castle-crashers
Latest
PSN's best selling games of 2011 list dominated by games not from 2011
We're practically knee deep in 2012 at this point, and yet 2011 still refuses to give up the limelight, dropping financial data and sales reports on its way out the door in a desperate final attempt at relevance. So here we are, with a list of 2011's top sellers on the PlayStation Network ... and we've got two lists dominated by one game from 1985, and one from 2010.Speaking only in terms of full games, not "paid downloads" (like DLC packs for Black Ops) and PS Minis, the list is a hodgepodge of nostalgia-fueled favorites from yesteryear (like Tetris in its curiously lofty number one spot), and digitally distributed future-classics like Castle Crashers and Limbo, which ranked in at six and seven respectively. There's on important thread tying those together: none of those games launched in 2011.When all digital sales are taken into account, however, the list becomes an entirely different beast, and the only actual game present within the top 10 is Angry Birds, of all things (a PS Mini). In fact, the three best-selling anythings on the PlayStation Network in 2011 were Black Ops DLC packs, followed closely by a cavalcade of FIFA Soccer 12 and MLB 11 sundries. At least the DLC came out in 2011! Hop past the break for the full breakdown of both lists, care of Game Informer.
Castle Crashers' second title update ready for download (grab your free Pink Knight!)
That's right, you can download your free Pink Knight character for Castle Crashers on Xbox Live right now but, perhaps best of all, The Behemoth promises to pledge a dollar for each of the first 50,000 downloads to the Keep A Breast Foundation. You get free game content, a charity gets free money and some women hopefully get to keep their breasts. It's win-win-win! On top of the free Pink Knight, there's also a downloadable Blacksmith character for 160 MS Points ($2), a new Team vs Team mode for Player Match Arena and two new Avatar awards to unlock: a Cardinal Animal Orb and Knight Helmet. In addition to all of these goodies, there are also several bug fixes employed in this title update, all of which you can read about in the update notes over on The Behemoth's blog.
Battleblock Theater player-to-player trading system channels Buffalo Bill
The Behemoth has let the cat out of the musty prison cell with details about Battleblock Theater's's trading system, which was inspired by the hacking of weapon drops in Castle Crashers. Battleblock Theater players will be able to collect the faces of other prisoners by freeing them with green gems found in co-op levels, and weapons by distracting their feline foes with balls of yarn. All weapons and strangers' faces for you to wear as your own will be randomized, and there are no duplicates of any one item, meaning trading will play an important role in collecting the pieces you want. If you see an item -- let's say, a face -- on another player online, rip off your face and throw it at him, and if he returns the gesture, you've traded. Sounds painful simple enough. There are over 100 unlockable weapons and faces in Battleblock Theater, with more in the works before launch, which is scheduled for later this year. We recommend stocking up on lotion (or hoses) now.
The Behemoth had the best gaming booth at Comic-Con
If you were impressed by the arcade machine Sony brought to Comic-Con for Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, you ain't see nothing yet. Indie developer The Behemoth went all out: They had a booth full of custom-made and designed arcade machines, playing both Castle Crashers and the upcoming Battleblock Theater, complete with all of the requisite joysticks and buttons for four or two players. The Behemoth (and Newgrounds) co-founder Dan Paladin told me in between signings that the machines were hand-crafted by the company, in a project overseen by The Behemoth's John Baez. And they're even cooler than they appear -- Paladin said that the big screens up on top of the machines were controlled remotely, and could move in and out of the units mechanically for transportation. If you missed these at Comic-Con, Paladin also said that they'll be on the road with the company, both at PAX Prime and the Tokyo Game Show later this year. The whole enterprise was very impressive; it's no wonder the booth was full all week long.%Gallery-129046%
New BattleBlock Theater video throws a little surprise party
It's been a while since we last saw The Behemoth's Battleblock Theater in action, so if you're forgetting all of the pertinent deets, let us remind you: The game, by the creators of XBLA superhit Castle Crashers, throws a few players with strangely-shaped heads into a theater run by cats and tasks them with navigating a maze of traps and troubles for the cats' presumed entertainment. You can see some of that entertainment in this brand-new video, which features Prisoner 10321 and the game's co-op "throwing" mechanic, which allows players to launch their frienemies across gaps, into portal-like devices ... or into spikes and pits, if they happen to not be so fond of them at a given moment. The official Behemoth blog says there's complexity here, too: you'll go farther when both characters are facing the same way, or not as far if they're facing apart. And while players can slide tackle each other while fighting, the throw move can cancel that out, blocking the slide and instead sending the slider into danger. We tell you that now so that when it happens in the game, you're not actually thrown for the proverbial loop.
One-day XBLA sale: Half-price Monday Night Combat, Limbo, Trials and more
Microsoft is running a one-day sale on some of its best XBLA titles. Today only, you can grab Monday Night Combat, Limbo, Trials HD, Castle Crashers or Shadow Complex for the wallet-friendly price of 600 points ($7.50) each.
