Posted by Al
Fri, 5th Nov 2010
Hi everyone,
Just a quick message to let you know that we hope to have some cool news next week regarding a new project. Meanwhile things continue to gather momentum with Cubixx HD (PS3 PSN) and Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death (minis).
The other cool news is that we've just revamped our website. This'll be going live in the early part of next week (hopefully Monday), at which point you'll get to see a much cooler, fun site that better integrates the blog, makes it easier to follow what's going on with us on Twitter and Facebook and gives you the chance to laugh at some awesome caricatures of our team's 'differently beatiful' faces. ;)
More news next week.
Byeeeeeeee! :)
Al
Posted by Al
Wed, 27th Oct 2010
Hey everyone,
It’s been another busy week here at LJ Towers. First up, we finally have bullet-proof release dates for the updated version of Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! for PSN minis, so here goes:
The SCEE update is released today – that’s right, as of now you’re able to sample the awesomeness that is Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! and this time you may reach the second level! ;)
SCEA minis fans will have to wait a little longer – although both versions were approved today, the vagaries of international games publication mean that the update won’t be applied on the SCEA PSN Store until 16th November – sorry about that! :(
Those of you who’ve given up with the original overly-bad-ass version of Ace can now jump back into the cockpit, while those who’re yet to take the plunge can now get started on a really solid shmup that loves you more than ever before! Go give it a try! :)
The other news this week is that we’ve (finally) gone a bit more public with our first Fighting Fantasy licensed minis title. The first game in the series will be Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death and will feature a wealth of new features as well as the original 80’s FF goodness you know and love.
We’ll do a separate blog post on all things FF-related soon, but for now check out the latest news on the official Fighting Fantasy website! It’s cool to be working on a franchise that I enjoyed myself as a younger man – funnily enough I was flicking through my own copy of Creature of Havoc just a couple of weeks back. Great memories! :)
We’ve got the full support of the series’ creator, gaming legend Steve Jackson, and so far feedback from the official FF site’s community has been uniformly positive, so it’s all good! :)
We’ll bring you more detail on Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death as work progresses, so watch this space. We’ll also have more on Cubixx HD (PS3) and a couple of as-yet-unannounced developments that should make for interesting reading. More news on all that soon.
As always you can catch up on any mid-week news via our Facebook and Twitter pages. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don’t miss out on any news. We really rely on fan support to get news about us and our products out there, so – if you like what we do – please support us in whatever way you can. We REALLY appreciate it! ;)
Thanks for now – have a great weekend!
Al
Posted by Al
Fri, 22nd Oct 2010
Hi everyone,
It’s been a busy week here at LJ as we continue to toil away on our ongoing projects (including the Fighting Fantasy minis game and Cubixx HD for PS3 – oh yeah!). Meanwhile, we’re trying to get our easier version of Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! back on the PSN Store as quickly as we can. Those who’ve signed up to our Facebook and Twitter pages may have seen this news earlier – it pays to get involved! ;)
I listed the changes made to the game two weeks back and it’s obvious to everyone who’s tried it here that they’ve made a real difference. People who previously never made it to the first boss can now get around half way through the game on Rookie difficulty – with a bit of effort.
Elite difficulty is still punishingly tough due to the enemies’ toughness and the resulting crowded screen space, but things are far more comfortable for the player, thanks to the changes to the recycl-o-ray functionality (much simpler to use) and the remapped controls that mean you don’t get hand cramps anymore (yay!).
Anyhow, I’m happy to say that the game is now in submission at both SCEA and SCEE. We have our fingers, arms, legs, eyes (and possibly other body parts) crossed in nervous anticipation. Maybe this is the last time we’ll work on Ace?? :(
This whole process of tweaking and testing has led to lots of plays of the game by what I like to call the office’s ‘Differently Skilled’ staff, to make sure it’s palatable for beginners. I’ve also managed to beat my previous high score on Rookie difficulty. I’ll hopefully be posting a video of the playthrough next week (if I am allowed, as it kind of spoils the game for those who haven’t finished it). I’ve also done single-life Rookie playthroughs of levels 3, 4 and 5 – if there’s sufficient demand for these I’ll post them on our Youtube channel so let me know here on the blog, or you can put a message up on pspminis.com (although we appreciate all the blog traffic we get!!)
So, my new Rookie high score is: 61557! Beat that if you can! It wasn’t a perfect run either so I know there’s plenty more to be squeezed out of it... :)
Once the updated version of Ace is up on both PSN Stores we’ll probably run a high score competition to give away some game codes, I guess. More news on that as and when it happens! :)
Cheers for now – have a great weekend!
Al
