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Indie Royale dishes out 'The Really Big Bundle'
For its third offering, Indie Royale is bundling together five new games because ... hey, we're all buying stuff right now and everyone loves cheap bundles of good games. A bit of quantity and quality, you know? And the Indie Royale folks must know what they're doing -- Gamasutra reports the first two bundles have moved over 350,000 games across 70,000 total bundle sales. Within The Really Big Bundle, you'll be able to grab headliner Really Big Sky and a pair of Zeboyd games (from the guys bringing back Penny Arcade Adventures) namely Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII. Rounding out the final two columns in this pentagon of parsimony is Runespell: Overture and Eufloria.
Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 still alive, Zeboyd at the helm
After its abrupt cancellation last year, Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 3 has risen from the ashes with developer Zeboyd Games taking control of the project. The studio is best known for its Xbox Live Indie Games and PC releases, Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death 7.RPGamer reports that, given the retro nature of Zeboyd's titles, Penny Arcade Episode 3 will take on a similar graphical style (think: the 16-bit Final Fantasy games); Alex Mauer will be providing the soundtrack. This marks the first game in the series not developed by Hothead, which left the project last year and went on to develop DeathSpank.Episode 3 is set to be released in 2012 on "as many systems" as possible. More information will be revealed at PAX East next year ... but that won't stop us from harassing Gabe and Tycho for information all weekend.
Steam releases of Cthulhu Saves the World, Breath of Death VII outperform entire year on XBLIG
In a very brief announcement on its website, Zeboyd Games has revealed that Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII have been performing very well on Steam. Just how well? "We are pleased to announce that Zeboyd Games has already made more revenue in less than a week on Steam than we have in over a year and a half on the Xbox Live Indie Games service." Another post on Zeboyd's site details the early success of its game on Steam. The developer stated it would have been happy to occupy a spot in the top twenty. On launch day, however, the studio shot into the top sellers and occupied the number one spot for most of the day. Earlier this year, Zeboyd took donations to help fund the PC port of Cthulhu Saves the World, which includes a copious amount of new content (which is now available on the Xbox version as well). So, in other words, the studio has gone from a lack of funds to besting more than a year's worth of sales in a single week. We'd say that's a pretty good turnaround.
Cthulhu Saves the World approved for Steam, Zeboyd 'hoping' for release this month
Zeboyd Games has announced that its excellent Xbox Live Indie title, Cthulhu Saves the World, has been approved by Valve for release on Steam. Developer Robert Boyd is "hoping" to get the game released before the month is out. Just like its Xbox Live counterpart, it will cost a measly $3. Armless Octopus also reports that Boyd is attempting to offer some sort of bonus for those who pre-order on Steam. Additionally, the site reports that Boyd is working to bring the title to GamersGate, Impulse and Desura. The PC version will include several new enhancements, including an extra campaign with new characters and dialogue, rebalanced gameplay, a new dungeon, an "insanity" difficulty setting and developer commentary. As previously revealed, the Xbox Live version will receive the extra content in a free update at the same time.
Xbox Live Indie Games ratings are being manipulated, devs say
If you thought jocks versus nerds was a war you left behind in high school, we've got some bad news: It's followed you to a new, less predictable battleground. Yup, Xbox Live Indie Games. Seemingly provoked by a harmless call to action by the developers behind College Lacrosse 2011 on their Facebook page -- they even said, "Please remember to not rate other games low to help CL11" -- some developers have noticed a drastic drop in their XBLIG rankings. "After hanging out around the #6 top rated slot for a month or two, our game's rating started to drop very quickly," Cthulu Saves the World dev Robert Boyd wrote on Microsoft's App Hub Forums. "In less than a week, we went from being #6 top rated to our current spot of #11." And how are the lacrosse games doing? "In contrast, the Lacrosse games which were in the middle of top 20 best rated (I don't remember the exact positions) are now ranked #4 & #5," Boyd observed. For its part, Microsoft's XNA Creator's Club has acknowledged the possibility of manipulation, tweeting, "We are investigating a possible misuse of ratings on #XBLIG titles. We'll announce more information here as it develops." The real issue is how easy it is for a group of individuals (take the 177K fans of College Lacrosse's Facebook page) to influence the popularity of games on the service: Users can rate games on Microsoft's website without owning an Xbox, purchasing a game, or even playing a demo. When download numbers are as tied to rankings as they are on the Indie Games marketplace (just like on the iOS and Android marketplaces) this issue is really critical in maintaining the fairness of that ecosystem.
Cthulhu Saves the World getting recast in ultra-verbose special edition
Zeboyd Games has announced that the already attractive Cthulhu Saves the World is about to get even hotter. Officially titled -- wait for it -- Cthulhu Saves the World: The Super Hyper Enhanced Championship Edition Alpha Diamond DX Plus Alpha FES HD – Premium Enhanced Game of the Year Collector's Edition (without Avatars!), the updated edition packs in loads of new content. Specifically, the, erm, "Collector's Edition" includes the new Cthulhu's Angels mode, in which the Lovecraftian god sends three new playable characters -- we particularly like the sound of the "Were-Zompire" Molly -- to save the world. The mode also features new music, dialogue and abilities. Additionally, the Collector's Edition will include director's commentary, rebalanced gameplay, a new dungeon and a new "Insanity" difficulty setting. It will apparently replace the original game on the Xbox Live Indie Games platform when it's released this spring, and current owners will be upgraded for free. A PC version will also be released at that time.
Zeboyd seeking funds for PC port of Cthulhu Saves the World
Feeling a little altruistic? Here's a great cause that's worth supporting: The great and terrible destruction of existence at the hands of Cthulhu, who reigns high on his obsidian throne in the dark, nightmarish dwellings of R'lyeh. Oh, wait -- the money you're donating is actually going to Zeboyd Games, who needs funds to help bring its game, Cthulhu Saves the World, from the Xbox Live Indie Games platform to the PC. Yeah, that makes way more sense. The fundraising is taking place on Kickstarter, which is offering quite a few savory prizes for any and all big spenders. For instance, folks who donate $750 or more can end up as townsfolk in the charming indie RPG. That's a small price to pay for virtual immortality, isn't it?
Xbox Live Indie Gems: Cthulhu Saves the World
Crowded as Xbox Live Indie Games is with farting massage simulators, it can be hard to find worthwhile titles. That's why we sift through all that rough to unearth a few gems. That way, you get the skinny on quality games and we get to indulge our secret passion for fart machines. This week, we take a look at the Zeboyd Games retro RPG romp, Cthulhu Saves the World. Let's just start with the premise of Cthulhu Saves the World: You take control of Cthulhu, the squid-faced, winged god created by H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu emerges from the sea after centuries of slumber only to find his dark powers immediately sealed away by a mysterious holy wizard. A narrator then informs the player that the only way to break the curse is to become a true hero. Quickly breaking the fourth wall, Cthulhu informs the narrator that he was eavesdropping and now knows how to break the curse. Thus begins his quest to become a true hero, but only so he can restore his world-rending powers and wash the earth in a tide of insanity and despair. Oh, it's also an RPG inspired by the 16-bit adventures of yore. %Gallery-112189%
