Archived News:
IGN reports that SEGA and Obsidian inform them that Alpha Protocol is due for release in North America on June 1, a bit after the release of the espionage-themed RPG in Europe on May 28. The first territory to get the game will be Australia, where it will be released on May 27. They have some new screenshots and a new trailer to accompany the news.
A post to the Steam Users' Forums makes the case that a Mac OS X edition of Steam is in the works, something that was speculated about earlier this year when a Valve help wanted for Mac and Linux engineers surfaced. The post shows some code for an OS X menu and a bunch of OS X icons found in the Steam client. Thanks Total Gaming Network.
The Darkfall Forums announce that in honor of the approaching first anniversary of Darkfall Online, Aventurine is now offering seven-day trials of their MMORPG. The trial is not free, they are charging a "symbolic price" of one dollar or one euro, saying: "After the seven days are up, users need to purchase the Darkfall client in order to continue," adding: "We recommend that you download the Darkfall Client before purchasing the Darkfall trial to maximize your playing time."
A new Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II "Unit" Trailer is narrated by Daniel Kading, lead designer on the Dawn of War II series, discussing new additions to the multiplayer armies for relic's sci-fi RTS sequel to combat the Chaos army in the upcoming Chaos Rising expansion. The clip outlines new units and their abilities, but these are not restricted to the expansion, as Dan concludes by saying: "These new units will join all DoW 2 players' armies in March, absolutely free. And when the Chaos army arrives in the Chaos Rising expansion, they're going to need them."
The Battlefield Blog has a new walkthrough trailer from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, focusing on the PC edition of DICE's upcoming military shooter sequel. Word is: "Producer, Anders Gyllenberg has put together a walkthrough of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PC and explains some of the PC specific features, including things you have been asking for on the forums, as well as a first look at the Rush map, Valparaiso." PC specific features he mentions include friends lists, a server multiplayer browser, auto-patching, a UI built from the ground up for mouse support, PC-oriented load out and squad menus, an unlocked framerate, custom FOV, native support for 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios as well as support for multiple monitors, more natural ambient light occlusion and DX 11 soft shadows, 32-player support, and weapon handling optimized for "twitch" gaming.
A new Echoes Of An Empire Volume 2 expansion is live for Sword Of The New World: Granado Espada, the subscription-free MMORPG. The update adds two new UPCs, two new pets, +5 Expert and +6 General Lacquers (to reinforce Constellation Swords and/or Expert Swords), revamped Cash and Feso Shops, and new costume boxes, back costumes and hair costumes. Celebrating the expansion, GamersFirst is offering a 50% experience bonus for any players that login over the next week.
As noted earlier, today is the 14th anniversary of the release of Qtest, the test program that paved the way for the eventual release of QUAKE, id software's seminal first-person shooter. The Bethesda Blog celebrates the occasion by offering a look back at the event through the words of id principals John Carmack and Tim Willits, id expatriates Pat Duffy and Adam Pyle, and William Shen and Jason Bergman of Bethesda Game Studios.
Steam News has word that the Stanier Jubilee Steam Locomotive RailWorks Add-on is now available. Word is: "The Stanier Jubilee steam locomotive, famously named in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, was one of the first fully fledged standardised locomotive fleets for LMS designed by William Stanier. Becoming the main stay of passenger traffic operating out of London Euston and surviving the war (barely) the Jubilees were granted one last reprive [sic] by appearing in BR Green before their final curtain call. Bought [sic] back to life in RailWorks, this famous Class can once again ride the rails."
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
The QUAKE LIVE Website outlines a "year one event" that's now underway in QUAKE LIVE, id's online first-person shooter that turns one year old today. They offer some stats from the first year, saying a player named Pudrick has spent 56 full days (over 15% of the year) playing the game, and that Yakumo and Trajan have been battling for the most frags honor, with Yakumo currently holding the crown thanks to his over 258,000 kills. As for the year one celebration, they are offering a special award for anyone who completes one online match over the next two weeks. They have also launched a new map called "Fallout Bunker" to kick off the game's second year in style.
Steam News has word on another patch that's now available automatically for Team Fortress 2, the second update of the day for the teamplay shooter. The new version fixes a problem where servers with bots reported incorrect player numbers and addresses a bug where pipebombs were not colliding correctly with players.
