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Super Time Force’s release window has slipped further into the future
12 years ago

Super Time Force’s release window has slipped further into the future

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Super Time Force

The agents of Super Time Force‘s titular time-traveling force aren’t the only ones busy messing around with time. Capybara Games, the developer behind the upcoming XBLA and Xbox One action title, has moved the release timeline its targeting for the game to this summer, reports Polygon.

“It’s really tough to tell with Q&A and the certification process, but we’re really hoping for May or early June,” studio head Nathan Vella told Polygon this week at Game Developers Conference. “As soon as possible.”

In the game, players have the ability to call “Time Out” and rewind the action upon dying so that they can fight alongside previous versions of themselves in, as Capy’s website explains, “the good ol’ seconds of a few seconds ago, creating a veritable army of yous.” The ability to rewind and try again might be an attractive one to Capy Games, considering that it has had to change release plans for Super Time Force more than once.

Vella said last September that his game would “definitely” release in 2013. The studio president said at the time that the game was “feature-locked.” That was before an Xbox One version of Super Time Force was announced, though. The work necessary to make the next-gen iteration of the side-scroller a reality forced the release window for both versions back into “early 2014.”

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Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams reaches 1 million downloads
12 years ago

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams reaches 1 million downloads

Indie developers Black Forest Games have revealed that Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams has now sold over one million copies. The game was released on XBLA one year ago today …
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Signal Studios receives Toy Soldiers IP rights back from Microsoft

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Earlier today, Signal Studios, creators of XBLA hit Toy Soldiers, announced an agreement with Microsoft that transferred the IP rights back to the developer. This grants it more control …
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Minecraft movie potentially in the works?
12 years ago

Minecraft movie potentially in the works?

By  •  News, Rumors

A tweet from Notch (creator of Minecraft) reveals that there are indeed at least preliminary talks going on between Mojang Studios and Warner Brothers for a potential Minecraft movie. …
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How Super Time Force developers redefined metaphysics

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Super Time Force

One of the best things about video games is creating impossible realities, but common notions of reality became a nuisance when Capy was making Super Time Force. It’s a side-scrolling action shooter in which you can gang up on enemies on the fly by creating multiple timelines. However, we personally experience only one timeline, so temporal paradoxes don’t come to mind until someone makes them into an interactive system. We have talked a little bit about this before, but at GDC, Capy Technical Director Kenneth Yeung disclosed to Gamasutra a few more details about the challenges and solutions devised throughout the evolution of Super Time Force.

Joking, Yeung said, “I got 99 problems and time is 100 of them.”

“We wanted to make something simple, easy, a fun action game,” Yeung continued. “But in reality, when you’re dealing with time, you’re dealing with something that’s complex and paradox-filled.”

As a result, Capy needed to create a new system of metaphysics to avoid messy paradoxes and keep the game fair and fun. “You can have a solid engine and idea,” Yeung explained, “but without these solid systems in place, your game will for sure break down.” As it turns out, those systems push a little further than your high school physics class curriculum.

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Xbox One changes coming in April
12 years ago

Xbox One changes coming in April

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Major Nelson announced yesterday that the Xbox One’s system update will be made available to all in April. This follows a preview of the system update that was made …
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Pocketwatch’s next game is an RTS codenamed ‘Armada’ *updated*
12 years ago

Pocketwatch’s next game is an RTS codenamed ‘Armada’ *updated*

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Pocketwatch's Armada

Update: Following the publication of the original story below, Pocketwatch Games’ Andy Schatz responded to XBLA Fans’ requests for comment about working with Microsoft again. As he originally stated, Schatz hasn’t made any final platform decisions for Armada just yet.

“The deciding factor will be based on ho[w] closely we can interact with our fans and whether the platforms enable iterative development,” Schatz wrote in an email to XBLA Fans.

“We’ve been able to much better serve fans and interact with our community with the extremely easy process of rolling out updates through Steam,” he elucidated. “That’s not something I’ll be willing to give up for a game that may require constant balance changes and content additions!”

Gamers may remember that Microsoft was repeatedly lambasted by many in the independent game development community over the past few years due to its bug fix and game update policies. Those developers who complained were upset with issues surrounding costs, update sizes and certification processes and lead times. Some developers, like Uber Entertainment, went as far as to release subsequent games on platforms other than XBLA after feeling burned by Microsoft their first time releasing a digital game on Xbox 360.

Original Story: The next project from Pocketwatch Games, the two-man team behind 2013’s co-op heist title Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, is a real-time strategy game codenamed Armada. Pocketwatch’s Andy Schatz stated in a blog post that the success of Monaco, which sold more than 750,000 copies total despite only selling about 36,000 on XBLA as of last month, has put the studio in a position to create whatever it wants. What it wants is an RTS optimized for gamepad controls.

“With apologies to those devs who have tried, no one has ever made an RTS that played well on a dual analog gamepad. We’re gonna be the first to do it right,” Schatz promised. That does not, however, mean the game will be restricted to only a gamepad. Schatz goes on to write that playing Armada should be as enjoyable with dual analog as it is with a keyboard and mouse.

And there’s more to the game designer’s desire to create an RTS than just showing predecessors how it’s done with a controller. There’s his passion. Schatz has a love/hate relationship with the RTS genre and wants to put his own spin on it, which means designing a game in which “strategy is creative and complex and the micro is accessible and fun.”

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Phil Spencer clarifies aim of Games with Gold program
12 years ago

Phil Spencer clarifies aim of Games with Gold program

By  •  News

When Microsoft first revealed Games with Gold, which would provide Xbox Live Gold subscribers two free titles each month, users cheered it as a long-awaited answer to …
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ID@Xbox Games Announced at GDC

GDC 2014

Today at GDC 2014, Microsoft announced 25 games to be released as part of the ID@Xbox program. Major Nelson provides some further details in a blog post.

Xbox Wire released a brief rundown of the games that has been re-posted below:

  • “1001 Spikes” by Nicalis – This hardcore side-scroller features precise controls and a degree of difficulty that means starting with 1001 lives is not at all a guarantee you can make it through the game! Every level is custom designed to be beaten… barely. The game also includes co-op and cutthroat multiplayer modes.
  • “Calibre 10 Racing Series” by Bongfish GmbH – “Calibre 10 Racing Series” is a spiritual successor to “Harms Way.” The game is entirely multiplayer in a new experience that combines action-packed racing with fast-paced first person shooting.
  • “CastleStorm” by Zen Studios – It’s Knights vs. Vikings in “CastleStorm,” a super genre mash-up of 2D physics destruction mashed with tower defense brawler! “CastleStorm” features a story-driven solo campaign, a custom castle editor, online multiplayer, co-op modes, and more.
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Zen Studios titles migrating to Xbox One
12 years ago

Zen Studios titles migrating to Xbox One

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Zen Studios, most well known to XBLA gamers for Pinball FX2, is migrating a number of its titles to the Xbox One, including the well-known pinball franchise. In addition …
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