Good Senior Photo Get!

There are five very good things happening in this photo.

1. That large GameBoy Advance (Glacier variant) looks really comfy to sit on.

2. His GameCube shirt is legitimately rad.

3. I can’t tell if he is holding a Wave Bird wireless GCN controller or a smaller GameBoy Advance. Either way it’s video game related I’m sure. Awesome.

4. He clearly has pretty hefty GameBoy tucked in his left pocket. I’m assuming a Pocket or an original. Hard to tell.

5. If I was him, I’d stay in that photo session all day long. That lighting seems absolutely optimal for reflective TFT LCD gaming.

- Kyle

Good Game Get! Realistic Summer Sports Simulator

Justin Smith has done it again.

First he created the most accurate virtual representation of bear hibernation that even puts naturalist, David Attenborough and his wonderful voice to shame. After that he took on the incredibly daunting task of giving the historically correct account of The Oregon Trail a chance. He has thrice succeeded in his goal of complete realism and has created the ultimate summer sports simulation game.



It’s an intense challenge that requires excellent one finger dexterity that only true champions possess. Imagine that you are a God with a yellow pixel bungie cord that magically attaches itself to a winner (or a loser) that you then can control through various events.

Justin once told me that he hopes his players get “a laugh. One solitary chuckle is all [he hopes] for. Maybe with a shade of bewilderment. Or a sigh of longing as the player gazes out their window on a rainy day, dreaming of simpler times.”

He has accomplished this daunting task again, and now you can cancel your seven hundred and fifty dollar opening ceremony ticket to the London 2012 games and just spend one dollar on this.

Tickets haven’t even been sold yet. I lied.

GO GOLD.

Good Game Get! MIRRORMOON

Santa Ragione’s Global Game Jam game, MIRRORMOON uses my favorite graphical aesthetic ever - which consists of low-polygonal shapes and bright colors.

Perfect.

It’s a short title that could immaturely be described as first person puzzler. While it has it’s puzzle mechanics, it felt like nothing I’ve played before. I consistently was quietly talking to myself in little words like, “wow” and “whoa” while playing.

I love this game. My brain feels so good afterwards, and I feel accomplished for finishing it. Something a lot of games may not give us, because of all the hand-holding.

I want more of it, and unfortunately it only exists in it’s current state. Feels finished but so small.

- Kyle

Good Game Get! Spell Tower

I’m terrible at Scrabble, Words With Friends, and even though I found it totally cool - I’m awful at Quarrel too. Zach Gage isn’t really good at these games either, or at least I would assume so as he hates the genre.

He however is the dude who crafted Spell Tower, a delightfully minimal and easy to pick up word game for iPad. Spell Tower is a mash-up of Tetris and a kinetic crossword puzzle (I.E. like a home brew Boggle).

The game allows you to bend the rules of your normal crossword puzzled by allowing you to do things diagonally, horizontally, and backwardly* - all at the same time. The game’s modes also can give you a let’s just look for words game, or a look for words quickly or die game. The latter is a blast.

And you know, that’s it. It’s just an elegant and simple word game that works and works well.

Gage’s story behind the game is also pretty rad.

- Kyle

*Not a word that you could play in Spell Tower.

OutRun 2011 Mock-Up

I realize that it’s lame and butt city combined to post my own mock-up of one my very favorite game franchises, but I was inspired last night while unpacking at our new house.

The rad Ferrari toy photo by this guy.

- Kyle