A team of experts behind the tabloid newspaper "Las Ultimas Noticias" down in Chile employed said expertise to deliver a list of the worst ten games of all time in a recent issue for your benefit. Except by "worst" they actually meant "best," because the list includes not only the immortal Psychonauts and Grim Fandango, but also the revered Okami and arcade classic Pac-Man.
Be sure to play right into their hands by taking the click-bait and reading more.
Source: Escapist Magazine
Double Fine's second indie title that they will be publishing is the sci-fi noir adventure game LAST LIFE by Rocket Science Amusements. There is currently a Kickstarter up for the game.
The Vita version of The Walking Dead: Season Two episode 1 and episode 2 will finally release on April 22 in North America and on April 23 in Europe.
On the subject of Telltale's The Walking Dead series, Dorkly has created a video showing what the Mario series would be like if presented in the manner of The Walking Dead.
Double Fine Productions has developed games for a publisher before. It has developed games that it self-publishes (happily, that's often the case at this point). But what it hasn't done is publish a game developed by someone else.
That changes with today's news that Tim Schafer's studio has assisted with the release of indie puzzle platformer Escape Goat 2 by developer MagicalTimeBean. You'll find it available right now.
And don't expect this to be a one time thing, either. Reports Wired:
Double Fine, meanwhile, is looking to expand its publishing and has put the call out for other indies interested in working with the company to get in touch.
"I guess that IS pretty cool," said Tim Schafer of the plans in an accompanying press release. "I get to take credit for everything though, right?"
Our request to Double Fine for their support of a remake of LEC Killer remains unanswered. We're confident there's just something wrong with their SMTP servers right now.
Source: Wired
Brandon Boyer is a video game journalist and video game developer who was denied coverage for his surgery to remove his cancer by his medical provider Humana (leaving him with over $100,000 in medical bills).
There's a humble bundle going on now that will donate all proceeds to the Brandon Boyer Cancer Relief Fund (with any excess funds from this promotion being donated to a select cancer research organization). The minimum purchase price for the bundle is $25, and will get you 27 indie games and 18 game soundtracks (both of which include Double Fine's Stacking).
What the hell, the world keeps moving even though we don't pay attention. Odd. Very odd.
So! To start with our little catch-up:
Costume Quest 2 is coming! The first game (and its expansion pack) was pretty awesome, so hey… Coolness! Check out the announcement at will..
In other news, the Mojo-headed Campo Santo will announce a game on Thursday. That's… all there is to that I suppose.
And Tales from the Borderlands has of course already been announced, but for those of you who (for whatever reason) are interested, you can check out its SXSW panel. You know. For giggles.
What else did we miss? Probably lots of things! Feel free to tweet us to let us know!
With all the Amnesia Fortnight madness going on, we managed to miss the news that Broken Age Act I is now available DRM-free to those who already ordered it from your download page at humblebundle.com. If you haven't already ordered, Double Fine has set up a website for you to purchase the DRM-free version here.
Speaking of Amnesia Fortnight, Double Fine has graciously allowed the community to create their own version of one of the pitches that didn't make it this year. That pitch is one that didn't make it through both years of public Amnesia Fortnight, Patrick Hackett's Bad Golf (and Bad Golf 2). Bad Golf: Community Edition is being created with Unity under the creative commons no commercial license, and is being coordinated through github. They are still actively seeking anyone who wants to help. They still need programmers, artists, musicians, foley and voice artists, and 3D and 2D artists. If you want to see where you can help, check out their issue tracker and check out the project's forum thread for updates on the progress.
In Telltale news, The Walking Dead Season Two episode 2 has received a release window. Episode one will be released in early March, at least for the platforms that have already received episode one. There is still no sign of when the PlayStation Vita and Ouya versions of Season 2 episode 1 will be released.
Lastly, Telltale and Gearbox will be at SXSW at a panel at 5:30 on March 8th, where they will reveal the first information about their upcoming episodic series, Tales of The Borderlands.
The four pitches that will be turned into prototypes for Amnesia Fortnight 2014 have been revealed. They are:
These prototypes will be developed for Windows over the next two weeks, and the process will be filmed for a documentary by 2 Player Productions. If you didn't get in on the action during the voting period, you can still purchase the prototypes and the documentary (as well as the prototypes from the 2012 Amnesia Fortnight session) from the Amnesia Fortnight 2014 Humble Bundle here.
The 2014 Amnesia Fortnight Top 10 Finalists have been announced. They are:
Now you can vote on the top 10 prototypes, and the three with the highest votes will be made into Amnesia Fortnight prototypes. The three winning prototypes will be announced on Thursday.
You still can vote on the four prototype pitches by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward, to decide which prototype game project he will lead as well. To get a chance to vote on the prototypes, all you have to do is head over to The 2014 Amnesia Fortnight and pay a minimum of $1 to vote on and get the three Double Fine prototypes or pay more than the average to vote on and get Pendleton Ward's prototype as well. Or you can pay $35 to get to vote and download all of the prototypes, plus get all of the prototypes on DVD plus the 2-Player Productions documentary of the event on Blu-Ray.
