iGame Radio

An article from Popular Science magazine a couple of days ago talked about how New York is launching a public school curriculum around playing games. The Quest to Learn (Q2L) school, based in Manhattan, is using games such as Little Big Planet and Civilization, as well as board games such as Settlers of Catan, to contribute to the learning process.

An excerpt from the article:

In one sample curriculum, students create a graphic novel based on the epic Babylonian poem “Gilgamesh,” record their understanding of ancient Mesopotamian culture though geographer and anthropologist journals, and play the strategic board game “Settlers of Catan.” Google Earth comes into play as a tool to explore the regions of ancient Mesopotamia.

The school idea came from a nonprofit called Institute of Play, with support from Parsons School for Design. Currently, the school receives financial backing from donors such as the Gates Foundation, Intel, and the MacArthur Foundation up to about $1 million, but New York City plans to take over funding by 2015.

in reading the article, one of the things that struck me was not the article itself, but the comments afterward. Many of the comments were all excited by the idea of a game-based school curriculum, one that diversified the education process and provided multiple means for learning to get into the brain. But there were a few who questioned it, and every single one brought up as one of their main (if not their main) issue being how much it would cost. And the way they worded it, their opinion came across as “how can I reduce my children’s education cost as low as possible?”

Excuse me? This is our children’s future we’re talking about here. It costs, people, to educate them properly. If you weren’t willing to put the money in for a good education, you should have bought the condom. There’s a cheap cost for you. And a one time expense.

What’s inside this episode:

• An interview with Paul Hutson of Iron Will Studios about Outer Empires, a cool browser/iPhone MMOG that may give EVE a run for its money.
• Also, a chat with Greg Maletic, who developed the creative iPhone game Wishing Stars, which helps alleviate those boring hours waiting in line at Disneyland.
• And a look into Big Fish Games’ foray into the iPhone world with a comparison of their first and latest games in their Hidden Expedition series: Everest and Titanic.

PopCap Games has announced the release of Zuma’s Revenge for the Mac and PC. Available via download for $19.95, the game has launched in 8 different languages and simultaneously via retail and download.

In Zuma the player takes the role of a fearless ball-shooting frog, exploring ancient temples and ruins. By firing colored spheres into an advancing chain of balls to make matches of three or more, the frog blasts his way through a series of arcade challenges. The sequel brings the player to an all-new setting, the Polynesian paradise ruled by Zhaka Mu, and ups the ante with nearly triple the screen resolution of the original game, cool 3-D particle effects, and support for widescreen monitors. Further, Zuma’s Revenge takes the relatively basic point-and-click input of the original Zuma up several notches, incorporating horizontal and vertical “sliding” as well as the ability to hop from one lily pad to another to achieve greater flexibility and hit hard-to-reach areas of the screen. All-new tiki boss enemies provide a climactic ending to each major stage of the game and introduce various new forms of attack and defense that must be used to succeed in the game.

I’ve been fiddling with the game for a bit, and it’s quite a challenge, even from the get-go, so I expect the game will provide a lot of replayability. Also, just like Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma’s Revenge includes lots of little quirky comments that you’ll probably love to find.

Day 3 of PAX 09 is now available. Today I talk about what PAX was like, from the Expo floor, to the PAX flu, to Mac games. Also, interviews with the game designer for Puzzle Bloom, and the developer for Osmos.

What’s inside this episode:

• PAX 09 was a rockin’ success, from the huge number of booths, the large number of games coming out for the Mac and iPhone, to the awesome concert series. PAX is the gamer’s paradise! I talk about what the expo floor was like, what the games I played were like, and what PAX in general was like.
• I chatted up Jess Rahbek, the game designer for Puzzle Bloom, a unity based flash game. Be prepared to MAKE THEM PAY…and grow pretty trees, too. A PAX 10 finalist.
• I also interviewed Eddie Boxerman of Hemisphere Games, who developed Osmos. The first stage of Spore comes to mind…only now you eject bits of yourself as you ingest your enemies. All in a zen-like atmosphere. A PAX 10 finalist.

PICTURES!!! Images from PAX 09 taken from a camera that I obviously didn’t know how to use very well. Enjoy!

A view from the Expo floor.

More Expo floor goodness.

Booth babe from City of Heroes. Or, should that be The Booth Babe of Justice?

Warhammer Online booth.

Diablo III kiosks. Long lines…I got to play when I got in early on Friday ’cause I’m media and you’re not. :P

Blizzard WoW: Cataclysm kiosks. Never did get a chance to try the expansion out.

Line for Left For Dead 2. Ain’t his momma proud! >:P

Entrance to one side of the Expo floor.

Dofus 2.0 Booth.

I’m not sure which one is hotter. No, I’m sure. She is.

Booth for Fieldrunner, a PAX 10 finalist, and the only iPhone game in the PAX 10. Didn’t get a chance to interview them because they failed to tell me they weren’t going to be there on Sunday. Doh!

Day 2 of PAX 09 is now available. No commentary today either, just interviews. I’ll do all my commentary on Day 3. I promise. Really.

