Capybara Games
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Apple Arcade hit 'Grindstone' makes its way to Switch today
With Saturday morning cartoon vibes and addictive puzzles, Grindstone makes sense on Switch.
Indie dungeon-crawler 'Below' is coming to PS4 this spring
More than two years after coming out on Xbox One and almost seven years since it was first announced at E3 2013, Below is making its way to PlayStation 4. If you've been patiently waiting to check out the game, developer Capybara Games says you'll be able to play Below on PS4 "later this spring."
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida playable in Super Time Force Ultra
Shuhei Yoshida will be playable in the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of Super Time Force Ultra, Sony announced this weekend as part of their PlayStation Experience event. The President of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment will wield his smartphone as a weapon, shooting out deadly emoticons and laser-beam Twitter messages as he fights robots, dinosaurs and more. You can see him in action via the short teaser above. The Vita version of Super Time Force Ultra was announced alongside a slew of other titles, including classics like Suikoden and several Double Fine adventure games. [Image: Capy Games]
Hit List Q&A: Nathan Vella, co-founder of Capy
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Nathan Vella, co-founder of Capybara Games. Nathan Vella is co-founder and president of Toronto-based independent game developer Capy (short for Capybara Games). Perhaps best known for collaborating on Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Capy also recently developed Super Time Force and has created many other games for consoles, handhelds, PC and mobile. Vella is presently working on Below, Capy's upcoming game about exploration, survival and discovery. At the upcoming D.I.C.E. 2015 Summit in February, Vella's will explore the rewards of collaboration, and he'll share key lessons on why and how it works best.
Super Time Force Ultra adds Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 characters
Capybara Games has turned the proverbial Valve, and now three characters drawn from Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2 are pouring forth into the upcoming game, Super Time Force Ultra. Zoey from L4D uses twin pistols and propane tanks to destroy her foes, while the Pyro and Saxton Hale - both from TF2 - roast baddies with a flamethrower and punch them into oblivion, respectively. STFU (get it?) is an updated version of Capy's Super Time Force, which released earlier this year for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. We thought it was quite good, though not without flaws. Ultra adds not only the new characters mentioned above, but a new Ultra Force power mode and 50 Helladeck challenge levels. STFU will complete its journey through time and space and arrive on Steam on August 25. [Image: Capy Games]
Super Time Force Ultra flies to Steam on August 25
Super Time Force Ultra, the updated, spit-shined, expanded version of Capy Games' Super Time Force, is due out on Steam on August 25, Capy co-founder Nathan Vella said during a meeting at Gamescom this afternoon. The official announcement is due to hit the wider web any moment now. Super Time Force Ultra includes 50 new levels, three "crazy new characters," a new power-up move and more cool stuff. "We kind of went a little crazy," Vella said. "And then we actually went back and added a ton of art. Added more art to it, a bunch more sounds, an entirely secondary soundtrack to the game now which takes place during slow motion. I don't know. It's nuts. It's kind of dumb." Or kind of great. [Image: Capy]
Explore the depths down Below on Xbox One in 2015 [UPDATE: Trailer added!]
Adventure fans can delve into Below's looming world on Xbox One sometime in 2015, head of ID@Xbox Chris Charla announced during Microsoft's Gamescom 2014 presentation. Community Manager Anthony John Agnello tried his hand at surviving Below's massive, dangerous environments earlier this year at PAX East and ... well, he died a lot. [Image: Capybara Games]
Super Time Force Ultra finding time for Steam this summer
An "Ultra" version of Super Time Force will time travel to Steam this summer, developer Capybara Games announced today. The Steam version of the time-shifting game will include some "very cool (but presently very secret) stuff." The difficult, twitchy shooter first launched in mid-May for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Additionally, Super Time Force's OST is now available via BandCamp and iTunes. The chiptune album includes 53 tracks and costs $7.99 ($9.99 on iTunes). Those that prefer to listen to the retro-style tunes in a more authentic fashion can buy the vinyl version on BandCamp for $19.99. [Image: Capy]
Super Time Force review: Chronological disorder
"I don't want to talk about time travel," says Joe, a 60-year-old, time-traveling assassin speaking to his younger self in the movie Looper. Young Joe is trying to suss out how the hell the conversation is even taking place. "If we start talking about it, then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws." He's right. Sussing out time travel stories can make your brain feel like it's sprung a catastrophic leak. Super Time Force exploits time travel's paradoxical nature to spice up what would otherwise be a mighty fetching 2D shooter. In the process, though, it's also bottled the mind-melting confusion that comes from constantly jumping between past and future. Genius in design, easy to pick up and play, and a feast for the eyes, Super Time Force is built for a very specific player, namely one who wants to mix twitchy shooting and dodging with advanced mental gymnastics.
