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The Cave drops in on iOS this summer
The Cave, Double Fine's latest adventure game, is heading to iOS, Touchgen reports, citing a hands-on preview at E3 last week. Sega published The Cave on PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U in January, but clearly that's not enough, and the game is due out this summer on iOS. The Cave on iOS doesn't have virtual analog sticks or buttons, but allows the player to tap and drag characters around the map, and choose characters with a poke on their respective icons along the bottom of the screen, the hands-on report notes. The Cave features seven characters with murky morals and, at times, even murkier gameplay, we found. There's no word on how much the iOS version will cost, but the price shouldn't be any steeper than the walls of that deep, dark, sentient cave.
Vampire Smile coming to PC officially from Microsoft and Ska Studios
Ska Studios' XBLA bloodbath The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is coming to PC with help from Microsoft, creator James Silva announced on his dev (and cat) blog. Vampire Smile is currently on PC – but it's via an unofficial crack that made headlines this morning, partially because the hacker labeled his version a "restoration of justice." Silva says he and the other half of Ska Studios, Michelle Juett Silva, approached Microsoft last week about developing an extended, PC version of Vampire Smile, far before the unofficial version was an issue. "Porting Vampire Smile to PC as an enhanced Director's Cut has been something I've been wanting to do since launch (I was calling it Georgelucasing until Michelle made me stop)," James writes. "Nothing's set in stone, but we got the go ahead to make a pre-announcement: We'll be working with Microsoft to bring our stuff to PC." Ska Studios can't officially condone the cracked PC version of Vampire Smile, but James doesn't hold the creator in complete disregard: "I really am honestly flattered that he took the time and effort to reverse engineer Vampire Smile for PC. I heart your enthusiasm, Barabus! (Just stop calling it justice, please!)" And since Ska can't stop making news today, it went all out: Charlie Murder, its next brawler coming to XBLA, is slated for a launch this summer. We think it's a ton of chaotic fun – check out the launch trailer below.
Fan launches unofficial PC port of Vampire Smile, says it's not piracy
Russian developer Barabus really wanted to see Ska Studios' Xbox 360-exclusive game, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, on PC – so Barabus created a cracked version and uploaded it to the web. Barabus didn't contact Ska Studios and didn't think creator James Silva would lose any money from the unofficial PC port. On a game development forum, Barabus cited the following reasons the port was ethical (in English from Google Translate): "The view was expressed that, with respect to the authors is not very nice to publish the game on the PC. I have to argue that the part of the authors are not very nice to publish the game exclusively for the Xbox 360, making it impossible for PC gamers to play in such a great game," Barabus writes. "Piracy – yes, that is bad. On the other hand, we do not steal the game for the Xbox 360, we release it for the PC port. Given that developers ignore the PC platform, about any loss of profit for them is not out of the question. After all, if they wanted to earn money, then the game would be issued on all available platforms. If the game came out on PC officially, then this thread would not exist." Of course many players own both PCs and Xbox 360s, and an unofficial PC port could potentially lure away paying console customers and impact Ska Studios' profits. And Silva expressed interest in creating a PC version of Vampire Smile after finishing his next game, Charlie Murder. Silva responded to Barabus' port to Indie Statik. "I guess you could say my reaction is mixed," Silva said. "I'm flattered that there's this much interest in Vampire Smile on PC. I'm not mad about the crack itself; in fact, I'm actually pretty impressed. But I'm bewildered by the cracker's attempt to justify the morality of it. He assumes a lot about why Vampire Smile's not on PC yet, and he could have cleared up a lot of those assumptions by just emailing me. I get that piracy is a service problem, but that's a consequence, not a justification." Barabus added the following justification in the comments of that post: "The PC version has a lot of limitations. Cooperative gameplay is unavailable, network gameplay is unavailable, achievments is unavailable ... "Original Xbox 360 version for pirates is more attractive. I gave only the opportunity to play for those people who have no Xbox 360. This is not piracy. This is restoration of justice."
