Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tass Tips Episode 5 - Mastering Games w/ MrRubix - Part 1
Monday, June 22, 2009
Updates: New Features, Reaching Milestones
Users:
- A new feature (Which wasn't an initial option in the poll) has been added. This would be the Comments Section- a nice place for you all to share your thoughts and opinions about KCG. Article requests will be accepted here. Like anywhere else on the site, negative or obscene feedback is unacceptable.
- Hokage's Picks section has been changed for the ease of updating it. Now it names the developer along with the name of the game rather than the game with a short (useless) description.
- KCG's Links section removed since most of the links that were listed were no longer valid.
- Sponsorships section added- as mentioned in previous post. We're still looking for people to sponsor us, or at least advertise on KCG.
- Thank you all for following us and reading our articles- because you guys helped us reach the following milestones:
►100 Guides on KCG (Achieved on June 6th)
►Considered a poppular site to sponsor/Got sponsored! (Achieved on June 17th)
►100,000 hits since February 2009 (Achieved on June 22nd)
I apologize for not adding the "Game of the Day" section yet. I've been incredibly busy, and will be going on vacation for a week on Wednesday. If I'm going to add the section, I want it to serve its purpose- not be a barely updated useless section.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
An Interview With awalters
What is the origin of your username?:
I know how I went about creating it, but I can’t recall why I decided to use it. Years ago I could never come up with usernames when I needed them to sign up for sites. So basically I just started throwing random letters together to see what I could come up with. For some reason I picked the one I did and have used it on just about every site I have joined since then.
What is your favorite chatroom?:
Feed the Ducks
Do you have a favorite game on Kongregate?:
In my case it depends on the mood I’m in and what genre I want to play that day. Remnants of Skystone is my most played game right now, but I can’t really pick an overall favorite in general.
Who is your favorite mod/admin?:
Ducklette has to get my vote for the countless times that she has helped me when I needed a second opinion or a situation cleared up.
Favorite thing to do when you’re not on Kong?:
There is a time that I’m not on Kong? Normally playing other games, reading, or doing homework.
Bruce Lee vs. Bruce Willis. Who wins?:
I must admit that I have seen very few movies with either one in them, andto be more fair it isn’t fair for Mr. Willis whom I can’t recall ever seeing a movie with him in it. That being the case I have to go with Bruce Lee even though it isn’t a fair contest.
Who is your favorite normal user?:
I try not to pick favorites, well more I’m not supposed to. Obviously I fail to do that all the time, but I don’t think I should answer the question since I know they would take advantage of it and start to think I wouldn’t touch them if they acted up (obviously not the case).
PC or Mac?:
PC although that might just be due to my lack of experience with Macs.
What do you think the funniest named badge is?:
I normally find badge names more cleaver than truly funny, but I did actually laugh at both “Gotta Kill ’Em All!” and “Being the Very Best.” As many people on kong know I am a Pokemon fan so references to it are always welcome.
Mrs. Butterworth or Aunt Jemima?:
Aunt Jemima…Mrs. Butterworth just seems a bit too eager to tell people how tasty she is, which is far freakier than most of the stuff Jemima does
Do you have a favorite sport?:
I am not that big on sports sadly, I know how many sports are played, but to watch them is something I have never really been enticed to do, that being the case I really don’t have a favorite sport.
Finally, the most important question of all, what came first; the chicken or the egg?:
When you say egg I assume you mean a chicken egg. In such a case there are several different schools of thought. In the first the egg can not exist without the chicken having existed first, this is a fairly strong theory however it rests on there being a chicken that did not require an egg to come into existence.
Yet another group argues that the egg evolved from something else and thus the egg comes first as the result of a different species. This is slightly more plausible and the one I tend to go with.
A third theory would be that since the egg cannot exist without the chicken and that the chicken cannot exist without the egg and as such the chicken can not exist, however then you are getting into a more philosophical area which isn’t the point of the question.
So I would argue the egg is more likely to have came first.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sponsor KCG.
Since this went so well, YOU can now sponsor KCG. The price at which the sponsorship is varies, and will be discussed privetely. I don't really have specific limits on 'what' sponsors us- whether it be a company, blog, artist- as long it (you) is/are a specific group of some sort.
