Babycastles: The first arcade for artfags, by artfags.

[Siren2011]

Oh joy.

http://www.facebook.com/babycastles
http://kotaku.com/5804041/if-dadaists-o ... -like-this

Babycastles is ingredient of a rhythm of indie furthermore unprofessional game designers from near the universe.

If our eyes are to recover from reading that horrible sentence, now focus them on the kind of shit they are showcasing:

B.U.T.T.O.N is a game in which a group of players are kept in suspense, guessing at an objective—will the winner be the first to press a button on the Xbox controller? The fifth? When the goal flicks across the screen, the players rush at one another and the controller bank, wildly reinventing the nature of the experience each round.

Sounds almost as much fun as when my testicle nerves got pinched up in New Orleans this weekend, sending a shot of excruciating pain throughout my body...almost.

HEAVEN OR HELL?! ROUND ONE!



VS.



FIGHT!

[Udderdude]

haha oh wow.

looks like a 3rd world country classroom's computer setup.

[CIT]

Urgh...

I bet the guys that started this are into Scott Pilgrim and stuff.

[Lordstar]

I vote this thread for the title of greatest name for a thread 2011

[DJ Incompetent]

I played B.U.T.T.O.N. with 3 others.
I drunkenly tackled another dude and then we played curling with 4 controllers before I was put in a headlock. A gay dude said I was cheating. I said that was totally ok now.

Booze is greeeeat.

[louisg]

Where's the arcade games?

[Blackbird]

That one in the cab on the far left looks like it could be cool, and is that 1943 in the middle!? I'm so there!

Oh wait, that one was from an actual arcade =P.

Seriously though, what is that game on the left (in the bottom image)?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

"A lot of new games are about immersion. That's because of the disappearance of the arcade. A lot of people play games in their living room or in their bedroom by themselves....[here] you're surrounded by people. Maybe there's music. Maybe there's some other kind of art exhibition going on....it's really about the experience you're having with the game and other people in the same room."

I honestly dont know where they are coming from. I wonder if they really do have an appreiciation for real arcade games and lament how modern gaming is. Or are they just saying that because its a cool thing to say and wouldnt know a good arcade game even if an arcade stick was jammed up their arses.

Or they just dont give a fuck and will use any excuse for a party. Looking at just how shitty the picture looks im thinking its mostly this. Mixed in with a bit of artfaggery now Kotaku has put the spotlight on them.

Artfaggery = a talentless artist over-hyping their own work to the world

[mesh control]

I see Ketsui.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

I believe those two on the left are both that Mamaru-Kun run and shmup by Guilti / G.rev

[Krimzon Kitzune]

The game on the right in the first image appears to be Fractal Fighter.

EDIT: Derp, I've just now realized that the game titles were displayed above each system.

[louisg]

"A lot of new games are about immersion. That's because of the disappearance of the arcade. A lot of people play games in their living room or in their bedroom by themselves....[here] you're surrounded by people. Maybe there's music. Maybe there's some other kind of art exhibition going on....it's really about the experience you're having with the game and other people in the same room."

I honestly dont know where they are coming from. I wonder if they really do have an appreiciation for real arcade games and lament how modern gaming is. Or are they just saying that because its a cool thing to say and wouldnt know a good arcade game even if an arcade stick was jammed up their arses.

Or they just dont give a fuck and will use any excuse for a party. Looking at just how shitty the picture looks im thinking its mostly this. Mixed in with a bit of artfaggery now Kotaku has put the spotlight on them.

Artfaggery = a talentless artist over-hyping their own work to the world

I think if people want to socially gather and play pick-up-and-play games, that's a great thing. They might not have the same taste in games we do, but the general idea is the same. I'd rather see this than another LAN room where people zombie out to World of Warcraft, for example.

But yeah, if these games are like other indie games I've played, the quality is going to be somewhat dubious.

[iconoclast]

That one in the cab on the far left looks like it could be cool, and is that 1943 in the middle!? I'm so there!

Oh wait, that one was from an actual arcade =P.

Seriously though, what is that game on the left (in the bottom image)?

Looks like Mamoru-kun to me.

edit: whoops, someone already answered.

[drei :3]

[here] you're surrounded by people. Maybe there's music. Maybe there's some other kind of art exhibition going on....

I honestly dont know where they are coming from.

I guess deep down they know the indie/"art" games they have are so craptacular that they need to offer other stuff to attract people.

[duckman]

http://motherboard.tv/2011/5/18/motherb ... abycastles

IT GETS WORSE

[Udderdude]

So is it ok to ironically hate this place? I think I'm just going to go with that >_>

[mesh control]

Uhhhhg....


