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

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!