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Oddworld: New N Tasty review: Fresh produce
Question: When is a video game remake not a remake? Answer: When it adds enough new ideas and tweaks existing content so that the resulting product is neither a re-hash nor a re-imagining. When it doesn't stop at HD textures and smoother character models, and instead opts for new gameplay, expanded objectives and modern conveniences. When is a remake not a remake? When it's Oddworld: New N Tasty.
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty launch trailer is making its escape
Just Add Water's remake of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee will launch tomorrow in North America, Wednesday in SCEE regions. Those awaiting their pre-ordered costumes can check out Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty's launch trailer ahead of the PSOne remake's Cross Buy-enabled arrival on PS4, PS3 and Vita for $30.
Oddworld pre-order bonuses prove fezzes are cool
While Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is a remake of the 1997 PSone game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, that doesn't mean it can't feature some new, never-before-seen bonuses. Developer Just Add Water has announced that customers in the US and Canada who pre-order New 'n' Tasty will receive an alternate costume for bug-eyed hero Abe, as well as a new mission centered on the fez-wearing monster-man, Alf. Customers in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Russia, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand will also have access to the bonuses, though their route is a little more ... odd, you could say. Instead of pre-ordering to secure the Alf's Escape mission and Scrub Abe costume, players living in the aforementioned regions will need to manually download the content. Once the game comes out, they'll have two weeks to download the items at no additional cost from PSN, so long as they also have an active PlayStation Plus subscription. Just Add Water did not mention when or if the DLC will be available to customers who choose to neither pre-order nor download within the above guidelines. New 'n' Tasty will release on July 22 in North America, July 23 in the SCEE regions, and will support Cross-Buy for PS4, PS3 and Vita versions. [Image: Just Add Water]
Gravity Crash Ultra collides with Vita in July
There's a lot of (laser?) bullets packed into the ships of Gravity Crush Ultra, but developer Just Add Water expects to find space for all of them on the Vita by July. Serving as a beefed-up upgrade from the PS3 version that arrived in 2011, Ultra will blast apart foes at 60 fps with tweaked lighting and visual effects. JAW says that aside from boosts to visuals, a third playable ship debuts in Ultra, which allows for a total of three difficulty levels. The soundtrack has also been remixed, with minor tweaks cleaning up the menus and making mission notifications easier to keep track of. The original release's support for editing and sharing levels returns, in case you deplete Ultra's supply of winding, enemy-filled tunnels before you tire of blowing things to bits. [Image: Just Add Water]
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty will be $30, supports Cross-Buy on PlayStation
Developer Just Add Water nailed down release specifics for its upcoming remake of the PSOne-era puzzle-platformer Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, revealing its launch price and other key details. Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty will hit the PlayStation 4, PS3, and PS Vita later this year for $29.99 in North America, €24.99 in Europe, and £19.99 in the UK. The game will launch on the PlayStation Network as a Cross-Buy title, giving buyers access to all three versions with a single purchase. New 'n' Tasty also boasts Cross-Save functionality, allowing players to transfer their progress across all PlayStation-branded platforms. Ports for the Wii U, Xbox 360, and PC platforms are also in the works. A launch date was not announced, but Just Add Water will begin accepting pre-release purchases on June 9. [Image: Just Add Water]
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath PS4 version a possibility, according to creator
Abe's Oddysee may not be the only game in Lorne Lanning's Oddworld series to be getting a makeover - Lanning told Eurogamer at this year's Game Developers Conference that he'd like to bring the 2005 Xbox title Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath to the PlayStation 4. Stranger's Wrath HD already exists on the PlayStation 3 and Vita, but Lanning said this version would be "a new SKU with some new dynamics." Of course, wanting something doesn't necessarily make it so. "We're still going over budgets and schedules and stuff like that," Lanning cautioned. This makes sense, considering Lanning also stated that the upcoming Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty would need to sell at least a quarter of a million units to fund more HD translations of the franchise. [Image: EA]
Oddworld New 'N' Tasty gameplay video shows Abe's return Oddysee
Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssey for the original PlayStation is getting a fresh coat of paint - and new window curtains, and fresh carpet, and a redone kitchen, and okay we're gonna stop here. Point is, it's getting a serious overhaul with the upcoming Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty from Just Add Water. And now, thanks to the recently-released gameplay trailer, we can all see what this atypical adventure looks like in motion. Spinning sawblades and electric shocks may not be the biggest obstacles in Abe's path, mind you. Oddworld series creator Lorne Lanning told Eurogamer that the game will need to sell a quarter of a million copies to fund an HD remake of Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, and half a million to revive The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot. No pressure, buddy. [Image: Just Add Water]
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty must sell 500K to fund new game in series, creator says
Just Add Water's upcoming remake of the PSone-era adventure game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee needs to sell half a million units in order to fund the creation of a new Oddworld game, series creator Lorne Lanning told Eurogamer today. "If I'm doing a new Oddworld game, I'm not going to do it for $2 million. I might do it for five or six," Lanning explained. "People keep asking me, 'Why don't you Kickstart Oddworld? You could get at least $1 or $2 million.' And I'm like 'What would I do with a couple million on Kickstarter? On a new Oddworld title?' Not much. I could redo Exoddus for a couple million. I could do that. But a new title, which means new characters doing new things and controls that are great - that's where the real time and expenses come from." Lanning additionally revealed that Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssey - New 'n' Tasty will be priced at $30 when it hits digital platforms this spring. He notes that sales in excess of 250,000 will fund the creation of Just Add Water's next planned remake, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus HD. 500,000 copies sold would earn enough revenue to revive the stalled Oddworld series project The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot, which Lanning estimates is "a $5 million title" at minimum. Lanning is optimistic about hitting the target, given that the self-published Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD has sold around 600,000 units across the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PC platforms. Sales for the remake eclipsed the original EA-published Xbox version of Stranger's Wrath, which only "sold about half a million units," according to Lanning. [Image: Just Add Water]
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty out spring 2014 on PS3, PS4, Vita
Just Add Water announced that its tastier, juicier remake of the classic puzzle-platformer Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee will hit the PlayStation 3, PS4, and PS Vita in the spring of next year. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty updates the PSOne-era favorite with HD graphics and a 2.5D presentation, along with an extra helping of the morbid humor that defined the long-running series. At this year's E3, it was revealed that New 'n' Tasty will make its console debut on PlayStation platforms, capping off a string of indie partnership announcements from Sony. New 'n' Tasty ports are also in the works for Windows, Mac, Linux, and the Wii U eShop, though release dates for non-Sony platforms have not been announced.
Gravity Crash Ultra blasting to Vita in 2014
Gravity Crash Ultra, the follow-up to PS3 arcade shooter Gravity Crash, will launch on Vita in 2014. The game is a side-scrolling shooter with 42 levels, running at 60 frames per second, with seven of the levels being new to the Vita version. Developed by Oddworld custodian Just Add Water, Gravity Crash Ultra will also include a level building tool. Players will be able to share levels online with others, as well as with owners of the original PS3 game. Gravity Crash launched in 2009 for PS3 before coming to PSP in July 2010.
Oddworld's Lanning on Xbox One indies: 'It's as if we don't matter'
"At the business level, Microsoft isn't acknowledging people like us. It's as if we don't matter." In an interview with VG 24/7, Lorne Lanning, creator of the Oddworld series, spoke to the lack of independent developers on Xbox One - stark in contrast to Sony's courtship of indies on the PS4. "We're not on the radar. We're little guys. It doesn't seem like any of the little guys are on the radar." At the Microsoft E3 keynote this year, the focus was on blockbuster games; Minecraft: Xbox One Edition was showcased, as was Capy's Below, but that was about it. Lanning said he doesn't expect a bright future for indies on the Xbox platform. "Ten years from now, the biggest banners out there, the hundred million dollar games, are going to be what happened in the indie community," Lanning elaborated. "That's the only place we're seeing real innovation because that's the only place people can really afford to." Lanning said it's the "smart people" who see independent games on equal footing with AAA games in the future. "I don't see any indication of that foresight up in Redmond. They do not seem to be listening to their audience." To Microsoft's credit, it's not entirely oblivious. After introducing the Xbox One and its DRM policies, the console was widely criticized. Microsoft later backtracked and made a dramatic reversal on Xbox One's policies. Lanning added Microsoft has "a pretty good understanding of who makes really expensive great games, but beyond that there's not really any insight into how people get there from nothing."
