Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute collective Arcane Kids shared on reddit a rather slick trailer of Jet Set Radio "esque" Zineth, showing a character skating with a robot and rewinding his mistakes. The large, colorful world; the fast, furious traversing; and the grinding particle effects (at 0:30, for instance) really caught my eye.

I was even more impressed upon finding out seven students worked on this for just a half-semester in class: Jacob Knipfing, Russell Honor, Thomas Astle, Sylvia Forrest, Thomas Lanciani, Evan Gonzalez, and Dan Spaulding. Russell Honor spoke briefly with me about Zineth's concepts, those seen and unseen in the trailer.

Honor says that the player can perform aerobatic feats such as skating at high speeds, jumping far distances, wall riding on any surface, increasing gravity for quicker descents, and grinding on rails. Zineth takes place in a world absorbed by a cellphone game, and players must remind other inhabitants by distributing a zine of what they have forgotten outside of their cellphones.

And so the game's name is born, tells Honor. "Get it, Zineth... one of our group members had a father who raised him on puns; his sense of humor never evolved."

Honor also expounds on the cellphone's uses in Zineth. "What you can't see all that well in the gameplay video is that you also have a cellphone which is a hub for communication from non-playable characters (NPCs). It also has a playable version of the cellphone game, which is a mindless arena shooter, and there is also a twitter client that auto generates some of the dumbest tweets ever."

In terms of AI or opposition, the NPCs don't seem destined for complexity. "The NPCs just stand around staring at their phones, and if you happen to knock one over, they just send you a text message asking you why you would do such a horrible thing," Honor describes. "For example you will have 10 zines at one point and you will need to give them to ten people, you go from person to person for a while, they serve as a sort of marker at points of interest, so that by the time you are done you have a fairly good understanding of the environment and how you can leverage/abuse the games mechanics. Ultimately we just want people to have fun skating around with no goals but to go as fast and high as they can."

The team is still tweaking Zineth, but they hope to make it available for free soon.

DrinkBox Studios' multiple award-winning physics-based Katamari-like platformer, Mutant Blobs Attack, has finally reached its beta phase of development and is close to release on Steam for Windows. I was late in acquiring a PlayStation Vita, but this game for me was the funnest, most-polished, launch title for the system. The charming music and early '50s sci-fi movie art retro vibe complement its solid controls and light puzzle tasks.

Those who participate in the beta process are asked to provide feedback and describe any new issues found, in exchange for a Steam code redeemable for a free copy of the full game once it is released.

The estimated minimum required specs are listed after the jump.

OS: Windows 7 / Vista / XP
Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
Memory: 2GB System RAM
Hard Disk Space: 500+ Megs
Video Card: AMD (ATI) / Nvidia card with at least 256 MB Dedicated Graphics Memory, must support DX 10 or 11
Sound:DirectX compatible

Those interested can find DrinkBox's email here to sign up. Fingers crossed co-op metroidvania Guacamelee comes to as many platforms as possible, too!

A group of students enrolled in the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering: Master Games Studio program has released its thesis project, Robot Pinball Escape, as a downloadable freeware title via Desura.

Blending elements from pinball and 3D platformers, Robot Pinball Escape puts players in the role of a robot trapped inside a gigantic pinball table. The robot is able to transform into a ball, but to walk upright, jump, and attack, it first needs to gather energy by colliding with targets while in ball form.

It's a fun little gameplay experiment overall -- it'll only take you around 10 or 15 minutes to complete, but the objectives are varied and feel appropriately pinball-y. I enjoyed it very much! It's definitely worth a download, especially if you're a pinball fan.

Kyttaro Games (a studio that employs our own Konstantinos Dimopoulos!) has kicked off its first Bundle In A Box campaign, collecting a variety of indie adventure games and launching the new title The Sea Will Claim Everything in a pay-what-you-want software bundle starting at $2.99.

In addition to hosting the worldwide commercial debut of both Jonas Kyraztes and the Lands of Dream series with The Sea Will Claim Everything, the bundle includes the adventure titles Gemini Rue, Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition, Time Gentlemen, Please!, 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, The Shivah and Metal Dead.

