Got a little further. I'm really liking the plot and characters and stuff. And the cannon mechanic is great. I think the boss is kind of annoying, though, most of all because you hid spikes behind the opaque HUD, which is an awful thing to do. Seriously, you should fix that somehow, because it's really unfair. Also, you should somehow reduce the waiting time before fighting the boss each time. I find that kind of thing really annoying, especially since that battle took quite a few tries. He was pretty hard for a first boss, but I'm not going to complain except for the things I already said.

Oh, I don't mind learning new interfaces or anything, and Buzz sounds vaguely interesting to me. I'll give it a try when my new computer is up and running. Thanks.

I really like it. It resembles a certain game a little bit too much, of course, but there are worse crimes.

Anyway, I am not really a fan of informing the player as much as you do in this game - there was basically nothing for you, the player, to figure out, and furthermore it was somewhat linear - does it become less so later on? But I thought the signs were kind of amusing. In general I think it is a pretty amusingly written game with nice characters, even if the main "character" is the signs, really. And so I don't think you should really change this, per se, but maybe make some of them less specific... like, maybe I'm crazy, but I *hate* it in games when characters tell the player "press [some button] to do this." It totally ruins the immersion in my opinion. But you did it in an amusing way. I think it should only happen once, though, with the owl at the beginning, and he can just explain all the controls to you - the reason why is, the owl being able to talk is enough of a jarring thing to where it doesn't ruin the immersion as much to have *him* tell the player, "press this button". But with the other characters... well, meh. And same with the spiral notebook thing. To say that "it's like saving your game, but in real life" specifically brings the breach of immersion to light, and I don't think this is good. Besides, that bit of explanation isn't necessary anyway. People already know by that point to press "down" when encountering any odd object, and when you do that next to the notebook the "save game" thing automatically comes up, so it's not necessary to explain. In general... just treat the player a little bit less like they're stupid. It'll make the game more interesting. Keep the humourous messages, though, of course - I like them.

Anyway, some other miscellaneous comments: in general the gameplay is really well done, though as I said it seemed somewhat linear so far. I think the music is really, really good - the song in the "ruins" area is really awesome, I like the mellotron-ish sounds. It reminds me of Tangerine Dream. And the sound effects in general are really cool. I also like that there are a lot of types of enemies. The game was quite compelling, and I only quit because I wanted to comment, and because I'm beginning to feel guilty that I'm not reading Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? on my day off. Also, the part where the squid falls on the little skull guy's head made me laugh. In general, it's really cool. I also like collecting the coins and stuff, but perhaps they could stick around a teeny bit longer? And the sound when you collect them could do with being a lot more satisfying. And make sure that whenever they become useful, you don't do the Zelda thing, where they're really numerous and can't buy anything that great and nothing costs very much. I hate that. Just... make them a good incentive. Rupees sucked as an incentive. And do you have much of the game done besides this first 2-5%?

Oh, and why does a stun gun kill enemies? :D

EDIT: Oh, and when I start it, it opens in the bottom right corner of my screen and not the center, for some reason. Maybe it's my resolution? I'm in 1024x768, so...

I don't know if anyone here would know this kind of thing, but I'm positively terrified of asking at forum dedicated to chip music...

Is there a significant difference between commercial trackers (Renoise, for example) and free ones? And is there a great number of features I'm missing out on by sticking to this allegedly obsolete technology over some more "modern" type of sequencer?

See, I learned SkaleTracker because I wanted to create music for games. Now I know that program very well, and I'm more interested in creating general electronica, and basically I'm wondering if perhaps there is some other software I could be using.

I'll miss being yelled at by a guy on television.

I don't see how a school is unconstitutional. 

it's not expressly forbidden in the constitution, but there's a part in the constitution which says something like this: the government does not have any power not given to the government in this constitution

because the constitution doesn't explicitly give the government the power to set up schools, and because the constitution says that any power the constitution doesn't give the government the government does not have, it'd follow that (arguably) the government does not have the power to create schools

The constitution grants all powers not granted to the federal government to individuals OR the states. Seeing as schools are run by states and not the federal government, there is no constitutional conflict... unless I guess you count some of the federal mandates and whatnot, but none of those require the states to comply, they just lose a lot of funding if they don't.

I like this. It's original. And there's something amusing about being able to blast your way straight through a door even though there's a key to open it. Not many games let you do that. It's gratifying.

This looks like something I'd totally be into, but I'm willing to wait for the official release, if it's as soon as it seems to be.

I admire you greatly for squeezing a real, functioning game (more accurately several real, functioning games) into that number of pixels.

In any case, though - my impression when reading about this game is that it would be possible to lose the games, and the game as a whole by consequence. I think this could be interesting, as an option if nothing else - basically, you get points for every game that is still going at any given, say, second. And then when you lose a game, that little screen goes blank. This would work really well with the stereo sound that Sparky suggested - it starts out as a mess of noise and gradually becomes clearer.

I think a Breakout game would be fun, and a Space Invaders one (with the up key being fire). I can't think of any others, though.

Malec2b's idea would be good, except that that would imply that you're expected to win some of the games, which is sort of unreasonable.

Also, I think you should make the ball in Pong and the snake in Snake move more slowly. Considering how small the rooms are, and how many rooms there are, a little grace would be nice.

I think the game could just assume that the last time (the first time when in reverse) you pass through that spot is when it was collected, and all others were just re-passing that same spot - but I honestly don't see what the big deal is. It makes it look kind of weird when things are played back forwards, but at the same time, it's kind of interesting to have a game where part of the challenge is *not* collecting things. It goes along with the reverse Mario theme, and I like the... irony? is it irony? of coins suddenly becoming an obstacle.

