It’s no secret that I’m a fan of new and interesting ways of interacting with music in video game form. That’s why I’m eager to share this video. It’s from another episode of The 1UP Show that was released a few weeks ago. It’s just the one segment of a full episode, but this in particular is what I wanted to share.

The video is of an interview with two developers of a Nintendo DS application called KORG DS-10. It’s a full-blown synthesizer for your DS that allows you to create entire songs that you can output to external mixers and even save to the flash cart. As I am a huge fan of 8-bit music and especially music that is generated using GameBoy systems (pornophonique, anyone?), this application is quite relevant to my interests! I have read in a couple of places that this will be coming to the States at some point, but in the video they are unsure. I don’t know who to believe, but I’ll import it if I have to. I’m pretty sure it’s coming out in July.

Cheap Games Round-Up

This is a roundup of all 17 of the cheap games we’ve featured in the blog. Every game so far has been released in the last five years and is under $15 — many are even free! Here they are in order of price (low to high):

TITLE	GENRE	PRICE	SOURCES
De Blob	Platformer	FREE	Publisher|DoSu
(Released: 2006) Play as an amorphous pile of goo by absorbing the color of living things and transferring them to inanimate objects. That’s fortunate for this world, because the whole damn thing is gray! However, the big bad government wants to keep it that way.
Execution	Experimental	FREE	Publisher|DoSu
(Released: 2008) This short exposition is an experimental game that will leave you thinking.
Phyta	Experimental	FREE	Publisher|DoSu
(Released: 2008) An experimental arthouse type puzzle game about growth.
Synaesthete	Action/Rhythm	FREE	Publisher|DoSu
(Released: 2007) Synaesthete is something of an “action-rhythm” game set to electronic music. Navigate “Zaikman” through a series of rooms, eliminating enemies along the way by hitting “notes” successfully. IGF’s 2007 winner of the Best Student Game award.
Trackmania Nations Forever	Racing	FREE	Steam|Publisher
(Released: 2008) Over-the-top arcade time-trial racing including online multiplayer, track-building, and car painting. It can be challenging, but it’s a blast.
Tripline	Puzzle	FREE	Publisher|DoSu
(Released: 2008) A puzzle game where you draw an uncrossable line and at the same time try to cover every geometrical icon within the black frame. You have to pick three of the same icon before being able to go to a different one.
Dungeon Runners	Action RPG	FREE*	Publisher|GoGamer
(Released: 2007) A fun and satirical fantasy online action RPG filled with plenty of dungeons and hawt loot. *Free to play with reasonable ads; optional low monthly fee for benefits.
Love	Platformer	$1.00	Publisher|DEMO
(Released: 2008) A challenging minimalist platformer with a simple save system and a hundred lives. The demo contains the first five levels.
Geometry Wars	Shmup	$3.99	Steam
(Released: 2007) The premise is simple: shoot the shapes. Collide with a shape and you die. As time goes on, the game becomes increasingly hectic. It’s good, cheap, and worth a look.
AudioSurf	Rhythm/Puzzle	$9.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2008) Re-experience your music with this puzzle driving game. It dynamically generates a track based on whatever song you play.
Beyond Good & Evil	Action Adventure	$9.99	Steam|GameTap
(Released: 2003) An adventure full of diverse gameplay, a wonderful story, and charming characters. A reporter discovers a dangerous secret about a war with a menacing alien race. Jade must work to protect her adopted family. Download demo.
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic	FPS/RPG	$9.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2006) A fantasy action game featuring first person melee, ranged, and magic combat. There is also a skill tree that gives you access to new spells, combat feats and passive improvements. This game includes team-based multiplayer along with it’s linear narrative campaign.
Day of Defeat: Source	FPS	$9.99	Steam
(Released: 2005) A WWII multiplayer-only first person shooter featuring tight foot soldier combat with several classes that outfit your character with different weapon loadouts.
Eets: Hunger	Puzzle	$9.99	Steam|Publisher
(Released: 2006) Been described as “Lemmings meets The Incredible Machine”. Get Eets safely to his destination by changing his mood (with marshmellows) and his environment.
Everyday Shooter	Shmup	$9.99	Steam
(Released: 2008) The object of this twin stick shooter is to create chains of explosions over top of some pretty interesting music. Winner of three IGF 2007 awards including Design Innovation, Excellence in Audio and the GameTap Indie Award.
Gish	Platformer	$9.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2004) Rolling, jumping, sticking, swinging, squeezing and stomping around as an amorphous pile of goo. I think that it can fittingly be described as a physics-based puzzle game. (Win|Linux|OSX)
Painkiller	FPS	$9.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2004) Classic Doom and Quake style singleplayer FPS action. Hoards of enemies and really big guns - hell yeah. Online multiplayer. Download singleplayer demo #1 or #2. Download multiplayer demo.
Trials 2: Second Edition	Stunt/Puzzle	$9.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2008) You control a masochistic individual on a motorcycle with the goal of traversing from one end of a track to another all while trying to maintain balance on your bike and pull off flips or wheelies from, ideally, a side view.
Prey	FPS	$12.99	Amazon|GoGamer
(Released: 2006) An under-appreciated solid sci-fi FPS including online multiplayer. The game offers plenty of twists and mind-bending navigation. Retail copies can be added to Steam. Download demo: (Win|OSX)
Defcon: Everybody Dies	RTS	$14.99	Steam|DEMO
(Released: 2006) An unconventional RTS set during a what-if nuclear warfare scenario using nostalgic vector graphics. Win by dying the least. (Win|Linux|OSX)

If you are anything like me, you’ve tried to do well by your wallet and living space by not falling into the trend of buying the console-based music games, and subsequently, a glut of plastic instruments. I’ve got nothing against them as games, but they can be costly, so I have resigned myself to latching onto the fallout of the rhythm gaming revolution by playing the PC-born music games like Audiosurf or Frets On Fire instead of two or more Guitar Heroes per year.

This week I have finally gotten around to playing IGF’s 2007 winner of the Best Student Game award, Synaesthete. Created by four students at DigiPen, Synaesthete is something of an “action-rhythm” game set to electronic music. It received some press a few months ago when the awards were doled out, and I am sure there are others, like me, who downloaded it but just let it sit in a forgotten directory for all this time. Time to give it a look!
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