New Games |
- Some guy is Leon Kennedy in the next Resident Evil film
- Win $100 and meats in this Techno Kitten giveaway
- Chinese pirates help Unity expand
- Hey! Those aren't the Ninja Turtles!
- Review: The Binding of Isaac
- Find a Golden Buck for a shot at $50,000 from Activision
- Flash game Megamash is a lovely stew of retro-gaming
- Late to Rise: Rise to Nightmare digital comic released
- Review: Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
- Metroid Minimalistic shirt wants to latch onto you
- Weekend video game wallpapers: Bugs on a train
- Comments of the week: I've covered comments ya know
- Adventures of Shuggy dev talks development ups and downs
- Be part of Smithsonian's 'Art of Video Games' Credits
- Saints Row: The Third PC is NOT scheduled for delay
| Some guy is Leon Kennedy in the next Resident Evil film Posted: 02 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT I don't know how, but Paul W. S. Anderson still gets to make Resident Evil movies. I'm not complaining too much, because I must admit that those films are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Still, wow. Anyway, series star Milla Jovovich recently confirmed on Twitter the identity of Leon Kennedy's actor in the upcoming Resident Evil: Retribution. Has anyone ever heard of Johann Urb? I haven't, but according to Wikipedia, his first film role was in Zoolander. Promising start to a promising career, no? I guess he kinda looks like Leon, and I'm sure he'll do fine. Nevertheless, Brendan Fraser will always be Leon in my heart. Milla Jovovich's feed [Twitter] |
| Win $100 and meats in this Techno Kitten giveaway Posted: 02 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT [Update: Contest extended!] YES! You read that right! The awesome people behind Techno Kitten Adventure want to give you money and delicious meat products. DELICIOUS! MEAT! PRODUCTS! Don't know what Techno Kitten Adventure is? It's a runner-style game where a cat flies through levels to crazy techno music. You can get the game on the Xbox Live Indie Channel for 240 MS Points and free on iPhone and iPad devices. The game has received multiple updates, with the latest being the "Meat Pack" add-on content. We're picking three grand prize winners where each winner will receive:
To enter, we want you to submit a creative Techno Kitten Adventure "Meat Pack" inspired video over on the Techno Kitten Facebook page (make sure you Like the page!) There are no restrictions to what you do in the video, just remember it needs to related to Techno Kitten Adventure and meat in some way. We'll be looking for the best three submissions to give the prizes to. Really, anything goes so long as it's safe for work. Some ideas I came up with include dancing with your pet cat to loud techno music or eating meat while raving to loud techno music. The entire concept is open to your interpretation. You get the idea! Three second place winners will get a Plastic Kitteh sculpture, shirt and stickers. Three third place winners will receive a shirt and stickers. You have until October 9 at 11:59PM CDT to enter and contest is open to anyone with a US based address that the prizes can be shipped to. Good luck! |
| Chinese pirates help Unity expand Posted: 02 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT I can't imagine ever seeing a general consensus when it comes to software piracy. Consumers, developers, publishers and the media all approach the situation from different angles and have different motivations and investments in the software. Unity Technologies, developers of the Unity game engine and editor, have added some more gray to the piracy canvass. John Goodale believes that China's culture of piracy allowed his company to make waves in the East.
