System Shock: Night Dive Studios Shows How EVERY Game Needs to Be Crowdfunded


 

In dropping an amazing early demo for its System Shock remake on Kickstarter, you can very safely say Night Dive Studios also just dropped the mic on how every videogame developer from this point onward NEEDS to introduce their product should they take the crowdfunding route. Giving potential backers a taste of what’s to come at no cost save for the time it takes to download and play that sample makes a hell of a lot more sense than automatically thinking gamers love gambling blindly on an IP’s popularity, names of famous creators, insane stretch goals and other promises that have popped up with a bunch of other past to current games. As a few high to lower profile games that didn’t meet expectations or that failed to materialize post-campaign have shown, gamers feel the burn from these bad apples and take their anger out on whatever pops up next as a big deal project.

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Yes, some of those games got backer-only demos for certain mid-to high tier contributors (boo!). But to me, the idea of paying to play a demo build is a bit lame, no matter how great the pedigree of the team making a game. Although I’ve played some decent ones, Early Access games fall under the same category because there are some that have died on the vine after that demo drops and gets paid for. Granted, crowdfunding sites aren’t “stores” at all and your pledge is just that until the project meets or exceeds its goal and your money is gently lifted from your bank account. Anyway, if you remember System Shock and want to check it out even if you have no plans to fnd this remake, hit up the Kickstarter page and go get that demo on Steam, through the Humble Store or DRM-free over at gog.com.

The Technomancer Launch Trailer: Get Your Ass To Mars on PC & Consoles

With the risky and expensive on a few fronts potential of sending humans to Mars (on a one-way trip, yet!) being a big deal over the past couple of years, it’s clear that entertainment focused on the Angry Red Planet is going to be hot for a while. Fresh from veteran developer Spiders and publisher Focus Home Interactive comes The Technomancer, an action/RPG for PC, PS4, and Xbox One out tomorrow. A prequel to MARS: War Logs, the game looks to add to the lore Spiders set forth in that game while introducing new characters, environments and gameplay to players who buy their ticket to the stars.

I’ve been bonked on the noggin with a review code, so I’m going to be off-planet for a bit. Back with some impressions shortly. Oh, by the way: MARS: War Logs is on SALE on Steam for 75% off. Check it out if your curiosity is piqued. It’s got a few rough edges, but makes for a pretty decent diversion that makes The Technomancer all the more intriguing as a prequel. If the new game is even better, will Spiders go forward or back in the timeline they’ve created? That’s a question for sales figures to partially answer, I’d bet.

Greedy Guns: Give Them All Your Money, This One’s A BLAST

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Hi! Believe it or not, this is how the game’s demo BEGINS. Wow.

greed is goodFrom the crazy must-play demo alone, TioAtum’s in development arcade run ‘n gun Greedy Guns is probably going to be poking into a few “indie game of the week/month/year/whatever” territory as soon as it’s released. Between the super-fast gameplay, colorful cartoon visuals and excellent 360 degree blasting, this one’s got BUY ME stamped all over it.

Don’t believe me? Go try the demo out on the game’s Kickstarter page and you’ll be like my pal Vincent (Zombie Proof) Spencer, who noted “yup, this game is the STUFF” after I sent him a PM on Steam while he was in the middle of playing DOOM (or was it Fallout IV?).


 

Anyway, Greedy Guns is a fantastic homage to games like Metal Slug, Contra, Metroid, the Castlevania series and the *always* awesome Gunstar Heroes with sharper modern visuals, more exploration elements and what feels like an even higher adrenaline rush as you play. Solo and co-op play is supported and you’ll want to grab a friend (or get outside to make some new ones) because this game is HARD. But it’s also fair in its challenge, once you learn to not get squashed, zapped or otherwise mangled by the assorted baddies trying to do you in.

these guys want you dead

Hey! Don’t laugh at these guys. They may look sort of cute, but they intend to mean you plenty of harm.

