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Archived News:
Steam has news of a new
version of Counter-Strike: Source that's automatically available the next
time you launch the multiplayer shooter, fixing some bugs and enabling default
Novint Falcon support.
There's also news of a new automatic update for Garry's Mod with a
couple of fixes and 15 new Steamworks achievements.
The
CrimeCraft Website announces this MMOFPS is now in stores and the
servers are live. A bunch of new gameplay trailers accompany the release, these
can be found on
AtomicGamer,
and here's the announcement: You’ve been waiting impatiently for this day
to arrive, and it’s finally here! THQ and Vogster Entertainment today announced
that the highly anticipated Persistent World Next-gen Shooter CrimeCraft®, has
shipped to North America and is available for purchase at exclusive retail
partners Best Buy (USA & Canada) and Future Shop (Canada) in addition to
directly online via download from Steam, Direct2Drive and right here on
CrimeCraft.com.
Daniel Prousline, vice president of development for Vogster, said “The streets
of CrimeCraft are ready to be filled with players anxious to leave their mark
and earn leader board glory for themselves and their gangs. We are pleased to
work with Best Buy as our exclusive retail partner to develop a one of a kind
program for their customers.”
CrimeCraft is a Persistent World Next-Gen Shooter that blends a gripping,
action-packed shooter experience with the best community and role-playing
elements found in massively multi-player games. CrimeCraft is set in a gritty
fictional city of the near future, following an ecological disaster of
unprecedented scale, where the price of life is far less valuable than one’s
reputation. Join thousands of players online as you learn the rules of the
street, build your own gang and do whatever it takes to survive amidst the
chaos.
There's a
Peter Molyneux video interview on GameOne, which is a German site, but Peter
sticks to his native English. Also,
Peter Molyneux Talks Fable III Features, And The Potential For A Syndicate
Return on G4tv.com is another video conversation with the Lionhead boss,
mostly about Fable III, though they also take the latest stab at making
him feel bad over selling Bullfrog to EA all those years ago by asking about
revisiting Populous or Syndicate. Peter responds: "I would love to make another
Syndicate [unintelligible], I would adore to make another Populous game, but
these are held by Electronic Arts. And, but I have heard at this show, um, that
they're resurrecting some of the old Bullfrog titles. What they do with them I'd
be very, very interested."
Brad Wardell offers
further details on Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy in
advance of his promised PAX reveal. Word is beta testing of the
add-on will be this fall, and Diplomacy will be released in winter 2010:
Ironclad and Stardock are teaming up once again on the second
micro-expansion pack for Sins of a Solar Empire . Dubbed, Sins of a Solar
Empire: Diplomacy, the new micro-expansion pack will vastly increase the amount
of diplomatic options available to players in the game and help make forging
good relations with other empires a major option for would-be galactic
conquerors. The beta is due out this Fall with the general release Winter
2010.
Tropico 3 may be slightly delayed from its planned September
release, reports
Big Download. They contacted Kalypso Media after noticing an October 20
release date listed by retailers for the island dictator simulation, and were
told a slight delay unspecified is likely: "Yes, there is a slight delay, but I
believe the target date is still prior to October 20."
A daily feature? Maybe at this point. Here's this week's up-to-date list:
Time Gentlemen, Please! and
Ben There, Dan That! Double Pack on Steam offers a double-dose of Zombie Cow
games. Also GOG.com
now offers Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete Edition.
EA has issued a new
Command & Conquer 4 Fact Sheet for those interested in further details
about the upcoming real-time strategy sequel. They offer loads of background
story, and here's the included feature list: - The Epic Conclusion of the
Saga – Command & Conquer 4 brings the 15-yearTiberium saga to a powerful and
epic conclusion, told through grittier and darker live action cinematics, the
return of Nod’s enigmatic leader Kane (Joe Kucan) and all the answers on the
fate of Earth, GDI, Tiberium, Nod and most of all, Kane himself.
- First Class-based C&C – Play as Offense, Defense or Support classes from GDI
and Nod. Each class is unique, offering players different play styles, giving
you tons of strategic options and coming with its own set of units designed to
support your chosen style.
- Mobile bases!– The Crawler is your giant, new, all-in-one mobile base that you
control on the battlefield to produce new units, structures, powers and
upgrades, each specific to the class and faction you chose to play with. Build
units and store them in your hull as you move around the map and surprise your
enemy with a sudden fury of units!
- Persistent Player Progression – Every unit you destroy awards you with
experience points. Level up and spend your experience points on new units,
powers and upgrades that give you more strategic options to choose from. Your
progression is stored in your online profile that you can access from any PC
with C&C 4 installed.
- 5v5 Multiplayer – With its objective-based 5v5 multiplayer, Command & Conquer
4 brings a new, social, real-time-strategy experience to your PC. Choose your
individual classes and play together as a team to conquer your enemy. The
all-new party system lets you move with your party of friends from one online
battle to the next.
The Guild Wars Website outlines how
the special editions of NCsoft's Aion will provide their owners with an
Aion-style wings emote for Guild Wars. They offer a brief movie clip showing a
little wing-flashing, and here's what they say about it: "Wings for Guild Wars®
characters? Yes! You may not be able to fly, but you'll look awesome on the
ground with these flashy wings from NCsoft's upcoming MMORPG Aion™. For a
limited time, when you purchase either the Aion SteelBook edition or the Aion
Limited Collector's Edition, you will receive an exclusive emote that allows you
to summon a pair of Aion wings for your Guild Wars character!"
A new trailer is now available for Theatre of War 2: Centauro, the
upcoming expansion for the World War II strategy sequel Theatre of War 2: Africa
1943. Word is: "Theatre of War 2: Centauro is dedicated to the 131st Armored
Division Centauro and the battles they fought in North Africa starting from
December 1942 until mid-May 1943." The clip is found on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Link of the Day:
Project
: Mobira Dataman. Modding a 25-year-old "mobile" phone into an HTPC.
The
CITIES XL Website now announces an October 9 North American release date for
CITIES XL, Monte Cristo's urban planning game. The October 9 date was
first announced last month but was followed by a
quick correction stating this date was only confirmed for Europe, and a North
American date would follow (which it now has). Word is:
North American players, rejoice! Monte Cristo is glad to announce the release
of Cities XL in North America on October, 9th.
The product will be available on our secure website
www.citiesxl.com through:
• mail order of the boxed version covering USA and Canada (Shipping will
be free of charge!) digital download
• The following digital download network will also support Cities XL:
Steam, Direct2Drive, Trygames, Impulsedriven, Gametap Check back on our website
often for more info on special promotions and more partners!
The Cities XL Team.
The
Diablo III Game Director Interview on G4tv.com chats with Jay "Shade" Wilson
about Diablo III, Blizzard's upcoming action/RPG sequel. One point of
interest
they highlight separately is about how they will try and make the endgame
interesting even after repeated runs: It’s definitely better if the
players explore more of the game. It will be a lot more fun for them, but
players will gravitate toward the route that is fastest for what they want. Even
if that route makes them crazy… even if that route is not fun at all. It’s not
their fault. It’s our fault as designers. It’s our job to make sure that the
path of least resistance is also the path of most fun.
We do have specific systems planned for the late game and our goal for those
systems is to make sure that players are experiencing as much of the content
over again as possible.
The Battle.net
Interview on Shacknews talks with Blizzard's Greg Canessa about the upcoming
changes to Battle.net, including the Marketplace, console potential, and the
comments posted Sunday about the possibility that they'll find a
way to support LAN play that works with their "always connected" philosophy.
Though the Darkest Of Days
Website still offers the previous demo, an updated sample of
this alternate history first-person shooter is now available on
AtomicGamer and
Big Download. The original demo had a problem that could cause a crash on
level load, and the new version addresses this.
The EA Store now offers digital distribution of the Windows edition of the
new Pinnacle Station for Mass Effect, BioWare's sci-fi RPG. The
listing for this DLC, which is priced at $5.00 USD, has more details than we've
seen yet for this project, which strangely, still does not seem to have been
announced. Here's word: Test the limits of your combat prowess aboard a
remote, top-secret Alliance space station. Do you have what it takes to hold the
top spot among the best of the best? This module includes a new land-able space
station, 13 exciting combat scenarios, and approximately 2-3 hours of game play.
