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PSN Tuesday: Swarm, Hoard and Castlevania: LoS Reverie DLC
PSN delivers another week of interesting downloadable titles with PS3's Swarm and PSP's Hoard. If you haven't checked out the demo from last week's PSN exclusive Slam Bolt Scrappers, that's definitely worth taking for a test drive. For something with a bit more machismo, the demo for WWE All Stars is available, along with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's "Reverie" DLC. Konami kinda just snuck that release in this week for the States, but it should be available in Europe on March 30. There's plenty more to peruse in the full update after the break. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.) %Gallery-118218%
Swarm priced at $15, marches to Euro PSN on March 30
The Swarm has been granted its European visa and will enter the union on March 23 and 30 on XBLA and PSN, respectively (while North American PSN users can get it on March 22). Taking control of the "pudgy, clueless little blue morons" will cost 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox and $14.99 on PSN. PlayStation Plus members get a slight discount, downloading the little goobers for $12.99. On the surface, Swarm sounds like a Pikmin- or Lemmings-style type of game, but it actually has more in common with platformers, as we recently found out in our hands-on preview.
Swarm storms PSN on March 22, XBLA on March 23
Hothead's crazy crowd-control platformer, Swarm, is set to arrive en masse by the end of March. According to the game's official Twitter feed, it'll be available on PlayStation Network on Tuesday, March 22, and then on Xbox Live Arcade the following day. Though it might appear to be a Lemmings-esque puzzle game, the titular Swarm refers to the blob of rotund, blue guys that you guide as a singular entity, while losing errant members of the crowd to horrific death traps in order to maintain a combo. We're confident that years of giving school tours through the local slaughterhouse have imbued us with enough skill to amass a huge score in this game. [Thanks, DarkKnightRJ]
Swarm preview: Extensive expendability
From the premise of Swarm -- guide a group of identical, stupid creatures through trap-filled worlds -- and from screenshots and video, it's easy to assume it's a Pikmin-style action-strategy game, with one player character wielding a small army of critters to fulfill goals. At least, it was easy for me to assume that. But there's a lot more action and a lot less strategy than you're thinking. In fact, Swarm is pretty much a platformer, albeit a platformer in which you control 50 avatars simultaneously. Now you might be thinking that it would be pretty much impossible to control 50 avatars simultaneously -- and you would be right. In fact, your little Swarmites are constantly dying off due to traps, environmental hazards, and good old-fashioned failed jumps. Not only is this okay, it's necessary; each death increases your score multiplier, and interesting deaths result in in-game awards.%Gallery-117836%
Swarm trailer runs us through the first level
If controlling small, isolated hordes of dim-witted beings is something that interests you, then you've got to be spinning in your chair in excitement for Hothead's Swarm. Well, stop before you vomit -- and also so you can watch this new trailer.
Swarm converging on March launch
Last time we heard about Swarm, the game was given an "early 2011" release window on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Today, we have news from developer Hothead Games that the blue crowd control-'em-up will hit digital marketplaces sometime in the month of March. Rounding out the release news is a new "Ask Dr. Mike" trailer and several colorful new screens of the adorable little blue hoard in action. If you're looking for a leg up in the game before it arrives later this year, Dr. Mike has a smattering of helpful hints waiting just after the break.%Gallery-115648%
Swarm Light is an $180k LED chandelier controlled by an iPhone
This thing you see in the video on the next page (and in the picture above) is called the "Swarm Light." It's a series of little LEDs hung in sequence along three clusters of grids, lit up in order by a computer to display simulated collective movement, like a swarm of bees. It's very interesting, both as a display for a programmed algorithm, and just as an art project. All together, the display costs $180,000 -- no small chunk of change. If you do watch the video, you can see that the whole thing is run by an iPhone. rAndom International created their own internal app for Apple's device to run their various installations, and the iPhone app can dim the lights, adjust them to ambient light conditions and switch through the various modes. Just another awesome use of the iPhone.
