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| From My Comics |
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Music of Blueberry Garden - Daduk
Playing Blueberry Garden was a tremendously satisfying experience, but left me wishing there was more. While there may not be a sequel in the works, there's no reason that Daduk's music can't be enjoyed. Featured below is Daduk's album "Et Apres," hosted by Jamendo.com and available for download. Thought-provoking piano arrangements reminiscent of Phillip Glass, how appropriate in a game so much like The Truman Show.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Blueberry Garden
Erik Svedang. Game designer and instructor at the University of Skövde in Sweden.
His newest game, Blueberry Garden, was released earlier today on Steam, and at the very affordable price of $4.99 I said "Why not?"
After stretching the 1-2 hour game into a solid four hours, enjoying each moment as much as the last, I'm left wondering: "Why isn't there more?" This isn't a criticism of Erik's work, though, but a question aimed at the game industry at large. Why is it that a few small indie developers can breathe life into an otherwise dead industry, when the large developers can't? Certainly it's not for a lack of creativity; and while profit margins dictate the newest games on the shelves, the majority of them feel empty by comparison.
Take World of Goo, for instance, developer 2D Boy's tour de force. Wildly successful, yet so very simple. And here we have Blueberry Garden: for the first time since Jason Rohrer's Passage, I was genuinely moved by a video game (not, perhaps, in exactly the same manner, but the effects were the same). As a bird-like creature set loose in a strange, unfamiliar world, you must explore - and build - within the Blueberry Garden to find the source of your troubles and escape into the sky. With a fully realized ecosystem, simple platforming gameplay, and a powerful piano arrangement by Daduk, the Blueberry Garden truly is a wonder to behold, as compelling as it is beautiful.
The demo is on Steam, and is absolutely a must for anyone who would argue the validity of games as art. And please, consider purchasing the full version; the gaming world needs more developers like Erik.
His newest game, Blueberry Garden, was released earlier today on Steam, and at the very affordable price of $4.99 I said "Why not?"
After stretching the 1-2 hour game into a solid four hours, enjoying each moment as much as the last, I'm left wondering: "Why isn't there more?" This isn't a criticism of Erik's work, though, but a question aimed at the game industry at large. Why is it that a few small indie developers can breathe life into an otherwise dead industry, when the large developers can't? Certainly it's not for a lack of creativity; and while profit margins dictate the newest games on the shelves, the majority of them feel empty by comparison.
Take World of Goo, for instance, developer 2D Boy's tour de force. Wildly successful, yet so very simple. And here we have Blueberry Garden: for the first time since Jason Rohrer's Passage, I was genuinely moved by a video game (not, perhaps, in exactly the same manner, but the effects were the same). As a bird-like creature set loose in a strange, unfamiliar world, you must explore - and build - within the Blueberry Garden to find the source of your troubles and escape into the sky. With a fully realized ecosystem, simple platforming gameplay, and a powerful piano arrangement by Daduk, the Blueberry Garden truly is a wonder to behold, as compelling as it is beautiful.
The demo is on Steam, and is absolutely a must for anyone who would argue the validity of games as art. And please, consider purchasing the full version; the gaming world needs more developers like Erik.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Dancing Teachers
The title of this post is rather explicit, but it might not hurt to give a little bit of information before delving into the content.
Teachers are strange creatures. They are well educated individuals who have been tricked into wanting to spend nearly all of their waking hours with children of varying ages, but this is only a small portion of what makes them so strange. A truly complete analysis may never be conducted, but I will say this:
As evidenced by the 30 second clip below, there is something incredibly entertaining about a secondary school teacher dancing.
The addition of music was especially artful in the way it matches nearly ALL of the movement.
Still, nowhere near as incredible as the Robert Englund lookalike that was my high school algebra teacher:
Teachers are strange creatures. They are well educated individuals who have been tricked into wanting to spend nearly all of their waking hours with children of varying ages, but this is only a small portion of what makes them so strange. A truly complete analysis may never be conducted, but I will say this:
As evidenced by the 30 second clip below, there is something incredibly entertaining about a secondary school teacher dancing.
The addition of music was especially artful in the way it matches nearly ALL of the movement.
Still, nowhere near as incredible as the Robert Englund lookalike that was my high school algebra teacher:
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dancing with an Iron Fist
Following the theme of incredible game trailers, I stumbled across what must be the SECOND best trailer ever created. The lack of a serious budget obviously lends itself to creativity, as is shown in what will likely prove to be a sleeper hit: Stalin vs. Martians.
That's right.
Stalin.
Gardening 101
As usual, a busy schedule has dragged me away from my computer at an inopportune time. Normally I would follow the established routine of making up a number of excuses for this and leave it at that, but this time I actually found something that needs to be shared.
Anyone who regularly uses Steam may have seen this already, as it's currently featured on the main page, but PopCap Games (the developer behind incredibly addicting games Peggle and Bejeweled) is releasing a brand new timesink, and with it comes what must be the most amazing game trailer ever made.
Enter Plants vs. Zombies, a VERY different mixture of the Tower Defense and Real Time Strategy genres with a premise that should be pretty self-explanatory (if not absolutely insane). Normally I avoid these kinds of games, as I value my time and would prefer - if I'm going to waste the better part of a day - to waste the better part of a day playing a video game with a high production value. Still, regardless of how well it all comes together on release, isn't 10 dollars a fair reward for such a spectacular trailer?
Let it be known, also, that the song itself was written and sung by one Laura Shigihara, who has since stolen my heart.
I want my heart back, Shigihara.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Bug - Part 1
Sunday, April 12, 2009
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About Me
- Nick Woll
- Nick Woll grew up in the Florida Keys, and is furthering himself in the fields of writing, software development, and web design. You can contact him at nwoll27 at gmail dot com.