Jolt Country

Does anyone here have:

- an Xbox 360
- Space Giraffe? It looks awesome and is apparently like five bucks.

never heard of it, but going on the name alone it sounds RIGHT UP STRAW ALLEY

Jack Straw wrote:never heard of it, but going on the name alone it sounds RIGHT UP STRAW ALLEY

The developer keeps telling you it's not like Tempest, so I hope he doesn't hit me if I say that it will be enjoyed by people who enjoy Tempest.

It's too bad I really can't justify the purchase of a 360 for this and Pac-Man World Championship. Those are the two games I'd love to play most right now. Well, that and Evochron Alliance II, natch.

With Earth Defense Force, Gears of War, and some other B titles so good that I'd call them B+. I don't see how you can afford to NOT get an Xbox 360.

this game is crazy.

coincidentally, I had exactly 400 points left.

now i have 0.

Jeff Minter speaks of game dev disillusionment
Maverick indie developer disappointed with Space Giraffe sales, pondered quitting game development.
By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted Nov 23, 2007 1:59 am PT
link
Jeff Minter, the creator of cult indie games including Llamatron and Revenge of the Mutant Camels, has written on his blog that he feels disheartened by the fact that Frogger outsold his latest title on Xbox Live.

Minter, who recently finished development on Space Giraffe, an action arcade game, which was released onto the digital distribution platform Xbox Live on August 22, is not a happy man.

In a post earlier in the week, made in the wee hours of the morning, Minter posted, "Not seeing a lot of reason to continue even trying to make games, at this point, when a remake of Frogger, one of the worst games in the history of old arcade games, can outsell Space Giraffe that we put so much love and effort into, by more than ten to one, in one week."

He continued, "OK, we get the message. All you want on that channel is remakes of old, shite arcade games and crap you vaguely remember playing on your Amiga. We'll shut up trying to do anything new then. Sorry for even trying."

However, in a post made yesterday, the Llama-loving developer appeared to have calmed down a little bit, and said, "Thanks to all those who gave me a bit of encouragement at a low moment. Rest assured I'm not giving up; I'm just getting on with it quietly."

Minter added that he was halfway through his next games project, but that he would no longer be using his blog to talk about games development--no doubt after his rant was posted widely over the Internet. He said, "So no more dev stuff here, from now on this will just be about sheep and plushies and other such non-work-related stuff."

Wah wah wah. I did my part.
Perhaps this has a lot to do with the fact that Space Giraffe is relatively unknown and Frogger not only is known and loved by many, but is also bundled all over the fucking place?? I think i've sold 3 or 4 extra "copies" of frogger on ebay that came as promotional items with various xbox schwag, i'm sure those count as sales.

i love space giraffe, my brother played it for a level or two and said "this is horrible man" - and he was high.

There was a short article in Edge about Minter going off on his rants earlier this month; it made several points including: Why do we attribute games to one individual, legendary developer or coder? And, with the Internet now able to show us that they are complete douches, can we really have coder "heroes" any more?

Lex wrote:There was a short article in Edge about Minter going off on his rants earlier this month; it made several points including: Why do we attribute games to one individual, legendary developer or coder? And, with the Internet now able to show us that they are complete douches, can we really have coder "heroes" any more?

Working in front of a computer all day is going to make you a bit odd, but not being able to accept criticism will make you come off as a huge d-bag.

I tell this story a lot, but I got a bunch of negative reviews for the first serious attempt at a game that I did (Chicks Dig Jerks). The one that came after got even more negative reviews. That motivated me to make the best possible game I had in me.

(Okay, to be honest, that motivated me for Fallacy of Dawn, and working with Mike Sousa motivated me to try very hard in No Time to Squeal, because Mike wasn't going to let me slack or take three weeks off from the game at a time. I would love to collaborate with Mike again. )

I don't even know why Minter is pissed - Frogger has had a Seinfeld episode center around it. There is a SuicideGirl that recently had a set in front of a Frogger machine. When I was in San Jose for a wedding the topic briefly touched on arcade games, and a gal there said her favorite was Frogger - Frogger has reached the public consciousness.

(When a football player named Adam "Pacman" Jones is referenced on the Jim Rome show, you can usually count on an e-mailer to reference him as "Frogger Jones.)

Tempest, which Minter has recreated a few times in the past, is not as famous as Frogger. And each step you take away from perfectly re-making one of those games gives you less and less of that public mindshare working for you.

I don't know - the day I get a 360 I am buying Pac-Man 2 for $5, Space Giraffe for $5 and Mass Effect for whatever it costs. Even if he is angsty on the Internet, I'd get all Minter games going forward, sight unseen.

Yes, when you try to create something that is purposefully counter-culture, to the point of having in-jokes in the advertising, you're not really allowed to get all huffy when normal people don't buy your product.

So, this is the first game I bought, having finally hooked up the goddamn 360 with an account. (Note to whoever registered "icecreamjonsey" back in 2006 and abandoned the name: you're an asshole.)

This game is amazing. How often do you really have to look at the screen when playing a game? How critical IS sound, really? Longer review coming. But, to anyone who dismissed it after a few minutes: you are wrong.

I almost got it. I guess I'll put it on the list for this weekend.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:This game is amazing. How often do you really have to look at the screen when playing a game? How critical IS sound, really? Longer review coming. But, to anyone who dismissed it after a few minutes: you are wrong.

This provides a nice balance. In Braid, we have a great game that Worm is desperately trying to convince everyone that it sucks, and in Space Giraffe, we have an absolutely, indefensibly horrible game which you are now, I guess, going to try to convince everyone is actually a masterwork.

It's the "yin/yang" of ridiculously off-base video game judgement.

Well, I think Braid is okay and not great, but I also did not get into Space Giraffe when I tried it the other year. It's sort of like Tempest without the sense of accomplishment.

Oh, I will be presenting arguments for Space Giraffe shortly. You will all read, see where I am coming from, and consider.

I will say this: the controller is a complete let down. You CAN NOT have a Tempest-clone with a d-pad. They needed a spinner for this thing, badly. Desperately. I understand that was impossible, but the game suffers for not having it.

I will also say that all of you who played this game on your widescreen TVs, clear across the room from your couch are doing it wrong.

Roody_Yogurt wrote:Well, I think Braid is okay and not great

Aww, MAN! Welp, I guess I'm alone on this one.

...forever!

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I will say this: the controller is a complete let down. You CAN NOT have a Tempest-clone with a d-pad. They needed a spinner for this thing, badly. Desperately. I understand that was impossible, but the game suffers for not having it.

You might look into one of these.

Is the spinner.... also the joystick on that? I will look into this, but I am not 100% certain as to what spins.

You really need to spin with your right hand if you are right handed. Shooting (aiming) in SG should be the left analog pad. And then two buttons for superzapper and jump.

I say this having built a control box with the spinner all the way to the left, by the by. (More photos coming in the Revenge of the Spinner Files thread.)

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Is the spinner.... also the joystick on that? I will look into this, but I am not 100% certain as to what spins.

Around the smaller joystick there is a dial.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:You CAN NOT have a Tempest-clone with a d-pad.

D-pads are for d-bags!

Bruce