Once again, another week has passed. One containing a huge middle finger to all video game publishers out there, another to the residents of Oklahoma, and a third to every lazy iPhone game maker out there. Plus, the unholy merging of Dance Central and Return of the Jedi! As usual, there's much happening in the world of video games...
For years, Tim Schafer fans have been begging him to create another adventure game, and finally he decided the time was right. But instead of trying to convince publishers that it's a good idea, he instead asked his loyal legion of fans to help fund the project. And in a little over 8 hours, the goal of $400,000 was met.
And just a few hours later, over $1,000,000 was generated which broke all sorts of Kickstarter records. And there's still a month left to go. Which means another 30 days for every publisher out there to feel stupid and left out.
The Studio Behind Twisted Metal Revival Focusing On iPhone and iPad Next
Eat Sleep Play hasn't even released the highly anticipated Twisted Metal follow-up, which hardcore fans have been begging for, and they've already let people go. Plus a brand new focus on the table: iOS titles and the casual market.
Which doesn't sit that well with David Jaffe, creator of the franchise, along with God of War, who announced that once his obligations are finished, he's out of there. You'd think that the studio would at least wait until the game is released to see what direction they're headed in; guess the siren song of casual cash is just too strong.
Someone Is Re-Creating The Entirety Of World Of Warcraft In Minecraft
Folks like to build stuff that they like, from movies, television programs, even other games, in block format, but some dude is going the extra step of transporting an entire game. And thus far, he has one major continent completely done, with absolutely everything else left planned for. Now, is this all being done by hand? Sorry, but no one is that crazy; a special program has been created that automatically transforms WoW terrain into Minecraft's blocks, though due to the latter's height restriction, some programming tricks have been employed to allow for WoW's tallest structures.
This time in Oklahoma. State Representative William Fourkiller has proposed a 1% tax on all games that are deemed violent. Hence why games rated Teen, Mature, and Adults Only by the ESRB will be the bearer of such a stupid burden.
The main problem of course, is how a game doesn't have to be violent to get a Teen rating. Hence why The Sims 3 will be viewed a contributor towards teen violence and bullying, which the tax hopes to alleviate, with the funds generated going towards state run programs that address both societal ills. Never mind that rates for both have gone down in the counter over the past number of years, at a time in which there's more so-called violent games on the market. The bill has yet to pass and is still being argued.
Apple Decides To Stamp Down On Cloning And Other No Good Dirty Tricks
After taking a historically hands off approach to their App Store, which has led to countless accusations of flagrant copy-catting, Apple recently decided to weed out some of the worst offenders.
Like one guy who made a game called Tiny Birds and Plant vs. Zombie; no need to explain what they're based upon. Furthermore, Apple is going after game producers who are using services that utilize bots to help place them in the App Store. Basically, they constantly download games so the ranking goes up, with the belief being, such increased visibility will result in actual humans checking it out.
The UMD Passport Not Coming To America After-All
A program that has been in place since the Vita's launch in Japan, which allows owners of legacy PSP software to "transfer" their UMD based games onto the new platform, by basically re-buying digital versions at a reduced price, is not happening in North America.
No reason was stated, but at this point, the only way to play older games is to see if a PSN version already exists. There of course exists the possibility that the program may come back in the future. Perhaps the large number of UMD titles, and the difficulties involved in getting digital copies all compiled in time for launch, is one possible reason for things not going according to plans?
Official Date Given For Kinect Star Wars The Game And Console
The much delayed merging of Microsoft's motion sensing controller and Star Wars video game tie-in #3453 has finally been given a new date. It's April 3rd. One can either nab a stand alone copy or get it bundled in the limited edition Xbox 360 that has a R2-D2 paint job, plus a C-3PO controller. An all-white Kinect is also included.
Various new game modes for the former was also announced, with the most curious of all being the Galactic Dance Off mode, which appears to resemble Dance Central, but instead of being some random hipster or club kid on screen, you can be either Princess Leia in her slave garb, or C-3PO as well. And that's sorta interesting.
The tools that the creators of Skyrim used to make the game have been released to the public, for all modders who want to tap into what the big boys play with. But contained was an unexpected guest star.
There's an option to have the space pod from Portal 2 to join you in on your adventures. Kind of like Navi in Ocarina of Time, but not as helpful and even more annoying. But you can at least kick him around like a ball, whereas as Link, there was no means of dishing out your frustration.
