Archived News:
The Cult of Rapture has details on a new patch that's now automatically available for the PC edition of BioShock 2 to fix some issues with the waterlogged shooter sequel, though the promised widescreen monitor fix is not included in the update. The patch is not without its issues, however, as the post says: "Unfortunately, this patch is causing errors in the Multiplayer portion of the game where holding down the mouse button does not register in game. We are already working on a fix to this problem and I will update you with more details as soon as I have them." The full spoiler-free change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Hi-Rez Studios announces they are extending free access for all Global Agenda users to the premium Conquest mode in the online espionage-themed role-playing game. The Conquest mode was originally to be free for all through March 3, but now this has been extended through the end of March. Word is: "To prove it to you, we are going to extend the free-play period for Global Agenda Conquest while continuing to deliver features and content enhancements. We feel this is the best way to prove to you the value of a Global Agenda Conquest subscription, while also ensuring that as many people as possible are exposed to our unique and innovative Conquest gameplay." Thanks Big Download.
Steam News announces the release of a new automatic patch for Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat: Source. The new version fixes client-side hitching caused by writing to the hard drive too frequently.
A Little Piece Of Hell: Building The Secret World on Gamasutra is an interview with Ragnar Tørnquist of Funcom about The Secret World, the upcoming conspiracy-laden MMORPG. Topics include how long the game has been in development, its modern day setting, balancing proven mechanics with innovation, progression without traditional classes and levels, and more. When asked how they will give a sense of a full world surrounding the real-world cities they are reproducing, he mentions a "brilliant solution," cryptically saying: "We're doing something really cool that we're not revealing yet. Have you read The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan?"
A new trailer from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 offers tips on how to succeed playing on the Port Royale map from the PC beta and console demo of DICE's military shooter sequel. The embedded version of the narrated "demo tutorial" follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A new video developer diary for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight features lead designer Sam Bass, producer Jim Vessela, and game designer Jeremy Feasel describing new revolutionary RTS elements that will conclude the 15-year long Tiberium Saga. Here's the HD version. Continue here to read the full story.
Reality Is Broken. Game Designers Must Fix It on Wired.com is an interview with game designer Dr. Jane McGonigal conducted at the Technology Entertainment and Design conference. Here's the answer that explains the article's clever title: "The game industry has spent the last 30 years optimizing two things: how to make people happy and how to inspire collaboration on really complex challenges…. We have all the problems surrounding hunger, poverty, climate change, energy and those are all such extreme-scale problems that require so many different actors to work together, so much concerted effort and so much creative thinking that they seem to be the kinds of problems that gamers have been trained to solve."
The Frozen Synapse Interview on LGRNexus.com chats up Paul Taylor and Ian Hardingham, co-owners of Mode 7 Games, who discuss Frozen Synapse, their indie simultaneous-turn-based strategy title. According to Paul: "Frozen Synapse is the ultimate tactical game: it's an indie simultaneous-turn-based strategy title. If you've played games like the X-com series and Laser Squad Nemesis, you'll have experienced the broad genre that Frozen Synapse is in, but it's something of a twist on the format. At the moment, the game is PC only but we're aiming to make a Mac version available and then look at other platforms after we release." Ian adds a slight correction, saying: "In fact, a Mac version will always be available (and is right now), but it may not be "officially supported" at release."
A new version 1.3.0 of Chocolate Doom is now available on freshmeat.net, updating this port of id Software's GPL DOOM source code. Word is Chocolate Doom is an attempt to recreate vanilla DOOM: "Chocolate Doom is a Doom source port which aims to behave as closely as possible to the original DOS Doom executables ('Vanilla Doom'). It aims to be compatible with DOS Doom demos, configuration files, savegames, and bugs. As far as possible, it provides the same features that are available in the DOS version, along with the same 'feel' of the original game." Thanks Ant.
Steam News has word on the release of Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II, a free Source-engine modification. Here's word on the mod: "Pirates, Vikings and Knights II pits three teams against each other in a struggle for wealth, power and total domination. The game features many different game modes including Territory, where players fight to control key locations in the map; Holy Grail, where players seek to hold the holy trinket and use its powers against the other teams; Booty, where players fight to capture and hold chests of treasure; and more."
Link of the Day: G-Spot Mouse. Thanks Devon.
A new fan-created patch is now available for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, updating the Source-engine action/RPG to version 6.8, continuing unofficial support for the game to make up for the demise of its developer Troika Games. This forum post has the complete change list for the patch, which is available on its exclusive home at The Patches Scrolls.
The BattleForge Lost Souls Edition is now available, updating Battleforge, the card-based RTS game from EA's Phenomic studio. Word is: "Players will now have access to legendary units and monumental buildings from the ranks of former enemies Lost Souls and the Twilight factions, with an additional 120 cards available through 'Lost Souls Booster Packs' in the in-game store." The announcement has details on the expansion for the game, which can be played for free or with the benefit of premium booster packs.
The Wings of Prey Website has new patches for Wings of Prey to update Gaijin Entertainment's World War II combat flight simulator to version 1.0.2.8. There are two patches, one to update version 1.0.2.6 and the other to update 1.0.2.7. The new version adds Polish language support, fixes engine sounds in multiplayer third-person view, fixes default replay view, adds new Custom Difficulty settings, adds Push-to-talk in multiplayer, and returns third-person view to single-player play.
ATI now offers a new version 2.01 of the ATI Stream Software Development Kit (SDK). The ATI Stream SDK is a complete development platform created by AMD to allow you to quickly and easily develop applications accelerated by ATI Stream technology in a high-level language, OpenCL. The new version adds support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3, support for debugging OpenCL with GDB on x86 CPUs under Linux, and more.
