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Castle Crashers: 40 weapon unlocks and a periwinkle knight
The Castle Crashers news keeps on flowing from The Behemoth's recently launched dev blog with news of weapon count and another playable character getting the "big reveal" treatment.Today, we learn that Castle Crashers will feature 40 (count 'em), 40 different unlockable weapons to dish out the pwnage and can be discovered via a shop purchase, in hidden treasure chests, buried underground and bosses will even give up their weaponry. Not only will Castle Crashers be overflowing with weapons galore, we also get a first glimpse at another playable character (seen above) and even though it doesn't have an official name (The Behemoth admits they hate naming things) we're going with "periwinkle knight". And yes, he is holding a blue lightsaber. Read - Weapons listRead - It's the periwinkle knight.
Castle Crashing "The Beard"
We thought gamers got excited for upcoming releases, but it seems that designers go crazy waiting for their game to go gold as well. Tom Fulp, lead designer at The Behemoth, has refused to shave his beard until his team's upcoming XBLA title, Castle Crashers, is released. That's the old news, the new news (well, it's been around for a bit) is the Newgrounds (where Tom Fulp is the founder and CEO, by the way) flash game dedicated to both Castle Crashers and Tom Fulp's playoff release beard. Castle Crashing "The Beard" is an independently created flash game that pits players against the floating head of Tom Fulp who attacks you using a variety of beard based attacks and eye lasers, of course. As you level up throughout the epic battle players assume the role of a different Castle Crashers hero. The best, and funniest, part of the game is Tom Fulp voice-acted his role in the game and proceeds to mock you throughout the fight. Anyone looking to pass the time while they wait for the arrival of Castle Crashers should check this one out. [Thanks, Kevin]
22 unlockable characters confirmed for Castle Crashers
You'll need more than your fingers and toes when counting up the number of playable characters in The Behemoth's upcoming (and long awaited) XBLA opus Castle Crashers, as the devs have confirmed that the game's roster will pack in "about" twenty-two unlockable slots. How exactly characters will be unlocked remains, much like the game's eventual release date, a mystery, with Behemoth blogger Emil teasing only that characters will be added "by various different means." However, given that since it was first announced some two years ago the heavily-stylized side scroller has remained near the top of a short list of titles we cannot wait to sink our thumbs into, it's just shy of hyperbole to say that we'd do anything Castle Crashers asked of us anyway. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Castle Crashers will have 22 unlockable characters
Putting their newly launched Castle Crashers dev blog to good use, The Behemoth posted news that our little XBLA game will allow players to unlock a handful of new characters. Twenty-two new characters to fight alongside our four colorful knights, all unlocked through various means and all completely playable. The new characters are still shrouded in mystery, but we've been promised that a few unlockables will be revealed in the future and, of course ... we just can't wait! This is exactly why we have the Castle Crashers dev blog added to our bookmark list, because edible bits of info like this just need to be consumed.
Super new Castle Crashers dev blog goes live
We've just been sent word that our buddies over at The Behemoth have launched a super new and super informative Castle Crashers development blog over on their official site. A blog aimed at giving fans and insider's look into the development process and the crazy minds behind one of the most highly anticipated XBLA games this year.Currently, the Castle Crashers dev blog is a little bare bones (it did just launch, so be understanding), but already they've posted a brief introduction and an intriguing video where we get to watch artist extraordinaire Dan Paladin create the game's world map in super fast motion. Man does that guy have talent. The Behemoth promises regular weekly updates and a behind the scenes look at the game, so be sure to place a bookmark and refresh often. We know we will, because, truth be told, we have a Castle Crashers addiction that needs to be fed. Feed us The Behemoth, feed us until our tummy hurts with painful joy.
Video: It's a Castle Crashers playthrough
Coming straight from the GDC floor and onto your computer screen is actual gameplay video of The Behemoth's little XBLA game that could, Castle Crashers. And it's an informative video at that. In the vid, The Behemoth briefly shows off some of the game's hack and slash combat as they string together a few combos, kill some baddies and explain how the magic system works. We also get to see the game's level map that encompasses twenty levels and get to preview what the character stats screen looks like. But most interesting of all is the fact that Castle Crashers will incorporate some mild RPG elements that'll allow you to level up your character, gain experience points and unlock new abilities. Enough talk though, just start viewing. It's Castle Crashers ... 'nuff said.
