This month’s workshop will feature Marjorie Becker, who you may know as Chiptography.  She will be discussing her experiences of covering the chip scene.  You also have the open mic to look forward to, and if you’re interested in performing make sure you get there early to sign up.  In case you missed the big ass sign on the left, 8static is this Saturday (May 19th), starting at 7pm.

Minusbaby:

Chip’s Challenge:

Bubblegum Octopus:

Infinity Shred’s (formerly known as Starscream) first EP is upon us: EP 001 (Gnar Dream).  EP 001 is a five track EP that will take you on a journey through the Cosmos with its futuristic electronic sound.  Fans of Infinity Shred’s previous work should enjoy this EP since it’s in line with the overall theme of the band’s music.  With every release I feel their music has evolved.  It’s the same with this EP, and I applaud Infinity Shred for being able to grow while still staying true to their original sound.  You can download EP 001 (Gnar Dream) on Bandcamp for $4, or purchase a physical copy that comes with additional goodies for $5 (plus shipping).

Meteor Entertainment and Gaikai Inc. have teamed up to bring HAWKEN to the cloud. Cue the dream music, it will be available to try before its 12/12/12 launch date — dream music interrupted by robots having sex! No downloads, no installs, just available to players via www.playhawken.com and other websites.

“HAWKEN wants to be free and it wants to be everywhere – and with Gaikai, it will be,” stated Mark Long, CEO at Meteor Entertainment. “Their tech is the next level. It’s mind blowing to see HAWKEN running on a tablet!”

Gaikai has spent four years designing and building the fastest interactive cloud network in the world, instantly capable of delivering cutting-edge games without the need for any extra custom hardware or software. Coupled with relationships with the top video game and development partners around the world, Gaikai is capable of delivering a broad catalog of the world’s most exciting games straight to consumers across the web including social networks like Facebook or on any Internet connected device including televisions, set-top boxes or tablets.

Last month, EA and Crytek sent out a press release dubbing Crysis 3 as 2013′s “first blockbuster shooter.” Never trust the guy that gives himself a nickname. This month they have released some pretties to remind everyone just how sexy the game is going to look. Thank you, CryENGINE.

Crysis 3 is set in 2047, Prophet is on a revenge mission after uncovering the truth behind Cell Corporation’s motives for building the quarantined Nanodomes. The citizens were told that the giant citywide structures were resurrected to protect the population and to cleanse these metropolises of the remnants of Ceph forces. In reality, the Nanodomes are CELL’s covert attempt at a land and technology grab in their quest for global domination. With Alien Ceph lurking around every corner and human enemies on the attack, nobody is safe in the path of vengeance. Everyone is a target in Prophet’s quest for retribution.

It is due out in the spring of 2013 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

 

Joel and Ellie are headed west, driving along in a beat up pickup truck with Hank Williams, Sr. serenading them. The Last of Us was unveiled amid numerous announcements around six months ago, then went dark. Naughty Dog has been prepping to show more at E3, but today released a trailer that reveals subtle changes to the game. Ellie has seen some redesign to make her appear more like actress Ashley Johnson (as well as the probable, but unstated, intent of looking less like Ellen Page). The cinematic shows off more of the world of The Last of Us, and takes us inside some of the many trials we’ll face from the perspectives of Joel and Ellie.

Via: Naughty Dog Facebook
Sources: Naughty Dog, IGN
Featured Image: Naughty Dog

Back in December on www.joelcouture.com, I wrote about the expectations I had of the next big Capcom fighting game. I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a sales flop, with Capcom’s customers having been burned several times by these ‘Complete Editions’ that they’d been releasing for all of their big-budget games. While not being right on the mark, Street Fighter X Tekken‘s disappointing sales shows me that I’m not far off. While releasing a new version of the game loaded with DLC a few months down the road might seem like an easy way to hook new players, it’s doing much more to erode the confidence of the people who bought the games to begin with.

With Capcom’s policy of reliably releasing a better edition of its games a little under a year later, can you blame people for wanting to wait? It’s not the only company to blame either, as recent versions of Batman: Arkham City and Dead Island (I don’t think ‘Game of the Year’ Edition could possibly be more of a misnomer for this game) have been announced, promising all DLC and other little goodies. Now, these games haven’t even been out a year yet, but already people are getting more game-play for less money. It’s probably making the handful of people who held off on the game pretty happy, but what about those people who already have a $100 worth of Collector’s Editions sitting at home? How do you think they feel?

