and haunting are somewhat fitting, I hope.

The one to provide the smoothest of sounds was easily I, Cactus; his soundscape was serene, like a walk on a pixilated beach. Not at all rockabilly as I expected (since that's how the dude dresses). Though immediately afterwards was when things started getting real. That's when Nullsleep hit the stage,and again defied all expectations. As noted in the past, I have plenty of friends who simply cannot get into chiptunes, or flat-out hate the stuff, no matter who or what I pass along. But every single one of them has said the same exact thing: "But I do like that guy Nullsleep's stuff. He's pretty interesting."

Believe the hype: the man is an innovator. Every single performance is completely different, and no other performer thinks and performs at such a level, let alone exhibit such familiarity and confidence with such tools to make them sound the way he can make them. Though afterwards, Jeremiah did admit to being nervous beforehand, over the reaction he might receive for his latest work, which pushes boundaries that no one else has previously touched, not even him. Though the crowd definitely hung in there. Again, these weren't dorks that are into video games and like the idea of music made with consoles (not that there's anything wrong with that, btw), but serious music aficionados, who know what is up.

With such an impossibly tough act to follow, Rainbowdragoneyes had quite the task ahead of him. Plus the dude decided to forgo the use of actual instruments and simply rely on his laptop to do most of the work, which was a curious decision to say the least. And then the dude started headbanging, and kept headbanging, and all was good. Unfortunately, all attempts at photograph his long blonde locks were not successful, as they kept spinning around and around.

Though my new favorite performer of Friday night was hands down Patric C, who officially closed down night #2; his sounds were diverse and challenging, yet still very much approachable and danceable. And a fine way to end the evening... but that wasn't all folks! Later that evening, early Saturday morning to be honest, was a special late night treat for those that had donated at $100 level or more, headlined by Covox and Random, playing together as CONDOM. But the real icing on the cake was the last minute addition of Japanese chiptune megastar Hally...

Earlier in the evening, Hally confessed to me that he was afraid of disappointing the audience later on with a set that was more or less identical to the one he utilized two years prior. I'm not clear of all the details, but one gets the impression that even he didn't know he was playing at Blip till just a few days prior. I tried explaining to him that he would find absolutely no complaints from anyone. And that most certainly was the case; to say that he tore the roof down with his amazing remix of the Gradius boss rush tune is a vast understatement.

Unfortunately I had to tend to a friend of mine who had too many to drink that evening (far and away the most popular drink at the fest was "dark velvet", which is Guinness mixed with champagne or cider, and which everyone was pouring down their throats by the bucket-loads, myself included admittedly), so I couldn't stick around for CONCOM all that long, but I was able to take this picture...

That image has to make zero sense for most, I know. Basically, both Covox and Random donned skin-tight body stockings, all black, and all their accoutrements were pitch dark as well, plus there was zero lighting in the room. All that illuminated was their goggles and the hypnotic visuals behind them, which they also controlled. I'm hoping that it appears in a future documentary from Two Player Productions, but I can't recall seeing their cameramen anywhere during the set, since the light from their cameras would ruin the effect. Guess you had to be there.

Night number three brought with it snow, lots and LOTS of snow. A blizzard hit NYC earlier in the afternoon and by the time I made it to The Bell House, it was already a wintery wonderland, though little did anyone know that it was just the beginning.

I would later discover that there was fear earlier in the day if the white powder would scare show goers. After all, I recall a heavy snowfall the previous year, which in fact kept a few friends at bay. But now so this time, which still managed to sell out. All things considered, the night went as smooth as silk; people were still in high sprits throughout the evening, with the absolute only issue I can think of being the lack of food (the two previous nights had burgers cooked on a charbroiled grill for attendees, but the sudden change in weather meant no cooking was possible).

When I asked those behind the scenes what their personal highlights was, the answer was practically unison: the shy guy from Toronto, aka The J. Arthur Keenes Band. His reputation from 8bitcollective and his Pamplemousse EP (which is one of the most acclaimed chiptune release in recent memory) had clearly preceded him, hence why many were not expecting a 17 year old kid. One who, btw, had the awesomest shirt ever: an image of Ray Romano giving the thumbs ups. Or at least I think that was the case; I've since seen other pics of him wearing Ray Romano, but in a different pose. I hope to God he has 30 different kinds.

Then you had a guy from Sweden who calls himself Trash Can Man. Simply put, the man owned the stage, and it's hard to recall another instance in which ambience was simultaneously so poppy. His vaguely David Bowie-esque persona was nothing more than an added bonus. And as expected, perpetual crowd favorite Bubblyfish gave another high energy, block of noise for everyone to dance to...

One complaint I had heard throughout was the lack of Japanese acts. Personally, and as most can already tell, I absolutely loved the line-up of this year, perhaps the strongest ever, but I do have a soft spot for J-chip. Thankfully, in addition to Hally, you also had The Hunters...

Not only did they bring the noise from Japan, they also brought the cute! Their sound could be best described as YMCK-like, yet slightly harder, and more thump-y. Though the highlight of their performance was easily the visuals, based upon the artwork of band member Coova, helping to form a mixed-media one-two punch.

Soon it was time for the home stretch, led by Glomag, whose performance was one of the most rousing of the entire weekend; from his Ennio Morricone cover, to his original tunes, everything about Chris was (and usually is) high energy and impact, like the backdrop to a chase scene. Immediately afterwards was Bit Shifter, and another first; hearing the crowd sing along to one of this song, not word for word, because their particular song had no words, but beep for beep.

The guy gave another epic performance, as he is prone to do, despite the fact that he was not feeling all that well. I believe it was stomach related? The third man to keep the party going was no other than the Ricky Davis of chiptune as I like to call him, David Sugar.

I've been a Sugar fan for years, and was there for his last NYC performance in October of 2005. Since then, he went into semi-retirement when it came to 8-bit music, to instead concentrate on other music genres, such as classical. But when he decided to pick up the Game Boy for old time's sake earlier this year, and more importantly Twittered about it, Jeremiah, Josh, and Chris all knew that they had to bring him over. The chance to bask in his glory once again at long last was not just my highlight but of many others, as evidenced by Josh and Chris, who could not help but allow themselves to get lost in the dance party that Sugar was commanding.

Sugar's mix of pop ditties and hardcore breakcore is completely unique and must be witnessed first-hand. Excuse the so-so audio quality, but this quick and dirty video shows a bit of his proficiency when it comes to mixing Game Boy beats. Look at this hands go...

The last act to grace the stage was another heavy hitter from the world of 8-bit sounds, Swedish megastar Psilodump. His intoxicating "you bet you had no energy left to dance, but I'm going to prove you wrong" beats and grooves was the perfect choice to close the show. But after all was said and done... the party was not quite over! Just a few blocks away, at the basement of a bar was the official after-party. Unfortunately, the gigantic drifts of snow that had formed during the show made the walk towards the venue far longer and trickier than anyone could have anticipated. But once there, the faithful were treated to a performance by Larry, which is a two-man unit comprised of one guy from Anamanaguchi and another from Graffiti Monsters...

The guys from Babycastles were also present and were nice enough to bring their arcade with them, via wearable video game gear. Here's Syed wearing a chest mounted version of Fractal Fighter being played by Hally...

... I made my exit around 3 am, just as things were kicking into high gear. Guess I'm no longer some kid who can party till 10 the next morning. I desperately needed some rest (the bug that was going around had most definitely bitten me), plus I knew my train ride back to Manhattan would be extra long and annoying due to the snow. And the need for rest along with the fear of a crippled mass transit system was also why I never made it out of the apartment the next day, for the half dozen or so Post Blip Fest happenings, including a show headlined by both Anamanaguchi and Hally, let alone the Post-Post Blip showcase on Monday night. [Those who want to know more about the Blip Fest 2009 artists should note that there are excellent bios and links at the official site.]

But the mission had been accomplished. Whereas my faith and interest in the chiptune scene had somewhat waned, well, not any more. As the previous Blips had done so before this latest edition, though perhaps even more so, the world (and not just lucky New Yorkers this time around) was once again treated to yet another brilliant display of the artistry, the passion, and simply the good times that the 8-bit movement embodies. Again, it was easy to forget the uphill battle that everyone involved behind the scenes had to deal with this year, harsh realities that forced so many others on the sidelines.

When asking those behind the festival what they hope for in the future, I get the sense that I'm not the only one who feels as if the world of chiptunes is somewhat at a cross roads. Peter Swimmm noted: "I am glad to see it solidifying as a genre, but I hope traditionalism does not over take its youthful enthusiasm.". For the final word on the subject, here once again is The Tank's intern:

"I want to see Blip [become] more of [an actual] festival... I would love to see an art show attached, possibly a collaboration night were everyone gets together an switches carts/files and possibly an album comes out of it... But these are all just my dreams because I am only the intern.... In the end I just want it to happen next year, it seems like a miracle when it comes off."

