Did you ever wonder what would happen if the hit show ‘The Iron Chef‘ got rid of all of the gourmet nonsense and concentrated on video games instead?

Wonder no longer: Global Game Jam would happen.

Each year the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) puts the GGJ together, inviting professionals and hobbyists alike to hunker down and create a game in 48 hours. In case that wasn’t harrowing enough, there is a catch.

From the Global Game Jam site:

 The structure of a jam is usually that everyone gathers on Friday afternoon, watches a short video keynote with advice from leading game developers, and then a secret theme is announced. All sites worldwide are then challenged to make games based on that same theme, with games to be completed by Sunday afternoon. 

Emphasis my own, because secret themes are awesome and should be emphasized. What was year’s secret theme?

An Ouroboros: an ancient symbol representing a dragon or serpent eating its own tail.

And that’s’ it: 48 hours, serpent eating its own tail, good luck.

Who could rise to such an occasion? Jeff Ward for one!

Fire Hose had a couple of people participate in this year’s Global Game Jam this year, Ethan Fenn, whom we will feature in a later post, and Jeff Ward. Jeff’s team created a two player game with the apropos title Eat Sheep and Die.

Jeff on Jam:

This jam was way less stressful than any other jam I’ve participated in. We essentially had something fun to play by middle of day 2, and just polished things throughout the end of day 2 and day 3. As a result, this is probably the most complete jam game I’ve ever worked on. Very little went wrong. It was great.

You can read more about Jeff Ward’s experiences with the Global Game Jam on his blog.

Do you want to work for an awesome indie studio in one of the hippest places on Earth? Fire Hose Games in Cambridge Massachusetts is hiring!

Take a look at our jobs page; We are looking for an Art Director, a Programmer, a 3D Animator, and a 3D Artist to join our team.

Working for us comes with all kinds of perks:

1. You will have unfettered access to chairs with wheels on them!

2. You can draw on our whiteboard with up to four colors at a time!

3. We have snacks, so many snacks, and you can partake in them!

4. We play Dominion!

5. We have a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Plan in place!

6. Some have said that working for us gives you +5 in Speechcraft within Skyrim (yet to be proven)

7.  We make video games!

You psyched? Sure you are. Take a look at the postings and apply.

Lately Congress have proposed two bills that are extremely harmful to the internet as we know it, SOPA and PIPA. If you don’t know what these are here’s a great one pager explaining it all from the EFF.

A lot of the internet has decided to go on strike against these ill conceived measures, and so we at Fire Hose have decided to express our support of this protest. We’re the people this bill is supposed to protect (after all we’re IP owners) and even we don’t want this… so why is Congress trying to pass it?

At this year’s Child’s Play Auction Dinner Fire Hose Games was pleased to donate the oppurtuinty to have your name placed into our game. This was accompinaned by a framed piece of artwork created by our own Jacques Pena.

We are happy to announce that the winner of the auction, with an impressive personal donation of $300.00, was number 520, Don F.

We will be in touch soon, and will share updates on the blog!

For more information on how you can donate to Child’s Play please visit their website.

There have been a lot of Lums at lunchtime here at Fire Hose becuase we’re playing Rayman Origins. It is a bright and colorful platformer that offers fun environmental puzzles and Super Mario Wii-esque four player gameplay (with slightly less griefing).

“It’s awesome!” wrote Jeff, Fire Hose programmer, “Collection performers are totally my thing, in 2D or 3D.  I loved the first Jak and Daxter, I loved Ratchet and Clank, and …Rayman is just really, really polished fun.”

“I agree with Jeff,” said Eric, another Fire Hose dude that was kind enough to bring the game in for everyone to play, “I’ve been playing Rayman Origins and loving the hell out of it.”

We have found that playing with four players can be a bit busy, with onlookers only being able to keep up with Globox, the largest and bluest character.

He kind of stands out.

