In a surprise announcement at the end of the Horizon conference, it was revealed that Fez 2 is in development at Polytron. The brief trailer revealed little else, though the soundtrack sounded very similar to the work that composer Disasterpeace did for the original Fez.

Update: The video's description confirms Disasterpeace's involvement.

Having indirectly announced the PlayStation Vita version of thatgamecompany's Flower, the Indiecade booth at this year's E3 went on to hosting a playable version of the game. Flower on the smaller PlayStation suffers no loss in its vibrancy or serenity (provided you have some headphones handy), and it offers a new control scheme suited to the platform's touch screen.

There's been a lot of talk about the unique advantage Knack has because its director is Mark Cerny, the PS4's lead architect. When the launch game was first shown at the console's reveal, the focus was on the many moving parts of Knack himself. At E3, producer Yusuke Watanabe told me Knack can be made up of anything between 70 and 5000 parts, and can grow to as much as 30 ft tall.

It was impressive to see the power of the hardware, but what grabbed my attention with Knack is how easy it is to pick up and enjoy the game, at least for the brief time I had with it. The controls were simple: a jump button, one major attack button for brawling the goblin enemies, another attack button for bonus attack moves, and finally dodging with the right stick. There were some combinations, like dodging then attacking, and jump attacks, but I didn't see anything more complicated than that. The attacks themselves looked great, with Knack's parts flying around he swiped, rolled, and most pleasingly blew up.

The game's environments were similarly welcoming. I played through four levels, two set in a city, one in an ice cavern, and another in what looked like a palace. Each one was lit with a warmth and depth reminiscent of a Pixar movie - and Watanabe noted Pixar as one of the inspirations for Knack.

Continue Reading

A teardown of the new Xbox 360 announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference by iFixit showed some surprising non-changes to the redesigned system. Namely, the console still uses the storage, cooling fan and processing power from the current version of the system first announced in June 2010.

Among the changes made to the system (referred to as the Xbox 360 E), iFixit noticed that Microsoft updated the RF module and that "the absence of the power button backlight found in the Xbox 360 S is easily noticed." The redesigned console is available now for the same price as the existing models. We got a good look at the system ourselves at E3, albeit from the outside.

IndieCade took over a corner of the E3 show floor this year, complete with giant orange inflatable chairs and almost 40 games on various platforms. Out of all this beautiful madness, I spotted three games that went above and beyond the standard indie call – they were weird, they were different, and they were awesome.

First up is Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once The Fat Lady Sings!", a musical point-and-click investigation game from Deirdra Kiai, who is the sole developer, voice actor, singer and composer. If that sounds like a lot of work, it's because it is – but Kiai pulls it off seamlessly.

Dominique Pamplemousse is available now for PC, Mac and iPad for $5, and there's a free demo on Kiai's site. It's a quirky romp through a musical, claymation landscape, and it's tons of fun.

I feature two more games at IndieCade's E3 exhibit, both with videos coming up later today.

E3 2013 Day 2 is a wrap, so it's time for another Super Joystiq Podcast Special.

Ludwig, Jordan, Sinan, and Mike Schramm convene for another games-filled episode, starting with Ludwig's impressions of the forthcoming PS4 exclusive, Killzone: Shadow Fall. Mike hits Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time, and Ninja Theory's foray into mobile, Fightback, and Sinan talks Mad Max. Jordan puts a capper on this one with a slew of Wii U games including Sonic: Lost World, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Pikmin 3.

The big show in L.A. isn't over yet, so be sure to check back tomorrow for even more from E3 2013.

Listen to the Super Joystiq Podcast:

• Subscribe to the Super Joystiq Podcast in iTunes
• Add the Super Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
• Download the MP3 directly

Details about each segment are available after the break.

Continue Reading

I didn't understand much of what was happening outside of combat in my Bayonetta 2 demo at E3. If ignorance is bliss, then surfing jets and fighting a demon dragon while scaling a seemingly infinitely tall skyscraper is transcendent.

What I do know is that Bayonetta 2 is an exercise in the ridiculous, exchanging rationale for crazy-fast combos and elaborate torture finishers. It's very fitting then that Bayonetta 2 delivered on every expectation for a sequel that felt like such an impossible idea a year ago.

Continue Reading

Grounding Inc is hard at work creating Crimson Dragon for Xbox One, but the studio is also making another unannounced project for Nintendo, game director Yukio Futatsugi tells Joystiq. Unfortunately, Futatsugi didn't offer any details about the game or which platform it's being developed for.

