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PSN Tuesday: Stacking, Plants vs. Zombies
Plenty of puzzling and action oriented downloadable titles in this week's PSN update. There's the puzzling Stacking and the addictive defense gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies. There's also the retro platforming of Explodemon or the puzzle-platforming of Tales from Space: About a Blob. Check out the expansive list of PS3 stuff after the break ... try to ignore the PSP ever existed after the NGP's announcement. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
PS Plus users to get free download of Stacking, Killzone 3 demo
February's list of PS Plus goodies has been published on the PlayStation Blog, and there are some real doozies. First up is a free copy of Double Fine's latest, Stacking, which will be available to PS Plus subscribers on its launch day, February 8. For those keeping score, Stacking's usual asking price is $15. Subscribers will also be treated to an automatic download of the Killzone 3 demo on February 8. On February 18, PS Plus users will be treated to a free download of the PlayStation Mini Let's Golf. As revealed previously by Sega, PS Plus can also snag the Yakuza 4 demo a week early on February 15. Head over to the PlayStation Blog for the full rundown of upcoming PSN and PS Plus content.
What's in a Name: Double Fine
It's time for another origin story of an industry presence. Today, we've got Double Fine's Tim Schafer, who can thank Uncle Sam for the inspiration of his studio's name: It came from this sign that used to be on the Golden Gate Bridge. I used to drive down from Sonoma when I was a teenager to see rock shows in the city, and I'd see that sign that said, "Slow to 45 mph, Double Fine Zone" and I thought, man, if I had a band I would name it "Double Fine" so that people would think I bought a really expensive billboard on the GG bridge. All of San Francisco is now declared a Double Fine Zone. Since I never got around to starting that band, or even learning how to play an instrument, I had to use the name somewhere! Double Fine is currently working on a title for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network called Stacking. Like this feature? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name Archives.
Stacking pops onto PSN Feb. 8, XBLA Feb. 9
Double Fine's second downloadable offering -- the last being the delightful Costume Quest -- for PSN and XBLA, Stacking, will arrive on those platforms February 8 and 9, respectively. Along with the dates, publisher THQ announced pricing: $14.99 on PS3 and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360. To get you in the mood for stacking Russian nesting dolls, we've posted video of a young lady who should be especially good at this game after the break.
THQ needs your money to publish more Double Fine games
Between the adorable (and enjoyable) Costume Quest last October, and the forthcoming (and quite charming) Stacking some time this year, we're quite looking forward to the other two downloadable titles in Double Fine's four game roadmap. And though THQ isn't the only publisher that could release them, it would sure like to be. "I really wanna do a lot more with Tim [Schafer]. I've always been a huge Tim fan. Grim Fandango to me is one of the greatest works of art in gaming," THQ Core Games head Danny Bilson gushed to us this afternoon. He said the choice to publish Stacking was an easy one. "Stacking I fell in love with. When Tim brought that in, I was like, 'Let's do this game! This is fantastic!'," he said. The game was later moved to THQ's "Kids, Family, and Casual" department (like Costume Quest), though Bilson's desire to publish more Double Fine games clearly hasn't diminished. He reiterated that, currently, his studio only has a two-game contract with Double Fine: the aforementioned Costume Quest and Stacking. "There's a few more that I've identified, but I haven't made those deals yet," Bilson told us. He then paused before adding, "We've gotta get some hits rolling so I have more money to spend, to be honest with you." And between Homefront, Red Faction: Armageddon and Stacking, there's ample opportunity for that money to be made in the first quarter of 2011.
Stacking preview: Matryoshka mix-and-match
At first glance, Stacking may seem like something you've never played before. Its core concept of possessing Russian nesting dolls (matryoshka) is something we've never seen in a game but make no mistake: this game is unequivocally a Double Fine joint. The characters are all fun (and quite funny) and, during a recent demonstration of the game at the Double Fine offices with studio head Tim Schafer and Stacking project lead, Lee Perry, I discovered that at its heart Stacking most resembles an adventure game. Stacking tells the story of little Charlie Blackmore, a young chimney sweep and member of an unlucky family during the latter years of the Victorian era. Mr. Blackmore, Charlie's pop, ends up getting a job as a chimney sweep for a wealthy baron one day and that's the last the family sees of him. Soon after, the baron's men come and collect the rest of the family, save for tiny Charlie. Throughout the course of the game, Blackmore must aid his family members by tackling a variety of challenges, some more jovial than others. The game's story is told entirely in silent film-style vignettes which are, like a lot of the game, just so darn charming. And that's the single word I keep coming back to when I think about Stacking: charming. The world itself has that Double Fine stamp on it -- the NPCs offer humorous banter and some of the challenges themselves are a bit ... weird. Following the convention "adventure game" formula, you need to do this one thing and you've got to figure out how to do it. Unlike a lot of adventure games, however, there isn't just one way to solve any puzzle or challenge. %Gallery-111931%
Double Fine's first 'Action Cast' reveals 'early 2011' release for Stacking
Tim Schafer and his perfect-for-radio vocal stylings have taken to the casting of pods, releasing the first ever Double Fine "Action Cast." For the inaugural episode, Schafer talks Costume Quest with the game's creative leads (Tasha Harris and Gabe Miller), among other topics. Of note, Schafer says that DF's next downloadable title, Stacking, is "essentially done" and "should be out in early 2011," a more specific launch window than we had previously heard. Also potentially of note, Tasha Harris says she's animating a "super secret project" right now. What could it be?! As the first show is a pilot, the studio is basing its decision to make more on listener response, so go get vocal in the post's comment section. We quite like the show and are hoping for more .... not that we're trying to influence your opinion or anything.