[Matt Hawkins is a New York-based freelance journalist and GameSetWatch's NYC correspondent. He also designs games, makes comics, and does assorted “other things.” To find out more, check out Fort90.com.]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

While most companies used to send condensed or time-limited versions of their titles when giving shops sample games for their customers to try before buying, Capcom took a different approach with its Sega Saturn store samples in Japan; the publisher usually gave shops a build based on early code that sometimes had noticeable differences from the final release.

Segagaga Domain released one of those Japanese prototypes for a limited time: X-Men: Children of the Atom for Sega Saturn. This version has some neat departures from what ended up on store shelves, many of them holdovers from the arcade edition. For example, the sample features different copyright/logo screens, graphic glitches, no speed selection, and a red screen effect for special moves.

The site plans to take the download links down tomorrow, so if you're interested in having rare prototype copies of games, grab this one now while it's still available!

[Thanks, JC!]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Indie developer Gaijin Games shared this preview image for the next entry to its Bit.Trip WiiWare series, Bit.Trip Runner. Unlike the studio's previous music-based games like Beat, Core, Void, this one appears to have a more traditional concept, featuring series star Commander Video in what looks like a 2D platformer (which makes sense with the Runner title).

Considering Gaijin's eccentric catalog and the giant blocky fish on the monitor, maybe it's not so traditional after all! Hopefully, we'll hear more details about the game's features and release date soon -- I'm also anxious to find out what chiptune artist the developer will feature this time around, as previous Bit.Trip titles included music from performers like Nullsleep and Bit Shifter.

As for the Xbox 360 controller shown at the bottom right corner, Gaijin reassures fans that it isn't jumping to Microsoft's console for Bit.Trip Runner. No, the developer says the controller was simply left on the desk after another play session. Still, it would be interesting to see the series brought to Xbox Live Indie Games...

[Via Destructoid]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

Continuing in the long road to catchup on GameSetLinks, we'll start out with Schlaghund taking a good look at Treasure World for DS, a game that is definitely worth taking a look at for its innovative gameplay concepts, despite its relatively shallow nature.

Also in this set of links - a look at seminal pre-MMO Habitat, plus some excellent IGF tips from David Edery, some fun videos from the latest Japanese version of Yakuza, and a look at Planet M.U.L.E., as well as plenty of other randomness.

He's a witch:

Toward better collections, part 3: Treasure World « schlaghund’s playground
Examining Aspyr's underappreciated, still fascinating game.

Apocalypse POW!: Videogame Cinema
'These are films that make use of readily-identifiable gaming tropes and attempt to comment, with varying degrees of success, on the omnipresence of videogames in contemporary society.'

Creatures of Habitat: A Look Back at the First MMO from 1UP.com
'What modern day MMORPGs borrowed from Lucasfilm's ahead-of-its time adventure -- and what they still could learn from it.'

Hardcore Gaming 101 - Blog: Yakuza Kenzan interviews in English
'With the recent confirmation that Yakuza 3 is coming to the west, plus continuing release of information regarding Yakuza 4, I thought now a good time to post links to Eastern Mind's translation of the Yakuza Kenzan production videos.'

Planet M.U.L.E. - First thoughts - The Gameshelf
'Last night I played a couple of games of the brand-new Planet M.U.L.E. - one with some friends over the internet, and one by myself. It is a faithful (sometimes a little too faithful) adaptation of Dani Bunten's original economic simulation from the 1980s.'

1UP's RPG Blog : Wrath of the Lich King's Grand Finale
I didn't know you can't battle the Lich King yet in the expansion of the same name, funny.

Game Tycoon » David Edery's IGF tips
A judge makes some useful comments for entrants.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seven months after we originally featured the game, Shinobi has finally released Invaders! Possibly from Space!, the Space Invaders clone modeled after the epic shoot'em up battle in Futurama's "Anthology of Interest II" episode.

The free PC game is a near-perfect re-creation of the "Raiders of the Lost Arcade" scene, featuring identical enemy Nintendian ships, Rush's "Tom Sawyer" soundtrack, and even sound bites from the episode. Shinobi also added new elements not shown in the cartoon, like power-ups, bombs, and bosses (the first boss appears on level 31).

Grab it before someone (e.g. Fox, Futurama, Rush, and probably a dozen other groups) sends a cease and desist order to knock this game off the internet!

[Via Retro Remakes]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Something Awful's bored but Photoshop-talented forumites worked their magic on dozens of movie posters to match the film (or at least its promotional images) with a video game title/logo. Some are obvious pairings like King Kong and Monkey Island or Twilight and Vampire: The Masquerade, but there are a few clever combinations like Last Action Hero and You're In The Movies.

As usual, I've included my favorites after the break -- the Black Knight one cracks me up way more than it should, and it's probably funnier than the actual film You can look through them all in this big Something Awful thread (Warning: Though you won't find anything too vulgar in the link, you might find some of the posters offensive).

And if you haven't yet seen Empire's similar video game/movie poster mash-ups from earlier this year, it's worth looking through just for the Dirty Dhalsim photoshop.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Where have the vital Japanese role-playing games gone? Game Developer's production editor Jeff Fleming looks back at the past year of Japanese RPG releases in North America in a piece that's already been controversial on Gamasutra - claiming troubling signs of a genre in decline.]

The post-PlayStation 2 era has not been kind to the Japanese role-playing game. At the start of the decade it was easy to imagine Japanese RPGs taking over the world. Titles like Final Fantasy X and XII, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Xenosaga, Shenmue, Shadow Hearts, Skies of Arcadia, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, and Phantasy Star Online were just some of the highlights of time when another new JRPG was added to the stack faster than we could play them.

But as console hardware transitioned, JRPGs began to drift into the background. Some might say that no one except the hard-core aficionado is very interested in them any more. Sure, there are a few exceptions. Final Fantasy XIII will sell like crazy. Western-developed RPGs like Dragon Age and Fallout 3 are doing very well. However, the unique style of Japanese developed RPGs is in distinct abeyance.

But what makes a Japanese RPG different and worth preserving? Beside the obvious points that they are made by Japanese people and generally have something to do with magic and dragons, they can be tricky to define in concrete terms.

Linear narrative, turn-based combat, anime-style art direction are all good points of reference. Perhaps more than any other mechanical aspect, the defining characteristic of Japanese role-playing games is their unapologetic sentimentality. Feelings of nostalgia, wistfulness, and longing are the emotional currency of Japanese RPGs. Emotions that I struggle to conjure, as I look across the JRPG landscape in these last days of 2009.

Senescent Paedomorphosis

Nintendo's DS handheld has been the platform of choice for the bulk of this year's new JRPG releases, and it is this fact that I find most troubling. What was once a grand adventure of color and sound has shrunk down to a three-inch screen. This is what we have to sustain us.

Atlus published some of the best JRPGs of the year and their SMT: Devil Survivor for the DS was a terrific entry in the long running Shin Megami Tensei series. The publisher also brought over experimental titles to the DS such as The Dark Spire and Knights in the Nightmare that were less successful, but welcomed for their unique art direction that dared to step away from anime stereotypes.

Square-Enix brought a few original titles to the DS including one of tri-Ace's better efforts -- Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume. The game deviated from the side-scrolling action/RPG play that the Valkyrie Profile series is known for, and instead presented itself as a tactical RPG. Although Covenant of the Plume stayed closed to genre conventions, its somber storyline was given extra weight thanks to a smart translation from Alexander O. Smith. For those who like spiky haired teens and Disney characters, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was money in the bank for Tetsuya Nomura.

While not strictly a RPG (although it does contain a fully realized out Dragon Quest clone called Guadia Quest), indieszero's Retro Game Challenge was one of the year's best games. However, like so many games, the high critical praise it received in the press totally failed to translate into strong sales.

NIS America brought the kid-oriented titles A Witch's Tale and Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island to the DS. Sega revisited Ragol with Phantasy Star 0 and Nintendo gave us another finely polished Zelda game in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Media. Vision, the creators of Wild Arms tried something different with The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road but it was a hard sell, straddling the line uncomfortably between children's game and role-playing. Based just on its name, Nostalgia from Red Entertainment and Matrix had a lot of expectations to live up to. Unfortunately, it didn't quite hit the emotional mark that its title inspired.

Despite having been extremely popular, I suspect that the market for the DS is quietly eroding. The hardware will soon be in its fourth revision and there is no stated plan for what comes next from Nintendo. A quick look around on local public transportation will show that most Americans are far more likely to be fondling a cell device or an iPhone/iPod during their idle moments than a Nintendo DS.

Once the generous slate of announced DS games for 2010 clears the deck, it will probably be apparent that many of the developers who had previously been focused on the aging handheld will have already left the party. But where will they have gone?

PSPooped

Despite having the highest technical specs for a handheld, Sony's PSP continues to be under-utilized as a platform for RPGs. Marvelous Entertainment's Half-Minute Hero was one of the more interesting games of the year with its sly deconstruction of JRPG tropes -- but other PSP titles seemed less compelling. NIS America gave us two PlayStation 2 ports in Mana Khemia: Student Alliance and Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days.

