////////////////////////////////////// ATTN: PRESS TYPES

For anyone looking to write something about S:S&S EP: we love love love you!

We have prepared a press kit with a few bits & pieces of artwork and some info that you can download here.

S:S&S EP is kind of tricky videogame to describe in words, we're very thankful to all the excellent writers & thinkers linked below who have done just that, and done it well.

/////////////////////////////////////// KILL SCREEN, KOTAKU & GIZMODO :

Rob Dubbin aka @robdubbin, an amazing writer & a contributor to the Colbert Report, wrote a spectacular review of S:S&S EP for Kill Screen Magazine which was then re-posted to Kotaku & Gizmodo. Note: Mr. Dubbin's score is subject to change at next moon.

It manages, with reverent deftness, to evoke and honour the influences of its creators, while simultaneously providing a multisensory experience that feels novel and groundbreaking today. A landmark achievement, it raises the bar for independent game design much as the Washington Monument did for independent obelisk design.

If Roy Lichtenstein were weaned on things like 8-bit games, "Kid A" and the iPhone, these would probably be his Benday dots. Yes, in the end, "Sword & Sworcery" is just a game, but in its own meta way it's also a kind of pop art for the digital age.

/////////////////////////////////////// MSNBC :

Winda Benedetti aka @windabenedetti wrote a very fine review at MSNBC calling S:S&S EP 'arty as hell in all the best ways' & makes the case that the experience of playing is both 'magical & revolutionary':

Steve Jobs may have promised all you Apple fans some magic ... but it's the Superbrothers and company who are delivering it.

> > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// THE NATIONAL POST :

Danel Kascor aka @dkasor at The National Post transcribed part one of a lengthy interview with the creators of S:S&S EP and & he took the time to discuss S:S&S EP with staff writer Matt Braga:

Daniel: And speaking of Jim Guthrie, his music kind of knocked me on my ass. Did you buy the album?

Matt: There’s once particular segment in-game where you’re sitting in a forest with Guthrie, and he plays a little song. And you get to jam with him. That, without a doubt, was one of my favourite gaming experiences in recent memory. It’s not just a soundtrack, but a musical experience that’s entirely dependent on user interaction, something I can totally dig. A big part of Sworcery’s mood and atmosphere is entirely owed to Guthrie’s socre — something that stands on its own extremely well — which pretty much made Ballad of the Space Babies a day one purchase for me. The LP should be familiar territory for anyone who’s followed Guthrie’s previous electronic and synthesized diversions.

> > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// TOUCH ARCADE :

Eli Hodapp aka @hodapp's S:S&S EP review at Touch Arcade is a very fine piece of writing indeed:

I totally recommend checking it out, if for no reason other than to experience how well great pixel art and amazing music can meld together to create something really cool and at times, entirely unexpected.

> > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// IGN :

Levi Buchanan aka @ilevi's S:S&S EP review at IGN scored the project a 9.5 and had this to say:

This point-and-click adventure is a near-perfect polyamorous marriage of brilliant 8-bit visuals, clever puzzle-solving, and an unforgettable soundtrack.

> > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// GAMERS WITH JOBS :

Julian "Rabbit" Murdoch aka @gwjrabbit spoke to a Superbrothers representative & had this to say in a sharp little write-up at Gamers With Jobs:

Yes, #sworcery is strange. But it’s strange in the same way that Dr. Strangelove, Ziggy Stardust and The Persistence of Memory are strange: It defines a genre through a masterful embrace of the absurd, without for a moment falling into self parody.

/////////////////////////////////////// MOTHERBOARD.TV :

Another interesting chit chat with Jim Guthrie conducted by Joshua Kopstein at Motherboard.tv.

Unlike the fruit-slicing, bird-catapulting monotony of its peers, this Canadian indie collaboration is designed to hijack your senses, assembling visuals, audio and gameplay with synaesthetic cohesion.

/////////////////////////////////////// ARS TECHNICA, CNN & WIRED :

Andrew Webster aka @a_webster followed up an interesting S:S&S EP discussion at Ars Technica, which was re-posted to WIRED's Game|Life & CNN, with a concise review of S:S&S EP at Ars Technica.

