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.

Castle Crashers Wins XBLA Award

The votes are in and it looks like The Behemoth’s Castle Crashers was the big winner, picking up Game of the Year, Best Original Game, and Best Co-Op Mode. Coming in at a close second with three nods for Best Versus Mode, Best Remake and Best Graphics was Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

While some folks will be upset that Braid, a decent game in its own right, didn’t win Game of the Year, keep in mind that these were voted for by the community - and they did give it some love for being innovative. Full list of winners below, congrats to all chosen by fans - it is the best honor a game developer and a game can get!

Game of the Year:
Castle Crashers

Best Versus Mode:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Best Single Player Game:
Portal: Still Alive

Best Remake:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Best Original Game:
Castle Crashers

Best Innovation:
Braid

Best Graphics:
Super Street Fight II Turbo HD Remix

Best Family Game:
A Kingdom for Keflings

Best Co-op Mode:
Castle Crashers

Hothead Games Ports Braid, The Maw

Hothead Games is bringing some popular indies that were once exclusively on Xbox Live to PC players. The independent development studios that helped create the Penny Arcade RPG titles has inked deals with Twisted Pixel and Jonathan blow. Hothead Games will port The Maw, the popular Xbox Live Arcade platformer from Twisted Pixel to the PC, and Jonathan Blow’s Braid to the Mac.

This might also lead to Hothead helping these developers port future titles to these platforms at launch - though I am kind of speculating on that fact.
The Maw is a clever platformer featuring a strange pair of aliens who are simply trying to get away from an oppressive humanoid force that captures other aliens for some unknown reason. The game follows the exploits of Frank and the shape-changing Maw, who takes on different forms based on creatures that he eats. Braid doesn’t really need an explanation but if you’re from another universe you can learn more at our Braid game page.

You can learn more about Hothead Games by visiting www.hotheadgames.com

LittleBigPlanet Sweeps Interactive Achievement Awards

The 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony is over and the big winners of this year’s awards were LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Dead Space and Left 4 Dead - but mostly it was Media Molecule’s big night in the spotlight, leaving every other big name franchise released in 2008 eating its dust for most of the night.

Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet was the big winner of the night, sweeping the Overall and Console Game of the Year awards, in addition to multiple awards for Outstanding Achievement in art direction, visual engineering, character performance and game direction. The PS3 exclusive also won the Family Game of the Year Award and the Outstanding Innovation in Gaming Award.

The other big winners of the night, (garnering more than one award) were Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3 and Dead Space. Two indie titles, World of Goo and Braid, scored awards as well. A full listing of all the winners can be found after the break.

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Game Developers Choice Award Finalists Announced

The ninth annual Game Developers Choice Awards finalists have been announced this morning, with Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet leading with seven nominations and Jonathan Blow’s Xbox Live Arcade title Braid following closely with five nominations.

Other nominees include Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Fable 2, Far Cry 2, World of Goo, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV and many others. The Game Developers Choice Awards are held annually in tandem with the Game Developers Conference in March.

The full list of categories and nominees after the jump:

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Did WGA Game Awards Get Snubbed?

Earlier this month, when the Writers Guild of America announced its nominees for the 2008 Videogame Writing Award, a lot of gamers were left scratching their heads. Sure, games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed were entertaining, but where were the games like Dead Space? Apparently, the folks behind those games simply decided to skip out.

According to an article on Variety’s website, a number of games were never considered for nomination due to the companies behind those games either not having their writers join the WGA or never submitting scripts to the WGA for nomination.

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Xbox Live 2008 Data Puts Halo 3 on Top

Microsoft’s Major Nelson released Xbox Live statistics for 2008, revealing that Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 were the most played games online, and that Castle Crashers was the top seller on Xbox Live Marketplace. In the top five, Gears of War 2 and GTA IV were the only games published in 2008 that made the list. Full lists after the jump.

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