Trials HD dev acquired by Ubisoft for undisclosed amount

by Ben Gilbert on Nov 2nd 2011 1:00PM

Wildly successful indie developer RedLynx is now a part of French mega-publisher Ubisoft. RedLynx announced the acquisition this morning (evening for the Finland-based outfit) via its forums, where company CEO Rero Virtala explained the decision. "We were attracted by Ubisoft's focus on creativity and quality," he said, also pointing to the publisher's "long-term strategy on both the traditional and digital distribution video game markets."

Ubisoft has been pushing quality digital titles hard over the last year, with everything from unique one-offs like Outland and From Dust to re-releases of classics like TMNT, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil HD. The publisher was no doubt attracted to RedLynx's massively popular Trials series, which is set to receive a sequel in the coming months.

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Bit.Trip Saga and Complete ride a Rising Star to Europe

by JC Fletcher on Nov 3rd 2011 3:45PM

Bit.Trip Saga for 3DS and Bit.Trip Complete for Wii came out in September here in North America, collecting all six WiiWare Bit.Trip games into convenient new formats and, in the case of Complete, adding new challenges. Not that there wasn't enough challenge to be found already.

For those of you in Europe looking for a more portable, three-dimensional and/or expanded Bit.Trip experience, Rising Star Games has signed on to publish Saga and Complete in that region, in the first quarter of 2012.

Complete on Wii will include a soundtrack sampler, just as it does in North America. It's a nice way to kick back and relax when not playing the games -- you certainly won't do any kicking back while playing them. Maybe some kicking.

Rising Star Games TRIPs a BIT
Widely anticipated BIT.TRIP COMPLETE and BIT.TRIP SAGA to be released in Q1 2012, courtesy of Rising Star Games
Thursday 3rd November, 2011: Acclaimed video games publisher Rising Star Games has today announced the signing of two new Gaijin Games titles, BIT.TRIP COMPLETE and BIT.TRIP SAGA.

Both COMPLETE and SAGA offer an amazing collection of six of the very best celebrated indie BIT.TRIP games, and will be available to buy in Q1, 2012, on platforms Nintendo Wii and 3DS.

BIT.TRIP COMPLETE and BIT.TRIP SAGA mark the first time a collection of these highly-regarded titles have appeared in compilations, and the first time BIT.TRIP games will appear at retail. Players will be able to enjoy the incredible adventure of the rhythmic galaxies and ride along the epic journey with CommanderVideo as he completes his mission and returns home. Better yet, it'll look even more stunning in 3D on Nintendo 3DS!

The six games featured:
BIT.TRIP BEAT marks the beginning of CommanderVideo's epic journey
BIT.TRIP CORE is the second instalment in CommanderVideo's soul quest
BIT.TRIP VOID continues CommanderVideo's epic journey
BIT.TRIP Runner marks the first fully character-based adventure for CommanderVideo
BIT.TRIP FATE is the penultimate chapter in the six-part BIT.TRIP series and will leave you wondering what's next
The BIT.TRIP series comes full circle with BIT.TRIP FLUX, CommanderVideo's final adventure
"We're hugely excited about bringing BIT.TRIP SAGA & BIT.TRIP COMPLETE to a European audience," says Martin Defries, managing director, Rising Star Games. "With such a unique look and critically acclaimed gameplay, we're expecting big things from both titles, and can't wait to bring these to gamers across the continent."

"Everyone at Gaijin Games is very excited to have BIT.TRIP SAGA & BIT.TRIP COMPLETE join Rising Star Games' excellent and varied library of games", commended Alex Neuse, co-founder, Gaijin Games. "From a publisher who literally has something to offer for every type of gamer, we couldn't be happier with this perfect fit of a European publishing partner."

Key features:
All six games in the award-winning BIT.TRIP series in one complete package with 120 completely new BIT.TRIP challenges spanning all six games
New audio gallery with fan remixes, original songs and demo versions of existing BIT.TRIP themes
An image gallery with exclusive production stills, concept art and promo images
A video gallery with more than 25 movies telling the story of CommanderVideo
Six letters to BIT.TRIP fans written by the series' director
Original soundtrack CD packaged with BIT.TRIP COMPLETE, featuring music from all six games in the series
New difficulty modes in all games
Online leaderboards
Both titles will be released in Q1, 2012. BIT.TRIP COMPLETE will be available on the Nintendo Wii and BIT.TRIP SAGA on the Nintendo 3DS.

For more information on all RSG titles, please visit the official site: www.risingstargames.com .

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Nintendo looking to develop 'new genres' again

by JC Fletcher on Oct 29th 2011 6:00AM

Much of Nintendo's success in the DS/Wii era came from games in unusual, previously unpopular, or brand new genres -- like, say, the daily math minigame genre invented for Brain Age. During an investor presentation, president Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo is wisely working on inventing some new kinds of games to get the wide appeal that Brain Age and Wii Fit achieved, planning to release some games in new genres over the next fiscal year.

