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Need for Speed Rivals, FIFA 14 headline Xbox Live EA Publisher sale
Electronic Arts rolls out a series of discounts on Xbox Live this week, dropping prices for the Xbox 360 Games on Demand versions of Need for Speed Rivals, Crysis 3, FIFA 14 and other standout games in its digital catalog. Rivals, FIFA, and NHL 14 are currently available for $29.99 each, while Crysis 3 is up for grabs at $14.79. Other featured games include Mirror's Edge ($4.94), Dead Space ($7.49), Shank 2 ($2.49), and Alice: Madness Returns ($7.39). This week also brings a collection of exclusive price drops for Xbox Live Gold members, discounting niche XBLA releases like Moon Diver, Blood Knights, and Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds by 50 percent. This week's deals are valid through February 3.
American McGee's OZombie Kickstarter canceled, Alice movie Kickstarter begins later this week
American McGee's Spicy Horse development studio is abandoning its Kickstarter for OZombie, a twisted take on L. Frank Baum's novels. The project had 2,607 backers and raised $141,513 of a $950,00 goal, with approximately three weeks to go. "The Oz campaign has to end. There are two realities driving the decision. First, we're facing a challenge with the Alice film rights," wrote McGee on the campaign's Kickstarter page. "Second, we wouldn't consider shutting down the Oz campaign if it were trending towards success. As it is, we've reached 15 percent of our goal with 20 days left in the campaign. Projections suggest we'll hit 30 percent of our goal by campaign end. I've been telling myself to remain optimistic and see this thing through – but when the reality of our funding trend is combined with the pressure of the Alice film rights situation..." What Alice film rights? Well, turns out that McGee isn't thinking about a third game for his darker take on Alice in Wonderland, but about some kind of animated short or film. "For Oz, we can always launch another campaign in the future. On the other hand, the Alice film rights are only within reach during a rapidly closing window of opportunity. We'll sacrifice Oz today in order to have a real chance with Alice." McGee continued, "Now we turn our attention to Alice. Securing these film rights would be nothing short of a major coup. We'd control a significant portion of Alice's future. Being able to produce animations, feature films and related merchandise means keeping Alice's world fresh, no matter what else might happen with the game portion of the property. I hope you'll join us in making this a reality." That Kickstarter is scheduled to start later this week.
New Alice game probably won't be AAA, features Alice in 'Otherland'
Spicy Horse – namely Alice series founders American McGee and RJ Berg – is pitching a new Alice game to EA this week, following a Facebook poll to gauge player interest in "Alice 3" as a concept and a Kickstarter project. Spicy Horse is ready to roll on a new game: something online, cooperative and with user-generated content, all spanning different platform access points.EA controls the Alice franchise and Spicy Horse wants to leverage its own burgeoning game distribution platform, which focuses on Android tablet-browser cross-play. This means the new game probably won't be a AAA project, Berg tells Joystiq at GDC."Probably a AAA title, as the previous two have been, is not the first priority of EA right now," Berg says. "We have to construct a very strong idea of how that presentation might run, but it's up to them to pick up on the opportunity."McGee and Berg have a clear narrative outline for the new Alice game, throwing Alice onto the streets of London and into the minds of everyone she passes. "Right now the idea is Alice in 'Otherland,'" McGee says. "It's her invading the minds of other people and visiting their Wonderlands, and using what she's learned about her own mental landscape to go in and harm or heal the people she encounters. It means that the streets of London become the portals into 1,000, 10,000 amazing, different stories."McGee says Spicy Horse has the story, ideas, technology and wherewithal to make a new Alice game, and it's up to EA to take this opportunity. "The burden is really on them. It always is. Hopefully we can be charming enough."
