Archived News:
Galactic Command Online is a new
website from 3000AD teasing mysterious plans for an upcoming MMOG from the
independent developer. The page says "10-15-09", the date when more will be
revealed, and in the meantime, the only content is the following tease/threat: THE
MMO COMPETITION WILL HAVE A LOT TO WORRY ABOUT. WE RETURN TO OUR
PLAYGROUND.
MMORPG.com
has a clue that Star Wars: The Old Republic may use microtransactions
when the MMORPG goes live, based on some information picked up in the Terms of
Service for the recently announced testing program for the game.
They offer a screenshot showing the terms in question, with are as
follows: (H) You acknowledge and agree that all points acquired during the
Game program are non-refundable and have no monetary value.
(I) You acknowledge and agree that all items acquired for points during the Game
Program are non-refundable and non-tradable.
(J) You acknowledge and agree that BWA reserves the right to add or remove
points from your account at any time and without warning.
(K) You acknowledge and agree that BWA reserves the right to change/add/remove
points rewarded in the Game store at any time and without warning.
Siliconera reports the formation of Namco Bandai Online, a subsidiary of
Namco Bandai specifically focused on online PC games. There are no specifics for
now, except this: "In addition to developing games for Japan, Namco Bandai
Online aims to target Asia and overseas markets." Thanks Mike Martinez via
Joystiq.
The Complexities Of Launching Aion on Gamasutra talks with Brian Knox of
NCsoft Seattle, asking the producer on the western version of Aion about
its launch. They discuss the global nature of the game, the departure from other
MMOG's Aion represents, what represents "western" gameplay, localization, the
game's emphasis on storytelling, and much more. Also,
Massively reports a new patch is live in Aion that prevents players from
whispering until they reach level 5. This is a temporary measure to thwart gold
farmers until a more permanent solution is devised.
- AudioSurf on Steam.
Save 50%.
- Company of Heroes Gold on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- Europa Universalis Rome Gold on
Impulse.
- Making History Gold Edition on
Impulse. Save 50%.
- Nemesis of the Roman Empire on
Impulse. Save 47%.
- SFI Mission 4-Pack on
the Strategy First Website. Four games for $19.99.
-
Spiderweb Software Store. All games 10% off through October.
- The Spirit Engine 2 on
Impulse. Save 50%.
- Warlords Battlecry III on
Impulse. Save 47%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
- All Aspect Warfare on
Steam. Save 25%.
- Angle of Attack on
Steam. Save 25%.
- Batman: Arkham Asylum on
Amazon.com. Save 10% for
PC,
12% for
360, and
PS3. Thanks nin.
- Bridge Construction Set on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Cities XL: Pre-Purchase on
Steam. Limited
Edition for the standard edition price plus in-game bonus items.
- Cogs on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- CrimeCraft on
Steam. Save 25%.
- Dark Void Preorders on
GameStop. Outlines the preorder bonus.
- Dark Void Preorders on
Game Crazy. Get a limited edition Trexi.
- Defense Grid: The Awakening on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Gish Download on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Grand Ages: Rome on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Light of Altair Download - Buy Light of Altair on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Machinarium on
Direct2Drive. Save 25%.
- MDK on Steam. Save 10%.
- Mount and Blade Download on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Officers on
Steam. Save 50%.
- The Path Download on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Risen Prepurchase on
Steam. Save 10%.
- Risen on
Gamestop.com. Save $10.00. Thanks
Big Download.
- Sword of the Stars on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Tropico 3 Pre-purchase on
Steam. Save 10%.
- Wolfenstein on
Amazon. Save
41%.
- World of Goo on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Zatikon on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
A new Sacred 2: Ice & Blood trailer is now available for download from
the
Sacred 2 Forums and for your streaming pleasure on the
YouTube, introducing
the Draconicon, a special mount for the new Dragon Mage character in the
upcoming expansion for the RPG sequel. Here's how the Draconicon is described:
"At first glance only, this mystical creature is reminiscent of a horse. The
Draconicon receives its legendary strength from the dragon blood, which flows in
the veins of this hybrid being. Just a few dare to approach a wild Draconicon.
Yet once it has been subdued and submitted itself to its master, it is one of
the most powerful mounts in Ancaria." Thanks The Patches Scrolls.
Steam News announces the
availability of an automatic update for Audiosurf, the music game that
is on sale for half-off all
this weekend. The new version has balance changes, bug fixes, and expanded
ride statistics, which tie in with the launch of
a new Audiosurf Statistics Website
where you can compare your results with the world at large. Here's the deal on
the stats site: "Shout your achievements, thrones and accomplishments from the
rooftops with the new community stats website--and, of course, cheer on your
friends as they try hopelessly to beat you. And you'll have even more to shout
about given our recent tweaks to some of your most beloved characters (Eraser,
Double Vision, Vegas) to make things even more competitive."
