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Online Marxism simulator 'The Tomorrow Children' is getting another shot at life
Four years after shutting down, The Tomorrow Children is getting another chance at success.
Japan sees PS4's Tomorrow Children closed alpha test next month
The Tomorrow Children, Q-Games' adorably glossy mashup of slanted Marxist philosophy and real-time strategy game tropes, will enter alpha testing on PlayStation 4 next month. Sony will host the test, and it will be available exclusively to PlayStation Plus subscribers. We've attempted to reach both Sony and Q-Games for information on a possible English-language alpha test (or even word on when The Tomorrow Children is expected to make its official debut), but neither company had anything to tell us. However, we were told that more information will be coming soon. [Image: Q Games]
Q-Games announces The Tomorrow Children
Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert announced The Tomorrow Children today during Sony's Gamescom 2014 press conference. The game is the result of a collaboration between the PixelJunk studio and SCEE Worldwide Studios. The announcement video of the game showed dwarf-like characters chipping away at walls with picks, then shooting at large glossy creatures with guns.
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate trailer battles the elements on launch day
Q Games and porting studio Double Eleven have released a launch trailer for PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, a twin-stick shoot-'em-up compilation debuting digitally today for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate combines the two PlayStation 3 PixelJunk Shooter games into a single seamless adventure, adding cross-platform cooperative play and Cross-Save functionality. PlayStation Plus members will receive both the PS4 and Vita versions for free when the PlayStation Store updates later today. [Video: Q Games / Double Eleven]
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD free to PS+ members on April 22
PlayStation Plus subscribers with Vitas in hand, tomorrow is going to be Ultimate. Beginning April 22, PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD for the Vita will be added to the PlayStation Instant Game Collection. From developer Q-Games, PixelJunk Monsters is a tower defense game that originally launched for the PlayStation 3 in 2007. Ultimate HD adds touch controls and the Encore expansion pack, featuring a new island and levels for players to defend and a handful of catchy fresh music. With a new game entering the Instant Game Collection fray, today marks the final day to acquire last month's free offering: Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita. Also expiring from the Instant Game Collection tomorrow is Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for PSP. [Image: Q-Games]
Nom Nom Galaxy puts the PixelJunk in Steam Early Access today
Last week, Q-Games announced a name change for the game formerly known as PixelJunk Inc. That game, Nom Nom Galaxy, launches on Steam's Early Access service today at 9:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 p.m. EDT. Additionally, Q-Games mixed up the standard approach to a Steam Early Access launch by offering up crowdfunding-style reward tiers through the PC game's site, giving players access to Nom Nom Galaxy and other PixelJunk games as well as bonus DLC materials and a spot in the game's credits. The $9 Early Bird tier is limited to 1,000 copies, and gives players a copy of the game as well as digital wallpaper. The Pioneer Pack tier offers the same rewards for $19. [Image: Q-Games]
PixelJunk Inc is now Nom Nom Galaxy, chomping on Steam next week
Q-Games' PixelJunk Inc has long been in development, and will see an alpha version launch on Steam's Early Access service on March 13. The game, which was originally codenamed "PixelJunk 1-6" in November 2012, will also undergo a name change and be known as Nom Nom Galaxy from here on out. Q-Games originally planned to launch Nom Nom Galaxy on Steam last year, and now has a quirky Early Access trailer to make up for lost time. In the trailer, Q-Games serves up the game's new name and places items like a PS3 and a copy of StarFox Command in a giant pot of soup. Given that players use lasers to destroy the environment in the 2D platformer and in turn build their soup empire, we guess boiling a game console in a video makes sense on some level. [Image: Q-Games]
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate heading to PS4, Vita this summer
Q Games' twin-stick, element-battling action game PixelJunk Shooter and its sequel are coming to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita this summer in an upgraded compilation release developed by PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD creator Double Eleven. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate combines the campaigns of 2009's PixelJunk Shooter and 2011's direct sequel PixelJunk Shooter 2, presenting both as a seamless, complete package. The game boasts a visual overhaul and 60 frames-per-second gameplay on the PS4, while the Vita edition has been similarly tweaked and optimized during its transition to Sony's portable platform. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate also features Cross-Save and Cross-Play functionality, allowing players to team up for co-op missions across both available platforms. A release date has not been announced. [Image: Sony / Double Eleven]
Q-Games' income reportedly doubled by Steam Holiday Sale
PixelJunk Eden developer Q Games has had a very happy holiday, thanks to the ongoing Steam Holiday Sale allegedly doubling the studio's income to date. During one of the periodic community vote events, the PC iteration of PixelJunk Eden was chosen by users to receive a 90 percent discount. At only 99 cents the game began to sell very quickly. Once the dust had settled, PixelJunk Eden had sold "phenomenally well," according to designer Dylan Cuthbert. "[W]e just made our income to date, again, in just 8 hours," Cuthbert later tweeted. "[I]t was a huge success." A success that becomes even more impressive when you consider that the "8 hours" Cuthbert mentioned were in reference to the period of time in which community vote discounts are active. In other words, Q Games saw its income jump by 100 percent in roughly the same amount of time it takes to fly from New York to London. We've attempted to contact Cuthbert for further details on just how successful this sale was, and what this success might mean for the future of Q Games. We have yet to hear back.
PixelJunk Shooter coming to PC in November
Q-Games' twin-stick action-adventure game PixelJunk Shooter is coming to Windows, Mac and Linux on November 11 via Steam and other digital download services. Originally released as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2009, PixelJunk Shooter challenges players to rescue stranded crewmates in a hostile alien environment, leveraging foreign elements to solve puzzles along the way. Development partner Double Eleven previously ported Q-Games' tower defense title PixelJunk Monsters to PC platforms in August. The next series entry, PixelJunk Inc, will hit Steam later this year. The PC version of PixelJunk Shooter will launch at $8.99.