Required: you must achieve Spectre status before embarking on this mission.
Compete in a series of high-stakes battle simulations to earn amazing weapons
and armor that can be used in the main game. Unlock new achievements, and even
win ownership of a dedicated base of operations for Commander Shepard. Challenge
modes include Survival, Time Attack, Hunt and Capture and even a scenario
modeled after the First Contact War.
Features:
• Visit the military training center at Pinnacle Station and engage in a
series of combat simulations.
• Players of any level can hone their Mass Effect combat skills,
shooting your way to the top in 12 unique combat scenarios.
• Make a bet with the station Admiral in a final 13th mission. The
stakes are high, Shepard risks his life and the life of his crew to prove that
he is the best of the best.
• Farm your main game achievements in an easy to access combat
simulator.
• Player can take their prizes and play with them in the main game.
Making your next playthrough easier.
• Combat is more dynamic and fast-paced.
• Combat simulator feels like a holo-deck of sorts, environments and
enemies look simulated.
• Encounter Vadinos (Turian) and win his weapon.
EA
SPORTS Football World has word that the FIFA 10 demo will be released
in North America on September 17, a week after the recently announced
September 10 release date for the sample of the new installment
in the academy football series.
This tweet explains:
"the demo is a bit later in the States because the certification process is a
bit different there..." Here's official word on the demo contents: A full
playable demo of FIFA 10 for the PlayStation 3 will be available for download at
the PlayStation Store, for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Marketplace and for the PC
at WWW.FIFA.EASPORTS.COM as of 10
September in Europe and 17 September in North America.
You'll be able to play as Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille
and Chicago Fire in the demo, and discover a football experience that will
deliver a new standard of authenticity with gameplay refinements and innovations
that will make it the most complete and intelligent simulation of football.
In addition to playing an exhibition match, for the first time in a FIFA demo
users will be able to upload created in-game videos right here to EA Football
World.
Modern Warfare 2 will feature the ability to wield dual pistols, reports
IGN after this
feature was shown off at a GameCrazy demo of Infinity Ward's upcoming military
shooter sequel. They reproduce a forum post about what is believed to be the
Akimbo perk, and describe the scene where Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling brandished a pair of Desert Eagles in the game, since the only thing more
realistic than a soldier with a pistol in each hand is when they are each .50
cal magnums that weigh two kilos. Kidding aside, Robert does describe the
drawbacks to dual-wielding that help balance the game. And speaking of wielding
weapons in Modern Warfare 2 (yes, this is a train wreck segue), Mad Catz follows
its plans for MW2 accessories with
an announcement
of a full range of controllers for the game; they announce the following for
the PC: Modern Warfare 2 Combat GamePad, Modern Warfare 2 Sniper Mouse, Modern
Warfare 2 Combat Keyboard, and Modern Warfare 2 Elite Keyboard.
Ray
Muzyka interview on VG247 talks with the BioWare boss about a variety of
topics in a conversation at the recently concluded GamesCom trade show. They
discuss upcoming projects, including Star Wars: The Old Republic, Mass
Effect 2, and Dragon Age: Origins. Also touched upon is
the changes that left him in charge of Mythic, the impact managing
Warhammer Online has on their internal projects, new IPs, and when an
announcement of their unrevealed project is expected: "[Laughs] Well, it hasn’t
been announced when it’s going to be announced. I know when it’s going to be
announced, but we haven’t said. We’ll announce it when we feel it’s right and
when it’s ready to show." They also highlight a quote where he suggests
Dragon Age contains over 120 hours of play.
Xbox LIVE Marketplace seems to now offer the Xbox 360 edition of the
Pinnacle Station DLC for Mass Effect. There's no indication why
information on this project has trickled out in such a strange fashion. Here's the
description, which is very similar to the translation we just helpfully/futilely
posted: "(Select this for the English-language version of this module.) Test the
limits of your combat prowess aboard a remote, top-secret Alliance space
station. Do you have what it takes to hold the top spot amongst the best of the
best? This module includes a new land-able space station, 13 exciting combat
scenarios, and approximately 2-3 hours of game play. Required: you must achieve
Spectre status before embarking on this mission. There are no refunds for this
item. For more information, see
www.xbox.com/live/accounts."
