Joystiq

Machinarium finds the secret to a European Vita launch on May 1

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:30:00 EST

It looks like that cute little robot dude in Machniarium has found the source of eternal life, the game first launching for PC in 2009 and still hitting other platforms in 2013, all to the wondrous fanfare. Machinarium is headed to European Vitas on May 1 for €5.99, following its North American launch on March 26.

The Vita version of Machinarium includes touchscreen options, improved zoom and full-quality audio and graphics. That last one is a good thing, because even after four years, Machinarium is still gorgeous - and adorable.

Machinarium finds the secret to a European Vita launch on May 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium extends onto Vita March 26

Sinan Kubba — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST

Eccentric puzzle-adventure Machinarium comes to Vita in North America on March 26. The robo-stuffed point-and-clicker jumped from PC to PS3 back in October, when developer Amanita Design announced an upcoming Vita version, albeit with "no idea" when it would arrive. March 26 is a little more concrete, as is a price of $6.99 - cheaper than on PS3.

Amanita previously described the PS3 port as the "ultimate" version of Machinarium, so we're not sure what that makes the further tweaked Vita version. In addition to the PS3 enhancements, Amanita says the Vita version employs both front and rear touch controls, and brings improvements to the zoom feature.

Machinarium extends onto Vita March 26 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium hits North American PSN on October 9, Vita version TBA

Sinan Kubba — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST

Machinarium is finally clanking its away to North America's PlayStation Network, releasing on Tuesday October 9 for $9.99. Amanita Design also tells us a Vita version of the puzzler is currently in development, but the Czech studio has "no idea when it will be released."

According to Amanita Design, the European version released last month was downloaded by over 100,000 players, which equates to a lot of people seeing a robot eat traffic cones.

Machinarium hits North American PSN on October 9, Vita version TBA originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ESRB: Machinarium also coming to Vita

JC Fletcher — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:30:00 EST

Amanita Design's lovely robot-themed adventure game, Machinarium, will occupy another beautiful screen, that of the PlayStation Vita. Machinarium's ESRB rating has been updated recently to add Vita to the list of platforms. However, designer Jakub Dvorsky told Joystiq that though Amanita would "like to bring the game to Vita," it couldn't confirm that version.

Also on the list is PS3, reminding us that the downloadable release for that platform is due sometime this summer as an "ultimate version" (following long delays). Dvorsky confirmed that summer release window to us as well. Perhaps one of the features of this version will be Vita crossplay.

ESRB: Machinarium also coming to Vita originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amanita plants a Botanicula demo on its website

JC Fletcher — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:30:00 EST

You can try a browser-based demo of Amanita Design's beautiful environmental adventure game Botanicula now! Then you can feel bad that you missed out on the chance to get the game in a Humble Bundle. Then you can find out it only costs $10 from the website anyway.

These are all new experiences you can have, just by clicking this link.

Amanita plants a Botanicula demo on its website originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Botanicula puts down roots on Steam, 10% off

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:00:00 EST

Botanicula, the latest from Machinarium developer Amanita Design, has finally planted itself on Steam for PC and Mac. In addition, those willing to snag the organic adventure before 10:00am Pacific on May 14 can do so for only $8.99, a buck off the usual $9.99 price tag. Seems only fitting that buying Botanicula should save you a little green, right?

Botanicula puts down roots on Steam, 10% off originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GOG gifts bonuses to miffed Botanicula pre-orderers

Jordan Mallory — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:30:00 EST

GOG's pre-order deal for Botanicula, getting the game for a dollar less than the post-launch retail price, seemed like a pretty legit bargain for Amanita Design's floral adventure. That is, until The Humble Botanicula Debut Bundle showed up, offering Botanicula, Machinarium and Samorost 2 for any amount of money you wanted.

Naturally, some folks that had pre-ordered Botanicula from GOG felt slighted, as they'd paid (nearly) full price for a game that almost immediately made available for close to zero dollars, in a bundle that also included two other games.