David Ferrell's Cat in a Box, Brandon Dillon's Timagotchi, Levi Ryken's The White Witch's Gnome War, Jeremy Mitchell's Astro Helmet, Matthew Franklin's Scavengers, Duncan Boehle's Project 行, Patrick Hackett's Bad Golf 2, Drew Skillman's Reentry, Derek Brand's Mnemonic, Lydia Choy's Dum Sim, Chad Dawson's Parabolic, Ben Burbank's Jet Girl & Ghost Dog, Paul Owens' Gone Astray, Elliott Roberts' GREAT SPIRITS, Asif Siddiky's ExtraTerrarium, Justin Bailey's Eras of Adventure, Brain Min's The Last Missile Commander, Oliver Franzke's Derelict, Geoffrey Soulis' Breach, Lee Petty's Headlander, Andrew Wood's ether, JP LeBreton's Buried Metropolis, David Gardner's What Could Go Wrong, Kee Chi's Humans: A Study Guide, Ben Peck's Oscillate, Jeremy Natividad's Mega Rad Karate Troopers, Paul Levering's Fathomless, Anna Kipnis' Dear Leader, and John Bernhelm's Steed.
10 finalists will be announced on February 10th. If you pay more than the current average (just over $7 at the time of writing), you also get to choose a prototype to be led by Adventure Time's creator Pendleton Ward (Cupid, You Fat Little Scamp, Damnit Jerry, No More McDonalds, or Little Pink Best Buds).
In addition, the whole thing will once again be documented by 2 Player Productions. Everyone who pays for the Amnesia Fortnight 2014 gets the Amnesia 2012 prototypes. Plus, if you pay $35 or more, you'll get a Blu-Ray Collector's edition of Amnesia Fortnight 2014.
That's not the only Double Fine Humble Bundle that's going on though. The Humble Weekly Sale is all about Double Fine, with Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking, up for PC, Mac, and Linux (for Steam or DRM-free) for whatever you wish to pay, including their soundtracks. If you pay $6 or more, you'll also get Brutal Legend (plus the original soundtrack). Additionally, if you pay $16.74 or more, you'll also get Spacebase DF-9 (for PC, Mac, or Linux through Steam Early Access).
For those of us who backed Double Fine's legendary Kickstarter, it may feel like Broken Age has been out for eons (well, two weeks), but actually the game is officially released to the general public today, nearly two years after being funded.
To celebrate its release, Double Fine has added Steam Trading Cards and Badges to the game, so even if you are a backer and have long finished Act I, you have a reason to go back and enjoy it again.
If you're late to the party, here's your invitation: Broken Age on Steam
Additionally, Peter McConnell's wonderful score is available to purchase, too:
Broken Age Original Score on Bandcamp
Congratulations to Double Fine on this momentous day!
Source: DoubleFine
They also have an interview with Tim Schafer, where he answers Kickstarter questions.
Hey, a timely review? You bet! Our thoughts on Broken Age are out there, and they're loving it. Or we're loving it. Whichever.
Read if you so feel like it.
It's out, all over our faces! (Except for Zaarin's, who has been deemed unworthy.)
But why are you reading this? Play it, damn you!
The wait is almost over. Broken Age Part I (the project formerly known as the Double Fine Adventure) will be available to Kickstarter backers on January 14th. It will follow shortly afterward on Steam Early Access, where it can be picked up by those who want to experience the game before the second part is out, but who didn't participate in the crowdfunding.
Broken Age Part II is scheduled to be released some time between April and May 2014.
Source: Joystiq
My Alien Buddy, Double Fine's free downloadable content for Sony's augmented reality game The Playroom, was released on Christmas Eve. It's an augmented reality mini-game where you play with deformable alien toys.
Double Fine previously developed Happy Action Theater and Kinect Party, which were both among the best reviewed games for the Kinect, so this is probably worth checking out if you own a PlayStation 4 and a PlayStation Camera. Plus, you can't beat the price.
Source: PlayStation Life
After releasing for the Android based Ouya game console earlier this month, The Cave has now arrived on the Google Play store for other Android devices. Even better, the Android port has 1080p resolution and other enhancements that weren't possible on other mobile platforms.
The game follows a young elf who uses her computer hacking skills to cheat her way through an action-adventure game. Hack 'n' Slash will be released in the first half of 2014 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, both on Steam and in a DRM-free version
Source: Double Fine Action News
Source: Double Fine Action News
Because Double Fine now owns the properties outright, they have decided to make retail releases of Stacking, Costume Quest, and Psychonauts for Windows and Mac. The releases will be published by former rights holder (of Stacking and Costume Quest), Nordic Games. This will mark the first time Costume Quest and Stacking has been available at retail, as they were previously only available through digital distribution.
In other Double Fine news, another one of the excellent Double Fine Comics has received the book treatment, as Mark Hamer's Snapshots (formerly known as Polaroids) is now available in softcover or hardcover format from the Double Fine store. Both versions contain a foreword by Tim Schafer and an introduction by Scott Campbell.
To celebrate, Double Fine is holding a contest to give away five signed copies of the book to five people who make the best caption for the five uncaptioned snapshots posted here. You have until Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 11:59pm Pacific time to enter, so if you think you can come up with some clever captions, be sure to enter for your chance to win.
Additionally, fans of Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight two week game prototype developing sessions will be happy to know that Tim Schafer recently posted on Twitter that the next Amnesia Fortnight session will be occurring around February of next year.
To wrap this post up, one more bit of Double Fine related news. former Double Fine intern Marius "Majus" Winter has been making a game each month this year with Benedikt Hummel at Major Bueno. To celebrate a year of games, they are making Major Bueno Party and they are enlisting the help of everyone. For a few more hours (until November is over) Until December 3rd, you can submit a character to be part of the game, and have your character appear with those made by such artists as Broken Age lead artist, and creator of My Comic About Me, Nathan "Bagel" Stapley, former Double Fine art director, and creator of Double Fine Action Comics, Scott Campbell, and former LucasArts and Telltale lead artist, and the creator of Grickle, Graham Annable. So, don't be shy, and submit a character now. I've submitted about a half a dozen myself.
Source: Double Fine Action News