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Videlectrix releases another game parody: Where's an Egg?
Homestar Runner's fictional game development studio, Videlectrix (who also created Peasant's Quest and Thy Dungeonman 3: Behold Thy Graphics!), have just released another treasure of gaming hilarity: Where's an Egg?. The gameplay is reminiscent of old adventure titles and has you visiting a number of locations talking to people and hunting for the egg. The catch is that you only have 999 seconds to find it. Oh, and did we mention you have a gun? Yup, loaded with three bullets you can use to shoot anyone you like. Bring on the adventuring!
Knytt Stories preview and screenshots
Paul Eres recently published a short preview of the upcoming indie game Knytt Stories. The feature walks through a few of the major points of the game, comparing it with the previous Knytt release and the creator's other major game, Within a Deep Forest. Half a dozen new screenshots were also unveiled, shown in the gallery below. Paul's most interesting quote comes from his blog announcement of the preview: "... the more I play the best independent games, the more I don't want to play mainstream games ever again.". This game along with Aquaria could go in our book as two of the best releases of 2007. Look for Knytt Stories on August 30.%Gallery-3719%
Male-centric MavTV readies HD feed for 2008
Despite the fact that Mojo is already vying for male eyes, the independently operated MavTV is hoping that a 100-percent HD flavor of its programming will steal a few of those pupils in 2008. The network is planning on dishing its HD feed to some 55 US markets, as well as select areas in Australia, New Zealand, and India, and will offer up a mixture of "original sports, gaming programming, and general content related to the male demographic." Unfortunately, we've no timeframe to go by aside from Q1 of next year, but you won't find us complaining about yet another purely high-definition channel coming along to take on the competition.
Unreleased Game Boy Color RPG resurfaces
Planned for release in 2001, Affinix Software was ready to put the final touches on Infinity, a role playing title for the Game Boy Color. Unfortunately publishers were already looking ahead to the Game Boy Advance and all the pretty pictures it could display. Infinity was never released, Affinix was eventually dissolved, and the game was left to sit on its creators' hard drives for years. But a Lost Levels forum member unearthed a video of the game in action (watch it after the jump) and suddenly Infinity finds itself the recipient of some well-deserved attention.In early February a news post on the Affinix website mentioned the possible release of an Infinity ROM. We contacted project leader Justin Karneges to get an updated status on the game. According to him, Infinity is very close to being complete and just needs a few story points linked together, spells filled in, and a final boss programmed. In addition to himself, one more team member is needed to tie up the loose ends, everything else is ready to roll. You can even download the full soundtrack from composer Eric Hache's website. As for the ROM: "There's no need to talk us into releasing a ROM. If we had a finished game, it would be released.". Infinity could be a breathtaking game, or it could turn out to be a dud. We won't know until we get to play it, and we're itching to take her for a spin. If you need us, we'll be consulting our astrologers to make sure the stars are in perfect alignment to get this game into the wild.[Via Insert Credit]
Tale of Tales showcases artistic games in development
Tale of Tales, an indie studio founded by artists Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, will be showing several of its works-in-progress over the next few weeks in three separate venues around the world. The studio's oldest game (currently on hold), 8, is a dreamy single player title based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. It will be presented at E3, while the MMOG The Endless Forest will be shown in Spain. Starting August 8 visitors to Mexico City's Museo Tamayo will be treated to older works from Harvey and Samyn.Currently, Tale of Tales is hard at work on The Path, an experimental single player horror game inspired by Little Red Ridinghood. You take the role of six characters, each representing Little Red Ridinghood at a different age, and explore hidden emotions surrounding the process of growing up. The game dares to ask "What happens in the dark woods when a girl meets a wolf for the very first time?" We'll guess it involves a lot of screaming.
Winners of the N+ level design contest announced
After the indie platformer N was announced for Xbox Live Arcade, PSP, and DS (known as N+), a level design competition was launched to tap the collective creativity of the N community. Special versions of the N editor (Ned) were released and levels are specific to each platform, meaning even the biggest N fans would, in theory, have to buy all three versions of N+ to play every single level. Over 80 new levels were chosen from the submissions, and each one is listed with a full screenshot on the SUBLiME web page.And for those of us too cheap/lazy to wait for and buy N+, the original N is still available for free, complete with editor and hundreds of custom levels to play.
