Topic - Joystiq

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! developer Mousechief announced that its Independent Games Festival Nuovo award finalist title 7 Grand Steps is set for release on June 7 for Windows and Mac. 7 Grand Steps is a board game-like strategy game in which players guide a family through multiple generations, tracing the roots of western civilization along the way. Depending on the choices players make, future generations may produce laborers, kings, or adventurers. Competing families battle fo...

Microsoft is hosting a free Xbox Live weekend for non-Gold subscribers, giving Netflix members a chance to indulge in the 15 new episodes of Arrested Development premiering on Sunday, May 26. Xbox Live Silver members will receive free access to Gold services starting today in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Note, however, that you'll need to have an active Netflix account in order to watch the new season of Arre...

Since announcing The Witness is on its way to Sony's PS4, Jonathan Blow and his development team have remained mostly mum about development. The game is still coming along, with Blow refining all of the details before the game launches, he explains on the PlayStation Blog in a video and a written post. Video-Blow says The Witness is a true, financially independent game: His studio has the freedom to not make a profit, since it's not beholden to a publisher and doesn't "need" to. This shifts h...

This week's live Super Joystiq Podcast is all about the Xbox One. This is our second show on the topic, but a lot more info has trickled out in the last two days. We'll also get to hear the straight dope straight from our own Ludwig Kietzmann and Alexander Sliwinski, who both attended Microsoft's Xbox Reveal event in Washington. And since we're on the subject of Xbox, we'll be giving away a very limited edition Xbox 360 controller - there's only one of them - featuring the Joystiq logo and lo...

You know Nintendo Direct - now meet Square Enix Presents. That's the name of the company's live-at-E3 video series, which it'll be broadcasting via YouTube. Square Enix Presents promises coverage on the company's E3 line-up, which is expected to include the new Final Fantasy for PS4. It'll also feature dev interviews, game demos, and presentations on upcoming content. And, apparently, lots of chocobo music. The shows will run across all three main days of the conference, which are June 11-13....

At first glance Shelter looks kind of cuddly; you play a badger mother looking after her cubs in some pleasant looking greenery. Pid developer Might & Delight is billing its next game as anything but. As this early footage shows, you'll have to hunt other animals for food, and avoid becoming prey yourself. That inferno at the end isn't too cuddly either. Shelter, announced earlier this year, is still foraging on Steam Greenlight. Might & Delight's plans are to release it into the wilds of PC ...

The screenplay for Rovio's in-house Angry Birds film is being written by Jon Vitti, the Finnish developer has announced. A writer and producer, Vitti has worked on the screenplay for The Simpsons Movie and both 3D Alvin and the Chipmunks films, as well as two episodes of The Office, 25 episodes of The Simpsons and 20 episodes of late-80s Saturday Night Live. Vitti's tenue on The Simpsons spanned 1990 through 2004, with his creative mark left on landmark episodes such as "When Flanders Failed,...

Blacksmith and propmaster Tony Swatton documents the creation of a replica Final Fantasy VII Buster Sword in the latest episode of the Man at Arms web series. Cloud Strife himself would be proud of the results. This isn't some cardboard-and-foil job that you'd see at an anime convention; the finished product weighs around 80 pounds, and Swatton burned up three portable drills during its assembly. Swatton proves the sword's impracticality by "wrecking" his back and arm while attempting to wiel...

Downtrodden horror author Alan Wake stars in the latest Humble Weekly Sale, which offers up downloadable Windows versions of Remedy's third-person shooter Alan Wake and its follow-up American Nightmare for a buyer-chosen price (minimum $1). Bundle buyers will receive DRM-free downloads of Alan Wake: Collector's Edition and Alan Wake's American Nightmare, along with Steam keys for both games. The package features a bevy of bonus material, including digital comic books, a playthrough video, and...

