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Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Desert Child Interview
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the creator of the upcoming RPG racer ‘Desert Child‘. From eating ramen and live fish, to taking a long, long holiday; we talk about it all.
Console Monster: Let’s start off with some of the basics; Who are you and what do you do?
Oscar Brittain: My Name’s Oscar Brittain and I’m an independent game developer.
CM: You’re based in Los Angeles, correct? How would you describe the company, and has your location influenced your games in any way?
OB: I’m actually in Fremantle in Western Australia at the moment. I think it’s had a big influence on my game. I tried to put as many locations and bits of culture and music from where I live as I could.
CM: Your upcoming release, ‘Desert Child‘, is a racing RPG, that’s a new one for me. Can you tell us a little more about the title?
OB: Desert Child is a game where you explore a pixel art city, upgrade your hoverbike, talk to people, take jobs, and of course, race. There’s also a multiplayer mode where players can go head-to-head with their friends. It’s all about starting with nothing and working your way to the top (also, eating ramen).
CM: You chose Kickstarter to help fund the game; can you tell me a bit about your experience with the platform?
OB: It was pretty good. I wasn’t sure I was going to get funded, but a bunch of great people rallied around in the last 48 hours and it was a success.
CM: The game seems to be inspired by Cowboy Bebop and Akira, it also takes place in a sci-fi setting; why did you choose that setting and what would some highlights of these inspirations be?
OB: I just like Cowboy bebop and Akira. I like the multicultural and lived-in feeling that those two anime have in their cities. There’s also so much more to world that’s only ever hinted at; that was a big inspiration too.
CM: If you had to choose one single feature of the game to highlight, what would it be?
OB: You can buy a raw fish and eat it while it’s still alive.
CM: Has the team drawn inspirations from any other sources? Film, books, etc.
OB: The team’s just me, and I think I’ve taken influence from basically everything I love. One big thing was internet lofi hiphop streams. In this age of Spotify algorithms telling people what to listen to, YouTube streams are a blessing, especially when you’re coding a game.
CM: I’m loving the visuals of the game! Other than aesthetic, why did you choose this style?
OB: I’m not very good at drawing, so pixel art seemed easy haha. I was always bad at drawing faces, so thats why none of the characters have them. It kinda reminded me of EC from Lift-Off, so I kept it.
CM: In terms of RPG or racing titles in general, which would be the overall team favorite and why?
OB: Racing would be Driver San Francisco, RPG would be Digimon World. Both do something really weird with the genre. I can’t think of a racing RPG that’s really done with a story mode and stuff.
CM: Looks like the Kickstarter was a success, and the game will be hitting nearly every platform, correct? What are some of the difficulties and/or benefits of working with different hardware?
OB: Difficulties are having to pass three rounds of certification! Benefits are more people get to play the game (and I finally have an excuse to splash out and buy a Nintendo Switch!) Also, the Switch version will have single joycon support, so that’s great for multiplayer.
CM: What does the future hold for yourself and your team?
OB: Mostly support for Desert Child on all platforms. There’s some cool Kickstarter rewards that I’m working on right now, too. Then I’m going to take a long, long holiday and hope to god an idea for a new game comes to me.
CM: What are some of the current favorites of the you and team?
OB: I finally got around to playing No Man’s Sky. Rough around the edges, but I don’t think there’s anything quite like it. Also, Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy is like my Milo before bed right now. It’s great.
CM: Thanks for taking to time to answer some questions, Desert Child looks to be right up my alley in terms of style and themes, can’t wait to play it!
OB: Awesome! Thanks for the questions!
Desert Child releases this September. If you’d like learn more about the title, check out the official website.
We Need To Talk About No Man’s Sky
Every now and again a game appears that sparks instantaneous hype and expectations. No Man’s Sky arguably had the most explosive reveal in video game history. A short but striking premier at E3 2014 had players worldwide hailing No Man’s Sky as “Winning E3 forever” and being an “everything game”. Touting procedurally generated planets and landscapes where there would be “infinite” planets, I was immediately skeptical of No Man’s Sky. Not only of the literal impossibility of infinite planets, but in my experience, procedurally generated games almost always mean unpolished, uninteresting, and unstable. While I’m not saying I knew it would turn out the way it did, I just don’t see why everyone just assumed it would be this amazing, deep, incomparable game. Was it carefully planned hype? The right amount of advertising? Or as I believe it to be, blatant lies.
A new IP from a relatively small indie developer with no previous release of the like under their belts, I knew the title ran the risk of disaster. I wasn’t interested in the game regardless of how I imagined it would turn out; it just didn’t interest me that much. However, because I try my best to play every game I can, I did rent the title. Of course I had heard the horror stories of crashing, freezing, lost saves, and the massive deception that was the mulitplayer aspect, but I still wanted to give the game a go. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed parts of the game. The first few planets were somewhat exciting to explore. Meeting the first few aliens was a gripping experience. Upgrading started off actually feeling rewarding. It was at about the tenth planet where I started to realize I was in a loop. A sort of Westworld robot host, living man-made hell. I did the same things over and over, with only slight differences, but always the same outcome. Due to boredom and lack of good modern cinema, I actually achieved the Platinum on the PS4 version of the game. I walked away tired of the repetitive gameplay, but happy with the bits I actually found enjoyable.
