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Sportsfriends review: With friends like these
It may be difficult for some to imagine now, but once upon a time, a multiplayer video game required that players be gathered in the same physical space. There was no Xbox Live, no PlayStation Network, no online connection whatsoever. Whether you look back on that era with fondness or disdain will ultimately determine how you feel about Sportsfriends. Sportsfriends is a collection of four local-multiplayer-only games: BaraBariBall, Johann Sebastian Joust, Super Pole Riders and Hokra. Each of these games is tied together by the idea that they could, perhaps in some wacky alternate universe, be considered real sports. In fact, Sportsfriends presents them on the main menu as a timeline, placing BaraBariBall as a game from ancient history, Joust as a more recent invention, Super Pole Riders as the sport of 2014, and Hokra as an invention from the future.
Sportsfriends invades your living room on May 6
Get ready for sports, friends. Local co-op game collection Sportsfriends is due out on May 6 for PS3 and PS4, for $15. Sportsfriends includes four games: JS Joust, BaraBariBall, Super Pole Riders and Hokra. PS3 and PS4 versions get optional Move support for JS Joust. PS4 allows up to four players to play JS Joust with DualShock 4 controllers, while PS3 allows up to seven players with DualShock 3 controllers and the ability to load your own music files into the game. Plus, buy the PS3 version and get the PS4 download for free. Sportsfriends was Kickstarted in December 2012 to the tune of $152,451. [Images: Die Gute Fabrik]
Multiplayer minigame collection Sportsfriends delayed on PS3
Die Gute Fabrik's local-multiplayer PS3 minigame compilation Sportsfriends will sail past its previously announced January release date, as its developers report that the final product is still several weeks away from completion. A backer-only Kickstarter update explains that the four included games are "basically done" and on-budget, but the team needs "some more weeks" to apply polish and fix lingering bugs. To keep PC backers happy, Die Gute Fabrik will release beta versions of Sportsfriends on Windows, Mac, and Linux immediately after the PlayStation 3 port hits the PlayStation Store. Previously, PC players who backed the campaign were promised a release several weeks after the PS3 version's launch. Sportsfriends met its crowdfunding goal of $150,000 in December of 2012, offering backers downloadable versions of J.S. Joust, BaraBariBall, Super Pole Riders, and Hokra. A PlayStation 4 port is also in the works.
PS3 party game Sportsfriends headed to PlayStation 4
Die Gute Fabrik's Kickstarter-funded compilation of local multiplayer games, Sportsfriends, is on its way to the PlayStation 4, following its upcoming launch for the PS3. Backers who pledged toward the PlayStation 3 version of Sportsfriends will receive the PS4 edition for free. The package includes the PlayStation Move-powered rhythm game J.S. Joust, Noah Sasso's basketball-like BaraBariBall, Bennett Foddy's pole-vaulting polo game Super Pole Riders, and Ramiro Corbetta's minimalist sports game Hokra. Developer Doug Wilson additionally revealed that J.S. Joust will receive DualShock 4 support in the PlayStation 4 version of Sportsfriends, thanks to its enhanced hardware capabilities and built-in light bar. Currently, J.S. Joust is only available as a downloadable game for PC platforms, and requires the use of multiple PlayStation Move controllers in a musical chairs-like setting. [Photo by Brent Knepper]
Johann Sebastian Joust conquers Chicago
Johann Sebastian Joust continues its steady campaign of world domination with a stop in Chicago, Illinois, where random people in parks and subways join internet denizens in some light-based, non-screen video gaming hijinks, captured on film by RedPandaGamer.
Where is my Heart? Oh, it's on PC and Mac next month
Die Gute Fabrik's indie platformer Where is my Heart? will arrive on PC and Mac in September through Steam and the Humble Store, and then on Linux at a later date. The game launched as a PlayStation Mini in November 2011 for PS3, PSP and Vita. Where is my Heart? has players guiding a family of forest spirits that live in a tree whose roots hold the world together. The game's environment is also broken into square segments that shuffle around, adding a puzzling element to the family's journey. The PC/Mac version will include a new menu system and levels. Die Gute Fabrik hasn't listed a price for Where is my Heart? yet. It will be playable in the meantime at PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend, at booth number 866 located in the Indie Megabooth (along with over 80 other games).
