Crowd-funding is the way to go these days, it seems, what with Mighty No. 9 getting funded in a weekend (and going on to gross over $4 million) and Zeboyd Games taking Cosmic Star Heroine to Kickstarter on top of the other hundred Kickstarter stories I could link here, so it makes sense that other companies, even the big ones, are taking notice. The notable differences here is that the company involved is Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter and Squeenix isn't actually making a game, but rather encouraging everyone else to do so. If you're lucky and have a good idea for it, you can even use an old Eidos IP as your basis with Squeenix's blessing....since they're the ones publishing it anyway. We don't know -what- IPs just yet, of course, but I imagine there's one that's off the table...because of its terrible, awful, no-good, very bad announced iteration that I still refuse to believe is real.
What this collective process is is basically an additional step before going up on Indiegogo that'll get you a little bit of a running start. You detail your pitch and a community gets to vote on it. If it's voted for favorably over a given length of time, it's then submitted to Indiegogo so that people can actually contribute to its funding, thus granting it a little visibility beforehand to ensure that word-of-mouth occurs. It's basically Steam's Greenlight service, except you then add the crowd-funding aspect to it after it's approved, and the extra step should, in theory, help it get noticed. Which should then, in theory, help it get funded since Indiegogo is...much less known than Kickstarter. With the end-all goal of being helping out the projects to actually get funded, of course so they can get out there.
It's just an interesting thing all around because of Squeenix's backing and because of their decision to allow for the use of old IPs that they're (apparently) not using. Most companies tend to just sort of sit on IPs that they're not using nor plan on using and it's a shame because you think back on the games that spawned from them and remember just how fun they generally were, at least if they were. The only problem with the set-up is that it's just Eidos properties right after you see the Squeenix involvement and laugh because there are so many properties under Squeenix's label that -honestly- need attention. Proper attention. Whereas I can't really think of any Eidos properties beyond the ones that are getting games made for them currently. (Deus Ex, Tomb Raider......Legacy of Kain, technically) Still, I'm sure there'll be some with potential when we get a list. After all, what would be the point otherwise?
Of course, it's not -just- a project to have indies make new iterations into standing series, since you'll be able to post just about any idea you could want on the Collective. The only issue with that, however, is that with Squeenix publishing your game, it's up in the air as to whether or not they're going to want the IP to it or if you'll be able to negotiate that. Obviously they're going to get a cut of it as well, and you as the indie simply have to decide whether or not what Collective offers is enough that you'll want to give up that much to make it happen. Personally, I'm assuming there's going to be a very real 'wait and see' approach to this at first which is...less than ideal for this type of project. The other caveat is that, I'm guessing Squeenix is only publishing, meaning you're not going to get to assume some sort of help with development or funding - after all, you're getting your money from Indiegogo members. Still, it's an interesting prospect, and there's certainly some things that can come from it! I look forward to seeing what people attempt, myself.
hello yes, I would like to reboot Robotrek please, it would be awesome
BigFest is one of the games that was just announced at GamesCom and like most of the Vita announcements, this one was Indie-Oriented - but in a far different way. It's being developed by what I can only assume is an Indie team, "On the Metal" apparently, but it's one of Sony's ideas simply handed down to the team to develop, or so the (European) Playstation Blog says. At its core, it's essentially a Theme Park Game (You remember those, right?) in which the idea is to run not a Theme Park, but a music festival, setting up booths and the stage, customizing the set-list and such and making sure everything runs smoothly so that your visitors are happy. It's a management Sim which, I have been begging for on the Vita because Sim games on a portable just make sense and only now is it finally appearing as such, but not quite in a way I would've anticipated. Though it is in one that I'm willing to give a try with.
The reason why this game beats Indie at its core is not because of the developer or the concept, but because of the content. Music Festivals need music - that is the point of them - and the actual music that you'll be using will not be canned music from a database or pre-arranged songs unique to the game, but tapped directly from an independent source rife with bands who are not signed with record labels. Actual Indie bands, not, you know, bands that adhere to the "Indie Scene", since that was a thing for a little while. Music-snobbery aside, that along makes it a fascinating prospect; one that many are already interpreting as a way for Sony to gather some intelligence for their Music Division which would be a brilliant idea, so long as it's done through a workable, enjoyable game in the process.
There's not a whole lot about the game that's really known at this point - it's only announced for the Vita and it makes the most sense there, and there's some (hopefully alpha) footage of it shown in the above video, but that's about the gist of it. And really, that's the bulk of what needs to be said of it at this point - It's an interesting looking game with an interesting looking concept that will hopefully be executed well enough to draw attention to itself and the crux of its creation. Don't really need to go off into a tangent about this or that related to it.
Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself because I've had a headache for ten hours and I can barely focus and I just want to go to sleep.
I do hope that it's successful (and Football Manager) if just to bring more Simulation games to the system KOEI
A common worry going into Sony's Gamescome Event was that it was going to be an all-PS4 show. That's not a far-fetched idea, given that the PS4 is the new hotness riding a wave of positive PR thanks to E3 and such, but everyone was hoping that the Vita would see some sort of acknowledgement, and we got that and then some. We didn't get a sequel to Uncharted: Golden Abyss announcement (unfortunately, this would've been the perfect time to announce it) or a Gravity Rush 2 announcement (which was always going to be TGS), but we got some good news nonetheless. News that some people are prodding endlessly with a stick instead of just saying "Yeah, it's good" because we can't all agree on anything ever because why would we, but that's just the way of things.
Between the straight-up price-cut of the Vita itself and the lowered memory card prices, Sony managed to shave a very nice bit of the price off the lovely little portable. A nice bit more than people actually realize, it seems, because they're not looking at the big picture. The $50 price-cut of the Vita itself is steep and much nicer to think about, and each tier of the memory cards took a drop. 4 Gig dropped $5, 8 Gig dropped $10 and the 16 and 32 Gigs each dropped $20, meaning you're spending a right comparable amount of money picking up a Vita and a 16 Gig card versus a 3DSXL bundle. My 3DS XL Bundle, the Animal Crossing one was ~$220 for the system, Animal Crossing (pre-loaded) and a 4 Gig stick (which was less than 4 gigs because Animal Crossing). If you buy the shiny Walking Dead Vita Bundle for $200 (which comes with a 4 gig stick) and throw down $40 for a 16 gig stick, you have $240 invested in it, 4 times the storage for $20 extra. Essentially, price parity is pretty nice and if when you throw in Playstation Plus for $50, you get a ridiculous amount of games for a year which makes the value shoot right up. So yes, you spend a little more, but you get miles more than the money you spend unless you jump in the Wal-Mart deal, spend less and get a shitload of content.
People rail on and on that there's no reason for the proprietary cards and insane prices and, sorry, there is. It's called the PSP. Piracy was absolute bananas on the PSP and, unlike the DS, it actively squeezed out and over-shadowed actual purchases for the device, which is not something that Sony wanted a repeat of. Games just didn't sell, but whenever they released, they were among the most pirated things on all the popular sites out there, so the age-old excuse of "if there were good games I -would- buy them" went right out the damn window. Hell, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker only sold 52,000 physical copies in America at launch which is ridiculous for a Metal Gear Solid game and especially as good of one as Peace Walker was. Yet, there were far, far more people that played it than that - it's not like the DS was where a game got 23.34 Million sales (like Mario Kart DS, jesus) and got heavily pirated as well. That's what I mean when I say that the actual buyers got squeezed out of the equation - the buyers just didn't compare at all to the people just straight-up downloading the games. So that's why they went a more controlled route this go around. Because you can't tell me that people would've bought games for a $250 Sony handheld if it was as easy to pirate as the PSP.
