Archived News:
Steam now has an
automatic update for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, Monolith's horror-themed,
first-person shooter sequel. The update adds two new "Armored Front" multiplayer
maps, unlocks Collector's Edition multiplayer heads for all players, and fixes a
bug with music cross fades when switching between two tracks.
A new Killing Floor update is now automatically available via
Steam News. The new
version of Tripwire's co-op survival/horror game adds settings for the Voice
Message system to reduce the amount of messages played, adds a "Friends" tab to
the Multiplayer menu to allows you to see which servers your Steam Friends are
on, and addresses some bugs.
As announced on the Light of Altair
Website, this sci-fi colony building simulation is now available via digital
distribution. The game is available on
Direct2Drive and Steam,
and likely other places as well. The Steam edition is currently on sale for 20%
off, and word is: "The Steam version of Light of Altair features 30 achievements
and a complete suite of publishing and development tools available free of
charge."
Even before E3 2009 attendees can get used to sunlight again,
2009 E3 Expo Takes Video Game Industry to Next Level has word that the 2010
Electronic Entertainment Expo is scheduled for June 15-17, 2010, at the Los
Angeles Convention Center. The announcement from the ESA also includes details
on this year's just-completed show: "Over the course of the 2009 E3 Expo,
more than 41,000 attendees from 78 countries viewed hundreds of new products and
developments from 216 exhibitors."
Paradox Interactive has released a new gameplay video from Mount&Blade:
Warband, the upcoming multiplayer expansion for the action/RPG. The clip is
posted on the YouTube,
and is accompanied by a list of new features revealed at E3 and a handy recap of
other features unveiled at the Game Developer's Conference: Key
features revealed for the first time at E3:
· Overhauled graphics; HDR, FSAA, Depth of Field, Soft particles, Tone Mapping
and many other effects are all now implemented.
· Majority of Models are being redone.
· Multiplayer battles can now handle up to 64 players with Mods including ‘Team
Death Match’ and ‘Search & Destroy’.
· Ability to become the ruler of a faction and convince lords to become your
vassals in the Single Player Campaign.
· Ability to upgrade your companions to vassalage by granting them land.
· Improved Mechanics for Soldier Morale: Soldiers will break and run away if
their morale gets too low.
A summary of additional features previously revealed at GDC are Multiplayer for
up to 32 players, improved strategic AI, improved graphics and optimization
including customizable quick battles, extended diplomatic options and new
weapons, armor and animations, a new faction with unique troops and equipment.
Other aspects introduced in Mount&Blade: Warband are improvements to the combat
system with more physically accurate horse archery, a variation in horse sizes,
and more options when embarking on sieges.
Activision sues to stop Jack Black game has word that Activision is suing
developer Double Fine Productions claiming that Double Fine transferred rights
owned by Activision for Brütal Legend to Electronic Arts. The report has
no responses from Double Fine or Electronic Arts, but says: "Activision claims
it still has a valid contract to release the game and has invested roughly $15
million in it."
Before its time? Valve explains Left 4 Dead sequel to Ars is a sit down
between Chet Faliszek and Ars Technica as Valve looks to assuage the anger of fans over plans to
release a sequel so soon after the original Left 4 Dead. The gist of
their reasoning is how much bigger a project this is than their Team Fortress
updates, though he also describes how Gabe Newell had to be talked into the
sequel, saying it was against the character of the company. Chet outlines all
the content the sequel will offer, and provides reassurances that existing L4D
mods will work with L4D2.
Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Metal Gear Solid- Rising In
Development For Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC has word that Metal Gear
Solid: Rising will be the first MGS game to simultaneously sneak onto three
platforms, as it will be released for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
According to Martin Schneider of Konami Digital Entertainment: "Now even more
gamers can immerse themselves in the franchise and experience the groundbreaking
series as Metal Gear Solid: Rising heads to the platform of their choice." The
twist in Rising is that players will play as Raiden: "Raiden first debuted in
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system
as a playable character and appeared as a non-playable cyborg in Metal Gear
Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment
system."