Seen@GDC: Playground games
Die Gute Fabrik lead designer Douglas Wilson is comfortable asking people to make fools of themselves, as he demonstrated during his panel at GDC on Friday, "Three Folk Games To Inspire Radical New Video Games." Wilson emphasized the impact that physical, playground games can have on modern video game development, bringing players together outside of the screen. They certainly influenced Wilson's convention-famous motion game, Johann Sebastian Joust.Wilson asked for volunteers from the audience to step on stage and play three games that influenced Joust: Standoff, Listelanse and the Danish Clapping Game. See a handful of eager audience members hitting themselves and dueling with wooden spoons in the gallery below, and read more about each game after the break.%Gallery-184408%
J.S. Joust, Hokra, Pole Riders, and BaraBariBall unite as 'Sportsfriends' on PS3 and computers
Johann Sebastian Joust, the game of dueling Move controllers you may have seen at industry events, is officially coming to the PlayStation 3 and computers. And it's bringing friends.Sportsfriends is a collection of four indie games that all share a focus on local multiplayer and a capacity to draw crowds of spectators. Producer Doug Wilson, who also created J.S. Joust, told Joystiq he thinks of the downloadable collection as "a 21st-century reincarnation of Summer Games." Accordingly, it'll be released in "Summer/Fall 2013."The collection will be funded both by Sony's Pub Fund and through a Kickstarter, which will also act as a pre-order platform. Now let's make friends with the four new sports:
This year's PAX 10: JS Joust, Offspring Fling!, Puzzlejuice and more
The PAX 10, an illustrious group of indie games chosen annually to be spotlighted during PAX Prime in Seattle, have been selected. This year's rarified group include the likes of Johann Sebastian Joust, Offspring Fling! – a game we highlighted in length on the Super Joystiq Podcast – and hypnotic iOS darling Puzzlejuice.Other lesser-known titles include the latest from Cipher Prime, the studio behind Auditorium and Fractal, a Steam title called Splice, and puzzle games Containment: The Zombie Puzzler and The Bridge. Puzzle-platformer The Swapper is also represented, along with DigiPen's stealth-action game Deity and Catch-22. Turtle Sandbox's action-strategy hybrid Cannon Brawl rounds out the list of ten.All PAX 10 titles will be featured in their own special area at this year's PAX Prime, which goes down August 31 through September 2 in downtown Seattle, WA.
JS Joust creators respond to Papa Quash controversy
Johann Sebastian Joust developer Die Gute Fabrik deliberated over its response to inquiries about the similar iOS app Papa Quash for more than a day, delivering a comprehensive response on its blog last night. "To be clear, we've never given anyone permission to make a derivative version of any of our commercial products – existing or forthcoming," DGF said. "That said, the definition of 'derivative' is elusive. We generally don't believe that game mechanics themselves can or should be copyrighted or otherwise protected." "We've also never requested any studio to pull any of its products," the studio added, referring obliquely to Papa Quash's removal from the App Store. "We believe that game developers have the responsibility to decide for themselves what is "over the line" in terms of cloning vs. innovating (separate from legal obligations regarding copyrights, trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property rights)." As for the specific case of Papa Quash, Die Gute Fabrik demurred from outright calling it a clone – while still expressing disappointment about cloning in general.In an email to Joystiq, Die Gute Fabrik lead game designer Douglas Wilson provided clarification about the email conversation that took place between Papa Quash creator Sam Pepper and DGF."Sam Pepper did email me back in January," Wilson said. "However, I never gave him 'permission' to develop Papa Quash. In his emails, he told me about his general plans to make a motion control game, which he indicated was different from J.S. Joust. He never provided a well-formulated game/design, and as such, there simply was nothing to 'approve.'"According to Wilson, the decision to pull Papa Quash was not his. "I spoke with Steve Bittan from Ustwo last night, and I made it clear that the determination was theirs (and potentially Sam Pepper's) to make as to whether the game is "different" enough (separate from legal obligations regarding copyrights, trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property rights). I don't harbor any animosity towards Ustwo or Sam Pepper."
JS Joust creator's Dog the Wag puts Moves on butts
During his Independent Games Summit presentation on "folk games," Die Gute Fabrik's Douglas Wilson presented an example of a "deliberately stupid" game that uses technology to encourage uninhibited fun among groups. You know, like the group's best-known game, Johann Sebastian Joust.Dog the Wag, demonstrated by people acting a damn fool next to the stage, is a game played using PlayStation Move controllers, tethered to player's butts. Players get on all fours, then attempt to wag their digital tails as furiously as possible to accumulate points. Occasionally, the Moves' orbs will flash, signaling that a player is vulnerable to attack. If another player manages to wrestle said vulnerable party to the ground and press a button on their Move, points are deducted.We're going to remember this the next time we're about to tell someone GDC is a more "professional" conference.
Where is my Heart? Oh, it's on PlayStation Minis
There are cute things, and then there are adorable things, and then there's Where is my Heart?. This experimental indie platformer transcends the known boundaries of cuteness to such a dramatic extent that even tiny baby hippos like this one pale in comparison. Beneath that deliriously endearing aesthetic, however, lies a truly unique and captivating design philosophy. The game, available for free to PlayStation Plus members on Nov. 8 and to everyone else for $6.99 on Nov. 22, is based on a somewhat traumatic episode experienced by Die Gute Fabrik designer Bernie Schulenburg: While on a hiking trip, Bernie and his parents became lost in the woods, the stress of the ordeal highlighting their various personality shortcomings. Serving as a metaphor for the event, Where is my Heart? tells the tale of a family of monsters searching for their lost Heart Tree, wherein all three monsters must work together in order to progress through the wilderness. The game's screen is divided into sections, forming a stained glass windowpane of gameplay scenery which may or may not be directly connected to the adjacent panels. What's more, these panels rearrange themselves, heightening the player's sense of disorientation and serving as a visual metaphor for the emotional confusion the story represents. It sounds like an endearing, poetic work of art; here's hoping that ends up being the case.
