Skulls of the Shogun

Is anyone else really excited about this game? I first saw it many moons ago on a youtube video and thought it looked amazing. Now it's pending release, I think it's with MS for final certification.

Is this the first killer game for Windows Phone? I'm new to WP and I must say the games selection is abysmal, unless you like word based games. There is isn't a 5* game on the platform, until now IMO.

What makes Skulls so good? Its a turn based strategy game that can be played asynchronously between Xbox360, Surface, Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. But its not a boring turn based strategy game, its fast paced and packs a punch with games flying by. Not only can you play multiplayer across platforms, you can continue your game, both single player and multiplayer, on another device. So if you are playing on your 360 and have to catch the train, you can continue where you left off on your phone or tablet.

Personally I can't wait for Skulls, roll on release date........

http://skullsoftheshogun.com/?page_id=872

I saw the ad yesterday, quite amusing. Not sure about game play as it doesn't show much details there, looks fun tho
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Originally Posted by ynight

I saw the ad yesterday, quite amusing. Not sure about game play as it doesn't show much details there, looks fun tho
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

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I have seen two reviews, one a 9 and the other a 10. One of them called it the best console strategy game ever and the other the best Xbox Live Arcade game. Seems to have a decent amount of depth to it's gameplay.

Where have you seen a review?

This game looks amazing! I hope it has matchmaking of some sort with rankings or a ladder. Even if not right away, it would be a nice addition later to give the game a long life.

Calling something a 5-star title is tough and a matter of preference. Personally, I really like having Minesweeper on my device, Flowerz is good, and Galaxy Rush is a nice non-Xbox title. There are several high-quality titles on the platform if you look around a bit. There are many other games I like on Windows Phone (both word-based and not).

I'm really looking forward to playing this across all devices :). I keep pestering them for a release date on Facebook. It's currently in certification with Microsoft so fingers crossed it will be out in the next few weeks.

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Originally Posted by Keith Wallace

Calling something a 5-star title is tough and a matter of preference. Personally, I really like having Minesweeper on my device, Flowerz is good, and Galaxy Rush is a nice non-Xbox title. There are several high-quality titles on the platform if you look around a bit. There are many other games I like on Windows Phone (both word-based and not).

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There are a few decent little games, but none I would say would help promote the platform for Microsoft. Games like Skulls of the Shogun give Windows Phone an exclusive that no other platform can hope to compare to. Having Xbox Live in its walls is a massive advantage for MS and one it needs to exploit far more. Windows Phone should be numero uno when it comes to mobile gaming, Apple can't link to anything unless they get in bed with Sony and neither can Google.

Skulls is a graphically superb 3D game that can be played against pc and xbox users and it should be marketed to the heavens by MS. They finally have something to shout about for once.

Hey, Ilomilo is a phenomenal game!

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Skulls of the Shogun has passed certification with Microsoft! We will have a release date shortly!

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From their Twitter :)

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Originally Posted by I Spiritus I

From their Twitter :)

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Awesome!

Wow! Really excited for this. And with WP7 support!

From their website:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Samurais, Gods, and Deities: THE TIME HAS COME!
Skulls of the Shogun will be released worldwide on January 30^th, 2013 for Xbox Live Arcade, Windows 8, Windows Surface, and Windows Phone! Get ready! It’s finally coming!
Colin has cooked up a fresh new launch trailer for your enjoyment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=UX0r96w9bog

So far, early print reviews have been quite positive and we’ve been getting some solid review scores from print magazines such as Game Informer (8.5!) and OXM UK (9.0!).
If you’re one of those people who like to see these announcements in press release form, the official announcement is below…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17-BIT TO RELEASE SKULLS OF THE SHOGUN WORLDWIDE ON JANUARY 30^th, 2013

The highly anticipated action-packed turn-based strategy game will be released simultaneously on Xbox Live Arcade, Windows 8, Windows Surface, and Windows Phone

