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The Visible Mushroom Man
This new Mushroom Men screen demonstrates the intuitive and slightly gross "life meter" used in the game. Rather than displaying some life bar, Mushroom Men alerts you to reduced health in a slightly more "natural" manner, namely loss of cap. Pax's mushroom cap is divided into chunks, and a section disappears with each hit taken, revealing more of the brain underneath. No, mushrooms don't normally have brains, but they don't usually have spiked clubs either! Neither do fungi usually have ... adventures.Both the club and the brain would seem to come in handy in a pitched battle against ... is that a jackalope?%Gallery-18243%
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball on XBLA starting Sept. 3
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball developer Blazing Lizard announced today it expects the title to release September 3 on XBLA for 800 MS points ($10). If short-term memory is kicking in, that date for an XBLA release probably sounds familiar because omni-directional shooter Shred Nebula will apparently release the same day. Blazing Lizard's Studio Director Chris Stockman tells us PvN will feature two variations on dodgeball. Traditional: Where old-school rules apply and players can't cross the line. Then there's Enhanced: Players will have special moves for the four races in a crazy free-for-all. The four initial races in the game are Pirates, Ninjas, Zombies and Robots -- an additional group (we're guessing Aliens) will be available as DLC a month later. [Via X3F] %Gallery-5856%
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball releases Sept 3rd
After experiencing a delay or two, Gamecock has finally revealed the release date for their sure to be XBLA hit, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, and it's coming sooner than you expect. The newly new official Dodgeball release date is Wednesday, September 3rd with pricing still yet to be announced. Remember too that not only are pirates and ninjas featured in the game, but we've already heard that zombies AND robots will be tossing around red balls too. Insta-buy? Maybe ... but only if the game's dodgeball physics engine is up to par and if there's an option to always have ninjas win. %Gallery-5889% [Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
A few Legendary griffon and werewolf screens
Gamecock and Spark Unlimited just sent a set of new screenshots from their upcoming Pandora's box shooter Legendary, and there's plenty to love if you're obsessed with griffons or werewolves. There's werewolves attacking helicopters, werewolves jumping out of windows and even werewolves attacking a griffon. Attacking a griffon! Ahem, view Legendary screenshot love below. That is all.%Gallery-18136%
PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Legendary
Click for high resolution image Legendary is a modern day first person shooter with a slight twist. The twist being that you're not just firing at the usual soldier clad in army gear, but you'll also be spitting bullets at mythical creatures of yore. That's right, go toe-to-toe with griffins, werewolves, and minotaurs (oh my!). Now how did those beasts arrive in the modern world? That's the fault of our protagonist, Deckard, who reluctantly opened up Pandora's Box and, well, doomed us all.Luckily for us, we were prepared for the apocalypse and braved the first several hours of Legendary. The game kicks off in New York City with Deckard trying to steal "the box" from a museum, but he ends up activating it. The box imbues a seal onto his hand, granting him magical powers which are not only for story purposes but is also a very useful weapon and healing tool. Gameplay-wise, Deckard's magic ability adds a layer of strategy on top of the standard shooter experience. When you take down any of the creatures of legend, they'll leave traces of energy which Deckard can absorb and use to replenish his magic power or his health. To replenish one's health, you'll need to hold down the triangle button which actively drains from his magic pool. What's good about this is that you can control how much health you want to restore and not waste a drop. It's a small thing, but noteworthy in the long run and in the more difficult settings. You can carry four weapons on you at any one time. Two of the four are reserved for molotovs and grenades while the other two allow you to switch around with various firearms. Select your currently equipped weapon with the d-pad.One of the things that sticks out about Legendary the most is the design and strategy you'll need to utilize in defeating different types of enemies. For example, some of the first creatures you'll meet are the firedrakes. You can take these things down with bullets but they will continuously respawn. To take them out completely you'll need to douse them with water; to do this you'll need to use environmental objects, like say, finding a valve and turning on the sprinklers or shooting a fire hydrant wide open.%Gallery-25116%
Mushroom Men uncapped, examined
IGN was lucky enough (or IGN enough) to get the opportunity to do a hands-on preview of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. During their playthrough, they got a bit more information about the "scav" system that allows your tiny, fungal hero to create weapons out of junk.Items come in one of three categories: stems, caps, and parts, and weapons are composed of one piece of trash out of each category. Once you've successfully built a weapon, it will show a rating (in stars) that gauges its strength. You can break these weapons down and recombine them. Another detail that hasn't been discussed much: the metronome system. Environmental elements move and chime in time to the music -- in IGN's demo, floorboards bounced and pipes shook as the music played.While you're in a Mushroom Mood, enjoy some new gameplay videos as well!%Gallery-18243%
The best Mushroom Men trailer you'll see today
