Vanguard Princess is a versus fighting game created with Enterbrain's 2D Fighter Maker engine, and a freeware download that showcases the sort of quality usually reserved for full-price commercial releases only. There are ten playable characters to choose from, an assortment of special moves distinct to each combatant, excellent sprite work, creative costume design, and even a multiplayer mode that is unfortunately limited to just two people playing on the same computer with no online capabilities. Depending on your interest in the genre you could still squeeze out an hour's play or two from it, although the end sequence for every character is practically the same.

The game will only work on Windows operating systems which can read names of files and folders in Japanese, or those that already have the Japanese language pack already installed. (XP instructions, or use AppLocale). You can switch between full screen and windowed mode by using the left Alt and Enter key, while the button configuration option is accessible via the menu bar. (source: Canned Dogs)

Author's web site
Vector information page
direct download link
moves list

Continue reading "Freeware Game Pick: Vanguard Princess (Sugeno Tomoaki)" »

Posted by timw at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in big sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Blizzard, Microsoft Game Studios and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

Continue reading "Round Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week of July 3" »

Posted by Simon Carless at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aubergine Sky is a short puzzle game which is controlled entirely using the mouse, with no keyboard input required from the player. The story follows a man who is taking a quiet stroll on the outskirts of his town, lost in his thoughts and deeply troubled by some personal worries. Your task is to figure out a solution to the puzzle in each location, and to execute the action correctly in order to progress.

There are only a handful of screens to visit, and you won't be needing more than a couple of minutes to complete the entire game. (mirrors: Kongregate, Newgrounds)

Posted by timw at 4:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Of course, it was already obvious that the Xbox 360 was going to be at least one platform of choice for Polytron's upcoming title Fez due to the ickle A buttons displayed on past screenshots.

Now Phil Fish has announced that their incredible-looking platformer will be coming to an Xbox near you early next year. I don't know about you, but I think I'll be using permanent marker to scribble the word BUSY across the entirety of early 2010 on my calendar. Check here if you can't remember why this is seriously one to watch out for.

Posted by Michael Rose at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Trine, a mix of 'Prince of Persia with Flashback', is now available to download through Steam for $29.99 (£19.99).

I'll be perfectly honest, I only noticed Trine a month ago, but the most recent trailer (shown after the cut) and a play through the demo was enough to get me interested.

Here's the blurb:

Trine is a fantasy action game where the player can create and use physics-based objects to beat hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. Set in a world of great castles and strange machinery, three heroes are bound to a mysterious device called the Trine in a quest to save the kingdom from evil…

Switching between these three heroes is essential to completing each puzzles and destroying enemies. The demo is definitely worth a play, showing off the first level. As usual I will be reporting back sometime next week with my opinion. For now check out the official Trine site for more details.

Continue reading "Trine Released" »

Posted by Michael Rose at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Push is a twisted platformer all about moving the level around to reach the goal. The WASD keys move the little expressionless guy around, while clicking the mouse button will push all the surrounding blocks away from the centre of your click, allowing him to progress past originally solid walls.

Great concept, yet painfully difficult to master. Push the blocks in the wrong way and your guy will go splat. I was terrible at it. See how you fare at BonusLevel.

Posted by Michael Rose at 5:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

[We're starting to announce the content for the first-ever Indie Games Summit @ GDC Austin, and though this is only about a third of the total lectures, you can see it should be a hopefully interesting gathering of the minds. Full info below...]

Organizers of this September's Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin have announced first speakers, with the indies behind titles like Bit.Trip Beat, Age Of Booty, Fantastic Contraption, and DeathSpank speaking on a multitude of notable topics.

Initial information about the September 15th-16th Summit, a separate part of the wider, 'connected game'-focused Austin-based event, is available on the GDC Austin website. Other Summits taking place at GDC Austin this year include a brand-new iPhone Games Summit and the notable, long-running Writing and Audio Summits..

Details on the Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin include specifics on the first five lectures and panels for the first-ever Austin edition of the popular main GDC event, and the highlights include:

- In 'The Bit.Trip Series: Holistic Indie Console Game Design', Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse will speak on "how the small team created the retro-infused [game] series, giving tips on standing out on WiiWare and how to intelligently mine classic gaming for a unique look."

