Sorry for the lack of blog updates. We've been hella busy with a big, game-related announcement which we've been plotting since the beginning of the year.
Games have been really popular on e4.com - not only the E4 Games site we launched last autumn, but the exclusive games we commissioned last year have also been big hits. So, we thought why not invent our very own online game festival? We can commission a ton of new and exclusive titles, make more In a Minutes, run weekly competitions and organise an online award ceremony that celebrates the best games on the web.
We'll run it over the sunny months of June, July and August and call it E4's Great British Summer of Games (because by the looks of the weather, you might as well stay in and play anyway).
So that's what we've done, with the centrepiece being 15 commissioned games from up-and-coming developers from across the globe – many of which have never made games for anyone other than themselves before. Here's a taster of the new titles that will be appearing on E4 Games over the coming weeks:
Air Pirates
We'd been watching the early work of Sweden-based Lo-Fi Minds from a safe, calculating distance, before we decided to get in touch and ask them to make a Flash game for us. They came up with Air Pirates, where you lead a band of raiders living in a secret base located in an inactive volcano (very James Bond, we know). By day you trade with merchants for food, ammunition and weapons, by night you monitor the radio waves for air traffic reports and launch your plane to hunt down some loot. Fly planes, get in dogfights, board enemy planes... at time of writing, the game's not complete, but it's looking pretty sharp.
Straw Hat Samurai 2
Straw Hat Samurai was runner up in our Grand Master Flash competition last year. When we started chatting to the game creator, Luther Chan, about possibilities for a sequel, we just had to commission him to make it. It features so much more than the original – giant boss battles, a revamped fighting system that allows for combos, air combat and finishing moves, plus loads of new enemies.
Galactic Commandos
Another one by Luther, this time a platform puzzle game set in the future. Control three commandos - each with their own strengths, weaknesses and special abilities, through 16 levels of brain-busting action.
Janey Thomson's Marathon
We like working with Rob Manual from b3ta.com – not only because his ginger barnet means we're able to fulfil our hair colour diversity quota, but also because he makes great games and knows tons of other people who do too. One of the games out of Rob's camp is a faithful emulation of the banned 1984 arcade game, Janey Thomson's Marathon. Matt Round headed up the project and has done a great job in simulating the arcade version to work online. It's the kind of game that'll have you hooked for hours.
The Rather Difficult Game
Another by Matt Round. Can you herd cats, nail jelly to the wall and put toothpaste back in the tube AT THE SAME TIME? Finally, this question will be answered.
Curse of the Red Ninja
Allen Henderson, who made Get Lost for us last year, has crafted another ridiculous adventure game. Similar humour as before, but the game is MASSIVE. Seriously. There's an achievement system and even though Allen gave us a walkthrough guide, we've still only managed to get about half way through.
Name That Copyright Free Tune
Surfing dogs, farting bears, tramps on dinghies. There's not really much else we can say about this, other than it's made by David Homfray and it's awesome.
That's just a taster of the games we've got in store. Robin Allen, who made Cowabanga for us last year, is also working on a new title. And after being fans of The Impossible Quiz for yonks, we're really pleased that the evil genius behind the series, Glenn Rhodes, is making something for us too.
OK, so when's all this out?
When can you get your hands on all these new games and other exciting stuff? How about we release a couple of them next week, starting Monday 1st June and then put a new one out there every Friday, with competitions, quizzes and other fun stuff in between? Yeah, that sounds like a plan. It's all happening on E4 Games. Be there!
