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Archived News:
Steam News and
Direct2Drive announce the release of SAW, the video game based on the
uplifting movie series about a serial killer/torturer with a flair for the
dramatic (so the report we saw that this is a Steam exclusive was
not accurate). Word is: "The game centers on Detective David Tapp who awakens in
a decrepit, abandoned asylum. He has been captured by his longtime nemesis,
Jigsaw. Obsessed with catching this serial killer, Tapp's mission has consumed
him and ruined his family, resulting in divorce, mental imbalance, and
abandonment."
Aartform Games announces
Spice Road, a trading and city management PC game planned for release
next year. Here's word: London – October 3, 2009 – Aartform, the software
publisher, today announced a new game for Windows®: Spice Road. Currently in
development by Aartform Games, an innovative new London games studio, Spice Road
is scheduled for a 2010 release.
“Deep in the mountains and deserts of central Asia, where life is hard and death
is sudden, thin trails of gold, silk and spice trace a web between the
industrial forges of the West and the exotic climes of the East. You are a
colonial governor in the 18th Century, building a town on the Spice Road in a
time of war and discovery. More than spice travels your roads – musket armies,
philosophies, and power plays that span the globe are at your control.” explains
CEO Simon de Rivaz, “From palace to monastry, trade post to brothel – your town
is worthless without the nobles, monks, merchants and whores that chose to live
in it – and keeping them all happy at the same time is never simple.”
Spice Road will use the StormRaid™ engine to deliver a beautiful fully 3D
rendered world on high-end DirectX® graphics cards.
A post by
JoWooD Entertainment to their forum says that the Painkiller:
Resurrection demo released yesterday was an older version of
the demo, which was not intended for release (which may explain its release in
.iso format). Word is: "We are very happy about the feedback concerning the demo
but we are also sorry because we accidently released an old demo version. We
really feel sorry for that. Next week we will release a demo version in the
actual quality of the final game. So stay tuned and sorry for the
inconvenience." Thanks Ant and Eggtooth.
Gamestop.com's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 listing now includes
minimum system specifications for the PC edition of Infinity Ward's military
shooter sequel (thanks
Joystiq). Here goes: Hard Drive Space: 16 GB free hard drive
space
Operating System: Windows® Vista/XP
Processor: AMD 64 3200+ or Intel Pentium® 4 3.0GHz or better
RAM: 512 MB RAM (XP) / 1 GB RAM (VISTA)
Video Card : Shader 3.0 or better 256 MB nVidia® GeForce™ 6600GT / ATI®
Radeon™ 1600XT or better
Blend Games reports the system requirements for Star Wars: The Force
Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition, the upcoming PC edition of the Star Wars
action game: Minimal system requirements
• Operating system: Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7
• CPU: Dual-core CPU with 2.4 GHz (Intel core 2 Duo or Athlon X2)
• RAM: 2 GiByte
• Graphics card: Shader model 3 with 256 MiByte VRAM (Radeon HD 2900 or
Geforce 8800)
• HDD: 24 GByte + 1 GByte swap file
Recommended system requirements
• CPU: Intel core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 5200+
• Graphics card: Radeon HD 4870 or Geforce 9800 GT
Supported graphics cards
• Ati Radeon HD 2900, 3850, 3870, 4850, 4870
• Nvidia Geforce 8800, 9600, 9800, 260, 280
Computer and Video Games reports that Ubisoft's upcoming strategy game,
R.U.S.E. will make use of Windows 7's multitouch support, which will obviously
also require a multitouch-enabled display. They quote Ubisoft's John Parkes
saying: "As a strategy game relying on a clean and intuitive interface built
around the zoom, R.U.S.E. was the perfect candidate for Ubisoft to demonstrate
how multitouch improves and streamlines the way games are played."
