Win a Nexus 7 in the Beach Buggy Blitz Thanksgiveaway!

We at Vector Unit have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  We're thankful that Beach Buggy Blitz just hit 500,000 installs on the Play Store.  [Update:  Just hit 1 MILLION installs!] We're thankful for the Nexus 7, which is pretty much the best gaming hardware you can buy for $199.  And we're thankful to our fans who have made Beach Buggy Blitz one of the highest rated free to play games around!

To give a little something back to our loyal fans, Vector Unit and NVIDIA are joining forces to bring you the first ever Beach Buggy Blitz Thanksgiveaway! We’re giving away a brand spanking new Tegra 3 Powered 16GB Nexus 7 tablet, plus a whole mess of hot-off-the-presses Beach Buggy Blitz T-Shirts!

All you have to do to enter is follow these simple steps:

1. If you haven't already, follow @VectorUnit on Twitter. 
2. Tweet a screen shot* (or a link to an image) of your favorite Beach Buggy Blitz car. It can be a car you upgraded and painted yourself, or just a cool looking picture you found online. Be sure to include @vectorunit AND #beachbuggyblitz in your Tweet. 
3. Sit back and wait for the end of the contest, and hope you get picked! 

The sweepstakes starts on Thursday, November 15, 2012, and ends on Monday, November 26, 2012, at 9am PST.   We’ll choose TWENTY-FIVE (25) winners at random for a T-Shirt, and ONE (1) winner out of those to receive the Nexus 7!  

See below for more detailed rules.  And good luck!

* How to take a screenshot on Android

* How to take a screenshot on iOS

Rules

Competition is open to residents of the US only, over the age of 18. One entry per person. Do NOT tweet multiple entries or tweet from multiple Twitter accounts. Family members of NVIDIA, Google, and Vector Unit are not permitted to enter.

Competition entries are only accepted via the specified Twitter tweet, and must be dated no later than 9am PST on November 26, 2012.   Entries which do not include @vectorunit and #beachbuggyblitz will not be recognized.  Entries left in the comments section of this or any other post, or received by any other means, will not be recognized.

Winners will be contacted by a Vector Unit staff member via direct message in Twitter upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member within 24 hours, else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected.  Vector Unit’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.  Winners agree that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to, NVIDIA and Vector Unit.  

Prizes consist of a 16GB Nexus 7 tablet, and 20 Beach Buggy Blitz T-Shirts (available in S, M, L, and XL, also womens/mens). There are no other alternatives for prize winners unless these prizes become unavailable, in which case Vector Unit reserves the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value. Giveaway provided by Vector Unit. Prizes provided by NVIDIA and Vector Unit. Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to info@vectorunit.com. 

Beach Buggy Blitz is out, and the reviews are in!

It's finally here!  After almost a solid year of work, Beach Buggy Blitz is now available for Tegra 3 (and some Tegra 2) devices in the Google Play Store.  The community seems to like it (4+ stars in Google Play) and we couldn't be happier with the response from the reviewers.  

Here's a sampling from some of the game journal reviews that have come out so far:

All-in-all a breathtaking dollop of gorgeous eye-candy that blows the mittens off most other games. A real highlight is the lighting when you burn through a cave- check out those headlights!

- Android Tapp, Rating: 4/5

Vector Unit has really delivered a great title here... Detailed graphics, fun gameplay, very solid controls, and lots of unlockable features make Beach Buggy Blitz a very fun game.

- Android PIT

A variety of powerups and gadgets are available to improve your chances of success. ... That’s where Beach Buggy Blitz excels: It boasts an In-App-Purchase (IAP) model which isn’t outright greedy.

- Forbes, Rating: 9/10

Another awesome racing game with heavy physics coming at you from all angles. 

- Slash Gear

Got Tegra?  Check out Beach Buggy Blitz in the Play store today.  What have you got to lose?  It's freakin' FREE!

Beach Buggy Blitz™ debuts at Google I/O Developer Sandbox

San Francisco, CA – June 27, 2012 —Vector Unit, a game developer known for top-selling water racing titles Riptide GP™ and Shine Runner™, debuts its new Android racing game Beach Buggy Blitz in the Developer Sandbox at Google I/O this week.

Beach Buggy Blitz is built around an “infinite drive” mechanic that challenges players to drive as far as possible through lushly detailed, procedurally generated environments -- power-sliding through beaches and volcanoes, flying through the air off massive jumps, and smashing through totally destructible environments. Along the way players can collect coins to unlock and upgrade new vehicles, purchase new costumes, even customize the game itself with new powerups and consumables.

This is the first game to utilize Vector Unit’s retooled Vector Engine 3, which features console-style effects optimized to make the most out of mobile powerhouses like the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core mobile processor.

“Beach Buggy Blitz is our most technologically advanced mobile game to date,” says Ralf Knoesel, Technical Director, Vector Unit. “From the start we knew we wanted to take advantage of what the Tegra 3 mobile processor can do, from extra-detailed models and normal-mapped textures to advanced collision and driving physics. The game also features a number of Tegra 3 exclusives, like lens splash effects and dynamic headlights in caves -- stuff we really just can’t do on slower platforms.”

