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Hydrophobia studio shut down
Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital has been shut down, administrators confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz.The site reports that the company's assets have been combined into a "pre-packed" deal with the recently created Dark Energy Publishing, a new company founded in January by Dark Energy Digital owners Pete and Deborah Jones, along with technical director Gary Leach. GI.biz also notes the new outfit may "take control of physical assets and IP at a bargain price."Hydrophobia struggled to find a large audience, despite significant attempts to fix the game after it launched. We've contacted Dark Energy Digital's administration team for comment.
Report: Hydrophobia studio facing closure
Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital is allegedly preparing to shut down. GamesIndustry.biz reports layoffs have begun, with affected employees concerned about outstanding pay from the company, which is said to be deep in debt.Hydrophobia struggled to find an audience after diving into the digital distribution pool with less-than-adequate form, despite attempts by the developer to right the ship soon after launch. We've contacted Dark Energy Digital for comment.
Hydrophobia Prophecy predicted for PSN next week
Hydrophobia Prophecy, Dark Energy Digital's publicly iterated action adventure title, will arrive on PSN in North America and Europe on November 1 and 2, respectively. "The PlayStation 3 is now by far and away the best looking and best playing version of the game on any platform - it's in a different league compared to the original release, with many game systems reworked from the ground up, compelling new mechanics and a deeper back-story," said Dark Energy Managing Director Peter Jones. The PSN version includes Move functionality and the "Darknet" feedback system, which lets players give direct critiques and praise to the developer. After a belly-flop of a launch on Xbox Live Arcade last year, Dark Energy Digital's game came back with the "Pure" update, fixing concerns from the original launch. "Prophecy" is the same game, with further refinements, and will be available for $7.99 in the US, £5.10 in the UK, and free to PlayStation Plus members.
We foresee a Hydrophobia Prophecy trailer
Dark Energy Digital, which refused to let Hydrophobia's initial release issues halt the franchise in the making, is set to launch Hydrophobia: Prophecy -- not a sequel, but a remake -- on Steam in May (and PSN sometime after that).
Hydrophobia Prophecy coming to Steam on May 9, then PSN
Though Hydrophobia Prophecy may sound like a new entry in the Hydrophobia series (as part of a planned trilogy), it's actually a PlayStation Network and Steam release of last year's aquatic Xbox Live Arcade title. It was later given a substantial, feedback-driven overhaul in the "Hydrophobia Pure" update following a chilly critical reception. Hydrophobia Prophecy popped up in a recent Australian ratings board listing, and was today confirmed as heading to Steam on May 9 and PlayStation Network at some point after that. Like the game's Pure iteration before it, Prophecy augments the original game based on player feedback. "This comprehensive reinvention of the title includes upgraded graphics, brand new gameplay mechanics, exclusive new levels, a reworked back story, a dramatic new ending, recast voice acting and much, much more," the game's announcement reads. The updated version also includes an in-game service called "Darknet," allowing players to "deliver specific opinions at any point during the game, which are automatically augmented with contextual data about the game state at that time." It's an even more direct line of communication than the developer's "Listening Post," which was erected in January to gauge played feedback online. We're hoping that by the time Dark Energy Digital gets around to working on that promised sequel, it'll be able to crowdsource the whole thing.
'Hydrophobia Prophecy' pops up in Australian game rating
Last we heard from Hydrophobia and the game's developer, Dark Energy Digital, the studio was doing its best to respond to fans' criticisms of the first, not-so-warmly received installment. The plan all along, however, has been a Hydrophobia trilogy, which likely explains why a listing for something called "Hydrophobia Prophecy" has popped up on the Australian Government's classification website. Outside of noting Dark Energy Digital as the "author" and Microsoft Game Studios as the publisher, the listing provides little other information. Though it does confirm some important basics, like acknowledging that Prophecy is a video game and not, say, a line of Hydrophobia-branded sunglasses. We've reached out to Dark Energy Digital, but we're not exactly holding our breath for confirmation.
PSA: Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Hydrophobia, Aqua discounted on XBLM this week
If you have to pee really, really badly, well, you probably should head to the bathroom anyway, but reading this post about savings on water-themed Xbox Live Arcade games certainly won't help. All this week, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is going for 800 MS Points ($10), while both Hydrophobia and Aqua are dropped by 50 percent to just 400 MS Points apiece ($5). Now you can try out that enormous update that Hydrophobia received or go Steampunk-crazy in Aqua for just $5. Don't forget to bring a towel!
