Big Fish Games, proprietors of casual gaming, have released a new app on the Google Play store: Big Fish Unlimited. From within this app, Android users can access over 100 different casual games.
Big Fish Games is adding new games to the app each week and promises players can resume play between devices – if you start a game on your Android device, you can pick up where you left off on your PC through the cloud. Right now Big Fish Unlimited is, well, limited to folks in the U.S. running Android 2.2 or higher, but Big Fish promises to roll out the app to more regions "soon."
Big Fish Games is adding new games to the app each week and promises players can resume play between devices – if you start a game on your Android device, you can pick up where you left off on your PC through the cloud. Right now Big Fish Unlimited is, well, limited to folks in the U.S. running Android 2.2 or higher, but Big Fish promises to roll out the app to more regions "soon."
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is the very first gameplay footage of Kojima's next non-Raiden oriented entry into the annals of Metal Gear history, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. As you can tell, Snake's ability to stealthily infiltrate a compound and mess up everyone's day has remained in-tact since Metal Gear Solid 4 launched in 2008.
As we heard a couple days ago, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is an open world stealth game powered by Kojima Productions' proprietary Fox Engine. And yes, it did look super, super impressive.
Update: Konami's official release of the footage we saw earlier today has been embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Don't say we never got you anything.
Hideo Kojima divulged details on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes at an "introspective" PAX session about the series today. The game's demo was shown recently to attendees at a Metal Gear 25th anniversary event in Japan, and involved Snake sneaking his way through an open world.
So what else is new about Ground Zeroes? It's a "prologue" to Metal Gear Solid 5, says Hideo Kojima. The open world of Ground Zeroes is literally the entire world – a helicopter can be called to help during missions or ferry Snake in and out of mission levels. Moreover, you can customize the music that the helicopter plays when it arrives to help you ("Flight of the Valkyries" played during the demo we were shown today – Kojima says the louder the song is, the more of a chance of you getting caught, so maybe Slayer wouldn't be the best choice).
Kojima reiterates that Ground Zeroes is a current-gen game, though Fox Engine is scalable for next-gen as well. He wouldn't give specifics on the name, but calls the game "a beginning" rather than an end for the series.
Is Ground Zeroes the "Project Ogre" we've been wondering about? That's still not clear. What we do know is it's headed to current-gen consoles (360 and PS3 were mentioned) rather than the next, yet-to-be-determined hardware generation.
So what else is new about Ground Zeroes? It's a "prologue" to Metal Gear Solid 5, says Hideo Kojima. The open world of Ground Zeroes is literally the entire world – a helicopter can be called to help during missions or ferry Snake in and out of mission levels. Moreover, you can customize the music that the helicopter plays when it arrives to help you ("Flight of the Valkyries" played during the demo we were shown today – Kojima says the louder the song is, the more of a chance of you getting caught, so maybe Slayer wouldn't be the best choice).
Kojima reiterates that Ground Zeroes is a current-gen game, though Fox Engine is scalable for next-gen as well. He wouldn't give specifics on the name, but calls the game "a beginning" rather than an end for the series.
Is Ground Zeroes the "Project Ogre" we've been wondering about? That's still not clear. What we do know is it's headed to current-gen consoles (360 and PS3 were mentioned) rather than the next, yet-to-be-determined hardware generation.
During a Metal Gear 25th Anniversary panel at PAX 2012, designer Hideo Kojima talked about the development of the Fox Engine, which powers Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. Kojima spoke briefly about the engine's potential and versatility.
"The thing is, once we get the Fox engine moving as we do now. You can make an FPS, you can make an Uncharted, etc. But what I wanted to do is make an open-world game, and that's what I'm doing now," he said.
Kojima added that "other Konami studios may use it as well," and gave the Silent Hill series as an example.
"The thing is, once we get the Fox engine moving as we do now. You can make an FPS, you can make an Uncharted, etc. But what I wanted to do is make an open-world game, and that's what I'm doing now," he said.
Kojima added that "other Konami studios may use it as well," and gave the Silent Hill series as an example.
Speaking during the Metal Gear 25th Anniversary panel at this year's PAX in Seattle, Konami kingpin and Metal Gear mogul Hideo Kojima gave a bit of insight into the future of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance as a series, as well as his continuing relationship with Platinum Games.
"First of all, I'm not a huge fan of spin-offs," Kojima said. "But as far as Rising is concerned, if it works out well, I'd really like to work with Platinum again to make a sequel."
Kojima also said that he'd "really love to make" a game with The Boss as a main character, but that it would be part of the main series if it were to ever happen, rather than a spun-off title like Rising. Kojima couldn't comment on whether Platinum Games would be involved with that game's hypothetical production, only that he's "really loving working with Platinum."
"First of all, I'm not a huge fan of spin-offs," Kojima said. "But as far as Rising is concerned, if it works out well, I'd really like to work with Platinum again to make a sequel."
Kojima also said that he'd "really love to make" a game with The Boss as a main character, but that it would be part of the main series if it were to ever happen, rather than a spun-off title like Rising. Kojima couldn't comment on whether Platinum Games would be involved with that game's hypothetical production, only that he's "really loving working with Platinum."