Cheated.

I understand the idea behind these new versions. If you’ve got a completed game and a bunch of new content for it, why not just ship it out to stores? It’ll probably draw a bunch of new people to the game, since word of mouth has spread the news for ages. If these people were considering buying it used for cheaper, then this curtails used sales, since you can get a cheap and better version just by buying it new. Those people who bought it before might want in on the action, too. Since the price is set so low, maybe a few of them will grab it just to see the new content, especially those guys who love fighting games. It’ll make some quick, easy money for the company without a lot of working needing to be paid for.

I’m sure those things are all well and good for the company, but when this sort of behavior becomes a pattern, gamers start to get annoyed. If you’re into Capcom fighters, or even Capcom games in general, you know what I’m talking about. Street Fighter IV had two separate new editions come out. Dead Rising 2 was followed by Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 had Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 nipping at its heels not too long afterwards. When your company is notorious for releasing a better edition of a game shortly after the initial release, what do you think that tells your customers?

It tells them to wait. Why on earth would you spend $60 on a broken version of something when you can just wait a little bit longer to get a better version for only $40? Not only are you telling your buyers that they’re wasting their money on buying the first run of your game, you’re actually giving them $20, just for waiting. Hold-outs are being rewarded for not supporting the game to begin with.

I just don’t see how franchises can hope to gain any traction when they’re actively sabotaging their own releases. New buyers are given a lackluster game with no extra content, and they’re asked to pay more money for it. These funds are then channelled into making a better product for the people who didn’t support the game to begin with. The people who didn’t care enough about the franchise to buy it full price are being rewarded, and the people who love and support it are being punished. Does no one at Capcom see the problem with this? Do any of the other developers?

Complete editions are a slap in the face to the people who waited in lines at midnight to buy the game. The most rabid and loyal among the fan base of any game are penalized, time and again, for their support. This isn’t something that goes unnoticed, either. Those die-hard fans will eventually realize they’re screwing themselves by buying the game right out of the gate, and maybe a few of them will hold off on the next game. Maybe they aren’t in as big of a hurry to pick up the next game, since nothing but good things will happen to them if they hold out. I do wonder if Street Fighter X Tekken‘s lost sales are a result of this attitude coming to bear.

This isn’t something a couple of stupid pre-order bonuses are going to fix, either. I believe that any game that is even considering a complete edition down the road needs to put a code in the initial release of their game, one that gives permanent free DLC to the owner of the game. It doesn’t have to be every little costume and palette swap, but it should give out every character, level, and item you ever intend to make for the game. These people, out of anyone else, deserve to be rewarded.

Someone who buys your game within the first week is a supporter, someone who actively cares if your game does well. They’re the only reason why you’re in the business of making games at all, since they’re the ones who write your paycheck. Without the people buying games on day one, there would be no gaming industry. These are the men and women who make it so these games happen, and their continued belief in your franchises means they’ll keep going. Without these initial buyers, there is no DLC, no future planned content, nothing. They make everything happen by taking a chance with their wallets, and it’s about time that they were rewarded for it.

It’s an expensive plan, I won’t argue that. Providing new content for people post-release is going to cost a lot of money, but it’s still content that was going to be made anyway. Not every game is going to be bought during that initial release period, so there’s money to be made selling DLC to those guys. Also, it will give you something you can make some money on from used game sales, so you’ll at least be gaining some cash from every copy of the game out there. You guys lose a little bit in DLC sales to the starting buyers, but you make up a whole lot more when people scramble to get your next game on release day, knowing they’ll be getting the most value for the game at that time.

If complete editions are going to keep coming out, developers like Capcom are going to have to take a hard look at the message they’re sending the buyers. Do you want your most valuable customers to feel like they’re constantly being cheated for buying the games on release day, or do you want them to be excited for it? Do you really want your most important customers feeling like they’re making a bad decision when they buy your game?

If making people regret buying your games is your tactic, how long do you expect to stay around?

Offspring Fling is about a forest creature that has misplaced her children. There are over 100 levels of action puzzle platforming and in the midst of finding her children, she’ll also be throwing them around to complete the puzzles. The game now includes a level editor and online leaderboards. Offspring Fling is now available on Steam for the promotional price of $6.39 (20% off.) The promotion will end on this Friday, May 18th.

