Archived News:
Crytek tweets about plans to show off their upcoming shooter sequel Crysis 2 in New York City tonight, saying: "The invasion begins in Times Square TONIGHT @ 10:00, 10:20 & 10:40 -- Get an early first look at Crysis 2! www.SOSNewYork.com." The site at that URL says Crysis 2 Countdown in the title bar, and currently features a countdown standing at two days, 16+ hours.
The Games Company announces they have secured European publishing rights to Afterfall: Insanity, a post-apocalyptic survival/horror game in the works at Polish developer Nicolas Intoxicate slated for release early next year for PCs and consoles. The announcement comes with a few Afterfall: Insanity screenshots, and some details on the game, here's a bit: "Players face their destiny in the desolate ruins of once thriving cities and well-known areas - or to be more exact: in the sewers and tunnels beneath them. Decaying shelters and hideaways stage mankind’s struggle for survival after the nuclear holocaust from October 2012. Facing horrible mutants, bloodthirsty mercenaries and other threats, humanity fights for existence."
IGN reports that the promised release of Kasumi's Stolen Memory, the new DLC for Mass Effect 2, hit a snag that prevented its release earlier today. They report this has now been cleared up, and the DLC is available for 560 MS Points ($7.00 USD).
Steam News announces the R.U.S.E. Public Beta has been reactivated for one more week, saying the beta of Ubisoft's upcoming real-time strategy game returns "due to popular demand." They say the beta is now scheduled to run until April 12. Word is: "Fight on 7 maps from the final game in ranked and unranked modes against other players. Or challenge the AI in single player mode as a training ground."
The Konami Website has details on a new update that's now available for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, updating the association football/soccer sequel to version 1.06. The new version has Updated Squad Data (warning that they may not be 100% accurate), new footballs, and new football boots. Thanks Shacknews.
Several weeks ago news surfaced that Switzerland was considering some sort of violent games ban. Details were scant at the time, but now Swiss website 20 Minuten Online has an interview with Social Democrat Evi Allemann, the politician behind the proposed law, who sheds some light on what's involved, saying (translated) that the law would impact "cruel acts of violence" to which the player contributes, offering examples of Mortal Kombat and Manhunt as games that could be banned, as opposed to games like Counter-Strike, saying she pictured this law leading to the banning of about a dozen titles. Thanks GamePolitics.
A new patch available for Altitude, reports Steam News, saying the update will be applied the next time owners of the multiplayer aerial combat game login to Valve's online service. The new version includes the new "Ace" system along with a large number of other changes, which are detailed in the following patch notes. Continue here to read the full story.
The Impulse Weekly Top 10 is now online with their top-sellers for the week of March 28 - April 3:
- Demigod
- Mount & Blade: Warband
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity
- Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy
- The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom
- Sins of a Solar Empire Expansion Bundle
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut
- Galactic Civilizations II - Ultimate Edition
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Entrenchment
- Majesty 2 Kingmaker
IncGamers has a schedule from Blizzard, who reveal plans to roll out new information about World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beginning tomorrow. They take this as an opportunity to speculate about plans to beta test the upcoming MMORPG expansion based on previous Blizzard betas, guesstimating that the beta will begin in May or June of this year.
- 2XL Supercross on Steam. Save 10%.
- Mass Effect 2 on Direct2Drive. Save $15.00 through 4/11.
- Simplz: Zoo on Steam. Save 10%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
Continue here to read the full story.
True Games Interactive announces details about PvP and cooperative gameplay in Mytheon, the online action/RPG in development at Petroglyph Studios. The update comes with a new Mytheon screenshot as well as a gameplay trailer showing off PvP combat (we're pretty sure it's not co-op by the way the players keep hitting each other). "PVP is an important element of an online game so we took great care to make Mytheon a fun and challenging experience," said Peter Cesario, Director of New Business and Product Development at True Games Interactive. "Beyond the expected PVP modes, we also have a unique Co-Op Mode which allows teams to work together to defeat bosses and to earn fantastic spoils and treasure." The embedded HD version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
EA Sports announces the launch of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online saying this provides "on-the-go golf enthusiasts with the most accessible, authentic and feature-rich golf video game experience available through a web browser," saying the game "requires no game installation*, no disc, and no additional peripherals" (there is no corresponding footnote in the announcement for that asterisk, though it looks like it was meant to be where it says "Requires Unity Web Player"). The announcement is accompanied by a batch of screenshots as well as a trailer with tips on shot setup. The game offers a free component as well as a premium version, and here is the part explaining that, confusingly giving the game's North American pricing structure in British currency: In addition to a free-to-play** experience that allows unlimited access to featured courses, players will be able to choose from a monthly or yearly membership, offered at £6.99 and £49.99 respectively (pricing for North America). Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online will also utilize a points-based transaction system allowing players to purchase packages of points which can be used on in-game transactions, such as rounds of golf and Pro Shop items. Consumers who purchase the annual membership receive unlimited rounds on all available courses, and will be provided with a package of points that can be spent on Pro Shop items.
