Archived News:
Steam News announces a free-play weekend is underway for Dreamkiller, offering a 25% discount on the game during the free period. If you are unfamiliar, here is a description of Mindware's action game: "Dreamkiller is a shooter that takes players inside the world of dark and twisted nightmares. Gamers take on the role of Alice Drake, a psychologist with the extraordinary ability to enter the minds of her patients and combat the ravenous foes haunting their dreams. Utilizing a host of fantastic weapons and her own special abilities, Alice confronts our common demons only to discover an even deeper menace reigns within. The ultimate showdown becomes inevitable between that which would torment and she who will protect, and only one force will prevail amidst a variety of dreamscapes as varied and bizarre as the human mind itself."
As some readers noted, the Borderlands patches released earlier today included SecuROM for the new The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC for the role-playing shooter. The SecuROM implements a five-installation limit for the DLC, and Big Download now offers downloads of the de-authorization tool that will allow the management of this five-machine limit.
The Battle.net Forums announce the long-awaited version 1.13 patch for Diablo II is on the Play Test Realm for Blizzard's action/RPG sequel. Word is testing will continue: "As long as we deem necessary to ensure the patch and changes are solid." The patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
A new version of the Steam Client is automatically available, addressing a couple of bugs, adding support for future Steamworks features, and improving Windows 7 jump list support. Also on Steam are two new pieces of DLC for RailWorks, the A1 Tornado Steam Locomotive and the Mk2e Coach. Finally, for MadBalls In... Babo: Invasion they offer the Turkey Coma Skin Pack and the Campaign Deserters Pack, which: "allows you to skip the campaign and do all of your leveling up from Madballs' multiplayer modes - and as a bonus, you get the Major Stone, Grok, and Maltron skins to boot."
A third gameplay trailer for Divinity II - Ego Draconis is now available with another look at Larian Studios' action/RPG sequel. Word is: "Today's video showcases the Battle Tower, the player's home within the game - a place where he can rest, train for battle, customize his creature and much more." The clip is available from Gamer's Hell, GameTrailers, and Worthplaying.
Runic Games talks Torchlight, the upcoming MMO, Diablo comparisons, more on Massively is an interview with Max Schaefer and Travis Baldree. They discuss the single-player game as well as the upcoming Torchlight MMORPG, and Max explains the reason for this approach: "So when this opportunity came around, we thought it'd be great to get a little boost for team morale by getting a product on the shelves, make a little money -- which would help the MMO because the more we make, the better and more beautiful the MMO will be -- and it also gets the game out there so that people know the (intellectual property), know the style and what to expect when the MMO does come out. So we're not launching something completely out of the blue."
The Guild Wars 2 Interview on MMORPG.COM chats with Eric Flannum, Ree Soesbee, and Dave Beetlestone about ArenaNet's upcoming online action/RPG sequel. Topics include how the sequel will differ from the original game, new races, the reduction in instances of instancing, the end game., storytelling, environments, and more.
- Battlefield 2 Complete Collection on Direct2Drive. Save 50%.
- Call of Duty: World at War on Best Buy. Save 40%. Thanks Batman.
- Counter-Strike: Source on Steam. Save 75%.
- Rome: Total War Gold Edition on Direct2Drive UK. Save 50%.
- Rise of Flight on Direct2Drive. Save $5.00 with the code "5OFFRISEOFFLIGHT".
Still on sale (previously reported)
Continue here to read the full story.
Direct2Drive announces the top 10 bestselling titles on their digital distribution service for the week of November 29 to December 5:
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Mass Effect
- Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition
- Crysis Maximum Edition
- The Sims 3
- Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Bundle
- Civilization 4: The Complete Edition
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut
- Borderlands
- The Sims 3 World Adventures Expansion Pack
The Splinter Cell: Conviction interview on The HipHopGamer discusses the upcoming return of Sam Fisher with a Ubisoft employee named Adam, who offers details about the upcoming stealth/action sequel. Along the way Adam says a playable demo is due in January and the game is due on February 23, though the only platform mentioned is the Xbox 360. Thanks VG247.
