Fan replica of Fallout Plasma Rifle
In celebration of the imminent release of the game Fallout: New Vegas, Ryan Palser made a replica of the A3-21 Plasma Rifle from Fallout 3. As Ryan says, "It is one of the only weapons still manufactured after the great war." He's posted a fascinating series of build photos over at Flickr. A3-21 Plasma Rifle
Voting machine hacked to run Pac-man
David Pescovitz at 11:20 AM Mon 
Over at the Submitterator, lbigbadbob points us to this video of a Sequoia AVC Edge touch-screen DRE voting machine hacked to, er, play Pac-man. This was done without breaking any of the tamper-evident seals. Nice work, J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan, and Ariel J. Feldman, Princeton University! From the project page:
How did you reprogram the machine?PAC-MAN on the Sequoia AVC-Edge DRE voting machineThe original election software used the psOS+ embedded operating system. We reformatted the memory card to boot DOS instead. (Update: Yes, it can also run Linux.) Challenges included remembering how to write a config.sys file and getting software to run without logical block addressing or a math coprocessor. The entire process took three afternoons.
Why PAC-MAN?
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the iconic arcade game, we reprogrammed the AVC Edge to run Pac-Man. It uses MAME to emulate the original hardware. (We own the electronics from a real Pac-Man machine.) We could have reprogrammed it to steal votes, but that's been done before, and Pac-Man is more fun!
Max Capacity [AM] has up a fantastic set on Flickr of pixel-art skyscrapers and cityscapes. [via Mituk]
[photo courtesy lehighvalleylive.com, click for large size]
Visitors to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Big Time carnival last week in Roseto, PA (a small borough, population 1600), were invited to play "Alien Attack," a midway game shown above in which you shoot an effigy of U.S. president Barack Obama. Six shots for $5! Note the presidential seal belt-buckle (all presidents wear this), the target on the forehead, and the "Health Bill" scroll he's clutching. Oh, and the Troll Doll with a KISS t-shirt? Nice touch.
The local paper got an awful lot of mileage out of the story. Carny operator Irvin L. Good Jr., president of Hellertown, PA-based Goodtime Amusements, was adamant that the game was not a representation of the president—at least he was 'til the secret service guys showed up:
"Yes, a woman talked to me about it," Good said today. "She said she was offended by it. I said if you are, you might want to be. But you're interpreting it as being Obama. We're not interpreting it as Obama. The name of the game is 'Alien Leader.' If you're offended, that's fine, we duly note that." When it was suggested the health bill and presidential seal might lead players to believe the game did depict Obama, Good said, "You may be right there."
The entire original article is pure awesome.
Incidentally, lehighvalleylive.com might just be my favorite new news source. The "Obama game outrage" coverage blew up last week, but today the paper reports even more local crazytime: "Bethlehem Township, Pa., police today released a surveillance photo of a woman dressed in a clown suit who on Friday allegedly robbed a township bank."
She told police she had been abducted, and was forced to rob the bank by an unknown man who threatened to kill her and her children. Hey, at least he didn't make her take bong hits.
From the New York Times, a stat sure to shock the misogynist trolls that swarm gaming sites: "Women [...] outpace men in photo sharing and shopping, and in what may come as a surprise, gaming, favoring casual puzzle, card and board games. Female gamers over 55 spend the most time online gaming of any demographic by far and are nearly as common as the most represented group, males 15 to 24." Granted, we may be talking Farmville, not Call of Duty, but still... — Xeni • Comments: 35
Real world R/C car "video game"
David Pescovitz at 9:23 AM Mon
Over at our Submitterator, BB pal Gareth Branwyn points us to Racer, Malte Jehmlich's real world R/C car "video game." It consists of a fantastic cardboard racetrack and arcade game cockpit. The driver sitting in the cockpit looks at a POV display of a camera mounted on the vehicle. Racer 0.2 (via MAKE: Online)
Via Submitterator, pasq242 points to Retrocovered, Brendan Becker's chiptuney NES cover album of classic songs by The Cars, Men Without Hats, U2 and others. Download. — Rob • 1 Comment
Matt Marchini's designed the game I always wanted to be playing while I was playing The Oregon Trail. Alas, it's just a concept gallery. [Thanks, Judson!]