Not much else to say about sponsorships. I hope to see more of it going on, though- hopefully.
All the best,
KCG Administration
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
N3wton
Me and the Key Review
Heavy Weapons was awful. It was Boxhead but replaced with machines. Nothing fantastic about that game. What many players probably did not expect that other games in different genres can have the same fate.
Me and the Key involves you finding a key to go to the next level. It's a simple concept and easy for players to grasp. However, it all depends on the developers' creative juice. However, the juice seemed to have expired a long time ago before it was actually used. The puzzles don't feel like it's well-thought out and the game can actually be done in one go without stopping to save.
An odd thing about this game that it has some physical reactionary-like tests. Breakout was an awesome game at its time but it became a cliched staple for games with very little minigames. It's ok to put it once but disappointing to put it twice in the game.
The most frustrating level is level 25. It isn't a puzzle and you don't even see the key come out. Laptop users will really need an optical mouse for this level. This level is the most mind-boggling levels of all because a puzzle game should not have a game that needs your physical reactions.
Graphics aren't spectacular or anything. It's simple but plain boring.
This game is an utter bore to the very core of games. Players will be dumbfounded if they thought that it will be in par with other button games. The game design isn't well-thought and people will only play the game just to get the card and the medium badge. It will not be a game missed by players.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Exclusive Interview with God of War
So,as a guy with all badges, how often are you on Kong on a daily average?
Well, hours…and hours. You'd cry if you knew how many.
Wow. Okay...random question: Do you like Nirvana? Sorry, it’s just listening to it now.
I ain't a fan but I don't dislike them.
How many consoles do you have?
Including the old consoles I own 7
What are they?
Xbox 360, Ps3, Wii, Ps1, Sega Genesis, Gamecube, and Dreamcast
That's a lot. It’s like every gamer’s dream. Pacman for the win?
No, Pacman is boring. Pong is where it is at.
I figured. What are your thoughts and feelings about invalid_user leaving and passing The Abyss down to you?
Well I have known invalid since she first entered the abyss so I was upset and very surprised that she was leaving. But what is done is done. I was afraid to take over the abyss at first since she was an amazing room owner but I have found it to be quite fun!
Yes, I think you'll do well. Next question: Is xXPoeXx a noob?
Hell ya.
What are your thoughts of the recent dispersion and AFKness of most of the regular Abyss mods?
See I kinda figured this would happen; people want to explore and not be confined to one room. I just did not think that lot's of them would leave at the same time
Ah. Do you like the way things are functioning in The Abyss?
Yes and no, yes lots of regs left but new one's are already appearing! The abyss has been in worse times, back when it was just Abyss. Overall I like the the way it is functioning but there is always room for improvement!
That's great. Last question: Do wuv me?
You are hawt enough that there is nobody that cannot possibly wuv you.
Thank you and good night
'Night
God_of_War everyone! Give him a hand!
Writer’s Note: This interview was done on MSN. I am used to doing interviews by email, but I think this one turned out well. Also, I like getting compliments.
And I quote:
“ Gow says: IT’S THE ZACH! UR hAWT.”
Thursday, June 11, 2009
From The Doctor's Office: Tower of Greed
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Escape From Really Boring Island 3
Introduction
Your character is a stickman and you have to escape from this island by talking with dragons, fooling people and even changing your skin colour just like Michael Jackson did in order to achieve the Dragon Chaser Badge and 5 points.
Walkthrough
For the second time I've made a walkthrough myself, and here it is:
Other similar games
Here are some other similar games which you'll like if you liked this one:
Review
There is hardly any sound. If I remember correctly, there's only sound when you click some buttons, there isn't any background music or anything similar to such, 0.1.
About its difficulty. There isn't much. It's quite easy to finish the game in 3 - 5 minutes, but that's enough difficulty and time for an easy badge, in my opinion, 1.
Not much to say about the graphics, they are poorly drawn. It's a nice game, but it lacks graphics, if this game had some great graphics such as other games like Cargo Bridge, Sonny 2 or The Several Journeys of Reemus, then this game would get much higher rating, 0.6.
The gameplay is great! I love it. It has funny parts, tragical parts and also thinking parts, which makes it good. It's fun to play and you're garanteed a laugh the first time you play, 0.9.
