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Get ready for EXP. videogame mag by Cory Schmitz

Iconography of Zelda - From EXP. Magazine by Cory Schmitz

Cory Schmitz is another talented fellow I met through the likes of Flickr and Tumblr. In fact, he and Pokécomic mastermind Maré Odomo turn out to be roommates (what an impressive bunch of connected Internet friendos I have!) A while back Cory contacted me about his senior project for his BFA in Graphic Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. His project, called EXP. (not to be confused with this exp., btw) is an 80-page videogame magazine and it's shaping up very nicely.

Cory has this to say about EXP.:

The purpose is to reject the idea that a video game magazine has to be be comprised of reviews and previews of the latest games. It hones in on the gap between game magazines and design magazines, embracing the relationship between video games and artists. A big focus of the magazine is the experience games provide, and how that is a great inspiration for creative people to draw from.

Cory sent me a package of sneak peeks yesterday, and from the look of it you can really see how his graphic design skills shine from page to page. Also, bonus (!), I hear there's an interview with VVVVVV creator Terry Cavanagh, and probably more than a few works from Mr. Maré Odomo too! EXP. will be full of very very good things.

The magazine (and some poster prints) will be available sometime in May and I'm so excited I already pre-ordered two copies from Cory. I'll let everyone know when EXP. is published and available for purchase. Hit the jump to see more shots of EXP. and visit Cory's portfolio and his flickr to see more of his great work.

Update! From Cory's Tumblr:

...the Killer7, Legend of Zelda, and Phoenix Wright pieces I designed are going to be 18” x 24” screen printed posters. On red, black, and cream paper respectively.

Yum! Also, Boy & Girl!

Trailer for iPhone game Sword & Sworcery EP is a must see

S:S&S EP: "sworcery" @ GDC 2010 from Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery on Vimeo.

Watch this video and I bet you'll say to yourself 'I've never seen anything like this before', because boy, that's how I felt. Craig D. Adams, the mastermind pixel artist behind Super Brothers, collaborates with musician Jim Guthrie and Capy Games to give us Sword & Sworcery EP, an adventure/action game that's coming to the iPhone sometime later this year. The atmosphere captured here is absolutely magical, with so much personality and presence in every pixel. Enjoy the above trailer and follow it up with a clip of the protagonist sword fighting with a booby bear. Could you ask for anything more?

I have a good, shivery feeling this is going to be an instant favorite.

via Touch Arcade

Hold on to your cute Capybara butts. Clash of Heroes HD, coming to PSN and XBLA

via IGN.com

This morning IGN announced that acclaimed indie game studio Capybara Games, of Critter Crunch and Clash of Heroes fame, is giving Clash of Heroes an ice cream paint job and taking it from the DS to gamers on PSN and XBLA... in HD. Much like Critter Crunch, the transition from pixel art to hand-drawn animation looks incredibly stunning, and I can't wait to convince everyone to play Clash now that they will have easy access to it on their consoles.

I don't think I ever got around to talking about Clash of Heroes on this here blog (though I did make a little mention of it on the CO-OP 2009 Reflections, which I also neglected to post) but it was one of my favorites from last year. Incredibly well designed, terribly addictive, and with gorgeous pixel art to boot, Capybara's magic in Clash of Heroes is not to be missed. I can't wait to see this in full HD glory by sometime late this summer. Squee!

IGN via Kris Piotrowski of Capy Games

What a tease - Valve flirts with Apple, beautiful Steam babies hopefully on the way

While I was out yesterday, Valve released a set of curious images that seem to suggest OSX compatibility with their Steam store in the near future. Let me say that again. MAC compatibility for VALVE GAMES. This could be huge.

Sure, they haven't really said anything more than a set of brilliant images featuring some of Valve's star figures (Gordan Freeman, Alyx Vance, Francis, and the little robots from Portal and Team Fortress 2 to name a few) in the guise of Apple's various advertisement campaigns over the decades. But let's just hope for the best. GDC is just around the corner, so everyone, hold on to your butts for a hopeful announcement!

See the full set of images over at Boing Boing. Oh, and the above screencap from Macworld of Alyx Vance starring as the heroine in Apple's famous 1984 commercial gave me chills. For real! Ahh!

Update: It's official! YES.

via Brother, Boing Boing, and Macworld

Geek Chic - LOOMLAB and Lo Res Polygonal Pumps

When it comes to geek fashion, I tend to avoid the Hot Topic screen printed 8-bit truisms and go for the geek-chic kind of stuff. Without going overboard, LOOMLAB and United Nude's Lo Res series are right up my alley.

LOOMLAB, founded by artist Jane Henry, has just opened shop with a series of scarves inspired by binary codes, braile, circuit borads and more. Really beautiful, and just in time for winter (or... Christmas *wink*wink*nudge*nudge*).

But these polygonal pumps by United Nude really caught my eyes. As part of their Lo Res design project, United Nude "semi-automatically" designed these shoes by digitally scanning objects into a 3-D computer model and re-generating the results into various resolutions. The facets are glorious, and the shoe even comes in five flavors (White, Light Blue, Burgandy, Black, and my favorite, Grey). *Ahem* Did I mention I'm a size 9? Kthx!

LOOMLAB via Bobbin Talk and Lo Res via heartexplosion