de-blob
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Retail and download releases for the week of September 22nd
Click image for more screens Well folks, just as stated, we've got a new Mega Man game to play this week. What's even better is that along with the sure-to-be-awesome Mega Man 9, we've also got some solid retail releases. And there's a surprise or two with this week's Virtual Console releases, as well. Head on past the break for the info. This week is going to be chock full of gaming goodness.%Gallery-30253%
De Blob creators make original RTS for WiiWare
The creators of the original de Blob (i.e. the flash game, not the THQ ports) have revealed they are working on an original real-time strategy game for Nintendo's WiiWare service. Romino Games' Swords & Soldiers is a side-scrolling RTS with three opposing factions and split-screen multiplayer. The term "side-scrolling RTS," together with the screenshots, remind us a bit of Dragon Force (although equally cool, we mean the Sega Saturn title, not the band).No price has been revealed for the game, currently placed in a Q4 2008 launch window. Consider our interests officially piqued. Gallery: Swords & Soldiers (WiiWare) [Via NWF]
le Blob
For some reason, this French-language trailer for de Blob got a wide release on the web, one which we are helping to propagate, which only serves to make our surprise at its spread more ironic. We can't help it, though -- de Blob is just such a joy to look at that we want to share any video content we see. Check out de Blob doing the Robot! Watch him get down, watch him get down!Also there's the fact that the French narration makes the game seem so classy! Of course, all we know of French, we learned from that one Muzzy commercial.%Gallery-17709%
de Bad Guys
THQ sent out a series of new screens of their amazingly beautiful platform(ish) game de Blob, as well as character profiles for the maliciously monochrome INKT army who removes color from the world, except for conveniently-located, regenerating paint supplies. Comrade Black here is the commander of the INKT forces, as evidenced by his impressively tall hat. He seems to have yet to be promoted high enough for pants, however.The INKT troops have a variety of weapons at their disposal, including a spider-like robot, various cannons, and hoverbikes. But not ... pants. Maybe in the sequel the Blob can help return appropriate, covering garments to the world.%Gallery-17709%
Top 5: Upcoming Original IPs from Third Parties
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/11/top-5-upcoming-original-ips-from-third-parties/'; Man, there are those who really love to complain. After viewing Zero Punctuation's latest video, I've decided that the old phrase distributed liberally by parents and teachers is indeed very true: "you can't please everyone." Nintendo themselves must have felt this pretty hard after their E3 showing was widely perceived as sub-par. On the gamers' side, even those who were most disappointed usually turned to any of the numerous third party efforts for hope. Understanding that Zero Punctuation is mostly intended as farce, it's difficult to call them out. Yet one glaring assertion must be rebutted: E3 2008 was most definitely not the year of the sequel. In fact, on the Nintendo side, the exact opposite was true. For the first time in a long while, I'm much more excited about upcoming third party releases than Nintendo titles as a whole (save for Wario Land: Shake It!). As those of us who braved the GameCube generation quickly learned, a console cannot survive on first party titles alone -- even those of the highest quality. Here are the top five original third party games that we are excited about. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, check out What Are You Playing?, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
de Blob moving as quickly as de Blur
It took us a long time to figure out exactly how to describe de Blob in terms of existing games, but we think we've finally nailed what seems so familiar about it: it's part Sonic Adventure (the good parts, with Sonic in them) and part Jet Set Radio. Not just in terms of the art direction and the painting motif, but in terms of bouncing quickly around a cityscape seeking out surfaces to cover.This video of a speed run through a level accentuates that Sonic/Jet Set Radio vibe. Also we still dig that art style as much as we did the first time we saw it.%Gallery-17709%
Joystiq E3 hands-on: De Blob and Force Unleashed for iPhone
With the App Store open for business, games are finally headed to Apple's iPhone, and the unit's multitouch interface, accelerometer, and built-in mic and speaker make it perfect for gaming. THQ Wireless is one of the many companies getting ready to try and cash in on the first generation of the App Store -- after making games for a lot of other mobile devices, Director of Global Production Brad Pitser is excited about finally releasing software for the iPhone. Joystiq got to play two different games in THQ's demo at E3. De Blob is a handheld adaptation of the Wii game, and uses the accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod touch to do a little light platform puzzling. And Force Unleashed attempts to recreate the upcoming Star Wars action title, by using a touchscreen gesture system to try and make you feel like a Jedi. impressions of both are after the break.
