Archived News:
Gamesindustry.biz (registration required) has news that German publisher CDV Software Entertainment AG has filed for insolvency at the district court in Frankfurt. Details are scant, but they point out the company's most recent products were budget titles on the Nintendo Wii, and PC titles Blitzkrieg and Serious Sam HD in Europe.
Steam News announces the availability of a free trial on Steam for Global Agenda, the online shooter from Hi-Rez Studios, who also offer a free trial through the Global Agenda Website. Word is: "The Global Agenda Free Trial is now available for download on Steam. Experience Global Agenda's award-winning multi-player shooter gameplay free through Level 15, while creating and leveling up to eight different characters."
bitComposer Games' S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Page now offers downloads of "close combat," a new multiplayer map for the irradiated first-person shooter, saying this is the first of three such free releases planned over the next few weeks. Word is: "The map, named 'close combat' is a compact game location featuring a warehouse of containers in the Jupiter factory locale. The map is designed for dynamic play with use of close- and medium-range weapons. An interesting touch about the map is availability of one store per two teams for selling picked-up items in TDM (team deathmatch) mode." The download is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and WorthPlaying.
Flying Lab Software unveils a feature list for Power & Prestige, the upcoming expansion for Pirates of the Burning Sea, their seafaring MMORPG. They also point players of the game to this page if they'd like to take part in beta testing for the expansion, and they add: "Players on trial accounts can also apply to take part in the beta test, so now is an excellent time to try the game. An active subscription will be required to access the beta server when it opens." As for the expansion, word is: "Power & Prestige expands upon the game’s already robust real-time Conquest system, allowing players to not only capture ports on behalf of their parent nations, but to also become a Port Governor with great economic and strategic influence."
As the folks behind Alganon send word to expect the hard launch (that's the opposite of a "soft launch," right?) of their MMORPG on April 28, a delay from their promised April 8 launch. In other Alganon news, an update on Massively from a few days ago noted by Big Download sees David Allen firing back at what he calls Quest Online's Derek Smart's "smear campaign," suggesting legal action may follow: "As many have read on various Internet websites, Mr. Smart has made disparaging remarks concerning my professional work and comments that could lead others to question my loyalty, honesty, and ability to successfully create, build, run, and manage a multi-million dollar MMOG development company; something I have been doing successfully for over four years. Please be aware that Mr. Smart’s comments are false and that I have filed a civil action against him in Maricopa County Superior Court for his defamatory conduct, among other things (Case No. CV2010-010391). I have been advised by my legal counsel to offer no further comment at this time on this matter during the pendency of the litigation."
Activision unveils a couple of the characters in Transformers: War for Cybertron, their Transformers prequel game that's expected for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on June 22. They reveal Air Raid and Breakdown, offering an image of each, and the following descriptions. Continue here to read the full story.
The Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands interview on UGDB talks with Thomas Simon, Lead Game Designer on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, the upcoming platformer sequel. The conversation reveals Steve Jablonsky ( Gears of War 1 and 2) will compose the game's soundtrack as various aspects of the project are discussed. Thomas also assures them the game will be more challenging that the last PoP, which almost played itself: "I can assure you that the game is challenging. However, we didn’t want the game to be unnecessarily frustrating and our design focus was to introduce new gameplay elements simply and then ramp up the complexity as the player learns. This enables us to increase the difficult level smoothly, minimizing frustration. While the earlier levels might be simple, the difficulty level increases throughout the game and becomes very challenging. In fact, I think that even veterans of the series are in for quite a surprise. :)"
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
2K Games Announces XCOM, a first-person shooter reimagining of the X-COM series of counter-UFO tactics games. The project is in the works at 2K Marin, developers of BioShock 2, and it is due for Windows and Xbox 360, though a release date is not set at this point. A screenshot accompanies the news, and the preliminary XCOM Website is online. Here's a bit: XCOM is the re-imagining of the classic tale of humanity’s struggle against an unknown enemy that puts players directly into the shoes of an FBI agent tasked with identifying and eliminating the growing threat. True to the roots of the franchise, players will be placed in charge of overcoming high-stake odds through risky strategic gambits coupled with heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity – and frailty – against a foe beyond comprehension. By setting the game in a first-person perspective, players will be able to feel the tension and fear that comes with combating a faceless enemy that is violently probing and plotting its way into our world.
A post on superannuation offers "a triple confirmation" that Starbreeze is eyeing a revival of Syndicate, following multiple indications that a remake of Bullfrog's sci-fi series is in the works. They offer information from three different filings at the United States Copyright Office covering a license for Starbreeze to work on Syndicate.
Kotaku reports rumors of a couple of additional developer departures at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward. They quote "sources close to the studio" telling them that programmer Rayme Vinson and lead artist Chris Cherubini have left the studio, and they have a confirmation from Cherubini that he has resigned. This follows the departures of lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco Gigliotti and the resignations of programmer Jon Shiring and designer Mackey McCandlish.
There's an interview with Randy Pitchford on Edge Online talking with the Gearbox boss about Borderlands DLC. They discuss the risk of assigning resources to create DLC for a new IP, the kind of internal structure their DLC requires, storytelling through DLC, using DLC to improve on original design decisions, the best gun he's found in Borderlands, and more. Thanks Joker961.
DAMNLAG - The Lack of Moral Complexity in Games. Thanks Joker961 via Digg.
I'll admit, it's not fun to have to think before you shoot something, but games, like other entertainment mediums, should be able to go beyond thoughtless fun in certain situations. That doesn’t mean you can’t still have mindless fun, or even have most major releases be mindless fun, but even the great games that border on art are morally simplistic (or at the same level of moral complexity as a Michael Bay film.)
- Supreme Commander 2 on IncGamers.
- Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God on GameZone.
I think I've confirmed my itching is from the Protonix I was taking for my LPRD. I was off it for a couple of weeks, and still had vague mild residual itches, which I thought indicated there must have been some other causative. Then I started taking it again, and two days later the itching has gotten far worse, so I think I have identified the culprit.
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