Cat simulator hits its funding goal, considers PS4 version

Catlateral Damage, the quirky, first-feline swatter that emerged from a game jam, cleared its Kickstarter funding goal of $40,000 with 12 days left and now is considering adding bonus levels and, potentially, a PlayStation 4 version.

Developer Chris Chung announced the stretch goals when the game cleared its target on Thursday. Bonus levels (including a supermarket and a museum) will be added at $48,000 and $56,000, and if the project hits $100,000, Chung will build a PS4 edition, to be released six months after Catlateral Damage arrives on Steam and Ouya. All backers would be able to choose whichever version they prefer.

In Catlateral Damage, the player is a cat and the goal is to knock over as many household items as possible in the alotted time, racking up a higher score as the destruction piles on. A browser-based demo is playable here.

Source: Polygon

Sniper Elite 3 keys stolen, canceled, buyers left to fend for themselves

Numerous keys for Sniper Elite 3 have been invalidated and their owners left practically empty handed after Steam and developing studio Rebellion discovered they were stolen and then re-sold to other vendors.

Rebellion is offering the "Target Hitler" DLC extension as a make-good for those affected, but as far as the full game, they're being told to contact the reseller and demand a refund. Neither Rebellion nor Steam are offering that.

Rebellion, in a forum thread now stretching more than 700 comments, explicitly held the resellers blameless. "One of our PC retail distributors informed us that some of their allotted Steam keys were stolen," Rebellion wrote. "We believe these keys were then resold to multiple companies, with no payments going to either Valve or the retail distributor."

Rebellion informed Steam of this, and Steam revoked these keys.
"We have in no way targeted any specific vendors (who may have also thought these keys were legitimate)," Rebellion added, "just this one set of keys."

Rebellion is facing a storm of angry responses on the game's Steam page as well as the studio's Facebook page. The most it's offering is the DLC, on the understanding that some may have preordered these keys and, therefore, if they lose the game they would also lose "Target Hitler," which for now is available only as a preorder incentive.

Buyers of the revoked keys have until July 4 to claim that DLC.

"All we can suggest if you have been affected is to please contact your vendor and first ask for a replacement key, and then contact us for the free pre-order DLC if you are successful," Rebellion wrote.

Source: Polygon

New Naruto game, western Tales of Xillia 2 playable at Anime Expo 2014

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, due to launch on Sept. 8, will be playable at Bandai Namco's booth, along with Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Hearts R at the Anime Expo 2014, beginning Thursday in Los Angeles.

Other games with playable demos at the Namco booth will include One Piece Unlimited World Red, Short Peace: Ranko Tskuigme's Longest Day, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn, and Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment.

A panel scheduled for Thursday afternoon will feature producers of Tales of Xillia 2 (due for a western release in August) and Sword Art Online to discuss the localization and development of both games.

Tournaments for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst also will be held. Anime Expo 2014 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For more information, see the expo's official site.

Source: Polygon

Dreamfall Chapters goes episodic in order to deliver something to backers this fall

Dreamfall Chapters, the Kickstarter-funded sequel to the 2006 adventure game Dreamfall, will adopt an episodic format in order to deliver backers something this fall, the game's creators announced on Friday.

Dreamfall Chapters, funded on Kickstarter with more than $1.5 million in donations, originally eschewed the episodic approach, despite its title. "The creative process is unpredictable, however," wrote Ragnar Tornquist, creative director for developing studio Red Thread Games, "and the story we're telling has turned out to be bigger and more ambitious than first envisioned.

"We're not on track to meet the release date we estimated a year and a half ago, and we've had to take a long, hard look at our schedule and budget," he wrote.

Five episodes are planned. Those who backed Dreamfall Chapters by Kickstarter and PayPal will receive all five free. New customers will be able to purchase a season pass on Steam, GOG and the Humble Store. Dreamfall Chapters will be released on PC, Mac and Linux.

"We could have made deep cuts, removed a lot of the characters, story-lines and locations — but we would have ended up with a different game than the one that's played inside our heads for the better part of a decade, a different game than the one we've promised our backers," Tornquist wrote. "We've also realised that while, as a small studio, we are capable of producing a massively ambitious game like Dreamfall Chapters, we're not satisfied with our ability to properly finish, polish and bug fix the whole game in one go.

"By releasing Book One this autumn, we hope to start generating income, all of which will go right back into improving the quality and scope of subsequent books," he said.

For more on the nearly two-year development of Dreamfall Chapters, see Polygon's in-depth profile of Tornquist and Red Thread Games.

Source: Polygon

Summer Games Done Quick raises more than $700,000

Summer Games Done Quick, the mid-year fund raiser of Speed Demos Archive, nearly tripled the amount it raised in 2013, hauling in $713,000 over a week long stretch, the proceeds of which go to Doctors Without Borders.

Speed Demos Archive announced the figure today over its Twitter account, noting that the Games Done Quick campaign has raised more than $2.75 million lifetime.

"To see what we have been able to accomplish in just four years since then is nothing short of incredible. We love you all!" the organizers tweeted.

Summer Games Done Quick also partnered with Humble Bundle during the drive, with more than $82,000 raised from the sale of 10 indie games.

Source: Polygon

Kerbal Space Program tries out paid referral program

Kerbal Space Program is experimenting with a partnership program through which gamers who refer others to the engineering-and-spaceflight simulator receive some cash for the evangelism.

The program is focused to externally hosted content — that is, YouTube, livestreaming services and mods or other constructions - and requires that someone referred to Kerbal's store buys a copy.

It's a test program, KSP's creators emphasize. "We are going to see how this works and decide after a period of time if it is something we will continue. We reserve the right to cap the number of participants, to change the program, including ending it."

Those interested need to register here.

Source: Polygon

Korg brings a new synthesizer to 3DS this fall

Korg's latest music-making app, Korg DSN-12, comes to the Nintendo 3DS via the eShop in September, the synthesizer maker announced this week.

Korg DSN-12 follows 2008's Korg DS-10 for the DS and 2010's Korg M01D for the 3DS. It's not a game, per se, but an emulator of an analog synthesizer the user plays using the touch screen and buttons. Korg DSN-12 offers 12 monophonic synthesizers — "inspired by Korg's legendary MS-10 analog synthesizer," the company says — and lets users apply three effects from a list including delay, chorus, flanger, compressor, kick, and reverb. Users may also exchange song and sound data locally.

It's "the world's first 3D display oscilloscope screen," too, Korg promises. Pricing has not yet been announced.

Source: Polygon