Hothead's Swarm mindlessly waddling to XBLA and PSN
Hothead Games has finally announced the release platforms for its Lemmings-esque action-puzzle game, Swarm. Folks interested in manipulating the minds of the pudgy blue buggers above will be pleased to know that they'll be charged with doing so on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN early next year. We're glad the game will receive the TLC provided by those two huge platforms, but you know which platform we really wish it was coming to? Real life. Really, really look at that those Swarmites in the picture above. We want one.
EPFL develops Linux-based swarming micro air vehicles
The kids at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (or EPFL) have been cooking up quite a bit lately, as this video demonstrates. Not only have they put together a scalable system that will let any flying robot perch in a tree or similar structure, but now they've gone and developed a platform for swarming air vehicles (with Linux, nonetheless). Said to be the largest network of its kind, the ten SMAVNET swarm members control their own altitude, airspeed, and turn rate based on input from the onboard gyroscope and pressure sensors. The goal is to develop low cost devices that can be deployed in disaster areas to creat ad hoc communications networks, although we can't help but think this would make the best Christmas present ever. See for yourself after the break.
Gather around this Swarm tutorial video
They say ignorance is bliss. Based on this tutorial video for Hothead's Swarm, however, ignorance is apparently tantamount to suicide. Watch the video for an extended look at Swarm's gameplay, and to learn just how delightfully expendable your little Swarmites are.
Swarm preview: strength in numbers
Hothead revealed Swarm for the first time back at E3. Then, we didn't know much about the game -- it's actually still in pre-Alpha, despite a launch window of "early 2011." We were given a demo of the game at PAX and finally came to understand what we were dealing with. It's hard to see the game and not compare it to Lemmings. Both games have a seemingly dull-witted cast who have found themselves inexplicably stuck in an incredibly dangerous environment. And both have the same means to persevere: teamwork. %Gallery-101328%
Swarm gameplay trailer plays follow the leader
While the first trailer for Hothead's Swarm didn't feature any gameplay, it did show off the many, many ways to kill the game's main characters -- those little blue ... things. We're feeling that Lemmings vibe again in this new PAX trailer, which introduces the first gameplay footage. All those gruesome deaths? Just as comically effective in game. Head past the break to see for yourself.%Gallery-101328%
MIT Seaswarm autonomous robots coming soon to an oil spill near you (video)
Think of it as an autonomous, swarming, photovoltaic legion of seagoing Roombas (or don't, if you're easily upset). The Seaswarm project at MIT takes a thin, hydrophobic material and drags it behind a robot outfitted with GPS and WiFi for determining its location and communicating within a swarm. When deployed, the group finds the outer edges of an oil spill, and works its way into the center, coordinating the cleanup with minimal human interference. The material itself can take on twenty times its weight in oil. And yes, the whole thing is re-usable. According to researchers, 5,000 of these relatively low cost devices could have cleaned up the BP oil disaster in a month -- which is more than we can say for Kevin Costner! See it in action after the break.
Revenge of the quadrocopters: now they move in packs (video)
In case you didn't find the original quadrocopter chilling enough, the GRASP Lab out of the University of Pennsylvania has gone and added a bit of cooperative logic to the recipe so that now multiple little drones can work together. Also upgraded with a "claw-like" gripper that allows it to pick up and transport objects, the newer quadrocopter can team up on its prey payload with its buddies, all while maintaining its exquisite balance and agility. Skip past the break to see it on video.
Swiss lab builds lightweight, tree-perching glider robot, swarms to follow
Last we heard from Mirko Kovac of the Switzerland-based EPFL Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, he was setting a robot high-jump record with his grasshopper-inspired bot. Now he's back with what might be an even more impressive robot -- a 4.6 gram glider that can fly headfirst into any surface, perch itself, and then detach on command. The idea there being that the gliders could be outfitted with sensors and deployed en masse in difficult to reach areas -- Kovac gives the example of a swarm equipped with heat-sensors that could attach themselves to trees and monitor for forest fires. What's more, he says that the same perching mechanism could also be applied to other robots -- possibly even a hybrid of the glider and his grasshopper bot that could hop and fly around before finding a spot to perch itself. Head on past the break to see Kovac explain it himself on video.
