Indie developer Grimm Bros opted for a retro, SNES-inspired style for its debut game, Dragon Fin Soup. The developer recently achieved its $24,000 goal on Kickstarter to bring the RPG to PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS3 and Vita.

Sporting turn-based movement and a classic 2D top-down visual style, Dragon Fin Soup is an action RPG with roguelike qualities set in the world of Asura, which rests on the back of a giant "dragon-turtle." Players can learn more about the world through a blend of scripted events and quests as well as procedurally-generated content in the game's story mode, led by Dragon Fin Soup's first playable character, Red Robin. It also features a survival mode marked by permanent death in which players are dropped into a dangerous forest with limited supplies, fighting their way through generated dungeons that increase in difficulty.

Dragon Fin Soup still has roughly three weeks to go before its crowdfunding campaign ends, and is seeking stretch goals to fund expansions and port the game to the Sony platforms. It was among the 75 games recently approved for Steam distribution via Greenlight. Grimm Bros was founded by former Human Head COO Ash Monif and artist Randis Albion in March 2013.

Comcept released a new gameplay video of crowdfunded platformer Mighty No. 9 running in alpha, and it showcases some familiar-feeling run-and-gun gameplay along with images of Mighty Numbers 1 to 8. If we had to pick a favorite it would have to be Mighty No. 6, because he's got a cross between a bomber plane and a helicopter for a head, and missiles that launch out of his ankles. He looks like he'd be a lot of fun at a party.

Keiji Inafune's new platformer was one of the most successful gaming fundraisers of 2013, amassing a mighty $3.8 million through Kickstarter alone. While Comcept is starting to show more and more gameplay we're still a good year away from the estimated release date of spring 2015, when the game will rock and roll onto Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, Windows PC, Mac, and Linux.

Come April, PlayStation fans can enjoy the same masochistic waiting game as Steam users when preloading comes to PS4. Sony itself has yet to confirm the feature but Sucker Punch, the studio behind Infamous: Second Son, said on Twitter that it's on the way this spring.

"No preload until April," said Sucker Punch, responding to Twitter users anxious to play the new Infamous. "[And] for North America, the PS Store will update at midnight PST, so 3AM EST."

Even when pre-ordering a digital copy of PlayStation 4, PS3 or PS Vita games through PSN, users still need to wait for games to actually hit their release dates to download them. Steam and Origin PC users can often download game files ahead of release so they can play the very second a game is officially available. Unfortunately would-be PS4 superheroes will still have to wait a few minutes to scratch their Infamous itch.

Hyper Light Drifter's combat mode is a solo or co-op evil-beast explosion – it begins in a training room lined with dummy targets, and a seafoam platform that recharges your magic. A door etched in rune-like symbols waits at the end of the room. Behind it, when you're ready, lies an arena filled with creatures bent on your destruction.

First, the training room allows you to play with mechanics: Plugged into a MacBook Air, playing with an Xbox 360 controller, press the right bumper to see a circle of weapons and map the ones you want to the Y or B buttons. These weapons include an enemy-seeking mine ball, a shotgun that shoots in a diamond formation, a boomerang, and a close-up attack that embeds a fucshia crystal in an enemy, which you then detonate into huge crystal splinters covering the surrounding area. These attacks drain magic.

The A button is a (very useful) dash, and X is a sword slash. Left bumper displays magic and health bars, and your weapons.

Unfortunately, there's no button to halt the flow of angry, violent creatures that swarm you once you open that door.

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Mike Bithell, creator of Thomas Was Alone, is always up for a fun chat. A lot of what we discussed while checking out his new game Volume at GDC was left on the digital cutting room floor, including a chat about his dream of doing a musical game (like, West End/Broadway), but we do touch on it briefly without breaking out into song.

We may have to go back and release the b-side version of this interview, but what we've got for now is a closer look at Volume and Bithell's vision for the streamlined stealth game, which should hopefully be available by year's end. However, Bithell is clear to emphasize, it'll be done when it's done.

Road Not Taken looks like it could be a mobile game. The gameplay itself takes place on a series of grids, in cold, fantastical forests, where players must combine objects to clear paths and rescue children lost in the woods. It looks as if you could tap, tap, tap a tablet screen to move your little hooded character around the map.

But that's only the first layer of the game.

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As if Sony's support of independent developers hasn't been apparent enough, the console manufacturer will make it easier for indies to bring their games to Sony's platforms. The company announced partnerships today to offer PS4 exporting tools for game development software GameMaker: Studio and MonoGame for free to licensed Sony Computer Entertainment developers.

