Twisted Pixel Games Discusses Origins of Their New Marionette-Based Title

(Press Release Austin, TX) – “Puppets are just something I’ve always loved,??? says Michael Wilford, CEO of Twisted Pixel Games and closeted marionette aficionado. “What makes games great is that they are such a collaborative process. I have over three hundred puppets in my basement, and Bill Muehl, our Game Director, collects Western landscape photography. Oh, and of course we have Dan Teasdale, our Design Lead, whose family was brutally murdered by drug lords when he was a child, and who’s been on a mission of vengeance ever since.???

Originally conceived as an Oregon Trail – style singalong, design decisions throughout the project gradually axed all those elements in favor of the single minded pursuit of revenge by a soulless puppet. Bill recalls, “I tried to bring up compromise with Dan a couple times, but he’d just start fingering that necklace made out of the ears of his slain enemies and stare out into the distance. At that point I’d just mumble something and back away.???

The player controls a marionette named the Gunstringer using Kinect’s unique motion-based controls. The epic tale of the lonely gunman unfolds across
several acts, each performance taking place in a hand-crafted environment. The Gunstringer has several weapons at his disposal, each tool of vengeance
unleashed through the player’s gestures. The game’s lavish production features over thirty characters and countless animations.

Additional information about The Gunstringer can be found at www.thegunstringer.com. The site features information about the game, the release trailer, and our developer’s blog, covering thoughts from the team as their work progresses.

The Gunstringer is expected to be completed in 2011. Dan’s quest to temper the pain in his soul with violence has not yet been given an end date.

Game Over Videogames, Inc., Austin’s independent chain of stores specializing in classic and used videogames from Atari to Xbox, today officially announced plans to expand for the first time beyond the Austin metro area with the addition of its 4th retail store location planned to open in San Antonio, TX this November. Currently, Game Over Videogames operates 3 successful retail video game stores and an online store in central Texas – Austin (183/Lamar), Sunset Valley (290/Brodie), and Round Rock (I-35@620). Game Over Videogames has a rabid fan following around the state, and they were voted “Best Video Game Store” for the past 2 years in a row by the readers of the Austin Chronicle (2009-2010).

Having just celebrated their 5th anniversary and riding the wave of retro gaming nostalgia, Game Over Videogames is poised to make a grand entrance when its new store opens in San Antonio next month. Game Over Videogames’ President, David Kaelin, sums it up this way, “As a huge metro area with 2 million residents and practically no alternative to the national chain game stores such as GameStop, we feel very confident in the success of our unique vintage video game store concept along with our extensive selection of classic gaming products and inventory, special events, retro tournaments, and much more!”
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We love games. We love all types of ‘em. Video games, table top games, dice games, games of chance, trading card games, RPG’s, drinking games… and one day we’ll get that game of Gamette strip poker to happen. (Hey guys gotta have goals right?)

One thing that had been catching our eyes lately is the newer market of “Geo??? tag gaming. It’s been relatively new the past year of so with mobile phone applications getting more sophisticated and such. The two forerunners being Foursquare and Gowalla.

To tell the truth, I never really wanted to try it to begin with. While it did seem vaguely interesting, I was hesitant of the social networking aspect of it. While we here at BG are big on social networking… I’m also hesitant to be the D-bag who sends you flowers for your facebook garden or wants you to answer questions about me. With that aspect, the foursquare users just seemed to kinda fit that bill. (I know I can imagine all the hate mail now)

So SXSW came to town this past few weeks in Austin Texas (Home of the proud Busygamer crew) and we also learned via web buzz that Gowalla is actually developed in Austin Texas made it’s debut around SXSW LAST year and had tons of local SXSW inspired trips and locations to visit. I actually happened to be rolling into the festival for my own devious personal reasons not business related, so in the tradition of trying out new apps on roadtrips (which I have somehow become accustomed to doing) I decided to try it out.

First off, the premise of geo gaming is pretty simple. You use your mobile device to “Tag??? where you are. This is done by the simple action of “checking in???. The purpose is really a neat way to share the places you are going with friends. Of course, where the social aspect comes in, is that at certain places you can find “hidden??? virtual items from place to place. Maybe a pint in a random bar, or a fish in a pond. These items get added to your profile, you can collect them, or swap them for other items people leave behind, or you can drop them in a spot others have not yet done so and become a “founder??? of the spot. You also have the option of creating a spot for the first time if you are at a location no one on Gowalla has ever been before.

