So yes, here we are a year later and I’ve just released MANvsGAME: It’s Show Time!. A fan game inspired by a live video game broadcaster at Twitch.tv, MANvsGAME. To say the reception it received was great would be undercutting it for someone of my caliber. I felt that in wake of such a positive response, it would be cool to perhaps try to express not only my thoughts, but an overall commentary on how things came to be and how things were received. To the best of my writing abilities, at least.

The Origins:

It was after really seeing the bond between MAN and his best friend Zeke on the show that the wheels started turning. Originally, the idea for a MANvsGAME game was an action game with a buddy-system (which thanks to recent exposure I just might make one day). That idea was put on the back-burner indefinitely due to lack of content to base the game on. At the time, MAN was just beginning to find his foothold in a pool of live streamers and had not yet established the many, many memorable moments we have today.

As for how MANvsGAME: It’s Show Time! came to be, it was really just everything coming together at the right time. The idea can be traced back to one day when MAN began a show with a brief look into how he gets ready for the cast. It mostly consisted of bad angles while MAN did his best (silent) show-and-tell to some retro 8-bit tunes. The wheels began turning again. A new idea was born as a tongue-in-cheek collection of mini-games similar to the Warioware series. Apply deodorant, pluck noticeable nose hairs, wet hair, and so on. All set to an overall timer. After weighing the possibilities, it briefly became a JRPG-esque quest after hearing MAN’s somewhat distaste for the genre. You could say it was originally meant to be a “troll” game, much in the same vein as my The Teapot Chapters games.

Referential humored games be damned, I liked the RPG idea and ran with it. I had no interest in building a complete RPG engine though, so I decided to extend the concept to include different gameplay styles, somewhat inspired by Zelda II. The idea to turn them into mini-games based on MAN’s favorite games (or moments involving games) was simply natural progression. It seemed better to try and emulate some of the more memorable moments of MANvsGAME, thus keeping with the “fan game” idea without abusing the creative freedom.

The game was never meant to be anything large or epic in scale. From planning to completion took three weeks of free time, and was always meant to be a time waster at its core. And while it was always meant to be short and sweet, it was also meant to be full of content. What started as one or two minor mini-games evolved into three mini/small games with even greater referential depth. Then came the unlockables, and the unlockables unlocked with the unlockables. Again, all thanks to natural progression. It’s fun to hear MAN frequently doubt my attention to detail, only to be proven wrong sometime later.

On a personal note, by extending the game as far as I did, it also allowed me to grow as a programmer. Trying to take cues from games built by people with far superior programming skills and knowledge was a challenge, but I was more than happy to try. Depending on who you ask, I either succeeded or failed in that aspect. Good news is as of this writing I’ve yet to receive any hate mail or angry letters from the developers so that either means they don’t know, don’t care or have no problems with the recreations. As long as I don’t have to hire a lawyer or anything, I’m good either way.

Article continues on page two… “Why MANvsGAME?”

This is a follow-up to a previous article I wrote earlier this year covering the first six months of the year. Please read that article first if you haven’t already to get a better understanding of what this year was about.

The second half of 2011 was just as busy, if not busier than the first. There was a lot of added pressure to maintain this dedication throughout the remaining six months as well as personal complications that made it difficult to stay focused. However, I tried my best and I feel while I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted, 2011 was still full of great accomplishments.

July:

LPAssociation 4.5 Redesign: As I noted in my previous post, the 4.5 update for Linkin Park fan site LPAssociation went in full effect in July. It featured an updated design that mirrored the band’s current art style, a revamped tour section with a unique interface as well as updated content. The main focus of the redesign was to take into account site traffic over the last year or so and create a new design catering to the most popular features. Most revolved around strengthening social networking and providing a great amount of content in as little space as possible without clutter.

August:

Linkin Park: The Teapot Chapters; Chapter 1: Teabags: My first real “fan game”. An absurd and bizarre re-imagining of the six-piece band as if they were other-worldly, mystical beings trapped in a warped version of Super Mario World. The game was very basic, featuring the ability to use all six band members, who all have their own unique and special powers. While it only had seven levels and a boss fight, technically, this was a great step forward as it was also the first game on a brand new game engine I had been working on. Though I did not set out to make an offensive game, depending on who you asked, this was either a really great game or an absolute train wreck. While some die-hard fans wouldn’t allow for the absurd humor presented in the game, most were able to accept the bizarre nature of its content and supported it.

