All news
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Forum competition – final round!
| | 14. May 2013 | housemarque
After announcing winners 1 to 4 of our Housemarque memorabilia forum competition (see them all HERE), we are ready to award the two final pictures from the early years of Housemarque. Drum roll… and the winners are: 1. Drageard with “Well.. uh.. hi?” for breaking the ice in the “Introduce Yourself” section of the forum 2. Jerique with “Dead Nation: Road of Devastation Endless” for his precious gameplay tips As usual, winners will be contacted privately. To all the others, keep reading the forum, introduce yourself and help our community grow!
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Forum competition – second round of winners
| | 07. May 2013 | Tommaso
As we explained HERE and HERE, each week for 3 weeks in a row we will select the best forum discussions and reward their authors with a few exclusive Housemarque relics from the 90′s (can you remember when owning an Amiga was all the rage?). Here below the winners for the the past week: 1. Cobra_Qc with “[SSHD] My personal guide to earn over 10 million on Lave”, for the incredible amount of love he’s showing for Super Stardust HD 2. unholyxnightmare for his reply on “What is Housemarque to you”. We need insightful feedback like that! As we did…
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Forum competition, the first winners – 4 items still available!
| | 30. Apr 2013 | housemarque
Populating a forum is not an easy task, especially when all our new products are still shrouded behind a veil of mystery (not for long, that’s a promise). That’s why we want to reward with some unique Housemarque memorabilia the loyal fans that are helping us starting interesting discussions, as we announced HERE. The first two topics to be awarded are: 1. Pound_lb003 reply to “What is Housemarque to you”, for the useful insights 2. Chalky-’s strategy on “Dead Nation: Road of Devastation Endless”, for the passion on display So, congrats to Pound_lb003 and Chalky-, we’ll get in touch with…
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Forum competition, win Housemarque memorabilia!
| | 22. Apr 2013 | housemarque
We live in interesting times. The Housemarque team keeps expanding, and will soon move to a bigger, cooler office, where our projects will have enough space to bloom to their full potential. As part of this process we found ourself going through our storage room just to find a lot of vintage stuff we have no use for. As painful as it may be, we need to let go of something.That’s why we decided to give away a few memorabilia to fans, specifically 6 framed pictures featuring our mascotte from the 90′s, Nurzu. They are unique pieces put together by…
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Outland and Super Stardust HD included in IGN’s “The Best $30 You Can Spend on PSN” chart
| | 13. Mar 2013 | housemarque
We must have some really passionate fan over at IGN, becase after making it into their “Top 25 PSN Games” list with Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation… we made it also to their new “The Best $30 You Can Spend on PSN” chart, this time with both Outland and SSHD. Chapeau!
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Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation included in IGN’s Top 25 PSN Games
| | 06. Mar 2013 | housemarque
We are happy to share with you that both Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation have been included in the IGN’s Top 25 PSN Games chart released on Feb 28th, respectively on position 4 and 12. Not a bad result, right? Check the whole video HERE, and grab the games – if for some inexcusable reason you haven’t done so yet – from HERE.
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The Zombie Lover Competition is over: read who the winners are
| | 04. Mar 2013 | housemarque
Our Dead Nation Zombie Love Competition ended last Friday. A big “thank you” to all the participants, we had fun looking at your submissions: some of you really put some effort into it! However, survival is an art mastered by few, so it’s time to declare the winners! In no particular order: Marwa Syed, for her creepy zombie make up Jose Antonio Alcaraz, because eating is important Piiä Määtä, for including in her equipment both a Swiss army knife and a much rarer kodachi Curios about the other submissions? Chek them out HERE. If you are one of the winners:…
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Robotron Office Tournament is on!
| | 22. Feb 2013 | housemarque
How does the saying go? “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” We all know how that ends. That’s exactly why we are having a little Robotron 2084 tournament here at the office. Why? Because Robotron is a great fit for Housemarque! It’s a very hard, very vintage twin-stick shooter, plus no one at the studio knew it too well beforehand. It didn’t take long, however, for our shooter experts to totally dominate the leaderboard. Here’s a screenshot of the latest results. Can you do any better? If so, send us some proofs. If robots haven’t prevailed…
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Housemarque’s CEO response to alleged concept art pictures
| | 15. Feb 2013 | housemarque
Housemarque’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen released today an official comment regarding the alleged Dead Nation 2, The Walking Dead and Superman artworks discussed in our recent statement: “Playing around with concepts and settings is standard practice among most developers, and as veterans of the industry will be able to confirm, by the end of the process only a few of them turn into real products. Since the beginning of 2012 we have been silently working on three unannounced projects. These games are now at various stages of completion and are planned for release on several platforms. All our 40+ developers are…
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Want a Dead Nation t-shirt? Show us your love for zombies
| | 14. Feb 2013 | housemarque
Wow. Just wow. We didn’t suspect you would want a Dead Nation t-shirt SO bad. After much cogitation and discussion, consensus has been reached on what our fans are supposed to do to bring one home. The Rules: Since today is Valentine’s day, we want you to show us your love for zombies, in every possible way. That means, in practice: 1) Send us a picture that fully represents how much you like zombies. It could be a make up picture, a zombie cake, your apocalypse survival-kit or anything else you can come up with. 2) To prove that you…
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A statement about recent rumors
| | 11. Feb 2013 | housemarque
Housemarque would like to clarify the situation regarding recent rumors: Amar Djouad doesn’t currently hold any position within the company. As for the artworks on display, they belong to a discarded batch and are not representative of projects we might or might not be working on. We are flattered by the interest surrounding our future releases, and would like to reassure our fans that official announcements will be made when the time is right.
