Archived News:
A note in Activision Blizzard's financial results we missed when they were released yesterday indicates the Windows version of the First Strike DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released by March 31, as there's a note saying: "On February 1, 2011, Activision Publishing released Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike, the first add-on pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, on Xbox LIVE®. The map pack set new Xbox LIVE records with more than 1.4 million downloads in the first 24 hours, an increase of more than 25% over last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package.(7) The map pack also will be available on the PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system on March 3, 2011 and on the PC later in the quarter."
Multiplayer beta testing is now underway for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution, THQ's RTS expansion. The beta is open to everyone who purchased a Dawn of War game through Steam of has registered a Dawn of War II product on the Valve service. Others can gain access by registering on the Dawn of War Community site and following the instructions under the Beta Key giveaway tab. Here's word on testing: "Featuring all six multiplayer races including the new Imperial Guard faction, the beta will run through the end of February to test the new Steamworks network and matchmaking features and help balance the multiplayer mode. All new units for each race will be available in the beta along with the new multiplayer maps that will ship with Retribution." The beta is expected to run through February 24.
The Impulse Website announces beta testing of version 1.2 of Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity, the bundle of Ironclad's real-time strategy game and its three expansions. Word is: "This optional update for adventurous players include improvements to the game engine for better texture use, a new Pirate system, balance changes for each race, AI improvements, diplomatic balance updates and more." Here's the full change log for the new version.
Aspyr Media announces that all the previously released DLC for Civilization V is now available for the Mac OS X edition of the turn-based strategy sequel. The Civilization V Mac FAQs: DLC Edition on GameAgent has more on this, and also announces a new version 1.0.1.166 patch for the Mac edition to accommodate the DLC and address bugs and other issues, including the addition of support for super high-resolutions.
The Silver Lining Website announces plans for a February 17 release of My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate, episode three of this community-created King's Quest game. Word is: "The largest, darkest, and most exhilarating Silver Lining episode yet, My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate takes the story where you never expected it to go -- and it's too late to turn back now." This trailer teases the release.
GamePron has word that Duke Nukem Forever will not be edited for release in Australia, in spite of the impression that Duke's over-the-top antics would be too much for the normally strict Aussie censors. Following their report that the game will carry an MA15+ rating down under, they have confirmation from 2K Games that the game has not been edited in any way for its Australian release.
G4TV will be offering live streaming coverage of the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards when they kick off later tonight at 10:30 pm EST. To be clear, this is not the G4 or X-Play awards, but rather the awards of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Word is: "The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' annual conference exploring artistic expression in video game development includes the Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be handed out on Thursday, February 10 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. The awards celebrate the best technical and artistic achievements in video games in the last year."
Steam's Crasher Page offers a playable demo for this automotive online arena game that we didn't notice upon its release last week (thanks Frans). There are no details on the demo, but here's word on the game: "CRASHER is the first Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game to stage motorized team battles, pitting up to 5 vs. 5 players. The usual mouse-controlled heroes are replaced by heavily-armed vehicles hurtling across huge maps at 150 mph. Each vehicle belongs to one of the 6 CRASHER classes (specialized in close or range combat, defense, healing etc.), and features specific skills and tactical features enabling players to design a well-balanced team." Also, Big Download notes that the price of the game is now $14.99, which is 50% less than when the game was released a couple of weeks ago, and that those who paid the full price are getting the difference refunded to them.
Steam's Guardians of Graxia Page also has a playable demo overlooked last week. Once again, there aren't specifics on the demo, but here's a bit about the full game: "Guardians of Graxia takes on the form of a card-based board game set in a floating island environment high in the sky of the Graxia world. Releasing with four powerful Guardians that will guide your armies into battle, charge onto the battlefield by laying out your forces strategically. Gameplay advances in turns by selecting new unit and spell cards to place and move on the tiled map surface. Win by completing any of the numerous skirmishes, or by defeating Draknal Trueblood in the game's initial campaign!" Thanks Frans.
A new Homefront single-player trailer shows off some action from Kaos Studios' upcoming first-person shooter set in occupied America. The clip features cinematics and gameplay from the conflict the narration calls the Second American Revolution. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
The Hunted Website now features a new trailer from The Hunted: Demon's Forge, the upcoming third-person action game from Bethesda Softworks and inXile Entertainment. The clip features some action and a pretty funny punch line.
Steam now offers the introductory cinematic for Total War: Shogun 2, the upcoming turn-based/real-time strategy sequel from Creative assembly. The clip shows deaths, both honorable and otherwise, as well as a seasonal change that probably makes sense, but we can't figure it out.
