Sunday, December 31, 2017

News:: A send-off for The World Ends With You's tenth anniversary

I replayed The World Ends With You for the third time this year. In part because I got a new phone and lost my save file as a result, and in part to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Long story short, I managed to lock myself out of that new phone one drunken night and had to wipe it. I never did finish this third playthrough. But, until this unfortunate accident, the game hooked me once again.

The World Ends With You is a wild, wild game. Fast-paced touchscreen combat, sharp graffiti-like artwork, nonsensical music. Beyblade ripoffs, cross-dressing, angst, shopping. It's flashy. It's loud. It's youth.

A send-off for The World Ends With You's tenth anniversary screenshot

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News:: Enter the Gungeon on Switch pops 75k sales in a fortnight

Retro-styled twin-stick shooter Enter the Gungeon has had an amazingly successful launch. Developers Dodge Roll have tweeted that the quirky action title has already accumulated over 75,000 sales in just two weeks.

Enter the Gungeon -- which features awesome music by Doseone and is published by industry bad-boys Devolver Digital -- has one or two players run 'n' gun their way through procedurally generated dungeons taking on swarms of enemies.

Despite the game originally releasing on multiple platform in the Spring of 2016, clearly the title still has legs, given its instant popularity on Nintendo's baby. Gungeon is a game that feels custom-designed for the Switch, to be fair, given teh console's portability and control layout. It also doesn't really break the bank at around $15 in price.

Enter the Gungeon is available now on Switch, PS4, PC, Xbox One and Mac.

Enter the Gungeon on Switch pops 75k sales in a fortnight screenshot

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News:: Trivia hit HQ arrives on Android in time for New Year's Eve event

Intermedia Labs' live trivia game HQ has launched a little earlier than expected -- and just in time to mark the end of the year, too. Anyone willing and able to download an early access app can see whether or not the formerly iOS-only title lives up to its reputation. You won't have long to wait before you can give it a shot. HQ is holding a special New Year's Eve game at 11PM Eastern, and there's a chance to win as much as $18,000 if your knowledge is up to snuff.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: Google Play



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News:: Axiom Verge Multiverse Edition is my GOTY of 2017

There were a lot of games I loved this year -- Battle Chef Brigade, Cuphead, Ghosts 'N Homunculi, GoNNER, Million Onion Hotel, Puyo Puyo TetrisRiver City Ransom: Underground, Shovel Knight: Specter of TormentSplatoon 2, The End is Nigh, The Mummy Remastered, and TumbleSeed are just a handful. It's almost unfair to compare them to a game release that I'll remember most from 2017, as they are all "just games," where Axiom Verge Multiverse Edition is a multimedia package that's able to share interconnected information with you through totally different avenues at once. Fair or not, it's the data that goes into your brain that determines what you end up loving the most, and this is the data package that had the biggest impact on me this year. 

If a spoiler is information that will make you like a game less if you gain said info beforehand, then my relationship with Axiom Verge has been rife with the opposite of that kind of information from the start. Knowing that the whole game was made by just one person led me to enjoy it far more than I would have if I went in thinking it was made by a team of hundreds. When you know a game came from one personality, hardwired into one set of synaptic connections, everything takes on a different meaning. You know that what you're playing is, for better or worse, a direct download from someone else's mind.

The making of the art book and documentary included in this retail release of the game provides even more inroads into the heart and soul of Axiom Verge creator Tom Happ, and it's not always a comfortable ride. Tom's process, his game, and his personal life are all mutually related and intertwined, bound together by a unified vision, shaded under a dark cloud of tragic irony. 

Axiom Verge Multiverse Edition is my GOTY of 2017 screenshot

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News:: What is your 2018 gaming resolution?

So... 2017 huh? Goddamn, have the last 12 months felt like they lasted six years to anyone else? So much has happened in 2017, too much to bother talking about here, but one of the good things to come out of it for me is I kept my gaming resolution. Last year I said I would pay more attention to mobile games and by God I did it. It wasn't always fun but at times it provided me with some absolutely awesome experiences.

I plan to keep that going in 2018 but there is so much more I can do in the next year and that's why I'm making a brand new gaming resolution. I'm ending 2018 with a new Switch, a backlog of Wii U games I still have to get to, a stack of PlayStation 4 titles that's growing by the week and a 3DS catalog that's too legit to quit. I could resolve to whittle down my backlog in 2018 but HAHAHAHAHA that's not going to happen. Instead of beating games... I want to make one.

That's right. My gaming resolution for 2018 is to begin development of my own game using SmileBASIC. If you haven't heard of SmileBASIC, it is a game development program for the Nintendo 3DS that is a more advanced version of Petit Computer for the Nintendo DS. A couple weeks ago, I watched this short video on Yoshiro Kimura who I am officially naming my favorite developer of 2017. He created Dandy Dungeon and Million Onion Hotel and in this video, he talks about rediscovering his love for game development while dicking around with Petit Computer. After watching that clip I immediately downloaded SmileBASIC to my spanking new New Nintendo 2DS XL Pokéball edition.

I don't know if what I make will be any good or if I have to talent to make anything worthwhile, but 2018 will be the year I do what I always say I've wanted to and make a game. That's my resolution, what's yours?

What is your 2018 gaming resolution? screenshot

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News:: Christmas duds: which terrible games have you received for Christmas?

When giving gifts at Christmas, it is the thought that counts. Especially in the time of trophies and achievements, unwrapping a mediocre game from a well-meaning great-aunt who asked the nice shop assistant for recommendations is not a big deal at all. However, it's still possible for a gift to be such a misfire that you wonder why your poor relative didn't just make life easier for themselves and get you a voucher. Or nothing at all.

When it comes to my Christmas duds, I cannot palm the responsibility for past Christmas disappointments off onto anyone else. All of the games that left a bitterer taste in my mouth than mushy Brussel sprouts did so because I did poor research when putting together my Christmas list, and Santa dutifully complied with what I had scribbled down. Now I (mostly) know better than to buy licensed games just because of the franchise they are attached to, or to buy a game because the cover is pretty. But that has been a tough lesson to learn.

So, which shoddy games did I struggle through with a sour face, one childhood Christmas Day? Keep reading, and contribute yours in the comments!

Christmas duds: which terrible games have you received for Christmas? screenshot

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News:: Ben Heck's Atari Dragster: Testing the world record

Can the Ben Heck Show team recreate the fabled 5.51 world record with micro-controller hardware? In an effort to find out, the team invites world record holder Todd Rogers into the workshop to help train the simulation. Can Ben's hardware beat the fastest-ever time? Find out, and let us know what you think over on the element14 Community.



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