"This left an unsurprisingly sour taste in some gamers' mouths, and we were just as surprised by the launch of the Humble Botanicula Debut as anyone else was," reads GOG's olive branch. To make things right, anyone who purchased Botanicula from GOG prior to 12:00 GMT on April 20 will receive a free copy of Machinarium, as well as links to download "the full soundtrack and a special artbook of Botanicula designs and character sketches."

Additionally, everyone entitled to the above rewards will also receive a free copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut. Goodies are expected to begin arriving sometime tomorrow.

GOG gifts bonuses to miffed Botanicula pre-orderers originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Botanicula leads all-Amanita Humble Bundle

JC Fletcher — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST

The latest Humble Bundle is your first opportunity to purchase Amanita Design's newest point-and-click game, Botanicula. The bundle, under the entirely appropriate name "Humble Botanicula Debut," allows you to pay whatever you want for the new game, and pick up Amanita's Machinarium and Samorost 2 while you're at it.

As usual, bonuses abound for those willing to pay more than average. In this case, they include a movie! Kooky, a Czech film with art direction by Amanita founder Jakub Dvorsky, will be handed out to those who exceed the average, as will Windosill, an exploration game by Vectorpark that you'd probably enjoy if you like Amanita games.

This bundle features an extra charity option, in honor of Botanicula's environmental theme. You can choose to funnel some of your Humble funds toward the World Land Trust, a group dedicated to saving threatened habitats.

Botanicula leads all-Amanita Humble Bundle originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Botanicula swarming PC and Mac on April 19

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EST

Botanicula, the adorable bug game (notice that's not "adorable-bug game," because no bug is adorable, and we don't care how much it looks like a tiny, hairless rabbit) from Machinarium developer Amanita Design is officially flying face-first onto PC and Mac on April 19.

The above trailer shows off the lighter, brighter side of Amanita's resume, offering a glimpse into the evolution of Machinarium's detailed design style with five bugs that are maybe possibly kind of adorable. Fine, you got us, Amanita. Your bugs are adorable. We probably won't feel gross and itchy when Botanicula drops on the 19th after all.

Botanicula swarming PC and Mac on April 19 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Botanicula video teases Amanita Design's next adventure

Ludwig Kietzmann — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:50:00 EST

You likely know Amanita Design for its work on semi-sweet, semi-sad robot adventure Machinarium. The Czech team's upcoming Botanicula, billed as a "point and click exploration game," has more ... organic roots.

Botanicula video teases Amanita Design's next adventure originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium available on iPad 2 today

Justin McElroy — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:00:00 EST

You know what, buster? It might be true that Amanita Design's wonderful little adventure game Machinarium is almost two years old. But you know what else? We don't care. As long as there are people walking this big blue globe who haven't helped little Josef on his journey to find the robot girl of his dreams, we're going to keep telling you when the game comes to new platforms.

Today, we bring word that Machinarium has appeared on iPad 2 for $4.99. If you have not played it, then you should buy it, because it is great.

We'll see you here again in this same space when Machinarium finally makes it to N-Gage.

Machinarium available on iPad 2 today originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium 'should' be coming to iPad 2 on Sept. 8

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:30:00 EST

The platform specificity in the headline should already impart the bad news: Machinarium is not suited for the original iPad. According to a brief post on Amanita Design's blog, the melancholy 'bot adventure "needs quite a lot of memory and fast CPU so it works well only on iPad 2."

Owners of Apple's latest tablet "should" be able to download Machinarium from the App Store on September 8th. Amanita offers an apology to iPad 1 owners, and we suggest you load up the Unreal-powered Infinity Blade to quell any creeping thoughts of technological inadequacy.

Machinarium is available on PC and Mac, and is en route to PlayStation Network (this fall), Playbook and "capable" Android tablets. Should we start worrying about the WiiWare version?

Machinarium 'should' be coming to iPad 2 on Sept. 8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium 'hopefully' coming to iPad next month

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:30:00 EST

Amanita Design's lovely little automated adventure title Machinarium seems like a natural fit for the iPad, which is in many respects also a tiny, helpful robot. The game hasn't made its way to the tablet due to its Apple-unfriendly Flash programming; however, Amanita founder Jakub Dvorsky recently told Pocket Gamer that the title's iPad iteration "should be ready during the next month ... hopefully."

