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Journey composer Austin Wintory nears expulsion from AFM
Seven months after the American Federation of Musicians threatened Grammy Award-winning composer Austin Wintory with a $50,000 fine for recording the soundtrack to The Banner Saga against regulations, the music union has issued an official fine of $2,500. Despite a looming January 19 deadline, Wintory refuses to pay. "Doing so would be to agree that their failed policies, selective tactics and threats work," the composer told Variety. Instead, Wintory claims his lawyers are examining the options available to him should the AFM make good on its threat to boot him from the union. As a further snub, Wintory claims he will write a check to the Education Through Music - Los Angeles charity "where the money can be used toward building on dreams instead of destroying them." When the AFM first notified Wintory of the potential $50,000 fine he faced for not following proper union regulations in recording music for a game, the composer was defiant. "Ultimately I don't think this is about me," Wintory stated. "This is about what's right. This is about composers and musicians being able to work in a medium that we love without fear of threat and intimidation, and it's about the next wave of musicians and composers who want to get into this business and dream of working in games, who shouldn't have to fear being attacked." [Image: AFM]
The Banner Saga hitches a trailer to Vita
A Vita version of Stoic Studio's viking RPG The Banner Saga was revealed at Sony's PlayStation Experience event earlier this month, just after the game's sequel was announced. To celebrate the game's forthcoming PlayStation ports, the developer offered a new trailer to reintroduce its story.
The Banner Saga, Suikoden 1&2, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, more coming to Vita
The Vita got plenty of love during the PlayStation Experience keynote, as ports for Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, The Banner Saga, Suikoden 1 and 2, Super Time Force Ultra and Towerfall Ascension (and its expansion) are all on the way to Sony's handheld. Both Suikoden games will arrive next week on Vita (as well as PS3), and Resident Evil: Revelations 2 will launch in the spring of 2015. A Vita version of Drinkbox Studios' Severed was also announced during the PlayStation Experience keynote, joining ports of Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions and Bastion (which is also going to PS4) that were announced earlier in the show.
The Banner Saga 2 exists
The Banner Saga developer Stoic Studio is developing The Banner Saga 2, the studio announced during tonight's The Game Awards in Las Vegas. No other details were announced, but this is indeed a welcome surprise – in our review of The Banner Saga, we said, "The Banner Saga is a human story told with inhuman flair, and that somehow makes it all the more relatable. [...] I'm a warrior now, and a leader, and I feel empowered." [Image: Stoic Studio]
The Banner Saga, Armikrog journey to PS4 in early 2015
Four games from independent developers will arrive on PS4 in early 2015, each courtesy of publisher Versus Evil. The publisher, which specializes in assisting independent devs reach new platforms and regions, revealed Stoic Studio's viking RPG The Banner Saga among the handful of games destined for the PlayStation Network. The Banner Saga's first episode launched in January after a successful $723,886 campaign on Kickstarter funded the game in April 2012. Versus Evil will also help another Kickstarter-funded game to reach PS4 early next year, Pencil Test Studios' clay-sculpted adventure game Armikrog. The other two games arriving on PS4 in 2015 thanks to the publisher are Kyn and Toren, the latter developed by Brazilian studio Swordtales. Players guide a "Moonchild" through the stages of childhood while ascending a tower in Toren, solving puzzles and slashing at enemies along the way. Versus Evil noted in PlayStation Blog's comments that none of the games are slated to reach Vita as of yet. [Image: Stoic Studio]
PSA: The Banner Saga plants a flag on the App Store
The Banner Saga has journeyed for almost an entire year to finally land on the iOS App Store, selling for $10. It's available on iPhone 4S or better devices. Developer Stoic Studio says in a tweet that it is "actively working on the Android version." The Banner Saga was originally due out on mobile in the summer, but that date was later pushed to September. October is close enough – think of the launch as both a trick and a treat. On PC, we found The Banner Saga to be a tough strategy game with beautiful lore and art to match. [Image: Stoic]
The Banner Saga victorious at The Geekie Awards
The Banner Saga added another trophy to its haul this month by collecting the The Geekie Award for Best Indie Video Game. Stoic's turn-based strategy RPG was up against tough competition from the likes of Outlast, Don't Starve, Axle and Octodad: The Dadliest Catch. But a winner had to be chosen and there was only one man for the task. Yes, one Richard Mitchell of Joystiq Reviews Content Director fame - and other judges, we gather - deemed The Banner Saga this year's worthy winner. "We are honored by the outpouring of love from fans for The Banner Saga and know that this award is due to their support", said Stoic Technical Director John Watson. "This comes just as we are about to launch the game on tablet, and we are excited about the prospect of offering The Banner Saga to a new medium of gamers."