Hothead Games unleashes Swarm in 2011
With Hothead Games having ceased work on Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 (and finishing up DeathSpank), it's ready to pursue a brand new project: Swarm, a game which stars some seemingly dull-witted blue things. The introductory trailer (which you can find beyond the break) gives us a Lemmings vibe, with just a touch of sadism. Players must take control of 50 Swarmites, navigating them through "gauntlets of death and destruction," all in the search of precious DNA. You'll also need to ensure that at least one Swarmite survives in order to make use of that collected life goo. Look for Swarm in 2011, when it'll be available "across multiple platforms."
Santander Visitors Center infested by swarms of helpful robots (video)
Santander's Group City in Madrid is a big place; nine buildings sheltering 5,500 employees of one of the largest banks in the world. Guiding visitors around such a massive complex is a challenge, and what's the best way to solve any challenge? Robots, of course. Santander turned to YDreams, who we've seen before playing with augmented reality, but in this case produced something more tangible: a fleet of little red guys called "Interactive Guest Assistants" that use swarm interactions to guide fat cat bankers to their next conference -- and maybe to face off against the evil Maximilian in a harrowing battle at the end of the movie. There's also a giant virtual wall full of boring financial information presented in fancy ways, even an augmented reality map of the complex, all shown in a video after the break. It's the bots we like the best, so we'll be ordering a gaggle to guide our own visitors -- to their doom.
iPad game announcements out early and often
The trickle of iPad games released last week has now become a flood of iPad software news. Everybody is climbing over themselves to get the word out there about launch titles. Mobile Entertainment has what's probably the biggest news: another new swarm of titles has been found in the App Store's database, including iPad versions of the popular Fieldrunners and Flick Fishing games. Fieldrunners is a little more expensive than the iPhone version, at US$7.99, while Flick Fishing is one the few iPhone games keeping its price, logging in at $2.99. Words with Friends HD has also been announced, and it looks excellent -- big, bright, and beautiful on the iPad's screen. The extra space also gives a little more breathing room for chatting while playing with friends. There's not a lot of actual information about the game out yet, but we presume that you will be able to play with friends still using the game on their iPhone. Doodle Blast HD was announced as well, and it looks good. There's no doubt at this point that the iPad's App Store will have plenty of titles ready to go on day one.
Swarm robot project sounds ominous, uses open source
Why would you want to build a 100-strong swarm of mini robots? Well, aside from having them as your minions, you might be able to learn about "artificial self-organization," and "control in large robotic groups," which should come in useful during the inevitable robot insurrection. The swarm robot project, undertaken by the Universities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe in Germany, aims to produce mini drones that can communicate with one another to avoid collisions, while keeping to a volume of less than three centimeters cubed. Built using open source software and hardware (full list of components is available under the GPL), the latest prototype, titled Jasmine III, achieves those goals while also being able to run "perpetually" thanks to a wireless charging platform. You can see it in close-up after the break, or hit the read link for all the geeky details.
The Guild season 3 episode 4 available for viewing
I have to admit, I was kind of waffling on the last couple episodes of The Guild. It held me tight all through seasons 1 and 2, but season 3 had a bit of a slow start. It felt like it was veering away from a quirky series about gamers to something we get enough of on television already, but this episode dragged me right back in. Everything I love about The Guild is back in spades, largely due to the Axis of Anarchy and what they represent.Vork is still my favorite character in the series, but the AoA is fantastic. In true Guild fashion, they represent very real personalities in the gaming world. You kind of want to brush them off as stereotypes, but you just know you've met people exactly like that. The guy pictured above? If you pay attention to the arena world, I'm pretty sure you can come up with at least two or three people that match up with him in an instant.You can watch it on MSN Video, or embedded beneath the cut below (it's a very tall player when embedded, yuck!)
