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Human Head Studios announces Early Access to Rune will begin next month
on Steam, offering
first crack at this revival of the Norse-themed action franchise. They accompany
the news with a new
trailer and a quote from their leader. "Rune is a brutal and challenging
game set during the Norse apocalypse, explains Chris Rhinehart. "We designed it
to appeal to fans of the original but also modernized the design for new fans.
We hope that all the blood, heart, and soul we put in the game shows as you play
and dismember your enemies to take their blood, heart, and soul." There's also
still a chance to get in on beta testing this weekend: Don’t forget that
Closed Beta continues this Saturday, August 18. Servers will be live from 12:00
pm CDT to 4:00 pm CDT. Space is available on a first come, first served basis.
If you haven’t yet won a key, we’re giving away more on
Twitter this week. Plus, we’ll do another drawing before the next playtest.
Sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t already.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Bard's Tale Trilogy is now getting underway on
GOG.com and
Steam with a remastered version of the first episode in the RPG series. The
other two installments are promised by the end of the year.
This trailer offers
a look at how this lines up with your memories, and the announcement explains
the plan in more detail: Experience the events that led to The Bard’s
Tale IV: Barrows Deep and The Mage’s Tale! The Bard's Tale Trilogy is a
remastering of the classic 1980’s series, one of the godfathers of the RPG
genre. Create an adventuring party in the first volume and play it across all
three, creating a heroic story all your own!
- The Bard’s Tale Trilogy launches with the first
volume in the series. In the fall, The Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight
will be added. Finally, late in the year, The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of
Fate. Each volume will be added into the collection free of charge!
- Rescue a city trapped by a wizard, reforge the
legendary Destiny Wand, and travel across time and space to confront a Mad
God!
- Enjoy a uniform playing experience across all
three titles without the need for emulation or compatibility concerns.
- For the first time, play as male or female across
all three games! Also includes other quality of life changes such as
automapping for all three games, spell access, and updated
equipment/inventory management.
- The final game content released will be the Legacy
Mode, a suite of features which will allow veteran players to experience the
games similar to how they first played them, and will be released free of
charge for owners when complete.
The Bard's Tale Trilogy is a chance for old fans to be young once again and
for a new generation of roleplaying and dungeon crawler fans to discover why
these games matter so much all these years later. Pick up the game and start
your epic adventure today!
Continue here to read the full story.
There's
a report on The New York Times following up on last week's incident where an
untrained pilot stole and crashed an aircraft in Seattle. One of the hijacker's
radio comments joked about having played videogames, and the Times explores
whether that's the answer to how he managed to take off and perform advanced
maneuvers with no formal flying experience. This does not appear to be an effort
to demonize gaming, just an attempt to understand if it is plausible that
someone could learn to fly from a simulation. Some of the answers they get are
cagey, as some experts sound like they don't want to encourage other virtual
flyboys to follow suit: Mr. McSpadden said he found it highly unlikely
that Mr. Russell had the skills simply from a simulation. He noted that the
recording of Mr. Russell’s conversation with air traffic controllers suggested
he wasn’t familiar with aviation terminology but he knew enough to attempt
aerial maneuvers.
Thomas Anthony, director of the University of Southern California Aviation
Safety and Security Program, acknowledged that there were “portions of the
approach and landing process” that could be taught using a simulator. Still, he
was emphatic: “You cannot safely operate an aircraft based solely on a
simulator.”
He said that the broad availability of simulators — as with so many other
technologies that have proliferated in recent years — is a two-way street. “It
simply is another thing that needs to be addressed, and understood, and
mitigated,” he said.
Professor Anthony referred to the findings of the 9/11 Commission, which
concluded that the authorities responsible for maintaining the security of
American aviation had broad “failures of imagination” in the years leading up to
the Sept. 11 attacks.
An equally grave threat was the refusal to challenge certain assumptions — for
instance, that a person who doesn’t have a criminal background or associations
with terrorism was safe to work behind the scenes. “But, in fact, that’s not
enough,” Professor Anthony said. Sophisticated simulators and private emotional
turmoil can prove to be a deadly mix, he said.
Mr. Barclay said landing was “an art form” that could not be learned from a
PC-based simulator.
