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Tell me, Muse, when The Next Penelope launches on Steam
The Next Penelope, an interstellar spaceship racing game from Arkedo co-founder Aurelien Regard, is due out on Steam Early Access on January 22. The Early Access version includes a complete single-player campaign for PC, Mac and Linux. The Next Penelope is also confirmed for Wii U, with other consoles "likely." The Next Penelope is a fast-paced racer with weapons and boss fights, and it will eventually feature four-player local multiplayer and extra-hard missions. Its story is based in Greek mythology, but placed in a futuristic world – Penelope, faithful wife of the famed adventurer Odysseus, travels a neon-tinted galaxy as Poseidon's evil threat grows, managing suitors and taking out baddies. Arkedo, the studio behind Hell Yeah! and Big Bang Mini, is now a one-man operation: Co-founder Aurelien Regard is responsible for the code, art and music of The Next Penelope. Arkedo closed shop as a studio in February 2013 under "good conditions." See the Early Access trailer for The Next Penelope below.
Arkedo co-founder working on The Next Penelope, a sci-fi racer
Arkedo co-founder Aurelien Regard is developing a stylish PC racing game inspired by Nintendo's F-Zero series, IndieGames.com reports. The Next Penelope challenges players to survive a series of overhead-view races interspersed with high-speed, free-roaming boss battles. The game is currently in development for Windows, Mac, and Linux, though IndieGames notes that developer Regard is "very interested" in console ports. Pix'n Love Rush and Hell Yeah! creator Arkedo disbanded last year due to a lack of studio funding. Co-founder Regard went on to launch the arcade-style platformer Poof vs. The Cursed Kitty for PC platforms in November. [Image: Aurelien Regard]
Arkedo co-founder announces 'Poof' for Windows, Mac and Linux
Aurelien Regard, co-founder of now-defunct Pix'n Love Rush developer Arkedo Studios, announced the upcoming release of Poöf vs. The Cursed Kitty, an arcade-style action game developed in collaboration with Neko Entertainment. Regard and programmer Dimitri Péan started work on Poöf prior to Arkedo's disbanding earlier this year. Describing it as a mixture of Super Crate Box, Orcs Must Die, and the arcade Mario Bros, Regard notes that the game has its share of strategic elements, though its core gameplay is defined by fast-paced action. Regard explained that he will see no money from Poöf's release, but felt that it was so close to completion that it would be "a shame" to see it go unreleased. Neko Entertainment is set to publish Poöf for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. A release date has not been announced.
Arkedo Studio disbands under 'good conditions'
The game industry is a bit less colorful today, with news that Arkedo Studio, maker of extraordinarily vibrant games like Hell Yeah! and Big Bang Mini, has effectively closed its doors. "Arkedo, the company, is still here," explains creative director Aurelien Regard. "But no one's employed anymore. No more games are produced either."Regard explains that the company self-funded two small games after Hell Yeah!, but had no other paid projects lined up. "So, it has been decided to disband the team when there still was enough money to get good conditions for everyone, rather than replace permanent positions with interns and a bad atmosphere," he said. In addition, everyone at Arkedo wanted to return to smaller projects than Hell Yeah!, and both Regard and co-founder Camille Guermonprez were working on their own side projects anyway.The last two Arkedo games will be released "soon," and then there will be no more Arkedo games. In an unusual twist, the studio is dissolving under seemingly amicable conditions. "What is for sure is that we still see one each other and will often do in the future," Regard said about himself and Guermonprez, "all with great pleasure and for a long time."
Hell Yeah starts wheeling in September 25
Arkedo Studio's Hell Yeah!, about a demonic rabbit in a sawblade wheel taking over-the-top, violent revenge on every underworld critter he can find, will be released on PSN September 25 in North America, on XBLA September 26, and on PC October 3. All three versions will be released on October 3 in Europe. The price is set for 1200 Microsoft Points/$14.99.Some kind of exclamation would be appropriate for this news, we feel.
How Arkedo learned to love downloadable games
Hell Yeah! is the first full-scale digital release by French studio Arkedo, after two boxed DS games and a few tentative (XBLIG) digital experiments. The transition to downloadable games was not an easy decision for a company that, according to founder Camille Guermonprez, loved packaged games. But it was a necessary one."I started Arkedo because I wanted to make a game with boxes," he told Joystiq at PAX East. "My first company was a digital game company, in 1999, for mobile games. That was a big company. I raised the money and it was lots of fun."Arkedo was a reaction to that previous work. "We wanted to be able to buy our game in a garage sale in 20 years, to be able to sell it for scrap, to give it as a gift," he explained. "You know, you can't give a gift with a digital title. Even if it's the same amount of money as a box, you look cheap. It's a shame."