There was also the matter of games being announced for it, which is, you know, kind of important. Borderlands 2 came out of nowhere to see a release on the Vita sometime in 2014, brought to us by Iron Galaxy Studios, the team who developed DiveKick which just released this week. That...is certainly a get for Sony, and it was alongside several other announcements for the Vita that I will defer to Chance for because I don't want to mine in Joystiq posts and cobble together a bunch of links. Let's take a look at the list, shall we?
Age of Zombies (BlitWorks/Halfbrick)
A-Men 2 (Bloober Team)
Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam)
Avoid Droid (Infinite State Games)
Broken Sword: the Serpent’s Curse (Revolution Software)
Eufloria HD (Omni Systems)
Fez (Polytron Corporation)
Final Horizon (Eiconic Games)
Flame Over (Laughing Jackal)
Gravity Crash Ultra (Just Add Water)
Gunslugs (Abstraction Games)
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (Dennaton Games and Devolver Digital)
Joe Danger 1 (Hello Games)
Joe Danger 2 (Hello Games)
Kick & Fennick (Green Hill Studios)
Minecraft (4J Studios)
Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games)
Samurai Gunn (Teknopants)
Starbound (Chucklefish)
Supermagical (Tama Games)
Switch Galaxy Ultra (Atomicom)
Table Top Racing (Ripstone)
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Nicalis)
Volume (Mike Bithell)
Wasteland Kings (Vlambeer)
I had to add Minecraft and Starbound, the last of which is almost more impressive than Minecraft, because it's essentially Terraria ins Spaaaaaaaaace (one-half of the original two Terraria developers is making it), it has a ton of content, and there's absolutely no Vita Terraria sales data just yet, meaning it's a blind leap of faith and that's so appreciated. Granted, all of those are games that are classified as "Indie", but as we've come to learn, that doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot in the grand scheme of things. The prime gradient here is content and Minecraft, Terraria and Starbound at the very least are going to have those in spades, not to mention Rogue Legacy and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Those are just the games that I know a little about. As you can see, there are a hell of a lot of other games on that list, and that's probably not even a complete list. And this is all before TGS. And before the PS4 launches and does Remote Play like a champ.
It seems Sony's still the only one out there getting it right in terms of Indies, though Microsoft recently announced that they're making strides in the right direction....if you believe spin at its face, that is. Essentially, what Microsoft has announced is that Self-Publishing will be possible for games on the XBone and on top of that, every single XBone console will eventually double as a dev kit. This would allow you to run down to the store, buy an XBone, take it home and work whatever voodoo that involves to turn it into a dev kit/debug unit. Because it's not going to be as simple as flipping a switch and 'woooo suddenly I'm a game developer'. Not to mention that allowing you to be able to mess with the innards of the XBone as you would anything with code and such with reckless abandon would open all sorts of unsavory doors, so there's obviously some bits that haven't been mentioned just yet. Apparently this was supposed to be big news at Gamescom, but it just so happened to leak out beforehand. Mysteriously.
"Suspicion" seems to be the operative word in terms of reactions among both consumers and Indie Developers alike, and it's not unwarranted, of course. Even without Microsoft's numerous foot-in-mouth moments subsequently followed by furious back-peddling in what comes off as a desperate display of "PLEASE LOVE US", their previous attempt at the Indie Scene with XBox Live Indie Games was less-than-stellar in concept and execution. An annual fee allowed you access to the development tools with which you could eventually create a working game for the service that was then checked by other XNA developers (I believe) for QA purposes (pretty much, I just heard Zeboyd asking/talking about "Peer Review" for the XBLIG versions of their games before release) before being unceremoniously placed into the roster next to the rest of the games similarly added without much regard to grouping or visibility. Of course, that is kind of how these things go, things like the App Store and such that allow 'self-publishing' in this way, which is akin to "Yeah, just kind of put it out there and make sure we get our cut for storage" which is...less than ideal.
Whether or not Microsoft's plan for the XBone will be like XBLIG but 'better' or something else entirely that might actually be good has yet to be seen and will likely remain under wraps even beyond Gamescom. It's highly doubtful this system will be able to go up and running by launch, of course, and first-hand experience is really where it's going to count, as well as how Microsoft handles the marketplace thereafter. It -does- sound like Microsoft is making strides in that area in a sense as they previously announced that all the games will be in the 'games' section of the store, thus no "XBLA goes -here-" and "XBLIG goes over -there-", but really that was never the biggest problem. The biggest problem with indies on the 360 was that you...basically never knew when the games went up because they went up 'whenever'. Sony has the right of it here, I think - Games go up Tuesday, Mobile games go up Wednesday. If you're even a little familiar with your Playstation devices and such, you know that, so you'll know to check new releases and you'll be able to find all the new games, indie or otherwise, held within. Then they also have an Indies Section that, well, actually has visibility as well.
Something else that's curious is that Microsoft seems to be promising full compatibility of the wide spectrum of extra essentials to Indies as well. Specifically, Mark Whitten, VP of the XBox Division had this to say:
"Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One
can be used for development. That every game and experience can take
advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means
self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means
great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We'll have more details on the
program and the timeline at gamescom in August."
This is new in terms of Microsoft's treatment of indies for the most part. Even Kinect integration, something that obviously could have happened on the 360 seems new unless my googling has failed to inform me of a time when XNA developers were allowed to work with the device for 360 purposes. Additionally, add me to the list of people who believe that you don't just get to say "the cloud" and we fucking know what you're talking about. Does it mean cloud saves? Cloud storage? Cloud computation, as some XBone games are touting already even though that kind of requires internet which was something of a problem as we have discussed? Will you be able to have some sort of cross-compatibility with Windows 8 thanks to "THE CLOUD"? Any of this is something you could mention instead of just saying "THE CLOUD" as a thing of reverence. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see just how many Achievements you can add to your indie game and how updating it can or cannot change that, since that's something that has been played around with quite a lot by actual developers (in terms of adding DLC which adds Achievements/Trophies to the overall list). Actually, it'll just be interesting to see how it handles updates in general, considering some of Microsoft's difficulties with that.
Meanwhile, on the Nintendo side of the world, Nintendo has made a strange move in telling Japanese Indies to shove it. Or, more succinctly that they're just not accepting Japanese applications for development on the Wii U, despite Nintendo's moves to make the device friendly to Indies of all types. It's especially weird that they're not taking applications from Japan of all places, considering that's where they're based, but there are some reasons at play here that do sort of make it a little more understandable. I don't know a lot about the Japanese Indie Scene, but I have to imagine that a good portion of it is likely Visual Novel-based, since that's really big in Japan, and I have to also imagine that a good portion of -that- is...well...not what Nintendo is looking for, I'll say. I mean, maybe I'm wrong on that, and it's definitely possible that I -am-, and that the Japanese Indie Scene is just rife with platformers that blow Nintendo's own out of the water or something, but I'm just saying that that's possible. Still, it's just a weird move, especially amidst all the other drama surrounding Indies.
So yeah, it's just kind of amusing to see all this going on and Sony just kind standing off to the side with the bulk of Indie Developers just looking on going "Okay". I'm not sure what all moves they actually made in wooing the scene as heavily as they did, but it paid off with dividends and it's continuing to do so. If nothing else, this is all at least a good exercise in realizing the importance of goodwill. Sony's gained it massively, Microsoft pissed all theirs away and Nintendo is somewhere comfortably in the middle. Who knows how this'll all play out when plans are actually outlined and put in place, but I wouldn't expect something of a large-scale event occurring. It takes a lot of work to shift developers away from something, but most of the time it takes something negative to something else, so unless Sony screws the pooch at some point, they might just be around for a while. Still, with a little competence, a little humility and a little courting, Microsoft could endear themselves back eventually. I just don't see that happening, though.
well, something negative or truckloads of money, but
"Damnit......damnit......damnit!....Shit.....Guh! This fuckin'......hurrgh...GODDAMN DOG!.....damnit.....yessss.....yesssss. New stage time!"
