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So, [NEW GAME], which is no longer all that much of a secret, though I’ll continue to act like it is, is in its final days.
As you can see, mood around the office is fake-grumpy, though that may be a result of a ridiculously larger-than-expected lunch from a local sushi joint.
While I still can’t share much, lemme sneak this thing out to you. I don’t think it’ll make any sense out of context anyway:
Soon!
…is Taxiball!
John Davison at What They Play put out his Second Giant List of iPhone Games and included Taxiball among a crowd of spectacular stuff!
Wow!
Colin went down to the San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, and ended up picking up a Cardboard Tube Samurai statue from Penny Arcade for the Self Aware office. It’s awesome. But that’s not the half of it!
Check out Penny Arcade’s newspost today, and you’ll get the first-ever public discussion about Word Ace, our upcoming game for the Palm Pre and the iPhone!
Keep an eye out for more news over the next week… things are gonna start to get crazy!
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Originally Posted by GaiaIllusion
 I just noticed that the loading screen changes based on your time. o_o
It was sooo cool lol. |
I know it’s a simple little detail, but just to put it into a weird bit of context… the first game I ever worked on was a game called Seaman, for the Sega Dreamcast. One of the most charming things about it was that Leonard Nimoy’s voice over narration over the title screen changed depending on how long it had been since you last played, what time it was, blah blah blah - there were a lot of variables at play, and I scripted a good chunk of that whole system, as my first game-industry job. 
Yoot (Seaman’s designer) described the game in this way - usually, when you play a game, you’re watching it. You look at the game. With Seaman, he wanted the game to look back at you, and let you know it was watching you!
So, when we’d been tossing names for the new endeavor around, one of the names that came up (of course) was Self Aware Games. This struck me as particularly fitting, ’cause of the whole Seaman thing. The “Monolith” as we’ve come to call it, is basically the back of the iPhone (the back-light glow around the border is the light casting off the screen that’s facing the other way), but it’s staring out at you. Reminded me a lot of the concept of the game watching you. So having the title screen switch with the time was just a little nod at that. The game, to a very, very limited degree… is Self Aware.
seppo
Check this out:
Contest Rules
Taxiball v.1.2 is live! Adds a new BART-platform-inspired level, and is speed-optimized for 3.0!
Response to the Taxiball poetry contest was fantastic! A huge variety of poems - evocative, hilarious, and EPIC! Crazy stuff! Thanks to everyone who participated!
Runners up:
—
Methodical:
Rolling down the street
Bringing people to and from
But I have no seats
indyraider4:
The meaning of life
The city; riding on balls
no, I am not gay!
GlassJoe
City Sleeps; Stars stare like
mother… I’ll sleep. Clean the cab.
Jizz in the back seat.
Kevd
Five dollars to spend?
You could stand to skip a lunch,
Buy this game instead!
Kyle:
Playing Taxiball
Coolest game on the iPhone
Makes life worth living
Fishsticks:
Bouncing balls off walls,
Taking people back to hom.
Time is running out!
———–
Winner: Haiku Category
Jebus:
Fun and addictive
Taxiball will eat your life
but in a good way
Winner: Limerick Category… while there were a handful of great limericks, one of which was written by the winner of this category, all the limericks paled in comparison to this:
GaiaIllusion:
Once upon a midnight fall,
Came my way a taxiball.
Big, round, yellow, clear,
Around the city roads we steer.
To the destination point we go,
Oh no, there’s ice, let’s take it slow.
Following up is a broken bridge,
So we carefully roll around the ridge,
At last! Our stop is finally here,
And with a wave we pay our fare,
Thank Taxiball for bringing us home!
Now back to the busy streets to roam.
Thanks to everyone who participated, congratulations to our winners, and we’ll see the poetry on Taxiball’s App Store text soon!
IGN Wireless featured Taxiball in an article about Eight Great Unsung iPhone Games! The only thing that’d make us happier would be soon, being able to be included in an article about awesome iPhone games that have songs written about them!
Woohoo! Go check it out, and show ‘em some love!
gamesradar.com:
Taxiball Free is the best
we think that’s awesome
We love it when we get great press!
This article’s sure to impress:
gamesradar.com
thinks TB Free is the bomb
We’re flattered and pleased, I profess!
