brothers
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Storyboard: Brother from the same mother
An awful lot of characters seem to be only-children. In some countries this is pretty normal, but it's certainly not normal where I'm living. Pretty much all of my friends and contemporaries have at least one sibling. So it seems a bit odd that your roleplaying characters don't have any fellow family members to talk to. The realistic reason, of course, is that most of us don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about those siblings. And in some cases it's entirely reasonable to say that your character might not know her several half-siblings. But in the interests of verisimilitude, it's worth thinking about this, even if you never want siblings to become a major focus of roleplaying. You can come at this topic from two angles. You can talk about how to handle siblings, or you can talk about the impact of siblings. For this column, I'm going to focus on the former. What are the options for including your character's siblings?
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons traveling to PC on Aug. 28, PSN on Sep. 3
Those looking to begin their journey in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons on PC or PS3 need to wait a little while longer, as the game will launch on August 28 for Steam users and on the PSN on September 3. Brothers launched on the Xbox 360 this week, kicking off Microsoft's annual Summer of Arcade promotion. In Brothers, players use both joysticks to simultaneously control two boys who leave their village in search of a cure for their ailing father. We rather enjoyed our time with the Xbox 360 version of the game, so we eagerly await its arrival on Steam and PSN.
Playing with age in Starbreeze's 'Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons'
"Nobody knows how to make a game yet," says film director Josef Fares, quickly clarifying his statement isn't an attack on the industry but a suggestion that game creation shouldn't be a set science. "It's still a time where we're open to experimentation," the international director adds.Born in Lebanon, Fares grew up in Sweden where he became a director, but his next project pairs him with developer Starbreeze Games to create a game called Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (formerly referred to as "P13" in Starbreeze's internal "project" numbering system). Brothers has been in development for a number of years, with Fares even working on a few of the game's prototypes before the team at Starbreeze locked down the Unreal-developed downloadable title for a 2013 release.The core feature of Brothers is, of course, the game's siblings. But Fares says he's fought off all suggestions by his fellow game makers that the characters should each be controlled by a separate player. Instead, he says, Brothers is designed to have both characters controlled by a single player in a very specifically designed campaign experience.%Gallery-169592%
NimbleBit builds a tiny empire of quality freemium apps
NimbleBit's David Marsh kindly met with me at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) this week. While he's not interested in discussing the Zynga/Tiny Tower fiasco (a game he first showed me at GDC last year), the public's interest in that story is understandable. Zynga is a social company that uses analytics and testing to make its games easy to play and monetize. However, Marsh says he and his developer brother don't bother with a lot of analytics. "Part of the thing," he admits, "is that we don't try to figure it out a lot, because that's not the most fun part of making the game for us." NimbleBit consists of the two brothers, another programmer hired last August and David's wife, who manages support. The group is happiest while making good games that monetize themselves because users enjoy them so much. That's a contrast to many of the social and freemium titles out there. NimbleBit makes its games with love, and that's why it's funny when other companies try to copy their success without that key ingredient. When I asked Marsh if NimbleBit would consider acquisition by a larger game developer, he reiterated what he told me last year. "We're making enough money." Tiny Tower has consistently been on the App Store's top grossing list since its initial push, and then again after Apple picked it as the iPhone Game of the Year. "Getting Game of the Year for iPhone was really awesome for us," said Marsh. NimbleBit's next title, Pocket Planes, looks like it will follow the same pattern of success. Marsh gave me a quick demo of the latest build. The look and feel are very similar to Tiny Tower, but the goal is to build a network of planes that around the world, as opposed to an apartment building. Originally, says Marsh, the idea was to make a game about trains, and he even showed me a screenshot with train cars that had interiors using the Tiny Tower floors layout. But they found that running trains around tracks was too limiting and slow to be fun, so the trains became planes. Marsh says taking to the air has inspired a nice "jetsetting feel, about exploring rather than being stuck on rails." The build I saw looked great. You can buy planes with bucks earned either by playing the game or with in-app purchases, and then you can build airports at various cities, "unlocking" them with in-game gold (of course, any of that might change in the final release). Once you've got a plane and some airports to travel to, you can take missions from the in-game citizens, ferrying passengers or cargo from city to city. Each plane has a range, and each trip costs a certain amount, so the game currently consists of figuring out just how money you'll make versus spend on a certain mission. If you think that sounds complicated, you're right. Pocket Planes is the most complex freemium title that NimbleBit has put together yet. That doesn't mean it's inaccessible. While the worst you can do in Pocket Frogs or Tiny Tower is leave your frogs or bitizens unattended, in Pocket Planes you could lose money by playing badly. Could NimbleBit have the same success with a title that's more complex? Marsh says he and his brother are doing what they always do: making a game they want to play. "We're aware of the fact that it might have a smaller potential audience" due to the complexity, he says, "but that's one of the things we're interested to find out." Marsh also says that because it is still early in the development, there's lots of time left to spin the game more casual or complex. One idea he and Ian have played around with is "plane parts," which users could buy, trade, or collect, and use build planes with various stats. But that system isn't quite done, and it might not be included in the final game (or might be added in with a later update). NimbleBit hopes to release Pocket Plans in "summer, hopefully." Pocket Planes looks terrific, and it's great to see NimbleBit make great games that support a solid freemium model with excellent gameplay.
