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Castle Crashers GDC '07 impressions
Castle Crashers is a chaotic storm of spinning swords, overly aggressive primary colors and the occasional (but never displeasing) decapitation -- which is why we like it. Though the GDC demo boasts only a few notable changes from previous iterations, it still warrants a look. A long and loving look accompanied by a forlorn sigh and the formation of a gently sparkling tear. One of the most interesting things about the game is the manner in which it draws your attention. It's even a little conflicting, as if two sets of fingers are snapping in your face in an alternating pattern. When you're not trying to spot your character deep within the colorful anarchy of battle, you're adopting a wider view of all the over-the-top action. It's like a tug of war, and one not too dissimilar from the battle between order and chaos that's at the core of the game.
GDC 07: Castle Crashers hands on
We heard the rumblings. We smelled the awesome. We knew that Castle Crashers was somewhere at GDC. It was just a matter of finding it. After what seemed like days of searching, we found the title in the Independent Games Festival pit, loaded up on an HD screen with some pumping speakers, Castle Crashers was ready and raring to go.
The Behemoth's Dan Paladin interviewed
Game Almighty posted an interview with Dan Paladin, The Behemoth's artist extraordinaire for Alien Hominid HD and upcoming XBLA title Castle Crashers. In the interview, Dan talks about the differences in the art style between the games, where he gets his inspiration, and why he is so cool. He also talks about the challenges and changes they've encountered while developing Castle Crashers, including reducing the size of the knights on screen and dealing with the complex code. One of the most interesting tidbits from the interview is when Mr. Paladin talks about a few of Castle Crashers' game features stating:"In Castle Crashers, when holding down the right trigger all 4 of the buttons on top become spells that are intuitive to the player. For instance, press jump without right trigger and you jump normally. Press jump with the right trigger held down and you do a magic boosted jump. You can unlock a lot of characters to play as - as well as weapons, pets, and items! Every character has their own magic abilities which affect the enemies in different ways."We must admit, we are uber excited for some four player co-op over Xbox Live and beating on those bad dudes. Anyone satisfied with XBLA title Alien Hominid HD and overly pumped for some Castle Crashers later this year?[Thanks, Chris]
Alien Hominid attacks XBLA
After a serious drought in Xbox Live Arcade, Alien Hominid HD crash landed on to Marketplace this morning. This Newsgrounds favorite has made the jump to the new gen and you can grab this completely hand drawn arcade shooter for an expected 800 MS points. Along with the mission mode complete with local co-op, there is also the seven minigames that support up to four players over Xbox Live, complete with 50 all new PDA Levels. Are you picking this up, or is that a given?
Alien Hominid details and shiny trophies
We've officially forgotten about last week's lackluster XBLA release and are looking towards this weeks confirmed XBLA title Alien Hominid. The game will be releasing this Wednesday, February 28th and will set you back only 800 Microsoft points. And if that doesn't get you salivating, then you'll be pleased to know that developer The Behemoth will be giving away trophies to the best players. Yes, real physical metal trophies to the week's best players who climb the Xbox Live leaderboards. Don't believe us? Check out the picture above and note that they are really real and would look nice sitting on top of your television. Prepare for an alien invasion this Wednesday, climb those leaderboards, win a trophy, and hope Microsoft releases a few more great XBLA titles in the coming weeks.[Via Joystiq]
Alien Hominid HD costs 800 points, prizes for leaderboard champs
Microsoft has sent word along that yes, Alien Hominid HD will in fact be on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday and that it can be yours for the low, low price of 800 Microsoft Points. This is actually a pleasant surprise as Alien Hominid is seen as one of the more full-bodied titles on the XBLA block and one that could have fetched a heftier price. Suddenly, 1200 MS Points for Lumines Live feels even more ridiculous.The developers over at The Behemoth also have some treats in store for those awesome enough to scale their leader boards. Should you be a bad enough dude to land at the top of any of the charts, The Behemoth will send you a trophy. No fooling! A physical manifestation of your skills in which to utilize while gloating! The contest is set to last "until we get tired of sending you guys stuff."In other news, serious cat? It looks like you've got this Wednesday off, buddy.
