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Wii Fanboy interview: Red Fly Studio (Mushroom Men)
Red Fly Studio has big goals. In the words of the company's CEO, Dan Borth, they want to be "the world's premiere third-party Wii developer." They're aiming high on the DS, as well. It may sound a little presumptuous, but their inaugural effort, Mushroom Men, shows significant promise on both the Wii and DS, with a unique, detailed visual style, bizarre challenges and an expansive junk-based inventory. At the EIEIO event, I spoke with Chad Barron, external producer for the DS side-scroller, and Dan Borth, CEO and creative director, about both games, as well as the experience of working for a big publisher on a big license. %Gallery-18243%
DS Fanboy interview: Red Fly Studio (Mushroom Men)
Red Fly Studio has big goals. In the words of the company's CEO, Dan Borth, they want to be "the world's premiere third-party Wii developer." They're aiming high on the DS, as well. It may sound a little presumptuous, but their inaugural effort, Mushroom Men, shows significant promise on both the Wii and DS, with a unique, detailed visual style, bizarre challenges and an expansive junk-based inventory. At the EIEIO event, I spoke with Chad Barron, external producer for the DS side-scroller, and Dan Borth, CEO and creative director, about both games, as well as the experience of working for a big publisher on a big license.%Gallery-15252%
Joystiq interviews Hail to the Chimp producer Jon Krusell
Wideload Games' Hail to the Chimp consistently delivered laughs to its audience of journalists at EIEIO. Being that the event was a large party, it was the perfect venue to try out a party game. The crowd got almost as boisterous during the gameplay sessions as they did later that evening, when the event metamorphosed from a video game press event into a concert.The "concert" portion of the event was also the first chance I had to talk about the game with Wideload's Senior Producer Jon Krusell. He was kind enough to yell over the din in order to discuss the thought process that led naturally into a party combat game about animal presidential elections, his theories about the lack of comedy in games, and his revolutionary Robot Jox-based political platform.%Gallery-4895%
DS Fanboy interview: Insecticide's Larry Ahern
I met with Crackpot Entertainment's Larry Ahern, creative director of Insecticide, at this year's EIEIO event after he had finished demonstrating his game over and over again for successive groups of journalists and other attendees. Even after all of that time spent staring at Insecticide and introducing it to the few people in each group who weren't familiar with it, he seemed enthusiastic about his game. He was also happy to reminisce -- fondly or otherwise -- about his time at LucasArts, during which he served as art director for Day of the Tentacle, lead animator for Full Throttle, and co-project lead on The Curse of Monkey Island, just to name a few classics.Hit the break to find out about Insecticide's alternate history as a TV show, to read the most about BioShock you'll ever see on DS Fanboy, and more!%Gallery-3405%
Insecticide & Incesticide: How to tell the difference
Having trouble telling the difference between Nirvana's Incesticide album and DS platformer/shooter Insecticide? Afraid that you'll accidentally bring home a 15-year-old CD instead of the hard-boiled detective game? Worry no more!We've put together a handy guide to help you tell these two "alternative" titles apart. Forget about wandering the streets in a daze, unsure which product features rock-out tracks like "Sliver" and "Son of a Gun!" No more embarrassing yourself in front of friends after mentioning an afternoon spent hunting criminal bugs with Kurt Cobain! We promise you'll never again confuse the game with the album or vice versa -- or your money back! Hit the image above for our life-changing chart!%Gallery-3405%See also: Nirvana: Plugged back in and electronicized
Metareview: Insecticide
We've been fascinated by the potential of Insecticide since it first buzzed to our attention last May. Crackpot's noirish, bug-based title combines an adventure game with platforming, action, and detective elements. As it turns out, this willingness to fuse different genres and play styles seems to have backfired, with reviewers criticizing the action sequences in particular. We're pretty sure that there's a great detective-thriller game starring bugs just waiting to be made, but this doesn't seem to be it.IGN -- 70%: IGN's Daemon Hatfield awarded the title its highest mark to date (apart from the two users who each gave it, er, a perfect ten on Metacritic), but still couldn't ignore the flawed action segments: "This one is a real heartbreaker. I really wanted to score it higher, but the action sequences get in the way of what could have been