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Platform XBLA, Win Publisher Microsoft Game Studios Developer Humble Hearts Release Date 08/15/2012

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8.0

Dust: An Elysian Tail review: something old, something new

By Russ Frushtick on Aug 12, 2012 08.12.12

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a time capsule of game design past. HD-resolution graphics aside, Dust feels like a late '90s spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Like that classic, it focuses on character advancement and customization within the trappings of a 2D, exploration-heavy adventure. But modern sensibilities seep through just enough to make Dust feel contemporary instead of dated. Dust has some familiar opening moments - a mysterious figure wakes up in a forest with no memory of how he got there. Moments later, the unnamed protagonist is introduced to a sassy, fairy-like companion and a talking sword with a grandfatherly tone of voice. Small bits of story unfold through exposition-heavy dialog, which drags, but at least Dust is nice to look at. Dust's...

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Dust: An Elysian Tail headed to Steam May 25

By Dave Tach on May 17, 2013 05.17.13

Dust: An Elysian Tail, the hand-animated action role-playing game from creators Dean Dodrill and Alex Kain, will be released on Steam May 25, according to the game's Steam listing. The co-creators announced the Steam port earlier this year at PAX East, when they were hoping for an April release. Next Friday's Windows PC version will support Steam Achievements and Steam Cloud, and Dodrill wrote on Twitter that he'll be "looking at 'possible' Mac/Linux ports in the future." For more on the game, you can read Polygon's Dust: An Elysian Tail review of the Xbox 360 version and our feature chronicling the game's four-year development.

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Dust: An Elysian Tail is coming to Steam, developer hoping for April release

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Mar 23, 2013 03.23.13

Dust: An Elysian Tail will be available on Steam soon, creators Dean Dodrill and Alex Kain announced during a panel at PAX East today. Dodrill said he is hoping to have the game ready for Steam by April. "I'm really excited," Dodril said. "I'm very happy with the [PC] port, I'm not going to do a whole lot different." Dodrill, whose background is primarily in animation, began working on the title in 2008 with no prior game development experience. After winning the 2009 XNA Developer Dream-Build-Play competition, he brought on writer Alex Kain to help flesh out the game's story and polish dialogue. "I do have a lot of ideas for Dust 2," Dodril added during the panel. "There is no shortage of Dust 2 stuff," added Kain. Dust: An Elysian Tail was released in August last year on Xbox...

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Voting open online for the Game Developers Choice Award

By Dave Tach on Feb 19, 2013 02.19.13

The virtual ballet box is open for the Game Developers Choice Audience Award and accepting nominations today through 5 p.m. ET March 1, according to the official website. Voters need to select a game from a list provided and enter an email address, from which you'll be prompted to confirm your vote. The list of nominated games includes: Assassin's Creed 3 Borderlands 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Dishonored Dust: An Elysian Tail Far Cry 3 Fez FTL: Faster Than Light Gravity Rush Halo 4 Hero Academy Hotline Miami Journey Kid Icarus: Uprising Mark of the Ninja Mass Effect 3 PlanetSide 2 The Room Sound Shapes Spelunky Spec Ops: The Line Trials Evolution The Unfinished Swan Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward The Walking Dead XCOM: Enemy Unknown ZombiU In late...

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Microsoft has 'no plans for future versions' of XNA software, will not phase out DirectX

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 31, 2013 01.31.13

Microsoft has no plans to produce future versions of its XNA development tool, a spokesman for the company confirmed with Polygon today. Earlier this morning, an email was sent to select employees and developers stating Microsoft's XNA Game Studio software was "not in active development." XNA and DirectX developer lead Promit Roy reproduced a portion of the email on his personal blog. The email states XNA and DirectX will be retired from Microsoft's program effective April 1 of next year. "The XNA/DirectX expertise was created to recognize community leaders who focused on XNA Game Studio and/or DirectX development," reads the statement. "Presently the XNA Game Studio is not in active development and DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology. Given the status within each...

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Dust: An Elysian Tail composers working on sound design for Mojang's Scrolls

By Griffin McElroy on Nov 09, 2012 11.09.12

Scrolls, the upcoming strategy title from Minecraft developer Mojang, will feature sound design from HyperDuck SoundWorks, the composers behind this year's indie XBLA action-platformer, Dust: An Elysian Tail. The musical studio revealed the partnership on its official site, stating, "We're happy that we can announce we'll be doing all the sound design for Mojang's Scrolls and couldn't be more chuffed to be a part of their team for this awesome video game adventure!" Dust was released this summer on Xbox Live Arcade as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion, and was well received by critics. In addition to its work on Scrolls, HyperDuck is also composing the official soundtrack for Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 4, the next installment in...

Dust: An Elysian Tail Releases
North America
  • Xbox Live Arcade
    • Released 08/15/2012
    • Publisher Microsoft Game Studios
    • Developer Humble Hearts
  • Windows
    • Developer Humble Hearts
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