We Are Doomed On PlayStation Vita Footage

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We Are Doomed, the twin-stick shooter from Toronto developer Vertex Pop came out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam earlier this year, but a Vita version is still in the works.

To be honest, I thought this was new! But indie developer Mobeen Fikree, let me know this was kind of always the case, as announced on the PlayStation Blog comment page.  Mobeen Fikree even tweeted some footage of the game.

We Are Doomed is currently out for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but the Vita version is planned for an early 2016 release. Let us know in the comments if you want to play a portable We Are Doomed!

Digifest - 'It's A Start Pitch' Competition

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I was contacted about the upcoming Digifest event happening later next year that will showcase different content in digital media, art, design and technology.

Specifically there is the 'It's A Start 2016 Competition' which has open submissions right now until the end of January.

IT’S A START is an exciting and interactive pitch competition taking place at Digifest 2016. Pitch your business, convince the judges of its value, and wow the crowd in 5 minutes, and you will have the chance to win thousands in cash, incubation space, and mentorship. IT’ S A START will provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the opportunity to:

  • Compete against innovative entrepreneurs from across Canada
  • Refine your business plan and receive coaching during Creative Camp weekend
  • Pitch your business proposal to a panel of esteemed judges
  • Earn prizes including cash, office space at George Brown College’s Digital Media and Gaming Incubator, mentorship and more!

We are looking for the most innovative ideas from creative professionals, budding entrepreneurs, new startups, students or recent graduates who have special projects that they want to take to the next level. 

IT'S A START is an exciting and interactive pitch competition. Pitch your business, convince the judges of its value, and wow the crowd in under 3 minutes, with a chance to win thousands in cash, incubation space, and mentorship.

There is no fee to apply, so you have nothing to lose.  Once you submit, if you're a finalist you'll be contacted in February 2016.  You can check out the website for full details and best of luck! Let us know in the comments if you plan on attending the event.

Loud On Planet X Developers Looking For Playtesters

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The indie music game Loud on Planet X was successful in getting funded on Kickstarter and is now asking for help for playtesting.  Those in the Toronto area that are interested in playtesting should email Tanya@popsandbox.com to see if there are any times available.

Loud on Planet X is said to be a mix of Plants Vs Zombies, and Rock Band.  Make sure to follow the developers on Twitter to stay up to date on the game.

Interview: Wanisinowin|Lost Creator Meagan Byrne

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Meagan Byrne is a game designer currently attending Sheridan College, and will be showing off her game Wanisinowin | Lost at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Festival next week. She was awesome enough to sit down and answer some questions about herself and her work.  A big shout out to Carson Pinch for helping set this up as well.

TorontoGameDevs.com: Thanks for doing the interview Meagan! Can you tell me a bit about yourself? What experiences got you to this point?

Meagan Byrne: Tanisi! Thanks for having me!

Well, I'm a game designer entering my 3rd year of study at Sheridan College.

Mostly what got me to this point is my love of storytelling. Game Design and narrative design for games has been something that I just took to. It was like everything I had done up to this point just culminated into game design.

TorontoGameDevs.com: You're currently doing Game Design at Sheridan College, how is that program? What made you decide to go with Sheridan?

Meagan: Any tips or suggestions for people looking into it? I love the program, even though we're the guinea pig class. Lol. I picked it mostly due to distance and how well thought out their education plan was. I felt that this was a program that had really done its homework on what the industry needed.

To anyone thinking of applying the biggest thing you need to know is that It is challenging and it's definitely is not for everyone. It's not enough to enjoy playing games you have to want to create games and experiences for someone else. Also, learn the basics. Basics first. Cool MMO design second.

TorontoGameDevs.com: Wanisinowin | Lost is a platformer-puzzle game that tells the story of a young girl resolving her identity in the spirit world. What help inspired this game? What kind of challenges will the player encounter?

Meagan: A lot of what inspired this game was personal experience. I grew up in the city, away from Protocol and Language. It was hard to want to embrace my culture when I was young because of that. Then when I became a teenager I felt I didn't have the right to claim my culture. It was a space of feeling like this is where I should be, but I don't think I belong. But I always had the stories of Creation and the Creator or Wisakedjak growing up, but it wasn't until I was older that I stopped thinking of them as "just" stories I had heard or read.

So I figured what's the best way to deal with an issue? You tell a story about it.

I wanted to express the story mainly through mechanics, because that was the feeling I had when I heard some of these stories. As Wani you have very little in the way of control of your environment, but sometimes having a choice to not do something or to ignore that nagging doubt is a powerful one. You also get a little help on your way. It's almost impossible to do the work of finding your way without someone who can help. I wanted a game that reflected that.