Got an important question about a Mac game or one that you hope will come out? Now is the time to ask it, and your Mac game spy (that would be me) will get the answer! Tomorrow is the last day. Post your question here or email me.

What’s inside this episode:

• I talked with Ryan of Big Fish Games about Faunasphere, where you can manipulate genes, lay eggs, and clean up pollution. I’m not sure, but someone put a member of the Green Party in with a scientist and let them breed! Serious fun without serious killing.
• Then I chatted with Thomas of Ankama about the face-lift of Dofus 2.0. We talk about the changes both on the surface and under the hood.
• Lastly, I help a cute little rusty robot find his girlfriend. Wall-eeeeeeeeeeee. No, this little robot lives in a far sader, far more humorous world. I don’t know how that can happen, but it works. Look into the world of Machinarium.

The first day’s coverage of PAX 09 is now available. No commentary today, just interviews…it’s too late for me to post anything else right now.

Got an important question about a Mac game or one that you hope will come out? Now is the time to ask it, and your Mac game spy (that would be me) will get the answer! Post your question here or email me.

What’s inside this episode:

• I interview the guys at Blizzard! Hear about the latest regarding WoW: Cataclysm and Diablo III.
• Next up: Runic Games and their stunning announcement that Torchlight will be coming to the Mac! Oh, yeah, and we talk about Torchlight too. :D
• Get your mind twisted with Mind Control! I certainly did in this interview, ’cause I still don’t really know what Mind Twist is all about. But maybe you can figure it out. It’s coming out for the iPhone.
• Finally, don’t let the switch get pulled on you. SwitchGames is a great game trading community. They don’t like to say “service” cause they don’t want you to think they are trading the games. But they’ll help make trading safer…for a price. ;)

Runic Games, developer of the action-RPG Torchlight, has announced a launched date for the game, as well as a Mac version in the works. In a press release sent out this morning, the launch date is set for October 27. The game will be available as a digital download for $19.99.

The company also revealed a Mac version of the game in the works. President and project director Travis Baldree and CEO Max Schaefer admitted that they have already been developing a Mac version for the game. “It was our intent to have a Mac version,” said Max Schaefer. The Mac port is at about the “midway point”, and is being performed by an unspecified third party.

Torchlight is an action-RPG with more casual gaming approach to play, enabling gamers of all skill levels to quickly immerse themselves into game play. A level randomizer creates unique adventures for each quest, with different monsters, treasures, puzzles and items for players to find, defeat, and unlock. Torchlight will also provide a full-suite level editor for players to create and share their own content and levels.

Today’s iPhone Watch List includes a bouncy ball, international play, and chopping heads.

Spikey’s Bounce Around, by Donut Games, is a basic arcade game with some very interesting control mechanisms. Spikey bounces around the screen, and you have to time it so that he picks up all of the butterflies on the screen from the angle that you started him bouncing out at. There are power-ups that allow you to stop, or bounce multiple times, etc, to help out. Graphics are cute and colorful. You can check out a video of the gameplay here.

Word Ace is another word game, but not so very typical. Playable on iPhone, iPod Touch, *and* Pre, the game is multiplayer on an international scale. Basically, it’s Texas Hold’em combined with a Scrabble-like word game. You compete with others online to see who can make the highest scoring word, making bets like in Texas Hold’em. This game seems to be getting rave reviews so far, and best of all it’s free. Which makes one wonder how the developer is monetizing the game. Check out the walk-through video (unfortunately, it’s for the Palm Pre).

Lastly, you can enjoy chopping heads in this great hack and slash game, Samurai: Way of the Warrior. This walkthrough video does a great job of showing the gameplay. The interesting thing about this game is how it uses the touch pad for the actions, especially for fighting maneuvers. Different slashes across the screen result in different attacks.

I’ve posted the PAX Walking List, my list of developers and publishers that I’ll be interviewing so far at PAX (well, the ones that I’ve got confirmed interviews for…still some I’m finishing up confirmations on right now). It’s over on the iGame Radio facebook fan page, and you can see who I’m interviewing.

You can also list out which questions you want me to ask during interviews, tell me who else you’d like me to hook up with, or what games you want to see screenshots from or get gameplay info about. Just hop on over there and make a reply, or you can reply in comments here.

Red Marble Games has been busy this month, releasing two new games. Go-go Gourmet is a hidden object and time-management game for PPC and Intel Mac. Join Ginger as she seeks master chef training with some pretty loony restaurateurs. Fill customer orders by prepping and serving dishes properly as quickly as possible. The faster you go, the more points you can make. The game works with 10.4 or better, though the site says 10.3.9. You can pick it up for $19.95, though if you are a Red Marble Games newsletter subscriber, you can get it for a discount.

RMG has also released a limited edition Build-a-Lot Monopoly Edition. Use the same Build-a-Lot gameplay, but now your are building up Boardwalk, Baltic Avenue, and Park Place. Also available for PPC and Intel Macs, this one should run on 10.3.9. RMG says that the game will only be available through the end of the year, so pick it up for the $19.95 price tag now.

Lastly, we have our first look at Tale of Tales next endeavor…Fatale. The studio released the first image of what the Salome character would look like (WARNING…NSFW or art-impaired colleagues).