Lost Ark has officially been announced for localization in the West! I won’t say too much about it other than that it’s a free-to-play MMO-ARPG, and I’m very excited for it. You can check out a press release at amazongames.com.
This post was originally posted to my WoW blog, Kor’kron 501st, which also covers other Blizzard games and MMOs.
Last week, Amazon announced that Crucible is shutting down in a month. That’s really too bad, because I definitely enjoyed it personally. Most of all, I’ll miss Bugg, my favorite character. He’s a gardener robot who once grew food on Crucible. He was happy that everyone loved his food. But once the fighting started, he had to grow weapons (plant-based turrets) and fight even though he didn’t want to fight. I decided to capture Bugg’s lore before the servers go offline.
Here’s his War Machine skin, which I unlocked by completing the pre-season (and only) battle pass.
This video shows Bugg’s biography and all of his unlockable audio file logs, which gives a full view of his lore. I love Bugg’s voice-acting!
This second video shows all of Bugg’s customization – mostly his awesome skins. I prefer Ladybug!
Lastly, this video shows some extra dialogue that can be heard if Bugg is clicked repeatedly on the character select screen.
I’ll miss you, Bugg!
[Updated on 5/23/14.]
Can this really be happening? Pelloni now has a Kickstarter for the full bob’s game for PC, Mac, Linux, and Android. He’s hoping to raise $10,000. At the time of this writing, he’s raised $1,515 with 28 days to go. I think he’s going to do it this time. I’m also a big fan of his reward tiers – or tier, rather. For $20, “You get access to the full single player campaign when it is available, a premium account for the online service, access to a special forum, and other goodies!” I actually have a lot of respect for that.
Is it sad that I actually had a dream that I met Robert Pelloni last night?
There’s a nice, long history written at bobsgame.com as well. You might want to check it out!
Thank you to everyone who continues to check out my site and keep me informed. I received comments about the new Kickstarter on my last bob’s game post by wot is bobs gam, killamo187, and anonymouse, so thanks you three! Also, thanks to gBev for keeping up the Bob’s Game Mailing List.
As usual, I’m going to update my master post on bob’s game here on Polygons and Pixels, The strange tale of “bob’s game.” I’m going to consider this Act X. That’s a nice, round number. It sure would be nice if this is the one that leads to an actual release!
Update, 5/23/14: The Kickstarter succeeded yesterday!
Does it seem to anyone else that the Extreme Sims 2 Bundle is missing a certain game series? Of course, I know what they mean, but when I hear “Sims 2 Bundle,” I certainly think first of the Sims 2.
Extreme Sims 2 Bundle, Bundle Stars.
On January 30th, reader anonymouse commented that Robert had a new page that gave what he called “disturbing insight into the history of ‘bob’s game‘.” Personally, I think calling it disturbing is too strong, but I did find it very interesting. It was available from http://bobsgame.com/faq/ but has since been removed. It’s been replaced with a simple message. “Please wait for the full story and don’t post what was already here. Thank you.”
I’ll admit that I did save a .PDF copy, but I’ll respect his wishes. I hope he wouldn’t mind if I do at least say that it provided a bit of history and context to his development of bob’s game, and it reassured me that he really was trying to get this released. I’m looking forward to the “full story.”
I also received two comments (here and here) from reader shicky256 / Nathan M. on January 28th that Robert uploaded some new YouTube videos. While they weren’t all interesting to me, a few were and showed the location at which he did some of the development it seems.
February 2nd brought a comment by a reader who simply used the name “Who is Bob???” He points out that the bob’s game OUYA game was released. He links to a review of the game on OUYAbrew.com. To be clear, this bob’s game is simply a single puzzle game that’s supposedly a minigame from the RPG. (Although it is pretty complex and changes rulesets, so maybe calling it “simply a single puzzle game” is an understatement.) I’d just like to be clear that this bob’s game is distinct from the bob’s game RPG and from the bob’s game within the bob’s game RPG.
The strange tale of “bob’s game” attempts to keep the entire story of Robert Pelloni and his game organized. I’m going to consider these updates part of Act IX and update the article accordingly.
To everyone who’s following along or contributing to the conversation here on this blog, thank you! I appreciate all the comments, and I’m glad that there are still people interested in bob’s game. I know I don’t always update immediately when I receive a tip, but I’m glad to receive them!
You’d think there’d still be a bit of news that caught my eye on the last day, but I only marked one interesting article from all the coverage I saw.
Xbox One’s new Achievements system explained, time-based Challenges don’t reward Gamerscore, Griffin McElroy, Polygon, 6/13/13.
I think what Microsoft (and by extension Griffin’s article) was trying to explain in too many words is that the Xbox One will have Feats of Strength like Blizzard games do. Terrific! These are especially fun.
Nothing else stands out in my memory sadly.