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.
Q Games collaborating with LittleBigPlanet Vita dev Double Eleven
Q Games is working with LittleBigPlanet Vita co-developer Double Eleven on an as yet unknown number of projects. As GamesIndustry International reports, Double Eleven was tied to Sony XDev, but now the UK studio founded by former Rockstar devs is joining forces with Pixeljunk creator Q Games. "Double Eleven has an outstanding track record in video game development," said Q Games President Dylan Cuthbert of the move, "And we like their way of thinking when it comes to publishing. Q Games is about making memorable experiences for everyone, and Double Eleven are the perfect partner to see our vision through." Q Games' latest endeavor is Pixeljunk Inc., which is a 2D platformer of sorts based around aliens, soup factories, and lasers. That goop of elements is scheduled to arrive on Steam later this year. As for Double Eleven, it recently brought Playdead's Limbo to Vita, and is working on bringing Mode 7's Frozen Synapse to PS3 and Vita this year, too.
PixelJunk Inc. is 'PixelJunk 1-6,' on Steam later this year
PixelJunk Inc. – the official moniker of the codenamed PixelJunk 1-6 – is coming to Steam later this year. The 2D game follows budding soup makers looking to strike it rich in the gregarious game of goulash. Essentially, it's a 2D platformer where you use a laser to deconstruct matter in the environment, which you then use to build up your interstellar soup empire. Simple.In addition to the name and narrowed launch window, developer Q Games has announced Mac and Linux versions of PixelJunk Inc. will follow the PC launch on Steam. PixelJunk 1-6 was announced late last year, specifically for the PC – an uncharacteristic first for the series that traditionally debuts to Sony platforms. Witness the future of soup in the first footage of PixelJunk Inc. above, offered up with a side dish of fresh screens in our gallery below.%Gallery-183677%
Melodies at mealtime: Behind The Electric Bends, Q-Games' lunch break band
For many, the lunch break is an escape: a reliable block of time to retreat from the rigors of work, and a much-needed respite in an otherwise stressful day. But for several employees of Kyoto, Japan-based Q-Games – the studio behind the PixelJunk series and co-developer of Star Fox 64 3D – it's the time each day in which one creative (albeit professional) outlet is briefly shut down in favor of another.It's when the game creators become a troupe of improvisational musicians, laying down sprawling, electronic-tinged odysseys with titles like "Echoes Infinite" and "Mesmantra," most of which are quickly shared online.Nearing its first full year of existence, The Electric Bends has six recurring members, well over 100 recordings, and three albums, with additional releases on the horizon. Amid heavy work on PixelJunk 1-6, how does the game industry's preeminent lunch break band keep the beat with just an hour-or-so a day to play together?
Q-Games working on PixelJunk 1-6 for PC
Q-Games is taking an unusual path for the development of the still unnamed PixelJunk 1-6. For one thing, this one is being made for PC first rather than PS3, as other PixelJunks have been. And for another, Q-Games is showing it to us before even telling us what it is, with a development log full of screenshots and mocked-up magazine covers.The information as presented shows a conflict between indigenous creatures of an alien planet, including ostrich things and octopus-type creatures, and a soup company that builds factories on the planet and makes that indigenous life into soup. The screenshot Q sent to us suggests that players will use different weapons and vehicles to kill enemies and turn them into soup.PixelJunk 1-6, whatever it is, is being designed for Steam and Big Picture Mode, and will support four players. Coincidentally, that's the number of Q-Games staffers working on it!
Glow sticks: A video tour of Pixeljunk 4am
Curious about Q-Games' Pixeljunk 4am, but not quite curious enough to plunk down ten bucks on PSN? Have no fear, for the intrepid maestros here at Joystiq have put the bizarre PlayStation Move "game" to the test.Check out the video above for the full rundown on the motion controlled music mixer, featuring the music of pro DJ, Pixeljunk Eden composer and epic Tweeter, Baiyon. We recommend cranking up the volume or using headphones to appreciate the subtleties of the audio.
James Mielke leaves Q? Entertainment to join Q-Games
Seemingly in an effort to have the most confusing career path possible, former Electronic Gaming Monthly editor in chief James Mielke has left his post as a producer at Q? Entertainment (where he headed development of the excellent Lumines Electronic Symphony) and joined Q-Games , thus making those two companies even easier to mix up. "To be clear, Q and I are parting company on the best of terms," Mielke told CVG, referring to Q? Entertainment. "For a lot of reasons I won't bore you with the time felt right to shift gears and move forward." If his first project at Q-Games is called "Pixeljunk Luminous" or is a Pixeljunk Eden spinoff for children, we quit.
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 4am launching May 15, includes visualizers for your music
Q-Games' three-dimensional music performance visualizer ... experience PixelJunk 4am, which we can neither describe nor play without some handwaving, will be released on May 15, the company announced today. The free Pixeljunk 4am Viewer, which allows you to watch others' 4am performances live, will also be out that day.Before the official release, a beta will be distributed to some PlayStation Plus members on May 1. During this time, Q will host special live performances including one by DJ and 4am producer Baiyon.Even if you're not a Move owner or musician, there's a feature that may appeal to you. In the PlayStation Blog post announcing the release date, lead designer Rowan Parker announced that "PixelJunk 4am can be used as a stand-alone music visualizer to play your favorite music from your PS3." Five visualizers will be available right away, and you can unlock more by playing the game.%Gallery-153666%