Super Time Force rewinding epic gun battles on May 14
After a few delays, Super Time Force has a for-real, no-seriously launch date of May 14 for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Capybara Games President Nathan Vella shared the date yesterday on Twitter, along with a new trailer to celebrate our impending deaths. Super Time Force is riddled with bullets, but catching one of them with your character isn't necessarily the end of their story: Players can rewind tragic endings and press on with a fresh life. If only we had the technology to do the same as children - we could have re-wound time until we found the Charizard in every pack of Pokemon cards, all without ever dropping a small fortune on our collection. [Image: Capybara Games]
Joystiq Weekly: NPD sales data, Trials: Fusion review, A Realm Reborn tips and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. It seems like there are two brands of Trials riders - those who try the series and bail, seeing it for the inevitable, rage-induced heart attack it is, and those that persevere and conquer every track. We're not sure where we fit just yet - some of Trials Fusion's stages give us flashbacks to Super Meat Boy, and our patience is finite. Still, the triumph in each small victory reminds us that we can get the best of gravity, that we can guide motorbikes over ridiculous terrain with the best of them ... until we reach the next stage and the cycle of emotions renews. We've got plenty of resources for anyone that needs a sanity break from Fusion, though! You can brush up on this month's NPD data, read our verdict on Atlus' baby-making RPG, Conception 2: Children of the Seven Stars, or gain some insight on what's next for GaymerX's future. All that and more is laid out in tidy little bulletpoints for you after the break!
Below is a link between Dark Souls and Zelda
Below makes you feel small. Wonderfully, wonderfully small. Capybara Games' new adventure, a lush marriage of Dark Souls and the original Legend of Zelda, is a game of contrasts, encroaching dark and tiny lights with a wee character in a big, echoing world. "The idea of scale was the first thing we landed on. Ever since 1080p monitors came out I've had this dream of taking advantage of that technology in a different way," explained Kris Piotrowski, Below's creative director. "You've got this view you've never seen before, a character on a scale you've never seen before, and it gives the world a feeling of vastness and mystery." The muted, thick colors and heavy rain surrounding the Wanderer, Below's fragile star, in the game's beach side opening are as oppressive as they are beautiful. Wanderer is tiny on the beach and rocky path leading up into the hills in the background, taking up almost no screen real estate and moving slowly. Even holding the run button, he only moves at a trot. Unsheathing your sword and shield takes a good beat as well, leaving you vulnerable. Climbing up a trail toward the monolithic cave first seen in Below's E3 2013 debut is immediately tense and alluring. Those feelings of vastness and mystery sweep you up so much that you're not expecting it the first time spikes shoot out of a grey splotch of cave-floor, cutting your life short. When you start again as a brand new Wanderer, a little wiser and a little more ready with a sword, that's when this chilly game warms up, inviting you into its artful, challenging exploration one dark cave at a time.
Below confirmed for Steam
Below is coming to Steam as well as Xbox One, developer Capybara Games announced today with a new trailer. Microsoft revealed Below on its stage at E3 2013. In August, we learned that Below and Capybara's Xbox 360 game, Super TIME Force, would both come to other platforms "after a period of time." This is the first confirmation of a Steam launch for Below. Below is a roguelike-like, throwing the tiny character into randomized dungeons with a shield and a weapon; death is permanent. It's exploration-based and features music by Indie Game: The Movie composer Jim Guthrie. There's no launch date for Below. [Image: Capybara]
Steam Daily Deal: Sword & Sworcery for less than a cup of coffee
Sword & Sworcery EP from developers Superbrothers, Capybara, and musician Jim Guthrie is Steam's featured "Daily Deal," slashing the indie darling's price down 80 percent to $1.59. The promotion will conclude on Wednesday, January 22 at 10am Pacific. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is the million unit-selling adventure title that first launched for iPad in March 2011. Sword & Sworcery has since launched for other iOS devices, Android, as well as (and included with a purchase on Steam) PC, Mac and Linux. The award-winning indie title follows the courageous adventures of The Scythian as she attempts to vanquish a ghost terrorizing a mountain top. The game is presented in multiple sections, venturing from the start of The Scythian's journey to the dreams of those affected by the ghost's presence. Also, it's gorgeous.
