And so, the time has come!

Quantumkrate Game Competition begins now!

The Theme for Quantumkrate is…

Yes, food! The sustenance of life! Now, go! Create delicious games!

For an overview of the rules, refer to the previous post here.

The view from the sidewalk.

After checking into the Marriott across the street in our 2-bedroom suite (we decided to go all out for this vacation), we headed over to the Gaylord Convention Center & Resort.

The Gaylord.

We didn’t check out any shows or panels on the first day and mostly spent our time in the arcade and walking around. The hotel & resort areas were absolutely striking.

Here are some shots showing all the FREEPLAY games in the arcade.

The arcade area was absolutely massive and also featured a taiko rhythm game, DDR and Pump it Up, and Pop ‘N’ Music. There were challenges on PCs for those who wanted to win prizes and Kinect games for those who wanted to be in the spotlight. There was also a great dealer’s area filled with old, rare games and merchandise:

Only $50.

Mario for SEGA Genesis.

The Pikachu car was also there!

CUTE!

After tons of DDR, swimming, and first-night celebrations, we all fell asleep. Waking up was no easy task, but free breakfast and more games called. We also wanted to catch some concerts.

Back to the Gaylord, with a bit of a hangover this time...

We spent the second day getting down to business. After tons more of DDR, we went to two concerts. First, we hit up the JamSpace while looking for chiptune concert. Edit: the video is now up!

These guys rocked out, even when a drunken guy jumped on the stage.

We finally found the chiptune concert right as it began. First up was Disasterpeace. Their music was very ambient and had a slight gospel-like feeling due to the drums. Edit: video is now up!

Next up was Revengineers, a band from Rochester, NY. Their music was a little more upbeat and melodic (edit: yes, we got video of this too, and it’s up now!). They jumped around a lot and made the crowd feel excited.

They also made it a bit harder to take a good photo on the fly:

Last was Danimal Cannon, a one-man-chiptunes-making band. He was also very into his music and switched effortlessly between his switchboard and guitar. Edit: the video is up!

After the concert over, I bought about $25 worth of merchandise and then went on my way to the Brentalfloss concert. It was (in my opinion) hilarious, especially the mad lib lyrics. Mr. Floss also performed his famous DuckTales Moon Level with Lyrics song.

Crazy! Ducks in space!

We spent the rest of the day playing more games into the wee hours of the morning. On the third day, we sat in on Super Art Fight. It was a throwback to my high school days for sure. Here’s a shot of round 1′s finished work:

Sweet, right? I love the angry zebra. Next, we caught part of the Minibosses concert. Sadly, I couldn’t get a recording of it, but these photos show how into the music they were.

We then tried to catch a little Earthbound Papas, but it was insanely crowded. We hung out for a bit and listened to some of Nobuo Uematsu’s music, then went down to the arcade.

You try standing here for an hourlong concert after playing ~5 hours of DDR...

The arcade was, of course, empty. We played DDR and other games until we were exhausted. Time flew, and suddenly the last day arrived.

My bedroom in the Marriott suite.

We didn’t do too much on the last day besides recoup and look for last-minute purchases. I was exhausted from playing ~$40 worth of DDR in 3 days, so I took it easy. We walked around a lot and took in the sights.

The view from my bedroom.

Overall, the trip was AMAZING. The people were great and the atmosphere was very calm. Instead of concentrating on upcoming games, MAGFest seems to be about celebrating the past and appreciating the games that make us who we are. Not only this, but the hospitality was top-notch and the food was amazing.

Potbelly Sandwiches' Mushroom Melt & Vegetable Soup. Om nom.

We left the cleaning person a tip & note. They responded!

I’m definitely hoping to go to MAGFest next year to experience more fun games, great music and hilarious panels. To find out more information, check out their website.

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.

MAGFest has grown tremendously, now amassing over 4,000 gamers. Will you be there?

From this year forth, the QB team will be working on covering multiple conventions including PAX East and GDC. To start off the year right, we’ll be at MAGFest all this weekend! I’m heading out in a couple of hours to arrive fashionably late, so this post will stay short.

