Archived News:
The LEGO Group announces that LEGO Universe is now live as a "Founders Release" for fans who pre-ordered the game through LEGO sales channels. Word is: "Founders get two weeks of early playtime before the official U.S. launch on October 26th, when LEGO Universe will be available through mass retail outlets nationwide." They have released the game's introductory trailer in celebration, and this is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
DreamCatcher Interactive and JoWooD Entertainment announce a one-week delay to the North American PC and Xbox 360 release of ArcaniA: Gothic 4. The RPG sequel was previously expected on October 12, and it is now due on October 19. No reason for the delay is offered, and word is the PC release in other territories is still expected on the twelfth.
GamesIndustry.biz (registration required) announces the resignation of the founders of Polish developer CD Projekt, saying Marcin Iwinski and Michal Kicinski have resigned their positions "and are on extended leave," though in an odd twist, as spokesperson says: "Both Marcin and Michal have resigned from the positions they held, however they have not left the company." Here's the explanation: "They wanted to step back and relax after very busy last period, after finalising the venture with Optimus and other strategic projects and simply decided to take a longer leave in order to restore energy and to avoid being burned out."
VG247 spoke with Randy Pitchford at a press event in London and learned from the Gearbox boss that they are working on how to deal with preorders of Duke Nukem Forever that date back oh so many years. "There are a lot of people who pre-ordered the game," he says. "We’ve been starting to talk with retailers because we didn’t take them directly, and 3D Realms didn’t take them, it was all retailers going 'I'm going to take this guy’s money.' We’ve started to engage them, saying 'Hey, you’ve got customers who you made a promise to, and any bad feeling they have will reflect on us, so can we work together to do something for those people?' I don’t know what we can do yet, but something should be done for the people who pre-ordered."
Paradox Interactive announces the release of Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade, saying Neocore's real-time strategy game is available in stores and via digital distribution. There's a new release trailer on the YouTube, and here's word on the release: NEW YORK – 8th October 2010 – Steel in hand, the beating sun on your back, faith in your heart. Time to go to war in one of the most momentous periods in ancient history as Paradox Interactive and Neocore Games are proud to announce the release today of Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade on PC. From the acclaimed development team of King Arthur: The Role-Playing Game and Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come, Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade is a real-time strategy game transporting players back in time between the years 1189 and 1192 during the Third Crusade, as they take their battle-hardened warriors in to the heart of battle and one of the most vicious wars in history.
Play as either Richard the Lionheart, the great English king and legendary warrior, set to invade and take back the treasured Holy Land once and for all, or as the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, the chivalrous Saladin who defends Jerusalem, patiently waiting and preparing his people for the oncoming invasion. Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade invites players to rewrite history through controlling and upgrading leaders and their armies, guiding various historical factions through political events, collecting relics, and unlocking new content in a feature-rich campaign set to take on the strategy genre by force.
Steam News announces the release of a new automatic patch for Sol Survivor, bringing the multiplayer turret defense game to version 1.81. The game is currently on sale through Steam for 50% off, and even better, is playable for free this weekend. Word is: Included with the weekend sale and free play is a new patch including customizable turret loadouts for single and multiplayer games. This is the latest in a long line of community-inspired additions to the game which, along with new map content, is a free addition to the game as a "thanks" for the passionate support of our community. Come share in our creation process as we continue to grow Sol Survivor and our next title now in development!
A new Assassin's Creed Brotherhood 'Diary #3' Trailer offers more on the upcoming continuation of Ubisoft's action/strategy series. In this clip we hear from the game's developers who offer more detail on the game's antagonists of the corrupt Borgias. Here's the embedded version. Continue here to read the full story.
A new Divinity 2 - The Dragon Knight Saga Website is online, with details about this upcoming new version of Divinity II - Ego Draconis that includes new content. There's also a new Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga Trailer highlighting the game and its new content, which is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Website has an new holonet update on the planet Ilum. Word is: "Recently the Empire launched a major assault against the Jedi on Ilum, destroyed the Order’s sanctuaries, and initiated an ambitious operation of unknown intent. With its forces already spread thin, the Republic has been unable to strike back in such a remote region, but what price might they pay for losing this valuable resource?"
