:: MUST HAVEGame trailers are serious business. The decisions that you come to on a daily basis sometime come down to whether or not a quality game trailer has been made. Even if you don't particularly care for trailers, I watch them religiously and often highlight apps that put in that extra bit of effort.
Last week I went ahead and put in my best trailer ever vote for Chillingo's newest title, The Hero. Perhaps my vote was premature. This week I'm not even going to leave it up to me. Let the readers be the judge! This weeks showdown is between two game trailer powerhouses. On one side, we have Chillingo's trailer of the hero, which is still all sorts of amazing to me. On the other side, we have ustwo's trailer for ..™. They pride themselves on their trailers for the entire .™ coolectable series, but I personally like the ..™ trailer the best. Watch both trailers after the break and let us know who wins... I have to know!
:: TILTRIFFIC!
Following on from .™, the world's first App Store app to be built from concept to final within a 48 hour period, iPhone development studio ustwo™ are about to release the next in the series. Due to the full version of Inkstrumental™ not being quite ready, they quickly created a super lite special. It's called Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ and it's a taster/lite version for the studio's next major non-48hr release. Inkstrumental™
So, before they hold their Inkstrumental™ pre-launch press event in London tonight, and before the apparazzi™ comes out in force, the studio have allowed me to give you an exclusive look at Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™, which I'm told is so exclusive, Ustwo™ themselves are still undecided over whether they're even going to release this publicly yet.
If that wasn't enough, I'll also be showing you Inkstrumental™ (the full version) in action! It's important to note that what you are about to see are pre-release products from ustwo™, and features and or UI layout may be subject to change.
Checkout the moisture below:
In this 'lite' version, the characters seem to be movable although due to it being a lite version, there won't be any record or playback functionality. This is simply going to be an app to have a right good ol' mess around with.
Having gone back and forth throughout the production stages, changing ideas and even a few week ago starting over completely, ustwo™ are confident Inkstrumental™ is going to be an instant hit with the App Store crowd.
A fun app, Inkstrumental™ is set in a crazily cool designed environment. The app sees you playing with wonderfully strange and sometimes plain weird creatures. Each time you tap, the creatures will make different sounds, allowing you to create and record an awesome and colorful musical score. Your creation of musical genius is shown up top on the timeline, and if you feel you want to start over, just shake and the score is reset.
In their words:
"Inkstrumental™ lets you create music by touching the characters, who each play a sound from a selection of weird and wonderful samples and noises. You can make different tunes by putting the characters in various sequences and touching them like a synthesizer keyboard. You will also be able share your Inkstrumental™ creations with other users, and hear what inkstrumentalists™ around the globe have come up with."
I have to say I'm quite impressed at the level of design work that are coming out in these apps. Look out for both Inkstrumental™ and Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ hitting the App Store, soon. Can't wait to see more? We'll have more from ustwo™ later tonight, where we'll hopefully be bringing you some shots from their LIVE pre-launch UK press event. Stay Tuned!
Viral marketing, the variety that was made famous by JJ Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield), is by far my favorite form of marketing. On a typical day, my e-mail inbox is a semi disaster, with a billion e-mails about a billion things. I love them all... I really do, but the first thing I do in the morning is skim them for things that catch my eye. This one definitely caught my eye. I'll save you the filler text, but the e-mail basically consists of a youtube link and the phrase "have you seen the .?"
Ok, so we have a dot being surrounded by some kind of red matter. It's menacing in a way, but it also reminds me of how I get dressed in the morning. Things just hover for a while and then slowly bond with me (I can't back that up). While pondering this thought, it hit me. In a freak moment of clarity, I figured out what the video was for. It all made sense. This was a video for the third installment of the Spot series... the long awaited sequel to Spot Goes to Hollywood! Needing a 21st century makeover, the story must go that Spot's red shell has always been something similar to a Power Suit (the one in the Metroid series), which would finally explain how he was able to shoot off so many soda bubbles. Brilliant marketing move by 7UP, I must say.
Editor's Note (Wait, I am the editor): After a few more moments of being awake, I decided to do a small investigation. I still don't know much (I kind of like the suspense... I'll just have to download the app), but I do know that this title has nothing to do with 7UP or Cool Spot. "." was created by ustwo studios, otherwise known as ' The Studio Of Dreams', during a seemingly insane 48 hour period somewhere in either London or Malmö. Apparently the red stuff isn't a Power Suit either. I should have known by the menacing sound it made, but the red is evil... pure evil.
Being the current apple of my eye, I'll definitely be looking to have a review of "." up sometime early next week. Enjoy the viral video!
