Every week, GameSetWatch rounds up the top-grossing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad applications, as current that day in the iTunes App Store. This week's U.S. revenue charts see Top Girl and Tap Pet Hotel earning top iPhone sales, while Real Racing 2 and Army of Darkness Defense emerge as big sellers on the iPad.

These charts allow end users to see who is making the most money on the App Store that day. It differs significantly from the Top 10 Games chart, which is ranked by sales, and therefore is dominated by lower-priced titles that sell more copies.

Data comes courtesy of Apple's public sales information. All titles in the App Store's "Games" category are considered in chart rankings.

This week's top-grossing iPhone titles are:

1. Tap Pet Hotel (Free)
2. Top Girl (Free)
3. Zynga Poker (Free)
4. Tap Zoo (Free)
5. Angry Birds ($0.99)
6. Texas Poker (Free)
7. Hanging With Friends ($1.99)
8. Smurfs' Village (Free)
9. Words With Friends ($2.99)
10. Infinity Blade ($2.99)

Pocket Gems' Tap Pet Hotel leads the iPhone's top-grossing app charts for the second week in a row, but faces new competition from Crowdstar's microtransaction-supported sim title Top Girl.

Zynga Poker and Tap Zoo also remain top earners, while Newtoy's Words With Friends sequel Hanging With Friends falls to seventh place after premiering at fourth last week.

Here are this week’s top-grossing iPad applications:

1. Smurfs' Village (Free)
2. Angry Birds HD ($4.99)
3. Tap Zoo (Free)
4. Angry Birds Rio HD ($2.99)
5. Texas Poker HD (Free)
6. We Rule Deluxe for iPad (Free)
7. Infinity Blade ($5.99)
8. Real Racing 2 HD ($9.99)
9. Army of Darkness Defense HD (Free)
10. Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99)

Capcom's Smurfs' Village and Rovio's Angry Birds HD once again rank as the iPad's highest-grossing games, with Tap Zoo trailing at third place.

Firemint's Real Racing 2 HD returns to the charts at eighth place, meanwhile, as Halfbrick's Army of Darkness Defense HD sees a significant increase in revenue since adopting a free-to-play model.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Somehow, someway, a few "for developers only" test carts for the DS fell into the hands of YouTube user X0LiftedUp0X. Attempts to destroy them before being discarded are evident, but he was able to repair one and provide everyone a demo.

The purpose of the Nitro EVAL Version 1.0 cart is to run diagnostic tests for every nook and cranny of the hardware (the name Nitro by the way stems from the system’s original codename). The self-checker that we witness is loads of fun, as if it's triggering some kind of acid trip-triggered flashback for the handheld. Plus the button test somewhat resembles a totally abstract activity from some mini \-game collection.

It was recently put on eBay, where it fetched $330. Not bad at all. Oh, so the dude also got his hands on some kind of program that checks software for the GameCube. It's presumably used for game resellers to check if a used game is in working condition, though its slow operational speed somewhat kills that theory:

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the true classics in annals of video game related cinema, 1983's WarGames, is being remade for today's audience. The original concerns a computer wiz kid who infiltrates a video game company's network to play their games before anyone else gets the chance, or so he believes that’s what is happening. Turns out that it's actually a military supercomputer that the U.S. uses to keep on the enemy and ensure global piece, with his fun and games almost causing the entire world to go up in one gigantic mushroom cloud.

Little is know about the reboot, other than it's a safe bet that all the recent headlines that hackers of today have been making find their way in, especially given their connection to the world of electronic entertainment. Plus how video games as the basis of simulations for very real world situations is practically the norm. Though one thing is definite: it's to be directed by Seth Gordon, whose most successful work to date is King of Kong (which I believe to be the best video game documentary around, at the time of its release at least).

After King of Kong, Gordon helmed a Hollywood comedy, Four Christmases, which was a total bomb. His latest comes out in two weeks, Horrible Bosses, which looks okay by pedestrian Hollywood comedic standards. So it might be for the best to have him return to something he's proven himself with; video games and the people that are caught in the middle. Besides, Gordon has also demonstrated an affinity for hacking; not long ago he directed a series of mini documentaries that center on the struggle that internet security experts face.

[via Deadline]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fans of retro-style shoot'em ups and/or "caravan games" that challenge you to rack up a high score within a 2/5-minute time limit, Japanese doujin developer NightStrikers has just released a trial version of Caravan Star that you can download to your PCs.

Caravan Star is a little different from your typical caravan games, in that you start off with a decent arsenal (instead of having to work with dinky weapons for a spell), and the game autofires.

If you played the original Caravan Star and are wondering how this differs from the first game, NightStrikers says that while Caravan Star I was more like Star Soldier, while this new game is more like Star Parodier. Oh man, I love Star Parodier!

You can download Caravan Star I and II from NightStrikers' site now -- just click on "Download My Games" at the top left, and grab the files marked "CS".

[Via mjclark]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gene Yang (American Born Chinese) and artist Thien Pham, fresh off their collaboration on Level Up, have put together a series of 10 comics called Legends of the Joystick, which imagines "the greatest video game stars of yesteryear look[ing] back on their heyday".

The humorous strips include Pong's paddles remembering their glory years, BurgerTime's Peter Pepper realizing his station in life, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man clearing up rumors, and the trauma of watching Human Centipede (above). See them all here!

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continuity 2, the sequel to Ragtime Games' 2010 IGF Student Showcase winning puzzle platformer, is now on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad with an initial pricing of $0.99 (not sure when or by how much that will go up).

This follow-up once again has you sliding and re-arranging rooms to find the correct path, collect keys, and move on to the next stage. It's a platformer mixed with a sliding puzzle, which works out much better than you'd expect.

Continuity 2 includes new stages and adds fresh game mechanics, like gates and levers -- as you'll see in the video above, which looks like it's from an early stage (1-4), this new element opens up some really clever puzzles!

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's an odd one for you -- the German USK rating board has rated a new game for the Xbox 360 -- Double Dragon II - Wander of the Dragons.

The publisher is said to be Barunson Creative Co Ltd, a Korean developer usually known for Korean MMOs, so it's a little interesting to see them making a Beat-Em-Up. It's also interesting that it's called Double Dragon II, as there already exists a second game, but with a different subtitle: The Revenge., which signifies that this game might be entirely new.

Posted by Ryan Langley at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frank Cifaldi is Insert Credit's MVP. Or at the very least, the dude has a killer classic game mag stash (no offense to our own Kevin Gifford).

When word began to circulate of Insert Credit's long-awaited return, many wondered how it would fit in the world of game news reporting circa 2011. Even Brandon noted in his we're back post that various outlets, likes Siliconera and Andriasang, have stepped up and followed IC’s lead, especially during it’s hiatus.

Hence why it was made clear that things would be a little different from this point forward. Which is cool and all; change is good and often necessary. Yet it's still nice to see Frank Cifaldi's posts retain that good old IC feel, like him just posting a pic of Anthrax from an old issue of Nintendo Power for the hell of it. He also recently passed along scans of a very early version of Sonic 1.

Hey Frank, if you're reading this: I've been looking for ages for screenshots from an early, work in progress build of Mega Man X that featured a bright, blue afternoon sky, as opposed to the evening cityscape that the final game ended up kicking things off with. Would be nice to see them again after all these years. Thanks in advance!

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What better day to share the clip above, part of DKWAN, aka Daniel Kwan's Freestyle Friday series, since it's Friday and all.

So, what prompted the Bay Area based dancer to flex his skills to one of the final, most soulfully stirring songs from the SNES JRPG classic? Simple: "I played a lot of video games growing up, and never had I loved any RPG as much as Chrono Trigger." Good enough for me.

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The man responsible for Rez, Space Channel 5, and most recently Child of Eden, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, was asked what his three favorite games are, as part of ComputerAndVideoGames' Game Changers column. The answers given, not surprising, are not what you'd think.

The first title, Pong, was Miz's very first taste of interactive electronic entertainment, and a totally appropriate choice for such a role, especially since it's the ultimate example of how far video games have gone (which he even notes himself). Game number two is the obligatory shmup; there's always a good chance for at least one in every notable Japanese game designers' list of influences. This time around it's Xenon 2 Megablast for the Amiga. Which is still regarded for its lush techno/organic visuals, hip hop inspired soundtrack, and ability to step back a few paces, which is still practically unheard of for in any and all vertical shooters today.

Miz's final favorite is not a racing game as I had expected (note: I was a Mizuguchi fanboy well before Rez, with my love affair kicking off with Sega Rally Championship and Sega Touring Car). Instead it's a dating sim for the Famicom Disk System called Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School, which starred an idol from the '80s and was by Hironobu Sakaguchi, otherwise known as the creator of Final Fantasy. Instead of explaining why this particular example is any better than the countless others that populate the genre, we are instead treated to the following anecdote...

"She wants to introduce a friend to you in the game, but I refused. Then she started getting angry and there's some sound effect like a smack noise and the visuals get darker. Then numbers started appearing on the screen and I was like, 'Hmm?'

I put the number into my phone and called and a real girl answered! She said she was sorry about the argument and she wanted to see me the next day, at this place in the game at 4 pm.

Turning the game back on I went there and she was there!"

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Director Eddie Lebron, who helmed a Mega Man fan flick that received quite a bit of attention during its time, has a new project on his plate. It's a Sonic The Hedgehog fan flick, which has been in production since late last year, but at last we're getting our first look at the project.

The short will ambitiously attempt to "implement various elements of the Sonic mythology ranging from the cartoons, comics, and most importantly, the video games." The director has also stated that most of the action and story will be based upon the first three Genesis games. The film itself is live-action, with Sonic being a fully rendered CGI character, and the key selling point being the voice behind the hedgehog. Jaleel White will once again be assuming the role, as he's done so already for so many different occasions.

I suppose White must be elated to essentially be another Peter Cullen of sorts, aka the man who's synonymous with the role everyone primarily knows him by, that being the Autobot leader Optimus Prime. And much like the Prime we saw in the Michael Bay Transformers flick, I expect a similarly bizarre and potentially awkward mishmash in this new Sonic flick. Given how White has portrayed Sonic as a happy go lucky dude that's obsessed with chili dogs, the leader of a band of freedom fighters seeking to liberate animals from a fate of robotic slavery, and the front man of some band, it'll be interesting to see what elements both the director and actor chooses.