To add to the recent September 25 release date announcement for The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, Atlus noted a price reduction for the upcoming detective game. The game will now hit retail shelves for $39.99 in order to "better compete amid a crowded holiday slate," according to Atlus' news release.
Atlus also sent along box art for the game, which you will find after the break.
Atlus also sent along box art for the game, which you will find after the break.
Of all the artist alleys we passed at PAX, we never expected to find a team of in-house Disney cartoonists hand-drawing popular characters for surprised attendees. Take a peek at the gallery below and see how some of Disney's iconic characters (featured in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two) were brought to life.
Last week, the folks at Lukewarm Media gave us a glimpse at the raptors who'll be stomping around in Primal Carnage, undoubtedly outwitting their human enemies who have guns. And if you want to be the prettiest raptor of them all, a pre-order will get you just that.
Plunking down cash now will not only net you the pretty feathered raptor above in-game, it'll also get you a Steam key for instant access to the ongoing closed beta. Sorry, no flamboyant raptors in the beta.
Plunking down cash now will not only net you the pretty feathered raptor above in-game, it'll also get you a Steam key for instant access to the ongoing closed beta. Sorry, no flamboyant raptors in the beta.
Remember a couple weeks ago, when Shane Butcher tried to sell his entire material life on eBay, including the chain of games resale shops he owns? Well, it turns out no one took him up on his $3.5 million "American dream," but that hasn't stopped the owner of a competing chain of Florida resale shops from deciding to do the same thing.
Rather than selling an entire life's worth of cars and property along with the stores, "Buddy and Dave" will only be selling the three existing Gamers HQ locations in Belleview, Inverness and Gainesville, Florida for a cool $2.6 million. All three locations are profitable and have been since day one, according to the eBay listing.
Both Buddy and Dave will stay on as consultants for three months after purchase, with an option to help open a fourth location that is already in the planning stages. Additionally, 10 percent of the listing's final sale price will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "This business succeeds thanks to children and giving back to them will be our first step if sold," reads the listing.
The chain of stores reportedly makes over $400,000 a year and prospective new owners can expect to earn a monthly take-home income of around $4,000, but if you can afford to spend $2.6 million on something, you're probably earning more than 50 grand a year anyway.
Rather than selling an entire life's worth of cars and property along with the stores, "Buddy and Dave" will only be selling the three existing Gamers HQ locations in Belleview, Inverness and Gainesville, Florida for a cool $2.6 million. All three locations are profitable and have been since day one, according to the eBay listing.
Both Buddy and Dave will stay on as consultants for three months after purchase, with an option to help open a fourth location that is already in the planning stages. Additionally, 10 percent of the listing's final sale price will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "This business succeeds thanks to children and giving back to them will be our first step if sold," reads the listing.
The chain of stores reportedly makes over $400,000 a year and prospective new owners can expect to earn a monthly take-home income of around $4,000, but if you can afford to spend $2.6 million on something, you're probably earning more than 50 grand a year anyway.
And you'll be able to play the updated iPhone version, Super Hexagon, as soon as next week. "I'm hoping to release it in a week, on Thursday the 6th of September, as a universal app for iPhone and iPad," Cavanagh announced. The iOS release will be on sale for a buck for the first week "or so," and will settle at $2.99 afterward. "Although I'm focusing on the iPhone version for the moment," Cavanagh notes, "I'm definitely going to put it out on other platforms later. PC/MAC at the very least, and Android is a possibility too!"
Just like the publisher's Far Cry 3 booth at PAX East 2012 offered attendees a chance to get permanently inked, PAX Prime 2012 attendees can get their perfectly coiffed doos turned into a mohawk to promote Ubisoft's upcoming shooter. The idea is that the newly mohawked community will look just like "Vaas," FC3's masochistic main antagonist. He totally has a mohawk!
The first 60 participants that accept the complimentary buzz get a free copy of Far Cry 3 when it launches on December 4 in the US.
The first 60 participants that accept the complimentary buzz get a free copy of Far Cry 3 when it launches on December 4 in the US.
When first revealed last year, the Sifteo Cubes were neat little 1.5 inch display blocks dreamed up by some folks at MIT. Impressive at the time, sure, but now the little guys have gotten a hardware refresh.
Each 1.5 inch cube now has improved graphics, capacitive touch functionality and can interact with 11 other cubes in total – double the maximum number of cubes as when it was announced. There's also a new wireless base station to connect blocks to allowing users to store their games, which forgoes the need to connect to the PC each time you wish to play something new. For developers, the Sifteo Cubes dev kit will be available on October 1.
The basic package will set you back $129.95 and includes three cubes, the base station with built-in speaker (five AAA batteries included!), USB port and cable, four free games – plus a free voucher to download a fifth game – and a carrying case. Each additional cube costs $29.95. Units will be shipping in November 2012, with pre-orders currently available on Amazon, Toys 'R Us or Siftio's website.
Itching to know more about the third entry in the Final Fantasy XIII series, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII? So are we, but unfortunately all Square Enix is giving out for now is this video from producer Yoshinori Kitase introducing the new game. ...
