Last Minute Productions

I haven’t oozed much about this wonderful little game much here on the blog but ask anyone I know personally and they’ll tell you I just won’t shut up about it. I’ve already berated one person into getting a steam account just to play the demo (he loves it by the way) and I’m working furiously on another heathen. I rarely get this insistent about making my friends try out a game but Audiosurf is a one that everyone should play and I’ve pursued this campaign just as neurotically as the great Portal evangelism of a few months back.

Audiosurf is a game that defies explanation. Believe me, I’ve tried and the best one I can come up with it that it’s like what would happen if Tetris and Guitar Hero got really drunk and did something silly in a Ferrari — Audiosurf would be the unexpectedly wonderful offspring that unholy union. Load up any song in your library, whether it be directly from a CD or one of the 50,000+ songs of dubious legal origin you have squirreled away on your hard drive, and Audiosurf transforms it into something magical… pure gaming bliss — a custom track built on the fly for whatever song you want. Using either mouse, keyboard or 360 Game Pad you navigate your rhythm-powered ship through this newly created course; either engaging in Tetris-like color stacking or navigating your Mono Ninja through a maze of grey while snagging glowing blocks from in between the score-decimating monochrome offenders.

What makes this game so addictive is the sheer unbridled replayability. After playing it for a while music begins to take on a whole separate level even when you aren’t actually playing the game. Listening to a frantic violin concerto (or face melting guitar solo, it’s your choice) you can’t help but picture the blazing red decent down a pitch black tunnel.

What is great about Audiosurf is the promise it holds for the budding indie game community. After being released on Steam it hit it’s sales quota for the first year in one week. It’s a bright future for gamers everywhere with Steam heading up the the small developer initiative with steamworks on the PC side and Microsoft actively promoting the XNA Game Studio and the Creators Club for the 360. We’re perched on the cusp (or even arguably in the middle) of a revolution — and if Audiosurf is a sample of the delights that will stem from it I’ll pick up my beret and march against the bastion of the old industry along with the independent army of the gaming nation.

Now my shameless endorsement of this game is done. I’m off to do a mono run through Beethoven’s 9th.

[You can find a free audiosurf demo here]

The story of poor Nathaniel who’s Xbox, emblazoned with the sharpie signatures of gaming industry luminaries, was scrubbed clean by an overzealous Microsoft tech spread through the net and whipped the commenting masses into a frenzy. With Bungie’s quick response we had thought the tale brought to a relatively satisfactory conclusion. Microsoft had promised to make recompense but a letter of apology was the most expected by many. Microsoft, however, showing an admirable understanding of its user base took definite steps to fix the problem. Behold…

An awesome goody package that included (among other things) a brand new Xbox 360 with original art by Luke McKay of Rooster Teeth, signatures from the Xbox 360 team, the Bungie staff and, for the crème de la crème, in the crisp green of a fresh $100 note… Bill Gates.

You’ve got to admire the way Microsoft handled this unfortunate circumstance. They took it head on and did exactly what needed to be done in order to garner the goodwill of the outraged masses. Nathaniel (while grinning uncontrollably at his bad fortune turned good) hopes that Microsoft has learned something from the experience:

While my story has come to what I am sure the average reader will conclude is a satisfactory close, I do not personally view this as its ultimate end. Don’t get me wrong: My overall mood about the packages I have received from Bungie and Microsoft is nothing short of ecstatic, but compensation was never my focus. The only thing I have specifically asked of Microsoft and the Xbox 360 team for is this particular case to be examined so that some change(s), whether small or broad, can be made to the service process to prevent the occurrence of any similar scenario. This remains my only request. I’m not asking for details, but if my story is leading to changes that should benefit current and future Xbox 360 owners, I would really like to know.

This story may indeed be over but it’s only a matter of time until the next one blazes its meteoric path through the Blogosphere. So stay tuned, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the details.

[Via Hawty McBloggy]

So I’ve been running through some old DS titles in my spare time and today I pulled out Electroplankton, a game in which you coax musical compositions from small, aquatic lifeforms with you stylus. The concept is pretty cool but I’m not sure you could even classify it as a game considering you don’t actually have a final goal or destination in mind; this is truly a pure “enjoy the ride” experience.

The interface is Zen-like in it’s simplicity and within two taps from the start screen you’re making music. You have a selection 10 different plankton to choose from in performance mode, each with their own quarks and musical styles (ranging from the classical mode to a remixed version of the Mario Star Power theme). Taps and swipes on the touchscreen will send the microbial Beethovens fluttering about the screen leaving a trail of musical notes in their wake.

The one great downfall to this gem is the utter lack of recording options and when you’ve just managed to create something that you really like it can be a bit devastating to know that you’ll never hear that particular composition again. You can, however, bypass this discrepancy by plugging it into your computer and queuing up Audacity.

Here’s a little something that I got using the aforementioned method of recording. It’s not Wagner but it’s certainly better than Eminem.

My sister of 12 years has recently been indoctrinated into the gamer fold and has taken to stealing my DS for days at a time to play Touch Detective 2 1/2 and New Super Mario Bros in the dark recesses of her closet of all things… I’m so proud of her. However, she’s predominately interested in the casual side of the art at the current juncture (with the exception of Super Smash Brothers Brawl and a few Zelda titles). As I peeked over her shoulder to see what she was clicking away at on the com I was surprised to see her playing a browser game. Turns out it was something called Webkinz, a craze that had passed unnoticed on my own radar until that very moment. Apparently you purchase a “Webkinz” animal that can take the form of anything from a polar bear to a tree frog to a unicorn and enter a code included with the toy on Webkinz.com. This sequence of events allows you to interact with a virtual representation of your recently acquired bundle of plush joy. As I watched her gleefully navigate this magical world of fluffy clouds and primary colors and interact with other players something began to dawn on me in much the same way I imagine an oncoming train looks to a hobo stumbling drunkenly into the train tracks… this was WOW for prepubescent girls. They’re grinding for God’s sake, visiting shops and game rooms day after day, farming KinzCash so they can buy 52″ HD-TVs for their avatar’s chicly decorated apartment. The game rolls Second Life and Care bears together in one big fluffy package and creates the gamer of the future. What we’re seeing with games like Webkinz is what the next generation is cutting their teeth on, we had Mario and Zelda, they have lv.50 tree frogs with +20 cuteness Crowns of Wonder.

Every once and a while a news story comes along that screams, “I’m gonna be on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!” and this one was a perfect example of the genre. District attorney Ray Sumrow is being charged for forgery, theft and records tampering because he (among other things) reportedly spent upwards of $15,000 on computers parts and a “backup server” for his office… a backup server that was compiled of several high end video cards, seven cooling fans, two hard drives and cables that glow under ultraviolet light. I’m pretty sure that that last point is the one that sunk him. You can argue that a serious server might utilize that kind of tech but glowing cables? I’m just wondering how good Crysis looked on this “backup server”.

The trial started March 3d and his lawyer is still trying to argue that the glowing behemoth of a computer gives +20 justice to everyone who enters the DA’s office. Unfortunately for Mr. Sumrow “Hax!” is not a valid objection in the United States justice system.We’ll keep an eye out for the conclusion of this drama so stay tuned for updates.

[Story and pic via Dallas News and Penny Arcade, respectively]