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GDC08: IGF finalist interview - Noitu Love 2
Noitu Love 2: Devolution is described by its designer as being similar to Metal Slug, but easier (thankfully), and controlled entirely with the mouse. It didn't walk away with any awards from this year's Independent Games Festival -- having been beaten in the Seumus McNally Grand Prize category by Crayon Physics Deluxe -- but Noitu's sharp graphics and frenetic gameplay have certainly caught our eye.Check out our interview with the developer Joakim Sandberg above, courtesy of Mahalo Daily and vampire slayer/Mahalo correspondent Veronica Belmont.
GDC08: Spend some quality time with Fez's developers
At the Independent Games Festival Awards, Fez took the award for excellence in art. Now, here's an opportunity to hear the developers chat anxiously about their game, prior to the awards show. Mahalo Daily and Veronica Belmont spoke to members of the art collective Kokoromi about their innovative platformer. Check out the video above for development details, and Kokoromi's explanation of why Fez pulls off 2D/3D better than Super Paper Mario.
GDC08: IGF finalist interview - Iron Dukes
We're going around to some of the top Independent Game Festival finalists to ask about their labors of love. Here, honorary Joystiqer Veronica Belmont (of Mahalo Daily fame) talks with the fellas at One Ton Ghost, the team behind the nautically-themed (and totally fetching) indie adventure-ish game Iron Dukes. Last night the game took top honors in the browser game category at the IGF awards, so we're expecting to sea a lot more of this one.
GDC08: Audiosurf creator: console port a 'natural fit'
In an interview with Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont at GDC, Audiosurf developer Dylan Fitterer said the future of the his "music reactive puzzle racer" may be on consoles, noting that he feels a port is a "natural fit." Of course, that might require a licensed soundtrack go with the title (the current version works off of your music library). Audiosurf won the Audio Achievement award at this week's IGF awards. It is available commercial via Steam.
GDC08: World of Goo devs talk publishers, Portal love
If you're looking for breaking news from the developers of World of Goo, you won't find it here. Instead, Kyle (art, music, design) and Ron (business, engineering, programming) told Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont about how the fictional in-game corporation was inspired by publishers. There is also a mysterious sign painter, whose obsession they suggest is bordering on creepy infatuation. When Belmont asks if there's any relation to Portal, Rob asserts that Glados didn't actually love the main character in the game. As unhealthy as it was, we still think there's a case to be made for Glados having at least some affinity for your character. World of Goo won Technical Excellence and Design Innovation at this week's IGF awards. The game is due out this year on PC, Mac and Nintendo Wii.
GDC08: IGF Mobile winners
Click on Critter Crunch above -- the 2008 IGF Mobile award winner for 'Audio Achievement' -- to begin our guided tour of the 'winner's circle.' (See what we did there...?)Nominees included: 3D Lawn Darts, Anna's Secret, Backflow, Critter Crunch, Drawn To Life, Ego, Hell Striker, Kodo, Nom 3, PhoneTag Elite, Steam Iron: The Fallen, and Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles.[Via press release]
A look back at GDC 2007
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/A_look_back_at_GDC_2007_just_in_time_for_GDC08'; Next week, the Joystiq crew will pack their precious belongings (a laptop, some clothes, and a towel) before flying off to the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. So now seems about as good a time as any to reflect back on last year's GDC for a taste of what's to come. Sure, there's a dearth of playable demos when compared to E3 or TGS, but what other trade show can say they redefined the role of adhesive in internet conversations?Keep reading for our remembrances of the keynotes (what's Game 3.0 again?), last year's big news (Harmonix and EA are doing what?), the sessions and interviews (the Wii is how many Gamecubes duct-taped together?), and the whole culture of GDC (Miyamoto made quite a splash).
Profile of 2008 IGF finalist: World of Goo
The indie game scene is hotter than ever, with recent darlings like flOw and Everyday Shooter making their way to consoles while Narbacular Drop was gloriously reimagined as fan favorite puzzler Portal. That's why we're always so excited about GDC's Independent Games Festival (confession: this blogger is an IGF judge).The folks at Gamasutra aren't just coordinating the festival, they're profiling each of the Grand Prize winners. Most recently profiled was the lovely World of Goo (already profiled: Audiosurf and Noitu Love 2), which is coming to PCs in February of next year, and Mac and Wii "slightly later." Our favorite quote from the profile: "The community of lovable and terrifyingly capable indie developers is steadily making big budgets irrelevant." Ya hear that big budget titles, you're on notice.