Sony also made "fully-integrated solutions" for PS3 and Vita available for Unity users, with an early access PS4 version arriving on Unity in April. Lastly, the company opted to offer its Authoring Tools Framework as a free, open source download available on GitHub. SCE uses the framework to help craft games like The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls.

Created by Yo Yo Games, GameMaker was used to create games such as Hyper Light Drifter, Risk of Rain and Nuclear Throne. Conversely, MonoGame is the backbone of games like TowerFall: Ascension, Mercenary Kings and Transistor. One GameMaker-developed game is Savant Ascent, which Yo Yo Games named as its favorite game of 2013 for the development platform. The stylistic shooter was announced for PS4 this morning following its debut on PC, Mac, iOS and Android in December.

Sony Computer Entertainment America is chucking new apps at the Vita to satiate ice hockey, anime and movie junkies. First off, anime streamer Crunchyroll and hockey hub NHL GameCenter Live are available now on the handheld, as is the Qello Concerts app.

That trio of apps is being followed swiftly by another trio, starting with Redbox Instant and Hulu Plus on March 25 - new subscribers to Redbox get a free month of movies, in case you're feeling nice and comfy in that butt-shaped couch indent. If you'd prefer something healthier, the fitness and spirituality shows of Gaiam TV are due on Vita this spring.

Just Add Water's upcoming remake of the PSone-era adventure game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee needs to sell half a million units in order to fund the creation of a new Oddworld game, series creator Lorne Lanning told Eurogamer today.

"If I'm doing a new Oddworld game, I'm not going to do it for $2 million. I might do it for five or six," Lanning explained. "People keep asking me, 'Why don't you Kickstart Oddworld? You could get at least $1 or $2 million.' And I'm like 'What would I do with a couple million on Kickstarter? On a new Oddworld title?' Not much. I could redo Exoddus for a couple million. I could do that. But a new title, which means new characters doing new things and controls that are great - that's where the real time and expenses come from."

Lanning additionally revealed that Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssey - New 'n' Tasty will be priced at $30 when it hits digital platforms this spring. He notes that sales in excess of 250,000 will fund the creation of Just Add Water's next planned remake, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus HD. 500,000 copies sold would earn enough revenue to revive the stalled Oddworld series project The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot, which Lanning estimates is "a $5 million title" at minimum.

Lanning is optimistic about hitting the target, given that the self-published Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD has sold around 600,000 units across the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PC platforms. Sales for the remake eclipsed the original EA-published Xbox version of Stranger's Wrath, which only "sold about half a million units," according to Lanning.

Question: When is a plane not a plane? Answer: When it's a UFO firing a laser, or a kamikaze ballerina, or a floating brick propelled by bullets, or a nuclear-equipped mecha-dolphin, or, or, or. Shorter answer: When it's in Luftrausers, where a sense of acrobatic grace and colossal amounts of customization are king.

Luftrausers is the updated version of Vlambeer's Luftrauser, a free arcade shooter in which players fly the unfriendly skies and attempt to take out as many fighter planes and boats as they can before meeting their inevitable demise. The two games share the same control scheme – up to boost, left and right to rotate, X to fire – but beyond that, the upgrades make Luftrausers feel totally distinct.

You'll begin Luftrausers as a simple fighter plane – you have a basic machine gun, a healthy frame, and a not-too-fast, not-too-slow engine. You'll launch from the deck of a submarine and engage in dogfights to take out enemy fighter planes, jets, boats, submarines, battleships, laser-spewing ... things, and a blimp so big it fills the screen.

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The used game market just grew immensely, as Walmart announced plans today to begin taking video game trade-ins across the United States, putting itself in direct competition with GameStop. Starting March 26, those trading their games in at more than 3,100 Walmart stores will receive a gift card usable at any Walmart or Sam's Club location in exchange. All exchanged products are then "sent to be refurbished and made available for purchase in like-new condition starting this summer."

The retailer will accept online trade-ins for all games, but will only allow in-store exchanges for hardware. Walmart provided an exchange rate calculator on its website to give customers an idea of trade-in values. As for functional hardware, when including all the accompanying cables and one controller, the Xbox One has a current trade-in value of $390, the PS4 is $375, the Wii U Deluxe is $120, a 3G-enabled Vita is $95 and 3DS XL is $105. Working copies of Grand Theft Auto 5 currently exchange at $27.72, Dead Rising 3 is $38, the PS4 version of NBA 2K14 is $35.42 and Super Mario 3D World is $38.

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Rogue Legacy follows generations of obsessive adventurers as they pit themselves against the monsters that inhabit huge castles. When a hero is inevitably slain, a descendant will rise and try again. What you may not know, however, is that Rogue Legacy itself descended from a canceled game that was cheekily described as "Dark Souls 2D."