There wasn’t a lot of interesting news coming from E3 on day two. In fact, I think there’s only two things I saw that I wanted to mention.
Pac-Man Museum collection coming to digital platforms, includes Pac-Man Battle Royale, Richard Mitchell, Joystiq, 6/12/13.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. Pac-Man is a great game, and Pac-Man Battle Royale is one of my favorite games. It’s amazingly fun and probably the best reason to visit your local arcade (if your local arcade has one). With the inclusion of it in a console, it’s experience may get watered down. Yes, now I can look forward to playing it at home, but that takes out the incentive to go the arcade and experience the arcade cabinet.
Pokemon X and Y’s online features feel like a true evolution, Bob Mackey, Joystiq, 6/12/13.
As you play Pokemon X or Y, your friends list will appear on the bottom screen along with a list of people playing near you. This includes people from your 3DS friends list added before the game was even released. As you battle strangers, they’ll move to your acquaintances list and eventually friends. The bad news? They don’t have a plan for importing Pokemon from the DS versions yet.
As I mentioned previously, I’m not reading every bit of E3 news, but some stuff sticks out. Here’s what I read yesterday that’s interesting to me.
PS4 hard drive is user-replaceable, Samit Sarkar, Polygon, 6/11/13.
Good news!
The Last Guardian is ‘on hiatus’, Jessica Conditt, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
Absolutely terrible, yet not surprising, news. The Last Guardian was, sadly, a factor in my purchase of the PS3.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze hits Wii U in November, Sinan Kubba, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
Lots of Nintendo games seemed cool to me. A new DKC is always welcome news, although I didn’t even play Donkey Kong Country Returns (besides at E3).
New ‘Yoshi’s Island’ game called ‘Yoshi’s New Island’, Alexander Silwinski, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Yoshi’s Island, so I’ll be happy to try Yoshi’s New Island.
Super Smash Bros. coming to 3DS, Wii U in 2014; Mega Man joins fray, Alexander Silwinski, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
I’ve never been big into Smash multiplayer, but surprisingly, I love the single player. I hope it has a cool adventure mode.
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD hits Wii U in October, Sinan Kubba, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
When Wind Waker was released, I thought it looked dumb. My tastes in graphics have changed completely, and for a while now I’ve been really interested in going back to Wind Waker. I guess I’ll be trying to HD remake!
Mario Kart 8 races to Wii U Spring 2014, David Hinkle, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
Mario Kart 8 looks awesome and includes anti-gravity segments. Hopefully Nintendo steps up their game in response to Sonic & All-Stars Racing. Transformed was absolutely awesome.
Super Mario 3D World pounces on Wii U Dec. 2013, Bob Mackey, Joystiq, 6/11/13.
Super Mario 3D Land was the greatest 3D Mario game I’ve played in a very long time. It ranked with 64 in my mind, although I’d be hard to pressed to crown one the best over the other. We’ll see how this new one is!
Nintendo has a tendency of releasing a lot of great games in their core franchises early and then tapering off. I don’t know if that’s going to happen with the Wii U, but I don’t care. They’ve announced enough already to make the Wii U more than worth the cost.
Image courtesy blogs.nvidia.com.The NVIDIA SHIELD is NVIDIA’s entry into the game console market. I had forgot about this, but the launch details were just announced yesterday. SHIELD is an Android console running Jelly Bean on a Tegra 4 chip. It looks a lot like a 360 controller with a flip up screen. It looks bulky and ugly, but I think it could be interesting. It’s most interesting feature is likely its ability, launching as a beta feature, to stream select Steam games from a PC using a GeForce GTX desktop GPU. Sadly, it’s 650 or higher, which mine is not. Presumably, streaming only works locally. It’s an interesting feature, but would I use it? I think I’d rather play my PC games on my PC unless I could actually stream it over the Internet.
Image courtesy of ChucksChallenge.com.Chuck’s Challenge has been optimized for the SHIELD as well. It’s developed by Niffler with creator Chuck Sommerville. He’s the amazing talent behind Chip’s Challenge and of course the Chuck’s Challenge for iOS. I backed the 3D port of Chuck’s Challenge on Kickstarter, and from the beta, I can say that it’s very cool.
There are also two Double Fine games being optimized for the SHIELD. There will likely be more announcements in the future as well.
Sources: 5 Cutting-Edge Games That Will Rock NVIDIA SHIELD, Jordan Dodge, NVIDIA Blog, 5/14/13 and Portable Handheld Android Gaming | NVIDIA SHIELD via Chuck Sommerville.
David Hayter, voice for Snake up until now, has made a heartfelt post about not reprising his role in Metal Gear Solid 5. He writes that when he heard that recording sessions had begun, he contacted someone involved with the production. After meeting with him, he learned that they “wouldn’t be needing [him],” with no further explanation.