The Command & Conquer Website now has a profile of the GDI Hunter unit from Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, the upcoming RTS sequel. They offer background and specifications for the unit, as well as a gameplay video showing it in action.
Link of the Day: 25 Extreme Examples of Laziness. Thanks dakslf.
A playable demo is now available for Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne, the strategy game expansion that's due for digital distribution on December 15. The expansion requires ownership of the game as well as the previous two expansions, but the demo is a standalone release. Word is: "Play as one of eight major European powers during the turbulent years between 1492 and 1550. The Age of Discovery would forever change the future of Europe and the world. Vast new territories await discovery, even as the cracks widen in the unassailable unity of the Catholic Church and the Mohammedans march on Vienna. Choose Castille or Portugal and discover the Americas! Expand your trade league with Venice or the Hansa! Experience the rivalry between Bohemia and Austria as they vie for control of the Holy Roman Empire! Conquer Europe with France, or unite the British Isles under the Tudor dynasty! Full gameplay included; the only limit is the time frame, save/reload, multiplayer... and your own imagination!" The 266 MB download is posted on the Europa Universalis III Website and mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Worthplaying.
The Just Cause 2 Website outlines preorder bonuses for Just Cause 2, the upcoming action game sequel from Avalanche Studios. Preorders will come in exclusive packaging, and will offer the contents of the "Black Market Chaos Pack," which will be paid DLC for those who wait for the game's release and associated messiness like reviews. Word on the contents of the Black Market Chaos Pack follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Child's Play Charity announces the annual Child’s Play Gala and Auction raised $192,406, bringing the total raised this year for sick children to $1.2 million, in their push to break last years fundraising mark of $1.4 million. "The response this year was fantastic. We had everyone from major game publishers to individual gamers donating items for the auction," said Kristin Lindsay, Foundation Coordinator for Child's Play. "We just want to remind everyone that it’s not too late to get involved. You can still make cash or product donations on the Child’s Play site and help us break last year’s record."
A large number of layoffs came down a couple of weeks ago at Aspyr Media, reports Big Download, attributing the news to "several unnamed but reliable sources." One of these reports estimates that half the company's staff has been let go, and that "only a handful" of employees remain at Aspyr's office in Austin, TX. Aspyr began as a developer/publisher dedicated to Macintosh titles, but has expanded to PCs and consoles over the years.
2K Games announces Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, a second round of downloadable content for Borderlands that will be released on December 29 for Xbox 360, January 7 for PlayStation 3, and at an undisclosed later date for Windows. Here are a couple of screenshots and a logo for the DLC, and here's part of the description: Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot is an intense single-player or cooperative experience that expands the mayhem by adding three new Riot Mode arenas where players will endure an onslaught of Pandora’s baddest enemies. Working together, players will fend off the masses as they fight for fame, honor, and more importantly, loot. Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot also adds a new bank feature, which allows players extra storage capacity for when they encounter one of the more than 16 million weapons that Borderlands has to offer; and the ability to acquire two additional skill points as quest rewards, making their characters even more powerful than before.
A trailer for Mass Effect 2 is online showing off the Terminus Assault Armor and the M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon that are GameStop's pre-order incentives for the upcoming RPG sequel. The clip is available on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Worthplaying. Also BioWare announces the star-studded voice cast for the game, which will include President Bartlet, Scott Evil, Animal Mother/Jayne, King, Worf, Number 6, and Trinity (Martin Sheen, Seth Green, Adam Baldwin, Keith David, Michael Dorn, Tricia Helfer, and Carrie-Anne Moss). This press release has more details.
Isotx announces a new patch is now available for Iron Grip: Warlord to update this steampunk-themed co-op FPS/RTS hybrid to version 1.12, accompanied by an updated dedicated server and an updated demo. They also announce the retail price of the game has been lowered from $24.95 to $9.95. Word is: "This patch brings with it countless bug fixes as well as several long-awaited functions, not the least of which include a vote-kick option and a feature to identify who killed the Officer, an essential part of successfully completing a round in Warlord. The new patch also ties together Warlord with the browser game Iron Grip: Lords of Atelia, currently in Closed Beta." The patch is available on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Worthplaying. The dedicated server is posted on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Worthplaying. Finally, the updated demo can be found on AtomicGamer and Worthplaying.
