Hey Cinemaware fans!
Wow! Summer has already passed us by and lazy ol Amber hasn't given you an update on whats going down over here at Cinemaware! Just what has been keeping us so busy you ask? Tons! GBA games, the Digital Remaster series and, of course, Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown. The next few months are going to be really exciting for Cinemaware fans!
Fall is harvest time Ive got a big bushel of news!
The big news this month is that yet another classic Cinemaware game has found its way back into stores! The granddaddy of all Cinemaware games, Defender of the Crown is now available for Game Boy Advance! Somehow they managed to squeeze all the swashbuckling, strategy and beautiful damsels into a tiiiiiiny little GBA cart and its just as good as you remember!
The game has shipped all around the U.S. and our eagle-eyed Cinemaware agents have already spotted it in stores for a mere $29.99. You can catch up on all the details and even find links to places on the web that carry the game over at:
Meanwhile, the reviews are already starting to pour in for DotC, check out a few of them:
The GameSpot review sums it up best: Anyone who has played Defender of the Crown on the Commodore 64, Amiga, or NES will quickly fall in love with the GBA version. I couldnt have said it better myself!
If you still havent gotten a Game Boy Advance, well, what more do we have to do?! Make an all-new version of Wings just for the system? Oh yeah, were doing that too! So just whats up with our wee WWI game?
I'm happy to report that development for Wings GBA is finished and we sent the game off for approval from Nintendo last week. Raylight and Crawfish have really been burning the midnight oil packing in dramatic dogfights, gorgeous graphics, multiplayer madness and a stunning storyline. (Ok, enough alliteration Phew!)
We dont have a set ship date for the game yet, but never fear! Well be sure to let all our fans know as soon as the game is ready to go. In the meantime, you can check out all the details and oodles of screens over at:
Expect an update soon on when you can see the game on store shelves!
As usual, our internal team is plugging away, hard at work on our flagship game, Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown. Were coming up on Alpha pretty soon, which means a lot of the hardest work is behind us. For all you non-technical types (myself included), Alpha means that everything thats going to be in the game is there in some form. It might be a little rough around the edges but weve got the groundwork laid for an amazing game!
If you missed it back in August, we posted the first ever high-resolution screenshots from the game, and boy, do they look great! But, since then, the game looks even better I should really go get some new screens. In fact, Im going to go grab some right now! I think its up to Amber Hood to liberate some valuable screens and redistribute them to our needy fans!
Mission accomplished! Check out the fruits of my labor at:
Just in case you missed them, well keep the old screens around as well -- Look for them on the drop down bar to the left.
Hey, and speaking of Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (and I do that a lot in these newsletters, I know!), GameSpot also posted a second interview with a few of the team members.
GameSpot did an interview with a few of the team last year, and Ryan MacDonald was kind enough to invite us back for another video interview now that the game is further along. Its got a ton of juicy tidbits on the game, as well as a bunch of game footage, so be sure to check it out.
They've also got EVEN MORE screens over on the right side so take a look!
Whats that? You want MORE Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown? How about some new, spiffy high-quality renders of the main characters?
We've got our leading man Robin Hood and his right hand man Little John representing the heroes side and, for those of you that want a look at the dastardly face of true evil, weve got the ruthless mercenary Guy of Gisbourne and the tyrannical Prince John!
Head on over to the main Robin Hood page and check out the new renders under Characters. http://www.cinemaware.com/robinhood_main.asp. Look for more in the coming months!
For those of you waiting patiently for the next round of Digital Remasters dont despair! Wings and Lords of the Rising Sun are still on the way! It turned out that the tricky process of reverse engineering the original Amiga code was a little bit trickier than we first planned, but the wizards over at Clickboom have finally made it over the hump and were making a ton of progress now.
We've got a few new screens of both games up for your viewing pleasure. I think youll all agree that these ones are going to be worth the wait!
Take a look at Wings page at: http://www.cinemaware.com/wingsremaster_main.asp and Lord of the Rising Sun at: http://www.cinemaware.com/lordsremaster_main.asp.
If you signed up to be in the running for one of the Beta Test slots for these games you probably havent heard from us yet. But you will! Well be picking a few lucky candidates in the next few weeks to help us make these games the best they can be.
If youre familiar with the original Amiga versions of these games and can commit to a few hours a week over the next few months, fill out the application at http://www.cinemaware.com/betaapplication.asp. If you already filled out the application, give it another go so we know youre still available.
As before, we cant offer much in exchange, but your name will be featured in the game credits and every tester will receive a free copy of the final game! Theres a limited amount of Beta seats available, so reply soon! (Beta testing is limited to residents of the USA)
Phew! Weve covered a lot this month! But I wouldnt want to leave you all without a little special something, so were once again opening the super secret Cinemaware vault to bring you a classic from the past.
But which game to post? Lets seeits OctoberHalloween here in the States Its Giant Mutant Ants season again I guess its time for It Came From the Desert!
Weve got the original disc images of Cinemawares creature feature It Came from the Desert available for download once again! The game is available in Amiga and PC formats, plus the never-before-release Genesis version.
But wait theres more! Many people dont know that It Came from the Desert actually had a sequel, Antheads: It Came From the Desert II. The sequel only made it to stores in Europe, but Cinemaware fans could get it directly from the company back in the day. Well, now weve made it available to everyone!
Head over to the following link to download both the games: http://www.cinemaware.com/news.asp?news=itcamerom.