Here is a bit of information about MAGFest from their website:

MAGFest, The Music And Gaming Festival, is an annual event in the Washington D.C./Virginia/Maryland area dedicated to the celebration of video games and video game music. Each year, MAGFest offers 24-hour console, arcade, and PC game rooms, over twelve live video game cover bands, a vendors area, and guest speakers from the video game industry and fan scene. It also features a “JamSpace” available to all attendees for impromptu music performances. Numerous other events are scheduled each day.

What makes MAGFest unique is that it’s an event run by fans for fans. There are no corporate sponsors, no over-crowded showfloors, and no top-secret-behind-closed-doors showings. MAGFest is built from the ground up to be a party-like atmosphere with focus on community and fan creations, which creates an environment that no other expo or convention can ever recreate.

We hope to see you there! We also promise not to spam-post. Tune in for more MAGFest goodness and other fun stuff!

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!

I was born a SEGA fan. Even so, Nintendo was often the cause of awe and admiration in my childhood. That love didn’t start with the popular SNES or Game Boy — I was incredibly satisfied with the Genesis and Game Gear. My affair with Nintendo began with the Pokemon TV show and game. I was a young videogame enthusiast and Pokemon was in all the gaming magazines and all over the boob tube. Every generation since the baby boomers has had a gigantic TV-show-turned-game-turned-anything-under-the-sun hit (the order of conversion may differ based on decade in which it was created), and Pokemon fit the bill for mine. It was a nonsensical concept: a ten-year-old running across the country without any adult supervision (unless you count the occasional Oak), trapping big monsters in tiny capsule balls. It was absolutely absurd, but I was young and therefore I loved it. Apparently it was the plague to almost anyone over the age of 13 at the time of release, but I was oblivious to this fact.

Nintendo as a whole is sort of like its former cash cow, Pokemon. It started out great, fresh, and new. Over the years, its formula stayed the same, but its fanbase grew. The larger fanbase increasingly requested new, original content but instead got reiterations of the same game, same TV show, and the same formula. Consumers were expected to accept and appreciate what they received — more new Pokemon with the same story (and repetitive episodes!). One day, however, their competitors (I’m looking at you, Digimon) became more interesting, despite coming into the game later. Fans flocked from the same, old content to shows with deep plots and different stories. Unfortunately, Nintendo caught on a bit too late. Ash is still forever alone, and as much as I liked Pokemon Black, I still haven’t finished it and don’t feel like remembering the entirely new set of Pokemon.

Nintendo wasn’t always this way. They knew how to garner sales in the 80′s and 90′s with impressive prices, great game lineups, and good, timely technology. The tables began to shift over time. As a new millennium approached, people became more interested in graphics than the price points. SONY’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s Xbox launched with amazing success. In response, Nintendo launched the GameCube, the only console besides the Virtual Boy by the company to not be on the top 10 of IGN’s list of the best consoles of all time.

The DS was Nintendo’s second step in the wrong direction. It was absolutely wonderful at first and had several great games releasing with or shortly after it. Over time, though, the SONY PSP began to take over the DS’s spotlight with more innovative, interesting games. Pata-Pon was the game that spurred my lust for the PSP. As much as I loved MarioKart and Animal Crossing, I would’ve loved to play Guitaroo Man and Loco Roco ever so much more. As the DS aged, my regret increased. Even so, I wasn’t going to buy ANOTHER handheld just because none of the games I wanted were released for it. So, I played the games I had and waited for the next big console. Surely Nintendo would get great games for their flagship console.

No, they wouldn’t. The Wii was released with much praise. Super Smash Brothers Brawl was a hit, and everyone loved Wii Sports. The visuals were cruddy — no 1080p or even 720p — but people looked past that. It was new, innovative, and an amazing workout & learning tool. Nintendo saw this trend in casual gaming and took it by the reigns. They released tons of casual games like Wii Music and Wii Fit. This trend was also applied to the DS, forcing my gameplay to come to a halt. Soon, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were the only consoles left for hardcore gamers. Having already purchased a Wii (on the release morning from Nintendo World, no less), I once again refrained from getting a better console. I endured the pain of only having bought 3 games for my console (Klonoa, Wii Fit, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl) for FIVE YEARS.