Gratuitous Space Battles on Mac, Osmos on iPhone
The wondefully-named Gratuitous Space Battles, a visceral and compelling PC game wherein ridiculously epic naval engagements are meticulously planned--but not directly controlled--is now available for Mac. I've often thought that it would make an awesome mobile game, but creator Cliff Harris says that fitting it into the iPad's RAM is a challenge for the devs. While they're working on that, check out Osmos, another recent indie hit that that runs on Windows, OSX and Linux, and just made its way into your pocket too. I played through this recently; it's a meditation on life, the ptolemaic model of the universe, and screaming bug-eyed frustration.
Ed Fries, former VP of game publishing at Microsoft, has created an Atari 2600 version of Halo. He describes in detail the challenges of developing for the ancient and extremely limited platform. But the results are superb.
Halo Goes Old-School [IGN via submitterator. Thanks, RevRight!]
Here's the story of how this game came about [Atari Age via Waxy]
How Tettix tried to design a T-shirt and ended up with a remix album
Electronic musician Tettix just released A New Challenger, a remix album featuring tracks from his earlier T.K.O.E.P.. Alex Mauer, Derris-Kharlan, Disasterpeace, Hélas Techne and Minusbaby worked with him to create it.
How did it come together?
Well, it's a funny story.
Music video created with Nintendo DSi
The video to "Brain Games," the third track from Arman Bohn's Atari 2600-inspired "Bits
Get Lamp, a documentary about text adventures, is finally available to order after years in development. [Getlamp.com] Computerworld's Ken Gagne interviewed creator Jason Scott. — Rob • Comments: 20
Just days after the U.S. Copyright Office explicitly authorized DRM-cracking by consumers, a British court has effectively abolished the import and sale of blank Nintendo DS cartridges. The mere possibility of piracy is sufficient to ban them, even if the media has legitimate uses such as storing freely-available third-party software. "The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence," read the ruling by Justice Floyd. [BBC] — Rob • Comments: 41
Tiny Cartridge tells the story of an unsettling bootleg edition of the game Pokémon:
After selecting your starter, if you looked at your Pokémon, you had in addition to Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle another Pokémon -- "GHOST". It had one attack -- "Curse". ...When the move "Curse" was used in battle, the screen would cut to black. The cry of the defending Pokémon would be heard, but it was distorted, played at a much lower pitch than normal. The battle screen would then reappear, and the defending Pokémon would be gone.
You could also select Curse [on a rival Trainer]. If you did, upon returning to the overworld, the trainer's sprite would be gone. After leaving and reentering the area, the spot that the trainer had been would be replaced with a tombstone...
That's not all, either. The author didn't just leave it at that, but considered the implications for the game's narrative. [Tiny Cartridge via @brandonnn]
Rob Beschizza at 3:57 PM Mon
Frenchiart.com's Press Start! flickr set is all about video games and, apart from a particularly odd Super Mario or two, appears to be mostly harmless. Pictured left is Game Over, by Christine Daigle, on offer for just $150. Sorely tempted!
Gallery [Flickr]
Thanks, Maskinn! Via Submitterator.
Parry! Dodge! Spin! Thrust! Nidhogg!
Here's the latest trailer for Nidhogg, a trippy but slickly-animated swordfighting game. Think Jordan Mechner on acid. Previously. [Messhof via Indie Games]
The Dream Machine is a point-and-click adventure game made with natural materials: "We decided to steer as far away from all things polygonal as possible, and are actually building all the environments, props and characters out of clay and cardboard." — Rob • Comments: 11
Double Rainbow tribute video: montage of notable rainbows in video games
Australia-based Boing Boing reader Alexander Ringis shares this full-on, all-the-way musical tribute to rainbows in video games by Rockethands with singer Brad Power. The remix includes an original music composition, and fair use remixin' of audio and video from the original games and from Yosemitebear's original "double rainbow video."
