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Runner 2 bounds onto all platforms late February
Gaijin Games's Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien began cantering towards a late February launch this week, with the Bit.Trip Runner sequel "just" submitted for PSN, XBLA, and Wii U eShop approval. Gaijin says its retro-styled platformer jogs onto all of PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, Mac, and Linux towards the end of the month, while the game's Steam page lists a February 26 release date.On the game's dev blog, Gaijin founder Alex Neuse detailed the strenuous-sounding final stages of the submission process, which included discovering a bug and making a last-minute fix on Wii U, having to repackage the game for XBLA, and cutting out a very minor leaderboards feature from the PSN version. The toil isn't over for the Californian indie studio, with Linux, Mac, and PC submissions still to come.
Wii U indies upbeat on Nintendo's treatment of eShop
Two indie companies working on the Wii U eShop expressed optimism about the company's efforts to sell downloadable games, a significant vote of confidence given that both of them dealt with WiiWare.Mike Roush and Alex Neuse of Gaijin Games don't speak especially highly of the original Wii service. "We don't know for sure, but it felt like it wasn't taken seriously by Nintendo, the desire for gamers to buy stuff digitally," Neuse told GamesIndustry.biz.Martin Pichlmair of Broken Rules, whose game hasing Aurora was released on the Wii U eShop at launch and whose And Yet It Moves came out on WiiWare, said that "Literally everything was easier this time around," compared to WiiWare."What's more friendly right out of the starting gate is the Wii U is developed for people to have an eShop to spend their money in and buy games easily," Gaijin's Roush noted. Neuse drew comparisons to Steam, with a less stringent (read: available) updating functionality and no first-party concept approval.
Why Mario's Martinet is Runner 2's narrator
During a recent Nintendo event, Gaijin Games revealed that Mario voice actor Charles Martinet is acting as narrator for Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. His performance is a break from what we traditionally think of when we think of Martinet, as it's a lot lower-pitched and less accented than the Mario family. But you can definitely tell it's-a him ... because he introduces himself."We wanted to get Charles because obviously he's recognizable," Gaijin Games founder Alex Neuse said in a follow-up interview. "We like him, he's funny, and silly, and great, and awesome. We wanted to have a whimsical character voice that's reminiscent of old cartoons. You remember those old Looney Tunes when they would do 'the car of the future!'" The visual design of the game is meant to recall cartoons, with bright, colorful, rounded visuals and angular, minimal Saul Bass-esque cutscenes.
Bit.Trip Void launches on Steam today, Runner2 pre-orders open
Another Bit.Trip game has been released on Steam for PC and Mac. Bit.Trip Void, the third game to be released on WiiWare originally, is out today for $8.99, 10 percent off its regular price. In addition, a game and soundtrack bundle, featuring tracks by Nullsleep, is on sale for $10.79.Even if you played it on WiiWare, there are reasons to consider checking it out on PC. Void has new difficulty modes and mid-level checkpoints, which are always embarrassingly welcome in these games.In other Steam Bit.Trip news, you can now pre-order Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien for $13.49. You'll get a free copy of Runner for your trouble.
Charles Martinet narrating Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
I met with Alex Neuse and Mike Roush last week to demo Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, the sequel to WiiWare free-runner, Bit.Trip Runner. Upon booting up the game, I noticed a familiar-sounding voice was behind the narration work, none other than the voice of Mario himself, Charles Martinet.I also noticed he introduces himself before the title screen so that also kind of gave it away."For the first time, we're allowing the press to talk about his involvement in the game – if you want to," Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse said at the outset of our time together at a demo event last week. "He does all the narration for all of the cutscenes and the advertisement in the beginning."The advertisement in question was a fake, jaunty little number for tooth barnacle cleaner that was reminiscent of the fake ads found in You Don't Know Jack. In total, there are about 10 different advertisements players will see, all voiced by Martinet.
Bit.Trip Saga coming to 3DS eShop December 20 for $15
Aksys Games is bringing Bit.Trip Saga, the Gaijin Games 3DS compilation that hit retail last year, to Nintendo's eShop on December 20. What's more, the collection will cost $14.99, saving players a whole bunch of dollars in addition to the convenience of the compilation being downloadable.Bit.Trip Saga includes Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void, Bit.Trip Runner, Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.Trip Flux. If our math is correct, that's only a couple dollars per game in the six-game bundle. What a deal! %Gallery-138323%
Bit.Trip Core joins Beat and Runner on Steam
The Bit.Trip series continues its strange, out of order journey to PC and Mac. Following successful releases of the first game in the series (Beat) and the fourth (Runner), Bit.Trip Core is available today on Steam for PC and Mac. It's $9.99 alone, or $11.99 with a downloadable soundtrack.The chronological second game in the pixelated series uses nothing but a D-pad (or, we suppose, keys to represent four directions on a D-pad), and involves deceptively simple rhythm gameplay. All you have to do is press a direction when a dot reaches the middle of the screen. Of course, it's a Bit.Trip game, so you'll be screaming and wailing at that "simple" gameplay within a few minutes. In a fun way.