Confirmed: Alien Hominid coming next week
In an interview with 1UP, Aaron Greenberg had to defend the XBLA and its somewhat inconsistant release schedule. While talking about the future of the XBLA Greenberg confirmed the release of Alien Hominid stating "we are excited to bring Alien Hominid out next week; we are excited to make up for lost time". Now, if that's not a release date confirmation we don't know what is. Greenberg also went on to say that at this year's Game Developer's Conference we'll be seeing a bunch of playable arcade games, announcements, and never before seen titles. But that's a little too far into the future, the real news is that Alien Hominid is releasing next week!.[Thanks, Brian]
New Castle Crashers trailer(!)
It's been a long time coming, but we finally have new Castle Crashers media to share. The last time we had a new Castle Crashers video was in July, and that's just too long. Granted, we know what a beast the Xbox Live Arcade certification process can be, so we're not getting our hopes up that we'll actually be able to play Castle Crashers anytime soon. For now, all we can do is watch this video and dream of co-op hack & slash action with some seriously large bosses. Watch the video, and enjoy.For more intrepid readers, you can even download an HD version, stream it to your Xbox 360, and pretend you're actually playing Castle Crashers!
Alien Hominid invades next week? (no online co-op)
According to a post on an Xbox Live Arcade rumor thread over at jerkface central 360 Arcadians, an Alien Hominid page was briefly available on the Xbox.com Xbox Live Arcade section. Unfortunately, it was later pulled from the directory page. However, through a little trial and error, we were able to discover the URL to the Alien Hominid HD page itself. Which of course, is even better. Since Xbox.com isn't in the habit of posting pages for games that aren't yet available on Xbox Live Arcade, this is a fairly good indication that we'll be seeing Alien Hominid HD in the near future. With any luck at all, we might even see it next week. Hit the "read" link to see the page for yourself, at least until someone at MS decides to take it down.One quick note, according to the page, campaign co-op is only available for two players on the same console. Up to 4 players can play mini-games over Xbox Live, but it mentions nothing about Live campaign co-op.
Alien Hominid HD reviewed
Our buddies at XBLArcade report that the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine contains a review for Alien Hominid HD for Xbox Live Arcade. The review cites the games unique visuals, excellent co-op, and nonstop action as the game's good points. The review also notes that the game is finished too quickly and that the minigames aren't really worth much playtime. Overall, the game receives a 7.5 out of 10. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, the review doesn't state how much the game will cost with it hits the Arcade. We're hoping the game will debut for 800 points or less.So there you go, Alien Hominid HD is pretty good. Now all we need is a release date.
Castle Crashers is racist, claims strange interpretation
GameTrailers recently received an alarming phone message referencing a Castle Crashers clip that the site had posted during PAX 06. A babbling voice was insisting that The Behemoth's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title was racist, depicting "brown and black characters" being slaughtered by "pure-white characters." It sounds absurd -- it is absurd. But for someone who seems so obviously removed from mainstream gaming culture and the intentions of The Behemoth, could Castle Crashers be rationally interpreted as racist?The message has since been overlaid on top of gameplay footage (see embedded video), giving us a chance to inspect its claim. Interestingly, if we suspend our understanding of the game -- that is, if remove this clip from the context of mainstream gaming culture -- we see what appears to be white figures mercilessly butchering brown and black characters. If we also take into account that a history of racist media and entertainment exists (often guised in cartoonish fashion), than the interpretation in question is actually not absurd. But the interpretation is, we must contend, inaccurate.
Joyswag: A Castle Crashers tee for your thoughts ... the revenge! [update 1]
On Sunday we asked you to leave a comment with your feedback on Castle Crashers for a chance to win an adorable Castle Crashers tee. 210 of you did and, after running the numbers at random.org, our first result was #76. The seventy-sixth comment was posted by one Mr. Franky Digital, who wrote, "This could very well resurrect the side-scrolling beat-'em-up genre for a new generation. Every generation should have a Turtles in Time."That got us thinking. We have another Castle Crashers tee to hand out (size XL), but who to give it to? All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what your favorite side-scrolling beat-'em-up is/was and why. Hate side-scrolling beat-'em-ups? We'd like to know that also (but you better have a good reason why). We'll select one at random and award them the final tee. Good luck![Upate: A quick roll of the random.org die and we've got comment 96, in which Kiey chose Konami's classic Genesis beat 'em up Sunset Riders. Congrats Kiey, you won the tee!]
Watch Castle Crashers, win swag!
