krome-studios posts

There's a fine line between being entertaining and trying so hard to be cute that it gets annoying. Kit Ballard (aka Blade Kitten), walks that line, and despite her feline agility, often falls off onto the wrong side. Ballard is an intergalactic bounty hunter that's half human and half cat (among the last of the Felion race). Inspired by a Japanese anime art style, she comes complete with pink hair, armed with a big flying sword, and accompanied by a cutesy pet. It's clear that the writers were aiming for a sassy attitude, but Kit comes off sounding like a someone trying sound way younger than she actually is. On the other hand, the cell shaded graphics and music wonderfully convey an almost whimsical comic book feel. So the game's charm rests largely on how much the player appreciates controlling a cartoon cat girl.

Download Blade Kitten Demo
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Last month online reports claimed that Australian-based game developer Krome Studios was going to completely shut down. Now a new IGN article disputes those reports, quoting the company's CEO Robert Walsh as saying that the developer still has 40 people currently working on game projects.

Walsh admits that the developer, which released the downloadable action game Blade Kitten earlier this fall, kept a large number of team members for "as long as possible, when we didn't necessarily have paying work." That kind of move has lead to the company's current issues. However Walsh is hopeful that the studio will soon be getting some new work. Walsh, who was interviewed last week for the IGN article, stated, "We're potentially going to get about another 40-45; I'll find out in the next day or two, if this project goes ahead. And then we have another project that comes up in a couple of weeks, which could [require] another 40 people."

One of the biggest game developers in Australia, Krome Studios, may be on the verge of a total shut down. The Australian-based game developer web site Tsumea is reporting through unnamed sources that yet another round of mass layoffs have hit the company's two remaining development offices and that the company will shut down entirely on Monday. The article adds that some workers may be rehired as contractors to complete some of Krome's remaining work.

At one point, the article says Krome Studios had as many as 400 people employed just a year ago. However the developer started a series of mass layoffs beginning in November 2009. The company's most recent projects included updating the Microsoft Game Room on Games For Windows Live and the downloadable action-platformer Blade Kitten for publisher Atari.

We've got yet another giveaway contest to launch today. This time we have 10 Steam codes that are good to download a copy of Blade Kitten, the just released platformer action game from developer Krome Studios and publisher Atari.

How do you win? It's very simple:

• To enter, post a comment on this contest page.
• The comment must be left before 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, September 28
• You may enter only once.
• 10 winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• The winners will be sent a Steam code to download Blade Kitten (valued at approximately $14.99)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules. You must be a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) who is 18 years or older to enter this contest

Our thanks to Atari for providing the codes for this contest. Good luck to all who enter our latest giveaway.


Download Blade Kitten Demo (237 MB)

This is the playable demo for Blade Kitten, an arcade action fighting / platforming game based on the comic book of the same name. Players take the role of Kit Ballard, a bounty hunter who is part cat and uses her special abilities to beat down all the evildoers that get in the way. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Welcome to Hollow Wish... On the surface, it's your typical lawless frontier. Yet this mysterious shell planetoid is filled with dark secrets and cloaked figures. It's here Kit Ballard, aka Blade Kitten, works as one of the best bounty hunters in the business. Don't let her pink hair fool you, Kit is part cat, part girl, and wholly lethal. She is one of the last of her species, having fled her homeland after the genocide of her people at the hands of the ancient and mystical race known as the Darques."

Download Blade Kitten Demo (237 MB)
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Those waiting eagerly for the action-adventure game Blade Kitten will love this trailer. It shows off several NPCs, in-game footage, and even establishes a story thread. However it's got some serious sound issues (the mastering is all wonky) and the lip-synching is pretty bad. Maybe it's just us. Either way, the game does look quite stunning and we're interested in how it's going to turn out. This trailer just does not seem to give a good impression due to the weirdness in the sound effects, voice-over, and music.

Download HD Blade Kitten 'Story' Trailer
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The sci-fi action comic Blade Kitten has been going for a while now, and Krome Studios is hard at work on the related game for Atari. Unsurprising, given that the comic is one of the co-founder's children. They've released a new trailer for the downloadable title, and it doesn't really reveal much about the gameplay. It does, however, detail a lot of the costumes that players can wear. From the traditional outfit to being just short of an actual cat, the costumes are quite varied. They also change the skin of the Darque Blade. However, there's no details on how you will get them or if they give any concrete bonuses.

Download HD Blade Kitten 'Customization' Trailer
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Microsoft's PC game download service Games For Windows Live has seen more activity in 2010 in terms of new games and add-ons that the previous three years that the service has been live. That includes new ads-ons for the Microsoft Game Room retro arcade game service.

For the month of August, Game Room has seen two updates (one earlier in the month and the other released on Wednesday). Both updates have added a bunch of classic titles for your virtual game arcade, including titles like Checkers for the Atari 2600 and Pinball for Intellivision. In total 30 new classic titles are now available for Game Room between the two new packs that were released for August.

It's yet another busy Gamescom kind of a day today with lots of PC gaming reveals. It should be interesting to see how Paradox Connect works out. Do we really need yet another "achievements" feature?

• Steam has launched a new arcade shooter called Swarm Arena which you can get for 10 percent off for a limited time.
• A new Booster Trooper update on Steam adds two new maps to the game.
• Check out the unboxing of the Elemental: War of Magic Limited Edition.
• Apparently staring at the virtual Playboy magazines in Mafia II may generate its own stats.
• Rumor is that more layoffs may have occurred at Krome Studios.

We admit it: We haven't been keeping up with reporting about the new releases for Microsoft's Game Room. The combo virtual room-retro game service has had three updates since the latest time we mentioned it last May. Today Microsoft released the seventh major content update to Game Room via the Games for Windows Live client.

This newest update, adds a number of classic arcade titles that you can either buy or rent. They include three titles from Konami, nine titles from the Atari 2600 library (including some from Activision) and three games from the Intellivision corner. With this newest update Game Room users now have just over 100 retro games to choose from to populate their virtual game room.