Arcade

Pagoda West are a small independent studio who rose from the ashes of now defunct fan-game Sonic 2 HD. If that wasn't strange enough, they've just released their first game—poles of attraction platformer Major Magnet. I spent some time talking to two thirds of the team, Jared Kasl and Tom Fry, to hear about the process of making a first game, how magnets work, and why The Ren & Stimpy Show is such an influence.

Combosome

HIGH Fighting through a snowstorm is quite pretty.

LOW There's a deadly amount of repetition.

WTF The achievements require at least seven or more playthroughs.

You might not have heard of a new game outfit called Modern Dream yet, but you will. They've recently released a slick 2D runner called The Button Affair, and are already starting a new project inspired by the works of acclaimed abstract painter, Wassily Kandinsky. I spent a short while chatting with Oliver Clarke, one of the members of Modern Dream, and this is what he had to say about buttons, affairs, and what it's like to start making your own games.

No Love on This Battlefield

HIGH More screen time for the Hakuoki hunks.

LOW The gameplay.

WTF The best thing I can say about the game is that it has nice character designs.

Chris McQuinn talks of his studio's latest game in simple terms. "At a high level, Guacamelee is a platform brawler that's in a Metroidvania world. Oh, and also, it's Mexican themed. It's based in an imaginary land within Mexico. We borrow a lot of style, culture, and folklore references that we've put into the game. Have you played before? There's co-op…"

¡Fabuloso!

HIGH Super-tight combat and platforming.

LOW Trying to correctly identify the chicken thief.

WTF Why isn't Tostada available at the beginning?

A Joyful Noise

HIGH The perfect build and delicious release of "Only a Man."

LOW Hitting a retro cartridge by accident during a perfect run on high difficulty.

WTF Please, please tell me that those aren't Reverse Merman's balls.

Still Rollin' Around at the Speed of Sound

HIGH Final Rush is still one of the coolest video game levels ever made.

LOW Mad Space is still one of the most tedious video game levels ever made.

WTF How does the military mistake Shadow for Sonic? They're completely different colors.

Indie developer and fighter of good fights Mommy's Best Games recently released Serious Sam: Double D—XXL on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). The big cheese of Mommy's Best Games, Nathan Fouts, explains everything anyone needs to know about XXL, and a few other topics came up, to boot. Apart from the noogie he gave me (it still smarts!) the interview went rather well.

Here's our interview with Tommy Refenes of Team Meat!

In this interview, we discuss everything Super Meat Boy, Tommy's appearance in (the excellent) Indie Game: The Movie, his new game, Mew-Genics, and the act of tessellating someone's face.

Please enjoy this honest, insightful chat with a great developer.