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Skulls of the Shogun gives asynchronous, cross-platform play a turn
Skulls of the Shogun will feature Skulls Anywhere mode, which offers cross-platform play and asynchronous multiplayer across all of its launch platforms: XBLA, Windows Phone, Windows 8 PC and Windows 8 tablet, a la Microsoft Surface. Players with the required devices will be able to take turns independently of one another, for up to four players, and the single-player campaign will be accessible across all Windows platforms through cloud saves."The turn-based nature of the game makes for perfect asynchronous play across every platform we're shipping on," 17-BIT's Jake Kazdal says. "You can start playing a game at home on your Xbox, then head out and play a few turns from the same game on your phone. You might be playing against someone on a PC or a tablet - everyone's connected via Xbox Live. And regardless of platform, everyone's having the same great experience, because it's the exact same game across all those devices."Skulls of the Shogun will still feature online, real-time multiplayer, called Skulls Online, and the standard local multiplayer matches.
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%
Indiecade 2011 finalists announced, include Fez, Skulls of the Shogun and Sword and Sworcery
The IndieCade Festival has announced its list of finalists for next month's event in Culver City, California, and it's going to be a packed house. There are no fewer than 36 indie titles on the list. From bigger profile titles like Bit.Trip Flux, Fez, and the XBLA-bound Skulls of the Shogun to smaller affairs like the great Desktop Dungeons and the five-year-old powered Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure, the festival's games run the gamut. There will be developers from all over the world at the event, and all of the finalist games will be playable at the festival on October 8-9, with the last 10 awards being passed out at a Red Carpet Awards ceremony on October 6. The finalists were chosen from 446 submissions to the festival by group of 100 jurors. Past IndieCade finalists have found lots of success, either as downloadable titles on PC, or even indie releases on XBLA or PSN. And with the quality in this year's list, that trend will likely continue.
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%
