Archived News:
The Natural Selection 2 Website has the promised announcement, which is a July 26 projected launch date for alpha testing of this upcoming action/strategy hybrid, available to all Special Edition pre-orders, on Steam. They describe the content of the alpha, and offer the following warning: "Something else you should know is that when we release alpha 1 at the end of this month, we are also discontinuing the NS2 Special Edition and all-black marine armor. It will no longer be available after this date, ever. Also, players that order NS2 after July 26th won't be able to play in the release date alpha." Thanks joao.
Steam News announces this weekend they will offer a free playable preview of R.U.S.E., Ubisoft's upcoming real time strategy game. The free weekend kicks off on Thursday at 2:00 pm EDT, and you can start preloading the game client through this link. Here's word on what to expect: The Free Preview Weekend of R.U.S.E. will let you play a sizeable slice of the multiplayer, featuring new maps never played before. Play with 2 to 8 players, with any team or free-for-all combination, and with any of the 6 factions available in the final game.
During the Free Weekend, you can also play battles against the medium or hard AI for the first time. Select which nation your opposing AI will play and check out the strengths of each faction. Good luck defeating the hard AI!
DICE has apparently completed its investigation into the possibility of releasing a PC edition of the Onslaught DLC for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and decided it's a go, reports PC Gamer. The pack will bring co-op versions of the maps Valparaiso, Atacama Desert, Isla Inocentes, and Nelson Bay when it is released at some unstated future date.
EA announces a Medal of Honor Limited Edition that adds some weapon perks to the upcoming military shooter. The Limited Edition will grant players exclusive access to the MP7, and get day-one access to the TOZ-194 and 870MC2 shotguns, while owners of the regular (unlimited?) edition must rank up to unlock them. This is not a premium, just a preorder incentive, and the Limited Edition can be preordered right now on www.medalofhonor.com at no additional cost.
Disciples III: Renaissance is now available in stores and via digital download today, announce Kalypso Media and Akella, saying: "In the world of Disciples III: Renaissance, players will enjoy three distinct campaigns as they battle to capture an artifact of great power while being immersed in a rich story crafted by renowned Russian fantasy authors. Players will engage in combat with a diverse variety of enemy creatures -- on both a global map and tactical battlefield -- challenging players to make the best use of the variety of character classes they can recruit into their adventuring parties." Those interested in sampling the game should check out the recently released playable demo.
StarCraft: IncGamers has a bunch of StarCraft II character portraits that were posted to their forums after being discovered on a Chinese Website. They take this ball and run with it, offering speculation about what can be inferred by the choices. They warn that some of this contains spoilers, but that these are separated from the non-spoiler information.
League of Legends Season One is now underway, offering the first competitive ladder for this online strategy game, and ushering in new features, including Draft Mode, Ranked Games, Ladders, a new user interface, and a brand new Champion: Xin Zhao, Seneschal of Demacia. They offer a cinematic trailer for Season One, which offers $100,000 in cash prizes.
A new automatic patch for Stargate Resistance is now available through Steam to update this third-person shooter to version 1.1.12.0. The new version has some weapon changes and bug fixes, all outlined below. Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News announces the release of a new version of the Source SDK, saying the new version fixes crashes in Faceposer and the commentary editor. They also announce the release of a new automatic patches for Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, and Day of Defeat: Source. The patch note for that three-headed update follow. Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News has word on a new patch that's now automatically available for Torchlight, addressing three bugs in Runic's action RPG, addressing problems with event queuing in low FPS situations, fixing some crashes on certain video hardware, and fixing invisible skeletons/varkolyn on certain video hardware.
S4 League has launched in North America, offering this free-to-play online third-person shooter that's been available for some time in Europe. Here's the skinny on the game: "Developed by Neowiz Games, S4 League is a fast-paced, online third-person shooter which features eight character types with unique arsenals and skillsets. Weapons and items can also be upgraded to maximize damage and effects, creating a deep experience and wide variety of strategic options. Gameplay modes are heavily team-focused, rewarding players for thinking of others before thinking about themselves."
Epic Weapons now offers an Alice Vorpal Blade celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of American McGee's Alice. They are producing 1000 of these commemorative knives, and are also planning an auction from July 22 – July 31 for the first 25 blades.
UFO: The Two Sides is now in open beta, offering a fan-created freeware remake of the classic strategy game variously known as UFO: Enemy Unknown, X-COM: UFO Defense, and X-COM: Enemy Unknown. This pre-beta trailer shows off a bit of the game. Thanks PC Gamer via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
Speaking of UFOs, GOG.com has the new release of an old game, as they have added UFO: Afterlight to their catalog of DRM-free games. Word is: "UFO: Afterlight is the third and latest installment of the UFO series. It is a real-time tactics game with some turn-based strategy elements, just like its predecessors. There are many improvements and changes, of course. Most notably you now lead characters, each with a backstory, motive and a part to play in the storyline, not just faceless redshirts. Finally, the in-game politics and economics are now more complex, making the game that much more challenging. The story takes place concurrently with UFO: Aftershock, on a small human colony on Mars, where an archeological dig uncovers something that should have been left alone."
