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Ibb and Obb bringing its gravity-twisting co-op to Steam
Ibb and Obb makes the jump from PS3 to Windows PC on May 26, although in its world a jump is no simple thing. Gravity goes up as well as down in Sparpweed's platformer, which makes for all kind of bizarre puzzles. Luckily you have a local or online friend to help you navigate Ibb and Obb's colorful worlds. Technically, you can play game alone by controlling both characters on the keyboard, but Sparpweed says doing things that way is akin to riding a seesaw solo: "...it'll be very hard and simply less fun." To encourage you to find a co-op pal, Sparpweed's offering a two-in-one pack at a "strong discount." We'll have to wait a little longer for specific prices, though. Update: Not that much longer, evidently. Ibb and Obb will cost 12 bob, er, dollars as a single game - that's 10 euros across the pond. The two-in-one Best Friends Forever pack is $14, or 12 euros. [Image: Sparpweed]
PS Plus adds Resogun, Contrast and Ibb and Obb this week
This week's PS Plus goodies, a mixture of freebies for subscribers on both PS3 and PS4, have been posted. Ibb & Obb, a gravity-based co-op puzzle game, will be offered on the PS3 side, while PS Plus members who grab a PS4 at launch on Friday can download both Resogun and Contrast gratis. Resogun is Housemarque's voxel-based shmup where players, navigating a closed 2D plane, attempt to save citizens from the clutches of evil invading aliens. Contrast, from Compulsion Games, centers around two main characters: an older girl named Dawn that players control and Didi, a younger girl who has just lost her mother. In addition to the free games, PS Plus members can also indulge in a special starter pack for free-to-play shooter Warframe. The pack includes both premium and free currency, a weapon mod pack and three-day boosts for both experience and credits. Finally, tomorrow will yield its annual slew of discounts for PS Plus and base PSN users alike. Beyond Good & Evil HD, Divekick, Street Fighter X Tekken and Outland are just a few of the games up for sale. You can peruse the full list over on the PlayStation Blog.
Ibb and Obb 'hoping' to drop onto PSN in May
Ibb and Obb's long journey may finally be over in a month or so's time. We should temper some caution when the word hope is involved, but developer Sparpweed has "hope" it'll come good on its projected spring window and bring the gravity-focused co-op game to PS3s via PSN in May.Talking of hope, Vita owners may share the hope of Sparpweed's Richard Boeser that the indie platformer is a hit. Boeser says that, "depending on how well it does," Sparpweed can consider bringing the game to the Sony portable too.Ibb and Obb first caught our attention back in 2008, which gives you an idea of how long a journey it's been for the platformer, and for Boeser himself. He shares both his and the game's beginnings, and how they made their way to today in what's a good read on the PlayStation Blog, just as the above video on the game's various prototypes is a good watch.
PSN co-op platformer Ibb and Obb postponed until Spring 2013
Promising PSN platformer Ibb and Obb, previously expected to release later this year, is now scheduled for Spring 2013. Developer Sparpweed revealed the delay on the game's Facebook page, noting that while it's almost completed there are understandable concerns about releasing a small indie game during the silly season that is Q4. The delay also allows Sparpweed to introduce online as well as local co-op.Based on what we've seen so far, Ibb and Obb looks to be worth the wait. In fact, we've already been waiting since 2008 when the game first showed up at Indiecade. It's set in what Sparpweed calls a non-Newtonian world, with gravity operating in opposite directions on different sides of the ground. Confused? No worries, there's a handy gameplay video just above.
Ibb and Obb: the ten-second preview
Ibb and Obb is a PSN (for PS3) platformer built around the idea of who characters who can occupy either side of the screen, divided by a line. In essence, they can walk above or below the ground, turning upside down when they pass through certain portals. Players have to cooperate, sometimes on opposite sides of the screen, sometimes on the same side, in order to pass obstacles -- and when one dies, the other does too.In the sequence captured above, players each have to run past the three enemies, then jump over the sawblade guy. The first player to get across has to wait, avoiding another enemy, for the second player to arrive, at which point they have to cooperate to boost one up through the portal. Then the enemies can be killed from below.I watched a pair of GDC attendees work on this sequence for a good five minutes. When they finally got through it, they got up and left, leaving me alone to check out the game for myself. Which would have been great, except I was alone, without a co-op partner. This brief video probably captures the experience better than my own playthrough and writeup would have, anyway.
Co-op platformer Ibb and Obb takes both high and low roads to PSN in 2012
We haven't heard anything about Ibb and Obb since Indicade in 2008, but we're so, so glad to be reminded by this video.Now due to premiere on PlayStation Network this year (with a PC release to follow), Ibb and Obb is a co-op platformer that presents two worlds with opposite gravity on either side of a line, both full of geometric shapes and contrasting color gradients. In other words, the middle of the screen is the ground, and gravity is opposite on both sides. Just ... watch the video.Ibb and Obb is designed to be played by two, with local co-op built in. According to a YouTube comment by developer Sparpweed, "We want to patch online co-op as soon as we're ready with that."
