Joystiq

EscapeVektor dev Nnooo working on PS4, Vita game

Sinan Kubba — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST

Australian studio Nnooo is working on a new game for the PlayStation 4 and Vita. The EscapeVektor dev announced the news today after receiving PS4 developer approval.

"It's exciting to be developing for a new generation of consoles," said Creative Director Nic Watt. "We're delighted to get early access to PS4 development kits so we can get our games on the console as quickly as possible."

Nnooo says it's bringing the new game to other platforms too, and while Nnooo didn't specify them they'll almost certainly include at least one of the Wii U and 3DS. Nnooo bills itself as a studio making games for Nintendo and Sony platforms, while Business Director Bruce Thomson tweeted this morning its game will head "Nintendo-side" at some point.

"We're still at an early stage of development of our new game," said Watt. "We don't want to announce anything until we are more advanced with the project. Hopefully we'll be able to say something about it around the middle of the year."

Continue reading EscapeVektor dev Nnooo working on PS4, Vita game

EscapeVektor dev Nnooo working on PS4, Vita game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EscapeVektor plots a course for North American Vitas on Jan. 22

Richard Mitchell — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:45:00 EST

After launching on 3DS a few weeks ago, EscapeVektor finally has a release date for North American Vitas. The action puzzler will make its way to PSN starting January 22 for $10. EscapeVektor tasks players with escaping an evil computer and features over 150 levels.

Continue reading EscapeVektor plots a course for North American Vitas on Jan. 22

EscapeVektor plots a course for North American Vitas on Jan. 22 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EscapeVektor 3DS dated, Vita too in Europe, Australia, New Zealand

Sinan Kubba — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST

Former WiiWare exclusive EscapeVektor is breaking out onto 3DS on December 20, while Europe, Australia, and New Zealand welcome a Vita version the day before on December 19. The Vita version of the retro-styled puzzler is coming to North America at some point, but developer Nnooo hasn't set a release date. EscapeVektor is priced on 3DS at US$9.99/€9.99/AU$13/NZ$17, and on Vita the prices are €9.99/AU$15.95/NZ$18.90.

Beyond bundling all four chapters initially planned for WiiWare into one game, the Vita and 3DS editions feature console-specific functionality; the 3DS version includes 3D graphics, while the Vita version uses the gyroscope to adjust camera angles. Both versions also include leaderboards.

Continue reading EscapeVektor 3DS dated, Vita too in Europe, Australia, New Zealand

EscapeVektor 3DS dated, Vita too in Europe, Australia, New Zealand originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EscapeVektor absconding to 3DS and Vita

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

Originally exclusive to WiiWare, escapeVektor is plotting a new path to the 3DS and PlayStation Vita. If you missed the WiiWare release, escapeVektor has players helping a digital being named Vector, who is trapped inside the game console itself. This boils down to a simple action puzzle game of sorts with minimalist graphics.

Australian developer Nnooo had intended to release the game in four chapters on WiiWare, but has since decided "to roll them all into one game and bring it out on these new consoles to reach a wider audience." escapeVektor is slated for to launch on 3DS and Vita later this year. You can check out a trailer of the WiiWare original above.

Continue reading EscapeVektor absconding to 3DS and Vita

EscapeVektor absconding to 3DS and Vita originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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escapeVektor escapes from Wii, on Wii

JC Fletcher — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:00:00 EST

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 isn't just a game stored on your Wii's internal memory, its official storyline takes place inside your Wii's internal memory. According to the announcement, "Vektor" is trapped inside the Wii by the system's CPU, who constantly sends enemies after him. The player guides Vektor through a series of connected lines in Qix-style gameplay, attempting to get away while avoiding the enemies.

As Vektor makes his way out of the system, he regains memories -- but, presumably, not all of them. This game from Pop developer Nnooo is the first in a series of escapeVektor games. It's due on WiiWare in the second half of this year -- if it can break out of Nnooo's development kits. A 3DS version is also in the works.

