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GameStick hit with DelayStick, now expected in August

Android micro-console GameStick will now ship to its Kickstarter backers at some point in August, the start-up hardware manufacturer announced yesterday in an update. Originally slated to release back in April, GameStick was then delayed until June after changes in the manufacturing process were required.

This latest delay stems from the fundraiser's $300 "DESIGNED BY ME!" donation level, which promises 50 backers exclusive early access to development kits for the purpose of beta testing and refining the system's user interface. Getting these devices to the backers took longer than expected, and so has implementing their feedback into the GameStick's UI.

"We have therefore taken the decision to push back the whole project by one month to ensure we can fit this process in," the update reads. "We appreciate that this will frustrate backers keen to get their hands on their device but we did not feel it was fair to bypass this step as it was a key pledge and the feedback will be really welcome."

Combo Crew lets you beat 'em up with two fingers

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.

Combo Crew lets you beat 'em up with two fingers
There was a time when the beat-em-up was king, a time when Streets of Rage, Final Fight and Golden Axe were at the top of the heap. Combo Crew on iOS and Android looks to return to those days, offering several unique fighters, lots of combos and plenty of bosses to bruise, clobber and otherwise pummel.

The impressive part is that it does all of that with just two fingers.

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Humble Bundle 6 adds Android to PC lineup: Aquaria, Stealth Bastard

Humble Bundle with Android! 6
Humble Bundle 6 lasts for two weeks and includes PC, Mac, Linux and Android versions of five games for the low, low price of "anything": Aquaria, Fractal, Organ Trail: Director's Cut, Stealth Bastard Deluxe and Pulse. Pulse is the outlier, available for Android only.

Pay more than the average and snag Frozen Synapse and Broken Sword: Director's Cut. Frozen Synapse is in late beta on Android and has some known issues, and it's best played on tablets, the developer notes. All games come with their respective soundtracks, too.

Currently the Humble Android Bundle's average is below $5, so act fast and get seven games for less than one single-digit piece of American money. Or, knowing that you can allocate your money among charity, the developers and Humble itself, you can pay the equivalent of a double-digit piece of money. Or triple-digit. All of these games would cost $95 separately, and it's safe to expect more additions before the sale ends in two weeks. Because that's how Humble Bundles roll.

Mad Catz's Android console now just 'MOJO,' pulls games straight from Google Play

Mad Catz's Android console now just 'MOJO,' pulls games straight from Google Play
Mad Catz's recently announced Project MOJO Android micro-console (now just "MOJO") was on-hand at the hardware manufacturer's open-air booth in the middle of E3's West Hall. We learned a great deal more about the device's proprietary publishing ecosystem, or rather its lack of one.

Unlike the Ouya or other Android micro-consoles announced this year, the MOJO runs stock Android and connects to the Google Play store like any smartphone or tablet. This means that, rather than waiting for a game to be ported to the MOJO, it just has be ported to Android in general. It also means that the MOJO is registered to your existing Google Play account as another device, so any games you already own on your smartphone or tablet can be downloaded and played on the MOJO.

"We don't believe we should be restricting you, we want to be as open as possible," Mad Catz senior product development manager Richard Neville told us. "We just want to give people the most powerful hardware they can get, and that then becomes the enabler for the user."

Said hardware, at least on the E3 showfloor, ran on a Tegra 3 processor and featured HDMI output at 1080p, as well as two USB inputs, 16 gigs of on-board storage expandable by mini SD, wireless b/n/g interwebs and both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Smart. The MOJO's processor is expected to change before the micro-console launches this winter, however, when the production unit's specs are finalized around the end of this summer. We were also told that the final version will feature an Ethernet port for hard-wiring into a home network.

No pricing has been announced as of yet, but the console will include a Mad Catz Ctrl-R wireless Bluetooth Classic/Smart controller, which can change between being an Android controller, mouse input or PC gamepad at the flick of a switch.

Magic 2014 launches June 26, according to Steam [Update: Trailer]


Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers, the next installment in the Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers series, is set to launch on Steam June 26, according to the game's product page.

Magic 2014 is priced at $10, which falls in line with every other entry in the series. A special edition, which includes the game, soundtrack, five desktop wallpapers, a "Return to Ravnica" eBook and ten foil conversions, is also listed on the Steam page. Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers will launch on PC, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS and Android this summer – this marks the first time the series will be available on Android.

[Thanks, Mitch]

Ubisoft reveals Trials Fusion and Trials Frontier [update: Trailer and details]

Ubisoft revealed a pair of new Trials games during its E3 conference. First is Trials Fusion, a new game in the motocross racing/crashing series for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PC. Meanwhile, Trials Frontier is for mobile devices. Each version will interact with one another in some way.

Both games are due in 2014.

Update: Ubisoft has provided a few more details. Fusion will be "tet in a shining vision of what our future could be, where technology and nature co-exist." It also promises "social and visual breakthroughs." Frontier, meanwhile, sounds like the Trials formula adapted for touchscreen platforms, though Ubisoft does call it a "a unique social racing game."