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Super Stardust Delta for PSVita on sale
| | 06. Feb 2013 | housemarque
Since release, Super Stardust Delta has collected incredible reviews and prestigious awards. We are happy to announce that our little baby has been included in Sony’s PSVita Birthday Sale, starting today. Head to the store to steal Super Stardust Delta + Advanced Star Fighter Pack Bundle for €4.99/£3.99 instead of €9.99/£7.99. PS Plus members will also enjoy an additional 10% off. There’s no excuse now. More details on the sale can be found HERE.
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Dead Nation: all the data
| | 05. Feb 2013 | housemarque
We know, it’s been a while. Despite the lack of substantial sharable updates on our upcoming projects, we’d like to reassure you that things at the studio are proceeding smoothly, and this long wait is all for the better. 2013 got off on the right foot, and we can’t honestly wait to tell you more about what we’ve been working on. Just hang in there, news are coming soon enough. That said, this seems like a good time to share some data about our previous games. Above and below you can see usage data for both Dead Nation and Road…
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Super Stardust Delta Bundle now available
| | 22. Nov 2012 | Tommaso
Are you a PSVita owner yet? You should be, because PS+ has spread on Sony’s newborn as well. Aside from the excellent selection of free games coming with the subscription, for a limited amount of time you’ll be able to purchase a bundle including Housemarque’s award-winning space shooter – Super Stardust Delta – and the Advanced Star Fighter Pack with a 20% discount (7.99€ instead of 9.99€)! Super Stardust Delta is one of Vita’s best reviewed games of all times: see for yourself on Metacritic! At the moment the offer is available only in Europe, more info on other territories…
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Road of Devastation Score Competition: the Winners
| | 13. Nov 2012 | housemarque
As we announced on Facebook, our Dead Nation: Road of Devastation Score Competition is now concluded. If you missed it completely (shame on you), the goal was to score as high as possible in Arcade Mode, the new mode we added last June through a patch update (haven’t played it yet? Launch Dead Nation with ROD installed and you will get it free of charge!). So, after 10+ days of raging battle, who emerged victorious? Here we go: 1st: the ZOMBIE KILLER KING is Geoffrey Rougeut, with a final score locked at 1.894.629.215 pts A round of applauses please, we…
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Road of Devastation Score Competition: do you have what it takes?
| | 30. Oct 2012 | housemarque
One week left before the end of Halloween sales on PSN (at least for Europe, sorry America) – if you didn’t get your copy of Dead Nation: Road of Devastation yet, now you can get it for the insultingly low price of €1.99/£1.59! Anyway, not only you need ROD because it’s a great expansion to a great game (ahem!), but also because our Road of Devastation Score Competition starts today! HOW DOES IT WORK 1- The competition will revolve around the recently added Arcade Mode of ROD. If you haven’t tried it yet, make sure your copy of the game…
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Road of Devastation now part of Halloween Sale
| | 26. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Last week we told you that Dead Nation was being included in the Halloween Sale, but that offer was valid only on the American PSN. “What about Europe”, some cried out? Well, Europe gets a double ration this week! In addition to Dead Nation (was €12.99/£9.99, now you can get it for €6.49/£5.19), the sale also includes Road of Devastation – the Dead Nation expansion – available for €1.99/£1.59 instead of €3.99/£3.19. Two good reasons to buy now? 1) Next week, we will kickstart a Road of Devastation score competition 2) Offers expires on October 30 in the US, and…
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Housemarque: Once Upon a Time
| | 25. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Even casual Housemarque fans are aware that our headquarters resembles a cross between a kindergarten classroom and a Dark City-esque evershifting maze of walls. After providing an overview of our reading habits in our last post, we decided to turn our gaze to a different corner of the room: and so without further ado (except for one or two mouth-trumpets in the background), we proudly present the “Altar of Pride” – a.k.a. “The display cabinet which houses most (but not all) of the games we have made”. As evidenced by the picture above, the Altar’s upper-left corner is occupied by…
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The Housemarque Library: because there’s no fun without books
| | 22. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Making videogames is a complex matter. More often than not, our fans would love to see us banging our keyboards with new game code like there’s no tomorrow (if for no other reason than Dead Nation’s warning that there might not be a tomorrow). However, creating a game doesn’t always involve computers. At times, we find it more productive to sit down, have a coffee and… read something. Inspiration is everywhere. Like every other developer, we’re influenced by a multitude of cultural artifacts, and books, magazines, etc. are at the top of our list. That’s not to say we don’t watch…
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Halloween Sale: get Dead Nation now (or die trying)
| | 18. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Fans of parties, zombies, guns and cities under siege, rejoice! All Hallows’ Eve is approaching and there’s no better time for you to grab a copy of Dead Nation! As a matter of fact, US Playstation Plus subscribers will be able to download the best zombie shooter out there for the insultingly low price of $3.75. And if you want a real challenge, don’t forget to take a look at Road of Devastation, our kick-ass (and recently-updated) Dead Nation DLC. Want to know more about the Halloween Sale? Find all the details on blog.us.playstation.com.
