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Under Defeat HD hits Xbox 360 stateside after two years AWOL
So this is a bit of an odd one. Back in late 2012/early 2013, Under Defeat HD came to PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan and Europe. In North America, Rising Star released the remaster of G.rev's Dreamcast and arcade helicopter shoot-em-up exclusively for PS3. Why? Well, we could speculate, but the answer's unknown. Then this week, around two years later and out of the blue, Under Defeat HD finally hit Xbox 360s stateside via Games on Demand. Despite being a vertical shoot-em-up, Under Defeat is ideally suited for HD widescreen life, as former Managing Editor JC Fletcher explained back in 2012. That HD "New Order" mode - which sadly doesn't have anything to do bizarre love triangles or blue Mondays - is part of the new Xbox 360 version, which is available now to download for $20.
La-Mulana EX uncovers Western Vita release this year
Nigoro's puzzle-platforming adventure game La-Mulana is headed to the PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe later this year with exclusive features and bonus content, publisher Rising Star Games announced today. Originally released as freeware in 2005, La-Mulana later saw a revamped and expanded commercial release for WiiWare and PC platforms. A localized version launched for Steam via Greenlight last year, and a Kickstarter-funded sequel is currently in production after earning more than $260,000 in backer pledges. The upcoming Vita port, La-Mulana EX, is developed by Japanese team Pygmy Studios, and is due to launch by the end of 2014. Rising Star notes that La-Mulana EX's Vita-exclusive features and a release date will be announced soon. [Image: Nigoro]
Sorcery Saga battles the curry gods in Europe this month on Vita
Japanese developer Zerodiv's hot'n spicy roguelike RPG, Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God, is coming to the PlayStation Vita in Europe this month, following up on its North American debut late last year. Sorcery Saga is a console-style roguelike in the vein of Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon series, presenting players with simplified, combat-focused gameplay while retaining the genre's trademark difficulty. Players embark on a quest to find ingredients for a legendary curry dish, encountering all manner of bizarre characters and freakish enemies along the way. Sorcery Saga will launch digitally via the European PlayStation Network on February 19, and will hit retail shelves on February 21. [Image: Zerodiv / Rising Star Games]
Indie sky-runner and shooter, Cloudbuilt, lands on Steam this year
Cloudbuilt allows players to freerun-and-gun in a futuristic sky world, and it's coming to PC this year from publisher Rising Star Games. We got a first look at Cloudbuilt in October 2012, when developer Coilworks described it as "a challenging, high-speed action-platformer in 3D with its roots in 16-bit jump-and-shoot games." Since then, Cloudbuilt has been Greenlit and is on its way to Steam. "Steam's Greenlight is a great indicator of what people want to play and Cloudbuilt breezed through this process due to its refreshing take on the platform genre," Martin Defries, COO of Rising Star Games, says in a press release. "As a community-driven publisher we are delighted to release a title with such great feedback and we're confident that Cloudbuilt will further enhance our growing Steam library. The hardworking team at Coilworks has produced a fantastic game and we can't wait to see which routes players take for the fastest times." The final PC version of Cloudbuilt will include more than 20 levels, four endings, branching level selection and a "retro-inspired soundtrack," Coilworks says. Listening to the game's most recent trailer, we'd call the soundtrack 80s techno-punk with a modern twist.
Deadly Premonition up for pre-purchase on Steam for 10 percent off
Did you hear that, Zach? Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut is up for pre-order at Steam for 10 percent off of its regular price. My coffee warned me about it this morning. Did you opt out of coffee-relayed push notifications? That's unwise, Zach. Originally launched as a budget Xbox 360 title in 2010, Deadly Premonition's off-kilter, Twin Peaks-inspired horror narrative won it cult classic status among players who were willing to overlook its technical shortcomings. A revised version, Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, premiered for the PlayStation 3 earlier this year, and was recently Greenlit for a Steam release. Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut will launch on Steam on October 29, just in time for Halloween. Dressing up as the Raincoat Killer this holiday is optional, but recommended.
Deadly Premonition gets 352-page companion app for iPad
Deadly Premonition received a companion iBooks app for iPad this week, Rising Star Games announced. Priced at $9.99, the Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut The Official Visual Companion is 352 pages long with over a hundred "interactive elements." The book offers players the chance to peek into the creative notebook of director Hidetaka Suehiro (also known as Swery65) to learn more about the development of this odd cult favorite. The interactive book includes three maps and concept art for the game as well as a soundboard and soundtrack. It arrives ahead of the Steam launch of Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, which is set for Halloween.
Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut riding into Steamville on Halloween
The Director's Cut of Deadly Premonition heads for PC on October 31, so if you like your Halloweens hot, Steamy, and completely weird, then you're in luck. After speeding past Greenlight, SWERY65's cult favorite has a date on its newly unveiled Steam page but not yet a price, although we do know pre-purchases will be available two weeks prior to release, according to publisher Rising Star. Deadly Premonition poured a fresh cup of Director's Cut for PS3 earlier this year, the re-release revamping graphics and gameplay. The PC version of Director's Cut adds exclusive DLC, although what that comprises, like so much in this game, is a mystery.
King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition trailer points to imminent port [update]
King of Fighters XIII looks very likely to be on its way to Steam, after a new trailer was found in the portal's database. The vid, currently viewable on Steam, ends with a logo detailing a 'Steam Edition' of the SNK fighter. KoF XIII was first discovered on Steam's database in February along with several other games like Dyad and Fez, some of which have now released on the service. Entries for KoF 2002: Unlimited Match and KoF 1998: Ultimate Match were also unearthed back then, but the KoF XIII trailer provides solid indication that particular game is headed to Steam in the near future. No official announcement has been made. SNK Playmore's latest entry in its almost 20-year-old fighter series arrived in Japan's arcades in 2010 before coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 a year later. Joystiq's resident King of Fighters, Jordan Mallory, doled out four stars in his review, deeming it "hands down the best, most polished and solidly constructed King of Fighters game there's ever been." Update: The trailer has since been removed from Steam. You can view a copy uploaded to YouTube (via Shoryuken) here.
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut heads to Steam Greenlight
Cult favorite Deadly Premonition is one of the biggest names yet on Steam Greenlight, after publisher Rising Star promised an "enhanced" version of the Director's Cut should the eccentric mystery game get voted through. Among the other Director's Cut additions, the PC edition is set to get exclusive DLC. "Rising Star Games is an extremely community-driven publisher and our vocal fans have been calling for a PC version of this game," said Rising Star Games COO Martin Defries, "So using Steam Greenlight gives those fans the chance to make a difference." Developer Access Games first brought the divisive Deadly Premonition to Xbox 360 in 2010, followed by the Director's Cut PS3 version for the west earlier this year. Our coffee forgot to warn us about a possible PC version, didn't it Zach?
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut trailer questions everything
Do you even know what's in your coffee? Is that even coffee in your cup?
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut out April 30
4/30 ... in the coffee ...Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, which has SWERY's signature on it so you know how director's cut-ty it is, will be released on April 30 in North America, both as a retail game and as a PSN download.Pre-orders of the retail version from "participating retailers" including GameStop and Amazon will receive DLC "so plush, that Agent York (and Zach) will feel like their investigation in the small country town of Greenvale just turned into a vacation." The announcement from publisher Rising Star Games explains that the DLC will "expand the mystery beyond the original game and let Agent York (and Zach) live it up in Greenvale."Like everything else about this game, man, we don't know.
How Under Defeat HD fills your HDTV
Welcome to Living in the Past, a weekly column about what's new in old games. Now get off our lawn. Vertical shooters don't really mix well with HDTVs and their 16-by-9 aspect ratios. They would if people were crazy enough to turn their TVs sideways, but that's generally not the most feasible option. Most shooters released on HD systems relegate the game screen to a relatively small window to compensate, leaving a lot of dead space on the screen.Under Defeat HD features a mode, new to the PS3 release of this Dreamcast-era game, designed to fill the whole widescreen display, called "New Order." It works well, and makes a convincing argument that 16-by-9 display can work ... for Under Defeat.
Under Defeat's Maruyama on shmup stagnation
G.Rev's Under Defeat was already part of a "new generation" of shooters when it was released in arcades in 2005 and on Dreamcast in 2006 – at least, compared with what most people would think of as the "golden age" for the genre in the late '80s and early '90s.And now, six years later, Under Defeat returns in HD on PS3. I asked G.Rev CEO Hiroyuki Maruyama how shooters have evolved since its original release."Well ... to be honest, I do not think there has been any evolution in the genre in the past few years," Maruyama said. "Around the year 2000, if you discussed shoot 'em ups, you could talk about several different types of games within the genre. It's sad to see that recently you do not come across the same variety of shooters in the market. As a company, we have tried to release shmups that we feel are 'different' than others ... but it is a difficult environment right now."%Gallery-163195%
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut foretold for March
The Q1 release window originally given to Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut has been narrowed down to March 2013. The open-world horror, action, mystery, etc. game will have "reworked" controls for its combat, a new scenario designed by creator SWERY, and will support additional downloadable content.It's also probably going to be really weird. While the above trailer doesn't show much of the actual game, it does assuage any fears you may have had that the new version wasn't going to be about a crazy person who talks to an invisible partner named Zach.
