Archived News:
Meridian 4 and Headup Games announce that Future Wars is now available, exclusively via digital distribution through Impulse, Stardock's online platform, and for the first week the game is on sale at a 20% discount. Here's a bit of the official description for the game: "Similar to classic titles such as Advance Wars and Battle Isle, the game takes turn-based strategy gaming away from the micro-management overkill that it has become and using simple, proven rock-paper-scissors principles, reopens the genre to a wider audience."
There's a new Transformers: War for Cybertron multiplayer trailer on the YouTube showing some robot-on-robot violence from the upcoming Transformers prequel. The clip concludes revealing June 22, 2010 as the game's release date, which is coincidentally the 14th anniversary of the release of QUAKE. Also, the official Transformers: War for Cybertron Website has been updated with new character information and more.
EA producer Gordon Van Dyke reveals via his Twitter feed that while he remains at EA, he has made a transition from DICE to work with Visceral Games, later saying this is not an April Fool, but that he is "moving back to the Bay Area to be closer to family for a few years." As for speculation about the move, he states this has nothing to do with the Battlefield series, and later shooting down the most obvious theory, says "I'd have loved to work on Dead Space 2, but I'm on a secret yet to be announced project, :-)" which followed this comment: "I think this project is going to impress & surprise gamers. :-)" Thanks Blast via Destructoid.
A new trailer for Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter is now on GameTrailers, and there are also some new screenshots on the Official Website of the remake of Croteam's first-person shooter. Word is preorders will begin on Steam tomorrow, and this image is said to be "a very tough hint at what the Steam preorder bonus might be."
YouTube has a ShakyCam clip of last night's Crysis 2 trailer, which was shown on the JumboTron screen in Times Square, Manhattan. The clip is pretty brief, showing the flatiron building, and some nanosuit-clad ass. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
Steam News announces the automated availability of a new patch for Mount & Blade Warband, updating the just-released action/RPG sequel to version 1.105. The change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A patch for Aliens vs Predator Classic 2000 is now available automatically via Steam. The small update adds the game type to the game description on the "Join Game" menu, and declares the game's multiplayer component is no longer in beta.
Trine can be automatically updated via Steam the next time owners of the platformer login to Valve's online service. The patch notes include word that: "a check for Radeon 5000 Series (5400-5900) AND Vista/Windows 7 has been added to disable high quality videos that cause random video-related crashes with these systems; this check is disabled with option "force_high_quality_video = 1" (which may be useful if e.g. new graphics drivers fix the problem eventually)." The rest of the patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
The spate of new automatic patches on Steam today concludes with a new version of Arsenal of Democracy. Here are the extensive patch notes. Continue here to read the full story.
The Bloodlines Revival Wiki outlines plans for the Bloodlines Revival Project, a community effort to update the original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines to the current version of the Source engine. Bloodlines was developed by Troika Games, who unfortunately went tango uniform shortly after the release of the action/RPG based on the pen-and-paper Vampire: The Masquerade series. They also plan on fixing the game's bugs (something already mostly accomplished by a long-running community project) and implement modification support. The Daedalus' Forums host discussion of the topic, and this YouTube trailer teases the revival. Thanks Acleacius.
Mod DB now offers a new version 2.5 of the HER Battlefield 2 modification for Battlefield 2, which is intended to enhance the realism of the military shooter sequel on all maps in single-player, multiplayer, and co-op play. The new version requires BF2 be updated to the latest version 1.5.
Mod DB has a new beta 6 of the Frontlines R3L04D modification for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which includes a mind-boggling 38 gametypes for the military shooter sequel.
Link of the Day: The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird. Thanks nin. Gripping story for one of the amazing aircraft of all time.
Gaijin Entertainment announces that Wings of Luftwaffe is now available via digital distribution, offering an expansion for Wings of Prey, Gaijin Entertainment's World War II combat flight simulator. The add-on can be purchased through the yuPlay Website, where word is "Wings of Luftwaffe requires the original game (1.0.3.2) to run." True to that, yuPlay also offers a patch for Wings of Prey to update it to that version 1.0.3.2. The new version addresses some bugs and offers AI improvements. New features in the Wings of Luftwaffe add-on include the ability to play as a German pilot, 10 new missions, four-player cooperative mode, new planes, and new plane skins.
The Command & Conquer Website has word of a new version 1.02 patch that's now available for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, while also offering downloads of the Worldbuilder map-making tool for the real-time strategy sequel. The patch, which can be applied automatically using the game's internal update function, addresses network/disconnect issues with the game, adds Worldbuilder support, and also adds skirmish/custom match tunable options, including lethality, time, victory points, and more. As for Worldbuilder, they say this "is the same exact in-house tool our developers use to create single-player and multiplayer maps." As a result: "You can now create as many 5v5 multiplayer or custom maps to your hearts [sic] content and share them with the Command & Conquer community via our message boards and our wide array of fan-sites." Downloads of the Worldbuilder are mirrored on AtomicGamer and The Patches Scrolls.
