With the release of Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten perilously close to sucking away all of your free time, NIS America has decided to take and absorb a few minutes of that free time right now. Today they released a handful of new gameplay videos which show off not only plenty of combat, but also a ship editor as well that will allow you to customize your own ship.
The battle videos you can see below and they show off the combined attacks you can perform with your allies as well as a few extremely powerful attacks. No your eyes are not deceiving you either, when a character uses an Omega level spell a character from an anime will appear in the background. In the case of Omega Heal, we are treated to a piece of artwork of Index from the anime Toaru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index.) You can check out all of the footage below and of course check out Disgaea 4 when it is relaesed exclusively onto the PlayStation 3 next week on September 6th.
While NIS America’s Disgaea 4 is just around the corner, some people can’t wait to get their hands on the next Atelier title. The Atelier series has always been praised for its amazing artwork and of course this art had to transfer to the game’s packaging as well. To the right you can see the normal box art for the game which will be available for standard purchase, but what about those who want more?
As you can see below, in full size as it would be a shame to shrink the picture, the artwork for the premium edition of Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland is simply stunning. Not only do you get the collector’s box with the amazing artwork of the title’s main heroine Totori, but also a number of other neat features as well. You will receive a full color art book with thirty more pages of the game’s amazing artwork, the game’s soundtrack and if you happen to pre-order through NIS America’s own store you will also receive a 18″x24″ double sided poster, though supplies of the poster are limited. Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and will be released later this month on September 27th.
Twisted Pixel have announced their second Ms. Splosion Man TMS Challenges this week, dubbed the Fruit Friend Challenge. Twisted Pixel have teamed up with Penny Arcade to put this one together, charging Ms. Splosion Man with finding and detonating nine evil fruit-juicing automatons as quickly as possible. Along with your time to account for your score, there is killing scientists and destroying things (but who needs the prize of points to make them want to destroy things, right?) to up your score. You’ll want to give it your all because if you manage to get onto the first three leaderboard spots you get to win real-world prizes!
The competition will end on September 11, so get in quick and ‘splode the hell out of everything!
Ms Splosion Man is available on XBLA for $10 here. For the duration of the competition, the challenge will show up in the opening menu of the game.
Nothing screams legitimate sale more than buying a fully working and unopened new Apple iPad in a sealed box so you cant see the inside contents, from two guys claiming to have overstock peddling them from your local Maccas carpark. Whats even more baffling is due to the immense embarrassment you would feel, why over $180 you would bother going to the cops. Imagine the surprise of poor Ashley McDowell, a South Carolina woman who thought she had the bargain of a lifetime, buying an iPad from 2 legit businessmen at your local McDonalds only to find out later on she had purchased a very expensive piece of painted wood.
McDowell told officers she was approached by two males who purported to have bought iPads in bulk, allowing them to pass on this wonderful savings to the customer, charging them a mere $300 a piece. Only managing to scrounge together $180, the men told McDowell they would cut her a deal, agreeing to sell her the device at the lower price.
Upon getting home to eagerly try out her new purchase, the young woman was disappointed to discover a black lump of wood in the shape of an iPad, complete with Apple logo. Just when you thought it couldnt get more amusing, the device was actually framed with black tape and included replicas of the iPad icons for Safari, mail, photos and iPod as well as a “Best Buys” sales ticket.
Why someone would buy something of this nature from their local fast food carpark is beyond me but not to even bother checking the contents before you leave, well you pretty much deserve what you get. Either way $180 is $180 so i guess it was worth reporting.
Developer:Forze Field Publisher:Chillingo Ltd Genre:Twin-stick Shooter Platform:iPhone/iPod Touch (HD Version also available for iPad) Price:£0.69 / $0.99
In late 2005, a game was released on Xbox Live Arcade called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved; an update to a minigame included in Bizarre Creations’ Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox. It’s fast paced twin-stick shooting along with neon graphics and pixels chaotically flying across the screen made this game an instant classic and one hard to put down.
In now, in 2011, Chillingo Ltd. (makers of Cut the Rope) have released a close relative to the classic, entitled Infinity Field (developed by Forze Field). It’s impressive graphics hearken back to it’s spiritual predecessor, along with the twin-stick controls. But they have also added their own flare to the genre.
First off, you’ll notice a nice little feature that I haven’t seen in any game previous; a feature named “Auto Pause”. When you release both sticks for any reason (to reposition yourself more comfortably, or you manage to drop your iPhone in sheer excitement), the game kindly pauses the game for you. It doesn’t bring up the regular pause menu options, but this feature is a welcome one, and one that will hopefully be taken on by other twin-stick-based games in the future.
