PopCap launches new small games label, 4th and
Battery

post from CountGameula on 06 April 2011 11:19:08 PM. © CountGameula

PopCap have announced the formation of a new small games label, 4th & Battery. Named after the...[...]

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Preview: Green Lantern: Rise of The Manhunters
3DS

post from Destructoid on 06 April 2011 11:08:15 PM. © Destructoid

Preview: Green Lantern: Rise of The Manhunters 3DS screenshot

At Wondercon this weekend, I got a chance to play the video game tie-ins for DC’s summer movie offering, Green Lantern. As a die-hard Marvel fanboy, I wasn’t initially too thrilled with this assignment, but after spending some time with Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters on the 3DS, I think Griptonite Games has created a pretty cool game.

Also, I should note that these screenshots don’t look remotely like the gameplay itself, which is a pity.

Green Lantern: Rise of The Manhunters (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, 3DS [Previewed])
Developer: Griptonite Games
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
To Be Released: June 7, 2011

I’m not extremely well-versed in the goings-on of the DC Universe, but I’ve got the gist of The Green Lantern. The particular Green Lantern being played by Ryan Reynolds in the film is named Hal Jordan. Hal’s just your average jet fighter pilot ace who found a crashed spaceship, was given some magic jewelry by a dying alien, and became a member of an intergalactic police force of guys in green onesies and Kato masks.

In Rise of The Manhunters, the titular Manhunters are a race of androids originally created to police the galaxy before the Lanterns were around. Unfortunately, they soon became preoccupied with dishing out punishment instead of upholding truth and justice, and it’s up to the Green Lanterns to kill the mean robots. That seems to be the general premise of the game.

Goofy Silver Age plotlines aside, The Green Lantern does have a pretty sweet power: he can use his ring to form anything he needs, just by thinking it. Machine guns, swords, giant fists, whatever. Anything that’s necessary to fight intergalactic crime, or makes for an interesting plot device. Deus ex machina at its finest.

Using such an open-ended superpower as a comic book story-gimmick is easy, but turning it into a game mechanic is another issue altogether. In Rise of The Manhunters, Griptonite managed to keep things pretty simple without making them boring.

After playing the game for about a minute, I said “This kinda feels like Super Metroid.” One of the PR guys present said, “Yes, ‘Metroidvania’ is definitely the approach we took here,” referring to that very specific flavor of action platforming gameplay that involves a bit of exploration as well.

As far as the action goes, Hal’s got a few attacks at his disposal. First, there’s his energy attack, where he shoots green crap from his ring. He’s also got a melee attack where he punches guys in the face. Both of these attacks can be charged up by momentarily holding down and then releasing the corresponding button. The way Hal uses these charged up attacks changes at random. For instance, one charged melee attack had him swinging around a pair of glowing green maces, and the next had him conjure up some gigantic green fists for enemy-punching.

In addition to the melee and energy attacks, Hal can also do a ground-pound. This is pretty straightforward, and is performed by jumping into the air, using the ring to create some sort of heavy object, and then dropping on enemies. Heavy objects that I saw included a mid-size sedan and a giant anchor, which was a nice cartoony addition to what’s otherwise a semi-realistic game.

Some other powers include flight, which is achieved by tapping the jump button twice. The way this handles on the 3DS felt right, and not clumsy or tacked on. Hal can also scan enemies to figure out their weaknesses; I fought a bunch of obnoxious vampire robots who siphoned my lantern-energy to make shields around themselves. The proper way to beat them was by using energy attacks to break their shields, and then melee attacks to finish them off.

The right trigger activates a green shield around Hal, which, of course, deflects attacks from enemies, but can also be used to open certain doors. This feels very similar to accessing doors in Super Metroid, especially when I discovered a map room. Messing with the computer in this room updated the objectives on the map overlay that could be brought up by tapping a small icon on the 3DS’ lower screen.

As someone who grew up looking at a single screen, I feel terribly old when I forget to look at the bottom screen of the DS/DSi/3DS. There’s something about it that just isn’t intuitive for me, a problem the younger generations of video game wunderkind probably don’t have. The folks at Griptonite seemed to understand my plight, and said that they made the game mostly focused on the top screen, with a few exceptions.