[via GoNintendo]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As views of GDC Vault's video, audio and slides from GDC 2011 top 250,000, the site has detailed the most-viewed sessions from the March show, spanning Doom postmortems through Halo: Reach and beyond.

The specially constructed website archives multimedia from the numerous lectures, panels, and keynotes at the multiple Game Developers Conference shows yearly, and a number of each show's most popular talks are now available for free.

The sessions available on the GDC Vault spanning the last 15+ years have attracted 155,000 unique viewers in the last year, and the content from Game Developers Conference 2011 alone has attracted more than 262,000 views since mid-March.

GDC 2011's Classic Game Postmortem series has proven the most popular by far, with video of these seminal talks making up six of the show's top 10 most-viewed sessions.

These lectures featured various industry legends reflecting on their most seminal classics, including John Romero and Tom Hall on Doom, Eric Chahi on Out of This World/Another World, Ron Gilbert on Maniac Mansion, and more.

Other popular talks included "I Shot You First: Networking the Gameplay of Halo: Reach," featuring Bungie's David Aldridge on the studio's approach to online infrastructure, and "Life and Death and Middle Pair: Go, Poker and the Sublime," a talk featuring Area/Code's Frank Lantz on some of the oldest and most influential games in history.

The following are the top 10 most-viewed GDC 2011 video sessions on the GDC Vault, including current view counts:

Top 10 Most-Viewed Sessions From GDC 2011

1. "Classic Game Postmortem - DOOM," John Romero & Tom Hall, 27,970 Views [Video]
2. "Classic Game Postmortem - Out of This World/Another World," Eric Chahi, 19,960 Views [Video]
3. "Classic Game Postmortem - Maniac Mansion," Ron Gilbert, 14,420 Views [Video]
4. "Classic Game Postmortem - Pitfall!," David Crane, 10,530 Views [Video]
5. "Classic Game Postmortem - Prince of Persia," Jordan Mechner, 8,601 Views [Video]
6. "I Shot You First: Networking the Gameplay of Halo: Reach," David Aldridge, 8,390 Views [Video]
7. "1-Hour Video Game MBA," Charlie Cleveland, 6,656 Views [Video]
8. "Life and Death and Middle Pair: Go, Poker and the Sublime," Frank Lantz, 6,020 Views [Video]
9. "Classic Game Postmortem - Bejeweled," Jason Kapalka, 5,940 Views [Video]
10. "Automated Level of Detail Generation for Halo: Reach," Xi Wang, 5,560 Views [Members Only]

Several talks from Game Developers Conference 2010 have also seen similarly impressive audiences on the GDC Vault. Brenda Brathwaite's "Train (or How I Dumped Electricity and Learned to Love Design)" [Video] and Zynga's "Engineering Scalable Social Games," [Video] for instance, have both surpassed 20,000 views each.

Some of the most popular titles from GDC Online 2010 include Professor Richard Bartle's "MUD: Messrs Bartle and Trubshaw's Astonishing Contrivance" [Video] and Brian Reynolds' "Bears and Snakes! The Wild Frontier of Social Game Design," [Video] both of which have topped 5,000 views apiece.

Besides the multitude of free videos and slides, full GDC Vault access is available to GDC 2011 All-Access Pass holders, speakers, and All-Access Pass buyers to other GDC events for the rest of 2011. (Subscribers having issues accessing content should contact GDC Vault admins.)

Individual Vault subscriptions not tied to All-Access passes are now available in a limited-edition Beta invite process -- those interested in signing up to be invited in on a first come, first served basis should sign up on the GDC Vault website.

In addition, game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available via viewing an online demonstration.

Posted by Tom Curtis at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a strange move that's unlike any conventional sale I've ever heard of, indie developer Radiangames announced that gamers will be able to "Save -400%" on its Xbox Live Indie titles -- JoyJoy, Crossire, Inferno, Fluid, Fireball, Crossfire 2, and Ballistic -- in three days.

Starting June 28, Radiangames will permanently increase its prices for those games from 80 MS Points to 500 MS points ($1 to $5). Ahead of the "deal", you'll be able to buy all of the games' soundtracks for $0.99 each, or 50 percent off their usual price.

If this all sounds odd, especially after the developer recently put out a postmortem article already indicating that it's released received lower than expected sales, Radiangames' Luke Schneider explains:

"I wouldn’t say I’m doing this because of poor sales, necessarily.  But doing the opposite of what you’re supposed to do sometimes has unexpected results.

Everyone’s done a pay-what-you-want promo.  Everyone’s done a limited-time sale.  Not many have done a get-it-now-before-the-price-goes-up-forever thingy."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the latest postings over the last seven days, Gamasutra's jobs board plays host to roles in every major discipline, including opportunities at Sucker Punch, Tecmo Koei, and ZeniMax.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across Gamasutra's network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:

- Sucker Punch Productions: Art Director:
"In 1997, we started Sucker Punch Productions to make great games, and we’ve spent the last 14 years doing just that. We produced three award-winning PS2 games starring the wily raccoon thief Sly Cooper, all of which met with critical acclaim, commercial success, and file cabinets full of fan mail. Some of it written in crayon. In May 2009, we released the open-world superhero game Infamous, which set the stage for Cole MacGrath's story and met with excellent reviews and solid footing at the top of the PS3 sales charts. June 7, 2011 marked the launch of Infamous 2 that furthered Cole's superhero action-adventure story. As for our next game… well, that’s where you come in!"

- Tecmo Koei Canada: Experienced Game Programmer:
"Tecmo Koei Canada Inc. was established to develop universally appealing games content by mixing the best elements of both Eastern and Western philosophy and culture. We strive to welcome the world into our studio; our staff is composed of some of the most talented people from all over the world, and it is through embracing our differences and similarities that we hope to achieve our vision of developing interactive entertainment that can be appreciated, enjoyed, and loved beyond borders."

- Big Fish Games: Mobile Art Director:
"Founded in 2002, Big Fish Games is a multi-platform developer, publisher and distributor of casual games, including downloadable, flash, social, MMO, console and mobile games. Renowned for offering A New Game Every Day!, Big Fish Games distributes more than 1.5 million games per day worldwide. With headquarters in Seattle and offices in Vancouver, Canada, and Cork, Ireland, Big Fish Games partners with 500+ game developers and develops and publishes some of the industry's leading brands, including Mystery Case Files, Hidden Expedition, Drawn, Fairway Solitaire, and My Tribe."

- ZeniMax Online Studios: Game Support Lead:
"ZeniMax Online Studios, LLC, a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, Inc. is a premier developer of online games, focusing on Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)."

- Human Head Studios, Inc.: PS3/Technology Programmer:
"Human Head Studios Incorporated is an independent game development studio based in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is a beautiful lakeside community that has plenty to offer its residents. Residents enjoy a wide range of excellent neighborhoods, good schools and a low crime rate. It is a college town and the state capital with a vibrant downtown. Named by Money magazine in 1997 as the best place to live in America, Madison today builds on that ranking and remains one of the best places to live, work and play in the United States."

To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a weakness for rap song parodies; I've even penned a few fast food-themed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony spoofs, some of which you may recall (or not): "See You At McDonalds" and "Burger Of Tha Month. Most of them you'll fine online, though, are poorly made and unlistenable unfortunately -- that is not the case with this one.

Youtube user OnAnotherLevel85 is, as his online moniker brags, on another level with this parody. Here he perfectly captures the original tone of Eminem and Dido's memorable song "Stan", and adapts it into a letter-writing fan (from 4chan's /v/) obsessed with Gabe Newell and Valve Software.

I could do without all the jokes about Gabe Newell's weight, but the Half-Life 2: Episode Three and Drowning Pool jokes? Gold. Here are the lyrics and a link to download the MP3.

[Via dhamster]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, there's an otaku artist in Japan going by the name Jeison-san, who styles himself after Friday the 13th's antagonist Jason Voorhees by wearing an intimidating hockey mask, except he carries a chainsaw instead of a machete.

With that chainsaw, he sculpts popular anime and video game characters, this time carving an impressive, life-size sculpture of Lucifel from Ignition Entertainment's PS3/Xbox 360 action game El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (releases here next month).

It's actually not any more strange than some of the other publisher- or fan-driven promotions we've seen around the game, like the $170 El Shaddai-themed designer jeans, and the 'sweded' trailer posted last October.

When I shared this video with Joystiq's JC Fletcher, though, he pointed out something that made this less endearing and more unsettling: a man with a hockey mask and a chainsaw, who styles himself after Jason, made a statue of the devil...

[Via @feitclub]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Artist Matt Schulz/Smear Attack posted this beauty, an iPhone skin inspired by the Sega's Astro City candy cabinets you'll often find in rows at Asian arcades (and at distinguished game centers in the West, too), last night on his Twitter feed.

It's unclear if this is just a personal design Schulz created for his own device or something he's interested in printed and selling -- I know more than a few people who would immediately throw their money at him to get this set of skins.

Getting one of these would be a lot cheaper than buying the real thing! (and a lot less hassle when you move to a new house/apartment, or have to explain to your roommate/partner why you must have this thing taking up so much space in your room)

[Via @NickRoxNRX]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So far, 2011 has been a spicy nacho adrenaline rush mixed with a refreshing burst of cool ranch.

I put together release lists for Gamasutra, so I can't help but notice stuff like this. Anyone got any other examples of this dumb trend?

Posted by Danny Cowan at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

[In this weekly feature, GameSetWatch rounds up the week's most popular paid and free iPhone and iPod Touch games, as current on the iTunes App Store.]

This week's top paid iPhone and iPod Touch game titles on the App Store, as captured on June 20th 2011, are as follows:

1. Hanging With Friends ($0.99)
2. Angry Birds ($0.99)
3. Words With Friends ($2.99)
4. Angry Birds Rio ($0.99)
5. Fruit Ninja ($0.99)
6. Tiny Wings ($0.99)
7. Cut the Rope ($0.99)
8. Tetris ($0.99)
9. Angry Birds Seasons ($0.99)
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ($0.99)

Newtoy's multiplayer word game Hanging With Friends rises to the top of the iPhone's paid charts after a fast-selling debut last week, overtaking Angry Birds in today's results.

Hanging With Friends' predecessor Words With Friends also sees a jump in popularity, while former top sellers Pocket God: Journey to Uranus and Feed Me Oil disappear from the top ten after strong recent showings.

