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Seminal game publisher Sierra returns from obscurity with 'Geometry Wars'
Ready to blast some pinwheels again? Hallowed '90s game publisher Sierra is back as an Activision subsidiary with an upcoming sequel to King's Quest and, yes, Geometry Wars. The latter game will be called Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, and Venture Beat reports that Sierra is in talks with independent developers to produce new content as well. In case you've forgotten (or not played the mobile versions), Geometry Wars is about avoiding and blasting an ever-thickening pile of graphically-shaped enemies. It first came out on the original Xbox platform through Project Gotham Racing 2, while the sequel arrived on Xbox Live Arcade -- leaving Xbox One gamers in the lurch. There's no word on which platforms it'll hit when it arrives this Christmas, but Sierra did say that King's Quest will come to Xbox Live, Playstation Network and Steam in 2015 -- a good sign for Geometry Wars.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
New Xbox 360 Elite holiday bundle and Wireless Controller Game Pack announced
We'd been hearing that Microsoft had a new Xbox 360 holiday bundle in the works, and here we go: $299 will nab you an Elite, Lego Batman, and Pure. Not a bad deal -- and if you already have a 360, you can score a new controller, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Lumines LIVE!, Bomberman LIVE! and Ms Pac-Man for another $60. The new Elite pack should be shipping to retailers today, but you'll have to wait until November to snag the controller bundle. Now if only Microsoft would see fit to bundle in some freaking WiFi, we'd be all set.
Freeverse's Neon Tango continues the shape shooter tradition
Freeverse has release a new arcade shooter for the Mac called Neon Tango, and upon first glance, it looks a lot like Geometry Wars (which I've played many, many times late into the night on my Xbox 360). But then again, Geometry Wars looks like Asteroids, which looks like Space War, and so on, all the way back, so the only thing that really matters here is how it plays; fun's fun. Freeverse brags that Neon Tango has "state of the art OpenGL graphics," a techno soundtrack put together by someone named "Digital Droo," and lots and lots of various shapes throughout 50 stages for you to shoot with your little ship avatar.The game is currently available as a trial download over on their website, or you can get the full version for $24.95. Looks like fun.
Activision pockets Project Gotham dev Bizarre Creations
Independent UK developer Bizarre Creations of Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars fame is now the property of Activision following an acquisition announcement this morning, making the studio one of Activision's wholly owned subsidiaries. The move by Activision follows last year's purchase of Guitar Hero publisher Red Octane, and while financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Activision notes that its first Bizarre Creations game will not be released until sometime following fiscal 2009. That said, Bizarre Creations will still release its visceral shooter The Club as an indie for publisher Sega this February for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The upcoming Project Gotham Racing 4 will be the studio's final game for Microsoft.While it's always somewhat disheartening to see once independent developers sapped up like this, in some ways it's inevitable, especially given the high costs associated with console game development. Still, according to a blog post on Bizarre Creations' website, Activision's ownership will be "hands off," leaving creative control in the studio's capable hands, for now at least. In addition, the post adds that the company will have "absolutely no redundancies," no doubt causing a sigh of relief from those in the trenches.
PGR4 demo to have exclusive content
A demo from Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 4 should be hitting Xbox Live soon, according to the developer (via Eurogamer). In addition to five playable vehicles (cars and bikes) that presumably will be in the full game, there will be an Arcade mode exclusive to the demo set in Macau, featuring exclusive challenges.We're a bit perplexed about the exclusive content. If it's good, why not include it in the full game. Conversely, if the content is not good, or not on par with the full game, why use it to promote the title?A time trial for Nurburgring Snow will also be in the demo. Project Gotham Racing 4 (with Geometry Wars: Waves) is due out October 2 in North America.
See Geometry Wars: Waves from Project Gotham Racing 4
As you probably expected, as you fire up your copy of Project Gotham Racing 4, lurking inside will be a new evolution of the Geometry Wars series called Geometry Wars: Waves. This new video offers a sneak peek of what you can expect and as you can see, it's definitely Geometry Wars.The enemies are obviously acting different (coming at you in waves, appropriately enough), but we don't see much change from the XBLA version other than that. The graphics look a little snazzier, but that could just be out imagination. So, no, it's not going to something you'll pay full price to get your hands on, but it looks like a nice perk if you were planning on picking up PGR 4 anyway.[Thanks, Jonah]
Geometry Wars: Waves to be PGR4 exclusive
Talking with Pro-G at the Leipzig Games Convention, Bizarre Creations confirmed that a new Geometry Wars game will be exclusively bundled with Project Gotham Racing 4. The new geometry shooter will be called Geometry Wars: Waves and will not be available on the XBLA like it's older brother Retro Evolved, instead it'll stay attached to PGR4 for the long run. Bizarre Creations also mentioned that the new Waves is based off of Retro Evolved and is not officially considered to be the next game in the series. Whatever that may entail or mean, we know that we're getting a new Geometry Wars on October 2nd. W00t!
