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The Daily Grind: Do you display your MMO minipets?
I had no idea that Star Wars: The Old Republic features so many minipets. Similarly, I had no idea that it features fluff pets that are basically tiny widdle repulsorlift versions of the class ships. So now one of my Jedi has a tiny Defender that follows him around, and it's pretty much the slickest thing ever. OK, maybe not ever, but it's definitely the slickest thing in SWTOR. I mean, come on, it does barrel rolls! Normally I don't even use fluff pets, both because most of them are annoying and because I forget I have them. I put this one on my hotbar, though, because barrel rolls. What about you, Massively readers? Do you display your minipets? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite vanity pet?
What does a vanity pet do for my gameplay? If we're talking about adding to my combat potential, it does absolutely nothing. But if we're talking about providing bragging rights, companionship, amusement value, and another layer of personal customization, such a pet has plenty to offer. Right now my favorite vanity pet is probably the Super Adventure Box spider mini in Guild Wars 2. Not only does it look totally rad in a 16-bit way, but it occasionally does breakdancing even in the midst of dire peril. Dancing retro spider with sunglasses, that's a win any way I look at it. What's your favorite vanity pet? Why do you enjoy it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Would you like games to remember your character's birthday?
It's a little thing, but I've always been endlessly fond of the fact that Guild Wars keeps track of the day my characters were created and sends them presents. I'm rather attached to my characters, and even though I don't actually collect minis I still like to know that there's a little marker somewhere in the game database. Little unique features like this are common in games, but Guild Wars is the only one that does anything for the birthday of the character or the player to the best of my knowledge. And it's such a little thing that it seems almost strange that more games haven't copied the idea. Of course, it requires tracking date of creation for every single character and it can lead to some issue (some of the birthday presents in GW wound up with exorbitant prices on the secondary market). So what do you think? Would you like to see more games marking your character birthdays? Or do you think it's a cute idea that doesn't need to be revisited? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
PS Minis developer Futurlab inks deal with Sony to fund new Vita IP
Futurlab, the developer of PlayStation Minis and Mobile games Velocity, Surge and Fuel Tiracas, has acquired funding from Sony to develop titles for the PlayStation Vita. The deal also includes the added bonus that allows Futurlab to retain control of its intellectual property."We're incredibly excited to be working closely with PlayStation over the next year, bringing our particular brand of twitchy fun to the PS Vita," Futurlab Managing Director James Marsden says. "Sony has provided a great package that means we retain full control of our IP, which is a perfect deal for us."It's kind of like mommy giving you the credit card and telling you to only buy stuff for yourself. The website for Futurlab's next project is titled "Fan Powered Flight" and currently has a countdown clock with two days remaining, along with the text, "You asked for it," across the top. You're right, Futurlab, we did ask for a penguin with the capability of flight, and we can't wait to see what you've genetically engineered. You're so sweet.
Jetpack Joyride lands on PlayStation Network
After going free-to-play on iOS and Android (and undergoing a subsequent Facebook port), Halfbrick's Jetpack Joyride has made its way to PlayStation Network today. Jetpack Joyride is available for $3.99 on Sony platforms right now under the Minis section, making it compatible with PSP, PlayStation Vita and PS3.Jetpack Joyride features the most recent version of the game, replete with waves of nigh-unending challenges, a store full of unlockable jetpacks, outfits and other virtual goods. Plus: lasers. There are so many lasers in this game.Jetpack Joyride on PSN also includes gadgets, like coin magnets and gravity belts, which were introduced in the 1.3 update.
Canabalt makes the jump to PlayStation Minis
Canabalt, the deceptively addictive single-button platformer from Adam Saltsman, is available for PS3, Vita and PSP as a PlayStation Mini in Europe right now, and is set to hit next week in the US. Canabalt costs £1.74/€1.99/AU $3.45.Canabalt has already made its run as a free Flash game and an iOS title, and Saltsman (or Mr. Atomic, as we assume he sometimes prefers) is hard at work on the official iOS movie tie-in game, The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire.
PS Minis' 'Idiot Squad' mashes up Chu Chu Rocket, strategy, and sheep
Football-player sheep destroy obstacles in front of them. Ninja sheep jump over obstacles, and gunner sheep have projectiles. With those rules in mind, you must guide your woolly charges to the ewes they've come to rescue.Idiot Squad by Hydravision, a new PS Mini coming March 27 in North America and March 28 in Europe, seems designed for anyone but idiots. Your three classes of sheep soldier must be directed around grid-based puzzles using a limited selection of arrow items, much like the puzzles in Sega's classic Chu Chu Rocket. But way more complicated! Can anyone's brain handle that?%Gallery-150577%
PS Plus free Minis don't work on Vita, Sony is on the case
PlayStation Plus members are receiving error codes when trying to play their free, downloadable Minis on the Vita, according to a thread on the Vita discussion forum. Sony is focused on fixing this. "We are aware of the issue, and will resolve it as quickly as possible," a Sony spokesperson told Edge.It appears Minis purchased outside from the PS Plus free-game deal work fine on the Vita, according to the thread. So, uh, take that, PS Plus members. We bet you're really regretting buying into that awesome exclusivity deal with Sony right about now, because you can't play your Minis and the problem will probably be fixed really soon. Yeah.
