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The Potato Sack Reunion Tour kicks off on Steam today
Last April, Valve launched a guerrilla marketing effort for Portal 2 and promotion on select indie titles. This week Valve remembers its ARG campaign with the Potato Sack Reunion sale, which knocks half off the price of 13 individual indie titles.Games include Super Meat Boy, The Ball, Cogs, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and many more. You can either buy each individually for half-off, or grab the whole bundle for $20.
Indie Game: The Movie: The Worldwide Release: June 12th
What, you didn't think those games appeared on Xbox Live through some act of magic, did you? No, they're the product of insanely small teams working insanely long hours, at the risk of their well-being, social lives and, in some cases, personal hygiene, in order to bring you a downloadable break from Call of Duty. Indie Game: The Movie is a beautifully shot, occasionally heartwarming and perpetually fascinating look at the intersection of art and technology currently being explored by indie game developers, focusing on the creators of Fez, Braid and Super Meat Boy. We managed to get a sneak peak of the Sundance documentary, courtesy of filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, who appeared on the most recent episode of the Engadget Show -- and now you can join in on the fun: the film is getting a worldwide web release on June 12th, by way of iTunes, Steam and the official movie site. If you can't wait until then, however, you can pre-order the movie now for $10 in the source link below.
The first taste of Super Meat Boy mobile art
Edmund McMillen of Team Meat has so far been coy about what the mobile version of Super Meat Boy is, but he's fairly vocal about what it isn't. Super Meat Boy: The Game won't be a shallow, easy-to-play money-making machine like so many other mobile titles today, McMillen writes in his latest update. He even tells us a little bit about what it will be: "We want to make a game that WE would love to see on the platform, a feature-length reflex-driven platformer with solid controls that doesn't manipulate you with business bullshit in order to cash in. We want SMB:TG to show the player we respect them, not only by not manipulating them, but also by understanding they want a real challenge and they want a real sense of fulfillment when they have achieved something that's difficult... you know, like real games do."Team Meat has also revealed the first bit of art from Super Meat Boy: The Game, the chapter screen for The Green Hills you can see above. McMillen assures us that even though there are only eight visible level pads, the mobile title "will rival the original" and have dark worlds.
Super Meat Boy mobile to be twitch-based, but 'not about memorization'
Team Meat's Edmund McMillen has made some more comments as he goes mobile with a completely new version of Super Meat Boy. According to McMillen, Canabalt is providing some basic inspiration for development."Canabalt is closer to what we're thinking about. But Canabalt is very surface-level stuff," McMillen told Polygon. "[The original] Meat Boy was a twitch-based game about memorizing things. [iOS] Meat Boy is the opposite. That's the foundation of its design. But it's also on a touch device, so there's that as well. We want to make a twitch-based platformer that's not about memorization."As for the art style – the mobile version forgoes the pixels for a more hand-drawn look – McMillen says the more "gentle" approach allows Team Meat to lull players in, only to surprise them with some shocking visuals. "I'm happy about the art style. The more gentle and nice we make it look, the more vicious the story can be. Wouldn't it be so awesome to bait kids in with this happy little Meat Boy thing and then, the ending of the first chapter, instead of the squirrel getting his head knocked off, Meat Boy gets his face sawed in half? Like a skinned looking face looking at the screen?"Ultimately, McMillen said, "My goal is to scare the shit out of my three-year-old nephew."
Mobile Super Meat Boy may look something like this, may not
Above is the first proper look at the prototype, "probably going to change a lot" vision of Super Meat Boy on iOS. No, this isn't an April Fools' joke, unless Team Meat have decided to reveal sensible, already-announced information as part of its months-long ruse to get everyone excited for mobile SMB before stripping it away entirely -- a plan they decided to ditch once they realized what a genuinely good idea that is. However, we really don't think that's the case here. In February Team Meat's Edmund McMillen divulged the first details of SMB on iOS, saying that if the idea was good enough, they would create it as an entirely new game without the "shitty touch controls" standard in most mobile touchscreen titles. Looks like the idea was good enough. Mobile SMB is "a feature-length touch-controlled platformer SPECIFICALLY designed for Touch devices," McMillen wrote today, continuing to say it isn't "a shitty port of an existing game with non-tactile buttons spread all over the screen blocking the player's view and making for frustrating controls" or "the Super Meat Boy you're used to: There are aspects of Super Meat Boy in there, obviously, but this is a brand new game with new art, new sound, everything."
