All Articles: Graceful Explosion Machine

Vertex Pop announces next game as Graceful Explosion Machine sells 50,000 copies on the Switch

Most people who purchased a Switch at launch filled their days and nights with non-stop Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sessions. But Switch owners who delved deeper into the eShop in those early days managed to find dozens of other interesting titles.

For a lot of people, Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine was at the top of that list.

The colorful side-scrolling shooter made its Switch debut on April 6, and it went on to sell 50,000 copies in its first year of availability on Nintendo’s newest console (as revealed by a new post on the developer’s official website). But why stop there? Vertex Pop is celebrating Graceful Explosion Machine’s first anniversary with a 50% off discount on the Switch eShop (and Steam) this week only. In case you were wondering, sales figures for the game on the PC and PS4 weren’t disclosed.

Vertex Pop also revealed that their next game will be released for the Switch in 2019. Fans of Graceful Explosion Machine should especially look forward to the mystery title, as the developer added, “it’s an action game” and “it’s colourful.”

Posted in News, PC, Switch | Tagged

PS Store This Week: Hellblade, Telltale’s Batman The Enemy Within, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, more

Big-budget retail releases may have dried up for the Summer, but there’s a ton of new titles to download this week on the PlayStation Store…

First up is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, an “Indie AAA” from Ninja Theory. The team behind DMC: Devil May Cry and Heavenly Sword is back with a new third-action game for the PS4 about “a warrior’s brutal journey into myth and madness.” The developer worked alongside neuroscientists to accurately portray the mental state of the protagonist and added a unique bit of quasi-permadeath to Hellblade’s save system.

Also available to download this week is the first episode of Telltale’s Batman: The Enemy Within. The Riddler is terrorizing Gotham City in the PS4 sequel, and Batman also has to deal with an appearance by Amanda Waller and the emergence of The Joker. And speaking of return appearances, Cliff Bleszinski returns to game development with LawBreakers, a new hero shooter for the PS4.

Finally this week, a trio of side-scrolling shooters will make the PlayStation Store a retro-tastic place to shop. Capcom has compiled Mega Man 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the PS4 in the Mega Man Legacy Collection 2. Vertex Pop will also release their colorful space shooter, Graceful Explosion Machine, on the PS4. And the bizarre Sine Mora EX has been remastered for the PS4 by THQ Nordic.

You can learn more about all of these titles (and a few others) after the break. (more…)

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Graceful Explosion Machine will blast its way onto the PC and PS4 on August 8

Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine added a bit of color to launch of the Nintendo Switch this Spring, but it looks like the side-scrolling shooter will warp to several new destinations next month. According to a post on the developer’s official website, Graceful Explosion Machine will be released for the PC and PS4 on August 8.

In addition to launching Graceful Explosion Machine on a pair of new platforms, Vertex Pop has also been working to update the game on the Switch. Fans will definitely notice the faster loading times, but an expanded stats screen is also on the docket:

We started by redesigning the score screen to give a clearer breakdown of your score, weapon usage, and additional stats that better reflect your play style. It’s both fun and functional.

We also wanted to make it easier to capture and share those clutch GEM moments. Once you’re in the zone, we know it’s hard to stop the game even for a few seconds to grab a screenshot, so we had to come up with a really creative solution.

Or, more accurately, a really technical one: We designed an AI system to pinpoint the most exciting moment of your run, which we then automagically screenshot and display on the score screen. You can fullscreen it, add it to your Album, share it, etc.

This update for Graceful Explosion Machine is now available to download on the Nintendo Switch, and will be available for the PC and PS4 when the game launches on August 8.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch | Tagged

Nintendo Download: Lego City Undercover, Graceful Explosion Machine, Vroom in the Night Sky, more

Four new games are now available to download for the Nintendo Switch… and three of them will offer players plenty of explosions.