X3F @ WonderCon: Castle Crashers Hands-on
Castle Crashers was by far the most fun we had at WonderCon. Everything (well, almost, we'll get to that later) about the experience was positive, interesting, and fun. The booth was hidden behind the Ubisoft one, and was encircled by folding tables covered in drawings. As with many artists who are convention exhibitors, the guys from The Behemoth passed the time by doodling, and (for the first time for these guys) allowing other people to doodle there too. Though the staff in the booth was constantly changing and there was a general commotion around where people were drawing, we were still able to get some good information and impressions. We were able to talk with one of the creators of Castle Crashers, as well as the original hit, Alien Hominid. We were able to play through the demo several times in a few different levels, and we got to see the reaction from the surrounding crowd, most of whom had never heard of the game before seeing it there. %Gallery-16793%
X3F @ WonderCon: Overview, Pictures
Given that X3F now has a presence in the city-by-the-bay, and that the comic-book and popular culture convention WonderCon was taking place there (right across the street, in fact, from where GDC was last week), we thought we'd bring you the video game goings-on from the convention floor. While not a strictly video game event, WonderCon did see the appearance of several large publishers and a small developer. The three main companies who were there were Ubisoft, who were showing off Lost: Via Domus and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2; Capcom who showed video of Street Fighter IV and had DMC4 playable (Capcom had more, but they were on other systems) and last but definitely not least were The Behemoth who had a playable demo of Castle Crashers. There'll be Hands-on Impressions of both Castle Crashers and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 later in the day. Till then hit the break and check the gallery to get the full story on the WonderCon video game scene.%Gallery-16791%
Castle Crashers coming this summer
Noted in today's press release, Castle Crashers is crashing onto Xbox Live Arcade this summer. The title was winner of an IGF award at last year's GDC, and it was then that we heard of it being pushed back to 2008. It's not the most specific release date, but we're glad to have to finally have confirmation of its impending release.[Via X3F]
GDC08: More XBLA titles on track for summer
Though not as high profile or as long-delayed as Castle Crashers, there are still plenty of titles for XBLA that will be seeing released in the summer. The same Microsoft press release that held the Castle Crashers release info also had other XBLA titles on the summer release list. These games were as follows: Braid, a platformer, Defense Grid: The Awakening, a tower-defense game, Go! Go! Break Steady!, a music rythm game, and finally there's Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Penny-Arcade's RPG adventure game. Whew. With so much good content seeing release this summer (Ninja Gaiden II) here's hoping we'll be able to find time to play these games, as some (if not all) of these hold real promise.The descriptions from the press release after the break.
GDC08: Castle Crashers crash lands this Summer
Coming straight from the digital pages of today's GDC press release, we learn that The Behemoth's Castle Crashers will in fact be making an Xbox Live Arcade release sometime this year. More specifically, this Summer! Castle Crashers has been at the forever delayed end of the release spectrum and now we finally have a four month window to look forward to. You seriously do not know how excited we are right now, we're almost giddy enough to dress up like our favorite colored knight. Almost ... we did say almost.
For Sale: Delightful Castle Crashers knight figures
Move over Companion Cube plushie, there's a new video game collectible in town and it's taking your spotlight.Over at the new and improved The Behemoth store they released some new Castle Crashers knight figurines in all four yummy knight colors. Actually, these figures released back in December, quickly sold out, but are now in stock (except for the blue knight, he's the popular one). Each figure comes with a display case, stand and a set of four interchangeable weapons for $20 each. Otherwise, you can buy any three knights and The Behemoth will give you the fourth free. They're cool like that.We're not sure how we missed the release of these figures last month, but we're sad we did. The holidays would have been much merrier for us and a few close Castle Crashers friends. Oh well, it'll be a merry January present to ourselves.
The Behemoth gives Major Trophy
Showing what an awesome development team they are, The Behemoth gave Major Nelson a custom, hand made FBI Agent trophy. This was in thanks for his support of their first title for Xbox Live Arcade, Alien Hominid HD, back in late February. Now, some of you may remember that The Behemoth was going to give away trophies for those at the top of the leaderboards of the game. Major, being an MS employee was not eligible to win, no matter how mad his skillz, so they hooked him up with this absolutely badass trophy, and he's posted pics on his flickr page of the gift and the thank you letter included in the package. Hopefully, The Behemoth will remember X3F and our GDC interview when Castle Crashers lands on Arcade, right guys?