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic arrives on the iPad, and the Force is with it
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is the kind of game that's almost too big to be playing on the iPad. It's easily 30 hours long, with extensive attribute, skill, and combat systems, and it has some of the best storytelling BioWare's ever done, all set in the epic pre-film Star Wars universe. This is a monster of a classic game, and like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Baldur's Gate before it, it seems like cheating to play this game on Apple's touchscreen tablet, like you're somehow breaking the laws of mobile gaming physics, if such a school even exists. And yet, it works. Aspyr Media is the company responsible here. It's been porting games to the Mac for a long time, and with Knights of the Old Republic has decided to start bringing what it calls "catalog Mac experiences" to iOS. Presumably, the rights were snagged from BioWare and LucasArts, and now there's a very well-made $9.99 port of one of the best Star Wars games ever assembled, running on the iPad.
Resident Evil: Revelations review: Any port in a storm
The 3DS is no graphical slouch. Aside from the glasses-free 3D feature, the system can kick out some impressive scenery, and it did so with last year's Resident Evil Revelations, a well-made little horror shooter in a series that's been looking for a lifeboat lately. After launching Resident Evil 6 fewer than six months ago, Capcom seems to think HD platforms need even more Resident Evil love, and so this week Revelations hits Xbox 360, PS3, Windows PCs, and the Wii U. Playing it in enhanced form on an HD console, however, feels just a little goofy. The textures do look excellent, but the game's models are clearly made for a more lightweight graphics engine, which means you get characters with hair frozen in place and enemies with just a few animations to use over and over again. Revelations was made for a handheld machine, and its designers cut corners that the other platforms would have let them curve around more gracefully. But Revelations' saving grace is that it's a Resident Evil game, and it's a good Resident Evil game at that. For that reason, fans of the series who missed out the first time around will probably appreciate the chance to see it for themselves.%Gallery-188861%
Report: Remastered Final Fantasy VIII coming to PC in Japan
[Rough translation of the above dialogue: "...whatever."] The ever-sullen Squall and his friends are set to make a high-resolution return, as Famitsu reports that Square Enix is developing a remastered PC version of Final Fantasy VIII. Final Fantasy VIII was originally released for the PlayStation in 1999, and PC players saw a no-frills Windows port one year later. News of Final Fantasy VIII's forthcoming rerelease follows up on last year's upgraded PC port of Final Fantasy VII, which added cloud saving and unlockable achievements. While the new version of Final Fantasy VIII boasts a graphical update, no further details are known, and a release date has not been announced. [Image Credit: Famitsu]
Injustice: Gods Among Us gets an original iOS version
Injustice: Gods Among Us is a game that's been coming to consoles for a while now -- it's a fighting game, made by the same team behind Mortal Kombat, that features DC Universe superheroes battling it out against each other. The team has released an iOS version of the game, and while it's not exactly the same as the console titles, as you can see above, it looks pretty darn good anyway. This version is being made by the same division of NetherRealm that made Batman: Arkham City Lockdown for Apple's devices, and just like that "port," this game goes above and beyond the call of just creating a mobile-sized version of its console brothers. For one thing, the iOS version of Injustice will have three-on-three battles. You can see the interface for choosing a team and fighting in this IGN video -- you'll pick three heroes to fight with, and then attack back and forth by swiping various gestures across the screen. The graphics aren't exactly as cool as the console versions, but it looks like some of the same models are in use, and each hero comes with three levels of super moves, and can even be leveled up for higher hitpoints and damage. The port looks very impressive indeed. I don't know if it'll be quite as good as the console game is looking, but it's clear NetherRealm isn't skimping on the quality when making an iOS version, and that's great to see. If you want to check the game out, you can download it for free right now.
BioShock Infinite soars onto Mac this summer
BioShock Infinite is heading to Mac this summer, courtesy of Mac publisher extraordinaire Aspyr. It's due out for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 26 (Yes, the March 26 that's less than a week away. Deep breaths.).For those Mac gamers not opposed to cheesy Facebook marketing tactics, you can enter to win a free copy of Infinite here, by signing up for things you may or may not ever have actual use for again.
Super Hexagon brings concentric chiptune madness to BlackBerry 10
File this one under "things we definitely weren't expecting today:" Terry Cavanagh's Super Hexagon is now available on the days-old BlackBerry 10 operating system. Currently, the only device that runs BlackBerry 10 is the BlackBerry Z10, which is available in the UK and Canada, but won't make it to carriers in the United States until March."This wasn't originally something I had lined up," Cavanagh writes. "Laurence Muller, who ported the C++ openFrameworks version of the game to Android, has an interest in BlackBerry – he maintains the unofficial Blackberry port of openFrameworks. So when Blackberry came along and asked us to do the port, we figured, let's give it a shot!"The game can be purchased from BlackBerry World, either on the Z10 or online, for $2.99. Now all we need are PlayStation Vita and 3DS ports, and Cavanagh's mobile market saturation will be absolute.