Hayter writes, “I love being part of the world of Metal Gear” and “primarily, I love the fans of these games.” Most touchingly, he writes, “If it were my choice, I would do this role forever. To hear anyone else’s voice coming from Snake’s battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest.”
David Hayter seems like a really fun guy to me. I met him at Anime Expo 2008. When I got his autograph, I asked him, “Do you ever use the Snake voice in the bedroom,” to which he replied, “on occasion.” I asked, “How’s that work out for you?” “Works every time,” he answered. And he answered in the Snake voice of course.
Yes, that’s me with David Hayter by the way. The photos kind of blurry, and everyone knows blurry pictures make you look fat.
METAL GEAR V
By
David Hayter
So,
Here’s a recap of events:
I have been up in Toronto, for the past eight months, directing my first film, (WOLVES — 2013, TF1/COPPERHEART). On the December break, I came home to Los Angeles for the holidays. I heard then, that recording sessions for MG:V were being put together.
But I didn’t hear anything about whether I’d be needed or not.
So, I got in touch with someone involved in the production. We got together for lunch, and he told me that they “wouldn’t be needing me” on this game. No reason, or explanation was given beyond that.
And that was it.
I drove home through Laurel Canyon, bummed, and thinking about Snake.
To be clear, I love being a part of the world of Metal Gear. I admire its technological innovations, the gameplay, the political message of it all. But primarily, I love the fans of these games. Two grown men burst into tears upon meeting me at the Vancouver Fan Expo last year.
Now that… Is a rare and excellent role. You know you’re making an impact.
And I love doing it.
In 1998, I tried to do come up with a voice which epitomized the kind of worn, put-upon, genetically-engineered clone-soldier that I saw Snake to be. Over time, as the games became more stunning and visually sophisticated, I tried to transition that initial voice into the increasingly real environments in which Snake found himself. My level of success is up to you, but any perceived deficiencies were not for lack of hard work. I have dedicated a huge amount of time and effort into creating a compelling character, capable of expressing the myriad emotional, physical and psychological hurdles that Snake has to face.
Anyway, now it’s been fifteen years, nine games, and an enormous blast to undertake.
If it were my choice, I would do this role forever. To hear anyone else’s voice coming from Snake’s battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest.
But the truth is — it’s not my choice. Any and all casting decisions are the sole purview of Hideo Kojima, and Konami itself. And that’s fair.
And I’ll get by. I am not lacking for employment on any level.
But I didn’t want anybody to think that I was intentionally abandoning them.
And know that I will miss this job, and this character, very much.
My best wishes to you all,
David Hayter
April 1, 2013
– @DavidBHayter, TwitLonger, 4/1/13.
via David Hayter: Hearing someone else as Snake ‘makes me a little ill’, Jessica Conditt, Joystiq, 4/1/13.
D.J. Waaland of Co-Optimus reports that PD Design Studios has a new 2D brawler, Dusty Raging Fist, coming to the Wii U’s eShop. It’s apparently in the same universe as Dusty Revenge, a fighting game in development and on Steam Greenlight. I’ve never heard of Dusty Revenge, but I’m much excited at the thought of a good, 2D brawler. It’ll feature three player co-op, so this sounds like my type of game. The art looks gorgeous to me, reminding me of Guardian Heroes. Then again, Code of Princess for 3DS reminded me of Guardian Heroes and let me down. Still, I’m hopeful. Can I file this game away with River City Ransom, Turtles in Time, Castle Crashers, and Scott Pilgrim? I certainly hope so.
Source: New 2-D Brawler Announced for Wii U – Dusty Raging Fist, D.J. Waaland, Co-Optimus, 2/25/13 via Nintendo Life.
I finally added a Microsoft account on my computer and downloaded software from the Microsoft Store. It was Minesweeper. I know it looks a bit different in that screenshot, but that’s actually because I put a theme on it. It’s annoying not being able to play it on top of other things thanks to the way the new interface works in Windows 8, and it’s also the first time I’ve consistently used software not in Desktop mode. But I did have a reason.
It’s an Xbox game. It’s part of Xbox Games for Windows, which means it has achievements and leaderboards. This one also has additional medals and daily challenges. As far as I can tell, medals are basically achievements but don’t grant any gamerscore. Regardless, this was enough to entice me.
There’s even a strange adventure mode. It’s basically the same but is skinned to look like an adventure game. Plus you earn extra points for picking up gold. Yeah, I really don’t know. It’s mildly amusing though.
I don’t intend to oversell Minesweeper. It’s effectively the same Minesweeper as always with some achievements. What’s more interesting is the idea of Xbox Games for Windows. I look forward to seeing more games come to Windows featuring leaderboards and achievements!
