Last week, I was happily playing through Half-Minute Hero when all of a sudden, I did something very bad.

Naturally, a lot of evil can be done when you're playing videogames. Some "normal" activities like bopping baddies or destroying their habitats can be viewed as bad when looked at from a different perspective. Some are bad simply because you are put into the shoes of a villain. There are some bad things that are completely optional, secret, or part of an achievement.

What I did this time didn't fall into any of the above categories; I was tricked into doing the wrong thing. I didn't see it coming, and it made it all the more effective.

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS HALF MINUTE HERO SPOILERS! If you own this game and have not completed the Hero 30 portion, please do yourself a favor and do it before reading the rest of this article. If you do not have the game, have no intention of playing it or just want to read about a really cool moment, read on.

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Did you enjoy last week's Once Upon a Pixel episode? Want some insight as to how and why I created the dark world that Death Ball takes place in? If the answer to either of these questions is "no", then maybe you haven't seen it yet. I'll give you a moment to fix this if you so choose.

Now, if you answered "yes", you're in luck! Below all this text is a gallery of most of the original art used in the episode (it's only "most" because I didn't want to include the boring, slightly different animation frames). If you hit the jump, I talk a little about the Katamari games and how they inspired me to turn their world upside down and drain all the color out.

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Once Upon a Pixel kicks off its official first season with an episode based on Katamari Damacy! Except this time, it's not a bright and happy videogame about consumerism. You see, in the world of Once Upon a Pixel, Katamari is called Death Ball. It is a dark story about death and revenge, conveyed through the medium of comics.

Okay, so it might sound a bit silly, but Katamari Damacy makes a lot more sense as a hard-boiled graphic novel than you may think. Head on over to Gametrailers to see for yourself!

If you enjoyed this episode, new episodes of OUP are now scheduled to debut on the first Monday of every month! And, as always, stay tuned to Destructoid for exclusive looks at the art behind the episodes.

_{[dTunes is a community organized blog showcasing the musical tastes of Destructoid's users. For two weeks, the editorial team is commandeering the series because, hey, we like music too. To further expand your horizons, make sure to check out the dTunes blog.]}

Alright, it's finally my turn!

Music has always been a part of my life. Back in the 80s, MTV was one of the only pay channels on cable my mother bothered to put money down for. Many of my earliest memories include watching music videos, listening to the radio, and learning to recite the lyrics of the songs on a Black Crowes tape that played infinitely in the car.

Due to my upbringing, I grew to love music very much. So much that I can't say there's any type or genre that I absolutely hate. My tastes are wildly varied and sometimes pretty strange, and that made it pretty difficult to pick a small number of songs to show off my tastes here. I finally got it down to 12, but I can cut down my list no further. Phew.

Hit the jump for musical goodness, or at least sound waves that my brain happens to translate into musical goodness.

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Poor little videogame-lovin' naked guy. Halloween is literally just around the corner, and he still has no costume!

It could be that he can't decide on who to be. Perhaps someone from one of those games he likes so much... but making a good choice can be overwhelming. There's so many great characters out there to choose from. Or it could be that he lacks costume-making skills. A lot of the stuff that game characters wear seems too complicated to emulate in real life. Or maybe he's just a procrastinator who only just remembered he agreed to go to a costume party months in advance.

I hope that you aren't in the same position as this hypothetical person I just created. I hope that you had your costume all planned out weeks, even months, ago, and have been able to make the best damn tribute to whatever game character you're dressing up as. But if you are this close to the holiday and have nothing to show for it, don't worry. I'm here to help! It's true that there's not a lot of time left, but you can make some pretty cool videogame costumes with what little you have. And no, you won't have to resort to Sexy Mario or Luigi.

Hit the jump for some ideas to inspire you.

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Take a look at the lineup of four characters above. If you could choose three of them to be in your party based on looks alone, who would you choose? The spiky haired silent hero? The bulky, muscular bad ass? The waif female who is probably a white magic user? Sure you would. As cookie cutter as they are, characters like these are almost always seen as great assets to one's team, no questions asked.

But what about the cute guy at the end of the line? You would probably never choose him over the other three. Why? Well, for one, you may not like the way that he looks compared to the others. He may have an abrasive, too-cute personality that you just can't stand. He may not have a back story or anything to keep you interested in using him.

More likely, however, is the "fact" that there's a good chance he's completely useless.

But it's not his fault. Videogames, RPGs in particular, have had a longstanding tradition of having at least one character that is cute as all get-out but useless in battle, annoying, or a combination of the two. These unfortunate, long standing design elements should all be tossed out the window.

That is why I'm here.

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I made a video. It was the pilot episode of Once Upon a Pixel, a sort of sister series to the ever-popular Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'. It has a lot of art in it that I drew. People asked me if I would upload that art for their viewing pleasure, like I did with the MGS episode. I told those people, "Yes! I will very soon!"

So, I'm doing that now. Exclusively on Destructoid, I present to you the art of Once Upon a Pixel: BioShock! And just so it isn't only a bunch of pictures, I'm also taking this opportunity to reflect back on the making of this episode and the origins of OUP.