Here are this week's top free iPhone and iPod Touch games:

1. Burn the Rope
2. Hanging With Friends Free
3. Army of Darkness Defense
4. Dune Rider
5. Top Girl
6. Strike Knight
7. Angry Birds Rio Free
8. Shape Shift
9. Polar Puzzles Lite
10. Bunny Shooter Free

Big Blue Bubble's App Store hit Burn the Rope leads today's rankings during a limited-time free download promotion. An ad-supported version of Hanging With Friends follows at second place, as Backflip's Army of Darkness Defense takes third.

Geek Beach's Dune Rider and Crowdstar's Top Girl also place in the top five this week, pushing recent hits like Strike Knight and Shape Shift to the bottom half of the top ten.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Andy Baio, publisher of the Miles Davis tribute album Kind of Bloop, has detailed his legal battle following a lawsuit over a pixel art reproduction of Kind of Blue's cover image, originally photographed by Jay Maisel.

The project, a cover album featuring contributions from a collective of well-known chiptune artists, met with an enthusiastic response upon its announcement and the initiating of a Kickstarter donation drive. The $2,000 Kickstarter goal was exceeded four times over, with proceeds going to the contributing artists, as well as toward purchasing the legal rights to distribute cover version of Davis's songs. Baio did not accept any profit from the venture.

Baio was contacted by Maisel's attorneys in 2010. After a protracted legal battle, Baio opted to settle out of court, to cut his losses.

"It breaks my heart that a project I did for fun, on the side, and out of pure love and dedication to the source material ended up costing me so much — emotionally and financially," Baio writes. "For me, the chilling effect is palpably real. I've felt irrationally skittish about publishing almost anything since this happened. But the right to discuss the case publicly was one concession I demanded, and I felt obligated to use it. I wish more people did the same — maybe we wouldn't all feel so alone."

Posted by Danny Cowan at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

RedCandy Games has released TIC: Part 1, an Xbox Live Indie Games platformer in which players control "a unicycling, wall-drilling, helicoptering, mining robot."

Unique character and premise aside, TIC is a remarkably solid game, boasting tight controls and a pleasant graphical style. In the game's introductory chapters, the player's character earns a number of upgrades, which can be used to explore previously blocked paths -- it's not exactly Symphony of the Night in terms of complexity, but the sense of progression still manages to tickle the human brain's pleasure center.

RedCandy has issued no word on when we can expect Part 2, but from what I've played so far, the series is already off to a promising start.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plans to have another massive heaping of Tumblr this past Tuesday night, as in previous weeks, didn't materialize due to an abundance of actual news taking precedence. Apologizes to those that might have noticed! But since things have quieted down-somewhat, and mostly because I don't have enough material to warrant a toys and models rundown tonight, which is supposed to be my new Thursday night thing...

The above, of a Mega Man bad guy helping out a kitty, was found over at that one place that I really can't call out by name I’m afraid.

And another, from the same place, of Crash Man totally drunk...

Meanwhile, here's Crash Man, totally crashing...

Moving on, the always awesome Lamar Abrams just posted a nifty little Double Dragon tribute:

As noted once before, Lamar also loves Mega Man:

Skittle guy is here to pass along a friendly reminder:

One fave Tumblr that's usually non-game related is Fake Criterions. But every once in a while something relevant pops up:

Random imagery that you have zero idea what it's about is the norm. Is it just me or does this look like it's from a game? If so, anyone have any info? Apologizes if I'm being super clueless here:

Via Zodar comes something that I'm also in the dark about. Looks like some kind of Jack Chick Tract, but involving assorted Nintendo characters:

There's a third image, but it's on the small side. Back to screenshots, thankfully 10uhclock answered the question here; it's from Petz: My Baby Hamster:

Again, your obligatory Brandon Boyer Tumblr post:

This one made the rounds not too long ago; via GamOvr, if Nintendo's logo looked a little Sega-ish:

Finally, another dose of 10uclock, for yet something else familiar. Perhaps you've seen him in the past, the Tumblr sensation that's creepy paper mache Pickachu? Well, he's apparently out and about these days:

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog co-editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days on his sister 'state of indie' weblog.]

This week on 'Best Of Indie Games', we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week.

The goodies in this edition include a charming little iPhone game with cutesy graphics, a free 2D platformer for your Android device, a browser-based zombie survival game, plus a No Quarter showcase title that is playable online now.

Here's the highlights from the last seven days:

Game Pick: 'Bumpy Road' (Simogo, commercial indie)
"Bumpy Road is a gorgeous and well-crafted little thing, with oodles of charm and innovation. An old couple have gone out for a relaxing drive, and you need to control the curves in the road to make sure they don't come a cropper."

Game Pick: 'Meganoid' (Orange Pixel, freeware)
"Meganoid is a free (ad supported) platformer for Android that focuses on short, challenging levels with plenty of replay value. You're tasked with simply reaching the end of each level, but there's also diamonds to collect, baddies to kill and times to beat."

Game Pick: 'Die2Nite' (Motion Twin, browser)
"Die2Nite isn't so much a game about zombies as it is a game about other people. Living, breathing people sitting on the other side of 39 computer screens, each one as intent on surviving as you are."

Game Pick: 'Clock' (Luke Connor, browser)
"Clock will have you staring at this radial, clock-like thing and a single white line as it runs on its path. As time progresses, red lines will appear and you will have to dodge this by pressing any button on the screen. This will, in turn, have the line jump to the opposite end of the screen."

Game Pick: 'Ambia' (Ian Snyder, browser)
"Ambia is an intriguing platformer that features procedurally generated music and a weapon leveling up system. On each level, you simply need to destroy each enemy and reach the exit. As you kill enemies, you can pick up their leftovers to add experience to your current weapon."

Posted by timw at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Or, just another day at the space courtroom. Not much else to say, especially since the clip is only 24 seconds long. Other than, I laughed out loud, how about you?

Now, I was about to joke that of all the Act Attorney/Portal mash-ups out there, not only was the above the finest one, but the ONLY one. But guess what else I stumbled across...

[via GoNintendo]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jason Scott, director of the text adventure documentary Get Lamp, was featured in one of Google Tech Talks earlier this year. He screened his film, plus answered some questions before and after. The entire thing was broadcasted live and later put on Youtube, as you can see.

There's two ways of watching the movie: in an "interactive" manner, similar to the games that the documentary details, and a more straightforward "non-iterative" version, which is what we're getting here. So to "play" the movie as it was intended, along with a host of extras, and to also net a gold coin, be sure to pick up the double DVD set via the film's online HQ.

Also, for those who haven't heard, Reformat The Planet, without a doubt the definite chiptunes documentary is also available for viewing online, albeit it seven parts. Here's the first one...

Again, the real way to watch this movie is via its own 2 disc DVD set, which also includes the supplemental RTP 1.5 follow-up, along with its own slew of extras like music videos and tutorials. It's available via Fangamer, where one can also get some nifty buttons and an ultra comfortable shirt.

[via Dark Diamond]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Apes movie is on the way, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes to be exact. Speaking as someone who was mortified by the Tim Burton remake, this new one looks actually not that bad? Anyway, like many summer Hollywood flicks, there's a viral marketing thing going on.

I'm assuming when the battle cry is heard near the end of the movie, the chimp will somewhat get his or her hands on a real gun, and while looking down the barrel of his soon to be former human overlord, the frazzled scientist in a last ditch effort to remind her former simian test subject of the bond they once shared will attempt to pass along with shaky hands a DS (maybe a 3DS). One that's running some goofy Japanese virtual monkey simulator that ends up being the final straw, and the trigger is pulled. Or something like that.

My favorite Youtube comment thus far would have to be: "not fake.. im in the clan with that ape.. he's good as sh*t"

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's difficult to explain what it is about Running With Rifles that I found so compelling -- it's just a top-down action title in which you join a squad of gunmen moving through through foggy environments and engaging in firefights against other shooters -- but I'm compelled nonetheless.

Modulaatio Games released a pre-alpha Windows build for its "indie war game project" earlier this week, and even in this early state, it looks like a cracking good time. Here's a quick description for the title:

"Running With Rifles is a 3D warfare PC-game with solid action/stealth/tactics flavor. One soldier is controlled at a time from sky perspective by the player. You run around with the keyboard, aim and shoot with the mouse.

The soldier's authority/rank affects how many fellow soldiers controlled by the AI will follow and support him in his glorious efforts. The ultimate mission is to conquer all the bases on the map and defend the already occupied bases against the invading enemy forces.

The bullets are extremely harmful in the game, so it is more about getting quickly into a good position and firing those few well-aimed bursts, before the enemy does the exact same thing to you. Fighting along several fellow soldiers significantly increases the odds of staying alive."

Download it for free here!

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Gamasutra rounds up the week's biggest news for the major console and portable digital delivery services, this time highlighting news about Bejeweled 3 and Pinball FX 2.]

It's a bit of a slow week, as we're still in post-E3 mode, but some interesting tidbits have popped up this week. Highlights include a postmortem by Xbox Indies developer Radiangames, Bejeweled 3 coming to consoles, and the developer for the upcoming Minecraft port revealed.

Postmortem: Radiangames' Monthly Xbox Live Indie Games Series (XBLIG)
Radiangames released seven titles on the Xbox Live Indie service last year, all to high acclaim but lower than hoped sales. One-man developer Luke Schneider took a look back at his experience and wrote a postmortem for Gamasutra. A highly recommended read.

Bejeweled 3 Coming To Consoles (XBLA, PSN)
Bejeweled is once again coming to consoles, this time with all the bells and whistles.

Platformance Sequel Brings Many More Deaths to XBLIG (XBLIG)
The super difficult title Platformance gets itself a Indiana Jones styled sequel, now available on the Xbox Indie Games channel.

XBL Indie Sum Fighter Blends Math, Tetris Attack (XBLIG)
A new take on the falling blocks puzzle genre comes to the Xbox indie Games channel.

The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus Now On PSN (PSP Minis)
Ex-Q Games developer Rhodri Broadbent released his new game, and it gets to the point pretty quickly.

Got a 3DS? You Need Donkey Kong! (3DS)
The 3DS Virtual Console is in full swing, and this might be the game to check out.

Captain America to Star in New Marvel Pinball Table (XBLA / PSN)
Zen Studios expands even more on its Pinball library with additional Marvel tables.

UK Developer 4J Studios Working On Minecraft XBLA (XBLA)
The people behind bringing Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie to Xbox Live Arcade are behind the port of Minecraft for Xbox 360.

Posted by Ryan Langley at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I came across two new sites on microblogging services that the world must be exposed to: the first is Video Games Made Me Gay, a Tumblr collecting (mostly safe for work) homoerotic promotional artwork and screenshots from games old and new. Very entertaining!

The other is GameToilet on Posterous, which offers "a whole bowl full of wonderful game ideas". Here you'll find sketches for brilliant concepts like Chess Peasant and Sherlock Holmes vs Frankenstein And The Hunt For The Chocolate Factory At the Earth's Core.

My favorite on GameToilet so far is Ringu Video:

[Via TheGayGamer, @photonstorm]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

iOS studio Nimblebit has just released Tiny Tower, which looks like a mix of Yoot Saito's SimTower/The Tower and the developer's Pocket Frogs with a layer of cute pixelart over the whole thing, to the App Store, and it's free!

Like SimTower, the goal of this game is "build a tiny tower and manage the businessess and bitizens that inhabit it." You can attract different kinds of inhabitans and make money based on the types of floors you add to your building.

Adding to the charm, your tower also has a "BitBook" virtual social network that you can peek into to see what's going on with your Bitizens. Tiny Tower features Game center integration for seeing friends' towers and earning awards, too.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It being the Sega mascot's 20th birthday today, I figured we should do something to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's debut today. Can you believe two decades have already past since you first heard, "Segggggaaaa, dooo do doodoo, doodoodoodoo doooo do"?

Since we're honoring the figure, let's forget that most of the blue hero's past 15 years haven't lived up to the first five, and convince ourselves that Sonic Generations (there's a demo for it on XBLA and PSN today!) will be the game that makes it all right again.

Here's a quaint 20th anniversary comic posted by Japanese artist Matokichi, in which Sonic's, um, thoughtful friends decide to throw the birthday boy a birthday party. It's even got a Cream the Rabbit cameo, for those of you missing UK Resistance extra hard today, like me.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"So, Bloody Checkers, huh?" I thought while browsing the newest Xbox Live Indie Games releases. "Weird. Might as well check it out."

Imagine my surprise when I started the game and was greeted by a first-person exploration sequence instead of a checkerboard. Yes, Bloody Checkers is actually an adventure game with some resemblance to the King's Field series (minus the combat) -- in between games of checkers, players must wander a labyrinthine castle, find treasure, and solve puzzles.

During the quest, players encounter long-dead members of a royal family who must be beaten at checkers in order to proceed. This isn't an ordinary checkers sim, either; during each match, players can set traps on individual squares, with each successful strike on the opponent resulting in gory checker death, along with bonus currency and experience points. Yes, there's an RPG-like leveling system in here, too. This game has everything!

Bloody Checkers also includes an online multiplayer mode, a robust set of tutorials that teach real-world checkers techniques, and a surprise appearance by Nyan Cat. Best of all, the game simulates the most important aspect of the checkers experience: flipping the board when you're losing.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

[GameSetWatch rounds up the latest news in the world of App Store gaming, featuring standout releases like Flick Golf Extreme, Hanging With Friends, and Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp.]

- Newtoy Launches Multiplayer Word Game Hanging With Friends
Newtoy follows up on its hit multiplayer Scrabble-like word game Words With Friends with the hangman-based sequel Hanging With Friends. A free ad-supported version is also available.

- Bumpy Road Introduces 100 New Levels
Simogo's "love story on four wheels" platformer gets a collection of new levels in its latest update, along with new Game Center leaderboards and achievements.

- Flick Golf Gets Extreme Follow-Up
Full Fat's App Store hit Flick Golf now has a sequel featuring a variety of exotic golfing locales, ranging from rooftops to icebergs.

- Appy's Trucks and Skulls Gets Nitro Upgrade
"The rebranded Trucks and Skulls NITRO adds 15 new levels, a variety of gameplay improvements, and a number of unlockable truck upgrades."

- Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp Out Now for iOS
The Don Bluth-animated laserdisc game finds a new home on Apple's mobile devices with a faithful port of the original arcade version.

- Deathsmiles iOS Adds RPG Elements With New iPhone Mode
"Alongside the Arcade and Practice modes, Deathsmiles' iPhone mode will allow you to purchase equipment and items from a new Sakura's Shop with the gold you pick up from defeating enemies."

- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Updates with Full Roster, More Stages
A recent update to Electronic Arts' iOS remake of the gory one-on-one fighter Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 adds six new stages and ups the character roster to 23 playable fighters.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hate to break it to you, but your complete collection of Sega Genesis cartridges is no longer complete. Sorry, man. It's an easy fix, though -- all you need to do to reclaim completeness is to drop $40 on a copy of the just-released Star Odyssey, a new Genesis cartridge produced by Super Fighter Team. Yes, in the year 2011.

Star Odyssey is an unreleased English localization of Hot-B's Blue Almanac, an RPG in the vein of Sega's Phantasy Star series. The game was slated for a western release, but progress stalled somewhere along the way. The only existing prototype copy of the localization was found to be incomplete and glitch-ridden.

Super Fighter Team took this version of the game and cleaned it up, fixing bugs, translating dialog, and even rebalancing the game's difficulty for the newly minted cartridge release. Star Odyssey joins Super Fighter Team's previous Genesis cartridge releases Beggar Prince and Legend of Wukong, both RPGs originally released in Taiwan.

I played through and reviewed Super Fighter Team's localization of Beggar Prince back when it was first released, and found it to be one of the better RPGs for the platform -- it was no Phantasy Star IV, mind, but it beat the pants off of Sword of Vermilion. Super Fighter Team's catalog proves that it has a canny eye for quality games, and Star Odyssey should be another standout for fans of 16-bit RPGs.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Japanese mobile giant DeNA announced that Level-5's Professor Layton series, once exclusive to Nintendo's portable consoles, will soon see a new entry for DeNA's Mobage social games portal.

Professor Layton Royale, a crossover title featuring characters from Mobage's Kaito Royale series, will be released this Fall in Japan. No word yet on whether an overseas release is in the works.

Layton himself is no stranger to crossovers, having already announced a partnership with Capcom's Phoenix Wright and friends in the upcoming 3DS game Layton Kyouju vs Gyakuten Saiban. DeNA's game, however, marks a rare venture on a non-Nintendo platform (Layton's second, following a previous Mobage release -- thanks Joe) and is the franchise's first social game.

Little else is known about the game at this point, save for the fact that players will be able to assume the role of either a thief, a detective, or -- for the less ambitious players, I guess -- a "citizen" in Layton's world.

[via Andriasang]

Posted by Danny Cowan at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Like many, I don't necessarily hate them, but I find most videos in which footage of whatever game is accompanied by narration of some kind (usually either a history lesson or just someone's two cents) to not be my cup of tea. Most seem well meaning enough, and even the info and opinions passed along are quite valid, often issues like poor production quality or lame attempts at humor will cause myself and others to just fast forward, regardless of how compelling the subject might be.

Music from Mega Man as a basis of analysis is also hardly rare (hey, did you know that Mega Man 2's music kicks ass? bet you didn't), but the above is actually worth checking out. The focus is on the X series, not all the music that's contained, but just the intro stages. Which are the stand-alone segments that set the rest of the game up. Not only that, but only the SNES and PSone installments are covered; most will also agree that Mega Man X7 & X8 on the PS2 are best left unspoken of.

The commentary provided is not the most thorough in the world, nor ultra insightful, but it hits all the right marks nonetheless. Even the jokes aren't half bad! In the end, it was enough to make me want to give Mega Man X5 & X6 another shot, albeit just the first couple of minutes. Part 2 can be seen after the cut.

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Starting tomorrow in Brooklyn, and extending into the weekend, is this year's edition of the Bent Festival. Brought together by some of the same folks who make Blip Festival happen, the general goal and vibe is essentially the same; it's a gathering for those who wish to celebrate the art of taking technology, often antiquated or marginalized hardware, and giving them a new purpose. The end result is mostly video art and installations, but there's a heavy emphasis on performance as well. When you see some of the wacky DIY, hacked together, circuit-bent instruments that some hit the stage with, it makes folks who perform with Game Boys positively pedestrian.

Though there will be chiptunes as well. Slated to perform is Jeff Donaldson, better known as Notendo, a Blip Festival (as well as Pulsewave) alum, along with Burnkit 2600 and another Blip Fest veteran, Tristan Perich. He'll be on-hand with his pals in Loud Objects. Jenn de la Vega, one of key orchestrators behind Bent Fest (as well as Blip once again) also notes that Rosa Menkman and Gijs Gieskes, while not performers per se, will have work that should appeal to those that are into 8bit music and that world.

To purchase tickets or simply get more information, head on over to the festival's homepage.

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet another teaser clip for the upcoming anime based upon Persona 4 has been released. It's super short but gets the point across effectively nonetheless. Not that anyone was expecting her not to make an appearance, but everyone's favorite j-pop starlet that's weary of the perils of stardom and who thusly escapes to the burbs for a more quieter existence, but instead is sucked into her television to battle monsters alongside fellow classmates, plus a talking blue bear, will indeed be present. AKA Rise Kujikawa.

Given how reverential the original game's fan base is toward the source material, everyone's cautiously optimistic about the show that's set to debut in Japan later this fall. Yet no one's been blown away by what they've seen thus far either; given how limp the last attempt at a Persona anime turned out, Trinity Soul, there is indeed cause for concern.

On one hand, it was a spin-off and only tangentially related to P3, so with this new effort, it being much closer connected to P4, there's far much more material to work with. That being said, there's also the fear of whatever's new mucking up what’s already absolutely perfect. Ask diehard fans of Persona 4 about the idea of a “Persona 4 part 2”, they'll say it's exciting, but ultimately an exercise in futility. Again, guess we'll just have and see.

Oh, so the teaser above is the eighth to be released. To see the first six, or the all the major highlights from each edited together, simply refer to this clip...

As for the seventh one, it's seriously only ten seconds long and shows really nothing. But for those who still need to watch, here you go.

UPDATE: Not long after this report was filed, a ninth teaser (and seemingly final) was released. It again features much of what we've seen already, but a tad bit clearer, long with some new material...

[via Siliconera]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Footage from a work-in-progress version of Super Mario Bros 3 recently showed up out of seemingly nowhere, first on Nico Nico Douga, and later on YouTube (as you can see). It's from the September 1988 edition of Famimaga, a Nintendo-specific magazine that I guess also had a video component of some kind. And as you might have noticed, it largely resembles the game we all know, but not completely.

