Joystiq

Mass Effect anime coming this fall, all about James Vega

JC Fletcher — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:35:00 EST

All of the storytelling, none of the player choice. The Mass Effect anime is still on the way from Funimation, and, as social media manager Justin Rojas revealed at SXSW ScreenBurn, it's focusing on Mass Effect 3's James Vega.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is being written and created by Funimation (who usually works primarily on existing content from Japan) working with EA and BioWare, and tells Vega's backstory before his appearance in Mass Effect 3, which includes some "epic" things, Rojas assured.

Funimation picked up some anime stars to work on the visuals, including studio Production I.G and a character designer from Eureka Seven (presumably Kenichi Yoshida). We'll see how this Texas studio's collaboration with Japanese artists on a Canadian sci-fi license works out this year -- "We're estimating fall or so," Rojas said.

Mass Effect anime coming this fall, all about James Vega originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fezes are cool: An afternoon with Phil Fish

Jordan Mallory — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EST

Amidst the gridlocked, city-wide pandemonium that is SXSW Interactive, I was able to rescue Fez's lead designer and artist Phil Fish from a pack of ravenous, business-card waving fans long enough for an interview. We set up at the quiet end of the Palmer Events Center's glass-lined second floor, standing at a chest high, sidewalk cafe-esque table overlooking Zilker Park. It had been raining for two days straight, but that morning the clouds had parted and festival attendees were treated to one of the few gorgeous spring afternoons Texas will get this year.

Fez has missed its most recently announced release window of Q1 2012, but the fact that the game is undergoing Microsoft certification means that it'll be out relatively soon. "We almost made it to Q1," Fish said. "We entered certification like two weeks ago, but we actually just failed it, which is kinda standard. Pretty much everybody fails their first cert."

Microsoft has a two-month window in which it can release Fez once it has gone gold, and Fish wants to make sure it happens as quickly as possible. "We're trying to put pressure on them to release it as soon as possible because the zeitgeist is really good right now, with the movie starting to get a lot of play and the award. And, also, it's been five years. I don't want to wait another two months after that."

Continue reading Fezes are cool: An afternoon with Phil Fish

Fezes are cool: An afternoon with Phil Fish originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Phil Fish's next game won't be on XBLA, might be Kickstarter'd

Jordan Mallory — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:30:00 EST

Fez may just now be undergoing the certification process at Microsoft, but that doesn't mean designer Phil Fish is resting on his laurels. Quite the contrary, in fact; Fish's next project is already in its formative stages, and he's so anxious to begin work that he may use Kickstarter to fund it. Whatever that project might be, however, it won't be an XBLA game.

"Well, our next project is going to be not for XBLA," Fish told us during SXSW Interactive, in response to a question regarding Fez's limited XBLA exclusivity, and the possibility of a similar arrangement for his next title. "I think it's unfortunate that Microsoft works that way, but like I said [during the panel] we gave them what they wanted and they've been backing us up the whole time. I'm sure you've heard many horror stories of people working with XBLA; they've been nothing but understanding and supporting of us this whole entire time."

It's been three months since Fish's work on Fez ended; the game is still being debugged by other members of the team, but in his capacity as a designer he's finished. He hasn't quite known what to do with himself in the interim, and that restlessness has lead him and his team to heavily consider Kickstarter for their next project.

"It's going to take a while before we get money from Microsoft, and I want to get started on this project that I'm making with a couple people, a larger team than just me and another guy," Fish said. "We wouldn't need much and we wouldn't ask for much, but I assume we'll get more than we ask for, having just won the grand prize and Fez about to come out."

The campaign wouldn't start until after the release of Fez, which Fish is concerned about: "I'm afraid people might take [the Kickstarter] the wrong way. Like, 'Why do you need a Kickstarter, you just made Fez?' Yeah, but it takes five months before we get paid, maybe, it's totally variable, but at least three months. The best case scenario is we get paid three months after the release. I don't want to wait three months."

