A dive into our inbox this past week saw us viewing seven minutes of pre-alpha footage for Phenotype. At first glance it looked like a reasonably promising Sci-Fi/Horror FPS with an Aliens vibe, but one that might easily get lost in the crowd. Considering the amount of Sci-Fi and/or Horror FPS titles either out or upcoming at the moment, from both indies and Triple A houses - Doom, Destiny, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Superhot, Screencheat and so on - a new kid on the block will easily get swallowed into obscurity.
Once we learned that Phenotype was being built from the ground up by just a team of two, we watched the video again with a little more interest, and reached out for some more details.
“...every single pixel is authentic and modelled/drawn/animated/composed... from absolute 0,” says Marko Mladenovic, one half of the two man team making up Quantum Singularity Studio. “Our video game Phenotype is developed, still in the development phase, in Unity 5 engine with cross-platform support by default which means that the game would support all major desktop, console, and web platforms.”
It’s an ambitious project for a team of two to create what Marko told us would be “a huge world map above the underground base shown in the video,” but they seem to be off to a good start.
While the enemies in the video do look very pre-alpha, there are still some nice details to be seen in the footage. The hand animations on the gun in between firefights are a nice touch, especially one which has the avatar tap his or her helmet with a nightstick melee weapon before putting it to good use.
A pistol, shotgun, and automatic weapon are also on display, rounding out the usual suspects.
I mentioned to Marko that many independent developers of FPSs seem to be relying on some sort of unique feature to help their games get noticed, such as Screencheat’s invisibility or Superhot’s time-freezing mechanic, and asked if he planned to incorporate something to help Phenotype stand out.
Marko replied that the game’s story would be a big feature. “It's extremely difficult to have a good story, and create an actual decent video game, but I think we're on the right track to do both,” he said. Elements such as “mind control, time dilation (slow motion anomalies), upgradeable weapons, and a bunch of Hi-Tech devices” will also play their part in Phenotype’s Sci-Fi/Horror saga.
We’ll follow the team at Quantum Singularity Studio - Marko Mladenovic and Tomica Ristivojevic - with interest as they continue to develop Phenotype, and as they prepare a crowdfunding campaign intended to help them get features into the game they have planned.
Check out the pre-alpha footage below.
Writer: Garry Balogh
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
The void is silenced by noise; audible punctuations that come as a relief after nothingness, as too much silence can be deafening. Alone and unaccompanied, our thoughts can be daunting, our chores mundane. But with the addition of a musical canvas on which to paint our day to day - or night-time - activities, those thoughts can be tempered with the fantastic, and the mundane greys coloured with vivid synaesthesia.
And what of visual art? Kubrick without Strauss? Unthinkable.
But why is this writer extolling the virtues of music on a gaming website? Please, allow me to retort. To myself.
Ever since technology advanced to the point at which chip tunes ceased being the only option for accompaniment, music - and in particular electronic music - has had a symbiotic relationship with gaming.
Gamers of a certain vintage will find it impossible to hear The Prodigy’s Firestarter without visualising the futuristic aesthetics of Psygnosis’ Wipeout 2097. Entranced by beats and antigravity we spent the second half of the ‘90s trying to shave another tenth of a second off our lap times.
Fast forward two decades and newly formed agency Syncsmith is projecting a clear and ambitious mission statement:
“…to re-affirm the pivotal role of experimental electronic music in the TV, Film, & Gaming industries.”
It’s a great time to be Australian. Or Canadian. Or Dutch. Hell, even a New Zealander. These four App Store regions have recently been treated to a soft launch of Galaga reboot - Galaga Wars - and it’s fantastic.
Space Invaders has a lot to answer for. In the late ‘70s Taito Corporation created a mould that became the staple for imitators to follow for decades - an avatar on the bottom of the screen shooting upwards at swarms of enemies. Developers took this simple formula and added unique tweaks to stand out from the crowd, with Namco’s Galaxian giving us alien ships that came at us from all sorts of angles, as opposed to the horizontal and vertical restrictions of Space Invaders.
Galaxian’s sequel - Galaga - added even more features, such as the ability to fight with two ships on the bottom of the screen, doubling your fire power, and Paladin Studios have a done a great job honouring the IP. Adding a polish to make the most of the power of our modern mobile devices, and a now familiar benevolent monetisation structure, Galaga Wars feels suitably classic, but not stuck in the past.
