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Hothead bringing new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game to our galaxy
Don’t panic! 42! Towels! There, now that we’ve got the Adams-isms out of the way…
Hothead Games (creators of the hilarious Penny Arcade Adventures) has used Towel Day, the annual celebration of Douglas Adams’ writing, to announce a new strong>Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game. The absolutely insane press release didn’t mention which platforms it would be available for, but Hothead tagged the release with the word “app,” so expect an iPhone/iPad version at the very least.
“We’re super excited to be involved with such a legendary creation as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The quirky and hilarious universe that Douglas Adams created became an instant classic for so many. All the hoopiest froods here at Hothead jumped on the chance to work on the project,” commented excitable Hothead human, Joel DeYoung.
And that’s about all we know. Although more news will eventually trickle out onto the game’s official website: TheNewHitchhikersGuide.com.
Xperia Play launches on May 26, priced at $200, requires two-year contract
Sony Ericsson and Verizon Wireless have announced that the Xperia Play, the so-called “PlayStation Phone,” will finally be available on May 26.
The phone itself will be priced at $199.99. In addition, Verizon plans to require shoppers to signup for a two-year contract (which starts at $70 a month) if they wish to purchase the first PlayStation Certified phone.
Verizon will have more than 50 games available to download through their VCast on launch day with seven coming pre-installed on the phone:
- Asphalt 6: Adrenaline
- Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior
- Crash Bandicoot
- Madden NFL 11
- The Sims 3
- Star Battalion
- Tetris
Verizon will open pre-orders for the Xperia Play through their website, VerizonWireless.com, strating Thursday, May 19.
Army of Darkness: Trapped in time, Surrounded by evil, Now a tower defense game
Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up! You see this? This is a news article informing you that Backflip Studios has recently added Army of Darkness: Defense to the iTunes App Store in both iPod Touch ($0.99) and iPad ($2.99) versions.
Army of Darkness: Defense is a tower defense game that recreates the climactic scene from the film where swarms of Deadites raid the castle in search of the Necronomicon. Bruce Campbell returns as Ash to give the “world’s biggest idiot” a dose of “Groovy!” as he’s joined by swordsmen, armored knights, archers and more.
The movie really seems to be tailor-made for the tower defense treatment as Arthur, Henry the Red, Sheila, the Wiseman and Evil Ash will all join the fight. Thankfully, Ash’s trademark weaponry can also be unlocked including his Boomstick, the chainsaw, magic spells and the Deathcoaster.
With all that firepower, maybe Ash’s boys can protect the book. Yeah, and maybe I’m a Chinese jet pilot.
Bungie Aerospace trademarks “Crimson”
It’s the question everybody is asking, just what is Bungie up to? The answer got more complicated today when Bungie offshoot Bungie Aerospace filed a trademark for something called “Crimson.”
According to the filing, Crimson is “Computer game software downloadable from a global computer network; Computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones; Downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices.”
So basically, Bungie is getting into the app business. Is “Crimson” a part of Bungie’s New Universe, the mega franchise they’re developing for Activision over the next ten years? Or is it something new entirely? The founding of Bungie Aerospace, a brand new company unconnected to the Activision/Bungie deal, would suggest the latter.
Whatever it is, it looks like we’ll be waiting a good, long while to find out. Bungie has no plans to attend the 2011 E3 Expo.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Crimson: Steam Pirates
Telltale Games working on Law & Order: LA
In the video game industry, the best film and TV crossovers are developed by an elite team known as Telltale Games.
These are their stories.
That’s right. Hot off of Back to the Future: The Game and the incoming Jurassic Park: The Game, arguably the best studio for the job is handling NBC’s legendary crime and courtroom drama.
“Law & Order: LA fits very well with the style of episodic entertainment experiences Telltale has been building since our very first days,” said Dan Connors, CEO and co-founder of Telltale Games. “The talents and skills that we’ve been building at Telltale are ideally suited for the structure and storytelling approach of televised procedurals like ‘Law & Order.’”
