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Q Games: No interest in more StarFox, Miyamoto doesn't listen to the 'core'
Q Games president Dylan Cuthbert tells G4 he's done with the StarFox franchise for now. Cuthbert lead development of the original SNES game as its unreleased sequel, and his company created StarFox Command for DS. It won't likely be involved in any eventual Wii installment in the franchise.Cuthbert says he might be up for another StarFox "maybe in another 10 years," saying that a Wii version would "be a big project, like 100 people on the staff. It's just not something we really want to do. I'm sure someone will make it. Maybe [Nintendo] will go back to Namco." Remember StarFox: Assault? We try not to.In a slight jab at Shigeru Miyamoto, Cuthbert told G4 that the legendary designer probably won't listen to "core" gamers' wants for a new StarFox, saying, "Miyamoto doesn't really care about that. He wants to make what he wants to make, so he just goes ahead and gets it done." Was that a snap we just heard?
Go behind the scenes at Q-Games' Kyoto office
You might not have the free time to make a trip to Japan and visit the PixelJunk overlords at Q-Games' Kyoto office, but you can do the next best thing: take a guided video tour with Dylan Cuthbert. In the video posted after the break, Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert shows us all around the dev studio, meeting the people behind the games and explaining why they all work barefoot (or in slippers -- they have a choice!). With that in mind, Q-Games seems to have a rather quiet and relaxing work atmosphere. It could use a little spice, though, say, giant PixelJunk Monster statues at the entrance or Eden flower pots by the windows. Maybe they'll have those installed before the next tour.
PixelJunk Eden Encore to be revealed, playable at GDC [update]
One of the PS3 highlights of last year's GDC for PS3 was the unveiling of the third PixelJunk title, PixelJunk Eden, during Dylan Cuthbert's post-mortem of the first two games in the series. This year Cuthbert is set to return and unveil the latest PixelJunk project, according to a press invitation to the PlayStation Blog Lounge. Not only that but there will be hands-on time for those who attend.We know that the fourth game in the series won't be PixelJunk Dungeons, which was also vaguely mentioned back at GDC 2008, as it requires more development time. At this point we really have no idea what PixelJunk 4 could be but, after our experiences with Monsters and Eden, we can't wait to find out next Thursday.[UPDATE] Dylan Cuthbert has let the cat out of the bag via his Twitter feed. PixelJunk 4 will not be shown at GDC next week, instead we'll get the first look on the expansion for the third game in the series, PixelJunk Eden Encore.
PixelJunk Eden wimp patch finally hits Europe this week
Despite being originally planned for release in Europe and Japan simultaneously, the PixelJunk Eden "wah, it's too hard" patch is still not out in PAL regions. The official PixelJunk website has now been updated to reflect the fact that, finally, the patch will see release in Europe on January 29. The patch adds various features to the game which makes it a little bit less challenging, such as an entirely new control system, more time and a continue system. There's also a much-improved multiplayer camera, making playing with friends far less frustrating. Barring accidents, Europeans will be able to give it a try themselves tomorrow. We'll let you know once it's live.[Thanks, Gerard@]
PSP version of PixelJunk Monsters features 50% more content
People just can't get enough PixelJunk Monsters. PS3 fans fell in love with this charming tower defense game, leading to the release of the Encore expansion pack and subsequent Trophy patch. PSP owners are in for a treat as they'll be receiving their own version of the game later this year.What will Monsters PSP feature? We're expecting the same content featured in the PS3 games, but Dylan Cuthbert promises there will be even more stuff in the PSP game. In an interview with Core Gamers, he reveals the team is currently "adding 50% more content or more" to the game. Those that have played both Monsters and Encore know well that this is a massive amount of content. How will we possibly get rainbows on all of these levels?When asked if PixelJunk Eden, the third of Q-Games' downloadable games on PS3, would also receive PSP treatment, Cuthbert seemed doubtful. Eden is a far more complex, processor-intense game. "Never say never of course, but it would be quite a challenge and a number of things might have to be changed."%Gallery-7756%
PixelJunk Monsters invading PSP in 2009
The diabolically addictive PS3 tower defense game, PixelJunk Monsters, is officially headed to PSP next year (which, if you haven't checked your calendar, is pretty soon). Appearing on Spike TV's "The Next Great Game Gods" VGA tie-in special, Q Games founder, Dylan Cuthbert, confirmed – and very briefly showed – the game.After a short show-and-tell of conceptual images for canned projects – which included skiing and fighting games – Cuthbert broke the news, saying that, "We got a lot of requests from fan mail and stuff saying they really wanted a PSP-native version [of PixelJunk Monsters]." But the game won't merely be the PSN title retooled for the small screen. "We thought, rather than just port it directly, let's add a bit more," Cuthbert teased. You can watch the full segment (Cuthbert appears about half-way through) after the break.[Thanks, Chris]
Don't expect next PixelJunk game any time soon
Looks like the Q-Games team is taking their sweet time with the next PixelJunk game. The team has been quite prolific, with three PSN games under their belt: PixelJunk Racers, Monsters and Eden. The brand has managed to garner a loyal following amongst PS3 owners, and we're sure many are eagerly awaiting the next title.Unfortunately, it can be a long wait for the next PixelJunk game. Dylan Cuthbert told Parallaxed Game that the next game won't be unveiled for quite some time. In fact, nothing might be shown at next year's GDC show: "We can't talk about any of the future titles yet, we might not even show anything at GDC09, who knows! The next title isn't necessary based on the Dungeons prototype work as we develop several ideas simultaneously, finally going with the idea that has the most momentum."It's going to be a long wait, but so long as their next game can match the addictive quality of Monsters and Eden, we're sure it'll be worth it. Stay tuned.[Thanks, Adam T.!]
PixelJunk Monsters, Encore updates on Oct. 30
Q-Games isn't reinventing the wheel, it's just slapping on a new set of tires, as PixelJunk Monsters and Encore expansion updates hit PSN next week. The October 30th patches will add Trophies and variable difficulties (including a "casual" mode), as promised, but the free upgrades don't stop there. In addition, the tower selection menu will be tweaked (with an option to set the default action), the Ice and Tesla Towers will be re-balanced for the original island, custom soundtracks will be supported, and YouTube uploading has been added (up to 10 minutes of gameplay -- videos can also be stored in the XMB's video folder). Now, about online co-op ...If you fancy another go with these exciting details -- only this time in Dylan Cuthbert's drab British accent -- then by all means, head for the video preview after the break!
Difficulty settings coming to PixelJunk Monsters, new modes coming to Eden
Finding the PixelJunk games frustratingly difficult? You are not alone; one of the guys over at TheBBPS wrote an open e-mail to Dylan Cuthbert, executive producer at Q-games, humorously complaining that his wife finds PixelJunk Monsters just a tad bit too overwhelming and requests difficulty settings for the game. Cuthbert acknowledges his prayers, stating that an upcoming free patch to Monsters will include the ability to make the game easier, or harder, than the default setting. Altering the difficulty will disqualify you from online ranking though, for fairness' sake.Cuthbert also hints a similar treatment in form of a new "more namby pamby" gameplay mode for PixelJunk Eden in a future expansion pack. He feels Eden's "controls are too much fun to waste on just one set of game rules." We can't wait![Thanks, Jim S.!]
PixelJunk Eden cast out on July 31
Q-Games' wildly colorful and inherently trippy PSN title, Pixeljunk Eden, has been confirmed for a July 31 release on both the US and Japanese PlayStation Network. The downloadable game, which has captured plenty of attention thanks to a unique art style and mellow gameplay, is the third 2D game in the popular PixelJunk series. %Gallery-26872%
PixelJunk Eden gets demo in July, Monsters may get free patch
If you're curious about what's going on with Q-Games and the PixelJunk franchise, we've located a little bit of news to satisfy your 2D urges. First up -- PixelJunk Eden is to get a playable demo in July. This is coming from Dylan Cuthbert's mouth (well, technically, keyboard), so take it as official. Cuthbert wants everyone to experience the game before its final release, which is a nice gesture.A second piece of information was the YouTube uploading feature, which isn't anything new, but still very cool. Finally, Cuthbert wants to do one more small, free patch to PixelJunk Monsters. He's requesting what you would like to see in the patch, so let him know. Our idea? A hint on how to best approach each level would be dandy.