Daily iPhone App: After Burner Climax brings high flying action to iOS
After Burner Climax was originally an arcade title, part of the old After Burner series (that was installed in an actual sit-in unit that spun around as you were flying -- pretty neat!). The title made the leap to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN a few years ago, and now Sega has released this version for iOS, available now on the App Store. Unfortunately, without all of the arcade bells and whistles, this version feels just a little bit flat -- it's probably meant more for nostalgic Sega fans than anyone else. But the graphics are still very impressive. You choose a jet, pick Arcade, Score Attack, or Climax modes (Climax is a special power that allows you to take down multiple enemies at the same time), and then get flying, using virtual controls or tilt to move your aiming reticule around. The shooting game is pretty shallow, but it's definitely colorful and fun. Fans of games like the Sky Gamblers series may be a little disappointed that you basically can just fly back and forth (and barrel roll, of course), but this is an arcade title, not a simulation title, so the goal is just to be flashy and exciting, and After Burner Climax does that. The game also brings in some really excellent features, including HDMI and Airplay support. This isn't a half-considered port -- Sega really did an excellent job in bringing this game over to iOS. I really enjoy After Burner Climax. It's definitely an arcade game, with all of the shallowness that entails. But it's fast and fun, and it's very nice to have a version of the old arcade favorite available on my phone whenever I want to jump in and play. Those who favor real flying will have to look elsewhere, but if you just want to shoot down some tangos while flying at high speed, After Burner Climax is available now for US$1.99.
Microsoft rumored to be taking a 'meaningful look' at Office for Linux
Open source obsessive Michael Larabel says he has it on good authority that Microsoft is considering a native version of Office for Linux. Specifically, the company is taking a "meaningful look" at the idea, now that Linux is showing signs of becoming more of a player in the OS stakes. The information came to Larabel from an unnamed source during the Free Open-Source Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) in Brussels, and this voice in the shadows apparently also revealed the port could be ready in 2014. Larabel is often right about things like this. But regardless of whether Office for Linux comes to fruition, the idea of Microsoft even thinking about it -- and potentially giving such oxygen to a (free-of-charge) Windows rival -- may come as a surprise. When someone alluded to this on Twitter, Larabel replied that he wouldn't be surprised if there are "many doubters" but challenged them to "wait and see." He points out that Microsoft has offered "unlikely sponsorship" to Linux projects in the past, albeit on a relatively small scale, and that the rumored Office for Android may also function as a stepping stone. Still, there'll need to be a few more meetings in underground parking lots before we're totally convinced.
Sega's After Burner Climax flying over to iOS
After Burner Climax is a 2006 update of the popular old-school arcade game. It arrived in arcades upon first release and was later ported over to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. Now, Sega has announced it's bringing the game to iOS. There's no release date yet, as Sega has simply said that the game is "on the way." When it does arrive, iOS users will be able to pull off all of the high-flying action and bombing runs that After Burner Climax has to offer. It's exciting to see a game like this get ported -- retro games are one thing, but as Apple's devices get more and more powerful, we can see games that were traditionally meant for high-end consoles (or even dedicated arcade game units) show up on our iPhones and iPads. [via Joystiq]
Aspyr Media charges on in the wild world of Mac gaming
I've been vocal for many, many years now about Aspyr and their like, and exactly how I feel about them. I'm a big fan of gaming, of course, and a big fan of Apple and the Mac. And Aspyr sits right at the intersection of those two worlds: They're a company, based in Austin with about 50 employees, that ports AAA and big-budget games over to the OS X platform. Given my dissatisfaction with the company and how vocal I'd been about it in the past, it was with not a little bit of temerity that I went to finally meet with them here at Macworld 2013. But Aspyr's VP of Publishing Elizabeth Howard and Sales Manager Michael Blair kindly welcomed me into the company's suite and sat down to talk about the state of Mac gaming from their point of view. The good news is that Aspyr has seen all of the signs that I've seen the past few years, and the two main concerns I've had for so long are their concerns as well. Buggy ports of PC games on the Mac was a big problem, but in the past few years Aspyr has worked hard to make things better, and even I'd agree that the ports we're seeing these days, from Aspyr and other companies, are light years better than what we used to see. The other big complaint I've had is delays -- games on the Mac often come out months or even years behind their PC and console releases. But both Howard and Blair agreed this was an issue as well, and in fact one of their biggest concerns. Late Mac releases was "definitely the most important thing to us in 2012," said Howard. Aspyr is working as hard as it can to juggle licensing partnerships, engineers, code bases and platforms to try and get these games out as close to the PC release as possible, and Howard