Culture
13 CommentsHotline Miami developers share perplexing code (update)
By Jenna Pitcher on May 07, 2013 05.07.13
The developers of Hotline Miami, Dennaton Games, tweeted a mysterious code recently via the game's official twitter account. LSSRUTB UYO SEEL LNLS ERED LEH — Hotline Miami (@HotlineMiami) May 6, 2013 A Reddit thread is dedicated to trying to solve to the code and some Redditors believe it is an anagram, while others believe it is a cipher. The code is yet to be cracked on the Facebook and Reddit pages, and the answer hasn't been revealed on Twitter. Hotline Miami is coming to North America and European PlayStation Network stores simultaneously this spring for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It will cost $9.99 for the North American market. Originally released for Windows PC, the retro-styled shooter was released on Mac through Steam on March 19. Update: Dennaton...
News
10 CommentsJourney, Mega Man and Silent Hill composers join forces on World 1-2 album
By Dave Tach on Apr 23, 2013 04.23.13
World 1-2, an upcoming 20-track album from video game composers of Journey, Mega Man and the Silent Hill series and more, will be released on May 2, the project's organizer Mohammed Taher told the Verge. Taher, a self-described "video game music fanboy from Kuwait," organized the project after asking VVVVVV composer Souleye to write the theme song for Taher's podcast. Souleye agreed, and Taher began reaching out to other video game composers. What began as an idea for a four-track EP grew into an entire album. World 1-2 is available for pre-order on GameChops, where you can also sample a handful of tracks, including one by Manami Matsumae the composer of Mega Man. It will also feature Austin Wintory (Journey), Eirik Suhrke (Spelunky, Ridiculous Fishing, Hotline Miami), Keiji...
News
4 CommentsCart Life wins big at the 15th annual Independent Games Festival Awards
By Jenna Pitcher on Mar 27, 2013 03.27.13
At tonight's 15th annual Independent Games Festival awards, held at the Game Developers Conference, Richard Hofmeier's Cart Life won three of its three category nominations, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Excellence in Narrative and the Nuovo Award. FTL: Faster than Light won one of its two nominations, which was the Excellence in Design category. It also won the Audience Award. 140 beat out Hotline Miami for the Excellence in Audio award. Kentucky Route Zero and Little Inferno won Excellence in Visual Arts and Technical Excellence, respectively. Zineth won the Student Showcase category. Each full category is listed below. Seumas McNally Grand Prize Cart Life (winner) FTL: Faster than Light Hotline Miami Kentucky Route Zero Little Inferno Excellence in Visual Arts G...
Deals
11 CommentsSteam Indie Spring Sale features 1,000 indie titles discounted up to 80 percent off
By Jenna Pitcher on Mar 22, 2013 03.22.13
The Steam Indie Spring Sale, which features a thousand indie titles discounted up to 80 percent off, is now live and will run until March 29. Featured games on sale include Super Meat Boy for $5.09, FTL: Faster Than Light for $4.99, Hotline Miami for $4.99, Deadlight for $3.74, Garry's Mod for $2.49, Legend of Grimrock for $7.49, The Binding of Isaac for $1.24, Trine 2 for $3.74 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent for $4.99. There are also PAX East and Independent Games Festival categories within the Spring Sale. Each day, the IGF category will feature different finalists and winners from past IGF Awards.
News
5 CommentsHotline Miami released for Mac
By Dave Tach on Mar 19, 2013 03.19.13
Hotline Miami, Dennaton Games' bloody, retro-styled shooter, is now available now on Mac through Steam, according to the game's listing on Valve's digital distribution service. The $9.99 game's Mac port had long been listed as coming "out soon" on the Steam page, beginning as far back as November 2012 when it was patched to add Xbox 360 controller support and a bonus stage. The Mac version did not ship with controller support. In February, publisher Devolver Digital announced that the game would be ported to PlayStation 3 and Vita this spring. For more on Hotline Miami, be sure to check out Polygon's review of its original Windows incarnation. We've reached out to the developer to see if the bonus stage made the transition or controller support is planned for a future update and will...
News
3 CommentsVoting 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...
News
0 CommentsHotline Miami publisher invites indie developers to pitch game ideas on a bus
By Jenna Pitcher on Feb 14, 2013 02.14.13
Hotline Miami publisher Devolver Digital are inviting independent developers attending the Game Developers Conference 2013 to pitch game ideas to them as part of the Pitch Fork Parker initiative. Named after Devolver Digital's Chief Financial Officer Fork Parker, independent developers can pitch their ideas on a shuttle bus while hitching a ride to GDC (from their hotel rooms). The publisher is also available for pitch meetings off the bus. Independent studios with successful pitches will receive development funding, marketing and public relations resources from Devolver Digital. Developers entering into the "non-sexual loving relationship" maintain complete creative freedom on the project. "I was under the impression that 'being developer friendly' just meant buying them dinner,...
News
2 CommentsAnodyne developer explains why embracing piracy can help small developers
By Emily Gera on Feb 12, 2013 02.12.13
It is better to embrace inevitable piracy than to fight it, Anodyne co-designer Sean Hogan stated on Reddit under his online handle seagaia. This statement follows the appearance of the developer's 2D title Anodyne on file sharing website The Pirate Bay. Rather than fighting back, Hogan began to share download codes for the game, explaining through Reddit: "Yeah, piracy is inevitable so it's better to embrace it — plus, it gives lots of people who couldn't normally afford the game the opportunity to play it. "I think when you're a small group of developers (only my friend Jon [Kittaka] and I made Anodyne), it's better to have lots of people able to experience your game. We hope enough people will like it and the word will get out, eventually allowing us to get onto Steam, which...
News
2 CommentsHotline Miami soundtrack available on Steam, Hotline Miami half off this weekend
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Jan 24, 2013 01.24.13
The official soundtrack for Hotline Miami, Dennaton Games' top-down action title, is available now on Steam for $9.99. The 21-track album includes Sun Araw's "Horse Steppin" and "Deep Cover," as well as El Huevo's "Crush" and "Turf," and many more. Songs are available in an MP3 format, and according to a tweet from the official Hotline Miami account, all nine artists will receive a portion of the soundtrack's sales. The soundtrack is considered downloadable content, however, and requires ownership of the game on Steam to play. Hotline Miami itself is now half off until Monday morning, Jan. 28. During the sale, Steam users can pick up the game for $4.99. Hotline Miami was released in October 2012. The game is still only available on Windows PC, though a Mac version is expected soon....
News
10 CommentsIGF 2013 finalists announced, including FTL, Hotline Miami and Super Hexagon
By Dave Tach on Jan 07, 2013 01.07.13
The juries for the 15th annual Independent Games Festival have released a list of this year's finalists, which honors games like FTL: Faster Than Light, Hotline Miami and Super Hexagon. This year's finalists divide into seven categories that recognize achievements in art, audio, storytelling and more. The categories and nominees include: Seumas McNally Grand Prize Cart Life FTL: Faster than Light Hotline Miami Kentucky Route Zero Little Inferno Excellence in Visual Art Guacamelee Incredipede Kentucky Route Zero Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Year Walk Technical Excellence Intrusion 2 LiquidSketch Little Inferno Perspective StarForge Excellence in Design FTL: Faster than Light Samurai Gunn Starseed Pilgrim Super Hexagon Super Space ____ Excellence in Audio 1...