Despite not being a big player in the Asian markets, the four cities with the most Unity sessions per month are Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Nei Hu. By getting this foothold Unity was able to secure $12 million in funding to expand their operations in Asia in July. I'm always impressed when developers come across something that could be considered a major problem, yet turn it to their advantage. Major publishers like EA and Activision are more than happy to make their consumers' experiences less than satisfactory. They even attempt to cripple markets which allow less financially stable consumers to still experience their products, such as used games. By "going to war" with pirates they have made them even less likely to ever spend money on their new foes' products, while also harming their legitimate customers. I think it's safe to say we'd all rather see companies innovate in the face of piracy, rather than just attacking consumers. I doubt we'll see that from larger developers or publishers, but we are already seeing it with indie titles. No Time To Explain even got a special pirate themed edition for pirates to enjoy. Pirates are still potential customers, but they probably won't change their habits if being an actual consumer means having to put up with DRM or multiplayer passes. Piracy helped Unity's expansion into China [GamesIndustry.biz] |
| Hey! Those aren't the Ninja Turtles! Posted: 02 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT The game is called Ninja Turtles. The thumbnail is a picture of the Ninja Turtles. My friends, these are not the Ninja Turtles. Dear God. Some clown must have had five minutes to kill and decided to play a big joke on iOS users. By ripping backgrounds from Contra, effects from Metal Slug, and possibly other game assets, then incorporating the world's sh*ttiest MS Paint art, this punk has duped a number of unsuspecting iThing users into dropping five bucks, thinking they were getting a game about those loveable, pizza-noshing amphibians. Who would do... just... no. Just no. Worst part? This "game" has been available since August 18 and still hasn't been removed. Really great product evaluation there, Apple. Ninja Turtles by Namphuong Star [iTunes] |
| Posted: 02 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT If I weren't already so fond of game jams -- and rapid prototyping in general -- The Binding of Isaac likely would have pushed me into such fandom. It began life as a week-long project between Team Meat's Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl, eventually growing to what it is now, a twisted roguelike centered around religious themes and classic gaming influences. Given the unusual premise and genre itself, you might think that not everyone would be wholly receptive to this game. In my experience, though, people are coming in with an open mind and loving it. There are quite a few reasons why. The Binding of Isaac (PC [Reviewed], Mac) While The Binding of Isaac is indeed the story of a parent being asked to sacrifice their child in the name of faith, as the title would suggest, I don't see it offending players. There is a message about extremism in religion to take away, though it never really becomes preachy. The setup is a good one, and it provides the necessary context for a lot of interesting elements found in Isaac. Having escaped to the basement to avoid his mother's wrath, you play a crying, naked boy who has to fight off monstrosities (some of which are relatives) with his tears. Yeah, your starter weapon is projectile crying. So good. The basement itself is split up into a bunch of single rooms, with much of the world design similar to that of The Legend of Zelda's dungeons. In fact, the game is broken up into multiple floors, each with an end boss to conquer before you can further descend. Between the bombs, treasure chests, and even keys, long-time gamers are going to feel right at home with Isaac's conventions. Despite being a roguelike -- and as a result, having permanent death, randomization of items and levels, etc. -- this is very much an approachable game, even if it is at times immensely difficult. The mechanics are mostly straightfoward, and combat itself is familiar four-directional shooting. The WASD keys are used for movement, with shooting assigned to either the arrow keys or your mouse. You are restricted to up/down/left/right firing, but enemies are balanced accordingly, and attacking from an angle can be done if you shoot while walking a certain way. The controls aren't as tight as I would've liked, but you get used to them eventually. Note: there is no native gamepad support. Beyond your default attack, which can be upgraded through pick-ups to something other than tears, you can find one-time use items (pills and tarot cards), and you also have an equipment slot for items that recharge as you progress. Bombs, coins, keys, and hearts are also thrown into the mix. The end result, thanks to randomization and a wide assortment of potential collectibles, means playing The Binding of Isaac won't grow old anytime soon. Having played for more than ten hours myself, I'm still coming across previously unseen items and enemies on a regular basis. Perhaps one of the biggest selling points is the visual style. If you're at all familiar with Edmund's work prior to Super Meat