Super Meat Boy Cancelled for WiiWare

In an official tweet by Team Meat, the developers of Super Meat Boy, the duo has officially canceled the game's WiiWare version, citing size restrictions as the main cause.

Clarifying the point, designer Edward McMillen stated that in order to fit within WiiWare's 40MB size cap, the game would not have the game's Dark World, Leaderboards, or downloadable extras. Furthermore, the WiiWare version would not have music for the boss fights or cutscenes, and the music would be regulated to only six tracks and one for the retro warp zones. Seeing all of the content cut, the team could not see past the quality issues and canceled the project.

Super Meat Boy was originally announced for WiiWare back in 2009, but as it progressed through development, Team Meat signed a deal with Microsoft to release the game, with promotion, on XBLA first with exclusive online content. It was finally released this past October as the last game in XBLA's Game Feast promotion. A PC version was released this November with its own exclusive characters and an upcoming level editor to replace Teh Internets, and a Mac version is expected for release early 2011.

Some claification is in order. McMillen was not requested nor funded by Nintendo to make Super Meat Boy, but he was originally approached by Nintendo to port another adventure of his, Aether, to the WiiWare service. While Aether would not be completed, Meat Boy was selected to come to WiiWare instead, the result of which is now Super Meat Boy. Neither member of Team Meat hate Sony, but Microsoft's agreement bars a release on PSN indefinitely. The duo had attempted to get Nintendo to push the WiiWare limit up for the game, but the company would not budge.

"We knew of the limits early on but overestimated our ability to get Nintendo to raise the file size. It's lame that there is a 40MB cap on WiiWare games ... but it was our fault for blindly assuming this cap wasn't set in stone, and we are sorry for that."

-Edmund McMillen, Team Meat

With WiiWare inaccessible, they are looking for a Wii Retail release, but thus far, three publishers have rejected it on the grounds the Wii Retail games do not sell, apparently. Even so, Team Meat is still striving to get the game on Wii, but there is a rapidly-declining possibility of it making it on the system. 3DS development is not confirmed, though Edmund has shown interest in the platform; whether it will produce SMB or not is still unknown.

Here is hoping a publisher sees something in releasing Meat Boy onto the Wii platform!

SOURCE: Joystiq

Super Meat Boy's XBLA Exclusive Content Unveiled

Earlier this week, Team Meat finally let the cat out of the bag in relation to its exclusive content for the Xbox Live Arcade version of Super Meat Boy: an extra chapter entitled "TEH INTERNETS."

Teh Internets is an extra, unlockable world through which Team Meat can upload new chapters to the game for no extra charge. According to the developer, consisting of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, the XBLA version of the game required an exclusive online mode in order to be released. Aware that extra downloadable content would require a pricetag, the duo decided on a little loophole: a world through which the team could release new chapters without taking so much space that it constituted the pricing of downloadable content.

The short explanation is that Teh Internets is a specific chapter for Xbox 360 that takes advantage of Title Managed Storage (TMS) through the Xbox LIVE service that allows us to add new chapters whenever we feel like it to the game.

In short, the team can produce more levels using the game's current assets and ultimately continue to make worlds for players to traverse through for free! Team Meat has the following chapters slated for the game, thus far:

1. Butcher Boy, an 8-bit Meat Boy world with added difficulty
2. The Sewers of Dross, a Gish-exclusive world
3. Meat Boy, an 8-bit remake of the original flash title
4. Debug World, an insane world which uses the engine to its limits
5. ???, an unknown chapter.

Only Butcher Boy will be available at launch, but the others are expected to be released in a year's time. Note that this service is exclusive to the XBLA version of the game.

But what of the other versions?

The Mac and PC versions of Super Meat Boy will have a level editor, some six months after their release. Through this, players will be able to share their creations freely. The level editor will not be available on the XBLA version on account of user-created content regulations. However, Team Meat is planning to release "Best of" packs through Teh Internets in the future.

The WiiWare version is what remains in question. The duo are working on bringing something exclusive to that version, as well, but both Teh Internets and the level editor are out. They are working on something, but they cannot tell anyone yet until details are finalized.

Super Meat Boy is an arcade platforming title in which players help Meat Boy save his love, Bandage Girl, from the maniacal Dr. Fetus. The game features over two hundred levels spanning several worlds, and there are a collection of extra characters, ranging from CommanderVideo to Alien Hominid, which also adds to the game's already content-filled plate.

While no concrete release date has been given for the WiiWare or PC and Mac versions, the XBLA version will be seeing its official release on October 20th this year.

SOURCE: Team Meat's Blog

XBLA Gets a Feast!

It seems Summer of Arcade had just finished a few weeks ago, but Microsoft has today announced a new XBLA promotion, Xbox Live Game Feast, a collection of games which will take up the month of October this year!

The Xbox Live Game Feast will feature four XBLA titles starting the end of September. The Feast consists of the following:

September 29: Hydrophobia (1200 MS Points), developed by Dark Energy Digital, is a third-person survival-adventure title which takes place on the inside of a massive city-sized ship called the Queen of the World. As Kate Wilson, a technician to the ship, players have to explore and survive the slowly sinking ship and the terrorist group that aims to wipe out everyone on board. Originally an episodic title, there is no say whether that is still the case now.

October 6: Comic Jumper (1200 MS Points), developed by Twisted Pixel (The Maw, Splosion Man) is a humorous side-scrolling action game starring Comic Jumper, a washed-up comicbook hero. Low on cash and popularity, Captain Smiley gets his creators to move him onto other comics in need, from the comics of the Golden Age to the newer adventures seen in Manga. With four art styles and multiple gameplay scenarios filled with laughter, it looks like Captain Smiley won't be the only one smirking.

(Screen of Pinball FX)

October 13: Pinball FX 2 (Purchase per table), developed by Zen Studios (maker of the original), is a virtual pinball experience which offers a number of tables to choose from. The game allows for importing Pinball FX 1 tables, so all the tables can be opened up with the same program. The original had three tables but gradually grew to nine, so we can expect a similar situation with its sequel.

October 20: Super Meat Boy (1200 MS Points), developed by Team Meat, is a side-scrolling platformer with a focus on swift and meaty gameplay. Meat Boy and Bandage Girl love each other, but Dr. Fetus hates Meat Boy and captures Bandage Girl! The game is much akin to N+ but with one goal: get to Bandage Girl and don't die! The game was recently announced to be content complete, with seven chapters, each with two variations of each level. On top of that, the game has many indie-inspired extra characters to unlock and a number of special retro levels to add to the insanity of the already insane game. The game is expected for a PC and WiiWare release before the end of the year, but the XBLA version comes first.

So there you have it, folks! At this rate, I expect a promotion every couple months for XBLA, and I welcome the push! Get those points ready!