American Mcgee gauges interest in Alice 3
American McGee could be pursuing another title in the Alice series. McGee posed a few question to Alice fans on Facebook yesterday. Specifically, he asked if fans were interested in a third game in the series, assuming he could acquire the rights from EA, and whether or not they would consider backing a Kickstarter for such a project.He further asked fans to "make some noise" if they are interested in the idea. "I'm trying to gauge interest in case I happen to discuss this with EA during GDC in 2 weeks," he wrote. "The more interest there is, the more seriously they'll take the conversation."Earlier this year, McGee decried Electronic Arts' marketing of 2011's Alice: Madness Returns (pictured), saying it gave gamers the false impression that it was a hardcore horror game. Should he reacquire the rights, this won't be his first Kickstarter project. McGee and his studio, Spicy Horse, recently (and barely) funded Akaneiro: Demon Hunters via the crowdfunding service.[Thanks, Jeff!]
American McGee AMA: EA ads for Alice were a 'trick'
American McGee, the man (and name) behind Alice: Madness Returns and its predecessor, has a lot to say about developing those games, working with EA, and Kickstarting his latest venture, Akaneiro: Demon Hunters. His recent Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit reveals a few gems, including some insight into how EA handled the Alice: Madness Returns trailers with animation company Shy the Sun. Spoiler: McGee isn't a fan of EA marketing."What was frustrating was how EA marketing interfered - telling STS from the start that all creative direction and final say would come from them, not from us (the developer/creator of the story/tone)," McGee writes. "That resulted in trailers that were much darker and gorier than the game, and that was a calculated disconnect created by EA. They wanted to 'trick' gamers into believing A:MR was a hardcore horror title, even though we refused to develop it in that tone."Their thinking is, even if the game isn't a hardcore horror title, you can market it as one and trick those customers into buying it (while driving away more casual customers, like female gamers, who might be turned off by really dark trailers). It's all a part of the race to the bottom EA, Activision and the other big pubs are engaged in. Expect to see it get worse before it gets better."How's that for dark? McGee notes that his Spicy Horse studio is the largest Western, independent game development company in China, and he discusses how he ended up there and the stress of maintaining a successful indie studio."Working as an indie means having a terrifying amount of freedom," McGee writes. "We make decisions that we know might simply put us out of business 6 months from now."For more insight into how Alice came about – The Crystal Method's "Trip Like I Do" had something to do with it – and all things McGee, check out the Reddit AMA.
Darksiders, Saints Row, Alice PC download bundles cheap on Amazon
If you've been meaning to check out the Darksiders franchise, you couldn't pick a better time. For one thing, THQ could use the money. For another, it's really not that much money today. For the next two days, the PC download version of the "Franchise Pack" containing both Darksiders games, a Season Pass, and a ton of DLC, is just $13.19 on Amazon. The Saints Row: The Third "Full Package" with the game and DLC is just $12.49.In non-THQ download deals, the Alice: Madness Returns Complete Collection, with both Alice games, is $11.99. In all three cases, these bundles are cheaper than buying the individual games! So even if you only want one Darksiders game, you should go ahead and buy the full set.
American McGee on F2P, Ouya and his 'acceptable' experience with EA
American McGee's Spicy Horse studio is shrugging off the madness of console development to create free-to-play, browser- and cloud-based games such as Kongregate's Big Head Bash. This move follows Spicy Horse's partnership with EA to launch Alice: Madness Returns last year as a mainstream, boxed and digital title. Alice was Spicy Horse's last foray into the physical space, McGee tells Game Informer."Our studio wouldn't consider going back to traditional console development, but I do think we'll end up being in the right place when consoles come back to us," he says. "By that I mean we fully expect the definition of 'console' to shift radically over the next two years. Our consoles will become our mobile devices (Or if you prefer: Our mobile devices will become our consoles)."Spicy Horse has already seen a larger return on investment from its free-to-play games than Alice ever produced, or likely ever will. This is the future, McGee says, and static games locked to specific physical media will be unable to compete with always-updating, fluid titles in the free-to-play universe.