The above is a basic approximation of my vocabulary whilst playing Hotline Miami, but with a lot fewer actual curse words (and a lot fewer words in general since a chapter here and there has had me stumped for a good half an hour or better already) while the game is doing its thing. I put it this way because it's kind of hard to actually explain just how Hotline Miami works. I can tell you how it plays, I can tell you what it makes you think, and I can compare it to this and that, but I'm having a hard time of putting on my finger on just what makes Hotline Miami [i]work[/i], because I assure you that it does. I imagine that's one of the various things that ensures you come back to the game again and again, which ensures that you'll get your bang for your buck if you're worried about that.
I -want- to say the reason the game works is because of it's relative ease of use. It implements an "easy to learn, difficult to master" approach to its gameplay, allowing you to get through a chapter with minimal effort (in a comparative sense) with a rating that reflects that. It's the game's hope that you'll see that C- rating or whatever it is and tell yourself "I can do better than that", leading you to replay a level again and again, searching for that ever-elusive A+ rank. Throwing this weapon at just the right moment to let you get two wall executions via forehead stomp, switching from a shotgun to an assault rifle to a pipe for a succession of foes, knowing when to burst into a room guns blazing are all practices that the game wills you to understand will help improve your rating and make it easier to do in the long-run. Not to mention, when such tactics work correctly, it does instill a rather strange sort of satisfaction given the real, hard mortality that your character possesses in line with everyone you're shooting/stabbing/etc.
I also want to say the reason the game works is because of the unique blend of its bright, vivid retro graphics with a soundtrack that matches the era and mood the game attempts to create perfectly. Though, perhaps retro itself isn't exactly the best word to use, but more of something like "Retro Progressive" or something, as it mimics a style that would have been the natural progression of retro graphics had we not skipped several leaps and bounds as we did. The design, the look are reminiscent of 8 and 16-bit classics, but the fact basically remains that those 8 and 16-bit classics could not handle the amount of detail, the amount of colors or anything else that Hotline Miami manages. It's a play on perceptions which I suppose is appropriate once you get into the meat of the game itself and the plot that it offers. I do have to re-emphasize detail, however, as Hotline is absolutely ridiculous with it - on top of dozens of different corpse designs for your slain, you'll notice little things, the the bubbling of boiling water in a pot on a stove or, indeed, spent shell casings on the floor after you've fired a weapon.
To be honest, I even want to put some of the blame or praise, depending on how you see it, on just how unapologetic the game is about its violence. Make no mistake - Hotline Miami doesn't pull a single punch. It doesn't say "Violence is bad!" in the same timeframe that it allows you to climb onto a fallen enemy and slit his throat with a knife. It doesn't outright paint you as a villain, nor the foes you leave in your bloody wake as villains. It's violence with a side of violence rather than a side of morality lessons or preaching. If anything, I think this approach is much, much more effective towards sending a non-violence message were the intent there, because it's..well, unrepentant. I haven't finished the game yet, so I don't quite know the fate of our main character, but I could hazard a guess. And it is not a pleasant one which is fitting because it doesn't have to be. To enjoy Hotline Miami requires you to check your expectations at the door since, while playing it you simply won't know what to think in regards to all this and in some ways, that might just be the better idea.
The word that Chance used was "lurid", and that's about as apt a descriptor as anything ever could be. Put simply, Hotline Miami is a game where you don an animal-themed mask, burst into a building bustling with violent people and murder them before they can kill you. The way it accomplishes this is not for the faint of heart, though if you distract yourself from that long enough, remind yourself that it's just a game, you can find a massive amount of enjoyment and lose hours of your life in a flash because you just wanted to give this stage one more try, go for that A+ ranking or even just refine your technique. For that, it's well-worth the hype that it has received and I'm certainly glad that it made its way to the PS3 and Vita platforms so I could give it a whirl. The fact that it has a Platinum Trophy honestly might give me enough incentive to play it enough to achieve that feat, but I haven't quite decided just yet. Regardless, it has definitely been an interesting game so far, and one that I want to delve into the deepest reaches of if only to see the conclusion of the story that is honestly more interesting than it has a right to be given how threadbare it can appear to be.
btw Tony the Tiger mask is best mask - punch all of the things to death
Last Night, as I eagerly awaited Hotline Miami to go up on the store, it occurred to me that it was yet another Indie title that I was looking forward to specifically because I could play it on my Vita which is shaping up to have all sorts of games on it, contrary to popular belief. And despite claims that Playstation has all of the Indies - Count it: Fuckin' all of 'em - they actually don't, not quite yet. Ignoring the obvious Minecraft (which I sincerely hope didn't get another year minimum of exclusivity because of the XBone version), there's all sorts of Indie games out there that haven't been outwardly courted to the Sony side just yet, or at least not in a way that I know of. Though, it does sort of help that the three games I'm going to feature tonight (three, who would have guessed, it's almost like it's a theme) aren't even complete just yet, I suppose - they probably want to at least -launch- on PC first before considering any other platform - or platforms - as it were.
The....rather lengthy video above is Alpha Footage of a Multi-player client of Broforce as played by one AvidyaZen and one Coestar (who isn't going to update his Youtube account anymore, but still, for posterity and apropos) for -hours- (yes, it has been editted down to -only- a single hour) and I assure you, it is worth your time. Unless, of course you don't like a very Contra-esque sidescrolling shooter featuring 8-bit versions of 80's and 90's action movie stars and almost wholly destructible terrain. But, I mean, if you don't like that, then I don't even know what to say to you. If the notion of playing an 8-bit Arnold ala Terminator with a friggin' minigun as his default weapon in a world where it can literally tear a wall of dirt to...nothing at all doesn't instill a certain interest and giddiness in you, then....I dunno, just skip to the next game, I guess. God.
I must stress in so many ways that the above video, as stated, contains alpha footage of the game, meaning it's not even really -done- in the conception stage of things. More heroes (though seriously, there's about two dozen in the game already), more enemies, more areas, et all still have their place in the minds of the developers - who go by Free Lives, by the way and offer a download of the game in its current state (the 'Brototype' as it were) on said website - and just have yet to make it into the game proper. Still, what's there is rather impressive, especially the terrain deformation aspect to the whole game. As Coestar puts it a few times in the video, it creates 'emergent gameplay' which I have to agree with since it could fundamentally change how you approach a part in the level, or just how it plays out in general. There won't be randomized level designs in the final product, but the deformation ensures that you'll have a hard way of it playing any level the same way twice. Definitely neat.
I've talked about Stardew Valley before, I'm sure, but anything I've said about it deserves to be reiterated anyway and you can bet this won't be the last damn time I talk about the game anyway. What Stardew Valley is, if you didn't click this much, much shorter video and watch it, is a throw-back to the classic Harvest Moon style and look, while also taking the Rune Factory approach to it by adding fantasy and combat elements to the mix. Though, I should make the distinction that it clearly sways more to the Harvest Moon side of the fence than Rune Factory....which is a distinction that I'm probably in the minority of to be able to detect as much. That's not quite the point, however.
The point is that Stardew Valley is a very, very Harvest Moon-like game which, for the most part, the Vita completely lacks. Sure, there's a couple of the classics, including the very, very good Hero of Leaf Valley as well as the less-good in-fact-almost-bad Innocent Life, but they just don't scratch the itch as well enough as I would like. It should also be said that not only does SV look like a very Harvest Moon-like game, but also a good one, which is even more enticing. Everything seems to be there - the crop raising/management, animal farming and even the social aspect of the whole series on top of a few things that aren't always there like customizable farms (except a little moreso, obviously, since it appears that you're going to be building everything) and the whole caves bit. Combat, as stated, is generally saved for the Rune Factory series (though it -has- made it into proper HM games) but looks to be well represented here as well as some neat terrain deformation and mining....which...is actually usually in Harvest Moon games as well. The mining bit, I mean, not the terrain deformation.
