Showing posts with label The Bit Station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Bit Station. Show all posts

Retro Surge Games announces new Dreamcast title Summoning Signals

Remember the awesome Reaperi Cycle demo we looked at recently? If not, check it out here. Well, after we were wowed by the clever puzzling elements shown in that game we were quickly brought back down to Earth when it was revealed that Reaperi Cycle is actually on hiatus. But all is not lost - the reason for the hiatus is that developer 12db.soft is currently working on another Dreamcast exclusive puzzle game: Summoning Signals.
Summoning Signals is pencilled in for a Winter 2020 release on Dreamcast, and will be released by Retro Surge Games, the publishing arm of online retailer The Bit Station. From the press release:

Summoning Signals is an experimental narrative game. You play as Bertholet, an antique collector with a passion for old technology. As you are making a delivery across the galaxy, your ship starts behaving erratically and crash on an unknown planet. Get to know the planet's strange inhabitant, repair your ship and escape before the fabled Minotaur finds you.

Use your radio to call for help and communicate with the galaxy's inhabitant. Make sure to charge your battery and keep the signal alive! Bertholet will need to find spare parts on this new planet to repair his ship. Break apart old machines and dig for circuits in computers! Make use of your tools to get your ship running again.

The world’s inhabitants like to speak in riddle. Are you wise enough to understand them? Use your wits to find the clues and progress through the game. The game's unique world is made using photogrammetry, a technique used to create 3D models from pictures. The result are unlike anything you have seen on the Dreamcast.
- Summoning Signals press release
The visuals on show are looking quite fabulous even at this stage, and as described in the press release, it will be the first game on the Dreamcast that employs photogrammetry. I suppose the best current analogue to this visualisation technique would be something like Google Maps' ability to turn flat 2D satellite images into fully rendered 3D locations when you zoom down to ground level. Below is a Google Maps 3D mode shot of Manchester, the Greatest City on Earth™to show what I mean:
Imagine if this tech had been available to Shockwave Assault's devs back in the day; those flat pixellated landscapes would've looked so much less like you were flying over a bowl of vegetable soup while blasting alien invaders. Pretty sure my 3DO would have melted into a pile of black plastic though. I'm waffling, let's get back on track. Photogrammetry is certainly an interesting technique and will definitely give Summoning Signals a unique look on Dreamcast.
We'll bring more info on Summoning Signals as we get it, and you can follow 12db.softRetro Surge Games and The Bit Station on Twitter for updates as they happen.

What do you think? Are you intrigued by Summoning Signals? And did you play the super cool (and brain meltingly difficult!) Reaperi Cycle demo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.

Retro Surge Games - A New Dreamcast Software Publisher


The recent resurgence in the popularity of the Dreamcast shows little sign of slowing down, and a brand new publisher that will deal exclusively in Dreamcast games has recently been launched. Retro Surge Games is a subsidiary of retro game online store The Bit Station, and will be the publisher of upcoming Dreamcast isometric puzzle/RPG title Reaperi Cycle.

"We are so excited to see what this new venture will hold and to have the opportunity to help the Indie Dreamcast community continue to grow and prosper. Over the last 2 years, we have had the opportunity to serve one of the most devoted and friendly communities in the gaming world. If it wasn’t for the support of this community, we wouldn’t be this confident about expanding our involvement with the Dreamcast even further."
- The Bit Station / Retro Surge Games

We looked at the mysterious Reaperi Cycle some time ago, and this new development all but confirms that the Dreamcast will indeed be getting yet another brand new release in the near future. According to the Retro Surge press release, the publisher hopes to start putting out new Dreamcast titles in 2019 so we won't have to wait very long.
This latest addition to the stable of publishers putting out brand new Dreamcast software is encouraging, and alongside Josh Prod, Retroguru and Orion et al we hope Retro Surge Games can continue to breathe new life into the Dreamcast's indie library.

Source: The Bit Station / Retro Surge Games

Sturmwind Throwback Edition Will Feature Exclusive T-Shirt

We revealed the Sturmwind Throwback Edition a few weeks ago, and until now further information has been a bit thin on the ground. Happily though, we can now announce that the special edition available exclusively through US indie game retailer The Bit Station will also include a bespoke Sturmwind T-shirt. The Bit Station assure us that the reason for the lack of further info has been down to the overwhelming demand for the standard issue version, but the Throwback Edition (which also includes the highly sought-after Kraken plushie and exclusive Sturmwind stickers) will be available from late February 2017.
The good news is that the shirt will also be available as a standalone item, so keep checking The Bit Station's site for your chance to secure one of these awesome-looking shirts. Note that the artwork has not yet been finalised; but if it's anything like the cool distressed design shown above, then we're totally behind them.
The Bit Station are selling a host of other Dreamcast indie titles too, so be sure to check them out.

Sturmwind Available Now, Throwback Edition With Kraken Plushie Coming Soon

As reported here a few days ago, Duranik's Sturmwind is now available to purchase for the tidy sum of €35/£30 at Dragon Box. The game is a re-print of the original Sturmwind released in 2013 and comes on a professionally pressed disc with a full colour manual in a jewel case. As we've said many, many times here at the Junkyard, Sturmwind is a truly stunning shmup and for this price you'd be mad not to snap a copy up. Shipping can be pricey (it added almost another £10 for shipping to the UK), so if you're based in the US you might want to wait a few days for online retailer The Bit Station to open orders. Pre-orders at The Bit Station will run from 23rd December to 6th January, when the games will be sent out to buyers.
We can also exclusively reveal that The Bit Station will be offering a 'Throwback Edition' of Sturmwind, which will ship with extras from the special edition of the game: