Archived News:
The planned Rise of the Tomb Kings launches in Warhammer
Online: Age of Reckoning today, and Mythic's MMORPG has now been patched to
a new version 1.3 for the occasion. As noted on the
Warhammer
Herald, however, it has not all gone perfectly, as some users are having
problems with the automatic update: We are currently aware that some
players are experiencing errors when attempting to patch. We are currently
investigating this problem and will update this message as more information is
available. Users have reported successfully completing the patch by downloading
the previously released Pre-Patch client, we encourage users experiencing this
issue to attempt this method while we continue to resolve the patcher issues.
Thank you!
Impulse announces the addition of
games from Ubisoft to their digital distribution marketplace. They are
celebrating the occasion by offering a 10% off sale on the following Ubi titles:
Far Cry 2,
Assassin's Creed, and
Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Another pair of additions are part of a busy day on Steam, where they now
offer North American customers
Ghostbusters: The Videogame
as well as The Chronicles of
Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.
Interview-
The Return Of... StarForce? on Gamasutra is an interview with Dmitry Guseff,
Deputy Marketing Director at StarForce Technologies, about how their copy
protection technology has evolved following consumer backlash over its intrusive
behavior. While still defensive over the behavior of the old StarForce, Dmitry
also admits that: "during several years we were constantly improving the
protection reliability level to suit corporate clients’ needs as much as
possible, but the end user was partly forgotten." He describes how they then
created a division specifically to serve the needs of the end-user, and how
StarForce has changed to remove direct hardware access and other features that
caused problems to offer the user the choice of disc-based or activation-based
protection. Here is his outlook on whether the new approach will help rebuild
the company's reputation: I think that new products, excellent customer
service, and the right combination between publisher and customer needs will
help. We have seriously worked on our errors and offered new solutions. Now we
need to receive more feedback to be able to say something specific and continue
with improvements. But based on our Russian and Eastern European experiences,
both publishers and customers are very delighted with our new steps.
The Battle of Midway on Guardian.co.uk reports that Midway Newcastle is
facing closure as Midway's bankruptcy continues to play out, saying the
Wheelman developer, which has a staff of 77, continues to work on an
unannounced project, but will need to find a buyer to stay in operation past the
end of this month. Midway San Diego, the other studio not acquired by
Warner Bros., faces the same fate, according to the report.
Edge Online (whose
review of Wheelman scored it but 4 out of 10) quotes Midway Newcastle studio
head Craig Duncan saying: "It may sound like a football cliché but this studio
is too good a team to have to shut down – it would be a travesty." A report on
Develop says the unannounced project is called Necessary Force, an open
world action game using the Unreal engine.
Steam News announces the
release of The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition on Steam along with the
English-only Deluxe version
of Oblivion that includes nine DLC items (yes, including the famed Horse
Armor). Also from Bethesda Softworks they now offer
The Elder Scrolls III:
Morrowind Game of the Year Edition and a
The Elder Scrolls Game of the
Year Pack with both Oblivion and Morrowind, as well as
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners
of the Earth. Steam
News also announces four new
Strategy
First titles are now on the service, they are
Ankh 2 - Heart of Osiris,
Ankh 3 - Battle of the
Gods, BC Kings,
and Port Royale 2.
For this week only, every title mentioned above is available at a 20% discount.
A playable demo is now available for
Return to Mysterious Island
2: Mina's Fate, Microïds sequel to their Jules Verne-inspired 2005
adventure game (the sequel would be titled "Return to Return to Mysterious
Island" if we had our druthers, but we lost our druthers in a card game). The
demo can be found
on this page, and here's a bit from the official description of the Windows
game, which includes the ability to solve puzzles on the go using an iPhone:
"But in this new installment, survival is not all! The player will also have to
save the island from an environmental disaster. The scenario enhances ecological
issues that were already shared by Jules Verne and that no one ever questions
today." The 563 MB download is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer.
The Ossian Studios Website announces
Atari's removal of the three-installation limit imposed by the DRM in
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate. They say the adventure pack can
now be installed "as many times as you like on your computer." Further details
and discussion of this can be found in the
Ossian
Studios Forums. Thanks Gamer's Hell.
A new movie shows off more gameplay from East India Company, the 18th
century naval combat RTS being developed by Nitro Games. Word is: "The new
gameplay video gives a first glimpse of what 'Fight, Manage and Rule' mean in
East India Company. In this gameplay video, you will see trading, ship building
and management inside ports as well as fleet operations at the strategic level
and diplomatic negotiations. Naturally, there is also footage of the naval
battles with fiery action: cannonballs whizzing around and ships sailing on
impressive waves both in Realtime Strategy and Direct Command modes." The clip can be
streamed via the YouTube,
and it can be downloaded from
AtomicGamer.