On March 16, I funded a location-aware iOS game called Monster Guru by Gimo Games on Kickstarter. Players are tasked with collecting and battling monsters, but the geolocation feature adds an extra twist.
The core of the exploring is the 1:1 movement of player and in game character. The map will initially have a “fog of war” over it, and as you walk through it new areas will be uncovered. What we’ve done is put in a non-GPS mode where after uncovering an area you can go back to that area without physically walking there. This makes the exploring still part of the moving around, but you’ll be able to play at home after having gone through different areas on the map.
Last updated: Wednesday Feb 15, 12:52am EST
This sounded pretty fun to me!
With iOS 6, Apple is no longer using Google Maps but are using their own Apple Maps. There are reports of the 3D views being wavy and weird, certain landmarks missing, certain non-existent landmarks present, incorrect addresses or directions, and a lack of public transit. I haven’t checked any of these myself because I’m holding off on upgrading, but honestly, my guess is that Apple Maps likely works fine for most people in the US (assuming you don’t take public transit).
I forgot about Monster Guru.
Because Monster Guru was based heavily on API calls to the Maps application, the change from Google Maps to Apple Maps has severely hindered Monster Guru’s development. For now, I’ll continue to eagerly wait for my chance to reward real life exploration with monster battling!
The full update from Gimo Games follows:
Setbacks
Friends!Thank you for your patience and support over the past few months. We’ve had some great progress along the way, but we have also had some setbacks. People have come and gone in Gimo, gotten married, moved, found new jobs, and started school again. The biggest setback however comes from the new maps in iOS 6.Most complaints about the new maps have been from consumers, but I’ll add my complaint from the perspective of a developer. Apple maps are broken. Monster Guru pushes the maps on iOS to the limit. We are using the maps, overlays, annotations, transparency, gesture recognition like tap, hold, swipe, pinch all within Cocos2D. This was all working wonderfully on iOS 5. Apple didn’t change the API on the maps, but they changed the way they work underneath. This means we were able to build just fine on iOS 6, but when it actually ran it didn’t work at all. When we first ran it all it showed on screen was a vibrant pink color. Now we’ve rearranged some of the code and gotten it to actually display the map and function, but after scrolling or walking around for a few seconds it completely locks up.
We will fix it, but I don’t know how long it will take. Best case scenario, Apple releases iOS 6.1 tomorrow and it fixes it and everyone is happy. That probably isn’t going to happen though. Worst case scenario, we have to rewrite the whole map system, and that is the largest portion of the game. I’ve been digging through the maps trying to find out what systems aren’t working together nicely in iOS 6, but haven’t quite found it yet. We may have to end up simplifying the map a little to reduce the number of parts interacting, but I won’t dumb down the game. I feel like we can’t release a game that doesn’t work on the latest operating system, so we will fix it, and it will still be Monster Guru.
We will keep you posted along the way. In a few days I’ll put up a gameplay video with the beginning of the game so you can see how the game is played exactly, and that should answer most of the questions asked before. I wanted to get it out before, but this iOS 6 problem, compounded with work and school, have slowed down the progress. Don’t worry about the game not coming out or being dumbed down though; I will get this out to you guys. The core Gimo group will be here to finish the game no matter what. This game is my baby, and I can’t wait to get it out to you guys. Ask anything you want in the comments, or send us a message. We’ll be as transparent with you as we can.
Trent
With the final sale details of the Wii being released today (yesterday by the time this is posted), I knew it was time to pre-order. I put money down on the Wii U Deluxe (full price of $349.99), New Super Mario Bros. U, LEGO City: Undercover, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Because I’m getting the Wii U Deluxe, Nintendo Land will be bundled with the consoles. I’m excited!
Let the eighth generation begin!
When I saw that Jonathan Kim of Mechafetus (NSFW) fame was an animator on a new game, I was intrigued. He was an animator on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game and senior animator on Skullgirls. Then I saw that Mercenary Kings also features Paul Robertson, art director of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, as animator. A handful of people from the Scott Pilgraim vs. The World: The Game’s development team came together to create Mercenary Kings, a run and gun game featuring upgrades and customization.
Mercenary Kings looks a lot like Metal Slug but with a Mechafetus twist. That would be enough right there to get me interested, but they’ve mixed in crafting. Enemies drop materials when they die, and you can upgrade and customize your weapons. Individual parts of the weapons can be changed, allowing you to design weapons that work the way you want. It looks like a lot of fun, but the art style is what really drew me to it.
I pledged $60 which gets me two digital copies of the game, a digital copy of their previous game (Wizorb), an exclusive wallpaper pack, a digital soundtrack, my name in the credits on their site, a Kickstarter exclusive in-game knife, an in-game “Kickstarter Contributor” achievement, and my name in the credits under “Kickstarter Contributors.”
You got that right; I get an exclusive wallpaper pack!
Polygons and Pixels 