an extremely enjoyable adventure game. Crackpot has created an engrossing world with Insecticide, so maybe a sequel will focus more on pointing and clicking than frustrating and agitating."Nintendo Power -- 65%: Likewise, Nintendo Power seems to insinuate that the game is a Jack of all trades, and a master of none: "Insecticide tries to be a lot of things at once -- platformer, shooter, and investigative adventure -- which is a trick that seldom works well." [Mar 2008, p.89 -- excerpt found at Metacritic]Game Informer -- 58%: And there's just too much platforming for Game Informer's superbly named Joe Juba: "... Insecticide could have been an excellent adventure game. Instead, it's a platformer, and a bad one at that. The game squanders its stylish setting, writing, and entertaining puzzle solving by minimizing the fun investigation segments, focusing squarely on broken combat and platforming. The fact that you can run through most encounters without firing a shot makes the action element feel even more tiresome and pointless."%Gallery-3405%
EIEIO 08: Mushroom Men: trash vs. rabbits
I was thrilled to watch a gameplay demo of Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men at EIEIO. The concept art for this game is gorgeous enough to sell the game all on its own. The company agreed, evidently, as their stage area was decorated with huge, striking prints of the art on canvas. Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is the story of mushrooms made sentient by some kind of green dust left by a comet. These mushrooms then break off into tribes and start fighting each other. The DS prequel, Rise of the Fungi, tells of one tribe's conflict with some annoying insects, but The Spore Wars deals directly with the fighting between the Amanitas and the Morels. The mushrooms also have to contend with the other newly aware, mutated creatures that have emerged. In the demo level shown, these included kudzu and rabbits.%Gallery-18243%
EIEIO 08: Brief Mushroom Men impressions
I was only able to see a couple of minutes of Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, but I learned some interesting details about the game. Rise of the Fungi on the DS, codeveloped with Zen Studios, is designed as a prequel to the Wii game, telling two stories in the same world. In both games, a meteor has somehow caused mushrooms to gain awareness and intelligence, along with other organisms. In Rise of the Fungi, one tribe of mushrooms must drive interloping insects out of their village.Mushroom Men is a (really nice-looking) 2.5D platformer set in a world that looks very big to a mushroom. Multiple characters are available: "heavy" characters with good melee combat skills, "sages" with excellent spore powers (special magic-type abilities) and "scouts" with ranged combat abilities. These characters will traverse 10 levels, each divided into two scenes, solving environmental puzzles and, well, collecting garbage. In fact, garbage is kind of important to the game.The environmental puzzle we were shown involved using items found in the stage to reach a higher platform. The player had to knock a soda can into a buzzsaw, which turned the buzzsaw on, causing it to fall down. It could then be used to climb up to that platform.As for the garbage: both the DS and Wii games feature the "scav" system, which allows you to pick up junk and combine it into weapons. And there are a lot of choices -- a quick look at the menu screen showed at least 20 available weapons. A 2D platformer with a lot of weapons? Yes. Yes.I was very impressed overall with the demo, except for the part in which I didn't play the game. Luckily, Red Fly expects to release Rise of the Fungi late this year, with The Spore Wars to follow soon after. Hit the gallery for new screens and even more delightful concept art!%Gallery-15252%
EIEIO 08: Dungeon Hero inverts the dungeon genre
click to embiggen As Firefly Studios explained it, most dungeon games put the player in the role of a psychopath who enters a dungeon to slaughter thousands of subterranean creatures and steal their gold. Dungeon Hero is totally different. In Dungeon Hero, your character is -- well, okay, a psychopath who enters a dungeon to slaughter thousands of subterranean creatures and steal their gold. But those subterranean creatures have their own stuff going on, and that jerk hero is neither the shining exemplar of humanity nor some brooding antihero. He's mostly just a big dumb guy who fights a lot. And as such, he is manipulated into becoming the hero of some of the dungeon's inhabitants.%Gallery-3760%
EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