Super Meat Boy's super boys explain what it means to go mobile
Yesterday Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat dropped a gigantic, raw bomb on Twitter (gross), announcing their plans to strip down Super Meat Boy and rebuild it completely for mobile touch devices. They were vague on details apart from an intent to create a brand new game in the Super Meat Boy universe, and that they definitely wouldn't use "shitty touch controls."We thought they were being coy, but it turns out they don't know much more about the touchscreen version than we do. It's still in the engine phase of development, McMillen told Joystiq, and they're pretty much winging it, playing with things that work and throwing out ideas that don't -- even if that includes the entire game."I mean, honestly, this is simply a challenge for us," McMillen said. "It's easy to poo-poo a new system because of its horrible use of touchscreen on ported titles; it's harder to attempt to try and figure out a design that works and make something worth checking out."So that's basically what we are doing -- no idea how it will turn out -- but Tommy and I wanted to jump back into dev again with something that isn't going to take a year-plus to make, so prototyping this idea seemed most appropriate and inspired."
Super Meat Boy to be torn apart, rebuilt for touchscreen devices
Super Meat Boy has seen success on Xbox Live, PC and Mac, but as is often the case while playing SMB, Team Meat have decided that's not good enough. Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat announced via Twitter today that they're rebuilding Super Meat Boy from scratch for a potential launch on mobile touch devices.In a six-part tweetfest, Team Meat disclosed the following details: The touch title will be remade from scratch and won't play like Super Meat Boy; it will be a larger, more traditional game, unlike titles such as Doodle Jump; and they promised it won't use "shitty touch controls.""if you liked SMB im sure you will enjoy this (if its good enough to continue on :) ) we just had a few cool ideas and wanted a challange," one of Team Meat's tweets reads.Team Meat said that if the project fails and turns out to not be any fun, they'll scrap it and move on to the next idea, which we can only assume is a Super Meat Boy live-action point-and-click adventure title in 3D. Those adventure things are all the rage these days, we're told.
'Everything's happening now:' Indie Game: The Movie at Sundance
In many ways, documentaries are not truly tools for documenting events. Instead, many documentaries choose to delve into the minds of their subjects, presenting not documentation, but something else entirely -- an up-close trip into the human psyche.During one such moment from Indie Game: The Movie, which I caught at a screening at the Sundance film festival, game designer Phil Fish states that if he couldn't finish his long-awaited game Fez, he would commit suicide. The camera remains on him for an awkward moment, and the line draws a number of uncomfortable chuckles from the audience. He seems to rethink his outrageous statement and then states once more: "I will kill myself."This attitude for the most part represents the majority of the film. Focusing primarily on the development and production of Fez and Super Meat Boy, Indie Game is really the story of obsessed developers pouring their insecurities and hearts and souls into a game, without leaving much, if anything, for themselves.%Gallery-145969%
Indie Game: The Movie: The HBO series, produced by Scott Rudin [Update]
Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky's Indie Game: The Movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, and already it's gaining mainstream attention. High-profile producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and HBO have optioned for the rights to Indie Game: The Movie, with plans to develop it as a half-hour fictional series, with Rudin as executive producer, Deadline New York reports. We picture Super Meat Boy's Edmund McMillen and FEZ's Phil Fish as a hilariously unfit buddy-cop duo patrolling the mean streets of Hoboken, New Jersey with an 8-bit-animated talking-dog sidekick. We picture that, but we really hope it's not the case -- the trailers for Indie Game: The Movie suggest a classier vibe, although if Trent Reznor signs on to compose the HBO series' soundtrack, we may expect to see a very different side indie development, indeed. Update: Pajot and Swirsky have clarified the original report, which stated the possible HBO show would be a comedy series, and apparently the joke's on us. "HBO has optioned IGTM for the basis of a (fictional) series," Pajot and Swirsky write on the Indie Game: The Movie Facebook page. "It is NOT a comedy. It is NOT a sitcom." We're all sleeping better tonight.
