News

By Mike Wall at August 28, 2011.

Take Arms delayed due to multiplayer issues

Discord Games pulled its multiplayer shooter, Take Arms, from the Xbox Live Marketplace shortly after its launch due to issues with its multiplayer. Take Arms was set to be Monday’s release in the Indie Games Summer Uprising, but its launch will be pushed back until some time next week.

“Some major instabilities in multiplayer were detected shortly after launch that have forced us to take drastic action. We’d rather not have players purchase a broken product,” said James Petruzzi. He said that the problem has been identified, and he expects the game to re-released next week at the latest. We’ll keep you updated on the new release date and how the game’s promising multiplayer component shapes up. In the meantime, you can check out the latest trailer posted above.

Blocks that Matter wins the Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Mike Wall in Contests, News, xblig, XBLIG News | 8 Comments

Isn’t it nice when the judges get it right? Microsoft announced the top winners in the Dream.Build.Play 2o11 Challenge, and the fantastic platformer, Blocks That Matter, ran away with the the Grand Prize. It was selected from a pool of more than 250 entrants developed from 27 countries using Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio 4.0, and developer Swing Swing Submarine will net $40,000 for their efforts. We can’t say we’re shocked since we fell in love with the Tetrobot’s adventure earlier this year.

Guillaume Martin, co-creator of Blocks That Matter, said “With the money, we will try to make the studio live and we don’t want to change our plan, which is make another game BTM sized (4/5 month of dev), put it on XBLIG and PCs (digital platforms depending on who’s interested), and try to sell it.” Martin said he wasn’t sure how to approach the XBLA slot, and said perhaps they’ll port BTM to XBLA with Achievements and a Community section or perhaps save it for Blocks That Matter 2.

Jay Watt’s cosmological sandbox-game, Solar 2, won the $20,000 First Prize. Watts said he’s use the money to “find a better apartment, and use it to live off making games.”

TIC: Part 1 and Sequence round out the top winners, earning $10,000 and $5,000 for their developers.

Three other games won honorable mentions in specific categories. The accolades may not come with a cash prize, but we’re sure the developers will enjoy the little ego boost.

Production Quality: Alien Jelly
Innovation: The Bridge
Fun Factor: Ninja Crash

Source: Dream.Build.Play

Zeboyd Games developing the third installment of Penny Arcade Adventures

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, PC News, xblig | 1 Comment

We heard talks of Zeboyd Games having a big announcement for all of us this week at PAX Prime. We even entertained the possibility that whatever they would be working on might not be an IP of their own. But I doubt anyone would have guessed that they would be announcing they were developing Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3, a game that had previously been declared dead.

According to Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade, “We originally had the idea of an NES-style RPG last year, but we couldn’t find the right people to do it. After we saw Zeboyd’s Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World, we knew we didn’t have to look around anymore. Zeboyd was a perfect match.”

Whether Zeboyd had caught the eye of the guys over at Penny Arcade before or after their lucrative move to Steam is unclear, but if being on the platform did make a tangible difference, that’s just one more piece of evidence supporting the power of the Steam for indie developers.

As previously confirmed by Zeboyd, the game will maintain a pixelated art style, taking a 16-bit approach to the episodic adventure. The game is slated for a 2012 launch; developer Robert Boyd previously told us that his next project would appear on XBLIG and PC, and we’ve reached out to him to confirm if the plan has changed.

Click for press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3 in Development

THIS IS HAPPENING

SEATTLE – August 26, 2011 – Penny Arcade has partnered with indie dynamo Zeboyd Games to develop the third episode of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

As Gabe and Tycho, players will once again delve hip-deep into the sinister mysteries of New Arcadia. The latest installment will take the series in a new direction, or maybe a really old direction, with a retro 16-bit RPG look and style of play.

“We originally had the idea of an NES-style RPG last year, but we couldn’t find the right people to do it,” said Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade. “After we saw Zeboyd’s Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World, we knew we didn’t have to look around anymore. Zeboyd was a perfect match.”

On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3 will launch in 2012.

