"Art" is a word frequently thrown around in the videogame world, usually in the question, "Are videogames art?". While art truly is in the eye of the beholder and it's ultimately fruitless to try and argue if videogames and art can be one in the same, from my perspective there have been precious few times when something in the videogame world struck me as beautiful and made me feel emotions normally reserved for my experiences with other forms of entertainment. It's with that idea in mind then that I come to Braid from Number None Inc., for Microsoft's Xbox 360, via Xbox Live Arcade. To me, this time manipulation puzzle platformer is art in its truest sense, from the painterly, animated graphics style to the almost transcendental instrumental music to the rather flowery and richly constructed prose. Braid is also a game of seemingly purposeful contrasts, embracing often overly tread videogame constructs like jumping on enemy heads to dispatch them (Super Mario Bros.), finding and using keys (Shamus) and puzzle pieces (Impossible Mission), and reversing time in order to meet or re-do certain goals (Blinx), all wrapped up in an achingly beautiful aesthetic that makes everything else about it quite all right thank you very much. If I weren't terrifically busy and feeling a bit guilty about best use of my own time, I'd buy the 1200 point game immediately, but I will have to make do with a taste of the free demo for the time being, a demo of a game I'll want to expose my wife to at the first opportunity so I have someone else, firsthand, to share the experience with (and an experience it is). There are already countless reviews of Braid (whose title, for those wondering, is also fitting), but here's a brief one to get you started that hints just a bit more at what the game actually offers...

I was browsing Slashdot's Top Indie Games You Wouldn't Mind Paying For and came across GameBiz, an absolutely fascinating game that puts you in the role of a game developer. You get to create games and then market them on a range of platforms including the Amiga (the game begins in 1980). You can also make your own platforms! It's a freebie, so might as well try it out. I know it'd be fun to finally get to see how the Amiga would've turned out with proper management! If you do try the game, please let us know what you think. Click more to see the developer's blurb.

I'm presently trying to finish off the Defender chapter. I was wondering if everyone could chime in with a few of their favorite Defender clones I need to be sure to look at, either arcade or home versions. Certainly there are the obvious ones like Parsec for the TI-99/4a, but any others that might not be so obvious? I'm also going to tie in a bit with later side-scrolling SHMUPS as appropriate, like R-Type and the like. Thanks, guys!

Jess Beebe has posted a very interesting article at ACG called Resource Quest: hidden treasures in Sierra’s adventure games. It's all about the hidden files of legendary games like King's Quest and Leisure Suit Larry. These aren't to be confused with Easter Eggs; rather, Jess has found secret stuff lurking in the program directories, such as sketches and background art. In short, this is the stuff the developer probably didn't want anyone to see! If you like Sierra's classic adventure games, check out Jess's article!

A review of the rather unknown Gameking handheld. This Korean handheld has a very low resolution screen but surprisingly good sound. The games are actually rather playable and it is amazing to see what sort of gameplay can be squeezed out of the limited hardware. Read more below...

Pac-ManPac-Man fever! That's what I have now that I've started work on the Pac-Man chapter in the book I'm currently writing with Bill Loguidice, the acclaimed collector and game historian. :) As usual, I started off by reading the wikipedia entry on the game, which this time was actually extremely detailed and helpful. One interesting thing about the wikipedia article is that it claims that the game designer, Toru Iwatani, was not inspired by a pizza as the old story goes. The article cites a book called Programmers at Work: Interviews, which I unfortunately do not own. If anyone does have this book or has thoughts on this matter, please let me know!

We've made no secret here about the book that Matt Barton and I are presently working on for Focal Press (Elsevier) on some of the most greatest and most influential (that's key) videogames of all time regardless of platform. It also explains why things have been a bit quiet around here from our end. We'd like to change that though and kind of give everyone at least a partial glance into the trials and tribulations of the process and perhaps even get some much needed help with certain parts. Hopefully it will be interesting for you and ultimately helpful for us, making a better book.

First off, let me start out by saying that if anyone has any questions about anything, just ask, and, if possible, we'll definitely answer whatever we can. With that all said, I'll just start things off by saying that the chapters on Dune II and Dance Dance Revolution are in the hands of our new tech reviewer, and I'm presently trying to finish up the chapter on Defender. Matt just finished off his part on Final Fantasy VII, and I just need to do my work on it and convert it to publisher's Word template before getting it off to the tech reviewer. Matt is now diving into the Pac-Man chapter.

By the way, Matt and I are doing our initial work in Google Docs, which is an easy way for us to collaborate from anywhere. Once the text is reasonably settled, meaning both Matt and I have done what we wanted to it, I convert it to the publisher's Word template. After that happens it goes over to the tech reviewer, who provides her comments/corrections, then we fix whatever we deem necessary. Matt and I then work on the images, I insert the captions and image references into the document, then zip the Word document together with a folder containing all the images (this usually works out to a 30 - 60MB file). I then pass that on to the publisher. Easy, right? ;-)

Finally, as part of the contract with Focal, we'll need to make a portion of Armchair Arcade dedicated to the book. That should be a lot of fun, as there will be lots of bonus content that simply wouldn't be able to make it in book form. I'd like to see Matt's first book get a similar treatment, right around the same time!