That Diablo II version 1.13 patch first mentioned back in
March and said to be hitting the test real "soon" about a month
ago has suffered another setback (thanks Ant via
Planet Diablo).
The
post announcing the patch in March now sports its fourth update, explaining
the latest problem: The Diablo II 1.13 patch is on temporary hold while
we investigate potential impact on the Battle.net service. As we moved closer to
launching the patch concerns grew that an increase in the player stash size (a
feature in the patch) could compromise the Diablo II Battle.net service. The
hardware and configuration could potentially not handle the increased stash size
gracefully under heavy load. Currently we’re investigating potential impact as
it is one of the larger content features in the patch and we’re hoping it can
remain a part of the release. If it does have to be removed it will require
additional time to remove it, generate new patches, and test, which will add
time before we can go live on the PTR.
We’re hoping to have our diagnostics and a final decision on how we’ll be moving
forward decided by early next week and we’ll have an update for you at that
time.
Gamers swoon, Kristin Bell returns in Assassin's Creed II on Destructoid
reports the Veronica Mars actress is reprising her role as Lucy Stillman from
the first Assassin's Creed, offering
photos of her recording voice-overs as corroboration (perhaps they are for
that swooning, since you won't be able to ogle her in the game). "As an actress,
it's both challenging and rewarding to play a complex character with this great
mysterious background," they quote her as saying. "I'm very happy to be Lucy
once more, and I look forward to fans discovering more about her - they will be
pleasantly surprised." Also, there's a new Assassin's Creed II TGS
walkthrough trailer on the
YouTube.
PushButton Labs
announces they have acquired The Incredible Machine; both the series
of puzzle games, as well as the intellectual property itself.
PushButton Labs was
co-founded by Jeff Tunnell and Rick Overman, veterans of Dynamix and
GarageGames, and this acquisition of The Incredible Machine represents a bit of
a homecoming for the series, as Jeff Tunnell was a co-designer on the original
game ( Wikipedia
lists him as its producer). With the IP in hand, it seems likely new games in
the series will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, they have bundled up almost
every game in the series for release on
GOG.com in a DRM-free bundle called The Incredible Machine Mega Pack
for $9.99. Here's an outline of the contents of the compilation: "Pack includes
almost every game from series: The Even More Incredible Machine (includes The
Incredible Machine with new puzzles), The Incredible Machine 3 (Windows
compatibly The Incredible Machine 2 with new interface and enhanced graphics),
Return of the Incredible Machine Contraptions and The Incredible Machine - Even
More Contraptions."
UK developer Hello Games says "hello world" with their upcoming debut title
Joe Danger, a stuntman game slated
for release via digital distribution. Hello games was co-founded by Sean Murray,
formerly of EA and Criterion, who has teamed up with three friends who are
veterans of Kuju, Climax, and Sumo Digital.
Gamasutra
interviews Murray about this situation, learning reasons for the formation
of the new indie studio, lessons learned working at larger companies, advantages
of smaller teams, and a bit about their Evil Knievel-inspired debut project.
Develop has first details on Zattikka, a new online and mobile game
developer formed by venture capital group Atomico Ventures, which was founded by
Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who played rolls in the formation of Skype,
Joost, Joltid, and Kazaa. There's not much in the way of details about their
plans, except this: "Zattikka is focusing its talents on developing games for
the iPhone, social networking sites, and online browsers. The firm, only last
month, had announced the purchase of popular flash game site Gimme5games."
Gamasutra
reports Melbourne-based independent developer Transmission Games has laid-off
over 20 of its staff, attributing the information to "multiple reliable
sources." The developer just released Heroes of the Pacific sequel
Heroes Over Europe and before that Ashes Cricket 2009. They have no
details on the nature of the cuts, but note that last year
GameSpot Australia estimated the company had 135 employees.
The promised patch for Tropico 3 is now available,
updating the island dictator sequel to version 1.04. The patch is available
automatically when the game is launched with an active internet connection,
provided it is registered with a legitimate serial number. The list of prominent
changes is the same as the list announced Tuesday: - Fixed multiple
issues with the German translation
- Fixed overflow in safety/crime overlay
- Overall performance improvements
- Improved performance on single core CPUs
- Radio system made more robust
- You can no longer build two Secret Police Headquarters
- Subtitles no longer show while in main menu
- Always stop music playback in main menu
- Citizen camera tweaks
- Arrows point at the builders of the selected construction
A playable demo for Risen is now available, allowing those interested in
Piranha Byte's action/RPG to see if it rises to the occasion. The demo is
available on the
official Risen
blog (a little bogged down at the moment), where word is: "Within this demo
of Risen, you will venture deep into the mysterious island called Faranga and
experience a story never before told. The demo has 1,1 GB" (we're pretty
confident this was translated from German). Mirrors of the demo can be found
on AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FanGaming,
Gamer's Hell,
and The Patches Scrolls.
