12 posts tagged “funstuff”

For the past couple of months my default, “let’s kill 20 minutes” game has been 2D Boy’s World of Goo.

WoG, for the uninitiated, is a physics based puzzle game involving little blobs of goo.  The object is to get as many goo balls as possible into a feeder pipe that takes them all away.  Of course, getting the goo balls to these pipes is something of a challenge.  The player must use the goo balls to build bridges, towers, chains, etc. all while trying to get a minimum number of goo balls to the pipe in order to complete a level.

Along the way, new forms of goo balls are introduced including red, explosive ones, clear, water-like ones that always hang down in drips, and green, “connector” goo balls that can be re-used several times.  Many of the puzzles and challenges involve using a specific type of goo ball to reach the pipe.

There is a story too, but it is secondary to the main action of playing the game.  It mainly unfolds in the cut scenes at the end of a level or between stages, although there are signs left by “The Signpainter” in all the worlds that offer bits of philosophy, warnings, or just observations.

World of Goo is a beautiful game.  The design of the goo balls and the worlds they inhabit is just spectacular.  The artists and designers found the sweet spot between cartoonish and childish that brings back reminiscences of Saturday mornings and sugary cereal.  Further, the soundtrack is equally beautiful.  The designers at 2D Boy created several loops that blend together and play back in almost transcendent harmonies and pieces that are so good, the soundtrack by itself is almost as much fun as the game.

WoG is available for Mac, PC, Linux, and Wii and costs 15 to 20 bucks.  It's worth every penny.

Other reviews:

Kotaku

IGN

GameSpot

Rock Paper Shotgun

1 Up

The line between art and prank can sometimes be a really fine one, but when the outcome is as cool as this, who cares?

This is cool; I want to learn to play this piece.

Recently, I've been taken with the opening credits to a few shows: John from Cincinnatiand True Blood, namely.  These credits use pop songs rather than scores and run like videos rather than an intro to the show; I find that I can watch them independently of the shows they represent. All of which means I'm now hunting for more.  In the meantime -

John from Cincinatti, featuring "Johnny Appleseed" by Joe Strummer:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Macross, the seminal Japanese anime that was transformed into the first act of the American cartoon Robotech.

I have been a huge Robotech geek since I was a kid and since coming to Japan, I've become a serious Macross Otaku, much to my wife's annoyance and the amusement of my students. But hey, everyone needs a hobby, right?  Anyway, I've managed, over the years to watch the original Japanese series as well as the subsequent sequels and sidestories.

(Note for the uninitiated - The Macross series and the Robotech franchise differ widely after the initial run.  The Macross series continues with Macross Plus, Macross 7, Macross Zero, while Robotech has the second and third acts as well as this years Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.)

All of which leads to this year's Macross Frontier.  The series, so far, has been fun, with a lot of throwbacks and references to the classic series as well as to the story presented in Macross Zero.  And while the basic tropes are the same (handsome boy rescues girl from evil alien attack; she flirts and teases with him while another girl looks on and pines; music saves the day) there are enough new details and twists to make the series fun for longtime fans geeks.

For those wanting a more detailed synopses, I'll direct you to the (startlingly informed) Wikipedia article, rather than try to sum up everything myself.

Thanks to the power of YouTube and the internet fan community, most of the episodes are available with (questionable) fan subtitles in English.

As I said, this is a fun series with lots of references to the classics that most fans should enjoy.  Well worth checking out.

I don't know how I missed this for the first few episodes but this show is fantastic; The Middleman is like Men in Black meets The Tick meets Get Smart.  Watch it now.

Show us your favorite pair of shoes.

Torn-up Old Boots

It says: "Going away was something I never thought I'd stop wanting to do."

The best thing about YouTube?  I think it has to be the fact that I can call up Nostalgia with a quick search.  Any music video, any t.v. show, damn near any song, any movie...just one quick search and there it is.  Like this video, Ana Ng, by They Might Be Giants, which is the first time I had heard the band.

I can remember sitting on the sofa in my living room talking on the phone to a girl I liked.  (This is way back in the day kids.  No cellies, not even pagers.  Not yet.)  She told me to turn on Mtv and I did.  The video was just starting and we sat there on the phone, not speaking, just connected via wires and the sounds of mutual breathing. Existing, each in our own houses, each in our own spaces, yet still connected so we could watch videos together.

Somedays, I miss that.  And when I do, well, here you go: