Back in April, we posted the first part of the Player Haters episode, All Madden-ness. (spoiler ahead) In this second-half, Mike Parker concludes a storyline that includes the demise of Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Earthworm Jim and even a Castle Crasher gets it, offering a shout-out to Tom Fulp, founder of Newgrounds and The Behemoth. Parker had help from Chase Suddarth and Stacey Silva on the animation front.
Castle Crashers, a side-scroller developed by The Behemoth, launched last August to positive reviews, but today Dan Paladin uploaded a 19-minute “making-of” screen capture of his design and animation process. In this sped-up video, we watch Paladin create the various poses and animation cycles for the Undead Cyclops Boss – all created in Flash.
Our 2008 Comic-Con coverage continues (2 months after the event), with our Tom Fulp interview. Fulp, as you may know, is the founder of Newgrounds.com and also a partner in the gaming company The Behemoth. In this 3-minute interview below, we cover the launch of Castle Crashers, new figurines for sale, tricks for succeeding on Newgrounds (be original and team up with other talented folks) and Tom’s continued collaborations with animator Dan Paladin. And make sure you pay attention to the people standing behind us wearing what looks like toilet seats around their necks. Oh Comic-con, how I love you.
This isn’t our first interview with Tom. Check out Tom The Tank Engine, our 2-part interview from 2005. And another big thanks to the team at Mondo Media for the help producing this interview – especially to Jason Costello and Nate Johnson, the man behind the camera.
The long-awaited follow-up to The Behemoth’s side-scroller Alien Hominid has officially launched. Last week Castle Crashers went live on Xbox Live Arcade, and the reviews around the web of this Flash-animated game are resoundingly positive, including this IGN video review below.
Online gaming has gone bonkers. According to a recent study by Parks Associates, “despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities.” And the majority of these online games are produced in Flash. Just browse the king of game sites – MiniClip. Their library is almost entirely Flash-based.
The gang at The Behemoth knows a thing or two about this phenomenon. Founders John Baez, Dan Paladin and Tom Fulp saw the immense success (10 million downloads) of Alien Hominid at Fulp’s site Newgrounds.com, and spun off a popular platform version. Their next conquest is a platform side-scroller called Castle Crashers, a game set for release this year on Xbox Live Arcade. Like Alien Hominid, a great deal of the game’s production is being produced in Flash.
While we await the official launch date, The Behemoth has tempted us with this environment design video. Dan Paladin is at the wheel. You know his work on Dad ‘n Me and Synj vs. Horrid.
And for those not familiar with Castle Crashers, here’s the trailer: