Independent developer Other Ocean Interactive’s ID@Xbox sports platformer #IDARB (It Draws A Red Box), the original E3 2104 trailer for which you can watch above, will support Kinect 2 with QR codes for custom characters. Players can create custom characters in-game or on #IDARB’s website which generate QR codes to share with friends that can be printed out and scanned with Kinect 2 in order to import them into #IDARB. You can create the characters online here: http://idarb.com

Here’s more info about #IDARB’s QR codes in an excerpt from website Cool Hunting’s interview with Mike Mika, Other Ocean Interactive’s Head of Development, along with a screenshot of the in-game QR character creator and a QR code for Vivian James, the #GamerGate mascot, that I created using the online creator which you can download and print out to scan with Kinect 2:

 

In the game, there are two teams each with customizable characters. How are players able to create their own characters?

Early on, they were just colored boxes. Jeff Nachbaur, Executive Producer and Glen McKnight, Senior Designer, offered to make some characters. So I gave them the criteria, “Make them 8×16. Just super-pixelated right now until we decide what we’re going to do.” And so they started making lots characters. They were having such a good time making these characters, we thought it’d be nice to put in an editor to let other people do it as well.

And while we were doing that, we were trying to figure out what we would use the Xbox One Kinect for. Since our characters are so small, 8×16, we thought they could probably be converted to a QR code, which would be shareable with friends and we could print them at GDC and have people try it out. In a matter of two days, we implemented the QR code generator, the character creator, and, even by the end of it, we decided to put the character creator on the website as well. This idea sparked on a Thursday. By Monday, we had people showing up at GDC with home printed versions of their QR code to try out their characters. We knew we were on to something pretty big at that point.

Now we’ve got hundreds of characters on the website. The character creator has become one of the most appealing aspects for the fans of #IDARB. They keep cranking out these characters and it’s amazing to watch. We’ve seen people online go from beginner artists to really accomplished pixel artists in the span of two months.

 

 

#IDARB In-Game QR Character Creator

#IDARB-QR-character-creator_624x338(Click on pic for larger & less compressed image.)

 

Vivian James QR Code

#IDARB-Vivian-James-GamerGate-mascot-QR_624x468(Left-click on pic for larger & less compressed image, or right-click on pic and select “Save Link As” to download it for printing out the QR code.)

 

#IDARB Available For FREE In February’s “Games With Gold”!

If you’re looking forward to #IDARB then I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that it will be available to download for free for all Xbox Live Gold members in February as it’s part of next month’s Games With Gold promotion! Here’s the announcement trailer which spoofs the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, along with the press release and #IDARB’s fact sheet with more info:

 

 

Indie Esport Darling #IDARB Launches This February

Highly Anticipated 8-Player Competitive Couch Game To Be Free For Xbox Live Gold Members

(Emeryville, CA) – December 11th, 2014 – Fans of Other Ocean Interactive’s upcoming crowd-designed, 8-player platform esport #IDARB can download the game for free when it debuts next year…or two months early, if they’re lucky.

Throughout February, Xbox One owners with Xbox Live Gold accounts will be able to download the highly anticipated game free of charge, as part of Microsoft’s Games with Gold program. But in an unprecedented move, Other Ocean is enabling a select group of fans to download the final game two months early.

“#IDARB’s development team is more than just us in the studio – it’s the thousands of fans that made character sprites on IDARB.com, gave us feedback at shows, and contributed just about every game design decision in the game by tweeting their ideas at us,” said Mike Mika, Head of Development for Other Ocean. “It might sound kind of strange to give the game away for free two months before it officially comes out, but that’s in line with how #IDARB was built from day one.”

Some of the game’s most vocal fans have already been given free download codes, but even more will be given out through the @IDARBGame Twitter account, on IDARB.com, and through live video streams on the IDARBGame Twitch channel.

#IDARB is a competitive game for up to eight players that combines classic 2D platformer mechanics with hockey and basketball rules. Players can draw their own characters in a charming 8-bit pixel style, build their own teams, compose their own fight songs, and compete with other players either in the same room or over the internet.

In a nod to real arena sports, #IDARB is the first video game where fans spectating a session can disrupt the players, in real time, using either Twitch or Twitter. Spectators can turn the ball into a bomb, spawn fireworks, fill the screen with water, and more.

“We’re big fans of #IDARB and we’re stoked Other Ocean is previewing the game early for fans,” said Chris Charla, director of ID@Xbox. “We’re excited to bring it to Xbox One free to everyone with Xbox Live Gold in February.”

 

About #IDARB

Visit the website: http://www.idarb.com

Follow us on Twitter: @IDARBGame

Watch us on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/idarbgame

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IDARBgame

 

About Other Ocean Interactive

Other Ocean is an independently operated development studio and maker of highly-entertaining games for console, mobile and digital platforms. Founded in 2006 with a focus on developing humorous original titles (Duty Calls, Dark Void Zero, NBA Rush) and franchise products (Super Monkey Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Mortal Kombat), Other Ocean’s games always put the player first. The company has development offices in Emeryville, CA, and St. John’s, Newfoundland and a quality assurance group (Sculpin QA) located on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

For more information about Other Ocean visit: http://www.otherocean.com

 

 

#IDARB
Fact Sheet

Overview/Summary/Positioning:

#IDARB is a crowd-sourced, couch competitive multiplayer eSport game for up to 8 players at the same time! Players take control of custom 2D sprites as they jump, dash, pulse, and throw, trying to out-score each other in a game that combines traditional 2D platform games with hockey, basketball, rocket packs, and pixel art.

 

Key Features:

  • Up to 8 players on one console! I mean, wow, who even has 8 controllers??
  • A robust character editor limited only by your imagination (and what you can draw in an 8×16 pixel sprite)! Create your character, take its QR code with you, and scan it into Kinect to use it in a game.
  • The first game designed by Twitter! Every feature in this game was suggested by fans. And somehow, it all works.
  • Introducing the HASH BOMB! Spectators watching an #IDARB game can tweet a special hashtag to affect the game live, often with hilarious results: turning off the lights, changing character sprites, and destroying all of the arena’s platforms are just the start.
  • Beware the HASH CLOWNS.

 

 

Screenshots

 

Source: Cool Hunting, The Official Xbox YouTube Channel, #IDARB website
Thanks to 123KINECT visitor range is good (@opticon9) for submitting this news!