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The Reap Soundtrack Giveaway
| | 13. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Recently we received an email from a fan asking if by any chance we still have the MP3s of The Reap‘s soundtrack stored somewhere is our steampunk hard disks. Well, it took us a good half day to go through the relics in our storage room, but guess what? It turns out we actually do have those files. So, to the benefit of all, we put together a little selection of those tunes and made it available for free to all the old school “Housemarquers” out there. Head to our Housemarque Direct tab on Facebook and click on the box…
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Housemarque new hires: revelations
| | 08. Oct 2012 | housemarque
The most attentive of you has surely noticed that our Jobs page has been quite dynamic lately, with new positions popping up and then dissolving into nothingness like timid dew at sunrise (take that, Walt Whitman!). Today, for the first time in Housemarque history (I think), we have decided to ask our rookies what prompted them to bathe in the light of our glorious company – and what their plans are for delighting gamers the world over. Suvi J. – Game Artist – says: “When I first applied to Housemarque, I wasn’t really expecting to even make it to the interview, as I…
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Dead Nation: Postmortem – Part 3
| | 01. Oct 2012 | housemarque
Did you miss the first two parts of this feature, published originally in the March 2011 issue of Game Developer? Find them here and here. — WHAT WENT WRONG [CONTINUES FROM PART 2] 3 /// Too much content for a downloadable game. In hindsight, our levels should have been smaller in scale. After all, we had a fairly small team for the game we were making, but we still wanted to make a title that would take hours to play through, with lots of replayability. As gameplay changed toward a more tactical direction, and as we increased emphasis on necessitated…
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Angry Birds Trilogy out now!
| | 28. Sep 2012 | housemarque
Housemarque and Angry Birds fans, the day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived: the console version of Angry Birds Trilogy is now available at retail outlets across Europe! In a first-of-its-kind Angry Birds experience, you’re now able to play through three award-winning titles: Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio. Angry Birds Trilogy is available for Xbox 360 (Kinect compatible) and PS3 (Move compatible). As we confirmed back in July, Housemarque was Rovio’s developer of choice for both versions of the game. “We were excited when Rovio chose us to develop Angry Birds Trilogy for the Xbox and PS3,” said Harri Tikkanen, Housemarque’s Co-Founder. “But…
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Dead Nation: Postmortem – Part 2
| | 27. Sep 2012 | housemarque
The other day we started to republish an interesting Dead Nation feature Game Developers printed first in their March 2011 issue. If you missed the first part, check it out here! — WHAT WENT RIGHT [CONTINUES FROM PART 1] 4 /// Engine and Technology. Our in-house Housemarque engine has never let us down, and with the PlayStation 3, we’re able to draw even more power from it. There’s no point for us to even consider any other engine solutions. Dead Nation with fully dynamic lighting and shadows is a good example of what we can draw from the PlayStation 3….
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Dead Nation: Postmortem – Part 1
| | 24. Sep 2012 | housemarque
In the March 2011 issue of Game Developer, a magazine dedicated to the most stressing best craft in the world, Housemarque was featured with a five pages retrospective on Dead Nation. The article – technicallly a postmortem – documented all the various aspects of the game from inception to completion. One and a half years later we decided to republish the piece in 3 parts, for those of you willing to dig deeper (ahem) and reveal what lays hidden under the tombstone of one of our most beloved titles. The original piece was heroically written by the combo Harri Tikkanen…
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Ubisoft Triple Pack available from today, Outland included
| | 21. Sep 2012 | housemarque
If you spent June 2011 in a salt mine, thus missing the release of Outland (later awarded as Best PSN Game for IGN and Gamespot’s Best Download-only Console Game), you have now a chance to make up for that terrible mistake. As a matter of fact, Outland is being re-released a part of Ubisoft Triple Pack, a retail package including also the excellent From Dust and Beyond Good & Evil HD. Don’t miss again the opportunity to play one of our most celebrated titles: get your copy today from Play.com or tomorrow from Amazon.co.uk. US release of Ubisoft Triple Pack…
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Like Furmins? Get the soundtrack!
| | 20. Sep 2012 | housemarque
After the release of Furmins HD, we run two features on the music and sound design of our first foray into the uncharted territories of iOS. At the time, we spoke with Peter Hajba (music) and Ari Pulkkinen (sound design) about all aspects of their work. Today we are happy to announce that the soundtrack of Furmins is available in its entirety from Bandcamp, and that you can get it for an insultingly low price: So head there and do the right thing! Want to know more about Peter? Peter is musician and graphic artist known from the times of…
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An interview with Housemarque’s CEO: past, present, future
| | 17. Sep 2012 | Tommaso
“I think it’s about time to review the company highlights for the recent past”, told me Housemarque’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen last time we met in the corridor. “As you say, chief”, I answered, starting to jot down questions. This interview is the result of our conversation: read ahead to know more about Housemarque’s past, present and future. Let’s start with the last 18 months. The facts: from April 2011 we shipped 4 major releases on 4 different platforms. On the side, we also released 5 DLCs to support our games. Do you want to list all this stuff? Sure. Outland,…
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The Housemarque Survey: Results – Part 2
| | 13. Sep 2012 | housemarque
On Tuesday we posted the first part of our results reveal for the survey we run on Housemarque’s Facebook Page. As we diabolically planned, the article spawned heated comments, but hold your horses: we are not done examining the data yet. Last time we showed a bar chart with approval statistics about Housemarque developing on iOS. Users could pick between three predetermined choices: a) Love it b) Why not? c) Hate it Considering how limiting those categories are, we knew we had to leave fans free to express their thoughts in detail. That’s why question number 4 was asking: 4….
