Tuesday, July 28, 2015

This Needs A Bit More To It

He wasn't always kinda, sorta, not really famous, you know. Before this lil' pixel managed to headline his own title, the now hoppin' boppin' block was only recognized as the grandchild of one of the most well-known icons from the days of Atari: a quadrilateral quester with no name that slew duck dragons in search of a wishbone. He also played significant cameos in other Atari titles, like the square ball in Pong, the square ball in Super Breakout, which is like a single-player version of Pong for people too pathetic to have a friend, and as one of the rocks in the 2600 version of Dig Dug. Looking back, it wasn't really that impressive of a career, but his old stories, like the one where he defiantly turned 45 degrees in order to retrieve the wishbone as a rhombus, were enough to inspire Pip to pursue his own Adventure in the video gaming industry. Puns are not funny ...nor is anything else here.

Once he was old enough, Pip set out to make his dream a reality. Unfortunately, there was a dark road ahead for the little guy, and he was likely to be eaten by a grue. Video games were now considerably more detailed, and any work a single pixel could get would be no more impactful than adding another drop of water to the ocean. Despite his best efforts, Pip's participation would be so small that even he couldn't point out which bit he was in a screenshot (also, he had no fingers to point with). While modeling for pixel art here and there helped keep the poor block off the streets, Pip's desire to someday follow in his grandfather's footste... erm, slide marks was slowly dying. At his low point, Pip found himself sharing the role of a "Go away! You'll ruin everything!" Z piece in a Tetris clone.
"Hey, blocks, check it! Go snake that shit!"
(...still not funny)
It wasn't until the mid 2000s, shortly after Crazy Frog was strangled to death with his own tongue, when a revival of chip music took hold with the help of artists like Beck, Gorillaz, and 8-Bit Operators. Retro-styled (commonly 8- and 16-bit) games soon followed as shareware distribution was made obsolete thanks to updated development tools, online distributors, and crowdfunding that allowed independent developers to finally profit from their efforts to fulfill that strong, somewhat sad, desire shared by 30-year-old gamers to relive their power-playing, blast-processing childhoods. For the first time since his journey began, Pip's fear of settling for a spot on Newgrounds as some piss-poor flash title with unresponsive controls and poor collision detection was no longer a strong possibility. Also, that flash game would have been littered with dicks, because... Newgrounds. More importantly, I need to use more hyphens (and better grammar in general) in my work, or, at least, something hyphen related. Wait, flip that. "...or, at least, a hyphen-related something."
Why not hyphen-related math? 
After filling in a few more spots here and there throughout various Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects, along with participating in some pro bono work for Kongregate and Armor Games (as is strongly encouraged in the Gaming Rules of Professional Pixelated Conduct), Pip managed to secure himself a starring role in Tic Toc Games's next amazing platformer.
A tough act to follow.
*Image has been altered to increase adorableness by 20%*
Aptly titled Adventures of Pip, players take control of whats-his-name and travel across a relatively small world to reach the pixel-absorbing bitch queen of the underworld (which is above all the other areas of the rest of the world *shrugs*) who waited precisely sixteen years to kidnap the princess, probably because holding an infant or young child hostage would be really evil and that's definitely not, you know, something the main villain of a video game should ever do.

While it's true that she attacked the kingdom and turned many of the high-res townsfolk into helpless blocks, the skeleton queen has a somewhat likable personality, as is expressed in much of her dialogue.
No, not at all, but, um, if you're done with that lifeless body...
Using the special ability of the princess to manipulate the bitstream, DeRezzia plans to change everyone into the same resolution. Presumably, this would bring an end to the inequality exhibited between hi- and lo-res citizens, but I'm guessing she never saw the 12th episode of The Fairly OddParents where a similar wish turned everyone into a variety of cartoon birds voiced by Gilbert Gottfried and Timmy had to plop food on his head to fix it.