On the bottom screen, there are a bunch of special attacks Hal can use, the kind that kill a bunch of dudes at once. Hal can also call for backup from one of the other Green Lanterns like Kilowog, Sinestro, or Tomar-Re, who will fly on screen and beat up enemies for you.

The 3D in the game isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s also not too headache-inducing. From what I gather, Rise of the Manhunters was already being developed when the 3DS got unveiled, so Griptonite had to go back and look at what could be 3D-ified best. The end result is a good sense of visual depth, but not a game that looks quite like it’s popping out of the screen.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not excited for the Green Lantern movie, and I wasn’t excited for Rise of The Manhunters. After playing it, though, I’m pleased. Kid-oriented handheld movie tie-ins based on summer blockbusters are typically met with eye-rolling and sarcasm, but Griptonite handled things pretty well.

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New details on SSX are reassuring

post from Destructoid on 06 April 2011 11:08:15 PM. © Destructoid

New details on SSX are reassuring screenshot

Game Informer has posted an insightful interview with SSX creative director Todd Batty. You hear that, doubters? Let's give this game a chance before we judge too harshly.

Batty starts off by saying that the "core statement from day one has been, 'survive it, race it, trick it.' And in that, we have designed three major types of gameplay. One being Deadly Descent, which is all about survival gameplay." There's races (Speed Descent) and, of course, tricks (Tricky Descent) too.

He confirmed a few things, such as the inclusion of wing suits; if done correctly, this could be a fantastic addition to the absurdity of SSX. Also look out for "more things like avalanches and rockslides, and falling stalactites" in Deadly Descent, where "the challenge will be just making it to the bottom alive."

Lastly, Batty says they're trying to capture the "feeling" of games like Trials HD for the tricks system. My cautious optimism has moved into regular old optimism. Be sure to read the full interview.

EA Carves Up A World Of Mountains In SSX [Game Informer]

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EA and Hasbro declare April 7th Global MONOPOLY
Day

post from Destructoid on 06 April 2011 11:08:15 PM. © Destructoid

EA and Hasbro declare April 7th Global MONOPOLY Day screenshot

You know, I used to think that you had to have some sort of position of authority in order to declare days to be special. Now I realize that you only need a social networking site and a product. What a fool I was!

Electronic Arts and Hasbro have proclaimed that April 7th is "Global MONOPOLY Day" on Facebook. And speaking of things that seemed to have meaning in my youth but are now revealed as the marketing tools that they are, they'll be going for a Guinness World Record attempt as they challenge themselves in the time-honored pursuit of "most people playing MONOPOLY Millionaires at the same time."

Gawrsh, I don't know if they can pull it off. I just wanted you to know that tomorrow, according to Electronic Arts, is "Global MONOPOLY Day." Mark your calendars, get your souvenirs and brace yourself for a day which will go down as the most significant in the history at least one or two people somewhere in the world, probably for reasons unrelated to "Global MONOPOLY Day."

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The Essential Guide To Flash Games Made a Profit!
(really)

post from 8bitrocket on 06 April 2011 10:57:58 PM. © 8bitrocket

Essentially because of many of you, our book, the “Essential Guide to Flash Games, Building Interactive Entertainment in As3″, actually paid Steve and I a royalty yesterday (even with that crazy-long title). After receiving a years worth of the most puzzling (I wish I could show one here) advance recoup statements possible, we finally received [...]

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Section 8: Prejudice devs promise a better story

post from Destructoid on 06 April 2011 10:07:22 PM. © Destructoid

Section 8: Prejudice devs promise a better story screenshot

Can't see the video? Click here

The original Section 8 didn't have much of a story. So little, in fact, that it barely merited mention in Jim's review of the game. In this new behind-the-scenes video, the developers at TimeGate Studios emphasize that they're working to expand the tale considerably in Section 8: Prejudice.

That's all well and good, but I have a more pressing question: Who let the desperate cougar into the office?

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Minecraft: Over $33 million in revenue so far

post from Destructoid on 06 April 2011 10:07:22 PM. © Destructoid

Minecraft: Over $33 million in revenue so far screenshot

Wondering how this whole Minecraft thing is working out for creator Markus "Notch" Persson? Pretty well, I'd say. He says that his little indie game has made over $33 million in revenue so far.