Continue reading escapeVektor escapes from Wii, on Wii

escapeVektor escapes from Wii, on Wii originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WiiWare devs speak out on lacking support from Nintendo

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST

Speaking with a handful of indie WiiWare game devs, GamesIndustry.biz (warning: login required) uncovered the not-so-startling truth behind Nintendo's support for third party devs on its digital distribution platform: there is none. "We feel that Nintendo is not doing enough to promote the service at all," said JV Games VP Jag Jaeger of the publisher's support.

Jaeger added that it's not just a question of underpromotion, it's also a measure of not having access to the same tools that The Big N does. "Help create a more even playing field by allowing developers to use Nintendo resources ... even a more fair use of the Nintendo Channel would help -- Pokémon will be advertised for months while third party titles get a week usually." He also argued the subject of localization/marketing support in foreign markets and Nintendo's general "fend for yourself" attitude towards WiiWare development. "Nintendo, in my opinion, could do more to keep the WiiWare and DSiWare stores in customer's minds," agreed Nnooo's CEO and creative director Nic Watt. We've asked Nintendo for a response to the various allegations and will update this post if we hear more.

Source - Developers call on Nintendo for more WiiWare support (requires login)

WiiWare devs speak out on lacking support from Nintendo originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pop developer making non-game DSiWare apps

JC Fletcher — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST

Nnooo, creator of Pop, is working on a series of DSiWare productivity downloads called myLifeCollected, designed to make your life easier. If you didn't know Nintendo-related news you were going to complain about today, it's already made your life easier!

The first app, called myNotebook, is a 32-page virtual notebook with auto-save and ink color features. Users can select lined, square, or blank backgrounds for each page. Pricing and release date have yet to be announced. Nnooo is planning to make myNotebook available in three different color varieties when it comes out.

For those of you waiting for Pop + Solo (What? We liked Pop), Nnnoo says that it's been submitted to Nintendo for approval.

[Via GoNintendo]

Pop developer making non-game DSiWare apps originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VC Friday: Bubbles and Pokemans

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Virtual Console, WiiWare

It's a double WiiWare update for Europe and Australia this week as the fresh-faced download service once again blots out new old games. There is a pattern emerging here -- WiiWare one week, Virtual Console the next, and so forth -- but we're not yet sure if it's a deliberate trend or just a coincidence. Either way, it's pretty plain now that Virtual Console stuff is going to become less regular. Up for grabs this week:

My Pokémon Ranch -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points
Pop -- WiiWare -- 700 Wii Points

Videos after the break!

Continue reading VC Friday: Bubbles and Pokemans

VC Friday: Bubbles and Pokemans originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo reveals first WiiWare titles for Europe

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:45:00 EST

Filed under: News, WiiWare

Nintendo has released a list of eight games described as "launch window" titles ahead of WiiWare's debut in Europe on May 20th. Included are four games that the U.S. is still waiting on -- Dr. Mario & Germ Buster, Star Soldier R, Toki Tori, and Pirates: The Key of Dreams -- though it looks like Europe will be waiting a little longer for Defend Your Castle and V.I.P Casino: Blackjack. Frankly, we'll live without a blackjack game.

Once again, note that these are "launch window" games. How long is a launch window? No idea. "Launch window" is one of those infuriatingly flexible terms beloved by PR types. Anyway, the list of WiiWare games that Europe will be getting kinda near the launch is as follows:

There's currently no news on pricing, but we'd fully expect European WiiWare prices to match those of other regions, assuming Nintendo hasn't found a totally new and unique way to rip European gamers off.

Nintendo reveals first WiiWare titles for Europe originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 May 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Fanboy Review: Pop

JC Fletcher — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, WiiWare

Click for larger image

Nnooo's Pop is an unusual puzzle/shooter hybrid. It has a lot in common with matching-based puzzle games: activating multiple objects (in this case, bubbles, activated by tapping) of the same color as they fall builds a score multiplier, and gameplay-modifying items are found in some of the objects. However, unlike Columns or Bust-a-Move, there is little immediate penalty for missing. Bubbles don't build up and kill you when they fill up the screen -- they fly by at a constant rate regardless of your actions. You are required to pop consistently to fill a timer, but the lack of building stacks does change the character of the game a lot versus that kind of puzzle game.

