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McMillen: Publisher in talks with Nintendo for Binding of Isaac on 3DS
You could live through exaggerated childhood trauma ... in 3D! Responding on his FormSpring to a question about a potential 3DS port of The Binding of Isaac, co-creator Edmund McMillen revealed that "A publisher i know is currently asking Nintendo if they would be OK with Isaac on the 3DS." If Nintendo approves, he's willing to "let them port it." McMillen later said that the 3DS was the "only other system you might ever see Isaac on." Of course, acquiring Nintendo approval may be difficult considering the violent, grotesque imagery and overarching theme of infanticide.
Binding of Isaac gets a big ol' Halloween update
Edmund McMillen's slightly disturbing indie dungeon crawler Binding of Isaac has been extended and expanded on this, the most spookiest of days. Don't expect any seasonal additions, however: In lieu of Jack O' Lanterns and mutant candy corn monsters, the free update features new bosses, a new playable character, an additional ending and a fifth chapter, which, in a fittingly bizarre twist, is "unlocked after 10 mom kills." Check out all the new features after the jump. The game will be updated on Steam by 3 p.m. ET today. It's probably not the scariest thing you could play today, though. If only it were as utterly horrifying as its launch trailer!
Update bound for The Binding of Isaac, demo available on Newgrounds
Edmund McMillen's biblically based body horror roguelike nightmare factory The Binding of Isaac is slated to receive a rather substantial and delightfully free update this Halloween, via Steam. THe update will provide over 20 new items, 3 new bosses, a new playable character, more achievements and a new "final chapter" for those who have already completed the game. "This final chapter should be a much bigger challenge," McMillen said in an email to fans. "Isaac will become exactly what I wanted to release but didn't have the time to finish." McMillen has also released a flash demo of the game on Newgrounds, which features two levels and contains 60-plus items and 8 possible bosses. It's good to see McMillen continue Team Meat's proud tradition of free, continual community support; we just hope he'll be able to patch out our night terrors, at some point.
The Binding of Isaac and its soundtrack available now
The Binding of Isaac, a side project by Team Meat's Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy) with programmer Florian Himsl (Coil, Triachnid, C word), is available now for $5 on Steam for PC and Mac. Although Super Meat Boy may have had some cheeky dark elements, Isaac comes from a more nightmarish place. As evidence of Isaac's darker tone, give a listen to "In The Beginning" from the game's soundtrack. Composed by Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Canabalt), the soundtrack is also available now for a minimum of $0.99 and features 64 minutes of music.
Binding of Isaac dated, plush incoming
The image above kind of tells the whole story, but for you those of you on 2400 baud modems who have turned images off: Edmund McMillen's Zelda-inspired shooter/RPG/roguelike, The Binding of Isaac, will hit Steam on Sept. 28 for five dollars. Oh, and that adorable little plush? That'll be available on launch day too in Team Meat's Etsy shop. Crying hasn't been this adorable since we saw that miniature pony break its leg at the zoo!
The Binding of Isaac promoted with freaky trailer
The trailer for Edmund McMillen's The Binding of Isaac is about half gameplay footage, showing a top-down, single-screen shooter reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda. The other half is a montage of creepy puppets, screaming, and a naked man. The trailer was directed by James Id, also responsible for the legendary Super Meat Boy trailer. The trailer confirms the September release window for the Mac/PC game (a Linux version is coming "eventually"); previously, McMillen called September a "safe" estimate, and aimed for late August. Also confirming that new release window: it's pretty much the end of August right now.
The Binding of Isaac will cost $5; Steam preview page up now
Thrifty fans of roguelikes should be delighted to hear the latest on The Binding of Isaac, the current project of Super Meat Boy developer Team Meat's more artistic half, Edmund McMillen. Today, via Twitter, McMillen revealed that the game will cost $5 and that the Steam app page is now live. Oddly enough, the Steam app page contradicts previous statements that the game would launch in August, instead pegging it for September 2011. McMillen says that's "to be safe" -- the goal is still late August.
The Binding of Isaac bound for Steam this August, new screens bound for right now
Team Meat's Edmund McMillen just loosed a few more details and screenshots for his recently announced rougelike The Binding of Isaac. McMillen had previously hinted that Isaac would take some of its design cues from his "favorite game of all time," and judging by these screens, he wasn't kidding. Isaac will be a mix between roguelikes, twin-stick shooters of yore, and The Legend of Zelda. The player uses Robotron-esque controls to navigate randomly generated dungeons in a "semi RPG world" littered with power-ups and items. These items have replaced a traditional leveling system according to McMillen, and as your character progresses they will "change into a monstrous powerhouse not only in stats and abilities but also in appearance." In its current iteration, the game spans "3 chapters, 6 bosses, 36 enemy types, 4 unlockable characters and tons of dynamic happenings," however the team hopes to push those figures even higher before the game hits Steam this August. While no price-point has been set, McMillen maintains that it won't break the bank. Oh! And there are flies that poop blood at you. Sounds about right.%Gallery-128519%
First track from The Binding of Isaac soundtrack available now
Composer Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Canabalt) has made the first track for upcoming indie game The Binding of Isaac available at the cost of "name your own price" (that means free if you're a lousy tipper). The song, "Sacrificial," is available in about every major format you could want. Announced last week, The Binding of Isaac is a side project by Edmund McMillen, one half of Team Meat, the duo that created Super Meat Boy. McMillen is working on the project with programmer Florian Himsl (Coil, Triachnid, C word) and plans to share more details about Isaac this week.