It's not perfect, of course. The portraits shown for the characters of the game are...alright, but they need a little working on and I'm wary to suspect they actually will see work done on them. (Update!: I received an email from someone pointing me to a portion of the website that -I- even linked which showed markedly improved character portraits. So, basically I didn't pay close enough attention. Good catch!) It's also a little strange to see your character carrying an item over his head to use it, especially a single torch, which I also hope will be made a little less awkward before the game sees a release. Still, even if it were to release in the state that it appears as currently, I would be satisfied. Or...as satisfied as I could be with a PC game, given that I cannot play PC games quite at the moment of this writing. As denoted by its website, the publisher for the game is listed as Chucklefish, who you might just know already from their little game called Starbound. That would also be a game I'd love to see, and I believe I will allow myself a little bit of hope, considering Starbound is very close in development (and developer) to Terraria, which is, as we know, finding a home on the Vita in the coming months.
Last up is a game that you probably have not heard of, but it certainly looks like something you think you have, and it's definitely something you -want-. Of course, you might take a look at the voxels, the fully 3D world and go, "Oh, so it's third-person Minecraft", but if you would, I would like to direct you towards a game that more closely fits this type of game in 3D Dot Game Heroes. In fact, what it feels like this game is to me, is simply the developers, fresh off of playing 3D Dot Game Heroes and going "That was cool, but let's make it awesome" and then proceeding to do just that by taking the lovely aesthetic of the game and inserting that into a game that randomly generates infinite worlds as you explore them, has ridiculous amounts of terrain exploration options (a must-have for a giant world such as this) and just all sorts of things to really pull you into the voxel world provided.
The other videos on the developers channel freely tell the tale of the game since its inception over a year ago, and it's made several long strides since then. Of course, there is also the main site of the game which offers you a more comprehensive look at all the things that are somehow being fitted into this world of wonder. It's honestly going to be a game of amazing and impressive possibilities, though I just wonder as to -how- it's really going to manage it. It's just completely above my comprehension, to be honest, especially when you consider the option that you will be able to improve your weapons by adding voxels to them, completely changing their shape as well as making them stronger.
What is promising about Cube World above all else is that it -is- being planned with consoles in mind, though what platforms and what sort of timeframe are completely up in the air at this point. Even the PC version is only -now- entering a closed Alpha client, meaning it's still likely a year out from being completed anytime soon. Still, given Sony's relationship with Indies, I imagine a PS4 version, at the very least, will be on the table. Even without a separate Vita version (which I still very much want) that alone will ensure that the game will be -playable- on the Vita, if just through Remote Play. Yet beggars can't be choosers and if that's the only way I'll be able to experience the wide wide blocky world of Cube World on my handheld of choice, I'll take it. But, seriously, a stand-alone version would be lovely.
So there you have it. Three indies with various chances of releasing on consoles beyond PC and the Vita beyond consoles, all of which would find a loving home on the little device. I want it, obviously, and I'm assuredly not alone in that, so perhaps the next time someone asks "What Indies would you like to see on Playstation platforms?", you'll have a few new answers. Because you can never have enough fantastic looking indie games on your platform of choice, no matter what it may be.
no, but seriously, I want all of these and Starbound and Minecraft and all of the Indies
So, the presser was pretty much -all- about the PS4 which, as a Vita fan makes me sad sad sad. Still, we did get Destiny of Spirits announced, and with the Indie Push, I would hope most, if not all, of those indie titles also end up on Vita (as well as some others that are current) and there is still plenty of time to announce things on the showroom floor. Though, I suppose we might have to wait for TGS to see the likes of Gravity Rush 2 announced. Also....probably all the other stuff I suggested since most of it is Japan-centric anyway.
Except a new Vita God of War/Uncharted. Come on. Give me -something- here.
Regardless, Sony came out swinging with the PS4 and I shouldn't have to point out how.
So, at this point, do we really know anything that the XBone is going to do other than have a controller, Kinect and play Ryse, Forza and some sports games? The answer is "No, not really" because just about every damn thing that's been said about the console has either then been taken back or generally muddied up with otherwise conflicting information from sources within Microsoft itself. The used game thing, the always-online thing, the required Kinect thing, they've all been contradicted in some way or manner and it's all just sending out this awful clusterfuck of a message that is more damaging than any single one of those, on base value, would be. It's almost like, at this point it's not even a perception, but a reality, that Microsoft just doesn't know what the fuck when it comes to the XBone and that is worrying on just about every single level one could imagine.
The latest thing to add to the pile that is actually a pile, jesus, is the whole Indie's Self-Publishing issue. Time was, that you could Self-Publish your title through XBox Live Indie Games which was, of course, the red-headed step-child of the Arcade for the last few years and is being phased out for the new 'unified' XBLA Games section that will just be "Games". So, it's no surprise that they word was that you won't be able to self-publish on the XBone. I mean, yes, he muddied it up with a lot of "but we're exploring other avenues" and this and that, but the core statement was that going the way of XBLIG is no longer an option which is a big deal since that's actually the way On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 is making it to the 360. Sure, it's a niche game, but it's probably the last big Indie game that will hit the platform, and could've been used as a spring-board to tout your Indie Channel if you were Microsoft.
“We’re going to have an independent creator program,” Mattrick said.
“We’re going to sponsor it. We’re going to give people tools. We’re
going to give more information.”
And that's it, more or less. There's some more fluff in the Kotaku post that Siliconera sourced, but it's basically "Indies are really cool, of course we're going to support them". Which, at this point, I can only envision 'support' as 'gouge harder than current XBLA titles' because good goddamn, I cannot -not- see it that way. Really, the way it's been this generation is that if you really want Microsoft's boon of support, you have to keep your title exclusive to XBLA for a year at the very least. Which isn't too bad, admittedly, but there are all sorts of rules and regulations that we don't know the full extent of that -really- pushed devs away and towards PC and, eventually, PSN. So if the alternative to 'no self-publishing' is entering one of these potentially pitfall-laden deals with Microsoft through a more incorporated version of XBLIG that kind of misses the point...well, I'm not sure how that's a net positive on the whole thing.
Really, though, that's the problem. There's absolutely nothing stating that this program, these tools or anything are going to be inherently different than XBLIG, which was basically regarded as "okay" even if the bulk of the titles were Minecraft rip-offs or horribly offensive things. Or Avatar games. But with how everything's been lately, it is -impossible- to be objective when hearing yet another piece of conflicting or otherwise negative piece of news about the Xbone. It's a vicious cycle of negative begetting negative begetting negative and to stand in the center, to try and counter it, is folly. You're not going to be taken seriously, you're not going to get your point across, it will just not end well. It's an impossibility at the moment and will likely remain that way until E3. Perhaps thereafter, depending on their showing.
What Microsoft has done is made the XBone toxic at this point. The people who actually want to talk about the good points of the system (it -does- have good points) get out-talked (rightfully) by the people who are positing about the inherently terrible aspects of the device, of which there are plenty which is far too many. One is far too many. So I'm sure you can see how 'plenty' is not doing it any favors. Even with a strong E3 showing, saying "Oh, hey, this isn't true, this isn't true, I am 100% serious on this, here is proof" will just have the word be "Not as bad as we thought!" instead of the overwhelmingly positive reaction the console -could- have gotten had they not wobbled it so intensely on every conceivable level. Of course, the worst thing to come from it could be "It's exactly as bad as we thought and the exclusive games are all Kinect shovelware". So E3 will be highly interesting regardless.