The Call of Nyorloth: Your favorite Azerothian relationships
Nyorloth, the newest blue poster on the forums and a lore specialist, has already opened up the floor for lore discussion with a great topic for Love is in the Air. There are many types of relationships all over Azeroth, from romantic to bromantic, friendly to rivalrous. The question is which work the best? I think my favorite relationship in Cataclysm was the father/son bonding and relationship building that went on between Eitrigg and his son Ariok. Eitrigg seems to want to bring his son along for the ride as he redeems his people and weeds out the bad blood amongst the Blackrock clan. Ariok is proud to serve under his father, and that relationship feels real, honest, and not forced. Just a father and son doing something together that they love -- subterfuge and war. Head on over to the thread and help out Nyorloth with his first post on the lore forums. Another hearty welcome to Nyorloth!
NimbleBit donates 35 iPads and more to charity
It's not like we needed more reasons to love brothers David and Ian Marsh of NimbleBit. First off, they make terrific free (and lucrative) games like Pocket Frogs and Tiny Tower. Second, they're super nice and very supportive in the developer community. Third, they're humble and smart, keeping their company small and focusing on just developing good games rather than growing into a megacorporation. And now there's another reason to love NimbleBit: They're darn generous. Sign on San Diego reports that the pair have gifted over $30,000 of equipment, including 35 iPad 2s, to an elementary school in their hometown. The principal of the school is the Marshes' old technology teacher, and he inspired them so much that they wanted to give a little something back, by putting this tech in the hands of elementary school students early. What a great story. The school will use the iPads to manage their own small businesses that the kids are learning to run, and even to shoot video for the school's TV station. And Ian Marsh says just having the iPads around might be inspiration enough: "When I was in school, I would have died if someone handed me an iPad. ... I definitely think that technology can be useful in education." Agreed. Kudos to the Marshes for their fine work, and applause to them for their generosity. [via TouchArcade]
Super Mario Bros. gets modern sound effects, nostalgia ensues (video)
We can only wonder what'll happen when you reach a certain score -- you know, somewhere above 8000...
Drama Mamas: Family or fun?
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. The family that plays together, stays together ... or do they? Family playstyles are not always compatible, as The Groom discovers. Dear Drama Mamas, I have been engaged to my fiancée for more than a year now. Since last June or July, we have been playing WoW together. I have been an experienced Warcraft player since Warcraft 3 -- knowing the ins and outs of lore, the game, etc. Her only experience was being powerleveled previously by friends who just needed an extra person -- so not much experience sitting down and learning the game. We decided to level up fresh characters together, and it was wonderful teaming up together, with her being a female draenei warrior and I a human paladin. It seemed like a good teamwork-building exercise for us as a couple. Going on in the background, my two brothers took over and began maintaining a serious raiding guild. They've been doing serious raiding with their level 80s and gearing up for ICC and Ruby Sanctum. Obviously, my fiancée and I were not high enough level to participate but we were invited to the guild as their loving brother and his soon-to-be wife -- who is cool enough to play WoW with (many guys cannot seem to find a girl who will willingly participate in their leisure activities, fantasy sports or what-not).
Massively's exclusive TERA lore: Brothers
Massively is proud to bring you another TERA exclusive this week, in the form of a new lore snippet penned by En Masse Entertainment scribe Bridget McKenna. The piece fleshes out more of TERA's extensive backstory by offering a glimpse into the lives of two Amani soldiers preparing for the endless war against the argon. Turn the page for another intriguing master and apprentice yarn, this time focusing on the stoic Nariiz and his tough-as-nails lance instructor Furad. Don't forget to gawk at our exclusive screenshots sprinkled throughout the text, and check out our previous lore exclusives that you might have missed.
Wall of Sound is loud, prohibitively expensive, and somewhat defeats the purpose
You know the problem with most iPod docks? They're too compact, too convenient. Luckily the wild men at Brothers in Drottninggatan, Stockholm, have the cure to tinny sounds that come in small packages. Hopefully a nod to the sound generated by "the bruddas" from Forest Hills, Queens (and not that of a certain homicidal record producer), the Wall of Sound is a handcrafted, 4 x 3 foot, 125 watt tube amplified behemoth. Intrigued? We bet you are. Sadly, the company has sold out of its first run, but you'll need time to save up your lunch money for one of these anyways: the asking price is $4,495 (plus shipping). Hit that read link to get started.
