Eliss creator, Steph Thirion, has announced, or at least teased, his new game Faraway. The game is to be the first released under the new developer name Little–Eyes. Faraway is expected to be similar to Eliss but rather than focus on planets and space management it will of involve the constellation and the infinity of space. There is practically nothing known about the project, but that’s expected to change tomorrow evening at Kotoromi’s Gamma IV.
source: pocketgamer.com
As I’m sure you’ve all seen, Steam is on its way to Mac OSX and as a result there are lots of questions! Fortunately, the TF2 Team sat down and answered a few of the most common ones. Now obviously we don’t know how this will apply to other multi-platform titles but so far the answers look consumer friendly, especially considering they could have very easily pulled some real dick moves on these issues. Here’s hoping the same extends to all games that end up taking advantage of the new found Mac support.
Q: I own TF2 on the PC. Do I have to buy it again on the Mac?
A: No. If you own TF2 on the PC, you own TF2 on the Mac (and vice versa). You don’t have to buy the game twice. In addition, the Steam Cloud will automatically propagate your configuration settings and custom sprays to your Mac for you.Q: Is it just some crappy emulated version of TF2?
A: No! Also: How dare you! Mac users aren’t getting a crappy emulated version of the game. TF2 will run natively on OSX, like an actual big boy game for adults.Q: Hmm, that all sounds pretty good. But I’ll bet I can’t play with my friends who own Macs if I’m on my PC.
A: Mac and PC users will all play together, on the same servers. We’re not creating two separate universes. We’re all going to be one big, happy family with guns locked in a bloody, never-ending struggle for cap points.
Friend of Two Fedoras Jesse Bishop built a MAME cab a while back. And he’s such a nice guy, that he’s going to let you, yes let you, watch him play it. In episode one, he picks a game at random from his cabinet featuring over 7,000 games to play.
Watch as he learns whether or not he sucks at Goalie Ghost, wonder if that music is really good or bad and marvel at Jesse’s “sign off” noise.
I guess that’s as much fun as you can have in a game without guns.
Michael Klucher took some time while he was on his way to GDC to write up a detailed post regarding the XNA Game Studio 4 development platform. The most noteworthy information for those of us who aren’t of the developer persuasion is the following bit pertaining to the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Xbox LIVE experience:
The other key component of XNA Game Studio 4.0 that we’ve enabled exclusively for Xbox partners is Xbox LIVE and a premium gaming experience on Windows Phone 7 Series. Through the Gamer Services API’s you can pull in a user’s Gamertag and 2D Avatar as part of the game experience, unlock achievements on the platform, and leverage notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming.
That’s some pretty exciting, but expected, news. It looks like I’ll have yet another reason to consider Windows Phone 7 as an iPhone alternative come contract renewal time.
For those of you who are developer types and want to see more on the XNA Game Studio 4 feature talk, head on over to Mr. Klucher’s blog and read the whole shebang; additionally, you can check out the list of its features over at the XNA Creators Club.
Five brand spanking new XBLIG games out today and they look like a pretty decent bunch. I haven’t played any of these yet so no commentary today, but stay tuned as some of them may get the full review treatment soon. All descriptions are that of their respective developers.
Zombie Armageddon |
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Introducing Zombie Armageddon, a new tower defense game combining innovative gameplay and a cinematic “boy meets zombies” storyline. Zombie Armageddon engages players with 11 progressive levels of zombie mayhem, plus an unlimited “Onslaught” mode to tax players’ defensive strategies and intestinal fortitude.
Developer: Xenite |
MagicalCube |
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Magical Cube is a mission-clear style puzzle game. The object of this game is to defeat monsters in battle by using Marie’s magic. When 3 Cube is aligned (only same color), Marie’s magic is invoked. Marie can deliver a damaging blow to the monster with magic, and when monster’s life gone run out, you win! Collect coin, and purchase accessories to make Marie more powerful!
Developer: FixedStarWorks |
Colony Defense |
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Colony Defense is 360 degrees of fast-paced tower defense strategy where the player has to defend an entire planet and multiple paths against invading alien forces. Defend each planets colonies from the alien onslaught in this high action, strategy title. 10 upgradable weapons to fight the good fight with. Ricochet laser cannons, flame throwers, stasis towers, artillery cannons, and many more
Developer: Mana Bomb Game Studio |
Drooop!! |
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Move player to turn the field. If you clear all conditions, an exit will appear. Let’s complete all stages! You can also play the endless mode.
Developer: TokyoGameBros |
Bush Hunt |
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Play as a safari hunter re-capturing animals that have escaped from RidKim Zoo. Play over 20 levels across 4 different terrains capturing some of the most dangerous and unusual animals. Try survivor mode to see just how long you can survive against a never ending barrage of animals.
Developer: Riddlersoft |
ARIKA’s follow up to the block dropping puzzle game Jewelry Master Twinkle is out and brings with it some nice value. The new version, Jewelry Master Twinkle Light, cuts down on fluff but still features the same basic gameplay of the original at a much more palatable 80 Microsoft Point price.
The gameplay is simple, drop the blocks consisting of gems and stones into position in typical block dropping game fashion. The gems and stones can be made to disappear in two different ways. Gems are done away with by boxing them in using stones. Once a gem has been boxed in, it and all other gems of the same color will instantly disappear. The stones, which come in different shapes and sizes, will only disappear when a full row of stones is constructed.
The game presents itself as some sort of block dropping date simulator and I have no idea how the two of these things are supposed to go together. Unless of course, you’re talking about dropping the ol’ I block in for a Tetris, if you know what I mean. All that really seems to happen in Jewelry Master Twinkle Light is your “date” occasionally rambles about pickles or going for a ride on a Ferris Wheel as you score more points. I never really make it past talking about going on the Ferris Wheel though, so I suppose, in that sense, it is a pretty accurate dating sim.
The controls are fully customizable and even in their default configuration work well enough. I didn’t run into any major annoyances other than an occasional accidental instant block drop caused by nudging the thumb stick in the up direction. Really though, once you are aware of this particular control nuance it is easily avoided.
“Jewelry Master Twinkle become easier and re-release ! The jewels drop one after another. Join the jewels and enclose by the stones to erase ! The Graphics and the scenarios are changeable. It will depend on game play. You can enjoy the game kind of like a date. The game system has been changed. It’s Especially recommended for beginners ! “
The above is the developer’s description of the game on Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace. The bold portion of the description seems erroneous as the only visuals I saw that were customizable were in the screensaver mode which allowed you to change the background color. The references to change in scenarios seem exaggerated as well, since the only gameplay that seemed to change what your “date” says to you is how far through the linear scripts you get. This is more then likely a result of a bit of copy/pasting from the previous full versions description and possibly some language barriers.
The visuals of JWTLight are quite nice, the anime girl is nicely drawn and the backgrounds are animated and lively. One note worthy difference from the original is the inclusion of only one of the original girls. On the same topic, there are no male dates either, which may be a deal breaker for some out there.
The music of the game is descent enough for its stripped down nature, which is a good thing considering there appears to only be one track.
The price tag sells this one, at 80 Microsoft Points its production qualities are a bargain. There are a lot of less developed block dropping puzzle games out there at the same price, so if you are looking for a bargain in this genre I recommend checking it out.