Steam News announces the playable demo for Supreme Commander 2 is now available on Valve's digital distribution network, offering a sample of the real-time strategy sequel from Gas Powered Games. The demo includes two levels of the tutorial along with two missions for the United Earth Federation (UEF), one of the three Colonial Defense Coalition factions. Valve also announces that the demo and the upcoming full retail and electronic versions of the game will both include full Steamworks support for auto-updates, Steam achievements, Steam support for in-game DLC, and more. Supreme Commander 2 is due in North America on March 2, and in PAL territories on March 5. Steam has also begun accepting preorders for the game.
The Total War Website announces that Napoleon: Total War Limited Edition is now available in U.S. stores. This retail exclusive version of Creative Assembly's real-time strategy sequel contains the full game and a Steam unlock code that can be used to download two exclusive unit packs. The game's launch trailer was released earlier, and the first patch for the game is now automatically available on Steam to fix an issue with the chat room button and to add EyeFinity support. The full announcement follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A note on Eurogamer alerts us to an announcement we missed for Crasher, an upcoming vehicular combat game from developer Punchers Impact. The game is expected for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 before the end of this year. Here's a bit on the game: The new game, Crasher, falls into the category of M.O.B.A.’s (multiplayer online battle arenas) and has new features called "Stars," which are unique vehicles engaged in team combats or "TvsT" (Team vs Team), with a strong RPG aspect. The game requires team play: each team has its tactics and each vehicle has its arsenal (heavy itemization) and skills (spell) in order to head straight for victory.
A "LEAGUE" mode where the players overtake areas and destroy bases (ladder rankings), various arcade modes, last man standing, death match, etc, are also featured. Finally there is the Garage mode, which allows players to unlock new "Stars" and new achievements in order to enhance equipment and customize his/her vehicle to the fullest.
Steam News announces the release of a new patch for Stargate Resistance, updating the third-person shooter with some "newness" as well as bug fixes. The full release notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News announces the release of new automatic updates for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 to address a couple of issues in the zombie shooter and its sequel. The Left 4 Dead update fixes an issue where servers wouldn't relist after the master server was bounced and the Left 4 Dead 2 update fixes a Linux dedicated server crash.
The launch trailer for Napoleon: Total War is now available, offering a look at the next installment in Creative Assembly's long-running series of Total War strategy games. The clip includes no gameplay, but it has cinematic depictions of Napoleon Bonaparte performing mundane acts (standing around, mounting a horse, setting the DVR) as well as some pre-rendered battle scenes. The embedded HD version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Activision confirms Twitter support in Blur, the racing game currently in development at Bizarre Creations. Social networking has grown to the point that the game can be busy tweeting while you play. Word is: "Unique to Blur, players will now be able to customize the text message from within the game as they share a plethora of game details. Players can choose to Tweet about race victories, how many fans they’ve just earned, cars they’ve unlocked, leaderboard ranks, send challenges to friends and much more. Basically, if you see it in game and want to tell someone about it, we’ve got a Tweet for that." This Bizarre Creations tweet offers an example of the function in action.
The BattleAge Website is online, revealing plans for BattleAge, a browser-based MMO RTS/RPG in the works at S.C. Geclab Software that: "combines the elements of a strategic game with one of a role playing game, giving you the possibility to build, evolve, conquer, discover an immersive world placed in the Middle Ages, which holds a powerful secret, and that in real-time" (thanks Gamer's Hell). Here's a bit more: Each character can evolve independently. You can build huge cities, develop and control the market in the whole land, or conquer and build an empire. Powerful skills, an enormous inventory, resources, alliances, cities build with other players, powerful contracts between players can make you the one that could hold all the 36 Stones, to control the world, or to unite everyone in peace and harmony.
Continue here to read the full story.
The victims of PC gaming DRM: one soldier's story on Ars Technica highlights another issue with Ubisoft's DRM plans, which will require a constant internet connection even to play single-player games. This article describes how this will impact soldiers deployed overseas who will not be able to play such games as internet access on forward bases is hampered by bandwidth caps and flaky connectivity. "I'm deployed to Iraq right now, and [DRM] has ranged from annoying to unforgivable for me. I would like to let you know that Steam is pretty awesome with working with deployed folks to make sure we can access/play our games," one soldier tells Ars. "I've had hit and miss success with some of the other download companies. Any kind of game that tries to call home, though, is generally more of a problem than it is worth. Especially ones that try to resolve your IP address with your version/purchase location."
Editorial comment: Ubisoft's DRM plans seem to have no fans outside of the company itself, and we can only hope the attention focused on problems it will cause will inspire them to reconsider.
