The sad situation that is Xbox Live Indie Games has been a topic I've addressed before, and its marginalized position as the red-headed stepchild of Xbox Live has been frustrating for creators and consumers alike. It looks like Microsoft is in a festive mood, considering there is a rather large update to NXE around the corner, and it looks like it has thrown a bone to all the indie kids in the XNA Creator's Club. Yeah, that's right, Indie Games is receiving a prett major update. While these changes are somewhat different from what I would expect, some of these changes could really go far to improving the service.
The most important update is a modification the the pricing structure of Indie Games. Whereas XNA developers could formerly price their games at 200, 400 or 800 points, any new games released will be priced at either 80, 240, or 400 points, with only games under 50 MB priced at 80 points. This price change is effective now, however current games will retain their original prices unless they are updated or changed during a price change event. Games can be priced to 800 points until October 22, and current 200 point games will drop automatically to 80 points then as well. October 22 is also the day that Microsoft forces all Indie Games to be developed on XNA Game Studio 3.1. For those wondering, the October 22 date, which is the same day as the release of Windows 7, is purely coincidental, as confirmed by an XNA rep.
Other major changes include the admission of Japanese and German XNA developers to the marketplace, with Japan receiving Indie Games for the first time on August 11. There is also a creator reputation system that might prove helpful in weeding out poorly developed games, and an auto-reminder for customers of Indie Games to be notified when a game has been updated. Finally, creators will be given 50 free Tokens to use for hyping their game or sending copies out to reviewers.
It's a little early to see if this is going to make a major change to the success of Indie Games. A much cheaper price, streamlined update system, and a reputation-system to make finding better developers easier is certainly helpful. Is this enough for you to pay attention to Indie Games?
[Thanks, power-glove!]
from destructoid
Let's get right to the point: Borderlands is sh*t-hot. More and more, I'm beginning to think that the game's surprise makeover was really just a clever ploy to get people to pay attention. If so, I'll be Goddarned if it didn't work. While Cliffy B and BioWare's Ray Muzyka are busy pontificating about whether or not the RPG and FPS genres are blurring together, Randy Pitchford and Gearbox are making it happen -- check out GameSpot's exclusive new trailer after the break.
To be honest, I really want this game because I can play it with my girlfriend. In an interesting role reversal, I'm the RPG buff, but she's a fragging machine (although I've finally convinced her to play Final Fantasy IX). Since the game has local and online co-op, the two of us (and two friends) can get together and have the best of both worlds. I can only hope that it will be as blissful as my imagination makes it out to be.
If you haven't been paying attention to Borderlands, here's the quick-and-dirty: it's a sci-fi steam-western that takes place on a desolate planet, but the hook is that all of the areas to explore on Pandora are randomly generated (like Diablo), as are the guns. If the final product is anything like I hope it is, you'll get great twitch shooting with the strategy and resource management of an RPG, as well as access to "87 bazillion guns," as the trailer proudly exclaims.
Speaking of the trailer: it's badass. It simply oozes style, and it makes me more excited than ever. Does anybody know what the music is? It doesn't show a lot of gameplay, but, in an interview with Nick, Gearbox chief Pitchford made it clear that it would be top-notch: "When I move right or move left or rotate my view or pull down the trigger and look down my sights, it’s just totally natural. And this is because it’s our lineage, you know, that’s what we do."
In any case, the game hits U.S. shelves on October 20th, and will storm Europe three days later. If that awesome dancing robot from the trailer is anywhere in the game, it'll be worth the $60.
from destructoid
Capcom®’s Street Fighter® franchise is the undisputed king of the fighting game genre. But besides its bone-shattering combos and explosive super moves, Street Fighter is just as well known for its unsurpassed artwork. Now UDON brings gamers the most complete collection of Street Fighter artwork ever- SF20: The Art of Street Fighter!
