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Twenty developers you don't know, but should
Between consoles, PC, mobile and everything in between, there are so many games released today that it's impossible to keep up with everything that's coming out – and it's even harder to keep up with the studios behind them. Even with a gaming public that's grown accustomed to following big developers like Valve and small studios like Double Fine, countless other studios slide under the radar. In the interest of sifting a signal from the noise, the Joystiq crew has selected 20 developers that deserve your attention. These studios are making games you should play, and their future work should be highly anticipated. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we invite you to share your own favorites in the comments!
Dokuro free, PixelJunk Monsters discounted on PS Plus this week
Starting tomorrow, PlayStation Plus subscribers can download puzzler Dokuro for free to their Vitas. Dokuro joins PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD on the portable system, which is discounted to $11.99 for PS Plus users this week. Lastly, Max Payne 3 and Max Payne 3: Ultimate Edition are on sale starting this week for $7.99 and $11.99, respectively. The Ultimate Edition version includes the Rockstar Pass, which grants access to maps, items and other DLC such as the Local Justice pack.
Dokuro review: The Mr. Skullhead Show
Let's talk about puzzle games. When you hear the term, your mind usually goes to falling-block stuff like Tetris and Puyo Puyo, right? But it's broad terminology: it can also apply to games in which you are presented with a series of problems that need solving – say, escaping a room, moving objects into certain positions, solving riddles ... you know what I mean, right?Well, I have an issue with these games: I'm almost universally terrible at them. I can't really tell you why, either. I like most of the ones I play, mind you. But as soon as I start feeling that twinge of frustration from a solution that eludes me, I hop on the internet and turn on Youtube. If I don't, I'm just going to fluster myself trying to figure it out. By the time the game reaches its climax, I have a controller under one hand and my laptop under the other, checking to make sure I'm doing everything right.This is one of the reasons why GungHo and GameArts's Dokuro sticks out so much. For perhaps the first time since the original Portal, I'm not immediately running to the online solution bin the moment things start to get tricky. I'm savoring the feeling of gradually figuring things out for myself, discovering how mechanics work together and deducing how they can be used to accomplish the task at hand, and I'm loving it.%Gallery-168492%
Vita's Dokuro out on October 16
There's too much to play this month even if you restrict yourself to just PSN releases. Case in point: Dokuro, Game Arts and Gungho Online Entertainment's puzzle-platformer about a little skeleton guy escorting a princess out of a trap-filled castle.Dokuro launches on Vita October 16, the same day as Silent Hill: Book of Memories. Though we're panicking about finding time to play all this, we can't complain about having too many things to play on Vita for once, especially with Sony's "spend $100, get $20 back" PSN deal.
Vita puzzle platformer Dokuro chalks up PSN release in Oct.
Dokuro, a very cute puzzle platformer from Grandia developer Game Arts, will be released on Vita in North America in October. The PSN exclusive game stars a little skeleton man who attempts to rescue a princess from the Dark Lord who kidnapped her ... and who happens to be Dokuro's own master.Dokuro must move ahead of the Princess, manipulating the environment and solving puzzles to create a safe path for her. Later, you gain access to abilities, like a "Hero Transformation" that lets you fight, and chalks that allow you to redraw the chalk drawing-esque environment.
