So, I made a video

I made a video from my favourite piece on this blog, the one on Art, Porn, Commercialisation, Kill La Kill and Cashback, This took ages and is the second time I uploaded the thing (thanks to automated systems that flag videos for copyrighted content which, although fair enough, gets abused by companies to avoid negative or non-profitable videos and fair use laws aren't upheld), I'd really appreciate it if you gave it a look and dropped some feedback; that helps immensely.

Cheers, have a good one.

Undertale: A masterpiece in game design

Undertale is the best game I have ever played. While it may only be subjectively better than all the other games I’ve yet had the pleasure to play there is a particular reason that I think it’s the best game I’ve come across. People have cited the characters, the music, the writing and even sometimes the art style as the reason they fell in love with the game. All of those elements are fantastic but one of the least lauded aspects is the reason Undertale stands above the likes of Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid and Team Fortress 2 in my eyes, and that’s actually the gameplay.

In Praise Of: The Music Machine

If it weren’t for a late play through of the incredible Undertale David Szymanski’s The Music Machine would be my pick for game of the year for 2015 (admittedly I played very few new releases but beating out the likes of the excellent The Beginners Guide is no small feat). Clever writing, incredible aesthetic, horrifying environments and subtly intelligent game design all combine to make for a fantastic game that sadly hasn’t seen anywhere near as much praise as I believe it deserves. Why does it deserve so much praise? Read on to get my view on one of the more intelligent and unique takes on horror (in any form) I’ve ever experienced.

Video Game Details: Gunpoint's brilliant animation

Oh boy, Gunpoint. I'll likely have an "In Praise Of:" post for this game at some point because it's utterly brilliant in it's entirety. Any individual detail merits a post, but I'm going to talk only about one. While the art style, music and writing are all reasons I bought the game, one of the biggest deciding factors was a really small detail, one that exemplifies in my view the style of humour Gunpoint has going for it: the falling animation.

In Gunpoint you jump by holding the mouse button and charge the strength of the jump (up to a point) for as long as you hold the M1 key down. When you release you jump, following the parabolic arc represented (in the above image) by the dots on screen.

Do you see the playable character (Richard Conway) there? He just flung himself from a building. Now, at the apex of his arc, he is in the superman pose. Brilliant. Are you in love yet? No? Take a gander down here then.

See the way that little trench coat is flapping upwards with the air resistance? Isn't that just beautiful. Still not convinced? Well, this isn't the punchline quite yet.

*plaf* That's about the best way I can describe the (wonderful) sound you make as you fall flat on your face. A core mechanic in the game (that is that you take no fall damage, as well as your ability to perform massive jumps) is explained away by Conway possessing a special pair of trousers that have some sort of springs in them. Then to test them he jumps out his apartment window and he is flat on his face, just like in the image above. The game wonderfully makes fun of it's silly explanation of core mechanics and creates a fantastic visual gag at the same time, and this tiny detail is just one of the reasons I think Gunpoint is as good, if not better than, some of the indie heavyweights (for example Super Meat Boy, Hotline Miami, FTL) and one of my all time favourite games in general.

Tremendously fun, it remains the only game I've ever wished I paid more for than I did (I bought it during a steam sale). And if I had to pick the one quality amongst so many brilliant individual elements that made me fall in love with the game; this tiny animation would be it.