Archived News:
Kalypso Media announces the completion of development on Patrician IV: Conquest by Trade, saying the now-gold Windows economic and trading simulation will ship to North American stores on September 14, challenging players "to use their wits, guile and a keen sense of arbitrage to rise to the status of a powerful and beloved figure in the eyes of the citizenry and the Hanseatic trading league." Here's more: In Patrician IV, the player takes on the role of a young merchant in the area of the Baltic and North Sea during the late Middle Ages, the zenith of the Hanseatic League and its naval trading empire. Starting from meager beginnings as a small stall trader, players must use every skill at their disposal to rise through the merchant ranks and become the most powerful merchant in Europe. The authentic supply and demand-based trading system allows players to grow their business and head out to the high seas to form trading routes with other Hanseatic cities negotiating better prices for the buying and selling of goods.
Batman: Arkham City will reportedly include multiplayer support, reports GameSpy, saying the news on the recently announced sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum is in the latest print issue of PSM3, though the magazine has "no details on this yet." Thanks Ant via Voodoo Extreme.
Aliens Colonial Marines is still in the works at Gearbox Software, reports Joystiq based on comments at the Gearbox Software panel at PAX. It's a sign of how little news there's been lately about this Aliens game that it's news that it hasn't been cancelled, but Randy Pitchford explains that with 20th Century Fox owning the film property and SEGA as their publisher, they haven't had any freedom to discuss the project. He does, however, offer reassurances that this game will still happen: "Earlier this week, I was down in San Francisco and I had lunch with the head of Sega of America and he is committed to this. And we're going to make this awesome. I know it's been awhile since the announcement first happened that we're in for Aliens. I promise you it will not take as long as Duke Nukem Forever. We're not going to let this dream die, it's going to happen."
A free patch for Borderlands is coming to raise the level cap in Gearbox Software's role-playing shooter to 69, reports Kotaku. They have the explanation from Randy Pitchford that the cap raise is separate from their DLC releases because they didn't want players to be required to pay for it, and the patch that ups the cap will also include some bug fixes and balance tweaks.
The PC edition of Chime is now available on Steam, offering this puzzle game already released on consoles, including a new PC-specific level using Jonathan Coulton's song Still Alive from the Portal soundtrack. Word is: "The game has been refined with new controls, gameplay improvements and Steamworks integration with achievements. Chime for PC provides a great challenge for experienced players, as well introducing new fans to the addictive block puzzle gameplay." Like the console version, a portion of the game's proceeds are going to charity: "Zoe Mode will continue to donate a proportion of its royalties (equivalent to 5% of purchase price) for sales of the Steam version. OneBigGame always aims to donate a minimum of 80% of all donations to its charity partners Save the Children and the Starlight Children's foundation."
There's a Drama Cleansing Thread on the Elemental Forums written by Stardock's Brad "Frogboy" Wardell discussing the future of Elemental: War of Magic, their 4X turn-based strategy game. Going forward Brad describes plans to continue to fix immediate launch issues involving compatibility and crashing with version 1.0x patches, to be followed by a version 1.1 patch addressing player feedback with things like enhanced AI, improved UI, a tutorial, updated quest system, new magic system, and other tweaks, saying this version will serve as the basis for a demo. He also talks of a version 1.2 patch next month and a version 1.3 patch in November, after which they will turn their attention to the game's first expansion. In case you missed it, the drama this refers to is that following the release of Elemental, the game was strongly criticized by PC gamer, which Wardell initially deflected before relenting and agreeing with the assessment of the game's launch shortcomings, later announcing this resulted in layoffs. Brad's lengthy update also addresses some of the feedback they've received about the problematic launch of the game, saying they will indeed resubmit the patched version of the game for re-review, but will not issue a "Director's Cut," while also explaining the reasons for the layoffs. He also responds to some personal invectives, including the suggestion he kill himself, that he has a martyr complex, and that his "act is getting old" after the equally messed-up release of Demigod, which inspires an explanation of why the problems with the two games were not the result of similar issues. He also replies to questions about his opinion of the game, their forum moderation policies, and shares his outlook that they are not getting screwed by the game's negative reviews, as he stated earlier: "Put another way, the blistering feedback on Elemental: War of Magic should serve as a scarlet letter to make us 'never forget'." Thanks joao.
For the record, Gearbox Software now owns the Duke Nukem intellectual property, as we see this being reported on a number of gaming sites today and yesterday. We reported this on Friday, but this was an update to the release of the official press release announcing the game, and so it may not have been as noticeable as is should have been. Our report was based on the following footnote on the Duke Nukem Forever Website: "Duke Nukem, the Duke Nukem nuclear symbol, Duke Nukem Forever, Gearbox Software and the Gearbox logo are registered trademarks of Gearbox Software, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries and used here under license. All rights reserved." Pitchford also offers general indications of plans to continue their Brothers in Arms series of World War II shooters. There's more on how Gearbox came to own the Duke IP in an interview with Randy Pitchford on Gamasutra.
