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Wii U 32GB Deluxe with New Super Mario Bros. U + Super Luigi U for $259.99 at eBay via Buy .com http://t.co/Hc50T5eai6

— Cheap Ass Gamer (@videogamedeals) February 19, 2014

TowerFall Ascension is finally nearing release on PS4. I’ve been getting tons of tweets and emails imploring me for a release date, and I’m super excited to announce that the game will be available on PlayStation Store March 11th in North America. We’re still ironing out the details for Europe, but it shouldn’t be far behind.

For the uninitiated, TowerFall Ascension is a 4-player archery combat platformer. It’s a competitive party game inspired by classics from the glory days of local multiplayer. You’ll get plenty of chaos, close calls, and comebacks. Be sure to have a few friends (or enemies) handy when you download it. Gloating is encouraged and noise complaints just mean you’re playing it right.

Hands-on footage of TowerFall Ascension, courtesy of hojjoshMC

If you’ve played the original TowerFall you know that at its core, the game is about intense 4-­player battles. In Ascension there are 50 new Versus arenas to fight on, for a total of 120 unique levels, and a bunch of new variants to customize your matches with. There are a few new powerups too, which change the game up considerably. My favorite: drill arrows that burrow through walls.

Ascension also introduces the new 1­ or 2­-player co-­op Quest mode. It’s an arena mode where monsters spawn from portals as you defend yourself using the same skills you’ve honed in Versus mode. Quest mode is an interesting new take on the same core mechanics, and adds a bunch of new content to explore even when you don’t have three friends around.

The game’s previous incarnation, simply called TowerFall, was awarded #3 game of the year from Polygon. TowerFall Ascension has gone on to become a PAX 10 selection and an IndieCade awardee, and now it’s a finalist at the Independent Games Festival. But what I really can’t wait to hear is feedback from players. And I’m eager to see what you guys and gals share with PS4’s livestreaming and video sharing features. See you in March!

If any Irrational Games folks are up for an adventure, PlatinumGames is always on one. Hit me up and I’ll get you with the right people.

— JP Kellams (@PG_jp) February 18, 2014

.@visteps Your tweet isn’t disrespectful to me. It is disrespectful to all those out of work with families to feed.

— JP Kellams (@PG_jp) February 19, 2014

When we first posted about Windborne, Jim commented on what a departure from Hidden Path’s usual fare it was. Social sandboxing is far enough from their bang-bang, pew-pew norm, but the tone is perhaps the biggest change. It’s tranquil in the extreme, expanding the theme of creation and peaceful co-habitation to encompass not only the mechanics but the world as well. They’ve taken the Early Access plunge and I’ve never felt calmer watching a trailer. I’m slightly worried I dreamed the whole experience. Am I even awake now? As a test, check it out below.

… [visit site to read more]

Meet the Kongs - Cranky joins the young whippersnappers in #DonkeyKong Country: Tropical Freeze! #DKCTF pic.twitter.com/X5CA8OWGeT

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) February 19, 2014

SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD on #WiiU had so many stealthy 8-bit Luigis! There's even one hiding in the in-game manual… pic.twitter.com/42FKXQuhK6

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) February 19, 2014

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 19, 2014 – You hear that? That’s the sound of bananas being peeled all around the U.S. to celebrate the glorious launch of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The newest game in the lauded Donkey Kong Country series swings to the Wii U system on Feb. 21, bringing with it beautiful high-definition graphics, cleverly designed platforming action and competitive online leaderboards. The game also heralds the exciting return of fan-favorites Dixie Kong and Funky Kong, as well as Cranky Kong, who is a playable character for the first time in series history. Together, they join Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in the biggest and best Donkey Kong Country game yet.

“The games in the Donkey Kong Country series have always entertained audiences of all ages and skill levels with their breathtaking visuals and fun and challenging game play,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze continues this rich legacy with a memorable adventure that’s only available on Wii U.”

In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the lush island paradise that Donkey Kong calls home has been frozen by the invading Snowmads. It’s up to Donkey Kong and friends to make their way through multiple worlds across different islands to put an end to the Snowmads’ icy reign. During their adventure, players will encounter levels that twist, turn and transform in fresh new ways. A dynamic camera enhances levels with spectacular views as Donkey Kong blasts out of barrels and rides in mine carts and on rocket barrels to reach the goal.

Joining Donkey Kong as playable characters during his Kong-tastic adventure are Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong. Any one of these three characters can team up with Donkey Kong to shake up the action. They also have their own unique abilities: Diddy Kong can hover for a limited time using his Barrel Jet, Dixie Kong can perform a ponytail-spinning move and Cranky Kong can bounce on spikes and other hazards using his cane. Using their own controllers, players can use these partners to team up with a friend in local, cooperative multiplayer, with one player controlling Donkey Kong and the other taking control of one of his Kong allies.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is filled with barrels of secrets and collectibles. Cleverly hidden in each level are the familiar K-O-N-G letters and puzzle pieces that players can collect to unlock additional content. Rambi the Rhino also makes a welcome return and can be ridden to charge enemies and discover hidden areas. Funky Kong runs the game’s shop and sells items that help in various ways, from a Green Balloon that protects players from deadly falls to a Red Balloon for extra lives that comes in handy when tackling the game’s challenging levels.