We suppose we can excuse the ambiguity, considering how difficult it must be to rebuild a Flash-based game on a non-Flash-based platform. We only ask for one thing in return: Extra robots. We don't care who they are or what they do, we just need them to be adorable.

Machinarium 'hopefully' coming to iPad next month originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amanita Design's 'Osada' music video out now, odd forever

Ludwig Kietzmann — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST

Machinarium developer Amanita Design describes its latest creation, the first of three new projects, as an interactive music video with "Czech psychedelic country music." That's a good encapsulation of this diversion, dubbed Osada, but we would also accept:

"A weird, Gilliam-esque mix of photography, animation and percussion."
"An unsettling, askew view of a day in the life of an insane cowboy."
"WHAT."
"A bizarre, point-and-click music thingy that only the internet could provide."

Head over to Amanita's website to try it out -- and don't rush through it! You can linger on the parts you like, and download an offline version for later. Didgeridoos and banjos aren't safe in every office, we understand.

Amanita Design's 'Osada' music video out now, odd forever originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium headed to PS3 and undecided tablets this year

JC Fletcher — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

Developer Amanita Design seems to have its hands full, with a sequel to its adventure game Samorost and two other projects in progress. According to statements from founder Jakub Dvorsky at GameCityNights, the developer is still making time to get Machinarium onto PSN and as-yet-undecided tablets this year. Amanita publicly turned its attention to PS3 last year after Microsoft passed on the point-and-click adventure. There was no word on the previously announced WiiWare version.

Though the iPad seems like the obvious choice of tablet, CasualGaming.biz reports that Amanita is instead "exploring" the Blackberry Playbook, which will be released in North America next month. If only we were privy to an animated thought bubble explaining the process behind that decision.

Machinarium headed to PS3 and undecided tablets this year originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium developer reveals three upcoming projects

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST

We don't usually fall as hard or fast in love with games as we did with Amanita Design's robotic adventure title Machinarium. Ever since our infatuation developed in 2009, we've been starving for more projects from the studio to admire; luckily, in a recent interview with PC Gamer, founder Jakub Dvorsky revealed the team's three upcoming opuses:

Osada, an interactive music video featuring "Czech psychedelic country music," due out on Amanita's website within the next few weeks.
Botanicula, a "simple, but quite large" point-and-click adventure game starring five tiny, arboreal creatures who are attempting to save their treehouse from invading parasites. It's slated to be released sometime before the end of the year.
Samorost 3, the next installment in Amanita's beautifully crafted adventure game series, the first part of which is available to play for free online. It's Amanita's biggest project at the moment, and though it doesn't have a release window, the team hopes to bring it to PC, consoles and various and sundry e-tablets.

Machinarium developer reveals three upcoming projects originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XGen Studios bringing the adorable Machinarium to WiiWare

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

After being passed over by Microsoft, because they're like stupid or something, the WiiWare platform will soon get its hands on Amanita Design's infinitely charming adventure title Machinarium. The game will be ported to the console by XGen Studios, whose previous WiiWare titles include the fairly successful port of Defend Your Castle. No release date or pricing information accompanied the port's announcement.

While we worry the game might be truncated in some manner to make it under the WiiWare platform's 50MB cap, we're thrilled to see it spread its delightful influence. We'd like it on every platform possible, please. We don't think we'll be happy until we're playing this bad boy on our R-Zone.

XGen Studios bringing the adorable Machinarium to WiiWare originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium marked down to $5 for 'Pirate Amnesty' sale

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

We're normally pretty down on video game software piracy, especially when the games being plundered are totally DRM-free indie darlings. However, thanks to Machinarium's outrageously high piracy rate -- Amanita Design's Jakub Dvorsky estimates only 5 to 15 percent of players actually paid for the game -- the developer is holding a "Pirate Amnesty" sale for the point-and-click adventure game, temporarily marking its price down from $20 to $5.

So, because a ton of people obtained the game through illicit channels, we can grab it legitimately for 75 percent cheaper than usual? We're happy for the bargain, but that's setting an awfully bizarre precedent, guys.

