Archived News:
Gray Matter is to be released in October, reports Joystiq, saying they received this release info from publisher DTP Entertainment. This adventure game from famed designer Jane Jensen has suffered numerous delays, but the most recent put the game's release in Q4 of this year, making this the first time the game has had the same release window in two consecutive reports, which gives reason for optimism that the game will arrive in October.
It's another video game week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, as the Late Night talk show will take on our hobby. Tonight (actually early tomorrow morning) is a feature on Kinect, the artist formerly known as Project Natal, and while a complete schedule is not being revealed, we know that the show in the wee hours of Wednesday morning will feature Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Now that OnLive is live, details have emerged on Eurogamer.net outlining how much games will cost on the service, in addition to OnLive fees (which are not being charged yet). They show Brain Challenge for $4.99, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin for $19.99, Just Cause 2 for $49.99, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction for $59.99. Those are all pretty much in line for the prices for those games at retail, except in this case you will need to maintain your OnLive subscription to keep playing these games, and even then, access to these titles is only certain for the next three years, as they all carry a "rental duration" which reads: "Until at least 17th June 2013."
A post on Occasional Gamer, the XNA development blog of Elbert Perez, offers some sales data for Scribble Defense on Xbox LIVE and some accompanying thoughts from the creator of this offbeat tower defense game on what they represent. He reflects on the game's conversion rate from trial to full version, and the effort an indie title requires at marketing to get the word out. True to that, the page where he links to get the Xbox LIVE trial version also has a PC edition to sample or buy, which we were not aware of before now. Word is the PC edition requires XNA 3.1 Redistributable and .net 3.0, which are both conveniently included in the installer.
As we only caught the end of Alien Week on Gamer's Gate yesterday, they are now offering Kalypso Week (Day-O!) with specials on a bunch of games from Kalypso, but keeping us off guard by also declaring it Warhammer Week, offering 50% off on Dawn of War and Blood Bowl games. Whatever confusion these concurrent specials are causing should be cleared up by this page, which lists all those specials, and many more, as no fewer than 69 games are currently on sale (and no more, for that matter). Thanks CeeJay.
The StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Dominion Website offers a home to Blizzard's upcoming real-time strategy sequel with a bit of a twist. The site is rewarding users for interacting with the site by gradually unlocking more content. They say: "Join our ranks by taking the entrance exam. Help our cause by contributing to our Propaganda campaign. Earn your place in history!" That's right, history! And your teachers said you'd never amount to anything.
Saving "virtual worlds" from extinction on Ars Technica talks with the folks behind a project where librarians at the University of Illinois are saving 15 computer games for posterity, including DOOM and Sim City. The Ars conversation focuses on saving virtual worlds from possible future extinction, as for some reason a full 20% of these are portions of Second Life. They discuss the reasons behind the project, the difficulty preserving DOS games like DOOM, since emulators can be flaky (they are looking for hardware independence, but don't explain why they are not simply preserving DOS, as well), and the even more complex issues in preserving online games. These include Second Life copyright concerns, which mean that in spite of all their efforts, users will probably never be able to play these games through this archive.
The recently released demo for Mass Effect 2 is now available through Steam. Here's a reminder of what the sample of BioWare's RPG sequel is all about: "In the demo, players step into the role of Commander Shepard and must escape from a Cerberus space station under siege. Players can jump ahead to a later mission where they must rescue Subject Zero, a hardened, dangerous criminal from a heavily guarded prison ship. Once they play the demo, players will be able to create a save and carry over their character along with the experience points, story decisions, achievements and weapons earned into the full version of the game – picking up right where they left off, on both PC and Xbox 360."
Microsoft may be considering a more concerted effort to bolster gaming on Windows, according to indications in an internal Fable III Q&A in the hands of Kotaku (thanks joao). The document, prepared for Microsoft spokespersons, poses a question you would think was penned by a cynical game journalist, asking: "Does 'Fable III' on Windows signal a larger reinvestment by Microsoft in PC gaming? How is this different from the previous times you've announced a reinvestment in PC gaming and not quite come through with a robust offering?" It is quite encouraging to see that Redmond seems to recognize that they have not really followed through on previously announced plans to reinvigorate PC gaming, and while their answer to their own question is not as encouraging as the query itself, we can still hold out hope that they are looking to under-promise and over-deliver this time, instead of the opposite. Here's the answer: In terms of revenue, Windows is far and away the largest gaming platform in the world, so it's an incredibly important part of Microsoft's business. From core games like "Fable III" to casual, social and Facebook titles, more gaming happens on Windows than anywhere else. Windows 7 is a world-class gaming platform, and you can bet Microsoft has a vested interest in using it as a platform for amazing first party content. "Fable III" on Windows as well as Xbox 360 this holiday is a great first step, and we'll have more news for you later this summer.
