Those jewels you've been collecting are about to get a whole lot more infectious, as D3Publisher announced that its player-christenedPuzzle Quest expansion, Revenge of the Plague Lord, will infest Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday, July 23.
Develped by Puzzle Quest devs, Infinite Interactive, the 700 Microsoft Point update will offer a virulent mass of new content, including 25 new quests, 50 new spells, 40 new items, and four new heroes, as well as the ability to build up characters to level 60. In addition, Revenge of the Plague Lord will also add three new Achievements to the popular puzzler, giving us plenty to feed our fever until we look to the skies next year.
Go! Go! Break Steady is a rhythm puzzle game set against the backdrop of an alternate WWII– er, actually it's a breakdancing themed puzzler from indie dev Little Boy Games. We first checked out this XNA-to-XBLA success story at GDC '08. You can pop and/or lock to your heart's content for 800 MS points ($10). If you don't care for the trial game, you can always use the $10 to support your local youth center, which was likely saved by breakdancers in the '80s.
In a nutshell, Flock is an evolved form of Lemmings: Using your ship and it's various beams, you guide sheep, chicken, cows and pigs past obstacles and into the Mother Flocker (be careful about slurring that name). The game will also feature co-op and a map editor. Although we weren't able to see either feature in action, Capcom's Kraig Kujawa told us their goal is to implement cross-console map sharing.
As the first commenter on this post will assuredly point out, this is old news. The second commenter will likely correct him in a patronizing tone, reminding him that a requirement for news is that it be new, and that this story, therefore, is not news at all. The third commenter, a jocular fellow, will then inquire if it is, in fact, olds? We get it, alright? However, we've never failed to mention new additions to the Xbox Live Arcade, and we don't plan on starting this week. Besides, when you see these sterling new releases, we don't think you'll fault us for being a few days late to the new release party.
First up is Double D Dodgeball(800 MS points/$10), which recreates the classic playground sport with an eye-searing "retro arcade design". The game dropped two weeks before its expected release date, though a reported bug that kicks players off of Xbox Live upon starting up the game make us wonder if perhaps a few guns were jumped. Joining it is Coffeetime Crosswords (800 MS points/$10). With 150 puzzles and a co-op mode, this new entry will surely fulfill all your sinister linguiphilic desires.
Rounding out the list is the EA Fantasy Football Live Draft Tracker (400 MS points/$5), which allows users of EA's online fantasy leagues to import their league settings, draft new players, then export their new rosters back onto EA's servers. This is not a game, and we regret including it in this post.
Unfortunately, neither GlaDOS, nor any other "story elements", will be included in the extra content. As excited as we are for this expansion, the prospect of zipping around an abandoned research facility without the accompaniment of an unsettling, sing-song voice just doesn't seem right.
Puzzle Quest Galactrix takes the fantasy world of the original Puzzle Quest and injects it with a healthy dose of sci-fi. The "match three" gameplay is still present, as are the RPG elements, and it all comes together in a Puzzle Quest experience for those who prefer interstellar drama over orcs and goblins.
We're going to write the rest of this hands-on with the idea that the reader has played the original Puzzle Quest, because if they haven't, they should go out and rent/buy it right now. For those who played the first Puzzle Quest and didn't like it, Galactrix won't convert them, unless the sci-fi concept is the only thing they felt was missing from the original.
Portal is officially getting a sequel. Gamerscore Blog reveals that Portal: Still Alive will continue the single player story found in the original Orange Box collection, and will add new challenges. The title will be available through Xbox Live Arcade ... although no word on either a PC or PS3 version at this time. Considering the massive popularity of the original, this is a huge win for XBLA. Potential details of the sequel may have been leaked here.
Update: Yup, confirmed. Microsoft has announced that Portal: Still Alive will come to XBLA this fall -- the release will feature new levels and achievements in addition to the original content. No lie, cake or otherwise.
So looks like a sequel/sidequel to Portal is in the works for Xbox 360, as is another Uno game, and a Galaga sequel. More news to come, including what we can get out of the video that accompanies the leaked post.
We understand that trailers for puzzle games, even ones with strong RPG elements, aren't exactly titillating. With very few explosions, no dialogue, and the repetitive swapping of multi-hued bricks, the odds are somewhat against them. If you never played the first Puzzle Quest, the above trailer will probably look as bland as eating toast at a Kenny G concert -- however, those who have gemswapped their way through the Challenge of the Warlords understand the fancy-tickling capacity of this debut Puzzle Quest: Galactrix trailer. With looks at the new hex-based gameplay, the massive galaxy the game takes place in, and the new visual aesthetic, this one video should be enough to cause visions of hexagons to dance in your head until the game's Q1 '09 release.