Altered Beast is about to wise fwom its gwave on 3DS. Sega has announced that Altered Beast 3D will arrive on the eShop next week in Japan, bringing with it several new features, according to Tiny Cartridge. Like the Japanese eShop re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast 3D will include both the Japanese and western versions of the game, button remapping and an optional mode that emulates CRT monitors. None of Sega's 3DS re-releases have been confirmed for a North American release, in...

After clearing its $70,000 goal more than a week in advance, the A.N.N.E. Kickstarter has concluded at $100,272. The total is enough to unlock three of ANNE's stretch goals, namely Mac & Linux versions, gender swap mode and achievements, and New Game+. While stretch goals for Ouya, PSN/Vita and Wii U versions were not met, creator Moise "Mo" Breton promised in a previous update that these versions will still be made, though it will take longer. Mo, whom we interviewed back in April, also post...

The Music Room is a new auditory-arts focused "interactive show" exclusive to Xbox. Beginning May 29, the The Music Room will showcase "the most exciting live bands around," with each episode featuring three acts. The first episode will be live on Live at 8.30PM UK time next Wednesday. The first episode will feature Carl Barat, Everything Everything, Don Broco and Swim Deep. The interactive portion of the show will display three options asking what the audience wants to see next. Sadly, playi...

Sony's Japan Studio followed up last week's mysterious 'Panopticon' trailer with a second offering today, revealing the project a a Vita multiplayer action game called Freedom Wars. The trailer also revealed it's coming to Japan sometime next year. The new trailer is an embellishment of the first one, providing more context. Panopticon seems to be the region Freedom Wars takes place in, a totalitarian dystopia in the future. The world is devastated by dwindling resources and zero population g...

Five Lives Studios is teasing a Kickstarter project for something called Satellite Reign - and all signs point to a game inspired by Syndicate Wars. The Kickstarter is scheduled for June, with a countdown on the Satellite Reign site. The teaser video reads, "In 1996, this man -" referring to Syndicate Wars lead Mike Diskett, it would seem "- created a Bullfrog masterpiece. In 2013, with your help, we will redefine the genre." The original Syndicate Wars launched for the PlayStation and DOS in...

It may not be the timeliest response, but Denis Dyack is speaking out against allegations that the very poorly received X-Men: Destiny was the result of catastrophic mismanagement on the part of developer Silicon Knights. Dyack recently left his role as the head of Silicon Knights to join Precursor games, developer of the coming Eternal Darkness spiritual successor, Shadow of the Eternals. As Precursor is seeking crowdfunding for the project, and Dyack is serving as its chief creative officer...

The first Yakuza entry for a non-Sony console is Yakuza 1 and 2 HD. Nintendo announced the Wii U port in last week's Nintendo Direct. Going by this vid, the gangster classics are compatible with off-TV play. The HD combo roughs up Wii U in Japan on August 8. Gallery: Yakuza 1 and 2 HD (Wii U)Yakuza 1 and 2 HD to paint the Wii U red in Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony's official E3 teaser video shows a blurry, black box and the standard flashing geometric shapes attributed to the PlayStation consoles. How exciting. Sony's E3 conference takes place in Los Angeles on June 10 at 6 p.m. PT. Perhaps we'll get a clearer idea of what the PS4 looks like at that time, along with a price and release date. Right now we have "Holiday 2013," a timeframe that Sony settled on when it announced the PS4 in February.PS4 E3 teaser video boxes it all up originally appear...

Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. This week on Stiq Figures, we're looking back at the surprise launch of the Sega Saturn at E3 1995. Namely, we're watching this strange promotional video for the system, which features clips of launch games along with creepy people that live in your nightmares.Continue reading Stiq Figures, May 6 - 12: Sega Saturn editionStiq Figures, May 6 - 12: Sega Saturn edition originally appeared on Joystiq on S...

Arc System Works announced Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN at its 25th anniversary festival in Yokohama, Japan today. While there are no details yet on what platforms the arcade fighter will appear on, the developer uploaded an introductory trailer to its YouTube channel. The trailer features a battle between series mainstays Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske. Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN will, once again, be directed by Daisuke Ishiwatari, who also composed the song heard in the trailer. The video shows that the game wi...