click to embiggen I'm a big fan of the Super Dodgeball games, and of the Kunio series in general. I played tons of dodgeball on the NES and GBA, and I've been watching the development of the DS game with more than enthusiasm. So when I first heard about the Xbox Live Arcade Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, I was very curious about a non-Technos take on the sport; what would Blazing Lizard do to distinguish their game from what seems like the final word in dodgeball games? Besides filling it full of Internet memes, of course. Surprisingly, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has very little in common with Technos' masterpiece. Aside from the fact that pudgy characters throw balls at each other, the two games play almost totally differently. They might as well represent two totally different sports. %Gallery-5856%
EIEIO 08: Hail to the Chimp impressions
click to embiggen Not being much of a "next-gen" follower (sorry!) I had a vague belief that Wideload's Hail to the Chimp was a downloadable game. I was, then, surprised to find it a full-sized (but budget-priced) release. Developer Wideload Games used the retail-game budget to create not only a unique party game, but also a hilarious audiovisual experience that doesn't really have an analogue on modern systems.Hail to the Chimp's menu interface is the GRR News Network, with pompous anchor Woodchuck Chumley (seen above enjoying some... hot coffee ... with Bean the Sloth) onscreen authoritatively intoning ridiculous stories, while the menu options take the place of all the ubiquitous TV news infoboxes and text clutter. Wrapping the game inside this TV-station premise allows Hail to the Chimp to have something resembling a storyline, and also provides the opportunity for the funniest aspect of the game, which I'll get to shortly.%Gallery-4895%
EIEIO 08: Velvet Assassin actually dressed in leather
click to embiggen It's true. The game's title character may be velvet in some way, but the luxurious fabric does not figure into Violette Summers' ensemble. Instead, she alternates between skin-tight leather and a diaphanous, lingerie-like hospital gown. It's definitely more of a video game in that respect than a solemn tribute to Violette Szabo.Why the hospital gown? The events of Velvet Assassin are framed as flashbacks remembered by a dying Summers, who is lying in a hospital bed as the game starts. She recounts her former missions behind enemy lines. This method of storytelling actually ties into the gameplay in a rather bizarre way. %Gallery-17268%
EIEIO 08: Section 8 details fall from the sky
click to embiggen It's been a long time since we first heard about TimeGate Studios' Section 8. Based on the "not even pre-alpha" game on display at this year's EIEIO, it's going to be even longer before we see a final game. It's currently slated for the third quarter of next year on Xbox 360 and PC. But developer TimeGate Studios – they did the F.E.A.R. expansions, if you'll recall – did give a short gameplay demonstration, and revealed one of the major facets of the Section 8 experience. The game's name comes from the nickname given to the future 8th Armored Infantry, of which your character is a member. This group consists of soldiers who have volunteered to wear a super-powerful armored suit (awesome!) and be launched into combat from space. The joke is that you would have to be crazy to volunteer for that, so the squad is informally called "Section 8" after the military code for a psychologically-motivated discharge. %Gallery-4522%
EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Legendary
click to embiggen What stands out more than anything about my experience with Legendary at EIEIO was that it was the game during whose demo I got to be warm. I had waited outside in brutal cold and rain for the demo session to start, and the Legendary demo took place inside a Games4U "Mobile Game Theater" -- essentially a trailer full of seating, TVs, and, most importantly, heat. It was great. That's not even a snide way of saying that the game wasn't any good -- it was just really, really cold outside.Legendary puts the player in the middle not only of a war between the White Council and the Black Order, but also an invasion of fantasy creatures triggered by the player character's own inadvertent opening of Pandora's Box. The only weapon against these monsters: the signet that once locked the box, now merged into protagonist Charles Deckard's hand. Oh, and also a bunch of guns and stuff.%Gallery-4924%
New Mushroom Men trailer sprouts
Mushroom Men, if you'll excuse the terrible pun, is beginning to grow on us. We're ready for another platformer after, you know, and Red Fly's plant-based romp looks like it could keep us occupied. There's a quaint, almost eerie vibe to the game, with a Fifties B-movie tone to most of what it does.In the trailer above -- the first we've seen of the game in some time -- we get a look at some combat (against common garden beasties, such as ants and rabbits), as well as our fungal hero flexing his magical "spore-based powers."