September:

Teenie Takedown: A small project that went largely unnoticed due to the fact I only announced/provided information on the project directly though my blog. In an attempt to not only further my knowledge and skills as a video game creator, Teenie Takedown was a step into new genres while also testing new programming code and methods. While not a hit with the public, Teenie Takedown still managed to do what I set out to do: Improve my abilities.

SUPER Linkin Park: The Teapot Chapters; Chapter 1: Teabags: Some felt it was overkill, I felt it was a great commentary on gaming companies that push out minor, updated versions of a game for a quick buck. More along the lines of parody, Super Linkin Park: The Teapot Chapters; Chapter 1: Teabags was much more than some smarmy cheap shot at the industry. It featured new levels, new enemies, new abilities, new costumes and new unlockable content. The public were confused. I believe people thought this was in fact the same game released twice, but it was much more than that. Though I would say this was a flop amongst the public, it was still a great learning experience that would ultimately improve my abilities as a game maker.

November:

Robot With Unicorn Horn: A ten-track album released toward the end of the month featured new music that might have sounded familiar to some. Demo and early versions of these songs made up the soundtrack to a game I released earlier this year: Sasquatch Runs. However, Robot With Unicorn Horn was much more than simply another “video game soundtrack”. Prior to working on the album, the general opinion was that I only made orchestral music. Considering that my most well known pieces are in fact orchestral scores, I can’t blame them. My music was also known for being less-than-happy and more brooding in mood and tone. I wanted to change that. Robot With Unicorn Horn was an experiment to not only mix chiptunes with electronic-based music but to also compose an album full of fun and energetically up-beat toe-tappers. The result was a very odd mixture that has actually resonated with the people a lot better than I thought it would. Robot With Unicorn Horn is my second-best selling album out of the three I released this year.

December:

New apparel designs: Just in time for the holidays, I provided LPAssociation with four new apparel designs. These designs included a ketchup bottle with a variation on the popular meme, two retro throwbacks to video games featuring the band, and finally an experimental design featuring an elephant. I haven’t heard much in ways of how well they’ve done, but I do know the retro throwback designs were very popular.

Holiday discount: To give back to everyone for a great year, I announced via Twitter and Facebook that for a limited time people could purchase any of my albums for 95% off. Unfortunately, it did not do so well, but I feel perhaps the same people who were aware of the deal were also the ones that already owned the albums. Despite the perceived failure, it felt good to be able to provide such an amazing deal.

Looking back on the year, I’m proud that I managed to provide a new piece of work for eleven out of the twelve months. Considering I also released more than one project during some months, I feel it evens out for missing October. It feels like an accomplishment, though I’m still unfulfilled. I managed to gain a bit more support this year and also managed to challenge myself to a great extent, but a year’s worth of new material ultimately held no financial benefits for me, which is unfortunately one of the biggest tests I feel I failed. Though I made great strides this year, it’s apparent that I don’t currently have enough momentum or support to remain independent. So as 2011 comes to an end it’s time to put the idea behind me for now and focus on trying to survive instead. No doubt 2012 will still see new projects, but you won’t see a new one every month. Perhaps one day this experiment will produce better results. I can’t stress enough that I’m still very, very pleased with my abilities to maintain discipline and focus this year. Unfortunately until I manage to find stronger support, my independent ventures must remain simply a hobby.

What does 2012 hold for me? I can’t say. I do believe perhaps I need a change, and that change will come immediately as 2012 begins. A new target audience, perhaps? Maybe a change of pace in music or art is in order. Perhaps it’s time to try and earn enough to move, so I no longer live on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. It’s a mystery, but I’m excited for 2012. I look forward to the year’s accomplishments and failures. Hopefully more accomplishments than failures.

Anyway, that was my 2011 in a nutshell. If you missed anything, hopefully this list will help you get caught up. Remember that if you liked anything you saw this year, please share it with others and help support not only myself, but those out there struggling to make entertainment for you on their own dime. If you’ve got questions or are interested in learning more about specific projects I released this year, you can always contact me.

Until next time, take care and here’s to a great 2012!