Paradox Interactive announces a July 28 release date for East India Company,
the naval real-time strategy game set in the 18th century developed by Finnish
developer Nitro Games. Also, the E3 presentation of the game with lead designer
Kim Soares is now available on the YouTube,
here's part one, and
here's part two, and
there's a new piece of music from the game's soundtrack on the
East India Company Website. Finally, some
new features of the game were revealed at E3:
· Extensively moddable: from damage values, to trade item prices, to ship
textures.
· Multiplayer support for up to 12 players.
· Multiple ways to win the game: accomplishing all campaign missions, forcing
all other companies out of business or conquering the whole of the East Indies.
· Multiple approaches possible: focus on trading, warfare and conquest or use
diplomacy to reach your goals. East India Company can also be played as a pure
trading game.
· Dynamic economy where supply and demand affect prices of trading items.
· Create your own armada with a maximum of 100 ships.
· Different multiplayer battle modes including ‘Last Man Floating’ and
‘Domination’.
· Unlock new ship types as they become available, from smallest sloop to 90 gun
ship-of-the-line.
Molyneux promoted to creative director of Microsoft Game Studios reports
that Lionhead honcho Peter Molyneux is now the creative director of Microsoft
Game Studios in Europe. We can only hope that this will lead to some wildly
speculative announcements about future projects, though Molyneux throws some
cold water on that, saying: "What you're not going to see is ten Peter Molyneux
games. The value of this role is for someone like myself going in and making
those little tiny lights of an idea shine as brightly as possible and ensuring
everybody within the organisation clearly understands why we're making those
titles, the purpose of those titles and their importance to Microsoft overall."
He also remains on as head of Lionhead, and continues work on their two upcoming
games.
Gamasutra
has an E3 chat with Valve's Doug Lombardi to clear up the status of Turtle Rock
Studios, the developer acquired by Valve during development of
Left 4 Dead. For a while the team operated out of Irvine, CA as "Valve South."
This arrangement no longer exists, but Lombardi explains that this does not mean
they actually closed the studio, as things were a little looser than that, and
after L4D was complete, the remote office complicated the process of moving
people onto different projects: After several members of the Valve South
team -- which Lombardi described as only ever numbering "nine or 11 in total" --
moved up to Bellevue, the remaining staff were not enough to justify a
fully-fledged studio.
At that scale, "the idea of having an office with a receptionist and all of that
kind of goes out the window," Lombardi said. As far as Booth and his current
team, "that group of people looks like the original Turtle Rock again, and I
think they may even prefer to call themselves that," he added.
No details were offered regarding that group's upcoming project, but Lombardi
did conform it is once again a collaboration with Valve.
The FINAL
FANTASY XIV interview on GamersInfo.net chats briefly with Hiromichi
Tanaka and Nobuaki Komoto about the just-announced next installment in the RPG
series. They ask about similarities to FINAL FANTASY XI, the previous FF
MMOG, and Tanaka explains the difference: "FFXIV is completely different from
FFXI and as such, there won’t be any porting over of characters from FFXI to
FFXIV, even though the character design is similar. We will not be using the
PlayOnline system but a new design." Komoto goes on to elaborate: "The game
systems will be different. FFXIV will have new in-game systems for character
development as well as an expanded job system. It is quite different from FFXI.
Many features of FFXI will be improved upon. We want to bring content for solo
players and casual players as well as large party play from the beginning of the
game."
Hudson the wonder dog eventually forgave MrsBlue for her assault yesterday, we
think from her behavior that she may have thought MrsBlue was actually mad at
her, so the reconciliation was pretty easy. This incident does have us
rethinking what can be done about this low area next to that driveway, as it
does seem a recipe for disaster (we've actually had a friend tumble into it was
well), though it would sure take a lot of dirt to fill it in.
R.I.P.:
Chicago blues legend Koko Taylor dies at 80.
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