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Gish (video game)
Encyclopedia
Gish is a 2D
PC
platform game
developed by Alex Austin, Edmund McMillen
and Josiah Pisciotta and distributed by Chronic Logic
, Stardock
and other distributors. A sequel was announced, but subsequently canceled in late 2009 when Edmund left Cryptic Sea.
The game was featured in The Humble Indie Bundle
. Following the success of the promotion, Cryptic Sea pledged to go open source with the game which eventually happened on May 29, 2010. On 3 June 2010 Gish was ported to AmigaOS 4. A hack for the game was created soon after the open-sourcing that allowed Gish to grow larger and smaller.
, "volunteering most of his time to charity organizations that specialize in bringing lava awareness to the mainstream." In the latter case, Brea's picture is crossed out from the final group photo of the game.
ball of tar
. Besides movement Gish has four abilities: becoming sticky, slick, heavy, and jumping/expanding. When sticky he can climb up walls, stick to ceilings, and plant himself firmly to a solid object. Becoming slick makes Gish slippery and frictionless, letting him slide down pipes and squeeze out of being crushed. Using heavy turns Gish's body into a rigid weight, allowing him to fall faster, squash enemies, smash breakable platforms, sink in water, and resist being crushed. To jump, Gish must first compress his body, then expand to launch himself into the air.
Gish's abilities can be combined for use in certain situations - for instance, while both sticky and slick he can climb walls without grabbing loose objects, and while slick and heavy he can slide downhill at high speed.
and Jeff Attridge of Game Audio Magic. The game features songs by Smolens' band Estradasphere
, including Feed Your Mama's Meter from the album Buck Fever
. Edmund McMillen frequently uses music by Estradasphere in flash games created for Diverge Creations.
In addition, Gish is an unlockable playable character in two of McMillen's flash games, "Meat Boy" and "Spewer" , as well as an unlockable boss in "The Binding of Isaac". All games can be found on Newgrounds, the latter being only a demo. Gish also appears in the Xbox Live Arcade
version of Super Meat Boy
as an unlockable character. He also makes an appearance in "Clubby the Seal", another game on Newgrounds.
Recommended system requirements:
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
PC
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
developed by Alex Austin, Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen
Edmund McMillen is an American video game designer who is known for his unique visual style and innovative gameplay design, as well as his emphasis on the importance of careful level design and rewarding difficulty curves.-Early life:...
and Josiah Pisciotta and distributed by Chronic Logic
Chronic Logic
Chronic Logic LLC is an indie video game developer and publisher located in Santa Cruz, California. It was founded in 2001 by Alex Austin and Ben Nichols after Austin's Bridge Builder became popular. Later, Josiah Pisciotta joined the company...
, Stardock
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
and other distributors. A sequel was announced, but subsequently canceled in late 2009 when Edmund left Cryptic Sea.
The game was featured in The Humble Indie Bundle
Humble Indie Bundle
The Humble Indie Bundles or Humble Bundles are a series of game bundles, that are sold and distributed online at a price determined by the purchaser. The games are multi-platform, DRM-free, and independently developed, and buyers can set the revenue split between the developers, charities and...
. Following the success of the promotion, Cryptic Sea pledged to go open source with the game which eventually happened on May 29, 2010. On 3 June 2010 Gish was ported to AmigaOS 4. A hack for the game was created soon after the open-sourcing that allowed Gish to grow larger and smaller.
Plot
Gish is a ball of tar who lives happily with his human girlfriend Brea, until one day a mysterious dark creature kidnaps her. Gish fights through several levels of enemies in the sewers of Dross until the final boss appears: Hera, Gish's former classmate who has an unrequited affection towards Gish. Gish rejects her, and Hera threatens to drop Brea into a pool of lava. After Gish defeats Hera, he must rescue Brea. If the player succeeds, Brea and Gish escape and become famous entomologists, as well as the world's first legal inter-species marriage. If the player fails, Brea burns to death in the lava pit and Gish goes on to live a life of celibacyCelibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, "volunteering most of his time to charity organizations that specialize in bringing lava awareness to the mainstream." In the latter case, Brea's picture is crossed out from the final group photo of the game.
