Archived News:
A post on Steam News announces a new automatic update for Portal, Valve's first-person puzzle platformer. The patch notes don't really make sense, saying the update: "Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations," hinting that something interesting may be on the way. Shacknews notes the Steam Users' Forums are puzzling through this, noticing a new Portal Achievement has been added, as well as some Morse code audio files that seem to indicate GLaDOS is, well, still alive.
Turbine announces the launch of "Oath of the Rangers," Volume III, Book 1 of The Lord of the Rings Online, their Tolkien-inspired MMORPG. Word is: "Book 1 builds on the success of the critically acclaimed Skirmish system with the introduction of Duo Mode and four new 12-player Skirmishes, new high-level skills and recipes and the Spring Festival. Book 1: Oath of the Rangers is now available to subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online."
A new patch for the Massive Assault Network 2 is now available, updating Wargaming.net's online strategy game to version 2.0.270 with a couple of new maps along with gameplay tweaks and bug fixes. In addition to the patch, an updated demo is available. There are patches for the English and Russian editions of the game, which are both mirrored on The Patches Scrolls.
Arcen Games now offers a new version 3.070 of AI War: Fleet Command is now available, offering the largest of the monthly updates they've issued since the launch of the sci-fi strategy offering. Included in the new version are Riot Control Starships, which introduce modular ship design to the game. For those interested in a sample, the game can run in a limited trial mode until unlocked by a key.
A new version 2.0 of FlightGear is now available, offering an updated version of this freeware open-source flight simulator. In spite of the particularly even version number, according to the announcement the new release is primarily bug fixes. The game is known to run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS-X, FreeBSD, Solaris, and IRIX, and the source code is available if you have another platform you want to try.
Random House announces a follow-up on earlier news of their gaming aspirations with details on their deal to help support games with "original transmedia intellectual property," described as "story content that can be accessed through multiple media sources including video games, social networks on the web, mobile platforms, in print and on film—that will be developed and marketed in partnerships with other media companies." Their first deal is to accompany Stardock's upcoming Elemental: War of Magic with a novel penned by Stardock's Brad Wardell called Elemental: Destiny's Embers, which is expected this August.
Hi-Rez Studios announces plans to release a patch for Global Agenda tomorrow to update the espionage-themed MMORPG to version 1.1. These patch notes outline the planned changes and when the servers will be down for maintenance.
A new "Global Stratospheric Transport" trailer from Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight features lead designer Sam Bass demonstrating the new "green-screen-less" approach to cinematics in the upcoming real-time strategy sequel. Here's the HD version. Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day: Lego Star Wars Foosball Table. A geeky triple-threat. Thanks Ant.
Sports Interactive announces the release of a new patch for Football Manager 2010 to update the sports simulation to version 10.3. There are patches for retailed boxed versions and the digitally distributed editions, though they warn not to try either on the Steam edition, because, as noted here, the Steam version of the patch is now available automatically. The PC edition of the retail patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying. The PC digital patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls. The Mac retail patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying. The patch for the digital Mac version is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls. Finally, since Valve doesn't need much of an excuse to hold a sale, Steam is celebrating the update by offering the game for 50% off for a week.
Steam News has word on the release of the promised patch to update Aliens vs Predator, which is now available along with an open beta of the promised dedicated server for multiplayer play. This forum post has instructions on how to access and run the beta dedicated server, and this forum thread has the complete patch notes, which follow. Continue here to read the full story.
Tropico 3: Absolute Power is title of a new Tropico 3 expansion planned for release this summer, announces Kalypso. Here are some Tropico 3: Absolute Power screenshots, and word is: "Absolute Power gives players all-new options to rule as an unscrupulous tyrant or benevolent elder statesmen as they decide how to run their very own tropical island paradise. A successful and lucrative term in office is the goal! Absolute Power is packed with new missions, new islands and a whole host of new gameplay features." The announced feature list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The three Borderlands DLC packs will be released on a retail disc for PC and Xbox 360, reports Eurogamer by way of 2K Games, though they can't confirm plans for a PlayStation 3 edition. They say the disc is planned for release in the UK on April 9. No price is set at this point for the bundle of The Zombie Island of Doctor Ned, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, and The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.
