Archived News:
A tweet by Ubisoft's UbiMultipass (aka Li Kuo, our second favorite multipass since Leeloo Dallas Multipass), confirms that the Splinter Cell Conviction demo expected tomorrow is exclusively for Xbox 360. Word is: "Sorry guys, tomorrow's demo is for X360 only. There are no plans for a PC demo."
Steam News announces that the promised Steam version of the latest Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is now available, presumably removing the SecuROM DRM from the military shooter sequel, along with all the other changes in the new patch. The new version of the game is not without its issues, however, as outlined in the story below this.
A post on the PC Gamer Blog outlines what they are calling the " Bad Company 2 patch fiasco," offering a look at problems they've been experiencing both before and after applying the recent patch for DICE's military shooter sequel. Word is: "We're all having a very familiar feeling here in the office: loving a game while simultaneously frustrated, outraged and appalled by its endless connection problems. We've had it with pretty much every Battlefield game for eight years, and the patch for Bad Company 2 released last night suggests developers DICE have learnt little in that time." Their "before" problems include server browsing problems and PunkBuster issues ("despite having followed DICE's advice for this problem"), while their "after" patch problems include faulty hit detection, lost server connections, and crashes to desktop. Thanks Joao Noya.
There's an Interview with Tim Jenson of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment that seeks to clarify confusion over the Stargate Worlds and Stargate Resistance developer's recent Chapter 11 filing, though the facts in this case seem tangled beyond repair. According to Jenson, the bankruptcy was declared by Gary Whiting, but there is a little confusion about who is actually in charge there: "Mr. Whiting still believes he is in control of CME and he continues to take actions on behalf of the CME without the knowledge of any of the other employees or officers. Until the courts make a clear ruling on who is in charge or until they appoint a receiver, the governance of the company is in dispute." Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
Steam News announces the availability of a new automatic patch for Supreme Commander 2, updating the real-time strategy sequel from Gas Powered Games. The patch includes balance changes as well as bug fixes, all outlined below. Continue here to read the full story.
The Just Cause 2 "Launch" Trailer is now available, offering another look at the over-the-top action in Just Cause 2, the upcoming sandbox action game from Avalanche Studios. The clip is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
The Chris Avellone Interview on Eurogamer chats up the Obsidian designer about a variety of topics, including Alpha Protocol, their upcoming action/RPG. This is a broad-reaching discussion that also touches on Bethesda's take on the Fallout franchise (which Chris has also worked on), the general state of the RPG genre, jRPGs, and more. As for Alpha Protocol, they talk about the game's espionage theme, inspirations, comparisons to Mass Effect, and more. Chris also plays it coy when asked about the cancelled Aliens game, Fallout New Vegas, collaborating with Bethesda Softworks, and the likelihood of another Planescape game.
Develop has a follow-up to the revelation last June that Turtle Rock Studios, the Left 4 Dead developer acquired by Valve in 2008, was no longer operating separately as Valve South, as they were absorbing its staff into their Washington offices. Now word is the developer has reformed and is hiring staff. They report: "It is not clear what upcoming projects Turtle Rock has in the pipeline, though Michael Booth – a close friend of Valve – is back heading up the studio."
Trickstar Games is a new studio that calls itself "Australia's Newest and Most Experienced Developer," as they have formed from the remnants of Transmission Games, developer of Heroes of the Pacific, Heroes Over Europe, and Ashes Cricket 2009. Their plans are not clear yet, but they say: "The Trickstar team’s long history of working together, developing and delivering successful titles has ensured a strong bond within the studio. The team has established a solid production pipeline and have made quality the foundation of the studio." Thanks Big Download.
An ATI Catalyst 10.3 Preview Driver is now available for ATI accelerators running under the various flavors of Windows. They specifically refer to this as a "preview driver," so it's not clear if this is any different from the non-preview release of the version 10.3 drivers. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
A post to Skinning the frog by Brad "Frogboy" Wardell discusses the growth of Stardock, saying: "I remember years ago saying that I would put a hard limit on Stardock’s growth at 50 people. That seems quaint now," explaining his quandary: "That said, I’m having a hard time knowing now where (or if) to stop further growth." He seems to be planning on putting this decision off, however, as in another update he explains his plans to follow the release of Elemental: "After Elemental gets released I’m going to kind of take a sabbatical from Stardock and become a modder. I’ll focus mostly on modding Elemental and when Civ V ships, I’ll mod that as well. I really would like to see modding of PC games to become more mainstream as they are one of the big advantages they have over consoles."
Steam News announces the release of an automatic update for Global Agenda, as promised, bringing the MMO shooter to version 1.2. The patch adds a load of new content while also providing a laundry list of bug fixes. The extensive patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
IO Interactive announces the promised release date for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, saying the life of crime sequel for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 is due on August 24, 2010 in North America and August 27 in Europe and other PAL territories. In celebration the very Flash-heavy KaneAndLynch.com offers the first in-game footage from the game in a trailer titled "Welcome to Shanghai." Here's a bit on the game: "A raw and brutal crime shooter, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days follows two disturbed criminals, Lynch – an impulsive and reckless self-medicated psychopath and Kane – a tactical but disillusioned and desperate ex-mercenary, through 48 hours of hell."
