Dylan Fitterer is the creator of Audiosurf, which he says was based on the idea of recognizing the mood of a song and building gameplay to match its characteristics.  "If you are going to play a calm song," he says, "you don't want intense gameplay, so that's not what it gives you."  Nor is it necessarily the same experience every time around the same song, as there are twelve playable characters total, broken out into different difficulty leagues. 

Each character in the game has a different ability, which helps them to make the color matches that build points.  Some of the characters are more suited to a slower song.  Pointman allows you to grab a block and store it until later, so you can drop it in a different location.  "That ends up being great in a slow song, because your choices are limited," the designer says.  Colored blocks are cleared when three or more are grabbed and lined in a row, while the player navigates around gray barriers on a black backdrop.  The easier courses have a plain white background, because it was found during the testing of the game that novice players responded better to the less intense color scheme.

Fitterer has been approaching smaller music labels to find selections for Audiosurf Radio, a way for the community of players familiar with the game to compare each other's scores on set tracks.  The game designer has found that musians are often willing to provide their work without pay to get the exposure.  He has been reaching out to artists who have not been widely heard and want to have their music better known by being included on a videogame soundtrack. 

Audiosurf Overture by Pedro Camacho was the first of these included songs. It appears at the top of the Audiosurf Radio page and is where many beginners start off.  The designer and musician were able to see eye to eye about what audio worked best with the game mechanics, and the song was custom made to introduce players to the gameplay.  What music has been the most successful at being introduced to the game engine?  "For Audiosurf Radio, I do learn toward more intense songs," the designer says.  "That is because it is a focal point for competition in the Audiosurf community."

"One thing about the community is that they're really good!" Fitterer says.  "I have a heck of a time getting on the top ten anymore, which is a really good feeling."   He will be talking tomorrow at the PAX 10 panel about the creation of the game and its innovative use of personalized content.  Audiosurf is for the PC and is available now at audio-surf.com and Steam.

Images courtesy of Steam.

Penny Arcade Adventures has seen the appearance of such characters from the webcomic as Tycho's precocious niece "Anarchy," who shows up in 1920's New Arcadia as autodidact Anne-Claire, the Fruit Fucker 2000 juicer, given a steampunk redesign, and Charles, who will appear in Episode Two, sans iPhone. 

Hothead COO Joel DeYoung contends that with the second episode of the Penny Arcade Adventure, the game is really hitting its stride.  He wrote about his reservations with the quality of the first epidsode's flash minigames in this month's issue of Game Developer Magazine. However, he feels confident that the fourth flash minigame, appearing in the upcoming installment, has the tech down and is the most fun thus far.  Each episode is created so that they can be enjoyed independently by having a "previously on" montage preface the story, but naturally stats are carried over from the first installment for continuing players. 

Because there are more customization options available for the main character, such new clothes, hairstyle, an eyepatch and a monacle, the avatar can be modified at the start of the episode.  Another addition is the appearance of an "Insane Mode," unlockable when you complete the game, which ramps up the difficulty for hardcore players.  There are more involved special attack minigames, and more complex adventure puzzles, which DeYoung feels will satisfy adventure gamers more than any of the puzzles found in the first episode.  The segment he showed in the demo at PAX involved the party being captured and having to escaping from an insane asylum while being hunted down by giant black spiders. 

The main character has traded in his or her rake for a hoe this time around, continuing the gardening theme from the first episode.  Gabe still uses his fists, though he attains all sorts of attachments to his wrists and knuckles. Tycho now has a shotgun, and one of his special attacks involves shooting the enemy twice and then throwing his hardbound reading material at them for the finishing blow.  Anne-Claire's new move, called Big Bang Theory, fires a projectile from a satellite in outer space.

According to DeYoung, Hothead was seen as a natural choice for Penny Arcade Adventures from the start, having worked on comic IPs and The Simpsons Hit & Run, taking a 2D animation and rendering it in three dimensions.  Another incentive to Gabe and Tycho was the invitation to be hands-on.  In the Game Developers postmortem, the makers of the webcomic mentioned in the sidebar that if they had known what they were getting into, they would have thought twice about making such a tremendous commitment.

The relationship between the two creative camps stretches back farther than the game though.  CEO of Hothead Vlad Ceraldi even spoke on a panel at the first PAX.  Many of the developers were previously members of Radical Entertainment and there was talk back then of Gabe and Tycho having cameos in the Gamecube Simpsons title.  Rain-Slick Precipice was intended as a conscious departure from casual gaming, while the episodic nature of the distribution would enable both players and the developers enough time to delve into the epic role-playing game.

The people responsible for Greenhouse, the digital distribution platform, work in the Hothead office.  They are looking to offer a venue to indie gamers and take risks on unknown developers who create titles with unique gameplay mechanics and vision.  The number of staff on Echelon and Strange Attractors, for instance, can be counted on one hand.  "If you look at the two games we've launched at Greenhouse besides Penny Arcade, they're really indie," says Joel DeYoung.  "Like, more indie than us."  With the success of the first episode of Rain-Slick Precipice, along with independent titles such as Everyday Shooter and Braid, there appears every reason to assume that niche game development of the kind Hothead envisions has great potential.

