Archived News:
THQ Reports Fiscal 2011 First Quarter Results in Line with Guidance has THQ's financials for the quarter ending June 30. Word is: "For the three months ended June 30, 2010, the company reported a net loss of $30.1 million, or $0.44 per share, compared with net income of $6.4 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. On a non-GAAP basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2010, the company reported a net loss of $14.4 million, or $0.21 per share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $6.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the prior-year period."
ISOTX announces the promised closed beta test for Iron Grip: Marauders is underway. Word is open beta testing should commence by Q4 of this year, and in the meantime: "The game itself is open to registration on its public website and participants in the beta will later be given access to invitations with which they can invite friends."
EverQuest Players has word that beta testing is underway for EverQuest: House of Thule, the 17th expansion for the MMORPG. Word is: "As with last year's beta, the sign-up process has been made easier for you… and for us! Once you sign up, the system places you in a pool of potential beta testers. When the invite stages occur, beta testers will automatically be selected from that pool. We will, however, still be limiting the number of participants during different beta stages—the difference is that now you don't have to wait for a window of opportunity to sign up. The beta sign-up page will remain open until the beta ends. Once you sign up, you do not need to sign up again." Likewise, The EQ2 Wire has word on EverQuest 2: Destiny of Velious, the 10th expansion for the MMORPG sequel, offering a feature list and a Q&A on what to expect. Thanks Big Download.
Subscription-free MMORPG Earth Eternal is in danger of shutting down, as creator Sparkplay Media is in the process of winding down operations, and is looking for a party interested in buying the game. This regretful letter to players outlines the situation: "I’m sorry. I’ve failed you despite my best efforts. I’ve never worked harder in my life, but it wasn’t enough. Things that we planned on happening didn’t, and things we didn’t plan on happening did. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail and I don’t want to try to shift responsibility to anyone but myself. There’s really nothing I can say other than I am very very sorry to have let you down. I’ve turned off the ability to buy credits now or earn them via offers/surveys. I’m also going to set all non-permanent items in the credit shop to cost nothing so that everyone can have some fun, though won’t be doing that for a few hours. I will keep you updated as to what is going to happen with Earth Eternal, but in all likelihood we won’t know until late on Friday whether someone is going to buy EE and keep it running or not. Let’s hope for the best!" Thanks Massively via Big Download.
A number of new automatic updates are now available through Steam. There's a new patch for Booster Trooper with new maps and bot AI. There's a new Nation Red Update adding online co-op among other things. A new Fallen Earth Update brings the MMOG to version 1.61. There's also an updated version of the Alien Swarm SDK. An update for Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi patches the recently released strategy expansion. Finally, there's a new automatic patch for Europa Universalis: Rome with a lengthy list of fixes.
Soldak Entertainment now offers version 1.004 non-beta patches for the PC and Mac editions of Din's Curse, their action/RPG. Among recent changes to the game are tweaks to the view and the UI, so there are new shots in their screenshots section showing off what's new.
The Impulse Weekly Top 10 is online with the bestselling titles on the service for the first week in August:
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity
- The Guild 2: Renaissance
- Commander: Conquest of the Americas
- Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
- Sins of a Solar Empire Expansion Bundle
- Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy
- Demigod
- Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment
- Elven Legacy Bundle Pack
- The Guild 2
Thanks Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
A new teaser trailer from Call of Duty: Black Ops shows off multiplayer play from Treyarch's upcoming installment in the military shooter series. The clip shows various kill streak achievements and other flashy ways to make a name for yourself in combat. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Developer VSTEP and publisher Paradox Interactive announce that Ship Simulator Extremes is gold, and the extreme version of this transport sim will set sail on August 27. Between now and then, they are offering a preorder bonus: "The development of the all too real simulation game, Ship Simulator Extremes has completed and the pre-order has commenced on leading digital distribution outlets. As an exclusive bonus from select distribution sites, pre-orders for the game will grant the unique bonus fishing vessel 'Sigita' and six bonus missions to feature more challenges as you endeavor in the rescue attempts of your fellow vessels."
