A-Boy-And-His-Blob
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No Boy and no Blob for 3DS
Did you see A Boy and His Blob on the list of third-party 3DS games announced at E3 and get a little excited? We suggest going back in time to June and telling yourself to chill out, because it's not happening. A rep for WayForward, developer of the Wii version of A Boy and His Blob, told Eurogamer that the original listing was in error. "The Blob announcement at E3 was incorrect... we're not developing Blob for any systems currently." That's a bit of a bitter jellybean to swallow, but at least it means WayForward isn't squandering its resources on porting something that's already out. We're contacting the studio to try to get more information.
WayForward considering 'small and crazy' games before possible Boy and His Blob sequel
In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, WayForward's Sean Velasco said that he'd be up for making a sequel to the developer's Wii update of A Boy and His Blob. While it's not official confirmation of such a project in the works, the fact that Velasco thinks that "Another A Boy And His Blob game would also be amazing as the first one was such a great experience" is a positive sign for those interested in the continued adventures of a kid and his jelly-bean-crazed monster. In the meantime, however, Velasco is looking to "make a few small and crazy titles next. Maybe some downloadable games?" WayForward has Shantae: Risky's Revenge on the way to DSiWare, and has expressed interest in more downloadable games in the past. %Gallery-46747%
European Nintendo downloads: Starship Patrol, A Boy and His Blob, Eat! Fat! FIGHT!
Today's European Wii/DSi Shop update includes one of the most cringeworthy localizations in memory. Tecmo's Tsuppari Oozumo Wii Heya, the latest in its long-lived sumo wrestling series, appears in Europe today as ... Eat! Fat! FIGHT! Sure, it's more lighthearted and less a strict simulation of sumo, but Eat! Fat! FIGHT? Really? A Boy and His Blob and Street Fighter II' (the PC Engine version) arrive on Virtual Console today, and DSiWare has yet another original Q-Games title: Starship Patrol, a futuristic-looking tower defense game in space! Eat! Fat! FIGHT! (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Moki Moki (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) A Boy and His Blob (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (Turbografx-16, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) A Little Bit of... Magic Made Fun: Psychic Camera (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Littlest Pet Shop (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points) myNotebook: Green (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Starship Patrol (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
VC in Brief: Super Mario Kart (SNES), A Boy and His Blob (NES)
This week's Virtual Console update is delicious on two different fronts. For one, it's delicious in that we wish we could have some of those jelly beans the Blob in A Boy and His Blob is snacking on -- well, except for the ketchup ones. Even we don't like those! Secondly, it's delicious because ... uh, we may not have thought that far ahead, But, hey, Super Mario Kart! Have you been adequately distracted from our mental lapse? Check out the video above! Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bit.Trip Void, Super Mario Kart, A Boy and His Blob
Nintendo celebrates Thanksgiving by dropping a massive feast onto the table of every Wii and DSi owner in North America. The next Bit.Trip game is now available on WiiWare, DSiWare receives another heaping serving of Electroplankton, and Virtual Console welcomes ... Super Mario Kart. We guess when Nintendo said "by year's end" it meant "next week." See the full, seasonally appropriate bounty after the break.
Review: A Boy and His Blob
A Boy and His Blob tells the story of an extra-terrestrial, amorphous lifeform and his young handler as they combat an evil emperor, hellbent on doing what all evil emperors want to do: kill most and rule over what's left. The only thing standing in this extreme evildoer's way is the boy's willingness to feed the Blob different jellybeans, which cause him -- it? -- to transform into different shapes, thereby overcoming the game's many obstacles. After playing the game for a bit, it became clear that I was going to have to give up my need to solve the game's puzzles unsupervised. See, A Boy and His Blob thought that I would be far better off if it held my hand. %Gallery-46747% [Note: This review also comes with this "complimentary" video. Enjoy!]
A Boy and His Blob gameplay video is remarkably huggable
You know what more games need to have? A hug button. This inspiring innovation is introduced in the gameplay demonstration for A Boy and His Blob seen above. Okay, so maybe an "embrace command" wouldn't pan out too well in, oh, say, Gears of War. Perhaps hugs are rarely appropriate in a video game context, requiring the presence of anthropomorphic gobs of slime to be considered acceptable. We don't really care about all that stuff -- all we know is that our hearts have been warmed to a point where eggs could be scrambled on our bare chests.
