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

••••

» dream build play

By at .

Registration for Dream.Build.Play 2012 is Now Open, WP7 Included Too!

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Dave Voyles in News, PC News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

Registration for Microsoft’s Dream.Build.Play Challenge is now open for all developers through May 15. The annual competition looks to highlight the best games developed using Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio, and this year the competition has expanded to include WP7 games. It’s free to enter, so you really don’t have any excuse to not sign up. Hey, it might even light a fire beneath you to get that project you’ve been sitting on completed and out the door. You’ll have from May 15 – June 12 to actually submit your game for consideration, so you’ve got a bit more time.

How will they be judging your masterpiece? Easy.

  • Fun factor (40%) – A key indicator will be the desire to keep playing.
  • Innovation (30%) – How creative and technically unique is your game?
  • Production quality (30%) – Make your game world as polished as possible!

The top 20 teams will be announced in August and have the opportunity to win $112,500 in cash, including $40,000 for the Xbox 360 Grand Prize winner and $20,000 for the WP7 winner. They will receive the chance at a WP7 or XBLA publishing deal, and also win a Windows Phone. This year, the allotted file size has increased to 500MB for Xbox games, so this should allow for some interesting entries as well.

Don’t have the tools to build your own game? It’s cool, they’ve provided them for you. The Windows Phone SDK 7.1 includes XNA Game Studio 4.0, along with the Windows Phone 7.1 (Mango) emulator. From there you’ll be able to deploy your titles to both on Windows Phone 7, XBLIG, and the PC.

Take a gander at their official site to learn more, or visit the Facebook page to stay up to date with everyday occurrences.

Source: Microsoft 

Dream.Build.Play 2012 Challenge Includes Windows Phone Games

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, PC News, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

So apparently those Angry Birds aren’t just a passing fad. We heard they made like at least $100 last year, so it’s fitting that Microsoft has decided to embrace mobile gaming and is expanding its annual Dream.Build.Play competition to include Windows Phone games.

Details around the Dream.Build.Play 2012 Challenge are a little sparse, but we do know that XNA developers will be competing for more than $100,000 in cash prizes and that the finalists will once again be on display at PAX Prime in Seattle. It’s not yet clear if mobile developers will be competing for the grand prize against Xbox/PC developers, or if they have their own tiers for prizes, but we’ve contacted Microsoft for more details. We’ve confirmed that the Windows Phone games will be in a separate category.

You can visit the official webpage to sign up to receive more details when they’re available, or you can just keep your eyes glued to Armless Octopus and that way you’ll get your info and we won’t become destitute. No pressure or anything.

Obitron: Revolution Launches From Space and Lands on XBLIG December 1

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Dave Voyles in News, xblig, XBLIG News | 1 Comment

At Armless Octopus, we’re always willing to jump at the opportunity to take out some Cylon toasters. Today we’ll have the opportunity to do just that in the form of the Firebase Industries‘ latest XBLIG title, Orbitron: Revolution.

The 2.5D shooter will run you 240 Microsoft Points ($3). If it looks familiar, that’s probably because it was also a Dream.Build.Play 2011 Top 20 Finalist. Three modes will be available at launch, including Countdown, Guardian, and Extra Mode. Countdown is a 3-minute, wave-based score attack mode, (whew, that’s a mouthful), while Extra Mode has players surviving as long as possible with an ever-increasing spawn of enemies. Finally, Guardian will have you playing the role of TIE fighters, defending sector ports around their base ship while fighting off an army of attacking droids.

One feature that’s sure to earn some attention is the instant replay system, which is avalable in Countdown mode. Players will be granted the ability to manipulate five camera positions, with a full breadth of options.

Curious to learn more? Take a look-see at Firebase’s site.


November 29, 2011

Take Your Turn with Orbitron: Revolution – December 1st, 2011

VANCOUVER, BC – Firebase Industries Ltd. announce today that the Orbital Power Station, Orbitron will fire up its power core on December 1st, 2011. This first project marks an important milestone for the independent developer.