Square-Enix dropped Dissidia Final Fantasy in our laps, which was about as welcome as Ehrgeiz was back in the day. Capcom had some success with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, but the series has yet to really capture the North American imagination the way it has the Japanese. Sega kept trying with Phantasy Star Portable, a game that attempts to emulate Monster Hunter, which is itself inspired by Phantasy Star Online. Atlus published Class of Heroes but most buyers played hooky.

Wiither Thou?

It could be argued that Nintendo has done more than any other company to bring the Japanese RPG to worldwide attention. Nintendo hardware has been home to such touchstone games as Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, Earthbound, and of course, Zelda. But that was a long time ago. Nintendo consoles have not been a significant platform for new JRPGs since the SNES days and the Wii is no exception.

This year Square-Enix brought two entries in its action-oriented Crystal Chronicles series to the Wii, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. I'm not sure where the audience for this series is coming from but I'm increasingly reminded of Square's ill-conceived Final Fantasy Mystic Quest for the SNES. I doubt that any but the most obsessive Final Fantasy completionist will spend much time with them.

Little King's Story was an under ppreciated title from ex-Love-de-Lic staffer Yoshirou Kimura, who had previously produced the obscuro game Chulip. NIS America brought Phantom Brave: We Meet Again to the Wii, a remake of the original 2004 PlayStation 2 title. Those Wii owners with ken for radish farming interspersed with some light dungeon exploring can look to Rune Factory Frontier, part of the long running Harvest Moon franchise.

The Old Man of the Mountain

The PlayStation 2 continues to soldier on. NIS America brought Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy and a buggy version of Ar tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica to the console but the real reason to keep the machine hooked up was to enjoy Atlus' Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.

Released in an absurdly oversized collectible package, the game was overlooked by all but the most die-hard Mega Ten fans. Too bad, because it was as slickly playable as the more popular Persona 3 and 4 games but with the addition of Kazuma Kaneko's deviant art direction.

In Case You Missed It The First Time

Another sign of the declining Japanese RPG market is the proliferation of rereleases and remakes of the genre's classic titles. While it certainly helps maintain the audience's flagging enthusiasm and is invaluable for preserving the history of JRPGs, it can't be a healthy development for some of the best games of the year to be revisited classics.

This year the PlayStation Network got Final Fantasy VII, the 1997 PlayStation game that brought JRPGs to a mass audience. It's fashionable now to dismiss Final Fantasy VII as a jumbled mess of a game that hides an incoherent narrative behind visual smoke and mirrors. The game's memory is not well served either by Square-Enix's determined efforts to extract every last bit of emotional (and physical) currency from players with the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" project.

However, spend some time with Final Fantasy VII, and you'll find a game that is still as engrossing as you remember it. The next game in the series, Final Fantasy VIII, was a late December release to the PlayStation Network store. Perhaps I can finally figure out the "correct" way to play this game so that it is fun.

Square-Enix also brought Final Fantasy Tactics to the PlayStation Network. Designed by Yasumi Matsuno (Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII), Tactics is the art house alternative to Final Fantasy VII's blockbuster aspirations. Be warned however that this is a straight port of the original PlayStation release, with all of its garbled translation intact.

The PlayStation game Star Ocean: The Second Story was remade for the PSP by Square-Enix as Star Ocean: Second Evolution. Presumably so that players of Star Ocean 4 can discover just how little progress the series has made over the decade plus of its existence. The PlayStation Network also got Wild Arms 2, which was a solid, workman-like entry in a series that has never quite earned the love that its contemporaries enjoy.

Atlus is to be commended for bringing the first Persona game to the PSP in a remastered form that corrected many of the heavy-handed English localization cuts from the game's 1996 PlayStation release. However, the original Persona was the product of an earlier time and many of its awkward game mechanics will come as a shock to players who were introduced to the series by the smoothly playable Persona 3 and 4 entries.

Despite the lack of JRPGs on the Nintendo Wii, the console's Virtual Console service remains a compelling reason for RPG fans to embrace the hardware. This year saw a number of classic titles added to the list including Yasumi Matsuno's Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, Phantasy Star, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and the original Final Fantasy. The Virtual Console was also home to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (a cell phone port no less!), which presents a newly created sequel to the almost two-decade old game with a retro-style graphics.

The Nintendo DS was home to some nicely executed remakes. Atlus started the year off with a deluxe release of Legacy of Ys Books I & II. Nintendo revisited the very first Fire Emblem with Intelligent System's Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Square-Enix gave us perhaps their best title of the year in Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride which marked the game's first appearance in North America, despite having been originally released almost two decades ago.

Letters To Santa Will Be Shredded

Conspicuously absent from under this year's Christmas tree is Final Fantasy XIII. For the past decade Final Fantasy games have traditionally been released in North America during the fall season but this year Square-Enix has decided to join the general publisher flight from Christmas by pushing Final Fantasy XIII to March of the new year, where it can the join a slew of other high-profile Q2 releases.

It will certainly be a big event when the game arrives in the spring, but I doubt that it will signal a flood of new RPGs from the company. Here we are, over four years into the current hardware cycle, and Square-Enix has been slow to commit its signature widescreen adventures to the new consoles. Instead, the company has largely traded on its past with RPG remakes for handhelds, and now seems more focused on action and strategy titles for the bulk of its future catalog.

The company's only big console release of 2009 was tri-Ace's Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope for Xbox 360 and that offering was a distinctly stale and soulless affair. I single Star Ocean out for extra vituperation for its ridiculous "Children are the future!" message, its shameless pandering to the recursive obsessions of anime fandom, and its reliance on tired game design modes that are long outdated.

The first Star Ocean was released thirteen years ago and one would imagine that the developers of the series (as well as the fans) would have undergone some life changes during the intervening years; moving through adulthood, taking on new responsibilities, experiencing love and loss. Absolutely none of these concerns are reflected in their work.

It's Over Johnny!

There are a variety of reasons why the JRPG has been diminishing in recent years and Japanese RPG developers will find themselves increasingly sidelined unless they begin to acknowledge the pressing need for change.

Everyone has a story. In the past, one of the key selling points of an RPG was that it had a fairly involved narrative; something that was usually lacking in most other action oriented video games. However, video games as a whole have become much better at telling a story. For example, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves tells a story that is at least as literate as the average RPG, better paced, and in a fraction of the time.

RPGs are labor intensive and expensive to create. The hardware transition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hit Japanese developers hard. The demand for high fidelity visuals made asset creation an order of magnitude more difficult. In the West, sophisticated middleware solutions have sprung up to help mitigate some of this complexity but many Japanese studios have been slow to adapt to the new development landscape. Because of their large scale, RPGs have been particularly squeezed by the technological demands of the new consoles, resulting in only a handful of truly next-generation titles.

The anime and manga bubble has burst. The late 90s saw a tremendous surge in Western interest in Japanese pop culture. Book and comic stores rushed to create floor space devoted to vast piles of manga. Video retailers that had previously only carried the odd Akira or Ghost in the Shell tape suddenly embraced anime with shelves of outrageously expensive box sets and bizarrely titled movies, all delivered on the new DVD format. Kids were buying up anything sporting multicolored hair and big eyes and JRPGs benefited greatly from this hunger for all things Japanese. The current reality, however, is that the teens that were driving all this economic activity are now adults with different priorities and like all fads, anime and manga has somewhat run its course in the West.

Grown-ups don't like kids stuff. Despite the industry's fixation on serving a youth demographic, the audience for games is aging and it will age out completely unless developers create work that is relevant to adults. Western RPG developers seem to understand this but Japanese studios continue to target 13 year olds. From Software's Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3 was one of the most successful Japanese RPGs of the year in North America, both critically and commercially, because it refused to conform to genre expectations. Here was a game that was serious. It demanded focus and attention and in return it gave players a meaningful experience that was refreshingly free from the adolescent cliches that are so prevalent in JRPGs.

The Sun Rises in the West

None of this is to suggest that the RPG genre is going away for good. On the contrary, North American and European developers are making some of the most compelling RPG experiences in recent years. Western developers seem far more willing to take creative chances and push game play in new directions. They also have the money and manpower to tackle big, ambitious projects.

While the future of RPGs is secure in the hands of the West, I fear that as the Japanese become less relevant to the genre something essential will have been lost. As more "badass biotic bitches" take center stage, the RPG will slip away from the world of dreams and longing. The fantasy will be gone.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

We already know Richard "Lord British" Garriott as a game designer, astronaut, and even movie star, but apparently he's also a collector of creepy items -- really strange stuff like infant skulls, vampire bat skeletons, and a display case filled with rows of eyeballs.

UK's Bizarre Magazine and magician Simon Drake visited the multi-millionaire's house to see his collection earlier this year, publishing an interview in the magazine's 150th issue. The video above shows several of Garriott's odd pieces, including a very painful looking chastity belt with a special trap to ward off suitors.

Bizarre also uploaded photos from its visit, which you can see in this set (NSFW due to a topless vampire mannequin). I've also included some of the weird items from his collection below:

[Via Propnomicon]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In other album release news, Konamistyle revealed an upcoming original soundtrack for PSP's Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Along with the game's score, the CD will include the "Heavens Divide" song featured in Peace Walker's trailers, performed by Donna Burke (excerpt embedded after the break).

