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Archived News:
LucasArts announces that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is now available for Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. Here's word on the Star Wars action/adventure sequel: In the sequel, Starkiller returns with over-the-top Force powers and embarks on a journey to discover his own identity and to reunite with his one true love, Juno Eclipse. Starkiller is once again the pawn of Darth Vader—but instead of training his protégée as a ruthless assassin, the dark lord is attempting to clone his former apprentice in an attempt to create the Ultimate Sith warrior. The chase is on – Starkiller is in pursuit of Juno and Darth Vader is hunting for Starkiller.
With all-new devastating Force powers and the ability to dual-wield lightsabers, Starkiller cuts a swath through deadly new enemies across exciting worlds from the Star Wars films - all in his desperate search for answers to his past.
Ubisoft announces the North American release of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Fatal Conspiracy, a new mystery/adventure game developed by Telltale Games based on the CSI television series. The rated "M: game is available for Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, and here's word on what it offers: "CSI: Fatal Conspiracy features five new connected cases written by the same writers from the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Team up with the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation™ not only to solve some of the most gruesome crimes of Sin City, but also to take down a dangerous drug cartel. Unveil clues to bring a powerful drug lord to justice in the most strategic and unpredictable CSI game yet!"
Finnish game developer Frozenbyte announces plans for a Mac edition of Trine, saying the OS X version of the game will launch on Steam next month and through other digital distributors later in the year, adding: "If everything goes well, there's a good chance that Trine 2 will also make its way to the Mac next year." The Steam release will be as a Steamplay game, meaning those who own Windows edition of Trine through Steam can get the Mac edition for no additional charge. Here's a reminder of what Trine entails: "Trine is a beautiful fantasy action platformer with a fairytale-like atmosphere, following the journey of three heroes - a Wizard, a Knight and a Thief - in a quest to save the kingdom from evil. Each character has unique abilities and tactics that help the player battle an army of undead and defeat hazardous contraptions."
Continuing their efforts at recovering from a rocky launch for Elemental Art of Magic, Stardock announces that anyone who has purchased the fantasy-themed strategy game before the end of this month will get its first two expansion packs for free, as well as the chance to participate in the beta testing of version 1.1, which is slated to kick off next month.
The Codemasters Forums outline plans for a patch for F1 2010, saying a patch for all three platforms is complete, and they are waiting on approval from Sony and Microsoft before it is released (thanks Eurogamer). Here is a list of some of the fixes in the PC patch:
- PC 'replay saving' and playback – You will be able to save out the files to replay them later or share them with others.
- DX11 – The F1 2010 patch will enable the game to run on DX11. All of the graphical improvements are configurable from graphical options when in DX11. Specifically, "ultra" settings for 'shadows' and 'postprocess'. (These options require a lot of processing power, and are only recommended for high-end graphics cards.
- Eyefinity Support – F1 2010 now supports 3 x 1 or 3 x 2 monitor display setups (minimum requirement of 3 x monitors)
- Optimisations – We have made better use of multi-core processors in general, which will lead to better framerates on higher end machines.
- Additional Support - Support for SandyBridge processors, which also adds support for currently available 'modern' processors, like Core i7, which wasn't correctly detected previously.
"The challenge is that Treyarch is called the 'other' Call of Duty developer for a reason; the top review scores for the franchise on gamerankings.com are held by Infinity Ward games, with Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, the original Call of Duty, and Call of Duty 2 each receiving average scores of 89 or higher. The best reviewed Call of Duty game from Treyarch (World at War) received an 85.7% score, while Call of Duty 3 got an 82 rating," Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter tells IndustryGamers. "I don't know whether the gaming press will suddenly become more charitable than they have in the past, but my read on them as a group is that they are a hypercritical and bitter lot, and I think that they have the potential to find many things wrong with Black Ops, chief among them that the game is not Modern Warfare 2."
- Titan Quest on Steam. Save 75%.
- Titan Quest Gold on Steam. Save 75%.
- Titan Quest - Immortal Throne on Steam. Save 75%.
Still on sale. Continue here to read the full story.
Publisher Tripwire Interactive and developer Teotl Studios announce the release The Ball on Steam. Here's word on the offbeat action/adventure game: The Ball is a first person action-adventure game featuring a full single-player experience built on Epic’s Unreal™ Engine 3 technology. As a swashbuckling archaeologist working on the slopes of a dormant volcano somewhere in Mexico, you get stuck in a cavern. It doesn’t take long before you realize this is more than just a cave. You reveal ancient ruins that have been hidden from outsiders for centuries and discover a mysterious artifact, a gold and metal shelled Ball. As you progress towards solving the mystery of this amazing place you must unlock the secrets of the Ball and learn to control this ancient artifact. Venturing deeper into the volcano, you reveal some of mankind’s greatest secrets and you will start to encounter not just puzzles and traps, but also various strange creatures – the guardians of this mystery. These creatures have to be overcome, using only the Ball to defend you.
New version 260.99 WHQL-certified GeForce/Ion drivers are now available for NVIDIA graphics cards. The new drivers boast performance improvements for Civilization V in SLI, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIV, and Formula 1 Racing in DX11. They also add SLI profiles for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. and Fallout: New Vegas, improve compatibility for Fallout 3: New Vegas with anti-aliasing enabled. Rounding out the game-related enhancements are improved Alt-Tab compatibility for several games, and the addition of 3D Vision profiles for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2. There are new drivers for Windows Vista/Windows 7, Windows Vista 64-bit/Windows 7 64-bit, Windows XP, and Windows XP 64-bit. Thanks Scott.
