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Orson Scott Card games from Undertow devs
In a move that came out of the blue, but somehow feels right, Epic games (of Unreal and Gears fame) has acquired Chair Entertainment, the developers of Undertow for XBLA. Undertow was one of the earlier games to experiment with using Unreal Engine 3 on the Live Arcade and the fact that they are now owned by the makers of said engine seems to sit right. Chair Entertainment will still be known as such, and they are currently at work on two new projects, both of which have no announced platform (though XBLA is likeliest). The two games' titles are Empire: Alpha Complex and Ender's Game: Battle Room, both of which are based on properties of the novelist Orson Scott Card. Nothing else is known, but given the titles and properties that they correspond to, color us intrigued.
Epic Games takes seat, acquires Chair Entertainment Group
Epic Games today announced its acquisition of Utah-based Undertow developer, Chair Entertainment Group. Under directors Donald and Geremy Mustard, and CEO Ryan Holmes, Chair Entertainment becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic, keeping both its name and "its focus on creating new original game properties which utilize Epic's Unreal Engine technology." We've placed the full press release, which contains the usual "We're thrilled to buy this awesome company!" and "We're so glad this amazing company bought us!" quotes, after the break. Not specifically mentioned is how the acquisition will affect Chair's Ender's Game projects, if at all. After requesting comment, we were promised an update "as soon as one is available." Funny, we were just about to tell you readers the same thing.
Shhh, half-price Undertow expansion available now for 200 MS points [update]
There's an expansion available now for XBLA game Undertow, but this time around the content is going to cost you. The special part is continuing the aquatic action won't cost 400 MS points as originally expected because it's currently available for 200 MS points ($2.50 in surface currency). If this is an accident and you're a fan of Undertow, now's the time to purchase it! If the half-price sale hasn't sold you, here are some details on the Path of the Elect expansion. It includes five campaign levels, a new alien race called the "Elect" and four multiplayer maps. Now, go grab this deal in case it doesn't last. Update: The expansion price has been changed to 400 points.
Undertow expansion on LIVE at 400 MS points [Update]
Update: It looks like the original price-point of 200 MS points this morning was in fact an error as the price of the Undertow expansion has been raised to 400 MS points.Earlier in the week we reported that the expansion to Undertow, Microsoft's apology gift to gamers for the LIVE service downtime, would be hitting the Marketplace at 400 MS space bucks today.Well, one for two ain't bad. The Undertow expansion, Path of the Elect, has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace but at the low price of 200 MS points (aka $2.50). According to the listing on Xbox.com the expansion pack price was slated at 400 MS points, so it is unclear if the content was priced down prior to release or if the Xbox Live Marketplace listing is an error.Regardless, 200 MS points for the expansion is a steal and fans of Undertow should take notice immediately -- especially if this was a mistake!
Undertow Path of the Elect expansion this Wed
Microsoft's Xbox Live outage apology gift, Undertow will be sprouting a new set of expansion fins tomorrow with the release of a new Path of the Elect expansion pack.Undertow's Path of the Elect expansion will give XBLA gamers an additional five campaign single / co-op levels, a new playable alien race called the "Elect" and four extra multiplayer maps. But this is not charity DLC as Chair Entertainment will be charging 400 Microsoft points for their Path of the Elect content. Then again, it isn't like the majority of Undertow owners didn't get the game for free, so we'll probably be tiny bit more open minded with our purchasing decision. Path of the Elect. DLC. Tomorrow. Buy.