In my frantic searchings tonight for something, anything that I could feasibly talk about that wasn't bitching about things, I found that there was no real note-worthy news - none that I care about enough, rather - and I spent most of my day out and about and napping, so there wasn't much there. Except that I had a dream about Drakengard 3 which was awesome and which should surprise absolutely nobody. Regardless of that, what finally hit my mind as I scanned about the bubbles on my Vita, wondering if there was anything I'd played and not yet spoken of, was that I had done just that indeed. I purchased Thomas Was Alone the day it was released and spoke not a single word of it beyond mentioning that I had purchased it on Twitter. Though, there is sort of a reason for that.
In truth, I don't know what there really is -to- say about Thomas Was Alone. It's certainly a little different than anything I've played before, but I'm not quite sure that's necessarily a good thing.
At it's core, Thomas Was Alone is billed as a Puzzle-Platformer and I guess that's about as apt as you're going to get, but it doesn't properly express the full-range of what the game offers. Instead, each and every single level of the game presents you with a theory, an execution of different ideas with the characters you have access to, and as such, it sort of limits just how you can complete a level. Every character is limited in such a way that you can really -only- get them from Point A to Point B by doing Steps 1, 2 and 3. For instance, if you need to get Chris, the small orange block who hates everyone except Laura, anywhere then you have to hope you have Thomas and John (with a gap for John to drop down a little in) or Claire as well, perhaps even Sarah. Or at least Laura to bounce him. Because Chris can only jump so high and he often needs to get to places that Thomas, John, and Sarah can get to rather easily thanks to their ability to jump a decent height.
Yet, therein lies something that I dare say might be considered brilliant with Thomas Was Alone. Every single character in it is a certain shape and a certain color, yet that's about all you get to know about them. They don't have their own voice, but rather they are characterized by the narrator who has quite a few lines for, again, each and every single level of the game. It's....different, to say the least, and I have to say that while it does wonders for making you remember the characters, despite them being anything -but- characters, it has other side-effects. Because of the rather short level design and the narration that goes...generally throughout the level, every level feels like it's its own tutorial, like all of these levels are building towards something where all these skills you've accrued will go to worth, rather than just being used in an expeditional sense. It's still possible that it might - I haven't beaten the game after all - but I'm at least close to the end, I know that much, and yet I don't feel like anything's actually 'built', despite there being a definite flow of the narrative.
It's contradictory and creates a sense of unease that I have about the whole game. I haven't encountered a level that has been particularly taxing or 'luck-based' as I often feel Puzzle games end up relying on, which should be a good thing. Yet, perhaps it lacks something because of that. Or perhaps it simply lacks something that is genuinely creative and smart enough that it transcends what I've experienced so far. That's not to say it hasn't offered something wonderful in a sense - the soothing voice of the narrator of the game is almost reason enough to continue playing it alone. And the way it's built around that, about characterizing the squares and rectangles in the game that are otherwise just squares and rectangles makes it quite enjoyable. But the gameplay doesn't match the charm, and that's rather unfortunate since if it did, it'd truly be a wonderful little game indeed.
With the whole late PS Store Update snafu, it's pretty easy to sort of write off the whole thing with a dismissive hand-wave until next week, but this week offers two very compelling reasons -not- to do that: Dragon Fantasy Book I and the Soul Sacrifice demo. Obviously, tonight is for talking about the former (and not just because it was the only one I could download, coming in at a very nice 90 MB) because I purchased it literally right when it was available and managed to play a little bit of it before the toll of today's work forced me to partake in a little napping. Which I must stress was entirely due to work and not at all indicative of Dragon Fantasy's quality as nothing short of extreme and lasting pain would have kept me awake this afternoon.
Dragon Fantasy Book I is very much a game that reminds me of Dragon Warrior and I'm sure that is intended. It is also delightful for me especially as, like I mentioned sometime previously, I spent a good chunk of my childhood time with my NES playing Dragon Warrior when I wasn't playing Crystalis. The actual style and build of the games are similar in more than a few ways, from the window placement to the battle screen that just comes up offering a perspective on the enemy (perhaps multiple enemies later on?, maybe not, I don't think Dragon Warrior did), to the overall look and feel of it. It's very much an homage, which is nice, and offers that little bit of nostalgia on top of doing its own thing, putting its own spin on the same type of mechanics and style.
Though I already mentioned it in a previous post about Dragon Fantasy, I really should bring up the whole graphics overhaul thing now that I have actually experienced it. Contrary to what I thought, the 'Classic' graphics and music are tied together where the Redone things are similarly bundled, but that's not a bad thing by any means. The way you handle it is going into the settings (Setup?) and finding the "Enhanced Mode" toggle. It's instantaneous, the switch, without requiring a reboot of the game or anything like that. So, if you were so inclined, you could just stop anywhere and toggle it just to see what it looked like and what it looks like now, which gives you a real understanding of the work that went into it. But there really isn't anyway to quantify what the change is without actually showing it off, so I'll go ahead and do that.
Classic/Original
Redone/Enhanced
That is literally the same area, same screen and everything since all I did was go into the menu, toggle it, take a screenshot, toggle it back and screenshot it again. The only difference, of course, being that I waited long enough for the Status reminder window to pop up for the Enhanced version screenshot, but it's a little enough thing and the shots manage to show off everything well enough, I would say. Some of the changes are subtle like Ogden (our main character for the first Chapter) and the town/village sprite, but they're definitely changed up and smoothed out to fit in with everything else that is most definitely a bit more dramatically different. I'm playing it through on the Enhanced mode for now, only switching every now and then, but I might actually do a go in Original mode, depending on how long or short the game is and how much time that I have what with Soul Sacrifice hitting next week and the demo being out. (Which I can hopefully download overnight)
I will say that I also called a definite integration of humor into the game based on the trailer that we got, however. As you might be able to tell from the first screenshot I posted, the script has a definite level of snark and humor running through it that has been pretty refreshing and enjoyable so far. They even managed to incorporate a Legend of Zelda reference (Literally the "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!") rather seamlessly into part of the opening bit of the first chapter. On top of that, some of the monsters have a little humor injected into their own battles, such as whenever you fight a Mr. or Mrs. Rock Monster. Their attack animations read in a way that suggests an interplay between the two, obviously, and is quite entertaining really. Mrs. Rock Monster is played as the angry, nagging wife to Mr. Rock Monster who is either really unlucky, or is just really not happy in his relationship. It's a little thing, but it's....honestly not something I've seen before, really, so it's worth a mention.
My time with Dragon Fantasy Book I has been brief, but I'm sure you can tell it's already left something of an impression on me, and I'm only more than happy to hop back into it. It'll be a little rough juggling this and the Soul Sacrifice demo (and Disgaea 3 now that I've opened that door again because Dinah must become level 9999) but it'll be a worthy venture. I'm curious to see how the multiple chapter/multiple character aspect of it plays out as well, since that's a throwback to another series of RPGs altogether. If only there was more time in a day.
For like, the entire time since the Indie-Themed Spring Fever Sale was announced including Dragon Fantasy Book I, I was under the crazed impression that it was actually Dragon Fantasy Book II, which not only was announced first but also included in all of the big Indie Lists that I used to say "holy shit so many Indies" and has generally been a known quantity as coming out to the PS3 and Vita for a while now. Obviously being called Book II insinuates that there's a Book I and with no real mention of it coming to the PS3/Vita as well, I more or less wrote Book I off as inconsequential. Or at least hoped as much because I was going to buy the hell out of Book II no matter what. Well, the only little thing holding me back from doing just that has officially been assuaged.
