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Undead Labs double taps plans for State of Decay multiplayer
State of Decay developer Undead Labs has been "thoroughly evaluating the possibility of adding co-op multiplayer" to the game and apparently determined that there isn't one. Co-op multiplayer was originally planned for the game, but ultimately scrapped as Undead Labs thought its inclusion could delay the launch of State of Decay for as much as half a year. An update on the developer's forums dashes all hopes that multiplayer might've someday made it into the Xbox Live Arcade hit. In an update on the forums, "Undead Jeff" explains that it would take close to nine months to get multiplayer into the game. "We could 'check the box' and shoehorn multiplayer in sooner than that, but it wouldn't be a great experience, and certainly not one we'd be proud of," he explains. On top of that, pursuing multiplayer would inhibit Undead Labs' ability to support the game with further title updates and DLC. As for future games, "Undead Jeff" says, "Multiplayer will be the absolute heart of any future State of Decay games. As many of you know, we've always had ambitious plans for the future of State of Decay, and those plans have not changed."
State of Decay fights back with second patch
Undead Labs, developer of State of Decay, has issued another title update hoping to strip away some of the unsightly crud clinging to the Xbox Live Arcade game. The update is substantial, enabling a V-sync option designed to eliminate screen tearing. It also addresses pathing issues for zombies and soldiers in "The Armory" mission, improves analog stick sensitivity when aiming and squashes a bug that prevented story progression involving one of the survivors, Quentin. This second update follows a first attempt by Undead Labs to address some of the technical issues plaguing State of Decay. After its debut earlier this month, State of Decay has been quite the success, reaching 250,000 copies sold in its first 48 hours and eclipsing half a million in sales as of last week. An MMO sequel, codenamed Class4, has always been planned at Undead Labs, though it's currently stuck in limbo at Microsoft.
Sega sale on Xbox Live: $5 VF5, $2 Guardian Heroes, $10 Sonic Generations, more
There's a pretty massive Sega sale going down on Xbox Live right now. Many games and DLC packs are $5 or less. In the $5 camp are Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Sonic Adventure 2, Jet Set Radio, Nights into Dreams and Crazy Taxi. Other downloads, such as Guardian Heroes, the Sega Genesis Sonic games (including Sonic CD) and Space Channel 5 Part 2 are only two bucks each. You'll also find a number of $10 Games on Demand titles, including Sonic Generations, Condemned, Sega Superstars Tennis ... and Sonic Unleashed. Finally, if you haven't tried out Ron Gilbert's latest adventure, you can pick up The Cave for $7.50.
State of Decay review: Don't stop
Don't stop or you'll die. This is the prevailing theme of State of Decay, Undead Labs' sandbox survival-horror game for Xbox Live Arcade. It's a game focused on the chores of survival in a post-apocalyptic world: scavenging for supplies in vacant buildings; trading with and aiding neighboring groups; comforting and managing emotional states of your own survivors; and, of course, dealing with the occasional zombie attack on your home. State of Decay is constantly pulling you in many directions, making it difficult to decide what mission you should take next or what resource you should hunt down. The deluge of missions, radio messages and scavenging cycles never stops, and the hostile nature of the environment itself hardly provides incentive for pause to soak in the scenery.%Gallery-190683%
Zeno Clash 2 punches XBLA next week
Father-Mother lovers rejoice, Zeno Clash 2 is finally first-person punching its way to Xbox Live Arcade next week. After being available on PC since late April, the game will arrive on Microsoft's download platform on June 12, smack in the middle of E3. We won't be playing Zeno Clash 2, but we'll still be first-person shoving our way through crowds to bring you the latest news.
State of Decay rises on XBLA June 5
Undead Labs' zombie game State of Decay is set to launch on Xbox Live June 5 for 1,600 MS Points ($20). The news comes via Major Nelson on Twitter, with Undead Labs confirming the date on its blog. No word on a date for the PC port yet. Undead Labs announced it was working on a zombie MMO in 2009. In early 2011, the company revealed a title codenamed Class3, which was positioned as an open-world zombie game targeting XBLA that would serve as a precursor to its announced MMO. In 2012, Undead Labs re-branded the downloadable game as State of Decay, which still retains its focus on survival mechanics in an open-world environment.
