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Get Retro City Rampage for $10 on PS3 and Vita Monday
Starting Monday, December 24, those that are still in the buying mood can net both the PS3 and Vita versions of Retro City Rampage for $9.99 on PlayStation Network. Of course, if the Steam Holiday Sale has you transfixed, you can pick up the game for $10 on there too.If you're a bit more old-fashioned, you can download the DRM-free game direct from Vblank Entertainment for the same price, which includes a GoG and Steam key. Unfortunately, the direct PC download doesn't include floppy disks for you old codgers out there.
Retro City Rampage review: Love letter
It would be impossible to sit down and write out everything you love about everything. It'd be a pursuit of madness. Why would you do it? Just to have some kind of time capsule for all of your cherished memories? But what if you did it within the confines of a video game? It would be an even madder pursuit, for sure, but that's exactly what Retro City Rampage is. It's a love letter to all of developer Brian Provinciano's favorite things within the borders of an 8-bit open-world crime game – a game, I might add, that is so beautiful in its simplicity and hilarious in its execution that it has become one of my favorite games of all time. %Gallery-148026%
PSA: Retro City Rampage takes on PC, PS3 and Vita today
Retro City Rampage, Vblank Entertainment's insanely in-depth 8-bit parody of classic open-world action tropes, is out now for PC, PS3 and Vita. We mentioned this was happening yesterday with the game's lovely launch trailer, which we've refrained from embedding above to give you more time to just go out and buy Retro City Rampage already.Retro City Rampage is available for PC via Steam, GOG and its official site, and is on PS3 and Vita through PSN and the PS Store, regularly priced at $15. It's 10 percent off on Steam through October 16 ($13.50). Go get some.
Retro City Rampage for Vita looks like this
We may not have any idea when to expect Retro City Rampage on the Vita (and various other platforms), but we're starting to see what it'll look like once it's finally done.Potential rampagers need not worry about the Vita's smaller screen size, according to developer Brian Provinciano, as the portable version has been outfitted with two different scaling options; one that scales the game to ensure everything is clearly visible, and another that maintains the console version's original 16:9 aspect ration and stylized borders.Touchscreen functionality has also been "tastefully" implemented, but only so far as to aid in navigating menus and during shopping sprees. "If you're an absolute purist," Provinciano adds, "you can still play the game 100% with the buttons." The Vita version also supports "continuous play" with the PS3 version, meaning that saves transfer between the two platforms and both versions share the same universal scoreboard.Additionally, the Vita and PS3 ports will come packed with visual filters that make the game look like various systems of yore, such as the all-red "Virtual Burn" and monochrome "Brick Handheld" settings.
Retro City Rampage running wild on Xbox, Wii, PS3, Vita, and PC in May
Vblank Entertainment's long-awaited, open-world 8-bit parody crime game, Retro City Rampage, will finally be let loose in May, creator Brian Provinciano told Joystiq. It'll be rampaging across a few new platforms -- in addition to the known XBLA and WiiWare versions, Provinciano announced plans on the PlayStation Blog to release the game on PS3 and PlayStation Vita, and shared plans on his own site to release it PC. He's aiming for a simultaneous May release for them all.In fact, you can pre-order that PC version right now at retrocityrampage.com, and get bonuses including a mini soundtrack download, a digital manual and 20% off of Fangamer's Retro City Rampage collection*.And yes, Provinciano is still making all of these versions pretty much on his own. "Maxime [Trépanier]'s been doing art and the music guys are still doing some polish but I'm still juggling everything else myself," Provinciano told Joystiq. Add publishing to that list of duties as well. "I'm self publishing on PlayStation," Provinciano said. "Sony's fantastic that they allow you to do that."Once this epic undertaking is finally completed, Provinciano hopes to take on something smaller-scale. "I've got many ideas and definitely want to do more open-world games," he said, "but right after RCR I will take a breather and work on something small and different. Hopefully something that takes maybe eight weeks instead of eight years."%Gallery-148026%[*Disclosure: I have worked with Fangamer on a currently available product.]
Retro City Rampage trailer teases 'big news'
Enjoy a sample of tiny mayhem in the latest trailer for Retro City Rampage, a game we hope developer Vblank is going to stop working on soon (for the sake of his own sanity). Then at the end, note that the developer teases some "BIG NEWS" to be announced February 20. Please, please let it be a release date.