Legendary gameplay footage reeks of promise
We've been talking about it for nearly eight months now, so we thought you might like a peek at some pre-alpha gameplay footage from Legendary. The video seems to be having some framerate issues (at least, we hope it's the video) but some of the imagery here is really striking. On that note, we'd like to go on record as saying that Electro-Car Bot is destined to be the Big Daddy of 2008.If you're anything like us, the promise of being able to play in a world being ripped asunder this beautifully is enough to bump this pretty high up on your "must play" list for the summer. Let's just hope the gameplay lives up to the world. Gallery: Legendary
EIEIO 2008: One day of concentrated Gamecock weirdness
Last year, Gamecock held their "E3 alternative" EIEIO event in Santa Monica during E3. This year, they moved the party to Austin, and in true Gamecock (read: bizarre) fashion, they elected to hold the event at Stubb's Bar-B-Q. Well, it's not as bizarre as it sounds. Stubb's is a large establishment that serves as a live music venue as well as a barbecue restaurant. Still, it was quite a different environment from, say, the Moscone Center, where GDC was held last month. The only problem with the venue: we were outside a lot, and today was unseasonably cold. And rainy. And also cold. The morning started off with a breakfast at Jaime's Spanish Village across the street. After that, we were rounded up and sent over to Stubb's, where we broke into groups and rotated through presentations and demos. Descriptions and impressions of actual game content are coming later (Wednesday, to be specific, when I am allowed to post those), but here's what I saw: the downloadable meme-off Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, the PC/DS action-adventure game Insecticide, the sentient-mushroom tale Mushroom Men (Wii and DS), the newly-christened WWII stealth game Velvet Assassin, the RTS expansion Stronghold Crusader Extreme, the hacking, slashing Dungeon Hero, the fantasy-monster FPS Legendary, the sci-fi FPS Section 8, and the animal-based political-satire party fighting game Hail to the Chimp. They were in various stages of playability, from "not even pre-alpha" to "shipping." Be sure to visit our gallery and enjoy some of the strangeness of the scene for yourself! %Gallery-17894%
Insecticide made creepier thanks to comparison to The Professional
Crackpot's Larry Ahern appears in this video offering commentary on the latest entry in the "evolved bug detective in a post-apocalyptic insect-run world" adventure game genre (jeez, another one?), Insecticide. He reveals a few influences on the world and storyline of the game. The most notable, in terms of making us look at the game in a new way? Luc Besson's The Professional, which, if you haven't seen it, is about a 12-year-old who forms a close, parental-but-also-inappropriately-romantic attachment with a hitman. And that's the relationship that influenced the dynamic between the game's two main characters, Chrys Liszt and Roachy Caruthers. We don't know what to say now. We're going to watch these two cartoon insects' interactions a lot more closely during the game, at least.
Gamecock's WWII stealth shooter 'Sabotage' becomes 'Velvet Assassin'
We doubt that many of you had even heard of Sabotage, an up-and-coming Gamecock joint based on the incredible true story of World War II hero (for the Allies, at least) and secret agent extraordinaire Violette Szabo, but we think it's worth mentioning when a game upgrades from a title as generic as "Sabotage" to something unique; something that sounds purchase-worthy. That's why we're totally behind developer Replay Studios' decision to remoniker the stealth action shooter Velvet Assassin.Lucky Austintonians will get a chance to check out the newly eponymed game at Gamecock's E.I.E.I.O expo this coming Thursday -- the rest of us will have to wait for Velvet Assassin's Fall 2008 release to digitally fill Violette Summers' sneaky leather shoes.
Video interview with Gamecock on Section 8
Leave your innuendo at the door and enter the house that Gamecock and Timegate built. Section 8 is an interesting first person shooter in that it takes place on ... Mars? Well, at the very least, it seems there will be a heavy space-travel aspect as the game is touted as "epic". They plan to break the mold of FPS games and from what they say, in a few years, who knows. We might have another great game. But for now, we've got these interviews.