Crimson Dragon may be getting Grounding the most attention right now, but the studio has a history of working with Nintendo. It developed two Nintendo-published WiiWare games in 2009, and it also released Sakura Samurai on the 3DS eShop last year.

Precursor Games Chief Creative Officer Denis Dyack tells Joystiq that the "noise" surrounding his involvement in Shadow of the Eternals added to an already unclear message in the company's crowdfunding campaigns. Earlier this month, the crowdfunding drives on the Precursor website and via Kickstarter were canceled by the studio, which promised to rework and relaunch the project at a later date.
​
"I think that noise was due in large part to misconception," Dyack says, who notes that the campaigns failed to detail what Shadow of the Eternals could be, were it to reach its funding goal. Dyack, who had previously been the leader at Silicon Knights before resigning from his position a year ago, adds that the cacophony surrounding his involvement linked Precursor and Shadow of the Eternals to his previous studio, which he promptly points out as inaccurate promising the companies "have nothing to do with each other."

In May, Precursor Games CEO Paul Caporicci told Wired his company had purchased assets originally crafted at Silicon Knights for its first project. While reports have suggested parts of an Eternal Darkness successor – which, spiritually, Shadow of the Eternals is – were built at Silicon Knights using investments made by other companies for unrelated projects, Dyack has denied the claims.

"We're working on getting over that," Dyack says to the continued discussion surrounding his role at Precursor, "I don't know what else to say. When Precursor was all set up, this was something I wanted too." Dyack's focus is in creative, in a role that does not put him in charge of business decisions.

"I guess it's safe to say there's always been noise around me and I think that what I'm working on now is to make people understand the games that we're making."

Continue Reading

Considering how many games trace their dystopian wasteland roots to it, it's interesting to see the E3 hands-off demo of the new Mad Max hone in something with plenty of room for exploration: vehicular combat. Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios promises 50 "authentic" Mad Max vehicles for players to enjoy in the third-person open-world game, as well as the ability to customize your own wrecking ball on wheels.

After seeing Max traverse the sand dunes, with pleasingly crisp dust clouds sweeping past his big old boots, the demo soon finds the road warrior behind the wheel of a creaking black sedan. Its back roof is ripped off, turning it into a makeshift pick-up truck. Couched in the back is Max's crazy hillbilly companion Chumbucket, who's spouting off nonsense as he clutches onto a harpoon gun, and ducking for cover from the unfriendly armored cars beginning to surround the pair.

Max pulls out a one-handed shotgun to take out a nearby driver in slow-mo, before Chumbucket fires his harpoon to rip the tire off the next vehicle, sending it sprawling into another for a satisfying double whammy. Frank Rooke, the game's creative director, says the harpoon gun can be used to pull off tires, armor and even other drivers - yoink!

Continue Reading

"It's dead, it's dead, it's deep-sixed, it's at the bottom of the Mariana Trench," Electronic Arts' President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau stated plainly yesterday about the company's Online Pass program to Joystiq.

Following EA's announcement in late May that it was eliminating the Online Pass program, gamers braced for "the twist." That occurred last week when Microsoft finally announced the digital rights management (DRM) scheme for the Xbox One, which would have made an Online Pass program unnecessary. However, with Sony's announcement the PlayStation 4 will follow the current model of game console DRM and used games, it was a question if Online Pass was back on the table at EA.

"We're not crafting a strategy to bring [Online Pass] back, you will not input codes to unlock your game, it's not going to happen," said Gibeau. The executive then moved on to tell us the company's decision to kill Online Pass and Microsoft's Xbox One DRM plans weren't linked at all, therefore PlayStation 4's recent reveal wouldn't have changed their decision on the program anyway. He called the Online Pass program "flat out dumb."

Continue Reading

There are still some unanswered questions about Remedy's Quantum Break, the studio's upcoming Xbox One video game / TV show hybrid. Questions are appropriate though, because we learned from Remedy creative director Sam Lake that Quantum Break is supposed to be a mystery. Specifically, it's a mystery involving the manipulation of time and reality.

We used our ability to manipulate our E3 schedule to ask Lake a few questions about Quantum Break, and the resulting interview illuminates at least a few details about the project. Watch the interview to learn how the television show and game are tied together and to hear about Remedy's approach to storytelling in the new generation of games. And, of course, we couldn't resist asking a few questions about Alan Wake.

