Archived News:
Blizzard Entertainment is attempting to curtail gold selling for World of Warcraft by targeting gold sellers' PayPal accounts, reports Curse. They reproduce a mail being sent to gold sellers by PayPal stating that they were reported by Blizzard for an Intellectual Properties violation, and they are required to remove all World of Warcraft merchandise from their websites in order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy. Thanks Eurogamer.
The Bethesda Blog announces that QuakeCon 2011 will run from August 4-7 this year, and the gaming convention will again be held in The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX. As usual, the event is free to attend, and here's what they are saying for now about what to expect: "QuakeCon also offers nonstop fun and entertainment for those that don’t bring their own computers. Bethesda Softworks will offer the first chance anywhere for gamers to get their hands on upcoming titles, and the world’s leading technology companies will be on hand to demonstrate their latest hardware and software in the 45,000 square foot exhibit hall. Every day of QuakeCon is packed with contests, entertainment, announcements, panel discussions, and parties!"
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is now expected in March, rather than February, as was announced last November. Gamer's Hell has the new release dates for the LEGO action game, saying it is now due on March 22, 2011, but no reason for the setback is provided. We also have a new trailer focusing on the game's voice talent, and this is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
The Left 4 Dead Blog has details on Nightmare, this week's new mutation for Left 4 Dead 2, Valve's zombie shooter sequel. Word is: "This Survival Mutation was inspired by Karma Jockey. There are commons, plenty of beefed up Specials, no glows, and lots and lots of fog. If you like to be scared by things that jump out at you from the night, this one is for you." Steam News announces the new mutation is now live.
There's word of another automatic patch for Magicka on Steam News, as Arrowhead continues to work on whipping their new action/adventure game into shape. The extensive change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
A new "Entry Into Tajikistan" trailer from Operation Flashpoint: Red River shows off more of Codemasters' upcoming military shooter sequel. This announcement has details on what the clip offers; here's a bit: "Marines are shown facing down the insurgents, who fight a guerrilla war from the shadows and use their local knowledge to stage ambushes. Combining the different specialities contained within the four-man Fireteam, Marines sweep through compounds and towns, engaging enemies at close quarters and long range. Reflecting their role in a broader conflict as part of a large expeditionary force, they are shown in action alongside artillery, armor, air-support and additional infantry fireteams." Below is the embedded version of the clip. Continue here to read the full story.
The Portal 2 interview on Computer and Video Games is a chat with Valve's Chet Faliszek about what to expect from Portal 2, Valve's upcoming first-person puzzle/platformer sequel. Topics include whether there are other similar games out there, what differentiates the sequel from the original, their newfound affection for the PS3, the possible impact of PS3 hacking, and his feelings about whether PC gaming is in trouble, of which he says: "No. It's thriving. Look at Minecraft, one dude up in Sweden sold a million copies of his game. You can do that because of how open the platform is. If you make a game that can run on people's systems they're going to play it."
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Forums have details from Damion Schubert where the lead combat designer on BioWare's upcoming MMORPG discusses the delicate balance of death penalties in MMORPGs, and how they will be handled in The Old Republic. Also, there's a new Flashpoints Overview on the Star Wars: The Old Republic Website (thanks VG247) describing some of the flashpoints in the game, which are described as "action-packed, story-driven adventures that test a group of players to their limits, putting them up against difficult foes in volatile situations." The overview includes a trailer and some screenshots of specific flashpoints, and promise more to come in the future.
The Frictional Games interview on Animate Dead catches up with the folks at this small independent developer based in Sweden. Topics include what's next for them, whether the success of games like MineCraft and their Amnesia: The Dark Descent signals a shift away from AAA games toward smaller indie titles, the challenges of creating a successful survival/horror game, console development, their game engine, and more. They also spoke in general terms about their next project: "Yup, its [sic] well on its way. It’s a game that is not mainly a horror game, there will be horror for sure, but not something that is the only thing the game is about. It will definitely continue and try to improve on the type of games we have made so far, so we are not all of the sudden sitting down and trying to make a platform game."
Blizzard announces a Core Hound Pup Adoption Campaign, as they look to encourage take-up of the Battle.net Authenticator or the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator to help secure World of Warcraft user's accounts. They are requesting screenshots of the Core Hound Pup that comes with the authenticators, offering iPads as prizes for the best shots. They also have a new poll up about the World of Warcraft community site, and they announce they now have over one million fans of their Warcraft Facebook Page, and they have added a new desktop wallpaper to their wallpaper gallery. Thanks Ant.
Direct2Drive tweets: "Save 20% off our entire library when you use the code: wetkitty In honor of National Bathtub Safety Month."
- Bioshock on Impulse. Save 75%.
- Breach on Direct2Drive. Save 40%.
- Darksiders on GamersGate. Save 30%.
- Doom Rails on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- DUNGEONS on Direct2Drive. Save 10% on preorders.
- Empire: Total War on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- Hard to be a God on GamersGate. Save 60%.
- Hero's Tale Enhanced Edition on GamersGate. Save 60%.
- Napoleon: Total War Imperial Edition on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- Penny Arcade Adventures: Precipice of Darkness Combo Pack on Steam. Save 75%.
- SimCity 4 Deluxe on Impulse. Save 50%.
- Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition on Impulse. Save 50%.
- The Entente - World War I Battlefields on Impulse. Save 66%.
- The Guild 2 on Impulse. Save 50%.
- The Spirit Engine 2 on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- THQ Ultimate Bundle on Impulse. Save 66%.
