As debuted at Comic-Con, Sideway: New York has now been squeezed out of the Sony central mainframe, right onto PSN for you to access. It’s the dimension shifting platformer that see’s you switching between different planes of the urban landscape of a comic book style New York. It has to be seen to be understood:

Here’s the details, from publisher Sony:

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that the 2D adventure platformer set in a 3D environment, Sideway: New York, is now available for download on the PlayStation Network. While navigating through various boroughs in New York City, players must guide main character Nox past enemies and obstacles in order to save his street posse from the sadistic motives of nemesis Spray.

While in the street-savvy shoes of graffiti artist Nox, players are sucked into the gritty twisted turns beneath New York’s towering walls. Bouncing between 2D and 3D world views, players will need to explore every crack and crevice of the city while learning to utilize unlockable abilities to soar, slide, jump and blast through Spray and his goons, ultimately gathering your entourage and jumping back to reality.

Sideway also features unique camera angles to deliver a visually stunning environment, while keeping a fun yet edgy beat with original tracks from hip hop artist Mr. Lif. With the volume pumped and action packed, gamers are given the option to experience either single-player campaigns or drop-in / drop-out local co-op to team up for unworldly boss battles – watch out for flying pink bunnies!

It’ll set you back just $9.99, and it’s a crazy enough idea that it just might work. No word on an EU release date just yet, but hopefully that’s coming soon too. It’s going to end up on the PC eventually, via Steam. I can’t wait to give it a try, my only concern is that the jumping looks a little floaty. It looks like it’s got plenty of style though.

[Playbrains]

[Fuel Entertainment]

Arcen Games has released the latest update for its expansive space RTS AI War: Fleet Command, now available for download.

The patch brings plenty of balance tweaks, bug fixes and other improvements to the ever expanding strategy game. Impulse users who own the game should get the update automatically.

From the change log:

AI War: Fleet Command v3.016

-Previously, there were some glitches with the health of very high-health ships such as PermaMines, which was causing them to be targetable when they should not have been, and autoattacked in FRD mode, etc. Fixed.

-Human players must now have at least 100 military ships on an AI planet for the resistance fighters to join in.

-Previously, using shift+right click to deselect groups of units from the unit type selection box was not working properly. Fixed.

-Space tugs were not showing up correctly in the build queue. Fixed.

-Marauders and resistance fighers were starting way too far out in the middle of nowhere. Fixed so that they start around 10x closer now.

-The stream buffer size on game music is now twice as large, which should help avoid buffer underruns.

-When hovering over a marauder with your units selected, it was previously not giving targeting info. Fixed.

-Vampires, Cutlasses, and Wasps now have 2,000 more shields each.

-Fixed an issue with engineer beams flashing green right at the start when they are assigned to a unit they cannot actually assist at the moment.

-Previously, engineers were charging players for repairing space docks that they were assisting, even if they were not doing actual repairs. Fixed.

-Fixed a bug that could lead to indecisive AI units if they were simultaneously trying to escape and attack.

-All of the weapons have been removed from the cloaker starships, as this would cause them to blow their own cover and was fairly pointless for them to have, anyway.

-Cleanup Drones are now able to dismantle enemy mines (including permamines) on allied planets.

-Cleanup Drones now work half as quickly as before. With all the other recent shifts, they were otherwise becoming too powerful when used alone or in pairs.

-Mobile Repair Stations now have infinite engine health, since there is no way for their engine health to be regained.

-Previously, there was a bug where steam achievements would reactivate on ever game load. Fixed.

-The logic for when harvesters are auto-created by command stations has been improved so that if any non-mine military units of the enemy are present, it will not auto-create them.

-The text in the tutorials window was being cut off in recent versions. Fixed.

-Command Stations will now only autobuild at planets that have supply.

-Engineers, cleanup drones, remains rebuilders, mobile builders, mobile repair stations, and space tugs are all now able to pass through enemy force fields. This prevents them from ever getting stuck while trying to do their work.

-The wording for when ships do not have supply has been improved so as to be more clear when supply is blocked for some reason other than distance from allied planets.

-Previously, if the low-energy text was being shown over a ship, then no other hover text (such as knowledge counts on science labs) was shown. Fixed so that it now shows both.

-Fixed a collision issue that could previously cause allied ships to dance around instead of stopping in rare cases.

