Artgames

planonadir:

Vanitas (Tale of Tales)

Aquí un enlace al artículo al respecto de este juego que acabo de publicar.

planonadir:

Jet Set Radio (Smilebit)

Leía recientemente en el segundo número de la revista STAR-T Mag un artículo sobre cómo el videojuego, una vez alcanzado unos gráficos aceptables, empezó a buscar técnicas alejadas del realismo, del mismo modo en que con la aparición de la fotografía aparecieron una serie de movimientos artísticos que abandonaban la mímesis y buscaban otros medios expresivos.

Jet Set Radio se encuentra entre estos títulos que decidieron optar por una nueva forma de representación, el cell-shading, que le daba un aspecto de cómic. Quizá por eso, hoy en día su aspecto no ha envejecido ni un ápice, mientras que quienes andaban pavoneándose de polígonos y texturas no han tardado en ser ridiculizados por sus contemporáneos.

planonadir:

Wip3out logos (The Designer’s Republic)

La saga de videojuegos Wipeout (Psygnosis de 1995 a 1999, Sony Studio Liverpool de 2002 a la actualidad) tuvo durante la época de Psygnosis el honor de ser diseñada por la prestigiosa firma The Designer’s Republic, que cerró en 2009 -además de contar con grupos del calibre de Chemical Brothers o Prodigy en la banda sonora.

Apoyándose en algunos de sus símbolos identitarios, como un estilo minimalista con elementos de la cultura japonesa como kanjis o dibujos próximos al manga, TDR logró plasmar en Wipeout los sueños de los arquitectos futuristas. Este movimiento de la vanguardia racional (1909-1918) que trató de aunar todas las artes existentes fue utópico como pocos. Escribió y dibujó mucho más de lo que construyó.

En el Manifiesto Futurista de 1909 se ensalzan la temeridad, la energía, la audacia, la velocidad, el patriotismo, la guerra, el antiacademicismo y una nueva ciudad donde predominasen las máquinas, las fábricas y la energía. Siendo un juego de carreras tan puramente arcade los cuatro primeros ya los teníamos casi asegurados pero con TDR el resto emergió con verdadera potencia.

Las Città Nuova de Antonio Sant’Ellia jamás estuvo más cerca de saltar del papel que con las urbes de Wipeout, que parecen creadas a medida para agobiar al piloto en un valle rodeado de montañas de rascacielos. Los símbolos que vemos en la imagen corresponden a las diferentes compañías que compiten, cada una representando a un sector del planeta.

Terminaron por tomar vida propia y ganar protagonismo: muy por encima de las diferencias de cada nave, el jugador termina sintiéndose identificado por el pequeño logo de una compañía ficticia. Cuando sale una nueva entrega de la saga, no hace falta ni preguntarle cuál escogerá.

Para más información, recomiendo este extenso artículo de Games Career Guide o el artículo Wipeout, de Dr. Boiffard, incluido en Mondo Pixel vol. 2 (Varios Autores, Ed. Tébar).

exceedingdeath:

Epilogue

“The boy called for the girl to follow him, and he took her hand. He would protect her; they would make their way through this oppressive castle, fighting off the creatures made of smoke and doubt, escaping to a life of freedom. The boy wanted to protect the girl. He held her hand, or put his arm around her shoulders in a walking embrace, to help her feel supported and close to him amid the impersonal throngs of Manhattan. They turned and made their way toward the Canal St. subway station, and he picked a path through the jostling crowd.”

His arm weighed upon her shoulders, felt constrictive around her neck. “You’re burdening me with your ridiculous need,” she said. Or, she said: “You’re going the wrong way and you’re pulling me with you.” In another time, another place, she said: “Stop yanking on my arm; you’re hurting me!”

“He worked his ruler and his compass. He inferred. He deduced. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. He was searching for the Princess, and he would not stop until he found her, for he was hungry. He cut rats into pieces to examine their brains, implanted tungsten posts into the skulls of water-starved monkeys.”

Ghostly, she stood in front of him and looked into his eyes. “I am here,” she said. “I am here. I want to touch you.” She pleaded: “Look at me!” But he would not see her; he only knew how to look at the outside of things.

“He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. Through these clues he would find the Princess, see her face. After an especially fervent night of tinkering, he kneeled behind a bunker in the desert; he held a piece of welder’s glass up to his eyes and waited.”

“On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World…”

“Someone near him said: ‘It worked.’”

“Someone else said: ‘Now we are all sons of bitches.’”

“She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind.”

“She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world.”

“The candy store. Everything he wanted was on the opposite side of that pane of glass. The store was decorated in bright colors, and the scents wafting out drove him crazy. He tried to rush for the door, or just get closer to the glass, but he couldn’t. She held him back with great strength. Why would she hold him back? How might he break free of her grasp? He considered violence.”

“They had been here before on their daily walks. She didn’t mind his screams and his shrieks, to the way he yanked painfully on her braid to make her stop. He was too little to know better.”

“She picked him up and hugged him: “No, baby,” she said. He was shaking. She followed his gaze toward treats sitting on pillows behind the glass: the chocolate bar and the magnetic monopole, the It-From-Bit and the Ethical Calculus; and so many other things, deeper inside. “Maybe when you’re older, baby,” she whispered, setting him back on his feet and leading him home, “Maybe when you’re older.”

“Every day thereafter, as before, she always walked him on a route that passed in front of the candy store.”

“He cannot say he understood all of this. Possibly he’s more confused now than ever. But all these moments he’s contemplated — something has occurred. The moments feel substantial in his mind, like stones. Kneeling, reaching down toward the closest one, running his hand across it, he finds it smooth, and slightly cold.”

“He tests the stone’s weight; he finds he can lift it, and the others too. He can fit them together to create a foundation, and embankment, a castle.”

“To build a castle of appropriate size, he will need a great many stones. But what he’s got, now, feels like an acceptable start.”

Loved. La imagen lo dice todo. Un par de palabras al respecto.

The Company of Myself

Lecciones de diseño de niveles a cargo de Edmund McMillen, la mitad del Team Meat. Una sobre la dificultad, y otra sobre el riesgo y la recompensa. Además de aprender sobre la evolución de ambos conceptos, puedes ver unos dibujos la mar de majos. // Level Design lessons of Edmund McMillen, half of Team Meat. One about difficulty, and one about risk-reward. As well as learning about the evolution of both concepts, you can see some nice drawings.

VVVVVV. Plataformas old school con un diseño de niveles y una banda sonora impresionantes. Por no mencionar ese genial aspecto 8 bits. Mi review para Eurogamer.es// Old school platformer with amazing level design and soundtrack. Not to mention the great 8-bit look. My review for Eurogamer Spain (Google Translate version, it may be a bit difficult to understand)