Rumor: Doodle Jump for Kinect heading to XBLA next month [Update]
It shaped smartphone gaming in the early days of the App Store. Today, it's available on nearly every capable mobile device. It may even be lurking at your local arcade. Next month, a Kinect version of Lima Sky's runaway hit, Doodle Jump, could be coming to Xbox Live Arcade, according to a recent Australian ratings classification and evidence uncovered by self-proclaimed Xbox Live Marketplace watchdog, "Lifelower." The Australian Classification Board confirms Smoking Gun Interactive as the developer behind the upcoming Doodle Jump for Kinect. Lifelower, meanwhile, has obtained boxart and a gallery of purported screenshots, suggesting that the game is nearing completion. Lifelower expects the game to launch near the end of June at 400 Microsoft points. A Kinect adaptation of Doodle Jump was first announced back in 2011 when creator Lima Sky outlined its plans for expansion after surpassing 10 million paid downloads on mobile platforms. We've reached out to developer Smoking Gun Interactive for more information. Update: Doodle Jump for Kinect will be available on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 MS Points sometime this summer.
Wolfenstein 3D returns to XBLA, PSN
Wolfenstein 3D is back on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in North America after a brief absence, and is coming to PSN in Europe soon. You can snag id's seminal shooter for $5 on Xbox Live Arcade, PSN or Steam. Activision had originally published Wolfenstein 3D on consoles just a few weeks after Bethesda acquired id Software in 2009. Bethesda's Pete Hines told Joystiq the re-rating was a necessity for both the ESRB and console manufacturers. "No changes. Was originally published through Activision, so now that it's reverted back to us we have to jump through ESRB (ratings go to the publisher, they don't "follow" the game to a new publisher) and console hoops (game has to be "re-certed" by the new publisher)." A new entry in the series, Wolfenstein: The New Order, is currently in development at MachineGames, with a tentative launch window slated for later this year.
PSA: Capcom Arcade Cabinet all-in-one available now
Your patience has paid off. Today, Capcom has issued the full Capcom Arcade Cabinet collection - a cheaper bundle of all 17 games previously issued in piecemeal packs and as individual downloads. The all-in-one pack is available starting today for 2,000 MS Points ($30), a saving of $15 over purchasing all five game packs. Capcom Arcade Cabinet highlights games from the publisher's catalog spanning the years between 1984 and 1988. The full list of 17 games within the Capcom Arcade Cabinet are Black Tiger, Avengers, 1943, The Battle of Midway, Ghosts n Goblins, Gun Smoke, Section Z, Side Arms, Legendary Wings, Trojan, Commando, The Speed Rumbler, Exed Exes (Savage Bees), 1942, SonSon and Pirate Ship Higemaru. There are also two secret games: 1943 Kai and Vulgus.
Next-gen Microsoft: What the new Xbox can do for indies
The Xbox 360 accrued an arguably bad reputation in terms of indie games publishing over the past few years. Many vocal observers – players, mostly – saw Xbox Live Arcade as a closed, unsupportive platform that asked developers for thousands of dollars to update their own games, and Xbox Live Indie Games was a stagnant hole filled with Minecraft clones and zombie games. Microsoft may have to overcome this public perception with its next-gen Xbox conference today at 10 a.m. PT. But from an indie developer's standpoint, the issues in publishing with Microsoft are different – or nonexistent. "Working with Microsoft is great," writes James Silva, one half of Ska Studios and creator of The Dishwasher series of XBLA games. "I have heard a few stories that contradict my experience, and I know quite a few people who are happier on platforms other than XBLA, and that's fine for them. XBLA is a closed, carefully curated platform with its own set of fairly rigid standards and protocols." Ska Studios works with only Microsoft, publishing The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai after winning the Dream Build Play competition in 2007, and from there developing The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile for XBLA, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMB1ES 1N IT!!!1 on XBLIG and a version on Windows Phone, and now polishing another XBLA game, Charlie Murder. Silva makes enough money developing games for Microsoft platforms to support a life of developing games for Microsoft platforms. He says that with Microsoft as a publisher, he retains full creative control, and Microsoft supports him in terms of bug-squashing, meeting goals, play-testing, and even taking him to dinner when he's in town. "Shortly after The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai launched, I absolutely spent a night at my producer's cabin in Snoqualmie, drinking IPA and playing around with GarageBand," Silva says. "Yes, it was fine, it was fun, and it's unfortunate that 'everything's fine' doesn't really register as newsworthy, because there is currently a 'Microsoft is bad for indies' narrative trending in gaming news."