Iwata noted that it is more difficult now to invent surprising new styles of game with smartphone developers doing weird stuff by the boatload. "However," he said, "the company will aim to develop and launch products that can provide meaningful surprises to the public by taking advantage of the company's position of being able to make new proposals that integrate both hardware and software, and of its ability to develop products that can be accepted by a wide variety of consumers, irrespective of age, gender or past gaming experience."

After all, you can't bundle an iPhone game with a balance board or something like that. Well, you could, but wouldn't. Nintendo still has that advantage.

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Australian indie: From ratings systems to a boom of small studios, how AU will survive

by Jessica Conditt on Nov 13th 2011 6:00PM

Australia has one of the most lenient video-game-rating systems in the world.

No, really -- despite its reputation as an ultra-conservative, mature-rating hating government, "the reality is that many more games that are restricted to 17-year-olds in the U.S. or 18-year-olds in Europe are available without edit for 15-year-olds in Australia," said Chris Wright, former marketing head for THQ's two Australian studios, Blue Tongue and Studio Australia. "On balance, Australia is probably the most lenient country in the world for access to mature games."

No, really -- Wright was the man who presented Saints Row to the Australian classification board and he prepared plenty of ratings submissions in the country, both as head of THQ Asia Pacific and its two Australian studios. He knows the system, meaning he knows what it has and what it doesn't, such as an R18+ rating.

"I believe passionately that Australia needs an R18+ rating," Wright said. "But for me the R18+ rating is not about access to games, but parity with other entertainment forms and the acknowledgement of gaming as an adult pursuit. The R18+ rating will have a net effect of greater overall restrictions on access to games -- many games that would have previously been available to 15-year-olds will now only be available for 18-year-olds and above -- but will mean that a few games at the top end of the maturity scale are allowed to be released."

Legislation in Australia recently approved the R18+ rating (though it may take a few years to be enacted) and its Law Reform Commission is attempting to revamp the country's video-game rating system to acknowledge its adult audience. But recently, Australia has had more than ratings to worry about.

As the economic system has spiraled into a flailing freefall, game studios worldwide are facing closures, layoffs and cutbacks just like any other industry, but it seems Australia has been hit especially hard. Seven studios have closed in Australia in the past six years. Wright may know why.

"I would say rising game-development costs is the biggest factor behind most of the studio closures worldwide at the moment -- it's simply very expensive to make games these days and harder to make them profitable," Wright said. "Australia is doubly challenged on this front due to the huge increase in the value of the Australian dollar vs the U.S. dollar, and because government offsets for game development have not been as competitive as other territories, such as Canada."

It's not that Australian developers are less talented or incapable of making quality blockbuster titles, Wright said, citing L.A. Noire, Destory All Humans and the deBlob series. The Australian development scene's response to this turmoil is a testament to this very confidence and skill: Australia is going indie.

Already several teams have formed from recent closures, Wright said, and there are around 100 small studios and solo developers in Melbourne, with even more across the country. Wright joined the revolution, too, founding Surprise Attack, a marketing company for independent developers. He now reps such indie studios as Bane Games and The Voxel Agents (pictured -- kind of -- above), both based in Australia.

"There is a lot of fresh energy here and local developers have some great examples to look up to .... We have some of the absolute stars of indie development here in Australia."
- Chris Wright, Surprise Attack

"There is a lot of fresh energy here and local developers have some great examples to look up to, such as Half Brick and Firemint," Wright said. "Having a lot of small indie studios is a big benefit to the local gaming community. There are so many more avenues for games to be created here now and ways for gamers to connect with local developers and get involved. There's also more opportunity for games that have a specific Australian voice or speak to Australian culture, because the indie scene can support games focused on a single market. We have some of the absolute stars of indie development here in Australia."

Developers aren't giving up without a fight in Australia, and Wright is optimistic about the future of its video-game industry -- the government is offering new Research and Development grants to locally owned developers and the possibility for these new indies to grow into larger studios is very real, he said.

"There's an incredible amount of talent here and also many, many talented Australians currently working in game development around the world," Wright said. "The whole games industry worldwide is going through a massive shake-up right now. It's not such a bad thing that the Australian development community is having to rebuild itself at this time; we have the opportunity to build for the industry's future, not the past."

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Xbox Crysis 2 for $10, Portal 2 for $16 and more from GameFly

by Richard Mitchell on Nov 9th 2011 2:00PM

It's not unusual to find good deals on GameFly's free shipping page, but $10 for Crysis 2 is a great deal by any stretch. GameFly is offering several other titles on the cheap as well, including the PS3 version of Portal 2 for $16.19 ($18 on Xbox), Alan Wake for $12, Duke Nukem Forever or Red Faction: Armageddon for $9. You can even snag Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, Dragon Age 2, FEAR 3 and several other for under $20 each.

And, as the name of the "free shipping" page suggests, shipping is free.

