It seems that Double Fine has at least one normal game that they are working on with the help of an actual publisher. Not to be confused with their Kickstarter funded Double Fine Adventure game, Sega and Double Fine revealed today they are working on a digital game called The Cave.
The trailer below gives us a small glimpse at what The Cave will offer when it is released early in 2013 on the PC, XBLA and PSN. The title also is being worked on by Ron Gilbert, the creator of Monkey Island, so it has quiet a pedigree. Gilbert himself hasd this to say about the title: “The concept of The Cave has been bouncing around in my head for many, many years, and then the little voices that tell me to do things said it was time to make the game. I’m thrilled to be working with amazingly talented folks at Double Fine and ecstatic that the team at Sega believes in adventure games and quirky ideas.”
Just when you think it is safe to put down the controller and go play another game Bethesdaadds something to Skyrim that you can’t help but try out. Today it was revealed that the latest update, 1.6, will contain the much demanded addition of mounted combat. This means that players will now be able to dish out melee and ranged damage while riding on the back of their favorite horse.
Besides adding in some beloved mounted combat there are a number of bug fixes as well, with a number of these fixes revolving around the recently added Kinect functionality. PC users currently can try out the beta vfersion of the patch on Steam while console users will need to wait a little longer.
Full details for the patch can be seen below:
1.6 Update (all platforms unless specified)
NEW FEATURES
Mounted Combat
Skyrim now allows you to do melee and ranged combat while riding a horse
BUG FIXES
General stability and memory optimizations
General AI pathfinding optimizations and bug fixes
Optimizations and crash fixes for data leaks
Fixed rare crash with lighting
Fixed crashes related to loading and saving games
Fixed crash with summoned creatures/NPCs
Fixed rare issue where saves would be corrupted
Improved logic for when ranged kill cams are played
Fixed issue with ranged kill cams while killing a dragon
Fixed rare issue with certain ranged kill cams not playing properly
Fixed issue with nirnroot lighting not properly cleaning up
Fixed issue where bow damage was being calculated incorrectly
Fixed rare problem with werewolf kill moves would not finish animating properly
In “The Break of Dawn” fixed rare issue where Meridia’s Beacon would disappear from player’s inventory
Fixed occasional issue where followers would disappear after player pays off a bounty after committing a crime
Fixed issue where certain creatures and NPCs would fail to respawn properly
Fixed rare issue with dialogue subtitles not displaying properly
Fixed issue with water appearing blurry when loading a saved game after creating a save underwater
Fixed issue where map cursor would occasionally disappear after closing a message box with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
Fixed rare issue with shouts only performing the first level and not other unlocked levels with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
Fixed issue where the shout buttons would stop working properly if users mashed LB and RB during cooldown with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
Over the past few days there has been plenty of bad news about 38 Studios and the fact that they have been in a serious financial situation. Now that bad news has culminated in the worst news of all. Today a memo obtained by WPRI revealed that 38 Studios has laid off their entire workforce including the employees working for Big Huge Games. The total amount of people suddenly without a job equals 379.
The memo itself states:
The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary.
These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary.
This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012.
This news comes after it was revealed by the Rhode Island government where the governor stated that Kingdoms of Amalur needed to sell 3 million copies to simply break even. However the game only sold 1.2 million copies after three months of release. Amalur has since been called a “failure” by the Governor and Rhode Island. The news of these layoffs is extremely strange because Rhode Island’s governor stated only a few days ago that 38 Studios was planning to release an Amalur MMO in June 2013.
Yesterday it was revealed in Famitsu magazine that both Lei Fang and Zack would be returning as playable fighters in Dead or Alive 5. At that time however, the only images shown were some blurry phone pictures of the magazine.
Today Tecmo Koei has made their own little reveal by releasing the below trailer featuring Zack and Lei Fang duking it out in the middle of an active circus act. As we saw in yesterday’s Famitsu Lei Fang will have her china dress outfit so it appears that the footage below is of both character’s alternate costumes which are surprisingly fitting for the stage they are fighting on.
