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Touch-based Age of Empires: Castle Siege unveiled for Windows 8
Microsoft revealed Age of Empires: Castle Siege this week, a Smoking Gun Interactive game that's coming to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 next month. Microsoft's Kieffer Bryant described Castle Siege as a "fast-paced experience" built for touch devices, with players dragging units across paths while accumulating resources and building up their cities. However, it seems fans of the strategy series haven't taken well to the announcement. The majority of YouTube users thumbed-down the announcement trailer (which you'll find below the break), while some commenters derided the game as a Clash of Clans clone that isn't true to the series - Supercell's mega-popular MMO isn't available on Windows Phone.
Doodle Jump bouncing to 3DS, DS this year
Lima Sky's tilt-controlled mobile favorite Doodle Jump will hit the Nintendo DS and 3DS later this year in a pair of retail releases from Doodle Jump for Kinect developer Smoking Gun Interactive. Doodle Jump Adventures for the Nintendo 3DS boasts a platform-exclusive Adventure mode featuring 48 levels, unique power-ups, and all-new boss battles, in addition to an Endless Mode. The Nintendo DS version, Doodle Jump Journey, is a more traditional take on the series, offering up the original mobile game's Classic, Jungle, and Space themes in Endless Mode.
Freefall Racers combines Kinect, squirrels, and skydiving [update]
Freefall Racers looks like most kart games, except that it uses Kinect's motion controls and features skydiving squirrels instead of go-karts. The nutty XBLA game is due sometime next month, according to this video from publisher Deep Silver. This isn't the first we've heard of Freefall Racers. It popped up on our radar back in May, correctly rumored as being developed by Kinect specialist studio Smoking Gun Interactive. You may recognize the Vancouver dev from its work on Kinect games like Home Run Stars, Mars Rover Landing, and Doodle Jump. The video doesn't go into too much detail, but it does reveal some of the game's power-ups including the zapper, smoke-screen, and shield. It also spills the beans on a local two-player mode, featuring some competitive split-screen plummeting. We're waiting for a release date to drop, but a price floats into view: $9.99/£7.99/€9.99. Update: Deep Silver chips in with a release date: September 6.
Doodle Jump for Kinect keeps it down to $5 this summer
Doodle Jump for Kinect on Xbox Live Arcade will launch for 400 MS Points ($5) this summer. Smoking Gun Interactive will adapt Lima Sky's popular vertical platformer to Kinect, adding "three brand-new worlds, treacherous bosses, challenging achievements, engaging power-ups and intuitive gesture controls." Those gestures include lateral full-body movement and "a flap of the arms" to control flying, just as you would in real life.
Rumor: Doodle Jump for Kinect heading to XBLA next month [Update]
It shaped smartphone gaming in the early days of the App Store. Today, it's available on nearly every capable mobile device. It may even be lurking at your local arcade. Next month, a Kinect version of Lima Sky's runaway hit, Doodle Jump, could be coming to Xbox Live Arcade, according to a recent Australian ratings classification and evidence uncovered by self-proclaimed Xbox Live Marketplace watchdog, "Lifelower." The Australian Classification Board confirms Smoking Gun Interactive as the developer behind the upcoming Doodle Jump for Kinect. Lifelower, meanwhile, has obtained boxart and a gallery of purported screenshots, suggesting that the game is nearing completion. Lifelower expects the game to launch near the end of June at 400 Microsoft points. A Kinect adaptation of Doodle Jump was first announced back in 2011 when creator Lima Sky outlined its plans for expansion after surpassing 10 million paid downloads on mobile platforms. We've reached out to developer Smoking Gun Interactive for more information. Update: Doodle Jump for Kinect will be available on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 MS Points sometime this summer.
Rumor: Freefall Racers for Kinect being published by Deep Silver, headed to XBLA [update]
Deep Silver will publish an upcoming gesture-based racing game for Kinect called Freefall Racers. The first breadcrumb in this trail comes from an Australian rating that has surfaced, outing Deep Silver as publisher. The developer is Smoking Gun Interactive, whose most recent work includes two Kinect experiences, Mars Rover Landing and Home Run Stars, so a new Kinect project would make sense. The Vancouver-based studio at least partly funded Freefall Racers with help from the Canadian government, as evidenced by the $461,243 contributed through the Canada Media Fund (PDF) last year. Our first glimpse of the game is courtesy of environmental artist Anthony Leonati, who published six screens from Freefall Racers on his personal website. [Update: The images have been pulled from Leonati's website.] In addition to the screens, he also pegs Freefall Racers for Xbox Live Arcade, though his LinkedIn profile indicates he has since moved on from Smoking Gun to become a senior environment artist at EA. We've followed up with Deep Silver and Smoking Gun Interactive for comment and will update this post accordingly. [Thanks, lifelower]%Gallery-188597%
Smoking Gun teases original IP with preview of 'X' graphic novel, ARG
It's been two years since Relic staffers John Johnson and Drew Dunlop (producer and lead programmer on Company of Heroes, respectively) left the company to set up their own, Smoking Gun Interactive. As we reported back in May, the studio has teamed with cyberpunk trailblazer and author Douglas Rushkoff to create an array of multimedia products based on its yet-to-be-revealed premiere franchise. This week, we get a look at what they've been up to with the first of four sneak previews of X, a graphic novel launching next year that lays the foundation for Smoking Gun's new IP.Hidden within the preview (on page 13, actually) is a link to a tie-in ARG that borrows the opening of the classic text adventure, Zork. This Easter egg is actually pretty appropriate, given that Rushkoff coined the term "viral media." We've gotten as far as "decoding" the Declaration of Independence, which, at least in the conspiracy-filled universe of X, contains warnings of aliens among us and a coming global tyranny. (As opposed to more modern government documents, which warn of a steep fine for filing your taxes late.)
Mystery RTS studio revealed as Smoking Gun Interactive
A mysterious press release sent out last week hinted at the formation of a new studio led by Company of Heroes producer John Johnson. The text pointed to cryptic website Exoriare.com, Latin for "rise", which was quickly recognized as a hotbed of secrets relating to both the studio and their first project. Now that Smoking Gun Interactive is out in the open, John Johnson has a lot to say about his plans for the fledgling studio. Smoking Gun will focus on broadening the real-time strategy genre by looking for ways to "revolutionize and merge the strategy genre with others". According to Johnson, Exoriare.com offers a few clues about the game. One group of fans discovered a trail of hints leading to an abandoned airfield in Death Valley. Two runways crossed there, forming an "X" that hid an "artifact" buried by the Smoking Gun team. A plaque was there with strange markings and Morse code that read "this is smoking gun". A video of the unearthing is embedded after the break. Note to other game studios: this is how you promote your game. An interview on Next-Gen.biz is filled with more of Johnson's often cryptic thoughts on his studio and videogames in general.
