the2bears informs about a new Kenta Cho interview (by Siliconera) which reveals his thoughts on the upcoming Tumiki Fighters Wii port by Majesco entitled Blast Works, while mrkwang interviews Samieru - a member of the Nigoro development team responsible for the release of Rose and Camellia, Death Village and La-Mulana.

Quite unfortunate that both interviews are rather short and contains very little information that we are actually interested in finding out (e.g. upcoming developments, etc).

- the2bears
- Siliconera interviews Kenta Cho
- Samieru/Nigoro interview
- Nigoro's web site
- MTV interviews Kenta Cho

Application is a new web toy from Jun Fujiki, originator of the idea behind the upcoming PS3 and PSN puzzler named Echochrome. This particular creation is an attempt by the author to recreate a paradoxical environment best illustrated by M. C. Escher's lithograph print entitled Relativity.

The standard blocks, stairs and portals seen in Fujiki's works appear here as well. Robots can be placed on any side of the blocks and even on top of the wall or floor. Requires a browser capable of running Java applications.

Name: Application
Developer: Jun Fujiki
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Dicewars DS is a multiplayer version of a popular Flash based strategy game for Nintendo DS. Both single and multiplayer game modes with up to eight players are supported.

Your task is to conquer the whole game field by rolling dice. Each turn you may attack any opponent's territory from one of your adjacent territories as long as your territory has more than one die on it. A battle is won when you roll more than the defender during an attack. [thanks to Caffeinekid]

Name: Dicewars DS
Developer: Matti Palosuo, Reko and Jari
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

The trial version of Trouble Witches features two playable levels and cartoon graphics not unlike some of the stuff seen in Konami's Parodius series. Pets act as options, while temporary upgrades in the shape of spell cards can be bought from the shop. These appear periodically, tied to a hot air balloon in the shape of a pumpkin head.

The shopkeeper can be touched in strange places, though the results from such actions are unknown. Coins are be collected automatically when the shoot button isn't held down. Tap the X key to cast a protective spell, or press the C key to use a spell card if one is bought from the shop. The V key serves as a pause button.

A choice of three difficulty settings are shown after the character selection screen, with the one at the top being the easiest. [source: Danmaku Gata]

Name: Trouble Witches
Developer: Studio SiestA
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 120MB
Direct download link: Click here

Zillion Beatz is a new vertical shooter by RezetiA, featuring one short level but with five different difficulty settings. The needless configuration and armory shop from Pladzma has been ditched, allowing folks who don't speak Japanese to sample some of the gameplay on offer with little hassle.

Either ship is outfitted with two primary weapons, switchable using the C key. Hold the Z key to shoot, and press the X key to launch a bomb. The type of bomb launched depends on the current primary weapon in use, but still shares the same slot. It's possible to orient the option position by moving your ship around, then locking them in their current alignment by holding the Z key.

Only the weapon currently in use will be upgraded when a power-up is collected. Options can be aligned right in front of your ship by holding the W key.

Name: Zillion Beatz
Developer: RezetiA
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 30MB
Direct download link: Click here

I'm not sure how much I can reveal, but -- there's an umbrella which slows your descent, and there's (my favorite feature in any platformer) a double-jump! Those two things alone make it play very different from Knytt. There are a few other new abilities as well, but the double-jump and the umbrella were the defining ones to me.


There's also an extremely scary area, we're talking Silent Hill scary. That may have been my favorite scenario, even though it was extremely challenging (I died at least a dozen times) and even though I don't normally like horror. This is the first time I've seen that level of eerieness pulled off in a platformer.


The game is also pretty challenging, more on the level of Within a Deep Forest than the original Knytt, so those who complained about Knytt being too easy will be happier; but for those who liked the difficulty level of the original game, most scenarios also have an easy mode.


I think the best part about it is that it'll include a level editor, it'll be interesting to see the great variety of worlds that people will doubtless make. It's hard not to want to make your own world after playing this, I have a few ideas myself.


There's not much that I could see that would improve the game, which is rare for me. The only thing I really missed was: no glowing light pointing the way to the next item, which made exploring large areas a lot more reliant on memory than in the original Knytt.


