Don Tercio

Sanctum 2 new launch trailer

18 May 2013

And a couple of years after (or so) the Swedish house Coffee Stain Studios whose roots go back to the 2009 edition of “Make Something Unreal“, have finally released their sequel to the highly praised Sanctum FPS & defense tower hybrid…

S2 ads quite a few changes to the first title, new campaigns, towers and it seems this time it will make it to some other gaming platforms such as XBLA & PSN… hopefully not compromising graphic quality. $15 though, but we would pay anything for a good hybrid. More info this way.

Sanctum 2 screenshot (image via CSS)
Sanctum 2 screenshot (image via CSS)
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The Congress

15 May 2013

Ari Folman, that gifted director who amazed us all 5 years ago with his animated and somehow personal view of Israel’s 1982 Lebanon invasion on Waltz with Bashir is back with a sci-fi adaptation for his 4th movie.

The Congress is based on Stanislaw Lem’s “The Futurological Congress,” a 1971 black humour science fiction novel about the exploits of one of his recurrent book characters, Ijon Tichy, as he visits the Eighth World Futurological Congress at the Costa Rica Hilton.

Utopian futures for Robin Wright who stars along a good list of great actors that go from Paul Giamatti, to Frances Fisher. Wright plays a fictional version of herself as she decides to experiment a new procedure where her form is scanned and replicated for future use and profit by movie studios. Something which may not turn out too good.

The film which premiers these days at the just opened Cannes Film Festival got a youtube trailer lying around a couple of days ago but it’s been pulled down, but thanks to the wonders of the facebook universe it seems this other one is still on-line.

the-congress-ari-folman-robin-wright

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Homosapien

15 May 2013

Australian hyperactive trio PVT are back to the old continent with a few concerts lined-up in France, Belgium, Germany, Iceland and The Netherlands… it seems the UK will only be getting one concert this time.

To remind us of their energetic concerts and how they always leave us wanting more they’ve reached out for Australian artist Clemens Habicht (who’s already worked with bands like Block Party or Tame Impala) to direct their latest clip “Homosapien” with a few cameos from friends, family & fans. A pretty good example on their potent live acts.

Their upcoming dates are:

May 16 France, Strasbourg, La Laiterie
May 18 Belgium, Brussels, La Chocolaterie
May 21 Germany, Berlin, Prince Charles
May 22 The Netherlands, Tilburg, 013
May 24 Iceland, Reykjavik, Reykjavik Music Mess
May 30 UK, London, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen

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AcidWizard, ‘Darkwood’ gameart & stills

12 May 2013

Our friends @ AcidWizard are working hard to get their survival title “Darwood” finished, but they firstly need some financial support. Regardless of your support / no support decision you’ll have to agree on the great artwork and unique atmospheres they’ve created for the game…

Darkwood screencapture6 (via Acid Wizard Studio)
Darkwood concept art (via Acid Wizard Studio)
Darkwood screencapture2 (via Acid Wizard Studio)
Darkwood screencapture2 (via Acid Wizard Studio)
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The outness queens

29 March 2013

From this video only 1 person is a girl, and you should have some serious doubts about who it really is, or at least this is what Stefan Goldmann wants us to believe. The German-Bulgarian DJ & producer gets this new amazing video of the eastern low queens directed by his friend Peter Vulchev who had already helped him out with his previous Carrion Crow.

His colorful and precious album 17:50 which came out last September on Macro has received some pretty good reviews all around the web, and we can’t help but share our admiration for eastern European parties, they’ve always been bling bling (in a good way).

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Darkwood Pre-Alpha Gameplay Trailer

11 March 2013

From a hungry and blood-thirsty Kevin Costner made in less than 48h for the last Global Game Jam to this gorgeous video on their upcoming top-down survival game, Darkwood.

Polish game developer trio “Acid Wizard Studio” just released this pre-alpha trailer for their new game showing the second part of gameplay, in which the player has to defend his home… and it has received some great comments from most gamers who are definitely expecting some intense gameplay from this open world concept.

