Super Mario Crossover version 2.0 finally
available

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 11:05:43 PM. © Destructoid

Super Mario Crossover version 2.0 finally available screenshot

Super Mario Bros Crossover, a flash game which takes characters from classic videogames and puts them into a recreation of Super Mario Bros., has had an update in the works for over a year now. Version 2.0, which we first told you about last month, gives a major facelift to most elements of the game, with a skinning system that allows you to view interpretations of the game based on a variety of console platforms, add characters, and more.

Yesterday, the update quietly went live, and you can go check it out now. I did a little run through of things and I'm pretty sure my favorite character is Sophia the 3rd from Blaster Master. But if you want to have some real fun, the most interesting thing I've tried is playing exclusively as Ryu Hyabusa. That dude gets around.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover 2.0 Released [Exploding Rabbit]

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Ivory Tower Defense Games in the Academy

post from The Ludologist on 09 February 2012 10:44:33 PM. © The Ludologist

Speaking at our Ivory Tower Defense panel on February 23rd at the New York University Game Center. Do games belong in the university? Do you need a degree to make games? What can we get out of studying them? What is the connection between research and design? Join us for a spirited conversation with the [...]

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Low-poly Mass Effect CG models are massively
adorable

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 10:05:41 PM. © Destructoid

Low-poly Mass Effect CG models are massively adorable screenshot

Do you guys remember how, in Final Fantasy VII, the character models during battles were tall, lean, and fairly well-proportioned, whereas the character models on the overworld map were short, plump, and super-deformed? It was almost like getting The Muppet Show one minute and then Muppet Babies the next.

I doubt Final Fantasy or Muppets were running through Polycount forum user Nix's head when he had the idea to take characters from across the Mass Effect universe and render them with PS1-level geometry. Of course, the final product is way beyond what the PS1 could accomplish, thanks to Nix's use of hi-res textures. He also rendered the scene with a set of lower-res textures, yet it still looks fantastic and out of the PS1's league.

For a series that dives deep into uncanny valley territory, this super-deformed, low-poly re-imagining looks a billion times better (to me, at least). Sporting this look, I can almost imagine a Mass Effect action platformer or Power Stone-style party fighter. Everybody looks so adorable, from Shepard to Tali to an actually baby-faced Liara. There's nothing about this that I don't like!

lowpoly mini Mass Effect scene [Polycount]

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Arkham City Dev Defends UK Studios

post from The Escapist : Latest News on 09 February 2012 09:40:00 PM. © The Escapist : Latest News

A Rocksteady Studios director believes that the UK could be a major player in game development, as soon as it can stand toe-to-toe with Canada.

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This new trailer for The Splatters makes it look
so easy

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 09:06:18 PM. © Destructoid

This new trailer for The Splatters makes it look so easy screenshot

video details and more

On the surface, The Splatters might look problematically straightforward. But that really isn't the case, and thankfully, SpikySnail Games has a new video to help prove this point.

With the "Flip" mechanic, you're able to reverse directions. At first glance, it looks like a mere time rewind, though it's more complicated than that in practice. Watch the video to see what I mean. Or read SpikySnail's blog post, which delves into some of the design theory behind the move.

I'm still greatly anticipating this game, and hopefully more of you will join in as we move closer to The Splatters' release this spring.

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Ridge Racer Unbounded wants you to 'deal with it'

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 09:06:18 PM. © Destructoid

Ridge Racer Unbounded wants you to 'deal with it' screenshot

Here's a developer diary from the team at Bugbear Entertainment, currently working on Ridge Racer Unbounded. There are cars, they go fast and the level editor they show off looks like a great execution. They also released a batch of screenshots which you can view in our gallery.

Ridge Racer is a series which never captured my interest as a participant because, as with most racing games, I was utterly abysmal at it. That didn't stop me from staring in rapt awe over the arcade machines (so shiny). Unbounded seems much more my speed, as bringing combat into racing games means I don't necessarily have to be good at the racing part. I'm keeping my eyes on this.