The rest of the world seemed to fall into two extremes; Blind devotion to the title, and ones that wanted development lead Sean Murray dead. Both of these options are pretty ridiculous, and I couldn’t seem to understand why people jumped to these radical stances. Why did gamers feel so strongly about this game in particular? After a bit of research I discovered the source of the anger from those let down by the release. It seems, at least in my opinion, Sean Murray and other members of the Hello Games team made endless promises of features and game mechanics that simply didn’t appear in the final product. Now I’m sure they wanted to include all the ideas and promises they told us pre-release, but the fact of the matter is they were no where to be found. I personally know a handful of people who pre-ordered the title purely for the multiplayer experience that was very much absent in the final product, which wasn’t addressed until after release.
Were they lying to us? I know this is debatable, but I have to say I think they were. They were aware that a major selling point was the multiplayer factor. They knew it wasn’t going to be included in the final release. But instead of making that clear, and potentiality losing loads of sales, they said it would be “nearly impossible” to find another player due to the so-called infinite universe the game featured. They thought, “Hey, this is safe. They can’t really prove we’re lying. Let’s go with that!” Well it backfired hard when two streamers proved this false on release day. Oh, awkward. But Sean Murray being the charmer that he is just brushed it off turning it into an incredible feat rather than proof of a lie. But enough about the original release, let’s talk about No Man’s Sky today.
The No Man’s Sky NEXT update is a complete overhaul to the original release that coincides with the Xbox ONE release. The update will finally be adding online multiplayer for up to four players, third-person mode, actual story missions, enhanced graphics, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t care to list. From what I have read, and the small amount I’ve played, the update is very impressive. I wholeheartedly commend them for releasing this free to all current owners. Well it’s still fifty USD for Xbox owners, since it was previously PS4 and PC exclusive. Oh, and if you bought via GOG.com you’re probably never getting the update, but other than that, 100% free. Is it possible this update was designed to help sales of the Xbox version? I mean no one in their right mind would buy the original version of the game after seeing the disastrous PS4 release. Hmm…nah, they did this for the fans, they love the fans!
But here’s the real question: Should we really applaud this? An update released two years later that add features originally promised for the core game, free or not, doesn’t really sit right with me. While I am truly glad people seem to be enjoying this update, I can’t say I think these practices should be supported. Is it better than nothing? Sure. But I can’t help but be bothered that Hello Games never properly addressed the misleading information involved with No Man’s Sky. A massive amount of fans were unbelievably let down with the initial release. The lack of communication from the developers was unforgivable. And upon looking back at pre-release interviews, it’s clear we were flat-out lied to about what the game would offer. Thanking game companies and creators for taking us out to dinner after they rob us doesn’t fix the problem, it’s still our stolen money they bought us dinner with.
I only played a few minutes of the updated version myself. I know it’s just my opinion, but it’s still boring, it’s still lifeless, and I still just don’t care to explore anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’m positive it’s an improvement, but that wouldn’t exactly be hard. So here’s what I’m asking: Do you think we should be thankful for this update? If so, in what way? I can’t help but see people who have always defended No Man’s Sky, still defending No Man’s Sky. This game invokes a very vicious response to criticism, and I don’t think that’s healthy to the industry.
Lab Zero Developer Interview
I recently had the pleasure of having a short chat with Lab Zero Games, the team behind the lovely Skullgirls and the highly anticipated Indivisible. Here’s what they had to say.
Console Monster: You’re based in Los Angeles, correct? How would you describe the company, and has your location influenced your games in any way?
Lab Zero: Lab Zero is an indie studio started by the core team behind Skullgirls. We employ nineteen people full time, and have a strong art focus because of our 2D animation expertise.
Just being around Los Angeles’ creative industries has definitely influenced the game. For example, Titmouse, one of our animation partners on Indivisible’s animated opening, is practically down the street from us.
That, and the wide variety of food.
CM: Your upcoming release, ‘Indivisible‘, is a platformer RPG, quite the change from your previous release ‘Skullgirls‘. Can you tell us a little more about the title?
LZ: Indivisible began as a pitch for another publisher, who asked for something “like Child of Light.” We looked at that game and realized it was essentially a platformer with an RPG battle system, which reminded us of one of our favorite PSone games, Valkyrie Profile.
Valkyrie Profile had a fighting-game-like combat system and, having just finished making Skullgirls, we felt that battle style was a good fit for the team.
And the game kind of grew from there. As we started thinking about the story and its themes, the game developed from a platformer into more of a Metroidvania.
CM: The game seems to be heavily inspired by Southeast Asian mythology; why did you choose that setting and what would some highlights of these inspirations be?
LZ: Alex Ahad, our lead concept artist, is Southeast Asian and led the push in that direction. He loved seeing the various mythological depictions in his travels to Myanmar and the Philippines, and wanted to do something like that in a game because there’s a lot of awesome monsters and lore that have mostly been ignored in today’s media.
