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Gunstringer's 'Wavy Tube Man Chronicles' coming to Windows 8
"The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles," the bizarre full-motion-video episode originally released as downloadable content for The Gunstringer, has been uncoupled for standalone release on Windows 8 PCs and tablets.The Chronicles, which feature both a "Troma Team" credit and an acting role by Troma Studios co-founder Lloyd Kaufman (as "Doc Lloyd"), stars Wiley Wiggins as "Future Buddy." He joins your fight to protect a relatively Old West-ish town from Wavy Tube Man Jr., who has traveled back in time to prevent the death of his father, Wavy Tube Man.The Windows 8 version will be released "soon" for $1.49, a price low enough that we can just buy it again and confirm we didn't imagine the existence of this thing the first time around.%Gallery-170731%
Windows 8's Gunstringer: Dead Man Running developed by Other Ocean
The Gunstringer: Dead Man Running is a significant departure from the original game. For one thing, it's not a Kinect game for Xbox, but rather a Windows 8 game for PCs and tablets. For another, development is taking place not in Austin, but up north in Canada at Other Ocean Interactive.Most significantly, Dead Man Running is now an auto-running game with shooting challenges, in both a Story Mode and three "endless runner" stages. It's free-to-play, with customization items available through in-game currency and unspecified content available through in-app purchases.Dead Man Running will begin its marathon across Windows 8 devices in November.
The Gunstringer warms up to Games on Demand, new DLC
The Gunstringer is bringing the heat to the West with its new DLC installment, El Diablo's 'Merican Adventure, available now on Xbox Live for 240 Microsoft Points. The 'Merican Adventure has players inhabit the body of El Diablo, as is suggested by the title, to hunt down his perfect pinup queen through four levels.The release of El Diablo's 'Merican Adventure in part celebrates The Gunstringer's launch on Xbox's Games on Demand, where it's currently holding other titles at gunpoint for $30.%Gallery-150675%
Best of the Rest: Richard's picks of 2011
Rayman Origins If you asked what my favorite game of the 2011 was, I would tell you it was Dark Souls, which made the number eight slot in our prestigious top ten. If, however, you asked me which game instilled me with the most pure, unbridled joy, I would say it was Rayman Origins without a moment's hesitation. Providing both a fresh experience and an invigorating jolt of nostalgia for the days when platformers were king, Rayman Origins is a must-play.
Face off against 'Mad Dog' McDog in Gunstringer Real Big Shootin' DLC
Twisted Pixel has officially raised the curtain on the latest Gunstringer DLC, first announced via Major Nelson yesterday. The "Real Big Shootin'" DLC pits players against 'Mad Dog' McDog "who is out to slander your good name as the quickest draw in the west." What that boils down to, apparently, is four acts of gameplay more akin to a midway shooting gallery than the narrative found in the main game. Real Big Shootin' will be released on Xbox Live tomorrow for 240 Microsoft Points ($3). %Gallery-141694%
Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja, Pinball FX2, Planeswalker 2012 DLC on XBLA this week
In addition to Joe Danger's Xbox Live Arcade debut, this Wednesday will host a handful of new DLC for several titles, Major Nelson reveals. Alongside the previously revealed "Vengeance and Virtue" DLC for Pinball FX2 ($10) and the "Lost Adventures" DLC for Orcs Must Die! ($4), we also have some heretofore unknown DLC for The Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja Kinect and Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. For $3 each, The Gunstringer will receive "Real Big Shootin'" DLC, while Magic will be dealt its second expansion. Meanwhile, Fruit Ninja Kinect players can grab the Holiday Pack for free. We don't have details on any of the DLC, though we're really hoping the Fruit Ninja Holiday DLC includes sliceable fruitcakes.
For a few dollars less: Gunstringer/Fruit Ninja Kinect $20 at Best Buy
The Gunstringer had seen many a strange thing in his life, but this took the cake. As he stared through the batwing doors of the local Best Buy general store, he thought he spied his own face glaring back. He took a closer look – turns out some folks in Texas made a vidya game out of his life story. What's more, seems that the store's proprietor had marked it down to two sawbucks. Perhaps most perplexing of all, the box also proclaimed to include something called Fruit Ninja Kinect. He didn't know what a "fruit ninja" was, but he didn't like the sound of it.
