Mac owners can now travel back in time to August of 2008, thanks to Hothead Games. The developer's Mac port of the time-bending platformer, Braid, is now available, allowing Mac users to experience the authentic feeling of playing one of 2008's most unique games for the first time. (That is, if you didn't already play it on a Windows partition or something.)

The press release says that this is "the first in a unique collaboration between Hothead and other top-notch independent developers to bring their award-winning titles to new gaming platforms," although the company's PC release of The Maw predates this by several months. Braid is now available for immediate download via Penny Arcade's Greenhouse store for $14.95.

In a session for developers hoping to have their downloadable titles noticed on XBLA and PSN, the panel, which included Capcom, Hothead Games, Backbone and Jonathan Blow, agreed that these games should avoid releasing during the holidays. With strong competition from major titles at retail during the holiday season, the group agreed that downloadable games are best served avoiding the rush.

Age of Booty was used as an example of a solid game that was crushed under the tidal wave of the holiday releases. Downloadable games apparently see a dramatic drop in sales between late September until December. Although developers don't really have control over when Microsoft or Sony release their games, Blow noted that they'd want "March or June or August" as a release date and for downloadable games to "stay away from Christmas."

There's a wealth of indie-related gaming panels and goings on at SXSW this year, ranging from the previous "Games By The People, For The People" panel, the GameSalad folks, and the retro-cool Get Outta My Face arcade cabinet. Heck, there's even a company that wants to bring back Hypercard stack games. So we went back for more indie gaming panel goodness, just because we could.

This was a panel by the game developers this time, rather than the people who run the companies ... so what did we learn? A lot of the same from the previous panel. Sadly Jonathan Blow couldn't make it, and was replaced by the above inflatable doll with the Freddie Mercury mug. Although covering his absence nicely were panelists Kellee Santiago from thatgamecompany, John Baez of The Behemoth, Ron Carmel of 2D BOY, and Joel DeYoung from Hothead Games who moderated. Check out the highlights after the break.

Xbox Live is a wonderful place. Without it, we would have never discovered diamonds in the rough such as The Maw and Braid. Thankfully, these games are getting the red carpet treatment and rolling out to other platforms, courtesy of Hothead Games.

Hothead games will first bring Jonathan Blow's Braid to Mac gamers everywhere. Also, the company is currently working on getting Twisted Pixel's The Maw to "multiple as-of-yet-unannounced digital distribution platforms and services." Steam, anyone?

We don't have a date yet as to when Hothead will be offering these titles to their respective platforms, but we'll update as soon as we know.

The PlayStation Blog gives word that the second episode of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness will be available today on the PSN.

PAA: OtR-SPoD: Ep. 2 features Trophy support and, unlike the first installment, the option to change difficulty settings. The fruit-fracking mini-RPG will cost $15 and should be available as soon as the PSN update occurs later in the day.

*beep*beep*beep* This just in Microsoft has made what we already knew official: Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two will debut on the Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. Arriving at 1200MS Points -- a few dollars cheaper than the original for those keeping score at home -- the second chapter continues the story of Gabe, Tycho and the revenge-seeking hero, You.

To recap, this Wednesday will ask Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader with Jeff Foxworthy -- of all people -- provide Marble Blast Ultra DLC and a new achievement and now the sequel to the popular adventure title from HotHead Games. That is an expensive day to be an Arcade fanatic.

The second episode of Penny Arcade Adventure: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, is coming next Wednesday, October 29, for Xbox Live Arcade, Windows, Mac and Linux. According to the press release, the PC versions will be available via Greenhouse. As previously revealed, the episode will cost $15 for all platforms. No word on the PlayStation 3 release. Episode One will finally be hitting the PS Store tomorrow, or six days before everyone else gets the sequel.

It's been a long(ish) wait for PlayStation 3 owners, but the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is finally landing on the North American PlayStation Network this Thursday, October 23rd. Other regions will follow "shortly thereafter," notes the press release.

In addition to gaining Trophies, custom soundtrack support and a score ranking feature, PS3 gamers will receive a "thanks for waiting" discount in the game's lower, $15 price. The Mac, PC and Linux versions on Greenhouse have also dropped to $15 -- good news for Penny Arcade fans and people who don't write for Edge.

