After the success of Shadowrun Returns, Harebrained Schemes is returning to Kickstarter to raise enough funds for their next project. Golem Arcana is a miniatures game that works with smartphones, tablets and computers to help simplify miniatures gaming with the help of a special Tabletop Digital Interface Stylus.
Often times, the hefty rules and record keeping can be a barrier for those interested in miniatures gaming. Harebrained Schemes designed the TDI Stylus and a tablet computer to helps keep track of scores, check for valid moves, save games and so forth. This will lower the learning curve for the game and bring more players into the world of miniatures gaming.
Harebrained Schemes has a team that includes the creators of major tabletop games like BattleTech, MageKnights, and HeroClix. The base game will be provided to backers who provide $65 USD or more. It contains six Golem miniatures, six cardboard terrain tiles, the TDI Stylus, two 10 sided dice, control cards, and a book containing rules and the lore of Golem Arcana. A variety of extra addons like more miniatures, stylus, Bluetooth 4 adapter, and extra terrain tiles can also be purchased. More information about the game can be found at the official Kickstarter campaign and the official Golem Arcana website.
Humble Bundle has two new sales this week. First off, Humble Indie Bundle 9 is now available for all buyers. All buyers will receive Trine 2: Complete Story, Mark of the Ninja, Eets Munchies Beta, and Brutal Legend. Those who beat the average will receive FTL: Faster Than Light and Fez. More games will be announced for buyers who beat the average in the coming days. All games come with their corresponding soundtracks in MP3 and FLAC format.
For those preferring a retro touch, The Humble Weekly Sale features six retro themed shooters. All buyers will receive Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, Shadow Warrior Classic Redux, and Duke Nukem 3d Megaton Edition. Those who beat the average price will receive System Shock 2 and Hard Reset Extended Edition.
The next in a long line of bloodpumping Need for Speed games is just on the horizon and now Ghost Games and EA are being cruel and teasing us with an early look at some of the gameplay and car customization in a new trailer which you can watch below. Being on the next-gen launch titles list, the graphics look absolutely beautiful, far ahead of its predecessors. From the trailer, we can see an absolute myriad of different customization options in the form of rims, paints, decals, and plates. Body options have not been featured as of yet, nor has much of the performance, but that will most likely be shown in future trailers.
Need for Speed Rivals will be released for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 in November. It will then be released as a launch title on the Xbox One and PS4 upon their release.
Crytek, the folks behind the first-person shooter Crysis series, announced today that the Warface Beta testing is set to expand once more after a fashion. They’ve announced that anyone who has previously participated in any stage of the Warface Beta will be able to pick up and play again during the following dates and times.
EU & Turkey: Friday September 13th 12PM CET (11AM BST) – Monday September 16th12PM CET (11AM BST) US: Friday September 13th 6AM EST – Monday September 16th 6AM EST
EU & Turkey: Thursday September 19th 6PM CET (5PM BST) – Monday September 23nd12PM CET (11AM BST) US: Thursday September 19th 12PM EST – Monday September 23nd 6AM EST
EU & Turkey: Wednesday September 25th 9AM CET (8AM BST) – Monday September 30th9AM CET (8AM BST) US: Wednesday September 25th 3AM EST – Monday September 30th 3AM EST
Players interested in trying to get in on some Warface action can still sign up for a chance at their official website here.
The Pokemon Company has just revealed the newest addition to the evergrowinglist of newcomers set to appear in Pokemon X and Y. The latest creature added to the fray is the kingly evolution of the previously revealed Lion Cub Pokemon Litleo. A ferocius, fire maned feline known as Pyroar. Just as its evolution before it, Pyroar will be a Fire/Normal type, the first Pokemon to wield such a type combination. True to its royal nature, Pyroar will have access to the abilities Unnerve and Rivalry. It was also shown that Pyroar is able to use the move Echoed Voice. It has also been revealed that Pyroar will have a female form:
Pokemon X and Y draws ever closer, so grab your Nintendo 3DS and get ready. With the reveal of this combustible cat to tide you over, stay tuned for more Pokemon news as it comes to light. It’s good to be king…
After a successful run in the Australian and New Zealand market, Flat Earth Games‘ TownCraft is set to receive an international release. Created by brothers Rohan Harris and Leigh Harris, in conjunction with Epiphany Games and Quest’s End Games, the crafting/city-builder hybrid reached number two within weeks of launching.