“There is one major thing that separates simulators from real life,” Mr. Barclay
said. “If you crash in the simulator, then you can reset it and start
again.”
Stardock announces the addition of Adam Baldwin to the voice cast of Star
Control: Origins, their upcoming continuation of the Star Control series.
Baldwin, no relation to the madcap acting brothers from Long Island, is famous
for his work in Firefly, Chuck, and Full Metal Jacket. He is also understood to
be the originator of the hashtag #GamerGate with a 2014 tweet.
This blog post has the news and details, and we have the
Reader's Digest version here: Adam is best known for playing a number of
unforgettable characters, like Jayne Cobb from Firefly, John Casey from Chuck,
and Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket. In Star Control: Origins, Adam will
lend his voice talents to bring life to a rogue mercenary commander of the
Menkmack as he pursues the player for a mysterious client.
A new trailer from
Strange Brigade runs over six minutes to offer an extended look at gameplay in
the 1930s action/adventure in advance of its release on August 28th. Word is:
"Featuring bamboozling new levels and the recently unearthed Score Attack and
Horde Modes, the trailer is now available to watch on home motion picture
screens!" Would you like to know more? No problem, this clip has you completely
covered, as they say, "Today's terrific new trailer gives newcomers to STRANGE
BRIGADE all the info needed to become a fully-fledged hero. From the lowdown on
the Brigade's supernatural powers to the veritable legion of mystical
malefactors in their way, this video has got the lot!" Continue here to read the full story.
Phantom Doctrine is now available for Windows on
GOG.com and
Steam,
offering a Cold War action/strategy game part of a new wave of titles set in the
1980s. The launch trailer
has a look at the game, and the description lays out the game's doctrine, which
includes free upgrades for early adopters and loyalty bonuses for owners of Hard
West: Between now and Aug. 28, purchases of Phantom Doctrine on Steam and GOG.com
will also automatically be upgraded at no extra charge to the game’s Deluxe
Version (standard price $45.99), which includes the game’s soundtrack and
digital art book (sold separately as a bundle for $9.99). In addition, PC
players who own Hard West on Steam or GOG.com will receive an additional 5%
discount when buying Phantom Doctrine within the next two weeks (which stacks
with the launch sale for a combined 15% discount).
Phantom Doctrine is a turn-based espionage tactics game set at the height of
the Cold War. As the leader of a covert organization battling a global
conspiracy, you’ll have to master operating in the shadows against overwhelming
odds. Train your agents, investigate new cases, and research cutting-edge tech
at your base, then infiltrate enemy facilities, uncover their schemes, and
eliminate their assets with stealth or brute force.
Experience Phantom Doctrine’s deep single-player mode from two different
perspectives: a KGB counterintelligence operative or a renegade CIA commando.
Unlock New Game Plus runs of the game’s 40-hour campaign with additional story
content, or challenge rivals around the world in ruthless one-on-one online
multiplayer matches. Phantom Doctrine captures the subtle tension and intrigue
of classic Cold War spy films with atmospheric visuals and an unnerving
soundtrack from award-winning composer Marcin Przybylowicz (The Witcher 3: Wild
Hunt).
Continue here to read the full story.