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut arrives on PS3 in Q1 2013 [update: Move confirmed]
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut is pulling into PlayStation 3 in the first quarter of 2013 for North America and Europe, Rising Star Games announced. The enhanced re-release includes new content, and will receive new downloadable content. It also features a high definition face-lift and reworked controls.Deadly Premonition creator SWERY65 announced the remastered PS3 edition of his 2010 cult favorite back in March, telling us it would feature new content and Move controls. The press release from Rising Star makes no mention of Move, so we've reached out to the publisher for confirmation.Update: Rising Star confirmed to us Move support is still planned.
Under Defeat HD drops price to $30, retail version full of extras
Under Defeat, a vertical shooter by G.Rev, was originally an arcade game, and then it saw home release on the Dreamcast in Japan – in 2006, long after the Dreamcast's natural lifespan had ended.Under Defeat returns this fall in high definition, on the PS3, a platform that is currently being supported. The price for the retail/PSN release has been dropped from $40 to $30 since publisher Rising Star initially announced the release plans, which is good news for fans of ten-dollar bills.The retail version, despite selling for the same price, will include bonuses like a "digital art book, all current DLC and patches, a soundtrack CD and an exclusive letter from the CEO of G.Rev and the game's executive producer, Hiroyuki Maruyama," boasts Rising Star on the PlayStation Blog.
Arma dev's Carrier Command ships out to North America on Oct. 2
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission will make its way to North American shores this October 2, Rising Star Games has announced. Developed by Bohemia Interactive, the studio behind the Arma series (and now the standalone version of DayZ), Carrier Command will be available on both Xbox 360 and PC.Based on the original Carrier Command simulation game, Gaea Mission takes place in a futuristic setting, blending first-person shooting and vehicular combat both on the ground and in the air. Check out a new trailer above.%Gallery-163881%
Under Defeat HD: Deluxe Edition marches to PS3 and PSN this fall
Under Defeat is the latest game to get the HD treatment, re-launching courtesy of Rising Star Games, both as a retail PS3 game and PSN download, this fall for $39.99.Under Defeat HD: Deluxe Edition not only sports the usual visual polish that comes with slapping HD on the title, but also a new dual-stick control scheme and a new game mode built for 16:9 displays. The physical retail edition also tosses in a digital art book, soundtrack and a letter from the producer of Under Defeat and the CEO of developer G.rev.G.rev, the Japanese outfit whose chief export is shmups, launched Under Defeat on the Dreamcast back in 2006. It's a top-down shmup set in an alternate-reality World War II, in which players control ze Germans.%Gallery-163195%
Harvest Moon creator working on new IP 'Project Happiness' for Natsume
Talking to us at GDC about his new company Toybox, Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada hinted at upcoming announcements for E3. Today, Natsume revealed that Toybox will develop a new IP codenamed "Project Happiness," with Natsume publishing the unknown game in North America and Rising Star Games publishing in Europe."Project Happiness is an IP that is very close to my heart, and stems from years of working on other great titles like the Harvest Moon series," Wada said in the announcement. "Project Happiness is not only meant to be a fun game experience, but I also want it to help expand the player's view of the world, and make them ponder what their life means to them." It's a tall order, and one we're not sure will lead to happiness in all cases.Natsume and Wada will reveal more about Project Happiness at E3, and Joystiq will be there to tell you about it.
Rising Star and Aksys partner for American distribution
Rising Star Games will have help in its mission to release Japanese games in North America, coming from another company with a similar focus: Aksys Games.Aksys announced that it will handle distribution duties for Rising Star's 2012 lineup, which currently consists of the Cave shooter Akai Katana and ... probably some other stuff, none of which has been announced. Given that Aksys has published Cave shooters itself, it would seem the partnership doesn't really take the publisher out of its comfort zone.And that marks the only time Cave shooters have been referred to as a "comfort zone."