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How Aerosmith and Armageddon changed Itagaki's
life

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 09:06:18 PM. © Destructoid

How Aerosmith and Armageddon changed Itagaki's life screenshot

My eyes roll at Aerosmith's hit song "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," but game creator Tomonobu Itagaki gets tears in his eyes when he hears it. He explained how the song and the Bruce Willis movie Armageddon changed his life, during a talk at DICE Summit 2012 today.

Itagaki now heads up his own studio, Valhalla Games, which is currently working with THQ on the upcoming game Devil's Third, but he started the talk by taking the audience back to a darker time. Around 2000, while still at Tecmo, Itagaki recalled that he only had a couple of months to create a PlayStation 2 launch title. He and his team worked hard, but the game never got to the level they wanted by the end of that short span. Around that time, a co-worker asked to borrow a build of the game to play for himself, but he was tricked, and that disc was actually put into production without Itagaki knowing. The game was Dead or Alive 2.

This incident sent him into a dark depression, causing him to hole up in his home, rarely leaving. Itagaki told us that he took to the bottle, drinking morning to night for about three months. He decided that he would quit making games.

After some time on the couch, drinking and crying, Itagaki's wife suggested that they watch some movies. He says that he was indifferent to most of them, but one touched his heart: Armageddon. He says that he watched it time and time again, every time finding himself moved by the scene where Bruce Willis' character says goodbye to his daughter. "If I close my eyes now and recall Armageddon, tears still come to my eyes," he told the audience. The movie's theme song, "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," was performed by Steven Tyler for his daughter, Liv. Both the scene and the song made Itagaki think of his young daughter.

Itagaki said that one day, while watching the movie again with his daughter in his lap, she asked him to stop the movie. When he asked her why she didn't want to see it, she said, "This is the movie where Daddy dies." This made Itagaki realize that he had died as a developer, without ever making his daughter and family happy. This became a turning point for him, he says, and from here he went on to create his own studio.

"No matter what anyone says, Aerosmith and Armageddon were the ones who saved my life, my company, my friends, and my family," he said.

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Double Fine reaps over $1 million in under 24
hours!

post from Destructoid on 09 February 2012 09:06:18 PM. © Destructoid

Double Fine reaps over $1 million in under 24 hours! screenshot

Rather than slowing down, the donations that gamers are sending Double Fine continue to be sent. For those just joining us, the studio is funding an adventure game through Kickstarter. It cleared its minimum goal of $400,000 in just over eight hours, and has now more than doubled it within 24 hours of initiation.

Double Fine's game already has more backers than any other Kickstarter project, and the numbers just keep climbing. All funds earned over the now-tiny goal will be put back into the game and accompanying documentary, improving them both.

The header image in this post, by the way, is already hopelessly outdated. That figure is rising quickly!

The outpouring of support, and the evidence that gamers are more than happy to pay for a product if they like the people making it, is a joy to watch. I am absolutely loving this.

Double Fine Adventure by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions [Kickstarter]

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Blizzard Entertainment schedules Diablo III for
Q2 2012

Blizzard Entertainment schedules Diablo III for Q2 2012 screenshot

Blizzard has been avoiding the issue of setting a release date for Diablo III for months now, but we've finally received information that they do actually plan to release the thing at some point. And that point is somewhere between the months of April and June of this year, during the company's second quarter, as announced today during Activision Blizzard's year-end earnings call to investors.

The company went on reassert that the game has undergone some revision based on player feedback from the beta, though no specifics were given as to what changes may have occurred.

Diablo 3 'targeting Q2 launch' - Activision [CVG]

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Toki Tori added to Humble Indie Bundle for
Android

Toki Tori added to Humble Indie Bundle for Android screenshot

Was anyone else worrying that the Humble Indie Bundle for Android wouldn't be getting any bonus games? I was starting to have my doubts. Two Tribes has graciously swooped in to fill the void with its adorable puzzle-platformer Toki Tori.

This occasion marks the debut of the game on Linux, but you're also getting the Android, Mac, and Windows-based PC versions as well, in addition to EDGE, Osmos, Anomaly: Warzone Earth, and (optionally) World of Goo. Now if only I could get Toki Tori's theme song out of my head.

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