This game just has the mouse as controls, which in a way is obvious for a point and click game, 0.8.
TOTAL: My rating for EFRBI 3 is 3.4 / 5. It's a bit low. It wouldn't have been so if it had a bit of sound, it really needs some and if it had better graphics too.
Escape from Kilmainham Part 2 :The Evidence Room Walkthrough
Escape from Kilmainham Part 2 :The Evidence Room
On a Side Note: This is the 100th guide to be posted on KCG- probably one of the greatest milestones we've hit so far. ;)
Friday, June 5, 2009
An interview with HeroInteractive
How did you come up with the name HeroInteractive?: Well, our company name is Hero Interactive, LLC. There's no truly remarkable story behind the name, a lot of brainstorming was done and we decided to go with that. Our thinking was, when you play a game, you're usually the hero of the game. So we wanted something around that. We also wanted our logo and name to reflect our casual fun focus.
When did you start making games?: Um... geeze. Not sure. I made an RPG game on my TI calculator my freshman year of highschool way back in 1997 I think. My first shockwave game was in 2002. My first flash game was in 2004. I started working on my own in August 2006, Hero Interactive was formed soon after in October that year.
What is your favorite game on Kongregate other than one of your own?: That's a difficult question. I'm a big fan of the older ones. Boxhead: 2Play Rooms by Sean Cooper is probably my favorite. I'm also a fan of Desktop Tower Defense by Casual Collective and Bowmaster Prelude by LostVector.
Who is your favorite moderator or Kongregate staff member?: Another hard decision. Because I'm usually extremly busy running a company, I rarely have time to hang with the Mods. I've met many of the Kong staff in person and I like all of them a lot. I don't like playing favorites but if I had to choose I'd pick Greg. I bug him all the time and somehow he manages to put up with me. Thanks Greg!
What is your favorite game that you have made?: I think the one I'm most proud of is Bubble Tanks but I'm also a massive fan of LightSprites. That game just didn't get the love it deserved yet is still one of the best games out there. Some people just couldn't get over the rainbows to realize that the game pokes fun at it's over the top joyfullness.
What game was the most fun to make?: I always love getting started on a game, there's so much exciting stuff happening as you see your vision rapidly coming together from nothing. Later on, it can get hard to keep pushing through when you've been working on the same project and looking at the same stuff every day for months.I think our latest game, Vector Boom, was one of my favorites to work on. For this game, I did all of the art while Eric took on the programming. I really enjoyed doing the art aspects and then seeing it all come to life. I especially loved designing all of the space ships and creating the background art.
Which of your upcoming games do you think will be more popular: Bubble Tanks Arenas or Vector Boom?: Lol, is that a real question? On our blog we have hundreds and hundreds of comments from players who ask for information about Bubble Tanks Arenas daily. I'm going to go with that. :)
Who is your favorite game developer other than yourself?: Probably the most difficult question yet. There's just so much talent out there. I think my favorite is John (jmtb02) over at Armor Games. Seriously, the guy has put out almost 50 games now and he still is one of the most creative developers out there. He takes something simple but extremely fun and makes a game with that almost every time. I know few developers that can put out original and creative games that are hits like his, not just once, but over and over again.There are so many new people coming in to Flash games and getting a random hit here and there that I think the community has forgotten some of the real superstars in the community. Developers who have consistently been putting out amazing games since way back. I'm thinking not only of jmtb02 but NinjaKiwi, Casual Collective, etc...
Do you consider yourself to be one of the top game creators? I definitely think so. Not only have our games been consistently very high performing but we've also been very connected with the Flash game community. In March we won a Mochi Award for the Best Shooter Game of 2008 for Bubble Tanks 2. Nine of our games have badges on Kongregate. I was one of the earliest developers on sites such as Kongregate to make a living off of flash games (I started in 2006 making Flash games as my full time job). Now, Hero Interactive has 4 developers, a Community Manager and 2 Composers. Our games have been played by many millions of people and are on thousands of sites. And we've always been at the front of the pack- StormWinds was the first game I know of that allowed players to purchase Extra Content from the game and continue no matter which portal they were playing on.
