Jul 19, 2012

You Are The Protagonist Of This First-Person Graphic Novel

Kotaku

Lots of video games are made to be played from the first-person perspective. People regularly complain about this. But what about a first-person comic book? That's a little less ordinary.

This twist in presentation was enough to make even old, cliched zombie trophes feel new in Brian Ralph's graphic novel, Daybreak. The reader is pulled into a world that's mysteriously full of walkers. Unsurprisingly, society has gone to hell and there's not many survivors. That's just how things go in zombie-land, right? Thankfully, you buddy up with a charming one-armed man. The graphic novel follows you as you try to survive amidst a relentless horde, scarce supplies and crazy survivors. You know, standard zombie fare.

A real video game inspiration runs through the heart of Daybreak. Though I couldn't directly interact with the characters despite being the 'protagonist,' it still felt very intimate—at least, for a graphic novel. Actually, the inability to respond to dialogue felt amusingly familiar given the ubiquity of silent protagonists!

You Are The Protagonist Of This First-Person Graphic Novel Despite the cartoony style, the comic has a few harrowing gut-punches and no shortage of thrills. You may not come face-to-face with many zombies—I mean, if they're that close then you're probably doomed—but the threat is always looming.

Being unable to act outside of what Ralph explicitly dictates also adds to the tension. There's nothing like feeling helpless when things are falling apart, after all. And after your one-armed friend goes out of his way to help you and keep you safe, trust me, you're going to panic when you can't intervene.

Daybreak can be purchased from Amazon here. It's a quick summer read, but a worthwhile one.

Jul 19, 2012

A Video Game That Feels Like A Dream

Kotaku

While standing behind the demo for Papo & Yo yesterday at a Sony event, watching the game in action as I waited for my turn to play, the first thing I noticed was that the main character doesn't walk up stairs. He just sort of glides.

So when I got my hands on the controller, the first thing I did was walk up to the stairs and see what sort of weird glitches I could create. A few seconds later, my character's feet were hovering in mid-air.

"This isn't a final build," the PR representative said quickly.

I didn't really care. In fact, this sort of janky animation fit the game perfectly. Papo & Yo isn't a high-polished action game or a smooth shooter. It's a puzzle game developed by a small team of designers who have crafted an experience that feels like walking through a surrealist painting.

In Papo & Yo, you play a little boy in a fantasy world that resembles a South American village. You chase a girl and you meet a monster and you hover in the air with the aid of a flying robot. You pull on white chalk drawings of levers to turn them into actual levers that make box-like homes spin and glide like a giant mechanized Lego set. And you climb and hop through rooftops, caves, and giant pulsing waterfalls to hunt down a girl who you'll never quite catch.

Maybe you've already read about creative director Vander Caballero and how his inspiration for Papo & Yo drew from his troubled childhood. You should definitely watch Evan's video coverage of the upcoming PlayStation 3 game, which will be out on August 14.

But what you should really know about Papo & Yo is that it's the type of game in which you won't mind weird animation glitches or janky movements. It's a game in which houses will float in the air and frogs will make a friendly monster turn into an abusive demon.

It's one long dream.

Jul 19, 2012

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool

Kotaku

This week's Nintendo downloadables include the 3DS release of the Game Boy's Kid Icarus and Tumble Pop, a new puzzle game by Nikoli and a colorful action adventure game from Aksys, but the title I'm looking most forward to isn't a game at all.

It's a game creator.

Well, Petite Computer isn't just for creating games. It's basically a BASIC programming tool for the Nintendo DSi and 3DS, so whatever you can render in BASIC — text adventures, music sequencers, primitive database programs — can now be made on your Nintendo handheld.

Programs can be shared as well, transferred via wireless or passed along in scannable QR code format.

Let the BASIC revolution begin! 10 Print "Go!" 20 Goto 10.

Games

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Kid Icarus - Of Myths and Monsters
Platform: 3DS
Price: $3.99

A lighthearted adventure with mythical challenges. The "8-bit Summer" series continues with this classic action game from 1991. Angel Land is up to its halos in woes as mythical monsters are running rampant. Pit, the original Kid Icarus, must save the realm again. Armed with his trusty bow, he'll zap the bad guys and find the Three Sacred Treasures hidden by Palutena. Only after this grueling training will he be strong enough to take on the dark forces behind Angel Land's troubles. Pit will encounter old friends and new enemies – from helpful Centurions to the dreaded Eggplant Wizard – as he journeys from the depths of the underworld to the towers of the sky palace. Find hammers to shatter special walls and reveal helpful items. Collect hearts by fighting off Pit's foes. Train hard and battle harder. Pit's challenges make the labors of Hercules look like a walk in the park.

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Masyu by Nikoli
Platform: 3DS
Price: $4.99

With the Nikoli puzzle series, you can enjoy high-quality "Masyu" puzzles, created by Nikoli, who gave the world-famous puzzle its name. The Nintendo 3DS allows for the realization of simple and easy to play operability. "Masyu by Nikoli" contains 50 sudoku puzzles. "Masyu" is a puzzle in which you draw a line through the spaces according to the rules. Learn the attributes of the black and white circles and you'll be able to play in no time. The patterns through which lines can be drawn are more numerous than you can imagine, and discovering tactical moves is also fun. To ensure your long-term enjoyment, we're prepared both a "Stage Clear" mode and a "Random" mode. In "Stage Clear" mode, you progress by clearing puzzles one by one, and in "Random" mode puzzles are generated at random. Please enjoy this high-quality "Masyu" game.