Boy, you know what to expect. It's a wonderful blend of fleshy grossness and lighthearted, even sometimes cute, humor. (Disclaimer: I am totally into dark comedy.) Going back to the items you can collect -- stuff like dog food, a wire coat hanger, and syringes -- they are actually visually represented by changes to your character's appearance. And since these stat upgrades stack, your character usually ends up looking pretty ridiculous. Given the huge variety present in Isaac, not all playthroughs are going to be successful. This can be frustrating, but I feel like a reasonable amount of balance was reached given the variability. Even if you don't ultimately win, you're likely to come across enough new content to make the attempt worth doing; you lose your progress, but not your knowledge. That even goes for bosses, too -- there are around twenty in total, and almost all are satisfying to fight against. Major props must also be given for the excellent soundtrack, which I personally adore. It's by Danny Baranowsky, who previously collaborated with McMillen on Super Meat Boy and has made a name for himself by contributing to other great independent games. Chilling, catchy, and very fitting. The way in which content is accessed in Isaac is interesting. Beating the game unlocks additional levels, puts more items and bosses in the rotation, and probably something else I'm forgetting. Forgive me -- this stuff isn't exactly explained explicitly; it's a roguelike! All part of the fun. There are also multiple playable characters and endings. For those wondering why there are individual Steam achievements for reaching the full conclusion nine separate times, there's a reason. All told, The Binding of Isaac is a deceptively deep game. That it only costs $4.99 is nothing short of astounding. I don't see myself putting it down until I hit that magical 100% completion mark, which is hours and hours away at this point. This is one trip that I recommend to everyone open-minded enough to give it a chance. |
| Find a Golden Buck for a shot at $50,000 from Activision Posted: 02 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT
The Cabela's series has been going strong for many years now, creating such well-known titles as Cabela's Alaskan Adventure and Cabela's Outdoor Trivia Challenge. With the latest installment of its man vs. nature shooter, Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012, Activision is giving hunters a chance to win $50,000 for playing their game from September 27 to October 25. After registering the game with the code conveniently placed within each box, the player will have the opportunity to encounter the mystical "Golden Buck" throughout story mode. Once they find this strange creature of Activision myth and lore, they will then need to take a picture in front of their TV with said "Golden Buck" in all of its majestic glory. Players will then fill out an entry form and upload their picture, along with registration code to the Activision Hunts Facebook page. This series seems to be getting better, at least in terms of visuals and gameplay, and this contest is an interesting little incentive for seasonal hunters. That being said, when was the last time you had to take a picture of yourself in front of your TV? |
| Flash game Megamash is a lovely stew of retro-gaming Posted: 02 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT I'll be honest here, Flash games got me through high school. Without the constant presence of Newgrounds and Homestar Runner I very well may have failed before getting my hands on that diploma. That said, there's not a whole lot of variety in the sea of simple time wasters and imitations. That's what makes Nitrome's Megamash so exciting. Megamash takes 7 different retro-styled games and mixes them up into a series of 20 levels. The further you progress in the game, the more intermingled these game mechanics become. Starting from a Mario-esque platformer, you find yourself not-so-subtly dropped into a horizontal space shooter, a Tetris clone, and a few more. These mechanics meld and build off of one another to an impressive degree. Playing Tetris to build a set of stairs for the platforming sequence was pretty clever, albeit a bit simple. If you've got some time to kill, check out Megamash over here. |
| Late to Rise: Rise to Nightmare digital comic released Posted: 02 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT Almost a month after it's lukewarm release, Sega has just released a short comic based on the Kinect action-horror title Rise of Nightmares. Written by Al Ewing, who has worked on comics from the Judge Dredd series as well as the Hulk; and with artist Marc Olivent whose thick shadows and stylized inks give this comic a rough and grimy feel that plays well with the story. The comic tells the tale of Roland Childs, a private detective on his last case, recounting the details of what happened. Throughout Rise of Nightmares, the player will be able to find these tapes that serve to inform the player about the area, as well as to get some introspection into the battle Roland is facing to keep his sanity. You can download a copy directly from SEGA here. I think this comic serves as a good, but short teaser for the game; it's art and story were generally interesting and I would liked to learn more about this world. Now, why Sega decided to release it now, as opposed to August, where it could have generated some interest in the title, is anybody's guess. |
