One button bait: Flush the Goldfish

Two years ago, I really enjoyed playing ‘One Button Bob‘ – a fun Flash platform game where each screen in the platformer uses a single mousebutton in a different way, to control the action.

Now, Flush the Goldfish has arrived. 
And he’s all outta gum.

Just One More Game: 2011 in review

Hope you had a great 2011!

Here’s our ‘greatest hits’ from the past 12 months – enjoy the ultra-low-budget virtual fireworks display!

Click:  J-OMG’s end of 2011 report.

To Sir, with games. Karl Adamson.

(CC photo credit)

Videogames allow us to explore space, or race a Ferrari. To match shapes,  or solve ancient mysteries. To make Sonic collect drugs, or throw excrement at Kieron Gillen. And for the latter, we can thank Karl Adamson.

Karl’s a supply/substitute teacher in the UK, teaching Secondary English. In 2008, he made his own interactive fiction (text adventure) game and used it in the classrooom. It was a simple ‘haunted castle’ affair, designed to teach narrative techniques. The students enjoyed the experience and as Karl wrote in The New Statesman, he “realised he’d become irrevocably addicted to designing games.  [It] became both a hobby and an obsession.”

Mod turns recent game into old game with pretties

…and that’s ALWAYS my favourite kind of mod.

Of course normally, GTA IV wouldn’t get a mention here on J-OMG.
Aint Retro. Aint Indie. Aint Coinop.

But Team RAGE are working on a mod titled “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Rage” which promises to “Make a complete conversion of Vice City (including transport, atmosphere, weapons, storyline and etc.)” in the GTA IV.

And the only Grand Theft Auto game I ever bothered to play, was the one with the Commodore 64 loading screen…

Cue funky trailer with Cutting Crew soundtrack…

Demo release interview: Sir Arthur’s Spanish cousin

Spanish indie game maker ‘Locomalito’ has just released a demo of his latest ‘big’ game..  The beautifully Ghosts n Goblins-esque Maldita Castilla.  Time for a release-day interview!

But just before we do;  a quick recap.

Just over a year ago,  ’Loco’ released his biggest game yet – the Gradius-like shmup Hydorah (interview, screenshots). Since that time, he’s released a number of smaller titles, like the Manic Miner-esque L’Abbaye des Morts and he vertically-scrolling gross-em-up Viriax. Both were fantastic, but I had the feeling that they were just entrees compared to the main course of Maldita Castilla .

Now, Locomalito spills the beans on Spanish heroes, dirty monitors, favourite arcade music and the levels you’ll never play…

That def, flat and papery kid, sure crafts a mean…

(Oh yes, took me SECONDS to write that headline. Every one’s a winner baby.)

Jarlaxe, a member of the GoPinball.com forums, has put pixels to phosphors, and ink to scissors, to create some fantastic papercraft pinball models.

T2, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness, Wheel of Fortune (erm..) – they’re all there, ready for sneaky printing at your workplace, or less-sneaky printing at home.

This Last Ninja wields a mean classical guitar

Another week, another tonne of visits to our original ‘Last Ninja Remake‘ post. There’s some serious interest out there for this project… great to see.

In the meantime, have a listen to this amazing rendition of the original game’s main theme, on classical guitar!

Wow.
Just wow.

Thanks to J-OMG reader Harvey for the headsup.

Get ready……….. to HUMBLE!!!

• Great games.
• Pay what you want.
• No DRM.
• Money to charity.
• Windows/Mac/Linux.
• Redeemable on Steam.

“Marty, where we’re going.. you don’t NEED sentences!”

GeekDad vs. ‘Funny Ladies’

As mentioned previously, I’ve been doing a little bit of guest-blogging over at Wired UK’s GEEK DAD blog.

This time, my post’s about the age-old tradition of geeks supplying ‘tech support’ to family members. You know, removing 391 viruses from a single machine.. or in this case, making a PC a little more ‘kidsafe’ so little Johnny doesn’t learn too much about anatomy at an early age…

Parents of young children… Snag! This! Mag!

Being a gamer since about 1870 gives me special skills.
Like the ability to…

• Press a mouse button 15 times per second.
• Spot airconditioning ducts when I’m out ‘n’ about.
• And maybe – recommend appropriate games for kids.

Last year I was asked by My Child magazine (a respected Australian quarterly publication) to write an in-depth piece on games and children under five…