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The Housemarque Survey: Results – Part 1
| | 10. Sep 2012 | housemarque
On August 15, after a little poll to find out what was the Housemarque game people were more fond of (Dead Nation), we decided to put online a small survey to understand in more detail what fans were expecting from our production. Today, we start a series of posts about the results: we want to share what fans have answered, and possibly have a discussion about it on our Facebook page or on the comments to this post. Since the survey was structured in three pages, we will examine half of the answers in this post, and the other half…
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Dead Nation – The Facebook Cover Competition Gallery
| | 07. Sep 2012 | housemarque
On August 23 we asked fans of Dead Nation to come up with a new cover photo for out Facebook page. The community around Dead Nation is without doubt the most lively and active Housemarque has, and we deemed appropriate to convey all that energy into something fun. Over the course of a few days we received as much as 20 submissions, an amazing quantity considered how little time and assets we were providing. The purpose of this blog post is to collect all the images we received and put them in a gallery for all to see. On our…
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Furmins Now Available for Free!
| | 03. Sep 2012 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 03, 2012 – Housemarque, the award-winning Finnish games developer responsible for Angry Birds Trilogy, has released Furmins Free, a free version of Furmins HD, the critically-acclaimed physics-based action puzzler for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The game’s furry protagonists are already a household name in the iOS community, and Housemarque hopes this offering will only add to their popularity. “We believe this step will allow us to tap into a brand-new audience,” said Ilari Kuittinen, Housemarque’s CEO. “We feel there are a lot of gamers out there who perhaps did not have a chance to…
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What’s going on at Housemarque?
| | 31. Aug 2012 | housemarque
At our headquarter, today’s codename was “Janitor’s Day”. What do we mean with that, you say? Well, we can’t really tell anybody. If we did we would have to blast you into stardust right away, and you guys don’t really look like meteorites… But, of course, we can’t stop you from guessing. Here some visual aid, any clue? Why is this guy holding a wall? Hey look, our storage room. What are all those boxes? Perhaps prizes for competitions? More shelves crammed with random stuff. Or… not?
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How to score 3.1 billion points in Super Stardust HD Impact Mode: an interview with Elle Galea
| | 21. Aug 2012 | housemarque
A few days ago, we published confirmation of an incredible Super Stardust HD record on our Facebook page. Today we are happy to have with us Elle Galea, “the girl who achieved the impossible”. Hello Elle, first things first: you contacted us for the first time a few days ago about your “Impact Mode” score in Super Stardust HD. Apparently it’s so high that the leaderboards can’t update it properly! Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you were introduced to the game? Hi, I’ve been into games since I was very young, thanks to my big brother; I’m…
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Super Stardust HD 5th Anniversary Special Offer!
| | 09. Aug 2012 | housemarque
The top-selling and award winning PS3 game, Super Stardust HD blasts you on a breathtaking tour through the galaxy full of epic sights and scenes! With its unique orbit based gameplay and stunning 3D visuals, Super Stardust HD has won several accolades and has been chosen by IGN as one of top 100 modern games, as well as making many Top Playstation 3 games lists. To celebrate the game’s 5th anniversary comes a spectacular offer! Super Stardust HD + all 3 DLC add-ons in one cosmic bundle for only $7.99/€4.99/£4.99!! That’s amazing value: for about half the price of the…
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Housemarque and Rovio team up for Angry Birds Trilogy
| | 12. Jul 2012 | housemarque
Dear gamers, ornithologists, and casual bird-watchers: It’s finally time for the big reveal: Housemarque and Rovio have soared together to create Angry Birds Trilogy, the most comprehensive chapter yet in the über-popular avian saga! Fresh off of Furmins and Super Stardust Delta, the Housemarque team has successfully tackled the challenge of bringing the famed birds to the console world. Angry Birds Trilogy, published by Activision, is designed from the ground-up as the perfect home console experience. This means HD graphics, improved environments, and all the madness of Angry Birds, Angry Birds Season and Angy Birds Rio bundled together in one…
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New Game Mode in Dead Nation: Road of Devastation!
| | 26. Jun 2012 | housemarque
Attention Dead Nation recruits worldwide! We’re excited to announce a brand new game mode for Road of Devastation (the expansion pack), called “Arcade”! It’s a brand new way to experience Road of Devastation! Everyone who’s taken “the Road” knows of the Egogate experiment – to find the perfect zombie killer who can survive longest against ever increasing odds (the fallen heroes’ DNAs are allegedly used to clone and breed the perfect soldier…). The new Arcade mode may actually see you survive the ordeal and get out alive! You can choose your difficulty level, and checkpoints will revive you (or is…
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Housemarque’s Furmins Launches Major Update Today
| | 07. Jun 2012 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – June 7, 2012 – Independent and critically acclaimed Finnish developer Housemarque today released a title update to Furmins, the physics based action puzzle game for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Players will find 12 new levels to explore and solve, beautiful Retina Display graphics for the new iPad, Game Center support and iCloud backup for saved games. To celebrate the latest release, Furmins HD will be on sale for $0.99/€0.79/£0.69 for a limited time.” Since the initial release of Furmins, Housemarque has been listening to fan feedback and committed themselves to making the best possible game….