Super Time Force shifts to 2014, also coming to Xbox One
Capybara Games is bringing its radical 2D run-and-gun game, Super Time Force, to Xbox One in addition to Xbox 360, and aims to launch both versions simultaneously. The game will be self-published on Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program and has a new launch window of early 2014. "As 2013 waned and the ruckus around new consoles got louder, we decided that launching on both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 would be the best way for Super Time Force to get out there," Nathan Vella, Capy co-founder and president, told Joystiq. "We really believe in our game, and we're happy that ID@Xbox gives us a chance to bring it to players who made the jump." Capybara Games is also working on another Xbox One game, Below, but that's being published by Microsoft Studios, as is the Xbox Live Arcade (Xbox 360) version of Super Time Force. "Between Super Time Force and Below, players will get the chance to see two very different games from our studio. Super Time Force is easily the most action-packed and ridiculous game we've ever made, while Below is, without much exaggeration, on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. Having these two vastly different games coming from our studio is a huge point of pride for us." Super Time Force will launch "a few months into 2014" while Below's launch date has not been announced.
Clash of Heroes free on Xbox Live for Gold members starting Oct. 1
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is the next free offering in the "Games with Gold" promotion. Starting October 1, Xbox Live Gold members can grab Capybara Games' excellent match-three RPG without the $15 entrance fee. Rainbow Six: Vegas is the current deal in the program, and that will expire next Monday. Those still waiting on Halo 3, which was announced as part of the program at E3, will have to hold out a bit longer.
Capy Jam platformer, Synchroma, designed to work against you
Synchroma gives us an idea of how Renaud Bedard, the programmer on Fez, fits into Capybara Games since he joined the studio in November. Synchroma is a minimalist, cube-based platformer where players press groups of three random buttons on a gamepad to duck, jump, shift and basically not die, as Polygon reports. Every time the game starts up, the commands are different, but each move always involves a simultaneous mash of three buttons and the game never tells the player which buttons to press. Bedard and artist Nicolas "Qiqo" Stephan created Synchroma during the Capy Jam and they showed it off at the Fangamer X Attract Mode party in Seattle on August 31. It's meant to be ultra-challenging, "where the controls fight against you as you simultaneously fight to survive," Bedard writes. "It's a game about physical memory, and how much finger gymnastics you can memorize/perform under the pressure created by big red spiky rolls of death coming at you," he says. "Perhaps the best thing is that we suck at it exactly as much as any player." Capy President Nathan Vella says there are no plans to take Synchroma public right now, but weirder things have happened. Weirder things like this game.
Super TIME Force coming 'for sure' in 2013
Super TIME Force from Capybara Games will "for sure" be available to play on your Xbox 360 before the year is out, Capy President Nathan Vella said at PAX Prime. Once Super TIME Force is out in the wild, it will be exclusive to Microsoft platforms for "a period of time." The same timed exclusivity goes for Capy's Xbox One title, Below. So many vague details regarding time and time windows! If only there were some kind of force... a Super Force of Time, if you will, to help us sort this all out. You can check out the latest trailer for the game right here.
Below, Super TIME Force will be multi-platform after 'a period of time'
Capybara Games has revealed that both Below and Super T.I.M.E. Force - announced for the Xbox One and Xbox 360, respectively - will arrive on non-Microsoft platforms after an undisclosed period of exclusivity. "Like many games on stage at E3, Below will be available on the Xbox One first. Then, after a period of time, CAPY can bring it elsewhere. It's always been this way," Capy's Nathan Vella and Kris Piotrowski revealed in a blog post today.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP sells 1.5 million
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has over 1.5 million cosmic friends, developer Capybara Games announced on their site today. A stylized graph included in the post details the breakdown of Sword & Sworcery's sales. 33% of lifetime sales (550,000 copies) were sold through iOS, the game's launch platform. 54% were through the combined results of the cross-platform Humble Bundle 5 and Humble Bundle Android 4 and 5. The remaining 13% was split between sales via Steam, Google Play, the Mac App Store, or direct purchases from Capybara. Sword & Sworcery launched on the iPad in March 2011. It has since reached PC, Mac and Linux and received a specialized Japanese release. Capybara's announcement describes the hours after the game's initial iPad release as "exciting, stressful, celebratory and even terrifying."
