CO-OP 0105 -- Indie Special -- Roundup of the best of the IGF
matt chandronait
Maybe it's best to first just run down the list, first:
- TAG: The Power of Paint. A unique, FPS puzzler where the colors of paint you spray on the surfaces of the environment cause your character to run, jump, and climb walls to reach your destination.
- The Unfinished Swan. Again, a paint or ink metaphor where you being in an entirely white world and must splatter black ink around in order to reveal the geometry through which you must navigate.
- Cortex Commabnd. In intensely complex, real-time game of programmable bots and war machines. Highly customizable and backed up by eight years of development, this is one to watch.
- Feist. As beautiful as they come, it's a charming side-scroller reminiscent of a Miyazaki film. It has to be seen to be believed.
- Blueberry Garden won the Seamus McNally Grand Prize at the IGF netting the creator, Erik Svedäng $30,000 (Mountain Dew popped on an extra $10k) to finish up his delightful project. Exploration and discovery are the themes here and let's hope that cash is put to good use to getting the final game out the door.
A measure of any truly great art form, however, is that it inspires beyond it's main medium. If Beethoven can write a sonata of a poem then painters and visual artists should easily be able to find a gold mine in the video game space. Enter Attract Mode. At the Giant Robot store/gallery here in San Francisco, Attract Mode threw an event featuring pairings of Giant Robot artists with indie game makers to create some of most bizarre, rapid-fire gaming projects you're likely to see until ... well, until there's another event like this! The walls were covered with artwork inspired by and of the entire video game pantheon and though it was crowded as fuck in that little building, our little Kodak Zi6 cameras did the trick!
The best thing about this event and about the explosion of the indie gaming scene is the true merit it lends the industry and the art form as whole. There are astoundingly brilliant ideas emerging within and peripherially to the video game that we all think are going to go a long way into the legitimization of a form of media that is still a pariah amongst it's peers. We owe a big, special thanks to the IGF, Attract Mode, and, most of all, to the thousands of unsung indie developers out there slaving away over the best ideas you've never heard of but that will undoubtedly find their way onto the next generation (and next-next generation) of platforms. Here are a few more links you should consider if you're new to the indie gaming phenomenon:
TIGSource (The Independent Gaming Source). Owned and operated by indie game developer Derek Yu, TIGSource is your best bet for diving headlong into the indie gaming crowd and experiencing first-hand every diamond in the rough there is to be found.
Klooni Games. The home of Finnish developer Petri Puhro, creator of the fantabulous Crayon Phyics amongst many other projects and winner of last year's Seamus McNally Grand Prize at the IGF.
Cactus Games. A prolific, Swedish game developer that rests somewhere between David Lynch and John Carmack.
This list could go on and on and I'm too kaput at the moment to find and link every single awesome indie developer and indie project out there. Just start at TIGSource :)
Reader Comments (40)
Off to play TAG! Unfinished Swan, is there a demo of it? Looks insane, and very Portal-ish in its mood. Blueberry Garden looks whack, seeming like a game that wants you to figure it all out yourself, much like The Path.
Have you guys played BRAINPIPE (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Digital_Eel/BP/BP_page.html)? DO so, it's another insane first-person puzzle game.
I'm loving how indie gamers are putting spins on the first-person genre.
It's great seeing all the indie games, the creativity there is really amazing. Shame there was no Eskil, though :(
Holy shit macaroni and bacon sounds delicious.
Oh and indie games are fantastic for reinvigorating the gaming industry, more power to them. It just seems weird that Mountain Dew offered the extra $10k, I don't really associate them with arty, thoughtful software.
@Poopsplosion (this may be my favorite user name ever, btw) ... Eskil is going to show up in the next show! Well, LOVE is, at any rate. It was more of a demo and less of an interview.
@Moeez ... Unfortunately there isn't a playable version of The Unfinished Swan just yet. Bummed us out, too, as we would have liked to have captured footage from the build being played at the IGF. The footage in the show is actually from an older build of the game. The newer version looks even more amazing
Great topic for an episode of CO-OP. It's great to see the show moving in a different direction from the 1up Show. I'm looking forward to watching this one.
Is there any chance we can get a download link for the Alternate CO-OP Theme by Dylan Kenney that played during the outro? It's awesome.
Loved the new Squarespace spot, really funny. I've been watching some of the other rev3 shows(never heard of them before you guys got your deal) and I can soundly say that your ads are by far the bombest. Thanks for the great coverage of the IGF, I know have a bunch of new game sto try and some cool sites for my RSS reader, Cheers.