Double Fine reveals puzzle adventure Stacking for spring of 2011
It seems you can't spit without hitting a digitally distributed puzzle adventure about Russian nesting dolls these days, and now Double Fine is adding to the pile with its next release. The just-revealed Stacking is slated to arrive in spring of next year on XBLA and PSN. The game, set in the 1930s, lets Charlie Blackmore (the world's smallest Russian nesting doll) slip into the husks of other local matryoshkas and use their abilities to solve puzzles in the world. Details are scant, but you can get a taste of Charlie's world in the debut trailer just after the break.
Ex-Seagate CEO joins startup Vertical Circuits, learns secret of the silver, gadget-shrinking ooze
Bill Watkins, the oft-outspoken former CEO of Seagate, has thrown his support behind tech startup Vertical Circuits, who claim to have an uncanny knack for shrinking gadgets with the power of voodoo -- or rather, a patented silver ooze, but we prefer our theories. The goo works as a replacement for gold wires to connect vertically stacked chips, cleaning up the internal cable clutter and leaving more room for better processor, bigger batteries, larger displays, or just a tinier form factor. Right now the focus is on stacking flash memory, but the group says they can use the same technique for processors and other chips. At this stage, there's no product or partnership to show for it, but if they're as good as they say, we hopefully won't have to wait long to see the fruits of their labor.
Replenishment is mandatory and other buff discussion from Ghostcrawler
One of the major overhauls heading from Burning Crusade into Wrath of the Lich King was the consolidation of buffs and debuffs. In an attempt to keep raid groups from thinking they had to bring one specific class to get one specific buff or debuff, Blizzard switched some spells up, gave buffs to more classes, and made them unstackable, the result being that one can take one of a certain handful of class and specs to get the buff or debuff they desire, in theory giving a raid more choice about who they bring. Still, the buffs and debuffs remain, and Ghostcrawler has been having some pretty interesting discussions about them in the past few days. To start with, he came out and said it pretty plainly: Replenishment is Mandatory. Blizzard will balance fights under the assumption you have Replenishment much as they do under the assumption you have a tank. In the short term, this means your raid is probably going to want to find a Shadow Priest, Retribution Paladin, or Survival Hunter if they haven't already.
Ebon Plague to get some multiple user loving, says Ghostcrawler
So there's a slight problem affecting Unholy Death Knights in groups and raids these days: When there's multiple Unholy Death Knights, only one can put Ebon Plague on a mob. This wouldn't seem to be an issue at first glance. After all, Multiple Curses of the Elements from multiple Warlocks don't stack, right? Here's the deal though. The Ebon Plague counts as a third disease for the purpose of Death Knight abilities that count diseases to deal damage, such as Scourge Strike and Blood Strike. When only one Death Knight can have Ebon Plague up, the other Unholy Knights are left out in the cold and have a part of their damage stripped away.
Check your raid comp
As you probably know by now, buffs and debuffs are changing significantly in patch 3.0.2, which is expected to hit next Tuesday, October 14. Most buffs that are only provided by one class are going to be provided by several, mana return from Shadow Priests is getting nerfed and spread out, you won't be able to stack Heroism/Bloodlust the same way, and so on. In general Blizz's goal was to make raid formation less about stacking the right classes, and more about bringing friends and good players. However, all the new buffs and debuffs can make a raid leader's head spin, in case they do decide they want to organize a raid so as to optimize buff coverage (and surely some raid leaders will want to do that). Fortunately, MMO-Champion has made an outstanding web tool to help you figure out your raid composition. Just drag-and-drop specs into the raid groups, and check the right-hand column to see what buffs and debuffs you'll get. It will also tell you whether you have the best buff in a given category; in my sample raid comp (my last Karazhan run), for instance, we only have Battle Shout, which is not as good of an AP buff as Blessing of Might. If you're missing a buff and want to see how you could get it, just mouse-over the buff, and it'll tell you what classes bring it. The one thing I really wish this tool had that it doesn't is a corresponding ability for specs: mouse over the spec and it'll tell you what buffs they bring. Overall though, this is really useful; I'm not a min-maxing raid leader (or a raid leader at all, actually), but I'm probably going to make use of it just to check what my raids and groups be getting. And because it's really cool.
Inventory Management
Managing limited inventory space continues to be a hassle, but Blizzard continues to make small tweaks to make things a little easier. In this round of changes, expected to show up in patch 1.11, increases the stack size of leather (20), hides (10), cured hides (20), enchanting shards (20), enchanting dust (20), rogue poisons (20), rogue poison reagents (20), and flash powder (20). Additional changes (herbs? ore? minerals? potions?) may be possible, but this is what's currently on the agenda for 1.11.[Thanks, spencer]
