Firaxis' summer is going to be quite busy. They just announced today at their PAX East panel that they'll be bringing the fantastic strategy game from the PC/consoles over to the iOS platform.

They showed off a quick demo of what the game will look like on your palm-friendly device, but we're told that it's basically the entire game carried over to mobile. We'll have impressions for you as soon as we can get our hands on it. No word on pricing yet.

UPDATE: I spoke with Firaxis' Jake Solomon on the show floor today while he showed me XCOM: Enemy Unknown on an iPad. He opened up the familiar map of the XCOM base, and swiping between locations seemed like a natural fit. So did the gameplay, which is predominantly cursor-driven and so perfect for taps and swipes on a touch screen.

But I got a few other interesting tidbits, too, so I'll share them here with some bullet points:

• Development—or the porting process—of the iOS edition started at the tail-end of development on the PC/console versions of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
• The iOS versions feature the same UI as the game, with a few tweaks for things like swiping, but the iPhone version will differ from the iPad version for obvious reasons like the limitation of screen real estate. Can't squeeze in as much details on a tinier phone.
• Solomon couldn't say what iPad/iPhone editions the game will launch for, but he did say that he's seen the game run on multiple versions of the iPad.
• The total number of maps you can play on are less than what you'd find on the PC/console editions.

We'll share more when we learn more.

Today at Firaxis' panel at PAX East, the developers showed off the first version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown before it was scrapped for what you played last year.

They worked on what you see above for about a year before ditching it.

After the tragic shuttering of 1UP alongside a few other publications last month, the retro games podcast Retronauts found itself without a home. Naturally its hosts, former and slightly-less-recently-former, have turned to Kickstarter to fund its revival.

Bob Mackey, Ray Barnholt and Jeremy Parish are asking for $12,000 for equipment and recording space, and in return they'll make at least another 26 episodes with a fourth, rotating guest host. Considering they've reached over $20,000 with 29 days left to go, I'm not sure why I'm even writing about this, besides the fact that Retronauts was one of my favorite podcasts.

We'd like to keep Retronauts going for at least another year, but we're in need of the equipment and resources necessary to produce the quality podcast you've come to expect. Sure, we could always use Skype, but nothing beats the intimacy of four people in a tiny room screaming at each other about Milon's Secret Castle.

Couldn't agree more. I don't even know what Milon's Secret Castle is, but that's part of the reason why I love listening to this podcast. I also love the fact that there are no ridiculous $10,000 reward tiers on this Kickstarter—the image above is the t-shirt design (subject to change) backers of $50 get, and the maximum contribution of $300 gets you a spot in that rotating fourth host chair to yap about classic games on the air. Some people (me) would argue that's worth it.

Disappointed that you missed out on one of those sweet rewards? Well, we just added a bunch more!
[Twitter]

Their message is clear: What happened with SimCity is not okay.

Their demands are simple: Remove the always-online requirement from SimCity and future games.

And they are legion.

Their change.org petition has almost 75,000 signatures. Who knows if it will have any real-world effects, but at least it's keeping the dialogue up. That's what we're doing here, after all. Hell, they could have done this on whitehouse.gov and forced Obama to chime in.

Thanks, simpsonfreak1120!

A panel celebrating the recently-concluded Mass Effect trilogy produced scant details and vague teases about the future of the series and its creators at PAX East in Boston today.

"We are starting to get ready to develop another Mass Effect game, and it's going to be a new thing," series executive producer Casey Hudson said at a Mass Effect retrospective at PAX East in Boston today. "We want to be able to give fans an opportunity to get back into the world with these things you've come to know and love about the Mass Effect experience but start something fresh and new—a new way for you to explore the whole universe in Mass Effect."

For series fans, even that little bit of info might be a welcome update.

The game will be developed primarily by BioWare's Montreal studio, though Hudson, in the studio's Edmonton headquarters, will serve as the executive producer. As we've previously reported, Commander Shepard will not be returning.

Hudon and the series' lead designer Preston Watamaniuk will mostly be working on a non-Mass Effect project. "We are developing a whole new fictional universe at BioWare for myself and Preston [and other main Mass Effect trilogy creators.] That's kind of our next thing," Husdon said. "We're focusing on building something new the way we did at the very beginning on Mass Effect.