 Images courtesy of Hothead Games.

Hothead COO Joel DeYoung and audio director Adam Gejdos

Singapore has first access to an Item World Command Attack upgrade which inserts a Scorekeeper in the hub world and an online ranking mode into Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice. Players can compete in the Item World Command Attack challenge, which isn’t a direct battle of might. This event counts every move you make and measures your efficiency at completing the item world.

You can select one of three difficulty levels: beginner, intermediate, or advanced then enter a special version of the item world. This world does not have automatically accessible gates to the next floor. Randomly placed exits would defeat the purpose since blind luck could put a gate right next to one player and far away for another. You must meet specific requirements to make a gate appear and all gates are under control of an enemy gate keeper. Alternatively, you can just beat every enemy instead of dashing to the gate. Once ten floors are completed you get an assessment and a ranking.

Players that get a high score in the Item World Command Attack challenge get to use the Angel Soldier, an additional character, as a reward. Angel Soldiers are proficient with bows and staffs. Their native evilty is Angelic Protection and it reduces non-elemental damage to a nearby ally by half. This class can also learn spells like heal, fire, ice, and wind.

The patch costs $6.19 SGD ($4.30) in Singapore. Solo cameo characters are sold for around $2.49 SGD ($1.75 ) in the region. NIS America has not announced if they will release this patch in North America, but chances are we’ll see it soon.

Images courtesy of Nippon Ichi.

This contest is being run internationally. A similar announcement just popped up in Japan without naming the game. Right now the game is considered an unknown Sonic title for the Wii there. Unless Sega has two Wii Sonic games in development we know what the unnamed game is.

Images courtesy of Sega.

Konami hasn’t said much about Gradius ReBirth, but it’s one of next week’s three WiiWare titles in Japan. Midnight Bowling (aka Hamaru Bowling) and Strongest Silver Star Reversi are the other two sold for 1,000 Wii Points ($10) and 500 Wii Points ($5) respectively. The sparse description makes it sound like Gradius ReBirth is, in fact, Gradius with a fresh coat of paint and some mysterious Nintendo Wi-Fi connective feature. I presume this will be used for online leader boards. Gradius ReBirth supports four control schemes: a lone remote, a remote/nunchuck combo, the classic controller, and a Gamecube pad. While we’re digging around for more information before Gradius ReBirth debuts on September 2nd check out some of more screenshots.

Images courtesy of Konami.

The only reason you might want to import is for the pre-order bonus. Reserve Chrono Trigger and you get a two track Chrono Trigger Orchestra: Extra Soundtracks audio CD. The first track is Chrono Trigger: Orchestra Version. The second song is Chrono Trigger -Medley- Orchestra version, a compilation of: a Premonition, Guardia Millennial Fair, Wind Scene Frog's Theme, Magus Battle, Epilogue - To Good Friends, and To Far a Way Time. As of this writing this bonus is only for Japan and Square Enix has not announced if the re-release of Chrono Trigger will have a similar or any pre-order bonus in other regions.

Images courtesy of Square Enix.

Marvelous will release Avalon Code in Japan on October 16 and Xseed will publish the game in North America early next year. 

Images courtesy of Marvelous.

Namco Bandai has a similar strategy with the release of Gundam Musou 2, but they’re announcing all of the versions from the start. Gundam Musou 2 will be a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2 game when it comes out on December 4 in Japan. Gundam Musou Special must have sold decently for Namco Bandai to consider this three pronged strategy, but this doesn’t guarantee Namco Bandai will release the PS2 version of Gundam Musou 2 outside of Japan. As of now there are no plans for Namco Bandai or Koei to publish Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Special in any other region.

Images courtesy of Namco Bandai.

Images courtesy of Square Enix.

Since Secret of Mana is being released as a Virtual Console game in Japan it should get similar treatment in North America. Remember, Kings Knight and ActRaiser showed up in North America shortly after they were released in Japan. Before that happens, Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Yokohama Harbor Serial Murder Case will be the lone Virtual Console game to kick off September’s schedule.

Here's the complete schedule: 

Famicom (500 Wii Points / $5)

Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Yokohama Harbor Serial Murder Case*

Wagan Land

Super Famicom (800 Wii Points / $8)

Secret of Mana

Space Invaders: The Original Game

Nintendo 64 (1.000 Wii Points / $10)

Mario Golf 64

Mega Drive (700 Wii Points / $7)

Sorcerian

Forgotten Worlds (600)

Last Battle (aka Fist of the North Star)

PC Engine (600 Wii Points / $6)  

The Ninja Warriors

Super Dodge Ball (aka Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball Bu: PC Bangaihen)

Final Blaster

Mizubaku Daibouken

Images courtesy of Square Enix.