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Archived News:
G4tv.com has an update to their report of a lawsuit filed by 38 current and former Infinity Ward employees, as they have received a statement from Activision, the defendant in the case: "Activision believes the action is without merit," said a company spokesperson over e-mail just moments ago. "Activision retains the discretion to determine the amount and the schedule of bonus payments for MW2 and has acted consistent with its rights and the law at all times. We look forward to getting judicial confirmation that our position is right.
There's a new Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto on the ArenaNet Blog, as they celebrate the fifth anniversary of the launch of Guild Wards and the tenth anniversary of the formation of ArenaNet. The post by Mike O'Brien goes into detail about plans for the sequel, and says that unlike the original, there will be no debating that Guild Wars 2 is an MMORPG: "The first thing you should know about Guild Wars 2 is that, this time around, there’s no question that it’s an MMORPG. It’s an enormous, persistent, living, social world, filled with a wide variety of combat and non-combat activities. There’s so much depth here that you’re never going to run out of new things to discover. So if you love MMORPGs, you should check out Guild Wars 2. But if you hate traditional MMORPGs, then you should really check out Guild Wars 2. Because, like Guild Wars before it, GW2 doesn’t fall into the traps of traditional MMORPGs. It doesn’t suck your life away and force you onto a grinding treadmill; it doesn’t make you spend hours preparing to have fun rather than just having fun; and of course, it doesn’t have a monthly fee." Thanks Ledi.
A new version 1.0.0.83 of League of Legends is now available, along with an updated version 1.10.21 of PVP.net. The extensive patch notes for this Defense of the Ancients-inspired action/RPG are in this forum post, where they also outline what's changed on PVP.net. Thanks rist3903.
The Bethesda Blog has word on the revival of the online Bethesda store. Word is: Most notably, the Oblivion DLC aisle is now fully operational, offering the complete selection of digital content for worldwide consumption.
Please note that the DLC store only includes content for the PC platform. There are no refunds on digital content purchased on this site. All sales are final. This content will not be compatible with versions of Oblivion downloaded from Steam.
As always, North Americans looking for a copy of anything from Fallout 3 to Breeders’ Cup can still order directly from us.
Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Off to dinner... thanks for all the well-wishing!
A group of 38 plaintiffs who call themselves the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" filed suit this morning in Los Angeles Superior Court against Activision, alleging breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, violation of California labor code and more, seeking "a large amount of unpaid royalties," reports G4tv.com. According to the report the suit says that while $28 million in royalties on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have been paid, more than $54 million is still due, and the plaintiffs are seeking "to recover between $75 million and $125 million, if not more, in compensatory damages." Also, the suit states that "Activision withheld the property of the IWEG in an attempt to keep the employees hostage so that Activision could reap the benefit of the completion of Modern Warfare 3." They have further details, including a full list of the 38 plaintiffs (not all of whom have left Infinity Ward), and an outline of how they calculated how much money they are seeking, which follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Cult of Rapture announces release plans for the BioShock 2 Rapture Metro Pack, an upcoming DLC pack for the Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 editions of BioShock 2, the waterlogged shooter sequel from 2K Marin. Though they are not forthcoming with a release date or details on what it will include at this point beyond new achievements and six new maps, there are a couple of screenshots, and word on pricing: The Rapture Metro Pack is coming soon for Xbox 360, PS3, and Games for Windows Live for 800 MS Point or $9.99. The pack includes six brand new maps including areas rebuilt from the single-player game for MP modes. We also have three new achievements and trophies and have added the Rebirth Feature for players who have reached Rank 50 - using Rebirth, you can rank your character down to Rank 1 and receive a special mask.
Today is the North American release date for the PC edition of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, Ubisoft's stealth/action sequel already available for Xbox 360. The game should be showing up at retail, and it is also available via digital distribution as a regular or deluxe edition on Direct2Drive ( Deluxe Edition), Impulse, and Steam. The Steam version is also available to customers in Central and South America, and they offer a reminder to expect the game in other territories on Friday.
Now on Steam is a new automatic patch for Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, with the latest changes and fixes for the wild western third-person shooter. The patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
A new "power plant" trailer from Split/Second shows off some action from Black Rock Studio's racing game as competitors make their way through the destruction of a power plant. You might want to hit the fallout shelters, as the plant appears to be a nuclear plant, and the final scene shows one of the cooling towers exploding. The clip is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
Earning your sword: the magical inner sanctum of Blizzard is an Ars Technica write-up of their experiences touring Blizzard's offices, illustrated with a number of photos. If you are curious about what can be done with the truckloads of loot they earn from World of Warcraft, et al, you will get to see some of the art and toys that decorate the offices, the private health club, the valet parking lot, a custom Blizzard arcade machine, and more.
Mode 7 Games announces the release of the Frozen Synapse preorder beta, offering a couple of incentives to purchase this turn-based tactics game before development is complete. They will give customers who preorder instant access to the beta, and a completely free copy of the game for a friend. If you are unfamiliar, here's word on the game: "As a brand new twist on an old genre, the game is about quick, intense tactical encounters rather than long-form strategic epics. People have reacted well to this - since our initial soft launch last Monday, we have seen over 4500 games played." They add: "Every game ever played is stored on the server for viewing: we also have an instant YouTube export feature!"