An SEC filing by Interplay reveals the sale of millions of shares of Interplay stock to Frederic Chesnais and (in a blast from the past) MicroProse. This is reported on Duck and Cover, where an Interplay investor made a post to their forums stating his unconfirmed understanding that this is part of a deal to fund development of several Interplay IPs, which jibes with an announcement a couple of years ago of Interplay's hopes of reviving the Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK franchises. The investor had the following to say: "Basically, the stock deal and options for Fredrick are a reward for getting 4 new Interplay games funded (this isn't confirmed yet, but this stock purchase makes it very, very likely that everything worked out, otherwise Fredrick would not have bought more shares). the games are Descent, Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, and MDK (I think MDK, don't remember on that one)." Interplay is currently locked in a legal battle with Bethesda Softworks over the rights to create an MMORPG based on the Fallout series.
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Website has a new article on the planet Taris, which was razed by the Sith Lord Darth Malak during the Jedi Civil War. They have a Holonet record for Taris accompanied by a video and some screenshots. Also, as noted here, the twenty-sixth issue of Threat of Peace offers the latest installment in the webcomic tie-in with BioWare's upcoming MMORPG. Finally, there's an editorial on MMORPG.COM where a longtime Star Wars and MMORPG fan expresses his reservations about the game.
After recent outcry and a petition asking 2K to add gamepad support to BioShock 2, 2K has responded saying they will not be adding support for gamepads to the underwater shooter sequel. 2K Elizabeth made the following post to the 2K Forums: "I talked to the dev team about controller support for BioShock 2, and I want to let you know that we won’t be adding this into the game in a patch. The decision not to support the controller was not made lightly, and to add it now would take a complete re-envisioning of the UI that the team worked so hard to create. I’m sorry for those of you who are disappointed, and I want you to know that your comments and concerns have been heard and will be taken in to account when we are planning in the future." Thanks nin via Kotaku.
Alan Wake is not coming to the PC, Strategy Informer reports, quoting a statement from Microsoft on distribution plans for the psychological thriller in development at Remedy Entertainment. Apparently Microsoft feels the Xbox 360 is the Dr. Phil that will help the game get over its intimacy issues: "Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience "Alan Wake" was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform."
Alan Wake was announced in May 2005 for "next generation consoles and PC's," and a year later it was touted by Microsoft as a game that will benefit from the then upcoming release of Windows Vista followed by discussion of possible Vista exclusivity. After that the PC wasn't mentioned for so long that fans began expressing concern this version was in trouble, and sure enough this was followed by Remedy saying that whether the game would come to Windows was up to Microsoft, which lead to a petition asking Microsoft for PC support.
Obsidian Entertainment is developing new PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 Wheel of Time games, announces Red Eagle Games, who in late 2008 picked up the rights to create games based on the fantasy-themed Wheel of Time novels by late author Robert Jordan. Specific game plans are not being laid out at this time, but Red Eagle does express enthusiasm for the deal: "The development team at Obsidian Entertainment has demonstrated time and again that they can successfully blend storytelling with technology to craft a superior RPG game experience," said Red Eagle CEO Rick Selvage. "Obsidian Entertainment is the ideal development partner to help Red Eagle Games take Jordan's beloved characters from the printed page to exciting new forms of interactive media."
Gamasutra reports layoffs at several Activision studios, including the cuts reported yesterday at Radical Entertainment. They also report layoffs at Guitar Hero developer Neversoft and say licensed game studio Luxoflux is to close, simply citing "sources," later adding "multiple sources" also inform them the Underground Development studio may close as well. None of this is confirmed, but the news is apparently covered by the same blanket statement made with yesterday's Radical news.
Negative Gamer has a rundown on the difficulty color blind gamers like myself are having with the hacking in BioShock 2 after noticing this forum thread on the topic. Hacking uses a color-based system, and they offer screenshots to demonstrate the problem, hopeful that 2K Games will see fit to address this. Thanks Kotaku.
The Kalypso Forums have details on a new version 1.13 patch for Tropico 3 they say is "just around the corner" for Haemimont Games' strategy sequel. They say: "We are confident to release the update via your digital distribution platform of choice and the in-game updater (requires internet connection) in the coming week." True to that, the Impulse update is now automatically available. Thanks The Patches Scrolls.
The GameRanger multiplayer matchmaking service announces the support for the Hearts of Iron series of World War II grand strategy games. This includes the whole shooting match: Hearts of Iron, Hearts of Iron II, Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday, Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday: Armageddon, and Hearts of Iron III.
The Left 4 Dead Blog has some startling statistics on how many zombies have been dispatched since the launch of Left 4 Dead 2, Valve's zombie shooter sequel. Word is: In the first two months of Left 4 Dead 2's release, 28,981,249,043 zombies have been shot, bludgeoned, chainsawed and killed — or, for our younger readers, taken to a farm where they can frolic and shuffle around forever.
You read that correctly: 28 BILLION. To put that number in perspective:
• The entire population of the planet has been zombified and killed 4.26 times.
• With the average height of a zombie being 6 feet, if you stacked them end to end they would circle the globe 1,322 times.
• If you placed 28,981,249,043 rulers end to end, they would reach 28,981,249,043 feet in the sky.
In short: That is a bucketload of dead zombies. Nice job, everyone.
Direct2Drive announces the top 10 bestselling titles on their service for the week of January 31-February 6:
- Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition
- Star Trek Online
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition
- Mass Effect 2
- Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition
- BioShock 2 (Preorder)
- Stargate: Resistance (Preorder)
- Mass Effect
- Civilization 4: The Complete Edition
- Red Faction: Guerrilla
Happy birthday Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. Hope you guys plan to party hearty tonight.
R.I.P.: Frisbee Inventor Dies at 90. Thanks theAntiELVIS. "You know, for kids!"
|
Twitter 
