Sunday, August 12, 2007
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Rygar
11:00AM Flynn De Marco | Originally released in Japan by Tecmo under the name Argos no Senshi, Rygar made it to arcades in the States a few months later in 1986. Rygar put the player in the shoes of the Legendary Warrior, Rygar who is called back from the grave to save the land of Argool from the evil Ligar. Interestingly, in the original Japanese version, “Rygar” was actually referring to the main villain while the main character was just known as “Legendary Warrior.” Rygar contained twenty seven different levels for your hero to travel through, laying waste to enemies with, among other weapons, his Diskarmor. The Diskarmor was a sort of big shield/circular saw blade looking thing with a chain attached for good long distance fighting. A myriad of different monsters were available to slay and extra points could be earned by collecting various insignias and stars. Level thirteen of the game contained a special hidden bonus star that would grant the player a whopping 1000000 points. More »
Intellivision Programmer Home Movies
10:00AM Flynn De Marco | Who says game programmers don’t have a sense of humour? Well, you might after watching this little clip circa 1983 made by Intellivision programmers for their own amusement. Well, thanks to YouTube, now we can all enjoy this little gem from years gone by that includes a naked guy, a guy in drag, a guy in a fairy outfit, smoking jokes, a shockingly realistic representation of a marketing person and lots and lots of large glasses. More »
Big Daddy Lite
9:00AM Flynn De Marco | Nothing makes my weekend complete like a terrifically crappy game related costume. This cardboard, tin foil and masking tape Big Daddy costume takes it’s place among other scintillating stars of the cosplay Hall of Shame along with Chubby Kratos, naked Pikachu and other luminaries. Still, it’s pretty hilariously awesome and the guy who made it obviously had tongue placed firmly in cheek while he was making it. At least I hope he did. [Thanks, Raphael] More »
GDC Hosts Game Career Seminar At E For All
8:00AM Flynn De Marco | If you’re attending E for All and are looking for a way to get a job in the gaming industry, they may be able to accommodate you. The Game Developer’s Conference will be hosting their Game Career Seminar for all those attendees who are interested in more than just playing games. GDC’s Game Career Seminar adds a unique professional and skill development dynamic to E for All – now attendees can not only play games at E for All, they can learn how to make them, too,” said Mary Dolaher, CEO of IDG World Expo. “Whether you’re serious about getting into game development or have always wanted to know how it works, the GDC Game Career Seminar at E for All provides the tools, counselling and networking opportunities you need So, if you can tear yourself away from what is sure to be a pungent event, you can arm yourself with the knowledge to help you get the video game job of your dreams without having to resort to that late night TV advertised correspondence course. More details after the jump. More »
Some New Offerings For The Skill Gamers Among Us
7:30AM Maggie Greene | PlayNoEvil keeps an eye on skill gaming – playing for cash, and (usually) in a different category than straight up gambling – and points to SkillGround, which has some new offerings, including a fighting game, a FPS, a racing game, and more in the pipeline. Of course, with money comes problems – particularly because some of these games are particularly vulnerable to all manner of bots. There are some interesting risks for online skill games. First, “turn-based physics” games like golf, darts, and pool are very conducive to “analytic bots” that find optimal shots or allow players to test shots before they take them. More »
Sass Up Your DS Hello Kitty Style
7:00AM Flynn De Marco | Whenever I take out my shiny pink DS in public it never fails to elicit stares of wonder, desire and in some cases, utter confusion. Why is this tattooed, big sideburned guy playing with this thing that looks like a girl’s compact? If you get these same looks when you whip yours out, here’s a way to confuse them even more! DreamKitty.com is offering this oh-so-too-cutesy three piece vinyl sticker set so you can give that old DS Lite a Hello Kitty makeover, much to the delight of passers by. This pink fantasy can be yours for $US16.49 plus shipping. Go for it! You’re sure to be the envy of every 10 year old girl on the block. Hello Kitty Deco Seal for DS Lite [DreamKitty] [via GoNintendo] More »
Rebellion’s CEO On Making Games
6:30AM Maggie Greene | Gamasutra has an interesting interview up with Jason Kingsley, who is CEO of UK-based developer Rebellion (responsible for games like Alien Vs. Predator and Judge Dredd). It’s an enlightening look at one of the mid-sized companies who is currently “turning down loads of work.” Kingsley also has some interesting things to say about having IP rights as far as the eye can see, as well as the difficulties that come along with ramping up the size of your company – it’s a good sign, but comes with its own flip side. As for some of those other [UK companies that have gone under] you mention, you get the impression when they looked at the future, they didn’t believe the bad times were coming. I think you have to be realistic and you have to make strong management decisions early. But so far, so good. There’s no shortage of new projects. More »
Folklore Create-A-Creature Contest
6:00AM Flynn De Marco | Playstation Underground is currently holding a creature contest for their upcoming fantasy action-adventure, Folklore. Interested parties are asked to create an original “Folk” with it’s own unique abilities and a special attack that will be gained by the lead character after defeating said “Folk.” The ultimate winner will have their character added into the game via a downloadable character pack and will be weaved into the game’s storyline. The winner and four runners up will also receive a free copy of the game when it launches in October. Folklore Create-A-Creature Contest [Sony] [Thanks, Sethmilk] More »
NCsoft Sales Down, Profits Up
5:30AM Maggie Greene | NCsoft, the Korean developer behind Lineage (among other things), just posted its second quarterly earnings: sales of $US82.1 million, which is down 11%, but operating profits of $US11.5 million – which is a jump of 533%. Sales were heavily weighted to the local Korean market, but they continue to make in-roads elsewhere in the world. With contracts to develop games for the PSP and PS3 and several new games launching soon, I suppose we can expect those profits to keep rolling in. More »