All the levels in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze are full of variety – no two levels are the same. In some levels, players will be jumping and swinging through a lush jungle full of creative platforming challenges. In other levels, players will navigate Donkey Kong in a speeding mine cart, or see him only as a silhouette against gorgeous backdrops. In others, the Kong heroes will swim through underwater levels, battling menacing aquatic enemies. And in frozen levels on Donkey Kong Island, Donkey Kong and his buddies will have to contend with the frosty surfaces of their conquered home. There is always something surprising to experience in the game, and everything is displayed in beautiful high-definition graphics (a first for the series) and accompanied by music composed by David Wise, the composer from the original Donkey Kong Country game.

As robust and fun as the single and co-op multiplayer modes are, the game also features online leaderboards that let friends with broadband Internet access compete in things like level times, medals earned and whether levels are completed without losing any health. This expands the scope of the game play and opens up the experience to people all over the world. When players acquire Time Attack medals, they can make a video of their play sessions in individual levels that other players can view in the in-game leaderboards.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be available on Feb. 21 in stores or in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

For more information about Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, visit http://donkeykong.nintendo.com/tropical-freeze/.

help i'm scared

"Strange plants for a strange planet."

The Internet has websites for every kind of interest, and that includes plant life in games.

Alex Swaim's Video Game Foliage blog on Tumblr is one of my recent favorites in what I'm currently calling the "oddly specific" category of games coverage. Video Game Foliage highlights what the title implies, and does so with equal parts fascination and dissection.

We don't often consider the plant life around us in video games, and that's probably for good reason. Have you ever stopped to look at the crowd in a sports games? It's often like that with plants in games, too. Often, it's just good enough to convince our brains it's like the real thing.

Swaim, who works as a pipeline programmer for a visual FX company by day in Dallas, became entranced by this overlooked part of the video game aesthetic while playing Dishonored late last year.

"You start to look closer," he said, "you start to break down how they’re made, and these are total flimflam jobs. They’re con jobs. They look just enough like plants, but have almost no relation to how real plants are structured."

Here's what he means, as illustrated by an early entry in his blog:

Who hasn't done something similar, such as walking up to a texture until it degrades into a blur? In some ways, it's part of the countless push-and-pull being designer and player, as one tries to dismantle the limitations of the simulation in front of them, especially ones that mimic reality. The facade can only be taken so far.

But even as Swaim's blog often reveals how the illusion can be shattered simply by changing the camera to the right angle, it only goes to underscore the respect he has for the artists behind it.

"I always thought it [Dishonored] looked amazing," he said. "But at some point, you looked at it, and realized it had no relation to actual plants. It’s trying to mimic, but it’s not trying to replicate. [...] I’d been playing games a long, long time. I never really stopped to think hard that all [of] these plants [are about the question] 'how can we cheat the brain into thinking about plants as closely possible, as easily as possible, as cheaply as possible?'"

In addition to working in visual FX, Swaim's currently finishing his last semester earning a masters in fine arts degree in arts and technology. (He used to have an interest in exploring the outdoors, but that was, um, before he started making games.) His schooling focus has been on games, and he's spent a lengthy amount of time examining the technical art that drives video game worlds. It's part of what makes Video Game Foliage so fascinating, especially as you start to consider the games you remember having great-looking trees and grass, and discover Swaine has done some of the research to learn why those games are able to look so good.

For me, that game is Flower. All I have to do is close my eyes, and I can imagine the grass swaying in my head. Swaim discovered thatgamecompany had actually disclosed how it achieved the uncannily realistic grass in Flower. (The company would eventually disclose similar details about the sand in Journey.)

"For years after its release I was wondering how they managed to simulate and render so many blades of grass" he wrote back in December. "I couldn’t figure out what kind of clever trick would let you do that. It turns out the answer is that there was no trick. The PS3’s architecture has something called an SPU that lets you do a ton of parallel operations efficiently. Sometimes brute force is the best way to do things."

Over time, Swaim started to notice technical patterns. It became obvious some techniques were common, especially when it came to 3D. He found much more variety in 2D, as it turned out.

"The questions that the artists are answering when they make this foliage are 'how do we use those techniques to create the aesthetic effect that we desire?'" he said. "I was going into it expecting it to be looking at one question, and it turns out it’s a slightly different question. [...] You really respect games where there’s obviously just this huge amount of craftsmanship, this huge technical and artistic ability behind here."

The word "trick" can have a negative connotation, but when it comes to Swaim examining the techniques of video game artists, it's a similar satisfaction to knowing how a magic trick works. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is a good example of this, as Swaim highlights how the crops shown on a rural-set golf course seem full, deep, and rich. In reality, it's cleverly placed textures.

All of this, naturally, has been leading to this next question.

As someone that's been spending lots of time walking in the the virtual woods, Swaim seemed like the logical expert for a particularly burning question about gaming foliage. Can he accurately spot Speedtree, the industry's premiere middleware tool for producing trees in a video game?