-Remains are now omitted from the ship icon guide (F1), as they have no useful traits to show and took up too much vertical space on hover.

-Units that are hit by translocation shots are no longer translocated if they are already held by a tractor beam.

Updated in 3.015:

- Fixed the cold storage lag issue so that it kicks in more quickly as it did prior to 3.014.

Updated in 3.016:

- Fixed a crash bug in 3.015 (thanks HellishFiend for reporting).

- Reverted the music buffer size to a the prior smaller amount so that it will hopefully avoid any skipping on player machines that have a busy or slower hard drive.

Manual Installation

If you would like a simple zip file of the updated post-3.0 files, here it is: http://arcengames.com/share/AIWar3016.zip

Arcen Games has announced the release of The Zenith Remnant expansion for their large-scale RTS AI War: Fleet Command.

The expansion adds a ton of new content including 122 new ships, 12 new AI types, 4 Zenith alien minor factions, new AI behaviors, map styles, music and more. Remember that you can expect free DLC updates every month for the game as long as it has a community to support it.

Get the expansion from Steam, Impulse or Arcen itself for $10. To celebrate Steam has given the base game a 50% discount through Wednesday, January 20. Full description follows.

True to 2/3rds of his words, Terry Cavanagh released VVVVVV today, at least in the Microsoft and Apple flavors. Linux users will have to wait while Cavanagh sorts out some technical issues.

The uninitiated should read the DIY Gamer review of VVVVVV before shelling out $15 for a gravity-bending platformer with really blocky graphics.

The download-averse who are unswayed by the review can play the demo at Kongregate, while unconvinced Windows and OS X users can grab the demo at thelettervsixtim.es.

If you preordered the game, you should have received something from Cavanagh in your email. If you didn’t, check your spam folder. And if you really like the soundtrack, SoulEye is selling it.

[via Distractionware]

Amanita Design has announced that the second official patch for its hit indie adventure title Machinarium has been released and is now available to owners of the game for download.

The update brings several level fixes to the game and apparently isn’t needed if you purchased the game after November 28. In other words, unless you bought the game in the last 48 hours, this patch applies to you Machinarium owner.

The download is currently available on The Patches Scrolls. Full change log after the break.

Positech Games has announced the release of their space strategy title Gratuitous Space Battles, an RTS/Tower Defense hybrid game that offers colorful, sprawling battles with hundreds of ships at the player’s command. The gameplay starts in the design stage of this ships, from there you position your fleet and give out the pre-battle orders, then you sit back and watch like a proud papa.

GSB has been in beta for a couple of months and now the full release can be picked up now from the dev’s website, a demo is available to try as well.

Interestingly, while the game’s not yet available on Impulse, the $3 off pre-order deal still is, and probably will be until the digital distributor updates the title’s status sometime later today.

StrongGames has announced the release of Gloom Beacon, a hybrid role-playing and turn-based card strategy title now available on PC. The game is set in Oasis, a once thriving trade center, which has been turned into the residence of the Dark Lord named Krachont. I know, right?

Gloom Beacon is marketing itself as ‘try before you buy’, packing the demo within the full game file. Of course, it won’t unlock fully until the game is registered (bought) for $7.77. Upon purchase the rest of the content will then be accessible. The file can be downloaded here.

Black Jacket Studios has announced the release of their futuristic vehicle combat title Metal Drift, now available on Steam. Additionally, a demo of the title has been released, giving a test drive of the game.

In the game, battles are had in high powered hover tanks (56 customizations in all) against one another, apparently for hover tank supremacy, that’s my kind of future.

The multiplayer slanted Metal Drift is out now for $12.50. Check out Geoff’s preview.

Positech has released the latest beta version of their upcoming space simulation title Gratuitous Space Battles, now available on Impulse.

The v1.17 beta release brings a number of updates including bug fixes, updated UI elements and more. The change log is available in the history tab on Impulse.

Those who pre-purchase the game on Stardock’s digital distribution client do so at a slight discount off the standard price and gain immediate access to the beta.

Speed Run Games has released an updated demo for their first-person action platform title Grappling Hook, now available for download.

Patched to v1.03, the updated version brings fixes and improvements including hot-key features, a bloom-shader fix and support for other languages as well as a handful of bug fixes.

In addition to the updates added to the demo, SRG has announced a contest/challenge for those who try it out today.