The core bundle features five games; Metal Dead and The Shivah are available exclusively to buyers who pay more than the bundle's current average price. All games are available as DRM-free Windows downloads, and Steam and Desura codes are provided for Ben There, Dan That!, Time Gentlemen, Please!, and Gemini Rue. The collection additionally includes Desura codes for Metal Dead.

Proceeds from Bundle In A Box support Perivolaki - The Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family, a non-profit charity helping mentally ill children and their families in Greece.

Bundle In A Box will also award a cash prize to one selected indie developer at the campaign's conclusion via the Indie Dev Grant. "For every 15,000 bundles sold $2,000 will be added to the fund and the whole sum will be given to one developer selected by vote at the end of the bundle," organizers explain. "The Indie Dev Grant is open to everyone."

A number of bonus extras will be added to the bundle for every 10,000 sales, including the Bundle In A Box-exclusive Metal Dead Making Of PDF booklet and soundtracks for Gemini Rue and The Shivah.

App Store newcomer Lodehed Labs has released Spheris, a colorful, rotation-based puzzler for iOS platforms.

In Spheris, players rotate the playfield to match incoming blocks with like-colored segments. The app boasts multiple gameplay modes, and includes Game Center leaderboards and achievements.

Spheris is priced at 99 cents. A free Express version is also available.

The latest game from Whale Trail developer Ustwo is causing quite a stir today, due to its stark similarities to Die Gute Fabrik's PlayStation Move-controlled J.S. Joust.

In J.S. Joust, players hold a PS Move controller each, and must try to knock the controller in other players' hands without letting their own controller be nudged out of sync with the music that is currently playing.

Ustwo's Papa Quash (shown above) features a similar concept, except it is available for iOS devices, and requires players knock the iPod or iPhone in the hands of other players. The revelation has caused outrage on Twitter, with people calling it a clone and displaying disappointment in the studio.

Via the Twitter hashtag #joustice, indie studio Vlambeer wrote, "Johann Sebastian Joust is amazing & it getting ripped off breaks our hearts," while Metanet Software's Raigan Burns noted, "Cloning only works because most consumers are apathetic and/or ignorant, and some developers are immoral/exploitative/shameless."

However, Ustwo's marketing director Steve Bittan has told Gamasutra that his studio should not take responsibility for the similarities, and that it is down to the person who commissioned the work -- former Big Brother UK contestant Sam Pepper.

"We made the app for Sam Pepper. It's his app. Not ours," said Bittan. "It's not an Ustwo app. It's a Sam Pepper app."

"Papa Quash was a concept from Sam Pepper," he continued. We told him about J. S. Joust and he emailed them to OK it. After we got that assurance we did service work on it."

"Sam has a typical fan base. Young and into social media," he continued. "We asked him to reach out to J. S. Joust and explain his concept which he did. We had assurance everything was ok."

The game was meant to be uploaded to the App Store via Pepper's own account rather than Ustwo's, however Bittan tells us, "He wanted to launch it and we had issues with his account so went with ours so he could reach out to his fans."

"He is a ex-Big Bro contestant in UK and has a big Twitter and YouTube following. We're in process of getting his account set up," he noted.

As for the cloning allegations, Bittan adds, "We're not into cloning. We genuinely care about what we do and out reputation in the indie community."

He adds, "We're upset about how it's been perceived."

Gamasutra has contacted Die Gute Fabrik to inquire about the conversation between the studio and Pepper, and will update with any new details provided.

[Update: Die Gute Fabrik has posted on Twitter, "We've been getting a lot of inquiries lately. We're working on an official response - hopefully by tonight." The studio added, "Just to be clear, we have never and would never approve, give permission, or encourage anyone to clone of any of our games."]

[This article originally appeared on Gamasutra, written by Mike Rose.]

