Welcome back, true believer, to Beyond Co-Op, the weekend column that sums a few of the more interesting non co-op related news story of the past week. The VGAs were obviously a big draw, but the biggest news to come out of that particular event was a co-op game winning Best Multiplayer Game of the Year. So we'll be taking a look at the apparent success of THQ's bid into the "Humble Bundle" sphere, a major milestone for everyone's favorite Blue Bomber, the impact story can have in a game, and a possible resurgence of local gaming (albeit not entirely cooperative).
- THQ Humble Bundle Hits $5 Million in Donations
- Mega Man Celebrates his 25th Anniversary with Different Friends
- Bioshock Infinite Focuses on Story and Tackling Difficult Topics
- Sportsfriends Succeeds in Kickstarter, Possible Victory for Local Gaming
THQ Humble Bundle Hits $5 Million in Donations
The Humble Indie Bundles, which started back in May of 2010, were originally a way for independent game developers to come together and offer up their games jointly in a "pay-what-you-want" model. It's been a success for many of the developers that have participated in it, and the gamers who buy in as well as they're able to experience a lot more games than they normally might play. Recently, THQ tossed their bid into the mix (a move that was seen as rather controversial as they aren't quite an "independent" developer) and, amazingly, managed to wrack up over $5 million in donations. Not all of those donations go straight to THQ as donators choose how much of their donation goes to the company or charity organizations like American Red Cross. It will be interesting to see what this does for THQ, and what happens with the Humble Bundle in the future.
Source: Polygon
Mega Man Celebrates his 25th Anniversary with Different Friends
I remember the very first Mega Man I ever played, which was, actually, Mega Man 2. As there was no Internet back then where I could look up the correct order for defeatin the robot masters, there was a lot of trial-and-error and swapping strategies with friends. As the years and games went on, Mega Man has seen a lot of different adventures and while he's been a little forgotten in recent years, he's still a major part of gaming history and he's celebrating 25 years with some new "friends". On December 17th, Capcom will be releasing a new Mega Man game, Street Fighter x Mega Man, for free on PC on its Capcom Unity site. So check back there in a couple days and help the Blue Bomber rise again.
Source: Capcom Unity
Bioshock Infinite Focuses on Story and Tackling Difficult Topics
One of the most anticipated non co-op games of 2013 is Bioshock Infinite, the next game in the Bioshock series that has returned to its original developer, Irrational Games. The studio's president, and creative director/lead writer, Ken Levine spoke with Joystiq recently about how he feels that video games shouldn't be afraid to touch upon controversial topics or issues. It's a very good interview with Ken and hopefully we'll see more of this same ideology permeate the cooperative gaming sphere.
Source: Joystiq
Sportsfriends Succeeds in Kickstarter, Possible Victory for Local Gaming
There have been a great many games and other projects that have attempted to see their ideas come to fruition through the crowdfunding opportunity that Kickstarter provides. One such game, dubbed Sportsfriends, is actually a compilation of four local multiplayer games that have been making the rounds and received a lot of praise from gamers and critics alike. The biggest game in this bundle is Johann Sebastian Joust, something is almost more of an experience than a game. While it's great that another videogame Kickstarter has succeeded, the real interest here is in a possible resurgence of local gaming. We at Co-Optimus know the value that a good couch co-op game can bring to a gaming experience, and Ben Kuchera over at the Penny Arcade Report wrote a rather interesting article about how this game could help to see a larger rise of local gaming. Well worth a read and we certainly hope that Sportsfriends succeeds in all possible ways.
Source: Penny Arcade Report