Archived News:
A post to the Battle.net Forums reveal that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will include a Protoss mini-campaign in addition to the main Terran campaign in the RTS sequel (thanks Big Download). Blizzard is holding back on details, but have this to say for the time being: I won't go into details, since we don't give out information on the campaign of StarCraft 2, but I can confirm that there will be a Protoss mini-campaign that lets you control Protoss units. This part of the campaign mode is of course way shorter than the Terran part, but it is very fun to have a very different playstyle to add even more variety to the game. I am sure every Protoss fan will love this part of the Campaign!
That being said, the Protoss mini-campaign will not prepare you for the multiplayer as Protoss, you won't be using all units or getting to know buildings and upgrades. In general, even for Terran, it is not the objective of the singleplayer to show how to play the game effectively, it is to tell a story and do a lot of fun things, that would not be possible in multiplayer. The Challenges, mini-missions, that ask you to complete a very specific task, are more suited to give players the opportunity to learn how to use the units and how to play the game.
A playable demo for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Deadly Intent is now available, offering a sample of the Windows edition of this game based on the forensic investigation television series (with cases devised by writers on the series). The demo is not listed on the CSI Deadly Intent Website, but the 346 MB download is available on WorthPlaying.
A playable demo for SAS: Secure Tomorrow is now available, well over a year after the release of the Lithtech-engine game on which it is based. There are no details on the demo, which is 624 MB, but it can be downloaded from WorthPlaying. Update: Frans points out the demo is entirely in Polish, except for English voice-overs, which is certainly useful to know before downloading.
Though a demo is still not mentioned on the Age of Decadence Website, a second combat system beta demo for this turn-based strategy/RPG hybrid is now available. There is an announcement in the Iron Tower Studio forums with download locations, and a list of what's new and different in this forum post (thanks rpg codex). The updated demo is also mirrored on Gamer's Hell and WorthPlaying.
Psychochild’s Blog has the announcement that Near Death Studios has closed down, though word is their MMOG Meridian 59 continues operation, albeit no longer as a commercial venture run by Near Death (thanks Massively). The post outlines the issues that kept Meridian 59 from reaching critical mass, including competition from World of Warcraft, and admitting "the last five years the company has just been on life support." The post concludes with an optimistic outlook on going forward and creating a new game.
A new codeofconviction website is the latest bit of viral marketing for Splinter Cell: Conviction, the upcoming installment in the stealth/action series. The site offers areas to input codes for those who can dope out its secrets, and they also offer a Twitter feed casting more confusion on all this, in case any of it is too clear to you. The Lost Gamer has analysis of this, revealing how to get a free Splinter Cell: Conviction Xbox 360 Theme through the site.
Massively has details on a possible Guild Wars security issue, describing a "potential smoking gun" suggesting security shortfalls on ArenaNet's part may be behind increasing numbers of players claiming their accounts have been hijacked. NCsoft remains adamant that master account security is not to blame for reported hacking problems in both Guild Wars and Aion, but they remain skeptical, and point to a post on Kill Ten Rats outlining the issue and offering advise on how to better secure your account.
The Eve of Destruction Website offers the release of a new version 2.0 of the EoD Classic modification for Battlefield 1942. The new version of this Vietnam War modification includes 27 new maps (including converted and rebuilt BF1942 maps) plus 4 reworked maps. Word is: "NVA engineers have the new SKS Bayonett [sic] (replacing the knife) and at sea the GI can use the partyboat (Tango riverboat) now, including a small helipad to repair and reload choppers." Thanks Ant via Planet Battlefield.
Happy January 2, 2010, which written in US notation, 01-02-2010, is a numeric palindrome. This article (thanks brother19) outlines the rarity of this, as the last such date was 10-02-2001, and before that it was 08-31-1380. Interestingly, there will be another next year on 11-02-2011, but for those who use the more common dd-mm-yyyy convention this all becomes more commonplace, as the European system will produce more than twice as many such palindrome dates in this century as the less widely used US system.
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