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Monaco pre-orders start this week, 'Wednesday is the plan'
Monaco: What's Yours is Mine, the stylized, indie, heist game from Andy Schatz and Pocketwatch Games, will be available for pre-order this week – "Wednesday is the plan" – according to the official Monaco Twitter.Monaco pre-orders will go through the Humble Store and will come with a Steam key, and Schatz will have four-packs available. "Also there will be some MAJOR preorder bonus goodies," the Monaco Twitter promises.Schatz previously slated Monaco for a simultaneous launch on PC and XBLA, with Mac to follow.
Monaco coming to XBLA and PC simultaneously
For years, Pocketwatch Games' multiplayer heist-action game Monaco has been a hit at trade shows, award ceremonies and Joystiq parties. Now, Joystiq can exclusively reveal that it's going to be playable in your very own home on XBLA and Steam (for both Mac and PC).There's no release date, but the self-published PC version will be released simultaneously with the Majesco-published XBLA release – Pocketwatch isn't sure if the Mac version will be day-and-date, but "we're doing our best.""Monaco was originally designed to be played with four friends on the couch, all planning and executing a heist together," designer Andy Schatz said. Pocketwatch has added four-player online co-op to all the versions, in addition to the couch-based co-op and the single player ("the stealthiest version," Schatz calls it.) The XBLA release facilitates the authentic couch multiplayer by putting the game on a couch-friendly console. Schatz said that he met with Majesco at PAX East and "the stars aligned."%Gallery-168499%
Indie Megabooth devs let anyone ask them anything
At PAX East this weekend, 16 popular indie developers (plus one "bonus" developer) will congregate into a super-giant indie creature in the first-ever Indie Megabooth. Developers include Ska Studios, Strange Loop Games, Retro Affect, Dejobaan Games, Fire Hose Games, DrinkBox Studios, Pocketwatch Games, Carbon Games and the rest -- to get the indie love flowing, the previously mentioned developers are running an "Ask Me Anything" thread on Reddit, right now. So far, we've learned that each developer gets 99 bitches a day and that most of them cried while playing Journey. Andy Schatz of Pocketwatch Games, Eitan Glinert of Fire Hose and Retro Affect's David Carrigg have also offered differing perspectives on the possibility of indie development for the Wii U, or any Nintendo system in general. Said Glinert: "We're not. I don't know any small third party companies that make any serious money there. Nintendo sadly isn't serious about supporting non-Nintendo companies, and so it's not worthwhile for us to spend the time and effort bringing our games to their platform. Sad face." Schatz disagreed with the doomsday sentiment: "Speak for yourself Eitan! I haven't announced platforms for Monaco yet, but WiiU is still a possibility! Nintendo is slow to change (which is weird given the crazy innovation on their software side), but the boulder is finally starting to move wrt their digital sales storefront."Carrigg said Nintendo's eShop is "far behind" the XBLA and PSN competition, but Retro Affect has been talking to Nintendo and would "really like to work with them. I would not be surprised to see a Retro Affect game on a Nintendo platform sometime in the future."James Silva of Ska Studios addressed the lack of deadly dishwasher games on PC, saying he wants to make PC titles, but for now that would be a problematic process. The AMA is ongoing (as of this posting) so head on over and uncover some you-specific bits of information from this mega-group of indies.
Cliff Bleszinski to host GDC Awards, Schatz returns for IGF Awards
Planning to attend GDC? If you are, you'll get to see everyone's favorite design director of Epic Games, Cliff Bleszinski, host the 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, replacing Double Fine's Tim Schafer as host. The Independent Games Festival Awards is kicking it old-school with 2007-2009's host, Andy Schatz of Monaco, winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design awards in 2010's IGF. Peruse the list of finalists for both award shows right here, and look for winners to be announced March 7 from GDC.
