Indie developer Moise Breton turns to Kickstarter this week to fund A.N.N.E., a 16-bittish blend of shoot-'em-up action and Metroidvania-style exploration.

Similar in premise to Sunsoft's NES classic Blaster Master, A.N.N.E. features horizontally scrolling shooter levels that bridge smaller-scale, on-foot sequences. The game also boasts physics-based puzzles and a level-up system, further sweetening an already tempting package.

In its first few days of funding, A.N.N.E. has already earned over $10,000 toward its initial funding goal of $70,000. While the project is currently Windows-only, ports for Mac, Linux, PSN, Ouya, and Wii U are under consideration, pending stretch goal support. A.N.N.E. is also up for vote at Steam Greenlight.

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.

Fist Face Fight is a simple, fast-paced tap-to-punch game in which you defend a heart from attacking ninjas. You act from an overhead perspective, keeping tabs on the heart at the bottom of the screen and directing a disembodied fist while ninjas and other hazards encroach from all sides.

By tapping around the screen, Fist Guy (as he shall be called from now on) will strike out at that spot in a straight line and rest. Anything in Fist Guy's path will be be punched, even the heart.

Continue Reading

Buddy & Me, a beautifully drawn 2D endless runner about a boy and his "magical flying creature" pal having adventures in a dream world of "infinite treehouses," passed its $40,000 Kickstarter goal, ending with $42,093 raised. That funding will enable developer Sunbreak Games to complete the iOS/Android game, expected in June.

Founder Jason Behr had experience working on the Metroid Prime series as lead level designer, and on Halo 4 as senior mission designer, before starting his own company and working on a game that looks nothing like either of those. "At Sunbreak," the Kickstarter project explains, "we're dedicated to crafting entertainment with a more 'positive' tone, so for Buddy & Me we focused on three core themes: companionship, an obsession with treehouses, and the natural excitement of exploring the great outdoors."

Apart from patching up software and hardware issues, the Ouya's biggest hurdle is the same one that every new console faces: Games. That's where Kellee Santiago comes in. Santiago made a name for herself with thatgamecompany, the studio behind Flow, Flower and Journey. After departing thatgamecompany in 2012, she joined Ouya earlier this year as its head of developer relations. That makes it her job to both work with Ouya's current developers, reach out to new ones and, perhaps most importantly, help curate the content on the Ouya store.

"One of the, I would say, main goals for the console is to create an ecosystem in which any developer can find the right audience for their game through Ouya." That means creating a system that is "naturally diverse" to begin with, she says, and "taking a look at what are our early developers naturally gravitating to. What is [the] content we want to get onto the platform in order to increase the diversity of our portfolio."

That also means avoiding "the trap that many new distribution channels can fall into, which is sort of feeding into the early successes of the games that were accepted by the initial audience of the platform." That's easier said than done, and Ouya has a handful of battles to fight.

Continue Reading

The Realm is being developed by Atomhawk Design, a studio that specializes in art production. Having worked on several well-known games – including Mortal Kombat, Dead Island, Injustice and Enslaved, among others – Atomhawk is now trying its hand at an internal project, The Realm.

A point-and-click adventure game that draws inspiration from Monkey Island, Machinarium and Ico, The Realm tells the story of a girl, Sarina, and her stone golem, Toru. Controlling both characters, the player solves environmental puzzles using the abilities of each. From the sound of things, Toru's immense size and strength will probably come in handy.

Atomhawk is seeking £195,000 ($297,000) to fund The Realm on Kickstarter. The goal is to put the game on PC, Mac and tablets within approximately eight months.

The Ouya has surpassed 10,000 registered developers. The news comes courtesy of Ouya's head of developer relations, Kellee Santiago, who told Joystiq that the tiny console just passed the significant milestone. Santiago didn't divulge any of the studios that might be on the list, but noted there should be some announcements in the "upcoming few weeks."

