This weekend in 1946 the worlds first amusement park opened in Santa Claus, Indiana. It was called Santa Claus Land. Sweltering summer weather be damned, let’s get our Santa costumes on and celebrate the weekend! (more…)
On Friday night, I went to one of the first Australian screenings of Indie Game: The Movie. It was a superb and polished (if just a little by-the-numbers) documentary about the trials and tribulations of Phil Fish as he creates Fez, and Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat as they complete work on Super Meat Boy. The movie is also peppered with occasional insights from Braid developer Jonathan Blow. (more…)
I’m used to playing Xbox 360 games and hearing shouts and anger. People love to yell at their headsets during online matches, and, sure, I’ve let my television know when I didn’t like some solo games’ jumps and puzzles.
Fez has no interest in these angry gaming moments. Its conceit and aesthetic come together in nimble fashion to produce a frustration-free solo platformer, and the only “multiplayer” the game offers is a brilliant – perhaps unintentional – metagame. But before making sense of those qualities, consider that Fez actually has a weird, angry core, and that its underlying shouts and outbursts need to be addressed. (more…)
