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Get your twin-stick shooter fix in the "Ultimate" edition of two PlayStation Network classics.

All of us here at Double Eleven are excited to announce that PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate is coming to PS4 and PS Vita this Summer, and we can finally start to talk about it!

PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate is a twin-stick shooter that’s as much about blasting things as it is about exploration, puzzle solving, and collecting things. Within Shooter Ultimate, players interact with environments that run an advanced fluid dynamics simulation. These interactions are needed to solve puzzles, overcome enemies, and progress through levels.

For those who remember the original PixelJunk Shooter games, Ultimate combines the campaigns of Shooter 1 and 2 into a single experience. It certainly doesn’t stop there, as we’ve done a ton of work on top of that to make this the third game in the series!

So here’s our list of nine things that hopefully make our PixelJunk Shooter worthy of the title “ultimate.”

1. Full Visual Upgrade on PS4

When we were trying to decide what a PS4 version of Shooter should look like, we knew that it needed to remain true to that classic, razorsharp, vector-based aesthetic — which continually threw new ideas at the player — while still being able to stand besides modern PS4 games. From a gameplay perspective, we wanted to make combat more intense, engaging, and overall provide for a more rewarding experience.

So, we decided to introduce real-time environment lighting, along with a host of new visual FX for things like projectiles, explosions, thrusters,and more. And it didn’t stop there — we’ve also worked on making the fluids look even better by increasing the resolution of the particles, improving shaders, and adding anti-aliasing to the edges of the fluids. We’ve also revisited the color palette, and color grading has been added to every scene, which hopefully makes it look and feel more immersive.

2. A Redesigned Ship on PS4

Something that a lot of people loved about the ship in Shooter 1 and 2 was the way it managed the relationship between momentum and resistance to changes in motion. This is not something we wanted to mess with, but we did want to improve the visual feedback to the player, to make that relationship more accessible.

To achieve this, we decided to introduce a 3D ship, which allowed us to add animations for aeronautical maneuvering that gives better visual feedback. The ship is also treated to the newly introduced real-time lighting, as well as the other visual improvements.

3. 60 Frames-per-second on PS4

For the uninitiated, higher frame rates capture much more of the action every second, so there’s much less opportunity for action to blur when you’re in the thick of it. Behind the scenes, our physics and fluid dynamics simulations also run at 60 FPS, meaning that the game is more responsive to how the player interacts with the various environments. It also improves on the control feedback and responsiveness.

4. Awesome Environments on PS Vita

One of the most understated aspects of the Shooter series of games was the highly complex fluid simulation. Most of the puzzles in the game require the manipulation of various fluids (water, lava, magnetic fluid, acid), each of which are made from several thousand particles to get the simulation looking perfect.

The computational power to run this has even given some quad-core PC processors issues, so bringing this game to a portable handheld was always going to be a major challenge. This has all been made possible thanks to some excellent research and development by our team, and we’re really excited that we can bring this experience to PS Vita.

5. One Seamless Experience

PixelJunk Shooter introduced us to the Yellow Dart, and its mission to save trapped scientists. PixelJunk Shooter 2 picks up exactly where the first left off. In PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, you can enjoy an uninterrupted and complete experience, with all the new features introduced in Shooter 2 — such as the super spin — across all chapters.

6. A New HUD

Ultimately, we wanted the HUD (heads-up display) to be more intuitive and informative. After evaluating the original HUD elements, we also realized that too much screen real estate was being used up — that was particularly problematic on PS Vita.

The newly designed minimalist elements have a level of opacity, which allows for more action to be seen. More so, we thought about what other information the player should know and we’ve added new elements to reflect this.

7. Cross play

As gamers, we love it when consoles and handhelds work well together. So cross play was one of the first things we looked into. Now you and your friend can play together, without both of you needing the same device.

8. Cross Save

Another thing we find useful as gamers is cross save functionality, and this is something we’ve added to Shooter Ultimate. With this, you can take your save game on the move on Vita, and then continue your experience at home, with all the new graphical effects on PS4.

9. New Scoring System

We’ve reviewed the entire scoring system, and without giving away too much, we’ve hopefully balanced it to accommodate those who are just starting out, those that enjoy competitive play, and to those that would challenge their friends on the leaderboards.

We’re really pleased with how PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate is taking shape, and we can’t wait for you to grab it on PS4 and PS Vita this Summer.

