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Survival game 'Rust' will hit PS4 and Xbox One on May 21st
They'll have a separate update roadmap from the PC version.
Frozen Synapse Prime flanks an arena, heads to Steam
Frozen Synapse Prime, Double Eleven's port of Mode 7's Frozen Synapse that initially reached the Vita (and will reach the PS3 this month), is circling back for another sweep through Steam on November 14. This version will retain the realistic visuals, extra team commands, overhauled campaign and other additions that debuted in Prime, but it's equipped with a few new Steam-specific features, too. As detailed by the Steam listing, an Arena mode will pit strategists against "unique and challenging scenarios" that will presumably call for a fresh batch of tactics. Prime's soundtrack on Steam will also feature everything found in the original game, as well as tunes from its Red Pack expansion. These are beside Steam achievements and trading cards, of course. If you've been basking in the original version's colorful glow until now, you can read up on a full breakdown of changes that were introduced with Prime's launch on Vita. [Image: Double Eleven]
Frozen Synapse primes itself for Vita on September 23
Turn-based tactical game Frozen Synapse Prime will reach Vita on September 23, PlayStation Blog revealed. Its soundtrack will also be available on PSN at that time, bundled with the game in the Prime Soundtrack Edition. The asynchronous strategy game allows players to tackle multiple matches at once, and also features a single-player campaign set in a dystopian future. Frozen Synapse Prime is the Vita port of Mode 7's strategy game, first revealed as Frozen Synapse Tactics in February 2013 before changing the game's name last month. The move from PC and Mac is being handled by LittleBigPlanet Vita developer Double Eleven, the same studio that brought PixelJunk Studio Ultimate to PS4 and Vita in June as well as PlayDead's Limbo to Vita last year. [Image: Double Eleven]
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate trailer battles the elements on launch day
Q Games and porting studio Double Eleven have released a launch trailer for PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, a twin-stick shoot-'em-up compilation debuting digitally today for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate combines the two PlayStation 3 PixelJunk Shooter games into a single seamless adventure, adding cross-platform cooperative play and Cross-Save functionality. PlayStation Plus members will receive both the PS4 and Vita versions for free when the PlayStation Store updates later today. [Video: Q Games / Double Eleven]
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate heading to PS4, Vita this summer
Q Games' twin-stick, element-battling action game PixelJunk Shooter and its sequel are coming to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita this summer in an upgraded compilation release developed by PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD creator Double Eleven. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate combines the campaigns of 2009's PixelJunk Shooter and 2011's direct sequel PixelJunk Shooter 2, presenting both as a seamless, complete package. The game boasts a visual overhaul and 60 frames-per-second gameplay on the PS4, while the Vita edition has been similarly tweaked and optimized during its transition to Sony's portable platform. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate also features Cross-Save and Cross-Play functionality, allowing players to team up for co-op missions across both available platforms. A release date has not been announced. [Image: Sony / Double Eleven]
PixelJunk Shooter coming to PC in November
Q-Games' twin-stick action-adventure game PixelJunk Shooter is coming to Windows, Mac and Linux on November 11 via Steam and other digital download services. Originally released as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2009, PixelJunk Shooter challenges players to rescue stranded crewmates in a hostile alien environment, leveraging foreign elements to solve puzzles along the way. Development partner Double Eleven previously ported Q-Games' tower defense title PixelJunk Monsters to PC platforms in August. The next series entry, PixelJunk Inc, will hit Steam later this year. The PC version of PixelJunk Shooter will launch at $8.99.
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD this summer on Vita
Q-Games' excellent tower defense game PixelJunk Monsters is marching its way to Vita. The PlayStation Blog mentions that PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD will include the original game, plus Encore expansion, along with extra towers, enemies and levels from the PSP's Deluxe edition. The game is being ported by Double Eleven, which previously handled ports for LittleBigPlanet and Limbo. "Monsters Ultimate HD has more than 30 hours of gameplay set across story and challenge levels. All of the graphics have been remastered for the PS Vita's high-resolution screen, and we added touchscreen input to provide more control of Tikiman," wrote Double Eleven COO Mark South on the PS Blog. Eurogamer mentions the game will launch in "late summer," with PC and Mac versions requiring your protection from the swarms soon after.