GFK Chart-Track now
offers their weekly charts tracking videogame sales in the U.K., which they
typically post on Mondays. The accompanying post about the
all platform top 40 chart for the week ending August 11th is brief: "‘Crash
Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy’ remains at the top for a seventh consecutive week,
although three newcomers manage to debut within the Top 10. ‘Madden NFL 19’
enters at No5 ahead of ‘Overcooked! 2’ at No8 and ‘We Happy Few’ at No10." The
PC top 30 is once again dominated by The Sims, and Star Wars: Battlefront II
is the only game in the top 10 that wasn't there last week:
| POS. |
|
TITLE |
PUBLISHER |
LAST WEEK |
| 1 |
- |
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2018 |
SEGA |
1 |
| 2 |
- |
THE SIMS 4 |
EA GAMES |
2 |
| 3 |
˄ |
THE SIMS 4: SEASONS |
EA GAMES |
4 |
| 4 |
˅ |
THE SIMS 4: CATS & DOGS |
EA GAMES |
3 |
| 5 |
- |
THE SIMS 4: CITY LIVING |
EA GAMES |
5 |
| 6 |
˄ |
THE SIMS 4: GET TO WORK |
EA GAMES |
6 |
| 7 |
˄ |
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM - LEGENDARY |
BETHESDA SOFTWORKS |
7 |
| 8 |
˄ |
X-PLANE 11 |
AEROSOFT |
8 |
| 9 |
˄ |
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II |
EA GAMES |
15 |
| 10 |
˅ |
GRAND THEFT AUTO V |
ROCKSTAR |
9 |
THQ Nordic announces Jagged Alliance: Rage!, a new installment in the turn-based
tactics series coming to Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this fall. This
will be the first game published under their HandyGames label which they say
"will act as an independent publisher, focussing on small and mid-sized projects
or 3rd-party indie games." Word is: "In Jagged Alliance: Rage! you are
constantly on the brink of breakdown. Badly equipped and outnumbered, it's up to
the player to lead their seasoned mercenaries in tactical turn-based missions
and to light the spark of a revolution." Here's
a trailer
showing off cinematics and gameplay, and the
Jagged Alliance website is updated to
support the new game. Here's the announcement: Jagged Alliance is back – With a new take on turn-based tactics, adventure
elements and the well-known quirky mercenaries! Set 20 years after the first
Jagged Alliance, this spin-off lets you experience a road trip into a jungle
hell to test your mind and body to the limits!
This time it’s just you and a few allies versus an entire island ruled by a drug
overlord and his crazed army.
The Features:
- 2 Player online co-op mode
- Deep turn-based tactical gameplay mixed with
adventure elements
- Choose a variety of tactics ranging from stealth
to brute force
- Strong character personalities with own skills,
desires and personal conflicts
- Rage skills: Unique character abilities that get
more powerful over the course of the battle
- Powerful Commanders coordinate enemy troops on the
battlefields
- Face terrifying experimental drugs and use them to
manipulate your enemies
Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News announces
The Walking Dead: The Final Season is now available for Windows
on Steam, saying, "A
secluded school might finally be Clementine’s chance for a home, but protecting
it will mean sacrifice." This is actually the first episode of the final season,
so there are three additional future episodes included in your purchase. Here's
what to expect, bearing in mind that zombie outbreaks often lead to the
unexpected: Clementine, now a fierce and capable survivor, has reached
the final chapter in her journey. After years on the road facing threats both
living and dead, a secluded school might finally be her chance for a home. But
protecting it will mean sacrifice. Clem must build a life and become a leader
while still watching over AJ, an orphaned boy and the closest thing to family
she has left. In this gripping and emotional final season, you will define your
relationships, fight the undead, and determine how Clementine’s story ends.
- Emotional, Gut-Wrenching Story - See Clementine’s
journey through to the end. As she builds a new life, you will have to
grapple with new types of choices and live with the consequences as AJ looks
on, learning from your every move.
- More Control, More Tension - A new
over-the-shoulder camera system, greater freedom to explore detailed
environments, and scenes of unscripted combat capture the fear of living in
a world overrun by the undead. All this creates the most engaging The
Walking Dead game yet.
- Striking New Visual Style - The all-new Graphic
Black art style rips the ink from the pages of the Eisner Award-winning
comic book series and brings the world of The Walking Dead to life like
never before.
Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer Lazarus Studio announce Lunacy:
Saint Rhodes, a first-person survival/horror game for PC expected next year.
Word is: "In Lunacy: Saint Rhodes, you seek the truth behind your family’s
ghastly murder. Investigate the history of your ancestral home in the town of
Saint Rhodes, while fighting to survive what haunts it. The Author, an advanced
AI, observes how you play and changes the course of the game based on your
actions. You are being watched; never alone, never safe." The
announcement trailer
shows off some of the game's spooky environments, and its
Steam listing is live to help you keep up with this. The announcement has an
outline of what to expect: Lunacy: Saint Rhodes is a truly terrifying experience, unravelling the
horrific tale of the events in the town of Saint Rhodes. Frightening creatures
roam the streets, guided by The Author, as you explore the minutely detailed
town, in search of clues to help you survive. No single visit to the town will
be the same, with multiple non-linear paths leading to different outcomes.