The Banner Saga journeys to tablets in September
Stoic Studio's Nordic tactical-RPG The Banner Saga goes portable on iPad, Android, and Windows tablets next month. Pocketgamer reported on the updated release window after the game missed its "summer" window. No pricing has been revealed to take up the banner on mobile devices, but speculation has the port sailing in at a premium price. Our review of The Banner Saga called it a "challenge on normal difficulty, but not so unforgiving" that you'd want to give up. [Image: Stoic Studio]
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The Banner Saga Collectors Edition trudging to Europe and Australia [update: More territories!]
Update: Sold Out has clarified that The Banner Saga Collectors Edition will be available in all of Europe and Australia as well. More vikings to go around! Like the vikings whose tale it tells, The Banner Saga will soon be marching across the land ... into UK retail stores. Okay, so the analogy isn't perfect, but the point is that Sold Out is bringing a boxed Collectors Edition of the turn-based strategy game to the UK. The Collectors Edition is slated to include the game, the original soundtrack composed by Austin Wintory and the "Insane Viking Pack," which was previously available only as an exclusive pre-order bonus. The retail edition is available only in the UK "at this time," according to developer Stoic Studio's Twitter. Interested UK fans can dredge up a copy on July 24 for £19.99. [Image: Stoic Studio]
El Banner Saga now available in six new languages
Slaying creatures of Nordic myth is great fun in English - our four of five stars review states as much - but for those who don't habla ingles, developer Stoic Studio has localized The Banner Saga for a handful of new languages. You've probably already guessed that Spanish is among the six new tongues supported by The Banner Saga, but the game is now also available in Russian, Portugese, Polish, German and French. As devoted readers know, this is only part one of Stoic's plot to inundate the world with gorgeously-animated Vikings: As we recently reported, The Banner Saga will be appearing on a wide range of tablets later this Summer. "Releasing The Banner Saga in multiple languages is a promise we made to our backers when we launched our Kickstarter in 2012," said Stoic technical director John Watson. "We are happy to be able to keep this promise by finally releasing the game in multiple languages. In addition to PC and Mac the game will also be available in multiple languages on mobile devices when we launch the game later this summer and look forward to sharing this experience with a whole new audience!" [Image: Stoic Studio]
The Banner Saga coming to iPad, Android, Windows tablets this summer
Stoic Studio's crowdfunded tactical-RPG The Banner Saga is headed to iPad, Android, and Windows tablet devices this summer, publisher Versus Evil announced today. Backed by a successful Kickstarter campaign, The Banner Saga is a high-stakes, story-based strategy game in which player choice drives the narrative and defeat in combat can result in permanent character loss. The upcoming tablet version boasts a redesigned control scheme suited for touchscreens, and will feature the PC version's full single-player campaign. A release date for the mobile version of The Banner Saga has not been announced. [Image: Stoic Studio]
Game Music Bundle 7: Journey, Broken Age, Luftrausers
Who needs AC/DC and Aerosmith for their gym workouts when you could listen to smooth grooves of video game soundtracks? The Game Music Bundle 7 from Loudr offers 17 albums of audio delights, including tunes from Austin Wintory (Journey, The Banner Saga), Peter McConnell (Broken Age, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft), and Disasterpeace (The Floor is Jelly, Fez). The Game Music Bundle has been running for more than two years now, but if you're just now learning about it, here's how it works: for $1, you'll receive the soundtracks for The Banner Saga, Device 6, Broken Age, The Floor is Jelly and Luftrausers. By paying $10, you'll unlock 12 more albums, including a new solo piano arrangement of music from Journey. To see all 17 albums being offered and scoop up your copy of the bundle, check out the official site. Just don't wait too long, as this particular collection will only be available until May 1. [Image: Loudr]
King crushes trademark dispute with Banner Saga, CandySwipe devs
Candy Crush Saga developer King settled trademark disputes with The Banner Saga developer Stoic Studio and CandySwipe developer Runsome Apps, according to updates from both studios. "Stoic is pleased to have come to an agreement with King regarding Stoic's The Banner Saga trademark, which enables both parties to protect their respective trademarks now and in the future," Stoic Studio wrote, referring to the ongoing tension between the two developers over the term "saga." King said in January that it wasn't against The Banner Saga's name, though its legal opposition to Stoic's own trademark filing remained. At the time, Stoic said it would make another "saga" game regardless of King's trademark. Runsome Apps wrote that it is withdrawing its opposition to King's trademark for "candy," and the Candy Crush Saga developer is pulling its counterclaim against Runsome Apps. "I have learned that they picked the Candy Crush name before I released my game and that they were never trying to take my game away," the developer wrote. "Both our games can continue to coexist without confusing players." King withdrew its application to trademark "candy" in the U.S. in February, and saw opposition to its European trademark for the word in March from Cut the Rope developer ZeptoLab.
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Austin Wintory takes inspiration from Banner Saga's exhausted warriors
Austin Wintory doesn't like manipulating people. He could, pretty easily, if he wanted to, because he's a gifted musician with a knack for creating evocative music, but he doesn't have any interest in forcing you to feel a certain way. His approach to scoring a game like The Banner Saga is less about the obvious and more about the subtext – opening a door to an emotional space and letting you decide whether to walk in or not. Which sounds pretty high-minded for a game with giant warriors sporting goat horns, but that's just what's on the surface. Music's job lies in subtext. "The game should already be, for example, sad," he explained to me at DICE. "My job is to make you understand why and add a sense of stakes and weight to what's happening, not to try and make you have this base understanding that 'Now it's sad!' as if you would have missed that." Wintory, who admits to having worked on "not so good" movies, acknowledges that his job as composer is "a lot easier to do" when he's given excellent material to work with. Journey, he said, was so brilliant that he barely had to do anything. He could just "go in there and play" (and get nominated for a Grammy). Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga was similarly inspiring, but first he had to figure out the right way to handle its turn-based-strategy nature. He did at least know what he didn't want to do with it. "How to score the actual turn-based-strategy combat was a big question mark for me," Wintory said. He didn't want to take the same musical route as Banner Saga's most obvious recent comparison, XCOM, which featured fast-paced music. "All due respect to XCOM, I wanted to be the exact opposite of that, where I'm doing this, trying to contemplate the best strategy and I'm hearing pop-pop-pop-pop-pop that's like wailing away telling me 'Isn't this exciting?'"
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Joystiq Weekly: Sonic's scarf, The Banner Saga and heart-monitoring horror
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Sonic has a history of being a bit too social for his own good, but the roster shown for Sonic Boom's reveal on the 3DS and Wii U? Not bad! We can deal with Amy Rose and the newly tank-like Knuckles, but if Silver the Hedgehog shows up at some point? The deal is off. Aside from a new Sonic cycle, this week brought rough news from Sony, a review of The Banner Saga and an awards show that didn't hurt to watch! We've got that and much more ready for you to devour after the break.
The Banner Saga review: Needles and pins
I never learned how to play chess. Every time I remind my dad of this fact, he's surprised – he adores chess and swears he taught me how to play, at least once, and he probably did. That doesn't mean I learned anything. Chess involves a lineup of pieces with individual rules, boundaries and strengths, and learning each of their moves and how they all dance together is still a daunting task to me. I like simplicity in my strategy. Checkers is nice. I still don't fully understand The Banner Saga, much in the way I don't fully understand chess. The turn-based strategy aspect of The Banner Saga runs deep, starring warriors with complex abilities, and it's paired with a different lineup of comrades for each battle, if you wish. The story that threads through these battles is similarly complicated, layered with alliances, deaths, epic backstories and fantasy, and the rigorous task of leading groups of half-giants and men across the vast, wintry landscape of ancient Viking legend. I know that I'm missing the finer details that comprise The Banner Saga. There are story elements I've glossed over in pursuit of battles, and battles I've passed by while chasing the intricate story, but still I'm swept up in the icy, epic fantasy of developer Stoic's universe. Just as I respect chess for its complexity, I admire The Banner Saga for everything that I do – and don't – see in it.