Hydrophobia devs try to right the ship with 'Listening Post'
We'll give this to developer Dark Energy Digital: it refuses to let Hydrophobia sink into the abyss without a fight. Late last year, the studio released the "Pure" update, which was one of the most substantial post-launch overhauls ever performed on a game. Now, the company is activating the "Hydrophobia Listening Post," asking the community what it wants from the game universe (and, likely, its planned sequels). The Listening Post is presented as a series of questions on the Hydrophobia game site that seeks to incorporate player feedback into development. Creative director Pete Jones says the company was "absolutely blown away" by the response to Pure and believes "there should be a two-way relationship between developer and players." If you still haven't dipped your toes into Hydrophobia (whose price was permanently dropped to 800 points [$10] on Xbox Live Arcade last month alongside the update), the game will be ripe for more feedback when it goes on sale next week for $5.
Hydrophobia overhauled in 'Pure' patch, dropping to $10
Hydrophobia launched this past fall alongside numerous tepid reviews, including our own. In an effort to mend some of the damage done by said reviews, the game's developer is issuing a major title update tomorrow -- dubbed "Hydrophobia Pure" -- with a laundry list of fixes so long, only Lady Gaga's maid could outdo it. Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital claims to have addressed level design, AI behavior and the cover system, and has promised to remap controls to something more general -- A to jump, LT to aim. There's also "more realistic character water resistance" -- there was virtually no way to predict AI reaction to a flood of water when we last played the game. Hydrophobia's trial version is also getting tweaked and being lengthened "to allow players to sample more of the game for free." Alongside the dozens of fixes, the game's price is dropping from 1200 MS Points ($15) to 800 ($10) as of tomorrow, so hold out for another 24 hours if you've been fixin' on buying the XBLA title. The developer also noted that the fixes in this update will apply to future games in the Hydrophobia series, as well as the eventual PSN version. Head past the break for a detailed list of the changes in tomorrow's title update and a video of the changes in action.%Gallery-111734%
Hydrophobia review: That sinking feeling
During a huge party on the Queen of the World -- a luxury liner filled with the world's rich and privileged -- terrorists attack. And not just any terrorists, but terrorists with a little too much respect for economist Thomas Malthus. Hydrophobia would be impossible to discuss without bringing up Malthus, whose seminal work "An Essay on the Principle of Population" posits that population growth will eventually outstrip human resources, whether they be food or energy or jobs or some combination of those. In Hydrophobia, this future has come to pass. The "Neo-Malthusians" are hell bent on murdering as many of the ship's denizens as possible to do their part in controlling overpopulation. Protagonist Kate Wilson is the only one in a position to stop them but ... wait for it ... she's just an engineer. (Yes, it's all very "Seagal in Under Siege.") Room after room is filled with at least some amount of water, which is a real issue for the game's unwitting hero who is, as the game's name hints, afraid of water. Sure, it's unconventional, but I actually really like the premise for Hydrophobia. The game? Not as much.
Hydrophobia dev diary teaches '20 Ways to Kill a Malthusian'
The latest dev diary for Dark Energy Digital's downloadable action title, Hydrophobia, shows the developer's 20 favorite ways to dispatch the game's foes, the Malthusians. Most of these means are either bullet, fire or electricity-centric, while almost none involve killing them with kindness.
Hydrophobia's 'Challenge Rooms' test powers slated for its sequel
Our preview of Hydrophobia from E3 2010 covered what we saw in the first installment of the planned trilogy; however, if you want an idea of what to expect in the next installment, we got a better idea by checking out the game's "Challenge Rooms," which unlock only after the player finishes the main campaign. What's tucked after the break may be considered spoiler-ish, so click on through if you're willing to take the plunge. %Gallery-74474%
Preview: Hydrophobia
I played Hydrophobia for the first time this past March at PAX East and, at the time, I was fairly impressed. My feelings on the downloadable title haven't changed dramatically after trying out the game's combat in the E3 2010 build, but I did notice a handful of rough edges this time around. The new parts of the demo essentially picked up exactly where I left off at PAX -- a handful of gun-toting Neo-Malthusians stood in my way and, lucky me, I had just stumbled upon a pistol. As it turns out, the pistol isn't equipped with live rounds -- at least initially, though the Dark Energy Digital rep talked to us about a handful of other types -- but rather "Sonic" rounds that require a charge up for full blast. The idea here is to encourage environmental attacks rather than traditional, cover-based, third-person shooting; flaming barrels, glass panes and electrical boxes littered throughout the environment certainly helped to encourage me as well. In theory this works -- and presumably would work better had I gotten more acclimated to the concept -- but I found myself accidentally igniting exploding barrels and trying to drown foes to no avail far more often that I would've liked. %Gallery-74474%
Hydrophobia to drip onto PlayStation 3 and PC
Before getting our hands on the flooded world of Hydrophobia for the second time at this year's E3, we pushed Dark Energy Digital's Pete Jones to clarify the exclusivity deal his studio has with Microsoft. "We're launching exclusively on 360, just to get that one out of the way [the question] -- but there will be a PS3 and a PC version in the fullness of time," Jones told us, confirming a PC release of the game along the way. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell us exactly how long Microsoft's period of exclusivity will last. "For contractual reasons, I can't exactly say what that time period is," Jones added, also noting that, "Ultimately, there will be disc versions as well. Maybe as a compilation." Hydrophobia has yet to receive a solid release date, but the folks from DED are pushing hard for a release by the end of this summer. That said, if the disc-based release will compile all three games of the planned trilogy, it'll be quite some time before we see it flooding onto store shelves.