This latest trailer for Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars may be one of the all-around best trailers for anything we've seen in a while. The bombastic, B-movie-style narration and big "ADVENTURE!!" titles lend the trailer a sort of goofy excitement, and the gameplay footage is visible for once. The Les Claypool music sounds ... kind of bouncily psychotic, as usual.We don't want to let our enthusiasm for the trailer get in the way of the main point: the game looks really great. We hope that the more people actually see it in action, the less likely it is to be overlooked.%Gallery-18243%
Pre-order Legendary, get art book and DVD
Legendary is set for release next month in September and if you're planning on picking it up, perhaps you'd like to avail of the free pre-order bonus. For putting down a few greenbacks early on Legendary, you'll get a nice little folder with a 30+ page art book and a DVD with five videos. You can get the items at participating retailers. With that said, we haven't seen any retailers listing the pre-order items yet, but we'd assume major chains and gaming stores like GameStop would be carrying them soon.If you haven't yet heard of Legendary, it's a modern day FPS about a man who opens up Pandora's Box. He unknowingly unleashes mythical beasts upon the world such as Golems, Griffins, Werewolves, and Minotaurs. We've also got a clip after the break with the developers discussing what the game is all about, so be sure to watch that.[Via press release]
You could win gold in the Velvet Assassin ARG
We know that some of you out there are absolute alternate reality game nuts, so we wanted to turn you on to one that's just getting into full swing, part of a promotional effort for Gamecock's upcoming Velvet Assassin, we've been lead to believe.The hunt is currently on for the second of three caches of gold, and clues have started appearing in the public announcements section of UK's The Times. Because we love you so very much, we've put all three after the jump. If you're ready to do some investigating, we'd suggest digging through this in-game blog or, if you're up for something less immersive, this thread about the game.
GameTap to add Gamecock titles to library
Good news! That $9.99 you're shipping off to GameTap every month just got a heck of a lot more valuable with the edition of Gamecock to the GT family. Think of it: For no additional money, you could be playing ... hmm, well, let's see. There's ... hey, there's Insecticide! ... Oh, and Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Anybody?OK, so maybe it's not so exciting at the moment, but it'll likely be considerably more valuable when Gamecock games like Legendary and Velvet Assassin appear on the service. Until then ... well, hey, there's always Sam and Max, right?
E308: Mushroom Men puts the 'fun' in 'fungus'
I got to look at the DS version of Mushroom Men at the Gamecock EIEIO event in March, but I didn't get to play it. Today, though, I arrived at an odd middle section in one of the demo rotations, and basically ended up being left alone in a room with a DS and the game. Aside from a very weird screen-flipping mechanic, it's a beautiful, inventive 2D platformer.As a heroic sentient mushroom (a meteor has fallen and made stuff sentient that ought not be) you wander around an environment made up almost exclusively of trash and junk. The first level is a tutorial that leads you through the interactive map (which features red dots that mark waypoints), the weapon system, and combat. The map's dots mark the location of other mushrooms that need to be rescued from bugs or other enemies, much like the rescue-based level design in Drawn to Life. %Gallery-15252%
E308: Gamecock sort of confirms Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
Note: Wii version this is not Today, Gamecock's XBLA game Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, which is a dodgeball game about pirates competing with ninjas, showed up out of nowhere on Nintendo's upcoming Wii release list. As it turns out, immediately after this discovery, I had an appointment with Gamecock.I asked Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson if it was in fact on the way, and he didn't deny it. In fact, not only did he not deny it, he said "If it's on Nintendo's list, and I'm not denying it ..." and then he sort of shrugged. But he totally didn't not deny it, either.
E308: A whole lotta list -- upcoming Wii games and release dates
Wii got game. Oh, and games, too. Nintendo posted a list with a metric ton of games and release dates, including ones from third parties. You can check out the list for yourselves in our gallery below; you might be pleasantly surprised (or sorely disappointed). One thing we noticed: The Conduit was nowhere to be found (perhaps because High Voltage has yet to reveal a publisher for the title). Goosebumps: HorrorLand seems like a strange edition to the Wii's lineup (since the book series was in its prime over a decade ago), and GameCock added Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball to the company's Wii repertoire. Other than that, we didn't notice too many surprises. Is there any other software on the list that you think deserves an honorable mention? %Gallery-27711% [Via press kit]
Video: Velvet Assassin and the art of the crouch
Coming straight from Gamecock's chest-o-marketing-media, we're treated to a new trailer for their upcoming stealthy game Velvet Assassin. Have a watch. But before you start to make comparisons between it an a certain Sam Fisher, know that there are a few distinct differences. First, Velvet Assassin comes pre-populated with hundreds of Nazis. And second, Velvet Assassin's main hero is of female origin. See, two totally different games. After watching all that stealthy crouching, one has to believe that irreversible damage is being done to the lower lumbar. Hope she has good medical insurance or lives in Canada, because in ten years, she'll need it.
Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball honors Chuck Norris
It goes without saying, really. We all honor Chuck Norris in our own way, seeing as not honoring him is rewarded with a quick and painful death. Still, the developers of Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball have seen fit to include a Chuck Norris based achievement in the upcoming XBLA title. Entitled "Chuck Rules!" the achievement is unlocked by beating the Ninjas Story Mode. Frankly, we're a little puzzled as to why the achievement is named after Norris, as he himself is not a ninja, though we expect he has killed his fair share of ninjas. That said, we've learned not to question Chuck Norris -- or the things related to him -- so we'll just leave it at that. Hit the source link for the full list of Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball achievements. [Via XBLArcade]
Mushroom Men: Rise of the Screens
Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is on the way in October, and we've got a few new screens in our gallery that show how the game is coming along. The 2.5D platformer uses somewhat simple polygons (a smart decision) but gives off the same kind of atmosphere as the rocking concept art due to very interesting lighting effects!Mushroom Men on the DS is planned as a prequel to the Wii game -- another smart decision, we think. It helps position the DS game as less of a spinoff item and more a part of the real game series. It would be a shame if a cool sidescroller like this got overlooked because of the 3D game. That is, of course, assuming that the Wii game isn't also overlooked.%Gallery-15252%[Via press release]
Fungi rises on the DS this October
We knew that Red Fly hoped to release Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi sometime this year, so we're pleased to hear that the software is on schedule and will be in stores this October.Red Fly also went into more detail about the storyline of the game in a recent press release, since the DS version is a prequel to the Wii title. Both will cover different parts of the Mushroom Men's history, with Rise of the Fungi detailing a time when they first got their special abilities. The Bolete tribe must stave off attacks from hostile insects and other creatures, until the Amanitas Empire becomes an even bigger threat to their survival. Mushroom Men fighting amongst Mushroom Men ultimately leads to the Spore Wars, which are covered in the Wii game. We really like the idea of one game's story leading into another's in such a short period of time (as in, you won't have to wait long between releases). While we're still not sure when the Wii game will follow, you can expect it in November or December if Red Fly sticks to the original plan. Gallery: Mushroom Men
Asylums, nurses, and gore: Dementium's awesome Japanese launch event
Dementium: The Ward launches in Japan today, and Japanese publisher Interchannel-Holon could not have found a more perfect venue to promote Renegade Kid's horror title*. "Alcatraz E.R." is a novelty restaurant in Tokyo's Shibuya ward with a mental asylum theme where patrons must announce their blood type before entering. They are then handcuffed by girls dressed as nurses who serve up food in surgical trays and drinks in hospital drips.In other words, it's a totally amazing and ideal place for a Dementium promotion. Hit the break for more gory pics of the press-only event (our invites must have got lost in the mail). * Admittedly, they could have used an actual abandoned psychiatric asylum, but that probably comes with its own issues.%Gallery-4929%
Insecticide buzzing its way to Europe this August
Because we didn't. Seriously: we had totally forgotten about Roachy Carruthers and Insecticide even existing. The noirish bug detective title launched in the U.S. over three months ago, and as bloggers' memories are famously only fractionally longer than those of goldfish, there was little chance of ... um. Dang it, happened again.Anyway, we deemed Insecticide to be a fairly inspired adventure romp that was held back by some tedious platforming sections, but if you're one of those Europe-based folks who enjoy great adventure games with horrible platform bits (a small group, for sure), then you'll be pleased to know that Insecticide is coming to your part of the world in August. Yes, it's five months late. But at least it's coming. Hurray.%Gallery-3405%[Via press release]
Reminder: Preorder Hail to the Chimp, get $10 of Onion Store credit
A reminder that Gamecock has offered Joystiq readers an exclusive offer: preorder Hail to the Chimp at GameStop (it comes out a week from today) and get a free $10 gift certificate to the Onion Store, the virtual storefront of the popular fake (and funny!) newspaper. So, to recap: you preorder the $40 PS3 or Xbox 360 politically themed party game before the end of the day, send the Gamecock people a copy of your receipt (details here), and get ten bucks of free Onion Store credit.