Arkedo's next games are about pee and poo
Having completed development of Hell Yeah! for Sega, Arkedo Studio's first priority is to rest -- the studio is taking a month off after the production of what studio head Camille Guermonprez called Arkedo's biggest game ever.Following that, the company has its number one and number two next projects in the pipeline. "We're going to make two games, one game on 'pee' and one game on 'poo,'" Guermonprez told me at Sega's PAX East booth. "One game about pee and one game about poo," he clarified. "It's gonna be a Steam game, I think."You can fill in the joke yourselves.
Sega and Arkedo's 'Hell Yeah' revealed
Back in October, Sega and Big Bang Mini developer Arkedo showed artwork of an upcoming game called "Project Hell Yeah." The game is now officially called Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, according to an IGN reveal, and the platformer is coming to PS3 download, XBLA and PC this year.Hell Yeah is about the rabbit prince of Hell, who, uh, sets off on a mission of bloody vengeance when embarrassing photos are posted online. Judging from the animated teaser, said bloody vengeance will be carried out within a giant spinning wheel of death. That's worth an enthusiastic "sure!"
Sega and Arkedo team up for 'Project Hell Yeah'
Hell yeah! Sega has teamed up with Arkedo (Nervous Brickdown, Big Bang Mini, the Arkedo Series) to make a game currently only known as "Project Hell Yeah!" Arkedo is now running a development blog for the mystery game, from which we've learned that it has "MEGATONS" of monsters in it, and that Arkedo's been working on it for nine months. Given the codename and the proliferation of monsters, we're going to venture a guess that this is set in a very cute version of Hell.Sega and Arkedo are still being coy about the details of the project -- including platforms (the fictional Dreamcast 2 is ruled out!) and release date.
Magical Drop V preview: The ghost of Data East
Few things in the game industry make me happier than over-the-top dedication to a random classic franchise. Another thing that makes me happy: Magical Drop games. So when I rolled up to Ignition Entertainment and saw a new Magical Drop game, I was pleased. And then I played it, and that "pleased" status was upgraded to "delighted." Magical Drop, for the uninitiated, is a color-matching puzzle game series by Data East in which players grab gems from the top of the screen, and then shoot them into different locations to match three or more. All the while, more gems come in from the top and drop the whole arrangement toward the bottom of the screen. Of course, there are several selectable characters (named after tarot cards), and different patterns of blocks can be sent to the opponent's side in multiplayer matches.%Gallery-125736%
Achievements top on Xbox Live Indie devs' wish lists
Gamasutra rounded up six of the precious few standout developers of Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) to discuss the continually promising but frequently embattled platform. Camille Guermonprez of Arkedo Studios praised XBLIG as "fast and easy to use" and Xona Games' Matthew Doucette noted that "development is essentially free in terms of fees" (just an annual $120 membership); before he warned that additional "developer and game content expenses can be massive to a start-up." Indeed, none of these indies has struck gold -- certainly not like the top devs are finding on the App Store -- and three of the six are at least temporarily abandoning XBLIG, while the others have expanded to multiplatform development. "[To] stay only on XBLIG makes no financial sense at the moment," Doucette said. When asked what improvements could be made to the platform, Luke Schneider of Radian Games' echoed the majority when he said that "the biggest issue is definitely Achievements" -- or lack thereof.
iPhone's Pix'n Love Rush hurries to PlayStation Minis
The iOS twitch platformer Pix'n Love Rush is being ported to systems with actual buttons -- namely, the PSP and PS3, for which it's being released as a Mini. The stylish side-scroller, a collaboration between developer Pastagames and the French zine publisher Pix'n Love, combines bite-sized coin-collecting platformer challenges with a variety of eye-catching visual styles, including Virtual Boy and Game Boy color schemes. The game's look is based on the Xbox Live Indie Games release Pixel (the third game in the Arkedo Series), which was a joint effort by Arkedo Studios and Pastagames. Publisher Sanuk Games plans to release the Minis version "soon," though no specific date or price has been announced.
Arkedo's canceled Natal game: 2-Finger Heroes
Arkedo Studio, the French developer responsible for the DS's Big Bang Mini and Nervous Brickdown, as well as recent Xbox Live Indie Games like the stylish 03 Pixel, has been thinking about Project Natal. And sadly for us, it decided to think again before going through with its proposed game idea, 2-Finger Heroes. CEO Camille Guermonprez posted mocked-up screenshots and design plans for the game on NeoGAF, revealing a brawler controlled by players' fingers acting as the protagonists' legs. Occasionally, the game would switch over to segments controlled by hand motions or crossed arms, and award powerups for hand gestures at certain segments (with a penalty for flipping the screen off!) Why isn't Arkedo working on this game right now? Issues with recognition of minute finger movements -- and localization concerns. "Yup, what can be understood as the victory sign in France, could be a terrible insult in the UK, for instance," Guermonprez said. "And we are not even talking about Italian. Oh, the possibilities..."
