fortytwo points

Obligations...

Demaking Team Fortress 2: Gang Garrison hits Beta Version 2.0

I'm a huge fan of Team Fortress 2 and would even go so far as to call it the best multiplayer deathmatch game there is, period. Of course you do not have to agree with me, as we all know not everyone can be right all the time. But I digress. Proving that a fun system is a fun system regardless of technical ability, Gang Garrison 2 captures the spirit of TF2 and shoves as much of it as possible into as few pixels as possible, and the result? Even more fun.

For those like me who were not aware that this scene had a name, "demaking" means to remake a game to play on a platform inferior to the one that it was originally intended for. It can also refer to games that are remakes in a traditional sense but that do not have the same technical features as the original, such as extravagant graphic effects or surround sound compatibility. Not the first Valve game to see this treatment, Gang Garrison 2 falls into the latter category alongside its compadre Portal: The Flash Version, potentially enforcing the idea that the Orange Box must be one of the most popular game packages of all time. Having just made it to version 2.0, I think it's time for a look.

ShamPOW!: Pitchman Vs Pitchman

"You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, and you don't fuck with Billy Mays." - Adam Corolla

Pitchmen with kitchen utensils and and other shoddy junk have been assaulting us with oddities for years, but never before have they been selling something so interesting. I was listening to Adam Corolla in the Morning as I drove my girlfriend to work and they had iconic salesmen Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan on as guests. You might remember them as the loud-mouthed faces behind such infamous products as Oxi-Clean and the Swivel Sweeper, respectively.

It seems that the mysterious underworld of TV sales personas runs thick with strife and drama. Smarmy rising star Vince Offer of Shamwow fame has offended Billy Mays by offering a product similar to one Mays had sold previously, the Zorb-eez, which is nearly identical to the Shamwow. Mays also claims that Offer's new Slap-Chop is similar to another dicing product he used to market, the Vidalia Chop-It. Billy even goes so far as to literally call Offer out for a pitchman's challenge, to see who can out hawk the other.

Messin' Around...

Sorry...

Escapist's Indie Developers Showcase Finale = Wacky Game Concepts

For the last ten days now The Escapist has been running a feature on independent developers called the Indie Developers Showcase. The creators of World of Goo and Samorost have both been interviewed and the insight they and others have provided into their games and the industry as a whole is enlightening and entertaining. You can catch up on what you've missed here:

 Indie Developer Showcase

To wrap the whole thing up the final question they asked of all their interviewees was to create a game concept based on a simple premise: "You are a passenger on an airplane." The answers range from the humorous to the mundane and even get into "I hope that was an attempt at humor" territory a bit (World of Goo creator suggests making a match-3 game out of it, to which I reacted by spitting). Here are a couple of my personal favorites:

Zero Punctuation: Little Big Planet

I've got a lot of new stuff coming up to really get this site in gear but in the mean time, how about some funny? Yahtzee's latest Zero Punctuation is up and he finally gets around to scoffing in Little Big Planet's direction. Acknowledging that what it does do it does well, he still has to bring down the room with the harsh reality that, like Spore, it's a significant game of disproportionate substance. Lube your cochlea and have a listen:

I share his sentiments about the user-generated content. While the tools were no doubt difficult to create the end result still feels like a cop-out, as if the developers assumed the players would finish the job for them. The biggest insult comes in the form of the moderation however, and I don't mean how they pull down every level that so much as smells like it has been near licensed material.

Moderation by the developers was the only way gamers could have avoided having to dig through mountains of shit to find those indigestible golden nuggets of level in LBP. But rather than use the moderators in this way, they instead spend all of their time yanking down every half decent homage to a classic game or product that they find. Way to expand the game, guys.

Anyway, Zero Punctuation continues to hit the nail on the head, evidencing again why Yahtzee is one of the few hammers worth bashing with.

-Unfather

Walkie Tonky Fun and Surprisingly Funky

Jayisgames.com has led me to a potential masterpiece. Topping their weekend download feature is a gem I think you're gonna like. Walky Tonky is a fantastic physics-based game that has you invading Earth as a giant robot. It can lift, throw, and kick attacking tanks, cars, airplanes, buildings, and more as you quest for planetary domination. The developers Pieces Interactive are following up their incredible guitar platformer with some rockin' robot action and I am already a groupie. Check out the official promotional video:

It took a minute to get a hang of the controls but once you do the destruction becomes seamlessly funky. I wouldn't pay $60 for it but the physics concepts could definitely be moved to something I would pay that much for. The best part though had to be the clapping noise the robot makes every time you click. In fact, I got a little obsessed with it and ended up making sweet music. Again, all the claps are my clicks:

I had way too much fun while making that. That's what I call emergent gameplay.

-Unfather

Zero Punctuation: Far Cry 2

I hate to be yet another game blogger embedding Zero Punc into his site, but fuck it, the guys funny and I plan on biting his style. This week he pounced Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2, sequel to the slightly better-than-mediocre original that starred an ex-mercenary who got caught up in somebody elses problem.

I can't say that I think this one is as funny as the others, and for some reason he seems to be pronouncing certain words differently. That or I haven't been adoring his harmonious Australian song-bird's call like I normally do. Not having played this game yet, I can not offer an opinion to accentuate or counter his, but I do plan on giving it a whirl when I can.

He can be over-zealous at times, but the man drops wisdom bombs like the Bible's got psalms, if you will. On this note, are there any older games that you wish he would scrutinize on Zero Punc for nostalgia's sake? Let us know in the comments and perhaps we can make an issue of it.

Until next time!

(ps at this time the .com and .net URLs are resolving, but the site should be back up and proper by the end of tomorrow. Until then, fortytwopoints.typepad.com, friends)

-Unfather

The Awesomest Solution

The best games are the ones that let you operate outside of the box, and by that standard Crayon Physics Deluxe may be one of the best games of all time. But I wonder if Mr. Purho  (Petri Purho, the developer) ever saw this coming:

Crayon Physics - That Darn Pole, featuring Wall-E from Jimmy Gunawan on Vimeo.

You can check out the original post here.

This is why humans are on top of the food chain. In your face, polar bears.

-Unfather