As a front-end & graphic designer, my job is primarily to create a visual representation for the client while providing a functional and logical interface for accessing information. I help bridge the gaps between client ideas, system functionality and the user experience. When designing a game, you have to consider user experience and the presentation needs to reflect that. You’re starting with an idea, and in most cases, collaborating with the programmers to manifest that idea into reality.

In video games, your heads-up display (HUD) lets you know how much health you have, your lives, score and other useful information. The game must be able to present the necessary information to the player in proper fashion. In web design, it’s quite similar. If the client has a list of objectives that need to be expressed through the site, then it’s my job to make sure it’s there for people to view in a way that’s obvious and makes sense. As simple as it may seem, the main goal for a designer in general is to familiarize the user with context, so that they know exactly where to go for particular content.

Remembering the larger picture is also important for both video game and web designers. In RPGs, there are usually a ton of skill trees, and as you progress through one skill you see how it eventually opens up to different branches containing even more skills. Again, this can relate back to web design a bit in terms of structure. As a designer, you have to be able to view the content in an architectural manner. Starting with a base, a beginning, mainly the home page, you have to anticipate the directions a user will go from there. You have to be able to account for any and all actions a user may make during their experience.

The fun comes from trying to create something visually stimulating without sacrificing usability. While it’s nice to have fancy transitions and flashy graphics, sometimes it’s unnecessary and bloats the experience. If I die in a video game, especially a difficult one, I really don’t want to have to wait while the game celebrates my defeat. I want to get back into the action as soon as possible! In web design, while Javascript or Flash will always make a page look better, especially paired with some nice graphics, that doesn’t mean it’s an efficient way to present content. Fading, sliding, these are all extra bells and whistles and are just for show and should be used on a per-project basis. If the underlining functionality and user experience fails because it chooses looks/style over functionality, that’s a design flaw. While my games may not look like big budget games, my main concern has always been how they’ve played. In fact, I’m a strong believer that game play is what makes a game, and not the graphics.

After releasing four games this year, with a couple more in the works, I’ve noticed it’s had a general effect on the way I approach web design. I’m aware of the user in ways that I ignored in the past and it’s helped me realize I still have a lot to learn in my field. While I became more interested with general user experience a couple years ago, it wasn’t until I started making video games that I started to realize not only the similarities, but also ways I could learn to improve myself as a designer that reading articles and books never could. The first-hand experience has allowed me to reapply myself and I’m hoping it’s for the better in the long run.

Again, while I’m in no way saying that it’s a proven fact, and I’m sure someone out there would be able to draw the similarities between video game design and web design much better than I could… I hope this helps explain why I’ve been on such a video-game-making high as of late. I’m not exactly interested in becoming a full-fledged independent video game developer, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t intrigue me. The parallels I can draw (but not exactly explain) are alluring, and perhaps if I could ever find a team to work with, I would take it more seriously. If I had the time and money, I’d explore it as a true art form. For now, I’m simply enjoying the learning experience and the feeling of doing something new. Plus, let’s be real here… what better way to is there to incorporate my love for design, music and video games into one project? AND make it interactive? Exactly. Video games are just that awesome.

Anyway, I’ve decided to amend my previous schedule so that I may work on smaller games instead of huge productions like LPAMAN or relatively large productions like Sasquatch Runs. Given that I’ve got less than six months left to do what I can, it seems like the better option and while I really, really want to complete my third full-length game someday, the level of ambition and dedication it’d take to get it out this year would be overwhelming to do on my own. Also, by working on smaller games, it allows me to test out new techniques and styles to further improve my abilities and add great features to future games. Which brings me to the final bit of this post: a new game!

Since up until this point I’ve been primarily known as a 2D platform type of game maker, I thought it’d be cool to expand to something new. The Teapot Chapters was a fun game to make, and though I’m not 100% certain of what I’ll do with it in the future, I thought it’d be fun to keep with the Linkin Park themed games this month and so I’m releasing a second game featuring the band. It’s called “Linkin Park: Teenie Takedown”. The gameplay is similar to Smash TV, only you don’t shoot anyone and instead just try to survive for as long as you can. It’s a really simple concept, but personally I found it to be kind of addicting.