Link of the Day: Print TV's Crowning Moment of Awesome. Thanks Ant via Neatorama. That is some story.
A thread on Capcom-Unity links to a preorder listing on GAME.co.uk for Dead Rising 2 that has the Games for Windows LIVE logo on the cover art. The original poster seeks a confirmation, and gets one, as Capcom's Christian Svensson responds saying: "Yes, DR2 uses Games for Windows Live (I don't feel bad confirming that since as you've pointed out, it's on the box)." Thanks TheWeaponeer.
A new "focus on the job" trailer (NSFW) from Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days shows off the revamped Fragile Alliance multiplayer mode in IO Interactive's third-person shooter sequel that's now due mid-August. This includes advice from Kane, who stresses teamplay, saying there are some simple rules to follow to "not F**k up." The embedded trailer follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Those who suspected there was something amiss about the WRC screenshots released yesterday were correct, as these were not the proper images for Black Bean's upcoming rally racing game, as media distributor Games Press apparently suffered a mishap. With all due apologies, here is a batch of actual new WRC screenshots.
Matrix Games announces the availability of a playable demo for Storm over the Pacific, offering the opportunity to take command of a sample version of this World War II Pacific theater strategy game. The demo includes the Pacific campaign (limited to 15 turns, and no save games), a variation on the Okinawa Scenario, as well as the editor to allow the creation of your own scenarios. Word is: "Each of the three components of the demo do a solid job of illustrating the fantastic accessibility and replay value found in Storm over the Pacific: the campaign gives gamers the chance to command the enormity of the Pacific theater without bogging them down with too many details, the scenarios offer a quick but engaging strategic puzzle, and the Editor offers gamers a chance to construct their own engagements so there’s nearly limitless replay value!" The demo is available in their downloads section.
bitComposer Games announces Wildlife Park 3, saying the theme park management sequel "will again offer the popular combination of building strategy, management and realistic animal simulation" when it is released in Q1 2011. They offer a pair of Wildlife Park 3 screenshots and say the game will be shown off at the next Gamescom, which will be held in Cologne, Germany in August.
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is hitting store shelves a week earlier than previously announced, reports MCV, so the third-person shooter sequel is now due on August 17 in North America, and on August 20 in the UK and Europe. Apparently it was hard work, rather than good behavior, that earned the pair their early release, as "The team has worked hard to deliver a game that’s different from the current trend of third-person shooters and we’re so pleased to be able to share it with the world ahead of schedule," says IO Interactive general manager Niels Jørgensen. "With development now complete, why keep people waiting any longer? We want to let gamers experience the game we’ve created and get them online betraying their friends in Fragile Alliance, so we have decided to bring the release date forward by one week."
Konami Digital Entertainment announces new details about Pro Evolution Soccer 11, the association football/soccer sequel due for release this autumn. They offer some new screenshots showing off a new "Stadium Edit" mode among other things, a new gameplay trailer showcasing the game's 360-degree control, saying: "The new footage shows the total freedom of passing PES 2011 offers, alongside closer looks at its new dribbling, defensive hold-up play, and jostling. Similarly, the trailer gives an insight into the new power gauge, while also showing how feints and tricks can be mapped on to the R3 button and accessed with ease. PES 2011 utilises over 1000 new animations, and these are also on show as the new game demonstrates its key attributes in the footage." The trailer is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
Efforts are underway to convince 38 Studios to remain in Massachusetts, reports The Boston Globe, saying the developer is in discussions to move from Maynard, MA to Rhode Island in exchange for as much as $75 million USD in loan guarantees. Studio founder Curt Schilling, who ended his Major League pitching career in Boston, has been trying to convince Massachusetts to offer tax breaks to game developers, as he’d be willing to move 38 Studios to another state that would offer financial incentives. They say a 38 Studios spokesperson said the company would not comment on its discussions with Rhode Island prior to the meeting.
Dire Wolf Digital Game Studio announces the formation of this new developer founded by Scott Martins, previously founder of Worlds Apart Productions, and one-time studio head of Sony Online Entertainment Denver. They boast veteran talent who have worked on various trading card games, including The Lord of the Rings Online Trading Card Game, the Stargate TCG, Legends of Norrath TCG, the Star Wars Galaxies TCG, and the Free Realms TCG. It should therefore come as no shock that their debut project is a trading card game based on an upcoming massively multiplayer online game, though they are also "in pre-production on additional social and strategy game projects for 2011." Their goal is to create platform independence, saying: "Dire Wolf will be emphasizing 'Anytime, Anyplace' play with its technology, ultimately allowing customers to play from multiple types of clients (web/social, mobile, console), all connecting to a single back-end."
Slitherine's Battlefield Academy product section now links to the first trailer from Battlefield Academy, their recently announced BBC strategy game. The game-engine clip shows off some basic tank tactics. The game is available for pre-order, and the expectation is it will be released next week.
Tonight is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the annual contest where the American League gains home field advantage for the World Series by beating the National League, who seem to be unaware that anyone is keeping score. At least that's the impression I get... I like baseball, but even I find the All-Star Game a snoozefest.
R.I.P.: George Steinbrenner, Yankees’ Owner, Dies at 80 (registration required). He was one of a kind.
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