The purpose of all this? Collecting Pins man. You can get pins for all sorts of things, from visiting a certain number of spots, to creating or founding a certain number of spots, or even visiting a lot of bars or coffee shops (the bar pin should be no problem for us).

In addition to the pins, the people of Gowalla have put together series of trips you can take. (Being founded in Austin, there are some neat ones.) SXSW visitors were in luck as there were a number of SXSW “trips??? you can take by visiting all the locations on the list. Gowalla had SWSW music, interactive, film and even keynote trips you could take. In addition to the specific SXSW trips they also had there BBQ Bonanza (oh the arteries are hardening now) and the Austin Bar Hop (which we will be gathering a group of Austinites in the near future to come along with us to complete!)

Besides the trips that are featured, it looks like the website also lets you make your own trips as well.

The most interesting thing about this app game is the slick interface. For a Busygamer who is always on the road and out of the office living life, it has become a neat way to “check in??? to somewhere new, grab a hidden item (some which can be traded for actual goods IRL), and move on filling my casual gaming needs while I work on being a traveling man. It’s also handy because it lets you decide which check ins or pictures you want to post on twitter or facebook to avoid the “annoying guy who is always asking for help on mafia wars in FB??? syndrome.

Because Gowalla is a world wide application, I cant wait to visit other cities to see the spots others have created and also making my own blazing a path where others have not been (already got a “founded??? and “commissioned??? pin thank ya very much). The app really makes you want to check a city out, as we were sitting around auditorium shores waiting for a concert to begin, looking for the time capsule and fountain we knew were nearby.

So far… Gowalla looks like a winner to us, and we’re pretty serious about that Austin barhop trip. If you are in the Austin area… keep a look out for us to advertise it in the coming weeks and you can come along. It’s kinda like getting a boyscout badge except that not all of us will make it back alive.

Gowalla is available FREE to download on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm phones. Sign up and read more info at www.gowalla.com.

Yeah, Terry Parr's work kicks ass...

This Saturday, the Busy Gamer Reckon Crew will be appearing as exhibitors at the Staple! Independent Media Expo at the Monarch Event Center in Austin, TX. The event, now in its sixth year, is shaping up to be an excellent time for everyone involved. And our tables should be a party with the usual suspects from the Reckon Crew (Timothy Danger, Crutchboy, and myself) and one of our favorite artists Terry Parr and his guest Halo. Swing by for some BG swag.

Aside from the presence of our awesome selves, which should be enough for anyone to want to attend, there’s an impressive list of other exhibitors that will be there as well as some special guests. Among the special guests will be “Owly” creator Andy Runton who received an Eisner award for his comic in 2006. Artist Guy Davis who has worked on projects for DC, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and many other companies will be in attendance as well as Chris Schweizer and Jason Neulander.

Among the exhibitors will be some of our personal favs here at BusyGamer.com like Danielle Corsetto of “Girls With Slingshots“, Monica Gallagher of the website eatyourlipstick.com, and Vinh Luu of Space-Gun. You can get a complete list of the exhibitors here. There will be a lot of artwork to catch your eye, portraits and commissions to be drawn on site, and a whole lot of interesting people to meet.  So if you haven’t made plans for Saturday, head up to the Monarch Event Center for Staple! and we promise not to make fun of you, mostly. You’ll have a great time… If you don’t, you’re probably some kind of alien.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

STAPLE 2010 will be held at the Monarch Event Center (6406 North IH-35 Suite 3100 Austin, TX 78752) in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center at the corner of 2222 and I-35, right across from Highland Mall.

PLUTOPIA 2009 @ SXSW

So what do you do to cap off SXSWi’s biggest year yet? Why throw the mother of all parties of course. Not the same old event where you stand in line with a worn out badge and may not get in, but a huge living system that is designed to make you think and interact. Hey kids… this is SXSWi we’re talking about, it’s not your Dad’s corporate stiff shirt event.