Seen@PAX East: The Behemoth's Battleblock Theater and Castle Crashers arcade cabinets
After experiencing Super Crate Box on the incredible Winnitron 1000 in person at GDC last week, imagine our delight to find both Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater running on four-player arcade machines at this year's PAX East. The Behemoth booth was packed full of folks getting their co-op on and purchasing game merch as we precariously circled and snapped a handful of shots. You can find them in the gallery below. As you'll see momentarily, the cabinets weren't just fun to play on, but also quite attractive in their own right. %Gallery-118980%
Castle Crashers, Dead Nation and more discounted for PSN Spring Fever
PlayStation Network users recently had the opportunity to vote on their favorite of the platform's offerings as part of the PSN Gamers' Choice Awards -- the winners of which would be up for a 30 percent discount (50 percent for PlayStation Plus members). The winners were recently revealed: Best PS3 Downloadable Game -- Castle Crashers (Sale price $10.49, Plus price $7.50) Best PSP Downloadable Game -- God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sale price $27.99, Plus price $20.00) Best PS3/PSP mini -- Age of Zombies (Sale price $3.49, Plus price $2.50) Best PlayStation Network Exclusive Game -- Dead Nation (Sale price $10.49, Plus price $7.50) The offers go into effect today to kick off the PSN Spring Fever promotion, and will be available until March 14. Other games will be marked down in the following weeks as the promotion continues -- we'll make sure to let you know when another price gets unceremoniously slashed!
Pink Knight joining Castle Crashers crew to benefit breast cancer research, PSN-only for now
Always wanted to find a way to donate money to breast cancer research, but you're (curiously) allergic to pink ribbons? The Behemoth has a solution just for you! Meet: the Pink Knight, the latest warrior for old-school-melee-em-up Castle Crashers. He (knights are usually male, right?) comes with "the Lollipop and 4 other brand new additional weapons," all for the reasonable price of $1.99. Too rich for your blood, you say? Well, The Behemoth is donating 100% of the revenue (that's all of it!) to "charities devoted to Breast Cancer Research." That's capitalized, so you know it's serious. And yes, it's true, this offer is PSN-only for now – with a February 8 release date – but it's not because XBLA owners hate women (ignore this); The Behemoth is "working hard on a title update for XBLA that will feature the Pink Knight as a playable character as well." But what do you do when life hands you (pink?) lemons? If you don't want to wait for pesky certification, you can donate to breast cancer research right here. There, doesn't that feel good? %Gallery-115713%
The Behemoth's 'Tournament of Champions' giving away a gold-plated Xbox 360
Take a good, hard look at your Xbox 360. Look at it, sitting in your entertainment center. It is plain. That, friend, is a pauper's gaming console. The Behemoth is offering you a chance to add some much-needed regality to your gaming experience: As part of its "Tournament of Champions" contest, the indie studio is giving away a 24 karat gold-plated 360 Elite to the top-ranked global Castle Crashers Arena fighter on Xbox Live Arcade. There's plenty of other prizes to go around, including a Castle Crashers-themed 360 Elite, and ... um, 250 squishy chicken toys, all of which go to the third place winner, which is appropriately bizarre. Check out the rules and regulations for the contest over on The Behemoth's official site!
Over two million have played Castle Crashers
We've always known that the fan base for The Behemoth's colorful beat-em-up Castle Crashers would continue to grow throughout the fullness of time -- there's something just so universal about beating the tar out of dudes in exchange for food and coins, you know? Recently, that fan base passed a major milestone across all the game's platforms: According to the leaderboards, over two million players have taken up arms in the name of princess rescuing. Will this impressive number carry over some steam to The Behemoth's next project, Battleblock Theater? It's hard to be sure -- both seem to have the same level of polish and oddball humor, though the studio's upcoming project doesn't appear to have quite as much diarrhea-stricken forest wildlife, so it's really anyone's guess.
New Year's XBLM sale discounts multiple items, offers daily deals
Microsoft has launched its "Countdown to New Year's" promotion today on Xbox Live, which will see numerous pieces of Marketplace content discounted in the days leading up to the ball drop. The deals are highlighted by several XBLA games on sale now through December 31, including Super Meat Boy, Carcassonne, Comic Jumper, Castle Crashers and Risk Factions; all of which are 33–50 percent off. Daily deals are also on offer, beginning with today's deal: Red Dead Redemption DLC. Both the "Liars & Cheats" and the "Legends & Killers" packs are available for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) each, half their usual price. Meanwhile, "Undead Nightmare" and the "Undead Nightmare Collection" (which bundles together all three aforementioned add-ons) are 25 percent off at 600 ($7.50) and 1200 points ($15), respectively. And tomorrow, December 22, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be available for half-off at 600 points ($7.50). Additionally, Microsoft has listed clues to the rest of this year's daily deals on the Xbox Live Dashboard. We've compiled the clues, along with our best guesses, after the break. Be sure to check it out before you start spending your holiday points! Finally, buying discounted items, watching Netflix movies or playing Halo: Reach and Fable 3 multiplayer during this 11-day promotion will automatically enter players into a sweepstakes to win a massive prize package, featuring a 50-inch HDTV.