Another "gone gold" announcement today, this time for Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 2. The second part of the On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness series is now in the can and ready to release onto the PSN store "this fall." Actually, the press release states that the PSN version will probably launch shortly after the Mac, Linux, Windows and 360 versions. Hopefully that's a matter of days later, not weeks (to coincide with the Thursday PSN releases, we suspect). The pricing for the game will be $14.95.

Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 will no doubt release before then, too. If you've already played it on another system, it might be worth picking it up for the trophies, and for the ability to transfer your character data over between episodes. If you've not played the game yet, it's an 3D turn based RPG with a Penny Arcade art and writing style. If that sounds good to you, rejoice in the fact that you have two episodes to look forward to this Autumn.

The elaborately titled adventures of the webcomic duo, Gabe and Tycho, are set to continue this Fall in Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness Episode Two. We're told that developer Hothead Games has just completed the downloadable RPG-adventure, bestowing "Gold Master" status upon the Windows, Mac and Linux versions.

The Xbox Live Arcade and PSN iterations are presumably still being tweaked (much like the PSN's Episode One), but will share the same price of 15 earth bucks. Hooray for subsequent episodic games becoming cheaper!

Last week during PAX 2008, we sat down with Hothead COO and Penny Arcade Adventures Producer Joel DeYoung as he guided us through Episode 2 and improvements to the engine. The gist of it is: if you liked Episode 1, you'll like Episode 2 that much more. Here's the rundown from our talks:

• Highlighting points of interest has been made easier! "If you have your proximity putting you close enough to 2 or 3 things, you can slide through that with bumpers," said DeYoung.
  
• There are now difficulty levels, including an Insane Mode (unlockable only after beating the game). Special collectibles and pickups are only available if you play Insane Mode. Comparatively, Episode 1's difficulty is "a little easier" than medium.
• All the weapons have been replaced. Tycho gets a shotgun, Gabe has new fist upgrades and your player now possesses -- wait for it -- a hoe! Also changed are the special attack minigames.
  
• You now have, among other new items, a revive potion. Healing won't be enough to bring your troops back to life. "Just adds a little bit of depth to it," said DeYoung.
• The real-time reaction for defense has been made more obvious (e.g. "Block!" now appears when you need to push block), but nothing analogous for attacking has been added.

More after the break.

While Hothead is busy pimping its upcoming Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 2, let's not forget about its other, simpler-titled project DeathSpank. The company has released three new teaser trailers for the snarky title ("Fight" is shown above), built from the ground up with Joystiq's own Ludwig Kietzmann in mind as the target demographic.

During last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo, Hothead COO Joel DeYoung said he considered the game a "more Diablo-esque" episodic action RPG with ample amounts of creator Ron Gilbert's humor, "lampooning video game space and the idea of the video game hero that takes himself too seriously." The game is not using PAA's Torque engine. More information about DeathSpank should be coming "soon," he said. After the break, check out the "Item" and "Armor" trailer. (Spoiler: Two of these three videos use the phrase "Thong of Justice.")

Oh, how you yearned for their unrestrained chuckles -- their sparkling smiles -- to be transformed into naught but a cacophony of wailing and ceaseless misery. What gave them the right? Was it their fancy PCs, Macs and Xbox 360s? Did they so enjoy coasting down The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness on their technological toboggans that they couldn't even cast a single glance towards you, sitting atop a lonely and immobile PlayStation 3? Well, when the snow falls again this Winter, revenge will be yours.

Also, Trophies! Posting on the official PlayStation Blog (they let anybody on there these days), Hothead producer Joel DeYoung confirmed that the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures would arrive on PSN before the end of the year, complete with Trophy support and 1080p resolution. "Looking back, I think it's a shame that we weren't able to release the PS3 version closer to the initial launch of the game," he said.

With the game's engine now up and running on the hardware, DeYoung expects that future episodes will arrive on Sony's platform in a more timely fashion. No more being left out in the cold, our monolithic friend.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]