Some of the high-profile names we've already heard include Double Fine, Polytron, Airtight Games and Minority Media. We spoke to Santiago regarding her role at Ouya and how she plans to expand its library and attract developers. Expect more on that conversation next week.

The "Edge" trademark belonging to Edge Games founder Tim Langdell has been canceled by a court order, stripping Langdell of the ability to file suit against every other game developer and publisher who used the word "Edge" in any context.

Following a petition by DICE and EA (Mirror's Edge), the US Patent and Trademark Office officially issued notice of the cancelled registration on April 17, a process that has been ongoing since 2010. Two Tribes, publisher of Mobigame's Edge (pictured), celebrated by discounting all versions of the puzzle game 50%. Edge was taken down from the App Store repeatedly due to issues with the "Edge" trademark.

Subatomic Studios has announced that Fieldrunners 2, having already hit iOS and Steam, is hoofing it to Android next week. The release won't have any Android-only content, but it does have the original's twenty-plus hour campaign, colorful hand-painted graphics, and Time Trial, Sudden Death, and Puzzle modes.

The Android version of Fieldrunners 2 will be available on April 24 on the Google Play store. Subatomic says its next focus will be on releasing an update for the iOS version.

Continue Reading

Good news for Ouya Kickstarter backers (and anyone planning to buy a retail unit in June), a new firmware update will let you change your payment options. Previously, credit card information was locked into the associated Ouya account once it was entered. Now, users may change their credit card information at any time under account settings in the Manage menu.

The Ouya recently began shipping to Kickstarter backers as part of a public preview period, and today's update irons out one of the kinks cited in our review of the console's current state.

One summer, when I was a kid, I wandered into a garage sale and came across an old Atari 2600 and a shoebox full of games. I don't remember how much they wanted for it, but it was low enough that a kid without a job could afford it, so it wasn't much. I took it home, immediately hooked it up to the television and started rifling through the games.

Most of the games were simple, executions of a single concept. Some of them were great, some were passable but forgettable, while others were nigh indecipherable. Naturally, there were some genuine turkeys in there too. It was hard to be disappointed though, since I could just pop in another cartridge and, after all, the entire box of goodies had cost me practically nothing.

That summer day pretty much encapsulates my experience with the Ouya thus far.

Continue Reading

Chinese indie developer Onipunks Studio kicked off its Kickstarter campaign for C-Wars last week. C-Wars is a roguelike real-time strategy and tower defense-styled game that is currently in its alpha stage of development. The game has players investigating infected areas of a post-apocalyptic world, taking on enemies in Mega Man Battle Network-style RTS combat along the way. The game's site notes that battles are much faster paced with non-stop action being a focal point, as seen in the developer's Kickstarter video above.

Onipunks is offering a free demo of the alpha build of the game on its website. C-Wars is currently sitting at $19,943 in funding, and is seeking $32,000 by May 11 to complete its Kickstarter campaign. The game is coming to PC, Mac, Linux and Android tablets in fall 2013, with the developer considering Wii U and 3DS support, providing enough money is pledged to make that happen.

ZeptoLab is gearing up to launch the third entry in its Cut the Rope series soon, Cut the Rope: Time Travel. This latest adventure follows Om Nom, the critter with a craving for candy, as he gets sucked into a time machine and travels to various periods in time to presumably solve various physics-based puzzles to make it back. You know, that old chestnut.

Cut the Rope: Time Travel will launch on iOS and Android simultaneously, though ZeptoLab tells Joystiq it's currently unsure of when exactly that will be. As far as how time travel will fit into the game, this is also a mystery.

Tekken Card Tournament was downloaded over a million times (in aggregate) within the first four days of its availability on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon's Appstore for Android, Namco Bandai has announced. That's not counting however many people played the game directly in their browser, either.

To signify the occasion, Namco Bandai has enacted a 48 hour, 30 percent off sale for all in-game booster packs, as of 11 a.m. Eastern this morning. Do note: this discount applies to the packs of cards themselves, which must be purchased using in-game currency. The purchase price of the in-game currency itself, however, has not been discounted, though you'll still get more for your credits while the sale is in effect.

