frima

Canadian studio Frima’s couch co-op platformer Chariot will release on Xbox One October 1, and it won’t cost Xbox Live Gold members anything to download it, Frima and Microsoft have announced. While the ID@Xbox game won’t cost XBLG members anything, it will set non-Gold subscribers back $14.99.

Chariot is October’s Xbox One Games with Gold title and will replace Capy Games’ Super Time Force, which remains free for the next two days as September’s title. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 owners with Gold subscriptions will be able to get Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for free from October 1 through the 15th and Darksiders II from the 16th through the 31st.

A launch trailer for Chariot depicts the game’s hook: a princess and her fiancè guide the titular chariot through the game’s environments, all of which are set in “the royal catacombs.” Players will need to push, pull, ride and swing with the carriage, which is actually more of a coffin on wheels. Inside the chariot resides the ghost of the deceased king, and the goal is to locate a suitable burial location for the deceased. Click inside to catch the launch trailer.

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There’s nothing more enticing than that tease, that pinch, that itch you get from a fantastic trailer. With retail games, so many of them get these bloated budgets and the trailers get absolutely insane, but XBLA has to rely on their creativity! Their imagination! Their sense of wonder!… And yes, money also. However, not every trailer is amazing, but the best ones combine with some great games and catchy trailer ideas to really entice you. This week’s Friday Top Five will be about these beautiful, and often evil, displays of awesome, wallet-attacking footage. We were looking for that marriage of gameplay, story, presentation and shameless plugging, and we’ve found the best examples of it.

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I’ve always had a soft spot for ambition; for the people out there who take risks, when the big money says play it safe. I’d rather watch and cheer for the Phil Mickelson’s of the world who would rather shoot over or through obstacles than lay up and take two shots; the Boise States who are willing to go for two on a trick play in overtime; the indie developer who spends their entire life savings on a dream. In a world dominated by discussion of monetization models and social metrics, I even have a soft spot for an established three hundred and fifty person studio that creates an IP department for prototyping and creating new ideas on the console space, while many companies are running the other direction. I had the opportunity to speak with Frima Games about their upcoming project, Lives and Death, at GDC this year, and what I saw, while still in the prototyping phase, is definitely ambitious. Read More