Cello Fortress is a unique combination of a game and a live music performance. A cellist defends a fortress by improvising on his cello. Melodies control the guns, dissonant notes activate the flamethrowers. Players from the audience use game controllers to steer their tanks and attack the fortress. The cellist plays live music, while at the same time controlling the game to be a fun challenge for the players. Cello Fortress is an innovative experiment that blends concert and game.
posted by boo_radley
on Jan 16, 2013 -
5 comments
Behold the gAtari 2600. An Australian musician performing under the pseudonym cTrix specializes in creating chiptunes using a combination of games consoles from 1977 - 1992, including a Commodore 64, Amiga 500, a clear-cased Gameboy, and an Atari 2600. The latter is possibly the most striking setup, incorporating the Atari (running custom-written sequencing software) into an oversized guitar body, with a fretboard packed with Boss stompboxes and a great pun as a name — gAtari.
posted by KevinSkomsvold
on Dec 31, 2011 -
40 comments
Here is a video playthrough of The Legend of Zelda without a sword. It is possible to get right up to the last boss without one, although it requires knowing a
lot of tricks. That is exactly what mev1978 does in his playthrough, without dying. And then he does it again in the second quest.
First quest (1:61:31) -
Second quest (1:13:18)
[more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Dec 26, 2011 -
33 comments
How many of these classic video game characters do you remember? A list of the
50 Greatest Video Game Characters of All Time.
Obviously, it's a difficult task to create a definitive list of all our beloved favorites, but this seems to cover all the really significant characters. A little surprised (in a good way!) that Gestalt actually came in at number 10, TBH. [more inside]
posted by Greg Nog
on Sep 21, 2011 -
225 comments
Twenty years ago today, the gaming world saw the launch of a truly landmark title:
Sonic the Hedgehog. Developed as a vehicle for a new Sega mascot, the fluid, vibrant, cheery-tuned wonderland swiftly became the company's flagship product, inspiring over the ensuing decades
an increasingly convoluted universe of TV shows,
comic books, and dozens of games on a variety of systems (all documented in
this frighteningly comprehensive TVTropes portal). And while in recent years the series has turned out
more and more mediocre 3D and RPG efforts, the original games remain crown jewels of the 16-bit era. So why not kick off this anniversary by replaying the titles that started it all for free in your browser:
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991),
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992),
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994),
Sonic & Knuckles (1994). Or click inside for music, remakes, and other fun stuff!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 23, 2011 -
71 comments
Many people have described the popular freeform game Minecraft as
"kind of like Lego", so a few enterprising stop-motion animators have decided to
jump on that idea.
posted by The Whelk
on Mar 26, 2011 -
27 comments
For your listening pleasure, I present to you the
Zelda Rag, performed (with no prior practice) by Tom Brier. When that gets old, there's also a ragtime adaptation of the
horse race theme from the Ocarina of Time that is not to be missed. And if Zelda's too easy, you can try the theme from
Ghosts and Goblins. And, finally, an actual rag from Final Fantasy VI:
the Spinach Rag.
[more inside]
posted by kaibutsu
on Dec 26, 2010 -
22 comments
Halfway through the third book of the
Hitchhiker's Guide series, there is
a throwaway reference to a doomed starship, one whose incredible splendor was matched only by the cosmic absurdity of its maiden-day annihilation.
But the story didn't end there. Unbeknownst to many fans, this small piece of Adamsian lore was the inspiration for an ambitious and richly-detailed side-story: a 1998 computer adventure game called
Starship Titanic.
Designed by Douglas Adams himself, the game set players loose in the infamous vessel, challenging them with a maddening mystery laced with the devilish wit of the novels.
The game was laden with extra content, including
an in-depth strategy guide,
a (mediocre) tie-in novel by Terry Jones,
a whimsical First Class In-Flight Magazine, and even a pair of 3D glasses for one of the more inventive puzzles.
Key to solving these puzzles was the game's groundbreaking communications system -- players interacted with
the ship's robotic crew through a natural language parsing engine called SpookiTalk, whose 10,000+ lines of conversational dialogue spawned
16 hours of audio recorded by professional voice actors, including
John Cleese,
Terry Jones, and even Douglas Adams himself in
several cameos (spoiler cameo). Want to experience the voyage for yourself? Then watch this narrated video playthrough (
intro (ads) -
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9? 10 11 12 13) ...or click inside for a information on how to run the game for free on Windows, Mac, and Linux (along with a bunch of other goodies!).
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 22, 2010 -
109 comments
Confused in Catan? Conflicted about Carcassonne? Puzzled in Puerto Rico? You've heard about all these awesome new board games that are out these days, but don't know where to begin? Help is here! Scott Nicholson knows all about 'em, and will explain them in great detail in his video series
Board Games With Scott! [more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Aug 8, 2010 -
56 comments
In
Sizing Up Sperm, people dressed in all white literally act out the role of sperm in the race to become one with the egg, running through valleys, squeezing through spirals, battling Leukocytes and much more. The results are stunning and the program airs this Sunday, March 14 on National Geographic. It just so happens that Slate also got in on the ejaculation meme, and delivered an article on a story of sperm donors and DNA tracing in
Are Sperm Donors Really Anonymous Anymore? [
via]
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Mar 13, 2010 -
26 comments
The Let's Play archive. Ever wanted to play a particular video game, but never got around to it? Let's Play features extensive walkthroughs of classic games like Silent Hill and Flashback complete with screenshots, videos, and commentary. Other games such as Darkseed and The Immortal are coming soon.
posted by clockworkjoe
on Feb 2, 2007 -
7 comments
This highlight reel of people playing the traditional Myanmar game of
Chinlone is pretty amazing. Being a particularly ignorant westerner, I really had no idea of the grace & athleticism involved in the game.
posted by jonson
on Apr 30, 2006 -
22 comments
DotQuest Can you survive the deadly ghosts in this text adventure?
via languagehat's blog in an oblique fashion.
posted by boo_radley
on Mar 24, 2006 -
24 comments
Ikaruga putting you to sleep?
Battletoads as challenging as
Animal Crossing? If so, consider saving up for an XBox and/or
Ninja Gaiden Black, expansion-of-sorts to the infamous
Ninja Gaiden (the game so hard it
kills your friends). Due out in September, the game's creator claims in an interview that roughly 1% of American players will complete the game's new "Master Ninja" difficulty. You can read the rest of the interview
here or grab the
outlandishly large trailer. Is there a legitimate demand for games this challenging, or is this just a case of misguided "difficult==better" thinking?
posted by Monster_Zero
on Jun 6, 2005 -
31 comments
Adventure - based on the classic text game of the
same name - was the first game ever to contain an easter egg.
It seems laughably primitive these days, but when it first hit shelves, Adventure was a programming masterpiece. The
text version of Adventure (by Willie Crowther and Don Woods) required hundreds of KB and a mainframe computer to operate, so much that Atari brass told
Warren Robinett not to even bother with a 2600 version.
He did anyway, and the results are near legendary. The 2600 version of Adventure went on to sell over a million copies at $25 a pop. For his effort Robinett recieved absolutely nothing beyond his $22,000/year salary.
Play the 2600 Adventure. (Flash) If you're one of those who requires some eye candy, why not download the
Quake 3 Adventure Map, instead?
posted by absalom
on Jan 7, 2005 -
41 comments
Segata Sanshiro! Why show people the graphics and gameplay of your video game, when you can simply beat them into playing it?
posted by qDot
on Dec 13, 2002 -
5 comments