Below is a jump link that will lead you to the postmortem. Belower is an art gallery containing all of the images used in the film. You can look at one or the other, or both! Enjoy!

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Ah, the MMO. It's a tricky beast, alright. Making one seems to be such a delicate process. As developers and publishers try to replicate the immense success of World of Warcraft, we've seen few succeed and many fail. City of Heroes, an MMO by Cryptic Studios, could probably considered one of those small victories. It helped the genre to toss aside its identity as being nothing but swords and sorcery, and was a really great game too.

Now Cryptic has taken the CoH formula and attempted to improve on it in their newest game, Champions Online. Is it a worthy successor? Hit the jump for my impressions.

NOTE: As of this date, I have not reached the level cap (40), so I have not been able to test the endgame content. For this reason, I have not included a numerical score.

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If we lived in a world where videogames didn't exist, where would their stories go? Into science fiction books? Big budget movies? Gritty graphic novels? Educational children's shows? My brand new series, as previously seen in an episode of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?, explores this mysterious and strange world where games are presented through other means, where they often end up as something completely opposite of what we know them to be.

It's Once Upon a Pixel! And it's ready for your viewing pleasure!

The pilot episode covers some familiar ground: Bioshock and fairy tales. Watch as I read this sleepy-time tale to a familiar friend (it's way more interesting than that makes it sound). As always, it's chock full of original art created by me -- over 50 different images!

If you didn't already click one of the two links above, you can click this one to head on over to GameTrailers and watch it. Hey, this is my first time writing a post like this! I dunno the best place to stick a link. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it (and feel free to Digg it)!

 

Demon's Souls is an upcoming game that has been getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Not only does it have a difficulty level that's leaving the most hardcore gamers screaming, but it's doing a lot of awesome, new things with the dusty old RPG genre. But something's bothering me about the whole thing: it's not prompting a lot of talk about the games that came before it.

If you didn't know, Demon's Souls is the spiritual successor of a series of games called King's Field. There have been four games in the series, and for some reason, three of them actually made it out of Japan. Okay, so I guess I really can't blame anyone for forgetting about or casting King's Field to the side for the things to come. They're not a very appealing set of games, and I say this as someone who genuinely enjoys them. The sort of slow, plodding gameplay that they provide just isn't interesting to most people. But I absolutely love them, even though they've long passed on into the realm of The Forgotten.

Note: For all intents and purposes, I'm going to focus mostly on King's Field IV: The Ancient City, the KF game I personally love the most and have the most experience with. view full story + comments

In December of 2005, we were blessed with the gift of RunMan's Monster Fracas, a simple, charming, and hugely addictive indie game. Now the followup game, RunMan: Race Around the World, has been dated for release! It's coming October 1st, and a brand new trailer shows off just exactly what we have to look forward to.

It looks as if Around the World will expand greatly on what the first game had to offer. It's going to be a huge game in comparison, with over 35 levels to traverse, medals to collect, and characters to unlock. There's still some running from giant green monsters involved, but there's also lots of other sorts of running, jumping, flying and spinning for RunMan to do without being chased by giant green monsters! The game will also feature a soundtrack comprised completely of public domain jazz, blues, and folk music. Creators Tom Sennett and Matt Thorson really are two men after my own heart.

If you haven't played the first game, don't wait! Monster Fracas is the perfect way to spend a few minutes, and it'll get you totally pumped for RunMan's upcoming adventures!

[via IndieGames.com]

There's an old adage that states, "To defeat your enemies, you must know your enemies." This way of thinking could not be truer in the case of playing a game. That's why manuals and tutorials give players a little bit of background information on the enemies they will encounter. But I like to take it a step further and really take the time to study creatures in-game.

Monsters are so much more than a little game manual blurb and photograph make them out to be. They are living creatures with their own ways of life, body systems, favorite foods, and strengths/weaknesses. Today, I will take you through the ins and outs of one of the most prolific monsters, the slime. Most well known in its Dragon Quest variation, these creatures span across several different universes. But even after encountering them in so many places, do you know what makes them tick?

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Alec Holowka, formerly one half of Bit Blot (Aquaria) and currently the head of Infinite Ammo (Paper Moon), was the last speaker to go on at the Independent Games Summit of GDC Austin.

A lot of the talks to go on in the hours and days before, although they were all very awesome, were based in the business of making indie games. Alec was not there to talk about business at all. He said it himself during his presentation. Making an indie game that tells a great story is not a way to make money. But what it does do is worth even more.

After the jump is a summary of his talk.

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We all know that Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man is a great game. But do you know how it was made, what went into it, or what mistakes were made during its development? I didn't either, until I attended Mike Henry and Sean Riley's postmortem on the game at GDC Austin. There, they dished out the story behind it all, with lots of 'splosions and meat throughout.

Hit the jump for a summary of Mike and Sean's thoughts on 'Splosion Man's journey from an unpolished project to one of the most critically acclaimed games on XBLA today.

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