It's a game that will make you believe.

 > > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// DESTRUCTOID :

Sean Cary's S:S&S EP review at Destructoid scored the project a 10/10 and he had this to say:

Gaming doesn’t need to find its Citizen Kane, but it may have discovered its Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without even trying.

  > > > MOAR?

/////////////////////////////////////// 1 -UP :

Matt Leone aka @lattmeone's S:S&S EP review at 1-up scored the project an A- and he had this to say:

There's a level of creativity, ambition, and polish here that's unusually high for an iPad game, and even in spite of that, the developers have created a modern artistic game that challenges a lot of ideas about what a game can be while feeling retro at the same time.

  > > > MOAR?

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////////////////////////////// B Y T E J A C K E R  :

GDC 2010: DEBUT / FIRST PLAYABLE

/////////////////////////////////////// B O I N G .  B O I N G  :

S:S&S EP is "the cool thing at GDC" according to Kotaku's Michael McWhertor in this post.

/////////////////////////////////////// T O U C H   A R C A D E :

S:S&S EP "feels unlike anything I've played on the iPhone" according to Touch Arcade's Eli Hodapp in this post. 

S:S&S EP is "an amazing piece of work" according to Touch Arcade's own Blake Patterson in this in-depth write-up.

/////////////////////////////////////// P O C K E T   G A M E R :

"Forget PlayStation Move and all the developer panels - what everyone was really talking about at GDC this year was Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (sic) for the iPhone." says Pocket Gamer's Mark Brown in this article.

/////////////////////////////////////// I G N :

"The music heard... is equal parts haunting and thrilling." says IGN Wireless's Levi Buchanan in this glowing write-up.

/////////////////////////////////////// U N O F F I C I A L   A P P L E   W E B L O G :

"...seems like an experience that should be very much welcome on the iPhone." writes UAW's Mike Schram in this article.

/////////////////////////////////////// A R E A  5 :

"Superbrothers' Swords & Sworcery EP is the most moving thing I've experienced on the iPhone. It's pixelated art at it's finest. I'm in love." tweets Area 5's Ryan O'Donnell.

/////////////////////////////////////// . T I F F :

"I have a good, shivery feeling this is going to be an instant favorite." writes Tiff Chow in this here post.

COMMENTS CURATED FOR COMEDIC EFFECT

 overheard on show floor:

BAIYON: It's just walking!?

--

GORDON: Perhaps once you've finished those graphics a bit and smoothed off those nasty ugly pixels it'll be a solid second place for looks behind Lilt Line for iPhone.

-- 

overheard at v.i.p. suite party:

SUPERBROTHERS REPRESENTATIVE: Check't out, this' right here's 'th' real pixeljunk monster! (hic)

DYLAN CUTHBERT: Yes, very clever that. I see what you did there.

 --

from the comments on Kotaku:

ACROMATICMAGUS: Minimalist, "artsy", "mysterious" adventure games are the new "WW2 Shooters".

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from the Touch Arcade comments:

JOHN: Hurts my eye just to look at it. Next.

 --

NIZY: Just to prove the graphical haters wrong, it won the IGF award for achievement in art! http://www.igfmobile.com/

JOJO: This proves that the IGF jury are a bunch of tree smoking hippies out of touch with the real entertainment world

MIDIANGTX: No, it proves you wouldn't know art if it came up to you dressed like the Mona Lisa with a name tag reading "Hello – My name is Art" and introduced itself as Art Arty Artington. 

--

GREG: 1) Give the main character some thicker legs. The game is beautiful, but her tiny stick legs make her look ridiculous and take away from the experience. 2) EP? Why is it an EP? 3) I hope they are making an iPad version of this. I have a feeling this would look terrible scaled up to the iPad size as an iPhone game.

--

BUGLE BOY: The visuals in this game give me a stiff bishop. This cannot be released soon enough.

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from the unofficial apple weblog comments

KYLE: Is it weird that I read the headline as "Swords and Grocery"? So confused.

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from the comments on Kotaku below a Frank Frazetta tribute

SUPAKERO: I really like the Superbrothers art. I'd like to see him do a painting or something, just not blocky.