Alex's blog

This is it! This is where it all kicks off. We just got our first piece of fan art laid on us, and it was supreme. Our popularity has been set to stun.

Resident forumite, Ika, has created many masterpieces in the past, as can be attested by this sizeable portfolio, but surely this must be the best among them. Witness and enjoy the hi-res glory of this genius below.

It truly is a work. And that's all that needs to be said, really. But life is not all good times and cider, for now you have given us "The Hunger". This is a strange phenomenon once told to me by a wild-eyed Tony Hart.

He was actually born in 1794, but was able to fend off the mask of death by absorbing the life force from the hundreds of damp water-colours and gluey pasta collages that he received daily during his professional life. "It is the greatest and most fulfilling sensation a man can experience" he said "but it ultimately withers your soul until you depend on it for your very existence".

In short: events have been set in motion. If you don't continue to send us your personal creations...

We have a new website and it is built on the strongest of foundations: art. Our new paint-smith, John G, is working. And it is excellent. I’m giving him a round of applause right now, in fact, we should all give him a round of applause. We should make John happy because we respect his talents and the fact that the rest of us have none.

Here’s what we shouldn’t do: make John cry.

This stupid lovely new hateful website keeps on fighting with Internet Explorer in its many hell-filled guises, and shatters all of John’s hard work into a mess of tables and padding. Ordinarily we’d say “screw this, we’re not going to pander to the big corporations, we’re beatniks!” and then go and shoot our girlfriends in Mexico.

But that just wouldn’t be the ‘video game way’, which more usually involves falling to your death repeatedly, or smacking into invisible barriers. Why anyone would WANT to feel like that, we’re not quite sure, but we subjected ourselves to hours and hours of it anyway. HOURS!

I used to regularly use and even enjoy Internet Explorer. Me and it were the best of buds, hanging out and fishing and playing catch. Now? Well, we’ve barely spoken to each other ever since it got all fat and self-righteous and bought a yacht in the Cayman islands. Twat. I’m severing ties for good this time.

Oh, I know! You know what would make John feel better? Buying up all of our delicious merchandise that’s coming your way right now! He’d love that. He’d love you. In fact I’m pretty sure he’d owe you a life debt and follow you around like Morgan Freeman, pretending to be Turkish. Sweet!

[ROBIN'S NOTE: A few small issues still remain with the site, they'll all be fixed tomorrow.The store is working but not looking very flashy - sexiness will be added asap.]

Competition over. done. We spent weeks trawling through literally two entries, and agonised over who would emerge victorious. it was tough, but we finally made it.

Oh, you guys. Clearly our little robot, El Mono, did not fill you with the gushing fountain of inspiration and give-me-more-gasm that we intended.

We have failed you. I would offer to throw myself on my sword, but then who would bring you tasty portions of video game delight? Robin, you say? RUBBISH! Look, next time I swear it'll be the best competition ever, it'll be like, i dunno, we give you a giant sack of cash and you have to take a picture of yourself swimming in it and laughing and laughing.

Anyway, until then, we can tell you that Arlenius won, with his wave of children, Mexican style:

See the video behind the prize!
See the pictures behind the video!
See the man behind the pictures!

Him and his buddies are winning stuff as we speak. It's totally awesome and that makes us feel good. It also makes him feel good. Quoted.

In other news: we are starting the pre-beta at the end of next week. This will be open only to a select few people, hand picked from our own loving community. After that, the full beta will be available for everyone to enjoy, just in time for Christmas! Bring a glorious death to your friends and loved ones TODAY!*




*at Christmas.

Our bodies twisted and feeble, our souls full and buoyant, we have returned from the Eurogamer Expo 2008.

Clearly, the physique of a programmer is not made to endure the stress of standing and smiling for two full working days, but it was worth it! The Beatnik Games award for ‘Best in Show’ goes to you, the public. You came, saw, and conquered our hearts with a charming blend of child-like curiosity and affable psychotic malice.

As a new and unknown indie company, we felt rather like a blushing school girl showing off our goods behind the bike shed; nervous and excited at what the boys would say when they caught their first glimpse of soft, pink... [“Stop that” – Robin]. And, oh my, what a reception we got.

Best moments include (but are not limited to):

1) Someone in the crowd shouting “Plain Sight!” at the Rock Paper Shotgun Thinkosium, when fun and original indie games were being discussed.

2) Seeing people swarm around the booth just to spectate a heated game in progress.

