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Former Good Morning America child star, Tom spends his time these days writing lots of things for people to read. He's a fan of independently developed video games, and always roots for the underdog. Send him animated .gifs on Twitter: @tomscott90. He likes those things
  • Where’s My Game?! The Dangers of Early Access
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    Where’s My Game?! The Dangers of Early Access

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    About five years ago, Mojang popularized a form of pre-purchase known as "early access" with their game Minecraft. By allowing players access to the most current build of the game, back during the Alpha and Beta build days, Mojang opened the door to player's direct feedback, letting them essentially playtest the game through development. This system worked pretty flawlessly for Mojang, and since then, countless independent developers have understandably followed suit.Early access releases are now a pretty normal way for developers to release their games to players anxious to get into the latest build. But, this method of direct developer-to-player feedback has begun to develop a dark side.Within the past year I have observed a number of player bases lash out at development teams, going so far as to call the developers scam artists regarding their early access releases. The buyers of these early access titles feel like the developers have abandoned them, essentially making a prototype of a game, selling it as is while promising more, and then taking the money and running. 
  • The Stomping Land release date set, dinosaur riding imminent
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    • PC
    The Stomping Land release date set, dinosaur riding imminent

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    Earlier in the week the Steam Early Access release trailer for The Stomping Land was revealed, along with lots of information about the game and its impending release. With a set launch date of May 30th, The Stomping Land will be in players' hands just a little under a year following the game's Kickstarter campaign which pulled in over $100,000. Those who backed the game on Kickstarter (and qualify for the specific rewards tier) will have access to the game on the 26th, four days before everyone else will.On the game's official forums, The Stomping Land's lead developer, Alex Fundora, revealed that seven different dinosaurs will accompany the early access release, with other dinosaurs being added into the game as they are completed. Fundora also talked a little about the caves shown off in the release trailer, and what players can expect to get from exploring them.
  • Pleasing Investors Is Hard: The Untimely Death of Frog Sord
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    • PC
    Pleasing Investors Is Hard: The Untimely Death of Frog Sord

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    There is a lesson to be learned from every failure, is what Zack Bell, lead developer of Frog Sord, is quickly realizing. Bell's game, a Super Meatboy-esque platformer starring a sword-wielding frog has fallen on hard times. Frog Sord, as it exists right now as a playable Alpha, is probably all the world will ever know of the frog and his adventures. Due to a conflict amongst the MECH6 team, Frog Sord development has been scrapped.What started as a great idea two friends had for a game, quickly evolved into an early prototype which picked up attention and support from players all around the world. Bell quickly found himself picking up additional team members in order to turn Frog Sord into everything he had dreamed it would be. During these early steps of the game's life, a few mistakes were made that would turn out to be fatal ones.In short, MECH6 took on investors that they were not prepared to do business with. The necessity of constant feedback to the investors strained the team's ability to develop, as no one on the team was really prepared for the business side of things. On top of the investors looming over the project, MECH6 made some legal missteps that ended up hemorrhaging the team's morale, eventually to a point beyond repair. 
  • 5 Great Games from Ludum Dare 29
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    5 Great Games from Ludum Dare 29

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    Every April, August, and December, Ludum Dare takes over my developer-filled Twitter feed as the event's thousands of participants set aside their weekend specifically for game development. Depending on if they are participating in the Competition or the more rules-relaxed Jam, developers have 48 or 72 hours respectively, to assemble their game. The rigorous 48-hour competition restricts game developers to work alone on their games and develop them from scratch. The 72-hour jam allows room for groups and those groups can borrow assets from their previous work.With the theme "Beneath the Surface" for the 29th Ludum Dare event, developers crammed their collective creativity last weekend to create nearly 2,500 unique games. Some games took the theme literally, making a game about going under the surface of the sea or underground. While others, took the theme more figuratively. Here are some of the highlights.
  • 3 Prehistoric Games You Should Be Excited about
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    3 Prehistoric Games You Should Be Excited about

