Joystiq

Alien Hominid has been played 20 million times on Newgrounds

David Hinkle — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:00:00 EST

Before there was, uh, that other game called Alien Hominid (and Castle Crashers), there was the original Alien Hominid, a free browser run-and-gun game that debuted on Newgrounds. And that original game has now surpassed 20 million play sessions, The Behemoth has announced.

The brain child of Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin, Alien Hominid was built in Flash and released on Newgrounds way back in 2002. It would eventually be ported to the GameCube and PS2 in 2004 (and Europe would see Xbox and GameBoy Advance ports), then to Xbox Live Arcade in 2007. Currently, The Behemoth is working on Battleblock Theater.

Alien Hominid has been played 20 million times on Newgrounds originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 May 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alien Hominid: PDA Games adds new trial levels

David Hinkle — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:00:00 EST

We get it. In this tough economy, it's hard to scrape together cash for a game sometimes, even if it is only a buck. And so you've been rationing the trial levels in Alien Hominid: PDA Games. Well, today The Behemoth has added more trial levels for its frugal fans.

You can download the free version over on iTunes and, should you change your mind about that buck, you can purchase the full game in-app. The full version sports 20 different achievements across 500 levels.

Alien Hominid: PDA Games adds new trial levels originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alien Hominid: PDA Games holds iOS devices at laser-point

Jessica Conditt — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:30:00 EST

The Behemoth has brought the Alien Hominid PDA games to iOS devices with a pile of updates and shiny new things, including fresh art, 23 new achievements, 60 FPS, high-definition graphics and a pause feature that shows a run-through of your past 20 levels. The Alien Hominid: PDA Games app is available now in the App Store, with 15 trial levels for free, and all 500 levels for $0.99.

The Behemoth is steadily working on BattleBlock Theater, and Alien Hominid is a great way to ease the waiting period and get a glimpse of the gameplay that inspired the cat-crushing prison drama that is BattleBlock Theater.

Alien Hominid: PDA Games holds iOS devices at laser-point originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alien Hominid will be in PSN Castle Crashers

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:45:00 EST

Folks who played the 360 version of Castle Crashers got a nice little bonus if they happened to have another of The Behemoth's XBLA games on their hard drive: a playable character based on the protagonist from Alien Hominid. Unfortunately, that particular game isn't available on the PSN, leading some to fear he/she/it wouldn't reprise its cameo in the PSN version of Crashers.

That fear is unwarranted, friends -- a recent post on The Behemoth's blog confirms that the Alien will be an unlockable character in the upcoming port of Castle Crashers, though the requirements for unlocking it are unknown at this point. We're guessing it has something to do with the level where you kill a thousand of his brothers and sisters.

Alien Hominid will be in PSN Castle Crashers originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 May 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behemoth collects over 30k for Haiti relief, extends promotion again

Xav de Matos — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST

Since January 20, the team at Behemoth have been raising money through Xbox Live DLC sales of Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid to support relief efforts in Haiti. Over four days, Behemoth has collected $15,585.65 through DLC purchases; however, since the promise was to donate 200% of all DLC sales, The Behemoth has matched the total leaving the donation jar filled with $31,171.29!

That's great, but for The Behemoth it isn't great enough. Today the team announced they will continue to extend the promotion until the total donation jar hits $50,000. What a bunch of sweethearts. Check out a list of the DLC you can buy to help offer support for the people in Haiti. They really need your help.

Continue reading Behemoth collects over 30k for Haiti relief, extends promotion again

Behemoth collects over 30k for Haiti relief, extends promotion again originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behemoth Haiti DLC event extended to Friday

Justin McElroy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST

If you neglected the opportunity to buy Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid DLC and have that money both donated and matched by developer The Behemoth to Haiti relief, you're a terrible person. But you're also in luck: The charity drive has been extended to this Friday, Jan. 29.

By all means, pick up all the DLC you can get your hands on, just don't expect St. Peter to give you much credit at the Pearly Gates if your only charitable act in life was forgetting to buy a video game until you remembered to later.

Behemoth Haiti DLC event extended to Friday originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Behemoth DLC revenue going to Haiti this week

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST

Not to be outclassed by larger companies in the gaming industry, indie dev studio The Behemoth has announced its own initiative for helping out with recovery efforts in Haiti. Any revenue brought in by DLC purchases for Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid on XBLA will go directly to the Red Cross. The promotion is titled "The Behemoth Super Haiti Chicken Super Charity," because, hey, what else would you call it?

The folks at Behemoth also plan to match this sum of money with some of their own, coming directly from their pockets, wallets and bank accounts. That's quite generous of them -- why not show your own support by picking up some DLC for Alien Hominid or Castle Crashers before the promotion ends next Sunday?

The Behemoth DLC revenue going to Haiti this week originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Meat Boy character select screen reveals playable Alien Hominid [update]

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

Things are on the up and up for Super Meat Boy developer Edmund McMillen. After releasing This is a Cry for Help last year and subsequently announcing SMB for WiiWare, he put his indie cred on display for the world in adding Braid's Tim to his upcoming game. And now, during a live video interview with Bytejacker, McMillen ~~revealed~~ The Behemoth's Alien Hominid as another playable character!

Quickly panning to his computer screen during the interview and teasing it, one of our wonderful readers snagged a screen grab so we could share it with the world. Now the real question: Castle Crashers characters playable as well? Hmmmm, McMillen? Hmmm?

(We love you. Please?)

Update: It was pointed out by a few astute Game Informer readers in the comments section that Alien Hominid was actually revealed as a playable character in a recent issue. Sorry, folks!

(Thanks, Zack!)

Super Meat Boy character select screen reveals playable Alien Hominid [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reminder: Alien Hominid HD for 400 MS points this week

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST

Major Nelson reminds us that Alien Hominid HD is only 400 ($5) this week for Xbox Live gold members. The Behemoth's first XBLA title is normally priced 800 ($10). If this is somehow your first time ever hearing about Alien Hominid, the title received generally favorable reviews -- and we'd also like to welcome you back from your troglodytic lifestyle of the last three years.

The Behemoth is currently working on ~~The Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun~~ its third as-yet untitled project, which the developer recently showed off in trailer form.

Reminder: Alien Hominid HD for 400 MS points this week originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fable, Alien Hominid HD get slashed for March Deals of the Week

Xav de Matos — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:41:00 EST

Before Peter Molyneux and Co. captured our GOTY hearts with Fable II, Lionhead introduced the world to Albion in Fable -- on the original Xbox. Next week -- billed as the figurative pot of gold for St. Paddy's Day -- the Xbox Originals release of Fable will be discounted to 800 ($10) on March 16, down one third the standard (Read: Overpriced) tag of 1200.

March 23's Deal of the Week isn't nearly exciting, discounting the Iowa Mission Pack for Battlestations Midway by 20%. Finally, to put an Irish kiss on the end of the month, the Deal of the Week beginning March 30 will be the XBLA title Alien Hominid HD, discounted by 50% to 400 ($5). Those are some quality price drops... Irish I had some more MS Points.

Fable, Alien Hominid HD get slashed for March Deals of the Week originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Behemoth revealing trailer for third game next week

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:09:00 EST

The Behemoth has announced that it's ready to unveil a trailer for its third game on March 18, "just a few days before" the Tokyo Anime Fair. The latest post on the company blog informs that several of the developers are going to the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 20-21 and will showcase Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers and "an uber-early version of Game #3." So, if you're in Tokyo, would you kindly upload any gameplay video you capture to YouTube?

As an amuse bouche, The Behemoth also showed off an image from the new game (pictured). Early idea on a name: The Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun vs. The Helghast.

[Thanks, Adam M O'Neill]

The Behemoth revealing trailer for third game next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Castle Crashers dev's third game closer to unveiling

Randy Nelson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:10:00 EST

The Behemoth, developer of Xbox Live Arcade favorites Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers is preparing to reveal its third -- as of yet unnamed -- title. The dev has been teasing "Game #3" on its blog and Twitter feed for some time, updating the latter today with, "Trailer for game #3 is complete!"

Given that the 2009 Game Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco in only two weeks' time, we'd say the odds are good that Game #3 will get a proper unveiling -- and title -- during the event. Predictions? Let's hear 'em in comments.

[Via Primotech]

Castle Crashers dev's third game closer to unveiling originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Castle Crashers seizes 250,000 players

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Speaking to Gamasutra, indie developer The Behemoth has revealed that 250,000 players have now experienced the joys of barging into throne rooms and slaughtering evil, fish-wielding bear ... things. Castle Crashers' lead artist, Dan Paladin, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the game's success. "I was optimistic and hopeful for Castle Crashers but I wasn't prepared for the reception it got."

Of course, neither was the game's online capabilities, with Paladin re-re-re-re-iterating that work on a soothing patch continues unabated. "You fix, you test, you verify in as many situations as possible, you fix again if you need to, you submit the update to Microsoft, they verify the fix, etcetera," he explained, unable to confirm a precise release date.

While people are waiting for error-free online romps, they've apparently been returning to The Behemoth's other XBLA darling, Alien Hominid. Compared to this time last year, nearly five times as many people are playing it and, if our memory serves, dying a lot.

