Archive for September, 2011

IGN scores 9/10 for escapeVektor: Chapter 1

Friday, September 30th, 2011

It looks like IGN are also fans of escapeVektor: Chapter 1. In their 9/10 review they say “escapeVektor just blew me away.” and “It’s a spectacular experience.” Nice!

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 review

by Lucas M. Thomas

escapeVektor just blew me away. I’d had this new WiiWare game on my radar for a while, and I thought that it looked like a good one – but now that it’s out, and I’ve played it, I was wrong. It’s more than good. It’s great. It rocks. It’s totally freaking slick.

Click here to read the rest of the review

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 scores 9/10 from Nintendo World Report

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Our first review is in for escapeVektor: Chapter 1 and it’s a big thumbs up from Nintendo World Report, giving the game 9/10. “It was addictive, fun, and strikes the perfect balance between an arcade and puzzle game.” Thanks guys!

escapeVektor: Chapter 1
by Daan Koopman, Europe Correspondent

What lurks inside your Wii’s CPU? An awesome game, that’s what!

Have you ever wondered what is going on in your Wii’s CPU? No? Well, maybe you will after playing Australian developer Nnooo’s newest WiiWare product escapeVektor Chapter 1: Combat Power Unleashed. In the first episode of this brand new series, we meet Vektor. He has been trapped inside your Wii for longer than he can remember and you are the first person he has successfully made contact with. He doesn’t remember anything of his past or why he is trapped, but if you help him you might learn a thing or two about Vektor. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. The CPU is fully aware of your actions and tries to stop you at any cost. Luckily for you, Vektor has coding skills which can come in handy, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Click here to read the rest of the review and see a couple of gameplay videos

7 Key Principles of Game Development (part 1)

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

To coincide with the launch of escapeVektor: Chapter 1, games website MMGN asked us to write about the making of the game. We thought it would be interesting to combine it with a few principles of game development and it ended up being a 2 part feature. Here’s part 1.

Making escapeVektor Chapter 1: 7 Key Principles of Game Development

We recently completed our second WiiWare™ title, escapeVektor™: Chapter 1 which is released in Australia, NZ, The Americas and Europe on September 29th for 500 Nintendo Points.

If you’ve read our 3 features on escapeVektor: Chapter 1 over the last few weeks, you’ll hopefully know all about the game by now. We thought we would finish off by sharing what we believe are some key principles of game development, and show where we applied them to escapeVektor: Chapter 1.

Click here to see the rest of this article

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 – Run, blast and reach for the stars!

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

escapeVektor™: Chapter 1 is a retro styled arcade game for WiiWare™ in which the player controls Vektor, an entity trapped inside the player’s CPU. Each level consists of a series of interconnected lines which form cells. These are claimed as Vektor moves along them. Claiming all of the cells in a level unlocks the exit to the next level, bringing Vektor closer to his escape.

However, this is no ordinary CPU. It has held Vektor captive for what feels like an eternity and it doesn’t want him to leave now. As Vektor progresses with his escape, the CPU sets up obstacles and sends out its army to destroy him.

In the final part of our escapeVektor: Chapter 1 feature, we describe the Interceptors, the most difficult enemy to deal with. We also talk about the Detonate ability, high scoring tactics and the interactive soundtrack. (more…)

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 – Anti-Hunter tactics, exits to hidden areas and the key to Vektor’s memory

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

escapeVektor™: Chapter 1 is a retro styled arcade game for WiiWare™ in which the player controls Vektor, an entity trapped inside the player’s CPU. Each level consists of a series of interconnected lines which form cells. These are claimed as Vektor moves along them. Claiming all of the cells in a level unlocks the exit to the next level, bringing Vektor closer to his escape.

However, this is no ordinary CPU. It has held Vektor captive for what feels like an eternity and it doesn’t want him to leave now. As Vektor progresses with his escape, the CPU sets up obstacles and sends out its army to destroy him.