Phil Fish's next game won't be on XBLA, might be Kickstarter'd originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'The Boondock Saints Video Game' officially announced at SXSW Interactive

Jordan Mallory — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST

The Boondock Saints Video Game has just been announced at during a panel at the SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, TX. After a solid hour of women asking the film's cast to sign various parts of their bodies (seriously), an extremely brief trailer was shown for the title, which consisted of a camera fly-through of a seedy alleyway and two motionless character models of the Saints.

Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and David Della Rocco are contributing their voices to their respective characters, and will be part of the game's ongoing creative process, but beyond that no further information was given regarding platform availability or an expected release window.

Gallery: The Boondock Saints (McGinty's Alley art)

'The Boondock Saints Video Game' officially announced at SXSW Interactive originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget goes hands on with Angry Birds Space

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST

While we were talking to Rovio's Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka, our good friends at Engadget were speaking with Rovio's Ville Heijari, who gave them a thorough run through of Angry Birds Space's new gravitational elements and horrendously difficult Danger Zone, the latter of which is exclusive to Samsung's massive 5.3 inch Galaxy Note smartphone.

We had a chance to play the game as well, albeit briefly, and we can report that not only are these birds still very upset, but that the pigs' space program is far, far more advanced than we had anticipated. We also had no idea there were so many planets in the solar system, but who are we to correct NASA?

Engadget goes hands on with Angry Birds Space originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rovio wants Angry Birds Space on 'all the screens,' Vita version up to Sony

Jordan Mallory — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:35:00 EST

Rovio's plans for porting Angry Birds Space are just as ambitious as they were with the original, according to chief marketing officer/Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka. "With all our games, we're going for all the screens: Smartphones, tablets, TVs, the web, so we really want to bring Space to all the screens as well," Vesterbacka told us during this week's SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, TX. "As always, we have limited resources, so we can only do iOS, Android, PC and Mac for the launch, but the other platforms will follow shortly after."

Vesterbacka also mentioned that Rovio's back catalog of bird/slingshot simulators are still coming to the 3DS, and that potential Vita versions are in Sony's court: "We'll have our games on the 3DS pretty soon. The Vita we haven't decided what to do about yet, but of course we want to be on all the screens, so let's see how the Vita does in the market. And of course, always when working with these console guys it's not that we can decide, it's really if Sony wants to have Angry Birds on Vita. It's more up to them than to us."

Rovio wants Angry Birds Space on 'all the screens,' Vita version up to Sony originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boondock Saints game a 'full-on co-op shooter,' maybe episodic

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST

A video game based on The Boondock Saints film franchise has yet to be officially announced, but already some details are leaking out. After all, the MacManus brothers aren't exactly known for playing by the rules, unless it comes to truth, equality or shooting mobsters through the back of the skull. Critical Mass Interactive is developing the unannounced title, which is going to be a "full-on co-op shooter" for PC, Xbox 360 and possibly the PS3, CEO Matt Scibilia told G4.

Scibilia would like to release the game as a full retail product, but it may end up in episodic, downloadable form, he said. "We don't want to do a crap-ass franchise game," Scibilia said. "We're staying true to the content. We're looking to expand the story, not just retell the franchise.

"The Boondock Saints characters are so strong -- the banter, the relationships between Rocco and the brothers, the Catholicism, that will all be featured in the game."

Critical Mass Interactive will join members of the original Boondock Saints cast at SXSW's ScreenBurn Arcade series on Sunday, March 11 in Austin, Texas to talk details. Critical Mass also plans to show off the game in secret sessions at PAX East in April, and will reveal it for a wider audience at E3. Until then, watch the above trailer -- please watch it. You don't know how long it takes to find a reel of this film without any f-bombs.

Boondock Saints game a 'full-on co-op shooter,' maybe episodic originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Latest UMvC3 costume pack contains mysterious, unexplained Nova outfit

Jordan Mallory — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:30:00 EST

Every time a new costume pack is released for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Capcom explains the often obscure sources for said costumes. The "Viewtiful Strange" pack that came out last Tuesday, for instance, contains a Doctor Strange variant from a 1960s comic-book subplot, among other esoteric digs.