SEATTLE, WA (January 10, 2013) – Indie developer 17-BIT today announced that they will be releasing Skulls of the Shogun worldwide on January 30^th, 2013 for Xbox 360, Windows 8 PC, Microsoft Surface, and Windows Phone. The Xbox 360 version will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points in the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Windows 8/Surface version for $14.99 in the Microsoft Store, and the Windows Phone version for $6.99 in the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Skulls of the Shogun is an invigorating cocktail of 1960’s-flavored sorcery and strategy. Washed up on the shores of the afterlife, players meet and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal-monks, and mustachioed samurai generals on the way to capture the Skulls of the Shogun in a 15-hour single-player campaign.Skulls of the Shogun also features up to four-player local and online multiplayer battles.
Also, for the first time ever, players will be able to challenge their friends, fight their way through online multiplayer battles, and even take their single-player campaign on the road asynchronously — whether they’re playing on Xbox 360, Windows 8, Surface, or Windows Phone. Called Skulls Anywhere, this cross-platform gameplay has never been done before on Microsoft platforms and will be available at launch on all four launch platforms!
“After three and a half years, Skulls of the Shogun is finally ready to be released,” said 17-BIT Founder and CEO, Jake Kazdal. “We’re ecstatic we could bring Skulls to all four of Microsoft’s platforms, and bring them all together with cross-platform functionality. We appreciate the excitement and patience by all the Skulls of the Shogun fans, and we here at 17-BIT believe the wait will be well worth it.”
Skulls of the Shogun will be localized in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian.

We have a release date and price gentleman: "Indie developer 17-BIT today announced that they will be releasing Skulls of the Shogun worldwide on January 30th, 2013 for Xbox 360, Windows 8 PC, Microsoft Surface, and Windows Phone. The Xbox 360 version will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points in the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Windows 8/Surface version for $14.99 in the Microsoft Store, and the Windows Phone version for $6.99 in the Windows Phone Marketplace."

Taken from the press release (http://skullsoftheshogun.com/2013/01...eased-1-30-13/)

Sounds a little pricey for the WP8 version... I will probably be getting anyway though ;)

Pretty stoked for this, looking forward to playing my other 360 friends on their consoel while I'm sat in bed with my HTC 8X :) Not so intregued about the cloud storage though, i'm taking that you need to purchase each format to be able to play on that, so a min of 2 purchases!.

I was totally into the idea of buying this game on my Xbox and Windows Phone, maybe even my Windows 8 desktop. After seeing the price, I'll pass. $22 for what I wanted, which is a cross-platform phone game? No, thanks. I mean, if someone wanted this on a desktop, Surface RT, Xbox, and Windows Phone (since they advertise its functionality on all 4 platforms), that's AT LEAST $37. If the Windows 8 and Windows RT platforms don't share a license either, you're talking $52 to get the full spectrum of functionality across the 4 platforms, and they're the exact same game. I really don't like that.

So, if this drops to about 800 MSP and $3-5 on WP, I'll reconsider, but I can't convince myself to buy into this game at these prices.

$37 is still cheaper than $60 most pay for an xbox title. Im not going to buy all the versions tho, maybe the wp8 if the demo is good

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Originally Posted by havox22

$37 is still cheaper than $60 most pay for an xbox title. Im not going to buy all the versions tho, maybe the wp8 if the demo is good

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That is how I see it, I'm getting on Xbox and phone, but there is no requirement to get them all. Although it being free on the other platforms would be lovely, at the end of the day the developer needs to recoup the costs they have laid out on the project. This game is a big deal and has been in development for a long time.

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Originally Posted by havox22

$37 is still cheaper than $60 most pay for an xbox title. Im not going to buy all the versions tho, maybe the wp8 if the demo is good

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This game also doesn't even of the quality of the original Halo, released back in 2001. To justify a $37 smartphone app with the statement "it's less than a $60 game with a campaign that lasts 6-10 hours, EXTREMELY deep and varied multiplayer, and much better graphics and gameplay" is a very poor comparison.