Bandai Namco - the owner of the Galaga IP - similarly tapped indie superstar Hipster Whale (of Crossy Road fame) last year to give PAC-MAN an endless, free-to-play makeover. The result - PAC-MAN 256 - was so positively received by mobile gamers, that it now even exists on PS4 and Xbox One.
Players collect coins to upgrade their ship’s weapons, battling through stages and boss fights that gradually increase in difficulty. Once a stage has been completed you can start from that stage by using collectible warps gems, or just fighting your way through again, with 11 stages currently available. I’m currently able to get through to stage four, and it ain’t no picnic, but I can feel myself improving over time, which is a sign of nicely structured balance, rather than being too easy or just randomly inconsistent.
Money can be spent on different star ships with names that will be familiar to long time fans of the IP - including Xevious, Galaxian, and Star Blade. Each ship comes with a completely different weapon load out, all of which can then be upgraded.
Paladin Studios has treated Galaga with the respect it deserves - gameplay is slick and hard to put down, with beautiful neon cannon effects, satisfying explosions, and a nice difficulty curve.
With Galaga Wars already available in four different regions, it can’t be too far away from a world wide release, and it’s a great addition to your pocket gaming when it drops. Check out the trailer below.
Writer: Garry Balogh
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
The world is a golf ball. I remember reading that in one of Shirley MacLaine’s books in the 1980s, back when the Internet was in relative infancy. MacLaine was writing of the ability to jump on a plane and in 48 hours be almost anywhere in the world, thus enabling a long distance relationship with her daughter who was being raised in Japan.
With online connectivity, the golf ball analogy has never been truer than in 2016, and I thought back to MacLaine’s words earlier this week after receiving contact from a small indie development team out of Portugal. Releasing its debut game - Smash Time - Bica Studios reached out with digital feelers to us in Australia, hoping to spread the word.
Pleasantries and emails were traded, Smash Time was downloaded and booted up for the first time, and fingers were crossed, hoping for a positive experience. After long hours of development, it’s a big roll of the dice for a new indie team to see a game through to completion, so you want it to be good.
Season 1 of Nicholas Abdilla’s video games satire Game Guy has just arrived on iTunes and Amazon, and a Season 2 is coming soon.
Soon after Game Informer launched in Australia, a comic began running in each issue within the magazine’s letters section. It was Game Guy, written and illustrated by Nicholas Abdilla, who was working at a local retailer called EB Games. After running for a full season, a second season was teased but never published, and the bumbling titular hero and his trusty sidekick Handheld were seemingly gone.
However, Season 1 has just been collected and released on iTunes and on Amazon through Old Mate Media. Fans will recall its pun-filled satire of all things video gaming, which is brought to life in digital form only at this point. And in even more exciting news, in this interview, Abdilla reveals alongside details about his inspirations and themes that a Season 2 is in the works and should be released soon, too.
Game Guy himself is described by Abdilla “as intentionally clichéd and his look reflects that. The overly muscular physique. The perfectly coiffed hair. The ridiculously big smile. I would always imagine the cheesy superheroes of the 1940’s when drawing and writing Game Guy.” But for many it is the unassuming Handheld who is the star of the show, keeping the ship upright as Game Guy threatens to overturn it at every conflict.
While some of the story arcs are particularly Australian – especially one that involves the country’s famous classification system – most of the themes transcend cultures and regions. However, don’t expect famous faces like Yoshi to necessarily play the good guy role. Abdilla has great fun twisting expectation on its head, pulling no punches in taking a swing at a lot of the silly fanboy politics that tend to fill up forums in the video games community.
You can pick up Game Guy Season 1 on iTunes or on Amazon now.
Season 1 of Nicholas Abdilla’s video games satire Game Guy has just arrived on iTunes and Amazon, and a Season 2 is coming soon.
Soon after Game Informer launched in Australia, a comic began running in each issue within the magazine’s letters section. It was Game Guy, written and illustrated by Nicholas Abdilla, who was working at a local retailer called EB Games. After running for a full season, a second season was teased but never published, and the bumbling titular hero and his trusty sidekick Handheld were seemingly gone.
