I love games that find complexity by exploring simplicity. This flash game does a great job of stripping down the fill-a-grid color maze genre, and it continually adds new path manipulation puzzle concepts along the way. I wish it would have provided more of a challenge over its 35 free logic levels, but if you want the hundreds of more difficult puzzles (or the ability to make your own levels) then you'll have to snag it for Android or iOS.

Add in soothing music that's reminiscent of the "Love On A Real Train" song from Risky Business -- and fun contrasts of bold colors -- and it makes this game the evil twin of Paint By Numbers. You can play Huebrix here on Newgrounds.

Last Week: Kingdom Rush!

How can I help you, King DeDeDe?

I NEED A MONSTAH TO CLOBBER DAT DERE KIR-BEH!

Game music arrangement repository OverClocked ReMix has released Milky Way Wishes: A Kirby Super Star Tribute , a project that has spent a dizzying eight years in production. I can only guess at what kinds of behind-the-scenes shenanigans caused such a massive delay, but love for the Super Nintendo classic carried the team through.

Unlike the disgustingly monstrous multi-disc collections like Mega Man X: Maverick Rising or the recent Donkey Kong Country 3: Double the Trouble! , Milky Way Wishes is a respectable 23 tracks in length, spanning all manner of genres from chiptune to folk music. You can download it for free directly from the album's page, or you can mind OCR's precious bandwidth and torrent the pink puffball. The power is yours!

Milky Way Wishes: A Kirby Super Star Tribute [OverClocked ReMix]

Talking to Edge, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima shared his thoughts on next-generation videogames potentially requiring substantial development teams, depending on the scope of the project. "It's possible to make many things more realistic, but that doesn't mean you should," he told the publication. "You have to prioritize, and that is what's going to separate the teams that succeed from the teams that don't. A very deep, 20-30 hour game might need a bigger team and take three or four years.

"[But] I think there's a different way of tackling this problem: something similar to a TV series, where you can use pilot episodes to test the waters before you jump completely into the project ... It can be distributed via download channels, so the player can try it out before production continues. Something like that wouldn't take that long to create, maybe a year, and if it's successful, you can continue."

While I'm instantly reminded of episodic gaming and that doesn't necessarily instill confidence, when I think about big-budget games that get stuck in long development cycles and somehow manage to release in less-than-ideal states, there's potential. Execution, particularly for some genres? That's another matter. But if it meant more new intellectual properties getting greenlit, I'd probably give "pilot" games as they're described here a shot.

Kojima touts potential of ‘pilot episodes’ for next-gen game development [Edge]

Mega Ran, everyone's favorite Philly rapper not named Will Smith, started a new project earlier this year called Time and Space. On the second Tuesday of each month, he will release a short EP of hip hop arrangements that sample music from games fans have specifically requested. Someone asks for Gitaroo Man? Gosh darnit, they're gonna get a Gitaroo Man song!

Though the full albums complete with instrumental bonuses cost a few bucks, Ran has been gracious enough to provide Dtoid with site-exclusive versions for free. First there was January's release led by the Battletoads pause beat, then there was last month's set featuring the rarely covered Beyond Good & Evil. Now we bring you Time and Space: Mach's Principle , which spreads the Castlevania love and invites A Link to the Past to join in the festivities as well.

As usual, you can download this album (along with many other Dtoid-exclusive releases) from our SoundCloud page. And if you want Ran to cover a game of your choosing, drop him a line at megaranfans@gmail.com or a modest donation on his FundRazr.

Speaking to The Verge at SXSW, OUYA founder Julie Uhrman says the upcoming Android-based console will not support online multiplayer games at launch. For Kickstarter backers, the systems will be shipped at the end of this month, while retail launch is set for June. The missing functionality, according to Uhrman, is coming "sometime this year."

While I had kind of expected, by default, something like online multiplayer to be available for applicable games from the get go, I don't know that this is that big of a deal. Then again, I'll be waiting and seeing how the launch goes before even picking up a unit. Uhrman also explained how "At the end of the day, I'd like OUYA to be on every single television, every single tablet, from every single OEM you can think of. I would love for it to be built into a television."

