SwordAndSworcery
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Latest 'Tropes' video highlights strong female game characters
Earlier this year culture critic Anita Sarkeesian outlined her plan for the coming months, and those included new episodes of her YouTube series Tropes vs. Women in Games. Some would take a different approach, though, including a look at positive depictions of women in interactive media. The first of those videos went live today and it's all about Superbrothers Sword and Sworcery's protagonist, The Scythian. It's a thoughtful look at one of the most stylish games in recent memory, exploring exactly what makes her such a strong character. It's a direct response to the common refrain from her most vocal detractors that all she does is highlight the bad in games, and as per usual it's a pretty great video overall; check it out just below.
Sword and Sworcery's Nathan Vella on returning to iOS: 'Absolutely'
Nathan Vella is the co-founder of Capybara Games, the company that worked with musician Jim Guthrie and the artist Superbrothers to put together the extremely popular and critically acclaimed Sword and Sworcery EP, originally released on iOS. Capy, as it's sometimes called, is a Toronto-based game developer that started out making puzzle games, including Critter Crunch and the Ubisoft-published Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. But Vella told me during a quick conversation at WWDC last week that Capy "had no plans whatsoever of being a puzzle game studio." Capy's developers followed their own interests into puzzle games early on. It was that interest that led to collaboration with Guthrie and Superbrothers and, ultimately, success on the App Store. Vella said that he and the S&S EP team didn't anticipate the success they'd eventually have on iOS, but as the development time went on, the team got more and more feedback from players and critics that showed them they had something good happening. The IGF Mobile Award for the game was a big bonus, says Vella. "That helped instill some confidence." In the end, however, the real reason Vella says Sword and Sworcery did so well was because the team decided to "make stupid decisions" during development, like add in crazy systems or try really wild approaches to storytelling. "Those were the decisions that made it a success," says Vella. In fact, his advice to any iOS developer out there would be to "make those dumb calls," he says. "If you're making safe, easy decisions on iOS, I give you a 50/50 chance of success," he told me. But for developers who break the rules and try something new on the App Store, "your chances will go up for success, and you'll at least have more interesting failures." These days, Capy is hard at work on Super Time Force, a console title that, because of the way it works, probably won't transition to iOS. But when asked if his company will return to iOS in the future, Vella says that "absolutely" will happen. The studio really just chases its passions. "If everybody really believes in [a game], we'll try to make it," says Vella. Capy routinely hosts internal game jams, and Super Time Force actually came from an event like that. "We will not be ignoring iOS" in the future, says Vella. Between Capy's earlier work on the platform, and its enormous success with Sword and Sworcery, we can't wait to see what they're going to do next on Apple's devices.
Sword and Sworcery devs hosting a creative jam
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP has earned accolades from critics and players for its creativity. Now its developers are asking the community to show off their own creativity, in the "Create in the Key of Sworcery" virtual jam. Over on the game's official tumblr, they're sharing some really incredible fan art from the game, and they're asking for more to be made and sent in during a virtual jam, happening on May 11-13. It's not a contest and there are no prizes, as far as I can tell. I believe it's just making some art for art's sake. The world of Sword and Sworcery is certainly gorgeous, and has already inspired some great work from fans. If you are a fan with some artistic talent, we'll be waiting to see what you and others put together with Jim Guthrie, Capy, and Superbrothers next weekend.
Sword and Sworcery LP coming out April 5, iPhone version in a few weeks
Sword & Sworcery is an unqualified hit for the iPad -- as I said when it released, we've been following this one for a while, and it's great to see such a solid indie effort recognized by critics and consumers alike. While the game is out for iPad, the property is far from over. A full LP based on the music of the game, written by musician Jim Guthrie, has been announced for release on April 5, next Tuesday. "The Ballad of the Space Babies" will be available as a vinyl record, or online as a digital download in iTunes or Bandcamp. There's also an iPhone version of the game on the way -- I talked to Nathan Vella of Capy about it, and he told me that work continues apace. The plan all along has been to release it around a month after the iPad release, and Capy is still on that schedule, so we should see an iPhone version (optimized for the smaller platform, of course) about three weeks from now.