If you'd like to try out time manipulation yourself, you can pause the video at any time.

When stepping into Sony's booth at E3, my eyes darted to one empty game kiosk. Sony reps invited me to play a popular racing game that I was certain would take me back to the days where I'd pass hours of time fine-tuning my vehicle to beat my best records by seconds.

The game being offered was Gran Turismo 6 for PS3. Within seconds of starting the demo, I attempted to follow a blue line on the road and immediately hit a wall. I never totally gained confidence behind the wheel, and constantly went off-course. Even though I played games such as Test Drive 4 and Gran Turismo for dozens of hours on the PlayStation, my lack of time on the road in recent years left me in the dust.

Afterwards, I picked up a DualShock 4 controller and played a brief track in Driveclub. Again, I spun out almost immediately, but quickly picked up the controls and stayed course, finishing the race with a not-so-terrible record. Accessibility was a driving point impressed upon me by Technical Art Director Alex Perkins, and I saw it firsthand. I rarely felt like I was over-steering on tight turns, despite the powerful car I was driving. With simple gas, brake and handbrake controls, the pick-up-and-play nature of Driveclub instilled more confidence in me than Gran Turismo 6 could in its first few moments.

Continue Reading

In the video above Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag multiplayer game director, Damien Kieken, explains the benefits of Game Lab, a new tool allowing you to create and share their own custom multiplayer match types. Over 200 different parameters can be tweaked through Game Lab, allowing you to limit certain abilities and change scoring in your own custom game type.

We ran into Electronic Super Joy at PAX East earlier this year, when it was part of the Indie Megabooth. It's a game that naturally stands out in a crowd, with bright backgrounds, stark platforming stages and a dubsteppy, chiptune soundtrack. Think Super Meat Boy meets Super Hexagon.

Electronic Super Joy will be available for pre-order at noon ET on Friday, June 14, for $5, and that price includes access to the beta. At launch, the game will be $8, so that's a pre-order discount of 35 percent.

Electronic Super Joy is due out between September and December for PC, Mac, Linux, Android tablets and iPad. Rock out and get your hardcore platforming on later this year.

While the PlayStation 4 doesn't yet support the Oculus Rift, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida is full of love for the VR device. Speaking to Engadget during a roundtable today, Yoshida said, "We've got a couple of the development kits, and I tried it out and I love it."

While we've seen plenty of devs showing off their Oculus Rifts, it's interesting to note Yoshida kept the question of future PS4 support open with a "no comment" and, as Engadget notes, a big smile.

This photo, snapped by Engadgeteer Ben Gilbert, shows the badge of one Patrice Desilets. You know, the guy that's reportedly in the middle of a lawsuit with his former employer, who suspended his game after firing him.

Luckily, Desilets is keeping himself busy by roaming the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center while representing his new (fake) company: "MeMyself&I."

Speaking with Joystiq, Remedy creative director Sam Lake hinted that the studio's Xbox One game Quantum Break may have a connection to Alan Wake. We jokingly asked if Quantum Break was really just a story written by Alan. He said no, but added that Quantum Break deals with many timelines and universes. "The way we approach these things is definitely kind of – they're connected in weird ways. And definitely for Remedy fans, there will be a lot of familiar things from a Remedy game."

"We are definitely dealing with the idea of multiple timelines – essentially a multiverse – where many things are possible," he said. Our theory is that Quantum Break's season "cliffhanger" will be Alan waking up in the middle of the night, realizing that the entire game was just a dream.

Our full interview with Sam Lake will be up soon.

Earlier this week, we posted a photograph of two McLaren supercars. We mistakenly thought they were the McLaren P1, the car that Microsoft used to promote Forza Motorsport 5 during its E3 press event. They were, in fact, McLaren MP4-12Cs. It was an egregious error, and for that we apologize.

Imagine our surprise, though, when we spotted a genuine McLaren P1 at Microsoft's E3 booth today. To make up for our mistake, we took lots of pictures and a nice video. We showed it to Jordan Mallory, Joystiq's senior car enthusiast, and this time he died. Just straight-up died.

We cornered (literally) Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag single-player game director Ashraf Ismail and asked him to detail the special Aveline content coming to PS3 and PS4 consoles. Ismail says the bonus PlayStation content will resume Aveline's story at the end of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation and explains how Animus upgrades make it all possible.