The Windows version of the game is slated for worldwide release
tomorrow, and there's also a new cinematic trailer from the game on the
YouTube. Update:
The original demo was corrupted, and the only mirror sites who have notified us
they are carrying the proper copy are
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
Gamer's Hell,
and PixelRage.
The Entertainment
Consumers Association (ECA)
announces a "Gamers
for Digital Rights" initiative to inform gamers and advocate for them in sticky
issues such as "digital content distribution, license agreements, virtual
property and video game piracy." Word is: "This group, Gamers for Digital
Rights, strives to get the information out to consumers on the ins and outs of
content protection: what exactly is intellectual property; what rights do
creators and publishers have; and most importantly, what rights do we gamers
have." Their website
offers an overview and points the way to the
Gamers for Digital Rights Facebook Group and where to
Write
the FTC about DRM and EULAs. The
announcement has
further details on how this looks to deal with DRM: “Digital rights are an
extremely important and timely subject for everyone who buys and enjoys
entertainment, but especially for those who purchase and play video games,” said
ECA Vice President and General Counsel, Jennifer Mercurio. “With Gamers for
Digital Rights, our goal is to educate consumers about their rights, as well as
the copyright and trademark laws associated with such technologies, and then
work to open a dialogue between software publishers, developers and gamers.”
In forming Gamers for Digital Rights and becoming more active in a wide variety
of DRM issues, the ECA has recently hired Robert L. Hunter, IV (“Beau”) as their
Digital Rights Consultant. In his new role, Mr. Hunter will head up the ECA’s
efforts on related outreach and educational programs for the Government Affairs
team. Mr. Hunter also currently serves as the President of Global Intellectual
Property Securities, a consulting firm dedicated to helping multinational
clients develop IP education and enforcement programs. Previously, he was the
Director of Strategic Operations and Development for IPSA International, as well
as Manager for IP Enforcement with the Entertainment Software Association (ESA),
the trade association that represents video game publishers.
As noted a couple of weeks ago, Australian gamer Joe W-A
raised $3,000.00 to fly Gabe
Newell to Australia to check out his game modification. Apparently this is a
serious bit of frivolity, as Valve has issued
a press release
announcing their boss will land in the land down under next week, and they will
be blogging about the trip: "Newell and Joe will meet in Australia next week.
Reports of the trip will be posted on L4D.com's blog section by Valve employee
Erik Johnson, who will be traveling with Newell down under." An update on the
Fly Gabe Newell Blog indicates
the well-to-do developer is paying his own way to Australia, and the funds
raised are going to Child's Play: "Also, Gabe and Erik are paying their own way,
which means all the money accumulated will be going to the Child's Play charity.
It will be going there tomorrow, because today my internet is shaped and
therefore too slow to load PayPal."
The Mytheon Website
now offers a new trailer highlighting the three character classes in
Petroglyph's upcoming online action/RPG. The site also reveals a delay to the
game, which was announced with a Fall 2009 release date, but the
site now says "Cast The First Stone 2010." Here's word on the new trailer: "In
the trailer, players will the see the powerful Warcaster in action as he summons
companions to fight alongside him in a battle against deadly foes. The
Elementalist brandishes his abilities to channel the forces of nature to quickly
bring down enemies, as the Eidolon demonstrates his prowess at conjuring
companions, buffs, and debuffs to heal allies and weaken opponents."
Good Gear Guide
reports a lawsuit against FaceBook was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of Florida by former attorney Jack Thompson, who seeks
$40 million in damages because FaceBook failed to remove postings about him from
their social network. Thompson, a lightning rod for angry gamers for a history
of litigation similar to this latest suit (oh the irony), is the subject of
several FaceBook groups expressing their hatred for him and his behavior, with
some of them offering threats, both frivolous ( Jack
Thompson should be smacked across the face with an Atari 2600) and
potentially serious (a removed post apparently said "If someone can get a video
clip of themselves punching Jack Thompson in the face I'll PayPal them $50.").
Thanks
Slashdot. In other JT-related news,
GamePolitics reports he has filed a complaint against the president-elect of
the Florida Bar for making a disparaging remark about a judge on her personal
blog. This is similar to one of the charges that got Thompson disbarred, and
there is speculation he is trying to get a precedent set (or broken) to
highlight the unfairness of how he's been treated.