Hydrophobia trailer floods our hearts and minds
Dark Energy Digital fired off a new trailer for its exceptionally moist episodic action title Hydrophobia earlier today. As always, the water which protagonist Kate is forced to traverse looks wonderful (in a deadly kind of way). We're perplexed, however, by all the fire featured in said video. We're no scientists, but shouldn't that turn the aforementioned water into, well, steam?
Hydrophobia now timed exclusive on XBLA, heading to PC and retail later
After this week's surprising reveal that "Xbox exclusive" Hydrophobia would also dribble onto PlayStation Network, IncGamers' clarification isn't quite as shocking. The site has confirmed that the game will be a timed-exclusive for Xbox Live Arcade and then eventually will be released not just for PSN but PC and retail, as well. Oddly, the retail release does not include a PS3 version. The site spoke with developer Dark Energy Digital head Pete Jones, who spilled details that the PSN release of Hydrophobia will arrive for digital purchase "at some point," though he couldn't detail when that or the PC iteration would become available (when we followed up, a DED rep told us that, due to "contractual reasons," no further details could be provided on the PSN or PC releases). Even more unfortunate? Without even a murky release window, we're totally up the proverbial creek without a paddle for this kicker. How about this? Water joke. %Gallery-74474%
Hydrophobia will come to PS3, says developer
Podcast GameHounds spoke with Rob Hewson, Pete Jones and Deborah Jones of Dark Energy Digital in its latest episode to discuss the upcoming downloadable "episodic" shooter, Hydrophobia. Announced as an XBLA exclusive, it appears that Hydrophobia will one day make its way to PS3 as well. Around the 59 minute mark, one of the podcast's hosts asks, "Will there be a version for PS3?," to which the developers respond, "Yes, there will be." No further details were probed, nor offered. A number of high-profile XBLA games have made a delayed appearance on PSN, including Braid and the upcoming Castle Crashers. Based on anecdotal evidence, it appears Microsoft's exclusivity typically lasts for over a year -- meaning PS3 owners will likely have to wait quite some time before seeing Hydrophobia on their system of choice. %Gallery-74474%
Hands-on: Hydrophobia (XBLA)
It's been nearly five years since Dark Energy Digital began work on the water physics-based action-adventure game Hydrophobia. In that time, the developer has shown approximately nobody the game -- heck, before I heard about the game heading to Xbox Live Arcade last summer, there hadn't been a lick of info on it in nearly nine months. But with this week's announcement of the game's XBLA exclusivity (and subsequent playability at PAX East), Joystiq was offered its first chance to play the title this morning. I'm happy to report that ... it's pretty good! Alright, so, while Hydrophobia probably isn't going to be taking top spots on my 2010 GOTY list, I could certainly see it making an appearance on my "best of XBLA" list this year. The demo immediately made me think of playing Shadow Complex at last year's E3 -- it doesn't quite look like what you'd expect from XBLA, and the developers made sure to repeatedly affirm the game's "AAA quality" throughout my hands-on earlier this morning. Whether guiding the game's main character, Kate, through platforming areas or underwater, the gameplay itself felt like a solid base for what could be a very interesting (six-hour-ish) experience. %Gallery-74474%
Hydrophobia exclusive to XBLA, playable at PAX East
As if the thought of getting early hands-ons with Skate 3, Mafia 2, Red Dead Redemption, co-op Splinter Cell: Conviction and ... uh, well, tons of other games at PAX East wasn't enticing enough, we've just received word from Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital that the game will also be available on the show floor. Moreover, the game has been announced as exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade (no word on whether the planned three-episode release will still get a retail counterpart). We'll be diving into Hydrophobia's flooded corridors this weekend and speaking with the developers, so feel free to dump a torrent of questions for us in the comment section below if you're so inclined. %Gallery-74474%
Hydrophobia site set for reveal this week
True to its name, news on Dark Energy Digital's episodic XBLA (puzzle? horror? action?) game, Hydrophobia, has been the very definition of a trickle. Every few months, the thing emerges Loch Ness-style to reassert its existence, then promptly dives below again. If the game's official site is to be believed, though, the peek-a-boo routine may be ending. Visitors to the page are now greeted with a timer counting down to 12 AM ET Friday, and the developer's Twitter feed promises, "All will be revealed very shortly," adding, "something big is coming." This whole countdown page thing is a little "mid-to-late 2008" for our tastes, but we'll be willing to forgive, if the reveal leads to some promising details about the game. [Via CVG]
