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Archived News:
GameSpot has details on plans for DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, which
they say will be released for the PC and Xbox 360 editions on November 3, the
same day the game goes on sale, while the PS3 edition of the DLC will come later
in the month when BioWare's RPG is released for that platform. There will be no
fewer than three pieces of DLC, one being the previously announced free Blood
Armor, the second is The Stone Prisoner, free with new purchases of the game,
and the third is Warden's Keep, for which they have a teaser trailer. Here's
word on that: BioWare today announced that Dragon Age: Origins will get
its first downloadable expansion on day one. Called the Warden's Keep, the DLC
will add a dungeon-based quest to the game along with six new abilities, a
variety of items, and a base where players can trade with merchants. It will
feature a supernatural storyline set in an ancient--and possibly
haunted--fortress once used as a redoubt by the Grey Wardens, the ancient order
at the center of Origins' main storyline. (A magic suit of Grey Warden armor
will be one of the items in the add-on.)
The Warden's Keep will be available for MSP 560 ($7) on Xbox Live Marketplace
and $7 on the PC on November 3. It will cost the same price on the PlayStation
Store when the PlayStation 3 version of Dragon Age goes on sale later in
November.
The Legie Website now offers online
sales of Legie, an indie title described as a "unique combination of a 3D
adventure and 'classic' dungeon crawler." The site has a bunch of screenshots,
there's a gameplay trailer on the
YouTube, and they are offering downloads of a playable demo, which is
mirrored on AtomicGamer,
FileFront,
and Gamer's Hell. Here's
a feature list: • Unique combination of a 3D adventure and "classic"
dungeon crawler.
• Dark story about an innkeeper, beer and the devil that takes place in the
medieval Czech town of Jilemnice.
• Poetic dialogues, wise words, bargaining, furious fights...
• RPG without magic, elves and hobbits.
• No saving the world, no heroics.
• Low hardware requirements.
The
EverQuest Players Website is now accepting applications from those
interested in beta testing EverQuest Underfoot, the upcoming expansion
for the long-running MMORPG. Word is: "As with last year's beta, the sign-up
process has been made easier for you… and for us! Once you sign up, the system
places you in a pool of potential beta testers. When the invite stages occur,
beta testers will automatically be selected from that pool. We will, however,
still be limiting the number of participants during different beta stages—the
difference is that now you don't have to wait for a window of opportunity to
sign up. The beta sign-up page will remain open until the beta ends. Once you
sign up, you do not need to sign up again." Thanks
Massively.
Impulse
announces that hotfixes for Sins of a Solar Empire and Sins of a Solar
Empire: Entrenchment are now available to registered customers through the
Impulse client. A handful of fixes and tweaks are included, including the
addition of developer builds for modders.
We noted the trademark for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
yesterday, and now
superannuation points to evidence this is indeed for a new PoP game. The
LinkedIn
profile of Ubisoft character modeler Marc-Antoine senecal showed his current
project since August as "Working on the new Prince of Persia," until it was
discovered, and now that résumé entry has been changed to a more low-key:
"Working on the best game ever."
Also from
superannuation is a pointer to
Carl Vikman's
LinkedIn Profile where a since-edited résumé entry seemed to reveal
Bourne Ascendancy as the title for the Jason Bourne movie tie-in Starbreeze
Studios. In an attempt to corral this horse back into the barn, this entry now
reads: "New Bourne-game for EA."
There's a clip purported to be a Max Payne 3 teaser on the
YouTube, offering a
stylized look at bullet time, genuine or otherwise. The clip also concludes with
a Winter 2009 date, even though the game was delayed until 2010 back
in July. Thanks
VG247.
- Blizzard Battlechests on
Amazon.com. Save 50%.
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on
GoGamer. Save 86%.
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles Expansion on
GoGamer. Save 84%.
- Mercenaries 2: World in Flames on
GoGamer. Save 51%.
- Neverend on
GoGamer. Save 29%.
- Prey on
GoGamer. Save 90%.
- Prince of Persia on
GoGamer. Save 87%.
- Prototype on
GoGamer. Save 44%.
- Shadowrun on
GoGamer. Save 90%.
- Raven Squad: Hidden Dagger on
GoGamer. Save 38%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
- AudioSurf on Steam.
Save 50%.
- Arx Fatalis on
GOG.com. Save $1.00.
- Battlestations: Pacific on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Borderlands on
Direct2Drive. Save 10% on preorders.
- Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30 Download on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Cities XL: Pre-Purchase on
Steam. Limited
Edition for the standard edition price plus in-game bonus items.
- Codename: Panzers - Cold War on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Company of Heroes Gold on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Dark Void Preorders on
GameStop. Outlines the preorder bonus.
- Dark Void Preorders on
Game Crazy. Get a limited edition Trexi.
