Hotline Miami
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Hotline Miami slaughtering PSN on Tuesday
As predicted by its official Twitter account yesterday, Hotline Miami will arrive on PSN next week. PlayStation Blog confirmed the news, noting that the PSN version has several new features. Said features include a new mask (Russell the bull), leaderboards, Trophies and touch screen targeting for the Vita version. The Russell mask, incidentally, turns the game world black-and-white – apart from the profuse amounts of red, red blood. Our review of the PC version of Hotline Miami praised the game for its "well-executed action, resulting in well-executed bad guys and the high scores that come with them." It arrives on PSN on June 25 and features cross-buy support on PS3 and Vita.
Hotline Miami coming to PS Vita 'probably next week'
A PlayStation Vita port of Dennaton and Devolver Digital's brutally violent action game Hotline Miami will hit the PlayStation Network "probably next week," according to a recent tweet from the game's official Twitter account. Cross-buy PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions of Hotline Miami were announced back in February. While the tweet in question addressed a portable version of Hotline Miami specifically, it's likely that the PS3 edition will launch either alongside the release of the PS Vita version or shortly afterward. At E3, Joystiq saw a demo for the sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, and spoke with Dennaton co-founder Denis Wedin. Wrong Number is due out this year for PC platforms.
Hotline Miami 2 is in demand, we heard it through these great Vines
Hotline Miami 2 made a surprise appearance at E3, tucked away in an Airstream trailer provided by publisher Devolver Digital. We saw it, but we're not allowed to talk about it until next week. It's getting plenty of attention on its own already – the official Hotline Miami Twitter account retweeted a series of Vines of people reading our Hotline Miami 2 post and literally throwing money at their screens and performing other acts of excitement. At least, we're pretty sure donning a horse-head mask and wielding a pistol is an act of excitement. "Please make this @Joystiq article viewing thing a meme, internet," Hotline Miami tweeted. "Love you." Check out a few fans expressing emotions about Hotline Miami 2 in the Vines below, and submit your own reaction to this post to @HotlineMiami.
Hotline Miami 2 is in some kind of playable form at E3
Hotline Miami 2 is well on its way through the brutal development process, and it's playable at E3, a tweet from Devolver press agent Stephanie Schopp revealed. We spoke about Hotline Miami 2 with developers Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin at GDC this year, and they said the sequel will focus on the emotional aspects of life in the 90s, with parallel plots spawned from events in the first game. Söderström and Wedin said Hotline Miami 2 was in development for PC, though it could ship same-day on Vita. The main character in Hotline Miami, "Jacket," has a minor role in the sequel but won't be playable. Wedin called Hotline Miami 2 "the grand finale."
Humble Indie Bundle 8 offers 7 indie Mac games for a great price
The Humble Indie Bundle is one of the higher-quality game bundles around (there are quite a few of them these days), and the eighth iteration, just announced this week, is one of the best deals we've seen in a while. The bundle features seven different games (all available on the Mac, along with Windows and Linux versions if you happen to OS that way) for a name-your-own price. You'll get Little Inferno (which began on iOS, but later arrived on PC), the excellent indie MOBA Awesomenauts, Capsized, heart-tugger Thomas Was Alone and the very atmospheric Dear Esther, along with two other titles if you pay higher than the average (currently about $5), the beautiful Proteus and the violent but very well-designed Hotline Miami. All of those games are excellent, and the fact that you can pay your own price (which you can then divvy up as you like to charity, the Humble Bundle folks or the developers) is just icing on the already sweet cake. And there's more, too: You get soundtracks for all of the games, not to mention that all of these titles are cross-platform and DRM free, so you can play them anywhere you want, too. This bundle will be available for a while, but it's definitely a great deal. If you need a few more games to play on your Mac, pick this one up for sure.
Humble Indie Bundle 8 serves up Hotline Miami, Proteus, more
The Humble Indie Bundle 8 launched today, offering up downloadable Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Thomas Was Alone, Awesomenauts, Little Inferno, Dear Esther, and Capsized as part of its pay-what-you-want base package. Buyers who beat the average purchase price (currently around $5) will also receive Hotline Miami and Proteus. The package additionally includes a free Awesomenauts character skin; if you ever wanted to dress up as a chicken while playing a side-scrolling MOBA, today is the day that your dreams become reality. All games are available as DRM-free downloads, and Steam keys are included. Humble 8 also marks the first time that Dear Esther, Thomas Was Alone, Little Inferno, Capsized, and Awesomenauts are available for Linux. The Humble Indie Bundle 8 will be available through June 14.
