Epic video games has turned 20 years old, and to celebrate the company is giving away a free album of tunes from its video games over the past 2 decades. You can pick up the tracks from the official blog right now. The set includes everything from the Main Theme of Unreal and the Menu Song of Jazz Jackrabbit, all the way up to tracks from Infinity Blade 2 and Gears of War 3.
And what, you might ask, did they include as a bonus track? Perhaps the pinnacle of Epic video games' musical gifts to the world at large? It's the Cole Train Rap from the first Gears of War, of course. Woo baby! Bring it on sucka! Etc.
Even before diving into Bloodforge's gore-soaked, beast-slaying combat or encountering one of its screen-enveloping enemies, the XBLA brawler announces itself as a God of War wannabe. From its pissed-off protagonist to its female narrator, the hack-and-slasher channels Kratos' exploits before the first entrails stain your sword. There are certainly worse series to crib from, and Bloodforge, while significantly flawed, generally feels more like a fan-made tribute than a cash-grabbing copycat.
The first thing Bloodforge hits you with isn't some ugly monster's sharp steel, but a striking visual presentation. Contrasting a desaturated color palette with buckets of bright blood, Bloodforge looks like it may have jumped off the paneled page of a mature graphic novel. The dark vibe is further complemented by sopping rain storms, snowy landscapes stained with viscera, and marshes blanketed with mist. If all that doesn't set the tone, silhouetted corpses impaled on spikes and hanging from nooses should do the trick.
GameStop announced today that its stores have "one of the largest PC video game selections at retail," with - wait for it - over 1,500 downloadable titles available to purchase in its 4,400 stores. Oh yeah, you can also purchase this digitally distributed product on GameStop.com ... like a moon man living in some mad future.
"This tremendous PC video game collection ensures gamers will always find what they want, and they can use cash, gift cards and trade credit as currency," said Steve Nix, GameStop's GM of Digital Distribution, who also notes customers can use their PowerUp Rewards for added value. GameStop is also offering up to 75 percent off PC video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Civilization 5, Age of Empires 3, Deus Ex Human Revolution and Magicka Collection starting today.
Glynnis Bohannon is none too happy with Facebook right now. She argues her son - who purchased Facebook Credits for use in social video games - did not know he was spending real-world money, and is looking for a refund. She's also trying to get Facebook to give back money to all the minors in the US who had laid down cash, and is looking for funds exceeding $5 million, court documents show.
Bohannon says Facebook's currency system goes against consumer protection laws in California. Minors from the age of 13 on can create an account on Facebook and purchase Facebook Credits, though there are warnings that individuals under the age of 18 must have permission from a parent. No specific apps were mentioned in the filing.
It looks like Microsoft may soon make good on bringing its recently acquired Skype services to the Xbox (and presumably Kinect). The company is currently seeking a software development engineer focused on Skype for the Xbox, as spotted by GI.biz. Specifically, the London listing asks for someone with "a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software," which certainly sounds like Xbox dashboard integration.
Whether Skype functionality will replace the Xbox's current chat and video services or simply improve upon them remains to be seen.
Despite being released on a Friday, the long-awaited Fez topped the Xbox Live Arcade activity charts last week. We're just glad that so many people have discovered what we already know: Fez is a pretty good video game. Skullgirls and I Am Alive came in second and third on the XBLA charts, respectively.
On the Xbox 360 retail video game side, Major Nelson reports that Modern Warfare 3 yet again maintained dominance. It was followed by Black Ops and FIFA 12. If only some company could figure out a way to combine Call of Duty and soccer ... hey, it worked for Mega Man!
Finally, on the video games for Windows Live activity list - we're just kidding. Nobody cares about what's being played on video games for Windows Live.
The Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter passed the $1 million mark, meaning all $15 backers will receive the Linux port of the final video game -- but that's not all.
Harebrained Schemes added a new $125 donor level that rewards backers with the Deluxe Boxed Edition. This includes a "video game disc, soundtrack disc, a mini-poster, and -- check this -- a Shadowrun Returns USB Dog Tag set, containing DRM-free versions of the video game (PC/Mac/Linux) and soundtrack (and maybe one or 2 other surprises, too)," Harebrained writes.
There are 2 days left in the Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter, so if you enjoy dog tags, get on that thing now.
Kid Icarus: Uprising AR cards are hard to come by unless you go to conventions or press events, but if you can brave a crowd of kiddos, you may be able to pick some up at a local GameStop today.
Nintendo and GameStop are holding demo events in "select GameStop locations" today from 1-4PM, during which you can try out the video game if you haven't yet, and pick up some cards if you have. Reader Andrew tells us that the cards include the Eggplant Wizard, Fiends Cauldron, Skyscraper Club, Firework Cannons, and Minos, along with possible random packs.
Check GameStop's site to see if your local store is participating, and then look deep into your heart to decide if you want to be the person who goes to a GameStop just to pick up some videogame cards. It's okay to be that person occasionally - especially when it leads to some possible Kid Icarus multiplayer.
For those of you excited about dusting off the ol' ME1 Shepard and giving those Reapers what for, know that there may be one more hurdle between you and Mass Effect 3's intergalactic glory. Apparently, the patch that fixed the face import bug has broken things elsewhere - specifically, some players are experiencing crashes when connecting to EA's servers.