What's in a Name: WayForward Technologies
With its gorgeous A Boy and His Blob remake in the pipeline, WayForward has been on our minds quite a lot recently. Unfortunately, we didn't have the answer to the real question: How did the company come up with its name? Our curiosity is now sated. "Back when we started in 1990, I happened to be reading a Douglas Adams book called Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. One of the lead characters in it is Gordon Way, who not only shares my surname, but also developed MIDI software for Windows, which happened to be a hobby of mine at the time. I decided to name my company after his partly as a tribute to my favorite author and partly because it was too weird a coincidence to pass up. "Five years later, the parallels continued when we were acquired by a company that subsequently spun us off. We effectively started over from scratch. Gordon Way's company was actually called WayForward Technologies II for similar reasons. "Honestly, I'm hoping the similarities end there, because Gordon Way ends up getting murdered." –Voldi Way, founder of WayForward Liked this story? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.
A Boy and His Boy-Shaped Blob in a new trailer
WayForward has done something fairly magical with its gorgeous remake of A Boy and His Blob -- it's made the game look appealing even to someone who has played the NES game recently enough to remember the abject frustration, untinged by nostalgia. In fact, we think this game is lovely enough to attract players who don't even know there was another game. This 'launch' trailer (though the game isn't out until October) includes some animated story sequences, the use of which shouldn't be much of a surprise in a hand-drawn game. It also includes a quick look at some delightful jellybean-granted Blob abilities, like a mech and some kind of "boy" shape.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: A director and his boy and his blob
This week, WayForward's Sean Velasco offers Nintendo Channel viewers a look at the delightful-looking A Boy and His Blob, describing the colorful sidescrolling adventure as "a sincere game in a cynical time." We suppose that the level of interest the game inspires could be related to your own cynicism. In short, if the look of this game does nothing for you, you're either too cynical or you've spent too much time playing the NES game. FInd the video, as well as the list of DS demos and other new videos, after the break. [Via GoNintendo]
Preorder A Boy and His Blob, get a blob
Now here's a novel idea: Preorder A Boy and His Blob at GameStop and receive ... a blob. Well, at least something that looks like the blob from the game's title. In actuality, it's one of those foam rubber stress-relief balls. Only shaped like a the blob -- and far more cute. Note that -- thankfully -- the bonus is just the blob and does not include a boy, foam rubber or otherwise. Girls who preorder the game also get the blob, but are able to claim they're "a girl and her blob," which would probably make a good title for the sequel. A Boy and His Blob is out on October 13 and looks gorgeous.
A Boy and His Blob's new screenshots warm our hearts
We'll be honest -- the upcoming re-imagining of A Boy and His Blob for Nintendo Wii makes our hearts go aflutter. The newest screens, grabbed by Aussie-Nintendo, do little more than entice us while we patiently wait for the game's release date. When is that again? Oh, right, we have no idea. We do, however, have two videos from back in March to compare with today's screens, which we're pleased to say look just as good as the videos did back then. And just look at that adorable picture with the game's main character taking a snooze! Sorry, sorry, we'll be over here being total creeps. You enjoy the new screens below. %Gallery-69237% [Via GoNintendo]
E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup
Nintendo E3 2009 checklist: Mario? *check* Zelda? *check* Metroid? *check* Are we missing something? Head past the break to find out!
Interview: WayForward's Voldi Way talks blobs, Shantae, and street cred
Voldi Way, president of WayForward -- or "Tyrannical Overlord" of the company, if his business card is to be believed -- gave us one of the company's first interviews as a "publisher," having recently self-published downloadable games on DS (Mighty Flip Champs) and WiiWare (LIT). During this E3 interview, Way told us that the company has at least three new unannounced projects, two of which are coming this year on Wii, and one also headed for PC. He also addressed the purported Aliens vs. Predator DS game and discussed the company's licensed game strategy, about which we may have accidentally given him a complex.