Head on over to Joystiq to take a gander at the latest Castle Crashers footage. As an added bonus, you'll have chance to win a sweet Castle Crashers tee. Everybody loves free tee shirts! You've got until 2:30 EST (GMT -4). Check out the post for official rules and whatnot. Good luck!
PAX: The Castle Crashers test
The exhibition space at PAX was a bit cramped, but that didn't stop Redmond neighbors Microsoft and Nintendo from representing, Guitar Hero II from rocking out, game import shop extraordinaire Pink Godzilla from selling, and The Behemoth from having one of the most popular games at the show. Who are The Behemoth? They're the small game studio responsible for the adorable Alien Hominid and the delicious Castle Crashers, both headed to Xbox Live Arcade.The line around Castle Crashers was continuously full -- all four controllers being put to the singular use of button mashing the baddies and quaffing all one could quaff -- while programmer (and Newgrounds chief) Tom Fulp watched on, paternally. One thing he heard continuously through the show, and I corroborated several times, was the repeated claim that players would "buy" an Xbox 360 "just for this game." Seriously, I heard the claim about four times within a half hour, and Tom said he'd been hearing it incessantly since the show floor opened. It was a sort of test. Will this game -- a throwback to the arcade 4-player beat-em-ups of yore dolled up with high-def graphics and (hopefully) an online multiplayer component -- sell next-gen systems to an audience that Gears of War can't? Don't have an Xbox 360 but still want to play Castle Crashers? I overheard Tom saying there's no reason the title couldn't come out for whatever platform Sony has up their sleeve ... although we have a hard time imagining rows of people proclaiming a similar purchasing intent for the pricier PlayStation 3. Check out GameTrailer's shakycam footage of Castle Crasher's PAX build after the break.
Castle Crashers: an XBLA original from The Behemoth
After seeing this video it was clear that The Behemoth's new XBLA offering Castle Crashers needed more than just a one line nod at the bottom of an Alien Hominid post. We've been doing the retro arcade thing long enough; now it's time to bring the multiplayer fun of arcade side-scrollers to Xbox Live Arcade. Forget about porting Golden Axe (though we'd take that too), Castle Crashers promises high-def resolutions with their old-school, beat 'em up action. Let's review, from 1UP: "What [an XBLA release] means for players is a much cheaper price, as well as overhauled visuals that -- when combined with the game's widescreen capability -- allow a lot more to take place on the screen at once. With any four-player game where all the characters are on the screen at the same time, there's a risk of too much going on and players getting confused, so the visual overhaul makes the game much easier to follow than it was in the version we saw last year."This is the sort of mindless arcade fun we need! Now if these guys would go ahead and secure the rights to Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 we'd die happy. Very happy, indeed. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Alien Hominid to crash land on XBLA this year [update 1]
There's two ways you could look at this, depending on how cynical and jaded you are. You could jump up and down knowing that Alien Hominid, one of the most successful and interesting indie games ever made, is coming to Microsoft's popular Xbox Live Arcade service this winter ... or you could grind your teeth knowing that your perfectly suitable Xbox copy isn't backwards compatible (yet?) so, if you want that side scrolling action, you'll be shelling out for the same game again. Granted, it was only $20 to begin with, and a $10 XBLA price would still keep the total well below your average AAA title, but it's the principle dammit! This is a slippery slope for Microsoft to be on. Cynical (and/or cheap) gamers have foretold the day when Microsoft would use future profits to determine the fate of backwards compatibility on a particular title. Conspiracy theorists will point to Alien Hominid's relatively spartan and humble graphics as proof positive that Redmond isn't playing fair. Of course, these accusations will be premature since there are certain to be more backcompat updates before the Fall console launches, but they'll be made regardless. Game Informer reports that Alien Hominid developer The Behemoth is also bringing their in development title Castle Crashers to XBLA in early 2007. For more indie-dev goodies, check out the excellent Gamasutra podcast this week for an interview with The Behemoth's John Baez. [Thanks, Shizzle] [Update 1: 1UP previewed the game at the Comic-Con expo that began today. They confirm the obligatory 360 upgrades like high-def and widescreen support, but also note that "the developers are looking into adding a few bonuses here and there to give the Live Arcade version something extra for players who are familiar with the original" but add "we don't have any details on that front at this point."]