A new video developer diary from Assassin's Creed II is now available,
discussing the topic of "progression" in Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming
stealth/action sequel. The clip is available on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer, and
Gamer's Hell. No
minstrels were actually harmed in the making of this trailer. Also, forward
looking
Computer and Video Games asked Ubisoft Montreal studio boss Yannis Mallat if
they have decided on the setting of Assassin's Creed III and were told "oh yeah."
Slitherine Strategies has released a teaser trailer for
HISTORY: Great Battles Medieval,
War Drum Studios' upcoming strategy game where going medieval on your enemy is
par for the course. The clip can be found on the
YouTube.
- Aion on
Direct2Drive. Save $5.00 with the code 5OFFAION at checkout.
- AI War: Fleet Command on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- ARMA 2 on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Baseball Mogul 2008 on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on
Amazon and
Walmart. Includes a $20.00 credit. Thanks
Big Download.
- Elven Legacy on
Impulse.
- Europa Universalis III Complete on
GamersGate. Save 64%.
- Nemesis of the Roman Empire on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- Pahelika on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- Red Faction Guerrilla on
Impulse. Save 50%.
- Restaurant Empire on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- Warlords Battlecry III on
Impulse. Save 33%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
- Alganon on
Direct2Drive. Preorder and get beta access and in-game items.
- Borderlands on
Direct2Drive. Save 10% on preorders.
- Borderlands on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchase of the game or the four-pack.
- Crazy Machines series on
Steam. Save 25%.
- Cricket Revolution on
Steam. Save 10% on
pre-purchases.
- Dark Salvation on
the Mangled Eye Studios
Website. Only $9.99 or $19.99 for the disc version.
- East India Company on
GamersGate.
Save 52%.
- Gratuitous Space Battles on
Impulse. Save 13% on
preorders.
- Ground Control Pack on
GOG.com. Save
30%.
- Hollywood Pictures II on
GamersGate. Save 50%.
- JoWooD Games on
GOG.com. Save
30%.
- Light of Altair on
Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
- Nemesis of the Roman Empire on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- SFI Mission 4-Pack on
the Strategy First Website. Four games for $19.99.
- Spiderweb Software Store. All games 10% off through October.
- Team Fortress 2 on
Best Buy and
FRYS.com.
Only $9.99. Thanks Johnny.
- THQ Classic FPS Bundle on
Impulse.
Save 25%.
- Torchlight on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchases.
- Warlords Battlecry III on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- Wolfenstein on
Amazon. Save
41%.
- World of Goo on 2D Boy
Website. Name your own price.
- X-Com Complete Pack on
GamersGate. Save
40%.
Link of the Day:
CCP: HTFU - Permaband. NSFW.
The Star Trek Online Website
announces that closed beta testing has commenced for Cryptic's Trekkie MMORPG,
saying: "Star Trek fans will soon be able to join Starfleet, defend the
Federation and promote peace within the war torn Alpha Quadrant. Closed beta is
a particularly exciting time during the development of a game; the Cryptic team
of developers is looking forward to getting user feedback." Here's word on the
test: We're happy to announce that we've entered Close Beta as of today,
October 22! If you've signed up, keep an eye on your email, as we'll
periodically be inviting people to join in and share their feedback.
Additionally, if you look to the right of the page, the "Closed Beta"
application graphic will change to indicate you've been accepted, if you've in
fact been accepted. (It'll read "ACCEPTED" in big, bold letters.)
If you haven't signed up yet,
head on over to the
preview application, create an account if you haven't and sign up!
Though its launch has been prematurely announced in a number of places,
Dragon Age Journeys just
went live, offering a 2D Flash game tied in with Dragon Age: Origins,
BioWare's upcoming RPG. As noted yesterday the free Flash game
will allow you to earn rewards for the full game when it is released.
GameTap announces that the Black Edition
of
Unreal Tournament III is the new game for subscribers to their service. They
also announce a boatload of games that are now in their free area:
Project: Snowblind,
Hitman: Contracts,
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary,
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend,
D.N.A.,
Sacred
Gold,
Magic
Ball 3,
Hitman: Blood Money,
Beach
Life,
Infernal, and
Turtix.
