Retro PC Rampage, After All

Just a couple of days ago, I was tidying up my RSS feed list, when I bumped into Retro City Rampage. As I was reminded it was being developed exclusively for the Wii (or some similarly sad thing), I decided to stop feeding on it's RSS. If you don't want me, Retro City Rampage, I don't want you either. Hmpf! But, oh, what is this? Only a few days after our imaginary breakup, the devs are proud to announce it's going omni-platform. Well that was unexpected.

Cue Cubes: Cubium Trailer

In the mood for some physics-based puzzling? Of course you are. Here's a thing - Cubium. Sadly, it is currently available only in A-Language-Not-English, and the trailer gives the impression that it's hardly self-explanatory. So, no news of an international release yet. But it does look rather dashing, doesn't it?

Delightful And Deadly: Warp Trailer

Oh, look, here's a cute little orange alien! He's so round and glowing and cuddly, with fat, wobbly antennae and such. Look at him. He's such a darling, isn't he? Wait, he just disintegrated some scientists. Well... they probably deserved it. Scientists often do. What's he doing now? Why is that man bloating? He... he just blew up, entrails flying, blood gushing. Oh my. This is not right.

Bacon And Cheese: Mr. Bree Released

A couple of months ago, Adam Smith of RPS did a write up on Mr. Bree: Returning Home, a spike-ridden platformer developed by the Brazilian Taw Studio. I decided to follow the development of this one closely, as I was captivated by the premise - one about a gentlemanly pig who awakens in the woods, with no recollection of how he got there. Sadly, the devs have gone rather quiet shortly after, turning to other projects instead, only to release the game on Kongregate in the most stealthy of manners.

Near Laugh: Far Cry 3 Gets Trailed

Before I start making fun of the newly released Far Cry 3 trailer, I want to say that I am really taken aback by Ubisoft's reaction to the leakage of the aforementioned piece of video material. When the trailer accidentally ended up on the internet this morning, they didn't think of a crazy DRM scheme that would make their future videos unplayable for those genuinely interested in them. Actually, we don't know that yet. But they've shown some level of gentlemanship today, by officially releasing the trailer ahead of schedule.

Shake Your Moneymaker: Dear Esther Sales Data

The remastered, crispy version of Dear Esther has gone live on Steam yesterday evening, and only a couple of hours later, it started making money. That is, after only five and a half hours, the investment was returned, and Esther Dearest became profitable. That's quite fast, I'd reckon.

Source.

Bugger Off: They Came From Verminest

Locomalito, the mastermind behind such games as Viriax and L'Abbaye des Morts, has released a new swarm upon the unsuspecting world. They Came From Verminest is a shoot-em-up recently graduated from The Galaga Academy. Pew, pew, pew! You can download it directly from the author's site for the low price of naught, along with some fancy PDF documents, posters and trading cards.

Another Non-Syndicate: Fray

Ever since the new Syndicate game was revealed as boring shit nobody likes an FPS, "spiritual successors" to the original Syndicate have been sprouting like... sprouts... after rain. Well, actually, there's only Cartel and Fray so far, but I do get excited easily. Fray pits players against each other, in roles of dirty corporations, fighting for power and screwing Ordinary Joes in the process. On dedicated servers. Because that's how PC gaming rolls.

From Ukraine With Unrequited Love: Cradle Trailer

Cradle is a Ukranian indie effort, a puzzle-exploration-adventure game that makes me inexplicably sad. It's the trailer that does it. I don't know why - the weather is nice, the pastures of Mongolia are breathtakingly beautiful, there's flowers and shit... And yet, it makes me feel like I'm missing something that I never actually had. There's a rather fancy Portuguese word for that, which I don't use in fear of sounding unbelievably smug.

Don't Fear The Reaper: Thanatophobia Teaser

Oh. Here I was, thinking nobody save myself remembered those older Resident Evil games. You know, the ones that were actually scary. In times past, when ammo was limited and zombies were few but frightening and resilient. And then, out of nowhere comes Death Knell Games, flaunting their upcoming survival horror game, Thanatophobia, right in front of my eyes.

Total War: Shogun 2: Fall Of The Samurai: Talking Heads

I was never one to Total War much. The original Shogun was the first and last time I've tasted the series, but Fall of The Samurai has me properly excited. Why? Because it is set in a time and place that was the closest real life ever got to steampunk. Exciting, is it not?

When Yuri Met Grigoriy: Out There Somewhere

A game simply cannot fail when it boasts a Yuri. It's a fact. Which most probably isn't the reason why Miniboss chose that particular name for the protagonist of their new game, Out There Somewhere. Be that as it may, poor Yuri is stuck on a faraway planet, teleport gun in hand, and has to puzzle platform his way home. The authors claim that they "are trying to make a game based on what we used to play in the 90′s". Make what you will of this statement.

Instant Kratification: New Krater Screens

After throwing nothing but concept art at us for quite some time, and releasing a tiny gameplay teaser just the other day, the boys and girls of Fatshark have finally graced us with a healthy batch of pictures from their upcoming game, Krater. Pretties below!