THQ Wireless' Brad Pitser talks to TUAW about iPhone development
I'm here at E3 in Los Angeles all this week (come say hi at the Joystiq meetup tonight if you're in town!). Yesterday, I got to sit down with Brad Pitser, the Director of Global Production for THQ Wireless, a company that makes games for mobile platforms like the iPhone. Pitser has helped oversee two iPhone games so far: De Blob (now on the App Store) and Star Wars' Force Unleashed (coming out later this year -- Joystiq has my impressions of both). He said that developing for the iPhone so far has been "a dream." They've partnered with Apple to publish on the iPhone and iPod touch as much as they can. "Apple was interested in our brands," Pitser said, "and we were interested in their platform."One concern he does have about the App Store so far is the pricing -- "everyone thinks $9.99 is too much," he told me. THQ released De Blob at the $6.99 price point. He says THQ has a lot of licensing fees and costs to pay for every game they make, and when those games compete with software that sells for 99 cents, they don't necessarily have a money-making proposition. But at the same time, he'd rather let the market figure things out -- the App Store has a lot of settling down to do, and Pitser is sure that companies will find their place in the price plan soon enough.I asked him what he thought of what he'd seen in the software that wasn't his, and he said he really enjoyed the iPint visual gag, the UrbanSpoon restaurant finder, and Aurora Feint (all very nice choices). It's great to have a bigger company like THQ interested in getting some good licenses on the iPhone, and hopefully we'll see more come out of Pitser and the division he oversees.
Producer talks about what to expect from de Blob
With de Blob's release getting closer and closer (September), we're starting to see more and more media on the title. This, to us, is a good thing. And informed public is a good public. Also, we want to see stuff get all painted up. This latest bit of media is an interview with Nick Hagger, the game's producer. He talks about the sinister corporation that's sucked all of the color out of Chroma City, the way Blob can acquire color and roll about, as well as his gang of cohorts. It's an insightful look at THQ's upcoming game and we suggest you check it out.%Gallery-17709%
New de Blob screens, trailer keep us excited
Even though our cruel overlords didn't paint a pretty picture regarding THQ's upcoming de Blob, we're still interested in the title. Maybe it's the great multiplayer or the wonderful visual style, but something has us fascinated with the title. And, in that spirit, we'll continue presenting you with new media from the game. The latest, which is an exclusive trailer, can be found here.%Gallery-17709%
Brawl, WiiWare and Nintendo Channel dated in Europe
The latest Nintendo of Europe release schedule contains fairly awesome news for the neglected continent, as there's finally a concrete release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nintendo's wildly popular fighter is hitting stores in the region on June 27th, and there's more happy tidings, with WiiWare and Nintendo Channel set to launch on May 20th and May 30th respectively.There's little else in the list that both interests us and has a specific date (de Blob and Blast Works have both had a vague "Q2 2008" slapped next to them, though it appears that Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors will be out on May 9th), but heck, why are we yammering to you about this? Check out the latest European dates for yourself past the break![Update -- Corrected date for Nintendo Channel]%Gallery-16727%
de Blob gets delightful new images
Some ripe, juicy screens from THQ's de Blob are available for you to gnaw on, providing us with further reason to need this game. And, hey, even though Joystiq didn't find the game to be all that great, we're still hopeful that it will be the fun experience we've been expecting it to be. If the single-player bombs, there's always the multiplayer, right? Check out the new images in our gallery below. %Gallery-17709%
Joystiq paints a grim picture of de Blob
THQ held a preview event for their 2008 games this week, and Joystiq's Zack Stern was on the scene to play all the offerings. Luckily for us, he checked out the demo for de Blob, one of the more interesting, original games on the Wii.Or, well, that's what we've gathered from reading previews of the game before tonight. Zack wasn't quite as enchanted with the real thing as we have been with videos. "de Blob looks like a cuddly Wii game, but it didn't hook me like Katamari. I think certain Wii owners will enjoy it, but the novelty didn't last long on me." He does mention that two-player matches "add a little more depth." We're a bit disappointed, but still convinced that there's a high probability of awesomeness within de Blob.%Gallery-17709%[Boxart via Gamefly]
Joystiq hands-on: De Blob