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Housemarque attends ‘Finnish Games Then and Now’ exhibition opening
| | 06. Jun 2012 | Aki
A new exhibition on Finnish games (both analogue and digital) opened yesterday in Tampere (Finland), and Housemarque was there for the opening. The exhibition has 45 games on display (out of hundreds) and is open until June 10th. Five of our games are playable there; Stardust (Amiga), Alien Incident (PC), Supreme Snowboarding (PC), Super Stardust HD (PS3) and Outland (PS3). More information in Finnish: http://rupriikki.tampere.fi/muut-nayttelyt/suomalaiset-pelit-silloin-ja-nyt/ Photos by Jukka O. Kauppinen
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Update 1.1 for Furmins rolling out June 7
| | 31. May 2012 | housemarque
Over the past few weeks we have been mentioning on our Facebook page that a new update (1.1) of Furmins was about to land on your iOS devices. Now, the time has come: the date is June 7! Write it down on your calendar and get ready for a whole new Furmins experience!” Since the initial release, we have been listening to fan feedback and committed ourselves to making the best possible game. This update answers many fan-made requests, as well as tackling some other opportunities to make Furmins more beautiful and fun. For those of you who missed the…
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Super Stardust Delta is the Best Nordic Handheld Game of 2012
| | 28. May 2012 | housemarque
May 28, 2012 For industry fancy pants like us, the Nordic Game Awards have for the last 10 years been the place to be: we have fun, we meet old friends, and we celebrate the Nordic Countries’ rollicking game development scene. This year, Housemarque was nominated in two categories: Best Nordic Handheld Game for Super Stardust Delta (PSVita), and Best Artistic Achievement for Outland (PS3, Xbox 360). We’re happy to announce that Super Stardust Delta won – henceforth, it’s the Best Nordic Handheld Game of 2012! Head to our Facebook page for visual proof of our claim (it’s not exactly…
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Because We May, Furmins on sale until June 1!
| | 26. May 2012 | housemarque
We believe that developers should have the freedom to price their games how they like, without interference from the online stores that sell the games.” This is, in short, the idea behind the Because We May initiative. Giving developers the possibility to control the price of their own creation is a smart idea: users buy when they think the price is fair, we can experiment and learn more about our customers. That’s why Housemarque has decided to join the Because We May initiative in the iOS games category with Furmins HD: From May 24 to June 1, you will be…
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Game designer, add 2-3 inches to your CV! Look inside for details
| | 15. May 2012 | housemarque
Hello game designers, look at your job, now back to me, now back to your job, now back to me. Sadly, it isn’t my job but if you came to work with us you could have a job like mine. Do you have what it takes? Now look at your clock, can you see how it ticks, now back to mine, can you make it cuckoo? Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a platform watching a bullet hell fly by, now look again, can you make a card game out of it? What’s in your hand, back…
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Housemarque at work on unannounced “new projects”
| | 14. May 2012 | housemarque
Great game development never sleeps. The beginning of 2012 saw Housemarque ship two major titles: the highly acclaimed Super Stardust Delta for PSVita, as well as our first experiment on iOS devices — the brain-racking, lavishly illustrated Furmins, a physic-based puzzle game. As you may have guessed, the purpose of this blog is to give you behind-the-scenes access to everything Housemarque. We want to get you excited about our games, and we want to hear your impressions, critiques, and requests. Most importantly, we want our fans – who are undoubtedly our most precious asset – to connect with our talented…
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Bosses of Super Stardust Delta – Part 3: Craboid & Hydra Cube
| | 05. Apr 2012 | housemarque
This is the third and last episode in our series of articles about Super Stardust Delta Bosses. If you missed the previous ones, read the first here and the second here. — Craboid is an iteration of one of the bosses in Super Stardust HD that had long arms and was able to stretch them around the player’s ship. In Super Stardust HD the players’ first reaction/intuition was always to stay outside of Craboid‘s reach, when the best tactic was actually to just bravely dive inside those long arms and start blasting away at his weak spot. Craboid from Super…
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Bosses of Super Stardust Delta – Part 2: Buzzsaw & Maggotron
| | 02. Apr 2012 | housemarque
This is the second episode in our series of articles about Super Stardust Delta Bosses. If you missed it, read the first here. — Buzzsaw is a boss straight out of the earlier Stardust games, but bigger and badder. We like big and deadly cutting tools, and that shows in some of our games (see for example Dead Nation and Road of Devastation). It was then natural to use them for a great end-of-level boss. This time around Buzzsaw‘s got some new tricks up his sleeve: he attacks you in several different phases, not only with his massive blades but…
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Bosses of Super Stardust Delta – Part 1: Hadronus
| | 29. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Today and in the following weeks we will take a closer look at the big and bad end-of-level Bosses of Super Stardust Delta, and examine their roots and place in the Stardust universe. In the previous Stardust games, the name of the Bosses were never shown in-game. Of course, within the design team we gave them names we could call them by. With the release of the brand new Super Stardust Delta, we deemed it appropriate to officially give each Boss their personal name for players to see and call them by. Players will of course always try their best…
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Furmins: the Secret Artworks Stash – Part 4
| | 22. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Today we conclude our overview on the pre-production artworks created for Furmins. With us, Housemarque’s Lead Artist Mikko Eerola. If you missed the previous episodes, find them here, here, and here. For the last part of the interview we featured at the top the image of a sea. What can you tell us about it? This is another example in our quest to find the right look for Furmins. The previous painting was a bit too texture-like, and this one was, in my opinion, too realistic. It does have some of the same colors as some Romantic-period paintings, but it’s…
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Furmins: the Secret Artworks Stash – Part 3
| | 19. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Missed the first two parts? Mikko speaks about more pre-production artoworks here and here. Make sure you check them and see how the Furmins aesthetic has been evolving over time. Ok, so let’s continue our discussion speaking of this early draft. Readers can see it at the top of this post, and its name is “Pieces”. This was an initial design of the ornaments and the marble. As you can see, the ornaments are way too detailed. They look good on a computer screen but were a mess in the game. So the resolution wasn’t good enough? That, and also…
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Furmins: the Secret Artworks Stash – Part 2
| | 15. Mar 2012 | housemarque
A few days ago we started to go through the pre-production artworks of Furmins with Mikko Eerola, the game’s Lead Artist. Let’s see what else we found in our secret stash… Up next is this crest background. Readers can see it here at the top. This was one of the first images I came up with when I started exploring the idea of having these medieval-themed crests – but I also wanted to keep in mind that this game is not supposed to be completely historical and that’s why I included these “modern color-schemes” in severla elements of the game….
