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Ms. Splosion Man iOS out now, PC next week
Ms. Splosion Man brings her bewitching mixture of science and 'splosions to iPhone and iPad today, with the iOS port available now for $2.99. Developer Twisted Pixel also revealed the PC port of the original XBLA game is due next week.The iOS version, developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, introduces six new power-ups to the platformer along with a whopping 1,500 challenges to complete, including racing ghost replays from Twisted Pixel's QA team.Meanwhile, Twisted Pixel says the PC version is a straight port of the original XBLA game, courtesy of Firehose and Panic Button Studios. By the by, we awarded Ms. Splosion Man on XBLA a glittering five stars, deeming it to be "dripping in charm."
Divekick preview: The two-button brawler
Iron Galaxy Studios' Divekick, which started out as a purely independent Kickstarter success story, pokes fun at the aspects of the fighting genre that people both love and loathe. It competes well in the genre it trivializes, and it does so with both hands in its pockets.The build I played at PAX East used a fight stick with two buttons slightly larger than the palms of my hands. That underscores the key ingredient to Divekick: it introduces an appropriate level of depth for a fighter that only uses two forms of input. Smacking one button down would tell my character to jump in the air, while the other had them hopping backwards. Combinations of these buttons resulted in jumping in the air and kicking downward at an angle, or activating a character-specific ability when the "kick meter" filled up. Successfully kicking my opponent just once in the cat-and-mouse fighter won a round, with the match going to the first character to win five rounds.Instead of memorizing button combinations, the playing field is leveled for all combatants, as timing is everything in this game. I found myself adopting familiar fighting game strategies, attempting to lure my opponent in before nailing them with a quick hop and kick. Other times, I would close the gap between us with a high vertical jump and kick, a risky proposition given the amount of time available for my enemy to counter. Kicking my opponent in the head wasn't just satisfying, it was a tactic that carried over to the next round, as the player suffering the blow began the first four seconds of the round in a daze. The daze slowed their movements, giving me a clear, but not absolute advantage. %Gallery-184112%
Divekick takes a leap of faith on Steam Greenlight, due in summer
Divekick, the two-button fighting game from One True Game Studios, is trying its luck on Steam Greenlight with an updated launch window of summer 2013, pushed back from this spring.Divekick was the subject of a successful Kickstarter campaign in July, but Iron Galaxy canceled that fundraising drive once it secured a publishing deal with Street Fighter 3: Online Edition's Iron Galaxy. Perhaps One True Game is hoping to transfer all that unfinished mojo into a Steam launch.One True Game Studios and Iron Galaxy have plans to bring Divekick to PC, PS3 and Vita this summer. Divekick began as a parody but is now a rising name in the fighting game circuit; it'll be at PAX East in booth 899, if you're around and down for some serious kicking action.
Minimalist fighter Divekick connects with PS3, PC, Vita this spring
Iron Galaxy Studios, the company behind the refreshes of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike and Darkstalkers, is working its magic on a new game: the fighting game parody Divekick. Originally made for PC by Shoryuken EIC Adam Heart, Iron Galaxy is working with Heart's company One True Game Studios to release Divekick on PS3, PC, and PS Vita.The new version will feature "GGPO-powered online support, a fully-fledged single-player campaign, and many other features." It will very likely not feature more than two buttons, to jump and kick. Divekick was the subject of a successful Kickstarter last year, but the drive was canceled when Heart began working with Iron Galaxy.
Darkstalkers Resurrection rising from its grave Mar. 14 in Japan
Darkstalkers Resurrection, the XBLA/PSN combo re-release of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge and Darkstalkers 3 announced during NYCC last October, has had its Japanese release date changed from February 7 to March 14, according to Siliconera's translation of the game's Japanese website.The extended development time will be used to improve the netcode being stuffed into both games, as well as to ensure that the ports themselves are as arcade-perfect as possible. Capcom has told us that the Japanese delay will have "no impact" on a North American release, and that "the game is still on track for release early next year in North America."
