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. 

Windows 8 Double Whammy!

You just installed Windows 8, and now you're looking for something awesome to do with it.  What could be more awesome than a high-fidelity water racing game?

I'll tell you what would be more awesome:

TWO high-fidelity water racing games!

This last week Vector Unit released both Hydro Thunder Hurricane (published by Microsoft Studios) and Riptide GP onto the Windows 8 store, and the reviews have been great!

Until last week Hydro Thunder Hurricane was an Xbox 360 exclusive, and now for the very first time PC players around the world can get a faceful of jet-fuel-scented spray with this faithful port.  It even includes all the content of the 360 "Tempest Pack" DLC.  Hydro Thunder Hurricane offers a classic-arcade racing experience for hardcore and mid-level players.

Riptide GP has been making waves on Android and iOS for about a year now, but this is the first time it's been released on the Windows platform.  Riptide GP offers intense hydro jet racing action mixed with high flying stunts and awesome ragdoll wipeouts.  It's easy to pick up and play for beginners, but challenging to master for expert players.

Check them out in the Windows 8 Store today!

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