Amazon offering dramatic discounts on digital EA games starting this Sunday
Amazon doesn't care for your silly stack of unplayed, unopened games -- it simply wants to trick you into buying more with a variety of impressive deals, albeit on games that exist only in the digital realm. Starting this coming Sunday (the 15th) and running through the end of the week (the 21st), individual EA titles will be offered day by day at ridiculously discounted prices: Bulletstorm and Dead Space 2 for $7 a pop, for instance. The daily itemized list is just after the break, should you be preparing for yet another (admittedly minor) assault on your bank account in the effort to catch up on 2011's best games. Might we suggest conquering the concept of time scarcity first?
Best of the Rest: Jess' picks of 2011
To the Moon Sometimes we play games to ease real-life frustrations, to cure boredom, to slaughter enemies or to participate in a captivating story. To the Moon, developed by Freebird Games, can do all of these things. It doesn't require you to murder any foes, although its very foundation is in death, and it offers a soothing, philosophical story with more depth than its pixelated graphics initially suggest. As a point-and-click adventure, To the Moon is more of an interactive tale than a full-on game, yet it is so engaging that the lack of quests, boss fights or bullets becomes irrelevant. To the Moon chronicles the last day of an old man's life, but that day includes a Benjamin Button-style adventure through his past as a duo of snarky scientists attempt to change his memories. Why? So that his final wish can come true, at least in his mind, before he dies. In the end, To the Moon is a beautiful and complex love story and, though I don't want to give the entire plot away, I'll tell you his final wish has something to do with interstellar travel.
Amazon's vorpal sword cuts $20 off Alice: Madness Returns
As if it'd taken a swig from a bottle labeled "Drink Me," the price tag on Alice: Madness Returns has diminished in size at Amazon. This week only, the retailer is offering American McGee's second excursion into Wonderland for $20 off, making it $40 on PS3 and 360 and $30 on PC. The deal is available only "while supplies last," and joins similar week-long discounts on Brink and The Witcher 2 -- which is also a fantasy game, but features far fewer flying pig snouts.
Alice: Madness Returns Review: Madness over method
Crazy is not as easy as it looks. If you want to create a world of nightmarish whimsy like that in Alice: Madness Returns, it takes more than just throwing random bloody bits into a blender and spewing it all over the walls. You need careful planning; a formula of producing unease that will affect the player. When Madness Returns is at the top of its formula, it is a fascinatingly dark and grotesque psychological tale. Unfortunately, the game's greatest strength tends to be impeded by gameplay that doesn't feel so much mad as obsessive-compulsive.%Gallery-118730%
Alice: Madness Returns trailer plays some minigames
Alice: Madness Returns will soon be unleashed to inflict that most terrible of scourges upon a platformer, the dreaded "minigame."
Alice: Madness Returns launch trailer is comparatively sane
Sure, the launch trailer for Alice: Madness Returns posted after the break features some genuinely upsetting imagery, discussion on how Wonderland is actually Hell, and murder -- but at least nobody rips their own face off. We're actually going to chalk that up as a victory for sanity.
Alice: Madness Returns screens are hysterical
There's nothing funny about a disturbed young girl clutching a giant butcher knife -- especially if she's near death and her Hysteria meter is full. When those morbid criteria are met, the star of Alice: Madness Returns can launch into a psychotic frenzy that would make Ryu Hayabusa proud.
Free Alice: Madness Returns iOS storybook released
We're still trying to wrap our minds around this recent, clever cross-promotion set up by American McGee's Spicy Horse for its upcoming psychopathic title, Alice: Madness Returns. Here's where we're at so far: They took a storybook, and turned it into a game, which they've now turned into a recently released iPhone and iPad-compatible storybook, which prefaces the events of yet another game. The iOS storybook is a sound investment, as reading through it unlocks a code which saves you $10 on an Alice: Madness Returns pre-order through the EA Store. Still, it's one of the most crazily recursive promotions we've seen in a good, long time. Why, it's nearly as insane as the game's latest trailer! Ha, just kidding. Nothing is that insane.
