Posts with tag Hothead
by Ross Miller May 1st 2008 3:00PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure
Developer Hothead Game just announced that
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One has gone gold for Windows, Mac and Linux. The
press release is a good reminder that right now, somewhere in the world, someone is playing the full version of the game and you're not.
There, there, we know, it'll get better over time, promise ... okay, you're gonna need to stop making that whimpering noise, it's starting to get people's attention and it's embarrassing to both yourself and to us.
PAA:OtRSPoD:E1 is due out "later this quarter" via their new
Greenhouse download service for $20. The game is also coming to Xbox Live, potentially in another quarter, for 1600 MS points (US $20). In the meantime, enjoy some
new wallpapers.
by Scott Jon Siegel Apr 2nd 2008 2:00PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Business
Penny Arcade and Hothead Games -- the developer behind
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness -- have just announced a joint partnership to launch Greenhouse, a
brand new online game store, focused on digital distribution for independent games.
Not to be mistaken for a downloadable client application (like
GameTap and
Steam), Greenhouse is simply a website for digital distribution, putting it in direct competition with fellow indie game portal
Manifesto Games. The site, which is
currently in beta, will initially be the exclusive download source for
Precipice, offering the PC, Mac, and Linux versions. Later, more Hothead Games will be distributed via the service, along with other indie offerings.
While the digital distribution market is getting a bit saturated as of late, let's hope Greenhouse's platform-agnostic approach to publishing keeps the service on our radar.
by James Ransom-Wiley Mar 27th 2008 4:15PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360
Hothead Games today punched its rambling epic,
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One (phew!), with a $19.95 price tag. That's just over 30 cents a letter (colons not included), assuming cost is derived, as it is for all episodic games, by the title's
length. Currently, that price applies to all versions of the game, which include PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox Live Arcade editions. 1600 Microsoft Points ($20) would be new territory for digital distribution on Xbox 360, but clearly,
Hothead and its two stars have made it a point to be living on the edge.
PC, Mac and Linux specs are posted after the break.
Continue reading Penny Arcade Adventures priced at $20, specs released
by Ludwig Kietzmann Mar 3rd 2008 11:00AM
Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, RPGs, Interviews, GDC
It's fair to say that quite a lot is expected from Vancouver-based developer, Hothead Games. The group not only has to deliver a series of downloadable and episodic
adventure RPGs in regular intervals, but also appease a fanbase so large and rabid that it can click your website to death -- accidentally, if you're lucky. On top of all that, the poor developers are occasionally dragged into a tiny room for the sole purpose of being poked by a plethora of questions regarding their upcoming games.
Penny Arcade Adventures producer,
Joel DeYoung, and Hothead creative director,
Ron Gilbert, had to endure just such a prodding during
GDC, the results of which can be viewed after the break. Appropriately enough, our interview's almost as long as the title of the series:
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.
Continue reading Joystiq interview: Penny Arcade Adventures
by Ludwig Kietzmann Feb 25th 2008 3:45PM
Filed under: Culture, Adventure, GDC
We did a terrible thing at last week's
Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning --
just for laughs.
This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.
The Player
Ron Gilbert, designer of
The Secret of Monkey Island (amongst other LucasArts adventures), consultant on
Penny Arcade Adventures and designer of Hothead's upcoming episodic series,
Deathspank.
The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the
ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.
The Inventory
- (1) perforated parasol
- (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
- (1) sealed manila envelope
- (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue
Find Ron Gilbert's surprisingly direct solution after the break.
Continue reading GDC Quest Quiz I: Ron Gilbert
by Ludwig Kietzmann Feb 23rd 2008 11:00PM
Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, RPGs, GDC
As the folks at
Telltale Games are sure to tell you, one of the tricks to successful episodic gaming is releasing content on
a regular basis. Vancouver-based Hothead Games appears to be in agreement, with
Penny Arcade Adventures producer, Joel DeYoung, telling us of the developer's tentative goal to release a new episode every four months. "Yeah, definitely there's a fixed release schedule. It's tentative right now, but we're talking about one every four months," DeYoung explained in a GDC interview. "[It's tentative] because, you know, this is a new model for us, and it is quite tricky with all the project management scheduling and making sure we're officially overlapping the work on all the episodes."
With some work on
Episode Three already underway, we can expect to be tumbling down the precipice of darkness for at least eight months. Look for the full interview to be published on Joystiq later this week.
by Ludwig Kietzmann Jan 9th 2008 1:33PM
Filed under: Adventure, RPGs
Described as -- and you'll want to sit down for this -- "the perfect melding of a
Monkey Island style adventure game with the wicked RPG game play of
Diablo,"
Ron Gilbert's latest creation has been revealed to be an episodic title dubbed "DeathSpank: Episode 1: Orphans of Justice." The adventure legend has joined Vancouver-based Hothead Games as Creative Director,
noting that he's spent over four years searching for "the right publisher for this strange little game." He went on to quip, "Now that I've done it, you just know that somewhere four horsemen are saddling up."
