Last week, Commander Tim stopped by and suggested I buy Braid.  I had heard about the game at some point and forgotten about it. It looks a little like a popular Nintendo franchise when you first pick up your controller–but don’t let it fool you. It is so much more.

Braid trailer 1.2 from David Hellman on Vimeo.

As you can see from the trailer, Braid is a richly textured puzzle platformer with a unique feature… you can turn back time. The game is laden with poetry, gorgeous artwork and a beautiful soundtrack.  The plot begins similarly to a popular plumber franchise storyline where a maiden in distress must be rescued. It is also is riddled with puzzles that add to the velvety fabric of the game.

For the retro gamer this game has an instant appeal as a platformer but it is so much more than that.  There are the obvious nods to the Super Mario franchise – - but there are also references to Donkey Kong and Elevator Action.  The game designer, Jonathon Blow, has a clear love for retro titles.

I installed it last Monday and spent the next 2-3 days playing the game to completion.  It is undoubtedly one of the best platform games I’ve played.  I played it so frequently within the last week that I found myself reaching for the reverse button when playing a couple of NES games only a few days later.

A little more about Braid:

Before Braid was released it won the award for “Innovation in Game Design” at the 2006 Independent Games Festival.

Braid has since won several awards including:

Xbox Live Magazine:

• Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Year
• Best Soundtrack
• Best Ending
• and the “Indisputably Incredible Runner-ups to Game of the Year” award.

Xbox Live Arcade:

• Best Innovation

Game Spot:

• Best Original Downloadable Console Game
• Best Platformer
• Best Licensed Music

Braid was also awarded “Casual Game of the Year” at the 12th Annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Awards. Additionally, MacWorld included Braid in its 2009 Game Hall of Fame.

It’s available on Mac or PC and for download on Xbox Live and the PS3 Network for about $15.

A friend of mine recently pointed me toward this Bleep Bloop video:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928778

It’s a conversation in which they discuss the philosophy of video games:  new vs. old.  It’s an engaging video and some interesting thoughts are hashed out.  Do you agree?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the statements made in this video.

New retro Sega console to be released this summer in the UK. Can’t ascertain when or if it will be released in the US. I’ll let Commander Tim give the review of the games that are included. My quick take is – I like the price and that it has wireless controllers. Apparently there is no way to add new games. An SD slot would be killer.

Something that will be released stateside – Atari Flashback 2+. Expected release is later this month. Same as the Flashback 2, except subtle changes in the game lineup, and some bug fixes. You get a nifty t-shirt if you pre-order.

GOG.com (Good Old Games) and Activision have struck a deal in which Activision will release a number of classic games from its back catalog.  Among the first to be released are the RPG: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001) and  Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993).  The latter is a classic point-and-click adventure in the vain of the King’s Quest or Space Quest series of games by Sierra. Voice actors include Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, and Michael Dorn.

The Gabriel Knight title interests me especially as I am a big fan of Roger Wilco in the Space Quest series from sierra.  Since Activision swallowed up Vivendi Games, they now own all of the properties formerly associated with Sierra.  This could mean a we’ll see a lot of those 90s computer games resurfacing!  Soon, you may be able to download all of the Space Quest series DRM FREE and play them all on your Vista/XP PC or Mac.

If Topless Robot isn’t already in your daily web rounds, today I’m going to give you a great reason why it should be. A few weeks back, the writers asked their readers to contribute ideas to the definitive Nerd Ten Twenty Commandments, and as you’d expect, hilarity ensued. Some of these are almost painful in how accurate they are, but the one that really made me chuckle is the one that I’m sure all of us already live by:

10) If two nerds ever find themselves holding cylindrical objects of at least 9 inches in length they must immediately make lightsaber ignition noises and face each other down in mortal combat.

Be sure to head over to Topless Robot for the full list of all twenty commandments. And remember: now you know… and knowing is half the battle.