Impressions: a boy and his blob (Wii)
WayForward's a boy and his blob is at the same time an excellent recreation of the original game and an experience all its own. Much like the original game, our titular boy feeds his pet blob many varieties of jelly beans, however a new art style and host of new blob forms give this game a feel all its own. If there were any doubts regarding this title as both a conduit to relive the plesant days of the original's release, while simultaneously offering a fresh, new take on the game, then let them be squashed now. %Gallery-46747%
Joystiq interview: Majesco, WayForward spill the jelly beans on A Boy and His Blob
Every child wants a pet, be it a dog, cat, goldfish, or in the case of industry luminary David Crane's 1989 slice of Americana, A Boy an His Blob, a space alien with a hankering for sweets. Unlike E.T., however, Crane's extra terrestrial's fixation wasn't Reese's Pieces, but jelly beans of nearly every flavor imaginable, both delicious and gross. Not even Jelly Belly has a ketchup flavor in its confectionery arsenal, not that that's any reason to boast. Now twenty years on A Boy and His Blob is set to make its return. We recently caught up with Majesco exec Joe Sutton as well as WayForward director Sean Velasco -- and managed to even talk producer Robb Alvey down off a roller coaster to join the conversation -- to discover just what flavor of adventure we can expect out of the jelly bean-munching amoeba's hop onto the Wii. %Gallery-46747%
Touch Ruminations: Mixing the old with the new
In Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about whatever he feels like. He's a jerk like that. This week, it's all about boys, blobs, and little Macs, and how mixing the old with the new is a good thing. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.This week has been an exciting one for Wii owners. First and foremost, A Boy and His Blob is making a comeback! On top of that, Nintendo informed us that old-school controls will be included in Punch-Out!! for Wii. It's a wonderful mixture of old and new, and shows us that there is an incredible well of older titles that can be tapped for today's market in this manner. Nintendo has been doing that with the Virtual Console, presenting older, dated games via a new, easy-to-use interface, bringing them to a new audience. It's a wonderful mixture of classic and new sensibilities, and something I would like to see more of. Of course, A Boy and His Blob and Punch-Out!! could both be horrible, horrible games for all I know, so take that as you will.
A Boy and His Blob dev working on new IP
WayForward is exposing more of its ... way forward. Having just been revealed as the developer of the amazing-looking a boy and his blob remake for Wii, the maker of such games as Contra 4 and LIT is working on yet another new title based on an original IP, according to N-Europe. The news come via the company's official newsletter, which teases an original character named Atla (pictured), a scepter-wielding heroine who's the "champion of truth, justice and athletic shorts." There's also info on ... oh, wait, that was it. Anyway, we're not going out on a limb in speculating Atla -- seen in full here -- will don her athletic shorts on a Nintendo platform. Whether it's DS, WiiWare or a full-on Wii retail release, we're anxious to know more about this talented dev's next effort.
Video: A Boy and His Blob in action
Another gush of a boy and his blob assets has been released, this time in the form of gameplay footage. After serving up a few screenshots that had us swooning for more, two direct-feed videos are available from IGN. If the style and polish of the screenshots blew your top off, tape down a shirt and check out this impressive (and beautiful) gameplay footage. You can check out a boy (and his blob) navigating through the world -- using tactics we still recall from our childhood -- after the break. [via NintendoEverything] %Gallery-46747%
A Boy and His Blob: surprisingly sharp graphics for an amorphous character
We knew from the Nintendo Power preview that WayForward's new version of A Boy and His Blob (officially called a boy and his blob -- lower case -- for some reason) was pretty. But after looking at these direct-feed shots in full resolution, we are upgrading our estimation from "pretty" to "an absolute dream." Nobody can say anything bad about the Wii's graphical capabilities ever again. Well, they can and will, but they will be even more wrong than before. This game looks amazing. Even more screens at IGN show that a boy and his blob will feature widescreen capabilities. We'd be quite thrilled with the new game even in ugly polygons, though of course we prefer these incredibly beautiful sprites! %Gallery-46747%