Geometry Wars returning in Project Gotham Racing 4
Speaking to Pro-G at the Leipzig Games Convention, Bizarre Creations has revealed that a new Geometry Wars game will be featured in October's Project Gotham Racing 4. Dubbed "Geometry Wars: Waves," the shape shooter will be an exclusive Project Gotham bonus and unlike Retro Evolved, won't be sold on Xbox Live Arcade. That makes for an excellent bonus for racing fans, but a $60 investment for those just hoping to exact revenge on the sneaky green square.Not to worry though, as Bizarre also stated that Waves is based on Retro Evolved and not a "true" sequel as such. Alternatively, you can be sucked in by the gravity wells of Geometry Wars: Galaxies, out this Fall on DS and Wii.
Today's multi-directional videos: Everyday Shooter & Mutant Storm Empire
The multi-directional shooter hasn't enjoyed this much acceptance since we willingly blew hundreds of quarters on Smash TV back in the day. Of course, the shooters of today sport better (see: fair) design and we have Geometry Wars to hold up as the gold standard. Our waggling cohorts over at Wii Fanboy already took a stab at the bizarre trailer for Geometry Wars Galaxies, but there's so much more going on at the moment. Everyday Shooter is the indie wonder work of Jon Mak and is best described as the love child of Rez and Every Extend Extra: both of which were also musically inspired shooters by the Gooch. Where Everyday Shooter will be gracing the PlayStation Network, Mutant Storm Empire is a sequel to the XBLA launch title. The original was a fantastic, albeit, overlooked shooter and we're dying to get this sequel in our hands with its co-operative play and hugely expanded level design. Neither of these shooters have a solid release date at the moment and while we expected to be playing Mutant Storm Empire soon, it's suspiciously missing from Microsoft's latest release list.
Geometry Wars sequel may be headed to the 360
In an interview with CVG, Bizarre Creations community all-star Ben Ward talked about Geometry Wars and its future on the Xbox 360. When asked about the series' future, Ward stated that even though the franchise is making its way onto other platforms (Geometry Wars Galaxies on the Wii and Geometry Wars Mobile on cells) that they aren't ignoring the Xbox 360 saying that "there's a lot going on, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about the Xbox 360 ...". Official confirmation of Geometry Wars 2 on the 360? Not so much. But we're nearly guaranteeing that it will happen in the near future. Really, how could it not?
E307: Joystiq goes hands-on with Geometry Wars
Those lucky Joystiq folk got their hands on the DS adaptation of the Xbox Live Arcade hit Geometry Wars during the recently-concluded E3. After running it through their rigorous gauntlet of tests, Joystiq came to the conclusion that the game was sloppy and hard to handle. More like hard to swallow for all of those looking forward to playing the game on the DS, we imagine. Even with the ability to guide your attack ship with the d-pad, or exclusive use of the stylus, the game is harder to play than on the Xbox 360, according to Joystiq. With 60 levels to play, we imagine even a little bit of time with the game won't help correct this error. Guess the game just needs analog sticks ... %Gallery-4777%
E307: Geometry Wars Galaxies gets new screens and very busy boxart
Geometry Wars Galaxies, besides being a baffling display of brightly-colored sparks, is also a pretty neat shooting game. It's somewhat easier to tell what's going on in screenshots than to be dropped right in the middle of gameplay like in the video. If, like us, you couldn't really figure it out, we recommend the screens. That boxart is just a swirly mess of sparks, though. It's like someone superimposed five Rez boxarts together. Galaxies has some exciting features in store, like co-op play and online leaderboards. We checked with Sierra to inquire about online co-op, and learned that, unfortunately, the online aspect was limited to leaderboards. But the bottom line is that this third-party Wii game uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for something, and that is very promising news. Owners of both the DS and Wii versions can connect the two and unlock mysterious bonus content. Connecting the games also allows access to the Elite Leaderboard for people who are really good at playing the same game on two systems! %Gallery-4795%
E307: Geometry Wars: Galaxies gets slightly online
The Xbox 360's best launch game, Geometry Wars, is heading to the much-less-HD screens of the DS, and we've got the first screens of Geometry Wars: Galaxies. It appears to have been adapted to a touch-screen-based method of control, but we're sure that's the first thing you thought of when you heard about, well, a DS game. More interestingly, the DS version of Geometry Wars has online leaderboards! And if you happen to end up with both the DS and Wii versions of the game, you can combine your high scores and compete on the Elite Leaderboards. An apt name for something that basically requires more money to use. Publisher Sierra Entertainment says that Galaxies contains the full version of the Xbox 360's Retro Evolved as well as a new single-player campaign. %Gallery-4777% [Via press release]
Geometry Wars video hurts
We think we've underestimated Xbox 360 gamers. Not that we didn't hold them in high regard, but we just assumed that they were all humans. We don't know how anyone can play Geometry Wars and see what's going on through all the sparks and particle effects. It must require a feat of concentration just to track your own ship on the screen. We could barely play Bangai-O on the Dreamcast, and this is like Bangai-O with everything made of sparks. Wii gamers are going to get extra complexity in Geometry Wars: Galaxies, since we'll have to track not only our ship but also the Wiimote-controlled aiming reticle. It's like training your brain! Also, oooooh pretty. [Via Joystiq]
Geometry Wars XP debuts on Steam
Those hoping to engage in wanton shape genocide without a console's involvement can now look towards Valve's online game distribution service, Steam, now hosting a Windows XP version of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Developed by Bizarre Creations and considered by many to be the Xbox 360's first must-have game, Geometry Wars is being offered at an introductory price of $2.50, half that of its 2005 "supposed to be free" launch price. The game will be shifted to $3.95 starting June 22. If Steam isn't your thing either, perhaps this holiday season's Geometry Wars: Galaxies on the Wii and DS will be enough to enlist you in the fight against circles and diamonds. Failing that, we'll have to conclude that you're one of them -- a total square.
