Indie Gamer

GravityBone

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:28:49 -0500

Ah, one of my favorites. Short and sweet.

"Wired: Okay, The Last Guardian. Where’s The Last Guardian? Yoshida: First, let me set some facts..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:59:00 -0500

“

Wired: Okay, The Last Guardian. Where’s The Last Guardian?

Yoshida: First, let me set some facts straight. There was a rumor that [creative director Fumito] Ueda had left the company, which we confirmed. But it’s not like he left the making of The Last Guardian. He’s on top of the game and coming into the office. He could be the person who’s in the office for the longest time. The difference is that he used to be a regular employee. But now we have a contract to define his role. It’s a very special contribution and role that he plays and we agreed, let’s make it more official, more special. That’s the only difference.

He never left the team, he’s on top of the game and the team is making progress. But the progress is slow and sometimes the team has to go back and review things. There’s a vision that we want to realize but it’s very very tough and technical issue that the team is tackling and some plans have to be made to evaluate and go through the process. At one point the progress was great, so we talked about the timing of the launch in the past. But now it’s making progress, but still not to the level — it’s playable, but not to the point that we can talk about the timing of launch.

”

- http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/02/shuhei-yoshida-dice-interview/

While looking up information for IndieCade 2012

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:27:35 -0500

I found another Jonathan Blow presentation. Sweet.

Oh, and it’s Oct 4th - 7th. I really want to try and make it this year. Time to get a hotel room in Culver City.

PAX Prime is the month before, Aug 31st to Sept 2nd. Sweet.

And I wonder if I can get into IGF on March 5th to 9th…. I may have to ask around for this one.

Oh, is it Valentine's Day?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:37:38 -0500

Then it must mean this is out.

Take my money NOW, part 2.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:44:49 -0500

Take my money NOW, part 2.:

A new point-and-click from Double Fine?

Ship me the goods nao.

TAKE MY MONEY.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:11:09 -0500

TAKE MY MONEY.:

So… Psychonauts 2 anyone?

Hawken Beta Signup

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:39:11 -0500

Hawken Beta Signup:

Yesssss.

Uh, no comment.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:32:57 -0500

Uh, no comment.

Excited?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:32:17 -0500

Maybe. Possibly

Dear Esther.

Looks like I know what I’m doing on Valentine’s Day.

CES

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:09:00 -0500

And wouldn’t you know it… I somehow got to go to CES. But it wasn’t the gadgets or the “new” tech that excited me.

Whilst roaming around the Sony area, in the middle of the PS3 area with many blockbuster titles set up, there stood: Journey. I’ve been looking forward to this title for a while, ever since I played Flow and Flower, and so I naturally gravitated towards it. While the other games seemed occupied by a couple of people, there was just one lady playing the game.

I was with a friend of mine who wasn’t as well-versed in the indie gamescape, and so I started to go off on how amazing thatgamecompany was and how I was looking forward to this title.

The lady hears this, turns around, and asks me if I want to play.

She starts introducing herself: “Hi, I’m…”

I finish her sentence. “Kellee. I’m Josh.”

The entire time I’m playing, I try to keep my cool, trying to seem nonchalant as I ask her more and more about the game, realizing later that, duh, I should just shut up and let the game teach me how to play, like all of TGC’s games…

I totally geeked out. None of the gadgets or tech crap compared to seeing her and hearing her speak on her little masterpiece.

What seemed like hours went by as I took in the landscape, the controls… But in the end, I politely smiled, handed her the controller, and ran away giggling like a schoolgirl.

At some point, I’m going to have to start taking photos with my indie idols. Like seeing Fish at PAX East last year…

All Quiet On The Gaming Front

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:33:58 -0500

My focus is definitely elsewhere these days. Even when another insane Steam sale occurred during the holidays, I didn’t go too hard into games, except for some coal hunting.

Not too many games I’m looking forward to this year from what I recall, other than Fez and if somehow The Witness gets finished this year.

What, Diablo III? Pfft.

A friend of mine sent this to me for what I assume...

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:21:02 -0500

A friend of mine sent this to me for what I assume Christmas.

“Now you have no excuse.”

While I am thankful for the gesture, I guess it’s a little quaint to be installing and playing off of the ol’ optical distribution medium.

5 Years.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:02:32 -0500

Fez took 5 years to make.

Wow. And it seems as though Fish really really struggled through all those five years.

Been meaning to read this for a while, but just haven’t had time to devote to my Kindle until today. Definitely worth the read, for any indie dev, games or not.

Bastion: Flip-flop Upgrades

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:02:18 -0500

It wasn’t clear in the beginning if I had to select a certain tech tree to climb, and if I would need to get an ability in the first tier to get the next, and if this wasn’t the case, if I could save up my shards for the next upgrade.

Turns out: Yes, previous tiers are required, but… you can change you upgrade, free and easily.

More games need to do this. This encourages different styles of gameplay. And it’s less douchey to the gamers.

Bastion: Timing Games

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:00:33 -0500

Ever since Mario RPG, I’ve loved timing attacks. Made all the combat that much more active.

But even in a non-turn based game like Bastion, I still love it. It’s like the reload mechanic in Gears of War: Just makes the action that much more frenetic and skill-based.

And I wonder… is the full health bonus from Zelda? Was there a game that did that before Zelda? Pew pew pew.

It's Another Indie Sale!

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:36:04 -0500

Hooray… I already own all the games I want out of this pack. :-)

Liked Super Meat Boy and/or VVVVVV?

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:27:04 -0500

Try Flywrench.

Why Aren't You Playing Uncharted 3?

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:51:22 -0400

Oh, you don’t have a PlayStation? I guess that’s fair.

But if you do… you have no reason not to at least rent the thing.

U3 is just U2, but bigger and louder. And I mean that both in good and bad ways. Maybe I’m remembering things a bit differently, but U2 felt more puzzle-oriented and U3. Take whatever cinematic/interactive experience in U2 and then triple it, and you’ll get what U3 is.

Not as tight of gameplay as I would have liked, but overall, very very good.

Where does this game not go in terms of environments. Water to sand to forest to air. Holy shazbot.

Big Fat Ugly Henchmen

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:39:56 -0400

Ugh. These battles are the worst.

Repetitive and boring. There’s a reason why there tends to be only one of these at most in a typical action movie.

Initial Load Times

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:15:09 -0400

Very little load time issues at all in U3, but the initial one… Makes me not want to start up a session unless I am to spend hours and hours in it.