| Review: Solatorobo: Red the Hunter Posted: 02 Oct 2011 07:00 AM PDT I wish Solatorobo was an animated film instead of a game. Once you cut away the mind-numbing crate puzzles, monotonous combat, and maddening fetch quests, there is still a heart and soul to Solatorobo that keeps you from utterly hating it. Instead, you just kind of feel bad for it. You feel bad that it's part of a medium it seems to barely understand instead of a wonderful anime film. Porco Rosso's fantastical take on Europe and Cowboy Bebop's sky pirates are transparent influences on Solatorobo. Nevertheless, developer CyberConnect2 managed to build its own world that stands apart. Despite having a ten-year production cycle, Solatorobo is a rare case of an overproduced, underdeveloped game that is a treat to look at and an absolute chore to play. Cuddle your furry, because things are about to get ugly. Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS) In Solatorobo, you play as cunning dog Red flying around the world with his adopted sister Chocolat and his mech suit DAHAK. It looks similar to the mech suit from Tail Concerto, which Solatorobo is a spiritual successor to. You even get to see some of the characters from that buried PlayStation action-RPG. While Tail Concerto played like Mega Man Legends, Solatorobo feels more like a Zelda title. You know, without all the good stuff. Red is a hunter, which pretty much means he's a badass in a world of useless peasants. As he travels town-to-town in his sweet airship, peasants come up to him and ask him to kill evil, giant cockroaches or whatever. Like a chump, he goes and does it. Red is nice like that. He's the classic spunky adventurer. Likable enough to stick with throughout the game's 15 or so hour story, but not memorable enough to stick with you once the game is over. The combat is pretty binary -- you dodge or attack. To attack, you pummel an enemy until you can pick them up. Once they are in your robotic arms, you can throw them on the ground, then repeat up to three times for a maximum-damage combo. It's like spamming the "open door" button in God of War extended across an entire game, and it gets old pretty fast. It boggles my mind that CyberConnect2 takes more than 10 hours to introduce some new mechanics. Eventually, you gain access to a new suit that grants you some different abilities. With it, you can swing enemies, pound them into the ground for splash damage, or go into Trance mode to shoot projectiles. It doesn't fix the problem of dumb A.I. and boring enemy design, but at least it's something. It's just strange that these features don't come into play earlier. It's as if the game knows how shallow it is and holds onto whatever tricks it has in desperation. "No... please wait! You see'll... uh, you can, like, swing people in about five hours! It's totally worth it, dude! Please, stick around and play me! Plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay meeeeeeeeee!!!!!" After getting past the first three chapters, I felt insulted by Solatorobo's difficulty. I was dumbfounded that a developer would make a game this easy. Unless I'm mistaken, the box cover doesn't have infants on it. Does the game get harder? I had to know, so I did a quick Google search. It turns out I wasn't the only one wondering this -- European players had the same question months earlier, and they all received the same response of "Yeah, pretty much, I never died once." This is a problem. A good game lets a player's skill progress alongside the narrative. Both the player's skill and the game's story should have an arc. A great game pairs them together so tightly that you can feel the protagonist's struggle. As you left Ravenholm in Half-Life 2, you could almost feel Gordon Freeman's exasperated gasps for air coming out of you. If I ever felt remotely challenged while playing Solatorobo, it most likely had more to do with the Indian food I ate the night before. Solatorobo is a game about lifting things and throwing them. Okay, to be fair, sometimes you catch instead of lift, but this only happens on a rare occasion. It's practically mind-blowing when it does happen, because it usually follows an hour of mindlessly lifting crates and placing them on giant red buttons. Don't worry! If you are too stupid to figure that out, the characters will tell you. They will literally say, "This is a puzzle... this is what you have to do." IT'S NOT A PUZZLE IF YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!! You progress through the game by taking on quests that lead you into mini-dungeons full of mini-bosses and mini-puzzles. All of which are done with such little effort and creativity that you can't help but groan in apathy at the start of each, despite how visually different they may be. Whether it's a mining cavern or a large ship in the sky, you'll still need to slowly climb down a ladder to flip a switch and beat the boss by throwing its projectiles back at it. You'll occasionally come across some mini-games that are hit-and-miss. The fishing game is absolutely terrible. You have to press the A-button rapidly until it's over and it takes a lot longer than you'd like. However, the air-racing game is pretty great. You can even play it solo or with three