fantastic-arcade-2012
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Luftrausers lives up to its arcade potential
Hotline Miami was the official pick for the "Most Fantastic" game at Fantastic Arcade last weekend, but the cabinet I returned to whenever I had a spare moment was Vlambeer's Luftrausers, the expanded PC/Mac game based on the Flash dogfighting game.It's perfect as an arcade game, especially with the modifications Vlambeer put in place for the demo, as it gives you very simple mechanics to achieve an immediately apparent goal, and then leaves you to practice those mechanics for as long as you can survive. It's too bad an arcade cabinet won't be one of the default venues for the full game.%Gallery-163549%
Mushroom Men return in 'Pax's Truffle Trouble'
A corner of Fantastic Arcade housed a trio of Devolver Digital demo stations, including a unit displaying an unannounced Mushroom Men game called Pax's Truffle Trouble.Mushroom Men originally appeared on Wii and DS, in a pair of platform action games developed by Red Fly Studio and published by Gamecock. Gamecock isn't around anymore, but Red Fly is still behind this new game, and the platforming has also changed significantly.
Photo tour of Austin's Fantastic Arcade
Fantastic Arcade continues to be one of the coolest, most satisfying gaming events of the year. No other convention that I can think of would ever have a custom Luftrausers arcade cabinet, for example, nor is there an event with such easy, casual access to tons of indie developers.For those of you unable to make it this year, or those of you who happen to be local but haven't stopped by yet, we've got a gallery of pictures to help you enjoy the event vicariously. If you happen to be organizing next year's E3, we urge you strongly to look in here for inspiration.%Gallery-166309%
Terry Cavanagh goes inside Super Hexagon
Terry Cavanagh began his panel at Fantastic Arcade by playing his game, Super Hexagon, live on stage. Above, he easily gets through the "Hexagonest" mode, which is the hardest mode available from the start, and shows us one of the endings. It's inspiring.After that, he played through the absolute hardest level in the game, in order to show the attending fans the true ending. I didn't realize Super Hexagon had an ending, much less multiple ones. But now I and a small group in Austin have seen it. "Congratulations," he told us all. "Now there's a much larger percentage of people who have seen this ending." To see it yourself, you'll just have to practice.%Gallery-164642%
Steam Greenlight by the numbers
During a panel pitching Steam and Greenlight to indies at Fantastic Arcade, Valve presented some numbers representing the usage of the service.According to the slide, 949,156 users have participated, casting 9,998,476 votes toward getting games onto Steam. 3,195 games have been posted to Greenlight for consideration, of which 1,110 got banned so far, for various reasons ranging from content considered inappropriate to just being a joke.Finally, there are around 800 "Legitimate, Publicly Visible Items" on the service. And of those, of course, ten have been officially "greenlit."
PlayStation Mobile's Super Crate Box is the definitive version
It doesn't take much to create the ultimate version of Vlambeer's Super Crate Box. It needs the gameplay – including responsive controls – of the PC/Mac original, and the pick-up-and-play portability of the iOS release.By default, the PlayStation Mobile release running on a PlayStation Vita is the best version, simply because it meets those conditions. The game feels just like it always did on PC, with excellent use of the Vita's d-pad or analog stick to move your little guy, but is portable.I considered writing a longer preview, but there's not much you need to know. It's Super Crate Box, but portable, with buttons. Provided you're playing on a Vita or another PlayStation Certified device with controls – like a Wikipad or an Xperia Play, that is. It'll work on all the other PlayStation Certified devices, but with touch controls.
Sony streamlining ratings for PlayStation Mobile
Publishing a game on PlayStation Mobile will be easier than usual, thanks to an initiative by Sony. Developer relations exec Shane Bettenhausen revealed during a Fantastic Arcade panel that Sony has collaborated with ratings boards for a simpler method of ratings. "ESRB lite, PEGI lite, CERO lite," he called it.Under the new system, developers are able to self-report content by checking spaces on a form. That saves time and overhead required for ratings boards to check the content manually. It also means that games on PS Mobile are subject to the same content restrictions as console games – and not, say, at the mercy of Apple.