Everyone else seems to blend into the scene, with cameo appearances made when they make sweeping jumps or fall behind enough to stick out from the crowd.  Not that that doesn’t add a certain level of fun, like Super Mario Wii each player can interact with the others, pushing, prodding, or helping. (Usually just pushing and prodding when we play.)

The game design itself is kind of awesome; there is a rhythm to the game that the player can discover by uncovering “Lums”, which are sleepy personifications of musical energy. A player can go through a level and free the pink and rather fab “Electoons”. You can get one Electoon for making it through he level, but uncovering more Lums and discovering the tempo of the level will earn you more.  Not only that, but as you traverse the stages you may run into a super spiffy King Lum whom will give you further hints which will allow you to uncover the inner rhythm of the level and allow you to save every Electoon. And you totally want to save every Electoon, just check out that pony-tail! Plus Each world contains a “tooth” level. In these levels you have to chase a living treasure chest through a dynamically changing, thematically interesting environment.  They are super challenging but the restart is quick and you frequently get that “just one more try” feeling.

Check out the game for yourself on the official website over here.

]]> http://www.firehosegames.com/2012/01/games-we-are-playing-rayman-origins/feed/ 1 http://www.firehosegames.com/2011/12/deck-the-taxidermied-animals-with-boughs-of-holly-part-two-in-a-holiday-series/ http://www.firehosegames.com/2011/12/deck-the-taxidermied-animals-with-boughs-of-holly-part-two-in-a-holiday-series/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:02:07 +0000 kate http://www.firehosegames.com/?p=3322 Continue reading →]]>

This holiday story belongs to yours truly, and it is less of a personal tradition than it is a story of a time honored ritual that I walked into, unknowingly, when I took up a job at the fine dining establishment known as Hillbilly Junction.

I worked as a server at Hillbilly Junction, a combination gas station, gift shop, banquet hall, buffet, steak house, and eatery when I lived in Willow Springs, Missouri. It was a mystifying place and a rather magical time in my life. A time of change, a time of reflection, a time of half off bacon cheeseburgers during any evening shift.

Yeah, that’s me rocking a Hillbilly Junction apron. Hillbillies Holla!

But never was Hillbilly Junction more entertaining than at Christmastime. Right after Thanksgiving, Jani, the manager, would pull out boxes upon boxes from the storage/liquor closet and open them with care.

Dust,  and tiny bits of yellowed Scotch tape filled the backroom like an allergen blizzard as Jani went through each box gingerly removing the holiday decorations. There really was a feeling of joy and astonishment as the restaurant, usually decorated in a “Tex-Mex” style, was transformed into a winter wonderland (mostly by putting hats and wreaths atop the wild game on display throughout the place.)

This is my first Christmas in Massachusetts, and I doubt that I will find any Christmas taxidermy to make me feel at home; but a girl can hope.

Nothing says fine dining like taxidermed animals. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like covering those animals with poinsettias.

If you find yourself in Willow Springs, Missouri this holiday season, or at any point in your lifetime, be sure to stop by Hillbilly Junction; home of the John Wayne steak and a heck of a great staff.

The holidays are fast approaching, and with them come days steeped in tradition.  There are plenty of time honored rituals that demand reverence… this is not necessarily one of them.

Instead we will look at the home-spun tradition of Adriel; Fire Hose Programmer and resident Unicorn Tamer.

About ten years ago Adriel’s step-mother thought it would be keen to have her family create Christmas ornaments from scratch. Gathering up glitter, glue, construction paper, and other craft essentials, the family made several ornaments including some terrible looking reindeer, an awful angel (the angel’s head is a gatorade bottle cap with a smiley face drawn on), and some ‘actually pretty decent’ snowflakes.

Enraptured in the merriment of ornament creation, and more than likely tapping into some sort of Martha Stewart magic, the family soon came to the inevitable conclusion that they would construct a paper taco.

“We combined our efforts to create tiny little strips of green for the lettuce, red for the tomatoes, yellow for the cheese, and all sorts of other ingredients.”