friends, right from the main menu screen. Along with fighting enemies and picking up boxes, you'll also collect lots of stuff. It's not quite Donkey Kong 64 amounts of crap, but it will make the OCD-gamer happy in an exhausted/depressed way. You have pigs that unlock pieces of concept art (YES!), plates you can buy that give access to cutscenes (THANK GOD!), and pianos that give access to background tunes (*tears*). You also have P. Crystals -- you can tell these things are important because this is an RPG and they are called "crystals." While you can level up by gaining experience points, you can also decrease the time it takes to lift an enemy and increase the throwing damage you deal by customizing your mech. No, this isn’t Armored Core -- The only thing you'll be changing is what Tetris-shaped blocks will make up your mech's interior. Each of these blocks give bonus points to your mobility, defense, attack, or hydraulics (lifting ability). You use P. Crystals to open up more space for placing blocks, which you buy at vendors in town. I never bothered optimizing my mech, because you can get by just fine without doing so -- the game really is that easy! I chose to devote all my space towards attack and hydraulics so I could get battles over faster. Now that's what I call strategy! You are probably thinking, "Why are other critics giving Solatorobo such glowing reviews, then?" Don't worry, I've thought it over too. One thing I can't argue with is Solatorobo's lively, detailed world and graphics that manage to impress, despite being on a seven-year-old system. As gamers, we like to explore original worlds that feel believable and mysterious. It's something rare in the current age of military shooters and the diminishing popularity of big-budget JRPGs. I wish I could celebrate Solotorobo as a whole due to CyberConnect2's efforts in world-building, but to do that I would need to ignore the game itself. It's telling that the Japanese collector's edition of Solatorobo came with a 94-page art book. This is a game that was in pre-production for seven years and in development for three. The decisions behind the story and backdrops were as thought-out as a Studio Ghibli film, which brings me back to my main point: Why make Solatorobo a videogame? Everything about the dungeons and combat feel like excuses to show off what CyberConnect2 and players really care about: The game's world. Our trips to the different locales of Solatorobo are too brief to impact us. Each area feels like six-or-so gorgeous, connected backgrounds rather than a world you can believe in. The same can be said of the game's cast of characters and overall story as well. So as you can see, even this aspect CyberConnect2 couldn't get completely right. There are so many distractions and interruptions in the narrative and action that Solatorobo never manages to build momentum. There is a pointless, chatty dialogue sequence at the end of every hallway and an abrupt change of scenery at the end of every chapter. As an animated film, Solatorobo could cull those ten years of production into a memorable adventure. Why settle for this shallow, repetitive interactive adaptation? |
| Metroid Minimalistic shirt wants to latch onto you Posted: 02 Oct 2011 06:00 AM PDT Every Metroid needs a host to feed off of. As this is a minimalistic Metroid, it won't take too much of your energy away. Please, think of the Metroids. They need a good home. Baltazar "Fluffy Pancakes" Rosiles created our latest addition to the Destructoid store and goes out to all you Metroid fans. The Minimalistic Metroid shirt is currently up for pre-order and will be shipping soon. You can grab one for $18.95. For more shirts, check out Baltazar's other design (Two bears high-fiving) plus our other new designs like the Bison bison t-shirt and Four Bosses shirt.
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| Weekend video game wallpapers: Bugs on a train Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:45 AM PDT This weekend our giant video game wallpaper archive expands with new releases like Dead Island, Street Fighter X Tekken, World of Warplanes, Resistance 3, and some cool fan art from others like PayDay. Our massive archives also include sura's Wrath, Bastion, DrakenSang Online, Darksiders 2 (sick!), Magic The Gathering, World of Tanks, Infamous 2, Asphalt 3D, Hellbreed 2, Transformers, Hunted, and some classics like Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X2, Heavenly Sword, Ninja Gaiden, and Street Fighter. Our archives also include wallpapers from Uncharted 3, Dirt 3, Ridge Racer 3D, The Settlers Online, Homefront, Shogun 2, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Might and Magic Heroes, Motorstorm Apocalypse, Armored Core, and Duke Nukem. Our archive also includes Operation Flashpoint, Test Drive Unlimited, Splinter Cell, Shogun 2, Magicka, Homefront, a few others. Enjoy!
Want more or to upload yours? There's a Destructoid forum thread with high res video game wallpapers. Do it. A portion of this gallery was donated to us by the handsome people at Gamewallpapers.com, as well as some CG art by our friends at Flamy Frog Interactive. Hundreds more are available on their site, which also feature variants for dual-screen downloads. Want some Destructoid-flavored ones? Go steal them from Hamza. Which one did you choose this week?
