Guybrush Threepwood: We hardly knew ye

Telltale Games and LucasArts are saying that the popular pirate protagonist Guybrush Threepwood has met his doom and that all will be revealed in the next episode of Tales of Monkey Island. That episode - Rise of the Pirate God — promises to unearth secrets when it is released on Tuesday, December 8. According to the tease Telltale is circulating, suspects in his untimely death include recently reformed pirate LeChuck and Threepwood’s wife Elaine Marley-Threepwood. Apparently authorities cannot locate either of them but want to bring them in for questioning.

“He wanted what every young man wants - to loot, pillage, and sail the high seas in search of further looting and pillaging opportunities,” said Dave Grossman, veteran Monkey Island game designer and writer. “It’s a great tragedy to see such a productive life seemingly cut off prematurely. And I’m not just saying that because he owes me money.”

To celebrate Threepwood’s life, Telltale is offering the first four episodes of Tales of Monkey Island for individual purchase at http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland. How inspirational! Each episode is priced at $8.95 USD.

Atlus goes old school with 3D Dot Game Heroes

Atlus U.S.A. have announced a new retro action-adventure game called 3D Dot Game Heroes for PlayStation 3, scheduled for release in North America on May 11, 2010. The game uses an 8 and 16 bit art style comprised of cubes to create an interesting aesthetic combined with simple gameplay mechanics to create a sort of homage to a time when 8-bit gaming was still sexy.

The game promises to fuse new and old art styles, simple — but deep — action-adventure gameplay, old school references and jokes that pay homage to the great games of yesteryear, story-based quests, a customizable hero built using pixels as your building blocks, the ability to trade your hero designs with friends, and much more.

You can learn more about the game by checking out www.3ddotgameheroes.com.

Tecmo, Cing team up for DS double shot in 2010

TECMO and Japanese developer Cing have partnered to produce two new Nintendo DS titles, AGAIN and Monster Rancher DS. Both titles are slated for a March 2010 release in North America. From the makers of Hotel Dusk, AGAIN is a murder mystery adventure game featuring a story full of suspense, unexpected surprises and unique visual presentation, that promises to take the text-adventure genre to a whole new level.

Monster Rancher focuses on the traditional gameplay of previous games, while providing support for the DS’ various functions. Players can battle friends locally, or via a wireless connection. Two players can also connect to combine monsters and uncover new breeds. As with previous games in the series, the object is to create, raise, breed and battle monsters.

You can learn more about both games by visiting www.tecmogames.com.

2BeeGames Indie Game Competition finalists revealed

2BeeGames today revealed the ten finalists of their second annual Indie Game Competition. The winner, as chosen by the players who vote and a panel of judges, will win $10,000 and have the opportunity to enter a publishing contract with Zoo Games to see their game published on consoles.

If you want to participate in the process of selecting a winner, visit www.2BeeGames.com, play the games and vote for your favorites. 

The ten finalists are:

Bullets of a Revolver – submitted by Diefox

Climb to the Top of the Castle – submitted by TwO Bros. Games

Cavemen Vs. Aliens – submitted by John Sear

Cochon’s Pursuit – submitted by Edouard Mercure

Daytraders of the Dead – submitted by Mat Groves/ John Denton

DriftMoon – submitted by Ville Mönkkönen

Kablooey! – submitted by Vertigo Games

Tower of Heaven – submitted by Askiisoft

Turba – submitted by Binary Takeover

Vector Conflict: The Siege – submitted by Dig Your Own Grave Games

Voting ends November 30th so visit the site and get involved while you still can. Votes are counted on a weekly basis and only the favorite games move on.

Hudson Entertainment’s Bomberman Blitz debuts on the Nintendo DSi today for 500 points. Bomberman Blitz allows gamers to relive the classic Bomberman flavor on DSi. Players have the ability to play up to 8 players at home or online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, battle in 10 unique locations, and the ability to control the game using the DSi’s dual screens. All the power-ups that affect bombs, strengthen blast range, running and much more are also in the mix. Finally the game offers a new training mode that allows newcomers to learn the Bomberman gameplay and get right in on the action.

For more information on Bomberman Blitz and other Hudson DSi titles, check out www.hudsonent.com.

Braid lands on PS3 Nov. 12

Braid is finally coming to PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store. Jonathan Blow’s Braid will make its way to the PlayStation Network in North America on Nov. 12 with a European version to be announced shortly thereafter.

Players explore the human condition and manipulate time as hero Tim who explores the lush, painted world of Braid, a puzzle-platformer that takes you from a house in the city on a journey through a series of worlds to solve puzzles and rescue the princess by manipulating time using a unique series of ,mechanics like the ability to rewind, create parallel realities and utilize time dilation to overcome obstacles.

Braid has been rated “E 10+” for Everyone 10 and older by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for all platforms. The PS3 game will be published by Hothead Games.

Psychonauts invades Good Old Games

Good Old Games GOG.com is now offering select games from Majesco Entertainment. The agreement brings Psychonauts, BloodRayne, BloodRayne 2 and Advent Rising to the GOG.com catalog. As part of today’s announcement, GOG.com has released Psychonauts for $9.99 and Advent Rising for only $5.99. Pretty cool.

Created by Tim Schafer - before he created Brutal Legend - Psychonauts is a classic action-adventure game that is considered a cult classic by many a gamer. In fact, Scott Jones recently re-reviewed the game right here on Crispy Gamer. Advent Rising is a sci-fi themed action-adventure game that features a script written by Orson Scott Card, the author of Ender’s Game and Speaker for Dead, both awarded the Hugo and Nebula awards.

As always both games are DRM-free and compatible with Windows XP and Vista. Other titles from Majesco’s catalogue will be added in the coming weeks.