Mass Effect Infiltrator, the app developed by IronMonkey that goes with the incredibly successful franchise, is now available on Google Play. In Mass Effect Infiltrator you play as Randall Ezno, a Cerberus employee who turns on them once he discovers just how dark Cerberus can get to achieve what they want. Plus, you aren’t just having some fun in the Mass Effect universe, your actions in the app also affect your final confrontation in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect Infiltrator boasts awesome graphics, fantastic action scenes, intuitive controls, and high-tech armour and weapons.
Mass Effect Infiltrator is now available on Google Play for $6.99 – Get it HERE.
This weekend everyone can enjoy 50 EA games on sale for up to 85% off in their FUN & Games sale! As well as having huge savings across the board, in game items are also going on sale for up to 50% off, so if you were eying any particular rides in Theme Park, or Sims Freeplay items then this would be the time to get them.
To go through the huge list of games that have gone on sale in the countdown to summer (or, the southern hemisphere’s winter), then head on over to EA’s site HERE
And, as always, make sure to check out the EA Daily Deals site for great daily savings and to scoop up a fantastic deal! Head over to EA Daily Deals for deals on great games!
Tiny Plane Developer: PowPow Games Publisher: Chillingo Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iTouch Release Date: 23 May, 2012 Price: $1.29 – Available Here
Overview
Tiny Plane falls into the incredibly popular category of game based around cute cartoon character that is trying to gather as many coins, fruit and bonuses and avoid bad stuff. This is literally one of the biggest genres in the App Store, and it’s not hard to see why. Cute, addictive, cheap. It covers all the good bases that apps provide as an alternative to mainstream games. So it goes to say that each app that follows this formula needs to have something that puts it ahead of the others, something that makes it more addictive, more cute, just more. Does Tiny Plane accomplish that?
Gameplay
The controls are, as is to be expected, incredibly simple. You tap on the left corner and it makes your plane go higher, on the right makes it dip down. It is similar to all of those plane/helicopter games where you have to guide it through obstacles and collect bonuses. Except instead of traversing a dangerous cavern it’s an open world to explore with the ability to go as high as you’d like. Well, except for the fact that you need fuel. And, in most cases, you will need to land to get it. Unless you happen across some fuel cans floating in the sky, which is always handy.
Landing is something that you need to get the hang of, and for the first couple times instead of landing smoothly I just nosedived into a fiery crash. The point is slow and steady and gliding in to a landing. Just a tip for those who are having issue with this, try doing it when your plane’s going slowly and has just about used up all the fuel.
There are two gauges at the bottom of the screen, one for the amount of fuel that you have, the other measuring the speed. For speed you can gather pieces of fruit that will make you go faster, hence lengthening the amount of time you can spend airborne, and there are also hoops that give you a super charged boost. Often scoring these will help shoot you through a bunch of obstacles without too much issue, and I found myself accidentally dodging a lot of them by accident.
There are mines and homing missiles that zoom up behind you so it really is best to keep moving. The warning system really is your best friend, letting you know when there are things coming up, and at what level on your screen, and also warning you when a missile is closing in on you from behind. At first the warning system is quite easy, warning you of little storms that drain your coins, but when your plane speeds up and the sky starts getting full of mines, it becomes far more of a requirement.
Tiny Plane is one of those games that are really easy to pick up and become that game that you play at random when you have nothing else to do and have some time to waste. The fact that it can be done in short bursts is another quality that belongs to this casual App genre, and it fulfills this easy, casual quality to a tee.
Visuals
Tiny Plane is super cute, I mean the main character is a dog pilot. Even the way the instructions are styled is great, I mean they’re on a fake newspaper! Sure it doesn’t make it easy to absorb all the information at once, but it’s pretty damn awesome.