Beach Buggy Blitz will be playable at Google I/O in the developer Sandbox on Thursday, June 28, 2012. The final game is scheduled to ship later in July 2012, and for a limited time will be available exclusively for Tegra-powered Android devices.

Game Features:

• Action-Packed Off Road Racing. Powerslide through beaches, caves, swamps and volcanoes. Smash through completely destructible environments. Grab air off massive jumps. Punt seagulls and giant crabs and watch them go flying.
• “Infinite Drive” Environment. The procedurally generated environment means you can drive forever (at least until you wipe out), and it never plays out the same way twice.
• Tons of Unlockable Content. Earn coins to purchase new cars and costumes, upgrade your vehicle, unlock new powerups, and purchase out of this world consumables like the jaw-dropping Drop Ship.
• Totally Free to Play. You can unlock every single thing in the game without paying a dime.
• Optimized for Tegra 3. From the gorgeous models and textures, to the detailed driving and collision physics, to high-end special effects like motion blur, lens splash, and dynamic headlights – Beach Buggy Blitz is optimized to take console-quality gaming mobile with Tegra 3 processor-powered super phones and tablets. The game will be featured in TegraZone™, NVIDIA’s free app that showcases the best games optimized for the Tegra processor.

Kotaku Like

The good folks at Kotaku (Mike Fahey specificially) just reviewed Riptide GP, and gave the game an emphatic thumbs-up, naming it their Gaming App of the Day:

I had no idea the sort of juice these Tegra 2-powered devices could pump out. The age of console-quality Android gaming is upon us, and Riptide GP is one hell of a good start.

Check out the full article here:  Riptide GP Rips Android Gamers a Console Quality Racer

Riptide GP making a splash

Vector Unit's newest game for Tegra2-powered Android phones and tablets, Riptide GP, is now available on the Android Market and is making a splash with users and critics.

As of this writing, average user reviews are averaging 4.7 stars out of 5.  

Critical reviews have been coming in this week, too, and the critics have plenty of nice things to say:

WOW! riptide GP is incredible....If you are at all into racing games, Riptide GP is a must-have.

BooyaGadget.com

We haven't been able to put it down.  If you are looking for a mobile game with that "wow factor" then look no further than this one.

Droid-Life.com

The frame rate, details, and polish of this game are unlike anything this editor has ever seen on a game for a mobile device to date.  Riptide GP for Tegra platform truly is a console quality experience.

BriefMobile

Not too shabby, right?  We're extremely happy with the reception the game's been getting, and the great comments and feedback sent in from players around the world.  

If you haven't yet picked up Riptide GP, buy it today and see what all the fuss is about!

See anything you like?

If you're like us, you head over to the Nvidia site every now and then to check out the latest and greatest news about Tegra and all the other sweet graphics magic that comes outta that place.  Or maybe you're not like us at all.  

In any case, we were pretty excited when we stopped by Nvidia's home page yesterday and noticed a screenshot for a certain futuristic Supercross-on-water game prominently displayed on their Tegra banner.  

Mm... tasty.  I can't wait for that game to come out.  I wish those guys making it would get a move on and finish the damn thing.

Source:  www.nvidia.com 

Vector Unit unveils Riptide GP at Mobile World Congress

Game developer bringing console-class water racing to Tegra 2 powered tablets and phones

San Rafael, CA – February 15, 2011.  One of the new Android games optimized for the NVIDIA® Tegra 2 making waves at Mobile World Congress this year is futuristic water-racer Riptide GPTM, the newest title to come out of independent studio Vector UnitTM, developers of Hydro ThunderTM Hurricane for Xbox LIVE® Arcade.

Set against the backdrop of a futuristic Earth, Riptide GP features daredevil watercyclists rocketing through canals and rivers across a dynamic, ever changing surface of glittering water. Riders jump each others wakes and catch huge air off rolling waves as they battle to be first across the finish line. It's Supercross on water, played out on twisting, undulating waterpark racetracks.

The developers at Vector Unit are no strangers to the technical demands and gameplay opportunities of water racing games. Their previous title, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, a sequel to the Midway Games arcade classic, was released last year as part of Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Summer of Arcade and featured gorgeous water visuals and a sophisticated hydrodynamic simulation.

“The thing that's great about racing on water is that the track is always changing,” says Technical Director Ralf Knoesel, the man behind the team's procedural water. “It's not like racing on a static road where every lap is completely predictable. When you're riding over huge swells of ocean waves you have to make decisions about when to carve through a trough or jump a crest – all while battling the other riders for the best line.”

When asked about bringing their next-gen technology to the Tegra 2 platform, Knoesel is enthusiastic. “Until recently it just wasn't possible to create the kind of game we wanted to make on a phone or a tablet. With Tegra 2, we've been able to create a racing experience that combines sophisticated physics simulations with console-class visuals.”

Riptide GP is being developed by Vector Unit in partnership with Flashman Capital LLC.

Prepare to rev up your watercycle and shred the waves Summer 2011.