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Sega game sales down in first half of fiscal 2012; Rise of Nightmares fails to hit the heights

by JC Fletcher on Oct 31st 2011 10:27AM

The net sales for Sega Sammy's consumer division were down 13.7% year over year in the six months ended September 30. Sega brought in 33.4 million yen ($428,655) from its home game business, part of the 152.6 million yen in overall net sales.

The 29.9% slump in company-wide net sales is mostly attributed to a slowdown in demand for new pachinko machines and "the settlement payment for patent licensing". Within the consumer business, Sega cited "weak" sales of its titles, especially in the west, which, Sega claims, continues to experience "headwinds such as sluggish personal consumption."

Sega named three "major titles" released in the period, and detailed their sales. Captain America: Super Soldier, released only in the west, sold 450,000 units across four platforms. Rise of Nightmares sold 200,000 worldwide. The other major release, the Japan-only PSP soccer management sim Sakatsuku 7 Euro Plus, also sold 200,000.

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Rayman Origins review: Everybody loves Rayman

by Richard Mitchell on Nov 10th 2011 12:01PM

When I was a kid, video games didn't have "features," at least not in the way we know them today. There was no online multiplayer, no leaderboards, no persistent character progression. There were no detailed stat tracking services (with social integration, of course). If anything, a game might have had local multiplayer which, in those days, we simply called "two-player."

Like the games of my youth, Rayman Origins has almost no modern features. What it does have is an overwhelming sense of joy that I haven't felt for a very long time.

Rayman Origins embodies the kind of creativity and craftsmanship that have been largely missing in 2D platfomers since their heyday in the 16-bit era. It harkens back to the likes of Earthworm Jim, bestowing every moment with whimsy, but still tossing in many of the tricks found in current gems like Super Meat Boy and 'Splosion Man.

The basic formula of Origins actually remains unchanged from Rayman's 1995 debut. As Rayman (or one of his plucky cohorts), players make their way through meticulously designed levels, collecting Lums and searching for the cages of kidnapped Electoons. To be clear, I don't know what an Electoon is, and I don't really care. All I know is you have to collect enough of them so they can grow a hair bridge to the next world. Yes, a hair bridge.

It sounds stupid, but ideas like that are pivotal to the entire experience. The love put into every piece of Rayman's universe is so apparent that it's infectious. Consider a desert landscape covered with giant didgeridoos, or a land of ice where humongous watermelons float in lakes of what I can only assume is fruit punch. Or how about a fiery world of devils and piñatas, where smiling pinto beans leap out of enormous pots of chili?

Many of the environments, particularly the underwater levels, are at once bizarre, absurd and staggeringly beautiful -- the sort of juxtaposition that Rayman Origins pulls off with such regularity that you'd think it was just a part of everyday life.

But the really fun part, naturally, is getting through the environments, a feat Origins manages with aplomb. In the beginning, Rayman is limited to simply running and jumping. By journey's end, he acquires a litany of special abilities, from his patented helicopter hair to my personal favorite, running on walls. All exquisitely animated, these abilities seamlessly flow into one another in the game's later levels, making for some incredible choreographed sequences.

Every nuance is positively dripping with goofy, heart-swelling joy.

Best among these are the Tricky Treasure challenge levels, which could probably stand alone as an entire game by themselves. In these sequences, Rayman must run down a living treasure chest which, understandably, isn't too keen on being smashed open and having its insides pilfered. Coupled with delightfully appropriate banjo music, the treasure chases bring together all of Rayman's abilities, seeing him leap across huge chasms, smash through obstacles, dash up walls and slide under crumbling rocks in the nick of time. The desperation and momentum are truly thrilling. Surprisingly, local four-player cooperative play, one of Origins' only concessions to modernity, is probably one of its least interesting features. Played solo or with friends, levels remain identical, and there are no areas that require additional players. Some parts can be made easier, notably boss fights and flying segments but, apart from general camaraderie, the benefit of extra players in most areas seems negligible.

Make no mistake, while Rayman Origins is certainly family friendly (with the possible exception of some rather voluptuous faeries), it is by no means easy. In later levels, particularly the final treasure chases, some players will inevitably be left behind as one player (hopefully) manages to negotiate some very tricky platforming challenges. In fact, an extra player can even be distracting in more intense moments. It's all doable, sure, just keep in mind that coordinating to find secrets and collect Lums will definitely take patience.

Regardless of how you choose to play Rayman Origins, the important thing is that it should be played. Characters speak in Pig Latin. Upon discovering each secret area, an unseen audience expresses my unspoken thoughts, collectively cooing, "oooh!" The underwater sections have appropriately burbly background vocals. I couldn't possibly enumerate them all, but every detail, every nuance is positively dripping with goofy, heart-swelling joy.

I don't know about you, but I could always use more of that.

This review is based on review code of the Xbox 360 version of Rayman Origins, provided by Ubisoft.

Joystiq's review scores are based on a scale of whether the game in question is worth your time -- a five-star being a definitive "yes," and a one-star being a definitive "no." Read here for more information on our ratings guidelines.

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