- Speaking in 'Business Managing Your Indie Developer Through The Downturn', Jennifer Bullard of local Texas independent developer Certain Affinity, which has done contract work for big AAA console titles (Left 4 Dead, Call Of Duty: World At War) and developed significant original IP (downloadable title Age Of Booty) will discuss running your indie as a business, and how a small company intelligently juggles work for hire and original IP.

- In a lecture called 'Postmortem: The Design & Business Behind Fantastic Contraption', Colin Northway will explain how the Flash-based physics sandbox webgame -- which has been played by millions of people, and brought in six-figure profits for its single developer -- was designed, monetized and marketed itself, based on an initially free title with paid upgrades.

- Wolfire COO John Graham (co-creator of the upcoming Overgrowth) will discuss 'Effective Marketing For Indie Game Developers', explaining how you use your own website, social networking channels, independent editorial content, and even pre-release versions of your tools to build a robust community around your game before it even ships.

- Finally, in 'The Indie Business Rant', notables including Hothead's Joel DeYoung (DeathSpank, Penny Arcade Adventures), Klei's Jamie Cheng (Shank), and IGS advisory board members Matthew Wegner (Blurst.com, Crane Wars) and Adam Saltsman (Fathom) will "each give short 5-10 minute presentations on aspects of indie business that irk, disgust, or nauseate them, hopefully also including some panaceas for the indie business pain that sickens them."

More information on 2009's Independent Games Summit at Austin GDC, including registration details and other specifics, is available at the official IGS @ Austin GDC website.

Posted by Simon Carless at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adventure games are a lost art these days. Not to sound like an old man, but they just don't make them like they used to. I can't say I particularly enjoyed the more recent outings of a certain dog and rabbit (or any of Telltale's recent works to be perfectly honest) and nothing else has really caught my attention.

Time Gentlemen, Please!, the sequel to Ben There, Dan That, is not only the best adventure game I've played in a very long time - it is one of the best adventure games I've played. Ever.

And it's $5.

In general, I don't usually laugh out loud at games. It's not a rule of mine - I just find the majority of gaming humour will at most achieve a grin from me. When I say that Zombie Cow Studios caused me to chuckle on numerous occasions, I must point out the bias; Time Gentlemen, Please! is written in a very British manner and, since my heritage aligns, I in turn adored the humour. It is incredibly British, with a mix of witty banter, silly animations and hilarious facial expressions.

But seriously, have you seen the plot? After accidently wiping out the whole human race, hero Ben and his sidekick Dan go back in time to stop coathangers being invented and, in turn, allow Hitler to take over the world with his army of Nazi dinosaurs. Clearly the game is aimed at an adult audience and contains multiple swears, literal toilet humour and general rudeness.

Continue reading "Review: Time Gentlemen, Please! (Zombie Cow Studios)" »

Posted by Michael Rose at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Queens is a small 2D platformer created by noonat in under three days for a mini Ludum Dare contest, made possible with the help of Adam Atomic's flixel framework and tutorial resources.

The game isn't particularly long or difficult, and you won't be spending more than fifteen minutes or so to complete the entire adventure. (source: auntie pixelante)

Continue reading "Browser Game Pick: Queens (noonat)" »

Posted by timw at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Succor is an experimental project created by Sean Barrett, the developer of Lost in the Static, with the original protype designed in under three days but then expanded to include a total of twenty-seven levels in the public release version.

The game is rather simplistic in nature, where only the most basic of polygons or lines are used to represent walls, objects, and ships. You can hold the left or right arrow key to turn the ship, press up to move forward, or use the space key to shoot. Players should be able to breeze through the first few stages with ease, but the difficulty will pick up immediately once you're presented with a new gameplay element that changes the way you approach and overcome challenges radically.

This is one of those special cases where a developer cannot be squarely blamed for making a game extremely easy or too difficult. Jonathan Blow's name is also mentioned in the credits as a tester, for extreme Braid fans.

Posted by timw at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)