 

Even if you’re NOT a fan of crowd-funding games, the demo is a must-play because it’s far enough along and fun enough to get you to part with a few bucks just so you can dive in and play the entire thing to the end. The three-man team is really swinging for the fences and the game is one of the best crowdfunded indies I’ve played this year. Take THAT, other games that make promises, deliver no demos and disappoint some… like an anime fan on (oh, you know the rest).

Kate and Bob

Kate and Bob are waiting. Don’t make them come get you.

Anyway, go support Greedy Guns. That pitch above shows the team knows what it’s doing and how killer their product will be when it’s all done later this year.

The Last Guardian: Finally Dated, The Wait Gets Less When-ish


 

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the-last-guardian-imageblock-02-us-15jun15Okay. I’m back. Sort of. Got a LOT of stuff going on up this way I’ll yak about in a separate post, but let’s all just watch this gorgeous trailer for the long delayed and finally has a release date soon to be instant classic The Last Guardian. Fumeto Ueda and his team’s game will indeed be worth the wait and in my mind, it’s one of the reasons I play videogames. For me, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus were and still are two of the best game experiences from the past 20 years, and seeing this final game appear means I can stop worrying about whether or not it will be good. I trust the creator and his vision and that’s all one needs in this case.

The Last Guardian hits retail and digital October 25, 2016. Yes, that collector’s edition below looks mighty nice, doesn’t it? Yep.

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Hands-On: No-Rule Hyrule Is An Amazing Place

Yep. You need a Wii U. NOW. Or when the game comes out, no hurry! Um, the NX version is supposed to launch the same day, so maybe you can get one of those too?

Yep. You need a Wii U. NOW. Or when the game comes out, no hurry! Um, the NX version is supposed to launch the same day, so maybe you can get one of those too?

 

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This blurry photo is a result of my hands shaking because I was about ten seconds away from firing up the first of two demos. Oops.

Other than a trip into the rabbit hole a few years back after an early teaser trailer, I’d deliberately been ignoring any and all news, gossip and other speculative to factual bits of info about Nintendo‘s new Zelda game because for my purposes, going in cold makes for the best gaming experiences. When the opportunity arose to be one of 500 people who weren’t going to E3 to play the demo, I cleared my calendar and made sure I got my butt down to the Nintendo World Store bright and early to score a slot. Once that was done, the breath holding began with the hope the demo wouldn’t disappoint.

It didn’t. Although a mere 40 minutes was spent with it (two timed sections of 15 and 25 minutes each), the demo of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the most memorable times I’ve had with any game I’ve ever played and definitely the most interesting Zelda game I’ve sampled.

The team has recreated the sense of wonder of the original NES game, but with a much larger and absolutely drop dead gorgeous open world Hyrule devastated by time and disaster starring a Link who’s been awakened after a 100-year slumber. How this ties into previous Zelda games is unclear at this point, but there are enough visual, aural and gameplay cues that give the new game a sense of familiarity longtime fans will get right away. The lucky ones chosen to play and plenty of onlookers at the demo event got to experience a game long in the making that’s going to feel fresh and incredible to longtime Zelda fans who may not play PC role-playing games like The Elder Scrolls or The Witcher series that offer massive maps and an amazing amount of quests to tackle. Breath of the Wild’s freshness brings manual jumping and climbing everything from trees to mountains to the franchise for the first time, no in-game companion/follower for Link (other than Amiibo support noted in the video below the jump), and a world where there’s a lot to do, but one in which the freedom to do as one wishes actually makes things MORE thrilling.

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Trailer Leaves a Few Folks Breathless


 

And that is a mighty good thing. Some (well, TOO many) gossipy babble fight web sites were going on for weeks about the decision by Nintendo to focus heavily on ONE game, complete with too many gullible gamers falling for the rumors that it was the ONLY game coming to E3 (it wasn’t). But as you can see, all that time and type in the rumor mill was wasted. Speculation sucks, doesn’t it? This game won’t. Back in a few hours with some hand-on impressions. Go watch the gameplay demo yourself over at Nintendo’s E3 site. It started at 1PM EST and will be going on pretty much all day. Back in a few hours with a few words on how it plays.

