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El Shaddai Comic-Con trailer is biblically epic
Despite having been delayed until August 16, angelically-oriented and biblically-based action platformer El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron is still very much alive, kickin' around the Heavens in its designer jeans and gleaming white armor. To prove as much, Ignition Entertainment has released a new cinematic trailer during this year's Comic-Con, which has been stuffed to the rafters with gooey tentacle angels, stained-glass platforming and futuristic motorcycle chases. Still no word on an Amy Grant Collector's Edition, but we'll keep digging.
More layoffs hit UTV Ignition Entertainment
Good news is tough to come by for UTV Ignition. In just the last few weeks, the company has ceased internal development, had to delay one of its biggest titles and (according to rumors) re-canceled WarDevil after recently resurrecting it. Today Gamasutra reports that the company has laid off some portion of its True Games studio, the house behind the Faxion Online MMO. Exactly what portion of the studio is being laid off is a matter of some debate. While Ignition claims it's "a fraction" of the studio's workforce, Gamasutra's source says it's a majority of the staff. Yes, majority is technically a fraction, but still ... that's quite a stretch. Here's hoping we'll have a clearer picture of the landscape soon and that those affected land on their feet.
El Shaddai officially delayed until August 16
Your faith in the official North American release date for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is about to be shaken. Ignition Entertainment's New Business Development Director Shane Bettenhausen confirmed the shift in date from July 26 to August 16 in a statement to Joystiq, citing "unforeseen logistical issues." The September 1 release in Europe is still on track. Bettenhausen apologized for the "minor delay." Looking on the bright side (which is bright only for us), we suddenly find ourselves with much more time to complete our review, which is nice. For us.
Rumor: Ignition lays off UK employees, cancels WarDevil again
Ignition Games' transition to a pure publishing operation continues, Develop reports, with layoffs at the company's London studio following those last week in Austin. Anonymous sources told the site that the London team was told of the layoffs on Friday. As Develop puts it, "redundancies have been issued across the entire London development outfit." This once again brings work on WarDevil to a halt. The game was canceled last year following an earlier round of layoffs in Ignition's UK operation. Development started again later that year under the name Project Kane. Develop was unable to confirm this, but heard reports that Ignition was willing to let the project continue if an external developer signed on to complete it. This accompanies rumors that Ignition's Japan studio will close following completion of its latest project -- which, as far as we can tell, would be any work involved with the localization of El Shaddai.
Buy El Shaddai from Amazon, and a $10 credit descends from heaven
Just as El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is very loosely based on the apocryphal Book of Enoch, some lesser-known works from the Book of Amazon.com have been discovered related to the game. For example, if you read this page in the sacred and infinite website, you'll learn the previously undiscovered commandment "If thou pre-order El Shaddai, thou shalt receive $10 in promotional credit." El Shaddai (and your emailed Holy Relic of $10) will be out July 26. Let us celebrate the happy news of free money in the traditional manner: by studying Amazon intensely to find more things to buy.
Ignition ceases internal game development; confirms Austin studio layoffs
Eccentric, unapologetically angelic action game El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron will debut on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next month, and make for a strange conclusion to Ignition Games' internally developed lineup. The company will move forward with a new studio based in Marina Del Rey, California, and shift its focus to publishing games and seeking out more partnerships with independent developers. From an announcement this morning: "In order to facilitate shifting the publishing focus to more effectively work with innovative independent developers and explore new platform possibilities, Ignition Games has taken the strategic decision not to continue with internal development of games." New Business Development Director, Shane Bettenhausen, also confirmed a round of layoffs at Ignition's Austin location, which excised an internal console development team working on a unannounced project. According to a Gamasutra report, "around 15" people are believed to have been let go. We're told the status of the studio's first-person shooter, Reich, remains unchanged from when it was last mentioned (and said to be alive). Ignition's externally sourced range of games -- including an upcoming 3DS version of twin-screen platformer Fractured Soul -- should remain intact while the company slides out of its development jeans.
