mastiff
Latest
Renegade Kid wins back rights to DS shooter Moon
Renegade Kid has finally won back all rights to Moon, the studio's atmospheric first-person shooter and exploration game for the DS. Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham confirmed the news on Twitter today. Renegade Kid will pursue a sequel to Moon. Watsham said the developer had always planned to make a sequel, but Mastiff wouldn't go along with it. One trip to the moon was enough for that publisher, apparently. The proposed Moon sequel is one of many projects currently underway at Renegade Kid. The developer is working on Treasurenauts, which is due some time this year, on top of two unannounced 3DS games also due in 2014.
Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear advances on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC Jan. 29
The latest entry in Polish development outfit Teyon Games' budget on-rails shooter series Heavy Fire is set to launch on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next week on January 29.Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear sends soldiers after a captured spy who holds the plans to a secret Iranian nuclear weapons facility. The sequel to Heavy Fire: Afghanistan is both playable alone and with up to three others via couch co-op, the latter a solid choice if you're the type who prefers the military authenticity that only a claustrophobic foxhole-slash-crowded-couch can provide.
Go on a Great American Bird Hunt with Mastiff
While we think of Mastiff as the publisher of random niche games like La Pucelle and Technic Beat (and the occasional more mainstream game like Moon), the publisher has started to carve out a little empire in Wii outdoor sports games, with Deer Drive, Shimano Xtreme Fishing and now Remington Great American Bird Hunt. You can see some screens in our gallery below, and decide whether you'll be up for a Great American Bird Hunt with up to three friends next month.And now, we get to the real business of this post: the old, hilarious, but sadly unused box art for Ultimate Duck Hunting, which we're always in search of even the flimsiest excuse to post. You'll find it after the break.%Gallery-75330%
DS Fanboy Review: Moon
Renegade Kid is doing their damndest to push the DS in a variety of ways. With their games Moon and Dementium, they've attempted to bring a big-console feel to the dual screens, and the two represent a genre outside of the handheld's typical comfort zone. Moon and Dementium aren't so colorful as most DS games, and they lack the familiarity of a game like Metroid Prime Hunters. These are games of atmosphere, and often, there's blood on the walls and malice in the air. So it's fitting that their games are also about exploration, about discovering limits and new areas. Renegade Kid may not succeed in every aim -- and Moon does not -- but they're doing something different (at least, for the DS). When you're talking about a phenomenon like the DS, when everyone wants in, and everyone is releasing games on it, companies that go against the norm are to be lauded if they are at all successful. Though Moon is uneven, it succeeds in a lot of ways, and so it is to be lauded, too. Gallery: Moon
Metareview -- Moon (DS)
Developer Renegade Kid has shown it is quite technically proficient when it comes to making a first-person shooter on the DS. In 2007, it surprised us with Dementium: The Ward, and now the small development team brings Moon to the dual screens of the DS. The early reviews are all across the map in raw score, but they seem to chime in on the game's technical achievement and certain gameplay issues. Wait, read a review instead of just looking at the number? We know, this is madness we speak of. IGN (85/100): "When it comes to making a purchase decision on Moon, I encourage anyone that loves FPS games on DS to check this one out, as its technical offering, story, design, style, and control are all amazingly well done. The game can certainly get repetitive at times, as a few bosses are used multiple times with compounding difficulty elements added to them to change things up a bit ... but for the most part Renegade Kid has offered an experience that's more tuned towards the adventure side of things, adding in plenty of combat to keep the experience fresh." Nintendo Power (75/100): "Quickly becoming the torchbearers for the FPS genre on the DS, Renegade Kid builds on lessons learned from last year's horror title Dementium: The Ward... the game ratchets up the action... compelling story and diverse gameplay." Modojo (60/100): "We have mixed feelings with Moon. It's a superb visual achievement with spectacular controls and fun shooting, but we grew tired of the old school "hit this switch to activate this door" gameplay. So long as you go into it expecting a slow-paced first person adventure instead of Doom, you'll enjoy this lunar vacation." GamePro (40/100): "Moon proves itself as a creepy and innovative portable FPS experience, weighed down by a severe lack of challenge and variety."
