The video game market is being divided into two sectors right now. On the first hand, blockbusters, increasingly expensive labors and resources, imposed at the top of gondola by the marketing machine. On the other hand, independent games made by a handful of enthusiasts without money, but with love. Among those titles, there are sometimes a little jewel products. This is the case of World of Goo, just bringing a breath of fresh air on WiiWare, and it’s a great game!

goo.001 World of Goo Review

Developed by 2D Boy, a young studio consisting of two developers (!), this puzzle-game might well have joined the overwhelming mass of anonymous, like too many titles of the genre. But it would not rely on the talent of Ron Caramel and Kyle Gabler, who clearly know what makes a good game; it is primarily a solid concept. The World of Goo is childish: you must bring a number of small black balls, the famous Goos, to the output of each level; a principle as old as Lemmings. However, the Goos are amazing: they are able to create links between them, much like atoms in a molecule. In assembling, it becomes possible to create structures such as towers and bridges, which allow you to overcome obstacles. So, the basics are easy to learn, especially since everything is done in a few movements with the Wiimote.

Kyle Gabler, the artist of the duo, has done an outstanding job. We will not speak here of dynamic lighting and bump mapping, just crude artistic talent. The world of Goos is a little jewel of inventiveness, even if we can see some influence by places. However, World of Goo has a charm.

goo.002 World of Goo Review

The Wiimote is enough to move Goos and form a structure; we immediately understand how it works. But 2D Boy has managed to transcend this simple principle with a clever level design, which never ceases to surprise us as we progress in the game. The gameplay is surprisingly so deep. This is high art.

World of Goo offers 50 levels and it takes about 8 hours to be done with all of them. However, it can be very pleasant to return and try saving more Goos to build the tallest tower, to get the awards or just for fun to browse this haunting world.

Whether in music or small noises made by the Goos, everything is really cute, adorable. The sound is a frank success. A puzzle-game with a real story and not an indigent story, is it possible? Yes, World of Goo proves it. Yet the narrative is very brief, since it is largely through signs … But it works and it disappears quickly in the sweetness of this funny and poetic world.

World of Goo gives us a real lesson in game design and creativity, in words of art. What remind to the most jaded of us why we love video games. There is still hope in this formatted world and it feels good. What more, if not thank you 2D Boy?

goo.003 World of Goo Review

Budcat logoYou may not know the name, but if you’re still rocking on the PlayStation 2, there’s a good chance you’ve played their games. Activision today announced that they’ve purchased Budcat Creations, the developer behind the PS2 versions of
Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Activision Buys Budcat, Assigns Them New Guitar Hero Title, and Guitar Hero World Tour Activision Buys Budcat, Assigns Them New Guitar Hero Title. And what’s their first assignment now that they’re fully owned by Activision? Surprise! A new Guitar Hero game.

“Budcat Creations is an outstanding developer with an experienced management team and a very talented group of programmers, designers and artists,” said Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. “In addition to strengthening our development capabilities on the Nintendo platforms, this acquisition increases our Guitar Hero development resources as we continue to grow the franchise and expand our global leadership position in the music-based genre.”

Along with working on the PS2 Guitar Hero games, Budcat also made Blast Works for the Wii, and are currently working on Our House for the Wii and DS (which would account for the “strengthened development capabilities” Griffith refers to for Nintendo platforms).

Circuit City store closing

Struggling electronics retailer Circuit City today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (yes, Chapter 11, like 1UP parent company Ziff Davis Media filed for earlier this year), according to Reuters. The announcements comes just a week after the company announced it would be closing 155 stores due to the economic downturn, among other factors.

In the filing, Circuit City CFO Bruce Besanko explained the move: “In large part, a Chapter 11 filing is due to three factors, all of which contributed to a liquidity crisis that prevented the company from completing its turnaround goals outside of formal proceedings: erosion of vendor confidence, decreased liquidity and a global economic crisis.”

It’s been an absolute whirlwind of bad news recently — Gizmodo recently reported that Sony stopped shipments of their products while they were in transit to distribution centers and had them returned “among worries that Circuit City couldn’t pay for the shipments.” That remains an unconfirmed rumor, but it wouldn’t seem out of place among the rest of the bad news that’s gone on. Hopefully they pull through this; besides, where else will you go to pay to have free updates installed? Not to mention the fact that it would, y’know, put people out of work.

Chrono Trigger DS screenshot

Yes, Chrono Trigger DS is mostly just a port of the Super NES classic, and not a remake. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few new elements added in for those who’ve already played the game to death — in addition to the previously revealed new dungeon and battle arena, Famitsu now reports (via Kotaku) that Chrono Trigger DS will add one new ending. This brings the total number of endings in the game to 14 (or, depending on how you count, 16).

Obviously, details on the ending weren’t given so as not to spoil it, but a couple of very vague screenshots were shown. In addition to the ending, yet one more new feature was revealed for the portable port: a “gallery” or “character” mode, which let’s you view event scenes, listen to in-game music, check out stats and data for all the game’s monsters, and also view treasure maps of areas you’ve visited (with any missed treasure chests appearing on the map).

You can check out more of what to expect from Chrono Trigger DS in our last hands-on preview. Also, check the Famitsu link for the two (really not very spoliery) screenshots of the new ending. Chrono Trigger DS is set for release on November 25.

Faster Processor Shorter Battery Life For Nintendo DSi
The Nintendo DSi has a bigger screen, a better processor and an SD card slot, but one thing the DS Lite (and the humble DS Phat) still have on their younger brother is roughly one to six hours of battery life. And now it looks like we know why.

The Japan-based Bunnie:Studios blog (via Gizmodo) decided to tear down the DSi and have a look for themselves at why exactly the DSi needs so much extra juice. As it turns out, the blame rests not with the bigger, brighter screen but the DSi’s more powerful processor and accompanying speakers.

So why a better processor? Well, the extra horsepower the DSi needs for sound, video and photo manipulation has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately, it looks like the tradeoff is a few less hours of Elite Beat Agents on a long car trip. But at least “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” will sound great coming out of those killer new speakers, right?

Electronic Arts Closing Casual Label

November 10, 2008    Category: Nintendo DS   No Comments »

EA logo

Electronic Arts has announced that they’ll be closing their Casual Label, and merging it with the Sims Label to form the new Sims and Casual Label, reports GamesIndustry.biz. The merging of the two labels comes after the recent departure of Kathy Vrabeck as president of EA Casual. Vrabeck, who joined EA after serving as president of publishing for EA’s biggest competitor, Activision, cited only “personal reasons” for her departure.

“EA has learned a lot about casual entertainment in the past two years, and found that casual gaming defies a single genre and demographic,” a statement from EA read. “With the departure of Kathy Vrabeck, EA is reorganizing to integrate casual games — development and marketing — into other divisions of our business. We are merging our Casual Studios, Hasbro partnership, and Casual marketing organization with The Sims Label to be a new Sims and Casual Label, where there is a deep compatibility in the product design, marketing and demographics.”

While it’s not necessarily related, the reorganization of these labels comes during some tumult at EA, with the publisher recently cutting its fiscal 2009 earnings forecast and eliminating about 580 jobs from its workforce — solid evidence that, despite some analysts’ projections, the videogame industry is not entirely immune from the fallout of the slowing global economy, after all.