In a Reddit thread where Persson was asked how much Minecraft has made so far he breaks it down:

A lot. It all ends up in an account somewhere, and I try not to look at it. I get a normal salary these days for day to day stuff, but there's a big pile somewhere. The game sold about 800,000 copies at 9.95 euro and then so far 1 million more at 14.95 euro. Paypal takes a cut, there are taxes, and such, but it's still a huge wad of money.

Gamasutra did the math: There's 1,813,527 paying customers for the title, which would put the total revenues for the game at over €23 million, or just over $33 million. Wow.

Seeing this makes me think of everything everyone has every said they were going to do but never did. Persson did it and look what happened. Congrats.

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Bit Transmission episode 14

Bit Transmission episode 14 screenshot

I bet you thought we forgot about you. For a whole pile of reasons (all of which can probably be blamed on me somehow) it has been a very, very long time since there has been an episode of Bit Transmission. We're sorry about that but we're excited to be back in the saddle with a brand new episode.

The bulk of the show is centered around the 3DS, as each member of the cast was in a different state of 3DS ownership at the time of recording. We also talk about the earthquakes in Japan and how unfathomably thoughtless people can be, plus a brief roundup of cool iDevice games.

You can download the new episode below. You can also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, Zune or RSS.

Bit Transmission Episode 14
Total running time: 48:34

Music used in this episode:
I Aged - yes_pizza
We Believe - EpiiicSignal
Laser Car on the Bandit Highway - Freque

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The Commodore 64 lives again!

The Commodore 64 lives again! screenshot

I remember the original Commodore 64. I played the sh*t out of that thing. It technically was my dad's, but I used it more than he did. I was in love with that little machine and I sometimes find myself missing it.

I can have it again. Kind of. The Commodore is back in a way. Commodore USA has recreated the classic machine, but has now stuffed it with PC innards. Inside the classic box/keyboard you'll find a mini-ITX PC motherboard featuring a Dual Core 525 Atom processor and the latest Nvidia Ion2 graphics chipset. Right now it comes in the original taupe brown/beige color, but other colors will be revealed later. There's Cherry brand key switches and the keys are a perfect match with the original. From the top it looks like the old device, but on the sides and back you'll find things like a DVD drive, card slots, and PC ports.

Gamers will appreciate the built-in 8-bit C64 emulator, which can be accessed within seconds of turning the device on.

You'll find all the configurations of this system on their webpage. Prices range from $250 to $895.

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Mini-Review: iQube

by: Bengi Selcukoglu
NEWS - Title - iQube
Developer - Allapps
Price - $0.99
Other Platforms - iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

iQube is a puzzle game that has moveable colored tiles that you try to match to a pattern in the middle of the board. Once you match the pattern with a particular color, those tiles turn silver. The goal is to turn the whole board silver. You control the grid simply by touching and dragging the row or column in the direction you want to move it; tiles eventually wrap around to the other side of the board. There are three difficulty levels, moving up in number of tiles and complexity of pattern, and you must move up in order to unlock the more difficult puzzles. Gameboard includes a quick-access replay level button if you get stuck. You can post your best time scores on global and local score leaderboards, and challenges friends to beat your time.

If you're looking for a puzzle game where you're challenged by the clock, and that you can pick up and play intuitively from the first minute, this definitely fits the bill. Vibrant colors and tile movement really does remind you of a Rubik's Cube. If you stick with it, the game boasts 50+ levels.

Personally, though, I wasn't all that engaged. Technically, the tile movement can be frustratingly sluggish and unresponsive. Additionally, there were aspects of the game that didn't sit well with me. For example, the blinking pattern you're supposed to match to got annoying after a while. The game is straightforward, which I normally count as a good thing, but here the simplicity seems to be the game's downfall. The time element isn't enough to keep me motivated, and not being able to play the more difficult levels right away turned me off as well. As a final note, when I got an upgrade pushed to my phone, it wiped out all the progress I had made up until that point unlocking levels, and I had to start over.

The game isn't expensive, at $0.99, but I would probably seek out other puzzle games to get my fix rather than turn to this one.

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