Tidbits for August 18, 2006
Yes its been a while since we had some new tidbits, and I found some interesting items that have been making thier way across the blogosphere. So without further ado, we commence:
- What happens when you combine Ninjas, Pirates, Robots and Zombies (mind you if any of the entities were time travelling, I would have had to invoke our copyright)? You get Ninja Loves Pirate which was submitted as part of GameDev.net's Four Element's Contest. The contest involves the creation of a game using at least 2 of those elements listed above and create a game. Sounds like a winner for me, and I must thank the folks over at Joystiq for the link love.
- Guitar Hero is a heck of a PS2 game and probably one of the best games released this last year, but you are a PS2 h8a (notice the correct spelling unlike Mr. Scalzi who spelled it "hayta") and you don't want that console in your house (JP). No worries, there is an open source version called Frets On Fire that allows you to play using a keyboard or joypad. The great news is that you could craft your own controller using a joypad and a toy guitar like this guy, and next month PC Format will show us all how.
- Terra Nova have a great article up about heroism and video games. The author goes on about how do you create the experience where your avatar in the game really is "heroic" versus somebody who is effectively immortal since they can never be truly eliminated. I think that once a MMO figures out how to make players really feel heroic versus it simply be a question of repetion and then folks will be hooked for a good long time.
- Neverwinter Nights may be off Atari's official support list, but there are still some mods being put together out there. Today, a major one was released. Danger over Daggerford was intended to be another premium module for Neverwinter Nights, but the developers decided to release it for free. So if you have the game and all of its expansions, this would have be another thing to pickup and play. Also, Infinite Dungeons is on sale for a limited time for only 6.95 at Bioware's online store - also not a bad deal..
What's up with Ninja Loves Pirate? The background artwork is way cool but the characters look like they've been ripped from Intellivision.
Posted by John on Saturday August 19, 2006 at 10:30 AM
I think the thing to remember is that the game was created originally for the contest and it had a very short timeframe for development:
Start Date: June 6, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST
End Date: October 31, 2005 at 11:59 PM EST
As stated on the contest rules site, and I think they are trying to appeal to the whole retrogaming thing. Plus, it uses Pirates and Ninjas baby!!! Don't be a h8a 
Posted by Tim on Saturday August 19, 2006 at 11:07 AM