- TopWare Interactive Catalogue on GOG.com. Save up to 50%.
- X2 - The Threat on Impulse. Save 50%.
- X3 - Gold on Impulse. Save 50%.
- X3 - Reunion on Impulse. Save 50%.
- X3 - Terran Conflict on Impulse. Save 50%.
- X-COM Complete on Impulse. Save 66%.
Still on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day: World’s Most Perilous Hiking Trail. Thanks Ant. Even worse when you're carrying a video camera.
The Homefront Website has a load of new details on the PC edition of Homefront, the upcoming military shooter in the works at KAOS Studios with assistance from Digital Extremes (thanks Dennis and SpectralMeat). They announce the game will use Steamworks, that it is available for pre-purchase on Steam. They also discuss PC-specific features such as NVIDIA 3D Vision support, the choice of first- or third-person perspective when operating vehicles, three different realism levels for piloting helicopters, extra vehicle abilities for co-pilots, support for flight controllers, multiplayer match recording, a dedicated server browser executable, LAN support, SLI/Crossfire support, and more. There's also a FAQ that talks about support for 32-player multiplayer games, lack of Linux support, spectator support, a repeat of the previously released system requirements, and more. Also noteworthy is a confirmation of plans to release the dedicated server software. Update: This story originally had an inaccurate comment about DRM which has been removed. Apologies for causing any confusion.
Ars Technica has thoughts from Paradox about the launch of Magicka, and the bugs that have inspired a couple of patches, apologies, and some free DLC for the action/adventure game from Arrowhead Studios. "We ran the game through two rounds of external QA, one of them dedicated to co-op multiplayer, including hot seat, LAN, and over the Internet. We got a lot of good feedback from the QA team on all forms of co-op," Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester told Ars. "I want to make it perfectly clear: it's obvious not enough was done to fix the online multiplayer part, as it turns out." Wester describes the perils of working with less experienced developers as a tradeoff for the fresh ideas they have, and admits that they would handle this release differently if they had it to do over again: "With that advance knowledge, we would have held the release a few weeks to test and fix the connectivity under more realistic circumstances to avoid the situation where people cannot connect properly to games online, instead of being limited to hot seat and LAN to enjoy Magicka."
Kalypso announces Patrician IV: Rise of a Dynasty, an add-on for Patrician IV to be released for the trading simulator on March 31 in North America and April 1 in the UK. Word is: "Patrician IV: Rise of a Dynasty offers players an exciting and fresh trading challenge with eight new cities to explore and introduces a multiplayer co-op mode for up to four players via the Internet or LAN. New features, based on suggestions of the fan community, have been added along with numerous improvements to the city environments and overall atmosphere of the game. Several timed scenarios are available, which, depending on how quickly they are completed by the player, adjust the difficulty and wealth available of later missions."
A new Test Drive Unlimited 2 Jaguar Trailer shows off the luxury automobile make as it will appear in Atari's upcoming racing game sequel. We get glimpses of the iconic XKE from the 60s, modern Jags, and a D-type racer, naturally in British racing green. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Crytek tweets that the multiplayer demo for Crysis 2 that's available on Xbox 360 is coming to Windows after all, providing a sample of their upcoming first-person shooter sequel. Word is: "At this time, Crytek & EA are glad to confirm that we'll be releasing a pre-launch Crysis 2 multiplayer demo on PC! Stay tuned for details."
Arcen Games announces the release of a new version of AI War, which is now up to version 5.0. They also now offer The Light of the Spire expansion through their website for $10.00 USD, saying the add-on is coming to digital distribution outlets soon. The AI War: Light of the Spire trailer shows off the new content, and here's word: "The expansion is packed full of new additions. The 'Fallen Spire' campaign brings in-game linear story elements to the title for the first time, and culminates in a whole new way to win. Players with minutes instead of hours should take to the new Defender Mode, offering bite-sized timed games against crazy AI aggression." This page has a playable demo for The Light of the Spire and an updated demo for AI War, and the demos can be unlocked to the full game by purchasing a license key.
The S.P.A.Z. Website is home to an upcoming top-down space shooter called Space Pirates and Zombies. The page has a couple of trailers showing off gameplay, and here's a bit on what it is about: "The galaxy has been colonized by humans, and the only means to travel to new star systems is through highly restricted and well defended warp gates. It is well known that systems closer to the galactic core become richer and richer as well as more scientifically advanced. This has led to theories of a secret system with a cache of treasure or knowledge at the galactic core feeding this growth. As a pirate, you must assemble a fleet and discover what treasure awaits you there." There's also a thread on reddit with an interesting discussion of how an indie project like this can score a deal to get distributed on Steam.
Planet Command & Conquer points the way to a YouTube Trailer discovered by French site C&C Saga with a look at Command & Conquer Arena, which they say was an unannounced multiplayer game based on the Command & Conquer series that was "cancelled some time ago." The clip does not include gameplay, it is a cinematic look at some units in action, concluding with the tagline: "In the future the war is over, but the battle continues." Thanks Ant.
The Freedoom Website offers version 0.7 of Freedoom, a completely free DOOM-based game that combines the publicly available DOOM source code with freely available art assets, making for a standalone product. Word is: "Combined with a free source port, people will also be able to play the back catalog of extensions made to Doom by hobbyists over the last 15 years." Thanks Ant via LinuxGames.
The new season of Archer kicked off last night, and picked up right where it left off, with more brilliant dry satire, and quotes so memorable they have their own Facebook Page. Excellent stuff.
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