Quake One 100% Speed Run

December 28th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in First-person, Shareware, Shooters, Speed Runs, Video | No Comments »

The Quake done Quick (QdQ) team posted a 100% speed run of the first Quake a few days ago, and by Jove, it’s excellent. “100%” means that the team collects every item, finds every secret, and kills every enemy in the game, finishing with a running time of 48 minutes! And it’s played on nightmare skill, of course, for our showers-of-gibs viewing pleasure.

I initially wanted to watch only a minute or so of this vid, but it’s somehow very seductive. I have it running on mute with some romantic classical music playing over Pandora. Simply delightful.

You can stream the video at the above YouTube link or download it, with a variety of choices for video quality, from Jozsef Szalontai’s own-age page. It always amazes me to see the products of gamers with such focused passion. Tool-assisted speed running is no walk in the park, and this is a huge project to tackle.

[Source: Kotaku]

Insert Coin (awesome stop-motion film by Ninja Moped)

December 15th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Video | No Comments »

Holy damn. This crazy stop-motion coin animation had to take forever. The vid was shot by Tomas Redigh and Daniel Larsson of Ninja Moped, makers of other gnarly and painstakingly complex things. It’s all real – the end of the video explains their method.

Osmos (Mac, iOS, Linux, Windows)

December 15th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Ambient, Casual, Indie, Reviews | No Comments »

On one hand, Hemisphere Games’ Osmos is the most relaxing game I’ve played in ages. It’s ambient soundtrack and simple absorb-smaller-entities-to-grow gameplay combine to make a perfect one-minute or one-hour playing experience. In fact, it’s one of those games you boot it up, blink, and suddenly think, “crud, I’ve been sitting here for how long?” Not in the “uh, six years, dude” World of Warcraft sense, but in the “40 minutes – but didn’t is feel like 5?” sense. But to write this game off as casual and ambient alone would betray the shaky nerves Osmos has left me with right now. It also has a number of less well-meaning levels that will take practice, time, and patience to complete, giving all sorts of gamers something to enjoy.

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Merry Electronic Christmas

December 15th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Electronic, Music, Pay What You Want | No Comments »

I know, I know – this isn’t a video game. Hell, it’s not even chip music. But still, I wanted to share. Check out Warner Jepson‘s hauntingly beautiful “Buchla Christmas,” a 28-minute composition that feels like Christmas as experienced through the subconscious of a daydreaming child.  It was made, like its title suggests, on the Buchla 100 Analog Modular Synthesizer and was recorded to an Ampex PR-10 tape recorder in 1969, which somehow makes it even better, right? It’s a name-your-price deal, like the Humble Indie Bundle #2 (hey, there’s the tie-in…), and you’ll be supporting SHINKOYO, a pretty radical avant-guard electronic label.

The Humble Indie Bundle #2

December 14th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Bundles, Donation, Indie, Pay What You Want | No Comments »

Ah, yes, the Humble Indie Bundle #2. Every indie news and commentary site on the net is probably all over this right now. Well, except TIGSource, which only seems to update twice a month these days. But, nevertheless, I’m going to cover it as well, because this notable release, now in its second edition, is a god-send for those indies who only play freeware games and complain about prices all the time, and it’s a great deal all-around for its donation-focused payment system. So spread the word, y’all.

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Rocky Memphis – Mummies, Treasure, and Bad Puns

December 12th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Exploration, Freeware, Indie, Non-violent, Reviews, Video | No Comments »

From the potentially offensive pun in the title to the game’s often hokey room names, there’s no escape from Rocky Memphis‘ playfulness. The name kind of says it all. Rocky Memphis and the Temple of Ophuxoff. It’s got allure and cheek but, to my slight vexation, a marginally spoiled attitude toward the experience itself. Even before its release, it seems developers Stuart Collier and Trevor Storey (Smila) had dipped it in a vat of irony, but from the get-go, the game itself banishes any ideas of this being a featherbrained release.

Rocky Memphis is a retro, C64-like “collect all the treasures” exploration game inspired by the classic Rick Dangerous and the recent Joe Gunn titles. Due to its old-school graphics and temple-in-the-jungle setting, it feels a lot like La-Mulana, except you won’t be solving any puzzles or cracking any whips here. Instead, you’ll be traversing 600 one-screen rooms, jumping and dodging enemies and nabbing glowing treasures like goblets, coins, candelabras, rings, and ankhs. In fact, the goal of Rocky Memphis is to pick up every treasure in the game. All 4,000 of them.

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New Journey Teaser

December 11th, 2010 by Jamey | Posted in Adventure, Exploration, Indie, Non-violent, Video | No Comments »

thatgamecompany has released its first true trailer for upcoming PSN title Journey. Call me minimalist, but I’m anticipating – actually hoping – that there isn’t much more to the game than what we’ve already seen, save perhaps a few different biomes. My favorite part of games like Shadow of the Colossus and the Knytt series is the exploration factor, the way a game’s landscape can dwarf and inspire the player in the same way a real mountain or ocean can. Screw the huge bosses, as sparse as they are in SotC, and screw item collection and platforming. I truly think the multiplayer aspect of Journey left to the extent of other anonymous travelers  either coming with you or passing by will create a feeling of awe and enchantment that is typically spoiled by all the to-do of other titles with such pure adventuring potential (don’t get me wrong, those previous titles are wonderful games).

I’ll admit that artifact collection for the sake of collection alone (think The Great Cave Offensive from Kirby Super Star) could be a nice touch to a game like this, but I’m itching for as raw an experience as possible. As long as thatgamecompany can create a world sprawling enough to allow us to explore for at least a few weeks – or forever, à la Love (fingers crossed) – I will be one happy camper. I’m imagining a mixture of SotC, Knytt, Love/Minecraft, and even Noby Noby Boy as far as collective progress in an ever-expanding game world goes, and it’s a beautiful image.