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ToeJam & Earl creator says XBLA port not so certain; future games in franchise still a possibility

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 9th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Greg Johnson has been in the game industry for a long time. Having designed 16-bit Sega icons ToeJam & Earl way back in the early 90s and now running Humanature Studios, he's seen his creation rise to fame and subsequently slip into gaming history as the years ticked by. But last summer, when Sega created a poll tasking fans with selecting the next Genesis title to get the XBLA treatment, ToeJam & Earl popped back up on our industry's collective radar by taking the gold.

But it's not so simple! Johnson says Sega may have "got ahead of themselves a little bit" with that announcement "and didn't realize that they don't have the rights to the property." Apparently, Johnson assures us, "it's an easy mistake to make." This same shortcoming is also the reason why the characters will not be appearing in the upcoming Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, though showing up as DLC is still a possibility. "TJ&E will not be included ... and the option for including them as downloadable content is still open," Johnson said. "Sega said they're not ready to talk about that yet because they haven't started making any definite plans, but they promised to give me a shout when they get there – so hopefully we'll be able to work something out."

More interesting yet, it seems that Mr. Johnson shopped around the idea for a Nintendo DS multiplayer ToeJam & Earl game – though his pitch unfortunately met with deaf ears at "pretty much all of [the game publishers]." Check out some images of what could have been in the gallery below and continue past the break for more from our conversation with Greg Johnson.

Gallery: ToeJam & Earl 4 concept art/pitch

Continued →

This Wednesday: 0D Beat Drop, NBA Unrivaled & Encleverment Experiment on XBLA [update]

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 9th 2009 at 3:01PM }

Word has come down from on high, and this week's Xbox Live Arcade release is none other than 0D Beat Drop. What's that, you've never heard of 0D Beat Drop? Truth be told, neither have we. Thankfully, the game's Xbox.com page provides us all with the crucial details. If the above screenshot didn't tip you off, OD Beat Drop is a puzzle game; however, it has a musical twist, challenging players to drop pieces to the beat. OD Beat Drop can even analyze your own songs for use in the game (Protip: It's time to break out your Tetris soundtrack). The game will be available this Wednesday for 800

($10).

Also, if Tecmo is to be believed, NBA Unrivaled will release on XBLA this week as well. ~~It's worth noting that the game was not included in Major Nelson's XBLA announcement and that publishers are frequently mistaken about XBLA launch dates, so it's anyone's guess what Wednesday holds.~~

Update: Major Nelson has confirmed that 0D Beat Drop will be joined by both NBA Unrivaled (1200

/$15) and Encleverment Experiment (800

/$10) this week on XBLA.

Tecmo dunking NBA Unrivaled onto XBLA Nov. 11, PSN later

by Justin McElroy { Nov 9th 2009 at 2:40PM }

Tecmo's trying to fill the arcade-basketball-shaped hole in your heart left by NBA Street with NBA Unrivaled, a retro hoops release from developer A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games. Though the cleverly-named company is relatively new on the scene, it has experience to draw on after helping Sony build NBA '08: The Life.

We're happy to see some fun-loving 5-on-5 take the court, but we're a little nervous about how quickly the game's sneaked up on us: It's arriving this Wednesday on XBLA, and later on PSN, barely enough time to get our sneakers laced up.

Rumor: Screens of Dishwasher: Dead Samurai 2 leaked; Ska Studios responds

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 6th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Or, if you prefer: "Tom Morello strikes again; joined by Rebecca Romijn and Zach Braff."

Screenshots of what may be a sequel to the XBLA game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai have landed on 1UP, allegedly supplied by the same saboteur that leaked those supposed Halo: Reach images. The shots certainly jive with the original game's art style and do feature some new enemies, backgrounds and objects. There are a number of new weapons shown, including a minigun, some kind of halberd, something that appears to be a giant syringe and -- our favorite -- a humongous pair of scissors.

When reached for comment, Dishwasher creator James Silva said, "Ska Studios does not comment on rumor and speculation," and then added, "I'm never inviting Tom Morello, Rebecca Romijn and Zach Braff over again."

Encleverment Experiment begins on XBLA Nov. 11

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 5th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Aside from being a pretty cool name for a band, Encleverment Experiment is a new Xbox Live Arcade game from Blitz Arcade. Debuting on Wednesday, November 11th, the Avatar-supporting bout of brainage offers 16 different minigames and puzzles, including word searches, mathematical exercises and odd-one-out type things. Thankfully, the difficulty can be toned down from difficult (for adults) to something quite a bit easier (for children or bloggers).

If you're keen to enroll in "Professor Ivor Question's mental faculty," it'll cost you 800 points ($10). As an early test of your skill, see if you can count how many puns there were between the quotation marks.

Highlight for solution: 19. Look closely.

Gallery: Encleverment Experiment (XBLA)

Auditorium flowing to XBLA, PSN and PSP next year

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 7:30PM }

We haven't heard anything about Cipher Prime's plans to port its hypnotic musical puzzler, Auditorium, since the studio won a publishing contract in the 2BeeGames competition back in July. Today, a press release from newly named publisher Zoo Games revealed a few details about the title's console destinations: It's coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN, both as a PS3 and PSP download "early next year."

For those who want to know what the soothing buzz is all about, you can check out Auditorium for free on the 2BeeGames site. For those who can't access that site for some reason, just turn on some classical music, go turn on the nearest water faucet, and try to redirect the stream with your hands.

Madden NFL Arcade Achievements are funny, disturbing

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 4th 2009 at 7:15PM }

Everyone loves Achievements. That's a fact. As such, we really appreciate it when developers put some thought into their Achievements. While the 'cheevos for Madden NFL Arcade -- as unearthed by MGC -- are fairly standard in their execution, the names are all pretty amusing. We're particularly fond of "Like a Boss," likely named for the (incredibly NSFW) song of the same name. One that we're not so fond of is "2 Points 1 Win," making Madden NFL Arcade the second game to riff on an abhorrent internet meme that we refuse to explain (don't investigate if you value your sanity). Hit the source link for the full Achievement list.

X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Wallace & Gromit Episodes 2-4

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 4th 2009 at 3:00PM }

This week's episode of XBLA in Brief will likely seem a bit familiar. The reason for that is because the trial version of the final three Wallace & Gromit episodes is exactly the same as the trial version for the first episode. Suffice it to say that you won't see anything new if you've already tried the first episode. For the rest of you, watch the latest XBLA in Brief and see if the charm of Wallace & Gromit appeals to you.

Download the trial version of Wallace & Gromit Episode 2
Download the trial version of Wallace & Gromit Episode 3
Download the trial version of Wallace & Gromit Episode 4

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Zoe Mode creating not-for-profit XBLA puzzler for children's charity

by Randy Nelson { Nov 3rd 2009 at 11:59PM }

click to enlarge

OneBigGame, a non-profit games publisher founded in 2007, announced today that its first title will come from Zoë Mode, creator of games such as Crush (PSP), You're In the Movies (360) and co-developer of the SingStar franchise (PS3) with SCEE. Called Chime, the music-based puzzle game will launch this winter on Xbox Live Arcade.

The first screens, while sort of soothing in their minimalism, don't exactly explain anything about how the game's played. Thankfully, Zoë Mode goes into detail about the gameplay on its newly launched Chime site.

The developer is the first of what OneBigGame says are many others currently creating 15 titles, with at least 80 percent of all revenue made from them going to two charities: Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Zoë Mode developed Chime pro bono and has committed to giving all the royalties it receives from the XBLA game -- which it says will be around 60 percent of its purchase price -- to OneBigGame.

Other developers signed on to produce games include Shiny founder David Perry, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and prolific adventure game designer Charles Cecil (Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword).

Gallery: Chime

Why not to expect Capcom vs. SNK 2 on PSN, XBLA

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 3rd 2009 at 8:30PM }

In the words of Lord Cutler Beckett, it's just good business. Or, as Capcom's Seth Killian explained on the Capcom-Unity forums, releasing a downloadable version of Capcom vs. SNK 2 could be bad business. In a lengthy response to a call for the game on PSN, Killian gave several reasons for not re-releasing Capcom vs. SNK 2; all of them centered squarely on business. Among other things, the audience for the game is less sizable than that of Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, meaning a Capcom vs. SNK 2 port probably wouldn't be worth the money and resources Capcom would need to spend.