This is a really clever and original game, and even sort of fun when you get the hang of things. I love the Mario music parodies, and the backwards music/sound. A very inspiring concept that is well-executed.

Nice. to default loading bars, though.

I enjoyed the strange twists on traditional game design. It really, really lacked polish, but I suppose that's the point, isn't it?

I got angry at the invisible platform part, until I figured out the trick to finding them, at which point I went, "silly me," because I did that exact thing in a game of mine. Ah, life. I like the truck driver. On a whole, the game reminds me slightly of Johnny, though much more functional.

This seems pretty interesting. I like the sound design. but I have some bones to pick.

1) That is not a very convincing walking animation.

2) Why is the water there when it doesn't even do anything? Your character doesn't even look different when he's in it, there's no splash...

Actually I guess that's it. It has a nice vibe, and I like all the pixellated creatures that are trying to murder you.

Artists don't need to impress us with their cleverness or originality... they just have to find that resonance.

What's the difference, really?

Anyway, if that really is the Japanese attitude toward art, I can't say I agree with it much, but I still like the art. I think that a work of art is nothing if it resembles another too closely, because then there's no need for it. Thus, art requires uniqueness. And the uniqueness of each peice of art arises from the uniqueness of the perspective, experiences, skills, etc. of its individual creator. Even if the Japanese don't see it this way, it still applies to their art, I think.

The only reason I regret not owning any current gen consoles.

I love how the Japanese use nature in games and movies. The patches of grass growing out of the rocks, the insects in the air and of course the animation of the creature itself. So poetic. You just want to be there.

Yes. The art in his games sort of reminds me of the art of Hokusai and Hiroshige in terms of atmosphere. I guess because both vaguely resemble anime/manga style art, but with softer lines, which I personally find a lot more attractive.

I never got to hear the music for most of the really old games I played. My earliest gaming experiences were all DOS games sans soundblaster. Most of the old video game music that I like, I've been exposed to more recently and out of its original context. Thanks mainly to clysm. I particularly like the track from Rupert and the Toymaker's Party, which is a weird game I've not heard a thing about anywhere else.

Exceptions would be Donkey Kong Country (1 and 2) and a lot of the SNES versions of Mario games, because the first console I ever had was a Super Nintendo.

I've played neither Shadow of the Colossus or  Ico.

I feel like I've missed out on something... However, the teaser looks tasty.

For all the hype... well, they are as good as you would expect. There aren't many greatly hyped things I can say that about. And this game looks ace, but I doubt I'll be able to play it unless I make friends with someone who owns a PS3. This one game is not quite enough to make the console seem worthwhile to me. Though I've not exactly been keeping up on games for the PS3 - does anyone know of any others that might change my mind?

This is a great concept. The execution is good too, but I have some suggestions...

Powerups, as mentioned before. This kind of arcade game gets old if there's nothing like that to add a bit of variety. Also, more types of enemies/enemy attacks would help.

I think the graphics as they are lack character. The ships are just colourful plasticene blobs... I think it could use a more distinctive style. Also, the style as-is does not really fit with the "retro" style font you've chosen. Also, on this note, some more stuff going on in the background, like maybe a distant planet or something, would add some interest.

Music would be lovely.

I think there should either be more levels, or the game should just go on indefinitely with increasing difficulty and whatnot. I mean, as-is there is technically a maximum score that the player can achieve, and I don't think this is good practice for a high-score type game.

But anyhow, this is a cool game; I like the idea of piloting a whole fleet of ships. It needs some work, but I think it's fun.

This is a very nice game. It makes me think of Apogee, Captain Comic (have you played that game? I'd be surprised if you hadn't) and old science fiction movies, which are good things.

I think that the graphics are wonderful, especially the film projector effects, and I like that it is mostly serious and melodramatic but that it sort of mocks sci-fi and video game conventions. it could be a little more subtle about that, though. My other criticism is that it banks a little too heavily on the player's mastery of an honestly slightly frustrating jumping system, and that it is pretty unforgiving at times (making the player trudge through multiple rooms just to get back to the part on which they keep dying; this was mainly a frustration on the room with the lava, the first crab generator and the switch in the bottom left of the screen, if you could possibly know what I mean by that). The fact that I finished it, though, is I guess a sign that it's compelling enough to make up for the frustration.

I got a small bug, also. Sometimes when I would jump and just barely land on the edge of a moving platform, he would get stuck in "jump mode". This did not kill the experience or anything, but you may want to fix it if possible. Also, is the ending screen supposed to just stay there forever? I think something should happen to let the player know that the game is truly over and done with and they don't need to stick around waiting.

But don't think all this criticism means I didn't like it, because I liked it very much. But raving about that is less helpful to the creator, I find.

Oh, I also should mention that I loved the sound, especially the music in the opening and ending sequences. That killed me. It sounds very much like a PC speaker, and I like that.

@Melly - thanks. Yeah, I know that was sort of a problem with that game... it had a lot of problems, actually, which is why I doubt I'll ever finish it. The biggest problem is I didn't really plan it out beforehand, which I should have done, and thus it got to be more and more of an unmanageable mess. I don't think I'm cut out for projects that big.

@Andy - thanks. Fun is what I aim for.

@architekt - yeah, it's been criticized for lack of music before. It was a conscious aesthetic choice, at the time. And I still kind of like it without music, just with a little bit of ambient noise and some minimalistic sound effects that sound like speaker glitches... it reinforces the feeling I was trying to create, of like, some flickery old console you find in a basement somewhere.

Pishtaco - thanks. That means a lot to me; I'm glad that a simple piece of work like this could evoke something like that.