With lots of thanks to Rainbow (children's TV show with that Zippy character), Rainbow Islands (I spent an entire summer playing this in a shopping mall with the beach a short walk away), Katamari Damarcy (who knew dung beatles have so much fun), Robot Unicorn Attack (taking cheese to a whole new level), Bytejacker (the best video podcast for free indie games), Rainbow Brite (never heard of it, but I'm not a girl and I don't have a sister), Mario Kart (and the Rainbow Road tribute song crew), The Wizard of Oz (check out the mad lip-syncing), Bit.Trip Runner (we love you, gaijin games), Captain Rainbow (the Japanese really have an obsession; that's four rainbow games), The Muppet Movie (sweet Jim Henson, we dedicate this song to you), and that nice American lady who thinks rainbows in her sprinkler mean her oxygen supply contains metallic oxide salts.And is it uncool to add that I still have not tired of the original video? It is true.
Double Rainbow (All The Way) - Original Song
(rockethands, on YouTube)
Ninety seconds of classic gaming in the Breakout/Arkanoid vein, with a "Bullet Heaven" vibe. You'll finish it very easily, but it's a beaut when things get hectic. [Wonderfl.net via RPS]
Crashfaster and Doctor Popular created an entire album's worth of 8bit-inspired music to go with Knife Tank, their entry in our latest game development competition!
Not to brag, but the nerd-rap-knifetank-anthem I did with Beefy is sure to make your head nod... and 8bit bEtty's remix of it is even keener! You can hear the full album here
KnifeTank (The Albumhole) is fun, and there's nothing to lose if you're at all into chip music: low-bitrate mp3s stream free of charge, and quality versions cost whatever you feel like giving.
Knifetank (The Albumhole) [Bandcamp]
Joseph Mansfield created an HTML 5 implementation of John Conway's Game of Life, the classic cellular automaton first devised in 1970. Conway's Game of Life in HTML 5 (via Technoccult)
Boing Boing Game Dev Challenge: The Winners!
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the first ever Boing Boing "Games Inspired by Music" Competition, sponsored by Safari Books Online. The polls closed at midnight with Zachary Johnson's Infiltration and Zachary Lewis's Space Junk nearly neck and neck. Space Junk took the grand prize with 249 votes, followed by Infiltration with 233 votes. Coming in third was Sean Monahan's Beat Boost! All three of these are instant old-school classics!
Mr. Lewis receives the grand prize of a year of access to Safari Books Online, a $515 value, and a fat prize pack from GAMA-GO, including a limited-edition art print, GAMA-GO book, Gama-Goon Statue, Sing-A-Long Tongs, and other goodies. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Monahan score three month subscriptions to Safari Books Online, valued at $128 each, and a grip of GAMA-GO goods like a Yeti Qee Keychain, Pocket Journal, and Hip-Hopsicles!
All of the other finalists will receive GAMA-GO prize packages too! (Thanks, GAMA-GO!)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to create an entry! We're blown away by the effort and raw mutant creativity that went into these! And much appreciation to the chiptunes composers who inspired us with the bleeps and bloops. And thanks to all who played and voted!
Finally, much appreciation to our partner Safari Books Online. We've wanted to hold a competition like this for a long time and we're grateful to them for helping us make it happen. For the foreseeable future, they're offering Boing Boing readers a special 15 day trial of Safari Books Online plus 15% discount for 12 months (new subscribers only) on a subscription. Check it out!
And if this is all new to you, please visit the Boing Boing Arcade, featuring all the finalists in our contest. Shall we play a game?
Boing Boing Arcade: almost last day to vote in the game dev challenge!
Today Thursday is your last chance to vote for the winners of the Boing Boing "Games Inspired By Music" Competition. At stake are some terrific prizes from our sponsor, Safari Books Online, and Gama-Go! At the moment, Space Junk is in the lead with Beat Boost a very close second. Boing Boing Arcade
p0nd, a flash game, offers a wonderful and haunting experience, especially the ending. Now this is art. Eat it, Ebert! [Peanut Gallery Games via IndieGames] — Rob • Comments: 31
Games Inspired by Music: Play the entries and vote!
A few weeks ago, we asked you to create Games Inspired by Music -- chip music, to be precise, the old-fashioned computer-generated audio that's come into its own as a creative medium. Safari Books Online provided 30 days free access to a selection of game development titles, which are still available for another week. In the last hours the entries came pouring in and we were in awe of the oldschool wonder!