says that "it's getting much better." With a few exceptions, Aspyr essentially has the porting process down to just a couple of months, with most releasing coming out either day and date or soon after. It's not perfect. Just recently, Aspyr had to release Borderlands 2 without multiplayer content on the Mac App Store, though it was able to get multiplayer ready for the Mac Steam release (and the Mac App Store patch is coming as soon as it's ready). But both Howard and Blair said they share the timing concerns, both because they are fans of Mac games, and simply because games released alongside the PC versions (and alongside all of the marketing and promotion for them) . "Revenue is a huge difference for us" when games are released together, said Blair. It turns out that fans like me aren't the only ones bugging Aspyr -- the companies they license the games from aren't always helpful either. Not only do a lot of AAA developers not have time for Mac ports, but they often don't have time to even help Aspyr figure out what code goes where, which adds time to the process and frustrations to Aspyr's engineers. Finally, Aspyr has one more source of concern, and it's the distributors that it chooses to deal with. The company releases games on its own website through the official GameAgent store, but most of its sales come these days through either Steam or the Mac App Store, and Howard says those are two very different marketplaces. How sales look on one or the other tends to depend on the title you're talking about (Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, for example, does well on the Mac App Store, while Borderlands 2 is a much better hit on Steam, presumably because of that multiplayer problem, among other things). But Howard said that just releasing games on one platform or the other is even more work for the company's engineers: Steam has its own achievements and features, and the Mac App Store of course has Game Center and other features to deal with. I asked Howard, given how much success the company has found on the Mac App Store, what Apple could do better for games like theirs, and she said Steam is really leading the charge in supporting game developers. Steam "engages that audience constantly," she said, putting together lots of regular sales and promotions for customers to find, and leaving promotional banners and ads up as long as their relevant, rather than changing them out from week to week. Apple, on the other hand, isn't quite as active in its promotion, and definitely isn't as open in terms of how it deals with the store, says Howard. That seems to be a legacy of Apple's relationship with gaming in general: The company has never really understood gamers, and even on the Mac App Store tends to promote and sell more of its own apps rather than much more popular games. Aspyr didn't have a lot of information to share about their exact catalog this year (unfortunately, recent changes in the gaming industry have put some of their titles in question for the moment), but Howard said the content lineup for 2013 would be very impressive. She promised more content for Civ 5 (Aspyr has published both the game and the Gods and Kings expansion on the Mac), some more indie-style titles, and lots of other new titles on Mac and Steam. Howard also mentioned, though again without specifics, that the company was thinking about a new plan as well: Bringing "catalog Mac experiences" over to the iOS platform. She mentioned Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as a desktop game that had done well on Apple's mobile devices, and said that Aspyr was considering bringing games that were a few years old to touchscreens. There's no more information on that, unfortunately, but it was definitely an intriguing idea. Aspyr is definitely working hard to try and make all of its Mac ports better, and while I'm still not completely satisfied with the release schedule (and I definitely got the impression that Howard and Blair weren't yet either), it's definitely clear that the company is facing a whole lot of pressure from all sides for doing something that all of us Mac gamers want: Bringing us high profile games that run natively on the computers that we love. The quality and timing of the ports has gotten better over the last few years for sure, and I would no longer call the company "a complete dealbreaker," as I wrote five years ago. Still, there's always room for improvement, and hopefully we'll see even more of it this year, as Aspyr is able to convince more and more of the companies it licenses games from just how wonderful and loyal the Mac community can be.
10000000 now available on Mac via Steam
10000000 (pronounced "10 million") is a great game that arrived on iOS last year. It combines a tile-based swiping puzzle game with a fantasy-based progression system to create a very addictive mix. The game is still available on iOS for US$1.99, but Eighty-Eight Games has now made the leap over to the desktop, releasing the app on Steam for both Windows and Mac. As you can see in this trailer, the PC version of the game is similar to the Mac version, and contains all of the various dungeon upgrades and puzzle action that the original is known for. Eighty-Eight tells us that Valve came to them and asked about a Steam release after the success of the iOS version, which resulted in the port that's available right now. There's no Mac App Store version, unfortunately, but getting the game for both Windows and Mac on Steam Play should make up for that. Currently, the title is having a launch sale, so you can pick it up for a dollar off, or just $3.99. If you missed this game on iOS (or just love it so much that you want to play it again), Steam's got you covered.
