For those who missed that piece of unique gameplay, Shift is a simple platforming game turned inside-out with the addition of a shift function that allows the player to flip between the black and white portions of the game map, forcing them to warp their perceptions to proceed. It’s pretty much perfect as it is.

Working for more than 2 years on the Shift series, we thought we can make this game even more perfect with a specific take on the Nintendo 3DS. Shifting World takes the shifting element from the original game (rotators, keys, doors, spikes) and adds an additional layer of complexity (and new mechanics) by allowing players to shift between 2D and 3D. As far as the changes made, the story has also been revisted and will introduce new twists in a brand new funky universe!

Game is planned to hit the stores early Q2 2012. Stay tuned for more and in the meantime enjoy the screenshots!

It’s time for a long overdue update.

Let’s start with the big bad news of the day. Creatures 4 is delayed until Q2 2012 (no date yet). I know, it sucks, but let me explain the reasons for this fairly huge delay and why it will be a good thing for the game.

And there’s some good news too…

Let me present the Hatchery. The first environment you’ll play in when launching the game for the first time and your central tool to bring the Norn eggs into the world. Hope you like it!

The Hatchery is pretty important in showing the kind of starting scenario your Creatures 4 experience will start with.

The real piece of good news is for the Android fans among you. We’re happy to announce that Creatures 4 will be released on your devices too! A lot of people requested it when we were at Gamescom and since the Android market is definitely growing, it ultimately made sense to Bigben and ourselves to get this going on.

So, let’s tackle the reasons for the delay and discuss where we are in regards to development right now.

There are two main reasons for the delay.

First, it simply took more time than we anticipated to reach our target quality and merge the Creatures engine into our own to bring the game to 3D. We’re very happy on how it’s going at the moment and we’ve finally reached a point where a freeform sandbox experience can run on its own without imploding into a black hole and suck in all of Belgium. What this means is that we’re finally adding our own layer of content to the game and it’s a very exciting time that feels like a new “aha” moment.

The second reason is that we want to release a game that is better than what we originally anticipated. Obviously our goal was always to deliver a great game, but our vision has evolved as the project took life. The first showings of the game and your feedback gave us new ideas which will ultimately allow us to improve our original design in several ways. The trade-off is that we need more time.

In regards to the development, we’re designing and integrating a brand new layer of content: that covers all those things that never existed in Creatures before and that will make Creatures 4 a good game by its own merits. We want to bring new interactions with the environment and bring a sense of palpable evolution to the Norns.

It’s clear to us that the focal point of the series is breeding generations of Norns which are increasingly more capable of handling themselves and their world. How can we encourage that, how can the world around the Norns react to their evolution, etc. These are the kind of things we’re dealing with right now. The ultimate goal here is to avoid the over-complexity of Creatures 3 while extending its gameplay.

And since it’s now the time to shoot for ideas, we have a couple of questions to which we think you guys will answer better than anyone. We’re genuinely interested in gathering a lot of great user experiences we know are important to a Creatures game player. So…

What is the coolest or the most advanced thing you’ve ever done, tried to achieve or wished you could do in one of the previous Creatures game?

It can be anything: breeding a über cool or super intelligent Norn, do something with the environment, messing up with the ecosystem, you name it. Though I’d like you to limit this to what the previous games offered as standard content and tools. This is not a “suggest the next feature” kind of thing but more of a “tell us why it’s cool for you”.

Inversely, what is the most boring/frustrating/disappointing experience you had?

That’s it, comment below and thank you for your support!

You command a band of brothers from the Royal British Expeditionary Forces as the defender of the Free World. Your troops must take to the field and defend your bunker from being overrun. Use the trenches on the battlefield to hold your ground in the no man’s land. Lead riflemen, mortarmen, snipers and machinegunners into a certain death to conquer futile dirt inch by inch. War is hell; welcome to purgatory.

The popular iPhone/iPad (that we created on iPad BTW) hit now lets you drop mustard gas on your loved ones using the Wiimote. Make no mistake though, this ain’t no lazy cell-phone port. Trenches Generals has been designed for the Wii from the ground up and has received extra care and polish compared to its mobile counterparts. 2-player split-screen combat is enabled, A.I. is tremendously more advanced and there’s a new Skirmishes mode that even features zombies. Zombies, baby!

C’est près de 10 minutes de séquence vidéo pour une journée complète de tournage dans nos locaux. D’autres sociétés sont bien entendues mise en avant, l’autre studio emblématique en Belgique, Larian Studios et les classiques Ubisoft ou Insomniac. Si vous ne connaissez rien au monde du jeu vidéo, cette émission vous permettra de découvrir ce qui se passe derrière le miroir et a été très bien réalisée.

La version complète est disponible via ce lien: http://www.rtltvi.be/video/362649.aspx

Avant de rentrer dans le détail, on pensait à vous remercier pour les nombreux téléchargements du jeu, en effet c’est plus de 750.000 joueurs iPhone qui ont pu déjà s’essayer au lancer de petit chien! Clairement nous n’espérions pas atteindre ce chiffre en à peine un mois et demi. Du coup au lieu de 1 nouveau objet, nous sommes arrivés avec une mise à jour intégrant 2 nouveaux objets! Du coté de l’Android, les téléchargements sont plus faibles (presque 100.000 joueurs) et pourtant nous avons une communauté stable qui grandit de jour en jour et qui est très active. Nous avons rencontré pas mal de problèmes techniques mais nous sommes en train de faire le nécessaire pour améliorer notre code Android et vous donner entière satisfaction sur un maximum de téléphones!

Alors au programme de cette update iPhone (la prochaine update Android aura le même contenu):

- Deux nouveaux objets, dont 1 est gratuit. L’os (objet gratuit) nécessitera des meilleurs joueurs une dextérité sans faille pour atteindre des distances encore plus folles!
- Ajout du Apple Gamecenter incluant 32 achievements ainsi qu’un classement mondial pour les meilleurs joueurs
- Possibilité de couper le son et la musique
- Nous avons fixé plusieurs problèmes avec les ailes en papier ainsi que la collision avec les poules
- Meilleure intégration de Twitter et Facebook pour partager encore plus facilement vos scores avec vos amis
- Réduction du nombre d’affichages de l’écran de publicité et ajout d’un timer
- Ajout d’un système pour évaluer Paf le Chien (on compte sur vous pour faire monter la note du jeu)

La prochaine étape pour le jeu est d’atteindre 1 million de joueurs, nous rajouterons alors encore un nouvel objet et quelques éléments bonus. On compte donc sur vous!

Bigben Interactive, Gameware and Fishing Cactus will re-envigorating the adorable CREATURES series in 2011! A little history, from 1996 to 2001, those lovely felines have entertained over 2 million players on PC, Playstation and handheld formats. Many awards have been won for the AI running behind the game and a major global game franchise established.

10 years after, Fishing Cactus, Bigben and Gameware are set to deliver a brand new game based on this incredible license. For thos who already know everything about Creatures, what this version is all about? The approach will be to maintain the characteristics and integrity of the earlier games. The new opus will be free-to-play and available on PC/Mac and iOS platforms – iPod, iPhone and iPad. A collector gift box full of surprises will also be created.

For the new born, what is Creatures all about?

Creatures models real biological systems inside your device. They come complete with their own biochemistry, brains, digital DNA, and an environment in which to live. It is a simulation game very much like the Sims but in a much more complex way!

None of the behaviors you will see in the game has been specifically programmed. The Creatures make their own choices, and learn from their mistakes. You guide them through their lives, helping them through the bad patches and enjoying the good times. When they become adults, your Creatures can mate, and their children have their own unique genetic material (meaning look).

The possibilities are boundless. Everything from their poses to the individual chemical reactions inside their bloodstream are genetically specified. Who knows? A tenth generation creature could possibly be considerably more intelligent than those you start with.

Creatures is all about Artificial Life. By modelling the building blocks of life, we believe it is possible to recreate life-like behaviours inside a digital device. From the original Creatures, released in 1996 to Creatures Docking Station, our free, internet-enabled, fully-featured title, we’ve been releasing the Norns, Ettins and Grendels of Albia to the world, where they’ve charmed players of all ages and introduced countless to the wonders of Artificial Life, genetics, biochemistry and programming through Creatures’ unique and advanced technology and engaging gameplay.

Benoît Clerc, Head of Software Group, Bigben Interactive : « We are very pleased and proud to participate to the rebirth of such a precursor of the videogame’s history, a title which become mythical and has left its mark on many gamers. This new opus, in Free to Play for PC and iOS, keeps all mechanisms of its distinguished predecessors and will gather new genuine gaming principles which will certainly seduce everyone».

Jeremy Cooke, CEO – Gameware : « Gameware is delighted by the vision that BIGBEN have demonstrated in updating the CREATURES game franchise for the Creatures community and socially engaged consumers alike. Both old and new fans are just going to love the new CREATURES. »

Bruno Urbain, Studio Manager Fishing Cactus : “As huge fans of the original games in the series, we are thrilled to be working on bringing it back to today’s audience. We are determined to create a new great Creatures chapter, both modern and respectful of what made it the best virtual life game in the first place.”