However, Season 1 has just been collected and released on iTunes and on Amazon through Old Mate Media. Fans will recall its pun-filled satire of all things video gaming, which is brought to life in digital form only at this point. And in even more exciting news, in this interview, Abdilla reveals alongside details about his inspirations and themes that a Season 2 is in the works and should be released soon, too.
Game Guy himself is described by Abdilla “as intentionally clichéd and his look reflects that. The overly muscular physique. The perfectly coiffed hair. The ridiculously big smile. I would always imagine the cheesy superheroes of the 1940’s when drawing and writing Game Guy.” But for many it is the unassuming Handheld who is the star of the show, keeping the ship upright as Game Guy threatens to overturn it at every conflict.
While some of the story arcs are particularly Australian – especially one that involves the country’s famous classification system – most of the themes transcend cultures and regions. However, don’t expect famous faces like Yoshi to necessarily play the good guy role. Abdilla has great fun twisting expectation on its head, pulling no punches in taking a swing at a lot of the silly fanboy politics that tend to fill up forums in the video games community.
You can pick up Game Guy Season 1 on iTunes or on Amazon now.
Legendary Sega Master System platformer Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon’s Trap is getting a modern makeover and it looks great.
There are a number of fantastic experiences from Sega’s heyday as a leading console manufacturer that have been criminally left to rot in some random basement. One we very fondly remember is Wonder Boy, which started life as a sidescrolling autorunner (or autoskater in truth), but then branched out to include more story and RPG mechanics over its subsequent sequels.
News has emerged today that the third game in the series, originally released in 1989, is getting an exotic makeover. It’s happening under the guidance of indie developer Lizardcube, a new studio with something of a dream team behind it. It’s founded by former Media Molecule maestro Omar Cornut (Tearaway, Dreams, Pixeljunk Shooter) and ex-Dreamworks animator Ben Fiquet (Soul Bubbles, Powa), with original Wonder Boy creator Ryuichi Nishizawa on-board as a consultant.
As you can see from the trailer below, there is a lot more going on here than a spit, polish and bucketload of achievements. Gone are the pixelated visuals and in comes a fresh, near animated feel. However, the gameplay and story – revolving around our hero Wonder Boy being transformed by Meka-Dragon into a half-lizard, half-human who must seek out a cure – remain intact.
No release date has been announced, but we’ve been told to expect “consoles” and PC. Whether the vague wording of the former means that the publisher – Dot Emu – is fishing around for an exclusive deal, or if it includes the Nintendo NX (whose roster of titles remains under wraps), remains to be seen. More details as they surface.
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
It's been a great year for the Australian games industry, but how large a part of that success is down to mobile versus traditional physical console sales?
The last 12 months has seen some hugely successful game releases, from The Witcher 3 and Call of Duty, to breakout indie successes like Undertale, Ori And The Blind Forest and Rocket League.
It's no surprise then that digital sales have been going well. But recent statistics released by Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) have shown that digital game sales in Australia have surpassed traditional sales by a wide margin. In fact, digital now equals about 56% of total game sales.
Can an inherent design element of books provide a simple solution to the fatigue that sets in during lengthy games?
Imagine if we read books the same way we played games - instead of having access to the entire book, how would it feel to have someone handing you one page at a time, without you ever knowing how many pages are left? I’m convinced that we would make it to the last page of far fewer books if we weren’t able to see that back cover drawing slowly closer, and I believe it’s that same not knowing that creates the fatigue that sets in during lengthy games.
With a release date just over the horizon, Burly Men At Sea is shaping up to be one of our most anticipated indie titles of 2016.
It's no secret that we're pretty big fans of indie dev Brain&Brain, heaping copious amounts of praise upon its previous adventure title, the lovable Doggins. If you've been following us for some time, you might also have noticed that we've been covering Brain&Brain's upcoming title, Burly Men At Sea, for over a year now (you can read our previous stories below).
The last time we pumped out a story, the news wasn't so good with the devs hitting a rather unpleasant financial snag. But that seems to be all in the past now, with work progressing well. In celebration, Brain&Brain have released a new trailer for Burly Men, which sets the scene for the intriguing folktale adventure we'll be setting out on. You can check it out below.
Burly Men At Sea will release in 2016 on PC and mobile platforms.