EA announces the formation of Team Need for Speed, which seems to be geared towards promoting their Need for Speed racing franchise, saying this is "an entertainment program that brings together the top street, drift, GT racing, time attack cars and drivers." The purpose of this is not entirely clear, in spite of the fact that it is explained: "Together, this collective of racing influencers will carry the Need for Speed brand into a variety of events, films, competitions and more." One thing that's clear is that this is a racing sponsorship, as word is: Team Need for Speed consists of an all-star roster of drivers renowned for their skill on the track and passion for the automotive lifestyle including Vaughn Gittin Jr. (Drift/USA), Matt Powers (Drift/USA), Edward Sandström (GT Racing/Europe), Patrick Söderlund (GT Racing/Europe) and Mad Mike Whiddett (Drift/USA, New Zealand, Japan). Additional drivers will be announced in the future. The season kicks off this week as three of the Team Need for Speed drivers hit the track. On April 9, Mad Mike Whiddett and Matt Powers compete in the ‘Streets of Long Beach’ Formula D event and on April 10, Patrick Soderlund and teammate Edward Sandström will compete in the VLN Series’ Stunden-Rennen race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.
A new version 1.2 of Freeciv.net is now live, according to a post on freshmeat.net (thanks Ant). Word is: "Several important bugs were fixed. HTML5 canvas rendering performance was improved. Stability of the HTTP proxy was improved, and many minor improvements were made to the game." This freeware Open Source turn-based strategy game is not to be confused with FreeCiv, which is likewise an Open Source freeware Civilization homage, which we see was updated in late February, and is now up to version 2.2.
Paradox Interactive announces Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi, an expansion for Hearts of Iron III, the World War II real-time strategy sequel. Word is: "Semper Fi gives players more control over their country’s warfare and politics, while pleasing history buffs with a variety of new features and events." Some screenshots accompany the announcement, as does a fact sheet revealing the game is due in the second quarter of this year. "Our vision for Semper Fi is to transport the player into World War II in a way that previous installments have not been able to do," said Henrik Fåhraeus, Associate Producer at Paradox Interactive. "For instance, negotiating and working with the allies was a huge part of WW2 and players are now able to experience that first hand. Also, our historical buffs have long been screaming for more historical accuracy in our games, and while the game still won’t follow history to the letter, these historical events will create a stronger experience by giving you historical references and feedback alongside gameplay." A feature list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A new "Rigid Bodies PhysX" patch for Batman: Arkham Asylum is now available on the NVIDIA's nZone, though this is only for GeForce GTX 480 or 470 owners. Word is: "This DLL patch required to ensure that PhysX for rigid bodies works correctly in Batman: Arkham Asylum." The download is mirrored on AtomicGamer and WorthPlaying.
A post on superannuation reports four new game-related Trademark registrations. NCsoft has registered not one but two registrations for City of Heroes 2, suggesting a superhero MMORPG sequel is in the offing. They also note a new registration by Electronic Arts for Pirates Ahoy relating to "providing an on-line computer game." Also, a registration by SCEA for Until Dawn., mentioning "a real-time computer game for others that may be accessed over global and local area computer networks." Finally, Konami has registered the title Adrenalin Misfits.
2K Games announces the North American release of the promised Double Game Add-On Pack for Borderlands, Gearbox Software's role-playing shooter. The pack includes both The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and the Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot DLC, and requires ownership of the original Borderlands to play. Word is: "Complete with extensive co-op integration that seamlessly blends the single-player and multiplayer experiences, both The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot allow players to freely join or leave each other’s games at any time for collaborative mayhem or the freedom to enjoy the game in full single-player mode. It also includes the groundbreaking weapon generation system that offers more than 16 million weapons from which to choose. Like many things in life, playing the Borderlands Double Game Add-on Pack with others is more fun than playing alone."
