Absurdist Japanese curio? Doubtless. Sole occupant of the stick ’em up genre? The game is almost beyond imitation. Unflinching condemnation of humanity’s rampant consumerism? Perhaps. Autobiographical study of what it is to live under the watch of an alcoholic father figure whom you can never please? We’d have to roll creator Keita Takahashi on to the shrink’s couch to find out. Roadmap to a future of game design in which an idea precludes its sequels by reaching its full potential by the time the final credits, quite literally, roll? If only.
It’s been ten years since Nintendo’s Advance Wars series first appeared on western handhelds, and since then, the inexhaustible turn-based strategy franchise has undergone enough cosmetic surgery to rival Castlevania. The second Game Boy Advance instalment, Black Hole Rising, gave us secret labs and Neotanks, missile silos and pipelines.
Copenhagen-based IO Interactive only had to make one Hitman game to prove the concept’s potential, and two to make it a commercial success. But it took three slightly confused iterations before its promise was completely fulfilled with the fourth, Hitman: Blood Money. The series only improved incrementally, but when its strengths hit critical mass, the difference was profound.
As far as free downloadable games go, the What Would Molydeux? game Jam’s the biggest show in town at the moment. Over the last weekend, developers got together all around the world and started hacking out projects based around the design ideas offered up by @petermolydeux, one of the only spoof Twitter accounts that’s worth checking out with any regularity.
For the length of its brief campaign, Kinect Star Wars provides the opportunity to see two entertainment juggernauts crashing painfully into each other. On one side, there’s George Lucas’s overextended science fiction saga. On the other, there’s Kinect, Microsoft’s increasingly notorious motion sensor. Can these troubled parties find some kind of synergy in a fast-paced action game? Hardly. The end result has enough trouble telling when you’re trying to jump.
The long Easter weekend means we're signing off until Tuesday, but we’ve made sure you'll have plenty to read over the weekend. Expect Time Extends - including Hitman: Blood Money and Katamari Damacy - an interview with the developers of Steel Batallion: Heavy Armor, and our review of Kinect Star Wars.
Jenova Chen, co-founder of Journey developer Thatgamecompany, has described Quantic Dream's David Cage as one of his "major allies" in the industry, because the two share the desire to "broaden the emotional coverage of games."
The Pickford Bros, developers of Plok, Wetrix and Naked War, are releasing playable prototypes of new game concepts through their iOS game Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint.
When someone calls me ‘an IT geek’ it triggers one of my pet hates: being labelled a technology worker. It says that making games is a craft or a service, not an art.
BioWare has bowed to player pressure and announced Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, a free DLC pack due this summer which the studio says will provide "further clarity" for those disappointed by the game's ending.
German browser game company Bigpoint is to publish the western release of a mystery Square Enix project.
Little has been revealed about the game, but Bigpoint says the project "[focuses] heavily on social gameplay and encouraging user-generated content."
Phil Rogers, CEO of Square Enix Europe, said: "We're very excited to have teamed up with Bigpoint, who are leaders in browser gaming. This is the start of both an exciting new project and a strong relationship."
Digital editions of Edge are on sale on Apple Newsstand over the Easter weekend.
Each issue from November 2010's E220 to our current edition, E239, is now available on the App Store, priced at just £1.49 apiece to UK readers, $1.99 to those in the US, and €1.59 for those in the Eurozone.
H.R. Giger's iconic Alien stalks the front cover of Edge 240, harbinger of our six-page preview of Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines. Along with our report on the game from the developer's Texas studio, there's also a design showcase of concept art and an interview with design director John Mulkey.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance is the new Japanese all-formats number one, Square Enix's Disney RPG selling more than 213,000 copies in its first week on shelves.
In second spot is another new entry, Konami's Pro Baseball Spirits 2012, with over 167,000 units sold on PS3, Vita and PSP. Namco Bandai's The Idolmaster: Gravure For You Vol 6 debuts at number nine, while Silent Hill HD Collection and Vita's Little King Story sequel enter the chart at number 13 and 17 respectively.
John Vechey, co-founder of PopCap, has dismissed the naming of parent company Electronic Arts as the worst company in America.
In a blog post, Vechey gives his thoughts on why EA beat the likes of Comcast, AT&T and Bank Of America to claim the trophy, awarded every year by US website The Consumerist.
Hirozaku Yasuhara, director and designer of the early Sonic The Hedgehog titles, has joined Nintendo Of America.
Gamasutra reports that Yasuhara, who joined Sega in 1988 and worked alongside Yuji Naka as director, game planner and designer of Sonic games from the 1991 original to 1997 Sega Saturn release Sonic R, has joined Nintendo's US subsidiary Nintendo Software Technology.
Last November, Ubisoft announced that it would be setting up a new studio in Abu Dhabi, making it the first major game publisher to establish a development presence in the Middle East.
Electronic Arts has been named the worst company in America by users of consumer action website The Consumerist.
EA 'won' the annual competition, styled on the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, with EA beating the likes of Sony, Comcast, and AT&T on the way to the final, where it vanquished Bank Of America to claim the "Golden Poo."
Jennifer Hale, voice of the female Commander Shepherd in the Mass Effect series, has spoken for the first time about the furore surrounding the ending to Mass Effect 3.
Jennifer Hale, voice of the female Commander Shepherd in the Mass Effect series, has spoken for the first time about the furore surrounding the ending to Mass Effect 3.
As with predecessor The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character, Dakko Dakko’s sophomore effort’s name functions as both title and elevator pitch. You do indeed play a hovering deity, your role as protector of a group of sugegasa-sporting worshippers making for a familiar videogame pilgrimage: from left to right.
Here's our first look at Disney's upcoming spiritual sequel to Mega Drive classic Castle Of Illusion, in which players use the 3DS stylus to draw objects on the bottom screen and place them in the world above. Development is being handled by Dreamrift in collaboration with Junction Point Studios.
The Grand Theft Auto series has been selected to feature in a new exhibition at the Victoria And Albert Museum in London.
British Design 1948 - 2012: Innovation In The Modern Age showcases numerous high points of post-war British design, spanning the period between the 1948 Olympics in London and this summer's games, which will also be held in the city.
Loot Drop, the social gaming studio founded by Doom creator John Romero and his wife-to-be Brenda Brathwaite, has been revealed as the developer of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Commander.
When you’re making a sequel, the unspoken truth is that it often helps if you’re following up on a bit of a botch. Hunters, unfortunately for its developer Rodeo Games, got a lot of things right the first time out. A confident turn-based strategy adventure with a minimalist touchscreen control set-up and an elegant thicket of upgrades and weaponry to pick through, there wasn’t a lot of obvious room for improvement.