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| Comments of the week: I've covered comments ya know Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT It's not business as usual in this town. [The comments were OUT OF CONTROL this week, so long blog is long. You have been warned.]
Aaron Mxy Yost: M47R1X: M47R1X: ZombiePlatypus: Polite Gentleman: M47R1X: ZombiePlatypus: ZombiePlatypus: Panzadolphin56: ZombiePlatypus: From There's a Puss In my Boot in my game From Europe getting Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360 bundle
Speaking of mature, respectful discussion...oh wait, no I'm not! This week's troll roll is dedicated to DNA619. See if you can read through these comments and guess which format he is most fond of: Re: ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection tops charts! I knew the depressed, dimwitted 360 bithces like Jimmyx would be on here crying. I'm honestly not surprised that Gears Of Bore got knocked off the top of the charts, it sold 3 million in it's first week and it was utter crap. So, given the drop - off rate would probably be about 99% I can see why Gears has slid right down into the bargain bin already. Re: Grown man attacks boy over Call of Duty: Black Ops I like how some idiots are trying to pass this off as an insult against England. If this guy was TRULY serious about getting revenge, wouldn't he have gone to the kids high school with a rifle and shot everyone? Isn't that how they resolve this type of thing in America? Re: Gears of War 3 is the hottest game on PS3! @ garethxxgod Re: David Cage: United States has problems with my games Why Americans are stupid: Re: GameStop: Consoles continue to be the 'gold standard' PC gaming is the kiddy market, always has been, always will be. Why do you think the big franchises like Call Of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed sell 90% of their copies on the consoles? Re: Sony's claims of good developer relations are 'laughable' I see a lot of whiny little 360 retards in here. I guess they must have gotten bored of Gears Of Bore 3 already. Re: PSN down for 'maintenance' for third time in four days @ Jimmyx - are you completely retarded? How is the PSN going down for maintenance going to convince gamers to buy multiplatform games for a POS console with overpriced online, terrible graphics, a wonky controller and buggy hardware??? Re: GameStop: Consoles continue to be the 'gold standard' @ sewerracoon Re: Gears of War 3 sells 3 million copies in first week In all seriousness though. Gears 3 has sold 3 million copies so that takes the total 360 exclusive game sales for 2011 to a whopping...3 million. LOL, pathetic. It's taken the last - gen 360 10 months to do something that the PS3 did in 3 months, no surprises there. Re: David Cage: United States has problems with my games @ Jimmyx Re: Europe getting Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360 bundle @ Jimmyx - a weak response after I just tore through your entire debate. Re: PC vs Console Gaming infographic: PC is making a comeback LOl, I see the unwashed masses of the PC nerd race are here once again desperately clinging to falsefied graph charts to try and convince themselves that they haven't just put together a $5000 paperweight. Re: PC vs Console Gaming infographic: PC is making a comeback @ TheNephilym - take a look at the past 3 GOTY winners. GTA: IV - came to PC long after consoles. Uncharted 2 - not on PC and never will be. Red Dead Redemption - coming to PC LONG after consoles. There's other huge games that come to PC long after the consoles as well, such as Assassin's Creed, L.A. Noire and Batman: Arkham City. Final Fantasy doesn't appear on the PC at all except for the MMO's. And that's not even counting a huge number of excluives such as God Of War, Demon's Souls, Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Yakuza, etc. I think it's apt to end the roll on "You just want to flame people. Get a life." hey physician; fancy having a go healing thyself? I'm sure a lot of people are asking who would win in a fight out of jimmyx and DNA619; I've come to the conclusion that jimmyx and DNA619 are one schizophrenic man. The fight would go similarly to the scene near the end of Fight Club where Tyler Durden fights himself. And now, some final words from BlackMeat, who got himself banned. Here was his tamer material [thanks to mrandydixon for holding on to this]:
There's a helicopter coming... three days from now, it's my ride. I have a feeling you'll show up again next week. |