TorontoGameDevs.com: What's it like being a game developer in Toronto? How's the support for the scene and your experience with it so far.

Meagan: I love it! I'm actually based out of Hamilton, but I'm pretty much doing stuff all across the GTA. Lol I'm pretty lucky being a student. I can sort of go where I want. But no matter where I go every game development community I've met so far is made up of great people.

Though I have to say that Dames Making Games and Bento Miso have been my biggest supports. They're just filled with wonderful, helpful people! I'm super glad to have found them.

TorontoGameDevs.com: What's it like for you to be part of the first Digital Media Art+Cade at imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts festival?

Meagan: So awesome and so intimidating! When I joined Indigicade I didn't even know that this was the presentation space they were talking about. I just wanted to make games with other indigenous women. I'm very glad I stumbled on to this chance.

TorontoGameDevs.com: Anything else you would like to share with our readers, and thanks again!

Meagan: I Hope everyone can make it out to Digital Media Art+Cade and play some awesome games!

 

Thanks Meagan! You can follow her on Twitter and make sure to check out the event October 14th - October 18th, and let us know in the comments if you plan on showing up!

Planetary Prospectors: A.R.M. Out Now On Steam Early Access

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Developer Nefarious Dimensions has released their space strategy game Planetary Prospectors: A.R.M. on Steam Early Access.  

The gold rush in space has begun! Corporations and many independent prospectors have entered the race to collect the most minerals and become the wealthiest miners in the galaxy.

You have been given the opportunity to mine asteroids within an infinite procedurally generated universe that contains meteor showers, space stations, mining refineries and much more to be discovered.

You can check out the trailer and screenshots below!

Live the life of an everyday average Joe or Jane deep space asteroid miner, that wakes up everyday to mine asteroids for a mega mining corporation.

Make sure to check out the Steam page, and follow the developer on Twitter.  The game is expected to stay on Early Access for 9-12 months, but also increase in price when it finally launches so get in now! Let us know in the comments what you think of the game.

Deals: Friends of Runbow Sale on Wii U and 3DS

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Runbow, the 9 player side scrolling platformer, has a huge roster of indie game characters. All of which appears on Wii U or 3DS, including Juan and Tostada from Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition.

To celebrate the game that many called "Indie Smash Brothers", Nintendo is having a Friends of Runbow Sale. If you purchase, or own Runbow, then select indie games will be on sale 30% off.  This include Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition by Toronto based Drinkbox Studios.

Like Nintendo on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Nintendo Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/Nintendo Follow us on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/Nintendo Follow us on Google+: http://google.com/+Nintendo

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You can check out full details of the sale on Nintendo's site.  Have you picked up Runbow yet?

Chess-like Game 'Chesh' Out Now On iOS

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Damian Sommer has released the randomly generated 'chess-like' game Chesh to iOS today.  "Every play is different, meaning half of the game is simply learning and remembering how the pieces move".  You can check out the trailer below:

Get it here: https://itunes.apple.com/app/chesh/id989385585?mt=8 http://www.chesh.club Randomly generated Chess. Half the fun is figuring out what you're playing.

Make sure to follow the developer on Twitter to stay up to date, since there are a few more games to check out.  You can download Chesh on the Apple store which is enjoying a 40% launch sale right now.

Dash Quest From Tiny Titan Studios Out Now On iOS

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London Ontario studio Tiny Titan Studios has released their endless runner RPG Dash Quest on iOS platforms today.  The game is free to play as you "use Spells and Items while you dash through hordes of enemies on your way to challenging boss battles!"

You can check out the trailer below:

The launch trailer for our upcoming endless running RPG hack and slash game, Dash Quest! For more information please visit our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tinytitangames

Make sure follow the developer on Twitter, and check out the game on iOS.

Free Expansion For Cally's Caves 3 Coming Next Week

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The developers behind Cally's Caves 3 announced today that an free expansion pack will be coming to the game next week.  The expanions, titled Melvin’s Prototype Factory, will include a new 34 level zone, new weapons, new enemies, as well as some bug fixes.

You can check out the full breakdown over at developers blog. They also made note that another free expansion is planned for before Christmas, with an announcement of their next project after that.  Make sure to download the game on iOS, or Android for free today.

Cryptark Out Now On Steam Also Coming To PS4

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As announced earlier in the week, Cryptark is out now on Steam Early Access.  Click here to check out their Steam page and buy the game, which has a 15% discount during launch week.

