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Game Atelier apps go free to promote Flying Hamster 2
French developer The Game Atelier has discounted its digital games catalog to spur backer support for Flying Hamster 2, releasing many of its previous games for free via iTunes. Through the end of the month, the iOS versions of The Game Atelier's cute-'em-up Flying Hamster, arcade-style gardening sim SunFlowers, and grocery-scanning action game Crazy Market are free to download from the App Store. The PlayStation Vita versions of all three games also get a round of steep discounts, dropping SunFlowers, Flying Hamster HD, and Crazy Market's DLC packs to 49 cents each in North America. Flying Hamster 2's Kickstarter has earned nearly $30,000 toward a funding goal of $150,000, with 16 days remaining in the campaign. [Image: The Game Atelier]
PSN Tuesday: Dishonored, Sherlock Holmes, Retro City Rampage, tons more
Today's PS Store dump includes a barrage of full games as part of Sony's Day 1 Digital promotion and its ongoing indie focus. For full games, we have Dishonored, Birds of Steel, Devil May Cry HD Collection and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.PSN gets Retro City Rampage, The Walking Dead Episode Four: Around Every Corner, Derrick the Deathfin, Machinarium, Worms Revolution and more. Retro City Rampage is also hitting Vita, alongside Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock, Spy Hunter and Sunflowers.Vita is getting three new PSOne Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 4, Destrega and Saiyuki: Journey West. There's also a free demo for this week's big release (that isn't Dishonored), XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and the Mechromancer DLC for Borderlands 2. Check out the complete lineup here.
SunFlowers blossoms onto Vita on October 9
SunFlowers is more than surviving the autumn, it's coming into full bloom on October 9 when it becomes available for PlayStation Vita. The flowery puzzle game released in Europe last month, but The Game Atelier tells us it arrives on North America's PlayStation Store next week, at a price of $3.99.The game, played vertically on the Vita, is a mixture of gardening and reverse Space Invaders. Playing as the sun, your aim is to shoot sunlight through clouds so that it turns into yummy water for the flowers below. If you're unsure solar-controlled cultivation is your bag, SunFlowers has a trial mode which lets you play up until Level 6 for free.%Gallery-167265%
The Game Atelier takes Vita in a new direction with SunFlowers
That new direction is "sideways." The new Vita puzzle game by the developer of The Flying Hamster is played in a vertical format, requiring you to upend your system as you control the sun, pushing rays through clouds to cause rain to fall on flowers. You have to avoid ... evil clouds ... who will incinerate your flowers if stimulated.Each flower you collect goes into your personal (virtual) garden, for those days you just want to look at some beautiful (cartoon simulations of) nature. There's no release date yet, but there is an adorable trailer, above.
Anno 1701: Discovered early?
Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery isn't scheduled to land on North American shores until March 4th, two weeks from now, but several Canadians are reporting that they've already spotted copies of the strategy game in the wild. And by in the wild, we actually mean in Best Buy and Wal-Mart. We won't hold it against you if you're unfamiliar with the title -- it's a port of a German RTS in which players settle and maintain an 18th century "New World" colony. In Europe, where the history comes from the DS game has been available in stores since last July, reviewers have given Anno 1701 very positive reviews, applauding its depth, touchscreen interface, and four-player multiplayer mode. Sail the ocean blue, right past the post break, for a four-minute trailer for Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery.
Friday Video: History and strategy
A combination of sim and strategy plus online multiplayer means that you probably don't care much what Anno 1701 looks like, at least, if you're a strategy fan. It's playable? Great, say the devotees. That's all we need. The rest of us, however, like a little video action, and we've got this PC-to-DS game on display after the jump. In Anno 1701, your mission is to civilize the wilds of North America; discover appropriate land, stick a flag in it, and build your civilization. For added giggles, consider that this game is being released for the DS in the UK and Australia, and not in the U.S. (at least, for now). Sounds like a case of art imitating life to us. For all you Brits, this is your chance to get in there and show us colonists who's boss!