Monaco preview: Get in, get out, get paid
You know what? My friends and I are better thieves than George Clooney. Well, we are if Monaco is any indication. Sure, George may have all the charm and handsomeness, but if there's any one trait I look for in my friends, it's the appreciation of a good heist. And Monaco is all about stealing some stuff. The premise of Monaco is simple: Take your team into a heavily guarded building to steal a trophy, and get out without getting caught or killed. A retro feel, a top-down camera angle, and a simplified control scheme comprise its approach to getting some co-op good times going. Rather than implement an overly complex control scheme that requires a specific set of controls for each class, Monaco designer Andy Schatz has culled the controls down to a two-button system. Every action, like hacking a computer, breaking into a safe or unlocking the door to the escape car is done by running into the object for a couple of seconds. %Gallery-117834%
Pay what you want for a Monaco shirt
Get a jump on Monaco fandom by buying merch in advance of the game's release -- even in advance of any announcement of a release! Pocketwatch Games is taking orders on Monaco t-shirts, in order to help support the ongoing development of the heist game. It's a gesture of courtesy, considering the team has all the inspiration it needs for moneymaking initiatives right in the game. Pocketwatch is selling the t-shirts under a "pay what you want" model, sort of like the Humble Indie Bundle, but for a more tangible, wearable bundle. You have to pay at least $8 for the shirt and $6 shipping to cover costs, but you're free to throw in as much extra as you like. If you pay $19 or more, you'll get a button; $94 or more gets you a set of four. And the developers get to continue eating food while making Monaco.
Empty Clip Studios porting Monaco into multiplatform engine
Andy Schatz's four-player rob-em-up Monaco is currently built in Microsoft's XNA framework, a format that is fine for PC and Xbox Live Indie Games, but precludes a release on any other platform. Schatz is solving that problem with the help of Empty Clip Studios, who is using its RapidFire Engine to make a more multiplatform-friendly Monaco. Schatz announced this porting process on Twitter, but didn't specify any platforms but one -- in a followup tweet, he revealed that " at the very least it means that Monaco will be on Mac... still haven't announced other platforms."
E3 reader meetup: Monaco
Monaco is basically the game version of the film Heat ... basically. Four co-op players control one class each, working together towards pulling off a successful heist. As you can see in the gameplay demo after the break, Monaco employs an interpretation of a top-down view for gameplay, with pixelated characters navigating perils toward the eventual thievery. If the unique premise doesn't do it for you, the gorgeous graphical style should. Remember Loaded (and Re-Loaded) for PlayStation 1? That's okay, most people don't, but that's the nearest it gets in terms of graphical similarity -- and that was 16 years ago. It's worth noting that Monaco isn't anywhere near as brutally violent/gory as Loaded, they just both feature a beautiful top-down art style. Anyway, developer Pocketwatch Games is bringing Monaco to our E3 2011 Reader Meetup Extravaganza this coming Friday evening for attendees to play, and we think you'd be a fool to miss it. In preparation for the event, Pocketwatch Games kindly sent over new images, which we've dropped into the gallery below. Pocketwatch dev Andy Schatz notes that since maps are "generated dynamically from the level data," folks will be able to create levels with the same complexity as the devs themselves, "or whatever they want." However, we get the feeling that our levels won't look quite as good as Pocketwatch's.%Gallery-125352%
Come hang out with Joystiq (and play a bunch of great games!) at our E3 2011 reader meetup
We love you, Los Angeles, you know that. Sure, it's been awhile since we last hung out, but we wanna make that up to you. And not just any boring old dinner-and-a-movie kinda thing either, a full blown party! Next Friday, June 10, Joystiq will take over the La Cita bar in downtown LA between 5:30 and 9:00PM PST for a game-filled, giveaway-packed reader meetup. As our staff will be all up in your city for the duration of next week, we took the liberty of renting out a bar for a few hours so you -- our best friends -- could hang out, talk about the week's big news, play a bunch of great games, and take all the game swag that's been piling up in our domiciles. Chris Hecker will be swinging through with SpyParty, as will Andy Schatz with Monaco, to name just a few of the games/game devs at the event. And how about a chance to play Harmonix' next project before anyone else? 'Cause that'll totally be there too. Unfortunately, for our friends under 21, the event space is restricted to those of us with legal access to alcohol. We're really sorry and we still love you! It was, as they say, out of our hands. An extra big thank you to all of our participants! SpyParty, Chris Hecker (@SpyParty) Nidhogg, Mark Essen (@Messhof) Unannounced Project, Ska Studios (@SkaStudios) Monaco, Pocketwatch Games (@MonacoIsMine) Retro City Rampage, Brian Provinciano (@RetroCR) Q.U.B.E., Toxic Games (@qubegame) Unannounced Project, Harmonix (@Harmonix) Still with us? Head past the break for details, and make sure to RSVP on our Facebook event page so we know how many of you to expect!