Leigh Harris (Lead Designer) said:
“People seem to really like the stripped back and ‘pure’ nature of the game. We created a game which would allow the player to sink into it without distraction, and the response has been great!”
Rohan Harris (Lead Programmer) also stated:
“The reception here in Australia was huge. I can’t say I’d ever considered that I might be seeing our first videogame in the Top Ten Charts on the App Store. It still kind of blows me away!”
TownCraft is available on the App Store for iPad 2 and iPad Mini, with an iPhone version in the works. For more information, visit the official site and Facebook page. Check out Leigh Harris’ Let’s Play below and see how one of the game’s creators begins their TownCraft journey. Let’s get TownCrafting!
Publisher BulkyPix and indie developer InDev Brain are excited to announce the launch of their brand-new, action, first-person shooter called “Dead Effect”. In this sci-fi, zombie shooter you play as a Marine that was once part of an elite group of soldiers called Unit 13, you wake from a long hibernation only to realise that every other hibernation pod around you is completely empty, well, apart from all the zombies. You, now a lone soldier, must fight for your survival as you try to figure out what exactly caused this outbreak and who, if anyone, is behind the entire thing.
There’s over 5 hours of gameplay to shoot your way through, finding different weapons along the way. Weapons and armour is upgradeable for your character and you are also given the special ability to slow down time, this will prove to be quite useful when you’re going up against the bigger enemies. Shoot, smash and blast your way through horrific hordes and try your best to uncover the mysteries of the ship, the ESS Meridian, as you wander around observing the interesting environment. The game is available today for all suitable iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) and it’s launch price is $3.99. Check out the trailer for Dead Effect just below and head to the App Store to pick it up today!
Silicon Sisters are an indie developer with a difference. They make games for women, by women. It’s nice to see the male dominated industry be broken into by some female talent and hopefully this trend will continue. Silicon Sisters recently released their game Everlove: Rose for Android on Google Play and the Amazon Appstore today, following an August release on iPhone and iPad. The game is also available on Kindle Fire and is soon coming to PC.
Everlove: Rose is also rather unique as it is a narrative game specifically designed for the more than 74 million people who read romance novels each year — 91% of whom happen to be women. Everlove: Rose merges the escapism of curling up with a steamy paperback with the engagement of personal choice. Rose, a career woman struggling to understand her hang-ups with men, has turned to past-life regression to gain insight into her personality. Under hypnosis she’s transported to the medieval village of Heart’s Home, where she soon discovers that she has chemistry with several of the handsome locals. By exploring her attractions to each of them, Rose begins to move past the obstacles that have been keeping her from finding true love, with a little help from her unflappable therapist, Dr. Alys. The interactive novel features a branching storyline and multiple endings, so your own choices play a big role in how the story unfolds. There will also be puzzles for you to solve as you are out on your quest to find true love.
If you would like to check out Everlove: Rose for yourself, there is both a paid version going for $3.99 and a demo version you can try out that has an in-app purchase should you wish to unlock the rest of the story. You can get the demo version from the App Store or Google Play and the full version also from the App Store and Google Play, as well as the Amazon App Store. A trailer for the game is viewable below.
Anime fans, we watch a metric ton of anime on a frequent basis, but some days you’ll find that anime just doesn’t cut it. Maybe nothing will leap out at you, maybe you’ve just watched a terrible show (School Days) and don’t want to watch anything else for a while. When this happens, where do you turn? Personally, I’m not a big fan of manga because I feel it ruins the surprise of anime when it is released, so an alternative was required. Fear not, because there is a whole world of brilliant visual novels out there just waiting to be explored! But, where do you start your journey? Somewhere inbetween finding official English ports and deciding which genres most interest you, it can be hard to get off of your feet. To help, here are a few of my favourite visual novels and why you need to read them:
Literally translated as “disabled girls” this beautiful romance should definitely not be judged by its cover. A lot of people dismiss this game at first glance purely on the basis that they think it is odd to have a game centred around a school full of people with disabilities, but those people are missing out on something truly wonderful.
You play as Hisao Nakai, a teenage boy who has recently been diagnosed with arrhythmia, a heart condition that can cause cardiac arrest and other such life threatening problems. Fearing that he would not have access to proper medical care at his current school, his parents and doctor recommend that he attends a school for the disabled called Yamaku Academy. Thrown far out of his comfort zone during his long stay in hospital, he suddenly finds himself in completely new place, surrounded by people that he isn’t sure how to approach. As he meets new people though, his eyes begin to open to other people’s struggles as he battles with his own. Through love, hardship, and a myriad of life-changing discoveries he learns a lot about himself, the ones he loves, and ultimately that life must go on.
