Author: Zach Davis

Walkie Talkie is a Literal Video Game Chat Room

Imagine a chat room, right? Now imagine that the chat room is also Super Mario Maker. Wait, what?

Walkie Talkie is Daniel Linssen’s latest work of brilliance. Whenever Linssen puts out a new game, you should probably pay some attention. He’s one of the most consistently creative and talented people in the business, and I’m a little jealous that he apparently has more good ideas in a week than I have in six months.

Walkie Talkie can function as a pretty normal chat room as long as you never hit the enter key. People chat about nonsense, there are currently around 3000 posts, and it’s just a throwback to how people gathered and ideas collected in a never ending stream. And then you hit the enter key.

A tiny person appears, and you see that you’re supposed to run to the right and grab a small green orb. The text posts themselves form the platforms for you to run and jump across. The catch is, however, different keys provide unique platforming obstacles. An “o” makes a death orb float around, a “}” will shoot bullets at you, and “11111” leads to a stream of platforms that vanish when you touch them. There are many, many more. It’s an amazing idea, and one that leads to scrolling through post after post, reading these people’s conversations (i.e. trying to figure out if the chat is real or just part of the game) as you play through a game with them. Making my own levels brought me back to that Super Mario Maker mindset, which I needed after the abysmal 3DS release.

If you’re up for some creative social platforming, give Walkie Talkie a shot for free on its itch.io page.

December 14, 2016
Games of the Month – October 2016

Yeah, you read that one right. I never did October’s. Whoops! I didn’t forget, I’ve just been stupidly busy, and there were actually some really cool games to play in the free time I could find! How about we talk about those now…and then I’ll do November’s. 🙂

(more…)

November 30, 2016
Fairune 2 Is A Throwback to Zeldas of Old

Did you even know there was a Fairune 1? I didn’t!

(more…)

November 5, 2016
Getting Spooky in 2016

Spooky Time!

I’m back, you’re back, and The Spooky is back. Welcome to the Sixth Edition of Getting Spooky. Glad you could make it. Yes, I have seen David Pumpkins. It was good.

(more…)

October 30, 2016
Suffer Through Bounce.wav With Me, Please

I just spent the last four minutes or so playing Bounce.wav, a game made by @Klewachu and @nightkenny for this month’s GBJam. I spent those four minutes dying roughly 30 times and making it through the first level. I’m about to go back and play more.

This thing reminds me one of those “impossible challenge” games that flood your phone’s app marketplace. Incredibly simple, very few buttons to learn, but takes forever to make any progress whatsoever. The time between Start-Death-Restart-Death is, for me, around eight seconds. Bounce.wav is soooooo easy to start and figure out if it’s for you, I had to come back right away and inflict this punishment on others so I wasn’t struggling alone.

You control a forever-bouncing square and you can move it up and down. It maintains momentum, so when you choose to move it determines whether or not you send the thing to its immediate demise. Make a mistake, and a fraction of a second later you’re back at the beginning of the stage, already ready to go again. Maneuver carefully, though, and you’ll be rewarded with a new level to bang your head against.

It’s super simple, but I’m a sucker for this kind of thing. I played Flappy Bird for much too long, and Circle Spike for even longer. Get this on a phone and I’ll probably have killed a couple afternoons only to find myself on level five.

If you’re ready to spend more time than you care to admit on a tiny time-waster, check out Bounce.wav on its itch.io page. Good luck!

October 22, 2016
I Can’t Believe Virtual Reality Is Already This Good

Virtual reality is here. It made its way from sci-fi tv shows, from our childhood imaginations, and it’s sitting next to my television as I type this. Virtual reality is really, truly here.

I’ve been playing VR since the launch of the HTC Vive, but in such small doses that I felt like I hadn’t had enough experience to come to a conclusion on it. Now that I own a PlayStation VR headset and have had several more hours with the Vive, I feel a little more comfortable saying how I feel. Here we go: If you haven’t tried VR, you are missing out on the most exciting thing to happen to gaming in a long time.

I’m the first to admit that I’m a sucker for silly gaming gimmicks. I (mostly) loved the Wii, I think the Wii U is one of my favorite systems ever, and I’ll go to a Dave & Buster’s or whatever just to play in the dumb flight/shooter sims. Traditional games are still great, but I’m hard-pressed to ignore a novelty for novelty’s sake. The thing is, I think VR is enough to satisfy the easily entertained person like myself, and the staunch “hardcore” people who desperately want to sit down with a controller.

Once you slip on your headset of choice the implications of the device are immediate. One of my favorite experiences this year is watching the first moment someone tries virtual reality. The first moment they realize they can turn in any direction, walk around, and exist inside a video game. The first time they use their virtual hands to open a cabinet, and then bend down to look inside it. The inevitable first “WOW” gets me every time. Some prefer the non-interactive experience of just being in the world, others want the tactility of holding the controller in front of them and touching everything in virtual sight. Whether it’s the mere sight that impresses, the handle of a paintbrush, or the grip of a handgun, there’s always a moment that flips a switch of when you “get” virtual reality.

Mine was during the first game I played back in June. I strapped on the headset to play the first-person shooter Space Pirate Trainer. I was able to walk around the entire play area always being able to tell exactly where I was, as I dodged incoming bullets and shot down enemy ships. That moment is still the most impressed I’ve been playing a “traditional” (i.e. not Pokemon GO) video game all year.

All this rambling is to say that you should probably try this stuff as soon as possible. Find a friend who already owns one of these things, or go to a local gaming convention (Thanks OMG!con) to try one out. Every time I boot up a VR machine I feel like I might be less impressed that this technology is able to exist. So far I haven’t been. After a multi-hour long session with Space Pirate Trainer and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood just this week, I’m still as astonished with what I’m seeing as I was a few months ago. As for the future of VR? That’s up to the software developers to support it. Is this a fad that dies down before the technology hits a reasonable price point, or is this the dawn of The Next Big Thing?

Whatever happens to VR, it’ll always be one of the things that defines this year for me. Between this and Pokemon GO, 2016 has been an exciting one of evolving what video games can be. Here’s to moving forward and always finding fresh ways to make our old toys new.

October 22, 2016