Though this news is not reflected on The Chronicles of Spellborn Website, a post on games.com says they've learned the MMORPG will be going offline next month. "Yes we do plan to close the game at the end of the month," was part of a reply to a question about a recent server outage. "The servers were down on Monday, but that was due to an unrelated technical issue; the game should be back up now until the end of this month." Presuming the report is accurate, no reason for the planned closure is given, but a post on the Spellborn Discussion Board points to a Rescue Spellborn Petition. The Chronicles of Spellborn was launched in April 2009, and it was announced the game was undergoing re-development in June 2009. About a year ago the game went subscription-free, and it was recently announced that Frogster Asia was ending support for the Asian version of the MMORPG. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
Develop has quotes from Jade Raymond, head of Ubisoft's new Toronto development studio, discussing their gaming plans. Raymond says they currently have two "AAA" titles in development, one of which is known to be the next Splinter Cell game, and says their goal is to have no fewer than five AAA games in development. "We want to grow to 800 staff in ten years, we’re on two major projects now, and eventually we’ll be working on five," she tells them. "I can’t say specifics now, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves in our first year. But yeah, that’s the plan."
A French-language interview about Dragon Age II with writer Mike Laidlaw brings to light new details on Dragon Age II, including changes in the camera and editing tools for the RPG sequel. This forum thread has info in the original French, while this thread is in English, with both threads including a follow-up from Laidlaw clarifying some aspects of a Kotaku report on all this. This follow-up eases fears that mod support is going away, as Mike says: "While we won't be releasing a toolset update in tandem with Dragon Age 2, we ARE investigating what it would take to update the community toolset to match ours, along with providing DA2 content in the future." There was also word that BioWare is removing the tactical Baldur's Gate-style viewpoint from the game, but Laidlaw indicates this is for consoles, and PC owners can expect some sort of tactical view, saying: "On the PC, however, we are still working with the camera to keep the key elements of the tactical experience there. I was actually playtesting some new camera code when Victor found me, in fact, so I can give you the latest news on that front. While we likely won't pull as far up as we did in DA:O, I have always felt that the key to tactical play was actually freeing your camera from the character you're controlling to issue precise orders, which is what we're tuning now. So, this means you can still maneuver the camera around the battlefield and issue orders from a remote location, just as you could in Origins." Thanks joao.
Connected Consoles has a comment from DICE's Patrick Liu, producer on Medal of Honor, on the ability to play on the side of Taliban forces in the upcoming military shooter remake. "I think it is a fair point," he responds to questions about this possibly making players uncomfortable. "We do stir up some feelings, although it's not about the war, it's about the soldiers." He adds: "We can't get away from what the setting is and who the factions are, but in the end, it's a game, so we're not pushing or provoking too hard." Thanks Computer and Video Games.
Computer and Video Games quotes KAOS Studios' Dave Votypka from last month's print issue of PSM3 magazine voicing suspicions that a feature in Modern Warfare 2 may have been based on the E3 2009 demo for Homefront, their upcoming military shooter: "The level in MW where you're using the laser-pointer to guide the Striker (combat vehicle). We showed that mechanic at last year's E3, then it was in their game," he says. "We were thinking 'Hmm, where did you get that idea from...' But, other than that, we think our concept is so unique we don't really see comparisons with other shooters."
Smart Speak - Hit Scan – The Litigation Hammer.
When you’re in a much stronger position than your adversary, you can send them F.U letters all day long and all they get to do is suck ‘em down. Even if they bitch about it, that’s between them and their attorney – you don’t get to hear it.
I recently discovered that I only really need to follow one rule to avoid the acid reflux I've been diagnosed with, which is to avoid eating too late in the evening (which I think means I don't really have true reflux, but maybe that's a quibble). I proved this last night by failing to follow this rule, and giving myself a terrible case of heartburn. Okay, lesson learned (again).
R.I.P.: Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal dies at age 84.
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