Beta testing will commence next week for All Points Bulletin (APB), the
open world online action game from Realtime Worlds.
VG247
reports this was announced by Realtime Worlds' Gary Dale at Tech Media Invest
event in London. You can still sign up
on this page for the beta,
though there are no guarantees of being selected.
Quel Solar announces a playable alpha
for Love is now available, after the release earlier this week of
a tech demo Alpha for compatibility testing. Once you get the Alpha running, you
will reach a screen explaining they are requesting a 3 Euro donation to play,
offering the following explanation: "Given the untested nature of the game, and
the very limited development resources (A single developer) you should not
expect the level of polish, amount of content or level of service of a large
commercial game. If you are even considering, if you think its worth 3 Euros, I
advice [sic] you to save your money and wait for the finished game. In other words;
unless you are OK with donating 3Euros not knowing If you will get a working
game in return, this Alpha is NOT for you." Thanks
Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
Teardown.se now offers
downloads
of version 1.0 of Alien Assault, a freeware remake of the 1993's strategy
shooter Space Hulk first unveiled last year. The site
includes screenshots, a couple of trailers, and ability for those who enjoy the
project to make a donation.
The Stardock
Interview Part 2 on Shacknews continues their conversation with Stardock
boss Brad Wardell. Topics include the dumbing down of strategy games, how
publishers lie about sales numbers, competing with digital retailers,
and Microsoft's lack of leadership on the PC as a gaming platform. On the
heels of an article on
Joystiq about opening Games for Windows to indie developers, Brad offers a
revelatory quote about the nightmare of working with the Games for Windows LIVE
platform: I don't know. I started out as a big Games for Windows Live
advocate. I intended for Elemental to be on Games for Windows Live, but then as
we got closer, the Xbox group took it over more and more. And they have things
where, oh, if you want to use Games for Windows Live to update your game, you
have to go through [their] certification. And if you do it more than X number of
times, you have to pay money. It's like, "My friends, you can't do that on the
PC."
On the console, I don't have to update my game because an anti-virus program got
an update and is now identifying my VB scripts as viruses and I have to apply an
emergency patch. That would just add insult to injury. We've had to upgrade our
games plenty of times over the years, not because we found some bug, but because
some third-party program, or driver, or whatever screwed it up. If Games for
Windows Live maintains that strategy and they take over, I'm done. I'm not
making PC games. I would be done.
Reuters has an article on a study of the in-game economy of EverQuest II,
attempting to compare it with real-world economics. The article is a bit
scattered, the most tangible non-conclusion to draw is their assessment of why
they observed a 50% spike in inflation in the game over a five month period. "We
have seen that kind of volatility during times of war and in developing nations
in the real world," says Dmitri Williams, assistant professor at the USC
Annenberg School for Communication. "Our own economy has turned out to be less
stable than we'd all assumed."
Steam News announces the
release of another automatic update for Left 4 Dead, Valve's co-op Zombie
shooter. The new version addresses a number of bugs and adds localized audio for
the new Crash Course DLC. They also outline changes for the dedicated
server for the Xbox 360 edition of the game.
A new trailer from Battlefield Bad Company 2 called "Battlefield Moments
Episode 1" is available on the
YouTube. The clip is
one continuous gameplay sequence, showing combat, iron sights, support drops,
and demonstrating the life expectancy of a bold soldier in the game, which is a
bit over a minute.
A new video trailer from
Gratuitous Space Battles
is now available on the
YouTube, showing off the game's titular gratuitous space battles, as well as
the game's interface, which looks nicely intuitive. Word is: "GSB is currently
in an extended beta test period, but everyone pre-ordering the game now gets
access to the beta. The game is $19.95 during beta, but will be more expensive
on launch. (exact price to be determined)."
Crispy Gamer - Games Are Not Art.
Roger Ebert doesn't think games are art.
John Carmack doesn't think games are art.
John, meet Roger. Roger, meet John. John and Roger, meet Scribblenauts, a
game that proves your point and shows why games are not art, or at the very
least, don't need to be art. And at the very, very least, games would be
better off if they stopped worrying about the whole art thing all together.
-
Indiecade, the video game industry's Sundance. Bring you own latte.
- SPIN is November 13-17 in
Montreal, Canada. A behind-the-scenes view of the video game industry for
the public that will also encourage future recruitment and employment in the
industry.
Sorry for the late update, MrsBlue had a doctor's appointment and threw the
BlueTower into a little chaos this morning. She also got talked into a flu shot,
since she has asthma, but I'm one of those who has always resisted this, and I
have never had a flu shot. Of course I don't think I've ever had the flu either;
I imagine if I did, I might feel differently about the shot.
|
Twitter 