If you're going to compare it to anything, compare it to similar games--the 2-D games you find on smartphones and XBLA. The entry barrier is simply too high for a startup game, in my opinion. How much was Angry Birds when it first launched? $1? $5 for this is extreme, let alone $7. I personally think there should be a bundle discount, as many would be more willing to buy multiple licenses if this was the case. For example:

Xbox: $15
Windows 8: $10
Windows RT: $10
Windows Phone: $7

XBLA+WP8: $15
W8+WRT: $15
XBLA+WP8+W8+WRT: $25

If they did something more like that, I'd strongly consider $15 XBLA+WP8 license. Instead, I'm not going to be buying this at all. I could justify the $15 for the XBLA game alone, but I would primarily want this for my phone, and $7 is too much for a phone game. I just think they should have done like Nokia and priced their first go more aggressively, rather than having the most expensive game on the WP8 platform.

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Originally Posted by Keith Wallace

This game also doesn't even of the quality of the original Halo, released back in 2001. To justify a $37 smartphone app with the statement "it's less than a $60 game with a campaign that lasts 6-10 hours, EXTREMELY deep and varied multiplayer, and much better graphics and gameplay" is a very poor comparison.

If you're going to compare it to anything, compare it to similar games--the 2-D games you find on smartphones and XBLA. The entry barrier is simply too high for a startup game, in my opinion. How much was Angry Birds when it first launched? $1? $5 for this is extreme, let alone $7. I personally think there should be a bundle discount, as many would be more willing to buy multiple licenses if this was the case. For example:

Xbox: $15
Windows 8: $10
Windows RT: $10
Windows Phone: $7

XBLA+WP8: $15
W8+WRT: $15
XBLA+WP8+W8+WRT: $25

If they did something more like that, I'd strongly consider $15 XBLA+WP8 license. Instead, I'm not going to be buying this at all. I could justify the $15 for the XBLA game alone, but I would primarily want this for my phone, and $7 is too much for a phone game. I just think they should have done like Nokia and priced their first go more aggressively, rather than having the most expensive game on the WP8 platform.

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The Windows 8 and Windows RT apps are from the same store so you do not have to fork out twice for this. There will only be the 3 versions of the game:

Xbox 360
Windows 8/Surface
Windows Phone 7/8

So the max your going to pay is $21.98 plus 1200 MS points. (Don't know how much that is in the states) Probably no more than $30 in total i imagine. For the amount of hours game play you will get out of it in comparison to a lot of retail xbox games at the moment, I think its pretty good! Most single player Xbox games campaigns only last about 8-10 hours and for the double of the price of the total of all 3 versions for this.

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Originally Posted by Keith Wallace

This game also doesn't even of the quality of the original Halo, released back in 2001. To justify a $37 smartphone app with the statement "it's less than a $60 game with a campaign that lasts 6-10 hours, EXTREMELY deep and varied multiplayer, and much better graphics and gameplay" is a very poor comparison.

If you're going to compare it to anything, compare it to similar games--the 2-D games you find on smartphones and XBLA. The entry barrier is simply too high for a startup game, in my opinion. How much was Angry Birds when it first launched? $1? $5 for this is extreme, let alone $7. I personally think there should be a bundle discount, as many would be more willing to buy multiple licenses if this was the case. For example:

Xbox: $15
Windows 8: $10
Windows RT: $10
Windows Phone: $7

XBLA+WP8: $15
W8+WRT: $15
XBLA+WP8+W8+WRT: $25

If they did something more like that, I'd strongly consider $15 XBLA+WP8 license. Instead, I'm not going to be buying this at all. I could justify the $15 for the XBLA game alone, but I would primarily want this for my phone, and $7 is too much for a phone game. I just think they should have done like Nokia and priced their first go more aggressively, rather than having the most expensive game on the WP8 platform.

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Halo is a game with a big budget & a console seller. How about we compare it to a 3ds game like Mario Kart 7 which sells for $38.22 on walmart.com right now. So, what you call a $37 smartphone app I call a game that allows you to play on your xbox, computer, and phone all for less than you would pay for some handheld games.

Hate to disappoint you but $7 isnt too much for a phone game, if it is a quality game. As a matter of fact, a few of the gameloft games that were announced & coming to WP8 are priced at $7 on apple's app store. Is this game worth it? idk, I think we'd have to play it before saying what its worth....at least the demo

Also, a game like Angry birds is very basic(popular, but basic), so saying because they charge $1 every other game should imo is wrong. For example, games like this(MC4) shouldnt be a $1 because the time it takes & the dev needs to make them isnt the same as angry birds....I would think its not the same for this skulls game, and also AB sells millions of copies, so they can afford to sell they game at a much lower price
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour - Extended Reveal Trailer (Official) - YouTube

I feel that they should offer a bundle price. This has the potential to be a real head turner and a game changer. To link all area of the ecosystem and have them singing from the same hymn sheet is colossal and the way forward.

