Yesterday saw the passing of John Hughes, who dies aged 59 of a heart attack. He was a director/producer/script writer. He directed movies like The Breakfast Club, Saint Elmo's Fire and the terrible movie, Home Alone. I lift my glass to this director and send my sympathy to the family.

Persona 5 is rumoured to be in production on the Playstation 3. A listing on a Sony website for Shoji Meguro has him down as producer of Persona 5. More

Max Blastronaut (Coin App)

Entered into this year's Dream-Build-Play competition, Max Blastronaut is a space-based action blaster from Coin App.

Why should you be excited? How about 4 player co-op fun, 24 different planets to explore and the ability to grab an enemy and swing them round and round by their legs? Expect to see this on the Xbox at some point in the near future - maybe even as an Xbox Live Arcade title if the Coin App guys' entry comes up trumps.

Check out more details on the recently-launched Max Blastronaut site (Source: Blurst Blog)

Freeware Game Pick: Skull Daddy (Christopher Mathes)

Skull Daddy is a physics-based puzzler that is currently only available as a demo, bundled with ten short levels and a limited number of tools to choose from. In each stage you are assigned a limited number of basic building blocks to construct platforms with, so that the titular character can roll his way towards the exit safely.

Instructions are relayed to the player via sign posts that can be read or ignored at their own discretion, and you can retry a level as many times as you like until a working solution is found.

Astro Tripper, Mutant Storm Series Coming to PCs

According to the latest post on PomPom Games' site, the PC versions of Astro Tripper, Mutant Storm Reloaded and Mutant Storm Empire are done and awaiting a final test phase before release.

This was cited as the reason for the delay as well, because testing these games on all sorts of different PC configurations can be pretty expensive - hence they've suggested the idea of putting out pre-release builds on their site to purchase at only $5 (cost inclusive of final version and future updates), so that interested buyers can help them test the full games out.

All they're asking is for some feedback on whether to proceed with the plan or not, and if things work out those of us who do not own a console should be able to get our hands on PC ports of their recent games very, very soon.

PC Version News and Stuff (PomPom Games)

Trailer: Machinarium (Amanita Design)

Jakub sent word of a new Machinarium trailer posted on their site today. The game is scheduled for a release this coming October, and the $3 discount plus bonus pack still stands if you pre-order it anytime before that date.

Amanita Design Blog

5th of August 2009

There seems to be a lot of news regarding a possible Playstation 3 slim. Here are a few stories that I have found that seem to point to a possible release later this year.

Demand for Playstation 3 components has risen significantly. More

The Playstation 3 Slim will be unveiled at GamesCom and will come in two versions. The 40GB version will cost £260 and the 80GB version is rumoured to be £299.99. More

Raven Squad Trailer

Psychosomnium

Psychosomnium is a new freeware platformer by cactus in which players find themselves in a sparse dream world filled with a cast of quirky characters. Use the cursor keys to move, and press the Z key to carry out a specific action when available. More and even more

Browser Game Pick: The Heist 2 (Johnny Two Shoes)

The Heist 2 is an overhead car chase game in which you play the crook, pulling one successful robbery after another as you try to amass enough money for your retirement plans. Before the start of each heist, you would need to kit out your escape vehicle and occupy it with some henchmen to carry out the dirty deeds.

At the scene of the crime, cops will attempt to stop you from fleeing the premises. There shouldn't be any problems reaching the getaway vehicle for a quick escape if you've hired enough manpower and equipped them with the right tools for the job. Then it's all about driving away as quickly as you can, dodging incoming traffic and ramming police cars to the side so that you can put some distance between you and your pursuers. (game guide)

Browser Game Pick: Knightfall 2 (Megadev)

Knightfall 2 is a tile-matching puzzler with a nifty gimmick - instead of controlling the protagonist directly, you would have to rotate the board and remove the blocks underneath our hero to move him around. This applies to objects and enemies in the play area as well, as everything is affected by gravity and will move to fill any gaps created when you take away blocks from the board.

There is usually a door which you have to reach to complete a level, although you would have to unlock it first by collecting a key placed at a random location on the board. Enemies will try and prevent you from completing your objective, but your drill will make short work of them if you attack the bad guys from above. The other thing you should be worried about is your action points, as they drain quickly whenever you remove blocks from the play area.

The length of the story mode should satisfy most players, although it should be noted that there is no way to continue playing with your existing save after beating the final boss.

3rd of August 2009

Vampire Blaze

Vampire Blaze is a freeware platform game which seems to have taken the best elements from early Castlevania releases and updated them for this project with improved controls, decent graphics and a catchy soundtrack. You start the monster hunt unarmed, but new weapons such as axes, knives, whips, crossbows and even guns can be acquired by destroying the many candelabras you will find during your adventure.

Press the X key to attack, or tap the C key to jump. Hold the Z key to sidestep or block enemy attacks with your weapon. The left shift key can be used to pause the game at any time.

Progress is saved automatically after the completion of each level, and players can continue their journey by using the resume option in the main menu. The Japanese language pack has to be installed to play, and the game will only run on displays configured with 16-bit color quality instead of the standard 32-bit. When starting Vampire Blaze, select the second option in the dialogue box for windowed mode. More

Phoenix

The Phoenix armada is about to invade Earth. Before they reach the atmosphere, you must pilot a ship and defeat each of their different attack waves and turn them away from Earth. The first two waves are the scouts, the second two waves are the soldiers, and the final wave is the mothership. Get past the scouts and the soldiers to earn the chance to destroy the mothership and rescue mankind.

Phoenix features three different scenarios across five different stages. The first two stages have the player fighting against small space birds. The next two stages pit the player against much larger falcon-like birds. The final stage is the showdown against the mothership. In addition to firing upwards, the ship can also erect a temporary shield that destroys the birds. More and Additional files/mirrors

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