First Wii Ware game announced: Plttchen Twist 'n' Paint
Austrian developer Bplus announced today it has the official "ok" from Nintendo to release a game on the upcoming Wii Ware download service. Plättchen Twist 'n' Paint, a "puzzle shooter", has been designed specifically for the Wii and its motion-sensitive waggle wand. No release date or other details were mentioned, of course, but don't be surprised if Min-E3 brings a few juicy Wii Ware tidbits our way.Then again, knowing Nintendo and its love of secrecy, don't be surprised if it doesn't, either.[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
First look at Aquaria level editor
Bit Blot recently released a video (the first of several) showing off a graphical level editor for the upcoming exploration game Aquaria. The team, which includes artist Derek Yu and programmer Alec Holowka, decided to polish the editor and release it with a Mod framework along with the game. Aquaria walked away with the IGF Seumas McNally Grand Prize and is turning heads with its mix of gorgeous visuals and non-linear exploration-based gameplay. With powerful editing tools at their disposal, the (soon to be) teeming masses of Aquaria fans will go crazy with creativity.
Puzzle Quest spreads its addictiveness to the Wii
Rumors of a Wii version of the incredibly addictive PSP/DS game Puzzle Quest have been laying still for months. Now, with an Xbox Live Arcade incarnation on its way, Amazon.com has listed Puzzle Quest Wii with a release date of September 25th. Even better: the attractive price tag of $29.99 is plastered below the box art, taunting those of us who already own a portable version of the game. Would we pick up a big-screen brother of Puzzle Quest, even if it had but a few pithy extras? Yes.[Thanks, Steve 3.2]
Bloons expands to include community features, level editor
NinjaKiwi has just launched an extension of its casual Flash game, Bloons, that adds a dangerously addictive new feature: user-created levels. Bloons World introduces a simple level editor and allows players to create, share, and play original Bloons stages with surprising ease. It's the same monkey-filled, dart-throwing, balloon-popping game as before, now flavored with the creativity of thousands of players. Some of the stages are challenging, while a great many more are, shall we say, completely wackadoo. And if you value the rest of your afternoon, keep away from the "Go Random" button.
NetDevil to revive sci-fi MMO as Jumpgate Evolution
NetDevil, the folks behind the LEGO MMO, recently announced it will bring "substantial updates" to the company's 2001 space combat MMOG, Jumpgate: The Reconstruction Initiative. The game is to receive a complete graphics overhaul as well as new, more intelligent AI, more weapons, advanced social aspects such as player-owned stations, and a fully controllable economy. Beta registration has opened, so if you're ready for some sexy-looking sci-fi shooting action, Jumpgate Evolution could be your fix.%Gallery-4430%
Indie horror adventure Vigil: Blood Bitterness now on Steam
Just released on Steam: gothic sci-fi horror title from French developer Freegamer, Vigil: Blood Bitterness. The "gruesome, episodic 3D adventure game" has a unique visual style that makes heavy use of solid colors, especially black and white, to craft a haunting atmosphere to match its chilling plot. You plunge into the psyche of a dark character to uncover ancient secrets about an "uncanny Evil that annihilates all in its path". Vigil follows a traditional point and click adventure style with dozens of locations to explore and puzzles to solve. The first episode of Vigil is available on Steam for $9.95, but if you grab it by July 6 you'll get an additional 20% off. It's also available as a standalone download from Garage Games where you can also try the free demo.
Katamari-inspired indie game De Blob coming to Wii
German magazine Maniac! is reporting the student demo project De Blob will be making its way to the Wii sometime next year. The Katamari-inspired game (which PC users can download for free) puts you in control of a squidgy blob rolling around the city painting the buildings different colors. It's a simple 3D game that unfortunately has some hefty system requirements, but it's free, and it's quite a bit of fun. Blue Tongue Entertainment is working on the Wii port and THQ will publish the title in 2008. [Via Go Nintendo]
Cave Story demo released for PSP, DS
Two homebrew programmers have just released demos for DS and PSP versions of the freeware PC game Cave Story. A previous attempt by Variant Interactive to publish the game commercially has apparently fallen through, though the company has not officially confirmed this. Fortunately for us, dedicated homebrew programmers aren't content to let the masterpiece remain computer-bound.Ufo_z, working on the PSP incarnation, has received approval from Pixel and has finished coding up through the first boss encounter. Working on the DS game is ravenworks who has taken a slightly different approach and is re-writing the game to fit the DS system's hardware. Both attempts show a lot of promise and run well on the actual systems or an emulator. Download the DS demo and PSP demo.