At one point, I had completely stopped playing console and handheld games. There was nothing left for me but the computer. I archived the way to operate a game’s camera using an analog stick and learned to use a mouse instead. This changed when I heard about FEZ and Sonic Generations. Being a Sonic fan, I was going to take a chance and buy their 20th anniversary game. There was one problem — it wasn’t going to be released for the Wii. Knowing that Xbox 360′s and PlayStation 3′s were no longer nearly as unstable as their release-date predecessors, I delved into the world of research and eventually settled on an Xbox 360. I wanted to play both FEZ and Sonic Generations, plus I knew some people who greatly enjoyed their Xbox 360′s.

Shortly after my new console arrived and was set up, the anger at Nintendo really set in. After seeing the amazing video quality and innovative, immersive Xbox LIVE Arcade social network-meets-store, I was ashamed that I waited so long to buy a different console. I was in shock and enraged at what Nintendo had kept from me and other gamers. I had been deprived of a constant stream of great games and was suddenly in the correct decade. My new console cost $50 more than the release date Wii, but it was ten times as great. I didn’t even miss the motion sensing gimmick — I got tons of new games that looked good and brought me much more entertainment than the Wii ever did.

Since releasing myself from Nintendo’s grasp, I haven’t looked back. I have no intention of buying the 3DS or the Wii U. MarioKart 7 looks great and all, but I’d much rather play Scott Pilgrim than give myself a headache with gimmicky 3D or play chess on my handheld-console Frankenstein’s monster. Nintendo has been a lesson in economics, though. If you want long-term customers, don’t cut corners when it comes to quality. Doing so will force people to no longer appreciate your brand.

Baby MooCastles

The last event at a permanent, physical location for Babycastles was an absolute blast. DJ Dog Dick, the super talented Ava Luna Band, and Inspectah Deck of the Wu Tang Clan tore up the place with their music, while games from the @horse_ebooks game jam at Parsons, Pole Riders, Mega GIRP, and Wu Tang J.S. Joust rounded out the mesmerizing Babycastles feel. It truly was a worthy event for the last show at a physical Babycastles location.

Human Arcade Cabinet

So now, Babycastles is dead. There is no longer a one stop place to go to experience Babycastles the gallery, show floor, and arcade, and that’s a good thing.

Babycastles is one of the most interesting projects I’ve witnessed and have been a part of in a long time. I first came across Babycastles when a game I made with Bob Clark for the Global Game Jam – Waffle was to be shown at Babycastles, which at the time was run out of Silent Barn. It was the first time I met Kunal Gupta and Syed Salahuddin, the masterminds behind Babycastles. Little did I know just how well I’d get to know them.

I miss these cabinets...

I arrived at Silent Barn, not realizing I was there even. Silent Barn was this really cool art and music space run out of Ridgewood. Once you manage to find your way in, you’re greeted by this rather interesting art space, which depending on when you go can seem a bit odd, but it really grows on you. There I saw a bunch of makeshift cabinets, made of a bunch of computer parts cobbled together into working (some barely) computers running the games we made at the Global Game Jam. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I won’t say I instantly fell in love with the idea and setup, but it was more of a slower, more intimate process. You see, it looked like something thrown together out of a bunch of junk, but in a really cool and funny way. Playing out of these funny mini cabinets was fun, and it had a really weird loving feel to it.

This was really fun

After that, I went to a couple more Babycastles events, including the Kokoromi Rejects Benefit Party and Babycastles II Film Noir BBQ Party, where I was first offered to curate a Babycastles arcade. The result of that was a real boost to my interest in Babycastles.

I curated a show called Games That Make You Cry: Featuring I Wanna Be the Guy, Company of Myself, and Everyday the Same Dream.  Michael O’Reilly, the creator of I Wanna be the guy stopped by and checked out what was going on, even speaking with some high school students about the game and about making games in general. Little did he know how much he helped to inspire those kids, but that’s for another story. For me though, the thing that had me most enthused was that people were coming, playing the games and generally had interesting things to say about them. I didn’t expect many to really get captured by Every Day the Same Dream, as I thought I was one of the only crazy people to actually like it a lot, but to my surprised, many people, even those who don’t really play games, really got into the game and enjoyed it. Then things made sense. Babycastles was about spreading indie games and advocating them to all sorts of people, whether you’re into games or not. It was this that made me really want to help Babycastles with its cause and have some fun along the way.

