Toronto Games Highlight Latest Nindies Sale

Nintendo is celebrating the new year with a sale, and a couple of Toronto games are involved.

• Severed from Drinkbox Studios
• Graceful Explosion Machine from Vertex Pop
• Bleed from Ian Campbell
• Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime from Asteroid Base

It's the #NindiesNewYearSale and Severed is 33% off on Switch this week! Check out all nine indie Switch games on sale: https://t.co/JwcFiFZk6Z pic.twitter.com/5kjvx0xImu

— DrinkBox Studios (@DrinkBoxStudios) January 8, 2018

You can also check out an AMA where all the developers involved answered questions from the fans - including Vertex Pop saying they were thinking of a sequel or DLC on GEM, but are instead moving onto something new.

Happy New Year!
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is now 33% OFF ($9.99) on #NintendoSwitch along with a bunch of other cool games in the #NindiesNewYearSale

Check it out: https://t.co/5MPiKyawes pic.twitter.com/JezVMnFpvP

— Asteroid Base (@AsteroidBase) January 8, 2018

Severed now Available on Nintendo Switch

DrinkBox Studios has announced that their critically acclaimed game Severed is now available on Nintendo Switch.  It previously has been available for PlayStation Vita, Wii U, iOS, and Nintendo 3DS.

Severed won the Best Mobile/Handheld Game and Best Musical Score at the Canadian Video Game Awards 2016, Best Mobile Game 2016 on Destructoid, and 2016 iPad Game of the Year from Apple.  Check out the Nintendo Switch release trailer below!

Severed is now on the Nintendo Switch! Take control of a one-armed warrior named Sasha, wielding a living sword on her journey through a nightmare world in search of her family. Swipe-based touch controls will let you solve puzzles, find secrets, and do battle with a host of disturbing monsters.

Severed Free For PlayStation Plus Members

I'm catching up here...but Drinkbox Studios first person RPG Severed is now a free PlayStation Plus game on Vita. This will be for the whole month of March, so make sure to pick it up before then - the game is also avaliable on iOS, 3DS and Wii U.

Severed is available April 26 2016 on the PSVita. Take control of a one-armed warrior named Sasha, wielding a living sword on her journey through a nightmare world in search of her family. Swipe-based touch controls will let you solve puzzles, find secrets, and do battle with a host of disturbing monsters.

TorontoGameDevs.com 2nd Annual Game Of The Year Voting - Results!!

Well, it was a solid 2016, and there were a lot of great games that were created in Toronto and Southern Ontario. Just like last year, supporters and fans of local content took part in the 2nd Annual Game of the Year voting, and here are the results!

10) Maize - Finish Line Games

9) Kapsul Infinite - Luke O'Connor

8) Far Cry Primal - Ubisoft Toronto

7) Alone With You -  Benjamin Rivers

6) Watch Dogs 2 - Ubisoft Toronto

5) Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander - Massive Damage Inc

Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander had a huge Kickstarter. After a successful funding thank to Square Enix Collective, the game came out in Early Access, followed by a full release later in the year. The developers are still updating the game, so make sure you head over to Steam to pick it up.

4) Runbow: Satura's Space Adventure - 13AM Games

Back-to-back Years of placing 4th in voting, 13AM Games released a healthy chunk of DLC for its party platformer. Satura's Space Adventure gives players more single, and multiplayer content - while also releasing the game on Steam, and 3DS.

3) Severed - DrinkBox Studios

The first-person hack-n-slash found eventual homes on 3DS, iOS, and Wii U, but it was made from the ground up for the little Sony portable that could. Probably one of the last "exclusive" Vita games, Severed has you playing as a daughter trying to find out what happened to her family. Now I'll be praying for a Guacamelee 2.

2) Hard Vacuum Lullaby - One More Story Games

Friends of the site, One More Story Games claims our top two spots in this years Game of the Year voting, first with Hard Vacuum Lullaby. "After a savage battle in deep space, the 2nd Yagoshan Expeditionary Fleet Battlecruiser #6 retreats to the orbit of a gas giant with other damaged vessels to undergo repairs by the fleets logistics and repair corvettes."

1) Mandatory Upgrade X Marks The Spot - One More Story Games

Joining the ranks of N++, this years winner is Mandatory Upgrade: X Marks The Spot from One More Story Games. The story based game was written by Chris Tihor from Ironic Iconic Studios, and tells the tale of Special Agent Rachel Varley who has to investigate the death of a runaway cybernetic exosuit on her first day back to work. You can pick it up here for $3.99, which includes a demo as well.

Thanks to everyone for voting, and congratulations to everyone who released a game in 2016. Onwards to 2017!

Toronto Developed Severed and Modbox Win At The Canadian Video Game Awards

The Canadian Video Game Awards have come and gone, and the winners are in! There were a few Toronto developed games that were up for nominations and I've posted the winners below:

• Best Mobile/Handheld Game: Severed (Drinkbox Studios)
• Best Animation: Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal - Ubisoft Toronto helped)
• Best Educational Game: Modbox (Alientrap)
• Best Musical Score: Take My Hand by YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN & Pantayo - Severed (Drinkbox Studios)

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided took home Game of the Year, and you check out the full list of winners right here.