Lead Designer Todd Alderman and Lead Software Engineer Francesco Gigliotti have parted ways with Infinity Ward, notes Kotaku by way of the pairs' LinkedIn profiles. This follows their recent speculation that staff was hanging in with the Call of Duty developer following the firing of studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West to collect bonuses. The nature of the departures isn't explained, though Kotaku says "a source close to the studio suggests they both resigned."
The Settlers 7 Forums indicate that problems with the DRM in The Settlers 7, which requires a constant internet connection, are continuing, if not getting worse, as there has been what the UK Forum Manager refers to as a "recent 'explosion' in posts." There are reports from players in various territories who have been unable to play the game for a couple of days, some of these including word of corrupted saved games. Thanks Xirix.
Joystiq relates their experiences attempting to decipher an ARG launched through a flash drive they received in the mail. They work through the included puzzle, drawing a tentative conclusion this may have come from Bethesda Softworks, though a later update adds a note that this ARG has also apparently been sent to "sent to 'high-profile' Call of Duty fans." A post on BASHandSlash (thanks Joker961) makes the case for their belief that this is a Treyarch marketing stunt for Call of Duty 7. Apparently this will continue in about a week, when perhaps more light will be shed on these mysteries.
Sources say the Gears of War movie project "has really slowed down," reports the Los Angeles Times, inspiring them to ask "Is 'Gears of War' grinding to a halt?" Word is the film's story and budget have been scaled back, and director Len Wiseman is turning his attention to Nocturne, described as "an apocalyptic thriller." Word is: But the studio has now cut the budget, going from a film that would have cost more than $100 million to one that will cost a good chunk less than that. It's also reined in the story, turning it into a more simple, straight-ahead invasion story instead of a sprawling epic. Producers are looking for a new writer to handle all this, but haven't found one yet. And Wiseman, while technically still attached, will likely not be a part of it when all is said and done. (With him going, any possibility of Kate Beckinsale starring would go too; Wiseman is married to the actress and had talked about wanting her for a part.) A New Line spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ars Technica - The future of gaming: up the beanstalk and into the cloud.
Of course the major question is, does OnLive actually work. The prospect certainly shows quite a bit of promise, but is the technology there yet? While we won't know for certain until it actually launches on June 17, early reports from beta testers suggest that there are a number of technological hurdles that OnLive hasn't been able to overcome, with at least one person who got unauthorized access to the beta test claiming that the lag and graphical issues rendered games "simply unplayable." (In its defense, OnLive counters that this person was way too far away from the servers, and that the service will be targeted at specific geographies to combat this problem.) The service has also been criticized for its pricing structure. OnLive will cost users a $14.95 monthly fee, in addition to the costs of purchasing and renting games.
DAMNLAG - Gaming Maturity: Stop Being Embarrassed and Just Play. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Hell, what if they released a Barbie game that completely kicked ass? I know this may be a stretch of the imagination, but just take a moment and dream with me. This Barbie game comes out and is actually really fun. You play as Barbie and you are kicking ass Bayonetta-style. Are you really going to let your discomfort with your masculinity/maturity stop you from having some stupid fun? That’s what video games are all about, damn it. People, stop being such bitches about playing video games and just play them. Don’t let the embarrassment of being seen playing these games stop you from enjoying yourself.
Kotaku - Losing Our Religion - Religious Censorship.
Several Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy titles were modified to fit within Nintendo's policies. Enix's ActRaiser and its sequel, ActRaiser 2, explore profound religious questions. The first game in particular ends with the game's protagonist, the Master, ascending into the sky, having ended the suffering of his people, causing them to no longer have any reason to attend church and pray. It's an obvious allegory to God; in fact, in the Japanese sequel the text reveals that the protagonist's original name was God.
Thanks Joker961 and Mike Martinez.
A lot of screenshots are posted here on a day-to-day basis, but there's never been any organized way to browse through this plethora of game images. Now this has been remedied, as Frans has completed creation of a Screenshots Archive, which was the last major project on his to-do list for the recent spate of renovations here. The archive can be browsed by most recent additions, or alphabetically if you know the game you seek. Here's hoping you find this helpful, and hats off to Frans for another job well done.
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