Yup, 'Whetfahrt Cheeseborger' is a character in Runner 2
As if being pursued by an anthropomorphized, checkpoint-guarding pickle named Unkle Dill wasn't enough food-oriented oddness for one game, the folks at Gaijin Games have also announced that "Whetfahrt Cheesebörger" will be joining the cast of Runner 2, Future Legend of Rhythm Alien as a playable character.Cheesebörger originally hails from (where else) Hamburg, Germany. After rising to stardom during the disco revolution, hard times caused by the scene's crash in the early 80s lead Cheesebörger to its current position as the mascot for a restaurant called "Burger Mouth." Since Runner 2 will have "almost 10" playable characters, we doubt this is the last bizarre character announcement we'll see before the game's launch.Speaking of launch, Runner 2 will also be released on the Wii U at some point, sporting "Retro Challenges" to play on the WiiPad. A prototype screenshot of said challenges can be seen after the break.
Runner2's 'Unkle Dill' preserved on video
The latest build of Runner2 adds way more background detail, animation, and interactivity than I saw at GDC; there are now particles everywhere, flashy effects when you pick up a powerup item, and detailed, animated ... stuff going on behind CommanderVideo (but not too detailed for it to affect clarity.) There are fun elements like an airplane whose wings you dash across in one level, and a new cannon activity that lets you shoot CV at a target at the end of a stage if you pick anything up.The most eyecatching new element added since my last playtest is "Unkle Dill," a man-sized, anthropomorphic pickle who hangs out at checkpoints. He runs and dives at you in futility if you decide to skip the checkpoint, basically providing incentive to skip every single checkpoint.Gaijin Games posted some footage of the PAX East build, allowing you to see Unkle Dill for yourself.
See CommanderVideo's best dance moves in Runner2 video
Gaijin Games has been toiling away on Runner2 since we last saw it (and working up a nice buzz in the process), polishing up the look with particles, new animations, and other tweaks in preparation to show it to people other than us at PAX East. You can see the results above, and then compare them to the earlier version here.Perhaps even more exciting than fancy effects: in this new video, you can see CommanderVideo's "dance" mechanic demonstrated for the very first time. You can also see his new rainbow cape. Did you know the rainbow trail from Bit.Trip Runner was a cape? We didn't either.
Runner2 delayed until November, Gaijin 'thinking' about Wii U version
Gaijin Games has told Eurogamer that Runner2, which we recently played in a very early state, will be released in November of this year, despite originally being slated for "early 2012." As Eurogamer notes, that puts the PSN/XBLA game somewhere within the Wii U's release window. Accordingly, co-director Mike Roush told the site that a Wii U release is "definitely something we're thinking about."Gaijin's plans for the PS3/Xbox releases were made before the announcement of the Wii U. "When we made these decisions we never knew about Wii U, he said. "So rather than us 'leaving Nintendo', it's that these decisions were made a year ago," Roush said. "We would never leave Nintendo, we love them to death."
Runner2 development fueled by 744 beers (so far)
How do I know? I consulted the "beer count" note on the title screen of the in-progress build I played. Gaijin Games has implemented a counter to track the number of beers drank by the team during development of Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. Eventually, it'll be automated -- and keeping track live even after the game is released -- but for now it's a manually updated spreadsheet."We have a whole system," co-director Alex Neuse told me. "We have a spreadsheet; we're thinking of developing an iPhone app just to use internally. Then if you drink wine or something, we have a conversion, so it converts it to beers for the beer count." There was talk of a bottle opener that automatically logs every cap it opens.At this point I began to think that I was being told a very fanciful tale about programmers drinking programmatically, but Neuse assured me otherwise. "We are completely serious about this. This is a real thing."
My first dance with Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien is easier than Bit.Trip Runner.I'm saying this up front because I'm guessing the difficulty in Runner turned some would-be fans away, and I want those people to keep reading. If you liked the simple rhythm-platforming gameplay of Runner but hit a metaphorical wall after hitting so many literal walls, this will be more your speed. I think I got through about 8 stages in a row of fast-moving, autoscrolling, jumping, sliding, kicking gameplay without dying.In fact, a lot of the game is designed to welcome lapsed or new players. The retro look has been replaced by a polygonal style that co-director Alex Neuse describes as "whimsical," with a rounded, cartoony CommanderVideo and cute creatures bouncing happily to the music. Cutscenes in a Saul Bass art style act as both exemplars of a popular style and, as co-director Mike Roush explained, a "stepping stone between the old style and the new style." bridges between the 2D Bit.Trip look and Runner2's in-game presentation. As an XBLA/PSN title, it's also available to people who couldn't play the WiiWare-based Runner. "So this is like, hey everyone, this is our fun little gameplay thing, rhythm music platformer, and we can all play it," Neuse said.Even if you're a bad enough dude to enjoy the insane difficulty of Runner 1, there's plenty in the sequel to capture your interest. Like choices.
