Monday, April 18, 2011

Top 10 non-computer games for kids

I recently came accross a site with tips for moms. What's that got to do with games you might ask. Well they had this nice top 10 list of non-computer games for kids. Read on.

From askamum.co.uk:

Technology is so prominent in children’s lives that many of the toys on the market are geared towards the TV and computer. If you're after an activity that's a bit more communicative, then these games are guaranteed to provide your kids with hours of fun without giving them square eyes.

1. Swingball

Perfect for the spring and summer months, and available from numerous toy retailers, swingball is a great choice for outdoor play. It’ll keep your child active, encourage hand-eye co-ordination, and it doesn’t even require a large garden. It’s a great game that kids can play with a parent, sibling or friend.

2. Pictionary

Many of us will remember this game from our childhood. A team trying to guess words by sketching clues to each other is not only fun – especially when dad is artistically challenged! – but is also great for children’s fine motor skills.

3. Dominoes

Sometimes it’s the simplest of games which provide the most entertainment. Children love – and will want to continually repeat – the process of lining up the dominoes before knocking them all down again.

4. Hopscotch mat

Available from Early Learning Centre, these hopscotch mats can be assembled inside on rainy days and outside when the sun’s shining. It’s also the kind of game children can play by themselves – great for when you have chores to do.

5. Kerplunk

Players take it in turns to remove a straw from a cylindrical structure whilst avoiding the marbles which fall through the tube. The winner is the player with the fewest marbles at the end. Kerplunk is a competitive and noisy game that’s instantly appealing for children.

6. Twister

This game is perfect for play-dates and parties, because loads of players means a lot of tangling up. The big spots on the mat are also good for younger children learning to identify colours.

7. Mancala

Originating from Africa, this lovely wooden game with marble counters involves players ‘sowing’ their marbles into holes in the board, much like the art of sowing seeds (in its native country, the game is actually played with seeds.) The object of the game is to gather more marbles than your opponent. The slow pace means it’s a perfect game to play before bed-time.

8. Jenga

This game has been described by the manufacturers as a ‘physical and mental skill.’ Building a tower from wooden blocks and then carefully removing them without collapsing the structure is a game that can involve all the family.

9. Top Trumps

There are so many varieties of this game that you’re sure to find a set about a topic your child loves. From football players to High School Musical, the cards are especially useful for long car journeys.

10. Guess Who

An old classic, this is a board game with a twist. Each player has a board containing cards with images of people on them. Players select one card and then compete to be the first to guess which card the other has chosen. The game is also dependent on description, meaning it’s great for developing your child’s vocabulary.

source: askamum.co.uk

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Pew Pew Pew Pew Pew, POOOOOOOSSSSHHHH, BOOOOOOOOOOM

Remember that as a kid you would create our own sound effects during anything you played. We created our own car sounds while driving our virtual cars going, Brooooom,Brooooom,Brooooom but we also created our gun sounds and explosions. And now you can do it all over again as an adult with the indie developed (by Incredible Ape) pew pew pew on xbla.

PewPewPewPewPewPewPewPewPew is a game where two people use two microphones to control one jet-pack equipped, shape shooting space-man. One controls the movement of the character by making 'POOOOSSSHHHHHH' noises and the other controls the shooting by making.... 'PEW PEW PEW' sounds. But you can be as creative as you want with making alternative noises. And the realtime pitch adjustment makes it all damn funny!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Fez up! You'll like this.

A perfect marriage between pixels, 3d and platform puzzle action. That is what Fez, created by Polytron, seems to be.
If the game plays half as good as it looks I can't wait to play.

FEZ BEGINS from POLYTRON on Vimeo.


And even more Fez...

FEZ PAX EAST GAMEPLAY VIDEO from POLYTRON on Vimeo.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

URL Hunter, game that plays in your browsers address bar


Corey from ProbablyInteractive has developed a nice little experimental and innovative html5 game. And it is played completely in your browsers address bar. You need a browser that supports html5 naturally (who doesn't.... ow... IE perhaps... if you use IE then please upgrade to Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Opera to enjoy a real modern day browser).

Anyhow, you control an 'O' that can move from left to right, and when you are over an 'a' you press 'space' to 'kill' it and score a point. Simple concept but not quite as easy to play. I got to kill 4 animals in 8 seconds. Who will beat that record setting score?

Try for yourselves at http://probablyinteractive.com/url-hunter

WARNING :it will spoil your history with thousand of entries.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hip Hop, Drum and Bass and Minecraft

James Bond was right, diamonds are forever. Even in the world of Minecraft! But to have a kid bang them out of someones head while at the same time generating a high pitched scream? But hey... don't we all scream like little girls when there are diamonds at stake .

Now go and watch.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Animation versus Gameplay

Yesterday I saw a new cinematic trailer which I would like to share with you. Square Enix released it for their upcoming PSP strategy RPG title: Tactics Ogre, Let Us Cling Together. It's a fantastic trailer, but don't expect to see anything of the actual gameplay:



Recently we wrote about a retro styled shoot'em'up from Footlocker, a good example that you don't always need brilliant animations to offer your public a pretty nice game! Okey, we're comparing apples
and oranges a little, but hey... in the end a game is a game, isn't it?

Monday, January 31, 2011

A real virtual playground?!

Activate 3D are continuing their efforts with the hacked Xbox Kinect. And now they have created a somewhat simple but nonetheless special demo in which they show how your own movement is beautifully transfered into movement of the virtual character.

I can see the possibilities already, what about a new Marine Corps training games including a bag of mud and barbedwire for your living room to up the experience!

Watch the video after the jump!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Secret of a perfect game...

What's the secret of a perfect game..? The only part of the secret I know (besides the technical stuff) is being creative, just like 14-year-old Robert Nay from Utah who designed a hit game for the App Store.

It's called Bubble Ball, an addictive puzzle game. The game was released December 29th and today reached over 1,5 million downloads, it knocked the smash hit game Angry Birds out of its top spot on
the Apple App Store's list of most popular free games and is now also available for the Android Market.

Here's a trailer of the game:



@ Fantazm we dare to say that we have the creative X factor to find the perfect game-concept for
your needs and budgets, just ask, send an email to:
gamestorm@fantazm.com (pls include a little information about yourself, your company, target audience and if possible budget) and we'll reply as
soon as possible with an original new game-concept FOR FREE!


Friday, January 14, 2011

Games are art (or are they?)

Although this presentation from Kellee Santiago from That Game Company has been arround for a while now it was still missing on our blog (I know, my bad). She tries to explain why she thinks games could be considered a form of art. Watch and be inspired.

Augmented Reality (AR) demo

Games is what we do, what we are and what we believe in! Whether it's for casual fun, branding or advertising, e-learning or hardcore gaming. We mainly create entertaining experiences around your brands that resonate with your audience and create lasting impressions.

As derivative from our core business we also develop other applications, for example using Augmented Reality techniques. To get people more acquainted with AR, we've put a small demonstration online so they can experience AR for themselves:
http://ar.fantazm.com

Below a video preview of that demonstration: