Hudson Entertainment Shuts Down, Activision Slays Guitar Hero, True Crime

In a double shot PLUS of depressing industry news, it looks as if the current recession plus gaming trends split down the middle toward bigger-budgeted or smaller indie "casual" games has taken down the US offices one a fan favorite middle range publisher and a couple of major franchises by a major publisher. Of course, the real story is how companies see games (and the creativity behind them) as commodities and simply chop product lines and jobs based on under-performance (among other things) rather than shift jobs around to other projects. Fan favorite Hudson Entertainment is shutting down its US offices by the end of this month, according to multiple reports including a blog post by Morgan Haro, Hudson's US Brand Manager.

Review: Lost in Shadow

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Hudson

Publisher: Hudson

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B+

Ethereal, innovative, methodically paced yet wholly rewarding, Hudson's Wii exclusive Lost In Shadow is one of those artistic gems that should appeal to gamers across a few different genres. The dreamlike visuals and puzzles that revolve around light and shadow play will draw in fans of games such as ICO or echochrome or the original Price of Persia, the platforming elements are fun and challenging for young to older players and the overall innovation and intriguing story will please fans of games with more than flashy graphics going for them. While it isn't quite perfect, it's amazingly well designed and has a way of keeping you hooked in as you traverse back and forth through some pretty trippy stages that play with your perceptions.

Hudson's Lost In Shadow Drifts Into Stores

Hudson's innovative adventure/platform/puzzle/action game (it does everything!) is in stores NOW. Go buy a copy if you have a Wii (you can thank me later). While I'm waiting for my reviewable to show up, you can keep yourselves busy reading some of my previous coverage on this gem.

Lost in the Shadow Video Dev Diary 4: Pre-Launch Secrets

Some of you might be a tiny bit depressed that this year is rushing to a close too darn quickly, but for me, that just means that it's closer to seeing the final version of Hudson's Lost In Shadow hit retail on January 4, 2011. Here's the final developer diary, featuring a peek at some of the cool secrets to be found in this Wii exclusive - enjoy!

Lost In Shadow Birth & Mysteries Featurettes

It's a total twofer today - the first two out of four parts from Hudson's making of feature on the upcoming Wii game, Lost in Shadow. Enjoy!

Random Release News (Or If It's Tuesday, It Must Be DLC Day...)

Yikes - plenty of new games and games news hit the inbox today, so instead of individual postings, a rapid-fire approach is in order. In general, August is flying out with a big ol' bang and September is rolling in with an even bigger set of booms. Here we go with part one:

Calling Web Site Now Live... Be Afraid.

At first, I didn't know whether or not I should be too scared to look at the darn thing. Then I remembered that I'm NOT at all the superstitious type. So, I cheerily clicked on the Kuroeight link and... Hey! it's a pretty slick deal of a teaser site. Cool - makes me want to see more of the game, which is a great thing, being a games journalist-type and all...

Of course, if yours truly drops dead in a week thanks to a visit from a creepy little girl with a freaky-looking doll , well... it's been very nice to know you guys. Anyway, Calling is Hudson's upcoming Wii-exclusive horror game, yet another for the console which has recently been turning into a paradise of sorts for genre fans. The game isn't out 'til 2010, but you can get yourselves slightly weirded out (if you really want to) by clicking on that link yourselves.

Go on, I dare you...

Trailer: Calling

It may be a bit low-res, but this brief, creepy teaser of Hudson's upcoming Wii horror game, Calling (set to hit retail sometime in Spring 2010) is nicely unsettling, in a Ringu kinda way.

After watching this a few times, I'm not picking up the phone for at least a month AND I'll be walking backwards so no one sneaks up behind me. Or maybe I should just hold off on leaving the house at all until AFTER the game comes out... y'know, just in case...

Damn kids and their creepy dolls these days...

Hudson Announces Lost In Shadow

More Hudson news? OK! The company has also announced Lost in Shadow, a unique new platformer/adventure/puzzle game hybrid scheduled to reach the Nintendo Wii sometime in Summer 2010. Based on the images and press release below, my take on this one is that I'm definitely intrigued. Stylistically, the game's visuals and color palette seem highly influenced by the phenomenal PlayStation 2 sleeper hit from 2001, ICO. Similar aesthetics aside, it will be extremely interesting to see this one in action, as the shadow platforming idea is certainly innovative enough for a really solid game experience.

Here's the complete press release and five screenshots for your reading and viewing enjoyment.

There is a Tower that rises above all in an alternate world. No one knows who built this or why it was built. One thing is certain, the Tower both sheds a large shadow and at the same time is filled with moving shadows.

There is a shadow of a boy that climbs this tower. He runs through the shadow of the Tower, solves mysteries and puzzles along the way, and fights off enemies that try to impede his progress. The boy is not affected by gravity but his movement is restricted within the thin boarder between light and shadow.

