Vector Unit Teams Up with Nyko for Playpad Giveaway

Guess who's the Nyko Playpad Game of the Week this week? That's right, it's our very own Beach Buggy Blitz!

Over the last couple of years we've had a chance to sample a lot of different Bluetooth gamepads for mobile devices. Two of our very favorites are the Nyko Playpad and Playpad Pro. Both of these controllers are durable and well made, with great-feeling joysticks and buttons and long lasting batteries. Best of all they offer support for multiple standard formats, like iCade on iOS and the standard HID on Android (which means they'll work with ANY game that supports controller inputs on Android 3.0 or higher.)

About the Nyko Playpad

About the Nyko Playpad Pro

You can also find out more about the Playpad family and other Nyko products by following them on Twitter (@NykoTech) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/NykoTech).

TO ENTER:

All you have to do to enter is follow these simple steps:

1. Be a resident of the US or Canada (for shipping purposes). 
2. If you haven't already, follow @VectorUnit on Twitter. 
3. RT (Re-Tweet) the Twitter announcement from us about this giveaway (dated Feb 4, 2013).  Your RT must happen BEFORE 9am PST on Wednesday, February 6, 2013. 
4. Sit back and wait for the end of the contest, and hope you get picked! 

We’ll choose FOUR winners at random from the entries.  Two will win Playpads, and two will win Playpad Pros!

RULES:

Competition is open to residents of the US and Canada only. One entry per person. Do NOT tweet multiple entries or tweet from multiple Twitter accounts or you will be disqualified. Employees or family members of employees of Nyko 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 February 6, 2012. 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, Nyko and Vector Unit. Prizes consist of two Nyko Playpad Pros and two Nyko Playpads. 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 similar value. Giveaway provided by Vector Unit. Prizes provided by Nyko. Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to info@vectorunit.com.

Riptide GP 2 Announced at CES 2013

It's official -- Riptide GP 2 is in development!

Perceptive fans noticed the splash screen and icon for the sequel in Jen-Hsun's NVIDIA CES keynote on Sunday night.  Reports are that the game is playable on the show floor in the NVIDIA booth, running on NVIDIA's blazing fast new Tegra 4 mobile superchip!

Riptide GP 2 will deliver all the fast action, incredible physics, and polished visuals of the first game -- and then some!  The new game delivers even better quality graphics, including better splashes and wakes, more detailed water, and realtime lighting and shadows (on supported platforms).  It will be available for multiple platforms, and includes special enhancements for Tegra 4 devices like the new Shield gaming platform.

In addition there's a new career mode, hydro jet customization and upgrades, and tons of new content!

Riptide GP 2 is coming to Android and iOS, and is slated for a release in early Summer 2013.  Stay tuned here and in our other social channels for more updates!

Beach Buggy Blitz Winter Update

The new winter expansion update for Beach Buggy Blitz is now available for download on the Google Play Store.  This is a major update to the game, a ton of new content and gameplay options!

First and foremost is the new Snowy Mountain environment, which you can discover when you drive into the hard sections of the mountain after about 6km.  (It shows up around the same time as the Volcano stuff.)  The new environment is full of slip-slidey challenges, including patches of ice and snow, squeaky toy penguins, and howling yeti!  (For memory and perofrmance reasons, this content only appears on devices with dual core CPUs or higher.)

In addition, we've added a new 5th upgrade level for all Powerups in the game.  There's a new +2 second upgrade for the Checkpoint, an even faster Boost, and more!

You'll also find the "Tune Up" Gadget in the menu alongside the Drop Ship and the Extra Life.  It gives your car extra performance for the next race, perfect for a run at the leaderboards!

And -- as if all that wasn't enough -- you also get new achievements!

Happy holidays, everyone, hope you enjoy playing the update as much as we've had making it!

A note to iOS users

The Winter Expansion pack IS going to make it to iOS as well.  We need to do some further optimization, and of course as always wait a little while after we submit the udpate for Apple Approval.  We expect it to be available in mid-January 2013.

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.