One of the more interesting things I saw at GDC09 occurred while I was attending the Experimental Gameplay session. I had walked in sometime after the session started and right at the beginning of a time-traveling RTS game by the name of Achron being presented.

My mind was blown.

The concept of Achron sounded really awesome, Christopher Hazard and Michael Resnick seemed to have figured out how to resolve allowing time travel in their game design and some of the examples shown and discussed were just amazing. I really wish there was video or at least another account of how in one game session, the flow of time were manipulated in such a way so that one player ended up nuking his own units. That sold me that I had to try this out one day, if Achron was released in any playable form.

That time has come, I caught (via Joystiq) this week that pre-orders are now being taken for Achron and that pre-ordering also nets you a download of the latest alpha release.

I think I’m going to have to give in and pre-order to try this out.

Even if you don’t like the RTS genre or don’t plan on playing it, at least do yourself the favor and check out what Christopher and Michael are doing with Achron — I think it’s fascinating.

I’ve been very keen lately on exploring games that subvert established genres or standard gameplay elements and just plain do something new and different. I’ve been snapping a bunch at a time lately, definitely at a far faster rate than I can play them. There is, without a doubt, a lot that can be taken away from these days as a game player, as someone involved in game development and just as a all around critical thinker. It isn’t just me as there has been increased focus on independent games and larger publishers are taking (relatively minor) chances in picking these games up. Games like PixelJunk Eden, Everyday Shooter and Braid are just a few examples that have embodied this new attention to innovative games.

This quest to learn more and expand my own gaming boundaries–there are more than enough games in my library that are pretty standard, yet successful, fare–has led to purchases of games like God Hand, Persona 3, The Red Star and Killer 7–the latter part of my larger Suda51 exploration. Shamefully I can’t say I’ve gotten anywhere significant yet to talk about what I think about them or what I’ve gained from playing through them, but it will happen. Oh yes, it will happen. Soon.

Somehow in all my poking around for strange games I passed over the occasional mention of Segagaga. It wasn’t until a link to the Hardcore Gaming 101 page for this game that I paid rapt attention. Regardless of whether this might have been Sega’s slightly insane swansong or just a totally bonkers idea that got greenlighted into production, there are some really interesting ideas here. It definitely takes the ideas of meta-game to a level beyond what I would have imagined in a game from a major publisher–and, at the time, console maker. The level of references back to Sega itself, it’s characters and even it’s own hardware I think is entirely unmatched in video games. It’s interesting too because much of the current film lexicon that lives deep within our collective consciousness is built upon referencing bits and pieces of prior films, literature or other visual arts–so much so that in some cases the film transcends into post-moderism.

Anyhow, I digress. What’s happened is now I’m interested in picking up this game somehow, given that it doesn’t seem super easy since eBay sales are fairly sparse or potentially shady what with the easily cracked GD-ROM technology. Nevermind I still have to get my hands on a working Japanese Dreamcast console to play it without again resorting to hacking and other trickery. I wonder what the chances that some used shop in Akihabara would happen to have it…

Segagaga cover art and screenshot courtesy of Hardcore Gaming 101

Flickr user Matthew Johnston has put together a pretty sharp photoset showing key Liberty City landmarks and their real-world versions around New York City. I still haven’t spent much time at all in Grand Theft Auto IV yet but this is great stuff!

Matthew Johnston’s “Sightseeing in Liberty City” photoset

I didn’t get much time to walk around the Game Developers Conference expo halls on my last day in San Francisco before my flight took off that evening. However I did check out the games exhibited as part of the Independent Games Festival in the North Hall.

There were a few familiar sights, like Band of Bugs and Castle Crashers — both titles that are due out on Xbox Live Arcade in the future — and there were a bunch that I’ve never heard of, mostly because they were small indie studios or student entries. In the very last aisle of the booth space something caught my eye and I just had to try it even though I, quite certifiably, suck at rhythm or music games. Yes, it was Opera Slinger a one level game created by ten students at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. Even though I probably looked like the most shameful nerd sitting in front of the computer trying to sing while stay quiet enough to not draw attention, I got completely wrapped up in the game and I ended up talking about it to anybody who would listen for the full week afterwards. Those folks probably don’t like me anymore.

Still, go check it out. It’s only one level but it’s got a bunch of songs. They’re all classical music with rock opera lyrics all based on the game’s narrative and you’re judged on your ability to hit the right general notes for each song. Kind of like Karaoke Revolution meets rock opera with a plot… or something. Sure the core gameplay isn’t terribly original, but it’s wrapped up pretty nicely, has a good tongue in cheek feel to it and it’s even a free download!