Beach Buggy Blitz shreds onto iOS

Vector Unit's driving adventure game Beach Buggy Blitz has hit the iTunes App Store!

The game plays and looks great on the hottest new iOS devices like the iPhone 5 and the new iPad.  The iOS version sports full Game Center integration, with Achievements and Leaderboards.  It's really fun to challenge your friends back and forth with your high score!  We also support saving your game to iCloud, so you always have a backup of your progress, and you can even continue your game on multiple devices with the same iCloud account.

In addition, we've added a new item to the store -- a Coin Doubler that allows you to earn in-game money at a faster rate.  Perfect for those more expensive upgrades!  The Coin Doubler will be making its way to the Android version soon as well.

Download Beach Buggy Blitz for free from the App Store today!

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!

Hydro Thunder Hurricane announced for Windows 8 launch

Our good ol pal Major Nelson today announced the lineup of games appearing at launch for Windows 8, and guess who's listed among them?  That's right, our OTHER good ol pal Hydro Thunder Hurricane.

HTH will be available day 1 on the Windows 8 store in all it's hydro-thundering glory.  Catch some massive air off the broken dam in Lake Powell, dodge the hammer-blows of mighty Thor, and try to escape unscathed through the mysterious portal in Area 51....all your favorite tracks (and boats) from Hydro Thunder Hurricane on Xbox LIVE Arcade are there, plus the 3 bonus tracks and 2 extra boats from the Tempest Pack DLC.

One other feature that HTH Win8 brings to the table is Ghost Race.  Download your Friends' best performances and race against their ghosts to really prove once and for all who's got bragging rights for the fastest rocket-propelled speedboats in town.  

No price announced yet, but we'll let you know when we know ourselves.

Major Nelson:  First Wave of Xbox LIVE Games That Will Be Coming to Windows 8

My Favorite 2-Star Review Ever

Riptide GP generally gets pretty good reviews -- about 4.5/5 stars average in the App Store and Play Store.  But there are people who don't like it.  Sometimes they don't like it because they want multiplayer or some other feature.  Sometimes it just doesn't click.

But sometimes you get a negative review that actually makes you smile.  And this is one of those:

Not that good ★★

by - Version 1.3 - Aug 8, 2012

I am a kid and I even know that this game is hardly realistic because I know if you release the gas it's like you automatically have the brakes on and also if u ride a jet ski on land it's gonna get a hole in it and it's done for however long till it gets fixed. Also a jetski that doesn't get a hole in it from driving on land will be heavy making it not go up hills or waves well. Also you hit a wall or another jetski at that speed your screwed.

Well, anonymous reviewer kid... you're right.

10 Awesomest Things from Google I/O

This last week we traveled allllll the way down to San Francisco to attend Google I/O as part of the Developer Sandbox.  

The main reason for going was to show off our new game, Beach Buggy Blitz ... which we did to every poor sucker who walked by within arm's length of our kiosk and didn't run away screaming when we shoved our preloaded Nexus 7's into their face.  

Actually, OK, it was a bit more relaxed than that.  We had a great time meeting fellow Android nerds, and people seemed to really enjoy the game, which was gratifying because we haven't shown it to many people outside our little circle.

We had the Sandbox kiosk on Thursday, and on Wednesday and Friday we got to wander around, explore, check out some exhbits, and just soak up the Android love.  

Along the way we saw some things we really liked, and here in no particular order, are our top 10:

1. Nexus 7

Um... a 7" Tegra 3 tablet, kept eternally up to date with the latest pure Android experience starting with the as-yet-unreleased Jellybean...for $199?  Yes, please.  Sure you could quibble about not having a back-facing camera or HDMI out or whatever, but...for the love of pete it's $199!  This is the new ultimate portable gaming device.

2. Jellybean and Project Butter

Jellybean is Android OS 4.1, and it's slick.  It's especially slick because of "Project Butter", Google's effort to smooth out the UI in Android.  Anyone who's compared an iPad and Android tablet side by side knows what I'm talking about.  And thanks to their efforts Jellybean on a Tegra 3 at least is smooooooth as silk, and there are a lot of other new features we like as well.

3. The giant Nexus Q ball

I never quite figured out what this thing did, but it was big and robotic and it played cool music.

4. Cube 3D printer

At $1299 it's not cheap, but the Cube is the first consumer-level 3D printer that I've ever seen that actually looks like it does what you want.  We were super impressed with the quality of the detail and the durability of the materials.  It really is kind of like magic.  Slow magic, but still...magic.