Dragon Fantasy Book I, as in the first book of what is possibly a series of games, being that there are at least two of them, is being released tomorrow as part of the already-mentioned Spring Fever Sale. So when Dragon Fantasy Book II comes out sometime later on this year (calling it now, I'm saying the Summer Sale), we will have all already had the chance to be initiated in what type of game this is, had a chance to experience the world and the mechanics and story already so that the proper continuation of it will be able to do what it is meant to do - continuing on from where Book I leaves off. Hopefully now that both games will be on the same platforms, there will be some way to tie data from one to the other if they did, in fact, do that in their original forms. Because that is always really neat when games do that and not enough -really- do it anymore.
So what -is- Dragon Fantasy Book I, you're wondering? Well, that's a pretty easy question to answer. Dragon Fantasy Book I is a throwback to the classic RPGs of yore, your Final Fantasies before they got crazy convoluted, your Dragon Warriors before they were called Dragon Quest, these are the games to think of when you consider Dragon Fantasy Book I. Which....makes sense. Given that Dragon Fantasy could be seen as an amalgamation of Dragon Warrior/Quest and Final Fantasy in title alone. I....hadn't actually noticed that until I started typing those sentences. Strange. Anyway, the sprite style seems closer to Final Fantasy (basically FF1) and the combat style seems closer to Dragon Warrior 1 than anything which is an interesting combination if nothing else. And since I played the hell out of Dragon Warrior 1 when I was a kid, I am all about this, suddenly.
I'm not prepared to say that it's a parody game, but the official trailer certainly paints the picture of a game that doesn't necessarily take itself super serious. So at the very least, expect little bits of humor interspersed here and there, if not necessarily an outright humorous tale as you might expect from something out of Zeboyd Games. Perhaps not a parallel I -should- be drawing, but, well, it's an easy one to make, really. Zeboyd might not have revolutionized 'retro-humor' games or whatever, but they're certainly the biggest name of them at the moment, so it's inevitable that some allusions are going to be drawn if you focus on humor and retro-style graphics for your game for at least a little bit longer. Personally, I don't see it as a bad thing, but I really can't speak for what the game has to offer until I have played it. And I am going to play it.
Though, speaking on the graphics, there is something rather interesting on that to note. Originally, Dragon Fantasy Book I sported a complete 8-Bit style 'Retro-throwback' look that I believe Dragon Fantasy Book II ended up updating to more of a 16-bit style. Well, in porting the game over, the developers decided that it wasn't enough to do a straight-port and then decided to redo every single piece of art in the game to match a sort of almost-16-bit-but-not-quite style that they're calling "8-Bit as we remember it" because, honestly, I'm sure we do remember 8-bit games as looking a -little- better than they actually did. The cool part about this is that it can be toggled at any time, so if you want to go -super- retro, you can flip it back to the original 'actual' 8-bit look. Either the music shifts in type along with it (so, sounds more like a classic NES game on 'actual' 8-bit style) or you can shift the music independently of the graphics, but either way it means that the whole look and feel of the game is toggleable. That is no small feat.
If nothing else, it's clear that there's been a lot of effort put into not only the game itself, but the porting and transitioning of the game to PS3 and Vita. The improvements and changes I've already mentioned aren't the only ones, as Dragon Fantasy Book I will also include UI improvements already made to DFBII as well as adding an entire new section to the game. If that's not enough incentive to urge a purchase, then that combined with the Indie Push and the sale price should be enough, hopefully. If that's not enough, however, well....I dunno. Maybe the posts I'll make -about- the game will do that. Possibly. Because I am going to talk about this game as well as buy and play it. Which...is a novel concept lately.
basically my point is that I want you to buy this game
I'm not going to review Guacamelee! because I don't think I can rightly give it a fair shake, given the week that I've had. I honestly do think that it had -something- of an impact on my overall experience with the game, given that, after beating it tonight and starting up a Hard Mode playthrough, I started having a lot more fun with it. Not a lot is different about Hard Mode from what I noticed - you start out with less health and I imagine health orbs initially heal less as well, but I don't think damage has been toyed with, or if it has, then it's negligible. Being that I'm a lot less stressed tonight than I have been since, hell, Sunday, I imagine that I might have just been enjoying it because it is, indeed, enjoyable, but I'll never get to play it for the first time again, so I can't say what I thought then versus what I think now.
Still, I played Guacamelee! to completion, as I stated (100% completion at that) and I am going to talk about it, because holy shit I've played like five games that I haven't even talked about on here and that is a daunting thought. So if I've just gotta spill now to get it done and go back to the others, then that is what I'm going to do now that I've broken the hold that Disgaea 3 had on me and Soul Sacrifice is still two weeks off. And I have been feeling oddly excited for Soul Sacrifice in the past few nights (especially with news of a demo next week) so it's safe to say that I will be playing the hell out of that when I get my hands on it. At least, I hope I will be. Because that will mean that it is a good game that I agree is a good game. Since I can be contrary sometimes, you see.
Anyways, to segue that into Guacamelee! - people have been saying that Guacamelee! is a good game. A great game, even. A Metroidvania through-and-through that shines brightly and plays nicely. These people? They are not wrong. Even in my stress-riddled state where I was not up to fully enjoy anything, I couldn't fault Guacamelee! much. It plays smoothly and looks gorgeous on the Vita, both aesthetically and mechanically. The game has been fine-tuned to run at something that is locked, framerate-wise, whether that's 30 or 60, I'm not sure, but I would guarantee that it is, in fact, locked to it because not once did I see a stutter or hiccup or even the briefest moment of roughness. I'm not sure I even expected there to be any problems with that, really, but that there weren't any was reassuring, if nothing else.
As stated, the controls handle rather well with only a few minor complaints here and there on them. Combat is, obviously, the main portion of the gameplay and it is definitely no slouch in that area. Though there aren't a -lot- of attacks, the ones that are there are utilized in such a way that you have a healthy amount of combo options at your fingertips which only expands and gets more complex as you gain new moves from breaking Choozo Statues (homage, honest). The complexity of these combos is demonstrated if you happen to step foot into a dojo in one of the few cities in the game where you are tasked with completing combos of varying difficulty on a Skeleton Luchador who just kind of stands there and takes it. Still, even with the equivalent of a sack of sand as a sparring partner, pulling off twelve input combos that require precise timing is not an easy thing to do, nor is it something you'll likely use when you're -actually- fighting. Unless you go out of your way to do so, which you might want to if you're looking for the combo-oriented trophies. Or bragging rights.
Indeed, if you played like me, then a lot of fights went something like "Rooster Uppercut, Derpderp Dash (it's seriously called this), Punch, Punch, Punch, Grapple, Piledriver" and then it was dead, if not before then. That's not saying that I -didn't- use variety, nor is it a good idea to fall back on a basic combo and spam that, but it's what I did because it was effective. And, well, piledriving skeletons never gets old. (I personally would've liked to see a powerbomb move as well, but alas) Still, combat is responsive and dodging works fantastically, which some games get wrong somehow. Not -everything- can be dodged, but what can't be can be evaded easily enough regardless. It's as deep or as shallow as you want it to be, which is a nice slider, I think. It's simple, it works, just how flashy you want it to be is up to you.
Every single move you pick up has a utilitarian use as well, which is part of the whole Metroidvania base that the game was running with. Some of the moves, like the Rooster Uppercut and Derpderp Dash (seriously, I am not lying when I say it's called that) are meant to help with the platforming, giving you a little bit of extra air time and coverage to try and get to places you wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. Still, other moves serve limited, but useful functions as well, such as the Headbutt, which will stop you in the air for a moment or two in case you need that moment to get a platform under you or something like that. Of course, there are more direct uses for exploration in the form of colored blocks that correspond to different moves, meaning you can only get into certain areas after you have that move. Much like the different barriers in Super Metroid requiring the Ice Beam, Super Missiles, etc. The inspiration is pretty clear and pretty well-implemented regardless.