Banner Saga dev will make another 'saga' game despite King's trademark
Candy Crush Saga developer King says it isn't trying to strip Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga of its name – but a legal opposition to the word "Saga" remains in action, Stoic says. In a statement on its website, Stoic says it's making another game in the Banner Saga universe, regardless of King's trademark attempts: "We won't make a viking saga without the word Saga, and we don't appreciate anyone telling us we can't. King.com claims they're not attempting to prevent us from using The Banner Saga, and yet their legal opposition to our trademark filing remains. We're humbled by the outpouring of support and honored to have others stand with us for the right to their own Saga. We just want to make great games." In December, King claimed The Banner Saga was "confusingly and deceptively similar to [King's] previously used Saga marks," but just yesterday said it wouldn't take action against Stoic. "King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying to build on our brand or our content," King said. King has also filed to trademark the word "candy," and that one has been approved for publication in the US, giving the public 30 days to file opposition against the mark before it becomes law. King said it already trademarked "candy" in the EU because its IP "is constantly being infringed," but it won't enforce the mark against all uses of the word. "Some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so," King said.
Candy Crush Saga dev won't oppose The Banner Saga's name
Stand down, everyone: Candy Crush Saga developer King won't attempt to enforce a trademark on the word "saga" against Stoic's The Banner Saga. GI.biz reports that King claimed in December The Banner Saga was "confusingly and deceptively similar to [King's] previously used Saga marks" but King has issued a statement to make it clear it's not trying to take out the RPG: "King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying build on our brand or our content." Although King is doing exactly what it's supposed to do from a business standpoint to protect its product names, trying to trademark words like "saga" and "candy" is a bit laughable to the outside world. King doesn't officially hold these trademarks yet, and is moving to protecting its interests in this preliminary phase. If you need a recent example of two games that clashed over the use of a common word, you need look no further than the lawsuit between Bethesda Softworks and Minecraft creator Mojang over The Elder Scrolls and Scrolls, respectively. If Bethesda didn't protect "scrolls," it could have lost the trademark. That story also ended amicably with lawyers getting paid and Scrolls retaining its name through a license. In less litigious news, it seems The Banner Saga will soon be coming to an iPad near you. "We are definitely bringing [The Banner Saga] game to tablets, I believe our first port will be iOS, but obviously nothing is set in stone as of yet," Alex Thomas of Stoic Studios told PocketGamer.
Joystiq Streams: The Banner Saga [Update: Watch the replay!]
Sure, we already have Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and countless other epic fantasies in which to get lost – but there's always room for more. There's especially always room for an epic, hand-painted, Viking fantasy RPG with music by Austin Wintory and turn-based strategy gameplay. There's always room for The Banner Saga. The Banner Saga comes from Stoic Studio, a team comprised of ex-BioWare employees. In 2012, Stoic over-Kickstarted The Banner Saga, asking for $100,000 and earning $723,886. The game launched on PC and Mac on January 14, and now it's hitting the big time: Joystiq's live stream. Journey with us through mead halls and giant-infested battlefields at 4PM ET on the Joystiq Twitch channel, hosted by Richard Mitchell and with gameplay by yours truly, Jessica Conditt. Skål!
PSA: The Banner Saga begins today
The full Banner Saga – not just the Factions PvP multiplayer – is available now through various digital distribution networks for PC and Mac. Raising the flag on the single-player hand-drawn Viking RPG saga will cost $20 (€22.99/£18.99). Created by Stoic Studio, which includes ex-BioWare employees, along with a soundtrack by Austin Wintory, the game was an early success of the Kickstarter era, amassing over $700K in donations. Time to find out how faith paid off.