PixelJunk Monsters: originally like a Red Riding Hood game
Last time we heard anything from Q Games and Dylan Cuthbert about PixelJunk Monsters: Encore, we told you the Ice Tower was coming standard and the Tesla tower was getting a lowered cost. Japan got the game last week, but the rest of the world is still waiting. Now we get to hear from SCEA Santa Monica on the game's progress for US release. In their talk with Cuthbert, there are a lot of queries answered but even more to come, so we're only going to graze over what's most important and leave it to you to check out the rest.The game took Encore as its title because, well, it's like at the end of a concert -- you just want a little bit more (plus it was easier for the Japanese crowd to understand). Also, some people complained of plasma TV's getting the game burned onto their screen because they just couldn't stop playing -- there's now an anti-burn option on the game's menu to prevent that.As for Cuthbert himself, his favorite level in the expansion is Racer Gardens, since it's based off of a PixelJunk Racers design. He even gives you a hint on how to beat it -- the big guys always cross the bridge! Interestingly, the game's overall design is based off of Red Riding Hood concepts. At first, our Tiki hero was the girl in red, protecting grandma's house from wolves ... we're exaggerating, but that would have been the basic concept, for sure. Eventually, the design we see now took over. More information to come!
Q-Games' Cuthbert: PixelJunk Monsters on PSP most likely not happening
In a portion of an interview with PS3 Fanboy, Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert explains why we probably won't be seeing PixelJunk Monsters making a transition onto the PSP. Cuthbert told PS3 Fanboy that he doesn't "see a market for it just yet." He stated that the biggest problem is in selling the game at a proper price point, and he doesn't see consumers shelling out extra cash for a more expensive UMD version.However, UMD has never been the only option; when it was mentioned that the PSP now supports downloaded content from the PlayStation Store, Cuthbert replied that the idea for a downloaded PSP version was not feasible because the service was not popular in Japan. He was saying that it's difficult to get excited about making a game for a service very few use. His reasoning then turned from being unappealing to Japan into not wanting to get "pigeonholed into working [solely] for the US market." Further more, when faced with the example of echochrome going on UMD, Cuthbert still wasn't convinced that PixelJunk Monsters would find a home on the portable system. Well, we guess we'll just have to stick to Remote Play for our portable PixelJunk needs.
PS3 Fanboy interview: Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert
Dylan Cuthbert should be a name familiar to any real PS3 fan. Responsible for Q-Games, and their PixelJunk series of PSN games, the team has been hard at work at delivering unique experiences exclusively for the PLAYSTATION Network. Not only has the team delivered one truly stellar game (PixelJunk Monsters), it has worked on a few other technologies for Sony. Did you know that they're responsible for the Earth music visualization? We chatted with Cuthbert at GDC, and we're proud to present our interview.I wanted to start with a topic that I'm sure no one has asked you about yet. Q-Games is responsible for the Earth visualizer, yes? Where did that come from?Well, we've always had a close relationship with Sony. They came to us and asked us to make an intro for the PS3 before it came out. For the OS and everything. They had these ideas that were like the earth, and the PS3 logo were in a bubble. So we said instead of making a fake earth, we should make a proper rendering. We showed a prototype to them, but ultimately Sony wanted to go for a more simpler style. The intro became much simpler, orchestral. So we had a very well rendered earth and we didn't know what to do with it.
GDC08: A look inside the mind of Dylan Cuthbert: PixelJunk's future
It's really quite impressive how much Q Games' reputation has improved over the last month or so. PixelJunk Racers was an attempt to bring back arcade-style 2D racers, but ended up an eyesore. Their second PixelJunk title, Monsters, was received much better and has become a staple download by many PS3 owners. So what's next? You've seen the Eden trailer -- what's Cuthbert and crew got coming?The Independent Games Conference had Cuthbert as a speaker and talked a little about Q Games' philosophy: games that are simple, familiar, and original running in 1080P HD at 60Hz. PixelJunk is a brand, not a game title -- it's meant to teach consumers that while the games are different, they'll know what to expect somewhat. He showed off a sketch of the fourth title to be released after Eden -- PixelJunk Dungeons. It's going to be a top-down dungeon crawler. We're excited for that.That's the end of the first "series" of PixelJunk games. The next round, Cuthbert teases, may use some 3D styles in ways we don't expect. He said that they would, maybe, "take some of the old 3D looks and bring them up to the full HD kind of style." There's so much more to read over at Gamasutra's coverage of the speech -- if you like the PixelJunk games, we recommend reading up on Cuthbert's plans, philosophies, and ideas.