A leisurely drive on the Moon
... at least, this might be called a "leisurely drive" if, say, you really enjoyed an all-terrain, life-threatening romp with lots of gunfire. Which is actually pretty likely if you're interested in Renegade Kid's Moon. The latest from director and co-owner Jools Watsham shows off some of the game's vehicular mayhem, courtesy of the LOLA-RR10, which is all armor and pew-pew-pew-style action. Which is to say that she ain't as pretty as a BMW, but she might be up for the title of "ultimate driving machine" ... on the moon.Contrary to some reports, Moon releases next week. If you're very, very good, we might tell you whether or not it's as fun as it looks. Gallery: Moon
Telling stories: The next hurdle for story telling
As games have evolved, so too has the role of storytelling in the titles we play. As we turn the corner on 2008, we asked multiple industry personalities across all walks of game development on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins, Bionic Commando and Guild Wars for their thoughts.What's next for in-game story telling? In this, our final segment looking at video game narratives, our collective of industry professionals offer insight into what they believe is the next big challenge facing the evolution of story telling in the games we play.
Telling stories: The games that got it right
As games have evolved, so too has the role of storytelling in the titles we play. As we turn the corner on 2008, we asked multiple industry personalities across all walks of game development on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins, Bionic Commando and Guild Wars for their thoughts.It's rare that story tellers get all of the pieces of their narrative to fit together exactly right in any medium. But in this industry, where story shares a balance with gameplay and endings often get the short end of the development stick, weaving a complete and compelling tale must be a daunting task. Now, gifts unwrapped and bellies full, our panel of industry personalities sound off on those games that they feel were up to the challenge, delivering storytelling experiences above and beyond their peers.
Telling stories: How much is that ending in the window?
As games have evolved, so too has the role of storytelling in the titles we play. As we turn the corner on 2008, we asked multiple industry personalities across all walks of game development on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins, Bionic Commando and Guild Wars for their thoughts.Epic Games' Michael Capps recently caused quite an uproar among gamers with his suggestion to offer the conclusion to games as premium DLC rather than as part of the core experience. As the latest in our continuing week-long feature, we asked our panel of industry personalities what they thought of the proposal. Interestingly, much of the group was noticibly more tight-lipped in their responses than when answering other questions.
Telling stories: What's up with lame endings?
As games have evolved, so too has the role of storytelling in the titles we play. As we turn the corner on 2008, we asked multiple industry personalities across all walks of game development on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins, Bionic Commando and Guild Wars for their thoughts.While narrative has taken on a larger role, time and again we end up being left unsatisfied in the final moments with endings that fail to wrap up stories in interesting or compelling ways. In our continuing week-long feature, we asked our diverse collection of industry personalities why so many endings in the games we play leave us cold.
Telling stories: Balancing gameplay v. narrative
As games have evolved, so too has the role of storytelling in the titles we play. As we turn the corner on 2008, we asked multiple industry personalities across all walks of game development on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins, Bionic Commando and Guild Wars for their thoughts.How important are stories? How about endings? Over the next week this diverse group of personalities sounds off on these and other story-driven topics, starting today as we open up by asking whether or not narrative shares an equal burden as gameplay in carrying the video game experience.
All the Moon that's fit to watch
The audience seems a bit torn on the recently-delayed Moon, and considering the fact that Renegade Kid's first title, Dementium, saw the same sort of split in audience, it's familiar ground we're treading. Also familiar is the constant flow of media, which is never a bad thing. Not sure where you stand on Moon? Perhaps this new pack of videos will help you out.
Screens from a distant Moon
We're stuck waiting until January to play the atmospheric sci-fi first-person shooter Moon ... so here are some screens to make the wait more painful. Oh, well, it's supposed to take a long time to reach the moon, right?It's amazing how well Renegade Kid seems to be setting the tone for the game. Even while looking at tiny, still images on our monitors, we get a feeling of isolation -- like someone trapped inside an impermeable suit in a completely still, desolate landscape. Dementium may be the "horror" game, but this is a lot scarier in a way -- we can relate to extreme loneliness a lot more easily than monsters.