GOG.com now offers two installments in the Tex Murphy series of dystopian
adventure games, updated with Windows Vista compatibility and no digital rights
management. They kick things off with a bundle of
Tex Murphy 1+2 and
Under a
Killing Moon, and say this about the future: "Thanks to the deal with Aaron
Conners, one of the creators of the Tex Murphy games, GOG.com will offer the
whole series including Mean Streets, Martian Memorandum, Under a Killing Moon,
The Pandora Directive and Tex Murphy: Overseer."
The All Aspect Warfare Website
now offers a new patch for the All Aspect Warfare demo, updating this sample of
3000AD's upcoming sci-fi combat game to version 1.18.20.
The change log
outlines the changes and mentions yet another updated version of the demo, which
has been updated a few times since it was released.
Atari announces the release of
Ghostbusters: The Video Game in North America: NEW YORK, NY -
June 16, 2009 - Atari, one of the world's most recognized video game publishers,
today announced that the highly anticipated, summer blockbuster title,
Ghostbusters®: The Video Game is now available at retailers across North
America.
Working closely with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and acclaimed development
studios Terminal Reality and RedFly, Atari brings this completely all-new
chapter of the blockbuster Ghostbusters saga to advanced gaming platforms
coinciding with the 25th Anniversary celebration of the film's original
theatrical release. Ghostbusters: The Video Game, based on the smash hit motion
picture franchise, is penned by original Ghostbusters writers and stars Harold
Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and reunites many of the original cast members. In
addition, the game also launches today along with Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment's worldwide debut of the original motional picture on Blu-ray
Disc™.
Featuring the unique blend of humor and fright that established Ghostbusters as
a pop culture sensation, this new chapter of the blockbuster franchise is
available at retailers across North America for the Xbox 360® video game and
entertainment system from Microsoft ($59.99), Windows PC ($29.99), PLAYSTATION®3
computer entertainment system ($59.99), PlayStation®2 computer entertainment
system ($19.99), Wii™ ($39.99) and Nintendo DS™ ($29.99).
In addition to Aykroyd and Ramis, original Ghostbusters Bill Murray, and Ernie
Hudson, and new love interest, Alyssa Milano, lend their voices and in-game
likenesses to the original story set two years after Ghostbusters 2, with
Manhattan once again overrun by ghosts and supernatural forces. The player joins
up as a new recruit with the original team, testing a variety of unique
equipment and gadgets, to track, wrangle and trap a wide range of awe-inspiring
phantasms in an all-new, funny and frightening battle to save New York City from
its latest paranormal plague.
Telltale Games and
Steam now offer digital
distribution of Wallace & Gromit Episode 3: Muzzled!, the third
installment in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. Word is: Introducing
Monty Muzzle - charitable philanthropist or canine conniver?
Monty Muzzle, a newcomer in town, is holding a grand fundraiser to rebuild the
local dog shelter. Gromit soon realizes that Muzzle's intentions aren't exactly
charitable and he must foil the huckster's plot to save the town's investment
and rescue his canine friends.
Muzzled! is the third of four episodes in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures.
Learn more about the series.
Kerberos Productions announces the release of a new patch for Sword of
the Stars: A Murder of Crows to update that space strategy expansion to
version 1.67. This is an update to pave the way for the imminent release of the
Argos Naval Yard expansion, described as "mostly a bug hunt." In addition to bug
fixes the patch also has a few new additions and balance tweaks. The download
can be found on
Gamer's Hell and
The Patches Scrolls.
GameStop is now offering an exclusive preorder bonus for Section 8,
the first-person shooter slated for release this August (thanks
Big Download). Word is: "Reserve Section 8 and receive GameStop exclusive
Captain’s Armor for both Section 8 and their adversaries – the Arm of Orion. If
you choose to play as a Captain of Section 8, you’ll proudly wear the Imperial
Eagle of the USIF on your shoulder plate; as a Captain of the Arm of Orion,
you’ll stand out with the rampant Lion of Orion emblazoned on your helmet and
gold trim on your power armor. If only we could wear this to prom, we’d get all
the ladies."
A new trailer from Wolfenstein called "The Assassin" is now roaming the
tubes to show off more of the supernatural shooter sequel under construction at
Raven Software. The clip including about a minute of gameplay revealing the
mysteries of Nazi laser ninjas is available on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
What's Next for DICE- from
1UP.com is an interview with Lars Gustavsson of DICE about dicey topics.
They discuss evolving the Mirror's Edge concept, a bit on the Mirror's
Edge prototypes they've mentioned, DLC, the impact of the economy and the
competition on Mirror's Edge sales, Battlefield: Bad Company 2,
Battlefield 1943, and more.
Hey look at that, it's MrsBlue's birthday today! I did some math on the age
she's giving, and it turns out we got married when she was eight, but somehow I
didn't realize this at the time. Anyway, best wishes to my clearly better half.
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