One of the places where the game falls short is the actual story and characterization. It's not that what's there is -bad-, more like what's there just isn't -enough-. It is a barebones experience which has a veneer of charm overlaid onto it, which is fine, but not necessarily meaty enough to really come away satisfied if that is your thing. You get enough to get from Point A to Point B and punch someone with a reasonable excuse, but that's -it-. Everyone is essentially an archetype with a flimsy attempt at adding another point to it so they're not directly out of the book, but it's barely there. -Especially- with our main character, Juan. There is precisely one attempt to flesh him out in the entire game and not only does it fall flat on its face, but it has nothing to do with anything, really, and is never really brought up again. You can connect a few dots with what's laid out, but it's not going to win anything for writing, which, for me is a shame, but I suppose it's not a necessity.
Still, the question with most games is "Is it worth the price?" to which, for Guacamelee!, I say yes. Even at the normal price of $15, it would be a worthy investment, if only for the smooth combat, lovely visuals and clever map design that manages to not be contrived in forcing Metroidvania elements while actually using a few of the moves in smart ways. (Mostly Goat Fly. By the way, I love Goat Fly) All of the things it supports - Cross-Buy/Save, Vita Controller functionality, etc. - are things we want to support as well, so your purchase is getting you a good game -and- doing a good thing. It's flawless! It's made that much easier a decision if you buy it for the sale price ($12, so not a big discount, but a discount no less) and, equally easier if you consider that it's part of the Indie-Themed Spring Fever Sale that will be going on for the rest of the month. (Sale is only good for the launch week, however, so buy Guacamelee! before Tuesday)
In short, Guacamelee! rocks and you should buy it if you're at all interested in it.
It's almost getting ridiculous at this point that there are quite so many games being announced for the PS3 and Vita in such a short time span, with the near-bulk of them being Indie games. As in, it's getting to the point where the only recently-released Indies I can think of that aren't currently planned for a Playstation anything release are Minecraft (which honestly could be a possibility after exclusivity times out), the host of Zeboyd games already out (all of which aren't planned for any more ports at all, which could still change, maybe) and the magnificent-looking Stardew Valley (which I would pay up to twenty of my US dollars for a Vita version for). Are there other Indies that I'm over-looking? Dear lord, yes, it's almost criminal how little knowledge I have on the subject, but the point is, there are a lot and Stealth Bastard sneaking (yeah, that just happened) onto that list couldn't be more welcome.
Stealth Bastard, if the title wasn't obvious enough, is a stealth-focused game, where the above image (and the game's own description) marks it as a sidescroller/platformer as well, placing it into that hybrid genre which is only occupied by one other game that I can think of. Unlike Mark of the Ninja, however, the protagonist isn't a ninja, but just a clone. A clone of...somebody that is good at stealth, presumably, in some sort of super-soldier project or something of the sort. I dunno, there's not a whole lot of detail in the background. "Following your birth in a cloning lab, you find yourself trapped in a
vast and overwhelming network of dastardly chambers, replete with
vicious, yet hilarious, booby traps and deranged robots! Your task is
simple; stay out of sight and get to the exit." To be fair, it's a solid premise in that it doesn't have to offer much aside from a starting point and a goal that is semi-reasonable. Getting out of a danger-filled laboratory after you've just been 'born' (fully cognizant, apparently) is...pretty reasonable, really.
I really don't know anything about the game beyond what the linked Playstation Blog post tells me about it, which I have discovered makes it rather difficult to actually talk about. Who knew, right? All I know is that what I see of the game, what I hear about it, all sounds pretty nice. Described as "a stealth game without the waiting" seems to imply that getting about and going unseen will be fairly easy to pick up at least, but likely difficult to master. It also makes it seem like the perfect handheld game, what with some of the levels being 30 second affairs on the low-end. Not to mention the visual style is something that will look quite crisp on the Vita's screen....though so would Mark of the Ninja. (Hint, hint, even though nobody with the authority to make that happen is reading this)
Something that's interesting for this Indie transition, however, is that it won't be keeping its name. The developers, Curve Studios, are being nice about it, but the fact seems to be Sony said "Hey, so, uh, we can't sell it with a name like 'Stealth Bastard' so you need to change it". Which is clearly something that Curve Studios is okay with (and likely being compensated for) based on the reaction. Not only that the game is still coming out on PS3 and Vita, but because they're making it a to-do in the form of a naming contest. You see, when Stealth Bastard hits PS3 and Vita it won't be called Stealth Bastard, but rather a name that some lucky fan has submitted to their Contest Entry page. The winner gets a place in the credits, a copy of the game (It's cross-buy, so it's technically -two- copies) and a Vita to play that version on (since it's assumed you have a PS3, I guess). All in all, that's not bad! I entered for funsies, but I don't think I'm going to win, nor do I think I need to. Clearly, I'm pretty covered on the Vita front (though I could give it away to someone, I suppose) and I plan on buying the game when it comes out because it should be good fun. Also supporting the Indie thing.
The release window at this point is simply "Summer" which doesn't say a whole lot really, but it also doesn't need to. I imagine a lot of the Indie Deluge is going to release in the "Summer" which means maybe you should stock up on some PSN Funbux now if you're going to indulge as much as I plan to. Between Hotline Miami, Terraria, This, Guacamelee! and Dragon Fantasy Book II (at least), there's going to be quite a bit to look into. Still, having too many games hasn't been much of an actual, lamentable problem for the last two years (which is decidedly the time period in which I have had "too many games") so there's not much of a change here. The actual new name of Stealth Bastard will probably be announced sometime shortly after the April 14th closing date of the naming contest, so if you're interested in giving that a shot, get to it! You can forever be known as "the guy (or girl) who picked the other name for Stealth Bastard". Also, free Vita.
If you've been paying attention to game and port announcements lately, you'll have noticed something of a trend, and an encouraging one at that. While the bulk of it was at GDC, a lot of Indie devs have pledged their upcoming games to the Vita, likely encouraged by the success of Brian Provinciano with Retro City Rampage and the other few Indie games that have hit already. It helps, of course, that Sony has actively been courting devs and seem to be treating them right, given that at a GDC panel, a handful of them said "Absolutely" to the question "Is your next game going to be on the Vita?" (Well, one did, the others just said "Yes", don't be a pedant) Interest is spreading as well, since many of the attendees also seemed keen to work on the delightful little handheld.
In fact, the folks at the Playstation Blog were so kind to put together a list (albeit not a complete one) of indie games currently announced to hit the PS4, PS3, Vita and Playstation Mobile platforms. I'll just keep it confined to the games that will be playable on the Vita:
(I've left the links that were there intact so you can peruse some of the Playstation Blog posts related to the games if you're so inclined)
That is no small thing by any means and, as stated, it doesn't cover the full host of games that have already been committed. Absent, likely because of the little bit of time between the announcements and this one, are (off the top of my head) The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and Lone Survivor, both of which have already made their own splashes on PC, and not in a little way. That is also not even counting the announcement of Terraria's left-right movement towards the Vita as a platform. I am likely missing others as well, but that's fine since, I mean, this is a pretty big list, both in length and content. Wouldn't want to, you know, overwhelm people with this stuff.
Size is, admittedly something I've been focusing on since it's the theme of an interesting new development on the game complainer's front, also known as the comment section of every mainstream game news site anywhere ever. The whingings of "no gaaaaaames" can be heard throughout every corner of the internet, as is usually the case when something is new and developers haven't had a lot of time to actually work on it. Despite the truth of the matter being that there clearly -are- games for the Vita, it was a bit hard to argue, given that the schedule looked a bit clear a few weeks ago with Soul Sacrifice, Tearaway and Killzone: Mercenary being the biggest things on the horizon. However, as it is in most cases, these folks aren't -actually- criticizing from a place where they actually want to see things get better, but rather complaining to complain. You can tell this because the whingings have shifted from "no gaaaaames" to "No biiiiiiig gaaaaames".