'Splosion Man coming to Retro City Rampage
Not even the metaphorical constraints of intellectual property are enough to contain Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, apparently, as indie developer VBlank Entertainment has revealed that both Mr. And Ms. 'Splosion Man will join the cast of its upcoming pixel-art chiptune meta-homage Retro City Rampage. VBlank told MineCon 2011 attendees that 'Splosion Man is "the first of Retro City Rampage's official indie (or previously indie) crossovers," a statement that indicates future crossover announcements while simultaneously poking at Twisted Pixel's recent change in corporate structure. Check out the trailer above for a glimpse at RCR's isometric take on 'splode-based platforming.%Gallery-139924%
Partial Retro City Rampage soundtrack available online, for free
Waiting for a game is probably the worst thing in the world. But if you're waiting for Retro City Rampage, you can at least ease that burden a bit by checking out select tracks from the game's soundtrack right now, free of charge. This Soundcloud page has a few of the game's tracks for streaming or download, as well as some remixes that were the product of a recent contest. We're not sure how long it'll be available, but said page says to look for the full soundtrack in January or February 2012. We've contacted Brian Provinciano, the game's creator, who told us that these tracks will be available indefinitely. The full soundtrack is being printed right now, but you'll have to (obviously) pay money for it.
Retro City Rampage turns on the Biffsignal
How does Retro City Rampage get so many jokes in at once while remaining a playable game? This latest trailer, for example, introduces "Biffman," a superhero for whom your character substitutes. In just a few brief scenes (and relatively few pixels!) this setup allows Vblank to make fun of Batman in general, and the '60s TV show in specific, while making a random, but logically sound, Pitfall! reference -- and a related Atari 2600 joke. "Biffman" is also a funny name, on its own.
Retro City Rampage playable at Comic-Con, even without a pass
If you don't mind hanging out in a Hard Rock establishment, you have an opportunity to play a bunch of unreleased games, including Retro City Rampage. In case it weren't abundantly clear from our past coverage of RCR, we're big proponents of not just the game itself, but of the developer's dogged entrepreneurial spirit, so we wanted to make sure you knew about two chances this weekend to play it at Microsoft's Hard Rock-based Comic Con Xbox lounge. Extra convenient? No SDCC pass is required to attend. In between snacking on sliders and getting your 8-bit open-world on, you may also want to check out some of the other games available to play -- everything from Orcs Must Die to Batman: Arkham City, we're told. And before you head over, why not take a look through a brand new set of Comic-Con screens for RCR, just below? Details for the weekend can be found after the break.%Gallery-128947%
E3 2011 reader meetup: Retro City Rampage
Between now and next Friday, when we'll be holding our semi-annual E3 reader meetup, Joystiq will be putting the spotlight on each of the games folks will be able to go hands-on with. First up is VBlank Entertainment's long in-development XBLA/WiiWare title, Retro City Rampage. Born out of VBlank Entertainment founder Brian Provinciano's urge to craft an 8-bit demake of Grand Theft Auto 3, Retro City Rampage was originally known as "Grand Theftendo." The ambitious project eventually took on a life of its own, evolving into a full-blown WiiWare title, and finally blooming to XBLA. As huge fans of 8-bit games and, uh, games in general, RCR hits all the right notes with us. The concept is essentially an elaborate homage to the history of video gaming, mixing all of the game mechanics that come along with that -- a pastiche of gaming history's tropes, memorable moments, and go-to themes, if you will (peep our reference-filled preview for a taste). We'll have the game (and its developer!) on-hand at next Friday's E3 reader meetup for you to check out, but in the meantime VBlank's sent over some new screens of RCR's Chinatown area, as well as revealing a new character: "The Great Gamedini." Mr. Gamedini is described as a magician whose wish will be your command ... should you be able to find the right codes. As VBlank tells it, "his dog ate his codebook." Blasted dogs! Take a peek at both the new area and new character in our exclusive gallery below.%Gallery-125316%
Retro City Rampage shirts, posters, and pins up for pre-order
You can't buy VBlank Entertainment's parody-rich Retro City Rampage yet -- and you'll definitely never be able to mail-order it, since it's digitally distributed -- but you can start shopping for tie-in goods right now. Developer VBlank Entertainment partnered with Fangamer to produce a series of official items including t-shirts, buttons, and posters. The $40 "Rampage Combo Pack," shipping in June, features the "Theftropolis" shirt designed by Jon Kay, an 18" x 24" print of a new poster design by Maxime Trépanier, and a set of Retro City Rampage pins. The items will also be available separately, in case you don't want to spend too much more than the cost of the XBLA/WiiWare game.%Gallery-121157%
Retro City Rampage hits XBLA in summer 2011, WiiWare version delayed
If you were looking forward to buying Brian Provinciano's Retro City Rampage on WiiWare, we have some bad news: it's been delayed significantly. The WiiWare version of the satirical 8-bit sandbox game was originally targeted for the end of this year, but now won't arrive until fall 2011. But you'll be able to play it before then. Like Super Meat Boy before it, the announced WiiWare release of Retro City Rampage will be preceded by an XBLA version, which comes out in the summer. "In order to continue making these games and not have to start flipping burgers after Retro City Rampage is done," Provinciano told Destructoid, "it needed to be multi-platform." Provinciano is using the extra time to put additional content, including playable characters and missions, into both versions of the game.
