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Popular indie game 'Dear Esther' is coming to iOS
Journey made a surprise debut on iOS this week and you'll soon be able to play another indie darling on the go. The Chinese Room says its exploration-focused Dear Esther will be available for iPhone and iPad later this year.
Classic FM’s video game show is returning for a second series
Classic FM is bringing back High Score, a weekly radio show dedicated to video game music. The first series ran for six weeks in April and May, and was presented by Jessica Curry, a BAFTA-wining composer and co-founder of now-on-hiatus game studio The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, So Let Us Melt). Curry will return for season two, which runs for six weeks starting on November 4th at 9pm. The first and final instalments will be request shows, while the middle four explore themes such as love, quests, and the best video game music of 2017.
'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' creator goes 'dark'
It's a tough time for one of the game industry's more creative studios. The Chinese Room, the developers behind award-winners like Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Dear Esther, has revealed that it's "going dark" for the months ahead. The company isn't shutting entirely, but it quietly laid off its team after finishing its new title So Let Us Melt and won't be a "fully active" firm "for the time being." As co-founder Dan Pinchbeck explains, it's really a combination of factors that prompted the decision.
The Chinese Room made a VR parable for Google Daydream
Indie developer The Chinese Room is releasing its first-ever virtual reality game. So Let Us Melt is a sci-fi parable about a machine lost in a paradise of its own making. Exclusively available on Google's Daydream VR platform, the title sees the developer reuniting with Bafta award-winning composer Jessica Curry.
Classic FM to host weekly show on orchestral video game music
Final Fantasy. Skyrim. The Legend of Zelda. These and so many other video game franchises offer beautiful, sweeping scores for players to get lost in. Unfortunately, however, they're not always known or appreciated by people outside of the gaming community. Recognition is improving through live concerts and awards, but there's still a long way to go. The latest effort to champion and broaden its appeal is a new radio show on Classic FM. It'll be hosted by Jessica Curry, co-founder of British game studio The Chinese Room and composer of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and focus on symphonic video game music in particular.
Wander through 'Dear Esther' on PS4 and Xbox One next month
Before Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, indie developer The Chinese Room (TCR) wowed people with Dear Esther. The first-person narrative started as a mod for Half-life 2 in 2008 before the team released it as a standalone game in 2012. At that point, the game sold 16,000 copies on Steam in its first five-and-a-half hours and the team recouped its development costs ($55,000) in one fell swoop. Next month, it'll finally grace the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the form of Dear Esther: Landmark Edition. Fun fact: Original financier Indie Fund proposed releasing the game on PlayStation Network instead of Steam. So this is kind of a four-years-in-the-making homecoming for the game.
BAFTA winner 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' hits PC Thursday
You really should check out the Rapture. The Chinese Room's celebrated exploration game, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, lands on Steam for PC on Thursday, April 14th, at a price of $20 (£16). It debuted on PlayStation 4 in August and we took it for a spin live on Twitch that month. For a game set in a small abandoned village, it's filled with drama and adventure as players attempt to uncover the mysteries hidden in the rural land.
Eerie adventure 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' heads to PC
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was one of my favorite games that came out in 2015. Yes, it's one of those divisive "walking simulators," but the intriguing narrative and stunning depiction of rural England had me hooked. Today, developer The Chinese Room has confirmed what's been rumored for almost three months now -- that the game is coming to PC. There's no release date just yet, but when it does arrive it's safe to assume it'll be available on Steam. If you've opted for a PC gaming rig over a PlayStation 4, this is your chance to see what the fuss is all about.
'Rapture' game soundtrack pulled from out-of-touch UK charts
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a post-apocalyptic game with a difference. Instead of a nuclear wasteland, you're tasked with exploring an idyllic, but empty town in the middle of the English countryside. There's little dialogue, but the sweeping soundtrack sets a wonderfully melancholic tone. Composed by the game's director Jessica Curry, these original tracks are excellent examples of modern classical music. And clearly they've resonated with people -- earlier this month, the soundtrack placed eighth in the UK's "Official Classical Artist Albums Chart." Curry and the rest of her studio, The Chinese Room, were delighted. That is, until it disappeared from the chart the following week.