The CD will ship in Japan with Peace Walker's release there on March 17th (likely appearing on online import shops shortly afterward). There's no word yet on whether Konami will bring the album to North America, though the publisher did end up including a reduced version of the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots soundtrack with that game's U.S. limited edition bundle. Fingers crossed!

[Via Nobuooo]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Donkey Kong's second highest scoring player Steve Wiebe is running a limited promotion for his newly released debut album, The King of Song, an 11-track Christian music collection of songs like "Pilot In My Soul" and "A Song For The World".

If you buy the $9.95 (shipping included) CD online before January 1, 2010, he'll include a free signed DVD copy of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, the documentary following his attempt to take Donkey Kong's high score record from current holder Billy Mitchell, with your order "while supplies last".

You can preview all of the tracks from The King of Song through his online shop. If you don't really need the DVD but want to buy his music in a digital format, you can also purchase them through iTunes.

[Via dchrisd]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog co-editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days on his sister 'state of indie' weblog.]

This week on 'Best Of Indie Games', we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week.

The goodies in this edition include a physics-based remake of the classic Oregon Trail, a short adventure game from the prolific Ben Chandler, a pair of submissions for the Experimental Gameplay Project's art game theme, a one-switch arcade game for the Christmas holidays, and a tactical defence game from the developers of Closure and Fig. 8.

Here's the highlights from the last seven days:

Game Pick: 'Let's Go Find El Dorado' (Justin Smith, freeware)
"Let's Go Find El Dorado is a physics-based remake of Oregon Trail, made by Justin Smith (Enviro-Bear 2000) as an entry for the 16th Ludum Dare competition. Your objective here is to guide the family wagon to the city of El Dorado safely, and to achieve this goal you will have to navigate treacherous mountain range, cross polluted rivers, and brave the dangers of visiting native tribe camps that might assist or impede your journey to the promised land."

Game Pick: '!' (Ben Chandler, freeware)
"! is a game about !, Robot, and his assignment to finding the missing town monument. Count Can't has stolen it for his own nefarious schemes, and the mayor wants you to get it back before his afternoon golf session is over. Like Ben's other releases, this adventure game is short in length and can be completed in under twenty minutes."

Game Pick: 'We The Giants' (Peter Groeneweg, browser)
"We The Giants is a 2D platformer which took Peter Groeneweg five days to put together, though most players will probably spend less than ten minutes to reach the end of the game. It is recommended that you stick around for the credits, as anyone who completes the short adventure will receive a small (if unsubstantial) reward for their efforts."

Game Pick: 'Earth' (Alexis Andre, freeware)
"Earth is a Space Invaders-type shooter with a message, made for the Experimental Gameplay Project's art game theme. Besides playing the game in the conventional way, the developer has included optional methods to complete your mission as well. This experimental project isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it does fits the bill perfectly as an installation in a Space Invaders-themed art exhibition."

Game Pick: 'Dracula Cha Cha' (Lobo, freeware)
"Dracula Cha Cha is a one-switch game created by Lobo for the year-end festive season, in which you play a cheery vampire who goes on a quest to collect presents and gifts. You have sixty seconds to grab everything and reach the finish flag, and if that's not enough you can also earn extra seconds by picking up mystery gift boxes or scoring combos."

Game Pick: 'Tetraform' (Tyler Glaiel and Greg Wohlwend, browser)
"You'll need to keep your wits about you if you're going to achieve a decent score in Tetraform, a tactical defence game from the brilliant minds of Tyler Glaiel and Greg Wohlwend. It's your job to protect 'that geometric thing in the middle' by selecting enemy ships and crashing them into each other, while building up your planet with powerups."

Posted by timw at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using data recovered from Atari's original reel-to-reel tapes sent to chip design firms decades ago (pictured), Atari Museum's Curt Vendel has been working to reconstruct several of the company's proprietary chips such as the GTIA (used in Atari's 8-bit computers and 5200), the MARIA (Atari 780), and the TIA (from the Atari 2600).

"The effort has been successful for the most part and several of Atari's proprietary chips are coming back to life in simulation," says Vendel. "Now we need to see if they can be recreated in a [chip frabricator] at a reasonable cost. What is the potential of this? Doing the chips in smaller SMT packaging, and potentially bringing back to life some of the later CMOS designs of combo chips which could lead to a SoC - System on a Chip."

I don't understand all the technical details of Vendel's achievements, but he explains, "The future just got a little brighter in terms of preserving and continuing the legacy of Atari's custom IC chips." You can follow the discussion about reconstructing the chips at the Atari 8-bit Computers Forum, where you'll also see several high-resolution images of the chips (resized versions included after the break).

[Via AtariAge]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tatsuya Koyama's Genetos starts off as a basic fixed shooter, giving you a cannon to push around the bottom of the screen and fire at advancing rows of Space Invaders-esque aliens. By the final stage of the game, though, you're dodging thousands of bullets while darting across the stage to shoot streams of enemy-seeking lasers at ridiculously designed bosses.

Genetos, which saw its 1.00 version released last week, is designed to take you through the evolution of shoot'em ups, updating your ship to handle the challenges introduced with each level/generation. In the third stage, for example, your ship receives the ability to drop bombs (along with its increased firepower) to deal with the dozens of enemies filling the screen.

You can download the PC game for free and see screenshots at Genetos's official site.

[Via Shmuptacular]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Director Makoto Shibata (Fatal Frame) talks to our Christian Nutt about the inspiration for his West-targeted PS3/Xbox 360 shooter Quantum Theory, and details Tecmo's internal development process and plans.]

Tecmo has been one of the most consistently successful Japanese developers in appealing to a Western audience -- with its Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises, as well as the lesser but notable success of its cult survival horror franchise Fatal Frame. This is so true that Koei Tecmo president says he sees Tecmo as the part of the merged company which will teach Koei how to appeal to Westerners.

Makoto Shibata, director of the company's upcoming Quantum Theory, worked on the Fatal Frame games but now has a bigger mission: to create a third person shooter that can appeal to a broad Western audience, not a select one.

A fan of Western games and a man with an eye for detail, he's serving up a PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 title which seems to owe a great deal in inspiration to Western titles -- particularly Epic's Gears of War.

The game does have a Japanese sensibility, too -- your AI partner isn't another lumbering soldier, but a lithe female warrior who dashes in for Devil May Cry-style combo attacks. Shibata calls out Japanese games -- Resident Evil 4 and his company's own Ninja Gaiden -- as influences.

Two years into its development, the game is due early next year. We tracked down Shibata and discussed the development processes and technical decisions Tecmo made with the title, and its influences and aims:

It's still pretty rare for a Japanese developer to make a shooter, so I was wondering, are you a big fan of the genre? How did you come to make the decision to make a game like this?

Makoto Shibata: Yeah, I am a big action fan -- a big third person shooter fan. But looking at it from the company as well, we have action games; we have fighting games like Dead or Alive. So as sort of the next challenge for us as a company to take on, we thought a third-person shooter would be the way to go.

And this is your own engine for this game, right? You developed it all internally?

MS: Yes.

Last year, I spoke to Kikuchi-san about sharing some of the Team Ninja tech across Tecmo; has that progressed at all within the company?

MS: We definitely looked at the Ninja Gaiden engine, but this is for an action TPS, so it's a little bit different; we can't just reuse things as-is. So we have essentially come up with this on our own. We of course looked at the Ninja Gaiden engine for technical knowhow -- to borrow some of that knowhow and ask them how they do things, but it's not like we're using their tech.

You announced the game last year, but it wasn't playable.

MS: Yeah, there wasn't anything at the Tokyo Game Show last year that, game-wise, we could really show. We were still working on the engine at that point. We started from the engine, so just doing that work, even before it became a game, laying the ground-level work of making the engine took up quite a bit of time. Other third-person shooters and first-person shooters use a lot of middleware, and we're not doing that; so we had to sort of take our time to make it as we went along.

Did you consider using any middleware solutions and then decide not to, or did you feel that you wanted to develop your own technology from the start?

MS: We wanted to do it from the start; we wanted to make our own. We looked at some middleware, but in the end we decided to make it all on our own. It's worth it to make our own engine. That's what we felt.

How did you tie that into your game design process? Are you document-oriented, or prototype-oriented?

MS: There are of course areas where we planned it out on paper first, but since we were coming up with the engine -- literally everything from scratch -- it's sort of been adding to that as we go along, seeing what our needs are, and putting them into the engine. Even within Tecmo, this sort of development style is kind of different.

Since this is the first current-generation game for your team, it's probably a different process than you would follow for the next game. The next time, you'll actually have your technology set from the beginning, I'm guessing.

MS: Yeah, once the engine gets completed, we should be able to take ourselves back to more thinking about things before and planning it out before putting it into the game.

In Japanese game development I often see the concept of "planning" as a job, including production work, managing schedules and managing schedules alongside gameplay design. In America it's more split out, so some people are producers and some people are gameplay designers. How does planning work within your studio?

