Braid

I am always against latest fashions, and this happens also for games. Whenever I see a game getting enormous acclaim, I think that it's somehow overrated.
I did the same with Braid, a game by Jonathan Blow, but then I tried the demo all the same. Only one play through the first two level was needed to change my mind. Braid is deserving every bit of the good reviews it already has. Check the demo on Steam.

Shift

Shift is a wonderful game I just discovered. As usual, the most marvelous and innovative games are Flash...
In Shift you play the part of a monochromatic man who runs in black and white labyrinths, trying to get to the exit. What sets the game aside from the rest is the ability to press Shift to turn the world upside down, and go where you couldn't before. If you're white you're walking on white blocks into black space, and vice versa (if you're black you stand on black and can move into white space).

The author, Antony Lavelle, has made three of them. I recommend playing the third first if you only want to give it a quick go, otherwise start from the first (they tend to repeat the first tutorial levels).

Shift 1
Shift 2
Shift 3

Amazingly, the second and third games also have a level editor! I love level editors!!

Back to the roots

Today on the site ArsLudica a guy posted a small article about the fact that SEGA and EA are cutting a number of new IPs in favor of tested franchises. He complained that people writing comments in response to the news didn't understand the situation and only asked for sequels of the storical SEGA franchises.

Part of a comment (in italian) to the blog post says:
"- credit crunch fucked Factor 5: Nintendo blocked the development of Kid Ikarus Wii because she was let down by Eggebrecht & co.'s work and they didn't have credit warranties.
- A massive credit crunch could bring the [videogames] sector to "casualize" even more, killing risky AAA titles in favor of silly games that will put someone like EA or Ubisoft on the same level of a start-up company."

I say, this isn't bad at all. Ok, some people will get fired, and this is sad, but I'm an optimistic person and I think that in the end those ex-employees will find something to do.
What gives me hope is that, if this scenario is realized, all the indie companies will get more power, more sales, and more funds. Games will get better thanks to this renewed competition, and for people like me (small independent aspiring developers) it will be easier to break into the industry with some small concept turned into reality.
Those same people fired by the great companies will try to put up their business and maybe succeed, and get their revenge with some quality games. It would be a great renewal! It would be like in the eighties when individuals coded a game from start to end...
The games industry would only get better this way.

Kind Code

Some days ago Kotaku and other sites published an article about a patent filed by Nintendo (from Miyamoto itself actually) about something called Kind Code.
I read a big deal of the patent itself, and came out with the following: Kind Code is a fanciful name for something that actually exists in some way, and then some more.
The patent describes various ways to play a game: "Play", "Digest" and "Scenes select".
"Play" is the normal way of playing a game, and then it adds a hint button that the player may press to get a hint for riddle and puzzles in the games (I guess it won't work for action games).
"Scenes select" is also something already seen (lately in Alone in the Dark): the player can select, from the first time he starts the game, the chapter that he wants to play. So he can choose the last level, and clear the game in 5 minutes. It's an option, a bad one for me, but not too stupid.
"Digest" is the new part that generated a lot of chaos: the player is allowed to see a video of the developer playing the game (thus turning the game in a sort of movie) and by pressing a button, he can drop in the game and take control. Playing in digest mode does not allow to save.

While I can see that some people tremble at the thought of "games as movies", I think it's not something to worry about too much, since the patent clearly states (I'm quoting it directly):

"That is, a player who desires to easily play the game or a player who dose not have a lot of time for the game is allowed to easily enjoy the game by selecting the "digest" (or "scene menu" described below). On the other hand, a player who desires to enjoy the game as much as possible is allowed to thoroughly enjoy, by selecting the "game", the game including, for example, a trick event, and a sub-story (elements other than the main game story) which are not provided in the "digest". Further, data of the game obtained by his/her own attacking can be stored as saved data."

So the key is in the hands of the developers and hardcore players do not need to worry about it. Furthermore it's only a patent for now, so it's higly possible to misunderstand it.
I'm having a big discussion with people at ArsLudica (sorry, it's in italian)... it seems that people like a lot to bash new things, just for the pleasure of bragging. Some of them twist the meaning of the article that started it all, just to say something. Every discussion is impossible.

Fly! Clyde!

This being the title of a game for the iPhone I'm working on, with the help of three other guys from the Rome scene of development ;)
It's a vertical shooter set between the two World Wars. It has a comical feel to it, kinda like Metal Slug (I'm not saying it will have that class though!)

I just finished the preliminary work on the blog, we're going to post some things about the development... for everyone interested, here's the URL:

http://flyclyde.blogspot.com

IGF has come and gone, for me at least

Some time back I entered UFHO for the Independent Games Festival. Yesterday the finalists were nominated and we aren't among them. I can't but feel a little disappointed, but after all I wasn't expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, I love UFHO and I still really believe in the concept, but I think it needs a little bit of polish still to get noticed. Oh well...

Anyway at IGF the judges tend to prefer smaller concept games, but this is not a critic! There are wonderful games among the finalists, I just tried The Graveyard by Tale of Tales, a Belgian developers duo. It's kinda poetic.
There's also You Have to Burn the Rope! It's a crazy game, very very long, it takes five months to beat it. Play the game first, and if you get struck read the manual and the complete walkthrough.