Crazy Nintendo.
Right now in Japan, monsters are battling robots. Medieval dudes with long hair are fighting fitness trainers; people are running, panicked. Super Smash Bros. 3DS has made landfall.
Classical music meets crowd-funded art.
It's been quite a journey for the game Spate, from initial conception, to successful Kickstarter campaign, to final release on Steam. Dragged into reality by Eric Provan of Ayyo Games, the game is a dreamy, artistic experience. Ayyo Games might have struggled to make this game, but they didn't do it alone: they were accompanied by classical composer and game scorer Mike Raznick, who approached them during the Kickstarter campaign. The result is a stark audio experience unlike most games. Enamored with both the game and the soundtrack, we caught up with Mike Raznick to talk about how he created the score, his influences, and what he thinks of video game music.
How to make an OlliOlli: Take Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, make it 2D, remove the vert tricks, and put all the trick controls on the analog stick. Voila!
It's hard to say "skateboarding" and "video game" in the same sentence and not evoke immediate thoughts of the now classic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (THPS) series. Those games redefined the genre and brought social relevance to the counter-culture sport. Given that the craze for these games is over, OlliOlli has rolled through the door in an attempt to rekindle our love of the extreme sport with a new take on it. Rather than the vert-centric experience of Tony Hawk, OlliOlli is a pure street skating game, and a 2D side-scrolling one at that. Though clearly influenced by THPS, it goes about things in its own way. Unfortunately, Roll7's unique take on the sport doesn't ascend to the heights that The Birdman did in the '90s.
This gorgeous remake deserves better controls.
Nights Into Dreams has unquestionably been treated with love in its transformation into HD. The Japanese exclusive PlayStation 2 version of the game has been upscaled and displayed in wide screen, making the once blocky presentation smooth and vibrant. Even the sprites were upgraded to 3D objects, providing some extra visual flair. Heck, Sega even included a trimmed version of Christmas Nights for good measure. However, the port suffers from the same botched controls found in that PlayStation 2 version of the game and the rough patches of the experience persist despite the loving upgrade.
Available now for the PC, and Mac.