Rumor: Freefall Racers for Kinect being published by Deep Silver, headed to XBLA [update]
Deep Silver will publish an upcoming gesture-based racing game for Kinect called Freefall Racers. The first breadcrumb in this trail comes from an Australian rating that has surfaced, outing Deep Silver as publisher. The developer is Smoking Gun Interactive, whose most recent work includes two Kinect experiences, Mars Rover Landing and Home Run Stars, so a new Kinect project would make sense. The Vancouver-based studio at least partly funded Freefall Racers with help from the Canadian government, as evidenced by the $461,243 contributed through the Canada Media Fund (PDF) last year. Our first glimpse of the game is courtesy of environmental artist Anthony Leonati, who published six screens from Freefall Racers on his personal website. [Update: The images have been pulled from Leonati's website.] In addition to the screens, he also pegs Freefall Racers for Xbox Live Arcade, though his LinkedIn profile indicates he has since moved on from Smoking Gun to become a senior environment artist at EA. We've followed up with Deep Silver and Smoking Gun Interactive for comment and will update this post accordingly. [Thanks, lifelower]%Gallery-188597%
Xbox Ultimate Collection gathers best XBLA games in the UK
In the UK, Microsoft has initiated the Xbox Ultimate Collection program, a gathering of Xbox Live Arcade top dogs with biweekly battles where fans can vote to add a new game to the list. The winner is then available for purchase at half-price the following week.The Xbox Ultimate Collection spans six different categories, each comprised of the top five games within said category. Games such as The Walking Dead, Peggle, Full House Poker and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD are all represented here, with five open slots of the total 60 awaiting fan-chosen games in the biweekly voting campaigns.The full list of current Xbox Ultimate Collection games is available past the break. The Xbox Ultimate Collection program will span eight weeks in total. We've contacted Microsoft to find out if the program will be extended outside of the UK and will update this post with what we find out.
Flashback gets a do-over on XBLA, PSN
Ubisoft has a remake of Flashback in the works for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. This Unreal-powered version is helmed by VectorCell, the French studio behind horror game Amy. It is owned by the original Flashback's lead designer, Paul Cuisset.Flashback was first developed by Delphine Software and released over 20 years ago on the Amiga. The stylized platformer, which was later ported to Genesis, Mega-CD, PC and Mac (amongst others) centers on Conrad B. Hart, an amnesiac who finds a message – recorded by himself – warning of an alien plot threatening Earth.%Gallery-185241%
Battleblock Theater review: Bring some friends and beat 'em up
Every week, a group of friends and I get together to watch the television show, The Walking Dead. By "watch" I mean we make fun of the terrible acting and bemoan the missing parts that made the comic so good. It's a joyful, heartfelt tradition that we look forward to each week, and not much distracts us from this routine. Except, of course, a really good excuse to beat each other up.This week we started our screen session with a local co-op round of The Behemoth's Battleblock Theater in Arena mode. Arena mode features a handful of four-player mini-games, all of which are co-op, two-on-two or every man for himself. We started with "Ball Game." After two hours of passing the controllers, running through various levels, rolling in laughter and punching each other whenever a sweet move went awry, someone suggested we start up The Walking Dead. The response was immediate."No way. We're playing this." And so we did, all night long.%Gallery-184916%
XBLA sale: Mark of the Ninja, Trials and more cheap until Apr. 9
Another sale has spread across Xbox Live Arcade, running until April 9. The sale's highlight is 50% off Mark of the Ninja from Klei Entertainment – one of Joystiq's favorite games of 2012 – bringing it down to 600 MS Points ($7.50).Other cheap contenders include Trials Evolution for 800 MS Points ($10) and some discounted Pinball FX 2 tables. There's also Dust: An Elysian Tale and Deadlight for 600 MS Points ($7.50) to consider.On top of this promotion highlighting Microsoft Studios games, there's also the ongoing Xbox Live Arcade Deal of the Week sale. Retro City Rampage has been knocked down to 600 MS Points ($7.50) and Quarrel is 200 MS Points ($2.50). The full list of both sales can be seen through the source links below.
A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda getting an EX version for X.B.L.A.
