Tag Archives: 3DS

Bit Trip Reminiscence

So after a long week of meeting new people, having some rather glorious meetings and one delicious, mouth-watering pizza that I’m still thinking about… with the extra creamy buffalo mozzarella and the crispy thin crust and the fresh basil leaves—oh god! I’m sorry. It was a darn good pizza…

Anyhow, after a long week, I decided to peruse the 3DS eShop and see if there was anything my paltry £5 credit could buy. I was pleasantly surprised to see Rising Star Games had a sale and took the plunge on Bit Trip Saga on 3DS.

Runner will always hold a special place in my heart, but as I was playing it again, I became slightly emotional. You see, The Dangerous Kitchen was birthed around the time of Runner’s release, when we were plucky university students living in a dank student house, with tiny-humble dreams of world domination.

Notably, Runner was the first indie game we fell in love with, so we placed it on a towering, inspirational pedestal to gaze upon and aspire to. It was a great game made by three people, which at that time was fairly radical. Gaijin Games (now Choice Provisions) are definitely one of the reasons we started The Dangerous Kitchen all those years ago…

It was a really good point in our lives that was amplified by the religious playing of Runner for weeks after its release. You could go to the toilet and hear the sound of Anamanaguchi’s Blackout City trickling in from someone playing Runner elsewhere in the house. We enjoyed it as a group, just hanging out after University playing Runner, watching newcomers fail at timing the jumps on the stairs and everyone being utterly enthralled at Commander Video’s simple rainbow trail.

The reason I became emotional was that if we recall Commander Video’s story, Runner is where he takes his first steps, where he feels the pleasure of exploring life for the first time; he runs toward an unknown future, full of joy. This kind of parallels with where we were at that time: taking our first baby steps regarding The Dangerous Kitchen, sewing the seeds that would eventually sprout into De Mambo.

Playing Runner again just brought back all the memories and was especially poignant since we sort of managed to level up as a company this week. It’s funny how good things can make you look back to where you came from… but a good pizza can unstick you from the boundaries of space-time and show you the infinite possibilities of pure, conscious reality.

Yes, I really enjoyed that pizza.

Farewell.

Wario 3DS XL

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In honour of the extreme excellence of the 3DS, it has been decided that our true gaming overlord, Wario, is underrepresented on the console. Even after the immense financial woes that Nintendo face because they dedicated a whole year (and a bit) to that chump Luigi, there is no Wario XL (or year of Wario for that matter). Seeing the Yoshi XL was the last straw.

The Dangerous Kitchen, have taken it upon themselves to construct the unofficial Wario 3DS XL console—we must rectify this disgraceful lack of Wario.

Such a marvel of design and ingenuity must truly exist and thus this is no mere custom paintjob. The Wario XL does indeed boast a riveting purple and yellow colour scheme however it also houses many other significant features.

A beautiful Wario nose-moustache insignia is emblazoned upon its tender brow, whilst every button is rebranded a ‘W’ button. The Wario XL includes various Wario catchphrases such as “Have a rotten day!” and “Wah Wah!” on start-up.

The one drawback of this spectacular work is the complete lack of a stylus—thought to be because Wario himself designed and manufactured the XL and pocketed the money saved from not including a stylus.

The Wario XL is an appreciation for Wario and needs to become reality.

– The Dangerous Kitchen

Drunk on Magic – Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale

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There is a certain magic games possess. A lot of games abandon this magic, and a lot of games never even reach a level of exerting such a thing. Attack of the Friday Monsters on the 3DS eShop is very special. I’ve only played around 40 or so minutes, but I’m already drunk on the captivating atmosphere. The game is simply magical.

Essentially a small visual novel set in 70’s Japan, Attack of the Friday Monsters is not supposed to be an epic, or emotional to showcase the potential of the medium; it’s solely charming on a human level.

It’s like a small star in a sky full of larger stars, even though it may seem insignificant, without its smaller expanse of light, there would be a patch of emptiness in its place.

This magic is hard to discern, but something inherently tied to pure gameplay. Working on the project we are currently building, it’s hard to remember this magic when you’re toiling away like a cog in a machine. Playing Attack of the Friday Monsters reminded me of this virtue and I believe at least one person on a project should be focused on magic. I hereby decree that every games company needs a magician. This person should be someone who tinkers with ideas and makes them human, who funnels charm directly into the design and mechanics: a link between the human nature of the audience and the ideas of the game creators.

Honestly, I’ve reached a point where I don’t know what I’m talking about anymore and would like to implore you to buy Attack of the Friday Monsters so we can both be drunk on its charm.

– Shaun