MS: Really, to sum it up, it's the guy who's thinking about how to make the game fun. Once you have sort of that idea -- what's going to be fun -- you look at that and say, "Okay, well what parts do we need?"

You talk to the audio, you talk to the graphics, you get the models; put them together. The planner can look at that and say whether that's what he was aiming for or not, and you can fix for that. When you're talking about basing things on a paper plan, the planner can sit down there, and that's what you're looking for; the core of the game -- what's going to make it fun. You set that there at that time.

How much documentation is typically written for a game like this? There's a lot of debate in America about how much is right, these days.

MS: There's documentation that the planner will come up with in the beginning for the concept, and that sort of becomes the core. Then, as the game progresses, in order to make sure that everybody is still on the same page, we do have some documentation that gets updated regularly for, you know, feature sets and the way things should play out. Internally, we have like a wiki page for the project, and that's the design document that has the topics for the various teams to look at, and gets updated as the game progresses.

Since this is aimed for the Western market, did you guys actually do any focus testing in the West, or any sort of user experience, or anything like that?

MS: Not official focus tests, but we were listening to sort of the opinions of our U.S. office and the people over there -- we get feedback from them.

When you're making a game like this -- more of a shooter -- is there a way to make the genre more appealing to a Japanese audience? Why do you think the Japanese audience just hasn't gotten really super interested in the genre?

MS: I'm not really sure. I'm also curious about why Japanese people haven't taken to shooters as well. I think that shooters are accepted -- you know, Resident Evil sells really well over here. So people are familiar with them; it's not like they hate them. But yeah, others just haven't taken off.

I was talking to Rex Ishibashi, who is the president of EA Japan, and he said that Western games only account for 5 percent of the Japanese market. That's a very small percentage.

MS: We think games from overseas are very high quality, so looking at the kind of stuff that they're doing now, I think that you're going to see more of a percentage and more growth in Japan for overseas games.

Do you feel like there are design elements and techniques coming out of Western games that you didn't see coming out of Japanese games, that you feel do appeal to a Japanese audience -- maybe if they were just presented in a different way?

MS: There are good points and bad points to Western games, but you look at a game like Fallout 3 and the kinds of things that you're doing within Fallout 3 -- it's an RPG, and you're going around an open world... You would think that Japanese players would like that. Maybe there's something about the setting and the world view and the look of the game that they don't like; we're not sure. But as far as game design goes, that just seems like it would be very appealing to a Japanese audience.

Quantum Theory is specifically targeted to a Western audience, but you're going to put it out in Japan as well, right?

MS: Yeah, it's going to come out here as well.

Do you have an expectation that maybe, because it comes from a Japanese team that has a lot of influence from Western games, it might actually get a better reception?

MS: Yeah, yeah. With the character design, the action elements -- we think those will appeal to a Japanese audience. When you're looking at even the visual design, we think that there's a Japanese design sense in here that informs the overall look and feel of the stages. We think Western games look gorgeous; they obviously have excellent visuals and all of that. But we want to try something that a Japanese audience would like and make it just as pretty and just as powerful as Western games.

Way back when you were making the Fatal Frame games, they were more popular in America than maybe people expected at first. Did the inspiration to make this game come from previous experience in the West, or did it come from just your desire to challenge yourself and see if you could do that deliberately?

MS: It's kind of a little bit of both. Obviously, we had success in the West, so we knew that was a possibility; and the Western market is bigger than the Japanese market, so from a business sense we wanted to succeed in the West. But it's also that I like third person shooters. I like shooters, so I wanted to make a game that I like.

Making a horror game and making a third-person shooter are very different; the process is very different. With a horror game, you're trying to control the player's emotions; you control the way they think -- the way they feel. For a third person shooter, it's more about the mechanics and responsiveness and how the game's being played. So the way you're looking for and what you're looking at are very different.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Though 2009's Blip Festival, arguably North America's biggest chip music event, is now behind us, that doesn't mean you'll have to wait another year for another concert featuring video game hardware as instruments. There are lots of smaller shows popping up all the time, and don't forget about monthly events like Pulsewave in New York City and 8static in Philadelphia.

In fact, 8static is looking to raise some money to fund its performances, free workshops, and open mic sessions. Visual artist Don "No Carrier" Miller launched a project at donation-ware platform Kickstarter looking to bring in $2,000 to buy a subwoofer, on-stage monitors, and a projector. He points out that local artists and fans have pieced together some of the equipment, but they still "need dedicated gear for the future of *static."

As incentives, 8static organizers are offering exclusive MP3 compilations of unreleased tracks by local chip artists, CDs from Alex Mauer and Animal Style, T-shirts designed by Animal Style and Enso/No Carrier, pixel art prints featuring Enso's art shown at Ready>Run, Animal Style's Teletime cartridges, glitchNES 0.2 cartridges, Pro-sound modified Game Boys, and more depending on the size of your pledge.

8static has already received more than $1,400 pledges toward its $2,000 goal with 45 days to go, so it's likely the project will reach it's target soon. Even if the project hits its goal before you have a chance to donate, though, you can still pledge money to collect one of the rewards.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After reading about Sivak Games's Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril, the homebrew Mega Man-esque game releasing for NES next month (trailer, demo ROM ), I checked RetroZone to see if the online shop is taking preorders and discovered another neat NES cartridge that I wish I knew about weeks ago.

RetroZone's 8-Bit Xmas 2009 cart features a four-player homebrew game called Snowball Fight, which is pretty straightforward: throw as many snowballs at your friends as you can before the time runs out. What really separates this from traditional NES cartridges, though, are the LEDs installed in the clear shell and the option to add in-game custom text messages/player names.

Ordering one of the personalized carts will run you around $48 before shipping ($43 without the messages). The package includes a black dust sleeve for the cartridge and a printed Christmas card with a pin-up style cover. Though December 25th is already past, Retrozone is still taking preorders until the 31st. You can also download a free ROM for Snowball Fight from 8-Bit Xmas 2009's product page.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite the wide range of video game topics we cover here, I don't think we've talked about online slot games much (probably for the best, as it reduces the amount of spam comments from online casinos). This video slot cinematic comes from a collection of clips recently uploaded by producer/composer Frank Baudille, who specializes in the audio design for these games.

Cryptologic, one of Baudille's clients, has purchased licenses to create online slot games based on a number of properties: Marvel Comics characters (The Incredible Hulk, X-men), DC Comics characters (Wonder Woman, Superman), Paramount Pictures films (Forrest Gump, Brave Heart), and even video games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Street Fighter IV.

The descriptions Cryptologic uses for its branded games, tying their slot mechanics into the licenses, are entertaining:

"Forrest Gump says that life is like a box of chocolates and the same holds true for the new 25 line Forrest Gump slot machine. You never know what you're gonna get... a big payout or one of three bonus features including the smashing new 5-level Hollywood Jackpots. It all goes together like peas and carrots, just like Jenny and Forrest in the newest 25 line branded, jackpot slot game from Cryptologic."

I've included a couple more videos and descriptions below for Cryptologic's Batman and Braveheart online slot games:

"Join the Dark Knight as he battles The Joker in the world’s first and only Batman slot machine. This groundbreaking 50 line game features stacked wilds and a Batman Re-spin feature where all prizes are doubled as 3 free spins are played with one reel completely Wild! Activate the bonus bet for a chance to play the ‘Descent into Madness’ bonus feature. Armed with your Batarang, you must fight your way through the inmates of Arkham Asylum to stop The Joker, earning cash prizes and up to 100 times your triggering bet."

"The new Braveheart slot machine isn't eligible to win an Academy Award, but the movie that inspired it took home five of the golden statues. The sights, sounds, and excitement generated in this, the first in a series of Hollywood Jackpot movies is worthy of awards and accolades. Will the Scottish side prevail in the Battle Free Games feature or will the Longshanks put down the rebellion? You'll have to play to find out."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

Continuing the GameSetLinks goodness as the holiday season wanders onward, here's a few new links for your delight and browsing pleasure, including - as a starting points - some good work by Retro Gamer in recapping the history of Crash, a seminal early UK game magazine.

Also in this set of links - ten years of Penny Arcade, Kim Swift looks back on pre-Portal student title Narbacular Drop, an interview with Christian gaming veterans, some NES game covers you might not have seen before, and various other bits of neatness.

Good good:

25 Years of Crash | Official Retro Gamer Blog
The classic UK ZX Spectrum magazine gets interviews, video excerpts - the full thing is in the Retro Gamer mag, but this on its own is great history. (Via Driph.)

Crispy Gamer | Intern for a Day, Vol. 3: Ready at Dawn
'Can Jones get hired by the team behind God of War: Chains of Olympus?' I do think more of these slightly gonzo antics would be nice, in game writing.

Critical Distance | Ten Years of Penny Arcade
Nice, link-filled retrospective on the game culture mavens.

Narbacular Drop Interview | PC | Eurogamer
Totally cute Kim Swift interview from John Walker - more fripperies like this, plz.

The Bottom Feeder: Why the People on Your Side are Always Ripping You Off.
Spiderweb's Jeff Vogel on why you have to pay people to do things in games - v.funny.

