Maybe I *will* do a bit of shopping on Black Friday...

I don't think I've ever gone shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, for those of you who don't live in the States--it's considered the biggest shopping day of the year). Actually, scratch that--I'm pretty sure I braved the crazy crowds in 2006, the year the Wii was released. (Of course, I came away empty-handed.Curse you, Nintendo!).

Anyway, I don't plan on leaving the house this Black Friday--despite what the headline above suggests. The shopping I'm talking about will be done on line--over at toastyfrog.com, to be more specific. That's when Jeremy Parish will be putting up for sale GameSpite Quarterly 3, which promises to be an "encyclopedia of 8-bit heroes."

I guess that could go without saying, considering the hardcover version is supposed to clock in at over 300 pages. (Two paperback versions will be made available, too--a 280-page "complete paperback edition" that will sell for somewhere between $16 and $18 and a 150-page edition that will sell for $12.)

I'd love to pick up a copy of the hardcover version, but I'm guessing that won't be feasible given my current financial situation. That's OK--as long as I can buy one of the other variants.

Speaking of awesome game-inspired art...

... take a gander at this tribute to one of the best known transgender characters in all of gaming, Poison.

According to the folks at the always fabulous TinyCartridge.com, this saucy piece of pin-up art was created by Daniel Vendrell Oduber, an artist at Ikari Studio (the Spanish design company responsible for Zombie BBQ's similarly good looks).

Don't worry--Vendrell didn't forget about Poisin's palette-swapped sister, Roxy. His take on that Final Fight fixture can be found here.

Orioto is back--and this time his art is in a game (instead of inspired by one)

A few months ago, I introduced you to Mikaël Aguirre (aka Orioto), the Parisian artist who, in my humble opinion, produces some of the best game-inspired art around. Today, I'm re-introducing him--as the art director of the upcoming indie game, Swimming Under Clouds.

I'd describe the game to you but, honestly, I think this video shows you all you need to know about it.

For more info on the title, check out the hands-on preview over at BeefJack.com. Also, check out that site's exclusive interview with Aguirre and the game's technical director, Yacine--a former employee of Criterion Games and Evolution Studios.

If you're as interested in Swimming Under Clouds as I am, you'll want to keep an eye on PieceofPieStudios.com, too. (Piece of Pie Studios is the name of Yacine's company.)

Aguirre and Yacine say they want to release the game as a digital title on an unnamed console sometime next year. Hopefully that unnamed console is the PS3 or the Wii, so I can play it :)

That sound? It's the TurboGrafx-16 rising from its grave...

Fourteen years after it was discontinued in the U.S., the the TurboGrafx-16 is getting a new game. Unfortunately, it isn't Bonk RPG; it's a Berserk clone called Insanity. Here's a video that shows a bit of what it has to offer:



Although the title is a homebrew release, the folks behind it (a small team of programmers, artists and musicians that call themselves Aetherbyte Studios) haven't cut any corners. Insanity's $30 price of admission gets you a professionally packaged game that reportedly resembles the TTi-branded Turbo games that came out in the 90s.

As much as Insanity's release tickles me, I probably won't be buying it anytime soon. It looks a little too primitive to my eyes--plus, I've never been a big fan of this type game.

Ninjas and shurikens and Tanooki testicles! Oh my!

I'm a sucker for games that try to take things back to the good ol' days. Which means I'm *very* interested in the game shown in this here video:


Ninja Senki Trailer from pixeltao on Vimeo.

The game, Ninja Senki, isn't a long-lost GameBoy Color ROM. It's a brand new game that's being made by Jonathan Lavigne, an artist/coder at Ubisoft Montreal. (Lavigne's previous credits: the Open Season and TMNT titles that were released for the GameBoy Advance.)

According to Eric Caoili over at TinyCartridge.com, Lavigne hopes to release Ninja Senki before Christmas. Here's hoping he releases it as a GameBoy Color or GameBoy Advance ROM.