Audio
The soundtrack sounds like it’s straight from a kids’ cartoon. It goes really well with the cartoon style of the game, and totally adds to the experience of the whole game. I didn’t find myself turning it down, or off, at any point because it just fit the whole thing so well that I really enjoyed having it in the background, as if it was narrating the whole experience.
Overall
Tiny Plane is just a game that you end up hunched over, concentrating really hard on small cartoon characters and end up yelling at people if they distract you. It certainly has the addictive part down, but it doesn’t really set itself apart that much. It is one of those games you get addicted to and play all the time, until the next app that comes along for you to get addicted to. That isn’t saying anything bad about it, and chances are you will enjoy it while you play it, but it probably won’t have the longest shelf life on your iDevice.
Step right up, step right up, everything must go! From May 17 through May 29, 2012, Amazon will have titles from Electronic Arts, 2K, SEGA, Square Enix, Nordic Games, Focus Home Interactive and Paradox on sale for up to 80% off their regular prices.
Titles like: The Sims 3 Deluxe, Rift and Simcity 4 Deluxe feature prominantly in the sale and most notably Call of Duty Black Ops is on sale and Bioshock and Bioshock 2 are bundled for less than $10 for the pair! Amazon has reserved the right to end the sale when they see fit but for now Amazon’s 12 days of dynamite deals is on and providing digital downloads for fantastic discount prices. So get in and get gaming!
The Walking Dead has become quite a big phenomenon, from comics, to TV, to games, to online talk shows. Speaking of which, the online talk show “Playing Dead” has just released its 4th episode and it has some nice gooey giblets of information as they talk to two of the designers of the game series, Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin.
The video is posted below, but as fair warning it does cover some spoiler material for The Walking Dead Episode 1, but they also cover some hints at what Episode 2 will have to offer. Episode 1: A New Day was released to a solid success of 1 million downloads in 2 weeks, so hopefully Episode 2: Starved for Help! can keep up the pace. Each episode is priced at 400 MS points on Xbox LIVE, $4.99 per episode on PSN or the season pass at $19.99, or on PC and Mac the whole season for $24.99 at Telltale Games’ website HERE, so check them out if you haven’t already. If you still aren’t sure, you can see Capsule Computer’s review of The Walking Dead: A New DayHERE.
Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. have announced that their collaboration with Revolutionary Concepts, Gesundheit! has been updated to version 1.1.0. The critically acclaimed puzzle game is back with a free bonus map, Twitter and Facebook integration, new cut scenes and retina display graphics for the iPad. The update also includes iCloud support for iOS versions.
Gesundheit! still retains the same extraordinary hand-drawn visuals and animation based on the concept art by film and TV animator Matt Hammill. The story follows an odd little pig with allergies, who narrowly escapes capture by monsters who have invaded the village. The has a unique and slightly-gross humour, but is a rather fun and charming puzzle.
It’s time to brush that dust off your Playstation Move as the fantasy tale of Sorcery hits Australian shelves today. Sorcery, developed by The Workshop, with help from SCE Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment America, is the latest title in the Playstation Move library. Players take control of Finn, a sorcerer’s apprentice, who accidentally unlocks a great evil, spreading across the Faerie Kingdoms. Using his arsenal of spells, Finn must defeat the great evil and revert the world to its normal state.
“Sorcery has remained an eagerly anticipated title for PlayStation Move on PS3 since it was first announced and we’re thrilled to offer this unique title to gamers everywhere today,” Patrick Lagana, Marketing Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia said upon the launch of Sorcery. “Built from the ground up with PlayStation Move in mind from the beginning, Sorcery takes full advantage of our motion controller’s precision to provide a compelling gaming experience that is sure to capture the imaginations of players of all ages.”
Sorcery uses a gesture-based motion control system for casting spells as well as chaining spells to create more powerful combinations. Players can also brew potions, solve puzzles, find new spells and items and upgrade any potions the player may have. The game is available now across Australia. Check out some screenshots of the game below, including the box art and BBC’s Steve Mould, who hosts Sorcery – The Science Behind The Magic.