1C-SoftClub and Snowball Studios announce that Combat Mission Afghanistan is gold, and this standalone military tactical simulator will go on sale in Russia on September 10. This will be followed shortly by the international release, including an English-language edition, which will be released in mid-September by Battlefront.com.
ESTSoft announces details on the fourth episode of CABAL Online, a free expansion which will go live later this month for both the US edition and the European edition of this free-to-play MMORPG. Episode IV is titled Porta Inferno, and it will expand the game's level cap to 180, add a new hunting region, and introduce a range of stunning new skills. They say: "It will continue to build on the winning formula that has made the game a global success, with fast-paced action, a unique combo system and spectacular skill animations."
The next beta phase for Vindictus is planned for September 15, offering more players the chance to check out the prerelease version of this Source-engine MMORPG that's planned for launch later this year. The new beta will offer a preview of the content planned for the game's open beta test, and word is: "Players participating in Early Access to Open Beta will be able to level up their character, collect loot, slash monsters and save all progress when the game goes live. Unlike Closed Beta, all characters created in the early access period and later beta phases will be kept and carried into the live launch of the game." They say participants in previous closed beta phases will each receive two keys to give to friends, and that keys will also be distributed through various media outlets.
A new trailer from Swarm offers a look at gameplay from Hothead Games' just-announced action/platformer game that's due next year. In this clip Hothead’s Joel DeYoung shows how the player controls a 50 Swarmite swarm who need to use their ability to work together along with their utter lack of sense of personal safety to solve the game's puzzles. Here's the party line on the game: "In Swarm, players take control of 50 utterly fearless Swarmites and must drive them through an intense, entertaining and often suicidal battle for a greater good. Run, bash, huddle, boost, stack, jump, push and throw your way through gauntlets of death and destruction in an attempt to collect valuable DNA and ensure that at least one Swarmite survives. With a unique combination of mass character control and fast action, the resulting brutal aftermath will make players want to play Swarm over and over again." The embedded version of the trailer follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Two new video diaries are now available for Front Mission Evolved, the upcoming giant robot combat game. The third video diary is called Saving the Alliance, where the developers discuss the storyline in the game, which is generally reminiscent of the two-faction tension of the Cold War. Meanwhile the fourth diary, Conquest Online, discussed multiplayer support, describing online modes, including team-based deathmatch and objective-oriented gameplay. Both clips are embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
A teaser trailer for episode one of Lylian is now available, offering a gameplay-free teaser of this upcoming 2D episodic side-scroller. Not to be outdone, the Lylian Game Media Page offers a gameplay trailer along with a bunch of screenshots to give more of a sense of what the game is all about. Want to know more? Here's the official description of the game: "The player controls Lylian's imagination which can change the world and its inhabitants. With unique attack abilities, humorous enemies and original bosses, the game is a mix of fast action set by a storyline with great pacing in stylised rendered environments - It brings something fresh to the genre. An Arcade style of play will also be available, with a cooperative mode of up to 4 players planned for later episodes."
Lost Luggage Studios offers version 1.2 of Anirah: Riddle of the Pharaohs, and the new version of this "MahJongg-like math-based puzzle game" adds Mac support. There are shareware trial versions available for PC, Mac, and Linux, and the code to unlock the PC edition can unlock the Mac edition.
Open beta testing for The Bible Online is slated to begin today at 6:00 pm GMT+1, which the Blue Computer tells us is about a half-hour ago. The Bible Online is a browser-based MMOG with RTS and RPG elements. Word is: "As the leader of their tribe, players have to construct their villages, manage resources and the budget. At the same time, players must protect their tribe from the pagans and also from other tribes. The game provides an alliance system, through which players can establish alliance for their common interest to protect themselves. Playing the role of Abraham his descendants, players also lead their tribe and raise heroes through hunting and gathering experiences." The game will launch with English and German versions, but they plan on supporting most European languages by the end of this year.
The First Strike Website announces the release of a new hotfix for this Star Wars-inspired modification for Battlefield 2142. Word is: "This update will fix a few issues including making the Battle of Yavin map stable for players using Nvidia graphics cards at long last. There are also a number of tweaks based on player feedback to the release, and the return of the Mortar Freerunner, which we hope now will prove to be crash free." Thanks Ant via Planet Battlefield.
Today is Labor Day in the US, an annual event surrounding the joys of work celebrated by most taking the day off, something we've pointed out before, not to belabor the point. I'm celebrating by working, of course, but I also plan to fire up the grill later, as we only made the Buffalo Wings the other day, so we still have some grass-fed ground beef for burgers. Mmmmm burgers.
R.I.P.: American comedian Robert "Bob" Schimmel has died.
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