We've compiled a shortlist of finalists into a Boing Boing Arcade: try them all and then vote for who should take home the top prizes, provided by Safari Books Online, and goodies from Gama-Go. The poll will remain open until July 14 15 at 11:59pm and we'll announce the winners on July 15 16!
Many thanks go to the chiptune and electronic artists who allowed us to post their music as inspiration to the game developers. And, of course, to those who have dedicated time and energy to creating the games themselves.
Shall we play a game?
Matt Hackett • Richtaur
Matt Hackett's Onslaught! is a HTML5-only game. Designed and coded with Geoff Blair, Matt also did the art. The music and sound is by Joshua Morse.
Sean Monahan • Homepage
Beat Boost into the right color fields--and perform front flips--without hitting the floor. Result: high scores. Each level is a visual representation of the track being played. Sean explains how: "To achieve this I converted each mp3 to a wav and then transcribed the wav to MIDI. The MIDI file is then used to generate the blocks in the level and determine the length."
Zachary Johnson • Zachstronaut
Zachary's Infiltration was built with JavaScript and HTML5's canvas tag, but contains powerful lighting and blending effects normally the province of Flash -- a perfect showcase for plugin-free browser gaming.
By Owen Harris
Created in Unity (get the browser plugin), Owen's entry has artwork by Tom Moore and bespoke chiptune-style music by Andreuch O'Maonaigh.
Bill Meltsner • Meltsner.com
Bill Meltsner's Gobber Assault features the chiptune "Gobber Groove" from Disasterpeace's free album Neutralite, and artwork by Oddball and Oryx. Whack enemies, leap over blows, and steal their gear.
By Wesley Campbell
Inspired by Happiness in Winter by Gary Lee, Arctic Trek is a straightforward horizontally-scrolling shooter. To play you need to download the GameSalad browser Plug-in for Safari.
Zachary Lewis • Kongregate Dev Page
With only a ghost crew and a disabled ship, the space captain's outlook is grim. Will he be able to survive on salvage, blasting away at all oncoming attackers, or will he just become more Space Junk? Created in Flash.
Rapp Daniel • Rappdaniel.com
Posted by Swedish student Dan R. and inspired by Tettix's Earth's Assault on the Main AI, Flatwar was built using the HTML5 canvas tag, but works cross-browser.
Doctor Popular & Team • Docpop
Built in HTML5, Knifetank is compatible with recent versions of Safari. Use the WASD keys to move; click the mouse button to fire; and switch on all the blocks on to move to the next level. It was created by Doctor Popular, Lilia Markham, Crashfaster, Mike Hales, Erik Swedberg and Brian Cronin. Read the dev diary!
Jim Rossignol's splendid book, This Gaming Life, is now available to read in full online. A "rumination on the personal, sociological and even political impact of videogames," Joel Johnson gave it a good review at BBG. Wired liked it too! [Umich via Jim Rossignol] (Buy it at Amazon
Hot as Hetalia: webcomic-based anime phenom explodes
Photo: Shannon Cottrell
Liz Ohanesian reports from the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, where Hetalia was hot stuff this year—"from cosplay gatherings to artist alley booths to panel sessions." It began as a web comic, then became a series of five-minute anime episodes. At the Expo, Funimation announced plans to release the first season of Hetalia: Axis Powers on DVD this September. The response? Nonstop screams from a packed room of fans. And a panel the following day on "Hetalia History" drew a capacity cosplayer crowd. Snip from Liz's photo essay:
In the Hetalia universe, countries are personified as young men and women with a variety of flaws. The emphasis isn't on war so much as it is on the relationships between the characters. Italy always relies on Germany for protection. Japan offends China upon first meeting him. America and England are brothers with a rocky relationship. Canada is irritated that he's frequently confused with America. And then there's poor little Sealand, who might be considered the world's smallest country if only the others would recognize him.Anime Expo 2010: 'Hetalia' Draws Legions of Fans at Anime Expo (laweekly.com)
Advertise • Policies • Comment Policy
J/K to scroll posts • 100 latest comments
Mark
Cory
David
Xeni
Rob
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries.