Indies and consoles: an imperfect system
According to Gamasutra's Simon Carless, the independent scene is facing an uphill battle when developing for consoles, specifically in the realm of digital distribution. Carless argues that the difficulty in bringing a title across all platforms, both for technological and business reasons.Other than some retro titles (e.g. Joust), a very small number of downloadable title are appearing on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is one of the few exceptions, and Capcom's Christian Svensson said it required "considerable coordination" to get the titles on both consoles, which indicates to us that less established independent houses would have insurmountable difficulty.Carless notes that Sony's collection, retro games aside, are predominantly first party (though we should note that flOw went to Sony because they actively sought out the independent title). Nintendo has always talked about bringing original games to the Wii, and there have been murmurings of a Game Channel, but so far all the only tangible indication of a non-Virtual Console title is Impossible Mission.Carless' analogy to the film industry (three separate formats for theatre chains), though admittedly ham-fisted, does not account for industry history. It may be unfair to the independent developer, but there hasn't been a time when gaming was controlled by a single format. Sure, development teams are now much larger and require a bigger budget, but that hasn't stopped smaller teams from succeeding with Geometry Wars, Ragdoll Kung-Fu, and Alien Hominid (pictured). The state of indie games isn't ideal, but it seems to be getting better. We say keep on fighting, Simon.
Geometry Wars Galaxies defects to Wii and DS
Coming our way from the latest issue of Nintendo Power is word that Bizarre Creations' Xbox Live Arcade-defining hit Geometry Wars will be gracing the Wii and DS. The title, which will feature the Evolved and Retro modes of its Xbox 360 counterpart, is also to have an "extensive single-player campaign." No word on whether the game will be offered via download or sold in boxed retail form, so be sure to keep an eye on DS Fanboy for further news as it develops. [Via NeoGAF]
Geometry Wars: Galaxies shooting for Wii, DS
Humanity's vendetta against simple (and notably evil) geometric shapes is set to continue its expansion beyond the humble beginnings as a bonus in Project Gotham Racing. Xbox Live Arcade, Vista and mobile phones now find themselves joined in the war by the Wii and DS, at least if the July issue of Nintendo Power is to be believed. A blurb in the magazine (via Buttonbasher) asserts that Geometry Wars: Galaxies will be arriving on both Nintendo platforms thanks to the efforts of "the dev team responsible for Battalion Wars." That would imply the involvement of the UK's Kuju Entertainment, which is apparently hard at work grafting "an extensive single-player campaign" onto the game's frantic combat. Of course, we fully expect a gripping and operatic storyline to go with it, something along the lines of an intergalactic mathemagician attempting to tri-strangulate vital supply route coordinates. Alas, our expectations are oft set too high. A multiplayer mode and prior versions of Geometry Wars are also said to be included in both packages, expected to materialize this Fall. It probably wouldn't be absurd to expect a new Geometry Wars game alongside Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing 4 either.
Geometry Wars was 'supposed to be' free
In a recent interview with IGN, Ben Ward of Bizarre Creations said Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was intended to be a free gift to hardcore gamers. They eventually realized they couldn't pull it off, so they went with the bare minimum price Microsoft would allow: 400 points. As we all know, Bizarre later attacked the free Geometry Wars clone for the PC, Grid Wars, claiming it "impacted the sales" of their game. Why so uptight when they wanted their game to be free in the first place? We understand that operating a business requires you to protect your intellectual property, but if the intention was to give it away, clones shouldn't be an issue. Either the Grid Wars fiasco was Microsoft-induced or these latest comments are nothing more than PR-speak. Something doesn't quite add up. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
