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Skulls of the Shogun launching alongside Windows 8 this October [Update: Delayed]
Skulls of the Shogun isn't just an Xbox Live Arcade game, y'all. It's also a Windows 8 game, a Windows Phone 7 game, and a Surface game. So when Microsoft announced the launch date for Windows 8 yesterday, we couldn't help but wonder if that meant Skulls of the Shogun would launch alongside it. "The plan is to sim-ship on Win 8 (desktop, and both versions of Surface), Windows Phone 7 and XBLA in the same week," 17-bit's Jake Kazdal told us. So, uh, sounds like it!He added one caveat. "We're certainly shooting for day one release with Win 8, and it looks very likely, but nothing is set in stone yet," he said. Windows 8 launches on October 26, meaning you'll likely have your hands on those shogun skulls ahead of Halloween. And considering the dev studio's former name is Haunted Temple, that seems rather fitting, no?Update: Skulls of the Shogun missed its Windows 8 launch, but is now scheduled to hit on January 30 for XBLA, Windows 8, Windows Surface and Windows Phone.
Skulls of the Shogun dev becomes '17-BIT'
"It's 16-bit, plus a bit more," says CEO Jake Kazdal, who can now add "ghostbuster" to his job title. Formerly "Haunted Temple Studios," the developer behind stylized strategy-fest Skulls of the Shogun has officially changed its name to "17-BIT." The old-school alteration is meant to reflect the studio's "classic gameplay ideals," and comes after a successful trial run on the PAX East show floor."The new name sums up our goal perfectly -- taking your best memories of the 16-bit era, and making new experiences that look as good and play as well as you remember," Kazdal says.You'll get to see the studio's snazzy -- make that SNES-y -- badge tattooed on the Skulls of the Shogun, which launches on Xbox Live Arcade, Windows Phone and Windows 8 just as Microsoft pushes out its new OS (currently speculated to happen in October). The 17-BIT art itself came about with the aid of Cory Schmitz, who is quickly becoming the Nolan North of nifty logos.
Skulls of the Shogun starts strategizing this fall
Skulls of the Shogun has been teasing us with cartoonish, captivating strategy since 2010, and as its previous release window of "early 2012" is rapidly passing us by, we can finally take heart in some solid news. Developer Haunted Temple Studios says it's "pretty confident" that Skulls of the Shogun will launch on XBLA in the fall.Haunted Temple has been busy adding "a couple very cool features" and "a new platform," it says in response to a fan's inquiry on Facebook, and we can expect an official announcement with more information in the coming weeks.
Getting Skulls of the Shogun's characters just right
Haunted Temple Studios says it's still a little while out on completing Skulls of the Shogun, an impressive turn-based strategy game due out for XBLA early next year. But the current focus, as I saw during a short demo at the company's HQ (which right now means a living room in an apartment belonging to one of the developers, just a few blocks from the beach in Venice, CA), is not only weeding the bugs out, but making the game look the way it should, so players can make the best strategic decisions possible. For example, the game's archer is relatively powerful, with an attack value of six. When pitted against units with a low defense score, he can sometimes change the tide of a battle all by himself. Graphically, his role is clear -- he's got a bow, and you can clearly see when moving him around that he's meant to be a ranged character. His power isn't quite as apparent, however. Haunted Temple is working on making him look just right: weak enough that he can't withstand a close-up attack, but strong enough that, at range, he's a force to be reckoned with. %Gallery-140036%
Microsoft signs skeleton-filled strategy title Skulls of the Shogun for XBLA
Microsoft has snapped up exclusive publishing rights to the first game from Haunted Temple Studios, the dev established by former EA Los Angeles staffers Jake Kazdal, Ben Vance and Borut Pfeifer. Under the agreement, the trio's original strategy offering, Skulls of the Shogun (which we first previewed here), will debut on Xbox Live Arcade under the Microsoft Game Studios banner. Haunted Temple's Kazdal, who worked on EA and Steven Spielburg's canned Project LMNO with his two studio-mates, told Gamasutra that Microsoft "totally got" Skulls of the Shogun and "have been fully behind it" since signing it. "The support we're getting out of them has been seriously as much as I could ever ask for," he added. The game, which we've made no bones about loving so far, is due out this fall.
Skulls of the Shogun preview: Dem bones
All of us on the site seemed extra busy at E3 this year, our schedules filled with appointments for games both big and small. But each of us tried to grab a little time just wandering the show floor appointment-free, and in the 45 minutes I had to myself, I stumbled across this gem, sitting in the middle of the Indiecade booth area. Skulls of the Shogun is a game created by Jake Kazdal, Ben Vance and Borut Pfeifer, three guys with extensive game development backgrounds who decided to go it independently as Haunted Temple Studios. We saw it in action last October, but I'd never heard of it before, and I was instantly charmed by the premise: a group of cartoon-y skeleton Shogun warriors battle it out in turn-based strategy, with no hexes to be seen.%Gallery-126236%
Skulls of the Shogun preview: Turn-based strategy for Dummies
Turn-based strategy games have always been up there with creased jeans and Styrofoam as among my biggest turn-offs. There's something about the static, menu-based gameplay that runs contrary to what I usually look for in a game. So when my girlfriend wants to check out Skulls of the Shogun at PAX, I reluctantly decide to indulge her. It's good to try new things. Little did I know I was about to discover a highlight of the show. %Gallery-104184%