Choice Piano Cuts, a Super Meat Boy piano tribute album
Remember Brent Kennedy, the guy who created those wonderful piano arrangements of the Super Meat Boy soundtrack early last year? Well, it looks like we weren't the only people impressed by his work: Super Meat Boy's composer, Danny Baranowsky, has been working with Kennedy for nearly a year, and the two have recently released the fruits of their labors on Baranowsky's Bandcamp profile. Super Meat Boy! - Choice Piano Cuts is a $4.99 (or more, if you're feeling generous) collection of 10 tracks from the SMB soundtrack, composed by Baranowsky and arranged/performed by Kennedy. The purchase also includes a PDF of the Kennedy's sheet music for the entire album, which in itself is well worth the price of admission for the musically inclined out there. The soundtrack's original arrangements are great and everything, don't get us wrong, but there's a deeper level to Baranowsky's skill as a composer that's exceptionally brought to life by Kennedy's mastery of the ivory keys. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
Super Meat Boy surpasses 1 million sales
The little infuriating platformer that could, Super Meat Boy, has surpassed a million sales. The announcement was made late yesterday by Team Meat on Twitter. Super Meat Boy passed the milestone last month, maintaining a healthy sales clip since jumping past 600,000 customers last April. Super Meat Boy made our top ten games of 2010, deftly leaping into a not-so-deadly fifth place. %Gallery-103429%
Humble Indie Bundle 4 earns $2 million
It's true: Humble Indie Bundle 4 is the most appealing one yet. Bundle 4 added five earlier games (and their soundtracks) this week and has now earned more than $2 million. It's becoming less and less surprising to report these bundles are earning millions of dollars. Back in October, the Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle earned $1 million, and Humble Indie Bundle 3 surpassed $2 million in the final hours of its existence. The quality of the games being offered is a big draw, but it's clear that the bundle creators haven't lost sight of their inclusive approach to customers.
Humble Indie Bundle 4 abused by Scrooge-like Steam scamming
This is how nice things like Humble Indie Bundles stop happening: the Humble Indie Bundle 4, which also supports charities like the Red Cross and Child's Play, has people abusing the system for grinchy gain. Here's how the scam worked: oogie-boogies purchased the bundle for a penny, then used the Steam codes from the bundle "to 'legitimize' automated Steam accounts in order to increase their odds of winning prizes in Valve's current raffle promotion." "This is unfair to legitimate entrants and is definitely not what we wanted to encourage with Humble Indie Bundle 4," wrote organizers on the Humble Bundle blog. "It's a lose-lose situation for the indie developers, charities, Valve, and Humble Bundle." New orders now have a required purchase price of $1 to obtain Steam keys. For those who can't afford the dollar (*glares at your $5 mocha*), a Steam key can be provided by contacting the support team and promising "not to resell" or "otherwise abuse it." It's a fair compromise to a sad situation that shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Humble Indie Bundle 4 adds free soundtracks for every game
Er, not every game ever -- that'd be impossible, you guys. We're talking soundtracks for every game in the fourth Humble Indie Bundle: Gratuitous Space Battles, Cave Story+, Jamestown, Bit.Trip Runner, Super Meat Boy, Shank and Nightsky HD. The soundtracks are free to anyone who pays above the current average for the Bundle and, as usual, to anyone who's already purchased the bundle. You can snag them in mp3 format or, in the case of Super Meat Boy and Nightsky HD, also in FLAC.
Humble Indie Bundle 4 revealed, nab Meat Boy, Shank, Jamestown and more
As if you didn't already have enough fantastic games to play from this past year, the Humble Indie Bundle crew have made it their mission to completely overwhelm you with excellence. The fourth and latest package from the altruistic organization features an unparalleled lineup which includes Super Meat Boy, BIT.TRIP.RUNNER, Jamestown, Nightsky and Shank -- are and if you beat the average price with your choose-your-own-donation-level, you'll also grab Gratuitous Space Battles and Cave Story+. Note that all of these are PC, Mac and Linux compatible; a new feature for Jamestown and Shank. As always, you can choose which portion of your donations go to the developers, to the charities (Child's Play and the Red Cross!) and to the Humble Indie Bundle platform itself. We think we speak for everyone when we say that this is an insane value that you'd be insane to pass up, you insane person. [Update: Tim Ambrogi from Philly-based Jamestown-dev Final Form Games told us, "It's been our goal since launch to reach as many gamers as possible, so a Mac and Linux port were always our plan if we could afford the resources to develop them. Humble Bundle presented us with a cost/benefit proposition that made creating them now a low-risk decision." That's your money hard at work, people!]