Futuremark Games Studio announces a May 5 release date for the Firepower weapons pack for Shattered Horizon, their zero-g DirectX 10/DirectX 11 first-person shooter. They also announce that they will begin revealing one weapon from the pack per day on this page starting tomorrow and leading up to the pack's release. "The release of the Firepower weapons pack on May 5 will mark the six month anniversary of Shattered Horizon and the second time that we have made a major addition to the game," said Jaakko Haapasalo, producer at Futuremark Games Studio. "Introducing additional weapons has been a popular request from our community and we are excited to provide players with new ways to enjoy Shattered Horizon’s zero gravity combat." The announcement is accompanied by a new trailer, which is embedded here. Continue here to read the full story.
Basilisk Games announces May 12, 2010 as the release date for Eschalon: Book II for Windows, while the Mac OS X and Linux editions of the indie RPG sequel will follow on May 26. "We are very excited to finally be able to announce the release dates to our second game, Eschalon: Book II, after more than two years of development," says lead developer Thomas Riegsecker. "Eschalon: Book II is considerably bigger and better than the first game, and incorporates over 60 fan-suggested enhancements." There's a recent trailer on the YouTube, and here's a bit on the game: "Eschalon: Book II is the sequel to 2007's hit independent role-playing game, Eschalon: Book I. Continue your journey across massive outdoor environments and deep into twisted dungeons as you seek to uncover the mystery of your past and who is behind the menace that threatens all of Eschalon. No experience with the first game is needed to enjoy this second chapter in the Eschalon trilogy."
Kotaku has a snapshot view of the ongoing stream of developers departing Infinity Ward in the wake of the firing of studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West. They put the number of staff exits at 26, many of whom have rejoined West and Zampella at their new studio Respawn Entertainment. We can add level designer Keith Bell, designer Charlie Wiederhold, and level designer Preston Glenn to the list of ex-Infinity Ward developers, as well as HR/recruitment specialist Kristin Cotterell.
Steam News announces the availability of a new automatic patch for Left 4 Dead 2, the co-op zombie shooter sequel. The new version updates dlc1 Russian UI text and fixes problems with add-on content not loading after coop was loaded, versus modes sometimes using incorrect game rule settings after server hibernation, and a crash in The Parish: The Park on Linux dedicated servers.
ResumePlay - The Life and Death of Stealth Action. Thanks Ant via Digg.
Stealth needed a change. Not even Agent 47 could stem the tide. Then in 2007, Ubisoft changed the game and delivered a game in which the sneaking part was the fun part. Assassin’s Creed ushered in a new era of stealth action. An era in which the player character was not simply an awful shot with an underpowered gun. In retrospect, I feel that the major reason that stealth action saw the decline that it did was because players were forced into the shadows out of weakness instead of having the shadows (and as with AC, rooftops) be a source of power. Why should it take super mega soldier Sam Fisher five bullets to shoot out one light?
Techgage - The Vicious Cycle of Gaming DRM.
In reality, it seems that some copy protection was actually going forward and providing benefits, such as Valve's Steam platform. The ability and convenience of Steam actually seemed to silence the debate for most products that used it, and even had people happy to trade piracy for a legal copy. DVD backups, instant patch delivery, digital downloads of new titles and DLC - it was like the best features of Xbox Live, without having to be constrained to the console. To this day, it remains (to my knowledge) the least thwarted copy protection system out there. Not because it's largely uncrackable, as Valve often proposes - but because it provided features that make cracking it less valuable. That's right, DRM (Digital Rights Management) provided a real service to consumers - it's a lot better than it used to be.
Broadcasting & Cable interviews Alan Seiffert, senior VP of SyFy Ventures about upcoming projects at the SyFy network. One of the revelations is of plans for a two-hour TV movie based on Red Faction, the ground-breaking shooter series, which will serve as a pilot for a possible series: "SyFy has just closed a deal to bring Red Faction to television via a two-hour movie, which will also serve as a back-door pilot. In addition, the next iteration of the Red Faction video-game series will be produced in conjunction with SyFy Games." Thanks VG247.
- AMD 890FX Chipset on Hardware Canucks.
- AMD Phenom II X6 1055T and 1090T CPUs on Guru3D, Hardware Canucks, Legion Hardware, Legit Reviews, LostCircuits, Overclockers Club, PC Games Hardware, and TechSpot.
- AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 6-Core CPU on Benchmark Reviews, Bjorn3D, Hardware Secrets, HEXUS.net, HotHardware, Neoseeker, Overclock3D, PC Perspective, PureOC, Technic3D (German), TechwareLabs, and TweakTown.
- ASUS Radeon HD EAH5850 DirectCU TOP Graphics Card on Legit Reviews.
- ASUS ROG Crosshair IV Formula Motherboard on Overclock3D.
- Blackberry 9650 and Pearl 3G Cell Phones on t-break.
- Evercool HPKC-10025EA CPU Cooler on APH Networks.
- Gainward GTS250 512MB GDDR3 Graphics Card on PCShopTalk.
- HIS HD 5830 Turbo Graphics Cards on Tweaknews.
- Jetway JNC96FL-510-LF Mini ITX Motherboard on Modders-Inc.
- Kingston SSDNow V Series 128GB Solid State Drive on Big Bruin.
- Me Electronic's M11 Headphones on OverclockersHQ.com.
- Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler on Techgage.
- OCUK Ultima Raptor Case on Overclock3D.
- Sapphire HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition Graphics Card on Motherboards.org.
- Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers.org.
- Ultra X4 850 Watt Full Modular PSU on TweakTown.
It was 14 years ago today that MrsBlue and I tied the knot, and entered into the institution of marriage. We have dinner plans to celebrate our anniversary, so I'll probably wrap things up here a little early to accommodate that.
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