The sticks are in the usual bottom-right and -left corners of the screen, but their placement feels just right. You’re never in doubt of where you’re aiming, or falling off the edge of the screen, trying to quickly maneuver away from a horde of enemies. Also, the camera view never leaves you unable to prepare for incoming bogeys; it’s just wide enough to get a good sense of what’s going on, but close enough to allow you to wriggle around the colourful shapes bent on your destruction.
Pickups appear periodically in the form of white blobs and shapes spinning around the field. They do a good job of giving you time-limited powers such as Slow Motion, or give you an extra life, but the array of weapons you’re given is well thought out and nicely varied. There is even a nicely proportioned button above your firing-stick to the right which allows you to switch between acquired weapons; a well-appreciated feature that removes the frustration of picking up a weapon you didn’t want in the first place.
There is a campaign mode, along with 6 survival modes of good variety.
Infinity Mode does what it says on the tin… you can easily play 10 minutes at a time, going against harder and harder baddies— and have a great time doing it.
Insane Mode is… insane.
Cruces Mode has an arrow-shaped enemy that just likes criss-crossing across the screen, while other regular enemies come at you from all sides.
Snake Mode does a good job of emulating the classic Snake games of yore whilst giving it it’s own unique flare.
Unarmed Mode (adorned with the peace sign) involves you moving around, dodging enemies and floating into bombs scattered across the field that wipe out the enemies nearby.
and Zombie Mode makes the enemies you encounter impervious to any weapons; just slowing them down while you make a speedy escape. You have to hold out until a nuke appears on the field for you to detonate, killing anything on the field at the time.
All these modes are unique and satisfying, honing different skills than you may be used to in a game of this genre… and in the Campaign, you are slowly introduced to the styles and concepts of the other modes available, just making want to play more and more; branching out into the other parts of the game until you’ve mastered them all.
The graphics in this game are impressive and engaging; not to mention silky-smooth! The soundtrack is of the cool, electronic variety, which goes nicely with the retro-neon aesthetic; and the sound effects, while a little obtrusive when it gets particularly chaotic on-screen, does a good job of heightening the frantic moments of the game.
It uses Chillingo’s Crystal social network, but also ties in with Apple’s Game Centre— neither of which I put too much stock in, but it’s nice if you’re into the social scene.
In fact the only minor gripe I have with this game is the set orientation. I prefer turning the iPhone over to the right (if you’re looking at it from portrait mode), which allows my fingers to just miss the speaker on the bottom. But as the orientation is set to turning the iPhone to the left, I find myself covering the speaker periodically. Not a biggy; just a pet peeve of mine…
In conclusion, this is a great game. If you get the chance, be sure to pick it up. If you liked Geometry Wars, pick it up. If you have an iPhone, pick it up. If you don’t have an iPhone, borrow some else’s and pick it up!!! (okay, maybe not) But yeah— it’s awesome!
Over the years, the Indie Game scene have been through more than a few platforms; a lot of which still exist in one form or another today, but most of which are only used by the most hardcore of old school code monkeys.
Nowadays, most independent studios use one of a handful of platforms. The most notable of which being Flash; the most widely distributed web-based plugin that enables us all to experience such wonders… Youtube, Newgrounds, Kongregate to name but a few.
There have been other sites highly promoting independently developed games, such as Steam, who provide their own handmade fully-featured engine Source to give back to the community, and enhance the quality of games available on their network.
There have been other platforms produced which see some success, such as Microsoft’s XNA platform, and their now deprecated engine Torque X. And still more engines designed to make it easier for people to get into the game development scene; applications such as Game Maker, and RPG Maker.
There is another, much newer candidate attempting to push it’s way into the hearts and minds of such indie game studios… That of the web itself [cue lightning].
HTML5
In 2007, W3C (the guys who make the internet work) began work on a specification for the next evolution in web technology. They imagined an internet not confined and restricted to the use of 3rd party plugins and browser extensions, but of freedom, equality, and a system of health care… (cough)
So the idea was that rather than anything remotely interesting running through flash (a platform which to this day certain companies refuse to dignify with a license), there would be a universal standard… And understanding, if you will, to unite all browsers in growing a pair and being able to do more stuff. And over the years, and even though the spec is still being drafted, more and more of this wondrous awesomeness has been added into most modern browsers.
There are provisions for video (which Youtube have already begun to implement) and audio (which some sites like BandCamp are implementing), along with pretty style additions making sites look damn fine that much easier. They have also added a way to render complete images from scratch, all within the browser, in real-time! You know what this means, right? No? Then I’ll tell you…
With all these features being added to modern browsers, even mobile browsers like the iPhone’s Safari, developers can start to use them more and more. And they can use them to make a new breed of games.