Super Meat Boy anniversary video with Team Meat commentary
The important info: This video features Team Meat (Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes) delivering commentary over an hour-long Light World run in Super Meat Boy. The more entertaining info: Said video is introduced by upside down chin people. In other meat-related news, the Mac version of Super Meat Boy has been updated on Steam. The update fixes some crash bugs and also adds control options and command line inputs for 1920x1080 resolution and full screen.
Indie Game Music Bundle adds 4 more albums, today is the last day
Okay, maybe 17 indie game music albums for $10 – including the likes of Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Minecraft, VVVVVV, A.R.E.S. and many more – just wasn't a sweet enough deal for you. Okay, how about 21 albums for $10? The Indie Game Music Bundle is now offering just that, thanks to the addition of four new albums: Circle (soundtrack for an unreleased game), Cardboard Box Assembler, Songs for the Cure and Bite Jacker. For the pay-what-you-want price of $10 or more, you get downloads of all 21 albums from Bandcamp, including high quality FLAC files for all the audiophiles out there. You'd best snag 'em quick though – as of this post, the sale only has about 12 hours to go.
Microsoft discounts Super Meat Boy, other content across its platforms
This week, Microsoft is offering discounts across Xbox Live, Windows PC and its mobile platforms. It's being billed as a fan appreciation sale and we're sure Microsoft would appreciate if its fans spent money. It's kinda how these things go. Highlights include Super Meat Boy for $5, a few discounted add-ons for Left 4 Dead 2 and Homefront, half-off Indie Games titles Flotilla and Weapon of Choice, and a few PC and mobile joints for good measure. If you want to spend, there's a good chance you can find something to spend money on here. The only thing we'd suggest is that perhaps you hold off on the five different premium Xbox 360 themes available. There's no word on whether or not they'll be compatible with your new Dashboard next month.
Super Meat Boy gets Steam-sponsored bundle, new content and Mac version coming this weekend
As if you didn't already have enough to play this holiday season, Steam is offering up a special anniversary bundle to celebrate Super Meat Boy's first birthday. By laying down $24.99 anytime from now until November 21, you get a bundle with some of the best Steam games of the last few years, everything from Half-Life 2 to the Bit.Trip titles, Braid, Machinarium, World of Goo, Gish, VVVVVV, and Super Meat Boy itself. There are also soundtracks included in the bundle for Super Meat Boy, Braid, Machinarium, Bit.Trip Beat, and Bit.Trip Runner. Super Meat Boy by its lonesome is 50% off as well. And even if you already own all of those games (and let's be honest -- after all of these Steam sales, we probably all do), this coming Saturday Team Meat will finally unlock "Super Meat World" for all players who have ever owned the game, bringing in tons and tons of user-created levels to play. The Mac version of the game is getting released as well, which means anyone who's ever bought the game on Steam will have access to that port too. In other words, if you've ever wanted to play Super Meat Boy on a computer, now's your chance, and if you already own it you're getting a whole lot of new content. Thanks a lot, Team Meat. We'll never get all of these games finished now.
Super Meat Boy goes on sale on XBLA next month, more 'Teh Internets' levels coming
In honor of the first anniversary of Super Meat Boy's release on Xbox Live Arcade, Team Meat is planning to drop the price of the tenderizing hardcore platformer. The game will go on sale sometime next month ("so save your points," the team notes). The price hasn't been set, but it'll be less than the full price of 1,200 points, and thus better. Next month will also see a free update adding "tons" more levels to Super Meat Boy's "Teh Internets" area. To keep you occupied until then, you can send Team Meat a picture of you "dressed up as something Meat Boy related for halloween" for a shot at copies of all three Super Meat Boy comic books. Please don't put raw meat all over your body.