Bit.Trip Saga UK launch pushed forward to March 16
Ah, the rare anti-delay, a happenstance so seldom seen in the gaming world that its occurrence should be marked by fireworks and a ticker-tape parade. Those things cost money, though, and our budget is still tapped out from smuggling our Editor in Chief out of South Africa, so this post will have to suffice.Bit.Trip Saga's UK release date has been changed from March 26 to March 16, according to Pocket Gamer, and while that's still 6 months after the North American release, it is earlier than we were all expecting.
Early screenshot of Runner 2 slides out
Every once in a while it's good for Gaijin Games to pop in and remind us that it's really making a sequel to Bit.Trip Runner; it wasn't a dream after all. The latest evidence of its existence in the waking world is the screenshot above. It's early, lacking some elements like textures, but it's much less early than the fully placeholder art we saw in previous footage. And it's a good show of the fluid, cartoon-style look Gaijin Games has adopted for the new game.
Bit.Trip Saga and Complete ride a Rising Star to Europe
Bit.Trip Saga for 3DS and Bit.Trip Complete for Wii came out in September here in North America, collecting all six WiiWare Bit.Trip games into convenient new formats and, in the case of Complete, adding new challenges. Not that there wasn't enough challenge to be found already. For those of you in Europe looking for a more portable, three-dimensional and/or expanded Bit.Trip experience, Rising Star Games has signed on to publish Saga and Complete in that region, in the first quarter of 2012. Complete on Wii will include a soundtrack sampler, just as it does in North America. It's a nice way to kick back and relax when not playing the games -- you certainly won't do any kicking back while playing them. Maybe some kicking.%Gallery-138323%%Gallery-138322%
Runner 2 running in debug mode
Gaijin Games revealed the first footage of Runner 2, the XBLA/PSN followup to its Bit.Trip hit. We should mention that it's extremely early code, with placeholder graphics, running in debug mode. You can pretend it's a new graphical style that's even blockier than the original (though Runner 2 will actually be super-smooth). Even in this early state, you can see some of the new content, like a jump-slide move. More moves means ... more potentially wrong moves at any point, and more deaths. You'll actually see a couple of deaths in this demo video, proving it's still Runner.
Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2, Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
Gaijin Games has announced a sequel to the fourth entry in its lauded Bit.Trip series, Bit.Trip Runner, entitled Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2, Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. The first direct sequel in the Bit.Trip series, Runner 2 sheds the 8-bit graphical motif so closely associated with the titles in favor of something else, preliminary hints at which can be seen in the concept art gallery below. Still in the extremely early stages of development, Runner 2 returns Commander Video to action with at least 10 new abilities, HD visuals, support for "Achievements/trophies/leaderboards," unlockable costumes and "LOTS more to be revealed later." The game will arrive sometime in 2012, as a download (in true Gaijin fashion), though this time on PSN and XBLA. If the brainstorming session above is any indication, Runner 2 may feature some paradigm-shifting design choices.%Gallery-136099%
Bit. Trip collections come to 3DS and Wii September 13
Bit. Trip Saga, the 3D-ized Bit.Trip compilation for 3DS, will arrive in stores on September 13. But if you'd rather play the games on the big screen -- and especially if you didn't buy all of them on Wii already -- there's another collection for you. Bit.Trip Complete collects all six WiiWare games on a single Wii disc, with a generous pile of extras. 120 new "challenges" have been added to the games in Bit.Trip Complete, along with new difficulty modes and leaderboards. In addition, there's an "audio gallery" of new songs, demo versions, and fan remixes of the series' signature sounds. Other bonuses include image and video galleries and a bundled soundtrack CD. It'll be up to you how you want to experience these games -- handheld and in 3D, or on your TV with bonuses. You could always buy both in order to have the most options as to how you want to be mesmerized and frustrated.
Go see Hecker, Neuse and Blow speak at UC Santa Cruz next week
Between Jonathan Blow, Chris Hecker and Alex Neuse, the University of California Santa Cruz panel being held next week should be chock full of interesting, honest discussion from the trio of all-star indie developers. The group is being gathered to speak for UCSC's "Foundations of Interactive Game Design" class on May 26, though the panel is open to the public. The discussion is being moderated by associate professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin. As for what's being discussed, your guess is as good as ours. Hecker describes it as "an open panel discussion" and notes that his game SpyParty unfortunately won't be on-hand for attendees. Blow separately confirmed to us that he doesn't plan on having his studio's next game, The Witness, at the event either. Bit.Trip series co-developer Alex Neuse didn't get back to us before this post was run, but it stands to reason that his next game, Laserlife, won't make an appearance either. That isn't to say you should miss the talk, which will assuredly be thought provoking. And hey, if you're that worried about getting a chance to play SpyParty, why not sign up for the beta? That worked out pretty well with you and Minecraft, right?
