PC News

By at March 21, 2013.

High Strangeness makes its case on Greenlight

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Anthony Swinnich in News, PC, PC News | Leave a comment

Crystal Labs is producing the world’s first 12-bit game. That’s right: High Strangeness is mixing elements of both 8-bit and 16-bit games to create something, well, somewhere in the middle.

High Strangeness should appeal to fans of games like Startropics on the NES and Secret of Mana on the SNES. The game switches between the aforementioned gaming generations in both visual and gameplay styles. Of course, switching realms ties into the plot, too, which has something to do with a foreboding darkness covering the land, a mysterious and shadowy group of enemies and a main character who may or may not be the chosen one.

It’s not all action-RPG clichés, though, as evidenced by the game’s city setting, talking cat and soundtrack by Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace) and Dino Lionetti (Cheap Dinosaurs). High Strangeness is currently on Steam Greenlight hoping to win a spot on the vaunted distribution service. Luckily for you, the game will be a member of the PAX East Indie Megabooth this weekend in Boston. We’ll pop by and check the game out and let you know if it’s worth a vote. The PC release is set for 2013 with other platforms “pending”.

FEZ becomes a spreadsheet, set to debut on PC

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Anthony Swinnich in News, PC, PC News, PSN News | Leave a comment

We’re not sure when Polytron got into the business of developing spreadsheets but the word on the street is their game FEZ is coming to PC. Kidding aside, the word on the street is accurate. It’s coming to Steam and it’s happening on May 1.

Polytron’s Phil Fish conducted an AMA on Reddit in order to respond to the news, and a few interesting facts were revealed. First, Polytron is in talks with Sony to release the game on the Vita, though Fish did not feel that talks have progressed to the point that he should reveal any details. He also stated that he wanted to release the game on pretty much any platform people would play it on, though he curiously singled out one system he felt would not be a good fit for the game.

“We don’t have any plans for that, no,” Fish said in regard to a 3DS release. “People keep assuming FEZ would be a no-brainer on 3DS, but in truth it would be kind of pointless. The game is practically always shown in isometric 3D, there’s never any perspective there. I don’t think it would work.”

A Mac version will follow the PC release at some point, and a Linux version is also an idea the developer is exploring.

Supergiant Games reveals their next game, Transistor. Play it at PAX East

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Anthony Swinnich in Mobile News, News, PC, PC News, PSN News, XBLA News | Leave a comment

It must be a difficult task to follow up one of the best games released in any given year, but that’s Supergiant Games’ fault for releasing a title as good as Bastion. The first look at Transistor, their upcoming second title, shows that they aren’t going to fix what isn’t broken while attempting to reinvent the wheel at the same time.

Transistor is a pretty stark departure from Bastion in terms of setting. Players take on the role of singer/songwriter Red, who lives in the futuristic city of Cloudbank. She is attacked by a group of scoundrels but survives and gains control of their weapon, which looks to be a sword of some sort. The plot chronicles her journey to discover the true purpose of the mysterious item she acquired while keeping it out of the hands of those who would do her harm to take it back.

As far as gameplay mechanics go, Transistor looks like it’s going to stick to what Supergiant does well, as the game appears to be a top-down isometric action-RPG. This makes sense, since the entire Bastion team is returning to craft this game, albeit with a few new members. Though some elements will be familiar, don’t expect a simple retread.

“We’re designing our next game to seamlessly integrate thoughtful strategic planning into a fast-paced action experience,” said Supergiant Games’ Greg Kasavin, “complete with our studio’s signature melding of responsive gameplay and rich atmospheric storytelling.”

Transistor will be on the show floor this weekend when we attend PAX in Boston. We have an appointment lined up with Supergiant, so expect a hands-on preview of the game’s current build, which is in Alpha state right now.

Source: Supergiant Games

Former Sega Rally, MotorStorm, and McRae developer turns to to the skies with Chopper Mike

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Dave Voyles in Mobile News, News, Ouya, PC, PC News | Leave a comment

Some people just have a desire for speed, especially in high-performance vehicles. Coming from a world known for its quick speeds, from racing rally cross cars to high-speed ATVs, a developer on franchises covering those vehicles has decided instead to take to the skies and slow down the pace a bit in his first solo adventure, Chopper Mike.

One-man development team Jamie Lowes of VAMflax set out to create a simple-yet-charming game where players maneuver a helicopter through ever-changing environments while collecting gems. If the trailer above is any indication of the difficulty, things seem to heat up fast. We’re curious to see how precise players are with a touch-screen device as well.