Since Teenie Takedown is a smaller project, I decided to not include an online leaderboard. However, I have included an awesome new achievement system with five tough-as-nails-probably-impossible achievements to earn as incentive to keep playing. The game also features a music toggle option, so in case the music starts to annoy you, you can turn it off and rock out with your own music instead.

Click here to download Linkin Park: Teenie Takedown (2.80MB!)

It should be noted, for those keeping track, that this has nothing to do with the canon of The Teapot Chapters. This is simply another game featuring the band. Whether or not I continue The Teapot Chapters depends on the fans… or if the band approve of the project. So, if you enjoyed The Teapot Chapters and would like a follow-up, the best way to make that happen is to let your voice be heard!

Thanks for visiting, and please, let me know what you think of my projects and especially if you come across any major bugs! I’m always looking for constructive criticism to further improve the quality of my work, and the only way that can happen is if I learn from my mistakes. Until next time, take care of yourselves!

But enough of the introduction. Here’s a recap of everything I’ve officially released this year broken down by months. For those of you who’ve been keeping track throughout the year, this will simply serve as a refresher (And on that note, thank you for your continued support!). For those of you not familiar with my work, this will help get you up to speed as we head into the second half of the year!

January:

The Resistance Divided: The Complete Instrumental Experience re-release: Kicking off the year with a bang, on January 1st, 2011, I re-released The Resistance Divided, which originally debuted in 2008. Due to the original service provider suddenly shutting down, I was unable to find a suitable replacement until years later, coming across Bandcamp. A reasonable business model made it easy for me to reintroduce the public to the album, and luckily I was even able to re-release it in the lossless FLAC file format. The album continues to be best selling album of the two I have released so far this year.

LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix: Almost a year in the making, this was the first full-length fan-made Linkin Park video game ever released. LPAMAN is a tough-as-nails throwback to the days of retro gaming and celebrates the nostalgia of 8-bit video games. It also featured a thirty-plus song soundtrack specifically composed for the game. After its initial release, the game was updated to support internet leaderboards for players to compare scores. To this day it seems no one has been able to beat the game.

February:

Wretches & Kings mix: Being known as the guy who does orchestral mixes of popular music was nice, but I wanted to try something new. The result is an electronic-based experimental mix of Linkin Park’s Wretches & Kings that was actually received a lot better than I expected. It was a great experience in changing styles and working outside my comfort zone, and it was a relief to see such a positive reaction.

March:

Issho ni mix: Another attempt at trying something different, I released this mix of Linkin Park’s Issho ni with several different experimental elements added. The original piece was composed in response to the Japan earthquakes, and while I didn’t feel comfortable messing with a song made for charity (and the circumstances in which people were already re-mixing it), it allowed me to experiment with different ideas from pitch bending to audio layering. It was another unique experience, perhaps a little too unique. The feedback was mixed, some liked it, others didn’t quite understand what they were listening to.

April:

LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix: The Official Soundtrack: My second album released in 2011. It featured a whopping thirty-five songs. The soundtrack was completely re-rendered from the original with improved sound and included two new versions of the LPAMAN Theme track: an orchestral version and a remix version. The album did not do so well commercially, presumably due to a lack of support from the Linkin Park fan base.

May:

Sasquatch Runs: My second attempt at making a game, and the first without any strong public backing. As a gamble I used the same engine I used for LPAMAN to create a rather unique game in which the player is almost always in constant motion. It was also a gamble because unlike with LPAMAN, it was my first release of anything in 2011 that didn’t have a strong draw behind it. Due to the lack of drawing power, the game failed to do as well as LPAMAN, and as such, I have not been able to gauge any real feedback from the release.

June:

KeatonHashimoto.com re-design: Much like many of my redesigns, the latest version of KeatonHashimoto.com is much more than a visual update. There were a lot of behind-the-scenes changes made to the site as well. It’s also the first design I’ve released this year that implements the use of CSS3, just one of the many new tools being made available for designers. The design was only released a couple days ago, but early feedback has been positive.

So, there you have it. In the first six months of 2011 I’ve released seven new projects ranging from music to games to art and design. That’s not even including artwork to accompany the music, the writing, video editing/production for the video games and musical compositions written specifically for certain projects. If you think I’m anywhere near done, you’d be surprised. As a teaser, here’s just two, very big projects in the works slated to release later this year. The first is scheduled to be released in early July.