Kevin Conroy will be in Batman: Arkham Origins, and he's already spent 10 months in the studio recording those gruff-yet-dulcet tones. Conroy confirmed his involvement at Dallas Comic-Con, but didn't specify if he plays The Bat himself - not that he has to. He opened the panel with, "I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman." Because, you know, he is. NAG magazine reported in April that Warner Bros. had passed on Conroy for Arkham Origins. Conroy voiced Batman in both Arkham Asylum and Ark...

The first community-created updated for Team Fortress 2 has rolled out: 'Robotic Boogaloo.' Continuing the robot theme of previous Team Fortress 2 updates, Robotic Boogaloo adds 57 new artisanal hats, helmets, bonnets, turbans, crowns, toppers and other headgear - all created by the community. Robotic Boogaloo isn't all hats but, naturally, it's mostly hats. Each new Team Fortress 2 item can be found within RoboCrates - rare drops after June 3 - that can be opened with a key from the Mann Co....

Trendy Entertainment's Dungeon Defenders 2, which is split into a tower defense sequel and a MOBA, has begun releasing videos for the latter portion of its DNA. Every Wednesday, the studio will highlight a new character for the player-versus-player mode. First up is the "Man and Machine."Dungeon Defenders 2 begins character profiles with 'Man and Machine' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 May 2013 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

In what appears to be a modern take on late-80s arcade game Narc, Deep Silver's Narco Terror is a twin-stick blast-everything shooter of one man (or two in local or online co-op) versus the cartels. The game is listed for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.Twin-stick shooter 'Narco Terror' smokes some fools this summer originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ahead of Arrested Development blue-ing up on screens once more when the fourth season arrives later this month, Netflix released a sizzle reel (below the break) for the sitcom's hapless actor wannabe Tobias Fünke. As ever, Tobias' awkward choice of words is the star of the show, but the Jumpman cameo is a very close second. That'd be pretty tenuous to post on its own, but thankfully Capcom stepped in and gave us the perfect excuse. Responding to Tobias' call in the sizzle reel - "Insert me an...

Roll7, a development studio located in London, is working on a 2D pixelated infini-skater for the PS Vita called OlliOlli. Due in November, OlliOlli combines infinite runner style of play with the trick-heavy chains made famous in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. OlliOlli is built on a trick system of over 100 moves, with customizable characters and daily challenges on top of the usual leaderboards. You can see an early build of OlliOlli running in the video above, posted to YouTube by deve...

John Hight, who serves as Production Director on Diablo 3, says the most exciting thing about the PS4, in Blizzard's eyes, is the controller. "This is not a mouse, this is something different for us," Blizzard Senior System Designer Jason Bender says of the DualShock 4. "Working on a console version of Diablo 3, for us that means the controller is king," Lead Console Designer Josh Mosqueira adds. The use of both analog sticks comes from a perceived player expectation on Blizzard's part - play...

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, the Kickstarted adventure game from Phoenix Online Studios and Gabriel Knight writer Jane Jensen, is now on its third episode and things are really heating up. Watch the trailer and that line is funny, we promise. Well, funnier. Episode three is subtitled The Oracle, and it continues the tale of Erica, a psychic FBI agent, as she tracks down a serial killer. "Cognition's third episode picks up right where the last left off, with a body hurtling down the Enth...

The Swapper - the Indie Fund-ed, clay model-animated, puzzle platformer put together by a few Finnish university students - has been set to hit Steam on May 30. The game has a lone space explorer wandering an alien cave, with a "weapon" that allows him to create clones of himself to solve puzzles and move around. Facepalm has released a brand new trailer showing that gameplay and the title's excellent graphics, which were created by animating photos of actual clay. The initial release will be...