Steam News has word on a new Left 4 Dead 2 patch from yesterday we didn't mention at the time. The new version updates the hit boxes for a number of infected and addresses a number of bugs. Word is: "These and all previous fixes will be coming to the 360 later this month." The list of major changes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
GearboxSoftware.com offers a new patches for Borderlands to update their role-playing shooter to version 1.1.0, with separate patches available for the English and German editions of the game. Word is: "This update adds support for the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC," but the patch is only for the retail boxed edition of the game, and copies acquired through digital distribution will need to be updated through their distributors. The downloads are mirrored on The Patches Scrolls and Worthplaying.
Publisher bitComposer Games announces February 2010 as the international release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, GSC Game World's first person shooter sequel that's already available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The announcement includes four new screenshots and word that the upcoming release will support English, French, Italian and Spanish. They say: "The successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, and the newest episode seamlessly connects to Shadow of Chernobyl. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is one of the first PC games supporting the new DirectX®11 technology."
Turmoil Games announces Alpha Polaris, a point-and-click horror-themed adventure game planned for release in the middle of next year. The Alpha Polaris Website is online with a few screenshots, and here's a bit on the game with extra credit for the "ion storm" reference: "In the midst of the snowfields of Greenland lies Alpha Polaris, an American oil research station. High above, the ion storm of the century is gathering, bringing about a strange intermixing of reality and night terrors. It is up to Rune Knudsen, a Norwegian biologist, to take on a desperate struggle against fear and death, and to face the primordial force lurking beyond the veiled sky."
MCV reports a February 19, 2010 European release date for Aliens vs. Predator, which fits with the February release window revealed in August. They also have word on special editions, saying the game will come in three flavors, Standard, Survivor, and Hunter Editions. The steel-cased Survivor Edition will include a code for downloadable multiplayer maps to be available post-launch. The Hunter Edition will also contain the maps, a face hugger model, a Weyland Yutani sleeve badge, and a 3D lenticular postcard.
GamerZines has word that PC games can expect the release of Alien Breed Evolution in the first quarter of next year, following word that the Xbox 360 edition is due next week. They also have learned that the PlayStation 3 version of Team17's top-down shooter revival is expected in the second quarter of next year.
MyCrysis has word on the Crysis Wars Holiday Trial, another chance to play this multiplayer Crysis game for free. The event will run from Saturday, December 19th to Tuesday, December 29. Word is: You will be able to download the complete Crysis Wars game, and install it on your computer for free. From then on, you will be able to play on LAN with your friends, without any time limitation. This is the best opportunity to check the gameplay, adjust the settings to your fitting (from best performance to best visuals), and train with your friends on LAN, in preparation for the online weekend. You will not be able to connect online during this time.
On Saturday December 19th, a new mail will be sent to you with the link to a MyCrysis page where you will be able to retrieve your unique demo CDKey for the trial period. This demo CDKey will only be valid for your MyCrysis account, and will allow you to play online for the whole ten days. By the end of the trial, your demo CDKey will be deactivated and you will have to purchase the game to keep playing online.
IncGamers - Why Indie Games Are Our Saviours.
These announcements also make me wish that these companies would spend the budgets for these triple-A titles on something else. Base a game on a 14th century epic poem, or claim Jack the Ripper was saving the world from demons. Wait, both of those are actually being made, aren't they? Right. EA, you've got some wonderful, wonderful people coming up with totally batshit concepts. Now stop making third-person action games out of them.
Today is the 16th anniversary of the release of the DOOM shareware back in 1993. I still want DOOM LIVE, with online support and leader boards a la QUAKE LIVE, which makes me realize that I just want DWANGO back. I'm guessing the guys behind this Flickr stream feel the same way (thanks Ant via Doomworld). Anyway, happy birthday to the DOOM Shareware, which I'm guessing I've played through at least 10 times over the years.
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