Like the part of the game that resembles Level 1-3, yet with differences in block placement and types, plus an extra foe. The rest of the clip shows stills from assorted areas, which either have key differences or are completely foreign. The HUD is also fairly different, and as one YouTube commentator pointed out, the timer also runs much faster.

Watching games during their earlier stages in action is always fascinating, and this is certainly no exception. Though it would be 1000% more exciting if it contained footage of Kuribo's Shoe in action -- other portions of the game were meant to feature the power-up but were all later axed.

[via Nico Nico Douga]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm unsure how we managed to go this long without mentioning it, but one of the several promising PS Vita projects on the way is Super Stardust Delta, another handheld version of Housemarque's PS3 shooter, this time with the benefit of dual analog stick controls.

Along with all the modes from Super Stardust HD and Super Stardust Portable, Delta will include several of its own original modes and challenges, new levels, the ability to create singularities that suck in enemies with the PS Vita's back panel, and more.

[Via Orobi]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Very talented Chinese illustrator Jian Guo created this fantastic piece chronicling the rise and fall of Arthas Menethil, once prince of Lordaeron and then transformed into the Lich King. You'll remember his face from the boxes of Warcraft III and World of Warcraft: Frozen Throne.

Guo posted these moving words from Arthas' father King Terenas Menethil II (which you might remember from the Wrath of the Lich King opening) alongside the art:

"My son, the day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name Arthas.
My child, I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon of righteousness.
Remember, our line has always ruled with wisdom and strength. And I know you will show restraint when exercising your great power.
But the truest victory, my son, is stirring the hearts of your people. I tell you this, for when my days have come to an end, you shall be King."

[Via SvaltGamized]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Every week, Gamasutra rounds up the titles released for the major console and portable digital delivery services, as compiled by console digital editor Ryan Langley, including the latest XBLA and PSN games.]

This week looks to be a good one -- Donkey Kong '94 has hit the 3DS Virtual Console, reviving one of the best Game Boy titles of its generation, Doublefine's Trenched sees its release on the Xbox Live Arcade, and PomPom Games' Alien Zombie Mega Death hit the PlayStation Store! Plus a ton of deals on the XBLA to deal with -- both PopCap and Sega have a bunch of classics to check out at half price.

Xbox Live Arcade

This week's Xbox Live Arcade releases are Doublefine's Trenched, a multiplayer, third person tower defense title for 1200MSP. The second title is Lucha Fury, a four-player brawler from Punchers Impact for 800MSP.

There's a big sale this week with PopCap and Sega's title, too:

Plants vs. Zombies - 600MSP
Peggle - 400MSP
Peggle Nights DLC - 200MSP
Zuma - 200MSP
Feeding Frenzy - 200MSP
Feeding Frenzy 2 - 400MSP
Bejeweled 2 - 400MSP
Bejeweled Blitz LIVE - 200MSP
Heavy Weapon - 400MSP
AstroPop - 400MSP
Sonic 1 - 240MSP
Sonic 2 - 240MSP
Sonic 3 - 240MSP
Sonic & Knuckles - 120MSP
Sonic Adventure - 400MSP
SONIC 4 Episode I - 800MSP

Xbox Indie Games

Platformance was a surprise hit when it popped up last year, and now we've got the sequel, Temple Death, now with more quality, pixelated death to trundle through. Grab it today for 80MSP.

PlayStation Store (North America)

This week's PlayStation Network title is PomPom's Alien Zombie Mega Death, a huge expansion of the original PSP Minis title, now a PSN exclusive. It's available for $7.99.

Also available are three new PSP Minis -- Brick Breaker ($3.99), Labyrinth ($3.99), and Solitaire ($3.99)

On sale this week are both Bionic Commando Rearmed titles -- grab the first for $4.99, and the second for $9.99.

PlayStation Store (Europe)

While Alice: Madness Returns has become available in stores, the original Alice is now available separate from the redeemable code in the box, now available for £7.99/€9.99.

Also available this week is NinjaBee's Akimi Village for £7.99/€9.99, the retail release of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for £23.99/€29.99, and the Sonic Anniversary Collection, featuring Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 4 Episode 1, and Sonic Adventure (and DX add-on) for £13.99/€17.99. Those with the Back To The Future Season pass can also grab episode 4.

Nintendo Download (North America)

The 3DS Virtual Console continues with this week's release of Donkey Kong '94, available for $3.99.

On the DSiWare side, which is also available on the 3DS, we have Gold Fever for 500 Points, Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic for 200 Points, Beach Party Craze for 800 Points, and Hidden Photo for 500 Points.

For the Wii we have one new title -- Snail Mail for 600 Points, and one new awesome Virtual Console title -- Mega Man 5 for 500 Points.

Nintendo Download (Europe)

Just like the US, Europe grabs Donkey Kong '94 on the 3DS Virtual Console store, which you can grab for £3.60 / €4. For the DSiWare we now have Ubongo for 500 Points, Airport Mania: First Flight for 200 Points and Successfully Learning German: Year 2 for 200 Points.

For WiiWare we have two new releases -- Wii versions of Airport Mania: First Flight for 500 Points and Successfully Learning German: Year 2 for 500 Points.

Posted by Ryan Langley at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may remember how, back in 2008, Youtube user Evi1wombat hacked a treadmill computer to play and display the lyrics from Portal's catchy theme song "Still Alive", capturing its spirit even without GlaDOS' vocals.

With Portal 2 recently released, Evi1wombat has once again put his school gym's discarded Cybex panel to play the sequel's less popular but still charming end credits track "Want You Gone".

To make it work, he spent three days replacing the CPU (an 8501 clone swapped out for a dsPIC30F4011), writing the drivers and engine, and programming in the song.

[Via Technabob]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While they don't allow you to play a miniature version of the arcade game on your wrist, these two limited edition Space Invaders watches are very, very slick.

Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome has teamed up with Taito to release these accessories in small runs of 78 each (in honor or Space Invaders 1978 debut).

In the "Day" version shown above, the 3.5 mm-sized, hand-applied Invaders are lacquered in different colors, while the "Night" one below has them coated with Superluminova.

They're all encased in black PVD stainless steel and sapphire crystal. Both watches are water reistant to 30 meters, too. No word on pricing/release date yet!

[Via Hypebeast]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Disturbing news arrives this week from Cow Clicker creator Ian Bogost. Apparently, methane gas has brought about an approaching cataclysm within the Cow Clicker universe. Cowkind's doom is forecasted for July 21st, the game's one-year anniversary.

Cow Clicker is a satire application that boils social gameplay mechanics down to their base elements -- that is, clicking A Thing as often as possible when said Thing is limited to a certain number of clicks in a specific time period. In an unexpected twist, these clicks are now helping the game race toward its own destruction; each new click drains 30 seconds from the doomsday timer.

Loyal Cow Clicker players can stave off the inevitable, however, by "paying supplication to the ruminant gods." Supplication involves exchanging Facebook Credits -- a real monetary transaction -- to add time to the clock. Increments ranging from an hour (10 Credits) to a month (4,000 Credits) can now be purchased within the Cow Clicker app.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The world lost a valuable source of insightful games writing when Insert Credit shut down in 2009. Surveying the wasteland the world of gaming journalism had become in its absence, creator Brandon Sheffield has resurrected the site, bringing with it a collection of new and excellent articles.

The centerpiece of the revival is Journalism: The Videogame: Redux, a collaborative manifesto written by Sheffield, Frank Cifaldi, Patrick Miller, Christian Nutt, Tim Rogers, Christopher Woodard, Leigh Alexander, "and sort-of Simon Carless." To say anything more about it would involve me writing about people who are writing about people who write about video games, and I'm not yet prepared to stack another layer on top of that discussion.

Also recommended: Frank Cifaldi's in-depth look at the PlayStation 3's many strides, which additionally offers exclusive analysis of whether these strides were, in fact, hit.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As noted yesterday, Child of Eden is finally out and about. And the reaction among Rez fans, the game that's essentially its predecessor, is somewhat mixed. While no one flat out hates this brand new iteration, it's hard to find anyone that's completely in love either. We all completely understand the reasoning and circumstances behind the new Rez's look, yet there’s still that desire for less multicolored globs of goo on screen, and more flat shaded, polygonal goodness.

Thankfully there's a host of games coming very soon that all embody the spirit of the groundbreaking music-based, on-rails shooter from 2001, to varying degrees. We've already mentioned Proun, which certainly qualifies, but there's so much more. Like what you see above, Dyad for the PlayStation Network. Again, like Proun, the gameplay is quite different from Rez -- instead of a shooter, it's a racer -- but the influence is unmistakable.

Another title that's more like the source material, but definitely adds its own flourishes, is the also previously mentioned Planck v.1. This latest trailer appears to show what could be best described as a boss battle near the end...

One other excellent example, which is easily the most Rez-like of the bunch, and has also gotten perhaps the least amount of attention, is Tobias Baumann's The Flight. Information on the latest from the man who gave us Dopplescope is fairly scarce at this point, though from the looks of the little footage that's out there, it brings together music, visuals, and actions to a greater degree than it's inspiration (it's unfair which does the better job, this or Planck v.1, since the gameplay is not quite the same)...

Again, I have no solid proof that each game is a direct result and response to Rez, but I believe it's a safe bet. As well as how fellow fans will surely dig, along with how the one semi-responsible for it all, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, would certainly be flattered.

[via PlayStation Blog, Reddit, Kotaku]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The second installment of Ray Barnholt's SCROLL, described as "a zine about the coolness of video games", has just arrived. Number two is centered around Dragon Quest; not only is every core entry reviewed, but given a wonderfully illustrated tribute via the supremely talented assemblage of artists that Barnholt managed to wrangle. There's also a look at the origin of the JRPG, and recommendations for games and game soundtracks. Plus the effect that the earthquake in Japan has had on both the game industry and gamers is examined as well.

The best part is how the PDF version this time is completely free, which means there's really no excuse to not give it a shot. Though for those who prefer a printed copy, one can be purchased for the very reasonable price of $12.40. Which I'll definitely be going for, despite the fact that #1 arrived in a crumbled mess for me (which is why being a zine connoisseur when you live in Manhattan such as myself, in which we all have way too tiny mail boxes, often leads to heartbreak).

