Galactic Reign by Slant Six Games will be taken down from the Windows Store on August 15, a post on the official Xbox forum reads. The turn-based tactical game's servers will be retired on December 31, 2013, at which point Galactic Reign will be shuttered forever.
Slant Six Games, whose last major game prior to Galactic Reign was the poorly received Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, instituted a round of "temporary" layoffs back in April with the intent to rehire those affected employees once the Canadian studio had secured new projects. The Twitter and Facebook accounts for Slant Six haven't been active since June, however, portending a more dire situation than we've been lead to believe.
Joystiq has contacted both Microsoft and Slant Six Games to confirm the news. Calling the latter's offices yielded no answer.
#playthis
Microsoft Studios might be calling it Crimson Dragon: Side Story, but this incredibly deep and stylish shooter for the Windows Phone 7 is pure 2D Panzer Dragoon. More »
#playthis
Back in 2010 when we were first getting to know Windows Phone 7, indie developer Mommy's Best Games demonstrated the platform's power with a mobile version of its unique Xbox Live Indie bullet-hell shooter, Shoot 1UP. Two years later... More »
#playthis
I first played Douglas Smith's classic platformer, Lode Runner, on an Apple II computer in 1983. I wasn't very good, but then I was also only ten. More »
#playthis
I've played the original Final Fantasy at least a dozen times over the past two decades. I've played the original NES game. I've played it on Game Boy Advance. I've emulated it. I've played it on my iPhone. More »
Dictionary.com defines an anachronism as "something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time." A steam-powered car on an interstate highway, for instance, would be an anachronism. Similarly, playing a game that dramatically pre-dates the technology you're playing it on is delightfully anachronistic.
Case in point, 1987's Final Fantasy is now available for Windows Phone. The $6.99 app works on Windows Phone devices running Mango or newer and supports four languages: English, French, Chinese and Japanese. It also allows ancient cave-people like the Joystiq staff to reflect on how far technology has come, and gives young whippersnappers a chance to impress their friends by pretending to remember a game that came out before they were born.
An internal presentation from Microsoft to content partners reveals a soon-to-be announced Apple AirPlay-style app. Engadget got its eyes on a presentation that shows off the app, named "Smart Glass," which will enable AirPlay-style functionality on your Xbox 360 via iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 devices.
Said app will allow 360 owners to seamlessly "push" various media from the aforementioned platforms to the 360, and thusly living room televisions everywhere. From the sound of things, we'll be hearing a lot more about Microsoft's "Smart Glass" next week when E3 kicks off.
Despite their occasional protests to the contrary, both Nintendo and Sony have seen the pervasive mobile market take chunks of the portable gaming industry. The mobile app space burgeoned as game developers undercut each other constantly, in a race toward 99 cents that set a buck as the de facto price point for the new marketplace. This, in turn, made a massive price disparity between mobile games and their handheld competition, which tends to retail for much more. Why buy a $30 DS game, when you can buy 30 games for the same price?
However, we're now seeing yet another race all the way to the bottom: free. Even as the PC space is largely adopting a free-to-play, microtransaction-driven business model, the shift is similarly occurring in the mobile market. Recent F2P hits have started a run of similar titles, with some paid apps adopting a free-to-play option.
The change began subtly. Rovio's breakout hit Angry Birds may have stuck near the top of the Top Paid Apps charts, but the Top Grossing arena was ruled by little blue men early last year. Smurfs Village spent months as the Top Grossing app, no doubt bolstered by co-marketing for the then-upcoming film. Still, the free app had an inviting price point, and even a few 99 cent purchases per user would easily push it above the revenue for a one-time dollar fee. Then, Tiny Tower became the talk of the iOS App Store blogosphere, using a similar model inspired by social gaming on Facebook, even garnering recognition as Apple's official Game of the Year.
Pac-Man Kart Rally, a 3D multiplayer racing game for Windows Phone, is available now via the Windows Phone Marketplace for $2.99. Pac-Man Kart Rally features 10 classic characters and 17 tracks from Namco Bandai's repertoire, including the Fighter from Galaga, the Prince from Katamari Damacy and Pac-Man, of course.
