Monthly Archives: August 2010

WHAT IS THIS? Is it a new teaser with all the awesome juicy bits we are going to be showing off at PAX? I DO BELIEVE IT IS.

This teaser is our first time showing off two of the new co-op campaign levels. The first is the Robot Boss, who is fought high up in the snow covered mountains overlooking Slam Bolt City. The second level is Volcano City, where our heroes battle vicious computer AIs and demon chicken riders above pits of fiery lava. This level has a fun twist but if you want to see what it is you’ll have to come to PAX and play it yourself!

Hop into the comments if you want to talk to us about the new level additions. We’ll have a more detailed write up of the new features after PAX. And of course we hope to see any of you that are planning on going to Seattle this weekend! Remember: SCHWAG!

Oh, and we’re on the Sony PlayStation blog! Nice.

Boston GameLoop 2010 took place this past Saturday, and it was honestly one of the coolest games events I’ve ever been to. Turnout more than doubled since last year, so there was a huge crowd around to enjoy the plentiful food, awesome game talks, and endless demos. Fire Hose Games had a good showing, with both Jeff Ward and myself hanging out with the always cool, Boston games community and chatting about our favorite subject: video games.
While Jeff was being coaxed into giving a talk on XNA game development (even though SBS is a PS3 game – he’s wicked smart), Caroline Himmelman from HubSpot and Ichiro Lambe of Dejobaan Games, convinced me to stand next to them making jokes throughout their talk on indie game marketing. Other highlights were overwhelming support for cut-scenes (WTF?!), some text adventure interactive fiction goodness, and getting pummeled in a round of Skulls of the Shogun – the new game from Haunted Temple Studios. While hanging out between sessions, I whipped out my… computer, and forced innocent bystanders to get their scrap on. Glance up and behold the intense focus brought about by round after round of Slam Bolt Scrappers. Now imagine yourself there at GameLoop 2010. Think about how much fun you’d be having… then think about how much more GameLoop 2011 will rock!

Just 10 days until PAX in Seattle! We’re getting really excited, we’ll be showing off a bunch of new features including new levels, new characters, and this charming guy up top. We’re talking MADNESS, people!

If you are going to be in town for the show be sure to stop by our booth (#3834, next to Square Enix and located on the lower right hand corner of the exhibitor hall map) and say hi! We’ll have some nice schwag to give out to our fans, and of course we’ll have the game for you to play.

Also I’m on a panel along with a bunch of sexy indie devs (Robin Hunicke [thatgamecompany], Nathan Vella [Capybara Games], Dylan Fitterer [Audiosurf LLC], Andy Schatz [Pocketwatch Games]), and we’ll be talking about all sorts of fun new games worth checking out. It’s called “In(die)credible! The Best New Games You Haven’t Played”, and it’s taking place on Sunday, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, in the Raven Theatre. Come and check it out!

Oh yeah, and we’ll be taking pictures during the show. Oh yes. PICTURES.

BREAKING NEWS! Recently unclassified development documents reveal astonishing details about our views on game length!

CONFIDENTIAL Unclassified Fire Hose Game Length Guidelines

1. A game should have a length that is reasonable given its price point and its genres. The pricier the game the more depth and game play it should have. It’s fine if a $1 iPhone game only has 10 minutes of game play, but a $60 PS3 game better be waaay longer. Games that rely heavily on multiplayer (like fighting and FPS games) can have much shorter campaigns, while JRPGs can have entirely unreasonable game lengths, to the point where you want to stop playing because they are so longwinded and boring. For example, Wind Waker [redacted]

2. It’s ok if an experimental/highly innovative game is a bit shorter, while well established genre titles should have more meat to them. Making generic Mario-like platformer #18? It better have some real depth to it.

3. Games should end around an hour before they lose my attention or when [redacted]. This usually occurs right around the time that game mechanics start getting reused wholesale.

4. Replayability is more important than game length. A short game that I want to play over and over again is better than a long, boring monstrosity I’ll never want to touch again.

5. There are a small, vocal minority of nuts on the internet are very sensitive about game length vs. price (see Limbo complaints). Generally they only complain about games that they like, so if you are a developer and they are complaining about your game then MAN UP AND MAKE THEM HAPPY! Add in hooks to make the game more replayable so they get their money’s worth. Don’t piss off your fans! I’m looking at you [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted].

6. You Have To Burn The Rope is hilarious, and way better than Don’t Shit Your Pants. Actually… I’m not so sure it’s better.

7. Games designed to waste your time suck and I have no intention of ever playing them or making them. See: Farmville.

Got something to say? THEN POP IN THE COMMENTS AND SAY IT ALREADY.

This is part of an industry wide day of talking about game length. Want to read more? Check out:

Jonathan Blow of Number None: http://the-witness.net/news
Ron Carmel of 2DBoy: http://2dboy.com/2010/08/17/too-short/
Chris DeLeonL: http://www.hobbygamedev.com/spx/short-videogame-design/
Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games: http://nygamedev.blogspot.com/2010/08/coming-up-short.html
Eitan Glinert of Fire Hose Games: http://www.firehosegames.com/2010/08/how-much-is-enough/
Mike Gilgenbach of 24 Caret Games: http://24caretgames.com/2010/08/16/does-game-length-matter/
Cliff Harris of Positech Games: www.cliffski.com
Chris Hecker of Spy Party: http://spyparty.com/2010/08/16/size-doesnt-matter-day/
Scott Macmillan of Macguffin Games: http://macguffingames.com/2010/if-size-doesnt-matter-where-do-you-get-the-virtual-goods
Noel Llopis: http://gamesfromwithin.com/size-matters
Peter Jones of Retro Affect: http://retroaffect.com/blog/160/Size_Doesn_t_Matter_Day/
Lau Korsgaard: http://www.copenhagengamecollective.org/2010/08/17/size-does-matter/
Martin Pichlmair of Broken Rules: http://brokenrul.es/blog
Greg Wohlwend of Intution Games: http://mile222.com/2010/08/a-haiku-about-game-length/
Jeffrey Rosen of Wolfire: http://blog.wolfire.com

Schwag (noun):
1. Any free or extra goods, usually given to employees, workers, or fans. Frequently distributed at conferences.
2. Low grade marijuana
3. A rock & roll band based in St. Louis, Missouri

Guess which one UPS just delivered? Hint: we don’t accept packages from St. Louis, and anything labeled “low grade” goes against the Fire Hose lifestyle.

Yes, we have SBS schwag! And if you wanna get some be sure to visit our booth at PAX. It’ll be the extra awesome one where you can play Slam Bolt Scrappers. Sweet, right?