Castle Crashers still 50 megs
We ran a story on Friday stating that Castle Crashers will release in 2008 because of the recent size limit increase on Xbox Live Arcade games. This info was apparently communicated to Joystiq during GDC. Since running the story, The Behemoth's Tom Fulp contacted us to let us know that The Behemoth is busy cramming as much as they can into Castle Crashers, but are still adhering to the 50 MB limit. In fact, Fulp noted that The Behemoth enjoys the challenge of meeting the size restriction. It seems the size limit increase is decided on a case by case basis, and The Behemoth has not requested a size increase at this time.Size increase or not, we wouldn't expect the game to hit anytime soon.
Castle Crashers gets bumped into 2008
Joystiq cornered The Behemoth's Dan Paladin after the GDC awards ceremony and asked about a release time-frame for Castle Crashers. To their (and our) dismay, Mr. Paladin stated that there was still "about a year of development left" on the XBLA title. Shocked, Joystiq then inquired to whether The Behemoth was going to take advantage of the 100MB bump in the XBLA size limit and were pleased to learn that Castle Crashers would benefit by adding additional features and content. So, we'll be seeing more Castle Crashers content, but will also have to suffer a longer wait. With a year or more of development nobody will be having any Castle Crashers fun until 2008 ... so you better make one hell of a game Mr. Paladin, because this hurts. This hurts a bunch.
Castle Crashers likely due 2008, receiving more content
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/09/castle-crashers-likely-due-2008-receiving-more-content/'; It seems that Microsoft's decision to expand the size restriction of Xbox Live Arcade games has become a double-edged sword, especially to fans of sword-swinging, skull-crushing adventure, Castle Crashers. After congratulating The Behemoth's Dan Paladin on the team's IGF award win at the Wednesday evening's ceremony, we enquired about the game's release timeframe and were met with less than pleasing information.Mr. Paladin noted that the XBLA title still had "about a year of development left," thus placing the completed Castle Crashers in 2008 at the earliest. Disappointing news, certainly, but not entirely without one of those consolatory silver linings that people love to point and stare at. When Joystiq asked about the length of the game, Paladin noted that the 100MB boost in the XBLA size limit had allowed The Behemoth to include even more content and features in the game, making it a fuller and more satisfying adventure overall.Alright, 2008. Come over here please.See also: Castle Crashers GDC '07 impressions
Castle Crashers GDC '07 impressions
Castle Crashers is a chaotic storm of spinning swords, overly aggressive primary colors and the occasional (but never displeasing) decapitation -- which is why we like it. Though the GDC demo boasts only a few notable changes from previous iterations, it still warrants a look. A long and loving look accompanied by a forlorn sigh and the formation of a gently sparkling tear. One of the most interesting things about the game is the manner in which it draws your attention. It's even a little conflicting, as if two sets of fingers are snapping in your face in an alternating pattern. When you're not trying to spot your character deep within the colorful anarchy of battle, you're adopting a wider view of all the over-the-top action. It's like a tug of war, and one not too dissimilar from the battle between order and chaos that's at the core of the game.
Joystiq not-so-live coverage of the IGF and GDCA awards
6:20 p.m.: The Joystiq crew walks the red carpet, because we're just that important.6:33 p.m.: Gnarls Barkley's cover of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" is blasting as we find seats in the press section. Cushy seats with recline-able chairs.6:42 pm: Sam and Max introduce the start for the independent games festival. The mention of projectile vomiting is disturbing, but welcoming somehow. 6:43 pm: Jamil Moledina and Simon Carless march onto stage, noting that the show is being broadcast to the entire world. We sense somewhat sinister undertones.
Gears of War takes best game at GDCA, Aquaria wins IGF best game prize
At tonight's Game Developers Choice Awards, Epic Games' Gears of War took home three awards: best technology, visual arts, and the coveted Game of the Year award. On the independent side of things, Bit Blot's Aquaria won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize from the Independent Games Festival.Okami picked up a win in one of the four categories it was nominated in (take that, AIAS). Unfortunately, Loco Roco did not pick up any awards despite two nominations (character design and audio). Independent game Everyday Shooter won two awards and a distribution deal from GameTap.View the full list winners and nominees from both events below.
GDC 07: Castle Crashers hands on
We heard the rumblings. We smelled the awesome. We knew that Castle Crashers was somewhere at GDC. It was just a matter of finding it. After what seemed like days of searching, we found the title in the Independent Games Festival pit, loaded up on an HD screen with some pumping speakers, Castle Crashers was ready and raring to go.