Here are the PSP games that will work on Vita at launch [update: more compatible games spotted]
Sony has posted a how-to guide on downloading PSP titles to the PlayStation Vita and, along with it, a list of the 275 PSP titles and Minis that will be compatible with the Vita at launch. Obviously, it's a pretty hefty lineup, though some favorites are certainly missing, including Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Lumines and others.That said, Sony promises more titles will be added in "the coming weeks." Head over to the US PlayStation Blog for the current list. And, before you ask, yes, of course Dragon's Lair is compatible.Update: A couple of industry tweets reveal that some games not mentioned on the official list are already compatible with the Vita, notably Valkyria Chronicles 2 and PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe. It would appear that Sony's official list may not be entirely comprehensive. Then again, the public won't actually get its hands on the Vita for another week, so maybe there's still some tweaking going on.
Stick Man Rescue gets to the chopper on PS Minis
TikGames' new PlayStation Mini puts you in charge of a helicopter picking up tiny little stick men from a series of unfortunate situations. Stick Man Rescue sounds like a stick version of Choplifter, as you're tasked with picking up a prescribed number of stick men from each level, preventing them from "being burned alive, smashed, decapitated, blown up, electrocuted, dissolved by acid, and other classic demises" by the evil blue Stick Minions. To help you get through the deathtraps, you can upgrade your chopper's weaponry. Stick Man Rescue will be a Plus exclusive when it debuts January 4 in Europe and January 10 in North America. The rest of us PlayStation Plebes will be able to buy it January 18 in Europe, and January 24 in North America.%Gallery-142619%
Where is my Heart? Oh, it's on PlayStation Minis
There are cute things, and then there are adorable things, and then there's Where is my Heart?. This experimental indie platformer transcends the known boundaries of cuteness to such a dramatic extent that even tiny baby hippos like this one pale in comparison. Beneath that deliriously endearing aesthetic, however, lies a truly unique and captivating design philosophy. The game, available for free to PlayStation Plus members on Nov. 8 and to everyone else for $6.99 on Nov. 22, is based on a somewhat traumatic episode experienced by Die Gute Fabrik designer Bernie Schulenburg: While on a hiking trip, Bernie and his parents became lost in the woods, the stress of the ordeal highlighting their various personality shortcomings. Serving as a metaphor for the event, Where is my Heart? tells the tale of a family of monsters searching for their lost Heart Tree, wherein all three monsters must work together in order to progress through the wilderness. The game's screen is divided into sections, forming a stained glass windowpane of gameplay scenery which may or may not be directly connected to the adjacent panels. What's more, these panels rearrange themselves, heightening the player's sense of disorientation and serving as a visual metaphor for the emotional confusion the story represents. It sounds like an endearing, poetic work of art; here's hoping that ends up being the case.
SNK classics Alpha Mission, TNK III, Vanguard II on PS Minis today
SNK continues its piecemeal release of SNK Arcade Classics 0, comprising PlayStation Minis versions of the arcade games that the company sold in Japan as a UMD collection. Today, when the PlayStation Store updates, you'll be able to get three more vintage SNK arcade games for play on the PSP or PS3. 1985's vertical shooter Alpha Mission (above), the tank game T.N.K. III from the same year, and the 1984 shooter Vanguard II, will be available today for $3 each. You might know T.N.K. III's sequel better than the original if ... you happened to play a lot of NES games; it was released on that platform as Iron Tank. Other people played Iron Tank, right?
Mighty Flip Champs DX rotates to PlayStation Minis July 12
We heard the first inklings of a PSP version of WayForward's DSiWare game Mighty Flip Champs earlier this year. Now, WayForward has officially announced Mighty Flip Champs DX as a PlayStation Mini, and released the first screen demonstrating just how such a dual-screen-dependent game will transition to the PSP and PS3. In short, the two "screens" are now side-by-side on the single screen. The room you're currently in displays on the left, with the next room on the right; at any time protagonist Alta can "flip" to the next room, trying not to be crushed by the new surroundings. Mighty Flip Champs DX will be released on the PlayStation Store July 12. In the announcement after the break, designer Matt Bozon encourages new players not to "miss out on this top shelf experience. Even if it sounds weird."
Celebrate six years of Guild Wars with prizes and an exclusive update interview
Let the celebration begin! Guild Wars is six years old, and as promised earlier this morning, ArenaNet has handed out the party hats and kicked off the festivities. Here at Massively we've got plenty of party treats for you! Not only do we have the full scoop on the anniversary update, but we chatted with Guild Wars Live Team members John Stumme and Matthew Moore about the creation of the event. Finally, we've got a special Livestream look at the new content along with a pile of prizes for Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 fans, so follow along after the jump for all the details!