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    Anachronistic issues aside, hunting dinosaurs is something that passes through the minds of most children, —and speaking for myself, many adults. Sure, Jurassic Park spoiled the fun by showing us the realities of such a pursuit, but here's to hoping that most of our readers don't honestly see a porta-potty covered in bamboo as ample cover from a Tyrannosaurus Rex.The Stomping Land, from game developer Alex Fundora, may be the closest thing we get to hunting dinosaurs within our lifetime. Within The Stomping Land, players will have to hunt dinosaurs to survive in the game's vast wilderness. The multiplayer aspects combined with the survival mechanics position The Stomping Land akin to Day Z as far as gameplay goes. You know how anxious you get in Day Z, when a random player comes running your way, out of the woods? Imagine how you're going to feel when a random player comes storming out of the woods...on the back of a 15ft tall carnivorous dinosaur.Last summer, Fundora took The Stomping Land to Kickstarter where he managed to pull in over $100,000 to go towards the game's development. Nearly a year later, development is coming along nicely, with Fundora working on implementing one of the coolest features I've seen in a game: celestial navigation. There is no map in the game, and players will have to use the stars to navigate their way at night. During the day players will have to look out for footprints and listen for dinosaur roars to indicate the location of specific species. 
  • News
    • PC
    Source is a dazzling game about a cybernetic firefly trying to save its universe

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    Few games grab my attention as fast as Source did. There are just a handful of games that I discover each year that so completely engage me that I feel the need to watch the gameplay trailer three or four times, before I feel I've fully digested what I have been watching. From the spectacularly beautiful scenery, to the instantly charming buzzing protagonist, to the world as a whole, Source presented me with a universe I've never seen before, but one I immediately wished to be a part of.If all goes well with the Kickstarter campaign, Source will be out on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U by August 2015. The husband and wife development team behind Source are drawing inspiration from many sources, Tron perhaps being the most notable. They are also describing Source as a Metroidvania experience that features no dialog or cutscenes, relying on "visual storytelling that unfolds dynamically" to plot the adventure.
  • Minecraft: Realms launched, Vita and PS4 releases, and…Denmark?
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    Minecraft: Realms launched, Vita and PS4 releases, and…Denmark?

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    Earlier in the week, Mojang launched their Realms service for Minecraft. For $13 a month, Realms allows players to host their own Minecraft server which 20 players can visit and play within. Currently, Realms is only for PC gamers, but Mojang has revealed plans for Realms to come to both Mac and Pocket Edition players in the future.Hosts of a Realm (the subscriber) have complete control over who can join the server as well as the ability to add and remove players from the guest list. Frequent server-wide backups ensure that the host can easily revert the realm back to an earlier state if something goes wrong. Mods and texture packs are not yet supported, but Mojang plans to add them in the coming months.Mojang also revealed plans to have Minecraft on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 by the end of the year."They probably won't be released simultaneously," Mojang's Owen Hill explained to Polygon. "We're going to release on each format as soon as it's ready."
  • The Blackwell Epiphany Review
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    The Blackwell Epiphany Review

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    What seems like just another day on the job for spirit-wrangling Rosa Blackwell turns out to be an adventure cumulative of everything she has experienced through her entire life. While The Blackwell Epiphany was my first experience with the series, it was clear in no time that the writers at Wadjet Eye Games were raising the stakes in Epiphany higher than they ever dared to raise them before. With guest appearances by characters from way back from the first game, The Blackwell Epiphany powerfully and poetically concludes a game series which has lasted nearly a decade.The Blackwell Epiphany is a point-and-click adventure where players control two protagonists (Rosalinda "Rosa" Blackwell and her ghost sidekick, Joey) who are tasked with finding restless spirits and guiding them to the afterlife to finally find peace. While Epiphany does feature a few puzzles, a staple of the point-and-click genre, the majority of "puzzles" involve uncovering facts by grinding characters for information, and conducting online research through Rosa's smartphone. About halfway through the game I fell into the rhythm of searching online, checking with the police, and asking suspects about a new piece of information I had uncovered. By the end of Epiphany I felt like I was ready to be a paranormal investigator myself.