You can always earn credits by winning matches and stuff too, but who has time for that in this modern age?

Continue Reading

Rockstar has released the soundtracks for its most recent Grand Theft Auto games onto Spotify and iTunes. Sadly, just the tunes from Grand Theft Auto 3 and every entry since are here – none of Rockstar's zany commercials or satirical talk radio stations.

The only place to get the full soundtracks still is through Rockstar's box set releases; however, if you want to just listen to the ads, you can point your browser to The Advertising Council.

Rockstar recently revealed the box art for Grand Theft Auto 5, due on September 17 for Xbox 360 and PS3. Even though over 100,000 have signed a petition calling for a PC port, Take-Two has not announced Grand Theft Auto 5 for the PC at this time.

Rayman Jungle Run, like Rayman Legends, is being updated with a bunch of extra levels. However, unlike Legends, the mobile runner's free levels aren't a gesture of reconciliation following a delay, they're there just because.

Also different: with Rayman Jungle Run, there is no delay. The game, and 20 new levels, are there right now as a free update to the iOS and Android versions. Windows 8 is coming soon.

Continue Reading

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which handles consumer protection in the UK, announced it's reviewing if freemium web and app games are encouraging children unduly to make purchases. The OFT says it's contacted certain companies behind free-to-play games, and asked parents and consumer groups to reach out with info about "potentially misleading or commercially aggressive practices" within such games.

The investigation is focusing on games that directly target children, the OFT says, via excessive pressure to make a purchase or to do something that requires a purchase. The OFT states this is illegal under the country's Consumer Protection Regulations Act of 2008.

"We are concerned that children and their parents could be subject to unfair pressure to purchase when they are playing games they thought were free, but which can actually run up substantial costs," said OFT Senior Director for Goods and Consumer Cavendish Elithorn. "The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected. We are speaking to the industry and will take enforcement action if necessary."

According to OFT, 80 of the country's highest grossing Android apps on April 9 were freemium ones. Earlier this year, Apple paid upwards of $100 million in gift certificates to account holders whose children spent money without holder permission on Capcom's Smurfs Village iOS game, this after a settlement on a lawsuit which stated Apple "failed to adequately" disclose the presence of in-app purchases aimed at children.

[Image Source: PicPocket Books]

Earlier this week, we took a look at the Ouya hardware that began shipping to Kickstarter backers last month. Now, join us as we delve into the software that makes the little console tick. We should have a broader review of our experience with the Ouya within the coming days.

The Xbox 360's 'second screen' app, SmartGlass, has been tweaked to support 7-inch and larger Android tablets. The 1.5 Android update also provides "always-on" support - no, not that kind of always-on, but a state which ensures the device doesn't enter sleep mode while the app's running. Fans of "numerous" bug fixes and design improvements also get their update's worth.

We're still composing our thoughts on our Ouya Kickstarter console – expect more on that later this week – but in the meantime we thought we'd give the Joystiq biomass a look at the diminutive hardware and its accompanying controller.

Ouya's Kickstarter backers started receiving their consoles on March 28. The console's public launch is slated for June.

Note: Quick correction on the above video, Ouya has not actually promised to make the controller faceplates more secure before the console's launch. The company has only stated that it is "considering" the possibility.

Worms 2: Armageddon is now available on Android, three years after the game originally hit mobile platforms by way of iOS in 2010. Worms aren't known for being the most expedient creatures.

The game costs $4.99/£2.99/€3.99, depending on your geographical location, and is available through both Google Play and Amazon's Appstore for Android, for folks with a Kindle Fire. Like its previous incarnations, Armageddon on Android features 30 single-player missions and multiplayer support for two players via Wi-Fi or up to four local players, in addition to 12 gameplay modes and customization options for the worms.

Continue Reading