Ouya won't support online multiplayer at launch, wants to be built into your television [The Verge]

Our friends at Atlus have given us 20 codes for Etrian Odyssey IV to hand out to the Destructoid community! Our own Dale North has fallen in love with this gorgeous 3DS dungeon crawler, and now you can too!

To win a copy, you'll need to draw a picture, make a video, or record yourself singing a song showing your love for the Etrian series! Drop a link to your project in the comments below, and be sure to include the Destructoid logo somewhere in your creation so we know you were the one who made it!

You have until this Sunday, March 17 at 11:59 PM Pacific to enter, and the contest is open to anyone with a North American 3DS (because region-locked). Good luck!

First things first, focus your peepers on the "Worlds Collide" counter in the top-left corner. It means that Archie's massive 12-issue Sonic / Mega Man crossover event finally kicks off next month! My anticipation is palpable!

But before that happens, we have to get through March first. Thankfully, Mega Man #23 is done with silly side stories about automaton amore -- Proto Man is back! A year after his activation, Mega Man celebrates his "birthday" with a grand city-wide celebration. Proto has had enough of his younger brother's receiving all the love and attention that he so desperately craved and was denied, so he appears at the ceremony in full "Break Man" attire, ready to destroy everything Mega holds dear.

Exciting stuff, which should hold readers over until the action truly heats up in April. For now, you can purchase MM #23 in stores this Wednesday, March 13.

The "Bros Before Hos" trophy rewarded to players in God of War: Ascension has caused some upset among critics. Players, however, should not have the same issue, according to developer Sony Santa Monica, who told Joystiq that a patch will rename the trophy to "Bros Before Foes," in time for the game's commercial release tomorrow.

"The text was offensive to some members of our community and impacted their enjoyment of the game," Sony Santa Monica told Joystiq. "We are endlessly committed to ensuring that our community can fully enjoy the experiences the team has created. As such, we've addressed the feedback and amended the Trophy in question."

While this hardly excuses the initial decision of including the controversial trophy, it is a step in the right direction and should prevent unwanted, heated discussion among God of War fans. I can understand why Adam Sessler and other reviewers were bothered by its inclusion. I am happy that it won't sour my experience, because it simply won't be a part of it.

Controversial God of War: Ascension trophy altered in upcoming patch [Joystiq]

The next set of maps for Halo 4 is less than a month away. The Castle Map Pack will be dropping on April 8, which should be plenty of time to continue playing the recent Majestic Map Pack . This third add-on emphasizes vehicle-based combat and adds a new six-on-six playlist to War Games.

For 800 Microsoft Points (unless you paid for the Map Pass), Castle 's three maps are Daybreak, Outcast, and Perdition, shown above with a trailer and also in the gallery below. People seem to be divided on what they want out of Halo 4 multiplayer -- where do you stand?

Industry analyst Michael "Rainbow Pecs" Pachter is laying siege to Castle Nintendo once again, with one of his harshest appraisals of the company yet. Rather than beat around the bush, the silver-tongued stallion has directly said Nintendo's a bad company, and poured scorn on CEO Satoru Iwata.

"I think Nintendo is no longer able to compete the way they did in the past and sell their consoles at a big profit," he declared on his show Pach Attack. "I think that the Wii, when it first launched they were probably making about $100 of profit per unit. I think the DS when it first launched was probably generating about $50 of profit per unit. The 3DS I think is barely making a profit. The Wii U I think is barely making a profit -- I'm talking 5 or 10 bucks per unit."

Pachter doesn't lay any of the blame at Nintendo of America or its president, Reggie Fils-Aime. He argued NoA simply plays the cards it were dealt, and implied the Wii U was a bum hand -- a hand directly attributable to Iwata.

For the past 48 hours, I have been completely enthralled in the world of Tomb Raider. Explosions, gun-fights, stealthy takedowns, weapon upgrading, and shooting defenseless bunnies has characterized my adventure, one that has been a complete roller coaster ride from beginning to end. With cut scenes as dramatic as any action movie, epic battles against religious crazies, and sprawling environments ripe for exploring, I could barely tear myself away from Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix's masterpiece.



