Pixel – A Pixel Art Documentary
Animation student Simon Cottee presents a short overview of the pixel art style, talking about it’s digital roots and comparing it with other abstract art forms as well as interviewing a few artists on their take on the subject. A very nice way to spend 10 minutes.
Indie Game: The Movie off to a good start
Interviewer Lisanne Pajot and independent filmmaker James Swirsky very recently teamed up and announced the project Indie Game: The Movie, a documentary about the games and the people behind them. News spread and in less than 24 hours on KickStarter, the project has pulled together 40% of the funds needed for completion. Seeing what comes out of this is going to be really great.
Hero Core Released
Daniel Remar of Iji fame has released the sequel to his lo-fi space action/exploration adventure Hero, titled Hero Core. A very nice little game that lasts for a couple of hours and feels thought-through in all areas.
I met Daniel at No More Sweden last year so I actually played Hero Core (or at least what would become Hero Core) shortly before playing the prequel, at the time Daniel told me he had tried to make Hero Core easier – both in terms of it being more forgiving and less frustrating since it does not force the player to redo as much work should he fail. He has certainly succeeded with this, and it is a testament to Daniel’s skill as a game designer that the game is a lot less frustrating but offers the same amount of action. In addition, unlike the first game Hero Core is a nonlinear experience and the player can choose to defeat the final boss at any time – again, this works very well and while different paths are always differing in difficulty, you always have a choice in where to go next.
Like Iji, the greatness of Hero Core lies in the balanced design and is something you cannot really appreciate until you play the game. It is obvious Daniel has an eye for gameplay details and has been testing this notoriously in order to weed out all problems, and even though it is not the most profound of experiences Hero Core is a very fun game without noticable flaws.