Tick Tock Bang Bang: Kitchen Sink Slo-Mo Hollywood-Style Destruction? Yep, That’s A Buy


 

Dejobaan-Games-Logo-ColorDejobaan Games‘ latest eye-popper, Tick Tock Bang Bang comes out tomorrow on Steam and yes, you probably need to be dodging cars, lasers and anything else the game throws at you just because this can come in handy as a real-life survival skill. Well, for a pie fight, maybe.

In real life, all of us who see a flying car would either scream like a busload of kittens going off a cliff or whip out that phone of camera to snap a selfie, THEN scream like that busload of kitties going off that cliff as the car was about to crush us like a grape.

Priorities, people, PRIORITIES. Duck and cover FIRST, then pop up to take that selfie right before the bus you were waiting for falls on your head because you didn’t look UP first. Oops.

For a bit of practice, here are some GIFs, as they do a good job of distracting you AND teaching you how to dodge pie-like stuff coming your way:

GIF - Terminal Velocity GIF - Exploding Android GIF - Laser Show GIF - Subway Fight

 

Too distracting? Okay, okay. Here are a few non-moving screenshots to tide you over until tomorrow, then:

tick_tock_bang_bang_alleyway tick_tock_bang_bang_car_accident tick_tock_bang_bang_exploding_walker tick_tock_bang_bang_giant_robot tick_tock_bang_bang_truck_cars_people

Fossil Echo: How Odd.. Is There an ICO in Here?

fossil echo logo 


 

Gamers who love stuff like Team ICO’s games, the Oddworld series and gorgeous artwork would do well to keep an eyeball peeled for Fossil Echo, set for a July 1 release on Steam. You can also pre-order the Fossil Echo – Special Edition directly from the developer for 14.99 (the price jumps up to $19.99 in about 20 days) which includes a Steam copy of Fossil Echo for PC, a Fossil Echo Original Soundtrack by John Robert Matz (25 tracks + 1 bonus), a 20+-page PDF: The Making Of Fossil Echo, other extras (such as wallpapers, profile pictures) and yes, the dev team’s infinite gratitude.

fossil echo art 

As for what the game is all about, well read on… Continue reading

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap – Blast From The Past Gets A WOW-Worthy Remake

 

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MouseManRunningMuch to the joy of many gamers in the know, there are now two major games on the way from indie developers focused on returning the classic character Wonder Boy to his former glory and both have the blessings and cooperation of series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa.

Sega still owning the rights to the character means Game Atelier‘s upcoming effort had to be redubbed Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (formerly known as Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze). But as Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap has just been announced, it seems that title is staying for the current time. Even if it changes at some point, the game being a beautifully animated remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap is what’s really getting some very thrilled.
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On Rusty Trails: Elvis Lives, But Needs a New Place To Stay

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Elvis (Custom)“Innovation” (cue angelic music or whatever you hear when that word is mentioned) is one of the most overused buzzwords in gaming “journalism” (another overused word clung to by some) and it’s clear that too many writers about games tend to try too hard to push the idea that if an new game isn’t “Innovative” it’s somehow lacking the necessary “fun” required that seemingly ONLY comes via “Innovation” (cue angelic music or whatever you hear when that word is mentioned).

Well, Black Pants Studio has some happy hogs that need to be washing by some of these soulful-eyed scribes who seem to not be having FUN because they’re waving their “innovation” meters all over every game they play looking hard instead of cutting loose and having… well, you know what.

On Rusty Trails banner 

On Rusty Trails is their new PC/Mac/Linux game set to hit Steam June 13 and early code in hand, a spin was taken that finds the game is truly more (and actual) FUN without trying so hard to “innovate” that it spins itself into a pretzel that pleases none but those who want it to bend how they please. But enough jabbing at peers here. Let’s get to the describing as best we can how FUN Elvis is to play as… Continue reading