Hi, How Are You

September 28, 2009 7:49 PM

Hi, How Are You is a really fun iPhone game based on the music and art of Daniel Johnston. Imagine QBert crossed with Super Mario 64 and WarioWare Touched mixed together in a blender with Daniel Johnston, and you pretty much have it.
posted by DecemberBoy (27 comments total)

Also, this looks really cool.
posted by brundlefly at 8:00 PM on September 28, 2009

Well, most people probably haven't seen it before. ...
posted by carsonb at 8:01 PM on September 28, 2009

Here is actually a little more backstory on the game, mentioning that they are licensing the work from Johnston, which I didn't see mentioned anywhere on the game page itself (or the about section).

I think it's a pretty awesome integration of his music and art, even if I couldn't play it on my phone.
posted by mrzarquon at 8:02 PM on September 28, 2009

"Get the fuck off my lawn — which is under a bridge."
posted by chunking express at 8:03 PM on September 28, 2009

Will the app make me as sad as the movie did?
posted by pinky at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

You have to have an iPhone and you have to pay for the game. That five second demo looks cute and all, but this seems like a bit of a shit post.
posted by longsleeves at 8:11 PM on September 28, 2009 [3 favorites]

That is a really neat mix that I could never have visualized. Looks like it'd be fun, too. I wish they had an online version to play.
posted by Corduroy at 8:25 PM on September 28, 2009

Mod note: few comments removed - mayor curley if this is some sort of autoban via crappy comments thing you're doing today, just email me and I'll time you out, don't do it the slow way
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:42 PM on September 28, 2009

I feel like thanking Kurt Cobain for this.
posted by chaff at 8:44 PM on September 28, 2009

i'm impressed but i'd have made a version of JOUST that collects cigarette butts and pills and gets really fat once it eats acid and sees the butthole surfers
posted by Hammond Rye at 8:46 PM on September 28, 2009 [6 favorites]

Very, very, very cool.
posted by rokusan at 9:04 PM on September 28, 2009

Oh wow, Silverchair was like a really long time ago, weren't they?
posted by Eideteker at 9:38 PM on September 28, 2009

How funny, I just opened the envelope with my new Hi How Are You T-shirt in it! Yay!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:45 PM on September 28, 2009

DecemberBoy, I miss that little mural on the Drag, and I salute you for this post.
posted by hanoixan at 11:36 PM on September 28, 2009

Yeah, well all the cool kids are playing the Half Japanese iPhone game where you try to escape a locked bedroom. And then there's the Beat Happening game, which seems to be about trying to start a fire with wet wood.

Actually this looks like fun. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:45 AM on September 29, 2009

Is this something you'd have to have an iPhone to know about?

note to self: substitute "iPhone" for "TV" in all cliches from now on
posted by wendell at 1:29 AM on September 29, 2009

I'm not hip enough to know who Daniel Johnston is, but I am excited to play this game on the train today! Thanks, DecemberBoy!
posted by giraffe at 3:17 AM on September 29, 2009

Despite being inspired by an artist's work, it still manages to have a pretty bad case of coder colors!
posted by egypturnash at 5:27 AM on September 29, 2009

Isn't the "Hi How Are You" mural still on the Drag in Austin? I've only been in Austin for 6 years; is there more to it than the little alien? If not, yes, it is still there.
posted by Peter Petridish at 7:06 AM on September 29, 2009

>You have to have an iPhone and you have to pay for the game. That five second demo looks cute and all, but this seems like a bit of a shit post.

I'll remember that, the next time that anyone posts anything that I'd need stereo hearing to really appreciate.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:25 AM on September 29, 2009

Yeah, the mural's still there (that is, the "Hi, HOW ARE YOU" section). When Sound Exchange closed its doors about six or seven years ago, a crappy Mexican food chain moved into the space and was apparently planning to paint over it, but after a loud public outcry, they caved and painted over everything except his mural. Unfortunately, the winged eye creature, seen here, wasn't so lucky.

The restaurant folded after only a couple of years.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:43 AM on September 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, I generally can't stand the iPhone games that use the accelerometer for movement because 1) they usually require the iPhone to be flat at the start, which makes it hard to play lying down or even sitting, and 2) tilting the screen with any great significance makes it hard to keep your eyes focused on the screen properly or to see what's on the screen from an angle. Everyone thinks this accelerometer stuff is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I think it's terrible. Now, I downloaded this game, and I give the makers credit that you can calibrate the accelerometer to a sitting or lying down position that's comfortable to play. I hope this is a trend with game designers. The game was somewhat amusing to play, but I found the panning and zooming awkward and made it even harder to control.
posted by PigAlien at 11:13 AM on September 29, 2009

Oh, just to clarify, I think the accelerometer is awesome, just not great for controlling games, as such.
posted by PigAlien at 11:14 AM on September 29, 2009

Isn't the "Hi How Are You" mural still on the Drag in Austin? I've only been in Austin for 6 years; is there more to it than the little alien? If not, yes, it is still there.

Yup, I bet it is. But I'm not. :)
posted by hanoixan at 1:23 PM on September 29, 2009

Thanks for that pic, Atom Eyes. Brings back lots of fond memories of the old-school Drag, when it was still slightly seedy and not all ultra-commercialized like it is now. There was a time when you could walk up and down that 4 or 5 block stretch starting around where Hole In The Wall is and find anything you might be looking for, shall we say. Then they swept all the riffraff away and started building Urban Outfitters and Barnes & Noble and so forth. (sigh)
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:16 PM on September 29, 2009

I should clarify the above: it wasn't like there was whores and crack dealers on every corner, more like it was common to find someone offering "doses! doses!". That kind of seedy, like hippie seedy.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:19 PM on September 29, 2009

I think Rolando is the only game I like that uses the accelerometer for control. (And I think it's a success because you can only move characters left and right.) Everything else I've played is kind of a suck.
posted by chunking express at 2:30 PM on September 29, 2009