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All about Castle Crashers Volleyball on PSN
The bad news: The Behemoth still hasn't nailed down a release date -- or even a release month -- for the PSN version of Castle Crashers (though it's still slated for this year). The good news: PlayStation 3 owners will be treated to some brand new content. Specifically, a recent entry on The Behemoth dev blog revealed that the PSN version of the game will feature a new volleyball mini-game. The mini-game will allow up to eight players (locally or online) to play a game of volleyball using any of a player's unlocked characters. It will feature new serve and spike moves and magic attacks that place one of eight status effects on the ball. The volleyball game will even include its own leaderboards. Again, it's not much to dull the pain of waiting, but at least the PSN is getting something extra in the deal. Also, if it makes you feel any better, The Behemoth will be showing off Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater at PAX East next month.
Behemoth collects over 30k for Haiti relief, extends promotion again
Since January 20, the team at Behemoth have been raising money through Xbox Live DLC sales of Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid to support relief efforts in Haiti. Over four days, Behemoth has collected $15,585.65 through DLC purchases; however, since the promise was to donate 200% of all DLC sales, The Behemoth has matched the total leaving the donation jar filled with $31,171.29! That's great, but for The Behemoth it isn't great enough. Today the team announced they will continue to extend the promotion until the total donation jar hits $50,000. What a bunch of sweethearts. Check out a list of the DLC you can buy to help offer support for the people in Haiti. They really need your help.
Behemoth Haiti DLC event extended to Friday
If you neglected the opportunity to buy Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid DLC and have that money both donated and matched by developer The Behemoth to Haiti relief, you're a terrible person. But you're also in luck: The charity drive has been extended to this Friday, Jan. 29. By all means, pick up all the DLC you can get your hands on, just don't expect St. Peter to give you much credit at the Pearly Gates if your only charitable act in life was forgetting to buy a video game until you remembered to later.
The Behemoth DLC revenue going to Haiti this week
Not to be outclassed by larger companies in the gaming industry, indie dev studio The Behemoth has announced its own initiative for helping out with recovery efforts in Haiti. Any revenue brought in by DLC purchases for Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid on XBLA will go directly to the Red Cross. The promotion is titled "The Behemoth Super Haiti Chicken Super Charity," because, hey, what else would you call it? The folks at Behemoth also plan to match this sum of money with some of their own, coming directly from their pockets, wallets and bank accounts. That's quite generous of them -- why not show your own support by picking up some DLC for Alien Hominid or Castle Crashers before the promotion ends next Sunday?
Microsoft reveals the top Xbox Live games of 2009
Now that the new year is in full swing, Microsoft has decided to take a look back at the top games of 2009. Specifically, Major Nelson has released a breakdown of the most popular games on Xbox Live during 2009. The overall top twenty list seems pretty standard with Halo 3 at the top, followed by Call of Duty 4. What's amazing, though, is that after releasing in November, Modern Warfare 2 managed to snag third place for the entire year. So, pretty popular game, then. On the downloadable front, Battlefield 1943 takes top XBLA honors, followed by Castle Crashers and Trials HD. Indie Games are topped by I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1N IT!!!1 (it is just a dollar), followed by Avatar Drop and RC-AirSim. Unsurprisingly, the top original Xbox game is still Halo 2, while Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and the original Fable take second and third place, respectively. Head over to Major Nelson for the full list.
Japan's Xbox Live stats indicate proneness to Japanese-developed games
It'd be impossible to discuss Japan's Xbox Live usage stats, recently released by Microsoft (and posted after the break), without pointing to the overwhelmingly Japanese-developed composition of them. Taking first place among the top XBLA purchases of 2009 was last year's Virtual On port -- a game so popular in Japan that it currently holds second place in the region's all-time bestsellers list. Games like Ikaruga and Trigger Heart Exelica populate the rest of the XBLA stats, though Western-developed Castle Crashers notably takes the number one position in all-time popularity. The sheer Japanosity of these stats is even more apparent in the download numbers for all that other stuff. From demos (75 percent Japanese-developed) to Games on Demand (90 percent) to DLC (also 90 percent), Japanese players clearly have a hankering for homemade games -- even on their Western-developed consoles. [Via Andriasang]
Today only: Castle Crashers for $7 on XBLM
With only two days of daily holiday deals left, it looks like Microsoft decided to make today's a doozy. Like the headline says, today's deal is Castle Crashers for a mere 560. That's sevenearth dollars and, more importantly, a substantial savings over the usual 1200 ($15) price tag. If you haven't experienced the co-op glory, now is the time. Trust us, people like this game. They like it so much that they build costumes of their favorite characters. If you don't have it yet, you need that kind of joy in your life. Shortcut: Add Castle Crashers to your 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]
The time-lapse evolution of a Castle Crashers boss
The Behemoth, purveyor of fine classic-style action games with lovely high-res 2D artwork, has posted a nice time-lapse video on its developer blog showcasing the evolution of one of its Castle Crashers boss characters. In it, we get to see The Painter come a long way from his meager palette-sporting beginnings to the giant roller-wielding, toolbox-for-a-head monster we've come to know and despise. It's not often that we get a glimpse at this aspect of the development process -- perhaps because a time-lapse video of an artist creating the 3D model for, say, the Joker from Batman: Arkham Asylum would be the length of most theatrical releases. The Behemoth's video, after the break, is thankfully only seven-and-a-half minutes long.