This is the first Windows Phone game to support real-time, four-player multiplayer over Wi-Fi, and it includes Xbox Live Achievements and leader boards. A trademark for Pac-Man Kart Rally was first spotted in 2010, along with Pac-Man Rally Kart. We assume the second will be an iOS-only title that looks just like Kart Rally, but is published by a group of shady con artists in Wisconsin and crashes at the start menu every time.
#skullsoftheshogun
Every time I write about Skulls of the Shogun, I use the same buzzwords: "Advance Wars." "Wu-Tang Clan." It's one of the most stylish turn-based strategy games on the horizon. And it plays really well. More »
#peripheralvision
What would you pay for a PC gaming accessory that could monitor your PC temperature, control program-specific volume levels, display your instant messages and juggle custom-made shortcut keys without taking you out of the game? More »
The Xbox Live Indie Games Companion app we first reported earlier this month is now available on Windows Phone. The app allows for easy browsing of Xbox Live Indie Games, including information, screens and links for each game. The app will even point users to Xbox Live Marketplace, where XBLIG demos or even full games can be purchased directly from their phone. Honestly, the XBLIG Companion looks like a much easier way of finding indie games than on Xbox Live Marketplace itself.
Windows Phone users can nab the app now for the reasonable price of no dollars. Developer Eat Studios notes that iOS and Android versions of the app "should be available in the near future."
Apparently not satisfied with bringing bullet hell madness only to iOS devices, Cave has announced a new Dodonpachi for Windows Phone. Entitled Dodonpachi Maximum, the game brings features ships and enemies from both Dodonpachi Blissful Death and Dodonpachi Resurrection.
Weapons are fired automatically, leaving players only with the task of lining up their shots and navigating Maximum's many, many bullets. Thankfully, the game also features adjustable difficulty for less nimble fingers. Dodonpachi Maximum will be available March 7 for $5.
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. In each installment, we'll tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Chickens Can't Fly. Chickens Can't Fly for Windows Phone 7 isn't a unique game, but it executes its simple design well. You control the direction of a falling chicken by tilting your device and flap the chicken's wings by tapping and holding the screen, slowing its descent to avoid obstacles and reach the bottom of the screen.
Scoring is based on the collection of corn kernels, which give you a medal rating at the end of each randomly generated level. As Chickens Can't Fly progresses, new objectives are added and more dangerous obstacles are thrown into the mix. What begins as a mindless excercise quickly becomes both challenging and strangely rewarding, at least at first.
The Indie Games section of Xbox Live has been a point of contention for indie developers since its launch, in part because the app was hard to find and confusing to navigate. Microsoft has since made improvements -- with the most recent dashboard update, even -- but a group of indie devs and industry enthusiasts are speeding up the process with a new app for Windows Phone, tentatively called the XBLIG Companion.
The XBLIG Companion scrapes the RSS feeds of XboxIndies.com and gathers the XML and CSV data for every applicable game, updating the app's listings as the games are updated themselves. XBLIG Companion will offer easy browsing of Xbox Indie Games' selection and will allow users to purchase games for their consoles directly from their phones.
Created by Casey Young and organized by Dave Voyles, XBLIG Companion is currently in beta testing -- anyone with a Windows Phone 7 can check out the prototype now by contacting Dave [at] ArmlessOctopus [dot] com, and leaving feedback right here. Now that wasn't so difficult, was it, Microsoft?
A rumor making the rounds today is Microsoft will phase out its Microsoft Points currency by year's end, in favor of real currency. According to InsideMobileApps, the change will affect Windows Phone, the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live.
The site claims "a source" provided the information and notes that mobile developers with Microsoft publishing agreements are being told to plan their upcoming downloadable content and in-app purchases in accordance with the change. Finally, customers with Microsoft Point balances at the time of conversion will have it switched to the their local currency.