Mad Catz entering Android console market with 'Project M.O.J.O'

Mad Catz entering Android console market with 'Project MOJO'
The burgeoning Android micro-console market's increasingly crowded Thunderdome has found itself another theoretical contestant: Mad Catz, which today announced its intentions to unveil "Project M.O.J.O" during next week's E3 proceedings.

Beyond the fact that Project M.O.J.O has been "designed to interact seamlessly" with Mad Catz's Gamesmart line of peripherals, nothing else is known about the product with regards to its technical specifications, pricing structure or even what its real name is – we're assuming "Project M.O.J.O" won't be going on the box.

Surely, the answers to all (or most) of these questions will be revealed sometime next week, at which point we'll see how Project M.O.J.O stacks up against the Ouya, Gamestick and Gamepop.

Diablo 2 designer brings ChronoBlade to browsers, Ouya, iOS, Android


NWay, a studio founded by Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones and former Realtime Worlds president Tony Harman, is bringing a new action RPG called ChronoBlade to browsers, Ouya, iOS and Android. To throw another big name onto the pile, the game is being designed by Stieg Hedlund, the designer behind Diablo 2.

ChronoBlade combines traditional loot-collecting action RPG concepts with 2D beat-em-up gameplay. The game takes place in a "multiverse" setting consisting of many different dimensions, allowing it to include styles ranging from medieval fantasy to steampunk.

A demo should launch on Ouya next week, and an open beta of the browser version is expected to launch later this month. Check out a developer diary after the break.

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Minecraft: Pocket Edition updated with alpha Realms support

Minecraft Pocket Edition updated with alpha Realms support
Mojang has released an update for the iOS and Android versions of Minecraft: Pocket Edition, adding preliminary support for the online cooperative Realms mode.

Realms mode supports online play for up to 10 simultaneous players within a single world, allowing friends to collaborate on projects and/or raise havoc together. The alpha version of Realms is currently free, and will be an optional paid service in future updates.

The latest Pocket Edition update also adds features such as buckets, eggs, milk, cake and fire to the game, making it important to keep an eye out for pyromaniacs among your online guests. Maybe they'll play nice if you bake them all cakes beforehand? Just an idea.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sonic CD coming to Ouya this month

Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sonic CD coming to Ouya this month
Sega announced plans to support the Android-powered Ouya console after its public launch later this month with a trio of Sonic the Hedgehog releases.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Sonic 4: Episode 2, and Sonic CD will be released in the Ouya Store on June 27 for $7 each. All three games were previously released for iOS and Android devices, though the Ouya ports are optimized for the console's Tegra 3 processor, and will have free trial versions available in the Ouya Store.

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Sega of America Director of Mobile Business David Zemke praised Ouya's "disruptive technology," and expressed the company's desire "to see what these technologies can do and be a part of it from the beginning."

Zemke also addressed the potential for future Ouya releases. "We're always looking for other titles and there may be some future titles that we'd like to bring over," he said. "For us, we're always trying to bring the best gaming experience to the right platforms. It's a delicate mix of how and when to do it."

The Ouya will launch on June 25.

Ticket to Ride choo-choos onto Android

Ticket to Ride Android
Rail baron board game Ticket to Ride is ready to pick up players on Android tablets. Along with the standard solo passenger play, Android users can also compete against players who own versions on Steam, Mac, iPad or are playing through publisher Days of Wonder's online portal.

Beyond the standard USA map, In-app purchasing is also available for the Asia, Europe, Switzerland and USA 1910 maps. Check the PR after the break for compatibility with your Android device. The ticket to ride on Android will cost $6.99.

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Wikipad launches in US next week

Wikipad launches in US next week
The revamped 7-inch model of the Wikipad hits retail shelves on June 11 at a similarly revamped $249. After its delay on launch day back in October, plans for a $500 10-inch tablet were scrapped in favor of the smaller, less pricey version coming to US stores next week. UK and worldwide arrivals for the Android tablet are planned for this summer.

Apart from those three inches, this Wikipad no longer includes a rear camera in addition to the 2 megapixel front-facing one. Otherwise, the smaller tablet features the same specs as before: a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 12 core Nvidia GPU and "true widescreen" HD screen, 16GB of storage with a micro SD for an additional 32GB, and HDMI out. Detachable console-like controls are still included and remain the same size as they were.

The Wikipad will be available at launch at Best Buy, Walmart, and TigerDirect.com

Final Fantasy IV out now on Android

Final Fantasy IV out on Android
After battling onto iOS late last year, Final Fantasy IV took a bit more active-time to reach Android. The Square RPG is out now for Android 2.3.3 and up, priced $16/£11.

This version's a tad different from the one released for the SNES as Final Fantasy II outside of Japan. Key cut scenes are underlined by voice acting, and dungeon maps start off blank in case the game hasn't branded itself onto your memory cells over the last 20 or so years.

