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Westone co-founder working on Monster World successor
Westone Bit Entertainment co-founder Ryuichi Nishizawa has partnered with indie developer Game Atelier to produce a spiritual successor to Sega's Monster World series, publisher FDG Games confirmed this week. Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze will feature side-scrolling action-adventure gameplay in the vein of the Monster World series, and boasts a playable character who can change form in order to traverse the game's varied 2D environments. Developer Game Atelier initially pitched the project as The Flying Hamster 2 before securing a publishing deal and canceling its Kickstarter campaign prior to completion. "Monster Boy will be an all-new adventure and as we closely work together with Ryuichi Nishizawa (creator of the original Monster World) it can be considered as an official part of the series," Game Atelier notes in a Kickstarter update published today. "Since the trademark is owned by SEGA we had to pick a different name." Developer Westone filed for bankruptcy last year, leaving behind a catalog of dozens of games produced over its 30-year history. Monster Boy will debut later this year for the PlayStation 4 and PC platforms. [Image: Game Atelier]
Sales results of App Store's first Indie Game Showcase revealed
Trying to stand out in the App Store is no easy feat, considering the number of games competing for attention and the inevitable flood of clones inspired by any successful venture. Smaller studios that lack the advertising budget of companies like EA or Ubisoft have an especially challenging time getting noticed, but last month Apple introduced the Indie Game Showcase, a promotion meant to lend more visibility to its highlighted titles. Gamasutra spoke with developers featured in the promotion to see how their titles benefited from the promotion. While Simon Flesser of Simogo, developer of Device 6, didn't share exact data, he noted that being featured has certainly been positive for the puzzling adventure novel. The studio's tweet from March 27, which falls within the running dates of the Indie Game Showcase, stated that Device 6 cleared 200,000 lifetime sales on the App Store. Other developers saw general boosts in downloads at the beginning of the promotion - Gauge, Game Atelier's free-to-try game of balancing meters as close to their threshold's edge as possible without going over, earned an average of 600 downloads a day. However, only three users in that daily average paid to unlock the rest of Gauge, resulting in an average of 7.3 euros earned per day. On a more general level, most developers saw an initial boost in downloads, but those sales spikes decayed quickly and rarely rippled to other efforts created by the studios. Chaotic Box's Frank Condello stated that the Showcase had "zero effect" on Chaotic's non-promoted titles and a "negligible" one on the free version of Critter Panic, its title in the Showcase. Critter Panic's promo status was also paired with a price drop in the month of March, but Condello said he hadn't seen any sales in the few days after the game was set back to $1.99. [Image: Simogo]
PlayStation Plus users get The Flying Hamster as free Valentine's gift
Nothing says love quite like potted plant-powered aerial rodents, does it? We say that kind of stuff all the time, especially around this most romantic time of year -- and apparently, Sony shares in our unique set of beliefs. PlayStation Plus members have a sweet little surprise waiting for them in their PSN Message Boxes: a warm Valentine's Day message from Sony, and a download voucher for the PSN Mini The Flying Hamster. Best of all, unlike some of the freebies delivered to PlayStation Plus subscribers, The Flying Hamster won't disappear from your library should you ever decide to cancel your membership. If you've ever seen a more beautiful parallel for love undying, we'd love to hear about it. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
The Flying Hamster soars onto iOS
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell posits that great ideas spread virally. It makes sense then that a game about a flying, beer-chasing rodent, too brilliant to be contained by PSP, has now migrated to iOS. Find Flying Hamster in the App Store for $5.99, and find a launch trailer after the break.
The Flying Hamster shooting his way to iPhone
After months of waiting, The Flying Hamster finally made it to the North American PlayStation Store this week. Developer Game Atelier apologized for the delay, explaining that "things don't always go the way you want" as an indie developer. "We wished that this title would have been released way earlier than now." In spite of the setback, it seems the studio has more plans for the adorable rodent. "We're working harder than ever to release this title on the iPhone," the representative teased, without revealing any other details. Given the game's warm reception, we're certain iOS gamers will welcome the classically styled shmup.
The Flying Hamster intro is all about love
Also: sunflower seeds, eagles, penguins, UFOs, cows, robots, laser-shooting owls, octopi. Game Atelier's PS mini The Flying Hamster looks crazier than ever in this new trailer -- after the break -- which finally reveals the story behind the shmup.
The Flying Hamster joins PSP Minis, offers new tutorials
We've been championing Game Atelier's adorable shmup, The Flying Hamster, for quite some time. And although it's still without a release date, the development team has recently confirmed that it will end up in the PlayStation Minis program (hopefully allowing cross-platform play via PSP and PS3). While we may be touting its cute facade, we have to admit that the gameplay looks rather compelling, as well. These new weapons tutorial videos (after the break) offer some insight into the depth of the game's combat. (We can't wait to use the banana weapon!) %Gallery-83145%
The Flying Hamster spits out some weapon tutorials
If it wasn't evident by now, we're absolutely in love with the upcoming PSP shooter The Flying Hamster. It's bizarre, and more importantly, absolutely adorable. We've only seen screens of the game so far, but with the release of its new official website, we can finally see the game (and its weapons) in action. The first three videos introduce some of the tactics players can use. The default weapon appears to be some kind of hamster spit, which can be charged to produce a more substantial ball of wet destruction. Other weapons include sunflower seeds and berries, which can be charged to devastating effect. While these may not seem like the most appropriate weapons to use in a shooter, they certainly match the zany character of the game. Seriously, it's hard not to laugh while watching these videos. You can check out all the action after the break.
Don't worry, The Flying Hamster still looks crazy
There may be a disappointing lack of beer and laser-shooting owls in this new set of screenshots from The Flying Hamster. But don't worry, the game still looks absolutely insane. The upcoming side-scrolling shooter for the PSP stars -- what else? -- an adorable flying hamster, as he makes his way through levels clearly designed by a Mad Libs book. Seriously, what's going on in this image? We have no idea. Check out the rest of the images in our gallery below. The Flying Hamster should be available for download via the PlayStation Network later this year. %Gallery-83145%
The Flying Hamster fights laser-shooting owls in a race for beer, on PSP
At first glance, the headline may not make much sense, but that's exactly what this screenshot for the newly announced The Flying Hamster is telling us. Newton the Flying Hamster will have to soar through six levels, from the "big Japanese city" to "crazy ancient Egypt." No trips to normal ancient Egypt for this rodent! Developed by The Game Atelier for the PSP, The Flying Hamster will also feature more than thirty enemies, ranging from "sneaky penguins, anti-air cows, exploding foxes" and worst of all, "ninja squirrels." Who else just became incredibly excited for this shmup? %Gallery-83145%