The Fists of Fu Website indicates that closed beta testing for this free-to-play, cartoon-style MMOG following a martial arts theme is due to enter closed beta testing on Wednesday. If you are interested in participating, they still offer the opportunity to register your interest.
A patch for Alpha Protocol is in the works to update the espionage-themed RPG, reports GameBanshee, after speaking with Obsidian about support for the game at E3. "We wanted to release something fairly quickly based upon some feedback we were getting," Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart tells them. "I think [SEGA] wanted to take a different approach by gathering more information over a longer period of time and provide a patch then. That's what we're figuring out right now." Urquhart also answered a question about DLC for the game, which does not give much cause for optimism: "I don't know if [SEGA is] talking about that at all yet. I can say that we're not working on any DLC right now. We'd love to, but we're not."
Steam News announces that a new automatic patch is now available for Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, adding dedicated server support to the wild western shooter. This entails a bunch of new features, as described below. Continue here to read the full story.
A new LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 "Hogsmeade" Trailer shows off some adventuring in the magical village of Hogsmeade by the LEGO versions of the Harry Potter characters. One might assume they've been drinking some hogsmeade as well, since their magical hijinks set in a winter wonderland seem particularly destructive in this clip, which is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
Flying Lab Software announces the Power & Prestige expansion is due in August for Pirates of the Burning, offering the first major expansion for the seafaring MMOG, adding four new factions, Port Governance, a new "brawling" combat school, and more than 60 new missions. "With nearly 2 million ships sunk on the Burning Sea over the last 2.5 years, our players have been busy," said Russell Williams, CEO of Flying Lab software. "We have been listening to our players and incorporating their input as much as possible into this new expansion. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved, as this expansion allows players to reach new levels of power and prestige!" Update: The headline for this story originally erroneously said the expansion is due next month.
Chris Taylor's Kings and Castles Video Blog Episode #19 offers more on the real-time strategy game in development at Gas Powered Games, as they recover from E3. In this clip Chris answers some fan-submitted questions about their previous gameplay video. Chris soldiers through answering questions in spite of a voice that's so rough after E3 that he's able to do a credible Crash Test Dummies impression. Mmmmmm mmmmm mmmmm. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Battlefield Blog has a reminder that closed beta testing of Medal of Honor is underway for the upcoming military shooter reboot: The Medal of Honor beta for the PlayStation 3 and PC is currently underway for those who are Battlefield: Bad Company 2 VIP owners and have pre-ordered. You can redeem your beta key here. If you do not have a beta key, you can get one by pre-ordering. Don't forget - the key you receive from the store needs to be redeemed at the website for a live code that will let you play the game. We are still working feverishly to get the Xbox 360 beta released and will keep all of you up-to-date on that. This is a true beta and your feedback will improve the game and help us deliver a great final product. You can leave your feedback by visiting our forums.
Steam News has word on the final sale in their EA week, which will run through 1:00 pm EDT today. They are offering 33% off on Dragon Age: Origins or the Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition, a 25% discount on the Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion. Buying either the Dragon Age- Origins and Awakening or the Digital Deluxe Edition and Awakening together will earn a 40% discount.
- 2.5" Hard Disk Drive Roundup on X-bit labs.
- A-DATA Gaming Series PC3-12800 (1600MHz) 8GB RAM Kit on TweakTown.
- Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo Pro and Scythe Setsugen Coolers on X-bit labs.
- Coolermaster HAF X Full Tower Case on ProClockers.
- Crucial C300 SATA 6Gb-s SSD on Overclock3D.
- eVGA GeForce GTX 465 SC Graphics Card on Guru3D.
- Gainward GTX470 Golden Sample Graphics Card on MetkuMods.
- Grace Digital Eco Extreme Rugged All Terrain Speaker Case on iGadget Life.
- iStar BPU-2535V2 Dual 2.5 to 3.5" Enclosure on [OC]ModShop.
- Kingston LoVo HyperX- RAM with Low Power Consumption on OCWORKBENCH and X-bit labs.
- Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58J3 PC on HEXUS.net.
- Thermaltake Armor A90 PC Case on DragonSteelMods.
- Western Digital My Passport Studio 640GB Hard Drive on t-break.
- XFX HD 5450 Graphics Card on Overclockers Club.
- Zaward Vapor 120 CPU Cooler on PureOC.
Happy summer, as the solstice passed earlier this morning, making it summer here in North America, and happy winter to those below the equator (and for those near the equator, here's hoping you have air conditioning). They call this the longest day of the year, but it's 24 hours like all the rest of them, though I heard somewhere we will have 14 hours of daylight today.
R.I.P.: Sudan's Manute Bol, 7-foot-6 Former NBA Player, Dies in Virginia at 47.
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