Double Indie based updates right here, right now!

In the first half of tonights update I bring word of the ‘FM Update’ for AudioSurf. This mega update brings along last.fm audioscrobbling (Doug Lombardi’s word not mine!) the ability to use AudioSurf as a music visualizer, scoreboard comments along with loads and loads of other stuff!

In a mix of AudioSurf and World of Goo updates I bring word that Kyle Gabler, one of the men behind World of Goo has had his music thrown onto AudioSurf radio. Years ago Kyle made some techno music which has just been unleashed on the world via the AudioSurf radio.

More World of Goo and AudioSurf stuff after the jump.

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Dark Rock Games is a Welsh based game studio set up by Adam Griffiths. Dark Rock is a studio that is both making their own casual games, and outsourcing for other projects.

Adam went to the University of Wales Newport and completed a games design course along with a group of friends. After completing his course Adam was faced with a choice of what to do, he had the possibility to get a job in England and commute, move to England or to take the choice he did, set up his own game studio.

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The East Carolina University has very recently published their findings into a 6-month randomized study into casual gaming. PopCap games such as Bejeweled 2 and Peggle were used in the study.

The study revealed that Bejeweled 2 reduced stress levels by 54% compared to that of the control group. Peggle and Bookworm Adventures did not actively reduce stress levels, but did have a positive impact of other mood aspects of those people involved in the study.

The full press release from PopCap can be read after the jump. The results of the study are very interesting as it reveals that casual games are very benficial in reducing stress levels and in helping the gamer get in a better mood.

Perhaps it is these psychological benefits that are a reason behind the ever expanding numbers of casual gamers? It is very possible in my mind.

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TypeRacer is a superbly designed online word racing game following in the likes of Typing of the Dead. You get thrown a quote from a piece of pop culture, be it a film or a song and have to type what you see as fast as possible to win the race.

Sadly I am only getting around 50 wpm while those RPS guys are getting stuff in the 90 wpm range!

Check it out here for some quick painless fun.

So while TrackMania Nations/United Forever have just been released they have now both been made available on Steam!

As to be expected Nations is free while United clocks in at $39.95 and both include the free ‘Forever’ expansion. If you already own a copy of TrackMania United on Steam then the game will automatically update for you with ‘United Forever’ for free!

TrackMania Nations Forever offers a new version of the Stadium environment, a complete solo mode, and 65 new tracks. TrackMania Nations Forever promises to unite an even larger number of players than its very successful predecessor thanks to engaging new multiplayer modes, online functions, and — for the first time - allowing players of the free versions to play online with players from the retail version of TrackMania United.

More information on Steam news.

TrackMania Nations Forever has now been released by Nadeo. This is the free sequel to TrackMania Nations and features a new ‘Forever’ Stadium envrionment, a complete solo mode and 65 brand new tracks!

Also offered is the chance for owners of TrackMania United to play with people on TrackMania Nations Forever with a new patch for the purchasable game.

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Just been in touch with Ron Carmel from 2D Boy regarding the latest World of Goo trailer and he had some interesting tid-bits to pass along.

The trailers were all taken from the PC version, and that is exactly how it will look on the Wii too
Development should be finished around July but release depends on Nintendo’s schedule.

Ron also had this to say regarding the big ‘Mrs Goo Balls’ from the new trailer.

One new kind of ball you saw in the video is the Beauty Ball. That’s the huge pink one. Beauty balls get processed into Beauty Product ™ which can get sucked out through the pipe. Thus, some of the levels in chapter 2 are solved in two “stages”… first you process the beauty ball, then you suck out the beauty product. Rumor has it that the World of Goo Corporation uses raw Beauty Product ™ to make facial exfoliating lotions and personal lubricants.

All very intriguing, two “stages” to a level, beauty balls, Beauty Product ™…wow this is all so great!

Remember to keep your eyes peeled on 2D Boy for all the latest regarding World of Goo!

Two new videos for the amazing looking World of Goo have been released from 2D Boy’s day at a Nintendo WiiWare Festival. If these don’t get you excited for this game I don’t know what will, because you must be a very sad person not to fall in love with this game!

While the first movie is good, the second one below the jump is even better! As these were taken from the WiiWare Festival I assume they are of the Wii version, hopefully I can get some confirmation on that soon.

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You Have To Burn The Rope!

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I have just stumbled across ‘The Glass Bead Network’ following an email from the web hosts for this site. They mentioned that one of their employees had been working on this, so I decided to check it out.

This really is an intriguing online gaming network with the games themselves based on ‘beads’; things which represent many things all across the world. The goal in any game is to indentify the links between the different beads that are put into play, and by doing so remove all your beads from you panel.

It presents some interesting challenges when you are trying to find a link between two beads, in my first game I had to find a link between the bead acres and the Taj Mahal. A quick bit of Wiki hunting found me my prize. During construction of the Taj Mahal three acres of land were cleared.

In this way The Glass Bean Network provides an impressive educational aspect by making the players find links between different beads furthering their knowledge of many different things.

Depending on the size of the boar being played on, number of players and a variety of different settings games promise to take anything from ten minutes to longer sessions. This really is an intriguing, interesting and exciting concept and I really look forward to it taking off in a big way.

Find out more about The Glass Bead Network here.

Thanks to TheFunny and jvanguardia for helping out in my first game ;)