The overwhelming response to this completely free game produced by Four Leaf Studios was absolutely staggering. People have claimed that it changed their entire perspective on life and even now, nearly two years on from its release in January 2012, it still boasts a huge fanbase and rightly so. From a more personal perspective, I have never cried so much at anything in my life. I have broken bones, had my heart broken, hell, I’ve even watched Angel Beats, and nothing has even come close. It will leave you truly speechless, and it really says something for a game when I wish that my memory were worse and time would speed up so that I could play this game with a blank slate again.
You can download Katawa Shoujo from here, and for free you would be crazy not to.
On the completely opposite side of the coin we have the infamous Higurashi, a psychological horror/mystery that has since had an anime adaptation by Studio Deen. If you wanted the definition of something that you shouldn’t read in the dark, this would be it. It is incredibly hard to describe the plot of this visual novel without dropping some huge spoilers, but here is the best I can do.
The protagonist of the story is Keiichi Maebara, who has just moved to a small village with his parents. At first everything seems fine. He makes friends, they have fun, everything seems like an average anime storyline. Maybe he’ll fall in love, there will be some romance, and everything will be sunshine and rainbows… Wrong. Suddenly something starts to feel a bit off. Keiichi starts finding things out. Things about the village, its people, its past. All at once it seems the world has collapsed around him and through a subtle series of hints you are left as the reader to try and work out what is happening in this dark and mysterious village.
Very little has given me chills to the extent that Higurashi did. If you want a comparison to get the feel of it then the closest thing you’ll find is the anime Shiki, but Higurashi is a lot harder to figure out. Working in a series of question and answer arcs, this story will keep you guessing and guessing to the point where you’re not even sure if your character is sane or not. The blobby sprites are the worst part of this game by a long way, but with some clever patching you can make your characters look much nicer as demonstrated below.
Higurashi can be imported in parts for those who can read Japanese, but for those who can only read English, the first question arc, Onikakushi, can be downloaded for Android for free here.
Returning more to the romance style of Katawa Shoujo, Majikoi is a straight up harem comedy with barrels of laughs to keep you coming back for more. Much like Higurashi, it has had an anime adaptation since its release, but in my opinion if you have the time you get so much more out of the visual novel.
Taking place in Kawakami City, a city extremely dedicated to its samurai heritage, you play as young tactician Yamato Naoe and live out his life in a group of friends littered with strong fighters. Fighting spirit is important in both life and academic success in this city and as a result Yamato must use his wit to compensate for his lack of brawn. Focusing heavily on the friendships and interpersonal relationships of his tight-knit group, Majikoi is a laidback, hilarious, and touching story that will leave you feeling extremely warm inside.
Majikoi can be purchased as a Japanese import and some kindly fans have made a translation patch that will get you through most of the routes.
These three visual novels are certainly not all that is on offer, in fact I have barely scratched the surface. Unfortunately, the main problem with visual novels is that most have not been translated and that leaves people like me who only know basic Japanese with no easily accessible way to play them. Fortunately, big releases and fan favourites tend to attract the attention of the many translation groups across the internet and a lot of games can be patched to become playable.
Certainly, visual novels are a wonderful thing. They provide more depth of character, you can steer the narrative with your own decisions, and anime adaptations tend to pick only one of many endings in romances so they miss out hours of content and lots of important relationships. If you have yet to play a visual novel then I recommend starting as soon as possible. They might be hard to get your hands on, but the ones you can, you will treasure for life.
Hey technophiles, Ubisoft has just what you’re looking for in their new video as they explore and detail all the new bells and whistles they have for the open world of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Want to know the skinny on how they’re making the sea so dynamic and/or beautiful? Well, then this video has you covered, but that’s not all either.
They seem to be pulling all the stops for the latest Assassin’s Creed game, more than likely due to the next generation consoles being so close. From the sea to the sky, from boarding ships to plants, Black Flag has improvements across the board. Though they don’t really talk about if these additions are all for just for Xbox One and PS4 or if at least some of these changes might actually be across all platforms.
Technophiles can watch the video for themselves embedded below to see the new features that will be coming with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag when it releases at the end of October/beginning of November for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC, Xbox One and PS4.