JAW crowdsourcing Mudokon voices for Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New 'n' Tasty
Conversation with the various denizens of Oddworld has been a staple of the series since it began back in 1997, when Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee's GameSpeak engine made farting in a video game easier than ever. There were also important gameplay uses for the system, and it served as a vital cornerstone in establishing the charm and character of the game's universe by giving voice and personality to its NPCs. Now, developer Just Add Water wants to give your voice and personality to the Mudokons in its forthcoming remake, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New 'n' Tasty. Throwing your voice into the ring is relatively easy, provided you've got the right gear: A "decent microphone," an audio capture device capable of recording at 24bit/96kHz, some noiseless/feedback-free cables and a Soundcloud account. A short script of required phrases has been posted on Just Add Water's official blog – once your takes been recorded, they are to be uploaded to your Soundcloud account as .wav files (remember those?) and shared with the official Oddworld account. The deadline for submissions is next Friday, July 26.
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD becomes PlayStation Plus freebie
The high-definition remake of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, developed by the restoration experts at Just Add Water, is joining the free game library offered to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Munch's Oddysee, which also features gangly escapee Abe as a playable protagonist, is considered the second chapter in the ever-lingering "Oddworld Quintology." The 3D action/puzzle game nearly started on the PlayStation 2, but it debuted as an exclusive Xbox 1 (not "One") launch game in 2001 and later made its way to PC. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD should be available for free after Tuesday's PlayStation Store update. The recent Star Trek game will be on sale right alongside it, which makes sense because ... A) it also endorses cooperation between species B) it also has two handsome protagonists C) it's also about an odyssey, but spelled correctly
Kojima seeking studio to remake Metal Gear Solid... again [Update]
Update: Kojima has tweeted that "a rumor about remaking MGS1+2" is "not true," and that his statement "has been modified in the thread or something." Kojima further elaborated that he'd want to remake MGS1 and 2 in Fox Engine if possible, but that Kojima Productions is too busy with Metal Gear Solid 5 and "other prioritized titles." "I wouldn't mind if talented creator from outside studio making this happen," Kojima said, though that is different from saying that he is actively seeking a studio to fill that role. Original: Metal Gear series director Hideo Kojima is currently seeking a studio to remake Metal Gear Solid using the Fox Engine, Gamereactor UK reports. Kojima noted his interest during a recent roundtable interview, after a fan requested remakes for the first two Metal Gear Solid games. The Twin Snakes, a 2004 remake of the original Metal Gear Solid, was developed by Silicon Knights during the studio's brief stint as a second-party Nintendo developer, and remains a GameCube exclusive. Series compilations like Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection feature the original PSone version of Metal Gear Solid. While Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 were remade for 2011's release of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, the original game in the series continues to elude an HD makeover. Kojima noted that some of Metal Gear Solid's mechanics would require updating for a potential remake, but gave no further details. Kojima previously expressed doubts that Metal Gear Solid could be updated for modern audiences, explaining that "It was a game made for a certain era -- not just the story, but the controls and everything about it reflect that era in which the game was made." Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD developer Just Add Water expressed interest in producing a Metal Gear Solid remake in a Twitter reply to Kojima earlier today.
