Twitter Giveaway

I got some Dishwasher codes to give out, so I think I’m gonna send a few out over Twitter!

Follow me!  I’m @Jamezila (just like my gamertag)

Also, Nick Gravelyn launched xblcg.info, an online database for all things XBLCG.  Ratings are in effect, so, if you’re hankering for some cheap Xbox360 homebrew, check it out!

And if you’re going to be at E3, drop me a line.  I’m finally able to fund my own trips, and also I didn’t realize that I get in for free as an “industry professional.”  Is indie pro now?  Eh… can I really care?

Super Feedback Explosion Post!

Dishwasher is #1 on Major Nelson’s list for the second week in a row!  Awesome thanks to everyone who gave it a shot.  It’s been a long, crazy road, fraught with peril and chainsaws, but I think it worked!

Anyway, Dishwasher has been in the hands of merciless reviewers for almost a fortnight.

I’ve noticed a trend: everyone thinks that The Dishwasher is either an awesome game or a button masher.

This leads me to conclude that if you don’t play The Dishwasher like a button masher, you’ll think it’s an awesome game.  If you do play The Dishwasher like a button masher, well, eh… here’s what happens:

• You’ll get bored
• You’ll die
• You’ll get bored of dying
• You’ll write a review about how the game is boring and you die… and, seeing as it involves hand-drawn quirky art, must be compared to Alien Hominid

The Dishwasher is full of tricky, clever strategies that you must use if you want to make it on the higher difficulties.  Play the game like a button masher and you won’t really see what all the fuss is about.  Seems like the world of games journalism is divided into the “gamer” crowd and the “cooking mama” crowd.

So, here’s official word from the developer: Dishwasher is not a button masher!

Thank you.

I got a bunch of emails from indie gaming sites telling me they reviewed Dishwasher and loved it.  Here they are, after the jump:

Dish Challenge

My roommate just reclaimed the #2 spot on Dish Challenge with 573,247,350.  Looks like Spear of Lament is currently #1, with an insane score of 735,225,250.  Meanwhile, I’m at #274 with an uber-pathetic score of 97,542,900, partly because the only time I tried it after launch was Dishwasher Day and I’d already had a few cups of wine, as my mom was keen to point out.  Yes, my mom drove out for Dishwasher Day.

Anyway, maybe we should talk about how the scoring works!  

The Dishwasher Lives!

Fitting heading for a game about a dead samurai, eh?

I just put the flash site up at thedishwasherdeadsamurai.com.  Try to find the secret Neko video (no, not the age gate fail Neko video.  Hint: Sandra Bullock in The Net).

I think there was a bit of a marketing mishap leading into this: several months ago, gamerscoreblog wanted some previously unheard of Dishwasher facts for a post, so I told them about the killer solo minigames and hidden phantom guitar and shadow co-op features.  They posted on this, and somewhere in the shuffle, the secret features became selling points.

So, if you bought The Dishwasher just for killer solos or phantom guitar co-op, you may be disappointed because:

• there are only 3 killer solo tracks and
• phantom guitar is not a selling point.  It’s alright, but, well, there’s really only so much you can do with a guitar controller in an action game.

However, the rest of the game’s not that bad, right?  Well…

• TeamXbox liked it: “The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is an amazing game, even if you don’t have any idea of how it came about or about the size of the studio that made it.”
• OXM liked it: “From how Dishwasher bleeds details with its goth-y antihero cleaving chumps in two to how its meaty, crunchy jabs and slashes feel, it’s all incredibly well done.”
• IGN thought it was ok: “The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is an enjoyable button masher and a commendable effort considering it’s the work of one person.”
• Teletext Game Central (???) hated it: “It may be a matter of taste but we didn’t like the murky, indistinct graphics, whose endless spurts of blood fail to really titillate.”

What the heck is Teletext Game Central?

Anyway, love it or hate it, it’s here!  Deal with it!

Now, if you are wondering about those special modes:

• The phantom guitar is enabled by finding the Amulet of Phantom Rock.  This is hidden near the start of Ivy Trail.
• The Dishwasher’s shadow is enabled by finding the Amulet of Shadow Skull.  This is near the Killer Solo Amp in St. Crux Cemetery.
• There are 3 Killer Solo Amps spread out in the main game.  There are an additional 3 Amps in Samurai difficulty.  If an Amp has a spotlight glowing on it, that means winning the solo will earn you a Psycho Pick.

Really though, they’re not selling points.  They’re fun features, but they’re ancillary.  Awesomely ancillary.

Now for the ugly:

April 1st is Dishwasher Day!

The press release went out, so I can finally open my big mouth!

