Backseat Gamers: Caution: Apocalypse in Progress

Glad to see you...

If the gaming industry is an automobile, and the game designers are the drivers, then that makes us, the players, backseat drivers, and we'll be damned if we're gonna let the industry keep on heading the way it's going (good or bad) without letting them know what we think. So buckle up, feel free to complain about there being no air in the back, and bring your most critical and analytical mind to the open air discussion of the current age, Backseat Gamers!
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Caution: Apocalypse in Progress

At the risk of posting something just to send the viewer to another site... Canabalt is stinking awesome. A game you play with one button. Try to survive the end of the world. (Spoiler - you won't)

What are your thoughts? Obviously the game is pretty simple in design, but the thing I left most impressed by was the strong visual aesthetic, complimented with incredibly appropriate music. It's impossible to do while playing well, but there's even a fair amount going on in the background to help create the depth as well as atmosphere.

I love stuff like this. I like to think of myself as a "core/hardcore" gamer, but things like this really strike my fancy. The idea that the Wii's large casual game selection are polluting the industry has been brought up before, but I don't think that statement is entirely true. The Wii's bad selection of casual games are the compromising factor here. Canabalt presents some solid evidence for well-made casual games I think.