Last year, this writer paid a visit to Twisted Pixel Studios in Austin, TX to discuss their Kinect title The Gunstringer. Twisted Pixel is best known for their creative and irreverent Xbox Live Arcade titles, including The Maw, Splosion Man, Comic Jumper, and Ms. Splosion Man. Shortly after the visit, Microsoft acquired Twisted Pixel. I dared to hope that the move to first-party status would bring Twisted Pixel titles to Windows Phone, and what do you know…
Ms. Splosion Man, the larger-than-life sequel to Splosion Man, has now been announced for Windows Phone! In MSM (as I’ll now shorten it), players control the titular antihero. Like her male predecessor, she’s the result of scientific experimentation gone awry. MSM is a platformer, but unlike other games, the lead character doesn’t just jump, she ‘splodes to reach new heights. She’ll also ‘splode the hapless scientists and any other contraptions they’ve built that get in her way. It’s bright, cheerful, and extremely silly fun. The XBLA game also provides quite a challenge, but I’m sure Windows Phone gamers are up to it.
Ms. Splosion Man gets around, as she’ll also be appearing on Windows Phone in her own themed table in the upcoming Windows Phone port of Pinball FX 2. The same table is already available in the XBLA original.
Twisted Pixel’s support of Windows Phone is terrific news, though not without a few caveats. They’re still calling the platform Windows Phone 7 in the trailer, which will look a bit dated as soon as Windows Phone 8 rolls around. More to the point, Ms. Splosion Man is also coming to PC, iPhone, and iPad. We’ve seen this happen with Kinectimals, Halo Waypoint, and several other Microsoft apps. Microsoft publishing titles for competing platforms sends mixed signals to consumers and nullifies a potential advantage of the Windows Phone platform. Exclusives help drive sales, after all. Why not just bring Halo 4 to Playstation 3 while they're at it? Oh well - we won’t spoil a new Windows Phone title reveal with further complaining.
Thanks to Dark Synopsis for the tip!
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