Reus, the 2D god game from Abbey Games, is available today, right now, for $10 (€10, £7) on Steam, GOG, Desura and Gamersgate. It's PC only for now, with Mac and Linux ports planned. Reus offers a twist on the standard god game narrative, asking players to find balance in the world by controlling nature with four giants. The humans have a strong will of their own, and the player is tasked with ensuring they can thrive, but not too much, lest they become corrupted and destroy the planet. Reus ...

Steam revealed today that Game Dev Tycoon, Bleed and other standout titles are featured in the latest batch of games to earn community approval and platform distribution rights through Steam Greenlight. Green Heart Games' simulation title Game Dev Tycoon earned a devoted following upon its release last month for its clever in-game approach to anti-piracy protection. Bootdisk Revolution's Bleed, a one-man effort that premiered for Windows and the Xbox Live Indie Games service late last year, c...

This week on the live edition of the Super Joystiq Podcast, join Richard, Jess and Mike (Schramm) as they discuss a handful of new games, including Magic 2014, Zoombies and the indie adventure game, Richard & Alice. And maybe they'll throw in a little bit more about Metro: Last Light. Speaking of which, we'll be giving away a copy of Last Light on the show. Be sure to watch the episode to find out how you can win! Super Joystiq Podcast 050 will be broadcast right here, live starting at 4pm Ea...

SimCity's "Amusement Park Pack," which leaked like oil out of a tea cup ride a tad early, has been confirmed to arrive in two weeks by developer Maxis. "Some of you may have seen thrilling new SimCity content that arrived too early at the gate. It's coming May 28th. We think you'll be amused," the official SimCity Facebook page now notes. The pack will allow mayors to lay out the park how they wish, featuring several different rides and customizable entrances. The park will also generate cash...

A new achievements listing suggests Crysis 3 is suiting up for multiplayer DLC. Posted on the typically reliable Xbox 360 Achievements, the listing indicates a 250G pack featuring four maps called Creek, Crossing, Ascent, and Coastline, and two modes called Frenzy and Team Possession. The mention of a flag points to Team Possession being a CTF variant. The DLC apparently also has a new weapon: the boat oar. We mainly wanted to mention it because the associated achievement is called 'Totally O...

The PlayStation Japan website just unveiled a trailer for what's apparently a new Japan Studio game, possibly called Panopticon going by the page name. The unveiling followed a week-long countdown, which was more like a count-up since the timer eventually ticked up to "1,000,000 years." It did just that at 6AM ET, with this trailer in its stead. The trailer depicts a futuristic, totalitarian world where citizens are identified by virtually visualized ID numbers. There's no indication of any p...

We've seen plenty of Shin Megami Tensei 4 in Japanese, so here's a better, albeit brief look at how the upcoming 3DS RPG looks and sounds in English. North America passed the rite to receive the Atlus game on July 16, while Europe is still waiting in the wings with a summer release window. Shin Megami Tensei 4 trailer is definitely going to be a samurai originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Following up on an intriguing teaser released last week, director Shaun Rykiss and a team of Vancouver film students have produced The Brothers Rapture, a BioShock fan film about a pair of siblings and their experiments with genetics-altering Plasmids in the underwater city of Rapture. If you've played the BioShock games, you might imagine that things don't turn out well for these guys, but the film provides an interesting look at what life may have been like for Rapture's citizens in the yea...

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Say the name High Voltage, and your first thought might be the Conduit series of first-person shooters (or this). While the studio is indeed known most recently for The Conduit, one of its other ideas has been languishing for quite some time, namely Animales de la Muerte. Originally slated for WiiWare, and then for XBLA and PSN, the game has finally found a home on iOS. Renamed Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte,...

Here's a better feel for how battles work in the upcoming Time and Eternity, thankfully without that voiceover. In the Imageepoch PS3 RPG you control two souls trapped in one magical princess body, trying to escape the cycle of a recurring wedding day. Like most weddings, then.Time and Eternity trailer features two souls in one-on-one battles originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 May 2013 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mine O' Mine, the licensing company responsible for all things bearing the resemblance of the legendarily mononymous Shaq, has registered a trademark for "Shaqfighter." The trademark's Goods and Services qualifications cover the term for "providing online games" and "computer and video game characters," among many other purposes along that line, which leads us to believe that this is probably a video game thing. Of course, when the words "Shaq" and "fighter" are thrown together in such close ...

