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SkullgirlS - Indie Gaming Gold!
Written by Modojo
posted October 15, 2006
First of all, I'd like to thank Siliconera for breaking this news. They did an excellent interview with a couple of the guys responsible for bringing about an excellent 2D fighting game called SkullgirlS.
The team behind SkullgirlS is about as independent as it gets. They are basically just a few guys developing the game after work or school, without any idea how their game will ever actually be received. They make mention of thinking about developing the game for XNA in their interview with Siliconera, and they also talk about distributing the game themselves at conventions and other events, but with no concrete release date, apart from a long estimate of 2009, these guys just work on their game, because they can. That ladies and gentleman, is love.
The game is similar to almost every other 2D fighter, but it boasts one of the most charming artstyles I've seen since Clayfighter on the SNES. Goddamn, I'd love to see some more claymation games. Anyways, the team speaks of hoping to implement over 1000 frames of animation for each character, each one drawn in Photoshop. Hotsauce!
They also talk about how in each characters special attack, they intend to transform the characters into more menacing beasts with seperate movesets, ala Bloody Roar. I don't know how they stole this idea from within the depths of my mind, but I will find a shield from these idea-nabbing thieves. I've thought about exploring that in a 2D fighter for like years. Seriosly though, excellent idea guys.
There is a demo available on the SkullgirlS site with two playable characters. One of my friends couldn't get the demo to work at all, but I enjoyed it as much as it can be enjoyed I guess. The game is very rough at this point, but somewhere in there I see the sparkle of what can potentially be a sleeper hit, on whatever platform it is eventually relased for. Obviously I'm thinking this could be handled well on either something portable like the DS, or more likely the Xbox Live Arcade-which is hopefully the home of more 2D fighters as time rolls on.
Ah, the bathroom.
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 15, 2006
So I was hanging out with one of my lady friends the other night. Wait, did I say hanging out? I meant making out. Anyways, as I was doing my thing on the couch, with the sounds of Halle Barry from X-Men 3 in the background (she wanted to watch Failure to Launch, HA!), she said she needed to go to the bathroom.
Afterwards she comes out of the bathroom and gives me a stare. Yes, THE stare. She sits in silence for a minute and finally says, "why do you have so many video games in your bathroom?" Two words went through me at that moment, "awk" and "ward". Not only did I have a stack of various video game magazines (with a hint of Maxim to boot), but I also had my Game Boy Micro, Nintendo DS Lite, and Sony PSP all right on the counter next to the toilet.
Before I could even answer the first question, she then says, "and why is one of the games Pokemon?" Ahh, yes, she's now discovered my love for Pokemon. The near 18 year old who is still playing Pokemon. So I prepped my words and swallowed the lump in my throat. I told her the truth. I was a giant geek. I told her that I had close to every Pokemon game in existance. I showed her my video game collection, which a massed over hundreds of titles.
And you know what we did after that? Continued to make out. Who said Pokemon can't get you some action?
- Dan B
The rush is on...
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 9, 2006
And if you officially want a PS3, the pre-order campaign kicks off tomorrow.
Some advice- come early, and don't expect to get a system if you're late, because the stores can only take enough pre-orders to fill launch quota. We're talking maybe less than 10.
Best of luck!
- Robert Falcon
Once again, dipping in the imports...
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 5, 2006
Sigh...and yet once again I stumble upon an import that I want...
See, I own the first Taiko no Tatsujin Portable game for PSP and I love it. It's probably not the same as banging a drum in my PS2 version of Taiko Drum Master in terms of enjoyment, but I still like it all the same. So when I heard that the sequel was already out, I already began making my rounds to track it down.
Fortunately, I found a good deal with an online Ebay store and have my copy forthcoming. I'll have a review for you soon. The only bummer about my purchase is that I won't be able to download new tracks, like the ones being offered in Japan. Agh! I guess I'll have to look for unlocking codes like I did with Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast...
- Robert Falcon
The Protector of Mexico Returns
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 5, 2006
As long as this blog is turning into a Jeremy Parish love-in (even if he does hate Ultimate G'nG), I wanted to take a minute to talk about something on his personal blog.
It isn't strictly portable gaming related, but in this instance I'm willing to make an exception, because it happens to be one of the craziest goddamn things I've ever heard. For those of you unwilling to click a link that is THAT intriguing, you might just be hopeless. But I'll sum it up for you anyway:
Parish was in Japan for TGS, and recieved an email letting him know that there was "a communication" waiting for him "at Kaihim Makuhari station, under the baseball shrub beneath the astroturf at the foot of a pink duck."
When he went there, sure enough there was a shrub shaped like a baseball, with a pink duck next to it. Underneath? This:
I told you it was crazy. Parish doesn't even live in Japan. He was just visiting. Even more wild, the message apparently has something to do with Emperor Norton, the first (and only) emperor of the United States, and Protector of Mexico. You see, since dying in 1880, Norton has come back to life and started blogging.
-Justin Davis