Kinect holiday bundle includes Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja
Microsoft is currently shipping a Kinect sensor bundle for the holidays, which includes three games for $150. The included games for North America – though they "may vary by region" – are Kinect Adventures, Fruit Ninja Kinect and The Gunstringer, from Microsoft's newly acquired studio Twisted Pixel. Considering the $40 Gunstringer retail box contains a free Fruit Ninja Kinect, it might be easier to think about this bundle providing a $40 savings. Microsoft has been playing it close to the chest regarding Kinect sales this year, recently reiterating that the device had sold 10 million units, a statistic it already promoted in March. We'll get another update after this year's bundle-boosted holiday sales have been tallied.
Microsoft buys indie developer Twisted Pixel
After developing games exclusively for Xbox 360 and PC, it's fair to say that indie dev Twisted Pixel has been going steady with Microsoft. Today, the two have finally tied the knot as the Redmond corporation announced that it has purchased the Austin studio. That may be terrifying news for fans of the dev, which has built games like 'Splosion Man and The Gunstringer around its scrappy DIY aesthetic. But Matt Booty, general manager of Microsoft Studios, told Joystiq it's exactly that character that the company hopes to preserve after the sale.
Pre-order your own Gunstringer Mini Marionette
If there's two things Joystiq is all about, it's antiquated puppet technology and indie-development studios, so naturally The Gunstringer tickled our fancy in an incredibly specific, thoroughly satisfying way. Had we known that Twisted Pixel would soon be releasing its own Gunstringer Mini Marionettes, however, we probably wouldn't have spent all last week building our own out of clothes pins and yarn. The 16-inch Gunstringer Mini Marionette, available to pre-order on Twisted Pixel's site, is a replica of the marionette seen in the western's FMV sequences, will set you back $100 ($110 for an autographed version), and is expected to exit pre-order status before the end of November. Shoot past the break for a full look at the little guy's prototype.
The three terrifying minutes that created The Gunstringer
"I'm going to go to the restroom," said Microsoft's Cherie Lutz, "but when I get back I really want to hear this new idea." "Oh yeah, it's awesome, can't wait." Twisted Pixel chief creative officer Josh Bear had responded with abounding confidence, if only to mask the truth. Because the fact of the matter, the fact that he and CEO Mike Wilford were all too aware of, as they sat in Redmond, WA Tex-Mex restaurant The Matador, was this: The idea wasn't "awesome." It was nonexistent. The developer had scored a major meeting with Microsoft to pitch a new game developed exclusively with Kinect (then "Project Natal") in mind. It needed to be big, it needed to be smart and -- most pressingly to Wilford and Bear at that exact moment -- it needed to exist.
You must download The Gunstringer's soundtrack
Look, we don't like giving ultimatums and we know you don't like hearing them, but we can't be friends anymore if you don't download The Gunstringer's phenomenal soundtrack. Aren't you into indie music? Don't you like feeling joy? Straight up, Matt Cheney's spaghetti-samurai score is a bone-chilling, tonally perfect masterclass in atmospheric storytelling through composition, and you'd be doing yourself a criminally negligent disservice by skipping it. So much so, that we couldn't stand to be around you, knowing what a hollow shell your life had become. It's also entirely free, and at fewer than 100 megs, Twisted Pixel's fat pipes will have you swimmin' in tunes in no time. Hit the source link and click on the "Downloads" tab, and save our friendship.
The Gunstringer's launch DLC free to all Xbox Live members on Sept. 20
The only thing more charming and out of place than an interactive, full-motion video addendum to a game about an undead marionette cowboy is free DLC. "The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles," an anachronistic add-on to Twisted Pixel's Kinect debut, The Gunstringer, is currently free only to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Man, what a bunch of withholding assh -- "So right now DLC is free to gold members only but don't let that discourage you (or call us assholes yet ;)," tweets Twisted Pixel. "It goes free to Silver next Tues." On the other hand, if you want to hurl obscenities at Twisted Pixel over an agonizing World 3 level in Ms. Splosion Man, we'll join you in a foul-mouthed chorus.