Click For Video

I generally made myself available to help out with setting up games, making sure they worked, ran all night, and helped explain to people a bit about the creators of the games, and a bit about the games themselves. It was fun seeing the showplace from start to beginning, working with game creators to setup their games and such. One of my favorite installations was the setup for Super Hyper Cube at the Fort90 x Babycastles Hardcore Feelings show. Lots of sodering, LEDs, and cyborg helmets just to make the experience of super hyper cube the most unique one ever. It also was the last night I saw my old (cr)laptop in action. The game and party was just that intense.

Monthly potluck meetings on the rooftop of Silent Barn to plan the future of Babycastles contined, and with the announcement that Babycastles would have a space in Manhattan made everyone estatic. Thu Tran did the art for the first show at the Manhattan space and it was mindblowing. The games lineup curated by committe was equally beautiful, showcasing some of the favorites of the Babycastles staff. The response to such a space was phenomenal, and one of the most beautiful things in my mind. This great art space, arcade, and music showplace in the middle of midtown was like a sanctuary from the monotonous, daily routine that Midtown Manhattan had to offer.

We'll miss you...

Silent Barn was always the home of Babycastles, and once the run in Manhattan was over, we were right back at Silent Barn, setting up shows and up our usual antics. There was something more relaxing about Silent Barn. In Manhattan we had to be a bit more careful as to the setup and organization of the place. At Silent Barn, the height of the celings were the limit. Even then they were kind of ignored. Essentially, it was more of a culture thing at the Silent Barn. It was a living artspace. One that I’d be hard pressed to find again. As many of you may have known, Silent Barn was recently robbed, ransacked, and closed forever at that location, but that’s for another discussion, one hopefully ending in the address of the new Silent Barn.

Birth of QWOP Bear

Babycastles has spread its influence everywhere it could. From bringing QWOP Bear around the showfloors of GDC, GIRP Bat around a Kreayshawn concert, to speaking and appearing at events around the country, to having people from all over want to setup venues and events such as Babycastles has done over the past two years. And that puts us to today.

Babycastles has just closed its final physical location at 285 Kent Ave. While a sad thing in some ways, this only enables Babycastles to do more. Babycastles is currently working on making it easier for people to setup their own arcades with various hardware and software tools, as well as a guide to running a space like Babycastles, contacting artists and game designers, making cabinets, and many other things. Babycastles also is working on getting more venues in NYC to have arcade cabinets and run events that may include games. A few already are in the process of getting things together for that. In addition, Babycastles will still play host to some shows, with a great one next Sunday curated by Ian Bogost at Death By Audio.

Rock on Babycastles!

So this is far from the end of Babycastles. There is a lot in store for the future, and the spread of arcades, game gallerys, and indie games is only going to be broader and greater.

Babycastles made my love for indie games, music, art, and culture grow to levels I didn’t think possible. I’ve met many great people and made quite a few friends via Babycastles. To everyone who supported Babycastles in the past, thank you. It truly was something NYC needed. All the support you gave Babycastles whether it was just attending a show, spreading the word about one, or donating to Babycastles, you all played a part in making it successful and proving that this crazy idea was a great one.

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.

DK-

Could you introduce yourself for our readers and tell us where the idea for your game came from?

J.Mercier-

I’m Jonathan Mercier. I’ve held many different positions while we worked on Aztaka: producer, programmer, company manager among others. It all started back in 2005 when the game studio I had been working for at the time had to shut down and I fell back on unemployment insurance. My brother didn’t have a job at the time either and after some brainstorming we had come to the conclusion that there weren’t enough retro style 2D games. Good old games like those that were popular in the SNES era, such as Metroid, Castlevania, and Zelda which had inspired and influenced us. During that summer we explored the idea of making our own game but the idea was set aside for about a year until I decided to start my own company.

DK-

Just out of curiosity, which company had you been working for?

J.Mercier-

Golemlabs here in Sherbrooke. They reopened about a year later. As a matter of fact I was doing contract work with them as well as the Centre Des Sciences De Montreal who was working on what they called Cinéjeux (Cinema Games). I worked on Snowbirds and Mars 2030.