This chopper takes off for the price point of $1.99 on Thursday March 21 on Android and iOS, but will also land on the PC, Mac, and Ouya in the near future. You can pay developer VAMflax a visit at his site here.

DLC Quest now available on Steam and includes a new campaign

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Mike Wall in News, PC News, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

The one problem we had with DLC Quest when we monkeyed around it last year was that the cheeky experience was all-too brief. Going Loud Studios is attempting to remedy that situation for the new Steam release, which includes a new campaign called Live Freemium or Die. The Steam version is on sale for $2.39 until March 25, and then it will bump up to its standard $2.99 price. The new campaign is also available as a standalone title on Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points ($1).

You can check out the new trailer to find out more about this humorous 2-d platformer, or check out our review of the original campaign.

Kickstarter success Legend of Dungeon available now

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Anthony Swinnich in News, PC, PC News | Leave a comment

The four-player brawler has become something of a delicacy in the gaming world. Yes, we saw the re-release of a few classic arcade versions like The Simpsons and X-Men on current-gen downloadable services, but new entries have become far and few between. Robotloveskitty’s newest offering, Legend of Dungeon, should help satisfy the craving for some time, and it’s available now.

Legend of Dungeon was successfully funded through Kickstarter back in December of 2012. In fact, it took under 24 hours to meet their initial goal, and the team received 600% of their goal. Now, Robotloveskitty has unleashed the ‘Nearly Beta’ version of the game on the rest of the non-backer world.

This “real time” brawler supports anywhere from one-to-four players. One of the biggest differences between this brawler and those that have come before it is the introduction of ‘roguelike’ features such as permadeath and randomized level layouts. The game also features leaderboards for you competitive types out there.

Interested parties will find that the game is now available at the official website for a price of $10. Buying now grants you access to the Alpha, Beta and final builds, as well as the two planned expansions. Those who desire a Steam version should head over and help the game’s Greenlight campaign.

Robotloveskitty will be on the PAX showfloor this weekend in Boston. We’ll swing by and check things out and report back if we hear anything interesting.

Source: Robotloveskitty

Kickstart This! Shovel Knight

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Mike Wall in News, PC News | Leave a comment

Kickstarter has revolutionized the way indie games are financed, but with hundreds of games begging for your precious shillings, we’re highlighting the most promising games whose very development may hinge upon you opening up your pocketbook.

Throw Castlevania and Mega Man in a blender and toss in the most unthreatening weapon since the brass knuckles in Doom, and you’ll wind up with Shovel Knight. Developed by former staffers at WayForward, this 8-bit-inspired romp wears its inspirations not just on its sleeve but all over its damned shirt. From the Mega Man-inspired level select to the classic 8-bit tune soundtrack by Jake Kaufman (who laid down the beats for Contra 4 and Double Dragon Neon), Shovel Knight looks like it should give an 8-bit erection to anyone who spent their Saturday mornings blowing into Nintendo cartridges (which, in hindsight, was a horrible idea).

The team is looking for $75,000 to finish up the project, and backers can pledge for rewards including a digital copy of the game, a coffee table book about the game, and your 8-bit mug in the game. If you have a cool 5 grand to drop, you can even party with Yacht Club Games on a Yacht. Head over to Kickstarter for more info or if you want to throw them a few bucks. The team will also be at PAX East showing off the current build.

Capy and Double Fine moving in together at PAX East

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Anthony Swinnich in News, PC, PC News, XBLA, XBLA News | Leave a comment

If you were going to have two developers shack up in one booth at a gaming convention, you’d be hard pressed to find a better pair than Capybara Games and Double Fine if you’re hoping for hijinks. We’re thinking it’s going to be one of the most fun spots on the entire show floor. Oh, they’re both showing off some games, and from what we hear, a couple of other products as well.

Double Fine’s newest game, Dropchord will be playable on the show floor. It will be Armless Octopus’ first opportunity to test out the Leapmotion controller, and we’re pretty excited to see what Tim Schafer’s creative studio can come up with using it. They’ll also be showing off Brütal Legend on the PC as well.

On the flip side, Capybara will be putting a new build of Super TIME Force into the hands of the public. The game is slated for a 2013 release… hopefully a more specific date is revealed at the show. If not, we’ll be sure to dig for one.

These two teams are collaborating on more than just the booth, however. They will have a special PAX shirt available for purchase, commemorating their time together. Also, a physical box of their upcoming collaborative Steam bundle will also be on hand, awaiting purchase.

We’ll be sure to bring you all the details from the show floor when we attend PAX East this weekend.

Source: Capy’s website