- Delta Force: Land Warrior on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Delta Force: Task Force Dagger on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Dreamkiller on
Steam. Pre-purchase and save 10%.
- Empire: Total War on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Hearts Of Iron II Collection on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Nemesis of the Roman Empire on
Impulse. Save 47%.
- Oddworld Games on
Steam. Save 66%.
- Raven Squad on Steam. Includes a free copy of Legendary.
- SFI Mission 4-Pack on
the Strategy First Website. Four games for $19.99.
- Spiderweb Software Store. All games 10% off through October.
- Supreme Commander Gold on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Tex Murphy Series on
GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Tropico 3 Pre-purchase on
Steam. Save 10%.
- Tropico 3 on
Direct2Drive. Preorders save 10%.
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Warlords Battlecry III on
Impulse. Save 47%.
- Wolfenstein on
Amazon. Save
44%.
- World in Conflict Gold Edition on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
A talk by Obsidian's Chris Avellone at the Framework '09 conference is available
on the YouTube as an 11 part series. As pointed out on
superannuation, part
eight and part nine
feature a detailed discussion of the cancelled Fallout 3 game he worked
on at Black Isle Studios. The talk outlines the philosophy the game was to have
followed, and a good bit of detail on other proposed elements for the RPG
sequel. Also, part ten
and part eleven discuss
Obsidian's Alpha Protocol, and show some ShakyCam gameplay.
LucasArts announces the PC edition of Lucidity is now available via
digital distribution, offering a puzzle/platformer from the team behind the
recent The Secret of Monkey Island. The game is available on
Direct2Drive and Steam,
though the D2D version is only available in the US and Canada. Word is:
"Lucidity is an addictive puzzle platformer set in the surreal dreamscapes of a
little girl named Sofi. In Lucidity, players take a trip into the imagination of
a young girl who is filled with a persistent desire to explore new worlds and
overcome all obstacles in her way. In this challenging puzzle platform game,
players are tasked with keeping Sofi safe as she drifts deeper into the strange
new world of her dreams. Through quick reaction and placement of randomly
generated puzzle pieces, players must create a path through beautifully detailed
dreamscapes to keep Sofi in perpetual motion and deliver her to safety."
Steam News announces a
new patch is now available automatically for Empire: Total War, Creative
Assembly's real-time strategy sequel. The update lists one change, which is:
"Fixed issue with some artillery shot types."
There's a
Dedicated Server Patch Petition underway on the Codemasters Forums hoping to
inspire the release of a dedicated server program for Operation Flashpoint:
Dragon Rising, Codemasters' military shooter. The posts in the thread
indicate the respondents take it for granted a lack of a dedicated server will
doom the game's multiplayer community, but
IncGamers quotes a source at Codemasters about this, who said they "do not
anticipate any online problems once the game launches later this week" (already
available in the US, Dragon Rising is due overseas over the next couple of
days).
Former Bungie staff Michel Bastien, Damián Isla, and Rob Stokes have formed a
new development studio called Moonshot Games to create "high-quality" (as
opposed to?) downloadable games (seems a version of Hearts is a natural, given
their name). The new developer is based in Boston and Seattle.
Medal of Honor Designer Forms Tarver Games on IndustryGamers is an interview
with Chris Cross, the former game design director at EALA on the Medal of
Honor series, not the one-time pop star. They outline the studios' focus on
iPhone games, and hash through the possibilities that some of their original
intellectual properties will make their way onto other platforms.
Paradox Interactive and
Nitro Games announce plans to release a free add-on for East India
Company later this month to update the seafaring real-time strategy game to
what they are calling the "designer's cut" (begging the question who is
responsible for the release "cut" of the game). The commercial add-on called
Privateer announced in August is still in development, but in
the meantime the designer's cut will be released for download on October 27, and
the announcement also includes word of a price cut that makes the game's MSRP
$29.99/€29.99 both at retail and via digital distribution. Here's a bit on the
project: The free add-on introduces a vast amount of enhancements for
improved gameplay, including new port views, the ability to fight on land in
island battles, the introduction of multiplayer modes "Beehive" and
"Breakthrough", history graphs to help track long term progress, and many more
new features to make East India Company a deeper experience than ever before.
“In 'Designer’s Cut', we made several improvements to the original game to make
it even better," said Kim Soares, lead designer for East India Company. "Some
features were chosen from the ideas presented to us by the East India Company
community. This kind of feedback from the active players is invaluable, as they
have spent hundreds of hours playing our game and know it inside and
out."
Patches for Dawn of Discovery/ Anno 1404 are now available to
update the strategy prequel to version 1.1, and
this change log
outlines what's new and different. There is a patch for the US edition (aka Dawn
of Discovery) on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront,
Gamer's Hell, and
The Patches Scrolls
and a patch for the European edition (aka Anno 1404) on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront,
Gamer's Hell, and
The Patches Scrolls.