Machinarium marked down to $5 for 'Pirate Amnesty' sale originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium dev moves on to Sony after Microsoft passes on publishing its critical darling

Xav de Matos — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST

A report late last week on XBLAFans.com claimed that Czech game studio Amanita Design had been "refused" a publishing deal to bring the critically-acclaimed Machinarium to Xbox Live Arcade, because the game was not an Xbox exclusive. While the quotes in the article were incendiary, they echoed information Joystiq received from developer Golgoth Studio earlier this year, when it too was denied a publishing deal from Microsoft for Toki HD. (Microsoft decided Toki HD didn't fit with its current portfolio.)

The key is that neither game has been refused space on the platform -- Microsoft has simply decided not to publish the games itself. Microsoft requires all XBLA titles be attached with a publishing partner, meaning neither Amanita Design and Golgoth Studio can self-publish the games on the XBLA platform. Sony and Nintendo do not have the same policy for the PlayStation Network and WiiWare, respectively.

Joystiq contacted Amanita Design founder Jakub Dvorský for to clarify the situation. "They told us, 'It's not Microsoft-exclusive, we don't want it.' They didn't cite the Mac and Linux versions [as reasons for the refusal] but it's quite clear that's the reason," Dvorský told Joystiq via email. As it did with Toki HD, Microsoft recommended Amanita Design pursue other publishers, an idea the team doesn't appear intent on exploring. "It means if we want to release the game on XBLA we must throw, probably, most of the profit out of the window -- to the publisher. Just because we created Mac and Linux versions."

Microsoft's official stance -- and policy, according to Dvorský -- is the company does not publish games that are not exclusive to its platforms. During the year-long process of waiting for a response from Microsoft, Amanita Design never expressed interest in submitting Machinarium to Sony's PlayStation Network. Now that Microsoft has decided against publishing the game, Amanita is exploring Sony's platform. "We submitted the game to Sony after Microsoft refused it," Dvorský said.

Machinarium dev moves on to Sony after Microsoft passes on publishing its critical darling originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Retail version of Machinarium comes with some extra goodies

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:00:00 EST

If you haven't already been point-and-clicking away at Amanita Design's gorgeous adventure game Machinarium over the past few months since its digital release, you're gonna have even less of a chance to avoid it when it hits retail (in a box!) on March 5. Lace Mamba Global announced the re-release this morning, noting that the retail version comes packed with some extra bonuses -- a 54-page "concept art document" (seen below), a poster, a printed walkthrough and the game's soundtrack (standalone disc). If you needed any more reason to grab the $20 title, we have to imagine this bag full of goodies certainly can't hurt.

Gallery: Machinarium (Retail release goodies)

Retail version of Machinarium comes with some extra goodies originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Point-and-click your way to the ever-charming Machinarium

Griffin McElroy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST

We know you're likely still occupied with the past week's pair of major blockbusters, but it'd be a shame if the release of a certain Small Wonder went unheralded by this blog. Enter: Machinarium, an impossibly charming, jaw-droppingly gorgeous adventure title for Windows, Mac and Linux which, after wooing us last month at PAX, is now available to purchase for a cool $20.

Not sure how you feel about hand-drawn adventure games featuring the misadventures of an adorable, mute robot? We suggest checking out the free demo of the game hosted on the game's official site. If you're still not enticed, we suggest getting a chest x-ray, because it sounds like there's a small chance that your heart is missing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Point-and-click your way to the ever-charming Machinarium originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Machinarium has become too gorgeous

Justin McElroy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST

You see, Amanita Design? You see what happens? You have a game like Machinarium that looks amazing and you have to keep pushing it, keep making it more beautiful and now ... now, it's so attractive that we're frightened of it. We're like cavemen encountering a time-traveling Swivel Sweeper, desperately swinging at it with our clubs, trying to snuff out the dark magic inside it. We've been driven utterly mad with desire, and it's all your fault: You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you should.

No, but seriously, watch the trailer after the break that SideQuesting brought to our attention. It looks crazy good, right?

Continue reading Machinarium has become too gorgeous

Machinarium has become too gorgeous originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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