The Sims 3 Website has details on new automatic patches now available for The Sims 3 and the various add-ons for the newly re-expanded lifestyle simulation. The new versions can be acquired through the "updates" tab in the game launcher, or you can engage the clutch and use one of these manual patches available in various languages: The Sims 3 version 1.17.60 on The Patches Scrolls, The Sims 3: World Adventures version 2.12.8 on The Patches Scrolls, The Sims 3: High-end Loft Stuff version 3.8.6 on The Patches Scrolls, The Sims 3: Ambitions version 4.5.6 on The Patches Scrolls, and The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff version 5.2.4 on The Patches Scrolls.
In a very special Champions Online State of the Game Update, we learn that Cryptic's superhero MMORPG is following many other MMOGs in going the free-to-play route. The update outlines how they are changing advancement and content delivery going forward before going on to explain the game's new business model involving an expanded C-Store and the benefits of what will become optional subscriptions. They say a "restricted beta" for these new features will commence next month. After outlining the benefits of a paying "gold" subscription, they outline how the game will differ for players using a free "silver" account: Non-subscribers ("Silver Players") don't get all of that. Most importantly, they don't get complete control over what powers their heroes get. Instead, they can only create heroes by choosing an Archetype. Though the power progression is predefined, the player can tailor the powers with their choice of Advantages. Silver Players are also limited in other ways such as inventory, bank and marketplace space. Of course, Silver Players retain full control over how their character looks using the costume editor. They also get access to all the zones and levels.
If you decide to switch from Gold to Silver, your characters will still be there. However, you won't be able to play them until either you re-subscribe or you convert them into Silver characters. Exactly how this will work is still being determined.
There are several other ways that Gold Members and Silver Players differ. We have a Features Matrix published right here with the exact differences.
LEGO Group and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announce the official U.S. launch of LEGO Universe, the MMOG built brick-by-brick by NetDevil. Here's the dilio: LEGO Universe offers nearly three thousand options to personalize your Minifigure, two thousand different LEGO bricks in any color you like, nine mini-games to master, six sprawling worlds to explore, four personal property areas to claim and customize… and the game is growing every day! In LEGO Universe, you can build anything you can dream up and literally bring it to life.
LEGO Universe is a living, breathing world that’s only just begun – the LEGO Group and NetDevil are already working on new worlds, missions, characters, competitions, bricks, models, features and fun to come over the next several months, years and beyond. Monthly game updates, additions and expansions are all included with regular subscription fee, so go ahead, get in game, and get ready to watch the LEGO Universe grow!
Great Scott! This page on the Telltale Games Website offers the chance to get a free copy of the debut episode of Telltale's Back to the Future game when it is released in December. All this seems to require is preordering the episode, which is currently priced at zero, though this will require a free Telltale account. As was previously announced, they are also offering a free copy of Puzzle Agent to those who preorder the full five episode series. Thanks Fibrocyte.
The Miner Wars Website has an update introducing new engine features in the space combat game, which is still available at a 70% discount in prerelease form. New engine features include a toggleable cockpit mode, sandbox mode, and two new ammunition types.
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator is an independently developed multiplayer game for Windows that allows networked PCs to act as the various stations on the bridge of a starship. A playable demo is available for sampling, and here's word on what to expect: Artemis simulates a spaceship bridge by networking several computers together. One computer runs the simulation and the "main screen", while the others serve as workstations for the normal jobs a bridge officer might do, like Helm, Communication, Engineering, and Weapon Control.
Artemis is a social game where several players are together in one room ("bridge") , and while they all work together, one player plays the Captain, a person who sits in the middle, doesn't have a workstation, and tells everyone what to do.
EA announces the release of The Sims 3 Late Night Expansion Pack for the Windows and OS X editions of The Sims 3, offering some nocturnal diversions for insomniac Sims. No longer will the nightlife of your little people be restricted to TV watching and emergency bathroom trips, as word is this will allow them to become figurative, or even literal, vampires: "The Sims 3 Late Night offers players a reason to venture out into the dark and check out the hottest clubs, partake in nighttime activities and run from…or become…creatures of the night. From rocking out in a band until the wee hours of the morning to living life on the edge as a vampire, players clock out of work and let their inhibitions loose when the sun goes down."
Gamasutra - Analysis: Does Going 'Transmedia' Help Game Properties?
Do the additional marketing outlets lead to more game sales? It’s hard to quantify that. But they certainly raise awareness of the brand – especially among people who might not consider themselves gamers, but are still drawn in by the worlds developers create. And any title that has the buzz of an entertainment “event” is more likely to stand out from the increasingly large crowd of games coming out. “People don’t buy video games because they’re video games anymore,” says Bilson. “Now it’s fiercely competitive and only the best games and most interesting games are going to succeed.”
There must be a some weather up there, as I'm feeling a little under it. No big deal, I just wanted to complain. What makes me feel better is the Giants' comeback victory over their archrivals last night, though seeing an opposing player get seriously injured is never something I enjoy, and I hope Romo has a rapid recovery.
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