Steam now offers the new
free "Level Up" content pack for Killing Floor, which adds three new
maps, seven weapons, and 20+ Steam Achievements to Tripwire Interactive's co-op
zombie shooter. The free weekend for the game is also underway, so the game and
its new content can be sampled by anyone with a Steam account. In addition to
the 100% discount that the free weekend represents, the game is now on sale for
a 25% discount if you are inspired to make a purchase.
A "leaked" Left 4 Dead 2 trailer called "Zombie Survival Guide HQ" is
posted on the YouTube,
offering a cinematic introduction to Valve's upcoming zombie shooter sequel.
Thanks Dagok.
Eurogamer has word from Ubisoft that James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
will be released in December 4, two weeks before the release date of the
Film on which it is based.
That date is for the UK, so it seems likely the game's North American release
date will be either December 1 or December 8.
The ATI
Graphics Drivers & Software Page now offers new version 9.10 Catalyst
reference drivers for ATI accelerators (not to be confused with the version 9.1
drivers released in January, ATI has monthly driver releases, and
the version numbers are the year and month). Here are the
release
notes, here are
installation instructions, and
this blog update discusses the release as well.
Riot Games
announces that the beta testing for
League of Legends is now open
to all entrants, and that beta accounts will carry over when the game's
"pre-season" launches on October 27. Here's an excerpt: LOS ANGELES —
Oct. 22, 2009 — Riot Games, an independent developer and publisher of premium
online video games, has invited all gamers to get a jump start in League of
Legends before the game launches in “Pre-Season” on Oct. 27, 2009. New players
can join the beta for free at
http://signup.leagueoflegends.com and will be able to keep their accounts
permanently.
League of Legends will operate in seasons to provide the best experience in
competitive gaming. Operating in seasons provides an established set of
champions and maps with a definite endpoint to competition, while also enabling
new content rollouts outside of season play. The League of Legends “Pre-Season”
will allow time for players to learn the game, build teams and develop advanced
strategies and tactics, before the opening of Season One in the first half of
2010. Between now and the start of Season One, players can also look forward to
the addition of clans, teams, tournaments, ladders, draft mode, as well as
additional content such as new champions and maps.
Codemasters announces
the unveiling of the DirectX 11 edition of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 at a
Windows 7 launch event. In July it was announced that the PC
edition of the racing sequel was being held back until December to implement
DirectX 11 support, and this announcement offers specifics, saying the PC
edition is coming on December 1 in North America, December 3 in EPAC
territories, and December 4 in the UK. Here are
some new screenshots,
there's a Direct X 11 DiRT trailer on
ActionTrip,
FileFront,
and Gamer's Hell,
and here's a bit on DirectX 11 support: "Codemasters will take advantage of
DirectX 11 features to add to the realism of the racing environment. Hardware
tessellation will further improve the appearance of water and other surfaces as
well as crowd animations. The performance of Shader Model 5.0 will aid in
creating an even richer 3D experience, enhancing key image quality parameters
such as depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows. These DirectX 11
features, and many others, combine to deliver the most exciting and visceral
racing experience yet."
The Mytheon Website is live as
home to Petroglyph's upcoming free online action/RPG. The site includes new
details about the game, and they are promising the first 1,000 eligible users
who register on the site automatic entrance into the game's upcoming closed beta
test. Word is: "Mytheon offers a unique online game play experience that
combines the best elements of the Action-RPG genre with strategic combat and
collectability. Players will challenge legendary mythological gods by wielding
potent and unique "Power Stones" that transform into spells, structures and
creatures. Players can loot, forge, buy, sell and trade these stones among a
vast online community, then cast the stones during epic battles that play out in
a visually stunning 3D mythological world."