• An intense number of levels (Over 100!)
• Awesome puzzles, and rad platforming action
• Ghost replays to help you beat your best time
• Replay sharing that lets you race against others
• A lot of secret unlockables if you’re cool enough!
• A beautiful soundtrack by Alec Holowka
• Throwing babies and watching them bounce off stuff!
• Cute and cuddly looking things to look at!
• Immense satisfaction

 

I know. It’s Monday morning.  Everyone hates Monday morning.  Still, time to get up and go to work/school/something other than being a bum.  Need a little push?  Slam Dunk Lifestyle by Knife City might help you out this morning.  You’ll have about a minute and change to get ready, because soon after that the track will flip your mattress over and kick you into gear.  You can download Slam Dunk Lifestyle from Knife City EP on Bandcamp.  Happy Monday folks.

Image Credit: Ben Mason

There’s nothing like a simple and clean game of “break into the other team’s base.” This is the essence of a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena). I’ve played a few of these style games without knowing they had their own title (my bad). Awesomenauts differs slightly from most of it’s genre in that it is a 2D side scrolling MOBA as opposed to a top down one. The goal of Awesomenauts is to (as a team) break into the other team’s base before they break into yours. Simple goal, right? How hard can it really be?

Since this is an online game, it can essentially be very hard depending on who you are playing against and who is on your team. There are a number of different characters to play as, all of which have different weapons and special attacks. There are a few other characters that you can unlock through the course of play too, which can be a bit of a downside if playing against those who already have unlocked them. This is because the locked characters can tend to be a little better in every way than the starter characters. I was partial to the cowboy looking guy that could release a bull to knock back enemies. Although this attack is very awesome and borderline hilarious, that same character has a very weak primary weapon and I did poorlywhen faced with some of the unlockable characters.

 Weapons and attacks can be improved upon slightly back at your base, where you can buy more attack power or faster recharge speeds for powers which have to be bought initially. These upgrades will even out the odds a little bit as you continue to play in the match. This can be only done to a point though, before you’ve reached your upgrade limit of a few each power. Solar (Awesomenaut money) for upgrades is dropped upon defeating an enemy. There’s a fair bit of strategy that comes with taking down the other team’s base which is guarded by gargantuan turrets. There are a number of different ways to each turret within the game’s few maps, so it is possible to avoid enemies on your way there. Avoiding enemies is a good strategy if you want to focus your health conservation for the turrets. Health drops are present sparingly around the level.

Trying to march right up to a turret and take it down is a guaranteed suicide mission. If it were really that easy, this wouldn’t be a multiplayer game. It’s essential to take a team member or two, or at the very least some bots (which spawn at your base). These bots will be your entourage if you find yourself facing enemy team members by yourself. Unfortunately, new comers to this game will still have a hard time trying to do anything when faced with more seasoned players. There is no system to match players by skill level.

 The style of Awesomenauts is very cartoony and it is a side-scrolling game, which is different for it’s genre. The look and feel of the game is matched by it’s soundtrack which switches at will from cheesy 80′s guitar riffs to twangy western sounding music at will. Everything about each fits the game very well and sets it apart from anything else you’ll see on Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

Overall, Awesomenauts is a good game for those that enjoy the genre, and will definitely keep you entertained with it’s replay-ability. Just starting out as a new player is definitely challenging. This is a multiplayer game, which means it’s ten times more fun when playing with a few friends. If you enjoy MOBAs and playing games online with your friends, Awesomenauts could be the game for you.

[Images via Ronimo Games]

Square Enix has recently released a new video for the game Sleeping Dogs. The video focuses primarily on the combat and the way people can be brutally murdered with the environment around the player. The video speaks for itself when it comes to some of the brutality of the combat. There are tons of ways to break people’s faces in with martial arts, or you can pick up a cleaver and chop some meat off enemies. Players will be able to upgrade their skills in the martial arts and combat as the game progresses, and this will probably make for even more bone-breaking action.

Sleeping Dogs steps into the role of undercover cop Wei Shen as he goes undercover to stop one of the most feared criminal organizations in the city. The game is set to release on August 14 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Sleeping Dogs is not yet rated by the ESRB, but it’s safe to say we can probably expect an M rating when it comes out later this year.