Cave Story patch allows you to switch main characters
A new patch by Efraim Siounis for the freeware platform adventure Cave Story lets you play as one of nine different characters from the game. Simply grab the pbm file from Efraim's site, rename it to "MyChar.pbm", and drop it in the /data directory under the Cave Story folder. When you start the game all main character sprites will be magically switched. Currently you can play as Curly, Toroko, Jenka, Sue, King, Crown, Booster, or a dog. It doesn't change the game much, but you'll have something new to stare at as you discover another excuse to play through the game ... again.
Turrican remake released, rocks you like a Hurrican
German programmer Poke 53280 has just released a freeware remake of the classic Commodore 64 game Turrican for the PC. The Metroid-esque title (that feels a lot like Contra at times) Hurrican is packed with vast, non-linear levels filled with weapons to find and swarms of enemies to use them on. The control scheme is a bit complex with several button combinations to memorize, but us old-school gamers are used to putting in effort to squeeze more fun out of our games. Download Hurrican (40MB, Windows).
CVG previews LucasArts-style adventure A Vampyre Story
Before it settled down to crank out Star Wars games, LucasArts had quite a reputation for adventure games. Memories of The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion still haunt our minds, so when a project comes along that reminds us of those games, we discover hidden gymnastic talents we didn't know we had. A Vampyre Story from Autumn Moon Entertainment mirrors the LucasArts adventure style in both presentation and gameplay.One look at the screenshots and Bill Tiller's artwork has you hooked We'll call it "delightfully macabre", and it's ... well, it's good. Vampyre Story stars Mona de Laffite, a vampiress who finds herself sharing an adventure with her bat companion Froderick. Expect the usual point-and-click adventure gameplay with vampiric abilities built into the game's puzzles. And don't be surprised if there's a little humor sprinkled throughout the game.A Vampyre Story has a publisher but no release date yet. Read the full preview at CVG for more info.%Gallery-4147%
Independent Games Festival submission open call
The official Independent Games Festival website is now open for submissions for a chance to win a spot to their 2008 awards in February at the Game Developers Conference (GDC). There are $50,000 in prizes up for grabs with a $20,000 grand prize. The deadline to enter the competition is Oct. 1 2007.The IGF awards, which we've covered semi-live before, is the ever growing arena to get a feel for what today's up-and-coming developers are interested in. It's where we first get a feel for games like Castle Crashers and Darwinia. So, independent developers get cracking -- you've got three and a half months to put something award winning together.[Via GameSetWatch]
Indie gaming blog Gibbage turns into a portal
Back in April, Dan Marshall of Gibbage.co.uk announced an initiative to fund fresh new indie projects using the limited revenue from the site. If Dan saw a team working on something that the world needed to see, out comes the sack of cash to help the programmers focus on creating. Now, Gibbage has turned up the heat a notch and transformed into an indie gaming portal featuring the "latest and greatest tippy-top new Indie games". Indeed.We're sorry to see the blog format go, but the portal will help fund more games and serve as a hub for newbies to the indie scene. Like some sort of space-time feedback loop, getting games there magically creates more games in the future.
Adventure game Secret Files: Tunguska coming to Wii, DS
Distributor Koch Media announced today the point and click adventure title Secret Files: Tunguska is coming to both Wii and DS systems. According to the studios handling the development, 10TACLE for the Wii and Keen Games for the DS, Secret Files is "a perfect-match" for each platform's unique control schemes. The DS port will be out later this year with the Wii version following Q1 2008. The PC version of Secret Files is already at-large.The adventure genre has struggled to maintain its presence on consoles and handhelds in recent years. The DS has revived the scene with Phoenix Wright, Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk, and the upcoming Myst DS. Secret Files will be the first traditional adventure game for the Wii. Could motion-sensitive controls shock a little life into players' interest in the genre?