Q Games collaborating with LittleBigPlanet Vita dev Double Eleven
Q Games is working with LittleBigPlanet Vita co-developer Double Eleven on an as yet unknown number of projects. As GamesIndustry International reports, Double Eleven was tied to Sony XDev, but now the UK studio founded by former Rockstar devs is joining forces with Pixeljunk creator Q Games. "Double Eleven has an outstanding track record in video game development," said Q Games President Dylan Cuthbert of the move, "And we like their way of thinking when it comes to publishing. Q Games is about making memorable experiences for everyone, and Double Eleven are the perfect partner to see our vision through." Q Games' latest endeavor is Pixeljunk Inc., which is a 2D platformer of sorts based around aliens, soup factories, and lasers. That goop of elements is scheduled to arrive on Steam later this year. As for Double Eleven, it recently brought Playdead's Limbo to Vita, and is working on bringing Mode 7's Frozen Synapse to PS3 and Vita this year, too.
Limbo topples onto Vita next week [update]
Indie darling Limbo wanders onto Vita on June 4 in North America, and June 5 in Europe. The port, coming via PSN, is priced $14.99/€12.99/£9.99. The Vita version isn't cross-play compatible with the PS3 one, and doesn't feature any touchscreen gameplay. PlayDead first brought the grim platformer to XBLA in 2010, later taking it to PSN and Steam. The Vita port was outsourced to LittleBigPlanet Vita co-developer Double Eleven. "Together [with Double Eleven] we are working hard to give the mobile players exactly the same experience the PS3 players have had on the living room TV," PlayDead founder Dino Patti told us back in March. Update: Playdead's confirmed dates were out by a day. We've updated the post with the correct release dates. We've also corrected the North American price. %Gallery-189775%
Limbo Vita outsourced to LittleBigPlanet dev Double Eleven [Update: 'This year']
Playdead is outsourcing the just announced Vita version of Limbo to Double Eleven, the UK team who co-developed LittleBigPlanet for the Sony portable. Speaking to Joystiq, Playdead CEO Dino Patti said his studio is excited about the monochromatic puzzle-platformer's first "mobile launch," even though outsourcing is an unusual step."This version of the game is for the first time being made externally," Patti told us. "In the way we work there is normally no room for outsourcing, but the talented team at Double Eleven has convinced us that this is the right decision."Patti continued, "Together we are working hard to give the mobile players exactly the same experience the PS3 players have had on the living room TV."Shacknews learned there could be a PS Plus promotion involved. Playdead also told Shacknews that the Vita port won't support cross-play features.Update: Patti expects the Vita port of Limbo to hit "this year," he told Joystiq at last night's PlayStation Indie Arcade. The port won't support any touchscreen gameplay.
Frozen Synapse: Tactics plans its move to PSN in 2013
Mode 7's indie darling Frozen Synapse will be ported to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita courtesy of developer Double Eleven, whose work you may recall from LittleBigPlanet Vita. The port, titled Frozen Synapse: Tactics, will be available for download on PSN sometime this year.Frozen Synapse is a turn-based tactical game where players manage units of varying weaponry and skill sets in an attempt to defeat the enemy team's squad; however, unlike most turn-based games, all player actions in Frozen Synapse resolve simultaneously. Once each player sets all their moves, the game then plays it all out at the same time – an atypical yet incredibly original take on the tactics genre.
LittleBigPlanet Vita's street date lifted, no online until tomorrow
Originally listed for a September 25 release, copies of LittleBigPlanet Vita are popping up on retail shelves early after Sony lifted the game's street date. Speaking to Game Informer, Sony confirmed the street date is now a "launch date" and retailers can sell the game early.Sony then made an official announcement, noting the game has no online functionality until tomorrow when the servers go live. Compared to the statement given to Game Informer, the wording is more suggestive of certain retailers selling the game early outside of Sony's control. It reads:"Production on LittleBigPlanet PlayStation Vita was completed earlier than expected, and due to the excitement from our retail partners, some have decided to put it on shelves as soon as the product was received. You'll still be able to fully enjoy all the offline features of the game, but the servers will not go live until September 18th. We apologize for any confusion this may cause and will keep you posted on any further updates."While LittleBigPlanet Vita officially launches next Tuesday, it's available at certain retailers now including some GameStop outlets, as confirmed by NeoGAF users. It may well be worth the early hunt, with our review deeming the Vita entry the best LittleBigPlanet yet.