Shepards encountering this issue are encouraged to post about it in this BioWare thread, where development is currently farming user data in order to better understand the problem and find a solution. The good news is that the error appears to be periodic rather than consistent, with some affected players able to connect via persistence and willpower. There are also reports that re-patching can resolve the issue, but for heaven's sake please be careful when deleting ME3's system cache from your Xbox's hard drive. Save files are precious, fragile things.
Not that these fine lads in adventure gear aren't boxy, but they're a sight less cube-like than Notch's previous work in Minecraft. 0x10cis an alternate-reality title, examining the historical timeline that would have been had the space race never ended and our astrological exploration expanded exponentially, until a group of humans awake from cryogenic sleep in the year 281,474,976,712,644 AD to find civilization has disappeared.
The screenshot shows off "flashlights, for spelunking and fixing broken ships!" Notch tweeted. Something about that description sounds familiar, but we can't put our finger on it. Minecraft had spaceships, right?
THQ has contacted Joystiq with a response to Take-2 CEO Strauss Zelnick's dire prediction from this afternoon: "Obviously, Mr. Zelnick's perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate. His comments are irresponsible and false. Perhaps he would be better off commenting on his own business."
We enjoyed our time with Rock of Ages, sure, but we really could've used more outright aggravation in our attempts to wield the video game's eponymous main character. Atlus' latest Steam-exclusive update to the video game solves that very problem, turning the orb of rock into a solid block. As you might imagine, this makes movement just a tad more difficult than normal, meaning that the various obstacles stopping said rock from pulverizing an opponent's castle are all the more difficult to navigate.
Atlus PR man Aram Jabarri demonstrates that frustration in the video we've dropped just above, and you can grab the update for free via Steam right now.
In other Rock of Ages news, the video game will finally see launch on the PlayStation 3 in May or June, Jabarri told us. "If the quartz is with us, [Rock of Ages] should be out worldwide for PSN in May/June and it will have bonus content, as well as SECRET bonus content that will launch exclusively on PS3," he said. He also clarified that the Block of Ages content "will not appear on any other platform."
Vanillaware's lushly illustrated 2D action video game for PS3 and Vita, Dragon's Crown, was originally given a Spring 2012 release date. Rumors have since popped up about the video game's cancellation -- mostly due to Amazon cancelling pre-orders. Illustrator Shigatake responded to the rumors on Twitter, letting us know that we can still expect our ogre-destroying action and bodice-straining sorceresses.
"I personally can't say much," Shigatake said (as translated by Andriasang), "but I'll just say, 'Regarding Dragon's Crown, although there are lots of rumors and conjecture, it's still in development. Please wait patiently for an official update.'"
We have our own inquiry in with publisher Ignition, and will update you when we get an "official update."
Rockstar video games has announced that Bully: Scholarship Edition for the Wii is now available at North American retail stores for the suggested retail price of $49.99. Bully: Scholarship Edition will be available in Europe on March 7. “With all the love and care that we put into Bully, we are excited that 2 new audiences [...]
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-video game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Jon Powell of Jonathan Powell Productions (wonder if he's related...) explains the strokes of genius behind the brush strokes in his stylized iOS sidescroller, PaintScape.
What's your video game called and what's it about?
Our video game is called PaintScape and is a hyper-artistic take on the 2D-sidecroller shooter. You play as a feisty girl in a shoe tasked with wiping out the ever-bland black-and-white world! It's out right now on all iOS devices.
PaintScape seems as if it was a major collaboration, between you, an artist, photographer, programmer and some musicians -- were all of these people friends of yours or did you seek out their talents?
They were all people I'd met over the years and we've shared many a drink. The artist, Meghan Meier, is actually my tattoo artist going on almost a decade, and my band, Prepare the Joust, did the soundtrack. I was really fortunate to have known such a pool of talent and they were all so fun to work with. It's great because what starts as an idea at a BBQ can become a reality, and that's a truly awesome thing.
The allure of t-shirts proved irresistible (also, we assume, the continued allure of new videogames, etc.) The "Double Fine Adventure" Kickstarter, on its last day of availability, has crossed $3 million in contributions. As of writing, the developer has $3,018,892 to put into both a new adventure video game and a documentary about its development.
If you think this is exciting, just wait until 3pm PDT/6pm EST, when Double Fine will begin broadcasting the final 2 hours of the drive live on Ustream. Watch Tim Schafer rake it in in real time!
Minecraftcreator and recent millionaire Notch held a fireside chat with Spyparty's Chris Hecker, seated alongside a pixelated fire roaring across a plasma screen in one of the large halls at GDC. Hecker and Notch kicked off the chat with 2 bottles of Sierra Nevada and a cheers, and for one hour, a roomful of fans and developers listened to the pair of them talk about the intricacies of Minecraft's development in some of the most riveting, "you had to be there" moments.
But one thing Notch said applies to everyone, even those who weren't cool enough to be in the room:
"There is one thing that hasn't been found," he declared, referring to the Easter Eggs and cool tricks buried in Minecraft gameplay. Grab a beer (or legally applicable beverage) and get diggin', folks.