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Indie game developer James Silva ’05 G’07 keeps them talking
(posted June 16, 2011)
What’s more in these days? Vampires or Geeks? While that can be debated, SUNYIT’s own James Silva '05 G'07 must be super-cool with both bases covered. The indie game developer has industry tongues wagging again with this latest major release The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile for Xbox 360.
While Silva would be known in the corporate world as the founder and principal of his small company, his Ska Studios (www.ska-studios.com) title is Lead Dishwasher. Part of his journey is revealed in an April 2011 interview with Silva posted at g2unit.com and in About James “Jamezila” Silva on his website. From the way Silva runs his business, to how he creates his games – using his enviable and expansive skill set – he has drawn the attention of many throughout the industry, not to mention gamers themselves.
Read the Vampire Smile reviews below to see what all the buzz is about!
joystiq.com - The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile review: Fangs a lot
4.5 out of 5 stars: “The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is the sequel to James Silva's 2008 indie XBLA hit The Dishwasher:Dead Samurai. Silva's story is well known among the independent development community: In 2007, the then-unknown developer (and former dishwasher) won Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play XNA competition and used the $10,000 in prize money to single-handedly release Dead Samurai, which went on to gain a cult following and critical acclaim. …
“I could go on. I mean, one enemy appears to be a shark-head sewn atop a pair of giant robot legs; it lumbers about like an AT-ST and shoots rockets. Rockets! But at the risk of going further over my word count than I already have, I'll just say that The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is a brilliantly executed, whirling dervish of a game that all but demands to be ripped open and played to death. Grab your kitty-cat, gas up your chainsaw-arm and sharpen your blades. It's gonna be a bloodbath.” View full review
gamepro.com - Review: The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
4.5 out of 5 stars: “Aside from being a blast to play, Vampire Smile is a stylish game, sticking primarily to a 'black and white with red all over' color scheme. Finishing moves are spectacularly violent and pack a lot of oomph as the screen fills up with blood. …” View full review
pastemagazine.com - The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Review (XBLA)
Paste Rating - 9.1 phenomenal: “… Are you serious, I thought; or maybe my question was, how serious are you: barefoot cyborg ninja girl cutting through an army of psycho zombie killers, men in black, and pale torsos riding cybernetic goat legs? After a playthrough and a half, I'm still not sure I have the details straight. But details are beside the point, because Vampire Smile simply wants to generate an atmosphere like the following combination of words: psycho robot bleeding rotten shank bag artillery kitten vicious gunning undead capitalistic shadow insanity devil screaming telekinetic furious bleeding lizard mutilation teeth. It's a thick undifferentiated pulp churning out blue sparks and bone gristle. …
“But Vampire Smile also shows that I had Silva all wrong. First, he is not that serious. He is, after all, the man who made I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, the psychedelic zombie-shooter satire that rightfully perches atop the Xbox Live Indie Games charts. Caught in the guts and surgical tubing of Vampire Smile are scraps of wit and wry meta-commentary, meaning this deviant artist is human after all.” View full review
thegamerbuzz.com - The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Review
9.5 out of 10 stars: “Ska Studios certainly knows how to deliver an action-packed side-scroller. With intense beat-em-up action and a superb soundtrack, Vampire Smile is a treat to play. There’s no doubt that this game is gory and has earned its M rating, and it makes no attempts to hide this. Vampire Smile is a game that knows exactly what it is meant to do and it does it extremely well.” View full review
g2unit.com - The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile - Interview with James Silva
“If you like comics art, hardcore action and gore, and if you own an Xbox 360, then you've most probably tried already The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai which would have fulfilled most of your needs! Its artistic quality and amazing arcade gameplay has made it one of the most popular games on XBLA and put one name in the hall of fame: James Silva. When B0blemoch from xboxlive.fr invited me for a common interview of the ‘lead dishwasher,’ I sure jumped in! …” View full 2011 interview with James Silva ’05 G’07
craveonline.com - Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Review
“This vampire is smiling because this sequel is a well-refined gaming delight. … The gameplay is noticeably more fluid, clean, and, simply devastating. When I kill an enemy it’s a visceral experience. There’s tons of fluid spraying all about, sparks shoot about, and body part bounce around with flair. Instead of just abandoning his work from the first game, Silva has advanced on his previous work and gives the gamer everything he can desire.” View full review
vampires.com - Now Available on Xbox 360 ‘The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile’
“There’s a new Xbox Live Arcade game out that’s making headlines on nearly every gamer site out there… . I don’t have a 360 … but according to all of the amazing reviews this game is packed full of robots, vampires, zombies, gratuitous violence and blood, lots and lots of blood. Badass!” View full article
Links to the official James Silva ’05 G’07 website: Ska Studios
Music from the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade game The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
View 14-track list for download
Ska Studios
www.ska-studios.com
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View other SUNYIT Alumni profiles at www.sunyit.edu/alumni/profiles