Space-Giraffe
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Minter talks Space Giraffe, cuddles sheep
Jeff Minter reports on the status of Space Giraffe, his psychedelic homage to his own Tempest 2000. With the game engine complete, Minter sounds optimistic that an actual framework can be compiled (levels, lives, bonuses, achievements, etc.) and shipped out for testing within a few weeks. Minter writes, "the bulk of the implementation work is done and [now it's] more about small touches, construction of behaviours, and planning of the diff curve }:-)." If development stays on schedule, Space Giraffe could be complete by April and flushed into the Xbox Live Arcade pipeline. When it would come out the other end is anybody's guess. At least Minter's got his sheep. [Via IGN]
Space Giraffe interview: it's not Tempest
Jeff Minter, creator of the (trippy) upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Space Giraffe, recently sat down with 1UP to discuss the game and its "unique" style. Minter relates his desire to create and arcade title that has a very smooth difficulty curve so that it will appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers alike. He also notes that Space Giraffe is more than just Tempest 2000 with a new coat of paint. The principle gameplay is the same, though there are many new features and strategies required to advance. Also revealed in the article, players will not be limited to the in game music, and will be able to include their own music -- which will have an affect on the light synthesizer in the background -- as well. Finally, Minter lets us know that there are more XBLA games coming from Llamasoft in the future, and he hopes that Space Giraffe will be available by the first quarter of 2007. See a new video of Space Giraffe after the break.
Trippy Space Giraffe video is "giraffetastic!" [update 1]
Let's be honest, Jeff Minter's Space Giraffe is nothing more than an updated Tempest 2000 (also Minter's creation), itself a remake of 1981's Tempest. The upcoming XBLA rail shooter brings to mind Geometry Wars and Rez in a big way, and this work-in-progress video includes licensed music and intentional Engrish. There isn't much about Space Giraffe that is original or innovative ... but still it looks like insane fun. Let none of that stop you from enjoying some ultra-trippy video, set to the tune of Aphex Twin (Warning: NSFW). The YouTube video is pretty shoddy in quality, so we recommend going to Xboxyde for a slightly crisper experience. "Congraturation! You success! A winner is you! But our giraffe is in another castle!" [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy] [Update 1: So, as it turns out, Richard David James has yet to multiply himself through meiosis or any other similar process. Ooopsies, singularity has won.]
Space Giraffe video will melt your brain
Jeff Minter, the demented genius behind the 360's audio visualizer, is still busy with his next creation, Space Giraffe, for Xbox Live Arcade. Just to prove it, he released a video of the game in action. Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe it. Somewhere beneath the psychedelic lights and trippy music, is a basic shooter. The player slides left and right on rails as "enemies" slowly creep toward the foreground. Everything else is anything but basic. The enemies explode, lights go off everywhere, and weird little phrases pop up ("Ouch, my polygons!"). The end of level messages mimic the poorly translated games of yore: "Congraturation! You success!" Old school gaming veterans will also recognize plenty of nostalgic sound effects. It really defies description so we can only thank our lucky stars that there's a video. Hit the read link to check it out. You can also watch an earlier work in progress video -- set to one of Aphex Twin's (marginally) less disturbing songs -- after the break (song lyrics NSFW).
Jeff Minter bringing space giraffes to XBLA
As if Geometry Wars doesn't provide enough trippy, vector graphics action for Xbox Live Arcade, Jeff Minter and the boys at Llamasoft have posted some extremely psychedelic pictures (warning, some NSFW language) of their new XBLA game, tentatively titled "Space Giraffe." Jeff doesn't reveal many gameplay details in the post on his blog, but he does say that the game will be a rail-based shooter in the tradition of Minter's Tempest 2000. Leave it to the creator of the Xbox 360's lightsnyth, to come up with a game that looks like a bad acid trip. [Via K1lla's Xbox Domain]
Jeff Minter's "Space Giraffe" for XBLA
Jeff Minter, creator of those mind-bending Xbox 360 media visualizations, is working on a sequel to Tempest 2000/3000. for Xbox Live Arcade. He posted some tripped out screens from the game, known unofficially as Space Giraffe, on his LiveJournal blog. At least now we know what's fueling this guy's cosmic creativity: A healthy dose of Stella Artois. [via K1lla's Xbox Domain] '