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Super Stardust Delta Reviews Roundup
| | 12. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Hello there, fans of Super Stardust Delta. Here at Housemarque we are extremely pleased with how the game has been received both by the gaming press and the buyers of a brand new PSVita. It seems we can’t go a day without congratulatory comments (one of the latest tweets: “Just 100%’d one of the best games iv played in ages!”), and of course that makes us very, VERY happy (please, keep them coming)! For this reason, we thought it was about time to give a little roundup of the Super Stardust Delta coverage to those of you who have been…
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Furmins: the Secret Artworks Stash – Part 1
| | 12. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Our exploration into the world of Furmins continues with an additional commentary of Mikko Eerola, the game’s Lead Artist. Renowned for his work on Outland, Mikko’s influence can be found in all aspects of Furmins, from the main characters’ undeniable cuddliness to the game’s rich, immersive backgrounds. In this interview, divided in 4 parts, we dip into Mikko’s design archive and touch on a number of images which were generated over the course of production. Let’s start with the artwork titled “Crest”. Our readers can see it at the top of this post. This showcases how we can use different…
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The World of Furmins: the Art of Mikko Eerola – Part 2
| | 08. Mar 2012 | housemarque
We continue our discussion with Housemarque’s Artist Mikko Eerola, responsible for the – very much praised – Art Direction of Furmins. If you missed the first part, check it out here. Why does the world of Furmins look the way it does? That’s an interesting question. I guess the idea came from the fact that we knew from the beginning it would be a puzzle game, and so I wanted a look which reflected a lot of cultural thinking. Greek and Roman structures were an inspiration for this kind of look. At one point we also had an Asian/Zen kind…
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The World of Furmins: the Art of Mikko Eerola – Part 1
| | 06. Mar 2012 | housemarque
Our exploration into the world of Furmins, Housemarque Games’ first entry into the iOS market and currently one of the app world’s most entertaining games, continues in an interview with Mikko Eerola, the game’s Lead Artist. Renowned for his work on Outland, Mikko’s influence can be found in all aspects of Furmins, from the main characters’ undeniable cuddliness to the game’s rich, immersive backgrounds. He recently sat down with us to talk art style, character design and the origins of mysterious “bird”. The Furmins world is built around the main story: the king falls asleep on the river and the…
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Furmins Reviews Roundup – 2
| | 28. Feb 2012 | housemarque
One week after the previous roundup, we are happy to see more reviews rolling in and the game fan base grow steadily. Best of all, is the news that Furmins has been featured as Gaming App of the Day on Kotaku and as Game of the Week on iPadDevice. Check our full coverage after the image! “Furmins is a great-looking, well-designed, and competent title that would be a great choice for those already burnt out on Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.” Bitmob “Furmins is one App you have to have in your games folder.” Apple MMGN “Furmins is a…
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The Music and Sound Design of Furmins – Part 2
| | 17. Feb 2012 | housemarque
To read or download the first part of the interview with Peter and Ari, please click here. Listen the second part in audio format directly from here: Ari, you’re familiar with the soundtracks for other Housemaruqe games you’ve worked on in the past, and Furmins is a bit of a departure from what Housemarque has been proposing to hardcore gamers over the last few years. Do you think Housemarque has a specific vibe in the sound of their games, or was Furmins such a different project that it had to be approached as something separate? Ari – “Coming on the heels…
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Furmins: How to Unlock the Bonus World
| | 15. Feb 2012 | housemarque
Some of you may have noticed that the World 7 badge in the Furmins menu has a blue band around it, as opposed as the red ones wrapping the other Worlds. Why this difference? Cool Breeze Valley, so it’s called the Bonus World, was added as an incentive to connect with Furmins on Facebook. The Furmins fan page hosts a stream of news and status updates regarding Furmins. Also, it’s the perfect place to interact with the Housemarque team, leave your feedback and ask for new features! To unlock Cool Breeze Valley, follow these steps: 1) Once you click on…
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The Music and Sound Design of Furmins – Part 1
| | 14. Feb 2012 | housemarque
We chat with the two guys responsible for giving players of Housemarque’s new app something to hum along with. Listen to the interview in audio format directly from here: For Furmins, Housemarque’s first foray into the iOS world, a couple of recognizable names were tapped to head up the game’s soundtrack and sound design: Peter Hajba, the man behind the music featured in PopCap’s popular Bejeweled series and three-time winner of the Assembly music competition, and Ari Pulkkinen, who at age 29 has already founded his own sound production company and composed the music for arguably the world’s most popular…
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Furmins is back on the App Store!