Since initially revealed back in June, 2011 the project has been significantly upgraded. It now includes three modes of operation as well as an extensive list of functional and visual improvements.

The chances of the Orbitron Ring coming under attack by the Droid rebellion on nearby systems is thought to be slim.Leaving nothing to chance however, two of Earth’s best pilots, Blaze Harvest and Kaela Winters have been assigned to the station for active duty.

Combat space fighters, supplied by Advanced Combat Mechanics and their subsidiary Varia Aerotech, are on hand for the two aces to command in the unlikely event of a surprise robotic attack.Both fighters utilize the latest in integrated direct fire, as well as Power Cell driven Wave Bombs, and Power Shot technology in addition to augmented thrust.

Earth based populace may participate in the Power Station’s defense system by purchasing the Orbitron: Revolution project on Xbox Live Indie Games for 240 Microsoft Points on December 1st. The same day the Power Station activates, high scores from the best players with Xbox Live Gold memberships will be cataloged and viewed through an online tracking system.

Orbitron: Revolution was selected as one of the top 20 semi finalists in Microsoft’s 2011 Dream Build Play competition and features music by Audio Antics (Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved), sound design by Studio X Labs (Homeworld) and is powered by the Sunburn Engine from Synapse Gaming.

The all new release trailer can be found at:

For new screenshots and updated Orbitron: Revolution information visit:

http://firebase.ca/orbitron-revolution/

For more information about Firebase Industries Ltd. or Orbitron: Revolution visit:

www.Firebase.ca or @FirebaseIND on Twitter.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Project Temporality Trailer is Temporally Delicious

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

You gotta hand it to developers: sometimes they can sum of their games better than we ever could with clever puns and snarky comments. Defrost Games desribes their upcoming space-time mash-up as “Portal meets Braid on crack, with avatars,” and, well, that’s exactly what it looks like. Set in the year 2057, Project Temporality takes place on a spaceship where a bunch of scientists are shipped to Jupiter under the ruse of astronomical studies, only to discover that they are actually going to work on spacetime-warping experiments.

What does that mean exactly? It looks like we can expect plenty of button puzzles combined with the ability to make copies of your Avatar in different points in time, sort of like some of the later levels in Braid. With its lofty aspirations and gorgeous environments, it’s easy to see why Project Temporality was a Dream.Build.Play semifinalist.

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

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

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

win 40,000!

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

Dream.Build.Play finalists to be announced August 18, winners to be unveiled at PAX

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

win 40,000!

The top 20 entries of 2011′s Dream.Build.Play competition will be announced on an episode of Major Nelson’s Minute, which premieres on August 18 on the Xbox Live Dashboard. Just a week later, during this year’s PAX Prime, (August 26 through August 28) Microsoft will be announcing the 5 prize winners, who will be sharing the $75,000 bounty and a chance at an XBLA publishing deal.

While only 5 games get to take home the winnings, all 20 games will be playable on the show floor of PAX, with several of the developers in attendance. As any XNA developer can attest, having a game playable at a show that attracts tens of thousands of attendees isn’t such a bad prize either.

Dragons Vs Spaceships takes flight this August

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

Yankees vs. Red Sox. Vampires vs. werewolves. Red wine vs. carpets. These rivalries have defined our generation that has been oh-so marred by conflict. They’re but petty scuffles compared to the rancorous rivalry found in Dragons Vs. Spaceships. Metal monstrosities from a far away world have come to challenge The Dragons’ dominion over all things airborne; pushed to the brink of extinction, it’s up to you to help the four most badass dragons and fight back in Dragons Vs. Spaceships, a new Xbox Live Indie Game landing this August.

This Dream.Build.Play and Summer Uprising entrant was developed by Game Production Studios, and besides it’s outrageous story, it also features a weapon system that sounds reminiscent of Gunstar Heroes. Each dragon has 2 slots in which it can equip one of three elements: fire, water or metal. The first slot is the primary attack, and it can be leveled up with power-ups. It also combines with the element in the second slot to create one of six different special attacks. Two players will be able to defend the land of Dragonia this August.

1 2 3   Next »