The boy is not alone in his endeavors as a creature of light joins him on his quest. A winged sylph known as a “Spangle” supports him in his journey.

Lost In Shadow mixes unique platform elements and levels of puzzling, to challenge the player. The combination of light and shadow creates a unique blend of game styles, with the shadow boy altering shapes of surrounding objects’ shadows, creating walkways to previously inaccessible areas, and adventuring into a world never before seen on Wii.

The Beginning of a New Kind of Platformer

- Adventure through a land that is in the shadow of the tower. A land that is both familiar and foreign at the same time.
- Manipulate light and shadows to traverse this alternate land where even gravity is influenced.
- Battle shadow creatures with traditional weapons
- You are not alone in your quest: Journey with a spangle that assists you in your travel. Together unlock the mysteries in and around the Tower
- Meet other shadow beings along your journey.

We'll have more on Lost in Shadow as information becomes available - stay tuned.

Military Madness - Nectaris Coming to XBLA (Thanks, Hudson!)

Hudson is definitely hopping all over the gaming scene these last few weeks (as they should be) and that's a good thing. The company has announced that its classic turn-based strategy game, Military Madness (Nectaris) is coming to Xbox Live Arcade on September 30, 2009 for 800 Microsoft Points. In case you never owned the original TurboGrafx-16 or the later PlayStation remake, the game is an addictive single or multiplayer strategy game that takes place on the Moon (in the future, of course).

Backbone Entertainment is handling the development for this new version of the game, and as a fan of their work on the amazing N-Gage game Rifts: Promise of Power (one of the best portable SRPGs I've played to date) and other projects, I'm thrilled by the possibilites for this update. Given the pile of stuff in my inbox, I'll let the press release take over for a bit:

Military Madness takes place in the year 2156, where the Earth has become vastly overpopulated. In an effort to preserve the population, Earth establishes lunar penal colonies to remove convicted criminals from the population. Although it's rough treatment for the criminals, the method proves to be effective. Soon however, the prisoners begin to rise up against the minimal security detaining them on the Moon, and begin to threaten the entire planet with a weapon so powerful, it could obliterate all of the Earth's population. The newly founded Xenos (as the prisoners refer to themselves), are determined to take revenge on the planet that cast them onto the cold lunar surface.

This is where you come in. As commander of the Union army, you take part in a mission to take back the lunar surface by outsmarting the Xenos army. The new generation of Military Madness brings classic turn-based strategy gameplay with a fresh coat of paint to bring the universe to life. You've never seen action strategy look so good! Several factors on the battlefield add to the dynamic decision making you'll have to do throughout the course of conducting your operations on the Moon. Unit placement and movement, terrain advantages, and predicting enemy movements all come into play when trying to outsmart your enemy.

Military Madness will come with a platoon of features! With the newly implemented 4-person multiplayer, you can coordinate strategies or taunt foes in team or vs. multiplayer modes! Whether it's locally or online, no two battles will be the same! You can also customize the all-new commander unit with 20 different unique abilities to lead your forces. Along with online leaderboards which track stats, you'll even earn experience in each match like a true general on the field. Additionally, multiple command views let you strategize in 2.5D and let you see your battles unfold in 3D in cinematic camera action.

Screenshots and a cool teaser trailer to ogle below:

Gallery: Calling

Hudson Soft is looking to join the well-packed "scary games" truck barreling at a breakneck pace towards Wii owners looking for more substantial and varied horror experiences. Calling is the company's upcoming horror adventure that draws inspiration from Japanese Horror films such as The Ring and Ju-on along with games like From Software's Echo Night series and the underrated PlayStation 2 mystery/adventure, Shadow of Destiny, among others. Well, that's how my fevered brain deciphered this press release:

“Players will be asked to use their wits and senses to survive the world of Calling,” said Mike Pepe, Director of Marketing of Hudson Entertainment. “It is a game that revolves around real people and real emotions – no chain saws or suits of armor. The game is traditional survival horror at its finest.”

In Calling, players begin by visiting a mysterious “Black Page” website with a simple number counter. Some say it is a bridge to something sinister; the counter indicating the number of people who have died after visiting the page. It is said that people who have visited the site and witness a certain event are drawn into a mysterious space compiled of the memories of the dead - the space between life and death. Someone or something is drawing the living there for a reason, and it is up to the player to discover the horrifying truth. In order to do so, players will use various equipment including flash lights, phones, and other items to navigate and escape the Calling.

Throughout the game players will visit various parts of the Calling world. Memories of houses, schools, hospitals and more bring players closer to either an escape or an untimely death. Players will solve puzzles, search and interact with objects, and ultimately try to avoid the inhabitants of this alternative existence.

Sounds like nicely unsettling stuff - check out these early screens:

Calling has no definite release date other than a nebulous "2010," according to Hudson's site. I'll press Hudson's PR guy into a corner and haunt him for more updates every now and then. Man, the things I do for you readers...