Remember that Fieldrunners Steam beta last month, and their tests for an upcoming game? Well, those tests were, in part, for Subatomic Studios' IGF Mobile winner follow-up, Fieldrunners 2. The not-yet-priced game will hit iPhone at the end of June, with an iPad version available shortly afterwards. Subatomic's Alec Shobin says the team is focusing on the iPad version before bringing the sequel to Steam.

According to the press release, the sequel will contain 20 hand-painted levels spanning four distinct zones, more than 20 upgradeable towers and customizable loadouts, and over 30 different types of enemies. Fieldrunners 2 adds puzzle maps and sudden death maps to customary survival maps. I could use some more puzzles in my tower defense experience!

Check out the official website for more luscious art.

The recently renamed Nintendo DS strategy title Jason Rohrer with Music by Tom Bailey: Diamond Trust of London has reached its Kickstarter funding goal of $78,715, and copies of the game are scheduled to ship to backers in September.

The project earned the remainder of its funding earlier today, after being featured on Kickstarter's front page as a staff pick. The game's Limited Edition has proven especially popular during the course of the campaign; as of this writing, very few copies are still available via pledge tiers starting at $400.

Diamond Trust of London's regular edition is still available for a pledge of $35 or more. The funding campaign will conclude May 26th.

Be Mine bundle organizer Groupees has kicked off its new Build A Bundle campaign, offering buyers their pick among 12 included games for one pay-what-you-want price (minimums apply).

Build A Bundle features Elecorn's third-person action title Caster, Grendel Games' puzzle-platformer Diamond Dan, Burut CT's World War II FPS Ubersoldier 2, Eclipse Games' action title Lightfish, 1C's World War I FPS Necrovision, and Darkling Rooms' first-person adventure game Dark Fall: Lost Souls.

Returning from previous Be Mine bundles are Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals, Sideway: New York, The Ball, Post Apocalyptic Mayhem, Xotic, and BEEP, all of which are available as optional purchases.

Twenty percent of bundle proceeds will be donated to Polar Bears International, a group dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the endangered polar bear and its habitat.

I've been bouncing impatiently over this one for a while now and sadly, it's still nowhere near completion. On the moderately bright side, however, there's a trailer. In fact, it's the first official trailer for the game and it provides a fairly good look at what we can expect from the upcoming co-op action-RPG. A loving tribute to the SNES titles of yore, Secrets of Grindea makes no, well, secret of what it wants you to do: it wants you to save your family, your friends, the world and most importantly, collect as many rares as it is humanely possible.

As you might have guessed from the title already, Secrets of Grindea will be a part of the Swedish Game Awards. It looks like the game will also be making an appearance at the Gotland Game Conference as well.

Fairy Well, a brand new release for the venerable Commodore 64 and the winner of RGCD's 2011 C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition, has finally made it onto, well, a cartridge. A properly boxed cartridge packed with a manual and a sticker to be precise, and a cartridge you can actually buy right here. Yes, in 2012. For the Commodore 64.

What's more, you can also download Fairy Well for free over here and use the excellent, freeware VICE emulator to enjoy it.

The game is a procedurally generated flick-screen shmup/platformer that plays a bit like the classic Cybernoid, featuring impressively huge maps, a multitude of enemies and more than a few bosses. Somehow, all this has been crammed into 16 mere kilobytes of memory.

BLABA stands for Bryan Lunduke's Awesome Blocks of Awesome and is, easily, the most enjoyable game creation tool I've ever come across. Probably the easiest one to use too, for BLABA, to borrow its creator's words, is stupid easy.

There is absolutely no writing of code and no need to go through any sort of documentation. All you have to do to start creating your game is define a palette of blocks, assign (via a handy menu-driven interface) some properties to said blocks and then go on and actually draw your level with your mouse, as you would have done in the most straightforward of graphics utilities. Following that, you can test your game or export it as a proper executable.

Things are so elegant, so easy to use and so impressively intuitive, that creating my small Sokoban clone took me roughly an hour, without using any sort of instructions or outside help. Just playing around with BLABA seems to be more than enough, and from what I've seen the tool is versatile enough to create a huge variety of puzzle, exploration and action games.