Not-News: Frictional Working On Something

I just love how publishers often like to present "[Studio X] working on a new game" as real news, without any information on the project whatsoever. Well thank you very much, publisher, as if we didn't know everybody's working on something all the bloody time. This is different, though. Because Frictional Games is not a publisher. And everybody loves Frictional Games. Anyway, their new project has a website. Exciting times!

The Truth Is Down There: SCP-087

This evening, I somehow ended in the bat-shit insane part of the internet. You know, the one with the conspiracy theories, UFO sightings, and what have you. All because of a friend who pointed me in the general direction of a game called SCP-087. It's a short experimental horror game, that leans heavily on sound in order to help you make a mess of your trousers.

Super Mario Mega Gaidenmania 2

Super Mario Bros. Crossover was a game that combined the levels from SMB with the characters from every other popular Nintendo title ever. Pretty much the ultimate level of fan fiction. Simon Belmont whipping Bowser into submission. There's a mental image for you. Anyway, Exploding Rabbit added a "2" at the end of the title, also adding many lovely things, tweaking old ones where necessary, and so forth.

Points And Clicks And Dark Eyes

Daedalic Entertainment, they of Whispered World, Edna & Harvey, A New Beginning and Deponia fame, have a trailer for their new game, which is, to no one's surprise, another point'n'click adventure. The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav has me bound to the screen for more than one reason. First of all, it's an adventure game, one that comes from authors experienced and creative, but also prone to many mistakes. THE SUSPENSE! Secondly, it bears the holy seal of The Dark Eye, which I wouldn't be calling holy if I didn't like it very much, would I?

The Skyrim That Could Have Been

I suspect that this is not the intention with which Todd Howard aired the video below at the DICE Summit. He probably thought it would be nice to show people how crazy creative folks at Bethesda can get when they have a chance. But all it did was make me ask why wasn't half of this stuff implemented in the release version?

Double Fine Takes "For Gamers, By Gamers" Over The Line

Well this is... interesting, to say the least. Less than 24 hours ago, Double Fine started a Kickstarter campaign to fund their next game, and film the process. Their goal was 400.000$, which they've succeeded in exceeding in the first eight hours. But the money hasn't stopped pouring in. They now have close to a million, and the 24 hour mark has yet to be passed. This is probably what Archimedes meant when he said "Give me a large enough fan base, and I will kickstart the world" *.

The Path To A Modder Skyrim

Today marks a new chapter in Skyrim's life, one that will be brimming with erotic fan fiction and purple dildos. Yes, the Creation Kit is finally here, three months after the game's release, and there are already sixty-something mods on the Steam Workshop. Along with the modding tool, Bethesda released three gigabytes worth of hi-res textures. Time to make the old GPU break a sweat.

Jailhouse Rock: Prison Architect Alpha

Burly men exchanging ominous looks, stabbing each other with sharpened toothbrushes, stashing heroin in their bum holes, showering with their backs against the wall... Is that what we can expect from Prison Architect? Probably not. What we can expect, though, is a prison building sim. One that looks rather interesting, with building being a process instead of magical appearance of objects.

Plants Vs. Berries: Botanicula Videos

The minds of Amanita Design have released a couple of new videos showing two of the main characters in their upcoming game, Botanicula. They seem to be going back to their roots, focusing on exploration, instead of puzzle solving. Another thing they're going back to is organic design. So, in a way, more Samorost, less Machinarium. Silly plant-things posing for camera below.

Krater Is Swedish For Crater

This is an actual quote from a press release. Despite not enjoying Fatshark's Lead And Gold at all, how could I harbour a grudge after a line like that? Their new project, Krater, is an action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world with a really, really big hole in it. And it has a video too!

Piling up babies: Offspring Fling

Offspring Fling is, as it's name suggests, a game in which you throw your progeny around in order to solve puzzles. The author of this seemingly odd but rather cutesy looking game is Kyle Pulver, who is responsible for such works as depict1, Verge, and the not yet released Snapshot. One of the selling points of Offspring Fling is "throwing babies and watching them bounce off stuff". Ponder the thought...

Apples, Pines And Grenades: PSC Released

BOOOM! Rich Edwards' first commercial project, Pineapple Smash Crew, stealthily went live on Steam just a few hours ago. Which is odd, since the games' only way of communicating is blowing stuff up. It is much like the outsourced tier one tech support guy who learned the three lines he's supposed to say, and repeats them ad infinitum. Only the text is replaced with explosions, and the chap from New Delhi is actually a pineapple.

Visual Novelty: Analogue - A Hate Story

Though I'm not one to get excited about visual novels, Christine Love's games seemed to resonate with me. And now, Digital: A Love Story has got a baby sibling, called Analogue: A Hate Story. While the title suggest some kind of strange inversion becoming of the Twilight Zone, the games seem to not have much in common, save for the play style.

To Survive A Shanking: Shank Survival Mode

One of the largest bones I had to pick with Shank was the unjustified absence of online multiplayer. Sure, there was local, but for that I'd need to have real-life friends. It was a blood ballet craving to be played with other people - I used to daydream of making dual-chainsaw combos, throwing enemies toward the other person who would welcome them with a pistol barrage, running through the meadows picking flowers... Shank 2 will try to mend my broken heart with proper multiplayer. And there's a video to prove it.