Hudson also seemed big on the planned Mass Effect movie in development at Legendary Pictures. "That hopefully should be seen as a good thing," he said, "Because what we're looking at are, I think, the right things to make sure it's gong to be a great movie. It's not just going to be a movie; it's going to be really special." We've not heard much about the movie lately, so a mention is encouraging.

The image of the Citadel up top is from the original Mass Effect trilogy.

Most of you who played Mass Effect 3 are just too nice. You were paragons. I was a renegade. Most of you played as a male commander Shepard. I played as a female. But just about all of us cured the genophage.

All that and more are detailed in a fascinating batch of Mass Effect 3 stats released by BioWare during the studio's Mass Effect retrospective panel at PAX East.

Take a look at the date. How did your experience compare?

UPDATE: The Mass Effect panel featured five of the series' top designers and the guy who played Kaiden. In a lightning round involving questions Tweeted by fans, they were asked to weigh in on a few things. I Tweeted some of those results:

Dust: An Elysian Tail developers Dean "Noogy" Dodrill and Alex Kain announced during their PAX East panel today that the indie platformer, previously exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade, is on its way to Steam, with a release date possibly as soon as April.

The duo also teased Dust 2, though they offered nothing concrete.

Dodrill created Dust: An Elysian Tail, the game that made our own Mike Fahey extra proud of his own right forearm, almost single-handedly. The furry-inspired game was admired for its fluid animation and surprisingly deep combat—even more so for having been created by essentially one dude.

I've reached out to Dodrill to see if he can share anything more concrete, but given the guy just finished a PAX East panel, I imagine he's getting drunk somewhere and not paying attention to his email.

UPDATE: Dodrill sent me the following statement to clarify and expand on some things:

So right now I'm targeting some time late April, but it sort of depends on how fast things can move through the system. The build has actually been fairly complete for some time, it's just a matter of working in those last Steam specific things and working through testing/cert/localization.
 
Most of these last few months have been about making the game as PC friendly as possible, including support for numerous visual and control options. Mouse and keyboard players should be very happy, alongside standard gamepad players. Keyboard only is also an option. The game will be published by Microsoft Studios, and I will NOT be implementing GFW. Also, the game looks amazing at 1080p.
 
After the Steam port of Dust:AET, I'm working on a completely new IP unrelated to Elysian Tail. I probably won't have much to share for the first year of development, however it's my plan not to spend 3 and a half years on another game :)
 
As for Dust 2, it is something I want to do. I have some grand ambitions and somewhat drastic changes that I would like to implement, but it'll be a while before I have much more to share. I do love the characters though, and look forward to continuing their adventure.

Dust: An Elysian Tail coming to Steam
[NeoGAF]

As if the news that Capcom is bringing DuckTales back in remastered form wasn't enough by itself, the publisher revealed on Friday that the entire cast of voice actors from the original show will lend their talent to the new version of the classic platformer.

Reads a post by Christian Svensson, Capcom corporate officer and senior VP, on the Capcom-Unity forums:

"We have ALL the original voice actors from the show. Scrooge's voice actor is now 94 years old but he still came into the studio and did his thing like a pro. The voice work really adds a lot to the package."

The actor he's referring to is Alan Young, for your information. I'm just hoping to still be breathing when I'm 94, much less working. Also, confession time: I never played DuckTales and I have no clue what all this fuss is about. Anyone care to fill me in?

DuckTales Remastered Will Feature All The Original Voice Actors From The Show [Game Informer]

This performance of the Doctor Who Theme is by Harp Twins Camille and Kennerly, and is a follow-up to their most recent sensation, Blonde Twins Playing Iron Maiden On Harps While Standing In A Ruined Brick Building.

(h/t Anita)

Forgive me for another Super Mario 64 post, but I just had to point out how the career path of Canned Food Super Mario has so closely mirrored that of the real thing. After a couple iterations with minimal graphical improvements, Canned Food Super Mario has finally made the leap to 3D.

I think he looks great—and without any of the camera issues that plagued the real Mario's first 3D game!

Is That Cat Food?: Giant 3-D Mario Canned Food Display [Geekologie]