About Gameware
Gameware is a Cambridge UK based company that delivers AI, AR and 3D products via TV,PC and mobile. Gameware own IP rights in “Creatures”, “James Pond”, “Creebies” and share commercial exploitation rights in respect to CBBC mixed reality gameshow “Bamzooki”.

About Bigben Interactive
Leader indépendant de la fabrication et de la distribution d’accessoires pour consoles de jeux vidéo, Bigben Interactive est également éditeur de jeux vidéo, principalement sur les consoles de salon. La société, installée près de Lille dans le Nord de la France, est présente sur les principaux marchés européens, grâce à ses filiales au Benelux et en Allemagne et à des accords avec des distributeurs partenaires dans les autres pays.
Bigben Interactive est une société cotée en bourse sur le marché Eurolist d’Euronext Paris, compartiment C.

About Fishing Cactus
Fishing Cactus is an independent game development studio located in Belgium and founded by four industry veterans. With a team of 20+ developers, Fishing Cactus delivers all kinds of games across all the major gaming platforms, based on both existing and original IPs.

Au passage on drop un petit trailer du jeu (n’hésitez pas à copier le code et le recopier sur votre blog, site et autre).

L’occasion aussi de relancer la version Android avec les QR codes!

QR code Paf Android

QR code Woof Android

Paf le Chien est enfin arrivé sur iPhone & Android ! L’AppStore et le Google Market n’ont pas pu résister aux assauts du chien préféré du web ! Gratuitement en plus. Il n’est pas passé inaperçu par les joueurs puisqu’il est actuellement en tête du chart gratuit FRANCAIS sur l’AppStore..

Version iPhone

Version Android

Paf le Chien, vous connaissez surement la blague, mais connaissez-vous le jeu ? Après avoir séduit plus de 7 millions d’utilisateurs sur Facebook, le voici qui débarque enfin sur iPhone et Android.

Le principe est sympa et simple : donnez un bon lancé à Paf le Chien à l’aide de vos doigts pour le faire s’envoler le plus loin possible tout en rebondissant sur les poules (ou dindes) qui parsèment le parcours. Paf le Chien ne demande qu’un peu d’habileté pour exploser les records de distance.

Personnalisez Paf avec des items pour améliorer ses performances. La fusée ou le deltaplane vous feront planer plus longtemps alors que les super poules augmenteront l’efficacité de vos rebonds. En tout 5 objets peuvent être utilisés pour atteindre la première place du classement mondial.

Vous pouvez même comparer votre score avec vos amis sur Facebook, Twitter ou via la plateforme sociale OpenFeint. Réussirez-vous à battre les 30 défis que Paf vous propose?

FONCTIONNALITES

• JEU GRATUIT (c’est déjà pas mal) !!!
• Un jeu défouloir au gameplay simple et addictif
• 5 objets différents à utiliser et combiner (et plus à venir)
• Plateforme sociale OpenFeint (sur Android ET iPhone)
• 30 défis et classements mondiaux
• Connectivité Facebook et Twitter et comparaison en temps réel de vos scores avec vos amis

Pour terminer nous sommes attentifs aux commentaires des joueurs, si vous voulez de nouveaux objets, diminution de la publicité ? Un petit commentaire positif et constructif suffit !

Faites passer le mot, nous débloquerons 1 nouvel objet si nous atteignons 200.000 téléchargements.

With an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and ranked #27 out of 100 on the paid AppStore, we can say that we are on the road for another Apple success. Not to say we moved our asses and brought some great values to the sequel (120 levels, 30 bonus levels, 35 achievements, leaderboards, challenge friends online) and I must say the level designers at Fishing Cactus did a great job when designing all those new levels! We are all very excited and proud that you, players out there, liked what we created.

And for those who are waiting for it, here is a new Shift2QRCode (use your camera to unlock a new level in the game):

And for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, this QR code unlocks a unique level in Shift 2 iPhone and if you get them all it will unveil something special. The question is: are you smart enough to discover the secret?!

For those who are still undecided here are some great reviews of the game:
- AppSpy (4/5)
- 148Apps.com (4.5/5)
- AppSafari (4/5)

You can download Shift 2 on the AppStore by following this link.

Stay tuned for more Shift news, we have some heavy work under progress we hope we’ll be able to share soon.

If we end up featuring your level in Shift 2 (iPhone) you’ll get your full name in the credits as well as a free copy of the game in the app store.

The rules for the contest are as follows:

1. E-mail your level codes to support@fishingcactus.com
2. Make sure you include your full name to be listed in the credits
3. Lastly, submit an e-mail address that is easiest to reach you so the game can be sent to the winners.

Armor Games & Fishing Cactus wishes all contestants the best of luck! To get started, click here. Follow us on Twitter to know in real-time what we think about the levels submitted!