Paul McCauley - Genesis Works - Interview - Adventure Classic Gaming
'Heaven is the first adventure game project from Genesis Works and is a literal adaption of Heaven as described in the Bible.'

1UP's Retro Gaming Blog : Lost Levels: The Hidden Gallery of NES Secrets
Frank Cifaldi is showcasing his awesome preservation work on 1UP - bravo to all concerned.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the two studios promised it would, Gaijin Games and Robotube posted a playable Flash version of the game the developers created together in just 18 hours during Blip Festival 2009. Titled Bit.Tonik, it plays like a combination of Gaijin's Bit.Trip series and Robotube's Bloktonik, using assets and ideas from both to create a Breakout-style puzzle game.

Robotube's Jason Cirillo admits that the game is far from complete, as it has no game over screen, includes a "crotch bug", features an incomplete scoring system, doesn't fully integrate chip musician Glomag's score/sound effects, and needs a lot of polish. He says this is all because the game was released exactly as it was when the "Battle of the Brands" event ended.

Cirillo adds that Robotube and Gaijin plan to further develop Bit.Tonik and will also release a video diary from the event, a postmortem, and other "special little secret treats." You can play the game on Robotube's site.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

French publisher Ubisoft has released the first officially licensed Nintendo DS title developed by a team in India, according to a report from SiliconIndia. The game, 100 All Time Favorites, was worked on by the company's studio in Pune, which Ubisoft bought in May 2008.

Before the acquisition, the studio functioned as a mobile developer for Gameloft, originally established in 2006. The group had a headcount of 120 programmers and testers when Ubisoft took over and has grown to 160 employees since -- its staff increased by 35 percent since January, adding artists and game designers.

"It was a very novel experience, we got a lot of help from our headquarters," says Ubisoft's HR manager Aurelie Busollo. "Three programmers went in for training as well to Quebec. We had a couple of expatriates, who came in from other Ubisoft studios to help us streamline the processes, and give guidelines."

Around 40 of Ubisoft Pune's workers pitched in to create 100 All Time Favorites. The team first spent six months on preparation and testing before devoting eight months on production work. The resulting title is a collection of 100 puzzle, board, and card games like Solitaire, Poker, Backgammon, Chess, as well as up to 30 original games, all packed into a 32 MB cartridge.

The studio was initially acquired to work on porting titles to handhelds, developing for DS, and assisting Ubisoft's testing teams, but it's also worked on Cell-Factor Psychokinetic Wars for XBLA/PSN and Just Dance for Wii. Studio head David Blanchard adds that Ubisoft Pune is looking into social network games and MMOs, too.

I should also mention that while this is the first licensed DS title out of India, there's at least one homebrew DS game that was developed in the country. Mumbai-based Yellow Monkey Studios entered an interesting looking adventure title called Mortley: A Stitch in Time into the 2009 IGF Mobile competition.

Though Yellow Monkey hasn't put out anything commercially, as far as I know, it is a licensed Nintendo DS, iPhone, and Android developer.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

['Homer in Silicon' is a biweekly GameSetWatch-exclusive column by Emily Short. It looks at storytelling and narrative in games of all flavors, including the casual, indie, and obscurely hobbyist. This week she looks at Zylom/GameHouse Studios Eindhoven's Delicious: Emily's Holiday Season, a Christmas-themed time management game with an unusual amount of story content.]

Ever since Miss Management, I've been hoping for another time management game with a decent narrative arc, memorable characters, and a connection between gameplay and story. Delicious: Emily's Holiday Season is the best I've yet seen in that line. (Disclaimer: I gather there are a number of previous Delicious games starring Emily. This is the first I've played through, though I did sample the demo of Emily's Taste of Fame.)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Delicious: Emily's Holiday Season shares a number of features with Miss Management. It's briefer, but it has a similar structure: there are five major stages to the plot, each with its own mini-arc.

Many of the levels incorporate some small optional challenges, which knit the gameplay and the story together more tightly. There's a lot of dialogue, and Emily's Holiday Season skips having a single villain in favor of a number of sometimes-friendly NPCs who nonetheless impose on the protagonist in irritating ways.

In a couple of respects, Emily's Holiday Season is actually smoother than Miss Management. To my mind, the difficulty is better balanced; there were times playing Miss Management where I got stuck on a level and had to play over and over to get through, enough that it passed through "entertainingly difficult" into the territory of "enraging." Emily's Holiday Season is carefully calibrated so that -- played in Normal difficulty mode -- one just occasionally fails a level but usually succeeds on playing it through a second time. I particularly appreciated the way that customers seem to arrive in waves, rather than as a steady stream: this means that if you manage to get through a difficult period, there's a little rest time to regroup, restock parts of the restaurant, and work on optional problems.

Emily's Holiday Season also goes farther than Miss Management in offering the player some actual choices to make. There are a number of places, both in the cut scenes between levels and in little interludes embedded in the levels themselves, that allow for conversation with the other characters. Just about uniquely in time management games, Emily's Holiday Season lets the player choose what the responses will be some of the time. There are some important questions with yes/no answers; other places where the player can pick a conversational strategy (flirtatious or innocent); and even a couple where freeform typed answers are allowed.

As far as I can tell, these answers don't significantly affect the course of the story until the very end. (This isn't surprising: anything else would require a lot more implementation work.) Nonetheless, the option to control even the short-term interactions gives the player an investment in the character development that is missing from most other games of this genre. Likewise, succeeding or failing at the special optional challenges will sometimes produce small but amusing scenes with the other characters at the end of a level.

The story itself is not as good as Miss Management's, in part because it lacks the snappy writing -- the dialogue is just not at the same level, nor are the characters as entertaining and distinctive. Still, it's miles better than most others of its kind. As often in these columns, I am going to have to spoil the story elements and interaction heavily in order to discuss them; consider yourself warned.

The essential arc of the story looks initially like the stuff of romantic comedy. Emily is approached by two suitors, the aloof boss, Richard, and the clingy coworker, Paul. In the first part of the game, Richard behaves in a way of the game that made me think "sexual harrassment suit" -- asking that Emily kiss him in exchange for a piece of needed equipment (she refuses) and flirting with her aggressively. From a gameplay perspective, Richard is mostly troublesome at the outset, with lots of special requests that complicate her job.

In subsequent levels, Richard becomes a bit more sympathetic. He sometimes even serves as her busboy. Since the busboy makes the player's life significantly easier, by cleaning tables on Emily's behalf, this encourages some sort of positive feeling toward him. There's even one inspired level in which Emily hurts herself and Richard actually fills in for her for the whole level, so he's the character being controlled. Nonetheless, the balance of the relationship is all about his business and what he needs.

Paul is more attentive to Emily's feelings -- too much so. He serves as busboy more often than Richard -- appropriately, given their relative status in the restaurants -- but he's way too over-clingy and possessive. He asks Emily a host of personal questions, calculated to find out what she wants from life (and, as a secondary effect, to make the player think about how Emily should be characterized). In one level he litters the restaurant with roses for her to find: a romantic gesture in theory, but in practice an added annoyance, since the search is one more thing the player has to keep track of while serving guests. I am all in favor of having romantic prospects (in games) who are also a source of conflict -- but Paul is more of a source of nattery irritation than of passionate disagreement. There's no voice acting in the game, but I imagine Paul's utterances in a nasal whine.

Emily is also supported by a friend, François, who reads as gay: the game never quite spells this out, but it gives him a European mustache, a pink shirt, and a yen for interior decorating, at which point we have all the necessary cues to guess why he's never considered a romantic prospect for Emily in his own right. I'm not sure it's a great blow for gay rights that so many movies and books aimed at women -- and, apparently, the occasional game -- now feature an Obligatory Gay Friend: the best of these characters are observantly and affectionately drawn, to be sure, but in its core form the stereotype seems to suggest that these men belong permanently in a supporting role in other people's lives. I should be fair, though: François, I know from the beginning of Emily's Taste of Fame, is a recurring character in the series, so perhaps there is more to his personality than this installment lets on.

At first the game seems to be about choosing between Paul and Richard, but neither of these is a very compelling prospect: Paul is needy and possessive, Richard rude and self-centered, and their relationships to Emily are not based on much of substance. François is her most consistent and least demanding ally, there for her when one of her suitors lets her down, often filling in with serving help; and if he very occasionally makes things more difficult by having an accident that needs to be cleaned up -- he's a bit of a klutz -- nonetheless that's forgivable compared with the antics of the other two.

What I found as I played was that I did not want either Paul or Richard, and that the gameplay heavily encourages that decision. Various relatives show up with conflicting advice, and Emily's mother, herself a rather one-dimensional type, is keen to have her daughter dating at all costs. But Emily herself seems vaguely exasperated by both Paul and Richard most of the time.

The choices offered by the game play into this sense of exasperation. The third section (of five) opens with Richard and Emily having dinner together. The player can choose to make Emily flirtatious or innocent, but even the most innocent behavior leads to Richard kissing her at the end of the evening -- and the sequence in which he does makes him seem a bit insensitive to the signals he's been sent. It is not, as far as I can tell, possible for the player to completely avoid getting into a brief, ill-fated relationship with Richard at this point, but the interaction is such as to put the player a little on guard about him.