Ender's Game might end up on the DS
Any sci-fi geek worth his or her salt will have heard of Orson Scott Card's magnificent Ender's Game series. (The original happens to be one of this blogger's favorite books.)For those of you unfamiliar with the story, let's catch up. Ender's Game tells the tale of the young prodigy, Ender Wiggin, who must prepare to save the word by training at Battle School. Ender's training consists of (what else?) playing games -- intense, simulated battles that involve a lot of strategy and tactics.It was only a matter of time before a game about a book about playing games was made, and we couldn't think of a better way to do it than with Orson Scott Card's novel. Chair Entertainment (developer of XBLA 's Undertow) recently signed the rights to the series, and plan to (eventually) make the title for all consoles and handhelds.While games based on licenses have a tendency to fall short of our expectations, we're somewhat comforted to know that Orson Scott Card is "working with [Chair Entertainment] to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible," as he puts it. We only hope that this title actually appears on our favorite handheld, and doesn't turn into DS vaporware like some others that we know. If it does come out on the DS, though, it probably won't be until after the game releases onto downloadable platforms first (which we assume will include Wii Ware, too).[Via Games Industry]
Undertow team creating Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game's game
A new collaboration between renowned author Orson Scott Card and Undertow developer, Chair Entertainment, will see the popular sci-fi novel Ender's Game adapted into a series of video games "across all next-generation consoles, handheld platforms, and PC." The first offering is expected to begin development later this year and will be released in downloadable format. As the story of Ender's Game revolves around the protagonist's experiences within the "Battle Room" -- home to a simulation of futuristic combat -- it should come as no surprise to learn that Chair Entertainment's goal is to place players into the very same virtual environment. Turning Ender's fictional game into a "real" one certainly makes sly sense within the context of the book, though we would be slightly concerned if the people on our Xbox Live friends should start turning up dead. In a recently published interview, N'Gai Croal managed to catch-up with the Mustard brothers, Donald and Geremy, founders of Chair Entertainment. They described the Unreal-engine game with great relish, noting that the "the unique characteristics of the Battle Room will make a very compelling, competitive game play experience." Let's hope it can make up for the bad taste left in our mouths by one of their previous Card collaborations, Advent Rising. [Image: "Ender's Game(s)" by Penny Arcade]
Reminder: Last chance to download Undertow for free
Yeah, we know. The whole "deep sea diver combat" genre peaked with Sega's largely unknown arcade masterpiece The Ocean Hunter, but still, it's rude to look a gift horse in the mouth -- or, rather, to look a free game in the drearily repetitive gameplay. If you haven't done it yet, today is your last chance to download Undertow on the XBLA marketplace for the cost of zilch. Who knows, you may dig it -- and if all it costs is a moment of your time to pick up, isn't it worth checking out? Let us know if free was the right price for the game -- and if it served as an appropriate apology for the recent hiccups in the Xbox Live service.
Last chance to download free Undertow
For the fanboys of the world who tend to procrastinate and drag their downloading feet, they should know that their chance to download a free copy of XBLA game Undertow is about to expire.Microsoft's apology download Undertow has been a free game download since Wednesday, January 23rd and will continue to be free until this evening. Then, tonight at 11:59PM pacific, Microsoft will be flipping the switch and revert Undertow back to its 800 Microsoft point price tag. So, if you have yet to get your download on, we advise getting your bum on the couch and scheduling two minutes out of your Sunday to head to the XBLM and download Undertow. Now, if you miss out, you have nobody else to blame but yourself and possibly your parents for handing down lazy genetics.
Reminder: Undertow a free download until Sunday
Just a reminder that Microsoft's apology gift for Live being "fickle" this holiday has just arrived. Their gift, the full version of Xbox Live Arcade game Undertow, is now a free download off the Marketplace. Undertow will remain free for only a limited time though, so we advise commencing the download process as soon as possible so you don't forget. Because when the clock strikes midnight pacific on Sunday, January 27th, the free Undertow offer will disappear into the deep, dark bowels of the Atlantic ocean, never to be seen again. And for those fanboys who already own Undertow, remember to give MS support a ring today, tell them your story and you'll be rewarded with 800 MS points instead. Free goodies for all! %Gallery-4130%
Own Undertow? Call MS to get another free goodie
So, Undertow will be a free download to both gold and silver Xbox Live subscribers tomorrow, but what about those who already the game? Are they not worthy of another apology download option? Shouldn't they get another form of compensation since they've already plopped 800 MS points down on Undertow ? Well, the answer is ... yes.Major Nelson posted a comment telling those who already own Undertow to "contact [Xbox] support" and that "they will take care of you." By taking care of us we don't expect free pizza for a year or a massage, but we do expect either free MS points or another XBLA download. Bottom line, if you've previously purchased Undertow and want another form of compensation for the Xbox Live downtime, get on the tele and make a call to Xbox customer support. State your case and ask (politely) for other compensation. Like Major said, they'll take care of you.[Thanks, LHarmon]
This Wednesday: Just Undertow (but this time it's free)
While we're always pleased to get our scarred, scabbed hands on free stuff we hate to give up one of our precious Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays to do it. Major Nelson confirmed with our pals at X3F that this Wednesday's featured game would in fact be Undertow (again), but of course they're giving it away for free to say "sowwy" for all those ugly Xbox Live problems. So, no Rez HD or whatnot for you this week ... For those of you who've already purchased Undertow, we also wanted to direct your attention to this comment by Xbox Live's Major Nelson: "If you have already purchased the game, you can contact support and they will take care of you." We imagine by "take care of you" he means "provide you with a code for a similarly priced game" and not "outfit you with a pair of cement shoes and send you into the drink." But hey, be careful when you call up, okay? %Gallery-4096%
Free Undertow is this week's XBLA release, bummer
Today's press release about the XBLA Awards also mentioned that this week Undertow would be a free download starting Wednesday, which wasn't any new news to us. But uncharacteristically missing from the XBLA press release was any information about a new Arcade game releasing for the week. So, we sent out a query to the powers that be to see if we would be getting new XBLA love on Wednesday. Coming to our rescue was the always timely Major Nelson who gave us the bad news confirming that there will be no new XBLA release this week, just some free Undertow. That means there will be no rumored Rez HD or Chessmaster Live gaming for you. Oh well, there's always next Wednesday ... sigh.
