|
|
 |
Archived News:
Destructoid has word that Sega announced Phantasy Star Online 2 today at the Tokyo Game Show. They don't have a lot of details, but they have a Japanese-language trailer for the announcement that ends saying the online RPG sequel is due for Windows, with Destructoid adding it is expected next year.
IGN reports on some comments made by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to attendees of a Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference about the idea that they could remove the cut-scenes from a game like StarCraft II and market them as a commercial movie. If that's not startling enough, then wait for the price point he mentioned, as he envisions selling such a "movie" for $20.00-$30.00. He says: "If we were to take that hour, or hour an a half, and take it out of the game and we were to go to our audiences, who we have their credit card information a direct relationship, and say to them 'Would you like to have the StarCraft movie?" Here's more: My guess is unlike film studios that are really stuck with a model that goes through theatrical distribution and takes a signification amount of the profit away, if we were to go to an audience and say 'We have this great hour and a half of linear video that we'd like to make available to you at a $20 or $30 price point,' you'd have the biggest opening weekend of any film ever.
Within the next five years, you are likely to see us do that. It might be in a partnership with somebody or alone, but there will be a time where we'll capitalize on the relationship we have with our audience; deliver them something that is really extraordinary and let them consume it directly through us instead of theatrical distribution.
If we were to deliver a film digitally this way, I'd say an extremely high percentage would then go to the theater and watch it again.
City of Heroes interview on Games On Net chats with Paragon Studios lead designer Melissa Bianco and senior producer Jesse Caceres about the Going Rogue expansion for City of Heroes, NCsoft's superhero MMORPG. They discuss the mechanics of the add-on, repercussions of changing sides, how side-switching impacts PvP play, engine changes, and the biggest potential draw to entice former players into returning.
A new patch for the Eve of Destruction modification for Battlefield: Vietnam is now available, updating the Vietnam-squared modification to version 0.16 by adding single-player and co-op play for all maps, adding two new maps, and addressing some bugs. This is the first update for the mod in five years, but the wait for the next patch will be almost non-existent in comparison, as they say they plan on releasing a version 0.17 hotfix over the weekend to address disconnects and C++ errors. Thanks Ant via Mod DB.
Between now and the end of September, receive a $5.00 discount from Direct2Drive on all purchases over $15.00 by using the code "PAX" at checkout.
- Codemasters Pack on GOG.com. Up to 60% off.
- Grand Ages Rome on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
- Star Wars Battlefront II on Steam. Save 75%.
- Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Premium Plus Pack on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
- The Indie Love Bundle on CP Store. Save 70%.
- The Mega-Love Bundle on CP Store. Save 80%.
- The Summer-Of-Love Bundle on CP Store. Save 75%.
- The Great Adventure Bundle 2010 on Telltale Games. Save 85%. Some proceeds to charity.
Still on sale. Continue here to read the full story.
- Dead Space 2 on BitMob. Multiplayer preview.
Link of the Day: Aggressive Quadrotor Part II. Now that we have the Manhack, can the Combine be far behind? Thanks Joker961.
R.I.P.: Billie Mae Richards. Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Thanks Ant.
There is an Xbox 360 LTD Edition Halo: Reach Console on eBay that is autographed by Bungie's entire development team for Halo: Reach. The system is being auctioned for a good cause, as the entire purchase price from its sale will be donated to The Brian Wood Memorial Trust, dedicated to assisting the family of the Relic developer who recently died while heroically saving his wife and unborn chiild. This unboxing video shows the contents of the Halo: Reach Console, and this post on Bungie.net verifies the bona fides of this offer.