Right now, mind, BLABA is still in beta and thus lacking both a rich community and a proper manual. On the other hand, the beta is free to grab and, while it still lasts, you can buy the full and apparently much richer version of the thing for $25. Once the beta phase ends, the price will go up to $35.

BLABA runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS X, but Windows, Linux and MacOS X are not the only platforms it will be able to export games to. Far from it really, as it will soon be allowing for (as recently announced) HTML 5, MS-DOS (!) and Nintendo's DS executables.

Voltic Games, a newly formed studio composed of 18- and 19-year old students from Brisbane, Australia, has released RunRunDie!, an iOS platformer about "tiny furry creatures being set on fire and trying to avoid death-by-dinosaur."

The level design reminds me somewhat of The Impossible Game, though RunRunDie! seems less difficult, and the mechanics provide greater gameplay variety. I like the star-based scoring system, too, and the trailer's theme song is quite appropriate!

RunRunDie! is available as a universal app for the iPhone and iPad, and is priced at 99 cents.

Ludosity's time-management title Liftman feels a bit like Diner Dash mixed with a... "dash" of Elevator Action. Players race against the clock to assist as many occupants as possible to their destinations and to provide drinks sometimes. Additionally, players must repair lifts, or they will explode and end the game.

Only one occupant rides a lift at a time. Seeing an occupant all the way versus part of the way seems to be the main strategy, much like Diner Dash's strategy of providing multiple customers service in parts. As long as the occupants aren't red, their anger/impatient meter will reset each time they ride one lift.

Liftman is a fun little diversion, but I'm still waiting on Ittle Dew, Ludosity! I hope it makes an E3 appearance.

Carbon Games' free-to-play, action RTS AirMech is headed to Steam, and IndieGames has some closed beta codes for those eager to give it a go. As for what will be new to the Steam build, the team's is tight-lipped at this time.

What's the value in a F2P code? Carbon's James Green says everything players keep everything they earn: no wipes or resets. "Due to bugs and exploits, this works out to years worth of currency for active players," says Green. "This system manages itself, since someone who just makes an account early on and never comes back gets nothing, but anyone who has been playing the game through development is handsomely rewarded."

Players can link their current Chrome account to their Steam account, though no prior account is necessary to play. This includes any Alpha MEGA Bundle purchase, which is basically "everything" in the game, plus exclusive content. This all-in-one bundle will end May 31.

Codes will drop hourly. Please comment when you take a code.

Tom Sennett (RunMan and Deepak Fights Robots) has paired with Salil Malkan to create the local crowd-player Row Row Row Remote, which runs on a computer and can use dozens of phones or tablets. Though the game may look simplistic (Wii Sports didn't "look" all that impressive compared to the tech it modeled), Sennett and Malkan aim to inspire and empower developers, while exponentially increasing the amount of players involved in a local multiplayer experience and creating "new, awesome games from the ground up" instead of "shoehorning new, awesome technology into old, stagnant forms."

Row Row Row Remote asks players to use their smartphones or tablets as paddles. Each group needs to coordinate its motions to move effectively through the course. The game only uses the devices' touch and gyroscope functions, but Sennett tells IndieGames this is just the beginning.

Sennett explains that the controller part of Row Row Row Remote is a web app - accessible through a mobile device's browser. It supports iOS 4.2 and above and Android 4.0 phones along with Android tablets. The team also has a wrapped native app for older Android phones, though it hasn't been deployed yet. They aim to have native apps for both Android and iOS, along with the web app, to support as many devices as possible on those two platforms. Sennett says they'd like to look into Windows Phone, "but probably not BlackBerry because they are so horrible to develop for."

To run Row Row Row Remote, players load the Flash-based game on a PC's browser and the controller on a phone's browser (or in a wrapped native app). Sennett reiterates what he describes in the video, "These pages are connected to a Node.js server via Javascript, which enables them to talk to each other in real time... All the network communication happens over the web, separated from the game and controller logic."