April 1st is Dishwasher Day!  (no joke)

From the release:

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a 2-D stylistic action platformer for Xbox LIVE® Arcade showcasing fast action, deep gameplay, and a unique visual style. An undead samurai dishwasher in a dystopian universe is on a quest for revenge against the evil cyborg army. To dispatch hordes of zombies, cyborgs, and robots, the Dishwasher has at his fingertips a devastating array of attacks using ancient blades, disturbing machinery, and screen-obliterating Dish Magic. Compete with the rest of the world in a variety of speed run and high score challenges to become the most formidable Dishwasher yet!

• Fresh take on gameplay: Gameplay in The Dishwasher is a fresh take on popular stylistic action combat, taking combo- and timing-intensive combat into a 2-D, blood-soaked environment emphasizing speed, vertical movement, and maneuverability, and player-driven pacing to create a truly unique, fluid and visceral experience, with an appealingly psychotic art style.
• New game modes with guitar peripheral: The Dishwasher has arcade co-op, drop-in solo campaign co-op, and drop-in solo phantom guitar co-op using the guitar peripheral. Phantom guitar players can unload electric death by playing wicked solos, perform basic movement, and use the guitar’s motion control to rip through enemies with a razor-sharp headstock.
• The power of XNA: The Dishwasher is a testament to the power of XNA. The game was created by one guy with no professional game development experience (and a self-described lousy programmer) in about a year and a half.

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai releases for the Xbox LIVE Arcade on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 for 800 MS Points. Check out the video trailer by clicking here

Discounted Alien Hominid too!  Not a bad week…

Update: xbox.joystiq.com put in a kind word.  Love you guys!

ZP2K9! Dishwasher!

ZP2K9 1.0.1 is live!  If you still have the old version, delete it and redownload (it’s free!).  It’s currently 4th on Major Nelson’s list.

Seems like I’m competing with myself a bit… but… well… anyone remember The Dishwasher?  Remember it now, for the era of the psycho dishwasher genre is upon us!  It’s going up as part of the Days of Arcade promo.  I can’t say when.  But when I can, I will.  Oh yes.  I will.

Also, I’m working a super-dumb street brawler for XBCG called Charlie Murder.  Expect some media soonish.

We passed!

We did it!  We passed cert!

Here’s some random (rough) statistics:

• Total development time: 2+ years
• Active bugs closed: 500+
• Builds submitted: 50
• Pre-cert milestone builds passed: 5
• Pre-cert milestone builds failed: Probably 5!
• Cups of coffee consumed: 2200
• Times thought project was doomed: 81020
• Times decided to have faith project would succeed against terrible odds: 81020
• Dev kits red ringed: 1

Amazing!

I don’t know when it will go live (and thanks for asking, all!) and when I do I’ll still have to keep mum, but now that we’re officially through certification, I’m sure your guess will be as good as mine.

Dishwasher goes into cert!

Well, I know it’s been a tad quiet on this front for awhile, but we’re here!  We just entered cert, so I can finally relax, play a few rounds of COD4, and hope that everyone hasn’t forgotten about this little operation!

Of course, the game now has to pass cert, so I’ll be doing a bit of praying over the next few weeks.

And if we hit any snags, well, it’s not the end of the world.  I’d rather have a clean, delayed final product than a buggy, rushed production (who’s with me on this?)

First Dishwasher review in, game still nowhere to be found!

Well, I’m still working out the kinks in The Dishwasher, but that didn’t stop OXM from reviewing the prerelease build for it’s February 2009 issue, at least if NeoGAF is to be believed.

What’d they give it?

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai – 8.0
+Feels good, controls well, looks lovely.
+ Substantial number of modes and options
-You’re too easily lost amid the onscreen chaos.
? Will there be a Dishwasher: Dead Again Samurai? Hope so!

Freaking awesome.

The being lost amid onscreen chaos point was a concern we looked at, ultimately deciding that the onscreen chaos was an integral bit of what makes The Dishwasher awesome.  It’s like Ninja Gaiden 2’s crappy camera: you hate it, but if we gave you God of War’s super-friendly, super-detached camera, the overall badassery of the game would be reduced to about 5-10% (I did the math).

Not to say I’m complaining.  Especially considering what I wanted to give the game…

Now if I can just fix this one last super obnoxious, cert crippling bug…

Awesome: ZSX4 is #5!

According to Major Nelson, ZSX4: Guitarpocalypse is now #5 on Xbox  Community Games!  I have no idea what this means in terms of sales (after all, Swords and Monsters is #10), but I’m still pretty excited!  (Check it out if you haven’t yet)

In Dishwasher news, we’re in the final stretch before cert.  Thanks to all of you who keep asking about the release date, it’s great to know that The Dishwasher’s got fans!  Hang tight, peoples, we’ll get there, and, as I keep saying, I don’t think anyone’s more anxious for the game’s release than I am.