As Pip, you'll bounce and trounce you're way through a simplified obstacle course of about ten hours worth of content in order to rescue trios of stupid townsfolk who fled the kingdom during DeRezzia's attack only to end up getting stuck in other dangerous spots. They're merely collectible, but the game's not challenging enough to justify ignoring them, so put in that small bit of effort to finish this properly, ok?
Many are actually Kickstarter backers whom you'll meet again whenever Pip heads back to shop.
There are plenty of power-ups to purchase using other pixels one accumulates from treasure chests and fallen enemies as money. These purchases include additional hearts, damage reduction, and a fireball-throwing sword. Now, before you question the use of pixels as money, please note that the world, its inhabitants, the power to create pixels, Adam Sandler's continuing streak of terrible movies, and this particular currency are all topics best left at a basic understanding. Too much thought into the 6 Ws of how this reality works won't amount to anything... though I wouldn't mind a sequel with some explanation. Then again, I wouldn't mind if there was a sequel without it, too. The game doesn't take itself too seriously, and nor should you.

I supported the Kickstarter, not only because I thought the concept was neat, but also because I discovered Jake "Virt" Kaufman created the soundtrack. A terrific remixer/composer. If his name isn't familiar, the man's work includes soundtracks for Shantae, Ducktails: Remastered, Shovel Knight, and Double Dragon Neon. Check out his stuff.

The game itself is a fun romp. Well-made, colorful, cheerful, and occasionally amusing, but I wouldn't recommend it at full cost. It's just too easy, too short, and there's little replay value to compensate. Still, if Tic Toc Games decides to start up another campaign to fund a sequel, I'll be glad to chip in. I think they've earned that much.
Let's hope Bogart manages to waddle his way into the sequel as a companion of sorts.
*Image has been altered to increase adorableness by 23%*

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

I understand.

If you're a part of the iGen (Generation Z), then it's a safe assumption that Iwata's impact was strongly felt through games like Pokemon Silver, Gold, Stadium, Super Smash Bros., along with his decisions to direct Nintendo towards gimmicky consoles that separated themselves from their competition and still managed to profit considerably. Prior to that, there was Balloon Fight, but I didn't care much for playing Joust, and Earthbound, a game I never could get my hands on (for monetary reasons), which left me with Kirby's Dream Land. I love the game, and I eventually bought the anniversary collection (with the included soundtrack, of course), but, please understand, that alone doesn't feel as though I should have the right to associate the man with my childhood. Instead, Mr. Iwata played a role in my early adulthood as a shining example of the sort of person I should strive to be, even if I don't end up being as successful as he was.

Satoru Iwata was a man who not only knew what he was doing, and loved what he was doing, but he also enjoyed expressing that love to the public: first, through ensuring high quality content from nearly all of Nintendo's first-party titles, and, later, with the help of various forms of social media to build strong public relations with fellow gamers, especially with his Iwata Asks segments and Nintendo Directs. He was the sort of man I respected most in this world: hands-on, hard-working, humble, and even a bit quirky. The president of a major company who maintained consideration for both his employees and consumers as a result of starting at the bottom, working his way up the corporate ladder, and managing to not forget where he came from in the process. He understood that responsibility begins at the top, a lesson many refuse to learn nowadays, and that money shouldn't be the main focus of a business (though it's certainly an important one), as was indicated by his relatively low base salary. With his passing, the world has become a darker place, and I fear for Nintendo's future because of it. Sure, the company has made plenty of foolish decisions under Iwata's leadership, and many believe his loss will lead to a more business savvy (i.e. soulless) direction, but the thing is, somebody has to take chances, and few gaming companies have both the nerve and money to afford the potential backlash of those risks. Video games need that innovation to help the industry to evolve, which is why I've always loved Nintendo. Now, I can only hope that the company remains as fun and unpredictable as it had been under Iwata's leadership. 

I would eat a banana in the man's honour if I wasn't allergic to them, but I do plan on purchasing Earthbound Beginnings in the near future. That's something I guess. I wish I could think of something more appropriate, and I don't mean adding my name to an assortment of silly petitions. I would purchase Kirby and Ness amiibos if I could find them (aside from scalpers), but that doesn't seem likely at this point. 

I've also been listening to Bound Together, a fan-made soundtrack of remixed music inspired by Mother 2 (That's one more reason to praise Iwata, right?) The music is free to download, and includes tracks by Virt, The OneUps, and Joshua Morse. I recommend it, along with downloading Earthbound Beginnings on the VC.

I really wanted to post about all of this sooner, but, considering the topic was on a more personal level than my usual garbage, I just didn't want to settle for using something I quickly took off of Google images. As a result, you get to look at this eyesore I created. My apologies.