LPAssociation.com 4.5 Update: In 2010 I was allowed the chance to redesign one of the most famous Linkin Park fan sites in the world. A year and a half later, I returned to continue helping improve the design/functionality of the site. It started earlier in the year with the release of an updated tour section, which featured a unique interface and functionality set-up allowing fans to view photos and videos for specific shows as well as submit their own content. While I don’t want to give too much away, LPA 4.5 features an improved interface allowing for a greater amount of content to be provided in an easily accessible manner. The design has been updated to mirror Linkin Park’s own artistic approach with their new album, and there have been other tweaks made to help improve overall usability. I’m sure Linkin Park fans will find the new version of the site to be a welcome change from the old, and they will appreciate the improvements that have been made.

Third (Untitled) Video Game: No more messing around. While I love what I was able to accomplish with LPAMAN and Sasquatch Runs, my third game is not only twice as ambitious as both those games, it’s also built on a new engine (almost built entirely from scratch alone) and shows a greater deal of potential. I’m not ready to give away much more than that as I’m still working on the level design, but I assure you that I’m doing everything I can to provide the professional-level of polish these games deserve.

First, as I said in my last post, Sasquatch Runs will be the second and last game created using the same engine as LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix. It was an engine I worked with because it was easy to understand and had all the basic functionality that I needed for both games. While they had their programming hiccups, it was still a solid engine. However as I grow and learn, the engine is starting to show its weaknesses and thus, I had to move on. Any games produced after Sasquatch Runs are going to either be coded from scratch or using much more stable/expansive engines. It was a good run but it’s time to create better games using better code!

Second, the question I get asked the most is why my games are not Mac-compatible. The answer is simple: Only recently have Macs been seen as sensible gaming machines, and thus it’s going to take some time before independent developers like myself are given the tools to produce ports of our games. Of course that’s not always the case; a lot of indie development teams nowadays are porting their games to the Mac and iOS platforms. However I must stress that these are often teams whereas 99.9% of development including art, music and programming are all done by myself. It takes a lot of time and effort to port games, especially those as large as LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix, which would require heavy testing. I am however NOT ruling out the possibility of porting especially in the future. As I stated during the release of LPAMAN, I would not have a problem with porting the game to the Mac platform but the problem is it’s going to require a completely new development kit, and that costs money. Considering my games can be played for free, there is no financial gain. With that said, you can always support my efforts by purchasing an album. Any and all money earned through the selling of my work will allow me to continue making games, music and art. In the future I may also be able to make games for the iOS as well as Android platforms. Again though, these developmental ports are going to cost time and more importantly money. Especially if I need to maintain accounts for the hand-held devices.

I don’t want to end this post on a sour note though, so here are upcoming projects for Keaton Hashimoto Games.

I’ve already begun planning for my third game. If all goes well, it’ll be a mixture of Ikaruga meets Metroidvania. I mentioned this on Twitter, but apparently this concept is very similar to Ubisoft’s Outland. Admittedly I have not tried the game yet, but I assure you I’m doing my best to make something unique. I don’t want to give away too many details (especially if I can’t make them happen), but I plan to build a game based on exploration by encouragement of loot. So in a sense, Diablo II meets Ikaruga meets Metroidvania. Sound cool? Hope it does!

But before I start on my third game, I’m taking a slight detour to work on something that drove me to start creating video games in the first place: Experimenting with the medium. I’m a huge video game fan and am one of those that feel games can be seen as more than what it’s often perceived as. While I am not aiming to change anyone’s perspective, I feel the interactive element of video games offers something that other forms of entertainment cannot. Whether you’re scaling the back of a colossus or fumbling through the fog of Silent Hill, directly experiencing what your in-game avatar is experiencing can have interesting effects. It’s something I want to experiment with. As a gamer and a designer I love the 2D experience. Without the third dimension, you have to adapt in order to be victorious. There’s no strafing, no depth-related cover systems. Just you and the world. I think a lot of modern day gamers forget or don’t see the anxiety of being restricted to a 2D plain. Again, I don’t want to give too much away, but this game is going to be an experiment in how a player deals with 2D, with a twist.