A new Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 'Autolog Arms Race' Trailer shows off more heated "Autolog" competition in the upcoming racing sequel. The arms race demonstrates the various tools available to the police to engage in their reckless (and wreck-ful) war with reckless drivers, including EMPs, spike strips, helicopter support, and of course, the chrome horn. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A new Civilization V Walkthrough Trailer offers an in-depth look at gameplay in Sid Meier's Civilization V, the installment in the turn-based strategy series that's expected next week. Firaxis' Peter Murray shows off the game, and many of the new features they've added to improve upon previous installments in the series, including hex tiles, a new interface, the new "social policy system," cultural victories, diplomacy changes, city-states, the introduction of tactical combat, and more. Here's the embedded version. Continue here to read the full story.
The APB: All Points Bulletin Website has word that the online open-world crime game is going offline, less than three months since launch, oddly calling this "the end of an era," and gamely calling the troubled run of the flagship game from troubled developer Realtime Worlds "a fantastic journey" (thanks Drannos). "APB has been a fantastic journey, but unfortunately that journey has come to a premature end. Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone's best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close. It's been a pleasure working on APB and with all its players. Together we were building an absolutely amazing game, and for that, we thank you. You guys are awesome," says Community Officer Ben 'APBMonkey' Bateman. "The servers are still up, so join the party and say goodbye!" Here's more from Realtime Worlds founder David Jones: I truly wish we had the chance to continue to craft APB into the vision we had for it. It has been a long & difficult journey but ultimately rewarding to have had the chance to try something bold and different. APB holds some great memories, from the last night of the beta, to the clans and individuals who amazed us with their creativity and sense of community. I am so sorry it had to end so quickly but hopefully the good memories will stay with us all for a long time. Thanks to all the team for the years of hard work, and to the players who contributed so much.
A new version of Runes of Magic is now live, bringing this free-to-play MMORPG to version 3.0.4. These patch notes outline what's new, including a new instance called The Raksha Temple, a Juice Festival, Guild Castle – Level III, two new Guild events, a new public encounter, Guild Quest Board - Level 3, a newbie tutorial system, and a new world boss called Sesphiroth.
2K Games announces Joe's Adventures, new story-based DLC for Mafia II planned for release later this year. Here's a bit on what this will add to the open-world crime sequel: Joe’s Adventures offers an engaging narrative and allows players to explore new locations, including a train station, the cathouse, a boat yard, a seasonally changing lakefront and some never-before-seen buildings in Empire Bay. This exciting new chapter in the Mafia II saga includes new clothing, collectibles and even more classic 40’s and 50’s music. In addition to the story-based missions, Joe’s Adventures opens up a slew of optional city-based quests packed with arcade action gameplay and a points-based system that allows players to move up the ranks on the online leaderboard through combos and multiplier bonuses. Deadly executions by head shot or charged explosives rack up points, and precision-timed vehicular power slides, lofty jumps and feats of supercharged speed maintain the adrenaline-charged fun for extensive replayability.
The Pirates of the Burning Sea Website announces the launch of the Power & Prestige expansion for the seafaring MMORPG. Here's word on that: "This is our first full expansion and it contains a lot of changes. You can find the full release notes here. We have also created a couple of guides about Port Governance in our brand new wiki, Encyclopaedia Piratica, and we’ll be publishing new guides and content on a regular basis." They also announce that this fall the game will be going free-to-play. Here's a bit: Second, it allows players to spend as little or as much as they like. With a subscription, there’s only one price, whether you like to log in occasionally on the weekends to do a few missions with friends, or if you’re the kind of player who calls in to work sick to make sure you’re ready for an important port battle. The more fun the game is, the better the model works, which is why we think Pirates of the Burning Sea is perfect for F2P.
Finally, in the modern MMO environment, players often rotate through several games that they’re engaged in. With a subscription, it’s a hassle to cancel and then re-subscribe as they move back and forth between games. With F2P, players can play the games they want to play right that moment without having to keep in mind what they committed to weeks or months ago. F2P is a win for the player, and it’s a win for a more diverse MMO community.