Also, the automatic update for the
Impulse and Steam
versions are now available. The patches are accompanied by new modification
tools for the German edition of the game, which can be found on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and The Patches Scrolls.
Games On Net attended the press conference in Sydney, Australia where
Gabe Newell travelled for his promised viewing of gamer Joe
W-A's game mod. Though it has been announced the Aussie Left 4 Dead
2 ban is being appealed, the latest is that an altered version
has also been submitted to the Australian ratings board for approval, though the
Valve boss would not say what has been cut. The appeal of the original version
is ongoing, with a final decision expected on October 22, and if the appeal is
upheld, the censored version will not be required, but if the original ruling
stands, they will be prepared with a version of the game to sell down under.
Wolverine Studios
announces they have acquired PureSim Baseball to bolster their lineup of sports
games. Word is developer Shaun Sullivan remains with the project, and they will
be releasing PureSim Baseball 2 on October 16: Wolverine Studios, a leader
in sports simulation software, is proud to announce our latest title
acquisition, PureSim Baseball! "PureSim Baseball is a tremendous acquisition for
our company", says Wolverine Studios President Gary Gorski. "PureSim is a
fantastic baseball simulation - one of the finest on the market and we're
thrilled to be bringing it into the Wolverine Studios lineup."
Current PureSim Baseball developer Shaun Sullivan will remain with the program
as the Director of the game going forward as well as offering his expertise to
all Wolverine Studios projects. Shaun Sullivan first released PureSim Baseball
in 2002 and has become one of the most respected developers of simulation sports
since then.
Wolverine Studios will be releasing PureSim Baseball 2 on October 16, 2009
exclusively from
www.wolverinestudios.com
MCV hears from some speakers at this month's London Games Conference that a
hot topic at the show will be digital distribution. They quote some punditry
predicting that digital sales will surpass retail sales by 2013, but that
approximately 40% of the industry is unprepared for the shift from boxes to
bytes.
Matrix Games announces a new patch is available
on this page for WW2: Time of Wrath, updating the grand strategy to
version 1.60 with what they are calling a "mega-update." How Mega? This mega:
"As far as changes, the update includes roughly 200 tweaks and fixes such as: a
number of crash fixes as well as host of minor fixes ranging from event fixes to
interface fixes to gameplay and AI fixes all the way to map fixes. There are
also plenty of new interesting historical events, better AI performance, and
many user-requested interface improvements including an option to round unit
strength to show a whole number only. Also along the line of interface
improvements, there is a better display of movement for all units and rebase
range for all aircraft in addition to an improved purchase screen. Customers
will also enjoy improved orders of battle in a number of scenarios and a general
rebalancing of air power."
Trembling Hand - Why Champions Will Never Be Balanced.
However, Champions makes things harder for itself because players aren't
forced to specialise. In most games, you're forced to choose Rock, Paper or
Scissors, so you know there'll always be folk out there who can trounce you
with ease. But you also know you can trounce others with equal ease. And it
all comes out in the wash, with the population of players settling in to the
three strategies in equal proportion.
But in Champions, you can effectively choose from any power in the game. You
can choose Rock, Paper and Scissors - which means everyone else will
effectively be forced to take all three as well in order to remain
competitive. (Just call them Regeneration, Force Shield and Force Sheath,
and you'll see what I'm saying.)
The Escapist - Too Gay for the U.S.A.
That's largely due to the way the two different cultures view sexuality.
North American viewers tend to be bombarded with violent imagery, while
depictions of sexuality - especially involving lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender (LGBT) people - raises more eyebrows than anything else. A poll
conducted by family gaming site What They Play in April 2008 offers further
evidence of this aversion to homosexuality in media: When shown a series of
provocative pictures, respondents were more offended by the image of two men
kissing then that of a severed head.
Crispy Gamer - Capturing Perception.
There is still a frontier in the realm of representing intuitive action
and unconscious perception. As games proffer more sophisticated narratives
that require more than casual observation from the in-game characters and
players controlling them, they are also getting better at representing the
much more interesting aspects of being human -- like how we move
unconsciously through space, how we read the intent of people around us, and
how we register easy-to-miss but important actions that have big effects.
The start of the baseball postseason has been a depressing time for us fans of
the disappointing New York Mets for a few years now. This year is that much more
poignant, though, as it has been announced that no major changes are taking
pace, and the manager's and GM's jobs are safe for now. The team suffered loads
of injuries, which is neither of their fault (and thankfully the team has
announced changes to their suspect medical protocols), but the team also has no
backups to speak of and serious holes to start the season (which is on the GM),
and played some of the worst fundamental baseball I can recall (which is on the
manager), leaving prospects for the future seeming pretty dim. I hope I'm wrong
about that.
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