-Adriel

The result was a thing of beauty: the Christmas Taco. Every year it is placed front and center on the family Christmas tree.

A teenage Adriel places the angel atop the tree directly above the awesome Christmas Taco. This is an actually old photo. No Instagram here. Photos just used to look like this after they were developed from ‘film’. Weird, right? 

We will be looking at some other Fire Hose staff traditions over the next few weeks. Do you have a wacky holiday tradition that you would like to share? Tell us about it on our Facebook page or send a tweet our way!

The Child’s Play Charity Auction and Dinner is happening on December 8th 2011 in Seattle, and Fire Hose has a pretty sweet set of items for the auction block.

Before we tell you about that though, how about a bit on Child’s Play?

Child’s Play was started in 2003 by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (you may know them better as Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade fame) in response to the media’s negative portrayl of video gaming culture and of gamers themselves. The two called the gaming community to arms and asked them to donate to the Seattle Children’s hospital during the holiday season.

In that first year the charity raised over $250,000 worth of toys, games, and other gifts; the charity has raised nearly 10 million dollars to date.

The goal of Child’s Play is to positively impact the life of a child through the power of play. Tonight you can bid on items donated by people throughout the gaming community the proceeds of which will go to Child’s Play.

Last year we auctioned off a limited edition poster signed by the dev team and the oppurtunity to name one of the characters of Slam Bolt Scrappers.

This year we have donated the opportunity to immortalize yourself in our game, Go Home Dinosaurs! The winning bidder will get to see his or her name as a dinosaur, on a store sign, on a badass weapon, or something so cool that we have not thought of it yet.

The winning bidder will also be given a one of a kind drawing from Jacques Pena as well as a copy of the game.

Not going to the auction? No worries! You can still donate to this great cause by following this link.

People attending the auction tonight will have a chance to bid on this ridiculously awesome piece of art penned by Jacques Pena!

“ As an artist, there are creations that fall under a greater a message, and this one was a major one. Out of anything I create over the next year, this one will always be special.”

-Jacques Pena

Fire Hose Games artist, Jacques Pena, has just returned from Autodesk University, the annual Autodesk conference in Las Vegas. It was at that conference that the Art For Hope exhibit made it’s debut.  

Artists from all over the world were asked to participate in the project. One of the participating artists is our very own Jacques! (we imagine his lack of bragging is due to jet lag)

VIZ Media announced the project several months ago. In a unique collaboration with Autodesk, the Art For Hope project is a limited edition digital anthology which features forty pieces of original art. A selection of the pieces were displayed during this year’s Autodesk conference.

The anthology will be available for a limited time, from December 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012, for $4.99 through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. 100% of the proceeds go to fund Japan relief efforts.

Jacques created, “Love,”  the stunning piece shown above, using Autodesk SketchBook. You can read more about his process on his blog, here.

The digital book made its debut this past week and is available now for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, or for web browsers.  It is on sale through the Apple App store and through VIZ Manga.

Buy it here: App Store | VIZManga.com

]]> http://www.firehosegames.com/2011/12/art-for-hope-available-now/feed/ 0 http://www.firehosegames.com/2011/12/top-10-holiday-games/ http://www.firehosegames.com/2011/12/top-10-holiday-games/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:05:38 +0000 kate http://www.firehosegames.com/?p=3241 Continue reading →]]>

There are some terrific games coming out this holiday season; but today we want to take a look at some of the greatest holiday themed games to grace a console or computer. We even put them in order for you based on fun and overall ridiculous-ness.

10. XMAS Lemmings

9. Christmas Nights Into Dreams 

Released as part of a Christmas console/game package in 1996, Christmas Nights Into Dreams almost made up for the fact that you got a Sega Saturn when you had asked for an N64. Christmas Nights is a two level version of the cult favorite Nights Into Dreams from Sega. Fly through wreaths, collect pretty baubles, and weave your way along a path filled with goodies to achieve a high score. Also, for some reason, there are birthday cakes scattered about.