SF20: The Art of Street Fighter gathers over 1,500 illustrations by Capcom’s top artists over the past 20 years. Included are character designs, concept art, rough sketches, game covers, promo artwork, crossover pieces and even some never-before seen artwork from Street Fighter’s past and present. Plus Capcom artists Akiman, Kinu Nishimura, CRMK, Edayan, Dai-Chan, Ikeno, Shinkiro and others give commentary on their favorite pieces and discuss what it’s been like to help forge the Street Fighter legacy.
The book covers every Street Fighter era, featuring artwork from:
Street Fighter®
Street Fighter® II
Street Fighter® III
Street Fighter® IV
Street Fighter® Alpha
Street Fighter® EX
Capcom® Fighting Evolution
Marvel™ VS Capcom®
Capcom® VS SNK®
Tatsunoko VS. Capcom™
And more!
SF20: The Art of Street Fighter arrives in stores September 2009. No true Street Fighter fan would dare miss out on this ultimate Street Fighter artwork archive!
click here for more info:
Not only do we get to see new character Hope Estheim wield his boomerang, we also get new images of Szah, too.
The dying wish of Hope's mother was for motorcycle dude Snow Villiers to protect her son. She died while trying to fend of PSICOM troops.
Sports simulations, ostensibly, are about recreating the on-field experience in videogame form as well as possible. But as time went on, gamers wanted more out of their sports games; they wanted to try running a team as opposed to just playing for one, which is why most sports sims have some sort of franchise mode.
However, aside from 2K Sports’ MLB Front Office Manager, we haven’t really seen any games (or game modes) that focus solely on the general manager, whose job it is to maintain a team’s roster. Last year, EA Canada innovated in the playing-on-a-team space with the introduction of the vaunted Be A Pro mode, and in NHL 10 this year, they’re debuting a Be A GM mode.
In the video after the jump, you can watch NHL 10 producer Andy Agostini explain how Be A GM works. It appears to be a separate setup from the regular Dynasty mode, and quite a deep one, at that. The GM Tracker gives you a wealth of information about your team and your situation as a general manager, and as you complete tasks (such as winning the Stanley Cup or making a two-for-two trade), you’ll be able to upgrade your staff and improve your team.
Agostini explains that the dev team looked at real-life GMs and found that they’re judged on three things each year: the NHL Entry Draft, the trade deadline, and free agency. So those are the main areas you’ll concentrate on in the Be A GM mode. The video also mentions an all-new prospects game, so you’ll be drafting on real in-game experience, and it announces the return of the fantasy draft as well. Can you perform well enough to be honored as a legendary GM?
Hit up the Inside EA Sports blog for more info on Be A GM mode. NHL 10, with over 200 gameplay improvements and refinements, will be out for PS3 and 360 on September 15th.
from destructoid
Microsoft’s latest Deal of the Week is stellar. People who missed the first batch of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed downloadable content can now download the “Jedi Temple Mission Pack” for 400 Microsoft Banana Dollars instead of the usual 800 Microsoft Banana Dollars price. According to Major Nelson’s math, that’s a fifty percent savings on the fictional space content. See? Stellar.
The “Jedi Temple Mission Pack” features the mysterious Sith apprentice. The dashing lad is looking for information about his father in the destroyed Jedi temple. According to the official blurb, the secret apprentice is forced to confront “his inner demons.” Oh, Star Wars.
This DLC debuted in December 2008 and we’re guessing if you enjoyed the The Force Unleashed, you probably already purchased this thing. If you did, give us the low-down. Is it worth the reduced price?
from destructoid
The Metroid Prime Trilogy, being released by Nintendo on Aug. 24, is the same three Prime games we played before just with Wii controls added to the two GameCube games in the pack, Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Why do I want it so bad then!? I've played all these games multiple times and it isn't just the sexy box art that is attracting me. Maybe I just want another excuse to experience them again.
The trailer Nintendo put together isn't helping me not spend my money on games I already own either. Not only does it bring back plenty of awesome memories from the games, but it also reminds us of how epic the score for the games were. In my opinion the games had some of the most atmospheric music in gaming and it fit so well with Metroid's solitary feeling. Hit the jump to be reminded why you want this bundle so bad.
from destructoid