Key features
- An advanced AI watches your every move and ensures
that you never really feel safe
- True atmospheric horror, enhanced by the
beautifully crafted environments of Saint Rhodes
- Harrowing storyline involving a family with a dark
past
- Terrifying enemies, all requiring a different
approach
- Multiple paths to take and outcomes to experience
Continue here to read the full story.
Death's Gambit is now available for Windows and PlayStation 4, offering a
side-scrolling, action/RPG from publisher Adult Swim Games and developer White
Rabbit. The PC edition is available through
GOG.com and
Steam,
and
this Steam post outlines their plans for post-release support, while
promising players they will die a lot. Here's a
cinematic trailer
and here are more details: Death’s Gambit raises you from the dead to
wage war against the legendary immortals of Siradon, a vast, unforgiving land of
dark forests, medieval ruins, frozen wastes and more. As an agent of Death
itself, you’ll wield an arsenal of uniquely powerful weapons and abilities in
wickedly challenging battles that demand quick thinking and tactics. Choose from
seven playable classes, customize your champion with new gear and talents, and
adapt a play style all your own to survive against the beasts, knights, horrors,
and undying guardians of the realm that lay ahead.
Siradon is a highly stylized gothic world full of ancient secrets and dangers.
You’ll travel across varied locales, meet strange, enigmatic characters, and
unravel a rewardingly non-linear story on your journey.
Every boss in Death’s Gambit is a precise test of skill, strategy and nerves.
Give vanquished bosses a second shot at besting you after you defeat them in
Heroic Mode, or start a whole new adventure in New Game Plus mode.
Continue here to read the full story.
UK developer Big Evil Corporation now offers the release of Tanglewood, a
side-scroller that's so throwback they say it was developed "exclusively using
tools from the Mega Drive’s 1990s heyday." True to that, this is not only
available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, but for SEGA as a Genesis/Mega Drive as a physical
cartridge. The launch
trailer shows off this nostalgia trip, and the announcement explains
further: A brand-new and original game for the Mega Drive, Tanglewood is a classic
side-scroller in the vein of Virgin’s timeless 16-bit platformers Aladdin and
The Lion King, mixed with influences from a certain hedgehog and some
metroidvania-style exploration. The player controls the fox-like Nymn, who is
lost in the dark and dangerous wilds of the Tanglewood. Nymn is desperate to
return to his family pack, and must survive being hunted by several dangerous
beasts. Other creatures, however, will assist Nymn, providing colour-changing
power-ups to help him on his journey home. Expect chases, puzzles, tricks and
traps, demanding boss fights and many surprises along the way.
Tanglewood is a genuine 16-bit experience, produced using original 1990s SEGA
development tools and programmed in pure 68000 assembly language - no Unity or
Unreal here. The game enjoyed a successful
Kickstarter campaign in 2016, raising almost £55,000 (over €61,000, $70,000
USD). This enabled Big Evil Corporation - headed by former Crytek and
Traveller’s Tales programmer Matt Phillips - to focus on making Tanglewood using
only what was available to developers during the Mega Drive’s 1990s heyday.
Continue here to read the full story.
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and 2990WX CPUs on
Techgage and
Tom's Hardware.
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX CPU on
Legit Reviews.
- BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Earphones on
Nikk Tech.
- Corsair Carbide SPEC-06 RGB Case on
Vortez.
- Fnatic STREAK Keyboard on
Vortez.
- NZXT E850 850W Gold Digital Power Supply on
Play3r.
- Pixio PX277h Gaming Monitor on
IGN.
We're getting a little break today from the sweltering heat, but it looks like
it's short-lived, as the forecast for tomorrow looks muy caliente. But this is
enough of a window to scoot over to the local dog-a-torium with the Gunnar-man
to give him a bath. The self-serve bath place is delightfully convenient, but
it's a confined space with little air conditioning, so getting in there on a day
like today is ideal. It's also necessary, as my darling little poodle is
starting to smell like a wildebeest, so he desperately needs bathing.
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