The
Cold Beam Games website has word that
Beat Hazard Ultra is now
available on XBLIG, in an update that also describes the indie game's remarkable
commercial success (thanks nin via
Joystiq and
Destructoid). Here's word:
- 1 Man, 3 Years, 7 Platforms and 3,000% Profit
- Beat Hazard has sold in excess of 700,000 copies
- Grossed over $2.2 million.
- With overall development costs in the region of
$70,000, this gives a return on investment of 3000%!
A
second Beyond the Battle
trailer offers a further behind-the-scenes look at the development of a new
Command & Conquer at Victory Games (
part
one was released
in May). Here's word
on what this shows of the real-time-strategy revival: "In Part 2 of Beyond the
Battle, we take a look at the development of an iconic GLA unit for the new
Command & Conquer -- from concept to art production to implementation. Join us
behind the scenes for new reveals, never before seen footage, and exclusive
interviews from the lead developers of Victory Games." Thanks
Ant.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new
Kickstarter campaign seeks $55K to complete development of
Stunt Runner,
a comedic physics-based puzzler from Kermdinger Studios where you control the
environment, rather than the character. Here's the description of how they are
attempting to combine two classics, The Incredible Machine and Lemmings: "Stunt
Runner is a comedic, physics-based 2.5D puzzle game for PC, Mac and Linux that
takes the best elements from classic games like The Incredible Machine and
Lemmings with tributes to some of film's greatest themes and characters. In each
level, you’ll purchase and place props which enable Smash to successfully
traverse the obstacles on each set. How you spend your money and solve each
puzzle will be up to you. Multiple solutions will be a cornerstone of our
design. We plan to launch the PC and Mac versions at the same time, as we're
building the game in Unity and porting to Mac will be fairly straightforward!"
R.I.P.:
A good
day to die. R.I.P.: Michael Ansara.
The
Marvel Heroes website has news that a new patch is now live, updating
the superhero action/RPG, to version 1.11.0.243 to be precise. This adds a hot
new hero, the Human Torch, saying he is purchasable with cash, but can also be
played in exchange for Eternity Splinters, a new in game drop. The accompanying
update explains how these work in getting free upgrades, saying their drop-rate
is "tuned to make Marvel Heroes slightly faster than other free-to-play games in
terms of getting free heroes, as we continue to work towards the goal of being
the most player-focused game possible." They go on to promise they "will
continue to evaluate and iterate until we are 100% satisfied that we are meeting
that goal." They also explain that old Cosmic Keys have been converted into an
equal number of Eternity Splinters and outline a new zone added in this update.
This new trailer is the
first in a series of behind-the-scenes clips for Infinite Crisis, the upcoming
superheroic MOBA from DC Comics, WBIE, and Turbine. Along with gameplay footage,
the clip features interviews with the development team as well as Geoff Johns,
Chief Creative Officer at DC Entertainment and Jim Lee, Co-Publisher at DC
Entertainment, who talk about the DC Multiverse, and what this game represents.
Continue here to read the full story.
New developer blackpowder games announces
Betrayer, an upcoming
single-player first-person shooter set in colonial America that features the
requisite zombies in the form of undead conquistadors. This is coming from a
team that includes six veterans of
F.E.A.R. and
No One Lives Forever
development back in their
days with Monolith, including
Shogo,
NOLF, and
F.E.A.R.
lead designer Craig Hubbard.
PC Gamer has some details and hands-on impressions of the "eerie" game along
with screenshots and a
gameplay trailer
showing off its unusual art direction, where most everything is starkly
black or white (lacking even grayscale), with the occasional splash of
red. The plan is to begin offering the game via Steam Early Access on August
14th, and in the meantime we can get a sense of what this is about through the
words of PC Gamer:
Betrayer doesn’t fit neatly into an existing genre. On
the surface, it’s an FPS set in open, pristine American wilderness that happens
to be crawling with undead conquistadors. But the game’s monochromatic art
direction, gloomy tone, and sense of mystery distinguish it from other indie and
horror projects.
The story of Betrayer is expressed through scattered clues—gravestone
engravings, artifacts, notes, and other evidence that you find in the world.
Assembling these clues pieces together the truth of what happened to an
abandoned British settlement. One of colonial history’s greatest mysteries, the
Roanoke colony, was among the inspirations for this premise, says creative lead
Craig Hubbard. “The social situation of that time was really interesting,” says
Hubbard, formerly the lead designer on Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, F.E.A.R.,
and the NOLF series. “I don’t know if you’ve read about what it was like to be
in the Pilgrim colonies, like if you broke the law, but they’d like… pile stones
on you until you died. It was just brutal and horrific and that’s great subject
matter for an atmospheric and eerie game.”
Continue here to read the full story.
The
Kickstarter campaign for
Alice: Otherlands concluded last night,
managing to exceed its $200K funding goal by over 10%. This means American McGee
should be able to acquire the film rights that bear his name for American
McGee's Alice. The intent is to uses these to create a series of animated shorts
with the goal of eventually making a feature film.
This post has word:
After 20 days and much nail-biting, the Alice:
Otherlands campaign has reached a successful conclusion. Coming in at over
222kUSD, the funding will allow us to create a series of animated short films,
pursue larger animated series possibilities, begin development work on a feature
film and access larger funding options for a possible feature film production in
the future. All thanks to the kind support of our backers on Kickstarter. You
rock!
For those of you who missed out on the action of the race – there’s still a
post-campaign funding option via PayPal. Just follow THIS LINK and you’ll be
taken to the PayPal campaign page.
GfK's latest U.K. software charts are out, with their
all platforms/all prices chart showing Minecraft: Xbox 360 has dug in for
another week at number one. On the
full-price PC chart we see The Sims 3 Island Paradise enjoying a Corona in
the top spot, and the
PC budget chart has details on what bargains gamers are hunting. Here's
GfK's summary:
Microsoft’s ‘Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition’(-9%) holds the No1 spot in the
All Formats Chart for a second week.
It’s a quiet week for new releases and so the 4J studios developed title finds
itself largely unchallenged at the top. ‘The Last of Us’ (-2%) which held the
crown for six weeks prior to Minecraft’s ascent to the top climbs a place to No2
as does Nintendo’s ‘Animal Crossing: New Leaf’ (-0%) to No3. Following a strong
week on week boost in sales EA’s ‘FIFA 13’ (+33%) continues to climb back up the
chart reaching No4.
Even more impressive is the climb of Ubisoft’s ‘The Smurfs 2’ (+115%) which
following its debut two weeks ago flies up the chart to No5 no doubt helped by
their second outing on the big screen. Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty:
Black Ops II’ (+48%) is also back in the Top 10 up from No16 to No7 following a
near fifty percent boost in sales. Square Enix’s ‘Tomb Raider’ (+1%) is a
non-mover at No9 while ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ (+11%) just edges out ‘Mario &
Luigi: Dream Team Bros’ to round off the Top 10 at No10.
Any other Amazon customers get a mail this morning offering "Up to 50% Off
Select Blu-ray Books in Our Deal of the Week"? No big deal, but I thought it was
funny, and they don't usually make errors like that. Hey, maybe it's not an
error. Maybe the long awaited era of high definition books is finally upon us.
R.I.P.:
Colts defensive tackle, hall of famer Art Donovan dies.
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