Lego City Undercover is an open-world action game that takes the gritty “cops and robbers” genre and gives it a family-friendly makeover. Players will take control of Chase McCain, an undercover officer who has been ordered to take down notorious criminal Rex Fury. But they’ll also be able to keep themselves busy with “more than 20 unique districts to investigate, car thieves to bust, hilarious movie references to discover, vehicles to drive, and hundreds of collectibles.” Oh, and an explosion or two.

As you’d expect, Graceful Explosion Machine is also packed with fiery detonations. In this side-scrolling shooter, Switch owners will pilot the Graceful Explosion Machine, using its quartet of weapons to blast a bunch of aliens. If you prefer your shooters to scroll vertically, Alpha Mission II, which was originally released for the NeoGeo in 1991, is also available to download today.

Finally this week, Switch owners will be able to download Vroom in the Night Sky, which doesn’t appear to include explosions of any kind. Instead, players will fly through the night collecting Stardusts to unlock the Magical Gate.

You can learn about this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop (which also includes several 3DS and Wii U games) after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U | Tagged ,

Graceful Explosion Machine Review: Colorful Arcade Shooter Pops On Nintendo’s Switch

When your brand new console launches with a single marquee game, you need to do something in the ensuing weeks and months to hold the interest of all those early adopters. Most Nintendo Switch owners (approximately 89%, according to GameStop) are busy exploring every corner of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but the consolemaker’s “Nindies” program has also given the eShop a boost in these early days thanks to exclusive and semi-exclusive software like Snipperclips, FAST RMX, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, and Blaster Master Zero.

Available today, Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine is the latest title to join this steady stream of smaller Switch launches. (more…)

Posted in Reviews, Switch, Top Story | Tagged

Graceful Explosion Machine will be released for the Switch on April 6

Vertex Pop has announced (via Twitter) that they will bring Graceful Explosion Machine, their upcoming side-scrolling shooter, to the Nintendo Switch on April 6.

Graceful Explosion Machine will be priced at $12.99/€12.99, and it’s also expected to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One later this Spring. And in case you missed it, Vertex Pop also released a very colorful trailer for the game last month.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

More than 60 “Nindies” are in development for Nintendo Switch including SteamWorld Dig 2, Runner 3, Yooka-Laylee, and more

Nintendo presented their first-ever Nindies Showcase for the Nintendo Switch today, and promised that more than 60 games from independent developers will be available for the console in 2017. This includes a staggering number of exclusives and timed exclusives such as…

  • Image & Form’s SteamWorld Dig 2, which will be available first on the Switch this Summer.
  • Choice Provisions’s Runner 3, which is in development exclusively for the Switch, and will be released this Fall.
  • Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine, a side-scrolling shooter that’ll be released for the Switch first this April.
  • Team Shifty’s Mr. Shifty, an overhead action game that’ll also be available first for the Switch this April.
  • Cardboard Robot’s Pocket Rumble, a retro-styled fighting game that’ll only be available to console owners on the Switch this March.

Other highlights from the Nindies Showcase include confirmation that Yooka-Laylee will be available for the Switch “soon” and that Blaster Master Zero will be released simultaneously for the 3DS and Switch on March 9.

Nintendo’s complete Nindies Showcase presentation has been embedded above, and you can learn more about all the games featured in the video after the break. (more…)

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More than 80 games will be on display in the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2017

PAX East 2017 will open its doors in exactly 336 hours, and the Indie Megabooth has finally announced which games it’ll have on display at the Boston-based convention this year.

Dozens upon dozens of indie titles will get a chance to shine in a couple of weeks, including some of our favorites from years past. We selected Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine, Hypersect’s Inversus, and Pocketwatch’s Tooth & Tail for our Best of PAX East 2016 roundup and all of them will be on display in the Indie Megabooth this year. Refactor, an alumnus of our Best of PAX East 2014 roundup (when it was known as Tetropolis) has also earned a spot in the PAX East 2017 edition of the Indie Megabooth.

The Indie Megabooth continues to grow and change, and this year, in addition to the Minibooth area and the Tabletop area, it’ll also have a “Visual Novel Reading Room” within its carpeted confines for PAX East attendees.

You can find the full list of games set to be included in the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2017 after the break. (more…)

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