This setup may sound restricting, but the tools behind the experience are quite flexible. Sennett details, "The controller software, the server, and the game itself are all separate, autonomous entities, and can be pretty easily swapped out for different kinds of technology. So the server doesn't really care where the inputs are coming from (Android, iOS, web app, whatever), and doesn't care where they're going to (currently a Flash game, which we like because it's cross-platform and we get to use FlashPunk)."

Row Row Row Remote is really all about opening things up for developers and for crafting larger experiences than the local, four-player limit console gamers are used to, Sennett shared. "The big console makers have had a monopoly on the local multiplayer experience for decades and it's been stagnant, and we're sick of it. Like seriously, the Wii U lets you play games on your TV with ONE tablet and some Wiimotes? And that's supposed to be something cool? With our system you can play with devices of all stripes - one of which you probably already own - and with dozens of other people at the same time."

Sennett expressed that the technology behind the Wii U (its tablet+wiimote+console combination) is nothing revolutionary as far as details have been revealed. He feels similarly about Row Row Row Remote's tech: it merely involves hooking together technology that already exists.

Sennett explains, "But it's not really about the technology itself, it's the motivation behind it. We're trying to take technology a lot of people are already familiar with and use it to create accessible, novel, fun games. Nintendo's just trying to get you to buy shit. Requiring people to buy a console, a bunch of overpriced controllers that only work on your system, and some worthless little figurines to get virtual powerups might be good business, but it's terrible game design."

He further explains that motion controls and touch screens doesn't have to be a gimmick or just a marketing ploy. "People need to stop shoehorning new, awesome technology into old, stagnant forms, and instead create new, awesome games from the ground up. It's increasingly clear the AAA guys are uninterested or incapable of doing that, so as usual it's time for us indie developers to step up."

So, does that make the tech behind Row Row Row Remote better than the Wii U? "Our tech is better because it's open and flexible, but that's not really what's important. What's important is the only motivation behind it is to inspire and enable the creation of great games."

While the controls for Galaxy 55 are still kinda wonky, it's hard to refute the fact that the game looks like it may have potential for the future. Helmed by the good folk at Twinoid, Galaxy 55 has been described by its developers as a 'Minecraft-esque' adventure in space. When we first took a look at the game, there was very little to do. However, the developers have recently released Alpha 2 of the game and it appears as though we'll be able to customize spacecrafts and tinker with the crafting system now.

Curious about how it all works out? Check out the game here.

A cyberpunk RPG set within a war-ravaged planet, Kitaru follows a somewhat familiar formula. There's a gorgeous, red-headed protagonist who is, coincidentally, a prodigy in the arts of assassination. Though headstrong and popular, she is also a somewhat sheltered creature. After petitioning for a chance to prove herself, she sneaks off and eventually uncovers a reasonable nefarious plot. According to the description on Kickstarter, the game will be a narrative-driven experience that will feature turn-based active-time battles, covert operations, diplomatic duties and a world that has been in development for over five years.

There's a fairly comprehensive amount of material available on the Kickstarter site. Those interested in taking a look can find it here.

Sam Gross, Stephen Lingham and Paul Andrew McGee have released bbbbb: Beep Brrp Bing Bang Bosh, the group's first title for the Xbox Live Indie Games service.

A finalist in Experimental Gameplay's 5 Buttons Competition, bbbbb describes itself as "the ungodly child of running games, rhythm games and gravity flipping." Players control up to five vertically scrolling lanes simultaneously, helping creatures in each lane avoid incoming spikes along to the beat of a chiptune soundtrack.

bbbbb is priced at 80 Microsoft points ($1).

Video game localization company 8-4 will produce a Japanese-language version of Capy Games' hit adventure title Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for iOS, Windows, and Mac platforms.

The Japanese version of Sworcery will launch on Steam and in the iTunes App Store June 21st alongside a new remix album featuring tracks from Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill), Baiyon (PixelJunk 4am), Mitsuto Suzuki (Final Fantasy XIII-2), macotom3, and Decasségui Hip.

Samples from the remix album can be found here.