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Space Giraffe Rides Again

Jeff Minter and his Llamasoft cohorts are preparing to unleash a second wave of beastie-driven madness as Space Giraffe will hit the PC next week.

QUICK PUT YOUR WALLET IN HIS MOUTH BEFORE HE SWALLOWS HIS TONGUE
QUICK PUT YOUR WALLET IN HIS MOUTH BEFORE HE SWALLOWS HIS TONGUE
For an Xbox Live Arcade release, Llamasoft's Space Giraffe turned out to be a pretty divisive little piece of work when it was originally released back in the summer of 2007. Some folks saw it as nothing but a Tempest clone set against a visualizer nightmare that made it too hard to figure out what the hell is going on. Others found the psychedelic shooter to be absolutely mesmerizing and fully profound. Still others wrote it off as absolute madness, causing the developers to start calling out reviewers that they felt didn't play the game enough to understand the game. That bit got a little ugly. But the real point is that Space Giraffe probably isn't for everyone. At the time of its release, though, I couldn't get enough of it.

So it shouldn't surprise you that I'm quite excited at the prospect of an upcoming PC release. Not only will it contain the levels and graphics found in the 2007 release, but the developers have gone back and remixed the game to sort of tone down the insanity, which may (may) make it more accessible to more people. As someone who enjoyed the first release (even though I was never particularly amazing at it), I'm interested to see how the new levels pan out.

Additionally, the PC version will feature upgraded graphics with a new shader system, which should allow for more swirly, wild backgrounds. This is, apparently, the same system that will be used in Llamasoft's other in-development project, Gridrunner+++.

Space Giraffe will be available for purchase and digital delivery next week at a price of $20. In case this all still sounds confusing, here's a video of level 13 on the Xbox 360:

  

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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jeff

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Edited By jeff
QUICK PUT YOUR WALLET IN HIS MOUTH BEFORE HE SWALLOWS HIS TONGUE
QUICK PUT YOUR WALLET IN HIS MOUTH BEFORE HE SWALLOWS HIS TONGUE
For an Xbox Live Arcade release, Llamasoft's Space Giraffe turned out to be a pretty divisive little piece of work when it was originally released back in the summer of 2007. Some folks saw it as nothing but a Tempest clone set against a visualizer nightmare that made it too hard to figure out what the hell is going on. Others found the psychedelic shooter to be absolutely mesmerizing and fully profound. Still others wrote it off as absolute madness, causing the developers to start calling out reviewers that they felt didn't play the game enough to understand the game. That bit got a little ugly. But the real point is that Space Giraffe probably isn't for everyone. At the time of its release, though, I couldn't get enough of it.

So it shouldn't surprise you that I'm quite excited at the prospect of an upcoming PC release. Not only will it contain the levels and graphics found in the 2007 release, but the developers have gone back and remixed the game to sort of tone down the insanity, which may (may) make it more accessible to more people. As someone who enjoyed the first release (even though I was never particularly amazing at it), I'm interested to see how the new levels pan out.

Additionally, the PC version will feature upgraded graphics with a new shader system, which should allow for more swirly, wild backgrounds. This is, apparently, the same system that will be used in Llamasoft's other in-development project, Gridrunner+++.

Space Giraffe will be available for purchase and digital delivery next week at a price of $20. In case this all still sounds confusing, here's a video of level 13 on the Xbox 360:

  

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Sil3n7

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Edited By Sil3n7

Always wanted to ride a Space Giraffe...

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TaintedSun

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Edited By TaintedSun

Below is a long, detailed description of how much I care about this game:

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Joseppie

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Edited By Joseppie

$20 seems a bit steep, especially since it's going for $5 on XBLA.

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deaux

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Edited By deaux

The Eyes of Mattrick?  Nah.

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simulation

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Edited By simulation

fuck that shit right now

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CoolDrMoney

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Edited By CoolDrMoney

$20? I'm glad I got mine for $5. It's a fun game, but certainly not worth more than $10

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ZombieHunterOG

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Edited By ZombieHunterOG

i watched the video and i honestly had no idea what was going on it was very colourful and the sound was all explosions and animals being raped :P 

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Bulldog19892

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Edited By Bulldog19892

First, how the hell can a topic have more posts than views? Second, Jeff, do you go looking for these crazy ass obscure games, or do they just materialize for you?

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

werid

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keyhunter

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Edited By keyhunter

For 20 dollars it had better have 75% more stuff.

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Player1

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Edited By Player1

To bulldog, its a news story, that also appears on the forums.

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Axion

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Edited By Axion

I smell something burning. I think it's my retinas.

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TomA

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Edited By TomA

20 bucks!!! a dollar was too much for this piece of crap on Xbox.

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Xander51

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Edited By Xander51

20 Dollars seems like way too much for this game, especially since they had trouble selling it at 5 bucks. I still really admire what they did though. You can't hate a game with J Allard's head in it.

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MitchyD

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Edited By MitchyD

This was RUBBISH on 360. Total, incomprehensible trash. And they want to charge more? Kill me now... Even though I know I don't have to buy it. Its existence makes me sad.

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onebrow

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Edited By onebrow

I wish people hadn't dismissed this as rubbish. I understand that it might not be to some people's tastes, but it was a well crafted game that really rewarded those that gave it some play time. There's something magical about the music, sound effects and even those controversial graphics. Plus the bonus levels are awesome and the most chilled out thing in computer games.

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deactivated-5d7bd9e4bef30

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I bought it since I wanted to support Mr Minter, but I seriously can't wrap my head around it.
I've played it several times and have yet to get an achievement in it or fully understand what is happening.
I'm considering dropping some Ambien before playing it, but I'm afraid it just might leave me a gibbering wreck.

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RagingLion

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Edited By RagingLion

That really is Tempest.

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LostCause

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Edited By LostCause

I have spent a lot of time playing this game trying to beat it. Out of 99 levels, I think I got to 94. I have not played it in probably 6 months.

I think as the levels get up there, the wrong things are done to make them harder, the worst of which is making the damn grid harder to see.

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loonyboi

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Edited By loonyboi

What's the source for this story? I love Space Giraffe, and will happily pay another $20 for it. Is it coming to Steam? 

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DJ_Lae

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Edited By DJ_Lae

It was an awesome game that few people gave a chance to, simply because it was visually busy (to put it mildly).

The graphics didn't bother me much, but - like Jeff - I'm colourblind and over the years I've gotten very good at distinguishing patterns and shapes from one another  since I cannot tell colours apart like most other people can. Maybe Space Giraffe is the ultimate game for the colourblind.

$20 is madness, though. $5 was just right.

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Hamst3r

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Edited By Hamst3r

Space Giraffe is relevant to my interests.

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RawShark

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Edited By RawShark

I'd have more sympathy for Space Giraffe if Jeff Minter didn't BAAAAAWWWW so hard about it not selling shit.

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John1912

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Edited By John1912

DEAR GOD!  The sound FX!  How could you listen to that?

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Doogie2K

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Edited By Doogie2K

This game made my brain hurt while playing the demo.  But hey, for those who like it, go nuts, I guess.

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jakob187

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Edited By jakob187

Um.....wha?

That was the single weirdest and most headache-inducing mindfuck I've ever seen.  Definitely not something I'm into.

Then again, I stopped doing drugs 7 years ago.  =  /