XBLA - Dust: An Elysian Tale

[Joe Redifer]

No sale. The game is not worth buying until MicroSoft gets their act together. I don't this problem with the far superior PSN and even iTunes. Those other stores don't need to pay interest because they only charge me for what the item costs. The MicroSoft store is inferior. It's truly meant for inferior people.

Oh, and come on, eastx. Everybody on this forum knows how biased you are towards anything MicroSoft. Why, I cannot comprehend, but it's true.

[calintz]

hahaha he really is - haven't seen him post a Sony/Nintendo exclusive thread yet

is eastx to Microsoft the same as Einhander is to physical game media?
i'm joking eastx...

[Joe Redifer]

He posted the "Where Sony went wrong" thread.

[Sinful Sam]

The game looks awesome. I'll check it out. No word if this is being released on Steam later?

[Northeastmonk]

I remember Neopets: The Darkest Faerie on PS2, idk why but it reminds me of a better version. (which I never played)



Granted I recently grabbed Odin Sphere again off of PSN. Something like this would be fun.

[eastx]

Originally Posted by Joe Redifer

Oh, and come on, eastx. Everybody on this forum knows how biased you are towards anything MicroSoft. Why, I cannot comprehend, but it's true.

I prefer the Xbox 360 for a number of reasons, including the selection of XBLA games, its superior multiplayer features, the Achievement/GamerScore system, and the fact that it came first so I've been heavily invested in it for a long time. Plus you know, I do kind of write about games on Microsoft consoles (and PC) for a living.

I've made plenty of threads for specific PC games and multiplatform games. I just don't tend to learn about exclusive games for other consoles before you guys (by which I mean everyone else besides you since you don't make game-specific threads that I'm aware of) do because I'm not as interested in those consoles and it takes enough time and energy to keep up with the games and news I follow already.

The difference between what I do and what you do is I don't go into a game's specific thread just to talk shit or try to prevent people from discussing or becoming excited for that game. The idea that people could just talk about a game and be happy for it doesn't bother me in the least, whereas it obviously goes against your cynical nature.

If I do criticize the other consoles it's because others have already brought up the issue or I found an interesting article in the weekly industry wrap-up I read. I don't hate any games platform (besides maybe the Wii) and would like them all to be successful.

TL;DR: Derailing threads is jerky and Dust is an awesome game.

Originally Posted by calintz

hahaha he really is - haven't seen him post a Sony/Nintendo exclusive thread yet

is eastx to Microsoft the same as Einhander is to physical game media?
i'm joking eastx...

Et tu, Calintz? *cries* Oh, you were just joking. Phew! *wipes tears away*

[Joe Redifer]

You must be new to the Magic Box and the internet in general. It is very rare that a thread stays 100% on topic. And my gripes are quite legitimate and they do have to do with the game. I want the game, it looks cool, but I won't buy it unless I can ONLY pay for the game and nothing more. I'd buy it in a heartbeat on PSN which is less evil by design. But hey, if you like MS's shitty store design, more power to you I guess. Though I'd never be able to figure out why as there is no logical reason for it.

You derail threads all the time to take jabs at Einhander. Seriously. Don't try to take the high road here. You act very unprofessional on these forums.

[Alucard]

I'm sure it'll come to steam. Most xboxlive games do. Also PSN store has some awesome exclusives. No one should continue life without having played Flower. Just go suicide right now. Stop reading, go and do it.

[eastx]

Originally Posted by Alucard

I'm sure it'll come to steam. Most xboxlive games do. Also PSN store has some awesome exclusives. No one should continue life without having played Flower. Just go suicide right now. Stop reading, go and do it.

That is true, PSN has some great exclusives too, like Journey, Flower, and some of the PixelJunk games. XBLA just has more IMO. Disc-wise, PS3 definitely has the advantage (not that either side has tons of retail exclusives), but I'm more into downloadable software these days.

[Alucard]

I find your excuse to not play Flower WEAK! You will buy a ps3 this week. Or suffer my wrath.

[eastx]

Originally Posted by Alucard

I find your excuse to not play Flower WEAK! You will buy a ps3 this week. Or suffer my wrath.

I already have one, but the Blu-Ray drive is broken so I haven't used it in a while. Guess that shouldn't stop me from trying Flower though, huh?

[calintz]

just read up on the creator Dean Dodrill - he did the animation for Jazz Jackrabbit games

dude must like furry animals lol

[Alucard]

Originally Posted by eastx

I already have one, but the Blu-Ray drive is broken so I haven't used it in a while. Guess that shouldn't stop me from trying Flower though, huh?

THAT IS CORRECT! I also love Super Stardust. Theres that post apocalyptic survival game too, whatever its called. Go forth and play.

[BlindMaphisto]

Played about 15 minutes of the demo and decided it was definitely for me. Going to try to wait out a PC version.

[eastx]

Dust Postmortem - a must-read if you enjoy the game.

Trivia:

• Castlevania gave us a lot of things, including the Mysterious Wall Chicken health item (which was added late in development thanks to our mutual love of Egoraptor's Sequelitis videos). It also gave us the visuals for Dust's double jump and slide moves (think Alucard and Richter in Symphony of the Night), the red orb/mysterious tornado, the region layout of the Sorrowing Meadow (Simon's Quest), and Fidget's projectile abilities.
• Super Ghouls'n Ghosts' snow level inspired the avalanches in the Blackmoor Mountains.
• Fidget's manic suggestion that Haley move her immovable forge using "an army of mutant rats! With MAGIC!" is a rather obvious reference to The Secret of NIMH. We would also refer to the incredible Mick Lauer (voice of Elder Gray Eyes) as "Mickodemus", because of his close approximation to the "Nicodemus" character from the film.
• Fidget's first interaction with Sereth, the mysterious merchant, was a joking reference to the merchant in Resident Evil 4.
• The Blop character in Mudpot Village, colorful regional colloquialisms and all, is based on Uncle Jeb from Space Miner: Space Ore Bust, which Alex had written.
• The short interactive scene following the final confrontation was inspired by one of Alex's all-time favorite games, Another World, which was also modernized by Metal Gear Solid 4 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
• The Baron Kane and Geehan characters were obvious nods to co-developers Chris Geehan and Alex Kain.
• The "C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker" quest is, of course, inspired by the Rare classic Killer Instinct.
• The "If inconvenient, come anyway" gag written into one of the many hidden notes in the game is an homage to Steven Moffat's BBC series Sherlock.
• The game's maximum achievable percentage, 117 percent, is a shout-out to Halo's Master Chief.
• The "What's in the Box" quest title didn't start as an homage to Se7en, but as fans of the film ourselves, we ultimately decided to leave it in.
• One of the XBLA Achievements was a reference to one of Mega Man's common nicknames, while a couple others are nods to Mass Effec
• Originally, Fidget would literally fly off to visit the blacksmith whenever the player crafted an item on the field, leaving Dust to fend for himself. She would return several minutes later. I eventually let the player craft wherever they were (with the right item) since it seemed like an arbitrary inconvenience otherwise.
• Much of the aesthetic of Falana was influenced by my half-Korean heritage, including clothing, architecture, and many of the consumable food items. The Korean symbols in the logo art basically translate to "Dust"
• There are ten character cameos from other independent games, all of which have also appeared on XBLA. As a fan myself, getting the okay from each developer was a thrill, as was creating the artwork. Two original characters were created as cameos, and HyperDuck and I had a blast with the "payoff" when all were found.