Archived News:
The Star Trek Online Website announces that the Season One Update One patch is now live for Cryptic's Trekkie MMORPG. The new version adds a slider to allow the choice between Normal, Advanced, and Elite difficulties when accepting missions, a new injury system, auto-fire, new high-end weapons, and more. The Release Notes have the complete details. Thanks Darth Guybrush.
A revamp to the Dead Space Website offers new content to start bridging the gap between the conclusion of the original Dead Space and the upcoming sequel to Visceral Games' third-person shooter. The site also includes the just-released Dead Space 2 "Dementia" trailer.
The Bungie interview on G4tv.com talks with Bungie community and franchise director Brian Jarrard about the news of Bungie's new deal with Activision. Brian confirms that they will not be revisiting the Halo franchise, but remains coy about their new game, which he refers to repeatedly as a "universe," saying it will not be shown at this year's E3. Here's where things stand at Bungie at the moment: "That's a little ways out for sure. We haven't really been even -- like I said, we're kind of just in the beginnings of pre-production, technically speaking, right now. The goal would certainly be that once Reach is complete, the majority of our team would roll right into this new project in a meaningful way, and then when we start doing all the things that Bungie does well. I definitely don't want to pencil in a timeframe, but it's going to be a while for sure. I would even go so far as to say I wouldn't expect to hear anything else about this game this year because we really want to keep our focus and our priorities set on Reach right now."
Steam News has details on a new patch that's automatically available for RailWorks, the rail transport simulator. The new version adds route improvements, improved signal functionality, and other improvements, as well as a bunch of rolling stock that would cost a bundle if it were released as DLC. After patching, save files are binary, and old save games will no longer work. The complete patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
Rockstar Week on Steam. Two hour deals all week long, in addition to the bundle below. Also, Direct2Drive Spring Sale Week Three is underway: "Direct2Drive will be giving gamers $15 in store credit when they spend $75 or more on any titles site-wide during the Spring Sale."
- Codemasters Racing Pack on Steam. Save 75%.
- Fallout 3 on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- Guild Wars on Steam. Save 50%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
Continue here to read the full story.
- Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on IncGamers.
- Monkey Island 2: Special Edition - LeChuck’s Revenge on Blue's News.
Link of the Day: Worst Parker Ever? Car Dangles Outside Parking Garage. I think he's from my neighborhood. Thanks Acleacius.
Valve sends along a release date for the promised Macintosh edition of the Steam client. Word is to expect the public release of the Mac client for Valve's online service on May 12.
Bethesda Softworks announces the expansion of its European operations with the opening of new offices in Frankfurt, Germany and Paris, France. Word is: "Both offices will directly oversee sales and marketing in their respective territories, underscoring Bethesda Softworks’ commitment to its global publishing operations. With the opening of the new offices comes the appointment of two new territory General Managers. Frank Matzke joins Bethesda Softworks as Managing Director, Germany and Julie Chalmette joins as Managing Director, France. Prior to joining Bethesda Softworks Frank Matzke was Vice President, Europe at Sierra Entertainment and Marketing Director, Central Europe at Vivendi Games. Julie Chalmette joins Bethesda Softworks after having previously held the position of General Manager for Vivendi Games France."
The Just Cause 2 Website announces the release of the promised Black Market Aerial Pack DLC for Just Cause 2, the sandbox action sequel from Avalanche Studios. Word is the pack is now available on the PlayStation Network, the Xbox LIVE Marketplace (as confirmed by Major Nelson), and now the PC edition is on Steam as well. The DLC, which costs $1.99/160 MS points, includes the F-33 Dragon Fly Jet Fighter, a Multi-lock Missile Launcher, and Parachute Dual Thrusters, and the announcement offers fuller details on these items, which are posted below. Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News has word that a new version of the Steam client is now automatically available. The change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Quest Online announces the "official" launch of Alganon, the fantasy-themed, subscription-free MMORPG that had a "soft launch" in December, 2009. Word is: "Join us! Alganon is a fantasy-based MMORPG that allows thousands of people to play together in a virtual world that features a rich history dominated by commanding deities, powerful weapons and armor, deadly magic, epic quests, ancient places to discover, the utilization of detailed trade skills, and more." WarCry Network interviews Derek Smart, who acknowledges the increased attention the game has been getting since it was announced he was involved with the project, and offers his perspective on the first day of "Alganon 2.0."
Readers have mentioned fears of missing the short Steam sales that are part of their Rockstar Week, so here's your heads up on today's. Between now and 2:00 pm EDT (11:00 am PDT), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is on sale for 75% off.