Besides the spooky artwork we shall expect a highly rich environment featuring RPG and roguelike elements, with intense combat and a eerie atmosphere. And while it’s still on pre-alpha stage and there’s no word on platform or release dates we’re convinced this mix of twisted and rewarding experience will end up in many of our PCs. More info on their webpage.

Shadow - artowrk by Acid Wizard Studio
Shadow – artowrk by Acid Wizard Studio
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List of nominees for 31st Ficomic

26 February 2013

There will be a good number of works this year @ Barcelona’s Ficomic fest competing to win the always respected “Best Spanish work of the year” prize. 10 outstanding works to be more precise, some of which we’ve already covered like the extremely celebrated and also animated “Cenizas” by Álvaro Ortiz, or those works which few expected and came as a gratifying surprise from veteran Max … “Vapor”, but we have to admit we have a soft spot for David Sánchez’s “No cambies Nunca” on Astiberri.

no-cambies-nunca-david-sanchez-02
No Cambies Nunca – David Sanchez

Perhaps using a personal style and subjects which aren’t that traditional or common in the Spanish comic panorama, David Sánchez brings the crazy scientific world to his second work, where a futuristic Seoul hosts baby monsters, green-skinned women and a good number of egomaniacs.

No Cambies Nunca - David Sanchez (P3)
No Cambies Nunca – David Sanchez (P3)

“Don’t ever change” as we just said is one of the 10 nominees, but there are many other authors competing in 3 other awarded categories where names like Shintaro Kago or  Pablo Ríos add some foreign and younger flavors to the fest. The names were announced last Saturday and we’ll get to know the winners early April.

No Cambies Nunca - David Sanchez (P4)
No Cambies Nunca – David Sanchez (P4)

Good Luck David!

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The Cosmonaut Trailer

16 February 2013

Just a few days ago a first major online release funded via crowdfunding campaign hit the Internet and premiered at a major European film festival (this year’s Berlinale), Simon Klose’s TPB AFK.

Following this democratic funding trend (although the project started its funding campaign way back in 2009 inspired by other projects such as A Swarm of Angels and Artemis Eternal) is the Spanish big bet for this year is called “The Cosmonaut”.

After many rounds and obstacles we finally have a new trailer and a release date: May 14th.

It looks like the nearly 1Milion € raised on the campaign have been well spent, and to celebrate the team have started this week what they’re calling the K – Program for the project supporters, so we all get to see clips and material prior to the release.

In early April the team will launch what they’re calling “Nayik”, a transmedia experience using Facebook to recreate the communications network that the Russian cosmonauts used in Star City.

At the same time, the new website will be launched and while Andrei, Stas and Yulia begin their adventure in Nayik, you’ll also be able to watch some excerpts of their lives in Star City in the 30 webisodes that we’ll start launching by then.

A list of screenings is also been planned for the release and while only 2 cities have been confirmed as of today, users can ask for a premiere or organise screenings on ther webpage. More info this way.

The Cosmonaut still
The Cosmonaut still

Nayik and the webisodes will slowly introduce you in the story of The Cosmonaut until the day when the film will finally be released. At that moment the rest of the webisodes will be out, completing our part of this story: The alternative ending, the secret short film The Moon Files, and many more (everything is detailed in The Plan). After this it will be up to you to make use of the Creative Commons license and continue the story.

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140 Trailer

15 February 2013

Nominated for next month’s IGF awards in the “Excellence in Audio” category Jeppe Carlsen’s upcoming “140” platformer recently got a new trailer up on vimeo for our musical rejoice.

With some aesthetic similarities to Thomas Was Alone, 140 is Limbo’s Jeppe Carlsen personal project on which he’s been involved for the past couple of years with Niels Fyrst and Andreas Peitersen (for shapes & colors) and that great musical atmosphere from Jakob Schimd.

Minimalistic in design & gameplay 140 may appeal more to music fas with “rhythmic awareness” than to traditional platformer lovers … unfortunately we’ll still have to wait a few months until its release. More info this way.

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I Dream of Wires: Hardcore Edition

11 February 2013

From the original crowfunding campaign back in 2011 and the original trailer which received quite a few hits on youtube and vimeo IDOW (aka MODULAR: The Documentary) has grown to become THE documentary about the history and resurgence of modular synthesizers.