Award-winning indie game Aquaria now available
Gamers clamoring for something other than high-definition, high-poly shooters would be wise to check out Aquaria, a long-anticipated release from independent developer Bit Blot, and winner of the 2007 Independent Games Festival's highest honor.Aquaria tells the story of Naija, a magical being traveling the depths of the ocean in search of her family. The game features a unique blend of exploration, battling, and crafting, all presented with incredibly high production values, effectively raising the bar for the entire indie community.Aquaria is currently only available for PC, although Bit Blot states that they are working with Ambrosia Software to port the game to the Mac platform in the near future. A demo of the first part of the game is also available. Trust us, this one is worth playing.%Gallery-3627%
Independent Games Festival finalists announced
The finalists for the 2008 Independent Games Festival have been officially announced, with twenty independent titles spanning six categories.Noteworthy are the four music-based games (Audiosurf, Synaesthete, Fret Nice, and Cinnamon Beats), indicating a stronger emphasis on the rhythm genre than in previous years. Other notable finalists include Kokoromi's Fez, and Petri Purho's Crayon Physics Deluxe. All finalists will be playable at the Game Developers Conference in February 2008, and the winners will be announced at the IGF Awards Ceremony during GDC.[Via GameSetWatch]
Fez teaser trailer bends dimensions
Indie game designer Phil Fish has pulled the pixelated, two-dimensional tarp away to reveal his latest project, Fez, an apparent platformer that blends an old-school look with with a new twist, the ability to shift the character's environment to make some obstacles easier to overcome.The two-dimension to three-dimensional shifting gimmick doesn't seem quite as revolutionary with games like Crush and Super Paper Mario already on the market, but we still have to admit that we're intrigued to see where Fish will take it.[Via TIGSource]
Independent Games Festival submission open call
The official Independent Games Festival website is now open for submissions for a chance to win a spot to their 2008 awards in February at the Game Developers Conference (GDC). There are $50,000 in prizes up for grabs with a $20,000 grand prize. The deadline to enter the competition is Oct. 1 2007.The IGF awards, which we've covered semi-live before, is the ever growing arena to get a feel for what today's up-and-coming developers are interested in. It's where we first get a feel for games like Castle Crashers and Darwinia. So, independent developers get cracking -- you've got three and a half months to put something award winning together.[Via GameSetWatch]
Game Tunnel: Independent games of the year
Independent games site Game Tunnel released their game of the year winners for the independent market in 2006. Up until recently independent games have been relegated to a niche PC market, but Xbox Live -- and we hope similar services in the future -- will allow these games to shine out of their word-of-mouth marketing worlds.We spoke with Russell Carroll, editor-in-chief at Game Tunnel, about the differences between Game Tunnel's awards and the Independent Games Festival awards given out in March, which had nominations announced earlier this month. Carroll says that unfinished games are allowed to enter the IGF competition, where Game Tunnel will only consider the finished product. For example, Oasis won the IGF in 2003 and won Game Tunnel's award in 2005 when it was actually released.Game Tunnel chooses their winner by a combination of monthly panels, reviews, Game Tunnel staff opinion and Carroll gets the final call. Carroll says, "It's not a perfect mathematical equation, but in the end we're happy with the results and think that they are games that can immediately be appreciated for being indie ... you can see that heart in the games." Most of the games are available to download and demo from the Game Tunnel website. Check it out and help support the little guys.
Heard@GDC: Darwinia creator slams publishers, developers cheer!
Upon winning the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2006 Independent Games Festival, one of the creators of Darwinia said, "We didn't take money from publishers because we didn't want publishers to fuck with our game."Deafening applause. Thunderous.
GDC: Dar-win-ia a success at IGF
The results of the 2006 Independent Games Festival are in, and it's hats off to Darwinia. Scooping the Seumas McNally Grand Prize as well as the awards for Innovation in Visual Art and Technical Excellence, this leaves British-based Introversion's next game with a tough act to follow.Other winners at the festival were:Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (Innovation in Audio)Braid (Innovation in Game Design)Dad 'n Me (Best Web Browser Game)Dodge That Anvil! (Adult Swim Award)Dofus (Audience Award)The IGF also featured a modding competition for the first time, with four winners: Dystopia for Half-Life 2; Last Man Standing Co-op for Doom 3; Rose of Eternity - Chapter 1 - The Coming for Neverwinter Nights and Path of Vengeance for UT2004.
Independent Games Festival finalists in-depth
Gamespy has taken a detailed look at every one of the Independent Games Festival finalists, in advance of GDC next week where the awards ceremony will take place. If you've the time to go through the list in its entirety, you might be surprised at the range of games that have been under your nose all along.Gamasutra and GameDev.net have also been running interviews with some of the creators of these games, allowing interested players or designers to get a feel for the process of independent design and find out more about the games themselves. The latest Gamasutra interview is with Ominous Development (behind game Strange Attractors); GameDev.net posted six new interviews yesterday.
Indie games finalists playable now
The Independent Games Festival finalists encompass a wide range of genres, ranging from MMO Dofus to simulation Wildlife Tycoon and perennial favourite Darwinia. Their fate is now in your hands--demos of all the finalists are available for download, and you can vote in the Audience's Award for your chosen game.According to Gamasutra, this is the first time many of these games have been available for download. These demo offerings provide a good way to experience the range of creativity on offer, and at a killer price.
