Are developers and designers as interesting as the games they create? That's what the Pixel Heart project believes, and if it receives the crowdfunding it's currently seeking on Ulule.com, it will show the world via an ambitious multimedia project.It starts with a documentary that spends a week with six different developers in their own countries: Mark Healey of England (of LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway fame), Robin Hunicke of the U.S. (The Sims and Journey), Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Japan (Rez and Child of Eden), Edmundo Bordeu of Chile (Rock of Ages and Zeno Clash) and Eyram Tawia of Ghana (Africa's Legends). You may notice that's only five people, as a sixth developer from India is still to be determined.All six movie subjects will contribute something to the second part of the Pixel Heart plan, which is a game jam that will gather 100 developers in Paris for 48 hours. Split into 12 teams, the goal of the game jam is to create 12 new games, half of which will be PC fare while the other six aim for more immersive hardware like the Oculus Rift.
We don't know what it is, we don't know how you play it, but we do know what it looks like - and hey, that's better than nothing.Dong Nguyen tweeted a picture of his next project on Twitter last night, along with the smirk-inducing message "I am making a new game, so people can forget about Flappy Bird for a while."
SUPERHOT (one word, all caps you philistines) is an incredibly cool time-based first-person shooter that you can play in your browser. We've talked about it before, as a great game you can complete in less than 10 minutes.Now, there's a new version of SUPERHOT that will presumably take a bit longer than that. Or at least there will be. The developer launched a Kickstarter campaign to make a new, fully fleshed version of the game - complete with story, new weapons, and new enemies - with a reasonable goal of $100,000.They've already hit that benchmark and will probably reach their first, $120,000 stretch goal (better 3D animations) by the time you're reading this.
I love it when people take two ideas that don't seem to mesh together, but ultimately manage to complement each other flawlessly. Heck - I've been pitching a Guitar Hero / Klax mashup since the days when people actually played Guitar Hero. So it's with that spirit in mind that I'd like to present Hazumino: the falling blocks endless runner by Samurai Punk.With their left thumb, players will tap to make their runner jump. With their right, they'll aim, rotate, and shoot blocks to the left side of the screen to create a bridge for their runner to traverse. Run into a block or slam a block right into your little character and its game over.It's simple, it's brilliant, and it works.It's also admittedly crude in parts, but the promise of what's here more than outweighs any quibbles I might bring to the table. Hazumino is a really great idea that's well worth checking out. Grab this one for 99 cents on iTunes or Google Play.
If you like spending money on cool art, and just happen to love Monument Valley as much as we do, you're going to want to break out your wallet and head over to Etsy right now. Crafty creator byAndreas has created a wonderful wooden sculpture based on everybody's favorite friend in Monument Valley: the Totem.Standing at 14.5" tall and 3.5" wide, I can't help but think he'd be a perfect pal for my desk, standing to the left of my monitor as I work. And his head moves too, which is awesome.If you're as excited about these guys as I am, you'll want to act quick: byAndreas is only producing a limited run of 20, and they sell for $175.00 each.Visit the ByAndreas Etsy store to get your Totem before they all disappear.
News that Dong Nguyen is thinking of bringing Flappy Bird back to the App Store isn't new. In fact, he said as much on Twitter back in March. But a release window, complete with details of what the new version will bring? Now that's news.In an interview with CNBC, Nguyen confirmed that the game should be coming this August, and will include… wait for it…Multiplayer.
Originally announced back in 2009, it's been a long time since anybody heard anything new on Car Jack Streets 2. After our interview back in 2012, Tag Games seemed to have maintained radio silence on the subject. There was no official word on the game after that point, and Tag Games have since moved on to a number of other now-completed projects, like bringing Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes to the App Store, and creating Moshi Monsters Village.The writing was on the wall. Car Jack Streets 2 was dead.Only… it wasn't."The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." That's Mark Twain, though it just as easily could have been Tag Games CEO Paul Farley. Despite a general consensus amongst internet denizens that the project was dead, Farley has assured Gamezebo that this simply isn't the truth. Production on Car Jack Streets 2 moves on, albeit slowly."Car Jack 2 is still in (very slow) development," said Farley. "It's certainly a labour of love, feels a bit like 'Indie Game: The Movie,' only we're making an open world 3D game with one or two people at a time!"
When a game is offensive, it's usually designed to be that way. Nobody thinks the makers of Postal or Grand Theft Auto are out to give people a warm and fuzzy feeling. Other times, games that are meant to explore a sensitive issue are misconstrued as offensive; Super Columbine Massacre RPG is a great example.But could a game be accidentally offensive?That seems to be the case with Pixel Marathon, an endless runner from developer Tinker Games.With colorful graphics and commonplace cartoony violence, Tinker's latest release seems like the kind of generic App Store clutter that couldn't offend a soul. The team behind the project certainly couldn't imagine why anyone would take umbrage with such a friendly time-waster.That's because, being based in Indonesia, the team wasn't aware of the Boston Marathon Bombings.