There is however one costume without an explanation, one that leaves our interests sufficiently piqued. Nova's new threads (as seen above) legally cannot be expounded upon, according to Capcom Unity, which means that the inspiration for this costume must come from a Marvel production that is currently unannounced. We know that Marvel will be making some sort of announcement during the SXSW Interactive festival in Austin next month, and while we're not willing to say that Nova will be getting his own game or anything, it's not beyond impossible for the two events to be related.

Latest UMvC3 costume pack contains mysterious, unexplained Nova outfit originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Boondock Saints cast to announce mysterious gaming thing at SXSWi [update]

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST

Update: A flyer for the event (added below) mentions Austin-based Critical Mass Interactive as part of the panel. A quick trip to the developer's website resulted in the banner image above, which pretty much removes any doubt about what this announcement could possibly be for. According to its LinkedIn profile, Critical Mass Interactive handles outsourced art, design and programming duties for other developers, listing The Outfit and The Incredible Hulk among its past projects.

Joystiq has learned that cast members from the 1999 cult classic film The Boondock Saints will be making some manner of gaming announcement during the ScreenBurn Arcade portion of next month's SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, TX. Now, whether that announcement is actually Boondock Saints related is anyone's guess, but that seems like the logical conclusion. At the moment, all we know for sure is that Norman Reedus (aka Murphy MacManus) will be in attendance.

We've got our money on it being one of those cross-over fighting games the kids seem to like so much these days; Boondock Saints vs. Pulp Fiction: Bullet Break Valencia, or maybe Boondock Saints vs. Snatch: Sceptered Isle Showdown. We're also not entirely counting out Willem Dafoe: Boy Detective, but we feel pretty good about the fighter thing.

Gallery: ScreenBurn Arcade (Flyer)

The Boondock Saints cast to announce mysterious gaming thing at SXSWi [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSWi ScreenBurn Arcade to host Street Fighter X Tekken tournament

Jordan Mallory — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:20:00 EST

SXSWi, the "interactive" technology portion of Austin's South by Southwest festival that runs between March 9 and 13, also hosts ScreenBurn, a three-day gaming conference and expo. The ScreenBurn Arcade portion of ScreenBurn is open to the general public, and to kick things off the first day of the Arcade will feature a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament, presented by IGN Pro League.

An exhibition-style tournament, the event will be more of a spectator activity, rather than something that the public can enter and participate in. Still, it'll be a good opportunity to see highly technical play of the game just after its release. Since attending the ScreenBurn Arcade doesn't require a SXSWi pass, Austinites interested in the future of fighting can swing by the Palmer Center between 3PM and 7 PM Central on March 9 to scope out the tourney. If you see a complete dork dressed like Dan Hibiki, come say hi.

SXSWi ScreenBurn Arcade to host Street Fighter X Tekken tournament originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indie Game: The Movie is an official SXSW selection

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EST

Indie Game: The Movie is leaving the screens of Sundance for the wider world's consumption, and one of its first stops will be at SXSW as an official festival selection. Indie Game: The Movie has been chosen on its value as a film, not being shown as a "Documentary Feature Competition" or a "Documentary Spotlight," but as a "Festival Favorite."

Indie Game was previously part of SXSW's ScreenBurn Arcade series, and directors / everything else James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot are scheduled to host a panel with Fez's Phil Fish.

SXSW runs from March 9-18 in Austin, Texas, with festival film badges starting at $550 (yes, those are the cheapest) before February 10. This may not be the "public" screening most of us are hoping for, but Indie Game: The Movie will post showings as they come up, such as the Santa Cruz screening it lists now.

Indie Game: The Movie is an official SXSW selection originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indie Game: The Movie showing at SXSW, creators hosting panel

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:20:00 EST

Can't make it out to the Sundance film festival to check out the world premiere of the crowdsource-funded documentary Indie Game: The Movie? There's no need to worry, assuming you can score passes to SXSW instead; the film will have a showing at the SXSW ScreenBurn Arcade (March 9 - 11) and SXSW Film (March 9 - 17) next year (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Austin, Texas.

The conference will also host a panel presented by IG:TM creators James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, along with Phil Fish, the creator of Fez, one of the titular indie games. The whole thing is so full-circular, we might just faint.

Indie Game: The Movie showing at SXSW, creators hosting panel originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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