OK, good job guys. Great job showcasing some interesting games. Can't wait to play the two paint games at the beginning of the show.
But seriously, what's with the main cam placement? Boom mike in virtually every segment. You can do better.
Other than that, everything was great. The ads are both doing their purpose and entertaining, which is exactly what you want. I personally can't stand ads, and will mute them or change the channel whenever possible, but your ads don't have me tuning out, which like I said, is EXACTLY what you want.
Doing good fellas. Keep it up.
great show! definitely a few games in there I wan to check out ;)
also lol at JayFresh's wardrobe changes
So have you guys decided on a new format for the what the show is outside of the roundtable discussions? Before it seemed like the 1up show in that they were little fictional scripted stories broken up by a discussion segment and now its seeming like just you guys being yourselves and discussing stuff with guests.
I love it either way but I was just wondering if you guys had decided on a change in the style of the show, or are just trying different stuff out.
Zeit^2 looked awesome, makes me think of R-Type plus Braid; I'd like to see that get picked up for XBLA or PSN. Even though there didn't seem to be much to Feist, all the stuff getting picked up and used in the environment made me want that game to get turned into New Super Mario Bros 2.
Wow guys,
Thanks sooo much for your excellent coverage. To think I was so sad with you guys being "let go," and I suspected you guys would continue...it's early on still...but I wouldn't have thought you'd move "onward and upward" so quickly. I think you were able to cover GDC/IGF in a way you might not have before...and really bring us material no else did as well in a great packet of video.
Major thanks and kudos!
Really loved being able to see what is going on in the indie game world. Not much exposure to that here in Michigan so it was a real eye opener and really got me excited about what else is out there.
Also, LOVED the alternate theme song. Big props to Dylan Kenney.
Keep 'em comin guys.
Great show. It's definetly nice to get to see different games and learn more about indie games. Also, the credits song was really. I like it a lot more than the intro theme.
After a week of sleuthing for good GDC news, this is by far the best and most interesting coverage yet.
Indie games are definitely in your wheelhouse and I'm glad to have one place to find out about a bunch of them ... have you thought about some more periodic coverage of the indie scene? There's so much stuff out there that never gets covered!
Echo the comments about the ads, they are mildly entertaining! Show is great and I look forward to it every week.
Great ep, guys! Very informational and tons of great links to follow. Am very much looking forward to the next vid.
Awesome show, kept me up till 2 am, hah.
Hey, I run a independent game review site. I do both written and video reviews, and I was wondering what kind of video capture equipment you guys use for area 5? I my self use a cheep-o easy cap, but I would love to get some better gear eventually. Thanks, later.
-Karl
Awesome show, kept me up till 2 am, hah.
Hey, I run a independent game review site. I do both written and video reviews, and I was wondering what kind of video capture equipment you guys use for area 5? I my self use a cheep-o easy cap, but I would love to get some better gear eventually. Thanks, later.
-Karl
Well thank you guys for an excellent episode! I really hope you continue to features the less mainstream games in future episodes.
This was a fantastic show. I appreciate that Co-op adds to the conversation about games with episodes like this. The show made me pretty enthusiastic about the indie scene. I see myself playing TAG and Crayon Physics Deluxe in the near future! The Unfinished Swan is definitely a game I'd purchase if it makes it to release.
@Karl R We use a Black Magic Intensity Pro card to with Final Cut to capture HD gameplay.
@cmungs I'm from Michigan too! Where abouts are you from?
@Jon We're always talking about how to evolve the style of the show. Much of the conversation is started by feedback that we get from you guys. We love putting together the narrative parts of the episodes and feel like the audience generally enjoys them so I wouldn't worry about them going anywhere :) For the GDC episodes; because there was so much to talk about we wanted to focus on the discussion.
Great show guys, keep it up.
Also, Please please please please please PLEASE provide us with some of the music you use in the show. Every time I watch COOP I hear those awesome riffs and just go mad trying to look for the music on the web. I'm assuming its Cesar's since I've tried all of the suggestions you gave in one of your earlier posts about the music and found nothing :(.
Thanks in advance.
love the show!!!
Another great episode, thanks Area 5! It's great to see videogames with real soul being given the slick CO-OP treatment.