Microsoft apologizes for Xbox Live issues with free Undertow download
Nothing says "sorry" like a free game, and so, due to previous – and reportedly ongoing – Xbox Live service issues, Microsoft is going to offer Undertow free for download beginning next Wednesday, at 2 am PST, through Sunday. Two weeks ago, Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten posted a letter to Live subscribers apologizing for poor performance during the holidays and promising a freebie was on the way. There are currently no plans to offer a substitute game for those who already own Undertow. %Gallery-4096%
Free Undertow to make up for Live problems next week
Major Nelson just pinged us to let us know that Undertow has been pegged as the game that will be offered for free as an apology for the recent troubles on Xbox Live. If your unfamiliar with the game, it's essentially a 2D version of Battlefield ... only underwater. Players engage in class-based shooter action in order to capture control points and drain their opponents' resources. It's also one of the best looking games on Xbox Live Arcade and supports 16 players online. To put it simply: it was a good choice by Microsoft. The game will be free for download starting next Wednesday, January 23 at 2:00 am Pacific and will remain free through Sunday, January 27 at 11:59 am Pacific.The big question is whether or not this $10 game will serve to quiet the angry throngs of gamers that have been denied their Xbox Live. Come to think of it, the bigger question may be whether or not those who download Undertow will actually be able to play it online next week. Let's hope so.%Gallery-4130%
Last chance: win Undertow
This is it, your very, very last chance to win a copy of the XBLA underwater adventure Undertow. Hopefully, you remembered to enter once a day and maximize your chances of winning. Of course, if you didn't, there's nothing you can do about it now. In fact, it's really kind of cruel for us to even mention it .... Anyway, head on over to the official giveaway post and submit your entry.Oh, and sorry about the who "maximize your chances of winning" thing. That was mean.
Reminder: win Undertow
Hey kids! Just a quick reminder that you still have a chance to win a super-neato and keen copy of Undertow for that new-fangled Xbox Live Arcade everyone is raving about. The poop on the street is that this game is hip with all of today's youngsters. If you'd like to be the first one on your block to nab a copy, just head on over to the official giveaway post and submit your entry. And remember, drink your Ovaltine you can submit one entry per day, so get to it. Should you win, remember to be careful. We wouldn't want you to shoot your eye out with a harpoon gun after all.[Original image: foundphotoslj]
Fanswag Weekly: Undertow
Hey kids, Fanswag Weekly is back this week with a copy of Undertow for Xbox Live Arcade. Something like a mix between Geometry Wars and Battlefield, Undertow tasks your underwater faction with taking control of certain territories. It's a lot of fun and easily one of the most graphically impressive games available for XBLA (this sucker uses the Unreal 2 engine, after all). If you'd like to get your hands on a free download code for Undertow, all you have to do is follow the instructions below. Undertow takes place under the sea. Leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite sea creature is and why. You can leave one comment per calendar day (Eastern Time). Be sure you only leave one comment per day. Posters of multiple comments during the same day will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until Friday, December 21, 12:00pm Noon, Eastern Time. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only On Friday, we'll pick one winner via a random drawing One winner will each receive a download code for Undertow, worth $10 Delve into the icy depths of the official rules by clicking here.%Gallery-4130%
Undertow now available on the XBLA
Available for download off of the Xbox Live Arcade is Chair Entertainment Group's brand new and freshly baked XBLA game Undertow. This arcade underwater shooting adventure will set you back 800 Microsoft points and includes all kinds of goods including sixteen player Xbox Live battles, co-op campaign and explosive graphics. Undertow. It's kind of like Atlantis meets World War II ... but not really at all.
Undertow finds its way to the XBLA this week
We kind of knew this last month, but not it's official and now we can chalk one up for developers not being wrong about an XBLA game's release date. W00t for them!The underwater adventure game of wetness Undertow is this week's XBLA release and for 800 Microsoft points it promises "non-stop conquest-style battles" that "push the envelope of onscreen effects and combat action". Intense stuff, we know. Undertow has already received some, so we'll see if the game's multiplayer and overall underwater feel deem it worthy enough of our 800 points and official X3F stamp of approval. But we aren't giving out awards or committing to a purchase until Wednesday. Sit tight, Undertow is near.