Magical Drop V preview: The ghost of Data East
Few things in the game industry make me happier than over-the-top dedication to a random classic franchise. Another thing that makes me happy: Magical Drop games. So when I rolled up to Ignition Entertainment and saw a new Magical Drop game, I was pleased. And then I played it, and that "pleased" status was upgraded to "delighted." Magical Drop, for the uninitiated, is a color-matching puzzle game series by Data East in which players grab gems from the top of the screen, and then shoot them into different locations to match three or more. All the while, more gems come in from the top and drop the whole arrangement toward the bottom of the screen. Of course, there are several selectable characters (named after tarot cards), and different patterns of blocks can be sent to the opponent's side in multiplayer matches.%Gallery-125736%
El Shaddai demo now on North American Xbox Live
After Japanese audiences have enjoyed an El Shaddai demo for quite some time now, North American games can finally get a taste of Namco's upcoming action title. The demo is available now via Xbox Live Marketplace for Gold Members.
El Shaddai rises July 26 in North America, Sept. 9 in Europe
We can understand your confusion, dear reader. "But, the Amy Grant platinum record Age to Age which featured the Michael Card-penned classic 'El Shaddai' was released to great acclaim in 1982! How can it be released on July 26 in North America and on Sept. 9 in Europe?" We love Contemporary Christian hits of the early 80s too, friend, but in this case the title refers to El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, a video game with few narrative ties to the career of Mrs. Vince Gill. Also this summer, look for Baby, Baby, a babysitting sim from Majesco and Nintendo's first application of the Vitality Sensor in Mario's Every Heartbeat.
'Collapse' game site registered by Ignition
Domain hound superannuation has dug up pending website domain Collapse-TheGame.com, registered to Ignition Entertainment. The discovery would fit nicely with recent comments made by Ignition's Shane Bettenhausen, who told SideQuesting that there's a "99 percent chance" the company would be announcing a new project at E3. Of course, there's no evidence yet linking the so-called "Collapse" to the potential E3 reveal. Bettenhausen added that the publisher's next project "might be" for NGP and suggested that Ignition's E3 announcement was dependent on Sony's press conference plan, according to SideQuesting. Ignition's latest release, El Shaddai, was developed by its Tokyo-based studio and debuted in Japan a month ago. It's expected to be released in North America and Europe later this year. The company's recently consolidated Austin branch is said to be working on the long-delayed FPS Reich. Additionally, Ignition's website (pictured above) indicates that the publisher has "more coming soon" to reveal.
El Shaddai was once 'Angelic'
A 2007 video of a prototype version of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (after the break) reveals a remarkably clear vision for the project. Even that far back, a lot of elements that remain intact in the new version were in place: Enoch, in his white armor and jeans (and a face like Brad Pitt), fighting enemies with arc-shaped weapons; Lucifel, looking kind of smug and telling a story against a black background, as the words fly by on the screen; and even a battle on the backdrop of a giant hand. The enemies and areas weren't quite as abstract-looking in this video, made for a presentation within Ignition. The name hadn't been finalized yet, either: it was called "Angelic: Ascension of the Metatron" back then. Unlocking the video required a password, presumably found within the game -- luckily, someone in Japan just uploaded it to YouTube for us.
El Shaddai demo ascends to Japanese PSN and XBLM
Would you like to experience Ignition's visually stunning action game, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, before its still-undated Western release? It's okay. No problem. Just sign into that Japanese PSN account you made for the Catherine demo, and you'll find a shiny new El Shaddai demo waiting for you in the PlayStation Store. Andriasang reports that it's on Xbox Live as well, for Gold members only through April 20. In a tweet, Ignition suggested that the demo "won't be up for long." So, unless you have the time-traveling abilities of Lucifel, you should get on it right now. Unfortunately, you can't use your Japanese PSN account to access the "pop-up" El Shaddai cafe in Tokyo.
Swarm trailer proves that one can be more intimidating than 50
With Swarm available today, Ignition and Hothead have released one last trailer demonstrating exactly who the target audience is for the downloadable multi-character platformer: sadistic children. Sadistic children aged 12 or older, of course -- thanks, PEGI.