The conversation choices the player can make when interacting with Paul go in a different direction. Paul asks a lot of questions about marriage and commitment (which he favors) and the need for freedom (which might drive Emily away from him). These encourage the player to think more about the central problem in deciding between Paul and Richard: would you rather be smothered with support, or not given enough of it?

Paul is also responsible for all of the freeform questions the player may answer by typing -- things like "what's your favorite flower?" and "where would you go on your ideal date?" The game does nothing at all with the responses to the freeform questions, but they give the player a chance to think about the character for a moment. Meanwhile, the fact that Paul asks about such personal preferences might seem endearing, but he presents them as part of a mandatory on-the-job interview, which tips the sequence over into "creepy" territory instead.

By the time, therefore, that the player reaches the game's final choice, she may not be surprised to find that there are three options: returning to a relationship with either Paul or Richard (each of whom she has briefly dated at this point), or remaining a close friend of François with no romantic commitment. I picked François, of course. The credits give the statistics on how beta-testers answered the questions in the game, and reveal that 70% of those testers also chose François over either of the romantic rivals. The remaining players split evenly, 15%/15%, mirroring my sense that Paul and Richard are equally obnoxious.

So here is an interesting thing: a casual game with a much larger narrative component than most, which gives the player a choice to make about the protagonist's destiny, but whose content still heavily influences most players toward a particular outcome. And yet the story has a much different feel than the same story told with no choices in it. It is in part Paul and Richard's shared failure to take account of what Emily tells them -- how she acts towards them, the selections the player makes -- that demonstrate their romantic unsuitability. Both, at the end, repent and apologize for their earlier behavior, but it's too little, too late. Neither is able to negotiate the terms of a relationship effectively -- and that is driven home by having the player, throughout the midgame, make conversation choices that do not change anything.

What I can't quite tell is whether this structure was the result of accident or deliberate choice. I did come back and play the ending where the protagonist picks Richard. It's cute, and not written with any obvious intention of being an inferior ending. I could believe the designers intended to write a more balanced game and saw the romantic leads as viable options (with the player's own relationship preferences determining which she liked better).

All the same, I prefer to read Emily's Holiday Season as a kind of anti-romance, a gentle comedy on the virtues of not settling. Even if your mom keeps warning you that you'll die alone with your cats.

(Disclosure: I played a copy of this work that I purchased at full price. I have had no commercial affiliations with the publisher at the time of writing.)

[Emily Short is an interactive fiction author and part of the team behind Inform 7, a language for IF creation. She also maintains a blog on interactive fiction and related topics. She can be reached at emshort AT mindspring DOT com.]

Posted by Emily Short at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I should've posted these weeks ago so you could buy them as presents for your independent game-loving friends/family, but I just noticed them! Developer Nicklas "Nifflas" Nygren (NightSky) is selling two shirts with fantastic black and white artwork drawn by Sara Sandberg and depicting scenes from beloved indie platformers Knytt/Knytt Stories.

They're a bit expensive at 200 SEK each (around $28) before shipping, but they're printed on "fairwear" and 100 percent organic shirts at EarthPositive. There's also a limited amount available, as Nifflas ordered only 100 shirts. You can buy a tee from the developer site.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our latest employment-specific round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in big sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from 5th Cell, Terminal Reality and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:

Robot Entertainment: Game Developer
"Robot Entertainment is a world-class independent game development studio owned and operated by many of the founders of Ensemble Studios. With a team that has proven experience and expertise in creating games that appeal to massive audiences, Robot Entertainment is focused on titles that set new standards for their respective genres as well as groundbreaking original IPs."

Terminal Reality: AI Programmer
"Terminal Reality Inc, is an independent Dallas-area developer devoted to developing top-quality games and technology. Since opening its doors in 1994 Terminal Reality has developed & shipped over 28 game titles including the recently released Ghostbusters: The Video Game on XBox 360, PS3 and PC. Terminal Reality is looking for a programmer who will be able to develop state of the art AI systems. This is your chance to be a part of a talented team working on an exciting AAA Natal Title!"

WB Games Senior Software Engineer, Archives
"WB Games Inc. is a new production studio formed in Kirkland, WA, dedicated to the development of games and interactive entertainment across all major console, PC and handheld platforms. A division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc., the production company works closely with other Warner Bros. divisions, such as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) and Warner Home Video (WHV), to bring games to market."

Arkadium: Junior Artist
"Are you ready to be excited every morning for your day to begin? Arkadium employees share the common trait of loving their jobs. Why? Because they are surrounded by the smartest, most talented and fun professionals in gaming. At Arkadium we work hard and play hard and are looking for exceptional people to join us in our quest to become the most successful casual games company in the world."

5th Cell: Lead 3D Level Designer
"This position will report to our Creative Director, with the responsibility of leading a team of level designers and artists in designing and developing top notch level content for our upcoming original IP Xbox360 title. The ideal candidate has experience in a Senior or Lead position, and the right coupling of creativity with management acumen. Passion and a desire to work on original IP is essential to this position."

To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now.

Posted by Simon Carless at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TIGRadio, a new online radio show catering to independent game developers, broadcasted its inaugural episode last night. It's hosted by several notable indie figures, including Flashbang Games's (Off-Road Velociraptor Safari) CEO Matthew Wegner and art director Ben Ruiz, as well as Super Meat Boy co-developer Tommy Refenes.

"We decided to avoid the complication of producing content for people other than ourselves (Do we make the show for gamers interested in indie games, or actual developers of indie games?)." explains Wegner. "In the end we realized we're much better off just doing what we know best. I think the show will be of interest to non-developers, too, but essentially we're trying to do interesting stuff for all of you guys!"

For the first show, TIGRadio brought in several guests from the indie games space -- Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy, Time Fcuk), Brandon Boyer (Gamasutra alum, Boing Boing contributing editor), Danny Baronowsky (Canabalt composer), Colin Northway (Fantastic Contraption), and Adam Saltsman (Canabalt) -- to talk about 2009 titles and their 2010 predictions.

TIGRadio plans to broadcast a show via Ustream (audio from a Skype conference, video from a shared whiteboard) every week, accompanied with a live chat enabling listeners to interact with the guests and hosts. You can hear the first episode and see when the next show will air on TIGRadio's official site.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flickr user Dangerous Business has uploaded over a dozen photos of posters featured at The Museum of Soviet Arcade Games. The decades-old artwork, featured alongside a collection of 37 restored Soviet-era arcade machines (around 20 operational) originally built in military factories, advertise unfamiliar titles like Steep Turn and Well, Just You Wait!

You can see a couple posters below and the full set in this Flickr set. DB also uploaded a few videos showing what games like Tankodrome and Air Fight look like when played. I've included a clip of Winter Fight, which features a rifle controller, below:

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We seem to have survived the holidays thus far, so it's time to go through the top full-length features of the past week on big sister 'art and business of gaming' site Gamasutra, plus our GameCareerGuide features for the week.

Anyhow, there's obviously our _gigantic_ compilation of best-ofs as one Gamasutra feature, but presumably you've seen much of that already. Luckily, as well as that, there's a neat Ron Gilbert interview, a new Ian Bogost column on puzzle games, a fun multi-interview piece on adding polish to games, and some new Game Design Challenge neatness. So there.

Go for the tipoff:

Gamasutra's Best Of 2009
"Ending out 2009, Gamasutra puts together the definitive compilation of our year-end lists, from disappointments through game of the year and beyond, with bonus reader feedback."

Persuasive Games: Puzzling the Sublime
"Good puzzle games are often described as addictive, elegant or deep, but in reality they can elicit deeper feelings of overwhelm, vastness and abundance, says designer Ian Bogost."

The Art Of Game Polish: Developers Speak
"Polishing a game can lead to vastly increased user satisfaction -- but how do you identify, execute, and allocate resources for the polish process? Developers from BioWare, Epic Games, and other studios weigh in."

Ron Gilbert: A New Adventure
"Adventure game veteran and Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert talks to Gamasutra on the production processes behind his once-episodic title DeathSpank, and how the very nature of game development influences creative direction."

GCG: Game Design Challenge - Photographic Interpretation #2
"Our second photographic challenge again asks entrants to devise a unique game based around an interesting photo taken from Flickr."

GCG: Results from Game Design Challenge - The New Sound
"Is there a way to get the music genre back into gear after a disappointing 2009? Our entrants aim to offer a new way of playing with sound in the results from the latest Game Design Challenge."

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[When's the right time to begin developing for a specific platform? Digital distribution consultant David Edery writes explaining factors like market behavior and platform qualities, offering essential guidelines.]

In my experience, one of the problems that most seems to bedevil game developers is the problem of timing; specifically, understanding when is the "right time" to begin developing for a specific platform.

To understand why this is such a challenge for developers, you need to understand how a games platform tends to evolve.

Here's the typical scenario: A platform -- for example, XBLA, or the iPhone App Store, or Facebook -- comes into existence. Most people regard the platform suspiciously, for a variety of reasons. It's an unproven market, for starters.