Hotline Miami's Cactus on the price of freeware development
Hotline Miami designer Jonatan Söderström – perhaps better known by his prickly development alias, Cactus – began his career in freeware, developing smaller, experimental games that anyone with the appropriate hardware could download and play at any time, game-development hippie-communism style. Some of his games include Norrland, Shotgun Ninja, Psychosomnium, Minubeat, Clean Asia! and Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf. That last one, created in three weeks in October 2011, features art by Hotline Miami co-creator Dennis Wedin.Together, Wedin and Söderström form Dennaton Games, and they are part of the rising cult of indie superstars. But the draw of fame and fortune wasn't why Söderström stopped making freeware games."I didn't want to become homeless," Söderström told Joystiq at GDC. By February of this year, Hotline Miami clocked 300,000 PC sales, and PS3 and Vita ports by Abstraction Games are currently "pretty much done," expected to hit in May, Wedin said. Söderström isn't in danger of being homeless right now. Still, reverting to freeware development poses an interesting challenge."I kind of want to start doing freeware games again, but when you put so much work into something that turns out really good, it feels hard to do smaller things that won't be as good," Söderström said. It's all about "finding the inspiration to do something that seems worthwhile," he continued. "When you work on a big game for a long while, you start thinking in ideas that only work if they are big. It's difficult to turn to the other mindset, especially when you are still working on the next big thing."Dennaton is digging into development on the sequel to Hotline Miami, a large game with parallel plots taking place in the early 90s, and after that Wedin and Söderström have ideas for fresh IPs. They'll probably be bigger games, even if Dennaton doesn't intend for them to be."Hotline Miami wasn't meant to be big," Wedin said.
Hotline Miami sequel takes out parallel plots, emotion of early 90s
The sequel to Hotline Miami tackles the more touchy-feely aspects of the early 90s, Dennaton Games duo Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin tell Joystiq at GDC. The gameplay will stray in a few different directions, with parallel plots built around the first game, and more attention on emotional experiences. It's planned for PC, although Abstraction, the company currently porting Hotline Miami to Vita, can now work on the sequel's port "right away," Wedin says. Dennaton is in talks with Sony, but if all goes well the sequel may ship day-and-date on PC and Vita, Wedin and Söderström say. Devolver Digital is on tap to publish again, and Dennaton is still talking with them, too. "They've been super nice," Söderström says. Wedin chimes in, "They let us do whatever we want." The protagonist of Hotline Miami – Dennaton is cool with the name "Jacket" – has a minor part in the next game, but he won't be a playable character. The music will feel familiar, too, with a few bands recycled from Hotline Miami and some new groups, but no original score. If any of that is unsatisfactory to any fans of the series, chill out – the sequel is lucky it even exists, at least right now. Söderström and Wedin both wanted to work on a brand new IP, but they couldn't stop talking about Hotline Miami, so they decided to finish that project first. This sequel marks the end of Hotline Miami for Dennaton. "It's the grand finale, for us," Wedin says.
Hotline Miami takes a shot at Mac, available now on Steam
Hotline Miami is making a mess of Mac, starting today on Steam. It's $10 right now, which really is a steal for "one of the better arcade action games to come along in a while."The Mac launch is a nice bonus for those itching to get Hotline Miami on PS3 and Vita this spring, coming from port extraordinaire Abstraction Games, with oversight from developer Dennaton. The Hotline Miami soundtrack is just as good as the game itself, which is why it also goes for $10 on Steam, though that thing's been playable on Mac for a while now.
Hotline Miami brings cross-buy beats to PS3, Vita this spring
Taste the happy, Vita and PS3 owners, because the raw violence-o-rama that is Hotline Miami is coming to the PlayStation platforms this spring as a cross-buy game. That means a single purchase entitles you to versions on both platforms.The ports are being developed by Abstraction Games under the guidance of original developer Dennaton Games. You might recognize Abstraction's name from previous PSP and DSiWare conversions of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope respectively, as well as WiiWare puzzler Potpourrii (and if you do, kudos to you).Publisher Devolver Digital also revealed the 80s-infused ultraviolence of Hotline Miami is proving a hit on PC, with 300,000 sales to date.
'Wreck it Richard' is a Hotline Miami parody and classic games killing spree
Imagine Hotline Miami protagonist "Jacket" decided he wanted to follow in Wreck-It Ralph's footsteps and leave his game; instead of going on an adventure of self-discovery like Ralph, "Jacket" stuck to his homicidal ways and killed everything he came across. This is the idea behind "Wreck it Richard," the fan-made mash-up above.Now, we can't say that we've ever wanted to see Pac-Man pounded to death before – why couldn't it have been Blinky? – but don't let that early brutality discourage you from finishing this fine Hotline Miami and classic gaming mash-up in its entirety ... unless you abhor brutality in all forms, in which case hey don't watch this video.
Hotline Miami soundtrack hits Steam, game on sale for $5
The Hotline Miami soundtrack is now available for download from Steam. The thumping, buzzing soundtrack is one of the best parts of the game, and can now be had for $10. The soundtrack is also still available to stream in its entirety via SoundCloud.And, in case you didn't pick up Hotline Miami the last time it was on sale for $5, or the time before that, or the time before that, Steam has once again halved the price of the hyper-violent, pixelated indie. The sale ends on Monday at 10am PT.
