Be Mine.. Or Not..

The traffic to Groupee’s Be Mine games and music bundle was rather more than expected, with the site going down almost as soon as the bundle came on sale.

Server capacity is currently being boosted, and the bundle, along with the Antisleep music bundle, will be relaunched tomorrow instead.

Be Mine will contains five games: Wasteland Angel, Sideway New York, Xotic, Beep and The Ball.  Customers can pay what they want, with a minimum of $1, and 20% of the proceeds will be given to Child’s Play.

Darksiders II – Release Date Announced

THQ have announced that Vigil‘s action-adventure Darksiders II will be released for the PS3, 360 and PC on the 29th June 2012.

Exclusive pre-order bonuses have been announced too: the ‘Death Rides’ pack from GAME contains extra side-quests, the ‘Deadly Despair’ pack is available via Amazon and adds a speed boost for Death’s steed, Despair, and the  ‘Angel of Death’ pack will provide enhanced armour and weapons.. the shop this preorder will be available through has not yet been announced.

New Minecraft Map Format – Anvil

Mojang have developed a new map format for Minecraft, dubbed “Anvil”.

This new format increases maximum build height to 256 from 128, and added scope for many more block types by increasing block IDs to 4096, from 256, as well as a number of other changes to prepare for modding and improved compression.

The next snapshot, and Minecraft 1.2 will automatically convert worlds to the new format.  You do not need to convert them yourself.

More information is available here.

Dear Esther Releases Today

The indie remake of the cult mod Dear Esther releases today for PC and will be available on Steam.

Dear Esther started as a mod for Half Life 2, an interactive ghost story with randomly generated audio telling a tale, created by Dan Pinchbeck and with a soundtrack by Jessica Curry.

The visual overhaul comes from professional game artist, Robert Briscoe., and the remake of Dear Esther has been supported by the Indie Fund, an investment model which aims to support the growth of gaming and indie developers.

Indie Gala Bonus Time!

The Indie Gala Bonus has now unlocked for Valentine’s Day, adding exosyphen studios‘ Hacker Evolution to all bundle levels!

Hacker Evolution is a hacking simulation game, with the player taking on the role of a former intelligence agent, hacking into computers and looking for exploits and information.

For those who unlocked the Big-Saver or Epic Gala Bundle, there’s also Ulrich Schnauss‘ album, Selection for Gala.

The download options for both the game and music can be found on your profile page on the Indie Gala website.

Be Mine – Indie Game Bundle

The Be Mine Indie Game Bundle, from Groupees, is launching for Valentine’s Day and will be available through till the 28th February.  This bundle is pay what you want with a minimum price of $1, and 20% of the money goes to Child’s Play.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPSvCqAOMfc]

There are five games in the bundle, and all come with Steam keys: Wasteland Angel, a vehicular combat shoot ’em up from Octane Games, a puzzle-platform adventure called Sideway New York, by Playbrains and Fuel Entertainment, Xotic, an arcade-style first person shooter by WXP Games, Beep, a physics-based platformer by Big Fat Alien, and The Ball, an award-winning action-puzzle game built on the Unreal Engine 3, by Teotl Studios.

There is also a selection of music in the bundle, from: Celldweller, Fantomenk and Damage Vault.

Firefall: Battleframe Trailer Challenge

Red 5 Studios are hosting a competition for their fans to create a trailer using unreleased footage of the game.

This is a chance for the fans to create introductions for the Assault, Medic, Recon and Engineer battleframes, along the lines of the Dreadnaught Introduction.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcrCXrr1j-4]

The team have provided clips for use in these trailers as well as instructions, information and rules here.

Prizes include a trip to Boston to join Red 5 at PAX East, an Alienware M14x Laptop, and a Firefall-branded Astro Gaming A40 Audio System.

Prequel: Making a Cat Cry

I spotted a link to Prequel earlier today.. the words “Oblivion” and “Skyrim” grabbed my attention, so I thought I’d take a quick look.. and well, it’s surprisingly good 🙂

Prequel is an MS Paint-style interactive adventure about a pitiful Khajiit girl called Katia who arrives in Cyrodiil hoping to start a new life.  She doesn’t have any money, or tradeskills, or any luck at all..

Her adventure has taken on some of the suggestions made by those reading it.. some are cruel, some are kind..and others are just hilarious.

I love the cartoon pictures, and I’ve already come across a few special links.. video, and a tiny segment of gameplay, as an Imp trying to kill our hapless heroine.

I’ve seen the like before, in forums, and I’ve toyed with the idea of trying one myself (it’d be good drawing practise!) but this is the first time I’ve really wanted to follow the story and see how it all ends!

Indie Royale – Valentine’s Bundle Bonuses

The Indie Royale’s Valentine’s Bundle bonuses have now been unlocked!

They are: the Soulcaster I and II Remix Soundtrack, the Zeno Clash OST and the Lume mini-OST.  As a extra special bonus, Soulcaster creator Ian Stocker has created the “Merchant’s Legendary Arrangements” mini-album!

All these bonuses can be downloaded from the redemption page.  If you’ve lost your key, never fear – you can request a new email which will come with all the keys connected to your email address.

There’s just under two days left to pick up the Valentine’s Bundle!  Here’s what’s in it, and here’s our quick impressions of the games.

A Virus Named TOM

A Virus Named TOM is an action puzzler by Misfits Attic, featuring the City of Tomorrow, filled with robot dogs and self-cleaning houses.. and a virus named TOM.

After using Dr X’s inventions to build the City of Tomorrow, MegaTech promptly fired him.  However, Dr X had also invented TOM, a little virus which he now sets loose to destroy his creations!  Spread the virus by rearranging circuits, but watch out for the anti-virus drones..

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge8wT6w2v0o]

There are also two multiplayer modes, for up to four people: co-op, and competitive.

The game is due for release in March, but you can pre-order now, for $5.. this is 50% off the final price, and gets you access to the beta now, along with an opportunity to get your highscore on the final game’s baked-in leaderboard.

Also.. if you pre-order before Valentines, you can grab yourself an extra copy for a loved one!