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The ancient game developer's tradition of distributing a massive pile of media assets during a conference is a sacred, time-honored trust that Konami is well aware of, hence the four galleries of brand spankin' new screenshots you see before you.
The images represent the latest look at Kojima and Platinum Games' slicing simulator Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while the three galleries beyond the veil represent the same for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Silent Hill: Book of Memories and New Little King's Story.
The images represent the latest look at Kojima and Platinum Games' slicing simulator Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while the three galleries beyond the veil represent the same for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Silent Hill: Book of Memories and New Little King's Story.
Rooster Teeth, the production company behind Red vs. Blue and a slew of other video adventures, has announced the dates for its third annual Rooster Teeth Expo, or RTX. The event will be held at the Austin Convention Center (which also happens to house GDC: Online every year) from Friday, July 5 through Sunday, July 7.
RTX 2012 drew a crowd of 4,000 people with a diverse programming schedule that included as many Halo 4 announcements as it did YouTube panels featuring Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen fame, making it a bit less orthodox than the typical gaming convention. Considering that RTX 2013 expands the event from two days to three, Rooster Teeth must believe its formula is working.
RTX 2012 drew a crowd of 4,000 people with a diverse programming schedule that included as many Halo 4 announcements as it did YouTube panels featuring Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen fame, making it a bit less orthodox than the typical gaming convention. Considering that RTX 2013 expands the event from two days to three, Rooster Teeth must believe its formula is working.
Rohrer is selling Diamond Trust directly from his website for $30. A counter on the site shows that there are around 4,500 copies left as of writing, which doesn't seem like very many copies at all. While missing out would teach you a lesson about scarce resources, much like we're sure the game would, it seems like a less fun way to learn.
According to the game's Japanese website, Motomu Toriyama is heading up the third game in the Final Fantasy XIII series (yes, we seriously just wrote that) – a game that's said to end Lightning's story. A video was shown during tonight's event that we're expecting to see pop up any time now, but we've got a concept art gallery below for you to check out in the meantime.
Update: Andriasang's liveblog of the Japanese event shares a variety of details on the upcoming game, including Lightning's customizable gear (said to be many and varied), the setting ("Navus Partus"), and more. Check it out!
As a special prize for one lucky attendee of tonight PAX Prime 2012 Fortnite panel – a reprise of the Fortnite panel we saw at San Diego Comic Con earlier this year – Epic Games gave out a golden ticket that provides early beta entrance to next year's Unreal Engine 4 PC game. So ... wait, does that mean there's gonna be an open beta for Fortnite?
"TBD," Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski told us immediately following the panel. "There will definitely be a closed beta," producer Tanya Jessing added, but she also refused to confirm whether an open beta is also in the cards. But hey, that one lady who won the ticket? She's totally in.
"TBD," Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski told us immediately following the panel. "There will definitely be a closed beta," producer Tanya Jessing added, but she also refused to confirm whether an open beta is also in the cards. But hey, that one lady who won the ticket? She's totally in.
What's "tactical action racing?" We aren't sure, but developer I-Friqiya claims its PS3 downloadable game Fuel Overdose is an example of that mystery genre. From the trailer, it involves top-down racing, with drift mechanics ... and grappling hooks. We're already on board. Any game plus a grappling hook is more than the sum of its parts.
Okay, actually that's probably not the "tactical" aspect. The initial announcement just covers the "racing" angle (plus grappling hooks!) I-Friqiya will reveal more about the other aspects later.
You may think, after watching the initial trailer, that Twisted Pixel pulled LocoCycle (in which you control a renegade robotic motorcycle that shoots and karate-chops its way across the country) out of some loony creative cauldron of its own making. But that's not quite true, says studio director Michael Wilford, showing the game for the first time at PAX Prime 2012. There is a very clear inspiration, he says, and it's Ice Cube's 2004 motorcycle racing movie, Torque.
"It's a really shitty movie," Wilford tells us. "It tries to be Fast and the Furious on motorcycles." Twisted Pixel's art director gave a copy of Torque to the company's chief creative officer, Josh Bear, one day as a joke, and Bear was directly influenced by a viewing, especially a scene where two women battle with motorcycles. "Josh had a nightmare that night," says Wilford with complete sincerity, "and woke up the next day and said, 'We have to make a game about a fighting motorcycle.'"
"It's a really shitty movie," Wilford tells us. "It tries to be Fast and the Furious on motorcycles." Twisted Pixel's art director gave a copy of Torque to the company's chief creative officer, Josh Bear, one day as a joke, and Bear was directly influenced by a viewing, especially a scene where two women battle with motorcycles. "Josh had a nightmare that night," says Wilford with complete sincerity, "and woke up the next day and said, 'We have to make a game about a fighting motorcycle.'"
Quotable
"I really regret that we had achievements on moral choices."
— Spec Ops: The Line design lead Jorg Friedrich on the way popup messages disrupted the game's message in places.
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Super Joystiq Podcast 016: Forza Horizon, Resident Evil 6, Metal Gear, PSOne classics
Latest episode: Friday, August 31st, 2012