Heroes in the Sky is now live, offering an MMO third-person shooter centered on World War II aerial combat. The game is free-to-play, supported by sales of premium planes and other microtransaction upgrade packages. Here's word on the game: "Heroes in the Sky is an intense airborne MMOTPS that combines high impact PVE and fast paced PVP as it chronicles the events from the beginning to the end of World War II. PVP combat is taken to a new level as players must not only worry about the basic dangers from the front, behind, and sides, but also from above and below. Heroes in the Sky is dog fighting at its finest; cannon fires, machine gun blasts, missiles, and bombs flood the skies as up to 16 players shoot it out for air superiority! Featuring some of the most famous WWII aircraft in history, players will soar across the sky as they bomb cities, sink boats, burst blimps and more-- all this and more unfolds as players compete to become the top Ace in Heroes in the Sky. Players will choose from a variety of intense and realistic planes including both experimental and field tested all while reliving history and participating in intense aerial combat."
The Battlefield Blog announces the availability of the first trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, the upcoming military shooter expansion. A separate announcement serves up the first screenshots from the add-on.
The Deus Ex: Human Revolution TGS 2010 Trailer is now online, offering a look at the upcoming continuation of the sci-fi action/RPG series. The clip features cinematics from the game, but the voice work is entirely in Japanese. Thanks taczbr, who says the English-language version is expected tomorrow.
Wicked Interactive announces M.A.T.: Mission Against Terror will enter open beta testing on Sunday, September 19, following what the publisher calls a successful closed beta test of this online first-person shooter. They say the open beta kicks off at 3:00 pm EDT, and it will introduce a new game mode: "The highlight of the open beta patch is the debut of one of MAT’s most popular game modes, the Ghost Mode. Ghost Mode is a spin-off of the highly popular Bomb Mode. In Ghost Mode, one team plays as the ghosts who are highly translucent figures that are difficult to see but are restricted to melee attacks only, and they’re out to bomb key locations around the world. The other team is identical to that of Bomb Mode--soldiers with anti-ghost training who are out to drive the ghosts back and save these locations from being bombed."
A second round of closed beta testing kicks off today for MicroVolts, the online third-person shooter. They are still offering the opportunity to register as a tester, and here's word on the new beta: "New content players will experience includes a new map, a new mode, new weapons and all-new customization items and much more."
There's a F.E.A.R. 3 interview on Games On Net talking with comic author/scriptwriter Steve Niles about the upcoming horror-themed shooter sequel in a conversation presented in article format. The focus of the conversation is how the impact of a story like the one they are presenting hinges on getting the player to care about the characters involved, even if they are not typical story heroes, as this quote demonstrates: "F.E.A.R 3 is all about this family and what lengths somebody will go to, to protect their mother, even if her pregnancy could end the world. I don’t care if one’s dead, one’s a super assassin and one’s a pregnant ghost; they’re still family. And that’s really what it comes down to: in the end your family are the people you love no matter what."
Red Mage Gaming - An Open Letter to BioWare: Sex in Video Games. Thanks Digg.
Listen BioWare, we know you may be upset because Fox News desperately wanted another hot coffee scandal to drive their ratings. I would be upset too if I sank millions of dollars into a wonderful product only to have it ridiculed on television by a hack radio host who never actually played it. The point is you shouldn’t be letting people like this have any effect whatsoever on your development process. You managed to annoy a conservative blogger nobody cares about and a news station once again failed to do any coherent reporting on video games. You have millions of fans behind you, as Cooper Lawrence found out the hilariously hard way.
This was one of the hottest summers in history around these parts, with numerous heat waves and no particular relief between them. The weird thing is that summer is still underway according to the calendar, but it seems like the unofficial end of summer represented by Labor Day was a pretty accurate cut-off, as it's been pretty cool ever since, with the last couple of nights being positively chilly. I hope this doesn't mean we should expect an extra-cold winter to follow the sweltering summer, as that just wouldn't seem fair.
R.I.P.: Edwin Newman, 91, dies; NBC broadcaster, guardian of grammar.
|
Twitter 