"[laughs] When I started this, I thought for sure 100% that I’d be able to. I don’t know anymore. The more I look at it, the more I go 'well, that’s probably not...but it might be.'"

The blog only started in late November, though. There's still time. We'll have to check back in.

If you're interested in blogs like Video Game Foliage, Swain's compiled a list of other "oddly specific" blogs.

As I write this, we’re putting the finishing touches on Ragnarok Odyssey ACE, a revised and expanded version of the original Ragnarok Odyssey set to launch on April 1st on PS3 and PS Vita. Now that we’re just about done, we can go into more detail about what’s in the game, and what newcomers and returning Ragnarok Odyssey veterans can expect.

Initially designed for play on the go, Ragnarok Odyssey gets players into the action as fast as possible, either solo or with up to three companions. Players complete a variety of missions in a Norse-themed wildland, collecting treasures, components and ingredients along the way. In between missions, players can roam their home base – a fortress on the edge of the civilized world – and assemble their loot into new upgrades and abilities. The game’s highlights are its battles against enormous bosses, in which players use their gravity-defying powers to fly circles around the giants and take them apart piece by piece.

ACE takes the original Odyssey’s core gameplay and expands on it dramatically. The first chapter alone introduces a buffet of new features, and the game’s former ending is now its midpoint. The first new features are right there in the character creation screen, which now offers even more options for customization (including eight brand-new voices, four each for male and female). For solo players, ACE offers a dozen elite AI mercenaries, any two of whom the player can recruit for a given mission (and one of whom happens to sound a lot like me). For multiplayer, each class has several new job-specific powers, called ACE Skills, which enhance characters’ roles as team players. Clerics, for example, can now generate a persistent, movable healing aura. (Speaking of multiplayer, ACE supports cross-play; PS3 and Vita players can play together at will, with no extra steps required.) ACE also introduces a new special weapon type, known as Halomonas weapons, which grow in power as the characters do.

But that’s just the beginning. Once players complete Chapter 9 – which was the endgame of the original Ragnarok Odyssey – a vast new dungeon appears, complete with its own story, all-new bosses, and new kinds of challenges. All told, the new Tower of Yggdrasil has 400 floors (not 100 as previously reported – more on that in a bit), each of which changes its layout with every visit.

(One other correction: In our previous blog entry on ACE, we reported that there was new story content throughout the game. There are new characters and dialogue sequences, and plenty of new content throughout the game, but the bulk of the new story content kicks in once the Tower shows up. Apologies for misleading anyone on that; we were still putting the game together at the time, going by the best info we had, and didn’t fully see how it all fit until later. We’re older and wiser now.)

In addition to the major new features above, returning players can enjoy a variety of enhancements that make Ragnarok Odyssey more convenient to play. ACE’s tavern (which, as before, functions as its multiplayer hub) now includes a set of old-timey speaking tubes, through which the player can buy and sell from the fort’s merchants without having to leave and come back. Several new control schemes allow the player to lock on, dash, and maneuver as he or she sees fit. Another new feature is the Billionaire Pot, a magical urn that converts old junky loot into fresh new goods. And, Thor’s name be praised, the benefits of weapon refining are no longer random.

That’s not even getting into the upcoming content patches, two of which have been released in Japan and will both be coming stateside soon. These patches introduce even more new features, including special daily quests, random card draws, login bonuses, leaderboards, additional ACE skills, and (in the second content patch, which may arrive in the States at the same time as the first) a new boss rush mode in a new area called the Prison of the Gods.

Of course, all of that leaves one key question: What about players who already have the original Ragnarok Odyssey? Returning players can import their characters from the original game – to either the PS Vita or the PS3 version of ACE, after which the characters can migrate between both – and have the characters’ name, appearance, and cards transfer over. (Be sure to unequip any cards from your outfit before you initiate the transfer, as cards equipped on outfits do not transfer over, nor do the outfits or weapons themselves). Story-wise, new and returning characters alike take it from the top, though returning characters are likely to blaze through the early game quickly, with all the new content to enjoy while they’re at it. And, to answer one of the most popular questions, Trophies earned in the original game stay in the original game. The good news is many of the Trophies are new, and most of the not-new ones are the kind you won’t have to go out of your way for.

With its cross-play, saved game importing, content patching, and other bells and whistles we can’t go into detail about just yet, Ragnarok Odyssey ACE has been an interesting technical challenge for all of us here at XSEED and at its developer, GungHo. We hope you enjoy the results, which will come flying at you April 1st on PS3 and Vita. The PS3 version will retail on PlayStation Store and on brick-and-mortar shelves for $39.99. The Vita version comes in two varieties: A physical limited edition, featuring a soundtrack CD (with 25 total tracks from various artists, including Nobuo Uematsu) for $39.99, and a digital edition, without the soundtrack, for $34.99.

Have more questions about Ragnarok Odyssey ACE? Let us know in the comments!

In 2011/12, Richard Perrin and his Locked Door Puzzle studio brought us the enigmatic and fascinating Kairo. Journal is utterly dissimilar – a minimalist adventure game about teenage life and loss, driven by conversation choices rather than puzzles or inventories. As RPS’s oldest teenager, here’s wot I think:

… [visit site to read more]