One big part of the original game was the mysterious creatures inhabiting the world, acting on their own, which don't talk to you and which can only watched and guessed about -- and that also thankfully remains. Knytt Stories is expected to release by August 30th.

Actual gameplay video! A two minute preview of four levels from Everyday Shooter. [source: Kotaku]

Update: You can save your layout with F3, and load your layout with F2. It saves to the ole.dat file, and it seems you can only have 1 at a time.

There's a pretty complex world as the default, so back it up before you make new levels. Other random key pressing created a capture.rec file, I don't know what it's for, or what key did that.

The Object Locative Environment Coordinate System is an engine that determines and calculates a robot's interaction with the environment based on the camera's current perspective. Gaps can disappear behind a pillar, bridges can be joined just by rotating the camera, and all sorts of weird mind tricks can be accomplished with a little experimentation or plenty of imagination.

The Fighting Fantasy Project hosts a collection of original adventures based on the popular gamebook system. Originally devised by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, Fighting Fantasy was a series of gamebooks that played out like choose-you-own-adventure stories. Each gamebook would consist of around 400 short numbered passages of text and the reader would be given options as to how they wanted the story to develop.

The gamebooks featured on the site are played directly through your browser. Game progress can effectively be saved by copying or bookmarking the current page's URL for later recall.

Adventures are typically fantasy-themed and have the reader encountering monsters and collecting possessions throughout the adventure.


Name: Fighting Fantasy Project
Type: Browser

Tank Universal released.

Kairos recently pointed out a tool which can be used to convert GM releases (developed with version 6.0 and 6.1) into a file that is compatible with Windows Vista. No more Vista incompatibility issues for GM games! [RR forum thread, download conversion tool]

The Crypts of Despair updated with several new changes.

The XBLA version of Switchball previewed. [PC version download page]

Earl Mansin: The Breakout updated to version 1.1.

Spark Spectra updated. Several screenshots from (possibly) a new bullet barrage simulator were posted on the front page as well. [Spark Spectra review]

Mind Control Software (Oasis) has released Arrrrrr!

Voting is now closed, thanks for participating!

Vote count: Sumotori Dreams 8 - 44 Toribash

Winner: Toribash



"sumotori is far more entertaining and to crunch it all into 96k is herculean." - Joe

"Toribash wins hands down, it's both much deeper, much more developed, larger community and keeps you coming for more." - Mahatma

"Toribash is just stick figures and elastic bands." - Jim

"This sumotori looks like theft to me. He couldn't even figure out a name for a game by himself." - anonymous

Uchuforce 2 updated with sound and new enemy ships. [Uchuforce 2 review]

A new edition of 1UP's Weekly Freeplay is out. La-Mulana, B-Intruders, Marathon Trilogy and Once Upon a Time were mentioned. One out of four ain't bad...

The Crypts of Despair updated; collected food units increased from 50 to 75. [thanks to Paul, tips by Baptistry]

Another Joakim Sandberg interview uncovered by Mosh of Planetfreeplay. It's nice to see Paul Robertson's name next to his in the credits for a Disney game.

Remakes

Richard Jordan revealed as the perpetrator responsible for the Starquake remake gameplay videos posted recently. [Zub review]

New version of G-Force posted. [direct download link, G-Force review]

The first third of Remakes 100 is up.

Synaesthete is an arena shooter which attempts to bombard players with a cacophony of sound and images, hence it's not surprising that this DigiPen student project contains a seizure warning as well. The objective of the game is to guide the protagonist from one area to another, though each exit is only made accessible once the entire room is cleared of enemies.

Attacks are initiated by timing the correct key presses to each beat. This is where Synaesthete suffers, because a simple arcade game was unnecessarily turned into a car wreck with complicated control elements - the only letdown of an otherwise impressive team effort. The game is still undergoing changes, so there's a possibility that it's difficulty could be toned down in future releases.

Name: Synaesthete
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 50MB
Videos: Gameplay video 1, video 2

Strict Machine is an arena shooter which borrows gameplay elements from Invader, another one of dessgeega's creation. Use the W, A, S and D keys to shoot in any of the four possible directions. Tap a shoot button quickly for rapid fire.

There are only six stages to play in total.

Name: Strict Machine
Developer: dessgeega
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB