Archived News:
The Warrior Epic Website announces build #4.006 of this subscription-free MMORPG is now available, offering new content and a new crafting system. Word is: "Great update for Warrior Epic! Our new build #4.006 implements a brand new Item Synthesis System, emotes, and other fixes. Item Synthesis allows you to craft legendary weapons guaranteed to give you an edge in combat as you dominate the battlefield. After your inevitable victory you can use all new in-game emotes to /laugh or at your now demoralized foes. Feel free to join our conversation on the Warrior Epic Community Forums."
Namco Networks announces plans to bring Puzzle Quest 2 to Windows this summer, with mobile versions of the puzzle/RPG hybrid to follow. Word is: "Gamers can play four distinct characters — Templar, Sorcerer, Barbarian or Assassin — that provide interesting twists on class-specific mechanics. While progressing, characters can be leveled up through the adventure in Story Mode, Instant Action, Tournament Mode or Multiplayer Mode."
|The HAND-e Website now offers a Palm emulator that allows games designed for the Palm platform to be played on a Windows PC. The emulator is free, as is a selection of games, none of which will be mistaken for Crysis.
Steam News announces the availability of a new Team Fortress 2 client, and a new version of the Counter-Strike: Source Beta. The Team Fortress 2 update includes the promised Pyro tweaks, and the change lists follow. Continue here to read the full story.
A post to Steam News reflects on Mac stuff, and offers the first glimpse of Mac data from the Steam Hardware Survey. They say they will have full Mac details next month, and in the meantime offer these three bits of tid:
- Roughly two thirds of all Steam Mac users are running on a laptop.
- Portal (with the same code base across platforms) is one fifth as likely to crash on a Mac than on Windows.
- And one week after launch, already more than eleven percent of all Steam purchases are for the Mac.
IndustryGamers has word that Avatar: The Game has sold well in excess of 2.5 million copies. This comes in spite of
mediocre review scores and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot saying the game's timing was all wrong. Just another example of why movie games are rarely good: they don't need to be.
Another new Blur trailer shows off the team game modes in Blur, Bizarre Creations' upcoming racing game. The clip includes developer commentary and shows off a couple of different team game modes from the perspectives of various cars, demonstrating the team tactics the game promotes. The clip is accompanied by some new screenshots, and the embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
- Killing Floor on Steam. Save 33%.
- Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing on Steam. Save 50%.
Still on sale (previously reported)
Continue here to read the full story.
The Impulse Weekly Top 10 outlines the top ten bestselling games on Stardock's digital marketplace for the week of May 9-15:
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity
- Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy
- Sins of a Solar Empire Expansion Bundle
- Galactic Civilizations II - Ultimate Edition
- Sid Meier's Civilization IV: The Complete Edition
- Eschalon Book II
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Entrenchment
- Tropico 3 - Absolute Power
- Demigod
- Numen: Contest of Heroes
In conjunction with the story below, Steam News announces a free play weekend is now underway on Steam for Altitude, available to both Windows and Mac owners. For those inspired by playing the 2D aerial combat game, it is on sale all weekend for 50% off. Steam users can download the client here.
Steam News has word that the launch of the Mac client for Steam continues with the release of another dozen games for the Mac audience, include the first three titles to support cross-platform play with Windows users, which are Killing Floor, Altitude, and Madballs in Babo: Invasion. Word is: "To celebrate the launch of these titles, Killing Floor will be offered at 33% off its regular price (for a limited time). An Altitude Free Weekend promotion is available now on Steam, and those who wish to purchase the game and play beyond the weekend may pick it up at 50% off its regular price. And Madballs in Babo: Invasion is also available at 50% off its regular price." This page offers the complete list of all the new Mac titles on Steam.
A new F.E.A.R. 3 "Point Man" Trailer combines live action sequences with gameplay footage to promote F.E.A.R. 3 (aka F.3.A.R.), the upcoming supernatural shooter sequel in development at Day 1 Studios. As the title implies, the clip highlights the return of the Point Man from the original game, and hints at co-op gameplay. The embedded clip follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Activision announces a bonus for those who purchase Blur from Kmart or Sears. They say buying Bizarre Creations' upcoming racing game from either store will unlock an exclusive in-game BMW Series 1 with a chrome finish. Here's a screenshot of the shiny bimmer.
