A pixel art documentary
Pixel is a short documentary film exploring the artistic use of pixel-style animation in contemporary video games.
(via waxy)
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kottke.org posts about video games
Cursed Treasure
This tower defense game is really really addictive. Like don’t start if you want to get something done today. (via buzzfeed)
Super Mario Bros, 2010 version
What if Super Mario Bros had been designed as a typical circa-2010 networked game? It might look a little something like this:
The site’s a little slow right now…check back later if you can’t get the page to load. (via waxy)
Super Mario Bros remixed
Oh, man. Now you can play the original Super Mario Bros game as Link from Zelda, Mega Man, Samus Aran, and others. Really really fun. The only thing that could make this better is if you could play as NHL94’s Jeremy Roenick or Tecmo Bowl’s Bo Jackson. (thx, will)
Asteroids record broken
The current record for Asteroids is 41,336,440. It was set back in 1982, making it the longest-held record in video gaming.
[Fifteen-year-old Scott] Safran, who had been practicing nonstop at the game for the previous two years, agreed to play a marathon session of Atari’s popular outer-space shooting game as part of a charity event in Pennsylvania. His mother drove him to the event and lent him a quarter, which he dropped into the machine Nov. 13.
Why has the record held so long? Because Safran’s game took three continuous days to play with minimal breaks. Now, a new unofficial record has been set by John McAllister; he played 58 straight hours and beat Safran’s record by just over 2,000 points. Oh and those minimal breaks I mentioned:
When he needed a bathroom break, he stepped away from the machine and shed a few lives until his return. It got a little scary towards the end, because he started to run alarmingly short on extra lives as a result of his final bathroom break. He recovered well shortly thereafter, but not without giving all of us onlookers quite the scare first.
For reference, the contest in Hands on a Hard Body lasted 77 hours.
Video games attack NYC
Pixelized video game characters lay waste to NYC.
Give it a few seconds to get going…things get good right around Tetris time.
Beating dad’s high score
Troy DeArmitt shares a fond childhood memory of competing with his father for the household’s high score on Mega-Bug, a game for the TRS-80.
the next time i sat down at the computer, on a tablet of paper was written a number with an emphatic underline beneath it. it was in my father’s handwriting and it took me a moment to realize it was a score, his high score, to the game. it was also higher than my highest score to date.
Mega-Bug is available to play online…Troy has the full instructions in his post. I played this game when I was a kid too…it was called Dung Beetles on the Apple II and was one of my favorites.
Steambirds
A fun dogfighting game; here’s the premise:
1835: Sir Albert Pembleton accidentially discovers low temperature fusion. His invention changes history. A nuclear hotbox is installed in an early aeroplane. Super heated steam, the technology of the age, drives all the systems.
(thx, nick)
Old school arcade games show
If you’re into old school video games and pinball, the place to be in mid-July is at California Extreme, a classic arcade games show. Tickets are $60 for the weekend but the relevant pullquote here is:
Everything is on free play. You can play from the moment you arrive until we shut off the power at closing — Play as many games as you want, in whatever order you want to. There are *HUNDREDS* of games, all set to play for free. This is a your chance to try those older games, or the newer games that you’d never put money into in an arcade. There are also many games that never got produced, and are very hard to find.
I went with some friends several years ago and it was a lot of fun.
Taberinos one-click game
Oh, I can see where this game would get maddeningly addictive after awhile, especially if you like to shoot pool. (thx, marc)
The gameification of everything
In this 28-minute presentation, Jesse Schell talks about the psychological and economic aspects of Facebook games and what that means for the future of gaming and living. If you make products or software that other people use, this is pretty much a must-see kinda thing…the last 5 or 6 minutes are dizzying, magical, and terrifying.
Alphabet Shoot
A strategy shooter game that gets pretty hard in the later levels…like level 19, my nemesis.
Record Tripping
You’ve gotta have a scroll wheel (or trackpad) to play Record Tripping, a game in which you utilize DJ scratching to solve little puzzles.
Glitch is the new Game Neverending
Stewart Butterfield and his ex-Flickr co-founders have revealed what their company, Tiny Speck, has been working on for the past few months: a game called Glitch. A CNET reporter has been embedded at Tiny Speck for the past few months and has more than you probably want to know about the new company and game.
Twitch clicking game
From Casey Reas, a quick Chrome-only mouse-only game called Twitch. (thx, david)
Creeper World
Build your network, set up your blasters & mortars, get some energy stores in place, and try not to play Creeper World for like 12 straight hours. And this is just a demo for a downloadable for-pay game with more than 50 missions. (via buzzfeed)
Pictogrid
Pictogrid starts off deceptively simple but is difficult to stop playing after a few rounds. (via buzzfeed)
Bubble Tanks Tower Defense
I didn’t think much of this one at first (yet another tower defense game, right?) but the megatower wrinkle helps make Bubble Tanks Tower Defense almost unputdownable.
Oh, and there’s a level with unlimited money to spend on towers and upgrades to defend against unlimited enemies (it’s the last board in the top row). I built up the board as much as I could and let it run overnight. After 10 hours or so, the game got to level 2758 before all 20 lives were gone.
First person Tetris
Completely trippy version of Tetris where pushing the rotate button ROTATES THE WHOLE WORLD. (thx, ryan)
Hoshi Saga
New Super Mario Bros Wii may be difficult, but the simple Hoshi Saga had me tearing my hair out way more than Bowser’s minions.
And call your hairdresser because there is also Hoshi Saga 2, Hoshi Saga 3, and Hoshi Saga Ringo. (via buzzfeed)
Endless Migration
Endless Migration is a fun Flash game where you control a flock of geese while dogding airplanes and weather systems. (thx, neil)
I suck at online basketball too
A simple but oddly compelling multiplayer basketball game…after each shot, you’re shown how you’re doing against everyone else (~1000 players when I was playing). (via waxy)
Guitar Hero with 21,268 Christmas lights
This is possibly the most American thing I’ve ever seen:
Such ingenuity combined with such conspicuous waste. (via waxy)
Warzone Tower Defense
Let’s get your Monday started off on the wrong foot: Warzone Tower Defense. A worthy alternative to Desktop Tower Defense. (thx, shay)
Gimme Friction Baby
GFB is a game and it’s totally safe for work unless you want to actually get something done today. From a review at Jay is Games:
There is a certain paradigm shift that must occur when playing this game for the first time before the light goes on and the player ‘gets it’. I believe this is due to a sort of cognitive bias we have as gamers: when firing a turret we expect things to explode… and to go fast.
However, this game is anything but fast. The gameplay forces the player to slow down, think first, and to plan each shot carefully. Each game therefore becomes a careful placement of orbs rather than a quick-fire session to arrive at the end result. The slower pace gives way to excitement as an orb inches ever so close to that fearsome dotted line, and strategy emerges as the key ingredient to an award winning recipe. Those who don’t experience the paradigm shift may never appreciate the subtlety and the genius of this very simple gameplay design.
There’s also a version for the iPhone called Orbital.
Update: Here’s a Java version with rotation.
Continuity
Continuity is an ingenious little Flash game that is one part side-scroller and one part magic square puzzle. (thx, carl)
Original Mario Kart on Wii
New on the Wii Virtual Console: Super Mario Kart. Many consider this the finest Kart made.
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