BattleBlock TheatER is The Behemoth’s well-received follow-up to the side-scrolling beat ‘em up Castle Crashers, which contained gaming’s most recognisable defecating deer. I don’t know if BattleBlock continues the proud tradition of cacking Cervidae but the trailer announcing the Steam version does have one sadly unexpurgated scene of extreme expurgation. Whether you’re keen to see a cartoon trouser-mess or not, you should watch the trailer because it’s a brilliant little skit about console-to-PC ports, and it contains more Oculus Rifts than any of those underground indie game conventions that you never seem to get invited to.

… [visit site to read more]

"It's not my fault people keep killing themselves." The latest environment trailer for Frictional Games' upcoming space horror game SOMA adds voices to excellent effect. I'd be happy just wandering these halls and listening to people talk. Knowing Frictional, there'll probably be things try to kill me to. Always with the killing me. Read more...

ACE Team is one again brewing up a concoction of genres in the newly-unveiled Abyss Odyssey, a 2D fantasy action platformer that's centered around a "deep fighting engine." As well as including roguelike elements such as randomly-generated levels, the Zeno Clash and Rock of Ages studio aims to feature enemy fights in Abyss Odyssey akin to the one-on-one encounters of fighting games.

"For enemies, we basically have a roster of fighters," Carlos Bordeu explained in the game's debut trailer. "For instance if you're fighting a skeleton in the game, it's not just a simple enemy that moves forwards, backwards, and maybe just punches and throws bones. It's a complex AI with an equivalent moveset to your own."

Players can also transform their heroes into one of the game's enemies by capturing its soul, letting them take on its appearance and moveset. ACE Team didn't reveal any details on the story in Abyss Odyssey, but it looks to reprise the ancient, mystical nature of the studio's previous work, and the first gameplay footage showcases a female playable hero.

Going by the trailer, we can expect Abyss Odyssey to come to PS3, Xbox 360, and PC via Steam, but there's no news as yet on a release window. [Image: Atlus]

Frictional have updated the SOMA blog with some information regarding the progress they’re making on the sci-fi horror game. There’s a short trailer as well, with voice acting that dismisses some of the doubts about the quality in the first in-game video, but the text contains the bulk of the information. As they say, ‘words paint a thousand pictures’. There are a few paragraphs copied below, including more on world-building:

When creating Amnesia our setting was basically just “Old castle where supernatural stuff happens”. This allowed us to get away with just about anything and explain it with “because, magic”. But in SOMA we are building a world that is supposed to be tied into the real world and to make sense.

Because, science?

… [visit site to read more]

For years mobile gamers have had to jump through hoops to record and stream gameplay. Today Twitch gives mobile developers the ability to build such functionality directly into their apps. It's about damn time. Read more...

Featured Releases Now Available, Week of 3/4/14

Check out what’s new on Sony Entertainment Network’s ultimate entertainment services! Read more below.

Music Unlimited Highlights

• The new solo album from one of music’s most in-demand producers, Pharrell Williams, featuring the Oscar® nominated song “Happy.”
• Rick Ross’ 6th album that includes an all-star list of guest appearances from Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Big Sean & more.
• Glee star Lea Michele’s much anticipated debut solo album, a deeply personal insight into the actress who suffered the loss of her co-star boyfriend, Cory Monteith, last summer.
• Coldplay’s brand new single from their upcoming album Ghost Stories, out just in time for summer on May 19th.

For further exclusive access to all the new album releases – see details here.

Video Unlimited Highlights

Action and drama and crime! Oh my! It’s been a busy week for the Video Unlimited service. A newly-released Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Hunger Games rental for 99¢ and the crime-thriller The Bag Man. Don’t forget the special Oscars promotion that gives you $5 in wallet cash back for every $20 you spend. See all the details below in today’s New Release Recap!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Release this Friday, with a bow in hand, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), returns after winning the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss and her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), embark on a “Victor’s Tour” of the 12 districts only to discover that they aren’t yet out of harm’s way.

The Hunger Games: Just in case you haven’t had enough of Katniss, see her in the first Hunger Games for only 99¢! Katniss must rely on her sharp instincts and survival skills to survive the arena against highly-trained tributes from other Districts. As she battles for survival, she must also cope with her conflicting feelings for both Peeta and Gail. Whom will she choose? And will she make it out alive? Find out by watching it today!

Vikings | Season 2*: Who doesn’t love a historical drama? The second installment of the epic sword-and-shield drama returns with new characters, epic battles and even a love triangle!