Capcom announces Darkstalkers Resurrection at NYCC [Update: Now with trailer and screenshots]
Capcom has just announced Darkstalkers Resurrection, an PSN/XBLA Darkstalkers collection expected to release early next year at $14.99/1,600 1,200 MS Points. The game, announced during a Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Panel at New York Comic Con, is under development at Iron Galaxy Studios and will bundle the arcade versions of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and Darkstalkers 3 together as a single downloadable title, ala Marvel vs. Capcom Origins.Both games will run on GGPO and will include the standard Ranked Match/Player Match online setup standard to Capcom re-releases. Replay sharing and YouTube functionality are also present, as are HD filters and a gallery of unlockable art assets and bonuses, including the work of Udon and custom artwork by Stanley Lao.When the time came to choose which Darkstalkers game would receive the HD treatment, the decision to release two games as a bundle was one of necessity, according to Capcom producer Derek Neal."We were agonizing over which to release," Neal told us shortly after the game's announcement. "They're the two most popular, fan-favorite games of the people who have played Darkstalkers way back when and loved it. There's a group that loves Darkstalkers 2 and a group that loves Darkstalkers 3."Eventually, Capcom concluded that the only way to keep everyone happy was to release both games as a double-pack.Update: Capcom has informed us that the XBLA price point of 1,600 MS Points listed in the press release after the break is incorrect, and that the game will in fact be available for 1,200 MS Points.%Gallery-168192%
Deja Review: Marvel vs. Capcom Origins
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. It's a good time to be an old fogey as far as fighting games are concerned. Between HD remixes, XBLA/PSN re-releases and PSOne classics on PSN, it's almost impossible not to be able to download whatever fighter wasted most of your youth.Marvel vs. Capcom Origins reduces the number of unavailable oldies even further, containing enhanced ports of the original arcade versions of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom. While said enhancements are fairly pedestrian and expected (HD filters, online play, etc), Origins' faithful recreation of the original subject matter alone makes the price of admission worth it. In fact, this is the first arcade-perfect console port of Marvel Super Heroes that's ever existed.%Gallery-159784%
'Avatar Famestar' introduces persistent, cross-game rewards to XBLA
When Iron Galaxy's Wreckateer is launched next week – the second game in Microsoft's Summer of Arcade annual promotion – it'll include a brand new feature that will show up in several upcoming XBLA games: Avatar Famestars. We first heard the name back in February when a trademark popped up for the phrase, but what exactly is it?"Avatar Famestars is a new program from Microsoft Studios and is part of a select group of games that delivers new and exciting ways to play online with your friends and compete for social recognition," says Microsoft. Okay, what does that mean? A variety of in-game challenges (think: "get a perfect score five times on this game mode") are included in Avatar Famestar-supported games, and you'll earn rewards based on earning Famestar points (think: Avatar stuff).Those rewards will cross from game to game, as will your point total. It's kind of like Ubisoft's UPlay program, but less ubiquitous – for now, Avatar Famestars is locked to your Xbox 360, though we wouldn't be shocked to hear about it heading to Surface, Windows 8, and Windows Phones in due time.Beyond Wreckateer, Microsoft's adding Avatar Famestar support to already released games Full House Poker, and A World of Keflings, and several upcoming games: Fire Pro Wrestling, Homerun Stars, and Avatar Motocross Madness. Unfortunately, it's not clear when any of the already available games will get the update, but we expect upcoming games will simply debut with the functionality. Wreckateer launches next Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade, and it'll be the first game on Xbox with Avatar Famestar support. Keep an eye out for our review early next week.%Gallery-160806%
Wreckateer smashing up XBLA this spring, and it's totally your fault
Ever since you stormed -- and consequently destroyed -- your first sandcastle, you've relished the perverse joy in the destruction of inconsequential structures. And for you, oddly specific sufferer, Iron Galaxy Studios is crafting a great outlet for that particular fetish with Wreckateer. First revealed by various international rating associations, Wreckateer was finally officially announced last week during a San Francisco press event.Heading to Xbox Live Arcade exclusively, Wreckateer employs Kinect as the sole controller and represents players in-game with their XBL Avatar. Players grab rocks of various types in a ballista (read: extra large slingshot), step back to take aim, and let loose to take down castles in as few shots as possible. "When we originally pitched it, we pitched as Angry Birds meets Boom Blox with some Burnout Crash Mode sprinkled in," Iron Galaxy's Dave Lang told us during a recent demo.The latter part of his description plays out in mid-air, as the ball hurtles toward said castle -- players can add English to the ball or alter its trajectory by waving their hands, and some ammo types allow for other effects. One such ball splits into three separate, smaller balls attached by a string, allowing for bigger point chains and higher scores. At its core, Wreckateer is a high score game based around a singular, effective concept: throwing rocks at stuff. Microsoft Studios is publishing the game, and it's expected some time in "Spring 2012." So, like, soon.
Iron Galaxy Studios' Wreckateer leaked in ratings, to be published by Microsoft
A game called Wreckateer has been spotted in the Australian ratings classification system, listed as being developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Microsoft. Iron Galaxy Studios is a company that's done a lot of technical consulting for other game developers -- it recently helped Capcom bring Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online to digital platforms, not to mention work on You Don't Know Jack. According to its webpage, Iron Galaxy is also working on some yet-to-be-announced projects with Microsoft and Twisted Pixel, and it appears as though Wreckateer is at least one of those projects. That's all we know about the game thus far, other than that it's an original title, and it's been rated General for all audiences. Wreckateer, whatever it is, was just classified this week, so presumably we'll be hearing more about it soon.
Scribblenauts Remix for .99 is an easy write-off
At just 99 cents, Scribblenauts Remix for iOS represents, unquestionably, the best deal the series has ever seen, unless you found a Super Scribblenauts cartridge on the ground or something. And even if you happen to have one of the other games, you might be interested in this version for its new iOS-exclusive levels, freshened-up graphics, and because it's 99 cents. There's no indication as to how long this discount will be available, so make haste. For reference, we tried to make "haste" in Scribblenauts just now and it suggested a haetae instead.
Scribblenauts Remix penciled in for iOS release today
5TH Cell used its magic pen and notebook (actually a bunch of professional programmers, designers, and engineers within its own team and Iron Galaxy Studios, but whatever) to create an iOS version of its innovative DS game Scribblenauts, delivering the complete product to the App Store ... right now. For 5 bucks, you can download the universal app Scribblenauts Remix (so that's what that title is!) featuring the signature gameplay -- writing words to summon objects, then using those objects to solve puzzles. The app is apparently based on Super Scribblenauts, meaning you can punch up your items with adjectives. It even has new iOS-exclusive levels. For five dollars.