8. Popples Christmas Adventure

Created as a 1986 give-away item from American Greetings, this gem features the adorably weird Popples. Playable on the Commodore 64, this “game” offers little in the way of interactivity, instead you sit and watch as the Popples bounce around on screen. Sometimes they play instruments.

7.  Die Hard Trilogy

You may think that the top Christmas action movie would translate into one of the greatest action Christmas games, and you would be right! This game was a fun run through the first three films. Available on the Playstation, PC, and Sega Saturn John McClane runs around barefoot kicking butt and taking names. Maybe not taking names.  Pretty sure he just calls everyone ‘jerkweed’.

6. Elf Squad Seven

An indie game from Stardock Entertainment, Elf Squad 7 offers single and multi-player elf squad action.  Lead your elf team through puzzles to save Santa before it is too late!

5. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Help Kevin find his family in this game based off of the sequel of the same name.  You’ve got baddies on your tail as you adventure through strange environments towards the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center where your rather neglectful family is waiting for you. Plagued by wonky controls and an incoherent plot, the game released for the NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Super NES system does not hold up well to scrutiny. There is a portion of the game though in which you are charged with avoiding bird droppings as a flock of pigeons flies above you… so there’s that.

4.  Elf Bowling

Santa has the bowling ball. The elves are the pins.  Let the festivities begin! This game released in 1999 by NStorm is not only ridiculous but also has a fair bit of obscenity thrown in for good measure. The elves taunt St. Nick when his bowling ball misses by calling out, “Is that all the balls you got, Santa?” If that were not enough (and no, it is not enough) the Elves moon Santa, smack their butts in his general direction, and dance in between frames to ‘Elf, Elf. Baby’ (a play on a famous Vanilla Ice tune that is not in any way similar to a David Bowie song)

3. Santa Saves The World

This Playstation One game pits Santa against the menacing Nilam. Collect candy canes, climb ladders, and drink soda in a strange new land. Nilam hates the holidays with a  serious passion and attacks Santa with cavemen, flying elephant creatures, and tigers. Clearly one of the most realistic holiday titles to come out of 1992.

 2. Daze Before Christmas

In this 1993 game for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, Santa is minding his own business being jolly and wonderful when, for the purposes of plot development, he drinks a magical elixir that turns him into the feared ANTI-CLAUS! Anti-Claus, overflowing with newfound jumping powers, attacks each mouse that dare stir in his workshop as he collects the presents strewn about the levels. The presents have been refilled by baddies and now contain enemies for the Anti-Claus to beat including snowmen that decapitate themselves and then use their heads as weapons by flinging them at Santa.

1. Duke Nuclear Winter

Hail to the King, Santa. One of three expansion packs to 3D Realm’s Duke Nukem, Simply Silly’ s Duke Nuclear Winter (aka Duke Nukem’s Nuclear Winter) has everyone’s favorite misogynistic dude saving Christmas.  Santa has been brainwashed and Duke has to shoot and wisecrack his way through legions of holiday themed baddies.  The star on top of the tree: bodaciously evil female elves that dual wield sub-machine guns.

Honorable Mentions

The Christmas Story Room in Borderlands

I am not going to tell you how to get there. (You can look here if you don’t want to find it on your own) But yes, there is a secret room in Borderlands and it is A Christmas Story Themed. Ralphie would have loved to play with half of the weapons in Borderlands and you can sneak down to this secret room and find a make shift tree, spiffy presents, and a rather macabre leg lamp.

Christmas is Here Mission in Bully

This mission is a pretty straight forward one.  Jimmy wakes up in his dorm and hears over the loud speaker that a present is waiting for him in the office. What makes this little side mission ripe for the list though is that by not completing this mission you can make Christmas last forever.  Sure in this mode Jimmy cannot attend class or partake in missions, but who wants to go to school on the holidays anyway?

Did we miss one of your favorite in-game holiday moments? Talk at us about it on our Facebook page or Twitter.