Steam News announces a new Global Agenda patch is now automatically available to update Hi-Rez Studios' MMO shooter. The change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Tripwire Interactive Forums reveal plans to beta test upcoming balance changes for Killing Floor, their zombie shooter. Word is: "We will be hand selecting members of the community to participate in the beta test of upcoming balance changes to Killing Floor. Those changes will be posted here, and we will allow the testers to discuss them here. Once we have the first build ready, I will unlock this thread and let the discussion begin." Thanks DJ.
A new SteelSeries Website is live, and offers 10% off all products through 10/10 in celebration.
- Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Atari Classics Bundle on GOG.com. Save 50%.
- Blood (One Unit Whole Blood) on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Blood 2: The Chosen + Expansion on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Steam. Save 33%.
- Independence War Deluxe on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Master of Magic on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Master of Orion 1+2 on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Master of Orion 3 on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Outcast on GOG.com. Save 30%.
- Total Annihilation: Commander Pack on GOG.com. Save 30%.
Still on sale. Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day: Nanoscale Pac-Man. Thanks Ant.
MCV has word on the results of Turbine's decision to drop subscription fees for The Lord of the Rings Online, saying the move has doubled the game's revenue. Word: "In addition, a million new accounts have been created and 20 per cent of the game’s former players have returned. Peak concurrency has jumped by 300 per cent and the total active players count has increased four-fold."
Busking Software now offers a playable demo of Metal Brigade Tactics, their new turn-based tactics/strategy game featuring mech-style combat, said to offer "deep RPG elements." Here's word on the game: "Control your squad of Vertical Armor giant robots on a mission to stop a small country from embroiling the world in a devastating war. Featuring a long campaign as well as a skirmish mode and built-in editor, Metal Brigade Tactics will satiate any strategy gamer's hunger."
Reporting from Austin's GDC Online conference, Gamasutra has details from a presentation by Blizzard providing a postmortem on the launch of Battle.net version 2.0, which Battle.net technical director Matthew Verslyus says was "easily the most complicated launch I've been a part of at Blizzard." They cover the complications of the new version of their matchmaking service needing to closely integrate with StarCraft II while also continuing to properly serve more than 12 million users.
SimHQ's rFactor 2 interview chats with Gjon Camaj of Image Space Incorporated about this upcoming racing simulation sequel. Topics include the likelihood the game will be delayed past its planned release in this year's holiday season, ISI's non-gaming sims, changes to the racing sim genre over the years, the possibility of a pay-to-play game in the future, and more.
Mod DB now offers a new beta version 0.55 of the Renegade X modification for Unreal Tournament 3, which is dedicated to recreating Command & Conquer Renegade on a more current game engine. The release celebrates the one-year anniversary of the release of the first version of the mod, and looking forward they mention a standalone Unreal Development Kit edition is in the works. They say the previous version 0.35 of Renegade X was to be the final Unreal Tournament 3 release, but their server browser stopped working after a server move, prompting the update, which includes some other new features and other fixes. Thanks Ant.
The ZDoom Forums now offers the release of [Hexen] Serpent: Resurrection (requires GZDoom 1.5.03 (r990) or later), which is described as a "21st century Hexen adventure" that's over five years in development. They offer screenshots and a description indicating this may be one of the longest mods ever created. Thanks Ant via Doomworld.
Walking back to the house from the car after dropping MrsBlue at the train I took a shortcut across the lawn between a pair of trees, and I managed to catch a spider-web across the face. Now this has happened to me a lot, as for years the spiders have ignored my pro-arachnid stance and have created many a web at head height in an effort to make a meal of me, but today was a full-on giant spiral web that covered my head entirely, which is a little creepy, especially when considering the size of the spider that would have crafted such a trap, though luckily I couldn't find him anywhere on my person.
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