Futuremark Games Studio
announces the system requirements for Shattered Horizon, their upcoming multiplayer PC first-person shooter, which will not
support Windows XP: Minimum Requirements:
Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 on Windows Vista or Windows 7. There is no
support for Windows XP or DirectX 9.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 / AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT / ATI Radeon HD 3870
GPU memory: 256MB
Hard disk space: 1.5 GB
RAM: 2GB
Sound: Windows Vista compatible sound card
Recommended Requirements:
Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 on Windows Vista or Windows 7. There is no
support for Windows XP or DirectX 9.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / AMD Phenom II X4 940
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 / ATI Radeon HD 4870
GPU memory: 512MB
Hard disk space: 1.5GB
RAM: 2GB
Sound: Windows Vista compatible sound card
THQ announces
they will be publishing Metro 2033 in 2010, offering Windows and Xbox 360
gamers this futuristic first-person shooter from Ukrainian developer 4A Games
(it looks like the planned PS3 edition has been dropped somewhere along the
way). The game, first announced three years ago, is based on a
"best-selling" Russian novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The
game's official website features a
new gameplay trailer, and here's a bit more: The PC version supports
NVIDIA® PhysX® technology to enhance the incredibly realistic worlds and provide
even more immersive gameplay. Metro 2033 is scheduled for release in early 2010,
and the first trailer is available to view on the official website at
www.Metro2033Game.com.
"Metro 2033 will plunge gamers into a terrifying vision of the future," said
Richard Williams, vice president of global brand management, THQ. "4A Games have
worked closely with Dmitry Glukhovsky to deliver a unique game world, a
compelling, cinematic story and an incredible, atmospheric experience to rival
anything in the category."
“Metro 2033 boasts some of the most advanced graphics and PhysX effects we’ve
ever seen,” said Ujesh Desai, vice president of GPU business at NVIDIA. “From
what we’ve seen so far, this will be a showcase PC gaming title for
2010!”
Games On Net reports that the appeal of the
refusal of classification for Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia
has been refused, so the uncut version of the game will not be for sale down
under, where the censored version will be the only edition sold.
Word is: In the Review Board’s opinion, Left 4 Dead 2 could not be
accommodated within the MA 15+ classification. The computer game contains a
level of violence which is high in impact, prolonged, repeated frequently and
realistic within the context of the game.
In addition, it was the Review Board’s opinion that there was insufficient
delineation between the depiction of general zombie figures and the human
figures, as opposed to the clearly fictional ‘infected’ characters. This was a
major consideration of the Review Board in determining the impact of this game
on minors.
Computer games classified RC cannot be sold, hired, advertised or demonstrated
in Australia.
Fabulist Games
announces Star Sentinel Tactics, a sci-fi turn-based tactics game
planned for release in the first quarter of next year where the player controls
a squad of United Alliance Marines, as they battle to prevent a race of
bloodthirsty reptilians from launching a devastating attack on our Galaxy. A
batch of
Star Sentinel Tactics screenshots accompany the announcement, and here's a
bit: Star Sentinel Tactics takes the proven gameplay of turn-based
tactical combat, and invigorates it with exciting new ideas like eliminating CPU
turn waiting, dynamic battles and narrative-driven missions. As well as dazzling
3D graphics and line-of-sight driven by a powerful physics engine, the game
offers a cast of captivating characters and creatures, and an array of explosive
weaponry. Each of the 28 hand-crafted missions will offer players a unique
tactical challenge, from creeping silently past patrols in a dusty desert city
to providing cover for heavy assault troops as they raid an alien mothership.
As well as a compelling single player campaign, the game will ship with a
full-featured suite of editing tools, which will allow players to craft their
own weapons, characters, missions and even campaigns.
The Arcen Games
Forum has the release of a new version 2.0 of AI War: Fleet Command,
culminating what they describe as their long-running post-release overhaul. They
offer a trial version to check the game out, and an
AI War 2.0 vs. 1.0, A
retrospective to outline its evolution. They also announce that Direct2Drive
and Steam have joined Impulse and GamersGate in offering sales of the game.