Each episode will focus on criminal investigations with a strong focus on interrogation, as well as the tension that can flare up in the courtroom. According to Telltale, the first episode will debut sometime this year and will be available for PCs, Macs, consoles, mobiles, and tablets. You can visit the official site for more information at LawAndOrderLAGames.com.
Weinstein Company gets into the game business
Famous film brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein have announced that their company, the creatively named The Weinstein Company, has started a video game division. The equally creatively named TWC Games will tap into the back catalog of The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films to develop and publish video games for mobile, social, and console platforms. Among the Weinstein/Dimension films that could get the game treatment are Scream, Hellraiser, Halloween and Children of the Corn.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if TWC Games teamed up with Freddy and Jason rightsholder Warner Bros. to create the ultimate slasher movie fighting game of Ghostface vs Pinhead vs Michael Myers vs “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” vs Freddy Kruegger vs Jason Voorhees? Considering the fact that Warner Bros. also owns Mortal Kombat maker NetherRealm Studios, it’s practically fate.
TWC Games will be working with Beefy Media, who has worked with Capcom in the past on a ton of projects, to bring their video game dreams to fruition. The consulting company will work with TWC Games to “foster relationships with publishers and create high quality games.”
Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company’s co-chairman, is thrilled about the announcement: “The video game marketplace is changing at such a rapid rate. With all of the digital platforms, there are so many opportunities to broaden our audience with compelling, high quality, cost-efficient, video game entertainment.”
Seriously, someone needs to convince Bob and Harvey to make that monster crossover happen.
The 2010-2011 Video Game Awards Season
Beginning with the Spike TV Video Game Awards in early December and culminating with last night’s BAFTA Games Awards, the 2010-2011 “video game awards season” has come to a close. And after four months of awards, acceptance speeches and arguments, we have a clearer picture of what really were the best games of the year.
The snobbier segments of the game community love to decry the Spike TV Video Game Awards as an embarrassment and not representative of the feelings of “real” gamers. Typically, the show’s world premiere trailers overshadow the actual awards themselves. But the event is spearheaded by Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV and the winners are voted on by a well-respected contingent of game journalists, so I guess it could be worse.
That said, this year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards “Game of the Year” was awarded to Rockstar’s epic western Red Dead Redemption. Keighley and company spread the love as the remaining major awards all went to other games: “Best PC Game” StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; “Best PS3 Game” God of War III; “Best Wii Game” Super Mario Galaxy 2; “Best Xbox 360 Game” Halo: Reach; “Best Handheld Game” God of War: Ghost of Sparta; and “Best Downloadable Game” Costume Quest.
If Spike TV’s annual awards attempt to reach the mainstream, Time Magazine‘s top ten is the polar opposite, reaching into corners of the gaming world that are often ignored. This year’s selections are no different, including Alan Wake being awarded the #1 spot with iOS phenomenon Angry Birds at #2. The rest of the list was pretty typical, but the lack of Alan Wake’s spiritual twin, Heavy Rain, was the baffling part. Also, Limbo received its first love of the year-end awards with a sixth-place selection. (more…)
Mass Effect 2 named Best Game at 2011 BAFTAs
The final Game of the Year awards ceremony for 2010 releases, the BAFTA Games Awards, have been handed out in London and BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 has been named “Best Game.”
But aside from its big win, Mass Effect 2 was shut out during the rest of the show. Instead, Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain took home the most trophies, three, for “Original Music,” “Story” and “Technical Innovation.” Heavy Rain’s heavy hand on the podium also resulted in a shutout for Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was nominated in an astounding six categories. Though, Treyarch’s shooter did capture the “GAME Award of 2010,” which is the only BAFTA award voted on by the public.
The other special award, the “BAFTA Ones to Watch Award,” was presented out to That Game Studio’s Twang.
Hit the jump for the complete list of winners. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2