Alice: Madness Returns preview: Pretty weird
Ten years after the original American McGee's Alice debuted -- ten years! -- its sequel is nearly here. With its June 14 launch just over a month away, I accepted an invitation to dive into its fractured Wonderland and play through the first of its five chapters. Although a decade has passed, it felt like I'd never left. While the core game design hasn't changed much -- platforming interspersed with combat -- Alice: Madness Returns is harnessing today's tech to convey a visual spectacle that's closer to McGee's original concepts than the first game could get at the time. It's also capitalizing on some new design ideas dreamt up by its imaginative designers at Spicy Horse.%Gallery-123547%
Alice intro trailer is face-scratchingly insane
How does one put this politely? Alice done gone mad... again. We submit as evidence the story trailer for Alice: Madness Returns. It's, admittedly, a little disturbing.
Alice: Madness Returns' 'Online Pass' grants you Alice 1 (it's $10 otherwise)
"I should very much like to tell you of Project Ten Dollar," pleaded Alice. "Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense," replied The Mock Turtle. EA has confirmed that the original American McGee's Alice will be bundled as a downloadable bonus with Alice: Madness Returns when it's released on June 14. The catch is that the download will be tied to an "Online Pass," EA's special name for access to its games' online components, which are unlocked with registration codes included in new copies of the games. Additionally, players will be required to have the Madness Returns disc in the tray to access Alice 1. If you purchase Madness Returns used (and without an unused Online Pass code), you'd have to pay $10 for the downloadable bonus. This marks the first time that the original Alice will be available on consoles. It will not be available on XBLA or PSN as a separate purchase -- at least, not immediately.
McGee: Alice sequel to include original game as DLC bonus
Alice: Madness Returns will include the original Alice, according to Spicy Horse head American McGee. Speaking to CVG, McGee said, "A person who's purchased Madness Returns gets a download code and is able to bring Alice 1 onto their console and play through the entire original game alongside playing Madness Returns." Additionally, McGee teased that the Alice sequel would see plenty of DLC ... dresses, which "come with special abilities and enhance how you play through the game." Curiouser and curiouser, an EA representative told Joystiq, "Unfortunately, we do not have information in regards to Alice: Madness Returns including the original Alice game." Either way, Alice: Madness Returns is slated for June 14 ... unless it's not. Madness, right?
American McGee's Spicy Horse to focus on free-to-play games after Alice: Madness Returns
More than ten years after overseeing Alice with now-defunct developer Rogue Entertainment, American McGee is wrapping up a sequel with his Shanghai-based company, Spicy Horse. "This will be the first ever console triple-A game that's been developed from beginning to end in China, for the Western market," McGee told Joystiq during an EA event last Tuesday. "There's been a lot of stuff that's been outsourced, or various pieces of it have been made there, but in terms of production process we had to invent a lot of what we were doing to get this game made there." Spicy Horse was restructured to handle development of Alice: Madness Returns, and will restructure again once it launches the action game in June. "Well, we don't see that the future for us is in triple-A console games," McGee said. "We actually are trying to make games that are online, free-to-play, 3D advanced casual games, so as we finish this we're going to transition the company back to where we were intending to be when we finished Grimm." Spicy Horse was on track to follow up Grimm -- its fantasy-themed episodic series for games portal Gametap -- with more casual fare, but was temporarily derailed by an irresistible offer from EA instead. "So, we restructured for two years, we built the game, we did a great job, we're gonna ship it on time, on schedule, we never had a crunch and it's been really awesome. But now, it's back to what our belief is in terms of where things are going, so it's going to be all about free-to-play, 3D games for Asia." McGee claims that half of the development team has already completed work on Alice: Madness Returns, with ten to fifteen people doing "last-minute cleanup" -- of a project that has gone almost suspiciously (in this industry) according to plan. "I mean, we never had a freakout moment, we never had a crunch, we never had to work on a weekend and, in fact, we were always running ahead of milestones, so we would even give extra days off when the sky was blue, or something like that," he said. "So, it was a really pleasant development experience." Since Spicy Horse is set on transforming its production process once again, it's currently unsure about what would happen if EA asked for another Alice sequel. "That's a question to ask them. But it might take them another ten years to figure it out," McGee joked.%Gallery-118730%