Two developers we spoke to who are working on Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live content told us they hadn't heard anything about such a conversion. However, both noted that sometimes Microsoft doesn't tell them about major changes until it becomes need to know. They also hadn't heard whispers about the conversion until we contacted them.
Checking in with Microsoft, a company spokesperson told us: "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."
Available today on iTunes, the Android Market, and wherever it is Windows Phone 7 users get their apps, Dance Central 2 Dance*Cam encourages fans to record their dance routines via mobile phone and upload them for friends to judge. I'll pass! More »
In 2007, James Silva had just graduated college and settled into a 9-5 job. He was resigned to spend the rest of his life in cubicle complacency, letting his lifelong goal to develop games as a career fade regretfully away. Then his indie title, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, won $10,000 in Microsoft's Dream Build Play competition, and everything changed. He quit his job, lived the life of a starving artist and perfected Dead Samurai until it passed certification from Microsoft.
"The work was exhilarating," Silva said in an interview with Joystiq. "I remember that when I got the email saying I'd passed cert, I ran around the apartment screaming."
The game sold "well enough," but more importantly, it led him to meet Michelle, his fiancée, who was a tester for Dead Samurai at PAX in 2009.
"I've said it before: XBLA literally made all of my dreams come true, right down to meeting the woman of my dreams," Silva said.
Since Dead Samurai, Silva has launched six games on XBLA and XBLIG through Ska Studios, including The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile and I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, with one more coming in 2012. His latest endeavor in the fantasy he calls a career is developing titles for Windows Phone -- on Jan. 4 Silva launched Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne) for WP7, a trio of games that includes I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, a new game mode called Endless Zombies and a shiny new title, Time Viking.
The Windows Phone is carrying on quietly with its existence, launching update 7.5 and recently letting slip a list of games coming to Xbox Live on Windows Phone, including Age of Zombies, Bullet Asylum, geoDefense Swarm and Tamagotchi. These titles are already available on Android and iOS devices, except for Bullet Asylum, which was announced for Windows Phone, Xbox 360 and PC last last year, and whose trailer you can watch above.
In related Windows Phone news, Ska Studios' Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne) dropped for version 7.5 yesterday. For $2.99 it includes I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1, the ENDL3SS Z0MB1ES mode and a new title from Ska, Time Viking. Looks like it's time to change your "number of reasons to buy Windows Phone" to three.
Ska Studios' I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 has been a dominant force in the dark, lonely lands of the Xbox 360's indie games section. Now its Windows Phone 7 counterpart, Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne), is ready to attack on January 4.
The $2.99 Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne) app is a "suite" of twin-stick shooters, which includes I MAED A GAEM W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!1, "spiritual sequel" Time Viking, infinite arcade labyrinth mod Endless Zombies and the ability to put faces from your photo library into the game.
Getting the Z0MB1ES!!1 theme song stuck in your head comes at no extra cost.
Maybe you thought the development of Sonic CD was simple. "Just make a few levels, throw in a metal Sonic and add time travel - what's so hard about that?" you derisively mused. Turns out there's more to it than you think, as revealed by Sonic Team art director, Kazuyuki Hoshino.
Microsoft wants to make sure that you're thinking Xbox even when you're far away from your Xbox. First, the My Xbox Live and Xbox Companion apps debuted on the iOS App Store and Windows Phone Marketplace, respectively. And now we've got Halo Waypoint for iOS, Android and, of course, Windows Phone 7. And while Waypoint will pack the expected Halo: Reach stats, service record, and challenges, the ATLAS "companion experience" is a little more unique.
As we reported in October, ATLAS is short for Assisted Tactical Assault System and it's a "near-real-time player data and tactical guidance" supplement for your Halo: Reach multiplayer matches. What does that mean? Detailed maps of the game's multiplayer levels, including boring stuff like spawn and health pack locations, and the cool stuff like "near-real-time locations for weapons and vehicles." That means GPS-like pinpointing of your location while you play the game. You can find more data direct from Xbox at the Source link below.
