The Infection by Craig DiLouie

'The sun was rising over a smoking America and its first rays provided a dim red light in the bedroom.'

Centipede Infestation from Nintendo

Remember that old video game from the dusty recesses of your childhood? You know, the one in the back of the pizza parlor. Remember? It was in between the Operation Wolf and the cockpit version of Star Wars. Remember now? Yes, I'm talking about that arcade classic; Centipede. It had a giant trackball and you just held down the fire button for all you were worth.

Well friends, it seems that it has had a rebirth. An update if you will. I never knew that Centipede was an apocalyptic game at all. Apparently though it was/is. Or at least its update is.

This comes from Nintendo:

Twelve years after a nuclear war, the world has turned into an uninhabitable wasteland with mutant insects and humanity holding onto survival in outposts hidden from the poisonous air and killer Centipedes. This Fall, Nintendo fans can become humanity's only hope for survival as Atari, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, and developer WayForward re-imagine the legendary video game franchise Centipede for a new generation of gamers with Centipede: Infestation.

"Centipede: Infestation modernizes one our most popular brands for Nintendo's youthful audience," said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari S.A. "This game and other games to follow, further define Atari's strategy to build upon our library of celebrated IP and reimagine them for next generation game platforms."

Centipede: Infestation is a post-apocalyptic action experience that features run-n-gun shooting style gameplay with tower defense-style objects, paying homage to the original Centipede while bringing the brand into the 21st century. Players assume the role of an orphaned teenager hero named Max as he trudges through the wasteland, fighting off giant bugs. During Max's travels he encounters a young teen named Maisy who possesses a collection of seeds that hold the secret to bringing plant life back to the wasteland. Max and Maisy join forces to grow these gardens and protect the last natural resources on earth.

Players will be swarmed by mutated spiders, beetles, grubs, caterpillars, moths, and boss insects across the game's expansive world of seven environments and 40 stages. To defeat these mutant species and restore mankind, players will have to use an array of weaponry - Lightning Orb Gun, Nuke Cannon, Freezethrower, Mine Launcher, and more - as well as power-ups to fight through the invasions.

Like the toadstool of the original Centipede game, each insect has a unique defensive object that it can leave behind, as a 'special' variation. These defensive objects are short-lived combat tools that distract, attack, or block insect assaults during battle.

Additionally, the game allows players to team up with friends to fight off even more bugs with 2 player co-op multiplayer features. Nintendo 3DS players will be able to take advantage of unique StreetPass features that enable them to uniquely share content between passing Nintendo 3DS users. Centipede: Infestation for Nintendo 3DS will also feature gooey 3D visuals and ad-hoc multiplayer for 2 player co-op.

For more information, please log onto http://www.atari.com/.


And here's a small taste of game play. For the record, I'd have liked to see more ruins.

Foster the People Helena Beat

When I'm in the car with the wife she doesn't go in for the insane, crazy crust that I enjoy she's more for mild and mellow stuff. Things that you may find on The 20 on XM. One of the bands that is in high rotation on that station is Foster the People. They're not so bad really. Sorta catchy in fact. Their song Pumped Up Kicks in particular is a real 'Toe-Tapper'

If you think that

"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun.
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet."

was a little violent, you've seen nothing yet.

Here's the latest from Foster the People.

I give you Helena Beat. Watch for the dead cat and the pig's head. Choice!




They describe the video as:

Post-apocalyptic, ‘Lord of the Flies’ meets ‘Mad Max,’ so, it’s a bunch of kids, and they kidnap us and take us into this warehouse, and there’s a really crazy twist at the end. But it’s super-visual, and it’s a mixture of really, like, bizarre circumstances — it’s dark, but it’s also pretty tongue-in-cheek and fun.

Enjoy!

UPDATE!

A little behind the scenes action here:



Even more choice!

Book Clubs and Coupons and Zombies, Oh My!

(re-posted from megaton.us)

OK, technically, there are no zombies involved in this post, but "infected" had too many syllables, and the infected are close enough to zombies anyway. Or are they?

That's one of the topics that's likely to come up as we discuss the next official Post-Apocalyptic Book Club selection, The Infection, by Craig DiLouie.

It's been a while since we've had a book club discussion, but we've had several requests to start one up again, and the folks at Permuted Press made it easy for us to choose a book by offering readers a 20% discount on an ebook version of The Infection from Smashwords.

The Infection takes place as one in five people collapse screaming before falling into a coma. Three days later, the Infected awake with a single purpose: spread the Infection. A small group—a cop, teacher, student, reverend—team up with a military crew to survive. But at a refugee camp, what’s left of the government will ask them to accept a dangerous mission back into the very heart of Infection.

So if you want to get in on the fun, first head over to the Smashwords page for The Infection, and use coupon code VW57R (that's a V and then a W). But the code expires on August 5th, so don't put it off.

Then join us in the Book Club section of The Post-Apocalyptic Forums (forum registration is not necessary for the book club). We'll have separate threads set up for different sections of the book so that you can read at your own pace, and discuss just what you've read, but still not be spoiled by others who have read further than you.

And Craig DiLouie has said that he'll stop by the forum himself to see how the discussion is going, and to contribute what he can.

The coupon expires in two weeks, but those of us who've already read the book will start up the discussions right away, so feel free to join us anytime.

Theme song for a blog

Yesterday when I took my three-hour-drive to a job interview (that I think I bombed, but you know time will tell), I grabbed a random stack of CDs to listen to because the radio in the car I was driving doesn't work ... and things and stuff and junk. Also while I was driving I'd grab a CD from the top of the stack and plug it in. It was on one of those random CDs that I stumbled on the perfect theme song for this blog.

And yes. Before you ask it was on the second Gray's Anatomy soundtrack. It's the message though ... the message.



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