Stardock to Roll out
Impulse Phase IV in September on the Impulse Website previews upcoming
changes to Stardock's online service and
points the way to another preview on
Kotaku. They say the new version will roll out next month, and word is that
besides adding many more games and enhanced social networking features, they
will finally be dispensing with the need for a client for downloads: The
new version of Impulse comes with an update client that allows users to
associate their purchases with a single account – a user who gets a new PC can
then install Impulse, logon, and then download and install all their Impulse
purchases easily. It also includes a new store designed to handle the vastly
increased library of games, applications, and utilities that have been being
added over the past few months and to prepare for this Fall when back catalogs
from major publishers are being added.
Forum reader abraxas did us the favor of providing
a proper translation of the German-language
Swiss listing for the Mass Effect DLC that was mentioned
yesterday. Here's a look at what the site says about the unannounced Pinnacle
Station DLC: "Prove your bravery on a remote, top secret space station of
the Alliance. Can you hold your position as 'best of the best'? This DLC
(module) includes one new Spacestation on which you can land, 13 exciting new
Battle-Scenarios and about 2-3 hours gameplay time [literal translation would be
gaming fun!].
Prereqs: You have to reach Spectre Status before you can accept this mission.
There are no refunds for this DLC. For more information visit
www.xbox.com/live/accounts."
Eurogamer has a denial from Pyro Studios of the report from
yesterday that a new Commandos game is in the works. Word is:
"The news story that Gamer.nl published is totally false," Pyro told
Eurogamer Spain. "We always had in mind to bring back to life the Commandos
series; this isn't something new, but nowadays there's nothing official or
decided and everything is still a wish, nothing else."
"I think that the Gamer.nl journalist turned the wish into news, and he quoted
things that nobody said (I was in the gamescom and we always said to whoever
asked, and was a lot of people, that perhaps in the future but nothing now).
We're only focused in the Planet 51 game and this is the only game that we're
working on," Pyro added, pointing out that the Commandos mobile game may have
caused confusion.
A new patch is now available for Mass Effect to update the Windows
edition of BioWare's science fiction RPG to version 1.20. The 72.6 MB patch is
for the English (World Wide except Eastern Europe), Spanish, French, Italian,
and German editions of the game is available on the
Mass Effect
Website, where they outline changes and bug fixes, including fixes for a
couple of GPF crashes. The download is also mirrored on
ActionTrip,
Strategy Informer, and
The Patches Scrolls.
The Sun Blast Game Website now
offers playable demos and a new trailer for Sun Blast, allowing a sample
of this arcade space-shooter for Windows, Linux, or MacOS. Those who choose to
spring for the full game are entitled to a version for each of its supported
platforms, and players who also own a WiiMote or any other motion-sensing remote
can use it as a game controller. The trailer is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell. The Windows demo is mirrored on
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell; the Linux demo is mirrored on
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell; and the Macintosh demo is mirrored
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell.
Battlefront.com now offers
a new version 1.20 patch for Combat Mission Shock Force (new, in
spite of the December 23 date) and a new version 1.20 patch for
Combat Mission Shock Force - Marines. Each patch adds features and
address bugs in its respective game, but these patches only apply to the
Battlefront.com versions, and patches for the Paradox Interactive or Gamersgate
versions will be released separately.
A new version 4.91 of Qtracker is now
available, offering an updated version of this server browser with support for
Far Cry 1 and Killing Floor. There are other changes and bug fixes,
most notably: "This release also fixes a major bug in socket pooling that could
cause querying to completely stop and the program to hang in memory after
exiting. Zero ping players can now be flagged as bots, custom DDE commands can
now be executed when joining or exiting a server, and numerous font rendering
issues have been resolved." The
Release Notes have all
the changes.
Johan Santana done for season? Okay, this is crazy. If Johan goes on the
disabled list, that would mean every single opening day starter for the Mets has
had a significant injury this season. I've been a baseball fan for a long time,
but I have never seen anything like this.
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