Team Meat's McMillen working on new game, The Binding of Isaac
Edmund McMillen, one half of Team Meat (the dev duo behind Super Meat Boy), has been working on a secret undertaking called The Binding of Isaac. The side project, which has nothing to do with Team Meat's next "feature length" project, finds McMillen working with programmer Florian Himsl (Coil, Triachnid, C word), and a score by Danny Baranowsky (Canabalt, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story 3D). McMillen plans to reveal release date and platforms when the title is finished in about a month. The only hints we get for now are, "It's a play on my favorite game of all time," and that it's a roguelike. He hopes to share more information next week.
Super Meat Boy level editor released, 'FINALLY'
"We always wanted to release a basic level editor" for Super Meat Boy, Team Meat's Edmund McMillen writes in an emailed announcement, "but the idea started to balloon when we decided to buy servers and program a fully automated level portal (Super Meat World) to support these levels as a bonus chapter for the PC version." Needless to say, it's taken a while for the two-man team to complete the free add-on. But ... The level editor is "FINALLY out on Steam!" McMillen rejoiced. Technically, the editor is in beta release -- "and probably will be for a very long time," McMillen notes in a blog post -- so users may encounter "minor issues." Still, with the exception of boss battles and warp zones, the editor can be used to create "anything you see in game," and even package such torturous levels into a complete chapter of pain. "So think of this as a thank you to all the awesome fans who sent us cool shit, nice emails and created amazing levels with devmode," the ever-irreverent McMillen concludes in his post, "if you bitched us out because the free level editor was delayed, you should probably not update your game and burn in hell." McMillen added in his email that Super Meat World would be updated next week to add a few "missing" features and fix some bugs with the editor. "After that we will be closing the book on the PC version, porting SMB to Mac and swiftly moving on to game #2."
Super Meatmortem: The almost-death of Team Meat
Crunch time is just part of game development. When the deadline is looming, it's not uncommon for developers to pull 12-hour shifts (or longer). For Team Meat, crunch time nearly killed half of the duo. Tommy Refenes (pictured left) told GDC attendees that he would "be dead if we put Meat Boy on everything," explaining one of the reasons why Super Meat Boy has only been released for Xbox Live Arcade and PC thus far. In the two months leading up to SMB's XBLA debut, neither took a single day off, let alone slept for more than five hours a day. Refenes recounted feverish "development dreams" -- a sort of Groundhog Day scenario where he was squashing bugs only to wake and discover more.
Team Meat confirms 3DS development, Super Meat Boy sales approaching 400K
During a postmortem on Super Meat Boy here at GDC 2011, Team Meat's Tommy Refenes spoke at great length about the plight of developing the most punishing game of 2010 -- a long stretch of development Hell that has since seen nearly 400,000 copies sold across Xbox Live Arcade and Steam, he revealed. As part of Microsoft's Game Feast program, as well as several impressive Steam sales, Super Meat Boy was afforded a lot of time in the spotlight, though Refenes also attributed its high Metacritic rating as another catalyst for the rise in popularity. Later, Edmund McMillen, who participated in the postmortem through a Skype video call, confirmed that Team Meat has procured a 3DS development kit and is currently working on something for the platform. "We dont know if that'll be Meat Boy or something else, but who knows?" McMillen concluded coyly.