The indie crowd owned at GDC, I think they've really hit critical mass this year. To my eyes, people like Cactus and Jonathan Blow are making the rest of the industry look a little foolish. And yeah, Attract Mode's 'Game Over' show at Giant Robot was wall-to-wall with indie rockstars, both attendees and contributors, it was an amazing sight to see.
That aside: no love for IGF finalist 'Dyson'? I figured it would've been a shoe-in for CO-OP. If you missed it: it's an 'ambient real-time strategy game with abstract visuals' that fans of Milecee or M'um might appreciate. To me it looks and sounds as beautiful as anything else I saw at GDC, but instead of exploring a variation on the tried (eg: side-scrolling platformer, shooter), Dyson carves out a whole new space that's somewhere in-between interplanetary conquest, microbiology & gardening. A really unique vision, expertly crafted.
You can play the current version of Dyson for free on PC, I recommend taking the time to give it a fair shake, even if it sounds too left field:
http://www.dyson-game.com/
It may not have won at the IGF, but I'm proud to say it got The 1 Console's 'Award for Pure Awesome', which is something I just made up.
you gust definetly nailed it on the ads this week, loved the squarespace one...
You folks caught a lot of interesting games there! I'm downloading Tag as I type this. Snapshot looks so neat, and I hope they don't dump the Yoshi's Island aesthetic in future builds. Unfinished Swan looks simply phenomenal, while Zeit^2 and Feist both look pretty promising as well.
I watch your show regularly now. Very happy you folks could land on your feet after the 1up problem. Matt C. fans, represent!
rock+roll... again!
Where can I get the song from the credits from? Its awesome!
Hey for some reason i started rewatching some of the episodes of the 1up show and was wondering if you guys had any personal favorites that you think everyone should see. Thanks
Long live the 1up....OOPS I mean CO-OP show!!!! GLad to see you guys back on the web!
Great show, as always.
To note: Jonathan Mak's Everyday Shooter is also available for PC via Steam and Direct2Drive.
Pressing the Escape button while in full screen is the normal way to exit full screen. Why is it that when I press Esc on your video player it takes me to a log in screen? PLEASE fix this. I constantly lose my place!
Sehr schöne Sache :) Ich freu mich immer wieder auf eine neue Folge!
Greets from Germany,
Logi
Just catching up on this ep now; was wondering if Jay's FEZ tee was going to be, or is available anywhere? I want one. I googled but came up with nothing useful.
i have seen a couple of comments here saying where can i get the credits song, sorry to disapoint, i dont have it. I am asking the same question, where can we get it, and yes @zakatha, i think it should totally be the intro song. Please CO-OP tell us, if you want it comment so they see we want it.
Very nice blog. I totally agree with your thoughts.
sex shop
erotik shop
vibratör
penis büyütücü
vibrator
belden bağlamalı vibratör
protez penis
fantazi ürünleri
sado mazo
iç giyim
vibratör set
geciktirici sprey
geciktirici
azdırıcı
vajina
penis büyütme
şişme bebek
tüy dökücü
penis
şişme manken
afrodizyak
uyarıcı
feromon
masaj yağı
kaydırıcı
sex shop
sikiş
sekspartner
iş elbiseleri
duşakabin
penis büyütücü
geciktirici sprey
azdırıcı
afrodizyak
sex shop
vibratör
sexshop
asyalı sikiş
azgın lezbiyenler
etek altı
mıhlıçay aşıkları
ateşli geceler
türbanlı sex
videoları sikiş
turk izle
pornosu sikiş
kadın pornosu
türk gizli çekim pornosu
gizli videolar
videoları sikiş
amatör sikiş
bedava sikiş
otel odasında sex
sikişenler
sikiyor
rus kızlar
amatör sikiş
liseli sikiş
sikiş götten
türkporno
pornosu izle
sikiş izle
sikiş filmi
am sikiş
rus pornosu
güzel amcık
izle sikiş
türbanlı sikiş
sikiş gizli
sikiş gizli çekim
türbanlı izle
sikiş kızlık bozma
gizli çekim türbanlı
sibel sikiş
sikiş bozma
kızlık bozma sikiş
zenci izle
sokuş sikiş
sikiş kadın
video türbanlı
kızlık pornosu
sikişi türk
turk amator
liselikızlar
kızlık sikiş
sikiş pornosu
kızlık bozma
bedava pornosu
kadın pornosu
türbanlı pornosu
amatör türk sikiş
işletme oyunları
videoları sikiş -
sikiş videoları -
video sikiş -
sikiş video -
sikiş videosu -
thanks for all
penis büyütücü