The platform owner's commitment to growing the platform may be unclear. The pros and cons of working with the platform owner in this context are unknown. There are lots of other platforms to choose from. Etc. Most developers take all this into account and decide to pass on the platform for the time being.

Then the platform begins to take off. The inevitable articles in respected publications such as Gamasutra and Edge appear; developer ABC claims to have made a million bucks; game XYZ has sold half a million units; average conversion rates are through the roof; etc.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

The platform's owner is probably out there cheering more loudly than anyone. They publish statistics which are 100% true, but which may or may not actually convey a complete picture of what's actually happening on the platform.

(For example, I've noticed that PlayStation Home presentations are full of great-sounding statistics which tell you almost nothing about your chances of actually generating a profit on that platform, or even your chances of indirectly generating profit via secondary effects -- like the buzz that platform helps generate for your IP.) But please don't take this as Sony-bashing, because as far as I know most platform owners are guilty of this.

Even if the platform's stats really do paint an accurate, unexaggerated picture of what is happening on the platform, those stats likely reflect a past that has no bearing on the future competitive nature of the platform. Remember the early days of XBLA on the 360? Remember 20% average conversion rates? All that positivity was totally legitimate, but it reflected an ecosystem that was benefiting from an extreme mismatch between consumer demand (which was high) and content supply (which was low -- back then one game a week was considered a very large amount of content for XBLA, and even the retail ecosystem was still pretty short on content.)

And that's where the first big wave of developers get themselves in trouble. They rush to develop games for this wonderful new platform, not realizing (or simply disregarding the fact) that everyone else is doing the same thing. Content supply explodes, because even on a closed platform internal and external pressures push platform managers to lean towards distributing more content rather than less. After all, it's hard to predict hits, so why turn away something that has a chance of positively surprising you? There's also the tricky politics of rejecting content from your long-time partners, which can be a painful thing for any platform owner.

Equilibrium's a Bitch

While content supply is exploding, consumer demand also increases, but not nearly enough to keep pace with the content explosion. Consequently, the supply/demand imbalance quickly corrects itself, and in some cases even over-corrects. Worst of all, many developers (some new entrants to the platform, but also some veterans) fail to realize that greater competition means a higher bar for success, and as a result they fail to increase the quality of their games and/or their marketing efforts and ultimately get lost in the crowd. The easy money is gone, and while some developers continue to succeed, a large number fall flat on their faces. Many do not recover. Sierra Online's stunning fall from top XBLA publisher to total irrelevance is a good (and sad) example of this.

As the pain spreads, the general buzz about the platform begins to sour. Reports of games flopping appear everywhere. Developers complain loudly that the platform is being mismanaged, that there's too much content, that pricing pressure is too great, and any other number of complaints. (Piracy? Cloning? Favoritism? 1st/3rd party politics? You name it!) Some developers get scared away. Some stay engaged but never figure out how to compete effectively. Does this sound familiar? It should, because it happened to XBLA and it's happening on the iPhone even as we speak.

But if (and here's a big if) the platform's economics are fundamentally sound and if the platform isn't being too badly mismanaged, some developers ultimately will find a way to raise the bar and stand out from the crowd. They create remarkable games; they market themselves effectively; they adopt more profitable business models where possible; they establish a good relationship with a key publisher or the platform owner itself. These developers benefit from the fact that while the platform has become dramatically more competitive, it has also continued to grow and attract new consumers who still want to download games! (Even if, as is often the case, the new consumers download fewer games on average.) Basically, the ecosystem has inevitably evolved into a hit-driven ecosystem, and while that sucks for most developers, it's a truly wonderful thing for the few companies that actually manage to crank out hits!

Hope Springs Eternal

And now something funny happens: the new hits inspire new confidence in the platform. Bigger players, who may not have taken the platform seriously in the early days, or who experimented with it and failed, begin to show their faces -- perhaps even in force. EA's recent releases on XBLA (Battlefield, Madden, etc) are a great example of this. Some truly enormous hits (examples: Trials HD, Battlefield 1943) are launched to great fanfare. The buzz cycle turns positive again!

So, can you guess what happens next?

Nobody knows how long it will take, but eventually the cycle will turn negative. Too much higher-quality content. Too much content with higher marketing budgets. Games that “should” have succeeded start to fail, for any number of reasons. And the wheel keeps turning.

Of course, there may be aberrational moments which disrupt the cycle. For example: a big price drop in the price of a console which causes many new consumers to flood into the market. Or a big change in a console's dashboard (i.e. NXE) which improves merchandising or introduces features that drive consumers to certain content. But the wheel never stops turning entirely… until the platform dies, that is.

Enough Storytelling… What's the Punchline?

So if you're a developer, what can you actually do about all this? One answer: try to time the cycle; start investing when everyone else is cutting back! Unfortunately, timing a market has never been easy -- if it was, we'd all be stock market millionaires wouldn't we? And remember the "big if" I mentioned earlier: only fundamentally sound platforms ultimately recover from down cycles. Others languish or fail altogether. (Can you imagine the pain that developers who doubled down on WiiWare must be feeling right now? Who knows how long it will take Nintendo to truly fix that platform's many problems?)

So if timing the market is tough, how about trying to earn the "easy money" by focusing on new platforms that haven't yet become very competitive? Unfortunately, that's also quite difficult, because you just don't know which platforms will ultimately succeed. Just ask all the Android developers who were sure they'd be rolling in cash by now.

The truth of the matter is there's simply no magic answer -- just lots of little rules to keep in mind. Focus on platforms that demonstrate reasonably high upside for hit games, even if the competition is rough. Avoid platforms with terrible merchandising and apathetic management (or worse, management that is actively hostile to third parties.) Develop a good relationship with the platform owner. Market the heck out of your game for months (if not years) before it is released. Keep your costs reasonable. Develop something that stands out and delights people. No matter how competitive a market gets, there is always room for a Braid. Or a Crayon Physics. Or a Flight Control. These were not expensive games to develop.

And above all else, be ready to try, try again. Predicting hits is hard. Developing hits is even harder (especially when it comes to original IP!) Odds are, you're going to fail. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

[David Edery is Principal of Fuzbi, an independent consulting firm focused on the business and design of digitally-distributed games. Prior to founding Fuzbi, David was the Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service. He regularly writes for his personal blog, Game Tycoon.]

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[We haven't been highlighting these on GSW recently, but the Gamasutra Blogs section is still producing a lot of good writing, so here's a compilation of both Expert and Member best-ofs from last week for your delectation.]

In this new weekly round-up, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs and Member Blogs on Gamasutra.

Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share.

In this latest round-up, Expert Bloggers write about multiplayer game matchmaking, forcing player progress, and the state of the Indian video game developer market, among other things, whereas Member Bloggers examine social game players, the PlayStation 3 game Demon's Souls, and slow disc loads.

Gamasutra Expert Blogs

- On The Practical Application of Multiplayer Matchmaking
(Nick Halme)
Relic's Nick Halme looks at some of the problems with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Windows PC matchmaking system Trueskill, presenting "not a complaint or a rant against Trueskill, but an attempt to point out what it's doing to players."

- The Cattle Prod
(Radek Koncewicz)
Consultant and Incubator Games creative lead Radek Koncewicz discusses ways to go beyond encouraging player progress with the "cattle prod," which he defines as "A mechanic based on diminishing resources that forces the player to advance in order to avoid game death."

- Game Development in India: The Road Ahead
(Pallav Nawani)
Designer, programmer and Dehradun-based IronCode co-founder Pallav Nawani looks at how "disruptive content" can help the Indian game market get up to speed -- and how "marketability" is even more important than innovation right now.

- Gifted Games
(Christine Kenney)
Anthropologist Christine Kenney provides in-depth specifics for developers on how to make sure your game is a Christmas gift, from price and placement to promotion.

Gamasutra Member Blogs

- A Peek into the Mind of a Social Gamer
(Hsiao Wei Chen)
Social games are monumentally successful, but they are also quite young, and relatively under-discussed compared to their more mature gaming brethren. Hsiao Wei Chen is a self-described social gamer, and in this post she provides a profile of the segment's audience.

- Slow Disc Loads
(David McClurg)
Longtime game programmer David McClurg isn't a big fan of long disc load times, and yet they're still extremely common in games today. Here, he offers two reasons for the persistence of that pitfall.

- Selling Souls: Demon's Souls Analysis
(Josh Bycer)
Josh Bycer knew he'd love From Software's unlikely hit Demon's Souls even before he started playing it, and in this post he goes into great detail as to why.

- Disturbing Happenings in iPhone Land and more...
(Marshal Hernandez)
Pay-to-play reviews and interviews are apparently alive and well in the Wild West-like world of iPhone games, as developer Marshal Hernandez recently discovered. He shares his unfortunate experiences here.

- Demarcation: An Objective Metric for Skills in Games
(Enrique Dryere)
What demarcates skills from other aspects of games? Enrique Dryere offers his rubric of main skill qualities -- time, feedback, and potency -- and provides an additional list of important factors.

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)