Angry Birds downloads soar past 100 million across all platforms
During a panel at this past weekend's South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Rovio exec Peter Vesterbacka told attendees that the company's bird-flinging pig terrorizer, Angry Birds, has been downloaded over 100 million times. As Vesterbacka revealed during GDC, more than 30 million of those downloads have been of the game's freemium Android version, and both the lite and paid versions topped 2010's iOS charts. Since its release on PSN in January, Angry Birds has also dominated PlayStation Minis sales. So many scared pigs! During his presentation, Vesterbacka went on to make a somewhat dubious claim, however, saying, "Tablets are killing consoles. Four generations of new tablets come before a new console, if one ever comes." While hardware iteration of tablets has certainly been speedier than that of consoles, we don't see tablets "killing" the home console market anytime soon. Nokia interim VP of services Tero Ojanpera apparently agrees with us, as he countered Vesterbacka by arguing that, despite the iPad 2's ability to output 1080p video, most folks won't ever plug their tablet devices into their televisions. Not to mention, Vesterbacka and company recently hired Remedy co-founder Petri Järvilehto to spearhead Angry Birds expansion to consoles. "We want to make Angry Birds a long-lasting global gaming franchise, and we see the console platforms as a way of delivering an even more entertaining, powerful and involving experience," Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said last month in an announcement of the company's intention "to take the Angry Birds success story to current and emerging console platforms."
Pix'n Love Rush free for PlayStation Plus members today
PlayStation Plus members are getting yet another early (and free!) look at a new PlayStation Mini today. Pix'n Love Rush is a retro-themed platformer (originally developed for iPhone) -- and this video will give you a better idea of why it's so charming.
Upcoming PSN game uses crowd-sourcing for ideas
The Bearded Ladies, developers of Landit Bandit, want to turn your ideas into a video game. In collaboration with SCEE, the studio has launched Gamocracy, a project that seeks to take the best user-submitted ideas for use in a new action-platforming game for PS3 and PSP. Over the course of eight weeks, there will be various challenges posed to the official PlayStation community. Currently, the developers are seeking concepts for the game's story and protagonist. Favorites selected by The Bearded Ladies will move on to a fan voting process. The best concept will end up in the final product. Gamocracy should be a fun experiment for enthusiasts that want an opportunity to see their ideas come to fruition. However, the developers do caution that serious game authors should probably opt out of this promotion. "Once you submit your ideas to our forum, they are then free to be used by us or The Bearded Ladies in ANY manner, including in any other games and without any obligation to you. So, if your idea is secret and you would like to keep it that way, we advise you NOT to post it."
Download themes to vote for your favorites in PSN Gamers Choice Awards
Sony's giving you the chance to honor some of the best games on PSN -- and, more importantly, get some free XMB themes for games like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Costume Quest, and God of War: Ghost of Sparta. The company announced the first PSN Gamers Choice Awards, which will allow PS3 and PSP users to vote on their favorite downloadable game for each platform -- among the nominees pre-selected by Sony, anyway. From Feb. 22 through March 1, users will be able to vote for their favorite downloadable PSP or PS3 game, Mini, and PSN-exclusive by downloading a free XMB theme corresponding to that game. The winning game in each category will be discounted 30% for all PSN users and 50% for Plus members during this year's edition of the Spring Fever promotion. Find all the nominees after the break. Spelunker HD is not one of them, but there are already free XMB themes available on the PlayStation Store that will allow interested parties to pretend it is.
PlayStation Plus users get The Flying Hamster as free Valentine's gift
Nothing says love quite like potted plant-powered aerial rodents, does it? We say that kind of stuff all the time, especially around this most romantic time of year -- and apparently, Sony shares in our unique set of beliefs. PlayStation Plus members have a sweet little surprise waiting for them in their PSN Message Boxes: a warm Valentine's Day message from Sony, and a download voucher for the PSN Mini The Flying Hamster. Best of all, unlike some of the freebies delivered to PlayStation Plus subscribers, The Flying Hamster won't disappear from your library should you ever decide to cancel your membership. If you've ever seen a more beautiful parallel for love undying, we'd love to hear about it. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Pac-Man CE coming to PlayStation Minis this week
Though there's nothing miniature about Pac-Man: Championship Edition -- or the manner in which it will absolutely devour your free time as you endlessly pursue the highest scores -- the title will be added to the PSN Minis catalog with tomorrow's update of the PlayStation Store. The announcement of the game's imminence didn't include a price point, though it's guaranteed to arrive below the $10 ceiling that's been established for the platform. Considering the Mini-fied version of the game won't have any online support or leaderboards, we hope it arrives under that ceiling with room to spare. Update: The price is right! $4.99.