Electronic Arts is looking to take on the biggest Scrabble clone on Facebook with -- what else? -- an officially licensed version of Scrabble. A free online edition of of the bombastic board game is available now on Pogo, with a Facebook version coming "later this month," according a press release. The application would go up against reigning champ Scrabulous, which despite litigation threats is still alive and kicking.
The press release also confirmed that "many more Hasbro game properties in development and slated to launch on social networking sites later this year." Boggle knockoffs, beware!
We admit that we have an obsession withLittle Big Planet, bordering on addiction. It's something with which we're trying our best to cope, a therapy helped somewhat by Media Molecule co-founder and technical guru David Smith. We like to think of his recent interview with Eurogamer as a kind of patch, letting information seep into our bloodstreams, taking the edge off as we pine for the game's October release.
Among the number of topics discussed, Smith spoke out in support of the game's beta testing, something he noted as being "in progress," and -- contrary to earlier reports -- that "it should gradually grow to include more people." In addition, with the recent addition of Trophies, he stated that the team is "having a lot of fun working out what trophies most fit" Little Big Planet, teasing that one will involve "making your sackperson be thrown at some huge velocity." Check out the full interview for more words strung together about Little Big Planet. We'll be quietly twitching in the corner.
Confirming earlier rumors, Konami is giving the Elebits series another go, this time transplanting the game's charming puzzle solving to the Nintendo DS. According to IGN, Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero will once again see players interacting with the titular and tiny electric beings, coaxing them into overcoming all manner of obstacles and challenges. Obviously. What else would you do with them?
Though little is known about the game, it's expected to feature head-to-head competition through Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection, as well as local four-player battles. Look for it on shelves this Fall -- though it might be called "Eledees: The Adventures of Kai and Zero" if you're in Europe.
Video game fans are known to complain about pre-game hype, but, if you would indulge us, we'd like to invite you, Rod Serling-like, to enter into a world where there is no hype: It's called WiiWare. And in this bizarre alternate dimension, games are released with no fanfare and very little information about their actual contents. Take, for instance, today's release:
Magnetica Twist (Nintendo, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points): It sounds quite a bit like the marble-matching gameplay of the DS Magnetica, but with a Mii of your choice manning the marble-blasting cannon. ... So wait, they're allowed to use Miis in games? News to us. You'll have to decide for yourself if this innovative new Mii-in-game technology is worth $10.
For most of our younger readers, school's no longer in session in observation of the midsummer months -- though we're certain that our studious readers won't allow their minds become dull as rusty butter knives during their valuable vacation time. That's why we turn your attention to a fascinating article written by PS3 Fanboy's newest columnist, Ph.D candidate and gaming enthusiast Kylie Prymus, who examines the effect that the Escher-esque Echochrome can have on our perception of our own three-dimensional world.
Prymus posits that Echochrome's unique, manipulatable 2D perspective is not only jarring when compared to the robust 3D engines we've become accustomed to seeing in most games, but it also points out the "frailty of our own perceptual apparatus", which is fundamentally two-dimensional. Those who still possess unblown minds might want to give the article a read -- if only to give you some Hawking-quality discussion material with which to impress your gaming cohorts.
With E3 just around the corner, we've begun to brace ourselves for the deluge of new game announcements that always accompany the annual event, the latest of which has come from Nintendo. This morning the company announced a trio of new titles set to be shown during next month's conference, including Wario Land: Shake It! for the Wii, as well as Kirby Super Star Ultra and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, both for the company's touchable portable.
As previously announced for both Japan and Europe, Nintendo describes Wario Land: Shake It! as a "classic side-scroller," and notes that the game will have players controlling Mario's portly nemesis with the Wii remote turned sideways on September 25. Kirby Super Star Ultra, on the other hand, will re-imagine the SNES classic platformer starring everyone's favorite perpetually-hungry cream puff when it debuts four days later on September 29. Finally, Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir brings Big Fish Games' line of casual PC puzzlers to the DS earlier in the month on September 8. The games join the previously announced Mario Super Sluggers, giving us an early look at what Nintendo will have on tap at the LA Convention Center in a few short weeks.
