the-hunger-games-girl-on-fire
Latest
PSA: Hunger Games: Girl on Fire out today
The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, the iOS adaptation of Suzanne Collins' breakout young-adult sensation, is now available for free on the App Store. As you'll recall, Girl on Fire was developed by a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young-esque indie-games supergroup captained by Adam Saltsman of Canabalt fame, featuring artwork by Super Crate Box's Paul Veer and music by Super Meat Boy composer Daniel Baranowsky.The above trailer was actually created before the game was in a playable state, using a combination of the game's art assets, Adobe After Effects and a powerful amount of ingenuity. Hopefully Lionsgate's film version of The Hunger Games, which hits theaters tomorrow, will have as much effort put into it.
Adam Saltsman on making a game out of The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire is what film company Lionsgate calls a "teaser game" for the upcoming movie, based on the popular books. iOS indie superstar Adam Saltsman (Canabalt, Capsule) is leading a team of other indie superstars for the App Store release, including Mark Johns and Kevin Coulton (aka DOOMLASER), Paul Veer, and composer Danny Baranowsky.It's a different world now, one in which the official tie-in video game for a major motion picture is a game for phones, designed by a tiny team of people best known for games they made without publishers. It's a game with a deliberate retro aesthetic, as you can see in the new "pixel poster" for the upcoming game (visible in full after the break). Author Suzanne Collins even chimed in with suggestions. How on earth did this all happen?The rise of iOS gaming is a separate, and larger topic, but pinpointing the design of this particular one was much simpler. "From the get-go my inspiration and motivation for this, aesthetically, has been to just pretend I am making a movie tie-in game for the Super Nintendo, only actually fun to play," Saltsman told Joystiq, explaining the look.
Indie dream team building The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire for iOS
Adam Saltsman, the mastermind behind Canabalt, Gravity Hook and Capsule, has rallied an indie dream team to make an original iOS title based on The Hunger Games movie. The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire is Saltsman's brainchild, backed by production company Lionsgate, and in collaboration with designers/programmers Mark Johns (Tap Tap Dance) and Kevin Coulton (Hot Throttle), lead artist and animator Paul Veer (Super Crate Box), and composer Daniel Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Canabalt).Saltsman says he was skeptical about taking on the adaptation, as most companies who approach him want to re-skin Canabalt and call it a day. Not Lionsgate though. "I pitched them on an original touch-based action game instead," Saltsman said. "It does feature a running character, but the focus of the game is more on marksmanship and strategy... but we'll have more to say and show about that later! It's a small idea, but a tight one too."The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire will launch for iOS devices "timed to the theatrical release," which is March 23.