Games
At first, there were only a few isolated experiments on sites like Chrome Experiments dabbling in the brave new world of HTML5. Stuff like particle effects, or audio visualizations… just little bits to show off what can be done with the technology. But then people started making games with it.
Biolab was among the first fully-realised games (even with it’s brevity) to come from the new standards, and it had everything… spritesheets, keyboard controls, even sound effects and soundtrack. A classic Metroid style platformer– and all you needed to play was a browser!
Since then, the technology has matured further; so much so that it won’t be long before games on par with those made in Flash will be commonplace. And the word has spread. Sites have sprung up, dedicated to this new gaming platform. Sites like HTML5 Games and Canvas Demos. There are even Game Developer Conferences in the works dedicated purely to HTML5 games, like onGameStart, and New Game.
With so many sites and communities spawning across the web focused on this new species of game, you can be sure to see bigger and better titles coming to a browser near you.
Angry Mob Games has released a new action-packed platformer with stunning fairytale characters. You play as a little boy who has the magical powers of turning into different creatures with every muffin he touches. The creatures range from lightning-bolt-shooting-Mages, black-hole-creating-Cyclops and deadly-poop-making-Unicorns, in total there are fifteen playable colourful and fun magical creatures.
As you adventure through the platforms you upgrade and play as the different characters, fighting through a range of dangerous and fluffy creatures. Level up, unlock characters and upgrade your abilities through the magical power of muffins. You also have a range of perks you can unlock which will help you conquer the trickier levels.
It’s a cross-platform multiplayer, letting you connect with others who have iOS or Android devices. So you can challenge your friends for some delicious muffins with your funky fairytale creatures.
Check out the awesomeness in the trailer below.
Muffin Knight is a Universal build, going for $0.99 at the iTunes store. Buy here
Yesterday it was revealed that D3 Publisher was working on a new Onechanbara title exclusively for the Xbox 360. Today they have released a debut trailer for the title which you can see below. The game will have players playing as two new sisters who are vampires named Kagura and Saaya. As you can see below one of the sisters retains the same cowgirl bikini outfit as before, with the other sister wearing something similar to a school outfit.
It seems that the title may actually be more than just running around and fighting random zombies this time however, as the bosses are quite larger than in the first title. Of course all of the bare flesh on the main characters is the same. Perhaps this title does indeed have hopes of being released in the West. Lets hope so because everyone needs a bit of Onechanbara in their lives.
In case you were concerned about what that box of Street Fighter X Tekken would look like, Capcom has you covered. The official box art for the game has been confirmed and you can see it to the right. Unfortunately it doesn’t contain my favorite character King from Tekken but we’ll take what we can get. Who would you like to see grace the cover instead or are you happy with the chosen characters?
Besides the box art reveal, Capcom has also released two new teaser trailers for two fighters today. You can see both videos below and take a guess as to who is being shown off in them. I can say that Heihachi is the Tekken reveal, but the Street Fighter character is up in the air. We’ll find out for sure next year when Street Fighter X Tekken is released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and a PlayStation Vita version sometime in the future.
I get a little nostalgic every time I see a new Frogger game added to the franchise, as in brings back fond memories of a simpler time, setting up our first ever family PC as a kid with Frogger being the only game we had on a brand new floppy disc. Fast forward twenty five odd years from then and the franchise is still going strong as Konami announce a new member of the Frogger family in collaboration with Revolutionary studios, specifically for Apple products, in the form of Frogger Decades.
Frogger Decades celebrates the 30th Birthday of the Frogger franchise with revamped vibrant graphics and animation, as well as our favourite frog in a little bit of a dilemma. Upon return home, Frogger finds a map seemingly guiding him to the location of his huge celebratory party. Unbeknownst to him, his arch enemy has done the old switcheroo with the maps , leading Frogger on a wild and potentially dangerous adventure.
Set across five well crafted and exceptionally challenging (even for the frogger savvy) environments, Revolutionary studios have successfully recaptured the fun addictive gameplay that the franchise is known for. Taking control of Frogger is no easy feat, as you will have to guide him through snapping enemies and bulldozers as he jumps, hops, swings and dodges his way to freedom. Throughout the game players will also become acquainted with many of Froggers close friends, all empowered with unique skills to help the little frog along his way.
Frogger Decades is now available in the Apple App. store for Ipad, Ipad 2, Iphone 4, Iphone GPS and Ipod touch 3rd generation or greater running at least IOS 3.1.2 as a minimum.
Check out www.konami.com/frogger for more information regarding the frogger franchise as well as the new release and the frogger franchise thirtieth birthday celebrations.