MCV has news that Split/Second is due for release in Europe on May 21, adding word that the full official title of the racing game from Disney's Black Rock Studio is Split/Second: Velocity. The story also describes plans to take the game on tour between now and its release to show it off, specifying The Gadget Show Live will be one of their stops.
An interview on Gamasutra talks with Valve writer Chet Faliszek about the company's approach to development, discussing a decentralized method that has the development teams drive the direction of their productions (thanks Mike Martinez). "The structure of our company [means] we're really autonomous," Faliszek told them, "and if there are enough people who want to do something, we do it. We wanted to do Left 4 Dead 2. It's not [marketing director] Doug [Lombardi] or [president] Gabe [Newell] or [COO] Scott Lynch sitting on top saying, 'This is what we must do.'" He also comments on "Valve Time," the phrase coined to describe how badly they've missed some release dates, saying: "I think the 'Valve Time' thing is a leftover from the Half-Life world, because I've been very careful with my dates and times in Left 4 Dead."
The Nexuiz Website announces plans for an announcement next month, saying simply: "Announcement Coming March" (thanks Gamer's Hell). Nexuiz is a free QUAKE-engine first-person shooter from Alientrap Software distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Leading Korean MMO company Bluehole Studio announces the formation of En Masse Entertainment, a new publisher focused on bringing Korean MMOGs to western audiences, saying the company is composed of veterans of Blizzard, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, ArenaNet, and NCsoft. They also reveal the first project they are bringing westward is a PC MMORPG titled TERA. They offer a brief overview of TERA, saying former Aion producer Brian Knox, overseeing Western development of the game. Word is: "TERA is an innovative MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game’s dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world where six races try to work together for the common good. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in Korea this year and in Western markets thereafter."
Paradox Interactive announces the release of Arsenal of Democracy, a new World War II strategy game based on the Hearts of Iron II engine, described by developer BL-Logic as "Hearts of Iron II on steroids." The game is available digitally from Direct2Drive, Impulse, GamersGate, and Steam. There's a release trailer on the YouTube, and a feature list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Battle.net Forums announce that the long-awaited version 1.13b patch is now live on the Play Test Realm for Diablo II, Blizzard's action/RPG sequel. The post details the numerous additions, changes, and fixes in the patch, and the Battle.net PTR FAQ has details on how to participate in the testing, and how to revert to the non-beta version. Thanks Rhialto.
Team 17's Martyn Brown tweets a clarification about the Worms Reloaded revelation from yesterday. It turns out this is not a new game, but rather the PC version of Worms 2: Armageddon, which was already known to be headed to Steam. Word is: "To clear up a little confusion, just one PC Worms title coming to Steam, it will be called 'Worms Reloaded' - More information forthcoming!"
The Just Cause 2 Interview on Gaming Nexus talks with Peter Johansson, lead designer on Avalanche Studios' upcoming acting game sequel. Topics include the game's story, their development process, the 400 square mile island they've created for the game, inspirations for their hero, lessons learned from the first Just Cause, changes to the grapple and parachute, weapon upgrades, and more.
Couch Campus - The Grown-Up Video Game. Thanks Mike Martinez via Slashdot.
The idea of “The Grown-Up Video Game” can mean many different things to many different people. It could mean excessive violence, nudity, or difficulty. I like to believe that while examples such as those in the previous sentence make a game adult oriented it takes something a bit more to make a game “grown-up”. Well what do I mean by this? The human experience is one that is made up of great hardship, pain, loss, death, and a multitude of experiences seemingly designed to destroy a person. However, that same experience is also filled with joy, love, laughter, family and friends. It is from these experiences that we begin to question, “Why?”. What is the motivation behind a person’s actions? How did their life culminate in the experience that we bear witness to now? Is there a good reason to be waging war on this particular nation? Why did he just blow that guy’s head off with a shotgun? It is this sort of thinking that is beginning to make its way into our beloved interactive games, and I believe that it is a very good thing.
Wow, the rough winter continues around these parts pretty relentlessly. We had freezing rain all day yesterday leading to slush all over the place this morning, as I hear reports about the "big storm" that will follow. I have actually used up a shovel this year, as the plastic edge on the shovel I use has been worn down to the point where the shovel is a couple of inches shorter now than when it was brand new!
Today is the 14th anniversary of the release of Qtest. I'll use the Quake Marine model in QUAKE LIVE today in honor of that.
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