Such enthusiasm comes at a cost however, completing the game far too quickly is the price I pay. I just recently beat Tomb Raider's main story and while it was one crazy ride that I thoroughly enjoyed, I was a bit troubled by the concluding sentiments. Players are left with a simple phrase, "A survivor is born." Upon reading those words, I became upset. After all Lara Croft has been through, all that she has accomplished in order to save her friends and escape the ill-fated island, the label that she is granted is survivor? In my mind, Lara's exploits present her in a different light, as a hero.

In an effort to "give more life to the Pikmin characters," Nintendo has plans for original animated shorts that are being created alongside an external animation studio and overseen by designer Shigeru Miyamoto, reports Polygon. The videos will be out before Pikmin 3 arrives this year and are going to be watchable on ... 3DS.

"We really just want to take advantage of the Pikmin characters," said Miyamoto. "We have started selling Shaun the Sheep videos, so we're continuing to look at ways to expand the eShop offerings. Nintendo 3DS is great for viewing 3D video content so we wanted to look at ways to expand that offering." He explained that if these videos are "popular," Nintendo "could consider selling them."

It strikes me as a odd that these would be put out on the 3DS considering the new game is a Wii U release, but then again, that does sound like something Nintendo would do. If it helps raise awareness for the series -- the 3DS does have the larger audience -- that's terrific. I think we'd be more than happy to watch these on YouTube minus the 3D support, however.

Nintendo tests the waters for new cartoon series based on Pikmin [Polygon]

Blizzard is ready to launch the newest addition to the Starcraft II family, Heart of the Swarm , and of course millions of people will be itching to get on at the earliest possible moment.

Look no further than Blizzard's official launch times, which let you know exactly when you can start playing Heart of the Swarm. A lot of you will probably be getting down at 3:01 AM tomorrow Eastern, 12:01 AM Pacific but the rest of the world will probably want some sort of idea of when to boot up!

Heart of the Swarm Live Server times [Battle.net]

The folks over at the PlayStation Blog have alerted us to a week-long Ubisoft sale that's worth glancing over if you have got a spare moment and want to save on PlayStation Network titles for PS3, PSP, Vita, or all three platforms.

Starting tomorrow, more than 35 titles will be between 30 and 50 percent off, depending on your status as a PS Plus member or lack thereof. The full list is viewable below, but here are some games worth owning: Rayman Origins PS3 ($13.99 / $9.79 with Plus), Shoot Many Robots ($6.99 / $4.89 with Plus), Outland ($6.99 / $4.89 with Plus), and Lumines Electronic Symphony ($18.89 / $13.22 with Plus).

Red Thread Games must have had a great weekend. The developer's Kickstarter for adventure game Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey came to a close with $1,538,425 in funding. While not every stretch goal was reached, fans of the series were clearly eager for more.

The extra money will go toward: Mac and Linux versions of Dreamfall Chapters ; an in-game library with books and lore; more locations, characters, and stories; the House of All Worlds; an interactive graphic novel recapping the story so far; German and French language support with added dialogue; and the director's cut with a commentary track (love those!).

Ports to iOS and Android as well as the content expansion known as "The Longest Journey Home" weren't funded, but Red Thread previously wrote that the latter is "a story we all want to tell, and we won't let it die." The team says it'll "still look into ways of making [it] a reality...some day."

Developer Toylogic has just revealed that Happy Wars, the first microtransaction based Xbox Live Arcade game, has reached the two million player mark. To celebrate, more content updates have been added.

Although it may not seem like two million users for a free game isn't that big of a deal, those are still two million potential customers. Even if everyone only bought a starter pack, most free-to-play games would still be a profitable endeavor.

This particular game clearly benefits from the unique position of being the only free-to-play game on the 360. Hopefully we'll see more games follow suit on the 720 and the PS4, as options are always a great thing.

The appearance of Braid and The Witness developer Jonathan Blow at Sony’s PS4 reveal was one of its biggest surprises. Had Sony charmed one of the most outspoken and demandingly independent developers around? We asked him about his opinion of PS4’s hardware, Sony and Microsoft’s changing attitudes to indies and his vision for the next generation.

You’ve said that you like the idea of The Witness being on console. Why is that?