The manic side-scrolling shooter A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda, originally developed for Windows by a Thai developer named Extend Studio, is making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade in an extended version, courtesy of Origo Games and publisher Aksys Games. The console version of the title (which placed second in Microsoft's 2010 Dream.Build.Play. competition) will feature new controls, a new UI, redesigned maps and enemies, and new high resolution textures and animated cutscenes.The XBLA version, called A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX, will also include both the original soundtrack, and a new soundtrack for the second campaign by Peruvian heavy metal guitarist Charlie Parra Del Riego. Aksys hasn't announced a date or price for the game yet.
Serious Sam 3 and DLC prices permanently reduced on XBLA
Serious Sam 3's Xbox Live Arcade port has received a permanent price reduction, down from 1200 MS Points ($15) to 800 MS Points ($10), a savings of $5. The Jewel of the Nile DLC has also been reduced to the same price.Serious Sam 3 originally launched on the PC in late 2011, a game our own Ludwig Kietzmann says "is like a dam filled with cookies." Last year, Serious Sam 3 was ported to Mac and Linux before its Xbox Live Arcade debut in October.
CastleStorm makes a run at Xbox Live Arcade, Windows 8 in April
Zen Studios has been working on its tower-defense game CastleStorm for well over a year now. During an appointment with the developer, Joystiq has learned the game is currently set for launch on Xbox Live Arcade and Windows 8 sometime in April.CastleStorm is essentially a 2D, physics-based destruction game with tower-defense elements tossed in. As the Knights, you defend your castle from waves of attacking Vikings; players can defend with ranged weapons such as ballistas, or choose to put their boots on the ground and get right into the conflict as a hero.There will also be a host of other modes to play outside of the campaign's 12 different environments, including online multiplayer and co-op, plus a castle editor – you can set up your own look and weapon loadouts for your castle, and test weapons within the editor to see how they'd bring it down.Zen Studios hasn't announced a price for CastleStorm yet, but with only around a month left until launch, we're sure the developer will lob a price point over toward us soon.
Zen Studios launching Star Wars Pinball this month
Whether you're playing Pinball FX 2 on Xbox Live Arcade or Windows 8, Zen Pinball 2 on PlayStation Network or Mac, or Zen Pinball on iOS or Zen Pinball HD on Google Play, you'll be able to supplement your virtual table collection with a trio of new Star Wars-themed tables later this month. These three tables will be available standalone on iOS and Google Play, or in the aforementioned games as DLC.The first three tables offered are themed around Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett and the animated Clone Wars series, each with their own unique missions and layout – and in the case of Episode V, even has footage taken directly from the film that will display in the dot matrix window prior to every mission.A total of 10 different Star Wars Pinball tables are planned. Zen Studios has yet to finalize pricing, but we'll be sure to pass along that info as soon as it's announced.%Gallery-178043%
Top Xbox Live, Arcade, Indie and Windows games of 2012
If an alien intelligence agency got a hold of this "Top Xbox games of 2012" list, it might come away with the conclusion that humans are really, really into mining. The aliens might also conclude that we enjoy warfare, including the kind that affects extraterrestrials, so let's hope that they focus on the harmless digging thing and keep their lasers to themselves.Major Nelson breaks down 2012's top 20 games of the following categories: Live, Arcade, Indie and Games for Windows Live. The top Xbox Live games of 2012, determined by average unique users per day, are Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Modern Warfare 3, Halo 4, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Black Ops. Following that is a round of sports games, including FIFA Soccer 13 and 12, and Halo: Reach, Assassin's Creed 3, Battlefield 3, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3 and Skyrim.The top five Xbox Live Arcade games, determined by full versions purchased, are Minecraft, Trials Evolution, The Walking Dead, Pinball FX2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Castle Crashers is hanging out at No. 6, followed by Fez at No. 13. Indie games are ranked with the same method, and they carry a familiar theme, headlined by CastleMiner Z, CastleMiner, Total Miner: Forge, Avatar Deathmatch and FortressCraft Chapter 1.Games for Windows Live games get ranked by average unique users per day, and the top five are Grand Theft Auto 4, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, Age of Empires Online, Batman: Arkham City and Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Remember, aliens, humans sure do love the smell of fresh, pixelated dirt. See for yourself with the full lists, provided by Major Nelson, after the break.