Retro City Rampage, Hotline Miami and more Steam sales today
Some time-sensitive deals on Steam today for kinetically violent indie stand-outs Retro City Rampage and Hotline Miami, as well as many other games.Retro City Rampage is only on sale for the next six hours at 50 percent off for $7.44. We should also mention the game is currently free for PlayStation Plus members on both PS3 and PS Vita for a limited time. Non-Plus PSN members can grab the game for $10, which is $5 off the regular price.The Steam daily deals has Hotline Miami for $5 (50 percent off) and the more adorably violent Castle Crashers for $5.09 (66 percent off). There's also deep discounts on the Batman Arkham franchise and Magic: The Gathering.
Hotline Miami $5 on Steam until Dec. 10
Hyper-violent arcade actioner Hotline Miami is half-off on Steam through the weekend. Developer Dennaton's game is on sale for $5 until December 10.The game's received solid marks from critics. Our review called it a "challenge in planning, reflexes and dexterity" – for those who can stomach the stylized gore.%Gallery-169121%
Steam Autumn sale continues with deals on Skyrim and Hotline Miami [Update]
Steam's Autumn Sale, which is running through November 26, continues with big deals today on games such as Skyrim ($29.99), Saints Row: The Third ($9.99) and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron ($29.99). Flash sales for today include Mass Effect 2 ($5.99) and Hotline Miami ($4.99).The Autumn Sale also features a ton of deals on indie games, such as Limbo ($4.99), Braid ($4.99), Botanicula ($4.99) and Costume Quest ($7.49). Unlike other sales during this promotional period, all indie games included in the Autumn Sale are discounted through November 26.Other deals on Steam for today include War of the Roses ($14.99), Crysis 2: Maximum Edition ($11.99) and Farming Simulator 2013 ($14.99).Update: Technically, these deals are yesterday's featured sales, and are still on sale for the next 22 hours. This means even more games are discounted on Steam right now, including Borderlands 2 ($29.99), F1 2012 ($24.99), Deus Ex: Human Revolution ($4.99), Chivalry: Medieval Warfare ($12.49), Total War: Shogun 2 ($10.19) and Mark of the Ninja ($7.49).
New Hotline Miami content will more likely be 'like a sequel, kind of'
Hotline Miami's creators Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström and Dennis Wedin have shared some insight on where the game might be headed next in an interview with Eurogamer, and Söderström says it'll probably be "quite a big project." Instead of smaller pieces of downloadable content, it sounds like the team is aiming for a full followup release. "It will be like a sequel, kind of," says Söderström, "but building on the story."He adds that this possible new game "will probably have more playable characters than the first game did. And a couple of different stories and angles." And Wedin says it might have a map editor as well: "We're looking at if it's possible to do that. I think it would be really cool to let people do their own stages."The first game, says Söderström, took quite a while to develop. But with an engine already built, a new release would primarily focus on adding new content, he says, so the process should be shortened. "We hope it would take no longer than four or five months to make the sequel, but we're not sure at this point." That's fine, Cactus. We'll just don our finest creepy pig mask and wait here patiently for more news.
Hotline Miami review: Dial M
The crux of Hotline Miami is pretty simple: high speed, precision murder. It's brutal, disgusting, and incredibly violent, which is bound to turn off some players. Those who can stomach it – or console themselves with the belief that it's really just a commentary on violence itself man – will find one of the better arcade action games to come along in a while.At the behest of a mysterious trio of men in animal masks, the nameless protagonist travels to numerous seedy locations – clubs, drug dens, crime lairs – and proceeds to extinguish every living soul on the premises. The abilities at your disposal are limited to the bare essentials: Melee weapons and guns can be swung, shot or thrown, and enemies can be executed. On top of all this, you can only hold one weapon at a time. It's a limited tool box, but it allows for a surprisingly broad variety of possibilities.%Gallery-169121%
Hotline Miami creator in talks for PS Vita port
Jonatan Söderström is considering another version of Hotline Miami, his macabre murder simulator driven by a thumping soundtrack. He is in talks with Sony for a possible PS Vita version, following last week's launch on the PC.Söderström told Pocket Gamer his team has "been talking with Sony" about the idea of a port, but even if approved his team members lack the ability to port Hotline Miami themselves. "We would need someone to port it for us."Though we imagine playing Hotline Miami on Vita would involve the analog sticks, Söderström seems engaged by the idea of making a touch-screen interface too. "Would be interesting to see if it was possible to get it to play well on a touchscreen device," he said. "Sounds like a challenge."
Hotline Miami trailer goes behind the masks
It turns out the masks in Hotline Miami aren't just there to make the game that little extra bit more upsetting. They actually provide in-game benefits to your psychotic avatar. They're also pretty upsetting.
Live-action Hotline Miami trailer is so, so disturbing
This live-action trailer for Dennton Games' Hotline Miami gets creepy fast. The violent, top-down mayhem game now seems all the more appropriate as a Halloween gift for your twisted self when it launches October 23 on PC and Mac.