Mythic Entertainment announces they have updated their MMORPG Warhammer Online to version 1.3.5, which includes a series of major updates to City Sieges within Altdorf and The Inevitable City, saying this makes them "entirely Realm versus Realm focused." Word is: "The City Sieges will now be a 24-versus-24 battle which will last a maximum of 2 hours. Instead of fighting the King and Warlords directly, players now fight each other alongside these iconic characters, and seek to help them take each other down." More details can be found in the April 2010 Producer's Letter and in the version 1.3.5 patch notes.
IC Company announces development of Theatre of War 2: Korea, a new installment in the Theatre of War series that takes the franchise out of World War II and into the Korean War. The Theatre of War 2: Korea product section is online, and while there's not much there, it offers a Q4 2010 release window. Here's word: "In this title tactical engagement experts can test their skills on a new strategic level. Move your forces over the entire Korean Peninsula, managing reserves, as well as the fuel and ammo supply. Tactical battles in Theatre of War 2: Korea are generated based on the historical situation."
Reporting on Ubisoft's fiscal results conference call, Kotaku says the publisher is considering emulating EA's "project 10 dollar" DLC scheme in the future. EA's recently implemented plan involves free DLC in the game box that will have to be purchased separately by owners of used copies. "Most of the games we are releasing next year will have from the start downloadable content available, and we are looking very carefully at what is happening with EA regarding what we are calling the $10 solution, and will probably be following that line sometime in the future," said Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez. "We have been using keys starting last year on our products. Those keys were allowing some customers to have content if they were buying the product in specific stores, so we have the system in place to actually generate more revenue on the second-hand market," adds CEO Yves Guillemot. "We are building the content to make sure it can be beneficial for both groups to actually pay enough on one side and on the other side when you don't buy the game as a full game that you're interested to buy the new offering and are interested to pay to get that."
Social gaming company Playdom has acquired Acclaim Games, reports GameIndustry.biz, though they do not have terms of the purchase of the free-to-play specialist using the name first made famous in the 1980s by a developer that went bankrupt in 2004. "Joining forces with Playdom is a natural fit," said Howard Marks, CEO of Acclaim. "Both companies share the vision of connecting people globally through quality social games. Our deep expertise in building multiplayer online games and Playdom’s vast player community will help us bring out the next generation of social games." They point out this is part of an "acquisition spree," as Playdom recently has acquired developers Three Melons, Offbeat Creations, Green Patch, and Trippert Labs.
The full Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer that debuted last night on ESPN is now available, as promised. Though the trailer was shown on television, Activision insists it be age-gated, so here goes. Continue here to read the full story.
The interview with Odd Ahlgren on BitMob talks with the writer of Just Cause 2 about the sandbox action game sequel from Avalanche Studios. They discuss the difference between game writing and other narratives, his input on the game's crazy stunts, working with the other developers, and how he feels things turned out.
Techi.com - Open Letter to the Game Publishers: Stop Raping Gamers' Wallets. Thanks Ant via Digg.
Furthermore — stooping to an all-time low — EA has stepped up for your industry and decided that users should be pushed (if not forced) to purchase new games only, punishing gamers who legitimately purchase used games. The idea behind this is essentially to make them pay extra money for… nothing (or as they put it, “bonus features”, which come with the game when you purchase it anyways).
GamesRadar - What all developers should learn from EVE Online.
For most gamers, sitting down to dinner with the developers of their favorite game lies firmly in impossible-dream territory, but for the nine EVE players sitting with me at the table, it’s very real - and over the past two years, these meetings have become an essential component of the game itself.
Here are some big congratulations to a big old friend, as Redwood and Mrs. Redwood now have a new sapling, a bouncing baby girl. She's a bit under 20" right now, so at least she's not taller than I am yet, but who knows how long that will last? Congrats Red! Hope you enjoyed your sleep when you had the chance!
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