Apparently one title wasn’t bad enough: Crytek to pick up Homefront sequel

So I guess we all know my opinion on Homefront. I still haven’t played the game because I still would choose Solitaire rather than waste three or four hours earning the right to say, “I told you so.” Although I’m much less smug about it learning that Kaos Studios was closed down due to the failure of the game. Despite achieving some financial success, the backlash of Homefront led to a drop in THQ shares and, subsequently, painted Homefront in an even more negative light.

Now, to anyone else this would have been a rather clear sign that Homefront was a terrible, terrible idea. Some backwater country with thirty-year-old military hardware couldn’t even take over the Philippines if it wanted to. Couple this with a four-hour buggy single player experience and everyone knows why the game didn’t sell well…except THQ. THQ is convinced the game would’ve sold much better if it was handled by a “triple A” developer. And what better “triple A” developer could there be that specializes in making North Korea as the Big Bad if not Crytek?

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Take me out in to the black, tell ’em I ain’t comin’ back

I’m a sucker for 4X games, especially ones that deal with space theatre. So I guess it’s no surprise that when I heard about Star Ruler I gave it my undivided attention. After all, there’s been few successes in this genre of this particular theatre (in general of anything, to be honest), and, as an indie title, I was completely skeptical. After watching some gameplay videos and reading some testimony I decided the only way I could truly be sure is if I got my hands dirty. And boy, am I glad I did.

Indie Developer Jones and the Temple of Greed

These days it seems that the once-innocent niche market of indie games has taken a turn for the worst. Indie games used to be low-key and they’d rarely be priced anything past a Happy Meal at McDonald’s—sometimes they’d be completely free. Why? Because its developer (or maybe developers if there’s another guy or two) would usually only develop the title out of fun or as some sort of pseudo political or artistic statement. Indie games were never meant for a mainstream audience with a mainstream wallet—that’s why they’re called indie games.