Playdate: Walking blindly into 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture'
Welcome back to Playdate, where Engadget runs through the latest games while broadcasting them live on Twitch. If you're feeling a bit of déjà vu that's entirely natural; you have been here before. Whereas JXE Streams was our awkwardly named show while we figured out what was going to happen with streaming moving forward, well, we've figured out what we're doing with streaming moving forward. Mostly. Hence us going back to the moniker we started with last year. Think of this as a vote of confidence from us that we're moving toward consistency and normalcy for our broadcasts. It's a good thing!
Explore 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' on August 11th
The middle of August is looking mighty fine if you're an indie game fan. Not only do we get the incredibly snazzy-looking Volume from Mike Bithell on the 18th, Everybody's Gone to Rapture exclusively hits PlayStation 4 the week prior on August 11th according to the PS Blog. What's more, the mysterious look at what happens after the world ends from the team behind Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs has a new website that'll be updated with fiction, music and more on the road to the game's release.
The mystery of 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' lifts a little more
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a new game from The Chinese Room, the studio behind beautiful exploration experience Dear Esther and horror game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. It's exclusive to PlayStation 4 and takes place in a gorgeous, abandoned 3D world. In-game, players embark on a mission to discover where everyone in this quaint village went -- how and why they all seemingly, suddenly popped out of existence. Time plays a "fairly central role" in the game and it involves mysterious beams of golden light. The Chinese Room revealed Everybody's Gone to the Rapture at Sony's Gamescom presentation in 2013 with an eerie trailer hinting at a retro, post-apocalyptic environment, and the latest video expands on these themes. It's similarly vague but offers a look at another environment, this time an empty children's classroom that appears to have been ransacked by ... something. Along with the new video, The Chinese Room offers a taste of the game's music with a haunting, orchestral track.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs review: Forgetting who you are
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs has made me question my sanity, or, at least, it's made me question my memories of playing the original Amnesia: The Dark Descent nearly three years ago. Admittedly, I don't have an acute recollection of the entire experience, but the sheer, overriding terror that The Dark Descent instilled in me is something I will likely carry forever. But now I find the truth of that ingrained emotion in doubt, because the same terror is seldom to be found in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Don't get me wrong, its gruesome world is lovingly crafted in disgusting detail, and its tale is horrifying in the truest sense of the word – but I wouldn't really call it frightening.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture on PS4 [Update: trailer, screens]
British development studio thechineseroom, the developers behind Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, is preparing a PS4 game called Everbody's Gone to the Rapture. We were only given a brief glimpse during Sony's Gamescom keynote, but we noticed some strong Ico overtones.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs sn-out in September
Amnesia indirect sequel A Machine for Pigs is set to finally freak out on September 10, priced at a 20 percent off pre-order tag of $16 on GOG. The follow-up to The Dark Descent was first slated for around this time last year, but saw delays as the PC, Mac, and Linux survival horror grew from a "short experiment" into a "fully fledged Amnesia game." A Machine for Pigs carries on Amnesia's brand of first-person scares, with development in the hands of Dear Esther studio The Chinese Room, with Dark Descent dev Frictional Games handling publishing duties. The second Amnesia is set in 1899, some 60 years after the first game, this time focusing on a business magnate who returns to Victorian London after encountering tragedy abroad - and we doubt it was food poisoning. The Chinese Room isn't just working on A Machine for Pigs; the British studio has signed up with an unnamed "major publisher" on a next-gen console game, due summer 2015.
The Chinese Room job listings call out next-gen game for 2015
British development studio thechineseroom, the outfit you may remember for its work on Dear Esther and the upcoming Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, is working on an open-world, first-person game for next-generation consoles. "We have just signed a development deal with a major publisher and are expanding our team for a next-generation console project, scheduled for release in summer 2015," a job listing for a visual FX artist points out. A second job listing for an audio designer mentions the unannounced game runs on CryEngine 3, suggesting this next-gen console game is Everybody's Gone to Rapture, the spiritual successor to Dear Esther. The official site for thechineseroom says to expect more info on this mystery game "in late summer." In February, thechineseroom pushed back A Machine for Pigs' launch to the second quarter of this year, between April and June.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs delayed to late summer
Frictional Games has pushed back the release date of its Amnesia: The Dark Descent follow-up A Machine for Pigs, citing a need to optimize the game on multiple fronts. "We are optimizing, tweaking and in general putting [our] expertise to good use," Frictional Games co-founder Jens Nilsson explains in a forum post at the developer's website. "[Co-developer thechineseroom] keeps putting in work as well," Nilsson continues. "There are companies working on the translations (will launch with 9 languages in addition to original English). The porting guys are porting away. Deals are being made. Things are prepared for launching the game through more online stores than any other [Frictional Games] game before." Amnesia introduced its unique brand of first-person horror to PC platforms in 2011, and while A Machine for Pigs was originally set to launch in time for Halloween last year, subsequent delays set its release back to the second quarter of 2013. Frictional Games has not announced a new release date for A Machine for Pigs, but notes that the game will launch "as the summer comes to an end."