(Castle) Crash Halloween with this Behemoth of a costume
The team at The Behemoth know you're having a hard time coming up with something original and awesome for Halloween, so the team has included an instructional guide to creating your very own Castle Crashers inspired costume on its blog. Taking a simple 5-gallon bucket, some foam and a pocket full of hopes and dreams, you can rock one of the best costumes we've seen (all week, at least). As an added bonus, the guide is simple and includes plenty of pictures to guide would-be costume designers -- and future "Best Costume of the Night" award winners.
Castle Crashers Necromantic DLC coming tomorrow for 160 MS Points
Wow. When Castle Crashers developer The Behemoth teased last week that its upcoming Necromantic DLC pack was coming "SOON," they weren't kidding. According to a countdown clock recently added to the game's official blog, it's due to drop tomorrow, bringing the long overdue chainsaw, two new characters and one new animal orb to the multi-man beat-'em-up. The company has wisely placed the price of the expansion at 160 -- so before you download that new The Devil Wears Prada track on Rock Band 2, we want you to stop, and reconsider your priorities. Music from a hardcore band named after a Meryl Streep movie? Or chainsaws? (This decision is also a litmus test for whether we can still be friends with you. Choose wisely.)
'Necromantic' DLC pack coming to Castle Crashers
It's been a long time coming -- like, a looooong time -- but it looks like an upcoming DLC pack for The Behemoth's four-player beat-'em-up is finally delivering the oft-promised Chainsaw weapon to Castle Crashers worldwide. It's part of the "Necromantic" DLC pack, which in addition to the gas-powered armament, will give players access to two new characters (the titular Necromancer and The Cult Minion), a new "Dragonhead" animal orb and two new weapons (the NG Skull Mace and, yes, the Chainsaw).The Behemoth didn't reveal a price or a definitive release date for the pack, but did mention it is coming "SOON." That's their choice of capitalization, not ours. As in, it's not coming "soon" -- it's coming "SOON."
Castle Crashers storming PS3, playable at Comic-Con
The Behemoth's four-player, hack 'n slash Xbox Live Arcade title Castle Crashers has crashed right through the wall of platform exclusivity and is coming to PlayStation 3, the developer announced on the eve of San Diego Comic-Con. According to GameSpot, a playable version of the game for PS3 will be on the show floor tomorrow for attendees to gets their hands on.Castle Crashers hit Xbox Live Arcade on August 27, 2008 and reached a milestone of 1 million players last month. The version for Sony's console has yet to be dated -- or detailed beyond the fact that it'll include Trophies -- but might we suggest dropping it on the one-year anniversary of the 360 version's launch? (With lots of new goodies, of course.)
2010 Independent Games Festival accepting submissions
If you're ready to unleash your totally deviant, totally original and totally counter-cultural Tetris remake upon the world, your best chance to do so has arrived. The Independent Games Festival is now accepting entries into its Main and Student Showcase categories. You've got until November to get your submissions in, and finalists in the Main Competitions will be announced January 4.If you're looking for reasons to enter your humble project, the festival's organizers have about 20,000 good ones, and by "ones" we mean dollars, by which we mean $20,000 is the grand prize for the competition. In addition, finalists will have their games exhibited on the GDC show floor, where they can be played, admired and possibly exalted by the gaming press -- a treatment received by titles such as World of Goo and Castle Crashers in the past. If your game is of that caliber, we highly suggest throwing your hat into the ring.