We told you about about those dumb Patrols in the first part of our escapeVektor: Chapter 1 feature. We also described the dangerous Electric Fences and Cannons, not to mention Vektor’s useful Boost ability. Now it’s time to find out about another enemy and see how you get Vektor out of there. (more…)

Pop+ Solo one of Nintendo Life’s favourites on eShop

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

We’re big fans of Nintendo Life, so we were delighted for them when we saw they had their own shelf on the Nintendo 3DS eShop featuring Nintendo Life favourites. We were even more delighted when we found out that one of their favourites was Pop+ Solo. Thanks guys!

Click here to see the whole range of Nintendo Life’s favourites on the Nintendo 3DS eShop

Kotaku Australia Show & Tell

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Kotaku Australia have recently introduced a new feature for Australian developers called Show & Tell. When they asked for developers to submit answers to five questions describing their studio and current projects we couldn’t resist. It gave us a great chance to tell some more people about escapeVektor: Chapter 1 and Spirit Hunters Inc.

Show And Tell: Nnooo

by Tracey Lien

Welcome to Show and Tell, a (relatively) new regular that gives local Australian indie developers the chance to show their latest work, whether its a finished game or a work in progress. Today we’re speaking to an indie studio that is no stranger to the WiiWare, DSi and iOS market. Bruce Thomson from Nnooo gave us a preview of what they’re working on now.

Can you introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about your studio?

We are an independent game development studio based in Sydney, developing downloadable games primarily for Nintendo consoles. Our first game was called Pop, a bubble popping game for up to four players for the Wii. It was one of only six titles picked for Nintendo’s US WiiWare launch in 2008. We subsequently made a single player version of the game, Pop+ Solo, for the Nintendo DSi and iPhone. We’ve also released a series of personal organiser applications for the Nintendo DSi called the myLifeCollected series. The most successful of the applications, the myNotebook series, has sold almost a quarter of a million units.

Click here to read the rest of the article

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 – Avoiding Patrols, Electric Fences & Cannons!

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

escapeVektor™: Chapter 1 is a retro styled arcade game for WiiWare™ in which the player controls Vektor, an entity trapped inside the player’s CPU. Each level consists of a series of interconnected lines which form cells. These are claimed as Vektor moves along them. Claiming all of the cells in a level unlocks the exit to the next level, bringing Vektor closer to his escape.

However, this is no ordinary CPU. It has held Vektor captive for what feels like an eternity and it doesn’t want him to leave now. As Vektor progresses with his escape, the CPU sets up obstacles and sends out its army to destroy him.

In the first part of our escapeVektor: Chapter 1 feature we have a look at one of the enemy types and some of the obstacles Vektor has to deal with during his escape. (more…)

Developing for WiiWare

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

When we sent out our press release about the escapeVektor: Chapter 1 release date, MCV Pacific asked us what developing for WiiWare was like for a small indie developer. So we told them…

Nnooo talks about developing for WiiWare

by Leigh Harris

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 has been given pricing and a release date by developer Nnooo today, who has spoken to MCV about releasing games for WiiWare.

The downloadable Wii title will be available worldwide on 29th September for 500 Nintendo points, and blends Tron style arcade gameplay with intense puzzle action to unique and very colourful effect.

Nic Watt, creative director at Nnooo, told MCV: “WiiWare like all channels for an indie developer is a tough market to compete in. As a small independent developer we have learnt that it is not simply good enough to have a great, highly polished game and expect it to sell well just on word of mouth.”

Click here to see the rest of the article

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 – WiiWare release date

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Nnooo announces release date and price for escapeVektor™: Chapter 1.

Australian based games developer Nnooo has announced the release date and price for its upcoming WiiWare™ game escapeVektor: Chapter 1.

The game will be released in The Americas, Europe, Australia and NZ on September 29th and will cost 500 Nintendo Points.

escapeVektor: Chapter 1 is a retro styled arcade game in which the player controls Vektor, an entity trapped inside the player’s CPU. The player has to help Vektor escape and in doing so, avoid enemies sent out by the CPU to track Vektor down. Each enemy type has different hunting patterns and intelligence, and as the player completes the various levels in the game, escape becomes more difficult. New abilities unlock to help the player outwit and destroy the CPU’s army. (more…)