Instead, Pop's tension is based more on recognizing the flying bubbles quickly, and popping as rapidly as you can with some semblance of strategy. There's no penalty for popping different colors, but popping the same color builds your score multiplier. Big bubbles add more time but less score, and small bubbles add more score but less time. Since all of these effects are still positive, the basic strategy of the game is to pop the hell out of anything that is a bubble. In this way, the game feels very much like a scrolling shooter.

Continue reading Wii Fanboy Review: Pop

Wii Fanboy Review: Pop originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 May 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WiiWare goes live!

Chris Greenhough — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: News, WiiWare

As we anticipated, Nintendo waited until the last possible moment to reveal the details on WiiWare's U.S. launch. In a press release which describes WiiWare as the "most democratic environment in industry history," Nintendo confirmed the six titles that launched with the download service today -- and it looks like the leaked information from the weekend was spot-on:

LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points
Pop -- 700 Wii Points
Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points
TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points

So it's finally up -- hurray! Monday mornings haven't felt quite this optimistic in some time! Have any of you lot already downloaded yourself some WiiWare?

[Via press release]

WiiWare goes live! originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 May 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo reveals WiiWare launch List

Candace Savino — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors, WiiWare

The North American WiiWare launch is almost upon us, and instead of the stealth releases that we thought were coming, Nintendo's press release of WiiWare games debuting this Monday (along with their point values) was recently leaked. While we can't be sure this list is 100% valid, it looks like we can expect the following:

Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points
Pop -- 700 Wii Points
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points
TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points
LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points

Although we're disappointed by the lack of Dr. Mario, this looks like a pretty solid launch list to us. It'll be difficult to pick and choose exactly which titles we want, but there are definitely some that stand out more than others.

How about you? Do you plan on downloading any of the above, or are you going to wait for impressions and reviews first?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Nintendo reveals WiiWare launch List originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 May 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pop to cost from $5 to $8

Candace Savino — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: News, WiiWare

When we first heard about Pop (okay, maybe not right at first), we were charmed by its addictive-looking simplicity. That, though, was well before a slew of other games were announced for WiiWare.

That doesn't mean that we've lost interest in the bubble-themed puzzle game, but we'll be a little more picky when it comes to purchasing it. If you're on the same page as us, you might be thinking that the cost of Pop could be its "make it or break it" factor, which is why we don't envy the people in charge of making such decisions.

Nic Watt, creative director of Nnooo, says that it's difficult to determine how much the software will cost because there's no set line for WiiWare games. To be fair to consumers, the company is trying to base their game by Virtual Console standards. According to Watt, the game should be "somewhere between a NES and SNES game in price," which means it will cost from 500 to 800 points (aka, $5 to $8).

What say you, readers? Does that sound about fair?

Pop to cost from $5 to $8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 May 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NMS08: Joystiq gets their hands dirty with WiiWare

David Hinkle — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:45:00 EST

Filed under: WiiWare

Besides checking out what retail Wii and DS games Nintendo had available, Joystiq also managed to spend some quality time with WiiWare and a few of its games. The general consensus? It's a mixed bag.

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People seems to capture the Flash toon's look and feel, but is fairly linear (at least in the demo available at NMS08). Stern was also able to pry some more info about the episodic nature of the game from the title's marketing director, who said "Each episode, a different designer [is in charge], which is more like they do on TV. ... It's still the same team. [But] it'll be interesting to see how the episodes feel as a result. With Sam & Max, we've had complaints that they feel too similar. We might find with Strong Bad, that each one feels very different."

LostWinds is shaping up nicely, apparently, as Stern commented "Because of game's playful controls, I wish I could have spent the time progressing through the entire game." He says this because LostWinds is actually finished, and the folks behind it hope its in the WiiWare launch lineup.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is more for the folks that like everything outside of the combat in RPG games. It's very menu-heavy, and you're very much like the manager of the game, sending out your townfolk to find goodies to bring back to you.