The word “Plutopia??? came about when party organizers were thinking of pluralist utopias. That’s right PLURAL, not just a single idea of a good time. This party is designed to have it all, and even if it goes over your head, it’s just a hell of a party to go to with music and lots of social interaction.

I met up with two of the event organizers, Shanta Stevens and Bon Davis who consider themselves “Plutopians???, at a Staple! Pre party in Austin Texas. I was not only intrigued by the event, but by the enthusiasm both of them seemed to have for the event. “Myself and the other Plutopians have very wide social networks and are always out at different events looking for kindred spirits,??? Bon Davis, Techinical Producer said, “We try very hard to make our events appeal to a wide variety of people and are always trying to get the word out. Amongst other things, we try to promote Social Sustainability, so the more people we talk to the more people hear about our participants and what they have to offer. Hopefully we get more converts to our cause. I think personal verbal invitations are so much more valuable than mass market media advertisements.??? The grassroots approach worked, while we discussed the event, music and playing in bands (both Shanta and Bon are musicians like yours truly), you can’t help but be intrigued what kind of party two guys drinking beer in a comic book store would help throw. “I work professionally in Theater and Event Production and am always looking for ways to combine my interests in Futurism and Technology and Art with my Production efforts,??? Davis continued, “These Events at SXSW are a Great opportunity to present to a National Audience while keep trying to keep true to our local roots.???

So what does Plutopia have to offer you? This year’s theme is “Living Systems??? and participants were invited to explore this concept. In short… there will be tons of things for you to interact and play around with. In addition to this, there will be a number of speakers and performers, 70 art installations and exhibitions with artists from all over the world, and nifty technology.

And what’s a party without music? The headlining musical act is Ian McLagan who’s 40 year span of music has let him play and record with everyone from Bob Dylan to John Hiatt as well as a member of the band Small Faces. There are also 15 other bands spanning over 3 stages including Hipnautica, Black Pig Liberation Front, Exstus, Tolera Storm, DJ John Gomi and Beatimprint.

The event is being held at the PALMER EVENTS CENTER in AUSTIN TEXAS, Monday March 16 2009 from 6pm to midnight. The event is free to badgeholders, and ten bucks to the general public. There are also too many things going on at this party to list in this article, but definitely worth checking out online at Plutopia’s website.

-T.Danger

Fuzzy Gritskrieg and Terry Parr

At the Dallas Comic Con back in January, we had the opportunity to sit down with Terry Parr and get an interview out of him. We held off on posting it until we were closer to attending Staple! in Austin, Texas where Terry will be kind enough to share a table with us. Terry’s a talented individual with a sharp wit, a formidable artistic skill, and a Gamette for a girlfriend.

BGG: What was the first comic that you ever read?
Terry Parr: First real comic that I really read and enjoyed or first comic…?

BGG: Was that comic the reason you decided to start drawing or what was the reason you started drawing?
Terry Parr: Well, I’ve always drawn, probably since the second grade. I used to draw stuff like Snoopy and all that. But when Dragon’s Lair came around and I saw that, that was what I constantly drew all the time. And then around that time was when I started getting into Swamp Thing, like middle school, and then I kind of dropped out. I still drew but I didn’t really have a focus. I mostly drew Iron Maiden stuff. I drew Eddie all the time. I probably drew him for like two years straight. I was always the Iron Maiden guy. Even in my high school photos, I was wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt. But I started getting back into comics, right when conventions started up, and I was a huge Jim Lee fan. If you look at my old stuff, way back when, I drew just like Jim Lee. It was kind of sad. Right now, I’ve moved on.

Boba Fett as drawn by Terry Parr

BGG:It seems like you have a pretty free flowing style. You can go from some of your dark, gothic work right into the pin up styles. Is that something you’ve always been able to do or is that something that’s recent?
Terry Parr: I would like to say that I’ve done that all the time but I think it’s been the last couple of years. I try not to be classified by one style. I feel an artist has to grow. But I’m still improving on that and it’s pretty tiring.

BGG: When you sit down to draw do you know what style you’re going to use or does it just flow as you go?
Terry Parr: It can happen both ways. Sometimes I’ll have an idea in my head on how I want to approach it but then again, once I approach it, I’ll just bug and won’t do that, I’ll do something else. It just depends on the need. Most of it comes out the way I want, others I end up altering and changing. 

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