Achievements suggest 'Resident Evil: Revelations Unveiled Edition' for 360
Back in November, Korean ratings board GRB posted listings for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Resident Evil: Revelations; a port that Capcom has yet to officially announce in any capacity. Now, purported achievements for the 360 version have surfaced, listing the game's full title as Resident Evil: Revelations Unveiled Edition.The achievements themselves reveal little, beyond the fact that both Campaign and Raid modes will make the jump from handheld to console, should this all shake out. As intrigued as we are, the idea of a 3DS to console port brings up many questions, though the fact that the word "revelations" is spelled correctly is promising. We've reached out to Capcom for comment.
Disgaea 2 coming to PS2 Classics January 22
NIS America is bringing Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories to the PlayStation Network's PS2 Classics section on January 22. The game will be priced at $9.99.The 2006 SRPG game previously made an appearance on the PSP in 2009 as Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. The PSP version included additional content such as levels, skills and characters. While NIS America's announcement implies that the PSN version will be a direct port from the PS2 game, we reached out to see if any of the added content from the PSP version will be included in the PSN port, and will update as we learn more.
Open webOS ported to the Nexus 7, gives us the Touchpad Go that might have been (video)
More than a few enthusiasts were gutted when HP exited webOS hardware before the Touchpad Go could even have the distinction of a press release. WebOS Ports' Simon Busch can't resurrect HP's miniature tablet plans, but he can give us an inkling of what we missed with his new alpha port of Open webOS for the Nexus 7. The conversion is surprisingly complete given its basis on a related Galaxy Nexus edition: along with supporting core functionality like the accelerometer and WiFi, it at last cuts the cord and works independently of a PC connection. The only clear flaw is occasional lag. We'd still be cautious with a rough build of an OS that wasn't ever intended for Google's tablet; if that's no obstacle, however, the Nexus 7 port is the next-best way to relive HP's original vision for 2011.
Dungeon Defenders: the first Unreal Engine 3 game to get an honest-to-goodness Linux port
Who gives the official all-clear after the End of the World? We have no idea, but soon as the happy signal comes we're going to reconfigure our Linux-powered bunker for a spot of gaming. It's an eerily fortuitous time for that, in fact, what with the Steam for Linux beta now open to all and the Unity and Unreal engines also having been adapted for the open source OS. In terms of actual playable titles, Dungeon Defenders in the latest Humble Bundle is being put forward as the first native, commercial Linux game to use Unreal Engine 3, and if it proves successful then it'll hopefully inspire others to come out with more ports in lucky 2013.
Final Fantasy IV headed to iOS on December 20, Android version to follow in 2013
That Nintendo DS re-make of Final Fantasy IV may add 3D graphics, a variety of bug fixes, and a fresh localization, but who wants to lug around their old Nintendo DS? Thankfully, it won't be much longer before the same version of FFIV ends up on iOS, as spotted by the folks at gaming forum NeoGAF. The game arrives on the iOS App Store for both iPhone and iPad starting on December 20, and is headed to Android sometime next year. As of now, it's only got a Japanese pricing of ¥1800 ($21.77), but we expect it'll cost about $17.99 when it launches Stateside. In anticipation of the pending release, Square's marking down prices of its other iOS FF games (which are usually priced absurdly high), so now's a good time to snap them up on the cheap. If you'd like to take a gander at the first images of the iOS port, Japanese publication Gamer has a first-look.
Phoenix project reincarnates WebOS as Nexus S app
After its untimely demise, WebOS showed some resilience by coming back in open source form and popping up in various devices hither and yon. On the vanguard of that resurrection is Phoenix International Communications, a team of volunteers who've managed to port the orphaned OS to a Samsung Nexus S device, running as an app inside Android. So far, the reborn OS app is displaying decidedly zombie-like slowness, but it's still an early pre-alpha build. If all goes well, you might one day be able to seamlessly switch between WebOS and Android without rebooting, letting you run apps from both systems. So, if you've been carrying a torch for the fallen system, check the video after the break.