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Petite Computer
Platform: DSi/3DS
Price: 800 Points / $7.99

A fun and easy-to-use tool for creating your own BASIC programs. Petit Computer is an easy-to-use programming tool that lets you create everything from music, to images, to your very own original games using an adapted version of the classic BASIC programming language. Whether you have experience of BASIC, or are a complete novice, you will find that Petit Computer will give you the skills you need to create your own programs. You can select commands and run programs using the Nintendo DS Touch Screen, and you can even share your creations via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing you to collaborate with other users. You can also create special QR codes containing your programs that other users can scan using their Nintendo DS system camera. Petit Computer is a perfect companion for anyone who has ever wanted to delve deeper into the world of computer programming.

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Rabi Laby 2
Platform: DSi / 3DS
Price: 200 Points / $1.99

The Queen has ordered her faithful minions to capture Alice and Rabi and bring them to her twisted world. The two must work together to discover where they are and how to return home. The pair will face wicked traps and deadly devices, while evading the Queen's servants. Rabi Laby 2 is the next episode in this hybrid puzzle platform series. The player controls both Alice and Rabi and must use their unique skills to escape. They will encounter interesting creatures, strange places and unusual puzzles, fueling their humor and challenging their wits. The gameplay is simple and the goal for each stage is to safely navigate Alice to the exit door with Rabi's help. A ranking medal is awarding depending on how quickly you reached the exit. Collect medals to unlock additional stages!

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Tumble Pop
Platform: 3DS
Price: $2.99

Save the planet by defeating all the monsters in eight spooky worlds. Thanks to pollution and other global calamities, Earth is overflowing with strange creatures. What's more, aliens from outer space have come to crash the party. It's your job to exterminate all the monsters plaguing the planet, but you'll need some real muscle to accomplish that task. Good thing you have a secret weapon: a turbo-charged vacuum cleaner. Armed with your trusty vacuum, work your way through eight monster-infested worlds. Special items, power-ups and a password system will help you on your way. Hungry for even more action? Have no fear. You can create your own custom-built stages in Construction Mode.

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool The Phantom Thief Stina and 30 Jewels
Platform: 3DS
Price: $4.99

Sneak pass the guards, bypass the security codes and experience the rush of stealing the jewels. The year is 2120, and humanoid robot helpers are commonplace, even among thieves. Not that the Phantom Thief Stina is a commonplace thief! This self-proclaimed artiste and her pack of burglar bots are taking on Detective Sara and her robotic security team in an epic battle of wits! Heist all 30 jewels to complete the game and unlock the detective mode. Play as detective Sara and deploy her robotic security team to protect the jewels against the Phantom Thief. Are you able to protect the jewels against the Phantom Thief? A real-time strategy and action game that allows you to play as both the hero and villain; which one will you excel at?

Video

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Dinosaur Office: Sick Day (Available July 20)
Platform: 3DS

There's no cure for coworkers.

Game of the Weekend

This Week's Coolest Nintendo Download Transforms Your DSi Into a Tiny Programming Tool Mario Picross
Platform: 3DS
Price: ~~$3.99~~ $2.99

This challenging puzzler requires logic to reveal mysterious hidden pictures! Help Mario™ unlock the mystery of Picross. The secrets lie in the numeric codes at the top and on the left side of each window. Decipher these numbers and uncover a hidden picture in every mind-bending puzzle. It will take quick wits and a speedy pace to solve the clues before the clock runs out. Chisel away boxes strategically and reveal the hidden image in record time. Be careful – every mistake will cost you precious minutes. There are more than 250 brain-bending puzzles to solve. Different levels of difficulty provide mind-melting puzzle action for players of any skill level.

Jul 19, 2012

Half-Life 2 Art Director Laments The Stale State Of Modern Video Games

Half-Life

If there's one man who knows from originality in video games, it's Viktor Antonov. He's the man responsible for the oppressive, beautiful art design of City 17 in Valve's masterpiece Half-Life 2. One of the main reasons that I'm excited about the upcoming Dishonored is that Antonov will be art director. Just check out this gallery of the man's work. He's a true original.

But Antonov is generally unhappy with the current state of video games. In an interview at Eurogamer, he laments: "It's been a poor, poor five years for fiction in the video game industry."

Antonov's observations mostly revolve around the fact that there are so few new ideas for games, and that so many games look the same. He sees the fact that the closest touchstone for this year's Dishonored is BioShock, a game from 2007 that doesn't actually have all that much in common with Dishonored, as cause for concern.

"I'm not a harsh critic of games," Antonov insisted. "I'm extremely happy of where technology has gone. But artists and art directors should make their own life a little bit harder by pushing management to take more artistic risks, and use the technology to a better, higher level. That's what I've been doing and suffering by - I've been spending as much time creating, as convincing the people who are financing games how important it is.

"We were always waiting for the next generation of great worlds or great graphics. Well, great graphics came; the worlds that came with these graphics are not up to the level of the graphics.

"Graphics used to be an excuse 10 years ago, that we can't make great worlds. Right now, we have a lot of New Yorks, we have a lot of war games. Please everybody," he pleaded, "let's do more science-fiction and more crazy worlds out there."

Antonov advises that developers stop trying to make games that are all things at once. "Now a game is trying to pack too many games - narration, music, contemplation, shooting - that they lose the experience." Instead, he suggests, developers should make more specialized games that pick one thing to do and do it well.

Read the rest of the article, which talks in-depth about the process behind Dishonored's city of Dunwall, at Eurogamer.

"It's been a poor, poor five years for fiction in the video game industry" [Eurogamer]