The DS Life: DS Brothers, revisited
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.We have another gallery of work for you to scroll through and enjoy, this time for a photographer, though his pictures might look like paintings when you first see them. El Silencio pushes his high dynamic range imaging techniques to the extreme, producing images suffused with warmth and a suggestion of something transmundane. Take a peek past the break for El Silencio's photos and this week's installment of The DS Life.See also: The DS Life: DS Brothers, The DS Life: Crossing into reality
The DS Life: DS Brothers
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.There's a right way and a wrong way to start off your day. This is the right way.
Azeroth Interrupted: Long Lost Brothers
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with WoW. var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/pc_games/Story_of_a_family_reunited_through_online_gaming'; This week, I have discovered a new way to use WoW to enhance real life: facilitating the bonding of two long lost brothers. The story I am about to tell is true, though I have changed some of the names.In the late 60s, my mother-in-law, whom we will call Viola, married a man (we'll call him Cletus) in Southern California and they had a son, Chris. They moved to Colorado, leaving behind all of Viola's family. When Chris was a toddler, one of Viola's sisters became critically ill and Viola returned to California to see her, possibly for the last time. (The sister did survive after many months of hospitalization.) Cletus took advantage of Viola's absence to get a divorce and gain custody of Chris. He separated mother and child and contact between them was lost. Viola got remarried and had another son, my husband Chuck, in the mid 70's. When Chuck was old enough to understand, he was told of his half-brother. But this was a painful subject that was not brought up often by the family.
Brothers in Arms coming: with waggle!
Sounds generic, doesn't it? "We're pleased to announced the new (insert World War II title here) for the Nintendo Wii. It will feature new ground-breaking motion controls and deliver an unparalleled sense of interactivity. 'We're pleased to bring our exciting new title to the Nintendo Wii,' says overpaid PR guy. 'World War II is so totally cool."Yes, the latest May issue of Nintendo Power has confirmed the earlier suspicion that Brother in Arms: Double Time is coming to the Wii, and we have to admit, it has one sorta-maybe-kinda-cool feature: using motion control to direct teammates in tactical situations. However, if this isn't perfectly implemented, it'll cause more strain than its worth. "No, to the left, dammit, the ... FRACK!"[Note: Image shown not from the Wii version.][Thanks, John!]
Latest Nintendo Power confirms Brothers in Arms coming to DS
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Latest_Nintendo_Power_confirms_Brothers_in_Arms_coming_to_DS'; Jeux-France got ahold of the latest issue of Nintendo Power, which confirms that Brothers in Arms is headed to the DS. We couldn't be happier, as the Brothers in Arms franchise is one of the very few WWII-based series of games left that are worth playing. The images of the game (which have been embedded past the post break) are of very low quality, so we cannot discern whether the graphics are something to be excited about or not.We can confirm, however, that the game is to feature 3 different campaigns, spanning 16 missions and several of the countries involved in the war. The touch-screen will be used for switching weapons, tossing grenades (player must draw a line for trajectory) and aiming at enemies. The top screen is obviously going to be used to present the action.No word on whether this title is to be Wi-Fi Connect compatible or not.[Thanks, Ken!]
Sonic confirmed for SSB: Brawl?
People have speculated for quite some time on what out-of-company characters would be joining Solid Snake in the upcoming Super Smash Bros: Brawl. Sonic was an obvious choice, of course, but check out the above picture, seen in the Swedish Nintendo mag +N.Yes, readers, we know, it's still quite dubious. Still, we can't resist such a beauty of a rumor. Now we just need a NiGHTs 2 confirmation, Goldeneye on the virtual console, and the ability for the Wii to hack into our brains and overwrite our senses with direct input from the game.
Hell's Highway trailer
Clicking on the "Read" link will take you to the trailer for the upcoming Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. More than likely, the largest concern that rests upon the thoughtful brows of those awaiting the launch of the PS3 with fevered anticipation is just how good could this game could be. Considering that the last two entries in the series that graced a Sony system were the poorest editions when compared to their counterparts on the PC and Xbox, should we assume the third time will be the charm and this title could excel, if not totally demolish, the PC and Xbox 360 installments?
These aren't the releases you're looking for
The recently-leaked list of upcoming titles from the house that Rainbow Six built first appeared via Gamepro.com and later was denied by Ubi (and even later denied by Gamepro). Thankfully it has made its way to Eurogamer where the inclusion of some supposedly upcoming Revolution titles caused a stir here at Revolution Fanboy HQ. Some of these titles include: - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 5 - Rayman 4 - Brothers in Arms 3 - Assassin - Ninja TurtlesSo is this an Ubi slip-up or a complete fallacy?