DK-

At first, how big was your team?

J.Mercier-

When I first founded Citeremis it was just me and my brother, and it was during its earlier days that I was taking contracts on the side to save up a bit of money. We also started looking into financing. Back then Telefilm Canada had what they called the New Media Fund, which allowed us to hire Jason Godbout, our main artist. He really set the table for the entire game, illustrating every single area. He really established the style we would be working with.

DK-

Did you know what subject you were going to use from the start or did the story come up later to go with the Game?

J.Mercier-

Early on my brother Samuel was reading the Aztec legend of Huitzilopochtli and he started looking into Aztec culture and mythology. It was really interesting because there was quite a bit of content that had never been used in gaming. We immersed ourselves in this mythology and built our game around it, remaining as faithful to the original story as we could with only subtle changes to the music and story.

DK-

Did you know what kind of gameplay you wanted from day one?

J.Mercier-

I made the signs for this event.

This past Wednesday was the opening party of F%!K THE SCREEN at Future Babycastles curated by Doug Wilson, Bennett Foddy, and Matt Parker. All but one of the games featured were all games requiring physical interaction, with some unique usage of existing game controllers. Here’s what was played:

DUELLO by Matt Parker is a game of Old West style quick draw using Wii Remotes and a screen projected on the ground. That screen displays various indicators for the game, including the town clock for the “High Noon” mode of play and steps for when playing “Gentleman’s Blood.” It was a fun game to play, especially when wearing cowboy hats and fake mustaches. Photo credit goes to @KarstenM

Its almost high noon... Photo Credit: @KarstenM

JOHANN SEBASTIAN JOUST by Douglas Wilson is arguably the best Playstation Move game around, and it doesn’t even need a PS3. It is a game where up to 7 players try their best to jostle their opponent’s controllers while keeping their own safe. While the music is slow, its more sensitive to movement, and when the music is fast, it is less sensitive, so swifter movement can be done for more agressive gameplay. Also a first, for about a half hour, Joust was played with live music by Nat Roe, who played Bach’s Cello suite on guitar. Needless to say, it was an awesome experience. I got to take over for Doug partway through controlling game speed and the added conductor can make for some hillarious actions in the game arena.

Hit Me by Kaho Abe is this pretty hilarious game where you wear these hoods with buttons and a camera attatched to the top. The objective is to hit your opponents button, which would then trigger the hitter’s camera to take a snapshot of their victim. You get a point for hitting, and up to two additional points if a judge deems the snapshot worthy.

Robo QWOP by Douglas Wilson and Bennett Foddy is quite simply QWOP played with PS Move controllers. You strap the controllers on your thighs and calves and QWOP away. It’s… not an easy game, and in ways, harder than normal QWOP.

QWOP

Mega GIRP by Douglas Wilson and Bennett Foddy is GRIP played on a set of 4 DDR pads, with the buttons mapped to keys you press in GIRP. Its a pretty tricky way to play an already tricky game, but at least now its easier to have a second player help out.

Controller for Mega GIRP.

Mega GIRP: As if the game wasn't hard enough...

Pole Riders by Bennett Foddy  is a new game which has not been released just yet but is pretty cool. Two players are competing in pole vault polo trying to score goals and disrupt their opponent. Its pretty awkward, but highly entertaining

Pre Release version: Best played on celing

Of all of these games, I was most excited to play Joust as I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to play it ever since I’ve seen it played in video. It was as great as I had hoped it to be. All of the games were fun to play, if not hilarious to watch at sometimes, as in the case of Mega GIRP and Robo-QWOP. Duello probably had one of the best uses of a Wii Remote I’ve seen in quite a while. Be sure to check out all of their sites to learn more about their games, and hopefully you’ll get a chance to play some of them. Many of these games will be up at Future Babycastles for the rest of the month, so stop by if you get a chance.

If you want to see more, check out this video footage of the event by Ida Benedetto.

Photo Credit for Duello image: @KarstenM  For further information about Babycastles, check out the Babycastles website  , follow @babycastles on twitter, or check out the Babycastles Facebook page