| | 13. Feb 2012 | housemarque
They are back! HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 13, 2012 – You can’t keep a good furmin down! After its temporary hiatus from the App Store, the acclaimed physics based action puzzle game from Housemarque, Furmins, is again available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Here is what the critics have been saying about Furmins; “…the game’s power to keep you coming back to the gorgeously rendered world is undeniable.” EDGE Magazine “Furmins bears the hallmarks of both a good iOS and Housemarque game.” ComputerAndVideoGames.com “…enough appeal to have Rovio glancing nervously over their shoulders.” Digital Spy “Enter Furmins, a…
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The beautifully rendered world of Furmins hits the App Store today
| | 02. Feb 2012 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 2, 2012 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland and Dead Nation, have today released Furmins, a physics based action puzzle game releasing for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Furmins finds players attempting to guide the eponymous and loveable creatures across fiendishly designed levels by rearranging a variety of items as well as using bumpers and conveyor belts in real-time with well coordinated precision. Their quest – to travel across the length of their world to wake up their King who has fallen asleep, rolled over a river forming…
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Housemarque in Technology Fast 50 2011 list
| | 20. Dec 2011 | housemarque
Helsinki, Finland – November 24, 2011 Housemarque is once more in the Delloitte Technology Fast 50 2011 list. This prestigious annual award honors the fastest growing Finnish technology companies, based on the percentage of revenue growth over five-year period. Housemarque made it to the list for the third year in the row. In this years listing, Housemarque was number 39 with a growth percentage 193%.
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Furmins Previews Roundup: Part 1
| | 20. Dec 2011 | housemarque
While the snow outside quickly turns into slush (winter in Finland, you cannot miss it!), we’re sitting in our cozy office – if you don’t count the Dead Nation coffins laying here and there, that is – refining and improving our new baby, Furmins. Just a few weeks ago, several members from the team traveled both in the US and UK to show an early version of the game to the press. Journalists seemed to enjoy Furmins very much, and of course that gave us the necessary pre-release boost of energy. We thought it would be a good idea to…
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Dead Nation: Road Of Devastation Out Now In EU
| | 28. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 28, 2011 With over 3.8 million recruits and more than 13 billion zombies killed worldwide, the time has come to launch the ultimate zombie-killing spectacle of our time. Think you’ve got what it takes to survive “Road of Devastation?” An expansion to Dead Nation with single player and two player co-op modes (online and offline), as well as new trophies to pick up, Road of Devastation is a brand new way to experience Dead Nation. Check out our new launch trailer! It reveals some awesome new Road of Devastation moments, along with accolades that Dead Nation…
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Road Of Devastation: New Weapons, New Enemies, New Rules
| | 16. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 16, 2011 As Road of Devastation begins, you (and your partner if co-op) escape from a laboratory and find yourself at a crossroads leading to three different roads. Each road has its own perks and dangers lying in wait – with different environments, items and enemies for you to discover. Choose your road, and let the devastation begin… New weapons. Road of Devastation will give players several new tools and ways to dispose of enemies with. And not just something you can carry with you but also elements found in the environment. Electrified fences will…
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Housemarque announces Furmins for iOS
| | 09. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – August 24, 2011 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland and Dead Nation, have announced their next title, Furmins, a physics-based action puzzle game releasing on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch later this year. Making its behind-closed-doors playable debut at Gamescom 2011 in Cologne to the world’s gaming media, Furmins finds players attempting to guide the eponymous and loveable creatures across fiendishly designed levels by rearranging a variety of items as well as using bumpers and conveyor belts in real-time with well coordinated precision. Strategically placed items create pathways and physical…
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Housemarque announces Dead Nation DLC Road of Devastation
| | 06. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 6, 2011 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland, Dead Nation and upcoming Furmins, have today announced new DLC content for ‘PlayStation(R) Network exclusive smash hit Dead Nation. Millions of Dead Nation recruits fighting against the spreading of dreadful zombie virus are now facing new challenges, when they need to travel “Road Of Devastation” in a DLC pack soon available for download exclusively on PSN. “We’ve been working hard since the launch of Dead Nation to bring exciting new content to the fans of the game” says Housemarque CEO Ilari…
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Furmins Fact Sheet
| | 31. Aug 2011 | housemarque
Developer: Housemarque Release date: Q4 2011 Genre: Physics action puzzle Platforms: iPad/iPhone/iPod Price: TBD Premium Game: Universal version for iPad/iPhone/iPod Less expensive iPhone/iPod version Full game Supports in-app purchases for downloading content Story: The furmins are a happy race of creatures living a happy, peaceful existence until the fateful day their benevolent (yet rather large) King falls asleep, rolls over a river forming an impromptu dam and blocks their flow of water. Without water the furmins very existence is threatened (not to mention the real danger of their flower plantations dying!), so they decide to travel across the land to…
TOP news
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The Housemarque community forum is now open!