LittleBigPlanet Vita review: Small wonders
Counting portable iterations and spin-offs, Sackboy has made a new game appearance every year since the LittleBigPlanet franchise was born. It's been easy to grow fatigued, adorable as he may be, especially as the series' major improvements came to its creative tools instead of its platforming chops. For the Vita version, co-developers Double Eleven and Tarsier Studios must have been studying the series' progression closely and taking notes, as they have produced the best LittleBigPlanet game to date.That's not to say that it's terribly different from its predecessors. You'll still find the same physics-based platforming, robust building tools, and customization options as before. Rather than redefining the franchise, LittleBigPlanet Vita is more of a "greatest hits" compendium of everything Media Molecule built in previous incarnations, with a few welcome bits of tinkering to improve the already-strong formula.%Gallery-165047%
Finding the right touch in LittleBigPlanet Vita
While PlayStation Vita games output gorgeous visuals on its screen, use of its alternate control mechanisms – like touch and tilt – have often felt flat. But our recent experience with LittleBigPlanet Vita has reinvigorated our interest in tapping and tumbling about with our Sony handheld. Somehow it seems fitting that the first-party series known for its creativity is the one to show developers how to use touch correctly.The touch and tilt features in LittleBigPlanet seems additive to the experience, rather than wasted, unnecessary, or tacked on – a typical error of such functions. And since you're reaching in the adorable and tiny world, impacting small objects in aid to your little sack-person, the conceit of touch makes perfect sense within the LBP theme.%Gallery-130817%
LittleBigPlanet Vita box art is as joyous as you'd expect
Media Molecule revealed the box art for LittleBigPlanet Vita, shown in its full glory below (that Sack Boy is naked, after all). The LBP team also dropped a behind-the-scenes video that describes how the collaboration between Media Molecule and developer Tarsier, well, developed.
LittleBigPlanet Vita beta now accepting applications
The beta for LittleBigPlanet on Vita is gearing up, and Sony is inviting interested players to enroll in the test run right here. Sony promises "many of you" will have the opportunity to participate in the beta. The enrollment form consists of simple questions, such as "Which LittleBigPlanet games have you played before?" and asks if you've created levels in any of the LittleBigPlanet titles.It also asks, "Do you own a PS Vita?" For those looking to get in the Vita beta, we think that may be the only question with a wrong answer.
LittleBigPlanet Vita dev signs exclusivity deal with Sony
Sony has added another LittleBigPlanet developer to its collection. Franchise originator Media Molecule became a Sony-exclusive first party in 2010, and now PlayStation Vita LBP developer Double Eleven is joining them in the exclusive club, though through a contract and not outright ownership. Double Eleven has signed a deal with Sony in which the developer, formed by ex-Rockstar Leeds lead engineers, will create games exclusively for SCEE. That includes LittleBigPlanet, along with "new titles for Sony platforms" -- mostly the Vita, we assume, given the studio's predilection for handheld gaming.
Interview: Rockstar vets Lee Hutchinson and Matt Shepcar on their new studio, Double 11
Having put to bed a past with Rockstar Leeds -- and helping to turn out a laundry list of triple-A titles, including the portable Grand Theft Autos, while working there -- lead engineer turned studio director Lee Hutchinson and soon to be ex-lead programmer Matt Shepcar recently announced their new development studio: Double 11. Like so many other game devs these days, the two grew tired of big-budget projects with huge staffs, leaving in favor of creating their own smaller, mobile titles. "Our small size also means that every single team member is of paramount importance to their success or failure," the pair told Joystiq in an interview this afternoon. That isn't to say that the two have any complaints with Rockstar relating to the recent quality of life allegations. "We had a great time working at the Leeds studio and there are a lot of really talented people there," they told us. Hutchinson further expanded on his time at Rockstar to Develop. "Rockstar Leeds and the spouse allegations had no effect on our decisions to leave." In fact, we asked the two how they'd feel about working with Rockstar again in the future, and they told us, "We'd love to work with Rockstar again ... our split was very amicable and we hope Gordon [Hall] would consider working with us again in the future." To find out more about the studio's plans -- including a prospective Summer release for the its first game and where we might find said game, not to mention an explanation of the "Double 11" name -- join us past the break.