Castle Crashers' Red Princess now decreeing TomTom directions
There are plenty of homebrewed, game-themed voices for the TomTom GPS platform, but not many real developers take the time to turn their games' characters into tiny, digital cartographers. That's why we love The Behemoth: The studio recently made a TomTom voice out of Castle Crashers' Red Princess.
Castle Crashers featured in Japan's PSN 'Western Game Buyer Selection'
The American PSN recently got a storefront for imported Japanese games, but it's limited entirely to PSOne downloads. Sony is launching an import selection for the Japanese PSN as well, which includes more recent downloadables from the west. The inaugural offerings on the "Western Game Buyer Selection" label on November 25 will include Castle Crashers for ¥1,500, Comet Crash for ¥1,000, and the PlayStation Mini Young Thor for ¥500. The screenshots sent out by Sony include no Japanese text, so it's likely these will be dropped on PSN untranslated, like the PSOne Imports in North America. We hope for Japan's sake that Sony is as diligent about populating this service as MonkeyPaw Games is here. [Update: Pelfast studio head John Bates got in touch with us to let us know that Comet Crash, at least, has been professionally localized for Japan. So this is more than a simple storefront for unlocalized games!]
Zen Pinball and Castle Crashers top PSN sales in September
Looks like Castle Crashers' volleyball was able to help win over PS3 owners. It tops the PSN sales charts for September as the best-selling paid game. At the top of the overall chart, however, is Zen Pinball, which earns its rank with the help of PlayStation Plus subscribers. 1. ZEN Pinball 2. Castle Crashers 3. Blast Off (Minis) 4. Echoes (MInis) 5. Syphon Filter 3 (PSone) 6. Sonic Adventure 7. My Aquarium 8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game 9. Red Dead Redemption: Legends and Killers Pack (DLC) 10. DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
Castle Crashers invades PSN on August 31
Congratulations, PlayStation fans, you can pencil in a date for the end to all the anguish. That's right, the PSN version of Castle Crashers finally has a release date and it's very soon. On August 31, just under two weeks away, the game will launch on PSN for $15. We suggest you skip a few fast food meals and save the money for some sweet castle crashing action. It's worth it. Promise.
PSN Castle Crashers set at $15, Behemoth heads to PAX
The Behemoth has posted a quick update on the status of the long-awaited PSN port of Castle Crashers. While there aren't many concrete details, the dev states it is "right in the thick of the submission process" and has cemented the price. Just like its Xbox Live Arcade counterpart, Castle Crashers will arrive on PSN at $15 (packing some new features, don't forget). The Behemoth also detailed its plans for PAX, set to go down in Seattle early next month. The studio is bringing along the latest build of Battleblock Theater and Behemoth merchandise. The company will also be toting along a custom, 4-player Castle Crashers arcade cabinet ... which we will be stealing.
Alien Hominid will be in PSN Castle Crashers
Folks who played the 360 version of Castle Crashers got a nice little bonus if they happened to have another of The Behemoth's XBLA games on their hard drive: a playable character based on the protagonist from Alien Hominid. Unfortunately, that particular game isn't available on the PSN, leading some to fear he/she/it wouldn't reprise its cameo in the PSN version of Crashers. That fear is unwarranted, friends -- a recent post on The Behemoth's blog confirms that the Alien will be an unlockable character in the upcoming port of Castle Crashers, though the requirements for unlocking it are unknown at this point. We're guessing it has something to do with the level where you kill a thousand of his brothers and sisters.
Castle Crashers PS3's Arena features team-building exercises
Our favorite part of the original Castle Crashers was always the brief (but intense) competitive bouts which would crop up every time the players rescued a princess. We'd always swear allegiance to one of our former allies: "Let's have a pact of non-aggression until we deal with the other two!" The agreement would be honored until our accomplice was at his weakest, and then, ever so swiftly, we'd carry out our inevitable betrayal. The Behemoth has interpreted this concept in the Arena mode for Castle Crashers on the PS3, which will now let players divide up into teams represented by a wide range of colorful flags. Check out the video after the jump to see how the buddy-buddy on buddy-buddy action breaks down.
The Behemoth serves new Castle Crashers PS3 screens and video
The Behemoth has sent out an update about the status of the PS3 version of Castle Crashers. No, there's no release date yet. But at least the game is still in development! That's good news. "We have now sent the title off to a 3rd party vendor for final testing before we begin the submission process with Sony," The Behemoth's Kelly Revak reports. Two new Trophies have been added to the as-yet theoretical PSN game, in addition to those being ported over from the XBLA game's Achievements. "Social Networker" is earned for an "impressive" number of volleys in the new volleyball game, and "You are insane" is awarded to those who complete the game on Insane difficulty. See how that works? While you (continue to) to wait for the game, enjoy some footage of a volleyball match after the break, and some volleyball screenshots in the gallery. %Gallery-92301%
