Hoo, boy howdy hello! Welcome to my new review of something cool. Since my last post here one can only imagine what two huge games have taken up all my time, and believe you me they will be written about later this year but I wanted to talk about this lil’ ol’ gem that fell in my lap.
It’s Blippo+! A new game developed by Telefantasy Studios,Noble Robot, and west coast dance-pop band YACHT where you watch TV from another planet. Originally developed for the Playdate (also on the switch, and Steam), you begin by firing up the game where you receive a transmission containing a packette of channels. You are then given a vaguely familiar UI of a TV channel guide, and several random channels. You select a station watch, and channel surf. The programs are all in live action and last a minute before going to the next one. Each channel has five programs on it and range from a variety of types of entertainment.
From alien Antiques Roadshow called “Let’s Tique” to the hip teen-led talk show “Boredome” (which is giving bit Out of the Box vibes), there are loads of live action made programming across this whole thing. As you watch the programs and learn about this different planet’s culture, you learn through the programs that they are slowing realizing that they are able to communicate to our planet through their television programming.
The game then becomes this amazing lens into a fictional alien culture showcased to us through their pop culture and entertainment. We learn about their culinary practices through “Snacks Come Alive!”, where an off screen host showcases step by step recipes of intergalactic food. We learn their history through a show called “Brain Drain” hosted by Dr. Ned Telson, where he interviews the brains of dead planet Blip citizens through a Futurama-esque looking invention.
The show also has these total avant-garde programming. Two of my favorites are “The Exquisite Telethon” and “Bushwalker.” The former is hosted by author Renzo Sixlove, as he improvises poetry and prose from suggestions phoned into him by callers. In the latter, you are given a first person perspective of scene straight out of a live-action looking bethesda game parody. Bare hairy arms are holding and axe in one hand and a knife in the other, as they walk through various stretches of wilderness.
The casting on this this is incredibly diverse, and I find the level of continuity they manage to uphold throughout multiple programs and packettes of content to be very impressive. While I would love to one day actually get my hands on a Playdate (Hey the holidays are just around the corner, people. Hint hint), I think you get a lot from the color and designs of the set on a regular screen.
The other huge aspect of Blippo+ is the Femtofax channel. It is a channel that operates different than the others, instead of watching minute long programing, you instead are given a video-forum space reminiscent of early internet. I’m not talking geocities early internet, I’m talking that stone age, MS-DOS, style internet. Through Femtofax, you get insights on Blippian culture via dating profiles, classified ads, and astronomy hobbyists.
The whole project really manages to pull at specific nostalgic strings in my heart. It feels like watching something from the 2000s that is longing for the 90s that is longing for the 80s. It really nails a feeling I have regarding pop culture and history, and that you can really get a sign of the times through any period of history through its art and recreation. Alien or not.
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