Of all the game zines that have popped up of late, SCROLL separates itself from the pack by combining personal musings and insight, and in a package that's reminiscent of game rags during the golden age for many. So there's an early 90s EGM/VideoGames & Computer Entertainment/Diehard Gamefan vibe throughout. The end result is something that's perhaps the most accessible of it's kind. To pick up the digital and/or hardcopy, simply head to its MagCloud page.

[via Tiny Cartridge]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's the first day of summer, which means the next couple of weeks will be spent on not only playing games but acquiring collectibles based upon your favorite games, or so Capcom hopes. A huge assortment of various goods has been either recently released or announced, for both very soon and later down the road. Let's a look, shall well?

I've already made mention of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Mega Man X figure a few weeks back. Well, right this second, you can pick up one of several brand new Street Fighter themed tees from the Capcom Store. The design above is perhaps my personal favorite. You can also nab a host of other items, like the Street Fighter vs. Tokidoki shirt that made its debut at least year's New York Comic Con.

If Street Fighter apparel is not your thing, then how about something more Mega Man-ish? Red Bubble has a number of tees by The Daily Robot, including a trio of paint splatter designs featuring Mega Man, Protoman, and Bass...

For those of you heading to any of the anime conventions happening this summer (like Anime Expo or Otakon), be sure to keep an eye out for this line of retro Mega Man accessories, including items that are finally making their American debut. Granted, most folks these days have smartphones, most of which lack the ability to attach a strap, but still...

Last year in Japan, a calendar was released featuring all their popular ladies, and this year they're doing it again...

But the bros are getting their own as well; available for pre-order is the Capcom Girls Calendar 2012 and the Capcom Heroes Calendar 2012...

Finally, and somewhat related: if you happen to be in Japan and have yet to complete your Rockman collection of DS games, look around because many retailers are sitting on boxes and boxes of assorted titles that they're desperate to unload (prices ranges between $2.50 to $4.73 American)...

[via The Mega Man Network, Rockman Corner, Game Swag, and GoNintendo]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Performance Artist Jordan Wayne Long is about set forth on a journey; on July 1 he will depart Bald Knob, Arkansas, and is scheduled to arrive in Portland, Oregon on July 7. The key detail here is how he'll be locked in a crate, with his only means of communication with the outside world being Lord of the Rings Online, which he'll be playing the entire time. He'll also be maintaining a blog about his experiences-- two to be exact. One that will detail what it's liked to be locked in a box that's moving cross-country for seven days straight, and the other focusing on Adanwings, his LOTRO character.

One of the goals behind the performance, which has been dubbed Box Shipment #2, is to study post traumatic stress disorder and one of its coping mechanisms, which is to become absorbed in online communities, like the ones provided by MMOs. The crate itself will be transported on the back of a truck that will be driven by Jordan's longtime friend and journalist Bradi Roberts and others. It will arrive at Fourteen30Contemporary, which is located at 922 SE Ankeny Street, again in Portland, to complete his journey/research/performance. Some of the finer details are a bit spare at the moment, such as how Jordan will eat and go to the bathroom, but I guess that's what the blogs are for. He'll also be tweeting his experiences as well.

All in all, a rather fascinating experiment that will no doubt be both educational and either intentionally or unintentionally entertaining (probably both). As well as risky; aside from how uncomfortable the trip is guaranteed to be, locked in such a confined space for such a long duration and all, but with temperatures being so high across the nation (it is officially summer), there could be other potential health hazards. Still, we don't know how confined he truly will be in the end.

[via Kotaku]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To promote the August release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- which has received a bit of praise already for its own unique visual style -- Square Enix has commissioned a series of artists from different fields (e.g. graffiti, photography) to create pieces based on the game.

The artwork, which will consist of poster-style images, will be inspired by Human Revolution's pro-augmentation or anti-augmentation factions, exploring the futuristic game's theme of "dealing with the moral and ethical perils of artificial body augmentation "

The contributing artists include 3rassiere, Estevan Oriol, Eyeone, Jeremy Fish, Jorge Alderete, N8 Van Dyke, Rico Deniro, Robert Abeyta Jr., and Sam Flores. Their works will debut at New York City's Wooster Street Social Club on July 28, and will run for two weeks.

As is our usual routine, we'll throw some of their pieces on here as they appear online!

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I always love to see hobbyist developers bring re-create unlikely genres using game modding tools, like Final Fantasy-style turn-based RPG combat in Starcraft II, or a first-person shooter in LittleBigPlanet 2.

This Halo: Reach mod brings a simple pinball game into the blockbuster Xbox 360 title, thanks to the Halo Ball game type and some clever use of the sniper rifle with the landmines (to make up for the lack of real flippers).

You can download Pete_the_Duck's Halo Pinball mod here, and see it in action at this link.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaking of Jim Guthrie, we now have an "official" trailer for Indie Game: The Movie, which features music from the Toronto-based singer/songwriter, as well as clips from the documentary's interview with notables like Jon Blow (Braid), Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy), and Phil Fish (Fez).

It already looks like a captivating and expertly crafted film just based on those clips, full of the developers' passions, worries, and emphasis on just how high the stakes are to make the project they've worked on for years succeed. Braid and Super Meat Boy captured that success, but will Fez?

The company behind the film, BlinkWorks, says it's in target to complete production in mid-August, but to properly finish it, the firm launched another Kickstarter campaign for finishing costs -- audio, color, and mastering -- to make what it says will be the best possible version of the documentary.

Depending on how much you donate to the fundraising campaign, you will receive digital and DVD copies of the finished film, t-shirts, shout-outs in the credits, and more. So far, Blinkworks has raised over $15,000 of the $35,000 it's hoping to collect in the next 31 days.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this year PopCap Games released Bejeweled Blitz Live to the Xbox Live Arcade, but apparently that isn't enough jewel swapping for one year. Instead, they've revealed plans to release 2010's PC hit Bejeweled 3 to the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Nintendo DS by year's end.

Bejeweled 3 was the first real title in the games' history to get a full HD revitalization, and included a variety of new modes, including Quest, Zen, Diamond Mine and Poker variants.

While it's nice to see PopCap continuing to support consoles, it does seem a little odd to release two Bejeweled titles in the same year on the Xbox Live Arcade. What's even more bizarre is the lack of any mention of an iPad game, which is sorely missing a Bejeweled title with the iPhone version of 2 being such a huge hit, and skipping the 3DS version for a DS version, which could very easily make some great use of the 3D screen.

I'm also surprised we haven't seen their other titles, Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 and Zuma's Revenge, make their console debuts. I'm sure PopCap know what they're doing, I just want everything on everything!

Posted by Ryan Langley at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know how anyone with an iDevice could have passed on the critically acclaimed game for this long, but in case you have, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and its soundtrack by Jim Guthrie is on sale today to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

The iPhone and iPod Touch "Micro" edition, normally $2.99, is $0.99 today, while the "Universal" iPad/iPhone/iPod release is discounted from $4.99 to $1.99. You can pay whatever you want for the digital download soundtrack, too!

Along with the sale, the game's collaborators -- Craig 'Superbrothers Adams, Capy, and Guthrie -- revealed a "Midsummer Rockshowcase" to be held at Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox on June 30th.

This Midsummer Rockshowcase event will include "a look at some of the projects and initiatives emerging from Toronto's DIY videogame community," live music from Sword & Sworcery played by Guthrie and his band, and more.

The group also unveiled this great 11"x11" print by Charlene Chua of "the legendary white stag of Scythia" (pictured), which you can only get by ordering one of the 100 remaining vinyl records of the Sword 7 Sworcery LP.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're a fan of obscure-but-awesome NES games like Taito's Little Samson and Irem's Metal Storm, this compilation might be worth checking out. Utata Kiyoshi Artdot Works, recently published by doujin group Game Area 51 in Japan, showcases sprite art and character sketches from games featuring Kiyoshi's designs.

Also included in the collection is art from the Strider spiritual sequel Cannon Dancer (released in the west as Osman), which has seen a resurgence in popularity lately due to Strider designer Kouichi Yotsui's recent return to game development.

Other featured works include Takeru's Cocoron and Nostalgia 1907, along with Mitchell's Funky Jet and The Karate Tournament.

[via @zerochan]

Posted by Danny Cowan at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Xbox Live Indie Games platformer Platformance: Castle Pain may not have been a particularly lengthy game, but it more than made up for it with the sheer amount of deaths players racked up throughout the brief adventure. Taking its gameplay cues from abusive contemporaries like Super Meat Boy, Platformance featured one long, grueling level filled with obstacles, enemies, and instant-death traps.

The sequel, Platformance: Temple Death, hit XBLIG yesterday, and it easily exceeds the standard for difficulty set by its predecessor. Thankfully, the checkpoints are generous, and multiple difficulty levels keep the experience from becoming too frustrating.

I really like the single-level approach this series takes. Unlike similar games that are broken up into stages, Platformance feels like a grand adventure compressed into a small but satisfying gameplay slice. The zoom feature also helps to convey an impressive sense of scale, since it makes it easy to examine how much ground you've covered in just a few minutes of play. And like many of the best Xbox Live Indie Games out there, it's just a dollar.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

DeathSpank developer Hothead Games has been aggressively pursuing iOS platforms as of late, recently following up on its bizarro Easter defense title Bunny the Zombie Slayer with the arcade-styled shooter Chromanoids.

This week, the developer launched Cell Bound, a color-matching puzzle game in which players spin the playfield to create chains and combos. Despite the Hothead pedigree, mystical thongs and zombie cheerleaders do not seem to figure into the gameplay at any point. How...suspicious.

Despite the seeming lack of Hotheadedness, Cell Bound offers multiple gameplay modes and a variety of Game Center achievements. Given the company's recent efforts to expand its mobile catalog, I have to wonder if Hothead plans to shift its development focus to iOS platforms from this point forward.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The spiritual sequel to Rez, Child of Eden, was released a few days ago across the globe, and to mark the occasion in UK, a special pop-up shop was opened in its honor. Called the Child of Eden Experience, it was established simply because the game defies convention, and therefore needs special care and attention when being sold to the public. According to Ubisoft brand manager Jan Sanghera: "[the game] has to be played to be believed."

The space contains a number of game trial rooms, each with an impressive AV set-up, along with another area that's designated for demonstrations, which also allows one the chance to relax by enjoying the soundtrack that's piped throughout and watching those in the aforementioned trail rooms give it a go (via remote cameras). The Xbox 360 version is the one that's on display since the PS3 version is still being worked on, but even still, the former's Kinect functionality makes it most appropriate in such a setting it would seem.