Arkedo on the changing landscape of XBL Indie Games
Arkedo, the studio behind some of the more memorable titles on Xbox Live Indie Games -- Jump! and Pixel to name a couple -- recently shared some thoughts with Edge on Microsoft's service. Thus far, according to Arkedo's Camille Guermonprez, Indie Games has served as a place for independent developers to learn and share ideas, not necessarily to make money. However, thanks to the advent of user ratings and more sorting options, Guermonprez sees new potential in the Indie Games service. Says, Guermonprez, "the [iPhone / iPod] App Store changed everything with instant access to thousands of games, and lots of great ones for less than three dollars." Guermonprez notes that Microsoft is "at a crossroads" with the service, with the potential to turn it into a real money maker or leave it as it is. He adds that he doesn't know what choice Microsoft will make -- perhaps letting more XNA developers release titles on Xbox Live Arcade, a la The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai -- but concludes that "the potential is huge." Of course, the problem with the App Store success analogy is evident: For every Rocket Fart there is at least one I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1N IT!!!1.
New Arkedo Series game on XBLM: Pixel
If you spend much time checking out Indie Games on Xbox Live, there's a considerable chance you've stumbled upon the Arkedo Series of games. Fans will be happy to hear that Arkedo and Pastagames have released a third in the series. Entitled Pixel, the game features slick dot matrix graphics and simple platforming action. The game also has a nifty feature that allows players to zoom in on certain parts of the background and explore them at the pixel level. Check the game out in the video above and enjoy some screens in the gallery below. You can snag the trial version through the link below and, should you enjoy it, the full game is 240 ($3) or, as Arkedo puts it, "approximately the asking price for a nice latte." Shortcut: Add Arkedo Series - 03 Pixel to your 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com] %Gallery-81087%
Three games to light up your 4th
The founding of a nation is pretty significant and well worth getting excited about. The best way to display said excitement is, of course, with massive, colorful airborne explosions, a.k.a. fireworks. Tomorrow night, towns across the USA will be putting on fireworks displays, big and small -- but why should you have to wait for it to get dark? The games you'll find after the break will let you get all explode-y from the comfort of your living room, without the charred mess and frantic 911 call. So, put on your favorite patriotic tune (it's "The Stars & Stripes Forever" for us) and make with the clicking! [Image]
Big Bang Mini's mini New York
SouthPeak has revealed another one of Big Bang Mini's unique environments, with yet another visual style completely unlike the others. The fireworks-based shmup's New York level combines a backdrop of NYC-style skyscrapers (and, as seen here, girders) with a stereotypical American comic-book aesthetic, with comic-style text and sound effects that evoke Comix Zone, and a cool halftone explosion effect for fireworks.Each world also comes with a unique ability for your avatar, and in New York you can grab enemies with your stylus to steal their weapons. Of course, good luck trying to do that while also using the stylus to fling fireworks at the top screen.%Gallery-18714%[Via press release]
Some kind of large explosion of Big Bang Mini screens and video
It's been a while since we checked in with Big Bang Mini, but we're making up for it now with a delightully Hungry Man-style serving of media. We've got screenshots of four of the game's levels in our gallery, and two new trailers to share! At first glance, the trailer above and the one following the break seem identical; however, the gameplay footage is totally different! It was pretty confusing to us, too -- and kind of ironic that a game for which no two levels look anything alike would have trailers that look identical. SouthPeak says the game comes out January 20, and, well, it had better. Because we want to play it again.%Gallery-18714%
The fireworks start early with this Big Bang Mini trailer
What better way to celebrate the impending anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence than with less than thirty seconds of video footage of an upcoming DS game? That seems to be the idea behind the timely release of this Big Bang Mini trailer. It's a smart move to promote your fireworks-based game on the eve of one of the most colorfully explosive days of the year!As it turns out, the game would look brilliant on any day of the year. This trailer cycles through completely dissonant visual styles, from retrogaming to winter to aquatic to a cityscape to ... a place of some kind with some flying clowns. If you haven't been paying attention to Big Bang Mini until now, we hope that all the explosions and flashy stuff got your attention!%Gallery-18714%
Big Bang Mini lights up the sky with new screens
With a colorful, exciting shoot-em-up like Space Invaders now on the market, would-be shmup developers really need to step their game up to catch our attention. Arkedo Studios (Nervous Brickdown) seems to have done just that with Big Bang Mini!Due this fall, this touchscreen shooter features a fireworks mechanic that is just as vibrant as it is unique -- instead of firing bullets at incoming waves, players draw in fireworks, detonating and chaining the scrawled explosives to clear as many enemies as possible.The enemy designs are just as creative -- marionette skeletons, walruses riding on flying carpets, and monkeys floating above a city skyline. See them all in our gallery of new Big Bang Mini images below!%Gallery-18714%
