Episode 029: InduStreet Boys

## Episode 029

*This time on CoolGames Inc, we explore a game about sneaking food into a movie theater, a Where's Waldo edition of No Man's Sky, Nintendogs but for Doom demons, and Nine Lives: Origins.*

## Introduction

Nick and Griffin talk about their 'random irreverent style'. Griffin complains that their online persona has become that of 'soft, sweet boys'. He states that this episode will be more gritty and unpredictable before admitting that he can't even pretend to be either of those things, and that the Killing of Harambe just seems sad to him.

Everybody who played *THUDDS* loved it, but the game's poor branding was a barrier for most players and critics. Both Nick and Griffin feel that, in retrospect, they should have put 'Ware' (or 'PuddingWare') in the title.

## This Episode's Game

*Boy Band Maker, Like Style Savvy Trendsetters But For Boy Bands. Choose The Names, The Style, The Themes, Etc*
***InduStreet Boys*** is a high-stakes rhythm RPG with business management elements where you make your own boyband. The game spans all flavours of boyband, from 90s to K-pop, and gives the player control over membership, appearance, styling, and abilities of their band, similar to *Style Savvy: Trendsetters*.

Players are given one shot at *Gitaroo Man*-inspired rhythm sections, with the difficulty adjusting to match the boyband's performance abilities and the game registering a failure if the game is switched off mid-play. If the player succeeds, they earn money which allows them to upgrade their band with new abilities and cyberpunk augmentations. Resources can also be spent on autotune software (which make the rhythm sections play themselves), backing tracks for lip-syncing, and producers for a single album.

Each boy has a number of stats: Personality (Cute, Cool, Sexy, Hair), Performance (Sing, Dance), Danger, Maturity, Puberty (PUB), Mystery, Charm, and Armor. Players need to ensure that their boyband is balanced so that it doesn't have too many bad boys or a great dancer who outperforms the other boys. Puberty slowly increases over time and is beyond the player's control; once it reaches a certain limit, the boy could decide to leave the band, lose his singing voice, or become extremely ugly. Charm determines how well they conduct themselves in interviews and on social media.

Multiplayer is directly competitive; originally, the bands would physically charge into battle against each other, thus forcing the player strike a balance between creating a boyband which appeals to teenage girls and one which can hold its own in a fight. This feature was later cut after Griffin realised that they had come up with a genuinely good game idea. Instead, players challenge each other and must deliver a single performance, forfeiting the challenge if they back out. Both videos are then posted on Twitter, where fans can vote for their favourite performance and follow bands in-game.

The music is procedurally-generated using the *No Man's Sky* engine, repurposed to generate notes and beats instead of planets and beats.

Girl groups are kept to a different product due to the length of time and resources required to produce extra animations and character models. An expansion pack allows the player to genetically engineer a perfect career boy who has a decade-plus career.

## Other Game Ideas Discussed

#### Procedurally Generated Cha Cha Slide

A dancing game in which the player must follow semi-randomly chosen instructions based on those from DJ Casper's Cha Cha Slide. The algorithm is designed to prevent the player from going too far in any particular direction. In single player mode, the game operates by Bop-It rules, increasing in speed over time.

#### A *Nintendogs* Game, But With The Demons From *Doom*

A game where you care for one of the demons from the *Doom* games, walking them and collecting coupons with them. Two breeds of demon are featured in each pack.

#### Nine Lives: Origins, The Video Game Prequel To The Hit Kevin Spacey Blockbuster *Nine Lives*

Nick was unwilling to believe that there is a movie in which Christopher Walken transforms Kevin Spacey into a cat. *Nine Lives: Origins* would be the supposedly cut scene in which Christopher Walken transforms Kevin Spacey into a cat, but with QTE style button prompts.

#### A DDR Style Game That Rewards You For Being Off-Rhythm

Nick explained that this basically exists already through a convergent gaming phenomena known as 'Great Attacks' in which DDR players compete to get the most Great-ranked steps, rather than the higher scored Perfect steps. Griffin suggested instead that this be added as a mode in the Boy Band Maker game previously discussed.

#### Use The *Prey* Mechanic Of Controlling Inanimate Objects To Drive History's Greatest Minds Insane

Griffin felt the need to clarify that in the new *Prey* game the player doesn't control inanimate objects, but instead turns into them. Nick pointed out that this idea had similarities to *Geist*, and so Griffin insisted upon moving on.

#### *No Man's Sky*, But Your Goal Is To Find Waldo

*No Man's Sky*, but when you reach the centre of the universe, there's just a dude in a red and white shirt, with the caption 'There he is!'. Followed by the credit 'No Man's Sky: A Game By Peter Molyneux'.

#### Bullet Heck: Like Bullet Hell But More Wholesome

Nick suggested that Bullet Hell Games aren't particularly lurid, but Griffin disagreed, arguing that 20% of Bullet Hell games ended up involving shooting the clothes off of bosses. This led to a discussion of what would happen if there was a mass clothing failure during a live football game. As this couldn't possibly be adapted as a feature in *Madden* due to strict NFL licensing policies, it was suggested that this could be added to the off-brand American Football simulation *Backbreaker*, which had a robust physics simulation.

#### Like The Show 'How It's Made', But You Have To Figure It Out For Yourself

In a dystopian future, the player and a selection of street-style skateboarders including Bam Margera and Bob Burnquist have been poisoned by your dastardly niece and are forced into a competition in order to receive the antidote.

The player must build assembly lines that construct skateboards without knowing what that board is supposed to look like. Once the board has been constructed, the player is then required to use that skateboard to skate through their constructed assembly lines in order to win the cure to their poisoning. More complicated, dangerous lines result in better boards requiring the player to balance risk and reward.

#### Survival Game Set In A Gaming, Anime Or Comics Convention

This suggestion was close to Nick's heart as he would be going to PAX the following weekend. A potential setting for the next Dead Rising game.

#### You Have To Smuggle Snacks Into A Movie Theater, But You’re Only Wearing A T-Shirt And Shorts And All The Employees Are Food Sniffing Dogs

A stealth game in which the player starts out with a poncho, JNCO jeans, and a small package of Red Vines, but must wear less clothing and carry more food as they progress through the levels. By level 23, the player must smuggle four Red Vines and a share size box of Skittles while wearing shorts and a T-shirt. The game steals both the Escalation contracts and the episodic release model from *Hitman* (2016), with historic theatres added bimonthly.