5. Beach Buggy Blitz!

Yeah OK I know this is self serving, but it's my list dammit.  And yeah we were super happy to finally be able to show the game to people and talk to them about it and it didn't crash or do anything weird, and so I think it's fair to say it was the highlight of the show for us at least :-)

6. That guy with the helicopter

Dammit, I didn't get a video of this guy, but on Thursday afternoon this RC helicopter champion gave a demonstration in front of a massive crowd that was completely insane.  He flew that thing upside down, sideways, and within inches of the ceiling and floor.  Really, he distorted physical reality.  It was loco.

7. Visual Studio development plugins for Android and Chrome Native Client

This is actually Ralf's favorite thing.  NVIDIA is releasing a plugin that allows direct building and debugging of Android apps from within Visual Studio.  And Google is releasing one for Chrome Native Client.  This is going to make developing and debugging Android and Chrome apps a lot smoother!

8. 10 Things Every Android Game Developer Should Know

This talk on Friday morning by Daniel Galpin and Ian Lewis focused on what NOT to do to NOT get featured....or NOT NOT get featured.  Or something.  Anyway it was really informative, and surprisingly entertaining and funny to boot.  I don't know if they'll post it online, but if they do and you ever think about making Android games you should watch it.

9. Skydivers with Glass

By now pretty much everybody's seen this, or at least heard about it.  And even though I'm not totally sold on wearing a plastic toothbrush with a camera on it next to my face, the demo was pretty incredible.  Hats of to Google for coordiating a live demo like that which could have gone wrong in so many ways...and didn't.

10. Free Stuff!

Nexus 7, Nexus Q, Galaxy Nexus phone, Chromebox.  Plus T-shirts, little pins and stickers, free food and booze and music and entertainment.  OK well I guess it's not technically free if you bought your ticket, but it's still pretty awesome considering that most conferences don't give you anything except tired feet. 

Thanks again, Google!  See you next year (I hope!)

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.

Nabi 2 kids tablet is awesome and Riptide-o-licious

We sometimes get approached by companies coming out with new hardware who want to talk to us about putting a demo version of one of our games on their devices.  Usually we politely decline, either because we don't like the device, or because it seems like it's going to be a lot of work and we don't have time.

But every so often a device comes along that we feel really fortunate to be able to be a part of.  The new Nabi 2 tablet for kids is one of those products.  

The Nabi 2 is an Android tablet with a whopping-fast Tegra 3 quad-core processor in it.  It has a cool looking shock-proof case.  It comes preinstalled with a bunch of family-friendly games (including our very own Riptide GP).  It has non-obnoxious parental filters and controls.  It's a full-on tablet, not just a toy.  And it only costs $199.  

It's coming out really soon, and the reviews are starting to come in.  This is definitely one we're recommending to our friends with kids.  Check it out!

Wired - Is the Best Android Tablet Available Made for Kids?

Android Police - Fuhu Nabi 2 Review

SlashGear Nabi 2 Kids Tablet Review

Vector Unit showing new game at Google I/O 2012

The good people at Google have invited us to participate in the Developer Sandbox at Google I/O this year, and we couldn't be more thrilled.  

First of all, we're excited because we love Google I/O.  We were fortunate enough to be part of the Sandbox last year with Riptide GP.  We got to meet a ton of other developers working on amazing new projects, participate in the conference, and of course managed to score some of that sweet Google I/O swag.

On top of just getting to attend the conference, of course, it also feels really good to have the Android team at Google recognize our work and invite us to join them. 

But the other reason we're excited is because the game we're going to be showing is our brand new, as yet unannounced title.  

No details yet about what the game actually is -- attendees at Google I/O are going to be the first people outside of Vector Unit to see and play it.  

So stay tuned for the official announcement next week.   We hope you like it -- and if you're attending, we hope to see you in the Google I/O Developer Sandbox in a couple of weeks!

Hydro Thunder Hurricane coming to Win8

A blast from the Vector Unit past is back!  Hydro Thunder Hurricane, the Xbox LIVE Arcade hit game from 2010, is revving up its boost engines for another run -- this time for Windows 8!

We've been hard at working porting the game over to PC over the last few months.  In particular we've been optimizing the game to run on tablet PCs, so Hydro Thunder fans can pick up their slates and enjoy rocket-powered speedboat racing out in the real world.  You know, at work, at school, at your in-law's place....wherever portable entertainment is necessary.

HTH will be available for Windows 8 in the Store when the OS launches later this year.  The game will feature all the levels and tracks from the XBLA version, as well as the bonus tracks and levels from the Tempest Pack DLC.

No word on pricing yet.  Stay tuned!