Just Add Water working on a PlayStation 4 game
The folks that have been breathing life into Oddworld for the last couple of years have also been secretly breathing bytes into a PlayStation 4 development kit, as it turns out. Just Add Water (Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD, Abe's Oddysee New 'N' Tasty, etc) has revealed its ongoing development of a PS4 game over on its official blog.What said PlayStation 4 project actually is remains a mystery, though the developer did recently poll fans as to what game it should begin constructing next – we're optimistically hoping the two are somehow related. Which isn't to say that we're not also open to being surprised, though. The Oddworld series has been lacking a rhythm game for far too long.
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD getting leaderboards, tweaked controls on PS Vita
An update for the PS Vita version of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD is riding into town holding a burlap sack full of leaderboards. They'll track time in spent in the game overall and for each individual bounty.Developer Just Add Water is working on the patch now, Expansive DLC reports, though there is currently no timetable for release, and the new build has yet to be submitted for certification.The patch will also address a pair of problems that players have complained about: a flickering sky glitch and a lack of alternate controls. After the patch is issued, Stranger's Wrath HD will include an option to disable the PS Vita's rear touch-pad controls. When asked for comment, the rear touch-pad on our PS Vita replied, "Awwww man, really?"
Oddworld dev asks which game you want next
Normally you'd totally expect video game development studios to have the next 50 or so years of their precious, expensive time planned out to the letter, but not so at Just Add Water. Once the British company finishes up with Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New 'n' Tasty, which is expected to launch sometime in Q4 of this year, its future is completely open.Oddworld Inhabitants has created a public poll to see which game fans would most like Just Add Water devote itself to next. The available choices include (but are not limited to) Oddworld: The Hand of Odd, SligStorm, The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath 2, an unnamed, completely new Oddworld property and even Oddworld: Squeek's Oddysee, which would be the first proper continuation of the pentalogy since Munch's Oddysee launched over a decade ago.Oddworld Inhabitants doesn't guarantee that the fans' ultimate choice will absolutely, positively be Just Add Water's selected project, but it's swell of them to ask.
Deja Review: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
This is a Deja Review: A quick, unscored look at the new features and relative agelessness of a remade, revived or re-released game. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath has seen two re-releases since its original 2005 Xbox debut. Developer Just Add Water took on the mantle of Oddworld Inhabitant's most celebrated title, bringing out a base-level update for PC in 2010 and a fully touched up HD version on PS3 (and, again, PC) in 2011. Now Stranger's Wrath HD has been converted to PlayStation Vita and released via PSN, again with a few changes and additions to the formula – this time to suit the portable, touch-enabled console it's being housed on. Stranger's Wrath itself was one of the most-loved of Lorne Lanning and co's creations, though the sales figures behind the original left the game residing firmly in 'cult classic' status. It told the story of the eponymous Stranger – a nameless enigma making his way around an old west-styled world, trying to save enough 'moolah' to buy a life-saving operation – and with a twist that nearly made the forums of 2005 explode. In other words, perfect fodder for an inexpensive re-release and hopefully enough to guarantee greater sales thanks to the power of seven years' word-of-mouth. %Gallery-157582%
PSA: Stranger's Wrath HD now available on Vita
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, you'll remember, is one of the weirdest of a series of weird games: It's a first-person shooter, essentially, based in Oddworld. The new PS Vita version of the game is now available for download through PSN, for $15. An HD version of the quirky shooter (which originally came out on the Xbox and later PC) was made for the PS3 last year.The Vita version of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath features the enhanced graphics of the Just Add Water remake, and makes use of the Vita's front and back touchscreens for "extra controls."If you haven't had a chance to play one of Oddworld's best, it's time to log into PSN and check it out.
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD hops onto PSN this month
Several months after its original launch window has passed and nearly two years after it was first announced, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD will finally bring its adorable, charming weirdness to the PlayStation Network before the new year rings in.Specifically, Just Add Water's remake of the OG Xbox launch title will hit European PSN on December 19 for €8.99/£7.99, with a $9.99 North American launch following sometime in "late December," according to the official website. Considering that there's only one other Tuesday in "late December," which is Christmas Day, we're pretty sure that's what they're talking about. %Gallery-173459%