Super Meat Boy character select screen reveals playable Alien Hominid [update]
Things are on the up and up for Super Meat Boy developer Edmund McMillen. After releasing This is a Cry for Help last year and subsequently announcing SMB for WiiWare, he put his indie cred on display for the world in adding Braid's Tim to his upcoming game. And now, during a live video interview with Bytejacker, McMillen revealed The Behemoth's Alien Hominid as another playable character! Quickly panning to his computer screen during the interview and teasing it, one of our wonderful readers snagged a screen grab so we could share it with the world. Now the real question: Castle Crashers characters playable as well? Hmmmm, McMillen? Hmmm? (We love you. Please?) Update: It was pointed out by a few astute Game Informer readers in the comments section that Alien Hominid was actually revealed as a playable character in a recent issue. Sorry, folks! (Thanks, Zack!)
Castle Crashers reached one million players today
The developers of Castle Crashers must have been ecstatic when its XBLA baby grew to house over 900,000 users last month, but this probably doesn't compare to the excitement felt today. At 12:57pm, The Behemoth diligently verified via its Leaderboard numbers that its behemoth of a game has broken the seven-digit barrier, becoming host to exactly 1 million players.Castle Crashers has reached this momentous milestone rather quickly, having been out on the market for only 10 months (hey, that's an average of 100,000 new players a month) and to celebrate, The Behemoth gave away a set of uber-fantastic stuff. If you signed up previously, you could've won a bag of prizes which included a custom Castle Crashers Xbox 360 Elite. Congrats to whoever won, and to The Behemoth!
Castle Crashers hits 900,000 players, Behemoth offers prize for guessing date of millionth
The Behemoth took the time out of its busy Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun (not real title) development to reveal that the Castle Crashers leaderboards have passed 900,000 users. That does not mean there have been nearly a million sales of the game, but it does mean that Castle Crashers has been doing well on XBLA, a mere 8 months after launch.The company's site is now challenging users to guess the exact date and time that the main Castle Crashers leaderboard will hit one million players. The winner will receive something "SPECTACULAR." Best of luck, but don't get The Behemoth too distracted with your entry on the company's forum, it has another game to finish.
The Behemoth promises new game info in July, shows off artistic bento
Feeling obligated to update its blog, developer The Behemoth showed off some Castle Crashers bento (above), created by Anna the red, and stated that it would have more information to share about its third game in July.The Behemoth is teasing that its (currently untitled) third game will makes an appearance at San Diego's Comic-Con, taking place July 23-26. That's too bad -- we were hoping to see more of the Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun at E3 in June.
XBLA Awards: Braid can't rewind loss to Castle Crashers
Castle Crashers recovered from a 4-month gimp to be crowned the Xbox Live Arcade "Game of the Year" in the second annual community voting awards. Somewhat surprisingly, Castle Crashers also managed to nab "Best Co-op Mode" despite being virtually unplayable online for four out of its seven months in release. On its way to top honors, The Behemoth's beat-em-up notably beat out its fellow indie nominee, Braid, which was famously dismissed by an American youth spokesperson.Braid's losing streak continued in the "Best Single Player Game" category, which was claimed by Orange Box cutout Portal: Still Alive (oh right, it has "exclusive" challenge maps), but Jonathan Blow's timeless effort did mange to win "Best Innovation" amid stiff competition. (We were certain Kefling's innovative "use of Avatars" was a shoo-in.)The complete list of awards and recipients is posted after the break.
SXSW 2009: Being Indie and Successful in the Video Game Industry
There's a wealth of indie-related gaming panels and goings on at SXSW this year, ranging from the previous "Games By The People, For The People" panel, the GameSalad folks, and the retro-cool Get Outta My Face arcade cabinet. Heck, there's even a company that wants to bring back Hypercard stack games. So we went back for more indie gaming panel goodness, just because we could. This was a panel by the game developers this time, rather than the people who run the companies ... so what did we learn? A lot of the same from the previous panel. Sadly Jonathan Blow couldn't make it, and was replaced by the above inflatable doll with the Freddie Mercury mug. Although covering his absence nicely were panelists Kellee Santiago from thatgamecompany, John Baez of The Behemoth, Ron Carmel of 2D BOY, and Joel DeYoung from Hothead Games who moderated. Check out the highlights after the break.
The Behemoth revealing trailer for third game next week
The Behemoth has announced that it's ready to unveil a trailer for its third game on March 18, "just a few days before" the Tokyo Anime Fair. The latest post on the company blog informs that several of the developers are going to the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 20-21 and will showcase Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers and "an uber-early version of Game #3." So, if you're in Tokyo, would you kindly upload any gameplay video you capture to YouTube?As an amuse bouche, The Behemoth also showed off an image from the new game (pictured). Early idea on a name: The Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun vs. The Helghast.[Thanks, Adam M O'Neill]