Gamers-Underground.com has an outrageous clip from an Aussie news report that unequivocally states "Gaming causes more harm than smoking," claims that in "Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 2" (in case you were wondering about their level of fact-checking) "gamers plot terror attacks against civilians," and says "psychologists say that regular exposure to games like these actually rewires a child's brain making them more amenable to violence." It's official: The Aussie R18+ debate is generating more BS than a cattle ranch.
The Washington Post looks at the results of a new study on violent games in the March issue of Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association. The new study, conducted by psychologist Craig Anderson of Iowa State University and his team, is actually a study of previous research, and the article says: "the new research found that exposure to violent video games was associated with aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition and aggressive 'affect.' It desensitizes users and is associated with lack of empathy and a lack of 'prosocial' behavior." Interestingly, the new study claims to correct some of the "selection bias" in the previous studies, while: "In an accompanying commentary, Christopher Ferguson and John Kilburn of the department of behavioral applied science and criminal justice at Texas A&M International University note flaws in Anderson's analysis, including what they say is his own selection bias." Here's how that commentary concludes: Although it is certainly true that few researchers suggest that VVGs [violent video games] are the sole cause of violence, this does not mean they cannot be wrong about VVGs having any meaningful effect at all. Psychology, too often, has lost its ability to put the weak (if any) effects found for VVGs on aggression into a proper perspective. In doing so, it does more to misinform than inform public debates on this issue.
The Silver Lining Website has news that this fan-made project based on the King's Quest series has been shut down by Activision after eight years of development, just as they were preparing to release the first episode in the project. This project had a brush with death in 2005 when they received a Cease & Desist letter from Vivendi Universal, but they were eventually able to work out a non-commercial license to proceed with the project. More recently, however, Activision took ownership of the King's Quest IP, and after some negotiations, determined they were not interested in licensing the non-commercial project, and ordered it shut down. The only silver lining in this situation is they seem interested in finding a way to keep their development team together, expressing hopes that the teamwork and rapport they've developed won’t go to waste. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.
Uforia announces four days of closed beta testing will begin tomorrow for Camon Hero, their upcoming card-based MMORPG. Here's word on the game: "Camon Hero is the latest multi-control MMORPG which focuses on strategy and micromanagement as players lead their army of summons into battle. The game, set to launch this spring, uses a unique card system that allows players to create their own unique play style. With over 12 trillion unique summon hand combinations, players will always have new strategies to try. Players can also enter into PVP battles, try on various costumes and hats, and engage in a countless number of exciting events. But, the fun does not stop there! Players can explore the dangerous new world as they hunt for companions to aide them as they battle to save the land from darkness!"
Here are the final entries in this week's list of bestsellers on Steam:
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition
- Supreme Commander 2
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Napoleon: Total War Imperial Edition
- Aliens vs Predator
- Napoleon: Total War
- Assassin's Creed 2
- Spellforce 2: Gold Edition
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising
- BioShock 2
TechRadar UK - Why are games so terrified of sex?
For the most part this is as far is anyone dares go. Actual nudity, graphic sex scenes, or even characters commenting on the fact that the team's new Paladin looks like she funds her adventures down the local docks are never actually mentioned, leading to the most incredible coyness.
Take Grand Theft Auto, whose gangsters happily murder, swear, drink and make up whole new laws to break… but where do they hang out? A seedy bar where they can ogle girls in bikinis that could easily go in a PG-rated movie, if not for the naughty language.
There are still thousands of homes without power in this general area, and word is half our village will still be powerless until at least tomorrow, so I am very thankful we managed to skate through this storm as easily as we did. The outages are due to trees snapping power lines, and getting out and about yesterday showed why this was the case, as we saw dozens of trees in our neighborhood that were felled by the weather.
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