Some Weird Games!

I posted this on http://www.digitpress.com/ recently, figured I'd put it here too:

LSD: The Dream Emulator
Sony Playstation (Japan Only)
1998





This is my holy grail game right now. I've got a copy of it now and have been looking for it off and on for the last few years. You essentially navigate a dream environment and all sorts of bizarre things happen to you. There's virtually no real interaction.

Panic! (aka Switch!)
Sega CD/Mega CD (US/JPN), Playstation 2 (Japan Only)
1994



One of my most treasured games. You simply navigate through strange and stranger rooms by pressing random buttons located on each screen. Some will advance you through the stages, most will do very odd things. No real game here, but this is an experience not to be missed. If nothing else to just be shocked that is was ported over here in the first place.

The Rub Rabbits!/Where Do Babies Come From?
Nintendo DS (US/JPN)
2006



The game is pretty much just a collection of odd mini-games but its the whole package that really makes this game something special. The first game, Feel the Magic XX/XY delivered an excellent experience but the sequel brought everything over the top. There's a great deconstruction on love and life to be found in the little flash cart.

Katamari Damacy
Sony Playstation 2 (US/JPN)
2004



What more can be said? It's cliche but man is it still great.

Killer 7
Nintendo GameCube/Sony Playstation 2 (US/JPN)
2005





Suda 51's master work. Undeniably odd and undeniably awesome even if the actual gameplay is suspect.

Doshin the Giant 2
Nintendo 64DD (Japan Only)
2000

Video needs to say it all



Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland
Nintendo DS (JPN/EUR)
2006/2007



I’ve never played this game either but just looking at some of the screenshots has to throw it up on any self-respecting weird game list due to just the protagonist. Arguably the weirdest character Nintendo has ever cranked out.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Atari 2600 (US)
1982



Though the game itself doesn’t really measure up on the “weird” front, playing it as a 5 year old kid, you sure are left dumbfounded by what the hell is going on. Even playing it now, it’s impossible not to notice how strange a VCS take on the definitive adventure movie is. Dots and lines flying around, black squigglies running after you, and strange blobs of land litter the landscape. While other VCS games are just as headscratchingly strange (Riddle of the Sphinx, Swordquest) without any context, I feel that Indy did it first, and best

Electroplankton
Nintendo DS (US/JPN)
2006



I was so sure this wasn’t going to see a release over here, I went ahead and imported it. I was wrong. Not really a game so much as an experiment in sound and visuals. It found an extremely small audience on this side of the Atlantic and commands respectable prices on eBay as a result. Totally unique on the DS and well worth experiencing.

flOw
Playstation 3 (US) (Download Only)
2007



Its been called an interactive screensaver. Its been called genius. Its been called boring as hell. To me, flOw sums up what can be exciting about games these days. Beautiful, unorthodox, and haunting experiences that can transcend genre and classification. They don't have to be complex or deep to be compelling. Breaking games down to their essentials and opening doors to new types of "play" are going to help evolve the next lines of exciting games that will directly correlate to the next swash of mega titles. That Game Company is on the front lines (along with Grasshopper Manufacture and Q? and many individuals like Keita Takahashi, Fumito Ueda, and Tatsuya Kando) of pushing game design forward. And this is very, very exciting.

We'll see you next year CP3

And the Hornets go down.

Lakers in 6. Pistons in 5.

Madworld

yes. fucking yes.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=14870441443

Gaming Update

Been playing some Grand Theft Auto IV with varying degrees of success. Multiplayer ranges from amazingly fun to unbelievably annoying. I guess it's the new soup du jour for XBox Live. Single player is pretty good, but isn't a quantum leap forward from previous titles. The world is extremely detailed but still just as interactive as the last iteration (which is to say, minimally).

The World Ends With You on the DS is absolutely fantastic though. It really makes the DS come alive. The (so-called) emoish story actually works very well and is keeping me pretty engrossed. All the extra features piled into the game really sing and bring a lot of different looks on how to play the game the way you want to.

Baroque on the Wii is more successful as an intellectual exercise than it is as a game. I've had the Japanese import (Sega Saturn) for awhile now, but I was never really able to play it as the mechanics are obtuse to say the least and the language barrier made it almost impossible to attempt. Now that I (kind of) know what's going on in the game, it certainly takes a lot of risks that fly much more in the Japanese market than our own. It's already bombing here, but I give all the credit in the world to Atlus for bringing this over here. Especially with what had to be an amazingly difficult translation job for the sparse text in the game (it's very, very strange).

I'm also currently playing Diablo 2 again and having a damn blast. It scratches the loot itch left behind in the wake of World of Warcraft but without all the guilt and self-loathing that comes with playing it.

I very recently bought two games off of eBay. Switch on the PS2 and Pu-li-ru-la on the Saturn. I've looked for the former for a LONG time. Years. Naturally I grabbed it as soon as it was available. I'll need to replace my Japanese PS2 very soon to try it out.