Sadly, the pricing (always an MS weak point) is out of whack. Fair play, if you are only buying one, it may not be too bad. But they really could clean up if they offered a second platform at a huge reduction. I am thinking 50% off subsequent purchases. They should relish the opportunity to sell the same game to the same person on multiple platforms.

I understand that they have worked on this for some time, but someone (either MS or Nokia) need to look at the bigger picture. If you sell one copy to a user, happy days. If you can then eek out a further small amount surely that is more desirable. And if the price is right I think people would do it. I would consider the Xbox version, but cant justify the double purchase at full price.

What's with all this turn by turn stuff? Where's the real time multiplayer?

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Originally Posted by I Spiritus I

The Windows 8 and Windows RT apps are from the same store so you do not have to fork out twice for this. There will only be the 3 versions of the game:

Xbox 360
Windows 8/Surface
Windows Phone 7/8

So the max your going to pay is $21.98 plus 1200 MS points. (Don't know how much that is in the states) Probably no more than $30 in total i imagine. For the amount of hours game play you will get out of it in comparison to a lot of retail xbox games at the moment, I think its pretty good! Most single player Xbox games campaigns only last about 8-10 hours and for the double of the price of the total of all 3 versions for this.

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Ok, wasn't sure on the 8/RT license, thanks for clearing that up. 1200 MS Points is $15, meaning $36.98.

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Originally Posted by havox22

Halo is a game with a big budget & a console seller. How about we compare it to a 3ds game like Mario Kart 7 which sells for $38.22 on walmart.com right now. So, what you call a $37 smartphone app I call a game that allows you to play on your xbox, computer, and phone all for less than you would pay for some handheld games.

Hate to disappoint you but $7 isnt too much for a phone game, if it is a quality game. As a matter of fact, a few of the gameloft games that were announced & coming to WP8 are priced at $7 on apple's app store. Is this game worth it? idk, I think we'd have to play it before saying what its worth....at least the demo

Also, a game like Angry birds is very basic(popular, but basic), so saying because they charge $1 every other game should imo is wrong. For example, games like this(MC4) shouldnt be a $1 because the time it takes & the dev needs to make them isnt the same as angry birds....I would think its not the same for this skulls game, and also AB sells millions of copies, so they can afford to sell they game at a much lower price
Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour - Extended Reveal Trailer (Official) - YouTube

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Skulls of the Shogun isn't a 3D game though, is it? It's a 2D, turn-based game. Compared to Mario Kart, it's very simple. Even though Angry Birds might not be AS advanced, remember it actually has to have some semblance of physics for impact and movement and such. It's basic, but it's not like Skulls is on the level of a Mario Kart-level title, either.

And, as you might have noticed, when I suggested price changes, I even left the WP8 version at $7. I won't simply buy a phone game for $7, not happening. If they would give a discount on a multi-license purchase, I'd buy multiple licenses. Since they don't, I'm not buying any licenses. I'm trying to point out that a combo deal would increase sales.

Stop twisting my words on this stuff. I said that Angry Birds is $1, so this really shouldn't be $7. To say that my statement about Angry Birds' pricing meant I think all games should be priced the same is just idiotic. I'm saying $7 is way too much, and $5 is pushing it. I could tolerate $5, but not $7. At not point did I say ALL games needed to be $1, so to then throw Modern Combat on top of it...the nicest thing I can say is "stop being stupid about this."

However, you decided to throw the conversation in this direction, so I'll follow. Modern Combat looks really good, especially for a mobile game. How much is it? $7 on iOS. So, if THAT is $7, how can anyone justify $7 for Skulls of the Shogun? That Modern Combat is $7 just furthers my argument that $7 is WAY too much and $5 is borderline too much when we're comparing a turn-by-turn, 2D game to a real-time, 3D FPS.