How did Hero Interactive grow from one developer into full fledged company?: I think that's a topic for a whole interview, not just one question. The truth is the story took 3 years!When I started the company in 2006 we focused entirely on doing client work. It wasn't until February of '07 or so till I heard about developers making money through sponsorships and about sites such as Newgrounds, Kongregate and Armor Games. That's when we put out Bubble Tanks 1 and it all built up from there!
Do you do anything else besides work at HeroInteractive?: Nope. For 3 years I've been doing this full time, all day, every day. There has never been a side job. I started the company after I graduated from the University. I am a full time Flash game developer.
Your highest rated game on Kongregate is Bubble Tanks 2. Do you think it deserves to be your highest? If not, which game does?:I think Bubble Tanks 2 does. We put a ton of work into that game. That's why we're putting more into Bubble Tanks Arenas!
Did you enjoy doing this interview?: I did! Thanks for having us! I love talking my head off to whomever is willing to listen!
ButtonHunt 3
Introduction
Your goal is to click the red button by finding it, moving things and even programming TVs to get the Spherical McCarthyism Badge and its 15 points!
Walkthrough
This is the first video walkthrough I've ever done! :P I'm happy. Music by XenonMB.
More ButtonHunt
If you were searching for a different ButtonHunt game, click its link in the following list:
Review
The sound's good. I like the music, I really do, it's peaceful and relaxing. The sound in-game is good too, very well created, 0.9.
There isn't much difficulty in this game. There aren't any hard parts. Maybe you'll have to think a bit in some stage or in some boss level, but that's all. Though it's quite difficult to achieve all the secrets... 0.9.
I've seen better graphics than these. The main menu is well done, but I don't think it was a nice idea to put such graphics as in level 1, for example. There's a lot of difference between some level's graphics and others', 0.7.
Gameplay is fun. I'm sure nearly everyone of this game's 615,000 players enjoyed playing it. It might be challenging, hard in some level, but if you have nothing else to do this is a nice way to have some fun, 0.9.
The controls are good, as you just need to use your mouse. But I think this game would be fun with some action scenes that would require you to use the keyboard, but it wasn't made like that, so 0.7.
TOTAL: My rating for ButtonHunt 3 is 4.1 / 5. I certainly like this game, and it was a good choice in which I created my first walkthrough, :).
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kongregate Launches New Art and Music Section
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kongregate, the leading indie game site where seven million gamers log 13 million hours of gameplay each month, today announced the launch of Kongregate Collabs. An extension of Kongregate’s already thriving creative community, Kongregate Collabs (short for collaborations) offers a venue and tools that let game artists and musicians link up with programmers to collaborate on creating games.
“Over 15,000 games have been uploaded on Kongregate by our users, which is a huge out-pouring of individual expression. However, we feel that there are tens of thousands of gamers who would love to be involved in game creation by using their talents in art and music to contribute to the process,” noted Jim Greer, CEO and co-founder of Kongregate. “Kongregate Collabs will be a great place for indie developers to meet and collaborate with artists and musicians in an environment specifically designed for self-expression and the creation of great games to be shared with millions of Kongregate players.”
The launch of Kongregate Collabs is sponsored by ongoing promotional partner Scion, the hip auto brand delivering personalizable cars to trendsetting youth. As part of its second eight-week promotion with Kongregate, running through July 31, Scion will be the sole sponsor of Kongregate Collabs, including Scion’s Artistic Intersection, a contest that will recognize and award weekly prizes to winning participants who upload the best entries. Winners will be determined by ratings from Kongregate players. Anyone can post their game art and music to get feedback, interaction and collaboration from the Kongregate community.
“In its second major sponsorship with Kongregate, Scion has been able to directly engage with Kongregate’s audience of males age 18 to 24 in a very tangible, authentic way,” said Lee Uniacke, Kongregate’s chief revenue officer. “The essence of Scion’s brand is self-expression, and we’ve created a unique and effective way for them to bring that to life for our users.”
“With Kongregate, we’ve found a synergistic way to connect with a community of creative youth that has similar values to the Scion customer,” stated Adrian Si, Scion interactive marketing manager. “Promotions of this kind allow us to interact with individuals who embrace customization while highlighting our brand values.”
For more information on Kongregate Collabs and the Artistic Intersection Contest, visit http://www.kongregate.com/collabs.