See and hear Retro City Rampage's mix
Not only does this Retro City Rampage trailer contain ten minutes of music from VBlank's WiiWare game, it also contains nearly ten minutes of chaotic, hilarious, satirical, unbelievably violent gameplay, rife with video game and pop-culture references. All those poor A-Team vans!
Retro City Rampage trailer should not be used as medical advice
You'd think that getting bitten by something infused with radioactive power would be a bad thing, but everything we're learning from comic books and video games keeps convincing us otherwise. Take this latest trailer from homage-fest Retro City Rampage, in which the player gets chomped on by a familiar-looking radioactive plumber and, instead of succumbing to the extremely poisonous effects of decaying ionized particles, gains some sort of powerful super stomp ability to use on enemies. We've been on the fence about this whole thing, keeping this Peregrine falcon and this old nuclear power plant keycard around until we were sure it was safe, but this trailer has sealed the deal. We'll go over to the abandoned plant this Saturday, so if you don't see us around here on Monday, just look up.
Retro City Rampage preview: A Hodgepodge of Homages
There are all of those inside jokes, those gaming and pop culture references that we slip into conversation now and again, eliciting a chuckle from those "in the know." Now imagine you had enough knowledge to make a game and decided, "Hey, what the heck? I'll go ahead and put in a nod toward this classic in my game." That's kinda what Brian Provinciano did. He came up with Retro City Rampage, a self-professed "open world action parody" that started out as Grand Theftendo, an attempt to create Grand Theft Auto 3 on the NES. It kinda snowballed from there and eventually ended up being Retro City Rampage, a retro sandbox game with plenty of moxie. %Gallery-97765%
Retro City Rampage shooting for December on WiiWare, 'in talks' for XBLA and PSN
While demoing Retro City Rampage, one of the PAX 10, its creator Brian Provinciano revealed to Joystiq that the game would likely launch in December of this year. Up until now, all we had was a tentative Q4 2010 window -- Provinciano nailed the last month of the year as being an optimal time to subject the world to his experiment at seeing how many inside jokes he could fit into a single game. WiiWare is currently the only platform, though Provinciano noted that he was currently "in talks" with Microsoft on bringing the game to XBLA. PSN was also on the table, he offered. A PC version would be out of the cards for "at least a year." Provinciano began the game as Project Grand Theftendo, where he sought to create an 8-bit version of Grand Theft Auto 3 that ran on the NES. We'll have a preview of the game soon. %Gallery-97765%
Retro City Rampage's first trailer is a blast from the past
Sure, the open-world gameplay of Retro City Rampage might look like a GTA clone with a coat of 8-bit paint, but as you can clearly tell from this first glimpse of the game in action, it's a wild tribute to -- and riff on -- some of the most memorable (and obscure) NES titles ever made. "Downloading to your console in 2010," this WiiWare release looks to contain more IJPS (inside jokes per square inch) than any before it. Just a selection of the games referenced (visually and in play mechanics) during this trailer: Metal Gear, Bionic Commando, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Skate or Die, Super Mario Bros., Punch-Out!! and Ninja Gaiden. Developer VBlank plans to have a playable version of Retro City Rampage up and running at PAX Prime next month. If, at any time, you'd like to chat with a Joystiq editor during the show, you'll find at least one of us glued to the game.