4 more rounds of crowdfunding campaigning, tons of interviews and trailers after the Robert Fantinatto-directed and Jason Amm co-written is ready for a big festival release next May (the short 85-min version).

The good thing is that the theatrical release will see a parallel BlueRay / DVD release for June with a truly hardcore version: 4 hours of synths, electro music and priceless interviews & appearances, some of which can be already seen on IDOW’s vimeo page. Although for the whole lot maybe you may want to grab a copy.

I Dream of Wires” is an upcoming, independent documentary film about the phenomenal resurgence of the modular synthesizer — exploring the passions, obsessions and dreams of people who have dedicated part of their lives to this esoteric electronic music machine. Written and directed by Robert Fantinatto, with Jason Amm (Ghostly International recording artist Solvent) serving as producer and co-writer, I Dream Of Wires is set to premiere spring 2013.

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Limits & Demonstrations

11 February 2013

Riding on the success of his IGF-nominated & flashy Kentucky Route Zero (read our interview with CBC founder here) Jake Elliott & Tomas Kemenczy had this little jewel prepared … “just in case” or did they plan it way back with the KRZ design?

Limits and Demonstrations still
Limits and Demonstrations still

Just released, “Limits & Demonstrations” is Cardboard’s computer mini-mini episode embedded in their KRZ universe but not quite. L&D is, simply, a digital retrospective of some of Lula Chamberlain’s artworks, a complete stranger to 99% of us, but in this digital showroom we’ll find “a diagonal slice through time, space and form”. Is Lula a hint of upcoming characters, situations, maybe a key for future Acts?

Ahhh very few people know, only 2 in fact, but much like KRZ it’s a great piece of artwork to experiment and talk to for a few minutes… it can be downloaded this way.

Limits and Demonstrations still 2
Limits and Demonstrations still 2
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Factorio

6 February 2013

A few days ago I heard in a TV doc that “success” in our “advanced” modern societies was now measured purely on what we produced. Humans have become production units, as simple as that. As sad as this affirmation may look like, there’s a couple of good things we could deduct in that sentece: a) our behaviours and minds live in a permanent “optimization” state, which is great for the following game: and b) we’re (again) so good at “multitasking” that we’ll find the time to play …. “Factorio”.

Described as “a game about mining resources, planning and building factories, automating production and fighting alien enemies”, Factorio looks like one of the most-promising and optimisation-oriented titles we’ve come across. It’s not only about harvesting super-rare minerals while avoiding massive worms (like in Dune) or playing the always complicated politics’ game (like in Civilization). It’s all about designing the perfect assembly line while fighting other species. Not even Warcraft had that.

Factorio artwork
Factorio artwork

The thing is that the Czech team responsible for the game development (with the help of 2D and pixel-artist Albert) have just launched a crowdfunding campaign on IGG to reach a 17K goal and share a polished version of the current Alpha version of the game (which btw will be released next month).

Factorio screenshot
Factorio screenshot

If the funding is complete then we should see a first version with improved graphics by May… so you better share a  or a £ with them. More info this way.

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Quantum Leap released on BPR

4 February 2013

Just a couple of days more until Dumbo Gets Mad‘s second LP sees the daylight on BPR. A second work from the Italian psych-rock duo whose latest singles seem to have seduced music bloggers universally.

Quantum Leap cover
Quantum Leap cover

Singles like Bam Bam or Radical Leap which point at a bolder and more ambitious electronic & disco feel than their previous works, taking Quantum Leap into that exclusive list of genuinely psychedelic works with reminiscent flavors of the 60s without the need to overuse and exploit synths to sound contemporary.

Mixed/produced by the duo themselves and mastered by Kelly Hibbert (Aloe Blacc, Flying Lotus, J Dilla), Quantum Leap is being released on the also Italian label Bad Panda (who lately seem to be pushing a few other great artists like Indian Wells) this Wednesday, and because drugs should be universal, QL only needs a simple tweet for you to download. More info this way.

