XBLIG prices can be changed every 7 days starting May 23


Big news from Microsoft today, as they announced via the App Hub, the official MS forums where XBLIG developers Read more

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Review: Rolling in the Right Direction


A new Sonic game always brings a level of uncertainty with it. Sega’s mascot has seen more highs and Read more

One Million Fans Take a Stroll with The Walking Dead Episode 1


Comic books, television, and now video games: is there any form of media that The Walking Dead can't conquer? Read more

Kittens Spit Fire When Serious Sam Double D XXL Assaults XBLA This Fall


Take a long, hard look at you what is on your screen right now. Yes, that’s a kitten, spitting Read more

••••

» TIC: Part 1

By at .

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

The best XBLIG new releases for the week of June 19

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Mike Wall in Features, xblig | 3 Comments

busy week!

Feel that crisp, burny-hot summer sun on your face? Yeah, me too; it’s pretty horrible, right? Damaging our precious epidermi and increasing our chances of skin cancer. Luckily for us, it’s been a banner week for indies, with all kinds of awesome games to occupy our time while we enjoy the luxuries of shade and air conditioning.

Game of the Week - Fluffy: Operation Overkill – Dylan

die frog!! Wow. This is a top-notch 2D shooter based in a cartoon world where all animals have become zombies. You know what comes next: BLOOD. Yes, lots of blood. Has there ever been a game where you’ve been able to kill bears, frogs, rabbits, and wasps within seconds of each other? I don’t think so! Fluffy has me hooked. I want more.
Read more

TIC: Part 1 Review: Acorn-ucopia of beauty

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Michael Johnson in Reviews, xblig, XBLIG Reviews | 3 Comments

so preeety

In a land where names are derivative, our adventurer Tic stands out amongst the crowd. In a scramble to save the robot town of Copperville, Tic must take down the evil corporation called…well, EvilCorp! The robots are suffering from a terrible drought of — you guessed it, OIL! Tic must jump, glide and drill his way through Pinehill Meadow in order to stop EvilCorp from sucking up all of the oil. What Tic discovers there is an ancient race called the Molepeople who promise to reveal secrets if you collect and return their greatest resource: acorns.

If the story’s not enough to drive you nuts – see what I did there – then perhaps its impressive visuals and fresh outlook on platforming will redeem the hardwork that Red Candy Games put into their first Xbox Live Indie Game title. Your main character, Tic, is an impressive machine with the ability to soar to great heights and dig deep for treasure. You control him with the use of 2 basic controls: glide and move. You will need to master the techniques of both controls in order to find the silver acorns that are scattered throughout the levels. Silver acorns need to be collected in order to open new sections of the map and lead you to rare golden acorns.

Read more

TIC: Part 1 rolls onto the Indie Marketplace on June 21

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

After charming the audience at RPI GameFest, TIC: Part 1 will soon have the opportunity to bore its way deep into all of our callous hearts. RedCandy Games has announced that their highly touted unicycling platformer, TIC: Part 1, will arrive on the Xbox Live Indie Marketplace on June 21 for 240 MS points ($3).

The series is broken into 4 parts, and Part 1 will include the first 3 chapters of the adventure. Apparently the sinister EvilCorp (what a PR nightmare) is up to no good. Shocking right? The corporation is plotting to drain the world’s energy, and it’s up to a unicycling mining robot named TIC to defend the town of Copperville and solve the oil drought. With any luck, it will also bring back the flow of lifeblood to our aforementioned hearts.

Source: Press Release

TIC: Part 1 takes to the skies in official trailer

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Previews, xblig, XBLIG News, XBLIG Previews | Leave a comment

Last week we brought you the news that TIC took home the Audience Choice award and 1st Prize at the GameFest. Now, developer RedCandy Games has released their official trailer for TIC: Part 1. Why is this hero making such a journey? We’re not quite sure, as we’re too distracted by the vivid backgrounds, not to mention the underground depths that only Tim Burton could dream up (all of which was put together using their proprietary ”2.5D JawBreaker Engine”).

Look for TIC: Part 1 on the XBLIG platform sometime in the very near future.

TIC: Part 1 wows GameFest; takes home 1st prize and Audience Choice Award

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, xblig, XBLIG News | 3 Comments

TIC
For those of you who aren’t familiar, GameFest is an annually held games symposium held by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). It’s not to be confused with Microsoft’s similarly titled convention, which is also held annually, albeit in 3 different locations throughout the year. This year, at RPI one game in particular drew attention, not only from the crowd, but from the panel of judges made up of Vivarious Visions employees.

Vicarious Visions not only sponsored the event, but also held a competition in which students could showcase their games. TIC: Part 1, developed by Red Candy Games, took home the first place prize of $600, a tour of the VV studios and a chance to pitch a game to the studio. With over 200 attendees at the conference, taking home the awards is nothing to shake a stick at, and when it’s an eight-month development that’s coming to a close, every little bit helps. Check back here for more updates on TIC: Part 1 and Red Candy Games.

Tic the robot scheduled to save the world in April; first trailer revealed

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Previews, xblig, XBLIG News, XBLIG Previews | 1 Comment

We’ve all heard the tale of corporate conglomerates putting our very existence at risk. Generally it’s one of our own who takes the role of the hero to venture out and save the world, but what if it was left up to a robot? Tic, a unicycling industrial robot from the small mining town of Copperville sets out to do just that. Like Inspector Gadget, Tic has a plethora of devices at his disposal to put the EvilCorp minions down, including a drill arm and my all time favorite go-go gadget, the helicopter head. Tic rolls, drills and flies his through a 2.5D casual story-driven puzzle adventure injected with charm, and his benevolent aura is reminiscent of Pixar’s robotic protagonist Wall-E. His experience will have him spanning a number of locations including the cavernous depths of Copperville, while fluidly transitioning to the moonlight skies.

RedCandy Games is using its own JawBreaker Engine to power the title. I caught up with Founder/CEO Julian Volyn at GDC, where he told me it currently runs at a  smooth 60fps with over 50 depth layers. This technically impressive engine will support an unlimited number of depth layers, with in-game level editing, which makes one wonder – could this be the first XBLIG game where we can craft our own levels?

Tic is shaping up to be a beautiful title, and RedCandy Games is planning this to be a  four-part series. The first episode should be available on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel tentatively within the next month for 240 MS points ($3). Be sure to leave your thought below on what looks like it could be a side-scrolling gem, and check back soon for our full review.