Steam News has word that a new patch for Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter is now automatically available to update the just-released shooter sequel remake with a couple of fixes. The new version fixes the "Cannot set display mode" fatal error at startup for some ATI users and random lag spikes that made network games unplayable on many servers.
This press release has the surprising news that Bungie and Activision have signed a 10-year deal for an exclusive, worldwide partnership, saying "The groundbreaking alliance will provide Bungie its first such partnership since splitting off from Microsoft in 2007, significantly broadening its global reach by providing the resources and support to develop, distribute and release games worldwide on multiple platforms and devices." Word is: "Under the terms of the agreement, Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute all future Bungie games based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices. Bungie remains an independent company and will continue to own their intellectual property. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed." Microsoft acquired Bungie back in 2000, but in 2007 a plan was announced to return the independence of the Halo developer, though at the time is was stated that Microsoft Game Studios, which owns the Halo IP, would retain an equity share in the company. "We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise," said Harold Ryan, President of Bungie. "From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences."
Battle.net and the StarCraft II Website each have news that a Macintosh client for the StarCraft II beta is now available in North America, offering invitees a chance to sample the upcoming real-time strategy sequel while continuing to think different. Word is: "The StarCraft II Mac beta client is now available for testing on North American servers, and we encourage Mac users to download this client through Battle.net and begin testing. We plan on expanding the Mac beta to support additional regions and languages in the near future." Thanks IncGamers.
A tweet by George Broussard suggests another four employees have parted ways with Infinity Ward in the continuing exodus from the Call of Duty developer since last month's dismissal of studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West. George tweets: "4 more people leave Infinity Ward today. Near 50% of dev staff. ETA till IW closure? Activision earnings report in a week" (thanks Edge Online). George is not the only one expressing the public opinion that Infinity Ward's future is in doubt, as Gamasutra quotes Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey opining: "We expect Infinity Ward studio will be essentially closed after their next map pack release, with development work on Modern Warfare 3 spread between two studios not historically tied to the franchise." Thanks Joker961.
A post on superannuation lists a bunch of new Red Faction domains registered by THQ, which are redfactionarmagedon.com, redfactionarmageddon.com, redfactionarmegeddon.com, redfactionorigins.com, and redfactionorigin.com. They note that THQ has also registered devilsthird.com. Finally, they have another post highlighting a trademark registration for something called "Vineyard Country."
A new Dead Space 2 "Dementia" Trailer offers stylized snippets of gameplay and cinematic footage from Dead Space 2, the horror-themed, sci-fi third-person shooter sequel in development at Visceral Games. The flash cuts and semi-obscured images suggest this may provide clues about the game. Here's the embedded version. Continue here to read the full story.
The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm interview on Games On Net talks with WoW Game Director, Tom "Alex" Chilton about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion. They ask some detailed questions about changes to gameplay, characters, graphics, and more. They also get an update on the prospects of a local server for their locality in Australia: "I really don't have a good answer for you. It's not really something that I deal with directly, it's a better question for our production director and some of our operations people. I know that they continue to discuss it on a relatively regular basis to try to figure out whether or not it's something they can do, and they re-evaluate that somewhat consistently."
Strategy Informer interviews Ian Tweedale of BBC Wales to discuss the BBC's plans for adventure games based on the Doctor Who television series. He explains how the games will be an extension of the broadcasts: "We see the current series as a 17 episode series with 13 TV episodes and 4 episodes that you can play online. We also wanted to really appeal to as broad a demographic as we reach with the TV. There almost is a media literacy angle to it where we wanted to introduce gaming to a much wider audience than are maybe familiar with it. To do that through the Doctor Who brand was very appropriate."
latimes.com - The law and violent video games. Thanks Ant via Digg.
This is a well-intentioned but ill-conceived law that not only undermines several generations of legal progress toward making free speech a day-to-day reality in this country, but also threatens an emerging expressive industry in which California and the United States currently play a leading role. More important, it's an unnecessary gesture toward child protection in an area millions of parents already are handling competently on their own. Video games are not pornographic magazines, which can be purchased with pocket change and consumed in private. Even used versions of popular games can cost $50, and very few young children or even adolescents make discretionary purchases of that size on their own. Games, moreover, are played out in the open on televisions and computers. A home in which those things go unmonitored has issues of parental supervision alongside which inappropriate video games are a minor matter.
With a day game yesterday following a twilight double-header on Tuesday, the Mets managed to win three games in under 24 hours. I'm guessing that's not even a record, but I have never heard of that happening before.
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