News.com.au tells the tale of Toby McCasker, a former deputy entertainment editor for the magazine ZOO Weekly, who claims he was fired for blowing the whistle on efforts by Rockstar Games to influence coverage of Red Dead Redemption. McCasker posted excerpts on Facebook of an email allegedly from Rockstar saying: "This is the biggest game we've done since GTA IV, and is already receiving Game of the Year 2010 nominations from specialists all around the world," going on to say: "Can you please ensure Toby's article reflects this — he needs to respect the huge achievement he's writing about here." The Facebook posting is now removed, and McCasker is no longer with ZOO Weekly. "I did not sign up to become a journalist to write advertorials masquerading as editorial," he says. "This 'cash for comment' culture that is fast becoming the status quo within print media bothers me a lot."
Kotaku has a response from ZOO editor Paul Merrill saying: "I would like to make it clear that at no time has Rockstar EVER sought a preferential review in return for advertising. In fact no games company has ever suggested this. And Zoo would never give a positive review to a game we didn't rate in return for ad dollars. Toby McCasker was sacked for a number of reasons, one of which was his decision to post a private email on his Facebook page. This email was not referring to a game review. He should not be considered a credible source of information on this matter." News.com.au also has a comment from Rockstar Games Australia: "We are not clear on what the story is here. We always try to present our games in the most compelling way to media and fans alike and of course we, like every other video game publisher in Australia or anywhere else for that matter, want to have our games seen in a positive light." The article also says: "It is understood McCasker had earlier received two official warnings about his behaviour."
Steam News announces plans to kick off a free weekend for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 starting tomorrow, saying those interested in participating can preload the military shooter sequel right now. The preload can be started through this link, and word is: "There is no obligation to participate."
The promised second patch for Red Faction: Guerrilla is now available through Games for Windows LIVE, as noted on the Red Faction Underground, where there's also word that the patch is available via Steam, which is confirmed in this forum post (thanks Bob Bob). There are also manual patches for roll-your-own types, this page has patches for the various language editions of the shooter sequel, and the general change list from that post follows. Continue here to read the full story.
One-time LucasArts designer Ron Gilbert has parted ways with Hothead Games, he announces on his personal blog, saying development on DeathSpank is done and certification is underway for the adventure game, implying a PC edition is in the offing: "As DeathSpank ends the creative and production phases and start down that long and winding road of certification and testing of the XBox and PS3 and [REDACTED] versions, it's looking quite amazing and is damn funny." He says he will be assisting EA and Hothead on PR as the game's release nears. Oddly, it was just last week that the cancellation of the episodic Penny Arcade Adventures series was attributed to Hothead needing to concentrate on development of DeathSpank. Thanks nin via Joystiq.
Futuremark Games Studio announces a free Firepower weapons pack for Shattered Horizon, which will add new weapons and grenades to their DirectX 10 sci-fi first-person shooter. Word is: "The 'Firepower' pack will add new weapons and grenades encouraging different styles of play and providing the opportunity for new team tactics. Like the Moonrise map pack released in February, the Firepower expansion will be free for all players." They say further details on the pack and a release date will be announced soon.
Thanks Ant.
IncGamers - How Blizzard Changed The MMO Genre.
Then, five years after WoW was released and became a huge hit, Blizzard has changed their game and stood it on its head. Now WoW is really, truly evenly split. The role playing stuff still exists, but for players like me, it's now an all-action, dungeon running MMO. And it's all because of the dungeon finder that Blizzard put into the game. Personally, I use that dungeon finder all the time. It's like crack.
IGN - Dealing With Death in Videogames.
Death is everywhere in videogames, a colloquial representation of failure. From the earliest days, you were given three "lives" to try and best the patterns of enemies and obstacles between you and the goal. Every lapse in reflex, memory, or reason led to death in the form of an obliterated pixel cloud radiating outwards. You did something wrong, it says. Pac-Man dies, Mario dies, Marcus Fenix dies, Gordon Freeman dies, Cloud dies, and even Sims can die.
GameSpy - Loss of Death: Suicide in Videogames.
You're afforded one other option: On the other side of the pipe is a hole in the ground. You have played the Mario games enough to know that this hole leads only to death. But unlike every other hole you have run and jumped over, this one is an invitation from the creators to suicide. You know that by killing yourself, you can avoid this pipe trap by having yourself resurrected at the start of World 3-1. It's a chance to start over and find the right way out. But you're not really conditioned to kill yourself.
Thanks Acleacius and Joker961.
I encountered a snag yesterday in my efforts at keeping Hudson the Wonder Dog's occasional dog-aggression curbed using a muzzle. She's not wild about wearing it, but tolerates it for the most part, and it has definitely helped prevent scuffles, but with temperatures around here hitting the 80s lately (we have a brush fire alert today - you'd think it was southern California, or something), the muzzle is impeding her ability to properly pant in the heat. I realized this when I saw her running along with her tongue poking out through the end of the muzzle trying to cool off. I guess I'm going to have to keep her on a leash on really hot days.
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