'The Incompetent Perfectionist': Inside SpyParty dev Chris Hecker's process
"When you're trying to do that perfect jewel, there's a kind of bar you have to hit. People argue that Jon [Blow, developer of Braid] could've shipped with the programmer art -- I mean, it won the IGF design competition. And I don't think so. I think the game design was the most important part, but the whole package came together so well -- the way David [Hellman's] art looked with the thing, and the .... I think that there's a certain quality bar that is the expression of what you're trying to do, and you kind of have to hit that." SpyParty developer Chris Hecker doesn't plan on releasing his ambitious one-on-one spy game until he feels that it's hit the "perfect jewel" point -- an indescribable essence, or rather, a point in development when the concept and execution gel. "I'm not that interested in shipping the earlier version of it," he told me at an NYU coffeeshop late last year. Hecker's bringing the game with him to next week's Game Developer's Conference where he'll also be giving a few short lectures. And yes, he'll be making the trek across the country in a few weeks to PAX East so that everyone can check it out. %Gallery-117474%
Super Meat Boy postmortem, Angry Birds and Zynga talks announced for GDC 2011
In case you didn't know, it's the 25th anniversary of the Game Developers Conference this year, and that means a load of extra special presentations. Beyond the head of Nintendo keynoting, the laundry list of legendary developers giving "classic" postmortems, and various announcements, it was revealed today that Super Meat Boy devs Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes ("Team Meat") will be giving a postmortem of their own. And hey, we think they're pretty extra special. Additionally, Zynga VP of product development Mark Skaggs will be discussing his company's evolution, framed around the release of FarmVille and the push towards CityVille over the last year -- we'd suggest fledgling Facebook millionaires not be late. And finally, rounding out today's announcement is news of an Angry Birds talk from Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka (self-claimed "Head Eagle" at the studio). We'll be on hand at GDC bringing you all the meaty, free-to-play, bird-flinging news as it breaks.
Team Meat's next game to be smaller, possibly on handhelds
Super Meat Boy's co-creators Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes don't want to make another platformer. "We've farmed this. It's done. There's no more coming out of us," McMillen said in a recent interview with Game Informer. In fact, the duo's next game could very well be dynamically generated, a brawler, a shooter, or something more casual, and could end up on a handheld -- but "not like iPhone or anything," Refenes notes. "Me and Tommy love video games. I don't think we discriminate on what genres we'd want to do," McMillen explains. And it certainly won't be as difficult as SMB, or as difficult to make. "Kind of like eating the ginger between sushi entrees. Just kind of cleanse it, make a new little game, and then start on the next big one," he explains. Super Mint Boy, perhaps? Not likely, as McMillen definitively states, "After the level editor comes out, it's done. Cut it off. No more meat boy." In the pages-long interview, Refenes and McMillen wax on a variety of topics, from undiscovered gaming references within SMB, to working with Microsoft and Nintendo, to the genesis of Meat Boy's death replays. Get a cup of hot coffee, put on that kickin' SMB soundtrack, and get reading.
Joystiq Top 10 of 2010: Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is so simple in concept that it's downright pretentious to read so much into it. But what else is a critic good for? On the surface, SMB -- a repurposing of the initials of probably the most famous video game of all time -- is a quintessential "indie" work. Essentially the product of the Team Meat twosome of Edmund McMillen (the creator) and Tommy Refenes (the programmer), Super Meat Boy is equal parts professional perfectionism and total unprofessionalism. The game "oozes with the blood of artistic independence," as McMillen put it ... on his "Dev Blog for Gay Nerds." What's arguably the most technically excellent 2D platformer ever designed can't be separated from its adolescent humor. Team Meat are folk heroes for the Twixter generation: enviably talented young artists, who use their powers in defiantly uncouth ways.
In Russia, Super Meat Boy retail cover makes you!
Okay, not quite. But fans of Super Meat Boy in Russia now have the opportunity to design the cover art for the PC box-copy release in the territory (so team Meat doesn't have to). Published by Buka Entertainment, the Russian release will be the first box copy of the game available in the world, so it's ... sort of a big deal? To enter the box art contest -- well, first you have to be a resident of Russia or any of the former Soviet Union countries, and then -- just put together a 709x709-pixel image using this set of SMB assets (.ZIP link), send it in to Buka before midnight on January 15, 2011, and calmly wait for the results to be announced a day or so later (more specific instructions can be found here). Not only will the winner become "like semi-popular," but he or she will also receive an Acer monitor! A personal message from Team Meat's Edmund McMillen spells out the intentions behind the contest, which you can view after the break. If you don't watch it for the pitch, watch it for his totally sweet hat.
Team Meat explains what went wrong with WiiWare's Super Meat Boy
If Super Meat Boy were to launch on WiiWare today, it would have no leaderboards, no Dark World levels and no support for downloadable additions. Boss fights and cutscenes would have no musical accompaniment, and only six music tracks (including just one for retro-themed levels) would be present. In the words of designer Edmund McMillen, it would be "a piece of shit version of Super Meat Boy." When McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes, who together form Team Meat, tested a version of their loopy platformer that could fit under the (previously disputed) 40MB file-size limit imposed by Nintendo's WiiWare service, they weren't satisfied with the compromises and decided to cancel it. "There is no way to avoid the fact that if we released a 40MB version of Super Meat Boy it would be a shit version of the game," McMillen told Joystiq. "It's a lose lose situation, but the fact of the matter is if we release a shitty game, we will have to live with that for the rest of our careers and have to cop to the fact that it is a shitty game."
Mr. Minecraft is a god in Super Meat Boy
With players barreling through the PC version of Super Meat Boy, Minecraft's main character ("Steve") has been discovered to be ... more or less omnipotent. You could say he breaks the game ... or you could say he's totally boss. We're going with the latter.