THQ recently touted its original Wii games, saying that the company is creating titles especially for that platform, and pushing multi-platform, "next-generation" games on the PS3 and 360. de Blob is one of the first of these Wii-only games, although its origins go back to a student, PC project. Still, de Blob's strange style matches the Wii. In this cute game, players splatter color over a whitewashed world. That's mostly it, all of the buildings, roads, trees, and other objects are blank, and its up to you to colorize the surroundings. The analog stick steers the blob character, while flicks with the Wiimote jump or perform other actions. The D-pad can change the camera angle, but it usually stayed in a clear position when I recently played. As I rolled and bounced around the world, the blob trailed his current color. If I touched a building while red, the splotch would spread over the entire structure. Eventually I'd run out of paint, or if I fell into water, it washed away. So I'd find another paint bucket, bop it, and add more color. Most of the levels seem like a race to color the fastest, although a two-player match-up adds a little more depth. de Blob looks like a cuddly Wii game, but it didn't hook me like Katamari. I think certain Wii owners will enjoy it, but the novelty didn't last long on me. %Gallery-1970%
Latest de Blob videos show off multiplayer
Having already expressed our admiration for de Blob on more than one occasion, we were beginning to think THQ's game had run out of ways to impress us. Wrong! IGN has a stack of new videos from the game (all located past the break), a couple of which feature something we're yet to see -- four-player de Blob.It looks like great fun as well, with players sharing the same colorless arena, and then racing around to daub as much of the play area as possible in their own color. Furthermore, players can paint over colors laid down by their opponents, providing a perfect opportunity to quickly avenge previous defeats, or to gang up on more skilled players. It might just be us, but we find multiplayer gaming is at its best when there are simmering grudges and bitter rivalries.%Gallery-17709%
De Blob looks like de bomb
Want to see what it looks like when a third-party developer puts time, thought, and effort into an original Wii game? We would like to refer you to the de above video of De Blob, from THQ of all people. This looks great -- and not just "great for a third-party Wii game." Regular great!Those colors (and lack of)! The jazz/funk soundtrack! The level designs! The bouncing back and forth from building to building! This game looks totally fresh and surprising every time we see it. We hope it doesn't get forgotten when it comes out -- whenever that is. Check after the break for another video!
de Blob looking de Lightful as ever
Another batch of de Blob screens has found its way onto the interwebs, all featuring our globular hero rolling through, bouncing around and generally making a colorful nuisance of himself in Chroma, the game's monochromatic metropolis. As usual, we've squished them into the gallery below. Those lil' law enforcement officers are the cutest!Incidentally, while there's been no more official announcements on a release date, Wikipedia has the game listed for June 27th. That seems too specific to be a simple fabrication, but none of our other sources confirm the date; all we know for sure is that the game is due at some point after April 1st.%Gallery-17709%
De Blob is shaping up as much as a blob can
While we weren't looking (because THQ had delayed the game's release and hadn't sent out any more video or screens), Blue Tongue's de Blob went from being another kind-of novel Wii game to exactly what they delayed the game to make: an AAA experience. Just watch these videos (another is after the break) of hyper-stylized, hyperkinetic action-platforming and tell us that you don't want to go paint the town as an amorphous hero. (Don't, actually. We're sure some of you are total contrarians, and it would just make us sad).IGN's preview of the game is full of the same yaaaay feelings we get from watching the videos. We just hope the game isn't really scheduled for a February release. Keep delaying it, THQ, just a little longer. It looks great, but February isn't the best month to release new Wii games that aren't about beating the crap out of Diddy Kong.
de Layed
Due to lower-than-expected ratings and sales performance of their racing games Stuntman: Ignition and Juiced: Hot Import Nights, THQ has decided to delay some of their upcoming games into the next fiscal year, which starts on April 1st. This includes de Blob, the former Utrecht School of the Arts student project, which is being delayed in order to put more work in. According to THQ CEO Brian Ferrell, the company is now treating de Blob as something of a flagship product, describing it as "less of a pick up title, and more of a franchise." Ferrell said that the extra time will be used to make the game "look more like a Nintendo-level Wii product." We are more than impressed with THQ's commitment to this unique title, and we wish more companies would take this kind of time with their ports. Strangely, it seems to be the games based on PC freeware that are getting the most care in their Wiimakes.
Fresh screens for de Blob
We're going to cut to the chase here. If you're looking for screens for de Blob, the IGF student game finalist that THQ picked up to publish, then we've got you covered. If you're not searching for some screens, then this might not be the post for you. But hey, that doesn't mean you can't stick around! We've got video for the game here, and we're sure if you gave the game a chance, you might grow to like it. Heck, the thing even got nominated for an award at E3 for crying out loud!
