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PS Plus in April: Mercenary Kings, Arkham City, Pixeljunk Monsters
PlayStation Plus subscribers get Mercenary Kings as a PS4 freebie when the Kickstarted run-and-gunner scrolls onto PSN next week. Developed by Wizorb and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World studio Tribute Games, Mercenary Kings makes its Metal Slug-style action interesting by chucking in a weapon crafting system based around hundreds of different parts. The rest of April's Plus line-up in North America features Batman: Arkham City, Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark, and the Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse remake on PS3. As for Vita, Velocity Ultra and Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD are next month's dynamic duo. Except for Mercenary Kings, the roster of PS Plus games in Europe is totally different: On PS3 it's Pro Evo Soccer 2014 and on Vita it's MotoGP 13, while Hotline Miami and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time are unlockable on both platforms as Cross-Buy games. That means if you get the PS3 version of Sly on Plus, for example, you'll also get access to it on Vita. Devolver Digital recently revealed Hotline Miami is coming to the PS4 with Cross-Buy enabled, so if you're planning to get the top-down kill-fest on that platform, be sure to grab it as a Plus freebie this month. The quintet including Mercenary Kings join Europe's Plus collection on April 2. [Image: Tribute Games]
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD introduced to Vita in video
Tikiman's poor choice of region for raising children continues on the Vita in PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD, as seen in this announcement trailer. The tower defense game originally launched on the PS3 in 2008.
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD this summer on Vita
Q-Games' excellent tower defense game PixelJunk Monsters is marching its way to Vita. The PlayStation Blog mentions that PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD will include the original game, plus Encore expansion, along with extra towers, enemies and levels from the PSP's Deluxe edition. The game is being ported by Double Eleven, which previously handled ports for LittleBigPlanet and Limbo. "Monsters Ultimate HD has more than 30 hours of gameplay set across story and challenge levels. All of the graphics have been remastered for the PS Vita's high-resolution screen, and we added touchscreen input to provide more control of Tikiman," wrote Double Eleven COO Mark South on the PS Blog. Eurogamer mentions the game will launch in "late summer," with PC and Mac versions requiring your protection from the swarms soon after.
PixelJunk series goes on sale today, many for $1
The PixelJunk collection goes on deep discount today later today on PSN, with some games on sale for a mere dollar. If you don't already have Racers, Monsters, Eden and Shooter, you absolutely should pick them up for a buck each.PixelJunk Shooter 2 and SideScroller are both half-off for $5. The sale will conclude on May 15, when PixelJunk 4am will launch in a swirl of sounds and we can all taste the purple.Those who live in the San Francisco area can attend the PixelJunk 4am Event this Thursday, May 10, at the Harlot. The first 75 attendees will receive a code for the game that they can activate when it goes live next week.%Gallery-153666%
PixelJunk Monsters Facebook ready for wave after wave of players
PixelJunk Monsters Online, the first entry in the PixelJunk franchise not to appear on PlayStation devices, is now in open beta on Facebook. Announced over the summer, PixelJunk Monsters Online is based on the PSN tower defense game, which has sold over 500,000 units. Now you can play it while waiting for TPS reports to collate. PJO features the tower defense gameplay of the original along with a world map, and sees players defending their lands from waves of monsters. The objective is to collect gold and gems to expand territory and defend more tiles -- of course, your friends will be doing the same. That's when the fighting starts, followed by nasty Facebook messages, and eventually it culminates in a peace accord over buffalo wings at T.G.I. Fridays. %Gallery-141974%
Browser-based Pixeljunk Monsters coming later this year
Yesterday, during the Casual Connect conference, Q-Games' Jesse Venbrux revealed the new browser-based PixelJunk Monsters game, the first PixelJunk game not to be tied to a PlayStation platform. A press release from Q-Games offered just a bit more information about the upcoming game, which appears to be officially titled PixelJunk Monsters: Social Network Version. The browser version will be free-to-play when it launches this year. As seen in the first screenshot, it features a new world map. Speaking of screenshots, Q-Games included a couple more, which we've placed in the browser-based, free-to-play gallery below.%Gallery-128965%
PixelJunk Monsters migrating to browsers
As the nation's nerd and nerd-adjacent humans sully themselves with the masses at Comic-Con, attractive casual game developers are wining and dining at Casual Connect in Seattle. Sandwiched in between said wining and simultaneous dining are talks like the one today from Q-Games designer Jesse Venbrux. As promised last week, Venbrux unveiled the new Q-Games project: A browser-based PixelJunk Monsters game. According to PSN Stores, the new version of the tower defense title will feature a less linear design, smaller levels, new towers and monsters and, of course, additional social features to compliment services like Facebook. From what little information is available, it seems like there's little that won't be revamped in the browser that is, for the moment, untitled.
Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert considering PixelJunk Monsters 2
Q-Games has retooled, tweaked and enhanced nearly every game in the PixelJunk series thus far. However, PixelJunk Shooter 2 is the first true sequel in the franchise. Considering the vast amount of new features thrown into the upcoming PSN game, Cuthbert argues that it merits a numeric bump in the title. (We'd agree!) But would he consider making a true sequel to one of the earlier PixelJunk games? The answer appears to be yes. "We want to make a PixelJunk Monsters 2," Cuthbert said during a Tokyo Game Show meeting. However, even if the team began working on a Monsters 2, it would likely be a long time coming. Cuthbert said a sequel could be part of Q-Games' envisioned "Series 2, so it will be 3D in some way." (Series 2 would be a second set of PixelJunk games designed with 3D graphics, as opposed to the studio's current set of games, "Series 1," which are all 2D games.)
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe on UMD in North America this April
For that cross-section of the PSP audience that likes both PixelJunk Monsters and tangible objects, Q-Games's Dylan Cuthbert has announced a UMD release of PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, due to launch in North America at "participating retail outlets" on April 27 for $19.99. The tower defense title has been available digitally since last fall. Interestingly, Cuthbert originally cited piracy as the reason for the lack of a worldwide release for the UMD of Deluxe, previously released in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Try not to pirate this one, so we can see more nice discs like this in the future.
Best of the Rest: Andrew's Picks of 2009
Flower This year had a number of terrific downloadable games (this list is a testament to that), however no game -- retail or digital -- connected with me like Flower. Jenova Chen's flOw was an interesting experiment, but Flower is an actual game. In fact, Flower is one of the few experiences I can think of that show the true potential of games as a unique storytelling medium. No other non-interactive art form will ever be able to replicate what thatgamecompany has managed to create.
Piracy discourages future PixelJunk PSP port plans
Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert has suggested that rampant piracy of his studio's optimized PSP port, PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (PJMD), has deterred its plans for further PSP development. "I don't think we'll port anything else to the PSP, we have to see how PJMD does as there's a *lot* of piracy," Cuthbert tweeted over the weekend. Perhaps constrained by character limitations or simply caught up in another Uncharted 2 sesh, Cuthbert did not cite piracy estimates -- nor sales figures, for that matter. He did, however, confirm a demo is in the works; "but I don't think it makes any difference to piracy," Cuthbert lamented.Cuthbert added in a follow-up tweet, "because Monsters is such a good fit it is being pirated I think," and then he responded to a suggestion to incorporate anti-piracy measures into the game code with: "unfortunately the pirates could just hack those kinds of things out." While the PSP Go has yet to be fully unlocked by would-be pirates and download-only PSN titles seem to be well protected from piracy, PJMD is available on UMD (in Japan and the greater Asia region), which has no doubt lead to the distribution of pirated versions of the game.While it's somewhat naive of Q-Games to not have anticipated a piracy issue, it's no less disheartening. The PSP has long suffered from a lack of consistent third-party support because of a history of sales losses due to piracy. Q-Games is just the latest developer hesitant to commit further resources to supporting the PSP platform, and without the release of an impossibility firm firmware, it won't be the last.Update: Cuthbert reemphasizes that PJMD sales will be the key determining factor that drives Q-Games' future in PSP development. Cuthbert's studio has not definitely dropped PSP development, but ostensibly low sales over the first three weeks of PJMD availability have Q-Games in some doubt about pursuing further PSP projects. Of course, a sales spike could certainly change that attitude.[Via Examiner; thanks, Marcus N.]