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs delayed once more to Q2 2013
An official blog post from Frictional Games now says that the publisher's Amnesia: The Dark Descent followup, subtitled A Machine for Pigs, is due out not in "early 2013," as last stated, but in "Q2 2013," which means in April of this year or later. That's another slight delay for the title, which was originally scheduled for release back at Halloween last year.What's the holdup? Frictional says that A Machine for Pigs was originally planned as "a short, experimental game set in the universe of Amnesia," but as developers thechineseroom filled out the project, it became apparent that the "short experiment" was becoming "a fully fledged Amnesia game." So Frictional has made the decision to do it up right, which means another few months of waiting for fans. Frictional also says pricing and availability information is coming soon, so we'll keep an eye out for that.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will take lessons from Dear Esther
One of the keys to creating Dear Esther, said thechineseroom's Dan Pinchbeck, was allowing the player as much control over the narrative as possible. Speaking at a panel during GDC Europe, Pinchbeck addressed the intentional ambiguity of Dear Esther, saying that it gave players more freedom, thus making their time with the game more enjoyable. Rather than presenting the player with predetermined series of events, Dear Esther's story is filled with ambiguity and revealed randomly, leaving it to the player to interpret it. In a very real sense, they actually participate in the story's creation.While most games lay out their stories in a clear, linear fashion – think big budget FPS and action games – Pinchbeck likens Dear Esther's story to a toy box. Instead of giving players a cohesive, linear story, thechineseroom created story blocks and lets players put them together. It's a bit like "story Minecraft," he said. "The story of Dear Esther doesn't actually particularly tell you anything. It just suggests things that could have happened, but you can do the work."People are driven to think of events in terms of story, he said. "If something looks and feels enough like a story, people are likely to interpret the action in a storied way." As such, when creating Dear Esther, thechineseroom wasn't concerned with creating a complete, fully rounded story. "What we can try and do in games, is not tell a story, but to provide the player with the toolbox – the tools, the bricks that they need to tell the stories themselves," said Pinchbeck. "In exactly the same way that we consider things like physics sandboxes," he adds, "if you provide those units of useful, interesting stuff that players can play with, they will create an experience from it."During the Q&A session, we asked Pinchbeck if Thechineseroom's next project, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will follow the same model of abstract storytelling. Unlike Dear Esther, said Pinchbeck, A Machine for Pigs exists within the constraints of a "classic horror story," so it won't follow the same model entirely. "What we're going to try and do is we're going to try and keep the lessons that we've learned in terms of not funneling the plot down, not being really explicit with the player about what's going on, using inference, using suggestion," he said. "We're trying to have any opportunities we can to keep that open" for players to do the work of piecing together the ambiguous bits, which he says are especially important in a horror game. "You pretty much can't represent anything in a horror game that's going to be more scary than what the player thinks you're going to represent, and the moment you actually show it, you've lost an awful lot of the power you've got to scare them."
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs delayed to 2013
Excellent news for the sanity of survival horror fans everywhere: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will not be making its intended 2012 launch. Originally slated to arrive in time for Halloween, A Machine for Pigs will now be released in early 2013, thechineseroom creative director Dan Pinchbeck said in a recent interview with GameZone. "The quality of the game is the absolute first, last, and always with this development," he told the outlet, adding that the game "could do with a few more months' work."In a follow-up with Giant Bomb, Pinchbeck noted that thechineseroom will "definitely have more to show in the not too distant future."
