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Archived News:
A story on
BeyondUnreal (that's since been removed) pointed to an
image they posted (which has not been removed) that was posted on The Epic
forms before (you guessed it) it was removed. The teaser image has a new logo,
and says "It's Unreal. And it's almost here." The fact that it was pulled
shortly after it was posted may be an indication that it's not actually "almost
here" just yet. We shall see.
The
Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Website announces new subscription
plans are now in effect for Funcom's MMORPG (thanks
VideoGamer.com). Here's the deal: As of now the 3 month subscription
offers a 20% discount, 6 month subscription yields a 30% discount and 12 month
offers a 45% discount vs the regular one month plan. This is more than twice the
discount than before.
In addition, it is now possible to purchase additional gametime and immediately
get the veteran points. Veteran points is a system where players are rewarded
for each month they have subscribed, and can be used towards a variety of items.
Veteran points will launch with the coming update which is due very soon, and
will work backwards in time towards all gametime you have purchased.
Please log in to your account page
to see the upgraded pricing and offers.
Steam News announces the
release of Black Five Scenario
Pack, yet another DLC pack for RailWorks, the transportation
simulation. The new DLC includes seven scenarios and a new locomotive.
A new Star Trek Online trailer offers a cinematic look at some space and
ground combat in Cryptic's upcoming Trekkified MMORPG. The clip can be found on
GameVideos.
G4tv.com has a R.U.S.E. trailer showing off the just
announced Windows 7's multitouch support in the upcoming RTS game.
Steam News announces they
have a new Level Up trailer
promoting the just released free Level Up DLC for Killing
Floor and the free play weekend that's currently underway for the co-op
zombie shooter.
BioWare reveals another character from Dragon Age: Origins, introducing us to
Oghren, saying: "Oghren, of House Kondrat, was once a promising member of the
Warrior Caste who had earned great prestige in the dwarves’ gladiatorial proving
grounds. When a Smith Caste family with plenty of money but few political
connections offered their daughter in marriage, his family accepted the match.
And then everything changed. His wife, Branka, invented a process that
revolutionized the smelting process and was declared a Paragon—the first in a
generation, forever ensuring an honored place among the ancestors. Oghren gladly
joined his wife’s new noble house, but when Branka took her followers and
vanished into the Deep Roads, she left him behind. He remains determined to find
Branka again and learn what obsession keeps her hidden away from the rest of her
kind." A trailer for Oghren can be found on
ActionTrip and
Filefront. Also, GameTrailers has a new
Dragon Gameplay trailer,
Deathbed Gameplay trailer, and a new
Shut Up
Tree trailer.
Working by Torchlight on Gamasutra is a conversation with Travis
Baldree and Max Schaefer of Runic Games about their upcoming action/RPG. They
discuss digital distribution, their experience with this type of game, how hard
it is to get games in this genre right, their full-featured mod tools, a bit on
their Torchlight MMOG, the PC market, and more.
AureaSection Talk Naumachia on Rock, Paper, Shotgun interviews Lorenzo
Pasini of AureaSection about Naumachia: Space Warfare, their recently
revealed space combat game. Topics include their influences, why space combat
games have become uncommon, offline play, their free/licensed business model,
the development team, and challenges they've encountered.
- ArmA 2 on
GamersGate.
Save 50%.
- Europa Universalis III Complete on
GamersGate.
- Warhammer 40k Dawn of War Complete Pack on
GamersGate. Save 50%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
- Aion on
Direct2Drive. Save $5.00 with the code 5OFFAION at checkout.
- AI War: Fleet Command on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- Alganon on
Direct2Drive. Preorder and get beta access and in-game items.
- ARMA 2 on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Baseball Mogul 2008 on
Impulse. Save 33%.
- Borderlands on
Direct2Drive. Save 10% on preorders.
- Borderlands on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchase of the game or the four-pack.
- 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.
- 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%.
- Elven Legacy on
Impulse. Save 50%.
- Europa Universalis III Complete on
GamersGate. Save 64%.
- 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%.
- Pahelika on
Impulse. Save 25%.
- Red Faction Guerrilla on
Impulse. Save 50%.
- Restaurant 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%.
AMD
support now offers a hotfix for the just released version
9.10 Catalyst reference drivers for ATI accelerators. This fix addresses the "No
compatible hardware found" error when installing Catalyst drivers for ATI Radeon
HD 4000, ATI Radeon HD 3000 and ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series AGP products. Thanks
FLY.
Futuremark's Downloads Page now has a new patch for PCMark Vantage to update
this benchmark suite to version 1.0.1, which we imagine has something to do with
Windows 7. Downloads of the new version and the patch to update the previous
version are mirrored on
Gamer's Hell.
BioWare
announces that Dragon Age: Origins is gold for all three target
platforms, and BioWare's RPG will be released as scheduled in North America on
November 3, and in Europe on November 6 (though the PS3 edition is being held
back for "later in November" in EU territories). Word is: In anticipation
of the game, players can begin their Dragon Age: Origins experience early by
joining the BioWare Social Network -- a destination to share in-game
screenshots, review game data and share story information. Players can also
download the free to download Character Creator where players can create and
customize a player character on the PC and then upload their character data and
avatar to the BioWare Social Network before Dragon Age: Origins launches. The
Dragon Age: Origins Character Creator will provide players with the tools to
create a character with a nearly endless amount of options. Players can download
the character creator and get more information on the BioWare Social Network by
clicking here.
In Dragon Age: Origins, players take the role of a Grey Warden, one of the last
of an ancient order of guardians. Now, as a rising evil threatens to destroy all
life, it is up to players to unite the shattered lands and slay the corrupted
dragon known as the Archdemon. To restore peace, players must make ruthless
decisions and be willing to sacrifice their friends and loved ones for the
greater good of mankind.
The Star Wars:
The Old Republic Website touts a new holorecord on
The Battle
of Bothawui, "a battle in which the courage and sacrifice of Jedi and
Republic forces scored a major victory against the Sith Empire." As always, the
holorecord is narrated by Lance "Bishop" Henriksen. Also,
The eighteenth
issue of Threat of Peace is online, offering more of the back story for the
Star Wars MMORPG in comic book form.
Valve is now offering pre-purchase of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
through Steam. They
also announce that
Infinity Ward's military shooter sequel will ship with Steamworks, and here's a
bit on that: All PC versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be
powered by Steamworks, providing gamers with auto-updating, anti-cheat
technology, Steam Achievements, and the recently introduced Steam Cloud.
"Steamworks will make it possible for us to have a closer connection to our
fans, and enable us to support our community much more than ever before," said
Robert Bowling, creative strategist, Infinity Ward. "Steam is the hands down
leader in offering a community focused experience on PC and the inclusion of
Steamworks has allowed us to deliver the most feature-rich PC version to ever
come from Infinity Ward, which at the end of the day will mean the most to our
fans."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for PC will include 50 Steam Achievements,
enticing players to train a local militia and be "Back in the Saddle" or
infiltrate the snowy mountain side base and earn the "Cold Shoulder." Fans may
access the game from any computer. And through Steam Cloud, multiplayer game
progress will be stored persistently and travel with the player.
Unigine
Engine Website announces the release of Heaven Benchmark, which they claim
is the "first" DirectX 11 benchmark, though it also supports DirectX 9, DirectX
10, and OpenGL. The benchmark is available on
their downloads page, and there are
videos showing it in operation on the YouTube
here and
here. According to Unigine CEO Denis Shergin, "Our company has been pushing
the limits of advanced 3D real-time technologies with Unigine engine for almost
5 years. We focus on consistent delivering of all the innovation power to game
developers and end users by taking advantage of modern GPUs capabilities. So we
couldn't have missed the next major stage of DirectX evolution with its
inspiring features. We are happy to be the first benchmark provider for this
amazing technology. I hope that our strategic relationship with Microsoft will
continue." Thanks Mocib.
Steam News announces free
DLC for Order of War is now available to celebrate the one month
anniversary of Wargaming.net's World War II strategy game (one month! Where does the time
go?). The DLC is the game's "exclusive" preorder content, which is now
not-so-exclusive post-order content: • Heavy Bomber Squadrons -
Addition of German Arado and Allied B-24 Marauder heavy bomber units to air
support
• Infantry Mortar Launchers - Addition of infantry mortar units
• Off-Map Heavy Artillery - Addition of heavy artillery strikes to the
air support menu
• Survival Mission Mode - New survival mission mode where you fend off
waves of attacking enemies for as long as possible
Black Jacket Studios announces
that Metal Drift is now
available from Steam,
offering a futuristic first-person vehicular sport/combat game where players
pilot armed hover-tanks in single-player or multiplayer play. Steam also offers
a playable demo, and here's a bit more: Layered on this is a
goal-oriented game type that allows for high level strategy and team dynamics.
Players can level up to unlock new ranks, weapons, and upgrades.
Each weapon and upgrade is specifically designed and balanced to allow different
styles of play. Pair up the Stealth upgrade and the Shock Cannon to uncloak
behind an enemy player and unload a devastating blow before disappearing again.
Or choose the Sensor upgrade to see where all the nearby players are, and the
Temporal Cannon to shoot them through walls! There are 56 possible combinations
– choose whichever suits your strategy.