DS FPS Moon eclipses into January 2009
Publisher Mastiff sent word that the lunar orbit for its Renegade Kid-developed Moon has degraded, knocking back the DS first-person shooter from its previously announced November release date until January 13, 2009. As for the why, Mastiff top dog Bill Swartz tells Joystiq, "Moon is too important a product to rush it out the door, just to make a holiday," leaving us to wait another month before we land on the big ball of cheese looking for things to shoot with the stylus.
M-O-O-N, that spells delayed [update]
Moon, Renegade Kid's next atmospheric DS shooter, was initially set for release in the middle of this month, but if Amazon is to be believed (as well as reader Adam), looks like we won't be up for any handheld space exploration until mid-January. If Moon is delayed, that may be a little disappointing for us, sure, but in the long run, it may be better for the game, so it doesn't get lost in the holiday rush. We haven't seen an official statement on the delay, but for now, we're trusting Amazon and thinking January.As a side note, the box art on Amazon is slightly different, too; it's a little darker, with the face and the reflections in the helmet a little more clearly defined. Perhaps the game itself is getting a last-minute tune-up as well.[Update: Mastiff sent out a press release confirming the delay. Moon is now scheduled for January 13.][Thanks, Adam!]
Watch someone else access the Moon website
If you're a traditionalist and you want to go off and access the new Moon website yourself, you can. We guess. But why would you want to do that when you can instead sit back and watch Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham visit the site for you?Watsham's latest post on his IGN developer's blog doesn't include an actual link to the new site -- just the video of Watsham showing off the features. If you want to do something as renegade as checking out Moon for yourself, you have to get the link from the video.Keep an eye out in the future for the special limited edition Moon pack, which features not an actual game (as if), but instead, video of Watsham playing it. If you preorder, they throw in an artbook filled with shots of people who aren't you looking at the concept art.%Gallery-20245%
DS Daily: Moon
Click for hi-res version Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham recently posted this Moon boxart on his IGN blog, along with the planned back of the box. So, armchair analysts ... what do you think?%Gallery-20245%
New Moon trailer is short, but shows off plenty
We must admit, we're really excited for Moon. Renegade Kid didn't make the perfect game with Dementium, but they did create a moody and atmospheric experience that set a wonderful and scary tone throughout. It looks like they're set to do that again with Moon.Within the trailer above, you'll catch an eyeful of some combat and those oh-so-pretty environments we were swooning over before. Are you just as excited for Renegade Kid's newest FPS?%Gallery-20245%
Nintendo celebrates E3 by releasing Major League Eating for WiiWare
Distancing itself from Microsoft's strategy of releasing anticipated online content (and, erm, Coffee Time Crosswords) during E3 2008, Nintendo has opted instead to give us Major League Eating: The Game for this week's WiiWare title. We're letting the press release speak for itself: "This isn't just a race to stuff your face-you'll need strategy to master a smorgasbord of digestive attacks, defenses and counters. These include the Mega Burp, Gas Attack, Antacid and more. And don't forget to keep an eye on your Barf-O-Meter, because if the food hits the plate twice, you're out." Fighting through the Barf-O-Meter will set you back $10. Here's hoping for a few surprises coming from the press conference.
VC Monday Madness: Donkey Kong 3, Ninja Commando and Major League Eating
Another week, another slew of Virtual goodies on offer from Nintendo. This week, the streak of one Virtual Console release is broken, as we get 100% more in that department. Also, Mastiff's WiiWare title is finally up for grabs. If you've got some spare coin laying around, then these might be for you.This week's WiiWare release: Major League Eating: The Game (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) This week's Virtual Console releases: Donkey Kong 3 (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Ninja Commando (NeoGeo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points) As always, be sure to stop back later for our video wrap-up of this week's Virtual Console games.%Gallery-20043%[Via press release]