Followers of Gilbert's grumpy ramblings may remember
DeathSpank as a satirical game character mentioned in a series of
Flash comics, created with the aid of Clayton Kauzlaric and offered on Gilbert's
personal blog. They'll also recall that Gilbert is currently providing his expertise and surly demeanor to
Penny Arcade's episodic endeavor,
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Expect to hear more on both titles... soonish.
by JC Fletcher Aug 27th 2007 4:30AM
Filed under: Culture, Business
There's nothing more indicative of gamer culture than the fact that a bunch of us got together at a fan event, with
games to be played right over in the exhibition hall, to talk about business. We can't help it! We love sales numbers and such.
Vlad Ceraldi and Steve Bocska from
Hothead, Steve Bowler from Midway, and David Freeman from Sabertooth Games held a panel to talk about licensed games yesterday at PAX. All of these individuals have unique qualifications to talk about the subject: the two Hothead representatives, in addition to working on
Penny Arcade Adventures now, previously worked on last generation's
Simpsons games. Bowler worked on
NBA Ballers and is now on
John Woo Presents Stranglehold, and Freeman juggles licenses in his work with Sabertooth's
Universal Fighting System card game.
Continue reading PAX 07: The licensed games panel
by JC Fletcher Aug 25th 2007 10:15PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Adventure, RPGs
It's Interactive Day for Joystiq's
PAX coverage! First we got to assist in the creation of a
Sam & Max scene, and now we made a dude in the Penny Arcade game trailer bald!
The Hothead booth at PAX had a demo of the character creation system in
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. After we finished our character editing, the demo presented a video from the game with our character in the lead role. It then offered to email us the video, which means we get to share it with all of you! Enjoy the video, starring a guy who looks not that much like any of us!
by Christopher Grant Aug 25th 2007 9:07PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360
At the Penny Arcade game panel today at PAX, they've just confirmed that
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness – the first installment of their episodic series – will "debut" on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008. That's in addition to the already announced PC, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms. It's unclear if the game is console exclusive to the XBLA platform or if other console ports are in the works.
This is the first digitally distributed episodic title to be announced for a home console download service. Telltale is working on Xbox 360 and Wii ports of
Sam & Max, but it's unclear if the title will be distributed as a full season retail product or as individual releases through Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Ware respectively. You can check out the game's
recently launched site here.
by David Dreger Aug 25th 2007 2:45PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Adventure, RPGs
We went to the Press only
Hothead Games Q&A for their upcoming PC (Windows, Mac and Linux) game for Penny Arcade,
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One. It opened up with a new trailer that built upon the previous one, that has taken huge steps in capturing the Penny Arcade look, in both the 2D and 3D realm. As they start showing the same demo on the show floor today, the trailer and gameplay footage will more than likely be hitting the intertubes soon so you can form your own opinions in the the progress of the art direction. After the trailer played the fired up their build of the game and started a new campaign. Full details on the demo and information from after the Q&A session can be found after the break.
Continue reading PAX 07: Penny Arcade Adventures developers panel
by Justin McElroy Aug 7th 2007 12:15PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs
According to
Gaming Target, EGM is reporting that
Penny Arcade's first game could soon join their innumerable picture packs and themes on Xbox Live. The mag brings the news in their September issue that
Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness will appear on the Xbox Live Arcade in the fall.
Developer Hothead Games isn't confirming the news at the moment, but with
PAX a scant three weeks away, they could just be trying to keep the tabby in the satchel so Gabe and Tycho can reveal the news at the show. For our part, we'd love to launch PA's game from our Cardboard Tube Samurai-themed Dashboard, the theme we shall continue to rock until something better comes along, in other words: Forever.
[Via
X3F]
by Christopher Grant Jun 22nd 2007 10:20AM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Adventure
Those of you with aspirations to be a rake-wielding hobo vigilante may still have years of hard living and railroad hitching ahead of you before you become overtaken with the impulse to don a stovepipe hat and wield a (no doubt sharpened) lawn and garden instrument. If video games are good for anything, it's for helping people achieve those sorts of dreams (except for you
Manhunt 2 fans), so we were quite pleased to see these latest screenshots of the "Create a Player" feature from
Penny Arcade Adventures: OtRSPoD.
Not interested? Perhaps
spaceboots are more your thing? No ... how about
maternal insults? Thought there's obviously no pleasing you, we're quite pleased to see they've cranked the cel-shading engine up to 11, as evidenced in last month's
trailer from PC Gamer (helpfully included after the break).
Continue reading Penny Arcade Adventures new screens and old trailer
by Ross Miller Jun 7th 2007 4:25PM
Filed under: Culture, Adventure, Business
Hothead Games, who are currently conjuring code for
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One (or PAA: OtRSPoD: E1) have won the Canadian New Media Award for Most Promising Company of the Year. The honor earns them, bragging rights notwithstanding, the prestigious Pixel award.
The award was given in recognition of the three projects
Hothead is currently developing. In addition to the anticipated
Penny Arcade Adventures, being developed in conjunction with legendary grumpy gamer
Ron Gilbert, the developer is also working on
Swarm, an "environmentally-themed comedy adventure game" with "machine learning" AI, and a joint venture with Cambrian House on
Gwabs, a desktop-to-desktop combat title.
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Posts with tag Hothead