The battle begins when Ragnar and King Horik join forces against Ragnar’s brother, Rollo. The brothers’ relationship unravels and there can only be one victor. However, Ragnar’s family troubles don’t end with his brother: the beautiful Princess Aslaug arrives in Kattegat, bringing with her a surprise that strains his relationship with his wife, Lagertha.

*Available in the US only

Want to get more Video Unlimited scoop on all the new releases? View further details here.

Like something straight out of cult horror show Tales from the Crypt (or Braindead, even), these Pokémon illustrations by DeviantART artist Dante are anything but cute little monsters you wanna catch.Read more...

The pixelated multiplayer madness of Crawl makes it stand out as the one to watch from Steam Greenlight's newest batch of approvals. The Windows, Mac, and Linux dungeon crawler combines retro-inspired action-RPG gameplay with a frenzied multiplayer in which one player controls the Hero, and up to three others play as monsters and traps. The twist is if the Hero is slain by one of the opponents, that player gets to take the Hero's place.

Australian two-man outfit Powerhoof only put the game on Greenlight this week, but its debut trailer caught enough attention to speed it past the gates in a single day. Powerhoof says an early-access build is coming "as soon as possible," and while the prototype only features local multiplayer, the dev is exploring the possibility of online multiplayer. Crawl is due for full release in the first half of this year, and beyond that, Powerhoof's expressed interest in bringing its game to consoles.

Super Chibi Knight looks to be another to keep an eye on, and there's extra good news for father-and-daughter team behind it because their game just surpassed its Kickstarter goal. The cutesy RPG adventure is due sometime this summer.

The full list of the 50 approved games can be found on Steam Greenlight. [Image: Powerhoof]

How long is Ground Zeroes? Does it feel like a full game? We've played it, and will tell you everything.

Time for a little update on how SOMA is doing. (A brief summary for those who don’t already know: SOMA is a sci-fi horror game from the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent that will tackle unsettling questions about consciousness. It will be released on PS4 in 2015.)

Before I get started, I should say a few words about the new teaser trailer, “Theta”. This video showcases a few in-game scenes along with fresh voice work. Our hope is to give you a taste of the feel and atmosphere that SOMA will have. It also contains a few clues on what the game’s story will be about.

SOMA’s current status

We are currently about a week away from the alpha of the game. This is a build in which a bit more than half of the full game is playable. It’s currently clocking in at around 5 hours, meaning the final game will end up at 8 hours or so.

A game like SOMA is a bit different to have in alpha than most other games. Normally, a game relies on a core mechanic that creates the basic engagement. While graphics and sound are important, you can mostly test the game pretty early on with only temporary assets in place. This lets you get a feel for the game at a very early stage. Not so for us.

We can play our game at last!

SOMA doesn’t rely on a core gameplay loop – such as shooting baddies or jumping platforms – to create a sense of fun. Instead, you’ll take part in a wide range of activities; it’s impossible to narrow it down to one. You’ll search for notes, solve puzzles, hide from dangers, explore unsettling places, take part in strange events and sometimes just run away. All of these come together with the graphics and soundscape to create a larger whole. This means that we couldn’t properly test SOMA without having all of these things implemented in a fairly final state. Making matters worse is the fact that the game lets things take their time; slowly building up the atmosphere, narrative and themes. It is hard to condense all this into a short prototype; a large chunk of the game is required.

Because of this, we haven’t been able to get a feel for how SOMA plays until very recently. The alpha is our first opportunity to really find out what the game is like. This means that we’ve had to take a lot of the design on faith, simply hoping that it’ll all work out. So it came as a great relief to us – when we’d managed to pull together everything for a pre-alpha test a few weeks ago – to find out that the game does hang together.

This doesn’t mean that we’re totally happy with everything. Now that we know how our game plays, we also know what needs to be fixed. There are a number of goals that we wanted to hit with SOMA, and now marks the first time we can properly evaluate how well we’re doing with them.

Goal 1: The feeling of playing a narrative

It’s important that SOMA is constantly drenching the player in storytelling. We need to make sure there is always a red thread of narrative running through the game. We don’t want you to say “Oh, here comes a puzzle section”, but to constantly feel as if you are being told an interactive story. Getting this right is tricky as there still needs to be some challenge in progressing, but not so much that solving a difficult puzzle becomes your sole focus. Now that we’re close to alpha it’s possible for us to test this and tweak where needed.

Goal 2: A coherently crafted world

When creating Amnesia our setting was basically just “Old castle where supernatural stuff happens”. This allowed us to get away with just about anything and explain it with “because, magic”. But in SOMA we are building a world that is supposed to be tied into the real world and to make sense. Our goal here is to make proper sci-fi and not just a magical fantasy with futuristic designs.

