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Voodoo Vince is getting remastered for Xbox One and PC

The game's creator leapfrogged backwards compatibility on Xbox 360 due to 'convoluted custom code.'

David Craddock

October 5, 2016 1:19 PM

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Voodoo Vince creator Clayton Kauzlaric announced that a remaster of his game will come to Xbox One and PC in early 2017 (via IGN).

In a blog published on Xbox Wire, Kauzlaric set up his announcement by going into detail on Voodoo Vince's development history. "I pitched the concept for nearly a year before Vince found a home with the perceptive and tasteful folks at Microsoft Game Studios. They said no too. Twice. But I kept coming back. Each time I showed up with a more fleshed out design and, eventually, a playable prototype for the game. I also convinced a group of otherwise sane individuals to join me."

Following two years of work and wooing Microsoft, the team at Beep Industry found Voodoo Vince a home on the original Xbox in 2003. The game never gained traction; Kauzlaric pointed to the fact that the console had already peaked, and that his game got lost in the shuffle of other titles.

Kauzlaric lent some perspective on why Voodoo Vince never received a backwards-compatibility update for Xbox 360. " Our engine used some convoluted custom code that made Vince ineligible for Backward Compatibility during the Xbox 360 era so Vince seemed destined to remain in the past."

A few months ago, Kauzlaric got to thinking about Voodoo Vince and decided to give his game a second chance. He gathered a few staff members and broke ground on Voodoo Vince: Remastered. The updated edition will sport modern accoutrements like widescreen visuals and 1080p resolution running at a buttery-smooth 60 frames per second.

"The gameplay is mostly untouched, though. That was important to me," Kauzlaric said. "Vince moves, animates, and controls exactly like he did in 2003. You can just see a lot more detail in his world when he moves through our twisted version of New Orleans and the Bayou."

Voodoo Vince: Remastered will be released on Xbox One and PC in early 2017.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.