Well, with that said I hope you guys will enjoy Sasquatch Runs. It was a blast to make and I hope you guys are excited for what’s still to come (hopefully) later this year! Remember, if you dig my work and you’d like to show your support, tell your friends/family, or better yet, buy an album! You get high quality music (FLAC, even!) for great low prices. Any and all support, especially financially, will allow me to continue doing what I do as a living. I would love more than anything to make a living creating great games, music and art for you, the awesome and/or intrigued. Thanks for reading and check back soon for more!

Sasquatch Runs, my second game, is almost completed. The only thing left I have to work on is the soundtrack, and admittedly it’s the entire reason the game hasn’t been released yet. I’ve realized as a composer I work well when it comes to emotional, more brooding pieces, but when it comes to creating fun, less serious compositions, it’s proving difficult. I’m making progress, it’s just a lot slower than it’d usually be. The game itself is nowhere near as difficult as LPAMAN, and it’s a lot more forgiving. That doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk, but I decided that fun was more important than crushing difficulty this time around. For those interested, Sasquatch Runs is the second (and final) game to use the LPAMAN engine. I’ve already started working on a better, more refined engine and will be using it in future titles.

Pocketnauts, the title I originally announced to be my second game has been officially put on hold indefinitely. Intended to be a physics-based puzzle platformer, I realized after doing some initial coding that I was nowhere near ready to create the physics engine. I’m looking into alternatives as I continue to learn programming. I want Pocketnauts to be an exquisite experience from start to finish so for now, until I’ve learned more, it’ll be put on hold.

Finally, on to the game that started this all: LPAMAN. Originally LPAMAN was going to return for my third title. I thought what I created with the LPAssociation staff was great and it would have been interesting to see what else I could do with it, especially as a series. I began planning for a sequel not long after finishing the first game and I was hoping that the response would be great enough to justify a second game. However, after the initial release and the seemingly abandoned community for the project, no other high score submissions (Which was a highly demanded feature!), not to mention the soundtrack selling poorly, I don’t think there will be any more LPAMAN games. There’s just no incentive. It’s a shame because fan games are something you never, ever see from band fan sites. Now granted you can argue they’re not in the same field, but entertainment is entertainment and when it comes down to it, LPAMAN was something incredibly fresh. But I digress.

So as you can see, even on the games front, there’s no shortage of things to come as I progress through the year! I’ll have much more information as it comes, and will definitely try to keep those of you interested in the know here on my blog. I probably won’t do updates unless they’re in bulk but you can be sure there will be updates for project details, trailers and releases as they’re ready. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

The album features almost 90 minutes of music from the game including stage music, cutscene music and a couple extra pieces that weren’t used in-game. Also included are two new versions of the LPAMAN theme: an arranged version and a remixed version. Upon its release, two different album covers will be made available so you can personally choose which best represents the tunes. Here’s the tracklist:

The official LPAMAN & The Missing Phoenix soundtrack will be available April 3rd, 2011 starting at $4.99. That’s 35 songs for less than five dollars! If you think that’s asking for too little, well, good news… You’ll be able to name your own price!

Today, I’ve released a new re-mix for Linkin Park’s Wretches & Kings. This mix is particularly interesting for a lot of reasons, most being technical, but the most obvious is the instrumentation itself. I’d be willing to wager that since having my mix for Linkin Park’s “The Catalyst” featured by the band and my work for LPAssociation’s tribute video that people know me best for adding an orchestral flavor to preexisting songs. It’s not anything I’m ashamed of, but I definitely feel as a composer/musician that not only is it important I continue experimenting and challenging myself, but also that I don’t just work within my comfort zone. Things like sampling the guitars in Wretches & Kings and not messing with the actual structure of the song are just a couple different experiments that I tried with this mix. From a personal standpoint I find it’s an interesting experiment, but I’m not sure if the end result is exactly listenable on a consistent basis. So if anything, I consider this a proof of concept.

That’s not to say I’ll be making daily posts about what I’ve done throughout that day, but expect to see development updates and insight during production. I hope to jot down some updates for things like my upcoming game Sasquatch Runs as well as my music like my new Wretches & Kings re-mix. Along the way I’ll probably still post about video games and my current thoughts on certain subjects, but overall I want people who are genuinely interested in what I do to have a place to come and get to know me and the process of my work a little better.

I hope you find some enjoyment in what may come!