Gameplay
In Gish, the player maneuvers the eponymous character, a 12-poundPound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
ball of tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
. Besides movement Gish has four abilities: becoming sticky, slick, heavy, and jumping/expanding. When sticky he can climb up walls, stick to ceilings, and plant himself firmly to a solid object. Becoming slick makes Gish slippery and frictionless, letting him slide down pipes and squeeze out of being crushed. Using heavy turns Gish's body into a rigid weight, allowing him to fall faster, squash enemies, smash breakable platforms, sink in water, and resist being crushed. To jump, Gish must first compress his body, then expand to launch himself into the air.
Gish's abilities can be combined for use in certain situations - for instance, while both sticky and slick he can climb walls without grabbing loose objects, and while slick and heavy he can slide downhill at high speed.
Music
All of the music and sound effects were created by Tim SmolensTim Smolens
Tim Smolens is an American bass player, most notably a contributor to the artistic output of bands such as Estradasphere, Secret Chiefs 3, and Fishtank Ensemble, primarily as a bassist and songwriter...
and Jeff Attridge of Game Audio Magic. The game features songs by Smolens' band Estradasphere
Estradasphere
Estradasphere was an experimental band that originated in Santa Cruz, California during the late 1990s. The band, which in its last incarnation was based in Seattle, consisted of 6 multi-instrumentalists from a variety of musical backgrounds trained in disciplines ranging from classical music and...
, including Feed Your Mama's Meter from the album Buck Fever
Buck Fever
Buck Fever was the second full length album released by Estradasphere. Notable assistance on the album comes from Trey Spruance, of Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3 fame.-Track listing:#"Buck Fever" – 5:45#"The Dapper Bandits" – 8:03...
. Edmund McMillen frequently uses music by Estradasphere in flash games created for Diverge Creations.
Awards
- 2005 IGFIndependent Games FestivalThe Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
Grand Prize (Seumus McNally Award) - 2005 IGF Innovation in Game Design
- Game Tunnel's 2004 Indie Game of the Year
- Game Tunnel's 2004 Adventure Game of the Year
Cameo appearance
The Gish character appears briefly in the PC game Dumbo & Cool in one of the game's later levels. When he is found by the player, a brief segment of music from the Gish game plays and the words "You found Gish" appear on screen.In addition, Gish is an unlockable playable character in two of McMillen's flash games, "Meat Boy" and "Spewer" , as well as an unlockable boss in "The Binding of Isaac". All games can be found on Newgrounds, the latter being only a demo. Gish also appears in the Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
version of Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is an independent video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes and developed by Team Meat. It is the successor to McMillen and Jonathan McEntee's October 2008 flash game Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy was released on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010, on...
as an unlockable character. He also makes an appearance in "Clubby the Seal", another game on Newgrounds.
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:- Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Linux 2.4+ or Mac OS X 10.1+
- AMD, Intel or G3 1000+ MHz processor
- Video card supporting OpenGL with 32 MiBMIBMIB may refer to any of several concepts:* Master of International Business, a postgraduate business degree* Melayu Islam Beraja, the adopted national philosophy of Brunei* Motion induced blindness, a visual illusion in peripheral vision...
of memory - 256 MiB of memory
Recommended system requirements:
- AMD, Intel, or G4 1500+ MHz processor
- Video card supporting OpenGL with 64+ MiB of memory
- 256 MiB of memory
See also
- PuttyPutty (computer game)Putty is a game developed by System 3 and released in 1992 for the Amiga. It was also released on the SNES in 1993, under the name Super Putty in North America and Europe and as in Japan.- Story :...
, a similarly themed game from 1992.
External links
- Official Gish website
- Diverge Creations, other Edmund McMillen games
- Gish on TotalGaming.net