B.U.T.T.O.N. MONEY MATCH

LET'S ROCK!

[Snake]

for artfags, by artfags

Ah, the church of Icycalm lives on.

[Siren2011]

The part when they're doing sit-ups (WTF?) is the best. I like how they seem to be under the delusion that their crappy games are better than the mainstream mediocrity out there today. He actually had the nerve to say that their games were "more exciting" than what the mainstream has to offer. I mean, COD4 isn't too exciting, but it knocks their shallow game out of the water in terms of both audio/visuals and immersion. B.U.T.T.O.N. reminds me of Wii Sports. Retards will have fun dicking around with it for about a month, then they'll forget all about it. It's a total fad.

Also, read the article on Insomnia titled "Complexity, Depth and Skill". Alex describes a game similar to B.U.T.T.O.N. and explains how shallow such a game would be.

So is it ok to ironically hate this place?

I don't understand. What do you find ironic about it? We don't really "hate" it, just find it really silly. Some ideas are best left locked away in the old noggin forever. They could have easily set up a beer pong table in their apartment, bought a generic Wii (because the only thing shittier than a Nintendo Wii is some Chinese, 3rd party knock off. Sadly, I know from experience.), and produced the same result.

Ah, the church of Icycalm lives on

Not a church, I just like his terminology.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

So is it ok to ironically hate this place? I think I'm just going to go with that >_>

I think a part of me agrees, and while the another sees this for waht it is and thats just indies trying new ideas out.

I just wish they would put more effort into making better games and not into theory or art BS. While not all indies are crap, those who are really need to learn to play their instruments to use that Punk Rock metaphor. Then again many puck rock bands didnt know how to play as well, so I guess calling then the Punk Rockers of gaming is fitting

Not a church, I just like his terminology

same here, personally I think the guy's a bit nutty but I partly agree with him, however he hates all indies even good ones, I just hate crappy games

[doctorx0079]

Really I think this is just performance art shit for people with ADD who consider their games totally disposable. The kind of people who like their games disposable like conversations and Kleenex. They have zero interest in developing skill. It's the difference between going glow bowling once with your friends versus bowling several times a week like my dad does.

[duckman]

Ah, the church of Icycalm lives on

Not a church, I just like his terminology.

Funny, I always liked icy's impeccable thinking.

[Sumez]

B.U.T.T.O.N. sounds like it should be on XBLIG along with "get your girlfriend into games" and "avatar zombie massage".

[Lordstar]

and wouldnt know a good arcade game even if an arcade stick was jammed up their arses

which is the only tried and tested way to tell if an arcade game is good or not.

[Drachenherz]

and wouldnt know a good arcade game even if an arcade stick was jammed up their arses

which is the only tried and tested way to tell if an arcade game is good or not.

Dozens of shmups-forum users can't be wrong, can they?

[Zeron]

It's a shame this piece of shit actually gets coverage while there are some actual proper arcades that could use some publicity.

[Sumez]

I think Kotaku are making fun of them, though.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

and wouldnt know a good arcade game even if an arcade stick was jammed up their arses

which is the only tried and tested way to tell if an arcade game is good or not.

Dozens of shmups-forum users can't be wrong, can they?

This is a xray image of Gajin Punch from his last visit to his local A&E

EDIT from how bad some video game reviews are out there, it makes me wonder if its a tried and tested method for professional reviewers

[doctorx0079]

It's a shame this piece of shit actually gets coverage while there are some actual proper arcades that could use some publicity.

shameless plug: if you're in the cincinnati area please visit arcade legacy. they are retarded boss. thx.

[dmauro]

Hey, just chiming in in defense of Babycastles. While they may lay it on pretty thick with the indie vs. non-indie so-called "artfaggotry", having a space in Brooklyn for people to try out new indie titles is really nice. They don't have a ton of money so the hardware is often pretty shitty, but a lot of the cabinets are pretty cool. I even painted one for a Babycastle's show my friend curated (http://www.fort90.com/journal/?p=829). And consider we're not their target audience with our Astro City cabs and Seimitsu sticks. Most of the people at these things just have an XBOX or PS3, or no gaming system, and are being presented with an alternative to Call of Duty scale games, which better or not, it's nice to have. Everyone's story is different, but for me, discovering that Japanese companies were still making shmups, and making them better than ever, was a pretty big revelation so I imagine this evangelical indie gaming thing Babycastles has going on is probably opening a lot of people's eyes.

So yeah, I would say take the non-indie is bad vibe they're pushing with a grain of salt and consider how it could actually be fun to go to a Brooklyn loft and try out a fun (yes, plenty of the games they showcase are a lot of fun) game you've never heard of with some strangers with similar interests.