3) The guy who, when asked by a gaming TV crew what he liked best about the Expo, plugged us over everyone else.

4) Giving an entirely slapdash and surreal interview for the Idle Thumbs podcast.

To everyone who came and had a go, to everyone who gave us feedback (good and bad), to everyone who signed up for the beta next month, to everyone we met who cheered us up when our legs were starting to give way: thank you! You have given us the motivation to get straight back to work and pull out all the stops to make the game that we love and that you deserve.

As a kind of post-expo celebration, we will soon be announcing a competition for you to win this extremely limited edition (only two in existence) Plain Sight poster, which was stuck on the wall above our stand, surveying the gaming landscape like a kindly and benevolent god. With bombs. You want to have it, we want to give it away. Details to follow!

If you live in/around/out/up London and you like games and festivals, you may have heard of the London Games Festival, which takes place in late October! And if you were thinking of being all blasé about it, then you might want to reconsider because WE’LL BE THERE!

Between the 28th and 29th of October you’ll be able to find us at the Indie Arcade section of the Eurogamer Expo, unified with our fellow-indies and ready to steal you away into our soft non-corporate embrace.

You won’t know what hit you.

After Lawrence has fastened your limbs together with daisy chains, Robin will strap you to a maypole and prance about like a fawn, cocooning you in long strips of Monopoly money. About 25 minutes of solitary confinement should have you emerging dizzy and bewildered, but gloriously secure in the world of independent gaming.

After these preliminaries, of course, we’ll always be ready to become appropriate friends. Luckily, the only quality we demand from our loved ones is validation, so all you need to do is play our game and go on and on about how much you like it, and we’ll follow you anywhere like an old arthritic dog.

The ritualistic nature of airport checkins are hard enough to tolerate without having to do two in one morning. Turns out that our flight to Texas was cancelled due to obstructions on the runway, mainly one of these:

But, of course, we weren’t told this until AFTER we had entered the airport and been subjected to all the humiliation that a bored security team demands. With a little whelping and sniffling, we attracted the pity of staff and managed to get our flights rerouted to Los Angeles with the idea of driving to Austin from there.
I feel so god damn adventurous right now. A genuine all-American road trip! I’m half giddy about living the dream of Sam and Max Hit The Road; a game I grew up on.

Lesser men would sink in despair, clutch each other and weep passionately, while the corpse of their pre-paid travel itinerary lies on the operating table, slowly cooling and greasy. Not in the ranks of Beatnik Games, though, oh no. We keep pumping that chest cavity until the ribs crack.

How this vague stubbornness translated into us bombing across the state of Arizona in a Dodge SUV the size of a small guest room, I’m not quite sure. Add that to the fact that we’re working our way through bags of prime beef jerky and Camel Lights (I favour one, Robin the other) and we’ve somehow managed to assimilate ourselves into the stereotypical southern lifestyle.

I can completely understand how they fall in love with it; some of the landscapes around here are truly breath taking in ways that you would never find in England. I knew I was hooked by desert country when I looked out of the window and immediately yelled at Robin: “holy crap, did you see that rock? It was awesome”. Slightly anti-climatic, perhaps, but classier than when he giggled saucily and informed me that he’d just seen a cactus that looked like a penis.

As for the title of this post, it was the rather cheerful verdict of our electronic sat-nav lady about an hour ago. America is big. I think I can see Mexico.

Look up a little bit. Up this web page, in the Plain Sight banner. Now focus on the silhouette of the robot. When you pick up our game, you will BECOME that robot.

Oh sure, he may look all contented and wishy-washy, but deep inside lies an unending source of pain; a whirling maelstrom of bitterness and confusion just begging to be dispersed. But no one has.

You see, that little robot has no name, no identity; it drifts aimlessly through life carrying with it a little bindle of shame, lonely and exploding.

Doesn't that make you angry? Doesn't it make you MAD (if you're American)? Doesn't it make you want to cry: "Dear God, Beatnik Games Ltd., make it stop! Can't you see he's already dead!"?

Keep that chin up, brave little Internet. We may be too uncaring and talentless to give the little critter a name, but we know you'll be able to do better. In fact, we're so sure that you'll be able to come up with something 100% satisfactory, that we will be sending out a special limited edition prize for the best suggestion received by the end of next Friday (19th September). It will be super awesome and made by us, and you know what that means, right? Give it a few years and eBay will be your friend!

Do it, do it now.