Also announced today was Alientrap will be bringing the game to PlayStation 4.  Jesse McGibney took to the PlayStation Blog to make the announcement as well as explain the game with a trailer (which I think is the same trailer as a few days ago):

Cryptark is a high-speed roguelike shooter that takes you into the lives of a band of space mercenaries. Your goal? Fulfill your freelancing contract by boarding and disarming the dangerous remnants of an ancient alien flotilla. Complete objectives to get paid, upgrade awesome weapons and gear, and finally gain access to the flagship known as the Cryptark to recover mysterious alien technology

Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi rougelike shooter where you take on the role of a heavily armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks. www.Cryptark.com

As mentioned, Cryptark is out now on Steam Early Access, and will be available for PlayStation 4 next year.

Ubisoft Toronto Helping Out With Far Cry Primal

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Far Cry Primal, which was announced earlier today, is being worked on by Ubisoft Montreal with Ubisoft Toronto helping out.

Ubisoft Toronto last worked on Far Cry 4, and Assassin's Creed Unity. With Far Cry 4 they helped with the Shangri-La part of the game, but their involvement with Far Cry Primal is unknown right now.  Back in July, IGN speculated that they were working on a new IP, which could still be true. You can check out the full trailer below:

Rise above extinction in Far Cry Primal, coming February 23, 2016. Please SUBSCRIBE and visit our official channels for exclusive access and the latest information on all things Far Cry: http://farcrygame.ubi.com http://www.youtube.com/farcrygame http://www.facebook.com/farcrygame http://www.twitter.com/farcrygame https://instagram.com/farcrygame/ About Far Cry Primal: The award-winning Far Cry franchise that stormed the tropics and the Himalayas now enters the original fight for humanity's survival with its innovative open-world sandbox gameplay, bringing together massive beasts, breathtaking environments, and unpredictable savage encounters.

Far Cry Primal will be out February 23rd 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

2D Roguelike Shooter Cryptark Out On Steam October 7th

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Independent developer Alientrap announced today that their Rougelike sci-fi shooter Cryptark is out on Steam October 7th (this Wednesday!).  You can check out a full description and trailer of the game below. I got a chance to play Cryptark at Bit Bazaar earlier this and it's a lot of fun, with a cool art style.

Cryptark is a 2D roguelike shooter that challenges players with boarding and neutralizing procedurally generated alien starships to earn income for their Privateering enterprise. Purchase improved equipment and weapons to tackle more dangerous targets, but be cautious as failure will result in a loss of investment and profit. The decaying alien arks will defend themselves from intruders with a wide arsenal of cyborg monstrosities, robotics, and security systems, all obstacles that must be surpassed to achieve victory, the destruction of the ship’s central System Core.

http://store.steampowered.com//app/344740 http://www.cryptark.com/ Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter where you take on the role of a heavily armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks. Each of the ancient derelicts is a hornet's nest of cybernetic drones and security systems you must you must traverse.

Make sure to follow the developer on Twitter, and let us know in the comments if you plan on picking up the game on Steam.

What Did TorontoGameDevs.com Patreons Get In September?

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As a friendly reminder, I thought I would show what Patreons of TorontoGameDevs got in the month of September, a month btw that was cut in half by a trip to Tokyo.

If you contribute 3 dollars a month, you get early access to exclusive stories.  This month I interviewed Alex from 13AM Games at Tokyo Game Show about Runbow being released in Japan.

If you contribute 5 dollars a month, you get a chance at some locally developed games.  Shane McCafferty was kind enough to provide all of our patreons with copies of Starseed on iOS.  

The gang over at Cococummber was also kind enough to provide some codes for Planet of the Eyes on steam.  While not everyone got one, more than half did.

Interested in becoming a Patreon? Just hit up our page and help with website costs. I'm working hard on providing a lot of content and prizes for October. Any questions or suggestions? Hit up the comments section below.

How Much Was Callys Caves 3 To Develop? (Hint: Less Than You Think)

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The developer behind the iOS and Android platformer Cally's Cave 3 recently wrote a developers blog about how much their latest game cost.  The final number may come at a surprise (it was to me).

After breaking down the costs by software costs, licenses, marketing, development and assets, we get to the final number of $689 dollars.  

'And all for a total budget of $689. The lesson that we’ve learned after shipping 3 games is that if you really love games and want to make a game, money isn’t going to be the thing that stands in your way, willpower is. Do whatever you have to do to make it happen, and please, share your game with us so we can try it!'

It's an interesting read for anyone who is thinking of making games on mobile devices. Cally Cave 3's developer stresses that it shouldn't be money getting in the way.  You can check out the full article, and breakdown here.  Make sure to download the game for free on iOS, or Android.