Nine Dot Studios unleashes a new trailer for Brand

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, PC, PC News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

We’re going to go on the record and declare that more games need to let us battle manticores. The beasts have long been overshadowed by rote baddies like dragons and zombies, and it appears that Nine Dot Studios agrees since they’ve featured the crimson creature in the new trailer for their gothic hack ‘n slash, Brand.

Brand’s big selling point, aside from its spiffy 2.5D graphics, is the upgradeable sword. You can unlock 9 powers for the blade, and each power can be upgraded 5 times. Nine Dot is promising open-ended levels to explore and aims to release the game at end of September for 240 MS points. The studio is also considering a PC release on Steam, but it has no definite plans yet. Now can someone please make a game with chupacabras?

Major Nelson Reveals the 20ish Dream.Build.Play Finalists

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, xblig, XBLIG News | 1 Comment

Major Nelson annouced the 20 21 Dream.Build.Play finalists that are vying for the grand prize of $40,000 during the most recent episode of Major’s Minute. The winner of the fat load of cash (and potential XBLA publishing deal) will be revealed next week at PAX Prime. We reached out to a Microsoft representative to find out why the list contains 21 games instead of the previously announced 20. The full list of games, as well as a video of Major Nelson making the announcement are below. We will get our grubby hands on the finalists next week from the floor of PAX Prime.

1. Engo
2. 8-Bit Night
3. A Pixel Escape
4. Alien Jelly
5. Blocks That Matter
6. DarkRun
7. Last Dragon Standing
8. Lexiv
9. Ninja Crash
10. Ninja Rising
11. Oozi Earth Adventure
12. Orbitron Revolution
13. Plugemons
14. Project Temporality
15. Sequence
16. Solar 2
17. SpeedRunner
18. Tacticolor
19. The Bridge
20. TIC Part 1
21. Vizati

Decay sequel skulking onto Xbox, PC, WP7, and Android

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, PC, PC News, xblig, XBLIG News | 1 Comment

You thought you escaped the bleak, oppressive world of Decay, didn’t you? You were finished with creepy dolls, diabolical puzzles and strange ghosts, right? No? Well, good, because Shining Gate Software is working on a sequel, tentatively titled Decay – Asylym, which will be a new adventure set in the same universe as the 4-part creep-fest. Details are about as murky as Decay’s dark corridors, but developer Fredrik Westlund said the game could wind up being “completely different compared to the previous installments.”

One obvious departure is that new title will most likely not be episodic, but Westlund said we can expect it to be first-person adventure with improved shadows and lighting. It will arrive on XBLIG first, and then it will be ported to PC, WP7, and Android. We’ll have more details as they’re available, but for now, we’re going to invest in some more candles.

Source: Decay Facebook

Zeboyd Games will announce their next game at PAX Prime

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, PC, PC News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

Hot on the coattails of the success of their indie gems, Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World, Zeboyd Games will be announcing their next title during PAX Prime. Zeboyd is excited to be able to finally shed some light on the game, and we’re eager to hear about it, especially considering that so far the only information we’ve been able to pick up is the fact that it’s a comedic RPG and they’re sticking with a pixelated art style. We’ll have all the details we can furiously scribble down onto paper when we meet up with the masterminds behind Zeboyd Games, Robert and Bill, at PAX on Friday, August 26.

Source: Zeboyd Games Blog

Fans vote Chester and Redd: The Lost Temple into the Indie Games Summer Uprising

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, XBLIG News | 2 Comments

The mob has spoken, and after two weeks of fan voting, Chester and Redd: The Lost Temple were selected as the final 2 games in the Indie Games Summer Uprising. Chester, a hand-drawn 2D platformer from Brilliant Blue G, received over 700 votes to steal first prize. Redd: The Lost Temple managed to swipe more than 600 votes en route to its second-place finish. More than 4100 votes made their voices heard, according to Dave Voyles, the event’s co-coordinator.

The two games join the 8 titles already selected by developers. The Indie Games Summer Uprising begins August 22, and one game will be released every weekday until September 2. We’ll have impressions and reviews as the games are released. Trailers for the newcomers are posted after the break.

Source: Dave Voyles’ Twitter