Part of it is making sure that everyone who wants to play the game can. We’re trying to get a spectrum of players – we’re doing PC, I do most of my playing on PC now. It’s what I’ve gravitated to. We’re doing iOS – it’s a really nice game for touch interfaces and iOS is the majority of touch devices right now. We’ll also support touch on PC, but there aren’t that many out there right now.

But a lot of people still play games on console, and, well, if we want them to play the game, we want to be there. It’s a smart business decision, maybe. But how can we predict it? Nobody can really know what is going to happen with next-generation consoles. There’s speculation that nobody’s going to buy them, while some think they’re going to be bigger than the last generation. I really don’t know. But it seems to be a good idea to be there. PS4 seemed like the best one to lead on. We naturally started developing on it late last year and we’re very happy with that decision. When the choice came to announce ourselves as a launch title for PS4 we went for it because it was what we were already doing.

Sony came to you about being in the presentation?

Yeah, it was a surprise to us, and we only found out a short time before the presentation!

How long before?

I probably shouldn’t say, but it wasn’t very long. We put that trailer together very quickly, and we worked very hard on the game to make it presentable. It was basically a surprise – you think about what kind of shows they are and who’s in them. Every other game – maybe not the Media Molecule one, I don’t know – surely had a budget over $100 million. Some of those games have $500-600 million budgets; maybe just one. That a tiny game like ours being in that group, I wasn’t even considering it could be a possibility, so that was interesting.

It seemed to carry a careful message, that Sony had tamed Jon Blow, the outspoken developer who makes games on his terms.

Yeah, they never said anything that explicitly but I do think they realise that downloadable games are going to be bigger than they ever have been, and I think they realise that part of success in that area is having developers who are making the most interesting games want to be on their platform. For that to be the case when they’re shipping the console, they’re going to have to do a lot more than just getting an independent developer onstage, right, but hopefully they’ll do that. I’m having a good time working with them so far – I’m optimistic but you can only wait and see how things happen.

Braid and The Witness developer Jonathan Blow.

Sony’s better supporting independent developers with self-publishing – have you seen much change in its attitudes?

I haven’t had that much contact in the past – when we released Braid on PS3, it was another developer that did the port and publishing. I heard they’re simplifying certain aspects of certification, I don’t know. Porting The Witness over now, we’re not actually in the part of development when we would be interacting with Sony yet.

It was easy to assume that you’d agreed to go on stage because you knew the terms of business, which you’ve complained about in the past for consoles, were better.

Yeah, there were a lot of reasons why it was a good choice. Some were technical – we haven’t officially been disclosed on Microsoft’s next console, but we do see the same leaks as everyone else has, and they seem plausible. To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It’s trying to be the centre of the living room device, which is fine and maybe it’s the right thing for Microsoft to do, business-wise. I don’t know; I actually don’t think it is, but they’ve certainly thought about it more than me!

As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn’t seem as good a choice. And, you know, I’ve had a bad time working with Microsoft in the past. Maybe not super bad, but a moderately bad time in terms of business relationships. Other developers who are friends of mine have had a horrible time, so the idea of signing up again with Microsoft isn’t something I’d have ruled out, but there’s a certain amount of dread I have about doing that again. I don’t have that with Sony. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out to be just as bad at the end! But I don’t think so. The people we’re talking to on a daily basis there are just really good people, and we’re happy to work with them. We’ll see how it goes.

Continue >>

The post Jonathan Blow talks PlayStation 4, the next Xbox and difficult business relationships appeared first on Edge Online.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was an attempt to reboot the Castlevania franchise, which even an ardent fan such as myself would admit had been growing long in the tooth. In the care of Spanish studio MercurySteam, Lords of Shadow adopted the combo-based combat and environment traversal of modern action-adventures. Some liked the new direction, others were resistant, but both parties agreed that it certainly didn't feel like any Castlevania before.

When Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate was revealed to be a side-scrolling platformer for the 3DS, people assumed it was an attempt at reaching out to lapsed fans. If done properly, a marriage of the new Western style with the nonlinear "Metroidvania" gameplay could demonstrate that MercurySteam understands what made the series so popular to begin with.

It does not.