The address is 34-35 Dean Street, London, W1D 4PR, is open "from midday" to 8pm, and will be around until June 22. There's also a deal in which, if one checks into the shop via Facebook, they get a free shirt at the local GAME (the UK's version of Gamestop). Additional pics available after the cut.

Needless to say, this is a whole new way of selling a game, and quite the shock from Ubisoft. Let's be honest; their track record when it comes to promoting games, primarily titles from Japan have been piss poor. Lest we forget the nonexistent push for both No More Heroes 1 & 2, and the same for Senko No Ronde, which also received horrible box art and an even worse name change (the exceedingly generic WarTech). And given how difficult Child of Eden's predecessor was to market (which was handled by Sega themselves, though considering what rough shape they were in around late 2001, that's hardly a shocker), it's nice to see Ubi finally step up to the plate.

[via Destructoid]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In addition to an upcoming statue, another recently announced goodie to help mark Sonic's 20th birthday is a commemorative soundtrack that brings together all the music from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. Furthermore, bonus material will be included, such as the "demotapes" from both games. Not entirely sure what that is meant by such a term...

The music for both was created by Masato Nakamura, the bassist and producer of the immensely popular pop group (in Japan) Dreams Come True. Perhaps these tapes are early examples of what Nakamura had in mind for the soundtrack, but achieved via some other medium other than the Genesis sound chip that he's ultimately use. Perhaps the idea of hearing an original version of Spring Yard Zone via instruments that the artist was more comfortable with is a bit of a pipe dream, but you never know. Guess we'll all find out when it arrives later this summer!

By the way, I don't think many realize that the Sonic compilation is pretty much guaranteed to exceed expectations. Because during a time in which its video game output is spotty at best, Sega's audio releases on the other hand have been nothing short of superb. Over the past few years, the publisher has mined its rich catalogue, and the end result makes old and bitter Sega fans thankful to know that at least someone in their company remembers what made them so great back in the day.

I personally own the NiGHTS Perfect Album, which includes every single track from the game, along with all the different variations (the music in a given level can change depending on the moods of the game world's inhabitants mood), something that was never included in the OST from many years back, as well as the Daytona USA Anniversary Box, which includes every single track from every version of the first game (which granted could be mostly heard via the red book audio on Sega Saturn discs, but the audio quality is vastly superior on every account) plus second title.

Sega's record label isn't afraid to take risks either. It recently released an album of original songs by its Vocal Traxx team, though according to Original Sound Version, it's a mixed bag (like experiments often are). Sorry to play it safe, but what they have to say about the first of Sega’s two volume ode to System 16 makes it another must have for any old school Sega fan's music collection...

[via The Daily DL]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Familiar with the game Sweet Home? It's a somewhat obscure, spooky RPG (some say it's one of the very first survival horror games ever) for the Famicom that was a considerable inspiration on Shinji Mikami when he created Resident Evil. And over twenty years later, it has finally gotten the recognition it deserves: via a stop motion music video for the NYC based band Love Automatic.

Director Lee Hardcastle admits that it pays tributes to many classic horror films, but he tried his best to fit in as many references to the game (and not the movie, from which the game is actually based upon; I'm familiar with the source material, being a fanboy of Kiyoshi Kurosawa and all, but I've never touched the game) as possible.

Hardcastles states: "The Sweet Home ideas that were ripped off directly are, the situation of five guys going to a haunted house, each with their own 'trade'. And the whole cursed paintings thing; it's a tribute alright, but not a direct copy if that makes sense?"

"There's one shot that I wanted to mimic directly from the game; it's when the dude starts melting. Compare it to this..."

Also, "When the researcher dies in my music video, I had this in mind..."

Finally, regarding the source material: "Oh and one last thing; the 'Nightmare' credit on the music video... That's a direct rip-off from the title on Sweet Home. I tried watching the film once but only watched about 20 minutes, found it very boring."

[via GoNintendo]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The idea of turning one's iPhone or iPod touch into a tiny guitar that you can strum and (attempt to) make music with isn't an original one. Nor easy to pull off: virtually every app that tries has an average rating of one star in the App Store.

So what makes Air Guitar Move different? Simple: a plastic guitar pic that has a built accelerometer that can sense one's movement. You still touch the screen via the accompanying app, to determine which cords to play, but no more tapping the display to manipulate virtual strings, which is where everyone drops the ball.

There's two ways to play: freestyle and a more focused, Guitar Hero-esque mode. The brainchild of Ronald Mannak, who has several plastic music-making toys under his belt already (they’re apparently big hits in the UK), and Colin Karpfinger, creator of a suction-cup based joystick solution for the iPhone called Thumbies (available at Best Buy), the duo is using Kickstarter to raise the $25,000 they need to get it off the ground.

The final product will retail at $50, but you can get a discount if you donate (or, pay full price and receive yours way before everyone else). There's countless silly peripherals for the iPhone that ultimately do little, but this one has serious potential, mostly because its little piece of plastic that packs a decent bit of tech inside.

[via Engadget]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[In his latest column examining gaming conventions and the pros and cons of breaking them, GameSetWatch contributor Jeffrey Matulef looks at Sword & Sworcery and the payoff in weakening players' characters over time.]

Upon completing Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, I was struck by its unique design choice to make your health deteriorate throughout the course of the game. The explanation for this is that carrying the "golden trigons" -- magical triangles clearly referencing The Legend of Zelda -- are sapping your life force. Rather than simply stand in the background as a plot element, it was refreshing to see this affect the character in such an immediate and tangible way.

This was also fascinating because it went against the status quo that videogame characters should grow increasingly powerful. In role playing games we level up. In action games we buy new moves or find items to increase our health and attack power, or expand out move sets. In racing games we acquire new gear to enhance our performance. Not all game have growth systems, but the ones that do make sure your numbers keep going up rather than down. Call it the pursuit of progress.

By the same token, conventional design philosophy dictates that games should get more challenging as they go. Once you acquire a base set of skills to conquer a game's earlier chapters, it should demand more and more from you, lest it become tired or boring.

These two ideals are not mutually exclusive. Usually to get around this, designers ensure you get stronger but make enemies become even stronger yet. This way you have the illusion of growing, even if you're actually getting weaker relative to the task at hand. It's as if you received a minor raise, only to come home and realize your rent's just gone up.

Superbrothers' decision to wear a character down isn't empowering, but it is dramatic. Just as Indiana Jones looks like he's been through hell and back by the time the end credits roll in his movies, there's a cathartic sense of raw power that comes from seeing a weathered hero fight tooth and nail to complete their quest.

Games like Arkham Asylum and Shadow of the Colossus alter your character's appearance as the game wears on. By the end of these games, Bat's costume is torn to shreds and Wander is haggard and dirty. However, their health and abilities are at an all time high. Your character may look weary, but you'll feel powerful.

The reasoning behind this is the more you do something, the better you'll get at it. Just as Batman gets better at beating up thugs, Wander improves his climbing skills. This doesn't take into account that they'd tire themselves out. Some games with a longer format like Fallout 3 and Deadly Premonition even point this out by making your character perform poorly or lose health if they've not slept or eaten for too long.

This doesn't hold up in Arkham Asylum, where Batman's journey takes place entirely over the course of one night (cleverly the game's 12 or so hour length adds to the illusion that this is happening in real time). By the time Batman reaches the Joker for the final showdown he should be pretty wounded. Feeling like the ultimate badass goes against this notion.

I admired that S:S&S made you feel just as weak as its protagonist by decreasing her health meter. Going from three hit points to only two ratcheted up tension dramatically in the late game. By the endgame, your health is down to a scant one hit point as your avatar flashes, crawls, and vomits her way to a so close, yet so far conclusion.

This isn't that new. Mario did this in '85 when its final level offered not a single mushroom to you. Bowser remains as he ever was, a hopping, hammer throwing menace vulnerable to lava (which he inexplicably hung out on top of). He hasn't grown or evolved since he started tossing hammers midway through the game, but facing off against him that final time is especially terrifying with little room for error for poor, shrunken Mario.

Curiously, while few games decrease your health in the endgame, many decrease your abilities. In Metal Gear Solid, for example, you spend much of the game using nifty gadgets, weapons, and stealth to defeat a rogues gallery of bosses requiring you to take advantage of your wide arsenal. The final battle, however, is a no holds barred fist fight. It's trying to be macho -- like when Scharzenegger's John Matrix throws away his knife at the end of Commando to face off against his old foe mano-a-mano -- but it ends up just being stupid. Throughout the game Snake was never portrayed as being an excellent brawler. Why should he be now? I didn't feel limited for any good reason, so it felt misguided to throw out all I'd learned up to that point.

There's nothing inherently wrong with leveling up a player character only to level up their opposition even more. In theory it makes the final encounter more dramatic to have the two forces at the top of their game duking it out. The problem is that it's becomes cliche.

Superbrothers' unconventional approach to making your character weaker maintained a greater sense of weariness and defeat. Even though its final minutes contain little combat, it felt tense because I've grown a Pavlovian reaction to seeing my avatar flash. By making the player character's weakness more than just superficial, it robbed me of all my confidence. I was uncomfortable and worried, just as one should be when the fate of the world lies in their dying hands.

[Jeffrey Matulef is a freelance writer whose work can be found at G4TV.com, Eurogamer, Paste, Joystiq,GamePro, and Kill Screen among other places. He's also a regular on the Big Red Potion podcast. You can contact him at jmatulef at gmail dot com.]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

You can already play a simplified version of Augmented Reality fishing with the Nintendo 3DS's AR Games, but Takara Tomy is hoping to provide a more immersive experience with its upcoming Virtual Masters AR Fishing gadget with a built-in 2.4-inch screen.

Shown at last week's Tokyo Toy Show, the rod and reel controller includes a 0.3 megapixel camera allowing you to take photos of wherever you are, then use that environment as a fishing hole. It can store favorite shots on a MiniSD card, too.

Japan Trends offers this description of Virtual Masters AR Fishing's gameplay:

"Instead of merely pushing different colored buttons on a standard handheld game, players actually cast the rod into the ocean (or whatever environment they are fishing in), and based on the strength and angle of the cast, the distance of the float is recorded and players physically wind the virtual spool up to the desired displayed depth.

When a blue virtual fish approaches the float, the player is alerted with a vibration and must give the device a tug to hook the prey. As they are reeling the virtual fish in, the screen displays a tension meter, which (based on the strength) causes the reel to actually bend accordingly, and is surprisingly realistic.