| Adventures of Shuggy dev talks development ups and downs Posted: 02 Oct 2011 04:00 AM PDT The Adventures of Shuggy, released to the wilds of Xbox Live Arcade this past summer, was fairly well received. Our own Jordan Devore praised it, specifically noting the sheer amount of content, variety, and co-op. Yet it didn't perform well, even by XBLA standards. This could be due to any number of factors, but developer David Johnston (of Smudged Cat Games) has shared his thoughts on the game's development successes and failures. To the positive, Johnston is proud of a handful of achievements. The overall process of creating a multitude of game mechanics (including his signature time traveling) then systematically whittling down what doesn't quite work is something that went quite well. Rather than stick with his initial Wario Ware approach, he opted for a more focused game after noticing that some things were just more fun than others. The level structure with a choice of what level to take on next rather than follow a set progression, is generally a high-point in Shuggy talk. While the development proper went fairly well, though long and arduous, Johnston feels the issues lie primarily with the publisher. He blames himself for trying to do too much at once, but the impact of delays and marketing choices is clear. Over the title's 4 year development, Shuggy's publishing fate was left to the hands of those who didn't share Johnston's connection to the project. In the beginning, he'd hoped to earn a top spot in Microsoft's Dream Build Play competition. Failing that, a deal was struck with Sierra. Sierra was thinned out, and Shuggy was dropped, after Vivendi was purchased by Activision. Eventually Valcon games signed on and provided the funding to complete the project. Throughout this, it seems decisions were made that did little to help the game. One obvious issue is in Shuggy's marketing. Primarily, there was none. No one knew the game existed short of word-of-mouth. While Johnston concedes that the target audience was missed due to a disconnect between gameplay and visual design, a portion of fault also lies with the physical marketing, or lack there of.
Also hampered by Shuggy's publisher roulette, was the trial. Under Sierra, Johnston believes that the title had eventually been given an acceptable demo that would have been successful in driving sales. After jumping to Valcon, however, that trial was swapped for the one now live in the Marketplace. This isn't an altogether unique tale; horror stories of developer/publisher relationships are all-too-common in this industry. That doesn't stop this one from being so disheartening. A game that is so widely praised, hampered by development and production difficulties. It's a bit of a long read, but Johnston's full write-up is well worth it. Postmortem: Smudged Cat Games' The Adventures Of Shuggy [Gamasutra] |
| Be part of Smithsonian's 'Art of Video Games' Credits Posted: 02 Oct 2011 03:00 AM PDT The Smithsonian is gearing up for their "Art of Video Games" exhibit which will feature images, concept art, sketches, and footage from 80 games. The games have been judged and voted, the art has been chosen, and all that's left is solidifying donors for the exhibit before its grand opening on March 16th next year. For the low price of $10 you can put yourself (or a silly name) in the exhibit's credits, which will appear both online and in the museum. But get this: the more you donate, the bigger your name will appear. In addition, every month a random winner will be chosen from the list of donors to receive a ThinkGeek gift until the exhibit ends in September 2012. Neat, huh? As of yet there hasn't been a group donation. However, it looks like there are a few interesting names to be seen on the wall. I'm actually a bit surprised nobody's donated in the name of Cave Johnson yet. "For many of you, I realized $60 is an unprecedented windfall, so don't go spending it all on, I don't know - Caroline, what do these people buy? Tattered hats? Beard dirt?" |
| Saints Row: The Third PC is NOT scheduled for delay Posted: 01 Oct 2011 04:30 PM PDT On September the 30th, THQ and Volition confirmed that the PC version of Saints Row: The Third is scheduled to release when they said it would. It's wonderful to hear that even PC enthusiasts will not have to wait any longer than promised to get their hands on what looks to be a magical package of wonder, fun, and kicks to the crotch. Other people's crotches obviously. The PC version of Saints Row 2 was a horribly optimized port of the amazingly fun console version, and I would personally rather see a delay for a much smoother PC release. Hopefully, the fact that the PC version of The Third is being developed in-house at Volition means history won't repeat itself, and it's also a good sign that it'll be powered by Steam. The game is still slated for November 15th, exactly as promised. Full details about the PC version will be available in the near future on the official website, including recommended specifications and yet unnamed PC-only features. |
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