Key events
29th August 2014
7th September 2012
17th August 2012
PS4 version of Dust: An Elysian Tail announced
1080p/60fps. Out soon.
A PlayStation 4 version of Dust: An Elysian Tail has been announced.
The hand-drawn 2D side-scrolling action platformer first launched on Xbox 360 in 2012, then a year later on PC. On PS4 it runs at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second, developer Humble Hearts wrote on the PlayStation Blog.
It's due out soon, although no release date was mentioned.
Games with Gold is getting Dust: An Elysian Tail tomorrow
Followed by Saints Row: The Third.
Microsoft's Games with Gold program is adding indie platformer Dust: An Elysian Tail and open-world action comedy Saints Row: The Third to its roster of free offerings for Xbox 360 users with Xbox Live Gold subscriptions.
Microsoft's Summer of Arcade 2012 posts uninspiring sales
Wreckateer is worst-selling title in promotion for years.
This year's Summer of Arcade promotion for Xbox Live Arcade has posted overall uninspiring sales, with Kinect Angry Birds-style game Wreckateer the worst-selling Summer of Arcade title in the promotion since at least 2009.
Wreckateer notched up just 6629 players during its first week on sale, Gamsutra reported, the worst total for a Summer of Arcade game since at least 2009.
(The promotion began in 2008, but there are no records to chart that year's sales.)
Ultraviolence for all the family.
Furries. In Dust: An Elysian Tail, you can't escape them. Nearly every location has one or two of the goggle-eyed creatures lolloping about, and the towns are crammed to the rafters with them. It's like Saturday morning telly. Dust is a gorgeous and fun 2D slash-'em-up with an RPG-lite layer - so why, you sometimes catch yourself wondering, do the characters look like Bambi's B-list?
Who knows. It's not a case of wanting buckets of gore, but it feels like there's a disconnect between the game's action and its extraordinarily family-friendly visual style. Perhaps it will find a new audience outside of the genre's traditional hardcore crowd, but Dust's look often slips into limply saccharine for me.
Beneath this surface beats the heart of a soldier. The most direct forebear to Dust's combat system is 2008's excellent The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, an intense 2D slasher with a winning weapon-switch system. Dust's combat has a less frenetic pace, but the principles of two-button combos and constant movement lend it an instantly familiar rhythm, embellished with an unusual take on projectile attacks. Time to talk about that flying cat.