Toronto Developers Highlight the 7th Annual Canadian Video Game Award Nominations

The nominations for the 7th Annual Canadian VideoGame Awards have been announced, and there are quite a few Toronto developers being nominated for various awards. I tooked at the local games being developed, which you can check out below.

Nominations (Local Developers Only)

Game of the Year:

• Severed
• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Console Game:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Mobile/Handheld Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)
• Loud on Planet X (Pop Sandbox Inc)

Best PC Game

• Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (Massive Damage)

Best Virtual Reality Game:

• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Animation:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Art Direction:

• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Audio:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Educational Game:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Game Innovation:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Indie Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Musical Score:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Narrative:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best New Character:

• Sasha - Severed (Drinkbox Studios)

Best Technology:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Fans’ Choice Award: Best Canadian-Made Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

You can check out the full nominations at the official site.

Severed Out Now On 3DS

First it was out on PlayStation Vita, then iOS, then Wii U. Finally after all this time, 3DS owners get their chance at DrinkBox Studios First Person Hack n' Slash RPG. Severed was released on 3DS today.

#SEVERED is now available on Nintendo 3DS In North America! pic.twitter.com/4yaLtg25li

— DrinkBox Studios (@DrinkBoxStudios) October 13, 2016

You can pick up Severed directly on 3DS, or on Nintendo's website. We'll probably have to wait a little bit to see what DrinkBox Studios is working on next, but we'll have it on TorontoGameDevs.com when its official.

Severed Out Now On Wii U

Following its release on PlayStation Vita, and then iOS, Drinkbox Studios have released Severed for Nintendo Wii U today. You can pick up the game for $13.49 right here, or on Wii U.

Take control of a one-armed warrior named Sasha, wielding a living sword on her journey through a nightmare world in search of her family. Swipe-based touch controls will let you solve puzzles, find secrets, and do battle with a host of disturbing monsters. As the journey goes on, you’ll unlock new abilities, ascend an RPG-style upgrade tree, and tease apart the mysteries of the dark fantasy universe Sasha finds herself in.

#SEVERED is now officially available on #WiiU! pic.twitter.com/weh9lsnGTd

— DrinkBox Studios (@DrinkBoxStudios) September 22, 2016

We're still waiting on the 3DS version of the game, which is expected to hit this year.

Top Five PlayStation Vita Games Developed In Toronto - Original Video

I've said on the podcast many times, I love the Vita. There's also a lot of great Toronto developed games on the Vita! So I gave my top 5, check it out below and subscribe today!

I'm a huge fan of the PlayStation Vita, so I decided to just give my Top 5 PlayStation Vita games that were developed in Toronto. You can find out more about these games, and others at: http://www.torontogamedevs.com/

TorontoGameDevs Podcast Episode 50

Normally I don't write about the podcast on the main news site, but we hit a nice little milestone I figured I would share.

We've hit out 50th podcast! Bret Measor, Dan Rodrigues, and myself sat down over the weekend to talk about some of the recent Toronto Game Developed stuff, but we also answered some fan questions. Check it out below, while also subscribing to iTunes.

We passed Episode 50 on our podcast. We talked about Alone With You, Valley, N++, Severed, and answered some questions about game development. Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/video-game-podcast-toronto/id1025606427?mt=2 Check out the main site: http://www.torontogamedevs.com/

You can also check out our podcast page for all the past episodes.

Original Video - Week In Review - Valley, N++, Alone With You Releases

Hey everyone! It's another Week In Review! Our videos which basically summarizes what happened this week for Toronto developed games. Remember to subscribe on Youtube!

Another week in review! This week N++ , Alone With You, Valley released, and we know have a release date for Severed on Wii U.

Severed Out On Wii U September 22nd

First it was released on PlayStation Vita, then it was announced it was coming to iOS, Wii U, and 3DS. The iOS version is out for players to enjoy and now we know when the Wii U version comes out.

Nintendo announced the Nindies Summer Jam, and Severed is part of it and will be out September 22nd for Wii U, with the 3DS version coming out sometime in the Fall.

Get ready for #Nindies Summer Jam! Every Thursday in September, a new digital release for Wii U, Nintendo 3DS or both, will hit the Nintendo eShop at 10% of listing price for the first week! Check out these participating #Nindies Summer Jam titles, as well as a variety of upcoming Nindie games for the rest of 2016 and beyond!

You can check out the video below of what I thought of the iOS version against the Vita version as well:

I chat about Severed, and my thoughts on how the PlayStation Vita game plays on iOS. Check out more at www.torontogamedevs.com

Part of the same video showed Runbow Pocket coming to 3DS in Q4, so we'll have more on that and Severed 3DS as it becomes available.

The Drinkbox Vita Collection Out Now

DrinkBox Studios has announced, and released, the DrinkBox Vita Collection for download. The collection comes with the studios first three titles at a discounted price, Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, Guacamelee!, and the recently released Severed.

The collection is currently going for $24.99 on the Vita, which can be downloaded right here.