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Indie studio Team Colorblind revealed that its current project Aztez is headed to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita with a curious blend of bloody beat-'em-up gameplay and city-building strategy.

Though its flashy monochrome style recalls Ska Studios' The Dishwasher at first glance, Aztez cites inspiration from varied sources. Combat artist and designer Ben Ruiz aims to infuse his upcoming game with "the feel and creativity of Bayonetta, the sensationalism and mobility of Capcom's Alien Vs Predator, and the precision difficulty of classic Devil May Cry."

Aztez isn't just a straightforward brawler, though, as players will also have to manage their empire in Risk-like strategic sequences sprinkled throughout gameplay. A release date has not been announced.

[Update: Team Colorblind confirmed that Aztez is also coming to the Xbox One and Wii U. Ports for Windows, Mac and Linux will be available via Steam.]

Sony expands its Instant Game Collection this week with Thomas Was Alone and Unit 13, which will be released as free downloads for PlayStation Plus subscribers starting tomorrow.

Mike Bithell's Thomas Was Alone, available for both the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, takes a gang of quadrilateral shapes through a series of puzzle-platforming levels bridged by clever narration. The PlayStation Vita-exclusive Unit 13 serves up tactical third-person shooter action, debuting in 2012 as SOCOM series developer Zipper Interactive's swan song.

Both games will be released as free downloads for Plus members after the PlayStation Store updates tomorrow evening. Thomas Was Alone is a Cross-Buy release, and Plus subscribers will receive both the PS3 and Vita versions with tomorrow's update.

Indie horror Home is coming to PS4 and Vita later this year, and just to reiterate, we're talking about the game by Benjamin Rivers, and not a bunch of trendily-groomed avatars. Rivers confirmed the PlayStation versions of his pixel-art side-scroller include everything added to the game since its 2012 launch, and he also teased the possibility of new content.

In Home you play as a man who wakes up alone in a house that isn't his, and he doesn't remember how he got there, or a chain of morbid recent events. As you help him make his way home you come across certain things that stir the man's memories, but the kicker is you get to choose what those memories are. Did you open those drawers and rifle through their contents? Did you take the gun or not? As you play and make those choices, bits and pieces of the story change - sometimes subtly, sometimes less so.

Today's news follows Rivers' recent tease of his next game, Alone With You, which he describes as a psychological romance adventure that's about exploration, escape, and love.

The Xbox One saw UK week-on-week sales jump by 96 percent alongside the arrival of Titanfall, with the game's bundle accounting for 70 percent of the hardware shifted. It's no surprise, then, that EA's multiplayer shooter went top of the country's sales charts, despite a valiant effort from Dark Souls 2.

Namco brought Demon's Souls to Europe almost a year after Atlus released it North America, and it debuted sixth in the UK charts back in June 2010. A year later, Dark Souls landed in third, and its sequel went one better with a 20 percent rise in UK sales over its predecessor. Not a bad performance for the action-RPG series, especially since at one stage it looked uncertain to even reach Europe.

Looking down the UK charts, a month that's been packed with new releases meant there wasn't enough space in the top ten for Yoshi's New Island. The 3DS game placed 12th.

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Low-altitude indie action game Race the Sun is due to hit the PlayStation console family this year, developer Flippfly announced today.

Race the Sun is a high-speed racing game in which players skim a minimalist landscape in pursuit of a sinking sun, which powers their craft with its rays. The game's landscape regenerates daily, giving players new challenges and new leaderboard rankings to climb every 24 hours. The PlayStation Network version also introduces new landscape types not found in the game's original PC release.

Race the Sun will be released as a Cross-Buy title for the PlayStation 4, PS3, and PS Vita this summer.

Metrico will feature two character options when it launches on Vita in the spring: a boy and a girl. The avatars are silhouettes that leap around an environment of pie charts, bar graphs, angles and statistics, with each step and jump altering the immediate surroundings.

When we played Metrico at Gamescom last year, it was in pre-alpha, but the game's fundamental platforming and puzzle mechanics were striking. One errant step and the pathway in front of the avatar was impossible to cross, but a teleport restart system made it easy to try again (and again). There was only one playable avatar at that time – a boy in a hoodie – but now there's a lady in a skirt and sneakers, too. Digital Dreams CEO Thijmen Bink tells Joystiq the decision to add a lady avatar enriches the story:

"There are a few reasons; the most important one is that we want all of our players to be able to identify with the avatar they are playing. Another important reason is narrative. The choice actually strengthens the story we wish to tell."

We'll hear more about Metrico's story and its updated gameplay at GDC next week.