This raises a whole load of issues that we might not have cared about in Amnesia. Puzzles that don’t make sense in the world, tech levels that vary throughout the game, basic physics principles that are broken and so forth. When you have a large part of the game playable a lot of these become visible, and we intend to squash them all!

Goal 3: Gameplay with plenty of variation

As mentioned above, SOMA does not rely on a core gameplay loop. There is a very good reason for this: we don’t want the player to become too fixated on figuring out the game’s underlying abstract systems. We want players to approach the game from how it looks, sounds and feels. In order for this to work the game’s different scenes can’t have the same setup, as that would make you familiar with how everything works. Instead, we need to keep things fresh and avoid repeating ourselves.

Now that we are in alpha we can more easily identify patterns and similarities in scenarios. If anything overstays its welcome it needs to be replaced by something else.

Goal 4: Deep, disturbing themes that make you think

A crucial design goal for us is to allow a deep exploration of what it means to be a sentient being. The first step towards doing this is to make sure that SOMA’s gameplay, plot, characters and setting reflect the subjects we want to discuss. If you approach the game in the right way, some seriously unsettling implications should be become clear.

And here lies the problem. Are we getting through to you in the right way? Will the really interesting details just rush past you, or will you stop and give them some serious consideration? What’s crucial here is that we don’t simply spell everything out for you, but that you can come to conclusions on your own. These sorts of things take a while to come together, and it’s not until this alpha that we’ll get a clear idea as to how it is working out.

Goal 5: A pervasive sense of horror

Finally, the game should be utterly terrifying. We do not want you to calmly stroll through the various environments; it must be emotionally tasking to progress. We want this blanket of oppression and fear wrapped around the entire experience. Sustaining this through eight or so hours takes some finesse – if we repeat something too often, you’ll get used to it and be able to predict upcoming events. The buildup must take time without becoming dull, and there needs to be a nice rhythm of ups and downs throughout the journey.

All of these are things that we’ve had a hard time getting a grip on until now. Now we can playtest a complete experience. A task that requires a dark room, a pair of headphones, an empty house and a tired, slightly hallucinating developer. You can’t leave this up to reports from your playtesters, you must experience the atmosphere firsthand to truly understand it.

The road left to travel

That should give you a good sense of the kinds of issues we’re currently struggling with. Hopefully it has also given you a bit more insight into what kind of game SOMA is.

We still have a long way to go; SOMA is still a year or so away from its 2015 release. We feel we are on the right track though, and we think this is shaping up to be our studio’s best work so far — by a wide margin.

Oh, and sometime soon, we’re going to reveal a big secret about SOMA. Keep your eyes open for it!

I like our medium’s rapid growth into more mature subject matter as much as anyone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t also enjoy man-shoot and robot-biff. In fact, I liked Titanfall quite a bit when I played it during its beta a few weeks back. Now the game is on the verge of being released next Tuesday – sorry, I’m supposed to say it’s about to drop from orbit, but it’s too trite – and that means the requisite launch trailers have been set loose. They’re below. They’re marketing. They’ve got stompy robots in and so I’m powerless to resist. … [visit site to read more]

Adventure Time's Jake, transformed into a giant, ridable, pixelized mech, thanks to Kid Skeletor's awesome mod pack for Starbound. You can download the pack here, with all the other characters included.Read more...

Not since Divekick has fighting with two buttons felt so satisfying, or as DEADLY.

If you want to eat at a conveyor belt sushi (回転寿司 or "kaiten zushi") restaurant, kids in Japan need to have their parents take them. Not anymore! Soon, they'll be able get aboard the sushi train at home. Read more...

Meltdown is Now Available on Steam Early Access!
Meltdown is a tactical arcade shooter featuring both singleplayer and intense online multiplayer.

Set against a captivating sci-fi backdrop, the action game invites players to follow its main character, Zed, as he tries to shoot his way out of the remote space station that he has been trapped on as a result of a system malfunction.

During the course of the adventure, players can collect loot and level-up their character as they make their way through randomly generated levels. They can choose to play single player or co-op multiplayer, while experiencing an engaging gameplay, matching their gaming skills and style.

Clear all the missions and run the prestige mode !

Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella confirmed Titanfall is getting a season pass, in news that isn't giant-mechs-dropping-out-of-the-sky levels of surprising. Speaking to GameSpot, Zampella revealed there are plans for a variety of updates, both free and paid.