| | 18. Apr 2013 | housemarque
Hello there. We just opened the Housemarque community forum, find it HERE. First of all, why did we need a forum? Well, because we noticed our community being pretty active in social media, and we were wondering if it was somehow possible to channel that positive energy into more elaborated discussions. Facebook comments are often not the right place to have a meaningful dialogue, so we though “Why not?”. Now, of course, we need your contribution to make the new forum the hub of all Housemarque-related discussions. Looking for coop partners or needy for gameplay tips? You’ll find yourself at…
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Housemarque featured on EDGE 252, hints about new title inside
| | 18. Mar 2013 | housemarque
As we anticipated on our Facebook page, Housemarque has been featured on EDGE 252. Ilari Kuittinen, our CEO, took part in the traditional Region Specific royal rumble, and released an interview about Housemarque’s future and upcoming projects. Curious about the juicy bits? Go grab your copy of EDGE now, or read the studio profile online!
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Tilting Point Media secures publishing agreement with Housemarque
| | 15. Mar 2013 | housemarque
Tilting Point – a US-based publishing fund founded by Tom Frisina (formerly head and founder of EA Partners) – has debuted yesterday with the following statement: “Our view is that independent developers own the future of games,” said Tom Frisina, Executive Chairman of Tilting Point. “However, a studio’s potential can be severely hindered without a partner they can trust to help navigate the challenges of discoverability and monetization. We will nurture the best teams, positioning them for independent success over the long term. We’re taking the expertise and resourcefulness gained from our combined backgrounds and applying them to a new…
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Housemarque on the PS4 announcement
| | 27. Feb 2013 | housemarque
Last week EDGE published a round up of developer opinions about the recent Sony Playstation Meeting. We were asked for a comment too, so read below what Housemarque’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen had to say: “It was great to hear how focused Sony was on games during the PlayStation 4 announcement,” he says. “The new console sounds really developer friendly, and we believe that this time the console transition is much easier for many developers as you’re probably able to use a lot of your existing technology and tools instead of writing everything from the scratch. “Having 16 times more memory…
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SUPER STARDUST DELTA OUT NOW!
| | 22. Feb 2012 | housemarque
February 22, 2012 Super Stardust Delta is getting fantastic reviews! You’re in for a cosmic spectacle that’ll dazzle your senses! We of course recommend buying the total package, giving you more than 10 different game modes in an amazing discounted bundle! Stardust pilots, get ready to shoot your way onto the global (or interstellar) leaderboards!
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The beautifully rendered world of Furmins hits the App Store today
| | 02. Feb 2012 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 2, 2012 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland and Dead Nation, have today released Furmins, a physics based action puzzle game releasing for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Furmins finds players attempting to guide the eponymous and loveable creatures across fiendishly designed levels by rearranging a variety of items as well as using bumpers and conveyor belts in real-time with well coordinated precision. Their quest – to travel across the length of their world to wake up their King who has fallen asleep, rolled over a river forming…
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Furmins Previews Roundup: Part 1
| | 20. Dec 2011 | housemarque
While the snow outside quickly turns into slush (winter in Finland, you cannot miss it!), we’re sitting in our cozy office – if you don’t count the Dead Nation coffins laying here and there, that is – refining and improving our new baby, Furmins. Just a few weeks ago, several members from the team traveled both in the US and UK to show an early version of the game to the press. Journalists seemed to enjoy Furmins very much, and of course that gave us the necessary pre-release boost of energy. We thought it would be a good idea to…
-
Dead Nation: Road Of Devastation Out Now In EU
| | 28. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 28, 2011 With over 3.8 million recruits and more than 13 billion zombies killed worldwide, the time has come to launch the ultimate zombie-killing spectacle of our time. Think you’ve got what it takes to survive “Road of Devastation?” An expansion to Dead Nation with single player and two player co-op modes (online and offline), as well as new trophies to pick up, Road of Devastation is a brand new way to experience Dead Nation. Check out our new launch trailer! It reveals some awesome new Road of Devastation moments, along with accolades that Dead Nation…
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Housemarque announces Furmins for iOS
| | 09. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – August 24, 2011 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland and Dead Nation, have announced their next title, Furmins, a physics-based action puzzle game releasing on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch later this year. Making its behind-closed-doors playable debut at Gamescom 2011 in Cologne to the world’s gaming media, Furmins finds players attempting to guide the eponymous and loveable creatures across fiendishly designed levels by rearranging a variety of items as well as using bumpers and conveyor belts in real-time with well coordinated precision. Strategically placed items create pathways and physical…
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Housemarque announces Dead Nation DLC Road of Devastation
| | 06. Sep 2011 | housemarque
HELSINKI, FINLAND – September 6, 2011 Independent Finnish developer Housemarque, the critically acclaimed studio behind Super Stardust HD, Outland, Dead Nation and upcoming Furmins, have today announced new DLC content for ‘PlayStation(R) Network exclusive smash hit Dead Nation. Millions of Dead Nation recruits fighting against the spreading of dreadful zombie virus are now facing new challenges, when they need to travel “Road Of Devastation” in a DLC pack soon available for download exclusively on PSN. “We’ve been working hard since the launch of Dead Nation to bring exciting new content to the fans of the game” says Housemarque CEO Ilari…
