A group of 6 indie game devs have gathered together to form http://indiebuskers.net. There, they will be spending the next 48 hours making a bundle of games based on ideas that the public chose and voted upon. Check it out, and drop a coin in the hat to recieve a bundle when it’s all over.

It’s a pretty cool idea, and these guys are pretty good at what they do. Seeing that musicians can make a bit of change on the subways playing music, why can’t indie devs make a bit of change making games on the subways of the internet?  Check it out. I’ll write a more detailed post about each of the buskers later on.

Join people in the irc channel to ask questions, or just chill: http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=indiebuskers

And so, the time has come!

Quantumkrate Game Competition begins now!

The Theme for Quantumkrate is…

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New York based developer Quantum Box is looking for 2 modelers very competent with sci-fi ship design and capable of adhering to a strict art direction on an upcoming retro-style scrolling shooter. The modelers will be brought onboard during the pre-production stage to help establish the final art style.

Modelers joining the team now and participating for the duration will receive a percentage of profits from the game upon its release.

Contact me via my dev email dk (at) quantum-box.com regarding this opportunity. You may be required to provide a relevant example of your work.

Some of you might be asking “HEY, WHERE’S THE BEER GAME?” Or maybe not. It’s been there for a while, it’s about time we shift it out.

This time we added a new game to our Quantum Game Cube — v1.0.2., Air Drop Museum. A cat that was once in the realm of living is now tied to the museum where it used to walk in, scratch paintings, and leave its mark on the walls before it left. However, The Keeper of the Museum was a warlock and was pretty pissed at this cat pissing on its walls. He bound the cat’s soul to the museum and forced it to work there for the rest of its life. Semi-dead Cat Man now hangs paintings, appreciates art, curates shows, and does various other activities that go on in museums. As long as the Museum needs the cat’s help, his soul will never rest. To ensure that Semi-dead Cat Man will never be freed from its bonds, The Keeper of the Museum became a part of the infamous 1%, and ordered jets to fly over the museum and drop paintings for even years after his death! But the cat doesn’t really mind. Mindlessly putting up artwork isn’t too difficult when you have no legs.

But why can't I hold all these paintings?

Enjoyed that? This story didn’t exist until I wrote it just now. The game was an exercise of rapid design. Just us bros (and cats) sitting together and making a game. Arthur ran a simple idea through Construct 2. Catt drew a cute character. I made random objects, and suddenly we give birth to something. Simple stuff– just an urge to be productive without being overwhelming. In any case, click on our little Quantum Game Cube in the top left corner to play it. It should play in your browser easily, so you have no excuse! It’ll be there until we add something else to it. Keep creating!

The rain had just let up last Tuesday when I met Jonathan Mercier at Café Bistro BlaBla on Wellington Street in Sherbrooke, Quebec to discuss his game, Aztaka. A confident man with a glimmer in his eye, he greeted me with a smile on his face and a strong handshake. We talked for a few minutes before beginning the interview proper and I learned that he was not unlike many ambitious young developers I know and love.

But unlike many new developers, his beginnings stem back to an industry far more hostile to independent games, during a period in which a renowned publisher was required to make it onto consoles.

Unfortunately, Aztaka has yet to become a profitable game and is suffering from a serious marketing deficit. The game has not yet redeemed its development costs but still stands up very well when compared to recent releases due to its beautiful artwork, professionally recorded soundtrack, and intriguing story based on Aztec myths.

Now let’s get on to the tender bit: my poorly organized interview with Jonathan Mercier, founder of Citeremis and creator of Aztaka. The interview was all in French so I did my best to keep the translation as faithful to the original as I could.

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NYU wasn’t the only location that Quantum Box represented during the Global Game Jam. Central Florida’s GGJ site is actually Full Sail University, itself. Seeing how it’s where I go to school, I decided on attending for my second time. Since Arthur already explained what Global Game Jam was in the previous post, I’ll just go along and recite my experience.

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The Global Game Jam is an amazing event now held annually during the last weekend of January. Participants are given 48 hours to make a game based on a constraint given to everyone.

This year’s Global Game Jam opened with a keynote address by Keita Takahashi, which naturally received mixed reactions. The constraint? Extinction.

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About a week ago, a few of us decided to get together at a local hangout spot to have a mini game jam.  This is where you spend a short time brainstorming a concept, and then you make a game out of it.  You never expect it to be a deep or engaging game, not to mention fully working and pretty one, but hopefully it will something entertaining, and something that may be worked into a much better game later.  Unless it already is a really good one.

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At Full Sail, you’re expected to put your best foot forward and push towards being a great artist. Recently, I’ve been wondering if I’ve been doing just that. From the beginning of this year up until now, I’ve been able to live a dream of mine that I regret ever having. To experience the “Groundhog’s Day” effect. This dream very much like the nightmare that the movie and a much more gruesome anime named Higurashi no Naku Koro ni show it to be. The character(s) of the show are reliving the same month over and over again until they find a way to survive past it. The events that happen are usually different every time.

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