The
Shadowbane Website
has news that Ubisoft is pulling the plug on this MMOG on May 1 after over five
years of operation, the announcement coming a year after a
reboot to reset player stats and introduce new features (thanks
Ant and
Slashdot). The post offers an extensive outline of the game's fantasy lore,
but no explanation for the closure is offered, though it seems logical that they
would not be closing
Shadowbane if it was generating a lot of profits.
They do, however, thank players for their "undying support and unwavering loyalty
to Shadowbane," though the end of the game may cause all that undying devotion
to finally die.
ASCARON Entertainment
has filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a post on
Voodoo Extreme, this news coming right after word that the
Xbox 360 edition of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is gold. They have an
announcement from ASCARON director, Heiko tom Felde saying: "Ascaron sees a good
chance of saving the company with this step of action. We, the executives of
Ascaron Entertainment GmbH, thank all our fans for the support and the great
assistance in making Sacred 2 Fallen Angel as successful as it is. Our special
thank goes to all our employees. Without their highly dedication and qualified
work Sacred 2 would not exist." They also have the translation of a German press
release on the topic that optimistically mentions plans for a Sacred 2 expansion
and Sacred 3.
Kotaku has a four-plus minute, extremely NSFW, movie from
Mafia II,
the upcoming life of clime sequel. The clip was found on a Norwegian site, but
has English dialog, which includes a number of four letter words as well as some
cursing using even more letters. The clip is heavy on combat, showing lots of
gunplay and extensive use of the game's cover system.
LGR Nexus Nintendo: Where Has All The Fun Gone?
"My theory is that the Wii has made Nintendo in to something that it’s
not. With the addition of the Wii to Nintendo’s line up, they have turned
the company into a company that is centered around innovation. While some
may argue that this is revolutionary for gaming, I will have to argue that
it is detracting from the one thing that I want from my games: fun. Yes, the
Wii was fun when it came out. No, the Wii is not fun for me anymore."
MrsBlue picked up some beautiful ground beef at the market, so we're going to
fire up the grill later for some burgers. This is real grass-fed beef, and among
the many benefits of not force-feeding cows a diet of corn is that it keeps
their digestion in its proper state, which means you can cook the burgers as
rare as you want (I'm a medium-rare man myself) without risking E. coli
infections.
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