Swarm priced at $15, marches to Euro PSN on March 30
The Swarm has been granted its European visa and will enter the union on March 23 and 30 on XBLA and PSN, respectively (while North American PSN users can get it on March 22). Taking control of the "pudgy, clueless little blue morons" will cost 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox and $14.99 on PSN. PlayStation Plus members get a slight discount, downloading the little goobers for $12.99. On the surface, Swarm sounds like a Pikmin- or Lemmings-style type of game, but it actually has more in common with platformers, as we recently found out in our hands-on preview.
Swarm storms PSN on March 22, XBLA on March 23
Hothead's crazy crowd-control platformer, Swarm, is set to arrive en masse by the end of March. According to the game's official Twitter feed, it'll be available on PlayStation Network on Tuesday, March 22, and then on Xbox Live Arcade the following day. Though it might appear to be a Lemmings-esque puzzle game, the titular Swarm refers to the blob of rotund, blue guys that you guide as a singular entity, while losing errant members of the crowd to horrific death traps in order to maintain a combo. We're confident that years of giving school tours through the local slaughterhouse have imbued us with enough skill to amass a huge score in this game. [Thanks, DarkKnightRJ]
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron preview: No problem
When I played El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron at last year's Tokyo Game Show, I was told I was playing a toned-down demo version, the difficulty mellowed to allow the public to make its way through the demo. That was not the case in the version shown during GDC this week. In fact, my avatar Enoch got his ass -- well-appointed in limited-edition Edwin jeans -- handed to him. But as he says in the event of his (near) defeat, "It's okay. No problem."%Gallery-118277%
Swarm preview: Extensive expendability
From the premise of Swarm -- guide a group of identical, stupid creatures through trap-filled worlds -- and from screenshots and video, it's easy to assume it's a Pikmin-style action-strategy game, with one player character wielding a small army of critters to fulfill goals. At least, it was easy for me to assume that. But there's a lot more action and a lot less strategy than you're thinking. In fact, Swarm is pretty much a platformer, albeit a platformer in which you control 50 avatars simultaneously. Now you might be thinking that it would be pretty much impossible to control 50 avatars simultaneously -- and you would be right. In fact, your little Swarmites are constantly dying off due to traps, environmental hazards, and good old-fashioned failed jumps. Not only is this okay, it's necessary; each death increases your score multiplier, and interesting deaths result in in-game awards.%Gallery-117836%
Ignition completes El Shaddai development
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, Ignition Entertainment's action game about Enoch and his time-traveling pal the devil, has now been completed. The visually dreamy fighter is on track for an April 28 release in Japan, with releases in North America and Europe to be detailed by the publisher "shortly." Also short: the supply of Edwin's El Shaddai tie-in jeans. Ignition noted that both the "Enoch" and "Lucifel" styles of jeans were sold out within the first three minutes of sale. That suggests either a lot of excitement about this game in Japan, or that they were really nice pants. Ignition will announce "strategic partnerships" with more companies for promotions worldwide, following this success.
UTV Ignition consolidates in Austin, Reich FPS 'remains' in development
UTV Ignition confirmed today the closure of its East and West Coast US operations, with all future development and publishing to be handled from its UTV True Games studio out of its offices in Austin, Texas. The company also revealed that its (once considered canceled) sci-fi FPS, Reich, "remains in development" in Austin, where "key personnel along with additional new hires will create a new internal development team." Additionally, UTV's Tokyo-developed title, El Shaddai, will be released in Japan on April 28, with a European and North American release announcement coming "shortly."
More Reich footage surfaces, from TGS '09
We've seen footage of Ignition's canceled FPS Reich before -- remember those videos from back in November? -- but what about the 2009 demo reel, set to erratic German metal, shown at Tokyo Game Show? Thanks to YouTube user "JanusTheChosen" (a reference to the game) the lengthy clip is now available for the world to see, showcasing the canned title's destructible environments and Psi-Ops-style telekinesis gameplay. Additionally, Reich's apparent subtitle, "Downfall," is revealed, positioning the game one step closer to an internet meme. Head past the break to get a look at this most "up-to-date" footage.