The Gunstringer review: Dig my grave
Today, I'm breaking one of the biggest rules of criticism: Don't attempt to write an objective review if you're personally invested in the success of the product. No, I don't have an uncle at Twisted Pixel (as far as I know). And no, I don't have stock in the skeletal puppetry biz. But there's a component of The Gunstringer that's so wonderful, so specifically hand-crafted just for me that my continued happiness relies on more of it being made. This is my review of the The Gunstringer, and I can not be trusted. %Gallery-131056%
Watch the first 15 minutes of The Gunstringer's FMV DLC, 'Wavy Tubeman Chronicles'
Twisted Pixel's foray into the motion-tracking, depth-sensing world of Kinect may not be out until tomorrow, but The Gunstringer's first batch of DLC is already locked and loaded, waiting patiently in the wings for its chance to shine. And oh, how it shines; glinting in the sun like a sheriff's badge at high-noon. Wavy Tubeman Chronicles is an entirely FMV experience, the first fifteen minutes of which you can watch above via G4TV. To the more ancient astute of you, Twisted Pixel's masterwork may seem a bit familiar, and for good reason: The full-motion adventure was inspired in no small part by Mad Dog McCree, an FMV laserdisc/arcade/3DO/Sega CD western from 1990. We had hoped that watching would somehow satiate our unquenchable thirst for FMV games, but it ended up having the opposite effect.
Grab the reins of the Gunstringer demo right now on XBLM
A sample of Twisted Pixel's next, Kinect-infused project, The Gunstringer, is now ready for your enjoyment -- or your unenjoyment, on the off chance you possess some deep, inexplicable fear of marionette puppets. The run-and-gunner now has a demo available on Xbox Live Marketplace, where you can download it right now instead of reading a news post about how a demo for The Gunstringer is available right now. The demo supposedly gives a good cross-section of the game's controller-free controls, but we're counting on you to tell us how effectively said scheme works, as we fit squarely into the "irrational puppet fear" contingency.
The Gunstringer achievement you really shouldn't get
Twisted Pixel is known for its charming games, but something darker lurks just beneath the surface of The Gunstringer. Namely: there's a secret option on the Kinect shooter that makes it hate you. It's called "Hardcore Mode," and it sounds terrifying. Enemies shoot three times as much, health drops twice as quickly and traps spring from nowhere. Plus, if you die you'll have to head right back to the beginning of the game. Understand that when we tell you that there's a 50-point achievement for finishing a Hardcore run-through in one sitting called Strings of Steel, it's not so you'll go after it. In fact, it's actually so you'll do the exact opposite and pity those those lost souls who delved into the dark recesses of madness to claim it.
The Gunstringer will be $40, comes with Fruit Ninja Kinect and free DLC, this September
When Twisted Pixel announced that its Kinect-based, undead western marionette shooter would gallop past Xbox Live Arcade and ride right into Retailville, we wrote, "Twisted Pixel isn't talking price right now, but considering most Kinect games go for $50, we'd say that's a safe bet." Well ... we were wrong. And we're sorry. And we hope you didn't bet any actual money. Microsoft just announced that The Gunstringer will be hitting shelves on September 13 in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and September 16 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Oh, you wanted to know the price? How does $40 sound to you? Oh ... well, how about $40 and a free code for Fruit Ninja Kinect, itself valued at $10? Still not enough? You drive a hard bargain, friend! How about some free launch DLC titled "The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles" in which you battle "the time-traveling son of Wavy Tube Man." Here, we'll use Microsoft's description: In this add-on, Wavy Tube Man Jr. steals a time machine to prevent his father's death at the hands of "The Gunstringer," and it's up to players to battle classic western cowboys and futuristic warriors to save the world from destruction. Wait a second ... you're still not satisfied? Can you not be sated? Is there nothing that can match your appetite for deals? Fine, if you pre-order the game from "select US and European retailers [...] you'll receive two tokens for a free Avatar Prop from the game." There, that's it. That's all you're getting. We're exhausted.
The Gunstringer preview: How the west was fun
The phrase "on rails" has something of a negative connotation in the video game industry. It implies that one's game design is lazy, or that it takes freedom away from the player. As developers come to grips with Kinect's controller-free technology, many of its experiences remain on rails, including several of the titles on display at E3. The Gunstringer does not buck that trend; however, while it doesn't offer complete freedom of movement, it still manages to deliver the most precise Kinect controls I've ever experienced. Coupled with trademark Twisted Pixel humor, it makes a great first impression.%Gallery-125562%
Let's take a tour of Microsoft's E3 2011 area
You've seen Nintendo's E3 2011 setup, and you've seen Sony's, but had you considered that they might've been "Better with Kinect?" Microsoft undoubtedly believes as much, but, well, the publisher is only able to outfit its own booth, silly! Don't be ridiculous! Given that, you'll clearly see in the gallery below that Microsoft was more than happy to outfit its area with dozens of the motion peripherals, showing off everything from The Gunstringer to Dance Central 2. And hey, if you're into people looking especially silly while playing games, this is really the gallery for you.%Gallery-126022%
