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Anxiety-filled Breakout videos
We've been on edge ever since Eidos announced its plans to publish Nervous Brickdown, Arkedo Studios' modernization of the Breakout genre. Much like how Tetris DS made block dropping seem fresh again, this high-strung title breathes new life into the break-a-brick formula with creative modes and a style overhaul.IGN has a hands-on preview and some new videos of Nervous Brickdown's gameplay variations, and they're totally stressing us out for reals. In one of the game's ten distinct modes, you guide a paddle and ball through scrolling shmup stages -- making it a paddle-em-up, maybe? Drifting ghosts haunt the stages, hindering your progress, so you'll have to blow into the DS' mic to push them away. Another theme challenges you to manage a platformer on one screen while simultaneously playing Breakout on the other. Just talking about it is enough to make our stomachs all queasy.
Catch the headlines with Newsbreaker advergame
Tired of wasting time reading the news when you could be playing games? Wait, don't leave! OK, fine, go. We understand we can't compete with the games we cover. But at least promise us you'll go play a game like Newsbreaker so you can keep up with the headlines as you get your game on.At first glance, Newsbreaker seems to be just the latest in a line of extremely generic Breakout clones, this time in the form of an MSNBC advergame. What's makes the game special is what is quite possibly the first recorded use of live news headlines as powerups. That's right, headlines pulled from MSNBC feeds slowly fall from some busted bricks, and catching 25 of them gets you an extra life. What's more, each caught headline is saved so you can read the full story once you're done playing.We feel this combination of games and news is a good first step to combating the growing media illiteracy epidemic, but why stop there? How about giving Achievement Points for reading the newspaper every morning? Hiding secret codes for today's hottest games in the nightly news broadcast? Offering Gamestop gift certificates for listening to NPR? The game industry could single-handedly save the news business!
Devilish coming to the US after basically FOREVER
Only two years after the Japanese release date, and sixteen years after the original Game Gear release, Devilish: Ball Bounder has an American publisher.Devilish is a Breakout-style game with complex level design, and, well, devilish trappings. UFO Interactive has it listed for a US release in "Summer 2007", though EBGames says the 17th of this month.It may not matter when the thing is coming out, because apparently it's far less than perfect. Being the rabid Arkanoid fans we are, we're still intrigued, although Devilish lacks touchscreen control and we always used the analog controller for Arkanoid.
Nervous Brickdown brings sexy back to Breakout
Nervous Brickdown breathes new life into the Arkanoid-Breakout genre, updating its basic template with ten distinct gameplay modes. This might be Arkedo Studio's first game for any console, but the charming soundtrack and highly-stylized environments -- ranging from 70s mod to playful retro -- really give Nervous Brickdown a first-rate polish that other Breakout-clones usually lack. The break-a-brick game takes advantage of the Nintendo DS' hardware, making use of the system's touchscreen, microphone, and WiFi (multiplayer) features. Ecrans has a few videos showing how hectic the game can get as it forces you to dodge bullets, fight bosses, and catch items, all while keeping the ball in play. No release date has been announced yet, but we're happy to hear that Eidos has picked this title up for publishing. You will definitely be hearing more about Nervous Brickdown from us in the future. [Thanks, Sebastien!]
Brick-bustin' homebrew TIFF game
Remember how all the cool kids were making simple games for 2.80 firmware that took advantage of the libtiff exploit? Lovingly called TIFF games, these applications were placed into PSP's PHOTO directory, and were (for many people) really easy to use. They were coming out on a near-daily basis until they just disappeared... ...until now. For PSP3D's coding competition, SG57 has created a TIFF brick-bustin' game that plays like Breakout (and all of its clones). It's not the most revolutionary thing in the world, but it's an entertaining way to waste time. Check it out at PSP3D.
Is that a working Atari joystick in your pocket...
Tired of consoles that take up valuable entertainment center real estate? How about one that fits on your keychain instead? A new line of miniature Atari 2600 joysticks and paddles actually hook up to your TV to play built-in games. The mini-systems, which include two or three classic Atari games each, hook up to a TV through a six-foot RCA cord and external AAA battery pack.We wonder how playable these games are on such small controllers, but just the idea of a TV console that fits in your pocket intrigues us. Now if we could only get a pocket sized Intellivision, we'd really be in business.[Via Random Good Stuff]