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe gets DIY compatibility fix
Recent connection issues have marred European PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe owners from participating in rousing online games against North American and Asian players. Thankfully, the PlayStation Blog has released a two-part DIY guide to help fix the PSP game's issues. The process is simple: Delete your game through the PSP Home Menu (select Game>Memory Stick>press the triangle button with PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe highlighted and select Delete). Connect to PlayStation Store > Select View Downloads and re-download PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe from the Download List. Users will still retain their previous progress and now (hopefully) be completely problem free in their quest for online Deluxe dominance.%Gallery-51376%
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe invading PSP this week
Q-Games' adorable tower defense title PixelJunk Monsters is getting a wee bit smaller this week with the release of its somewhat ironically named, PSP-sized adaptation, PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe. Though technically tinier in stature, the game offers all the strategic defending of the PS3 version of the title, while adding a new island, new monsters and even a few new towers into the mix. The game also gets a few multiplayer options, including a local four-player cooperative mode and an eight-player online competitive mode. We've yet to confirm a price for the title, which will presumably appear in this week's PSN Thursday update, but we've contacted Q-Games to try to find out ahead of time. %Gallery-51376%
Hands-on: PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (PSP)
PixelJunk Monsters is certainly not the first tower defense game, but it's the game that popularized the genre on consoles. When it debuted on PlayStation Network last year, it became an instant hit. The game was easy to understand, but deceptively challenging, encouraging players to master each level to get that all-elusive rainbow.The original PS3 game actually was playable on the PSP via Remote Play. However, Q Games is now making a proper PSP version that's optimized for the small screen. For example, the camera is now zoomed in closer to the character. While this means less of the map can be seen at once, it makes seeing the towers and choosing the right ones much easier. It may take some time for PixelJunk vets to get used to, especially when the screen scrolls trying to follow you.The amount of content being offered in Deluxe is almost absurd, making it the most complete version of Monsters to date. Not only does the PSP game feature allt he content of the original PixelJunk Monsters, it also adds the Encore island and a brand new island exclusive to PSP. Ten new stages are added, in addition to new enemy types and towers.%Gallery-51376%
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe coming to PSP this Fall
PixelJunk Monsters is coming to PSP and, as promised, features a ton of new content not found in the PS3 version. The handheld version of the tower defense game will include all the content of PixelJunk Monsters, Encore, and a bit more. Deluxe will add a new island with ten new stages, new enemies and new music tracks. Two new towers will be introduced into the game, which players can utilize in the classic stages and Q-Games will also challenge the PJM hardcore with a brand new boss as well.Although PSP isn't getting Trophy support yet, Monsters Deluxe will feature a "Medal Challenge" mode that replicates the achievement system used on the console. In addition, unlocking Medals will give players access to unlockables, such as videos, artwork and more.Finally, PixelJunk Monsters wouldn't be complete without a co-op mode. You'll be able to go online in both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes. Nice!%Gallery-51376%
PixelJunk Monsters may shrink to UMD this June
Import retailer Play-Asia has listed a June release for the upcoming PSP version of PixelJunk Monsters. The handheld version of the popular tower defense game will feature all the content found in the PS3 game ... and then some. Considering the PSP game will be a full UMD release over in Asia, it's going to need a lot of content to justify its non-budget price.It'll be interesting to see how SCEA decides on distributing the game here in America. echochrome released as a full UMD game in Asia, but released as a PlayStation Network exclusive here. Perhaps a similar solution will be implemented here.[Via PSPHyper]
PixelJunk packed 3-in-1 trunk for Asia
The PSN PixelJunk series will be bundled in the PixelJunk 3in1 Pack for the Asian market, reports Siliconera. The bundle will include Racers, Monsters and Eden. All games have English or Japanese language options, but there's no word yet if the disc includes the Monsters expansion or the Eden soundtrack.Although we've yet to hear back from Sony Europe, Sony America let us know that it has no "official announcements at this time about the PixelJunk series." If the region didn't deserve a hard copy for Siren: Blood Curse's 9 gigglebytes, what chance does PixelJunk have? Ending on a good note: at least PS3 games aren't region locked.[Update: Q Games president Dylan Cuthbert confirmed to Joystiq that this PixelJunk pack is Asia-only. "Right now, this special bundle is for Asia only."]
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 Eden nominated for three Independent Game Awards
Nominations for the Independent Games Festival Awards 2009 have been announced today and one of our favorite PSN titles, PixelJunk Eden, has been nominated for three categories. The categories are: Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Audio and Technical Excellence. Eden is one of few console games to be nominated in this year's awards, and the only PlayStation Network title to get recognition.The winners will be revealed at the Independent Games Festival which takes place in San Francisco between March 23rd and 27th. If you want to learn more about all the games on the list be sure to check out Joystiq's IGF nominee run-down. Good luck to PixelJunk Eden, there's some strong competition there.
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]