Killian noted that even if sales covered cost, placing developers on the project would mean removing them from others, like Super Street Fighter IV. Killian put it simply, saying, "When fan service becomes a black hole for time and money, that party gets ended pretty quick."

Another explanation, according to Killian, is that Capcom doesn't want to flood the market with fighting games. He suggested that most gamers only buy one or two fighting games a year -- thanks mainly to the amount of time it takes to master them. In other words, releasing too many games could dilute the sales of all of them. Besides, we all know that what Capcom should be working on is a new Darkstalkers.

[Via EventHubs]

The Street Fighter II HD Remix intro that never was

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 3rd 2009 at 4:05PM }

We're sure everyone likes the redrawn, high definition art featured in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but did you know that Udon also redrew the original SSFII intro sequence? It's true, and Capcom Unity has the video to prove it. After the break, you'll find the intro movie that Udon created, though it never made it into the actual game. The video features Ryu doing his fireball thing, while Chun-Li poses and Cammy (for some reason) gives everyone a raspberry. Watch the redrawn trailer and the original after the break.

Continued →

Diner Dash serves XBLA on Nov. 18

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 3rd 2009 at 9:45AM }

With the rough time a downloadable title can have finding success in the fourth quarter, it's probably a good thing that Diner Dash could likely give a plate-dropping damn how successful it ends up being on the console after it arrives on November 18th. The casual title by PlayFirst is already a hit in realm of personal com-pu-ters, having sold over five million copies.

The XBLA version of Diner Dash naturally includes HD-ified graphicals, along with a new multiplayer mode that includes support for up to eight players. The game will allow direct control over protagonist Flo, or the "traditional control scheme," which involves "point-and-click style with hotkeys." All the best to Flo in opening up her diner in the midst of the triple-A retail season ... she's going to need it.

Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 30th 2009 at 12:45PM }

As disastrous as the first game was, there's no denying that the Matt Hazard concept has potential. The games industry has been around for decades now, and it's ripe with material to poke fun at. Blood Bath and Beyond, D3's upcoming download-only sequel to the first Matt Hazard, embraces the legacy of retro games by becoming one: this side-scrolling 2D shooter is unapologetically old-school.

Matt Hazard's "in your face" attitude is immediately evident from the moment you see the difficulty select screen. You can traverse the game through "Wussy" mode, but real gamers will want to play in "Damn This is Hard" mode -- with the most daring playing the Contra-inspired "F**k This S**t" mode, which kills players in just one hit.

Like its retail predecessor, Blood Bath and Beyond struggles to be innovative. However, at least this iteration of Matt Hazard succeeds far more at getting the basics right. This is a simple game: simply run around shooting enemies. Weapon selection is gone, as well. You can run over power-up boxes and use upgraded weapons (like flamethrowers and shotguns) with finite ammo.

Gallery: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

Continued →

Team17 details Alien Breed episodes structure

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 29th 2009 at 4:00PM }

At the Eurogamer Expo -- in Europe! -- Team17 has revealed its plans for the episodic structure of its upcoming downloadable title, Alien Breed Evolution. It was previously revealed that the game would be released in three separate episodes, and now Team17's John Dennis explains that each episode will contain a prologue and five levels that are "much larger than they should have been." In addition, each episode contains two major "set pieces" -- large scripted events -- as well as two boss battles and a multiplayer level. Each episode should last five to eight hours.

The first episode of Alien Breed Evoluation should release fairly soon, as it was originally slated for "around October." The XBLA version will enjoy an unknown period of exclusivity before the PSN and PC versions are released.

Introversion: Darwinia+ on XBLA after Christmas

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 28th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Darwinia creator Introversion announced during this week's Eurogamer Expo that its upcoming Darwinia+ should arrive on Xbox Live Arcade by "the next side of Christmas." The game should be submitted to Microsoft certification in the coming weeks, hopefully ensuring a release early next year. Darwinia devotees will remember that the game began its journey to XBLA all the way back in 2006, and, according to Eurogamer, Introversion isn't exactly happy about it.

The company's Chris Delay noted that Microsoft required several changes to the game, most notably the inclusion of multiplayer. Said Delay, "We were trying to satisfy Microsoft. That's the most awful motivation in the world for making a videogame." Here's hoping the developer's devotion to bringing the game to XBLA has paid off.