Pop seems to have some very interesting multiplayer mechanics and, like LostWinds, is totally finished. The single-player games are "casual and a trance-like way to relax," apparently. They hope that it will be in the WiiWare launch lineup and between 500 and 800 Wii Points.

Major League Eating is offering up a buffet of features for users to take from, including Wi-Fi gameplay and the complete package of competitive eating. There's going to be gross out techniques, as well as actual attack and defensive maneuvers. We're not all about who can eat a billion hot dogs the fastest ourselves, but it looks like this one is shaping up to be a full meal of fun on WiiWare.

World of Goo is something that we've been interested in, surely you all know. And everytime someone checks it out and bothers to write something up on the internet, we're even more convinced this is a must download. Stern's label that this title has the "clever puzzle mechanic" and "irresistible gameplay" we've been hoping may have just cemented its status as a must own for us.

Read - Major League Eating
Read - World of Goo
Read - LostWinds
Read - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Read - Pop
Read - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

NMS08: Joystiq gets their hands dirty with WiiWare originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq hands-on: Pop (Wiiware)

Zack Stern — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Nintendo Wii, Puzzle, Casual, Galleries

WiiWare will include casual, simple, and hopefully cheap titles with its upcoming release outside of Japan. While some of the Wiiware efforts on display at the Nintendo Media Summit impressed and surprised me, I was more ambivalent about Pop.

The simple game is just about pointing and clicking on bubbles that drift by. Click a bunch of like-colors in a row, and rack up a bonus score that's activated when you pop a different-colored bubble. Miss the bubbles completely, and the count-down timer jumps ahead, moving closer to the end of the game. The only other catch is that your potential points and time keep rising with bubble-popping combos, but they aren't added to the game until you break the run. Get too greedy, and you'll run out of time.

Gallery: Pop (WiiWare)

Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: Pop (Wiiware)

Joystiq hands-on: Pop (Wiiware) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pop on Wii Ware looks cooler than we thought

Candace Savino — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, WiiWare

Okay, we admit that we were a little skeptical about Pop, Nnooo's upcoming Wii Ware title. You might even say we were blatantly snarky. We fear that we might have to eat an unhealthy serving of crow, however, after seeing IGN's impressions of the game.

Even though it has a simple concept, Pop appears to be surprisingly deep. Not only does the game have an enchanting aesthetic, with sixteen different background variations, but the gameplay also has many different facets. The multiplayer mode seems to be the game's bread and butter, allowing four players to compete in some bubble popping madness. Strategy comes heavily into play here, as you have to pop big bubbles to add more time to your meter, yet pop small bubbles to get more points and beat your competitors. Pop also gets harder as it progresses, putting our fears to rest that the game would be too easy.

Nnooo also tries to deliver a fulfilling single-player experience by adding achievements to the game, which they call "badges," as well as various playing modes. You can also earn badges in the multiplayer setting, not to mention have your scores tracked and pimped via WiiConnect24 notifications. IGN reports that the soundtrack is pretty enticing, too, and might be sold over iTunes at some point.

We're starting to become excited about this title, at least a little bit, and if pulled off correctly we think it can only mean good things for the future of Wii Ware. What do you guys think? Can Pop be the next Geometry Wars?

Pop on Wii Ware looks cooler than we thought originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yay? Australian dev brings Pop to Wii Ware

Eric Caoili — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Channels, WiiWare

Sydney-based studio Nnooo (pronounced "No!" as in, "No, our game doesn't really have much to it.") announced last night its plans to develop an all-ages Wii Ware project titled Pop. Playable by up to four people on the same console, Pop "challenges" you to quickly burst bubbles and rack up points with chains and multipliers. Judging from the trailer embedded past the break, the game's design and mechanics are about as simple as they sound. If you're looking for more depth, you might want to hold onto your Wii points and play with a sheet of bubble wrap instead.

Continue reading Yay? Australian dev brings Pop to Wii Ware

Yay? Australian dev brings Pop to Wii Ware originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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