Violent Vengeance Begins April 6th in “The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile” Ska Studios’ “The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile” slashes its way onto Xbox LIVE® Arcade April 6th and will be fully playable March 11-13th during PAX East in Boston.
Schenectady, NY – March 8, 2011 – Today, indie developer Ska Studios announced that its highly anticipated sequel to “Dead Samurai”, “The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile” will be releasing April 6th exclusively on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for 800 Microsoft points. Fans of the series that can’t wait until April can play the completed version of “Vampire Smile” at Ska Studios’ PAX East booth later this week. (more…)
“I think XBLIG generally has a hard time getting people to take it seriously,” says James Silva, creator of highest rated Indie game, I Maed a Gam3 w1th Zomb1es!!!1. “Unlike Xbox Live Arcade, there’s no bar for quality and people tend to judge it by the lowest common denominator. Getting a reputation for massage games didn’t help either.”
It’s a really positive read about the state of XBLIG. It’s excellent when stuff like this comes out, and we all know XBLIG can always use a bit of a profile boost. Thanks, Mark!
Enjoy the announcement trailer for The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, releasing to Xbox LIVE Arcade “when it’s done.” You can also download your very own 720p HD copy over at VampireSmile.com. Release of press after the break. (more…)
SKA STUDIOS TO PRODUCE CHARLIE MURDER VIDEO GAME
Indie Punk Band Sells Out to Indie Game Developer
Schenectady, N.Y., January 14, 2010 – In a move bound to shake up the music scene, punk rock super group Charlie Murder have agreed to license their names and story for an upcoming Xbox LIVE Indie Games title on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Based on the band’s recent spat with rival metal rockers Gore Quaffer,
Far from a typical retail boxed product, The Dishwasher is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up with a penchant for Kill Bill-style blood geysers, shambling zombies, and maniacal robots. Inspired by equal parts jeet kune do master Bruce Lee, poseur Italian restaurants, and Ryuhei Kitamura’s epic Versus, The Dishwasher in many ways acts as a proof of concept for Microsoft’s ambitious service and gives players the chance to channel their inner butcher while bounding off walls and mashing on buttons in the process.
And then I say cool things like:
GS: In terms of ease of use, does XNA have the potential to be the magic bullet for bringing game design and development to the masses? As in, are we going to see a lot of average joes making quality, fun games?
JS: Game development is still an extremely ambitious venture, so depending on your definition of “the masses,” we may never see this type of magic bullet. Otherwise, a guy like me is probably always going to be the best you can hope for as an average joe. I went to school for computer science while working a series of crappy jobs and have always dreamed of making video games but have no industry experience or special game development education.
Then I checked the GameSpot forum on this, and found some excellent nuggets of InterWeb wisdom; some good ones:
It might as well be called Johnny the Homicidal Douchebag.
There are a lot more good ones then there are not so good ones, so I’m really pleased (and I’m getting a little better at accepting criticism). It seems like people are really hungry for some XBLA content that isn’t classic arcade games or cutesy casual games. Not like there’s anything terrifically wrong with classic arcade games and cutesy casual games (I like a little Boom Boom Rocket and Metal Slug 3, thankyouverymuch), but I think people are pretty agreed about the desire for interesting new content, even if it is “hot topic.”
And for the record, I prefer Salvation Army for my counterculture wardrobe over Hot Topic. Think I can afford Hot Topic? I’m still poor, you know.