Matrix Games announces they will publish Armada 2526, Ntronium Games'
upcoming "spiritual successor" to Armada 2525, a space opera game released in
1991 (in case you thought the title was designed to avoid litigation from Zager
and Evans). The Armada
2526 Website has details on the game and a link to a first trailer on
YouTube. Matrix Games
says they are "particularly excited to be working with founder and director of
Ntronium Games, R.T. Smith. Mr. Smith has been creating strategy games for more
than 20 years, including the original 4x space classic Armada 2525. Most
recently he was the project director and lead designer for Medieval 2: Total
War, having earlier served as designer and programmer on the previous Total War
games." Here's word on the game: Armada 2526 continues the great tradition
of space opera games. You guide your race from its first interstellar journeys.
until it becomes a mighty galactic empire. Along the way, you'll explore the
galaxy, conduct research, diplomacy and trade, found new colonies, maneuver
mighty star fleets, and fight epic battles.
Although the game is complex, and the possible strategies endless, powerful help
and advisor features, help you get up to speed quickly. Unlike many games in
this genre, Armada 2526 focuses on providing a game that can be finished in a
reasonable time, and emphasizes battle and strategy over economic
micro-management.
It will be available for PC running Windows 7, Vista or XP
Focus Home Interactive
announces the Dark Elves will be added to Blood Bowl next month as a
free update for Cyanide Studio's strategy game based on Warhammer fantasy and
American tackle football. They will also then release an updated Blood Bowl
Dark Elves Edition for digital distribution. Here are
some screenshots,
and here's a bit: While the PC game already offers 8 races from Blood Bowl
world (from a selection of more than twenty races), players will be pleased to
know that the Dark Elves will be available as a free download this November. The
full game will also be available as a digital download, and in most stores in a
special version of the game called the "Blood Bowl Dark Elves Edition". This
edition will feature the entire Blood Bowl game with the addition of the famous
Dark Elves.
The Dark Elves enter the Blood Bowl arena with their own Star Player,
cheerleaders, new model designs and unique characterful animations. These evil
cousins of the Wood Elves hold their heads high and have only one goal: prove
their supremacy to all! To celebrate their arrival, enjoy these first exclusive
Dark Elves' images!
The new
Gametrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is online, offering their extensive
preview of BioShock 2, featuring interviews with the developers at 2K Boston and
gameplay footage from the upcoming sequel to the submerged objectivist shooter.
It's a little spoilery, if you're not into that.
The
World of Warcraft Forums have the results of a World of Warcraft Q&A
session conducted through Twitter. The questions were tweeted, but the answers
are posted in the forums, since the 140 character limit could make proper
answers difficult to form, while keeping the questions brief. Some of the topics
are pretty hardcore, and it might take a pretty hardcore player to understand some
of the abbreviations tossed around. Thanks Kxmode.
MMO Calendar now offers sales of a
2010 calendar with original art each month from a different MMORPG. This is a
charitable endeavor; word is: "As always, 100% of the proceeds of the sale of
MMO Calendar go directly to the amazing people at St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital, helping them in the fight for children's lives." They are also holding
a giveaway of subscription time to the games shown in the calendar as an added
incentive.
Microsoft
profit, sales smash expectations has word that profits at Redmond exceeded
expectations, and the better-than-expected numbers don't even include Windows 7
presales. Word is: "Microsoft said fiscal first-quarter profit fell 18 percent
to $3.57 billion, or 40 cents per share, compared with $4.37 billion, or 48
cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street had expected much worse,
calling for profit of 32 cents per share, on average, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales fell 14 percent to $12.92 billion, partly reduced by a
deferral of $1.47 billion in revenue to future quarters related to Microsoft's
free upgrade to Windows 7 for recent buyers of the predecessor Vista system.
That beat analysts' average forecast of $12.31 billion."
Optimus finalises CD Projekt takeover has word that the odd Polish stock
market switcharoo revealed earlier this month is now complete:
"As a result of the acquisition the owners of CDP Investment will retain control
of the CD Projekt Group, while gaining control of Optimus by acquiring 50 per
cent of the listed company's shares." By pulling some shenanigans with nearly
bankrupt Polish PC company Optimus, CD Projekt is now a publicly traded company.
Koku Gamer - An Objection to Originality. Thanks Ant via
Digg.
Let us set the way back machine to 2008. Several new franchises began,
some of them were blazing trails into new methods of gameplay and some just
provided a shiny new coat of paint. Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space,
Littlebigplanet, Left 4 Dead, Valkyria Chronicles, No More Heroes, Castle
Crashers, Braid, and the list goes on. I know that some of the titles will
bring up some fond memories, while others you will still remain blissfully
ignorant of. That ignorance is the point. Left 4 Dead and Castle Crashers
sold fantastically, while the others did either decent or remarkably less
so.
It sounds particularly nerdy to say I'm off to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor,
so I have a better way to describe my plans today: I have an appointment to have
a camera stuck up my nose. Actually, now that I think of where they stick
cameras these days, it could be a lot worse (though I sure hope they're not
using the same camera for all these procedures).
R.I.P.:
A Pie in the Face of Comedy- So Long, Soupy Sales.
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