A new version 7.32 of Alien Arena is now available, offering an update to
both the Windows and Linux editions of this freeware first-person shooter.
Downloads are available on the
Alien Arena Website.
The new version fixes a critical bug when using Nvidia 191.xx drivers, adds
dynamic world shadows using shadowmaps, new spawn effects, a new map, and more.
Beautiful Game Studios announces
plans to bring Championship Manager 2010 to the Macintosh on November 13,
offering the chance to play the latest installment in this association
football/soccer series while still allowing you to think different. Word is:
"Championship Manager 2010 on the Mac contains the same highly innovative
features of its PC counterpart including; a bespoke 3D match engine with over
500 individual player animations created specifically for Championship Manager,
a Set-piece creator giving users the chance to create their own unique free
kicks and corners, Scouting Networks allowing users to set-up local networks in
countries around the world and scout for local players and Practice matches
helping users build and mould their perfect team or trial new players. The new
features are more accessible than ever before thanks to the completely reworked
user interface design."
The Team Fortress 2 Blog
announces the Team Fortress 2 SDK now contains new models for your
modding pleasure. Here's a bit: With work on Left 4 Dead 2 calming down
for us a bit, we were able to finish up something we promised you a while
back—gathering up all the source files for the character models and getting them
online. This'll hopefully let you guys get a lot more creative out there with
your fan-made content. (We can't wait to see it.)
We've also gotten a lot of requests for models and props from the Meet the Team
shorts. So we're happy to announce we've released the first set, from Meet the
Sniper (note that these were made for the movies, and haven't been optimized for
performance in maps, so keep that in mind). I've outlined some of these
below.
The Heresy War
trailer on the Pinnacle College Website with cinematics from this space
combat game in the works at Dream Builder Studios. Word is: "Pinnacle College
and game developer Dream Builder Studios have teamed up to offer budding video
game audio professionals unprecedented access to the Heresy War game in
development. To kick off the partnership, Pinnacle College hosts the premiere of
Dream Builder Studios’ new cinematic trailer for the upcoming combat space
simulator, Heresy War." We haven't heard much about this game since a
playable demo was released 17 months ago. The clip is also available on
GameTrailers.
The
Secret World Interview on UGDB.com
chats with Funcom's Ragnar Tornquist about The Secret World, their
upcoming MMOG. Topics include the game's story, combat, grinding, PvP, the
game's three factions, conspiracy theories, and more.
Gamasutra - Are Publishers A Necessary Evil?
Developers and publishers often have a curious relationship. The best
analogy I can think of is that of parent and child. The publisher or parent
thinks it knows best, because it's been there before (shipped more games),
and because "it's my money, so you'll live by my rules."
The developer or child is rebellious, and thinks it has all the answers. In
many ways, it does know more than the parent, and is closer to what's
innovative, but maybe hasn't figured out how to hone that energy yet. I
could take this analogy further, with talk of advice, feedback loops, and
misunderstandings, but ultimately, publishers have the money and the
marketing, while developers have the creative spirit and know-how.
Destructoid - Nothing is sacred: Death of the story.
But videogames, from the programmers who create them to the users that
consume them, have finally diverted from the typical conventions of the big,
bad film industry to develop into their own medium, their own glorified art
form that basks in deserved praise of player immersion and technological
innovation. Why, then, do we still cling so desperately to the tried, true,
yet tired course of linear storytelling? Yes, it provides the structure of a
game -- a path for both designer and gamer to follow. Yes, reaching a
conclusion provide one would hope -- some manner of catharsis that makes the
previous hours battling of one's way to the credits feel worthwhile. But
let's grow the f**k up, shall we?
Congrats to the Phillies for heading to their second World Series in as many
years. Did that sound sincere? Does my bitterness show through? I hope not.
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