Rovio is entering the mobile publishing arena through its Rovio Stars initiative, which will cover the whole spectrum of publishing duties such as marketing and PR. Rovio will even consult with developers to help them optimize their games prior to launch. Budding developers can already submit their mobile works to Rovio Stars through a handy application page, though all applicants must have a playable build to present. Screens, videos and other supplementary materials are also encouraged, as ...

The Netflix app on PS3 has been updated, bringing closer design parity with web and mobile applications to the PS3. Netflix has fixed audio stream and subtitle issues in this update, allowing users to fiddle with these while watching content. Before, you had to back out back to the front-end to enable subtitles. If you've got a PS3 Blu-ray remote, just hit the subtitles button to enable. The "trickplay" component - a fancy term for fast-forwarding and rewinding through a particular program - ...

By now, you should realize that the latest Rayman Legends trailer needs no introduction. You should just watch it. Okay, if you really need further incentive, the spies of 4th Echelon make a cameo. Sort of. Meanwhile, Ubisoft has also announced the UK pre-order bonuses for the game, exclusive to GAME. The Wii U version will let Barbara the barbarian dress up as Aveline De Grandpré, star of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation. The PS3 version puts Rayman in the garb of Edward Kenway, piratical prot...

The Howler is a puzzle platformer with a twist. While it's possible to control the game with a good ol' mouse and keyboard, it can also be controlled entirely by voice. The goal is to guide a hot air balloon through wind currents in order to reach different objectives. Players can raise and lower the balloon by modulating the volume of their voice, and even drop bombs by making short, loud noises (yelling "bomb" seems ideal). Watching the trailer, we think we might know where developer Marcel...

Puzzle games tend to fall into one of two categories. There are the fast and frenetic ones, where you watch pieces smash into one another, pushing your mental and physical reflexes as far as they can go before a wire is crossed and it all comes crashing down, hopefully after you've set a new high score. Then there are the Zen puzzlers. These are slow, asking you to plan the best moves for the highest score. You examine the board, analyzing its patterns and discerning how best to eliminate all...

This new gameplay trailer brings the Pokemon X and Y info-dump from the latest CoroCoro magazine to life, with the two playable characters, four recently unveiled monsters, and the star-shaped Kalos region taking the limelight. The metropolis shown off above is Lumiose City, the epicenter of the Kalos region. The four new Pokemon on show are Gogoat, Pancham, Fletchling, and Helioptile - find out more on them here. Also, as CoroCoro recently revealed, the two 3DS games support trainer hair and...

Nintendo was encouraged by its digital growth over the last year, and a significant part of that is the indie scene on Wii U and 3DS. The big N visited Madrid's iDEAME conference last month to chat with some of the indie faces behind the indie games, and thankfully it recorded the footage. Wii U, 3DS indie devs talk shop at iDEAME originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 May 2013 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Novelist stars three characters: Dan Kaplan, a father attempting to finish writing the most important book of his career; Dan's wife and their young son - and you won't play as any of these people. Instead, players control an omniscient presence in the family's summer cabin, able to watch their daily lives, read their thoughts, enter their memories and influence their actions. The only catch is that the ghost must stay out of sight. "It's up to you to decide how Dan's career and family li...

Split controller designs are nothing new. We've seen them implemented by third parties such as SplitFish and, of course, major players - Nintendo's Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and Sony's PS Move and Navigation Controller. Now, Mad Genius is looking to up the ante with its new break-apart motion controller. Mad Genius says the controller is capable of tracking movements as minute as 1/100 of an inch. A video demonstrates the controller being used in and unmodified version of Skyrim on Xbox 360, tr...