So not only did it provide fertile ground for new ideas, but we also felt it would help the game stand out.
CM: Has the team drawn inspirations from any other sources? Film, books, etc.
LZ: Aside from the travel inspirations I mentioned before, as any Skullgirls player knows, video games and anime are probably our biggest inspirations, and that’s reflected in our work. In Skullgirls there were a lot of visual references to certain characters, poses and attacks.
That’s true for Indivisible, too. A lot of Ajna’s abilities are inspired by classics like the Megaman X series, Ducktales and Super Metroid.
We’re also big fans of the work of Studio TRIGGER, who we had the honor of collaborating with on our animated opening.
CM: One of the major appeals of Skullgirls, to me at least, was the fantastic animation and hand-drawn artwork. Can we expect the same level of detail with Indivisible?
LZ: Absolutely.
While Lab Zero is of course known for its 2D animation, ultimately we’re about characters, and getting that character to come out in the animations is something we put a lot of effort into.
CM: With the huge crowdfunding success, the game will be hitting nearly every platform, correct? What are some of the difficulties and/or benefits of working with different hardware?
LZ: When we initially funded the game, it was for PS4, Xbox One and Steam Windows, Mac, and Linux. But 505 Games greenlit a port for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, so we’re working on that as well. So, yeah, pretty much everything at this point.
As for difficulties, the real challenge for us is that we have our own internally developed engine, and that means we have to spend time porting and testing everything on each platform. It’s a big investment for a small studio like ours, but we think it’s worth it because we want our fans to be able to play our games on the platform of their choice.
CM: What are some of the current favorite games of you and the team?
LZ: We’ve got a pretty wide range of games being played right now!
Most recently I’ve been playing Hollow Knight and Octopath Traveler on the Switch.
Mike has been checking out Amanita Designs’ Chuchel and Botanicula, along with Wario Ware Twisted.
Mariel and Chris have been playing Nier: Automata.
Alex has been playing Monster Hunter World and Splatoon 2.
Jon’s been playing SOLDAM and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight.
Earl’s been playing Far Cry 5, A Way Out, Rocket League, and Overcooked.
Brian’s currently working through the Yakuza series and getting good at Beat Saber.
In the office, some members of the team have also been playing Dragon Ball Fighter Z, while others are getting ready for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with the Wii U version.
CM: In terms of RPG and platformer titles in general, which would be the overall team favorite and why?
LZ: As you can see, our team has really diverse gaming tastes, so it’s pretty much impossible to narrow this down to a select few titles.
I realize that’s probably not the most satisfying answer, but it’s actually great for development because it means that the game is constantly being evaluated from a wide variety of different perspectives.
CM: What does the future hold for yourself and your team?
LZ: More games! My job is to keep this awesome and talented team employed, so we’ve already started looking for our next project.
I’d like to thank Lab Zero for taking the time to chat with me and give us a bit more insight into the development of Indivisible. It looks to be something special! You can find out more about the upcoming title over on the official website.
Life’s a Beach with Lara Croft
The beach opening was held in conjunction with Miss Muretto, a beauty contest held yearly and similar to the Miss Italy contest but for younger girls. The new ‘Pink Beach’ is an exclusive area on the beachfront which will now be completely off-limits to men, allowing ladies to relax and tan themselves without having to fend off any unwanted attention. The beach opening was broadcast across Italy to 10 million people on the national news.
Let us know if you’ll be moving to Italy by leaving your comments below.
Ubisoft: DLC for Assassin’s Creed 2
What an E3 2009 we are having we’ve been treated to a flurry of Assassin’s Creed 2 content from Cinematic Trailers to Live Stage Demos to Interviews with 2nd in command Jade Raymond. Now, before the games release on November 17th Ubisoft have confirmed that their upcoming title will include Downloadable Content to help Ezio Auditore Di Firenze on his quest.
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Assassin’s Creed takes pleace during the Itilian Renaissance in 1486 Venice. ConsoleMonster.com will shortly have a First-Look at Assassin’s Creed 2, so keep tuned. Let us know what your thoughts of DLC by leaving your comments below.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 artwork leaked
Using the magic of Google Translator, an Italian Xbox website has revealed that Test Drive Unlimited 2 is in the works. Mondobox revealed new artwork that shows that “the new title will also offer off-road challenges.” The artwork can be viewed here.
The above shot of the game shows a map which suggests the game will once again be set in Oahu, Hawaii. As with all leaks, you should wash it thoroughly expect to hear an official announcement from Atari in the next few days. Alternatively, they may deny the fact the game is in development. It’s a “we’ll just have to wait and see” situation.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim DLC available on Xbox 360 first
Downloadable content for the recently released Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will arrive on the Xbox 360 first.
A statement released by Microsoft today reads: “And when the last dragon has been slayed and the last book opened, Xbox LIVE will be your destination for exclusive access toThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimadd-on content. 30 days before you find it anywhere else, the first two content drops forThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimwill be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE.”
Currently, there are no details of when the first downloadable content will be released.