There is one catch, however: While Waypoint will be free for all three platforms on December 10, ATLAS will run iOS and Android users $4.99 while Windows Phone 7 users get something to gloat about, with the app's $0 asking price.
While the statistical majority of us were busy checking out Microsoft's new (and entirely unexpected!) iOS app, My Xbox Live, there was another mobile Xbox app released that may be of interest to some of you. The Xbox Companion is a Windows Phone app that goes beyond what the iOS app can do. In addition to checking out your Gamerscore, sending messages to friends, or setting a beacon, the Companion app can navigate the "unified Xbox catalog for movies, TV shows, music, games and apps." And if you connect your Windows Phone to your Xbox, you can "launch a movie, TV show, game or app on the connected console" and even control playback of video or audio.
What's less clear (and less likely we suppose) is whether or not that level of functionality will ever make it to the iOS app. For now, we suppose we should be thankful that the powers-that-be at Microsoft released anything outside of Windows Phone, so we won't push it just yet. We'll definitely push it later, though.
This week, Microsoft is offering discounts across Xbox Live, Windows PC and its mobile platforms. It's being billed as a fan appreciation sale and we're sure Microsoft would appreciate if its fans spent money. It's kinda how these things go.
Highlights include Super Meat Boy for $5, a few discounted add-ons for Left 4 Dead 2 and Homefront, half-off Indie Games titles Flotilla and Weapon of Choice, and a few PC and mobile joints for good measure. If you want to spend, there's a good chance you can find something to spend money on here. The only thing we'd suggest is that perhaps you hold off on the five different premium Xbox 360 themes available. There's no word on whether or not they'll be compatible with your new Dashboard next month.
Prolific and flexible game engine Unity will not support Windows Phone 7. Speaking with Develop, David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies, said the company is "skipping" WP7, but is looking at Windows Phone 8.
"[WP7] is a relatively closed system so you can't run native content, which means we can't really support it," explained Helgason. "We could, in theory, do what we've done with Flash, which is to rewrite the engine so it works inside a non-native environment. So it could be done, in theory, but it's very much in theory because that would require a huge amount of work and uncertain results."
With under 2 million WP7 units sold around May, sales don't really scream for Unity to go out of its way to ride the Redmond line. Meanwhile, Apple's recently launched iPhone 4S sold four million units in a weekend.
#gamingappoftheday
If you eagerly snatched up a Windows Phone 7 when they launched last year, dreaming of a mobile applications that allowed you to extend your Xbox 360 games beyond the television set, then this is the app for you, only it's Kinectimals. More »
Space combat, twin-stick shooter Fusion: Genesis hits the Xbox 360 on Nov. 9 for 800 points ($10). You can see the game in action here. The developers will also be releasing Fusion: Sentient for Windows Mobile 7 on the same day for $3. More »
If the Kinect reveal for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary wasn't enough, 343 Industries also targeted fans with some new Halo Waypoint functionality at this weekend's Comic Con. The downloadable app is getting real-time GPS tracking of multiplayer games via a new service called "Atlas." Yes, seriously -- while you're playing a multiplayer game of Halo: Reach, you can use Waypoint's GPS feature via Windows Phone 7 or the web (and other "mobiles," we're told) to watch troop movements from above.
The updated version of Waypoint also adds the ability to send challenges to friends, similar to the weekly ones set originally via Bungie and now via 343 Industries within Reach multiplayer. 343 reps explained that you'll earn in-game credits for completing these challenges based on the difficulty of said tasks, but didn't dive too deeply into how it will all work exactly.
We'll find out soon enough, as the update to Waypoint launches alongside Halo Anniversary on November 15.
#theweekingamingapps
I could have just said the three H's and every Kotaku reader would have understood, but sometimes we get outsiders checking these things out so we have to clarify. Where was I? Oh yes, Merry Christmas! More »
#theweekingamingapps
Gather round, take my hand, and we'll journey to a special place, where mobile games roam and people tend to groan because we never have any games for Android. Don't worry, they'll eventually be Android games too! More »