While true that the scope of Indie games is usually inherently smaller than most because of the nature -of- Indie developers (usually a small group of people, if not just one or two), these are not, by any means, games that you're going to sit down and fully complete in an afternoon. Which, by the by, you -can- do with some of the 'big' games that are out there now that people just absolutely clamor for. At the very least, the above Dragon Fantasy Book II seems to fancy itself after RPGs of the 'old school' which, as we know, were not incredibly short affairs and we loved them for it. I just can't help but laugh at how quickly the goalposts get moved and by laugh, I mean want to shake someone by the shoulders for about five minutes straight. Not like I would shake any sense out of them, of course.
The whole point that I'm harping on, I think, is that one of the complaints about the Vita has been "Where are the games?" and now, bam. There they are. These are the confirmed ones and this level of support means that it's not a one-off thing - these developers are in because they -want- in and they're going to keep going, clearly. Robert Boyd of Zeboyd games has been fairly coy about developing for the Vita, but has stated that there's a "good chance" that CSH (Short for Cosmic Star Heroine, code-name for the next Zeboyd Games RPG after PAA4) will be PC/Vita at launch (if not for the major consoles as well) which is a big boon, certainly. If the 'game-starved' handheld could manage to have CSH, Hotline Miami, Terraria and The Binding of Isaac on it at the same time, well...
I mean, yes, I understand what the Ouya is, and I understand the concept behind it and all of that, but it still manages to confound me on several basic levels as I look at it. So perhaps it's less a question of 'what is' the Ouya and moreso 'why is the Ouya a thing'? It is apparently a pretty common question, and I would suggest that it's not one born of ignorance or anything like that. Rather, I don't think it's an inherently negative thing to question this thing, since all of these gaming devices invariably get questioned by the dumbest people for the stupidest reasons anyway as is. I qualify this, of course, because the people that believe in this thing, believe in it hard, as these types of things tend to draw, so questioning it doesn't generally end well. At least, a little less well than questioning something like the Wii or the Vita or the like would go. Since those types of things aren't exactly as 'new' as the Ouya, and thus have been around such scrutiny for much much longer than this.
So, for the uninformed, of which I imagine there might be several of you, my question of "What is the Ouya" might be your own. Essentially, the Ouya is a $99 Gaming Console that will cater specifically to games on the Android marketplace, serving as a hub to bring those games from your phone to your television. Yes those games that are always featured so prominently as "Also on the Android Marketplace" (after the iTunes App Store) that sell for peanuts since they don't have to go through any real certifications or the like (ESRB and the equivalent ratings, mostly) are going to be playable on your TV through this box. I say "Are going to be" instead of "would be", because this thing is going to be a thing, barring some patent infringement injunctions or the like. Thanks to Kickstarter, the thing raised $1 Million in a single day, which completely funded it, as the goal was $950,000 over the course of 30 days. So, it's well over that and there's....still 29 days left. And people will throw absurd amounts of money at this thing regardless, since the minimum backing (of $99) nets them a console and controller, meaning they'll be able to get it and...uh...play...things on it.
So, using basic math to get rough numbers, since the actual Kickstarter page is going to be a hotbed of action for a week still, let's point out a few things. As I said, minimum backing (just looked at the Kickstarter, and there's a few pledge tiers below that.) bare minimum to get the Ouya is $95 (Well, technically, the $95 pledge limit has been reached, leaving only the $99), so let's just make that a nice, even happy $100. Take the fact that pretty much by the time that Joystiq article went live, they already breached the million mark into account. Just roughing the numbers up a little, that's ~10,000 people interested enough in the device to throw down money for it's eventual maybe release on the very first day such a thing is possible. I think the actual numbers were something around 8,000 people, since there are several levels of pledges, of course, but like I said, the Kickstarter page will be wild for a time yet and any numbers I give you here have no chance of being anywhere near 'up-to-date', so I'm not going to bother a whole lot. So let's just run with what I said and say that 10,000 people want to buy this thing, or more importantly at this juncture, simply want this thing to exist. And the question I have for these people specifically is the one I posed earlier: "Why?"
I have a few theories, of course, which are the only things I can come up with to really justify the existence of the thing. Obviously the first and easiest bullet point for this to make is the idea that the full console experience is simply $99 upfront, wherein thereafter you can theoretically enjoy the thing without adding in another cent. This is because the developers of Ouya ask (read: Will probably make it mandatory) that everybody who supports the device offer at least -some level- of free gaming, whether it be a trial version and/or a demo, or simply making their game free-to-play with micro-transactions. Which of course right there means that every Android game out there already will not be compatible with the Ouya by default. If the controller didn't make that obvious enough, at least. Of course, this kind of relies on the hope that the people who work on this thing won't be jerks and only make demos of their games to put in the bare minimum in an attempt for the max level of profit that could be wrung from an indie game (which varies from none at all to astronomical amounts, apparently). I mean, I'm not saying that I expect that to happen, I'm just saying that when it comes to going the extra mile, I can't really name a lot of developers that are willing to do it.
Honestly, pretty much the only other reason is because I imagine a lot of people will see it as 'legitimizing' mobile gaming if there's this console directly related to the games for it. Since you're not going to see traditional 'console' games (Beyond those that have been ported to Android/iTunes for a quick buck, but shut up that's not indie maaaan) on this thing, but simply games that have been specifically designed for....well, I guess not specifically the mobile scene anymore. I guess it's more a creature of circumstance, since it's a console specifically built for indie designers, who have simply taken to the mobile scene for the ease of use and development when compared to actual consoles. And PC, apparently. Not quite sure how that works, but there you go. Regardless, that's really what I think this whole project is, less about pushing the Android platform and more about simply giving Indie developers a console since apparently there's no place for Indie Developers in modern gaming. Not like XBox Live Indie Games, Playstation Pub Fund or, you know, PC Gaming exists or anything.
Anyways, something I had been wondering about, which the Kickstarter page sort of tentatively confirmed for me is whether or not the Ouya itself would be a development platform or simply a box that plays games. It seems that it's the former, thankfully, which makes a -ton- of sense, so that is something entirely in its favor as well. While I'm a bit wary about the possibility of games being made 'only' for the Ouya (from people who want to take advantage of the controller rather than the full touchscreen interface) I admit that it's not a terribly bad option if the games themselves are worth it. That's sort of where Indie Gaming as a whole proves to help and defeat itself at the same time, I think. For every Minecraft and every Breath of Death VII, you get poorly slapped together clones of other games and games like Alphachimp by the barrelful simply because it's just as easy as coming up with some sort of idea and knowing just enough coding to slide by with the barest of essentials. Because it's so easy, everyone can do it, but because it's so easy everyone can do it. I hope the italics sort of helped deliver the underlying message there.
Still, with the launch of the Ouya not happening til March 2013 at the earliest (barring some legal issues or such as I mentioned before. Personally, looking at the Ouya dashboard makes me think of the 360's, but I'm not sure if that's accurate.), there's still plenty of time for the plot to thicken. As it's a console where things must be developed -for- it within the rather lax guidelines provided, it's going to have to find some support, and I'm not sure there's a whole lot of it out there. At least, not in the terms of people who want to develop for something specifically assuming there are people who have spent $99 on this device who are also going to be willing to play your game. As with most consoles, we could probably see the rather easy porting of existing games (but will companies like Squeenix and EA who have mobile games out there support it?) but if people are as consistent as they've proved to be, there will be no end of the bitching until fresh new things come out of it. So maybe we'll see something of a renaissance of new innovation come out of this. Or...maybe everyone will just forget about it come March. I probably will.