An interview with Ducklette!
Ducklette, also known as Ducky, is a loved... Uh, duck. She quacks around while she does some admin stuff. Our interviewer, Juze, had a conversation with her. It included alot of noise that ducks make, of course.
Juze: Tell me a little about yourself.
Ducklette: Well, I grew up in the Northeast U.S., and went to school for classical music performance. I play the French horn and still play a lot - just finishing up a run of "Jerry Springer the Opera"!
Juze: Okay, you joined on August 20, 2007. What was your first feeling on Kongregate?
Ducklette: What got me hooked were the achievements. I'm very OCD, especially when I game, so when I found out that there were awesomely-titled and -graphicked little squares of goodness to be gotten, I had to sign up.
Juze: How did the first day feel like?
Ducklette: It's hard to remember, but I was mostly relieved that I had found a new gaming site with games I hadn't played before. I was going through a huge point'n'cick phase, and had already played most of the popular ones out there.
Juze: You came known user around in 2008. Then, you became a
moderator, and you became an owner of your own chat room, Feed the Ducks. How did this happen, and how do you feel about it?
Ducklette: Well, it took me a couple months to realize that I'd enjoy chatting. I started in the Van, and everyone was so kind and articulate that I decided I really needed to start making some friends. I think the first thing I ever said was in a discussion on censorship - important stuff! From then on, I continued my quest for badges and continued to enjoy the company of those around me. I'm not sure about the specifics on why I was chosen for modship or given a room (other than that I asked for one and the staff were making more at the time), but even now that I'm working for Kong I strive to do everything we want our mods to do in chat. Considering the goal is to make sure everyone's having fun within our guidelines, it usually works out to be a win-win situation. :)
Juze: I must blame you, because all the people from The Van room left to your room. :D
Juze: After that all, you soon became an admin. Woah. How did that happen?
Ducklette: In the late summer of 2008, damijin decided he was going to leave Kong to make his own games (play Pyro!), and there was an opening. The staff were apparently happy with how well Feed the Ducks had done as a new room, and I was really excited to have even more ways to help out the Kong community. So I became a community manager! And now I'm the official watcher-over-er of all our wonderful Kong users. :)
Juze: Woah.
Juze: Well, to the next question.
Juze: What is your job as an admin?
Ducklette: As I mentioned above, I'm a community manager. The basic idea of my job is to keep Kong a fun and happy place for all our users. How we do that has a few more specific parts. Along with AlisonClaire, we keep track of the state of the forums and chat rooms of Kong, appoint train and coach new moderators, process missing badge reports, delete inappropriate comments, process all reports filed against mods and users, respond to e-mail, and help both users and mods with the extra tricky problems they can't seem to fix.
Juze: Can you tell me a little bit about your family?
Ducklette: Just a regular nuclear family. :) Two good parents and one brother who's actually on Kong! Now for the extended family...I'll have to give out my referral link at reunions.
Juze: What's your favorite game on Kongregate? I belive it's Duck, think outside the flock, right?
Ducklette: It is pretty darn good! I'm not much for picking favorites, though, so I'm not sure I'd say it's the very best. At the moment, I'm working my way through Bunny Invasion Easter Special. I'm a little disturbed by how much I enjoy shooting bunnies, but I mostly just like the game. :) Ask me in a week and I'm sure I'll be on to something else!
Juze: I had to do this, but...
Juze: so i herd u liek mudkipz?
Ducklette: YAH I ALSO LIEK TURTLEZ.
Juze: Which operating system are you using, and which internet browser?
Ducklette: Vista and FF3. Yeah, go ahead. All you people who don't like Vista. Laugh it up. I actually haven't had a problem with it, but I don't do a whole lot with the computer except game and work. It turns on in the morning, looks pretty, and functions the way I need it to.
Juze: I'm running out of questions. Do you like working for Kongregate? Do you get paid for that?
Ducklette: Yep and yep!
Juze: Okay. :) Well, I guess that's all.
Ducklette: Woo! Off the hook again. :D
Juze: It was nice to have an interview with you.
Ducklette: It was nice to be interviewed!
Juze: Okay, byes!
Ducklette: Ta ta!
Juze: Do a duck roll!