Q-Games reveals 'PixelJunk Eden,' hints at future titles
In closing his GDC post-mortem on the PlayStation Network's PixelJunk games, Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert briefly showed off the next game in the series of downloadable, 2D titles. PixelJunk Eden comes across as being far more experimental than the independent developer's previous titles, boasting psychedelic visuals, an electronic soundtrack and swinging, ball-based platforming. We're quite sure we haven't written a description like that in quite some time. Eden started development in June 2007, and Cuthbert told us that he expects it to arrive on PSN sometime "before Summer." Also mentioned but never elaborated on was PixelJunk Dungeons, the fourth title in the series which Cuthbert assured us would, in fact, feature dungeons of some kind. Finally, the presentation revealed that Q-Games would eventually focus its efforts on 3D gaming in a second series of PixelJunk. We'll bring you a full report on the PixelJunk postmortem (and forthcoming games) soon.
PixelJunk Monsters hitting PSN next week
You know you can't wait for the castle defense strategy game known as PixelJunk Monsters. The game looks like an image straight out of some classic like Where The Wild Things Are, but less menacing and more cuddly. Perhaps our childhoods were just riddled with fear. Either way. Dylan Cuthbert, executive producer over at Q-Games confirmed the game will appear next week as a part of the weekly update -- not this update, but next week's. Want to see what it's about? Watch the above video for a quick demonstration of what to expect.[via 1UP]
PixelJunk Monsters easier than Racers, third game coming
We last checked in with PixelJunk honcho Dylan Cuthbert when he spoke about PJ Monsters -- now we're going to talk a little more about that but also delve into his next project, dubbed PixelJunk 1-3. As far as the hardcore audience not adopting to the PJ image, Cuthbert replies "by keeping the development cost down, and keeping the number of games we produce high, for each game, we can go with the style that we want to play with at that time and give people a much larger range of visual styles than they are used to at the moment." That really is a good thing -- it's nice to experiment with a wide array of styles. Each one will suit at least some consumers, you know? It's a great opportunity the PSN has offered Cuthbert and Crew, letting them tinker with any style they'd like.The team at Q-Games have learned a lesson from PixelJunk Racers -- they tuned that game to their own skill set and as a result, it was perceived as too hard for many players. Monsters will have a much more manageable difficulty curve so more people will be able to get into it and enjoy it.PixelJunk 1-3 is already up and in progress. They've enlisted a DJ to assist in the music whose rhythm creates "life" of some sort -- the title isn't going to be a rhythm game, but from what Cuthbert says, music is going to play a significant role. It's a "complete experiment" so expect something a bit outlandish, yet accessible. We'll keep you tuned into more Cuthbert and PixelJunk news as it surfaces.
PixelJunk Monsters -- an RTS with a cuddly monster overlord
The official PlayStation Blog has updated and you know what we found? Monsters! Monsters with silly pig noses that we want transformed into stuffed animals right this moment. From the makers of PixelJunk Racers comes the aptly titled PixelJunk Monsters -- Q-Games has given up a few pieces of concept art and some details on the game, which we'll spill to you below.PJ Monsters is basically an RTS game with some additional elements set alongside the mining, research, and building bits we've all come to understand through the years. There's no mouse cursor for you to play God with -- you play as a cuddly monster creature that runs around and collects the materials you need to research and build stuff. Enemy monsters can drop gems, used to research more advanced defenses and buildings and such. These can also be upgraded by doing a dance in front of each respective tower. Neat.There are online leaderboards for co-op and single player campaigns. Apparently the game supports voice chat, unless co-op is restricted to you and a physical buddy next to you. What's super cool: girls like the game, too. Girlfriend tired of watching you play Uncharted or finds no fun in Call of Duty 4? You two should enjoy this one together, so says Dylan Cuthbert. Expect the game to have more fantastic hand-drawn 2D art, hitting the PS Store in January.