Terraria taps into iOS, Android, Windows Phone this summer

Terraria coming to iOS, Android and Windows Phone this summer
Terraria already dug up the dirt on PC, XBLA and PSN, and this summer it's heading to tablets and phones – specifically iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8, 505 Games confirmed to Polygon following an initial announcement on Terraria Online.

Terraria mobile will have leaderboards, achievements and Facebook integration, and it's in development by Codeglue, with a complete revamp for touchscreen interfaces. Codeglue is responsible for Rocket Riot on XBLA, iOS and Windows Phone, and this year's PSN and Steam platformer, ibb & obb.

Terraria is still on its way to Vita this summer, ported by Engine Software.

Karateka Classic adapts vintage martial artistry

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.

Karateka Classic is Karatik City come alive
It's rare for an iPhone adaptation of a classic game to work out at all; rarer still for said adaptation to be preferable to the original. Jordan Mechner's faithful iOS/Android port of Karateka accomplishes this task handily, partly because of convenient portability, and partly because of nice new features.

But more than anything else, Karateka Classic succeeds because the original's controls weren't that great to begin with. Karateka is, when you get right down to it, a game about shuffling your feet up to your opponent, and then mashing on the kick buttons until he falls over. Like every other pre-Street Fighter 2 fighting game, attacks are slow and connecting depends not so much on timing or frame counting, but the will of some capricious computer god.

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Curiosity: A worthwhile shame

I played Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube.

I played it for a few hours over the course of its six-month lifespan. I feel a small amount of shame in confessing this, shame that I don't feel about anything else I've ever played – not Hooters Road Trip, not Dragon Power, nor any of the other terrible things I've subjected myself to. At least those things were games. Curiosity is a repetitive chore with a thin layer of "game" over it. It's gamification, applied to nothing.

But despite making fun of it relentlessly – and, on a couple of occasions, even simultaneously while making fun of it – I tapped cubes. My ironic detachment failed, and I couldn't help but buy into the hype on some level, at least enough to participate.

I admit that even though I knew it was a dumb game predicated on a promise from someone notorious for hyperbolic and unfulfilled promises, the novelty of the "life-changing prize" intrigued me. And so I joined thousands of strangers in helping some guy scratch off the world's most annoying lottery ticket.

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You Don't Know Jack on Ouya June 11, JackPad app makes phone a controller

On June 11, Jellyvision's popular trivia series, You Don't Know Jack, will make its debut on Ouya. An 11-question multiplayer episode is free to sample, and for $10 you can add 20 new episodes.

A free companion app for iOS and Android called JackPad will be available alongside the game. JackPad turns your mobile device into an additional controller, so you don't need four Ouya controllers to play multiplayer.

Ouya was slated to launch at retail on June 4 but was recently pushed back to June 25. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman told Joystiq this three-week delay was in order to meet higher than expected demand.

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Miiverse update lets web users post and edit profiles

Miiverse update allows web users to post
After coming to smartphones and tablets last month, the web version of Miiverse now allows users to post as well as browse. You still need the GamePad stylus if you want to doodle all over the Wii U's social network, but this week's update does bring other welcome features.

The web version now lets users follow and unfollow profiles, display friends and followers, and adjust profile and Miiverse settings. Also, for those curious about the Wii U world but without a Nintendo Network ID, any Miiverse post is viewable even if you're not signed in, as long as you have the URL. Test that out by clicking that source thingamajig just below.

Abducted brings alien adventure to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android this summer


You might think you're having a bad day, but Eve has got you beat. She woke up in a strange world with an alien computer embedded in her arm. Eve is the main character of Abducted, an upcoming episodic adventure from Sunside. Abducted promises a mix of action-adventure, horror and RPG elements, and the trailer for the first episode shows off some lovely extraterrestrial visuals.

The game is available for pre-order now via Sunside's website, with an expected release late this summer. Those who pre-order the Collector's Edition will receive early access to the Abducted beta.

Available platforms will include PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android (including Ouya). Sunside also says that its in-house Radiance engine can support Xbox and PS3, though no official release has been announced for those platforms. If you'd like to see Abducted on Steam, you can give it a push on Greenlight.

Here's what's going to be at E3's IndieCade

Here's what's going to be at E3's IndieCade
IndieCade organizers announced this year's lineup of PC, mobile, and PS Vita games that will be featured at the committee's upcoming E3 showcase event.

IndieCade's E3 booth will spotlight indie-produced PC efforts like Mousechief's 7 Grand Steps, Robot Loves Kitty's Legend of Dungeon, and Muse Games' Guns of Icarus Online. PS Vita offerings include Honeyslug's Hohokum and a previously unannounced port of thatgamecompany's Flower.

Many featured games will also appear at the main IndieCade festival event in October. A full rundown of IndieCade's E3 lineup is after the break below.

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