A post on 1UP indicates that the SecuROM DRM will be removed from the Steam edition of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 when the recent version 522175 patch is released for the Steam edition of DICE's military shooter sequel. They also point to posts to the EA Forums suggesting the new patch is causing system crashes for some, though there are only a few such reports. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Expanding Universe, Part 2 is another trailer showing off upcoming content for Star Trek Online, including a good deal of Klingon and Borg content coming to the Trekkie MMORPG. Set your phasers on kill, as there's a lot of shooting going on. The clip is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
The NVIDIA Driver Downloads Page now offers new beta version 197.13 ForceWare reference drivers for NVIDIA accelerators. There are new drivers for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 64-bit, Windows XP 64-bit. Thanks Charles.
Greek developer Icehole Games now offers online distribution of Us And Them - Cold War, a turn-based strategy game set during the Cold War where territorial expansion is accomplished through nation building, rather than direct force. The game involves using an army of spies, assassins and other experts to destabilize enemy countries socially, economically, and politically. Word is: "A series of special rules will allow you to deploy special strategies like the 'Domino Effect' and the 'Communist sandwich' and to take advantage of great personalities like Che Guevara, Henry Kissinger, Mao Ze Dong, the Pope and others." A trailer, screenshots, and a free trial are all available to give a sense for the game.
A post on Gamer-Law offers thoughts on the Activision/Infinity Ward exec lawsuit (thanks Joker961). The article hashes through the facts presented in the legal filings associated with the case, attempting to understand who controls the Call of Duty franchise, and the relationship between Activision, Infinity Ward, and deposed IW bosses West and Zampella. The analysis states it is too early to evaluate the merits of the case, and says we'll likely see more revelations about this in further filings soon, but that: "unless either side can show urgency, it will probably be several months before the matter gets to trial – assuming of course that it doesn't settle before then." Thanks Joker961.
There's a Medal Of Honor video interview on GameTrailers where EA Executive Producer Greg Goodrich discusses bringing the Medal of Honor series of military shooter into the modern day. He discusses the gee whiz toys the game will provide, and EA's commitment to the franchise. He says the game is due this fall, and seems to acknowledge the release will be supported by a demo, though a timeframe and target platforms go unmentioned. Thanks Joker961.
The Metro 2033 Facebook Page indicates work is underway for DLC for Metro 2033 (thanks IncGamers), saying: "We’ve got some ideas, but nothing we can talk about right now other than to say it won't be new SP narrative content, 'missing levels' or anything like that - it's something we're only just starting production on." They add: "And no, it's not multiplayer! That would be very cool, but sadly not possible..." Also, a few new movies are available to show off gameplay, offering a voyeur's view of the just-released post-apocalyptic shooter (thanks Joker961). These are: Stealth Kills Gameplay, Tunnel Chase Gameplay, AI Lowlights Gameplay, and this clip, which carries a spoiler warning.
The Battlefield Blog has a NSFW Battlefield: Bad Company 2 public service announcement where a machinima version of New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia promotes "Friends Really Against Grenade Spam" (F.R.A.G.S.). This is a clear goof on a Modern Warfare 2 clip released last year where a virtual version of Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels promoted a similar cause with a F.A.G.S. joke that eventually blew up in Activision's face.
The Runic Games Forums now offer a new version 1.01 of the TorchlightCam modification for Torchlight, Runic's action/RPG. The new version adds support for Torchlight 1.12b and no longer requires C++ 2008 dll runtime libraries (which should fix Win7 and XP problems). Thanks Morris.
CrunchGear - How gaming will change the 3D equation. Thanks Ant via Digg.
Mark my words: the vast majority of TV viewers will never have a 3D TV in their home. Maybe some die-hards will buy a few pairs of glasses to watch the Super Bowl in 2015 but you and yours will probably never find any good reason to go 3D. However, if you’re a gamer you owe it to yourself to try a 3D set-up and perhaps upgrade. It’s a lot of fun.
The Escapist - Gunners and Gamers.
Although Steve had been following news related to the ACR for the entire history of its development, he was baffled as to why anyone outside of the small circle of firearm enthusiasts would even know of its existence, much less be interested in purchasing one. Then it hit him: Among the many modern firearms depicted in Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the ACR, complete with an entirely fictional "heartbeat sensor" that alerts the player to the presence of enemies - a feature one member of The Firearm Blog calls "fantastic," and not in the good way.
Happy St. Paddy's Day! Here's hoping everyone has a good time celebrating today. Of course keep in mind a lot of amateur drinking will take place, so please be careful out there, especially if you need to be on the road.
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes, Frans is on fire. As noted in this post, the single story view here now contains a list of recent headlines. As Frans points out this can help new visitors find other stories of interest here, and it can be used to read the news here story-by-story as well.
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