Life Through The Pixel Glass-10/04/2013

ow, so this is awkward…it’s been a while since we’ve done one of these right? Yeah, well…we’re picking up our stride again. With the videos and reviews we’ve picked the pace up on, it only makes sense that we get LTTPG going again. For those who are late to the party, have horrible attention spans, or you simply despise me to the point where you tune out whatever I say on the podcast anyway; I just recently moved and though it’s been more than a month since—I’m still catching up.

Nevertheless, fear not, there’s plenty of nonsense to hit the site soon. Even though next month is going to be insane for everyone, and the wait for the new consoles to launch may even seem unbearable for the lot of us but you should just hang back and relax. We have plenty of shit to throw at you and we can all just pass the time together, this is Life Through The Pixel Glass—welcome back.

 

Even after 20 years, DOOM is still finding ways to turn heads with fans finding different mods to change it up, but this latest development is one of the most unexpected yet; play DOOM on your fucking piano. Sos Sosowski , George Buckenham of Die Gute Fabrik teamed, and a handful of other industry dudes modified a piano with keys that still play notes but simultaneously function as actions and mechanics for the pioneer of first-person shooters. The octave keys are used movement and turning around while the black keys handle shooting through the use of I-PAC keyboard encoders programed with a PC build of the game; it’s ridiculous sure but you can’t deny the fact that you fantasy of owning one of these in the foyer for family fun nights.

Chis Spry, a video game loving animator from Portland, Oregon, also decided to get really creative and the results are almost just as ridiculous. Using the tool Batari BASIC, Spry applied to programming the iconic NES title after he saw demo demake of Elecman’s stage running on 2600 hardware—the impression it left directed him to task at bringing Super Mario Bros to the Atari in the covertly titled Princess Rescue (a clever allusion to the source material.) Atari Age ran a brief stint of publishing and releasing the carts through a limited run has now made the cart a coveted collector’s item for retro-gaming purist, you can check it out in action in the video above.

While Princess Rescue is out, selling for hundred from reseller on the internet, Spry is already at work with his latest demake, Zippy the Porcupine, an Atari 2600 port of the Plumber’s old adversary,  Sonic the Hedgehog. From the footage of the game in action so far, it’s about as clean and crisp as you can get out of the 2600 (Spry is currently trying to pump out the 32k of RAM he has available to deliver the most of the Atari console.) We’ll keep you updated on if and when this game releases, if you want to check it out, Spry posted up the BIN file for you to run via emulator.

Nintendo has recently promoted the broadcast of an OVA anime in the Pokémon universe that’s faithfully based off of the pacing and events story of the original games, Red and Blue version. Thanks to the help of a friend of mine, he was able to locate the OA in its entirety, and while it’s not subbed, the quality of the animation and action warrants a watch, even if it’s raw, check it out here. Be warned though, this anime adaption is a lot more brutal then the like of Ash Ketchum’s adventures, these Pocket Monsters don’t fuck around.

One of the most celebrated power-up costumes that the Italian game icon has ever donned is now immortalized into a high-resin statue thanks to the fine people at First4Figures. The nerdy artisans have made sure to capture Mario in his authentic Tanooki pose, in mid-tail spin and with it, you even get a companion Question Block statue, with its own Magical Leaf resting upon it. Fifteen inches tall, you can snag one of these fine busts for as low as $239.99 from F4F and the run is limited to 750 statues so make sure to be punctual about it.

Whenever you hear about someone going to a convention, it doesn’t matter which one it is, the one aspect of the venture that everyone goes nuts is for is swag. Con-goers and well, just nerds alike, love to get a bunch uselessly cool stuff to enjoy and thus are regulated to visiting annual events in order to get the swag, but that’s a thing of the past thanks to LootCrate. So here’s how it works--for a monthly subscription, the LootCrate crew will send you a random assortment of swag and gifts that range from figures and accessories to apparel and artwork, neatly packaged and collected around a different theme each month. Instead of gearing up your bags and boots to wait in some dumb line just so you can get get a fistful of button and a novelty USB drive, you can subscribe to LootCrate instead and get that magic sent right to your door.

Video Game culture is slowly becoming an open experience that isn’t as inclusive as it was decades ago, and a dedicated group has taken it upon themselves to commemorate the highlights and art of video games into a book for everyone to enjoy. After a successful Kickstarter funding, the people behind Game Paused are prepping themselves to release an art book titled Every Day is Play. The book is part history, part art with contributions from the likes of iam8bit, Edge Magazine, Konami, and more to create the most faithful collection of video game culture to enjoy and archive in our growing medium. If you people are down to support this cause and sang a book for yourself, you still can, just donate to Game Paused’s PayPal on their site.

Ever caught yourself wanting to play Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall or The Neverhood and caught yourself bummed out that your modern PC couldn’t run it? Sure, we have GOG for moments like this but it’s few and far between when GOG actually has the game in their library, until then, there’s another outlet on the web that can fill your needs. The obnoxiously self-explanatory site, Old-Games has a library of old PC and computer titles available to download through easy to follow steps to EXE files that house your PC memories of gaming, give it a search for one of those titles your longing for and give it a spin. Old-Games allows you to download (at horrendously slow speeds no less) two free games a day or pay a monthly subscription to get faster/unlimited access to the games they have to offer.

 

Until Nintendo and Game Freak make it happen, every Pokémon fan has been clamoring for a MMO take on their favorite collectible creature franchise, and one independent developer just couldn’t wait any longer; they made an unofficial one themselves. Pokémon Generation plays out just the way you would expect a Pokémon MMO to; you can challenge fellow players in an open environment, capture wild monsters out in the field, and fulfill side-quests in between Gym battles to become the very best. You can download the game here and give it a go, Xatoku claims that they’ll be updating active patches every two weeks, so if your curiosity has gotten the best of you, then click away, the current version and all future ones are free to play.

While First-Person Shooter games are available Ad Nauseum, there are only a handful of them out there are worth writing home about; Super Hot! is one of them. Built with Unity and currently awaiting approval on Steam Greenlight, you can check this free to play browser game in where time and space revolve around your physical movements from much like the indie darling Braid; except you you’re shooting at people who shoot back at you. The results end up transforming the First-Person Shooter genre into a puzzle game of violence and surrealism. I can’t stress enough that while this game hangs out in the bureaucratic limbo that is Steam Greenlight, please race over to this link and play you some Super Hot! Right meow and try not to catch yourself repeating the game’s title over and over while playing it.

Terry Cavanaugh is a visionary among the indie development crowd, and while some would rest on their laurels a bit after releasing gems like Super Hexagon and VVVVVV , Terry is constantly pumping out what comes to mind like American Dream on the Ouya, and this featured free to play browser game, Naya’s Quest. An isometric platformer borrowing FEZ mechanics like perspective shifting on a level that would make M.C. Escher along with dimensional leaps that are similar to Link to The Past and Antichromatic, Naya’s Quest is one of the best free games you can play on the web. Seriously, check out the video and challenge your mind in a way that will betray everything you know about video games in the best way.