Castle Crashers seizes 250,000 players originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alien Hominid HD's Live play increases with Castle Crashers' release

Dustin Burg — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:45:00 EST

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade

Taking a looksy at last week's Xbox Live activity report (courtesy of one Major Nelson), one can spot Castle Crashers taking home the number one most played XBLA game award and even breaking into the overall most played 360 games list at the number seven spot. All of which we fully expected. But one thing that we didn't expect, and found rather interesting, was the appearance of Alien Hominid HD on the Live list.

Alien Hominid, The Behemoth's other year old XBLA game, landed in at the number nine spot on the most played XBLA game on Live list, after being absent since its release. An appearance that is probably a direct result of Castle Crashers' release and (possibly) the fact that a certain unlockable yellow alien is in the game.

[Via Joystiq]

Alien Hominid HD's Live play increases with Castle Crashers' release originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq E3 Hands-on: Castle Crashers

Mike Schramm — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, Fighting, E3

Thanks to the dedicated blogging of the folks at Behemoth, we pretty much knew everything there was to know about Castle Crashers coming into E3 -- it's the followup to Alien Hominid, a game that started out on Newgrounds, and ended up on the XBLA. It's got tons of playable characters, lots of "animal orbs" you can recruit to fight with you, and a great art style and a sly sense of humor. In fact, the only thing we didn't know about it was probably the most important thing: how it actually played.

After playing it with Microsoft Director of Digitally Distributed Content Scott Austin here at E3, we can safely say it's going to be one of the biggest XBLA titles of this year (it's due out before September 21st). Castle Crashers is crazy good button mashing fun, and we can't wait to lay down our hard-earned Microsoft Points for it.

Continue reading Joystiq E3 Hands-on: Castle Crashers

Joystiq E3 Hands-on: Castle Crashers originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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My Favorite Martian

Eric Caoili — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:15:00 EST

Filed under: Homebrew

If The Martian DS looks a little rough on the edges, it's because the title was originally created by a team of three for a 72-hour game development competition four years ago. The resulting project is actually quite impressive, considering, and we're happy to see that one of the original developers took the time to create a homebrew port of it for the DS.

Short but sweet, The Martian DS is a side-scrolling shooter in the vein of Alien Hominid. Players roam the city picking up weapons and power-ups while dodging constant gunfire from the local law enforcement. The game really suffers from the lack of a soundtrack, but the original character sprites, especially the donut-heaving boss, makes up for it.

[Via GBATemp]

My Favorite Martian originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Alien Hominid HD on XBLA next week

Alexander Sliwinski — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Earlier this week somebody over at Xbox.com flipped the wrong switch and activated what looked to be the next set of games for Xbox Live Arcade. Although they quickly course corrected and pulled the page, the URL for Alien Hominid HD is still active. They've also updated a few bits of information to the page since accidentally posting and used a spell -check. The earlier new and "imprived" graphics are a sure sign the page was activated too early. The only thing that's a little sad is Alien Hominid looks to be only two player co-op locally, which means no blasting away with your buddy on the other side of our third rock from the sun. So, we don't know if Alien Hominid HD is ready to roll, but it sure looks like Xbox.com is locked, loaded, spell-checked and ready to go.

Rumor: Alien Hominid HD on XBLA next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alien Hominid to crash land on XBLA this year [update 1]

Christopher Grant — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:05:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

There's two ways you could look at this, depending on how cynical and jaded you are. You could jump up and down knowing that Alien Hominid, one of the most successful and interesting indie games ever made, is coming to Microsoft's popular Xbox Live Arcade service this winter ... or you could grind your teeth knowing that your perfectly suitable Xbox copy isn't backwards compatible (yet?) so, if you want that side scrolling action, you'll be shelling out for the same game again. Granted, it was only $20 to begin with, and a $10 XBLA price would still keep the total well below your average AAA title, but it's the principle dammit!

This is a slippery slope for Microsoft to be on. Cynical (and/or cheap) gamers have foretold the day when Microsoft would use future profits to determine the fate of backwards compatibility on a particular title. Conspiracy theorists will point to Alien Hominid's relatively spartan and humble graphics as proof positive that Redmond isn't playing fair. Of course, these accusations will be premature since there are certain to be more backcompat updates before the Fall console launches, but they'll be made regardless.

Game Informer reports that Alien Hominid developer The Behemoth is also bringing their in development title Castle Crashers to XBLA in early 2007. For more indie-dev goodies, check out the excellent Gamasutra podcast this week for an interview with The Behemoth's John Baez.

[Thanks, Shizzle]

[Update 1: 1UP previewed the game at the Comic-Con expo that began today. They confirm the obligatory 360 upgrades like high-def and widescreen support, but also note that "the developers are looking into adding a few bonuses here and there to give the Live Arcade version something extra for players who are familiar with the original" but add "we don't have any details on that front at this point."]

Alien Hominid to crash land on XBLA this year [update 1] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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