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Ralph Bakshi’s Last Days of Coney Island

2 February 2013

Generation Y has probably never heard of Ralph Bakshi, one of the big names in American alternative animation who produced some not-that well known classics in the 70s amd 80s, like Wizards or even adapting Crumb’s Fritz the Cat.

Many of his animated films can be found on that other parallel youtube universe where films are split in episodes and international accounts, but that’s another story. The important bit today is that Ralph Bakshi is back to work, or at least he’s willing to do some new animated series…. the “Last Days of Coney Island“.

He just recently created a crowdfunding page on KS to raise some $$ for the first part of a series… an animated cop, mafia, horror movie set in the 1960s in Coney Island, with political overtones both realistic and outrageous. The stories would take place on and around Coney’s garish, freaky midways and in it’s dark alleyways. They discuss America: Kennedy’s assassination, the mafia, Bobby Dylan, Vietnam, Dick Tracy, Miss America, and a large etc.

 $165K is a rather ambitious goal… but taking into account the history and relevance of Bakshi’s works we thought he may well need some good attention and support to reach that figure, and you could be interested in grabbing one of the many original drawings. More info this way.

Ralph Bakshi's Last Days of Coney Island still2
Ralph Bakshi’s Last Days of Coney Island still
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Nameless’ Evil

2 February 2013

Unique … or freaky? The proliferation of low-budget and DIY horror game titles is quite astonishing these days. We’re getting an announcement pretty much each week of a new piggy mod or a Slenderman contender, and it gets scarier each month.

Today Nameless’ EVIL got released via Desura and while after having a good play at it we can honestly say it’s not the scariest title of all, a good walk through its surreal and infernal rooms could do your day.

“You’re in the evil’s mind. There’s no escape. You’re not sure what to do. You have to fight your fears, to your hell and to the evil itself. You’re dead”.

Evil is filled with plenty of references to other horror titles and while it looks like Mr J.P. could improve the story and interactivity substantially, we hope upcoming parts will keep the insane and “perturbed” artwork style he’s developed in this first title. More info and downloading links (it’s free after all) this way.

slender image
slender image
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Wildarms – Clear Eyes

31 January 2013

Earlier on this month our friends @ Cascine shared an ambitious opening with colorful hints but at the same time including the always delicate and elegant touch most of their releases are well known for. That new work, “Clear Eyes”, marks the debut EP from Wildarms (Brooklyn producer and music journalist Duncan Cooper).

Clear Eyes EP cover
Clear Eyes EP cover

Released next February 5th, “Clear Eyes” will be their 27th release, and after last week’s clip for Acceptance, the American-Swedish label has uploaded the whole EP on-line to provide with an entire silvan experience…

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Lumino City – Teaser

30 January 2013

In 2011 we fell in love with LUMEState of Play‘s cardboard creation which grabbed much media & critic attention (IGF finalist) for its hand-made sets and lightning effects, and today we learned that Luke & Katherine are polishing the sequel to their puzzly adventure …. “Lumino City”.

Details are still sparse, and much like Bendito Machine yesterday’s teaser, we know little about the London studio’s new title, besides the size of that waterwheel appearing at the end of the teaser and their decision to introduce mechanic elements that make all background elements feel more natural. Expect the game by late Spring, more details on IG’s website.

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New American Noise

29 January 2013

Many consumer electronic brands have attempted to create their own music&arts sponsorship strategies, and Nokia is certainly not new to this. Their latest campaign (or project) comes in a series of mini-profile-documentaries from young American talent titled “New American Noise“.

Originally developed in partnership (and premiered) @ Sundance the 6-episode series covers the new promises coming from NYC’s and their underground alternative rap culture in “Spit Gold Under an Empire“, the strip clubs of Atlanta Dream$, New Orleans’ sissy bounce with That B.E.A.T., Portland’s indie bands via Electric Noise, the soul Lords of Detroit and last but not least, LA’s SFV Acid electro.

Highly recommended mini-episodes that were uploaded to youtube yesterday and which have been directed by people like Emily Kai Bock or our very local Tyrone Lebon. Find an hour in your daily busy routine and give them a go, more info and all clips this way.

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