Archived News:
Valve announces Steam is now offering in-game downloadable content:
March 16, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling entertainment products
and advanced technologies, today announced the arrival of in-game downloadable
content to Steam, their massively popular PC gaming platform. In-game DLC allows
developers and publishers to use their own games as a platform for selling
additional content to gamers.
The first game to take advantage of this new in-game DLC capability is The Maw,
by Twisted Pixel Games. Their first DLC releases are levels entitled The Maw:
Brute Force and The Maw: River Redirect. Each DLC level expands The Maw
storyline by fitting in-between the original levels as "deleted scenes."
Twisted Pixel CEO, Michael Wilford, says "We're happy that we can now offer
Steam customers significant expansions to the Maw story, delivering more Maw
directly to gamers while they're still playing the game."
DLC can now be added to any game on Steam, regardless of whether it was
originally purchased via Steam, at retail, or via other digital outlets. It is
also a feature of Steamworks, the suite of free tools and services available to
game developers and publishers.
For more information about The Maw or Steam, please visit
www.steamgames.com.
GameSpot reports a delay
for Alpha Protocol, saying Obsidian's espionage-themed action/RPG is now
due in October. A Q1 2009 release date for the game was revealed
earlier this year, but it was not clear if that was calendar or
fiscal 2009, however October represents a delay from either.
Though CD Projekt seems certain that a PC version of
Resident Evil 5 is coming, Capcom would not confirm this as recently as
earlier this month, though they certainly left the door for this
wide open. Now add GameSpot
to the list of true believers, as
an article from this morning
about RE5 sales matter-of-factly concludes: "A PC edition of the game is
expected later this year."
Today is the tenth anniversary of the launch of EverQuest, and to commemorate
the event, there's a video on
The Vault
Network of IGN Vault's interview with SOE's Ryan Barker, Harvey Burgess,
Clint Worley, and Taina Rodriguez. Also, a new "dancing in EverQuest" trailer is online to
likewise celebrate the anniversary of SOE's MMORPG. The clip does feature some EQ dancing, such as it
is, accompanied by pop-up video factoids about the game. Did you know the name
of the city of Qeynos is Sony EQ backwards? You do now. The clip is posted on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell. Finally,
Massively has an EverQuest anniversary giveaway of three 90-day SOE game
time cards.
Photobucket
has a bunch of screenshots purported to be from Raven's upcoming Wolfenstein
game. The images are labeled copyright id Software, but
Shacknews has not
gotten a reply from them about the authenticity of the shots, and while
Activision did not confirm them as authentic, they did not deny them either.
Develop has some details on the new Unreal engine features to be showcased
at the upcoming Game Developers Conference. These include new Lightmass effects,
new data mining features for statistics, and a set of MMO content and creation
tools, bringing hope that an end to the MMOG shortage is near.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
A trailer from The Pitt shows off the upcoming second DLC for Fallout
3, Bethesda Softworks' action/RPG sequel. The clip shows off gameplay in the
setting of post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh, and offer glimpse of the pitt itself.
The movie is available from
AtomicGamer,
FileFront. and Gamer's
Hell.
A new movie from Alpha Protocol is online with some gameplay from
Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming espionage game. In the new clip we can: "check
out action showing how gamers will travel to exotic locales around the globe and
deal death and destruction to unsavory characters in the manner of their
choosing." And remember you can get souvenirs for the family at the airport. The
clip is posted on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
A new trailer from Wanted: Weapons of Fate shows off one of the
"interactive sequences" aboard a falling airplane from GRIN's upcoming action
game based on the assassination movie. The clip is posted on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
A new Velvet Assassin cinematic trailer promotes Replay Studios' upcoming
stealth action game loosely based on a true story. The clip is posted on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer.
A new "off the beaten path" trailer from Flock shows off some flocking craziness
or crazy flockingness (or something), from the upcoming offbeat UFO platformer.
The clip is posted on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
Telltale Games has
released the promised playable demo for Wallace & Gromit's
Grand Adventures, the episodic adventure game based on the Claymation
exploits of a man and man's best friend. The demo is exclusive to
FilePlanet (registration required) and
Yahoo! Games for 24 hours, as they fight over your affections, with Yahoo
probably succeeding better by not requiring registration. The demo will go into
widespread distribution tomorrow, and the first episode will debut a week from
tomorrow, offering a week to get in on their preorder offer: "Through March 23,
Telltale's offering an awesome deal to people who preorder – get 25% off the
regular price, plus two FREE games (one episode each from Sam & Max and Strong
Bad)." Finally, a new trailer from the game is posted on
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell.
A new "Dark Creation" developer diary movie from Chronicles of Riddick:
Assault on Dark Athena further chronicles the development of the shooter
follow-up, hearing the folks from Starbreeze Studios about creating the look and
feel of the Riddick world for the project, including a new vo-cap technique that
captures facial expressions during voice acting for enhanced realism. The clip
is available on
AtomicGamer and Gamer's
Hell. Assault on Dark Athena is due for release on April 7 for Windows, Xbox
360, and PlayStation 3.
GamesIndustry.biz has news that Eidos is pushing the release of the 2009
edition of Championship Manager back until the end of its financial year,
meaning the latest installment in the sports management series is now expected
after June of this year. Here's a quote from Eidos CEO Phil Rogers: "Eidos has a
total commitment to producing the highest quality games and we believe by moving
the release date of Championship Manager we will give the product the additional
time needed to deliver a more polished and highly competitive game within the
genre."
Eurogamer reports that the Bounty Hunter has been revealed as a playable
class for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The revelation comes in a new
episode of
on
Eurogamer TV that shows a clip of a bounty hunter using a jetpack and
blasters, though not dying an embarrassing death in the maw of a sand monster.
Word from designer James Ohlen is "many other classes" are in development.
Darkly shining- Ars speaks with Vin Diesel... is a Q&A with Tigon,
including actor Vin Diesel, boss of this game development company. Topics
include The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, the upcoming
Assault on Dark Athena, Wheelman, and more. Vin discusses how Steven
Spielberg helped him overcome his guilt over gaming and involve himself in the
business, and the article outlines his love for gaming, saying: "Diesel is the
rare sort that used acting to get into games, not the other way around."
Gamasutra - How Indie Video Games Helped Bridge The Culture Gap.
"The evolution of all forms of creative culture inevitably means the
establishment of an initial niche, and a gradual leaking out of that medium
until it permeates popular knowledge, almost without notice. And clearly,
we're quite a long way down that path with video games. But the fact that
we're ever speeding towards our destination was brought home to me by Paste
Magazine's latest print issue which I just got in the mail today, and seeing
alternative game coverage so seamlessly integrated with talk about music and
film."
Happy Saint Paddy's Day eve! Batten down the hatches.
R.I.P.:
Ron Silver dies at 62.
|
Twitter 
