I already owned a boxed retail copy of Darwinia (with a little key chain), but I didn't get round to installing it for years, then I ended up buying it again on steam through a special offer bundle on indie games, so I decided now was the right time to get round to playing it!
I will tell you, to me it was by far the best game I bought in that pack of indie games! (though some of the others are great too)
It plays a bit like Cannon Fodder (which I used to like), but your troops are completely disposable and mostly you are doing missions to assist an A.I. race called Darwinians, fighting to survive from a virus which has infected their world.
It may not sound that good, but the execution of this game is really great.
I really do feel like I am accessing a very small world built for the Darwinians, I am under the impression that this is their long-established home land I do feel like they have their little ways and beliefs and in a way I do feel like they are just wanting to live out their lives in peace, devoted to learning and exploring.
And so, I feel a strong form of compassion and desire to protect them.
It's a game that gave me interesting feelings; fixing the structure of their digital world and even more, their digital but tangible religion, is something that was mind blowing when I stopped to think about it.
The graphics are simple but completely effective, digitally generated landscapes populated with menacing viruses. The sound is also very effective. Most of the music is by someone called Trash80 and you can download some tracks used in Darwinia from his website, it's really good electronic music, a little retro chiptune in places.
The various startup screens for the game are fun references to old gamer geekery too, from watching the Darwinians play out life to the old 8-bit demo scene splash screens, I liked that touch to the game.
The game has a small amount of levels but some of them did take a very long time to do, so the whole game took about 7 hours to complete (according to the clock on steam) but that's over a duration of a few weeks.
I really really enjoyed this game, especially as an experience.
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Saturday 22 August 2009
Cowboy Bebop CD-BOX Original Sound Track Limited Edition
This is an old CD box set which I bought when it came out, back in 2002 (well, that's what the box says, I don't actually remember!). I'm making this post because it's still a popular compilation which fans want to buy, but it's out of print so the price has risen and it is known that there are lots of bootlegs available, and they contact me asking "is the product I am looking at a bootleg?"
So I thought I would help by taking some photos and making a post here of the genuine item.
The box set was released by Victor Entertainment, and has a catalogue number of VIZL-64. There is a release date on the box of 2002-06-21. The original price was 10290 yen including tax or 9800 yen without tax.
It comes in a long box, the box is cardboard and has a picture of Spike on the front, and there is an imprint of the title of the collection on the cardboard: "COWBOY BEBOP CD-BOX Original Soundtrack Limited Edition featuring YOKO KANNO / SEATBELTS". It's difficult to see that on the photos, but the same words are also in the circle in the top left corner.
Turn over the box, and you see a CD single taped to the box. The tape has the very long title on it again. It's actually taped to a plastic sleeve around the box, and a plastic sleeve around the single CD so don't worry about the tape doing any damage. I managed to remove the single CD to listen to without disturbing the box, keeping the protective plastic on the box, but it was tricky! If you are looking at a second hand copy, the box and the single CD may be separate.
Inside the box is a foldout cardboard and plastic case with the CDs, and a huge 52 page booklet sandwiched between them. The foldout case has a picture of the main cast on one side, but I forgot to take a picture. :P
The booklet has a picture of a handgun on the side. Most of the text is in Japanese (interviews, etc) but the contents page and credits are in English, as well as any of the song lyrics that are in English.
Other details, tracklisting etc, can be found on Wikipedia.
I don't know whether there have been any reissues in different formats, but I know that this is what my 100% definitely genuine limited edition copy looks like! If you are looking to buy a copy, good luck!
So I thought I would help by taking some photos and making a post here of the genuine item.
The box set was released by Victor Entertainment, and has a catalogue number of VIZL-64. There is a release date on the box of 2002-06-21. The original price was 10290 yen including tax or 9800 yen without tax.
It comes in a long box, the box is cardboard and has a picture of Spike on the front, and there is an imprint of the title of the collection on the cardboard: "COWBOY BEBOP CD-BOX Original Soundtrack Limited Edition featuring YOKO KANNO / SEATBELTS". It's difficult to see that on the photos, but the same words are also in the circle in the top left corner.
Turn over the box, and you see a CD single taped to the box. The tape has the very long title on it again. It's actually taped to a plastic sleeve around the box, and a plastic sleeve around the single CD so don't worry about the tape doing any damage. I managed to remove the single CD to listen to without disturbing the box, keeping the protective plastic on the box, but it was tricky! If you are looking at a second hand copy, the box and the single CD may be separate.
Inside the box is a foldout cardboard and plastic case with the CDs, and a huge 52 page booklet sandwiched between them. The foldout case has a picture of the main cast on one side, but I forgot to take a picture. :P
The booklet has a picture of a handgun on the side. Most of the text is in Japanese (interviews, etc) but the contents page and credits are in English, as well as any of the song lyrics that are in English.
Other details, tracklisting etc, can be found on Wikipedia.
I don't know whether there have been any reissues in different formats, but I know that this is what my 100% definitely genuine limited edition copy looks like! If you are looking to buy a copy, good luck!
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