The fiestier the fish, the stronger the bend, and the more difficult it is to reel it in; reflected in a tightening of the fishing line. Finally, using the tension meter as a guide, the player claims his prize with one last powerful tug on the rod."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Sense of Wonder Night 2011 festival, due to be held on September 16 during the Tokyo Game Show, is now accepting entries from developers for presentation during the festival.

Up until July 10, developers can enter their work for the contest at the official SOWN site. The SOWN festival focuses on innovation and new ideas that have yet to be explored in video games.

Now in its fourth year at the game show, SOWN will see a couple of new additions this year in the form of new rules surrounding the selection of the SOWN Screening Committee, and new 'Company Awards' which will be given to those entries deemed worthy.

Any developer can enter the competition, with no restrictions on team size, professional status or nationality.

Judges on the Screening Committee this year include the likes of Masato Shibata, executive officer at Hudson Soft, Akihiro Tashiro, Microsoft Japan's senior manager, and Gamasutra's Simon Carless.

Last year's finalists included the likes of Spirits by Spaces of Play, MusicMineSweeper by Game Developers Community in Sapporo and Record Tripping by Bell Brothers.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's good news and bad news from NYC-based indie developer Powerhead Games, creator of addictive, IGF Mobile-winning title Glow Artisan. The bad news: all of the studio's [EDIT: twelve] dev-based employees were laid off on Friday, though the company still exists and could possibly return with new projects.

An hour before the team closed up shop, though, it pushed out one last project and submitted the title to Apple's App Store. The game, ASYNC Corp, is expected to release in a couple weeks (unless it fails submission due to bugs, which Powerhead would have trouble fixing with no workers).

ASYNC Corp looks like a really cute puzzler with some great music, just based on the trailer above, so hopefully we'll see the game some day. In the meantime, you can still buy Powerhead's first original game, Glow Artisan, for DSiWare, iOS (free version here), and WP7. 

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Organizers for the Gygax Memorial Fund have announced that it's been granted land to create a memorial site for Gary Gygax, the co-creator of landmark roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons who passed away three years ago, at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin's Donian Park.

Lake Geneva's Board of Park Commissioners hasn't approved the exact location and design for the memorial, but the Fund, which is headed by Gary's wife Gail, intends to set up "a castle turret with a bust on top and possibly have a dragon wrapped around the turret" (sketch pictured).

You can donate to the Gygax Memorial Fund at its official site.

[Via BoingBoing]

Posted by Eric Caoili at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Esteemed indie RPG maker Spiderweb Software (Avernum, Geneforge) just released its first iPad game, a port of recently launched Avadon: The Black Fortress, the first chapter of a planned epic fantasy saga -- also available for Windows and Mac.

From what I hear, this iOS version is essentially the same as its PC counterparts (trailer above) -- in that its a 40-hour RPG featuring turn-based gameplay with a 2D isometric presentation -- except modified for touchscreen controls.

The game features four different character classes with unique spells and abilities, "many different endings" hundreds of magical items to find, and "dozens of side quests, hidden dungeons, and secrets to discover."

You can buy Avadon: The Black Fortress on your iPad for $9.99, and grab a demo or full copy of the PC versions here.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I swear I'll stop harping on E3 2011's myriad blunders soon, but this compilation was making the rounds over the weekend, and it offers a concise summary of the most painful moments in this year's major press conferences.

Some segments (AT&T, Kobe) are merely awkward, while others (Kinect's les enfants terribles) remain cringeworthy weeks afterward. Still others I never even noticed until they were strung together in montage, after which they became hilarious. Great job, Jeremy.

[via @ferricide]

Posted by Danny Cowan at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Distinguished Retronaut Chris Kohler has written a piece for Wired singing the praises of Measure Up, a surprisingly fun and virtually unknown Wii U tech demo presented at E3 earlier this month.

Showcased alongside the potential Rhythm Heaven prototype Shield Pose, Measure Up is a two-player game that focuses on visual-spatial ability. Players must use the Wii U's tablet controller to draw circles of a specified diameter, angles of a certain steepness, and various geometric shapes. The player who most accurately draws the prompted figure wins the round.

Kohler notes that the game presents a unique challenge not seen in other games, and the competitive element makes it a standout on the platform. Like Shield Pose, Measure Up is a proof-of-concept demonstration, and is not guaranteed to find its way into a retail product. The concept is definitely one that's worth exploring, though...perhaps if not in a Nintendo game, then maybe in a sequel to Prope's Just Half?

Posted by Danny Cowan at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lair of the Evildoer was released for the Xbox Live Indie Games service this week, and it's a twin-stick shooter. Wait, don't stop reading! It's a twin-stick shooter with RPG elements modeled after Runic Games' Torchlight, and it works better than you'd think.

Lair of the Evildoer is a relatively short game consisting of 20 procedurally generated levels. Players earn experience by carving a bloody swath through each floor's waves of zombies. Each new experience level gives players five skill points to allocate among four attributes, and damage output can be upgraded by finding stronger weapons.

It's definitely Torchlight-inspired, in other words. The twin-stick gameplay ensures that Lair of the Evildoer is more than a simple clone, however, and the streamlined inventory system keeps the game moving at a brisk pace. I'm only a few floors in, and I've already gotten my dollar's worth.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If that SNES-style intro Levi "Doctor Octoroc" Buffum produced for an imagined 16-bit Doctor Who game left you wanting more than that one-minute mock-up had to offer, you will be happy with the news we have to deliver today!

With this new teaser video, Doctor Octoroc revealed that he has a "16-bit Doctor Who" project in the works, with this serving as the "opening and title screen for a theoretical game based on the 2007-2010 series (featuring David Tennant)."

Right now, he's asking fans if they would like him to make the project a Choose Your Own Adventure-style interactive experience or a more accurate re-imagining of the series' acclaimed episode "Blink". Put in your vote here!

Posted by Eric Caoili at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[In this weekly column, GameSetWatch's Danny Cowan rounds up the most popular paid and free iPad gaming applications on the App Store as of today, with Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, Gangstar and Army of Darkness Defense currently ranking among the platform's top downloads.]

This week's top paid titles are:

1. Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD ($0.99)
2. Angry Birds HD ($4.99)
3. Angry Birds Rio HD ($2.99)
4. Gangstar: Miami Vindication HD ($0.99)
5. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iPad ($0.99)
6. Real Racing 2 HD ($6.99)
7. Cut the Rope HD ($1.99)
8. Order & Chaos Online HD ($0.99)
9. Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99)
10. Angry Birds Seasons HD ($1.99)

Gameloft dominates this week's iPad sales charts thanks to a recent round of temporary price drops. The company's beat-'em-up Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD takes top honors, as the Grand Theft Auto clone Gangstar trails Angry Birds HD and Angry Birds Rio HD at fourth place.

Electronic Arts also finds chart success with an updated and price-dropped Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, as Firemint's Real Racing 2 HD returns to the top ten this week at sixth place.

Here are this week's top free iPad applications:

1. Army of Darkness Defense HD
2. World Cup Table Tennis HD
3. Angry Birds HD Free
4. Shape Shifter HD
5. Galaga 30th Collection
6. Strike Knight HD
7. Fishing Joy HD
8. Mr Giggle HD Lite
9. Breakout Mania HD
10. Angry Birds Rio HD Free

Backflip Studios' Army of Darkness Defense HD sees a surge of popularity during a limited-time free download promotion, overtaking Skyworks' World Cup Table Tennis HD for first place.

Namco's retro shooter compilation Galaga 30th Collection also ranks as a popular download this week, as former chart leaders Mr Giggle HD Lite and Strike Knight HD fall several spots in today's results.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ninja Shadow Warrior, despite its name, isn't the latest stealth/action game joining the ranks of Shinobi, Shinobido, Ninja Gaiden, Tenchu, etc. It's a "stand alone photo booth arcade game using the Kinect camera, computer and a hacked closet light button built into a custom game cabinet."

In this multiplayer game, your palace is under attack, and you need to use ninja magic to hide and become different objects. To take those objects' form, you and your partner need to coordinate and pose in a way that matches their silhouette. With each level, the forms become more difficult.

Your highest score in the game, and a "winning snapshot" are automatically posted to this Tumblr site. It looks like Ninja Shadow Warrior, which was developed by designer Kaho Abe, is at New York City's Eyebeam Art and Technology Center.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sure to be the next thing in overdone video game art, up there with minimalist character designs, faux propaganda posters, here are illustrations of classic video game heroes/antagonists like Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog, with beards.

I'm not sure why Canadian illustrator Glen O'Neill, himself bearded, decided to create these, but there are sure to be more on his recenty launched blog Beards Mostly. There needs to be a Blaster Master piece, with Sophia the Third sporting facial hair.

It seems ike everyone's in a beard mood lately ever since Robin Williams showed off his impressive whiskers in the new Ocarina of Time 3D commercial.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Receipt Racer was produced earlier this month for the "Let's feed the future" workshop at this year's OFFF Festival. A collaboration between Joshua Noble and undef. It's actually quite simple: the road is produced via thermal receipt paper that’s printed on the fly, and the car is simply a beam of light that the player controls via a Dual Shock 3. The score and difficulty information is also provided and projected as well.

If you hit an obstacle or veer of the road, it’s an instant game over, with the printing coming to an abrupt end. Detailed information can be seen over at undef's project breakdown, where on can actually play it for themselves, albeit sans the projected car and receipt printer parts. Hopefully a Game Boy Printer version is forthcoming.

[via Today And Tomorrow]

Posted by Matthew Hawkins at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Indie studio On The Fly Entertainment has launched its debut project for the Xbox Live Indie Games service, mixing a gameplay concept introduced in the freeware puzzler Blocksum with battle mechanics from Nintendo's Puzzle League series.

Sum Fighter pits high school students and faculty against one another in a series of math-based puzzle battles. Numbered pieces on the playfield become larger in shape and in numeric value when linked with adjacent blocks. Players clear these pieces and earn attack points when like-numbered blocks connect; two "2" pieces will disappear after being linked, as will three "3" pieces, and so on.

The play mechanics are difficult to grasp at first -- especially if, like me, you're a Puzzle League fiend and are confused and frightened by all things math -- but the game's head-to-head setup is solid, and the art style helps to sell the experience. Sum Fighter is priced at 240 Microsoft points.

Posted by Danny Cowan at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)