"We're going to do paid DLC, we're also going to do free updates," Zampella told GameSpot. "There are things that we want in the game that we didn't get to ship in the final game. So we'll add private matches and things like that for free. There will be some paid DLC. We're going to do a season pass just because if you buy it up front, it's a deal. We're not going to do microtransactions. So a season pass is just buy it up front, and you get a better price."

Respawn's multiplayer shooter combines the studio's FPS heritage with a big dollop of mechanized walkers to pilot and tear stuff up with. It's coming to Xbox One and PC on March 11, while the Xbox 360 version outsourced to Bluepoint Games is due on March 25.

Asked if Xbox 360 players can expect the same longevity other platforms will receive in terms of upgrades and patches, Zampella said, "We'll have to sit down with EA and talk about that. My assumption is yes, but I don't know if I'm the best person to speak for that." [Image: EA]

Turns out Scorpion was drunk all the time in Mortal Kombat. Now that Szarvas on Tumblr has put the character's various animations—and also the classic paintings in the background—in a new perspective, it's clearly visible.Read more...

Tower Of Guns takes place in a tower containing all of the guns you could ever hope to see. Unfortunately, many of those guns are attached to murderbots and you’re going to have to fight through them all to get to the top. Why? Who knows. Who cares! I’ve been playing this single player FPS since last weekend and despite including some of that fancy modern randomisation that’s all the rage, TOG is as old-school as Hanley Castle High. Here’s wot I think.

… [visit site to read more]

Is it already time for more Star Citizen news here on Rock Citizen Stargun? My my, what a total and completely unexpected shock. For real, though, Chris Roberts has lifted his company’s space-age, radiation-proof hood to reveal some rather interesting info, so let’s talk about Wing Commander’s $40 million little brother again, shall we? Today we have two orders of business: Star Citizen’s dev team size (PREDICTABLY QUITE LARGE) and the long-awaited dogfighting module’s release window. Hm, this article’s headline already tells you both those things. I guess you can leave now.

Or go below for a bit more detail. Your call.

… [visit site to read more]

IGN has teamed up with BAFTA to give 10 lucky winners the chance to go to a pre-Awards event and play some upcoming games.

Jason Momoa, aka Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones, was Conan O'Brien's guest last night, and what else could have been their topic if not relationships.Read more...

Uncharted writer and creative director Amy Hennig parted ways with Naughty Dog this week, and the circumstances surrounding her departure aren't clear. Following an IGN report claiming Hennig left her post on March 3, Sony confirmed with the site that she's no longer employed at the studio.

"We can confirm that Amy Hennig has left Naughty Dog," A Sony representative told IGN. "Amy has made significant contributions to the game industry and we appreciate all she has done for Naughty Dog. The development timeline of Uncharted will not be impacted."

Hennig served as the creative director for Uncharted, Uncharted 2: Drake's Fortune, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and she also penned the script for the three games. She was understood to be reprising her role for the Uncharted PS4 game.

Neither Hennig nor Naughty Dog have commented, but IGN sources claim the writer, a Naughty Dog veteran of more than ten years, was "forced out" by The Last of Us directors Neil Druckman and Bruce Straley, and the pair may take over the Uncharted series. Hennig worked with Druckman and Straley on the first two Uncharted games, before the two men switched to developing The Last of Us. [Image: @amy_hennig]

Battlefield 4 has received a new patch on PS3 and Xbox 360, raising the game's level cap to 120.

Stop me if any of this sounds familiar. Awakening from a cryo-tube, you make your way across an abandoned testing facility, following the commands of a character you cannot directly interact with, using a piece of ultramodern technology in increasingly creative ways to overcome obstacles. Yeah.Read more...

Heroes of the Storm‘s developers might have made some major missteps (that they apologized for), but that doesn’t mean the game itself isn’t looking extremely promising. I played a fair amount of Blizzard’s MOB- excuse me, “hero brawler” during BlizzCon, and I found it to be a streamlined approach to an often unwieldy genre that could provide a nice alternative when lengthy LoL or DOTA 2 matches sound unappetizing. But man, it’s still really weird to see Jim Raynor – decked out in full space marine garb, no less – riding a pony whose spine probably looks like a rusted-over sawblade at this point. 17 mins of informatively shoutcasted footage below.

… [visit site to read more]

Respawn founder Vince Zampella has confirmed Titanfall will be getting a Season Pass, along with paid and free DLC.

Card City Nights Soundtrack, all new content for Card City Nights is Now Available on Steam!