The OpenRA Website now offers a new version of OpenRA, the "Libre/Free Real Time Strategy game engine supporting early Westwood games like Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert." Word is: "This release sees several large changes to our underlying game engine which have allowed us to introduce some awesome new game features." Thanks Ant via Planet Command & Conquer.
- A Farewell to Dragons on Impulse. Save 80%.
- Civilization 4: the complete Edition on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
- Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 on Steam. Save 50%.
- Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 - Open Skies Expansion Pack on Steam. Save 50%.
Still (permanently?) on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.
Thanks Acleacius.
- Obama pitches plan to free 500MHz, raise $28B, and bring 4G to everyone.
- "iPhone nano" rumor comes back to life, now with $200 unsubsidized price tag.
- Verizon iPhone launch is a bust, as hordes of Apple Store employees wait for no one to come. Thanks Ant.
- Yes, Apple Is Lining Up For A “Surprise” This Fall. And Yes, It’s Likely An “iPad 3″. Thanks HuffPo.
- Nokia Said to Be Near Software Partnership With Microsoft.
- HP’s TouchPad – What You Should Know.
- iPads Don’t Make You Look as Cool as You Think.
- Is There a Market for Windows 7 Tablets?
- Spacetime Studios Unveils Mobile Sci-Fi MMO Blackstar.
- Sticky for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store.
- Sky Combat for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store.
- Traffic Cop now available for WP7.
- Apple Pulls Counterfeit Lugaru From Mac App Store.
The Test Drive Unlimited 2 Forums now have threads on Xbox 360 Issues, PS3 Issues, and PC Issues, discussing problems and solutions for the racing sequel on all three platforms, along with a new work-in-progress official post-release FAQ (thanks Ken). The list of issues being investigated and resolved for the PC edition follows (this was posted today, but refers to February 10th as tomorrow, so make of that what you will). Continue here to read the full story.
The Shoot Many Robots Website announces plans to announce something next week about Shoot Many Robots, the upcoming game from Demiurge Studios that was first revealed last summer through a trademark application. Mentioning a teaser trailer we missed when it was released a few months back, they offer the following tease: "A few months ago, we released a teaser trailer that was definitely short on details. Now we're ready to spill all of those beans we've been talking about. Check back next week for details aplenty!"
The EA website announces Crysis 2 will support dedicated servers, though it's possible that the software to run a server will not be freely distributed, as they list "server provider partners who, between them, will be offering global hosting." Also, C2TV Episode 4 is now online, a video which Crytek executive producer Nathan Camarillo describes as offering "more about the aliens that are in Crysis 2, as well as some of our sound and animation techniques" (thanks SpectralMeat). The clip features gameplay footage from the upcoming first-person shooter sequel, and thoughts on the above topics from lead designer Sten Hübler, senior sound designer Chris Schilling, lead animator Rubén Salgado Escudera, audio lead Florian Füsslin, and a Hollywood stuntman who did some of their motion capture work.
Also a new MyCrysis Nanosuit Showroom is online with more on the game's augmentation outfit, focusing on the suit's armor aspects to start with. Finally, on a related note, we also have a new Crysis 2 trailer showing nanosuit 2.0 multiplayer progression (part one). Here's word on that: "The Nanosuit is the ultimate evolution of warfare in Crysis 2. In this first installment, explore the vast array of customization and enhancements available to the Nanosuit in multiplayer, allowing gamers to play the game their way. Whether you prefer strength, speed, or stealth, Crysis 2 gives you the ability to Be The Weapon." This trailer is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
The Steam Users' Forums offer a small save game file for PC Dead Space 2 players which apparently unlocks all the rewards console players receive for completing Visceral's third-person shooter sequel in hardcore mode, including the coveted hand cannon. Thanks nin via PC Gamer via TechspotLight.
Paradox Interactive officially announces Salem, the free-to-play MMOG set in colonial Salem they unveiled a few weeks ago at their press event. They have launched a Salem Product Section, Facebook Page, and Twitter feed for this game that has an emphasis on crafting and the unusual feature of permanent death for characters who meet their in-game demise. They also include a link to their previously released game trailer, and some details on the game, including a bit more on the perma-death deal, which is not quite as permanent as it sounded at first: "Salem is a free-to-play MMO game that is going to add something new to the genre with the concept of generations rather than just a single character through the game,” said Tom Söderlund, Project Lead for Paradox Connect. “If your character is killed in the game, and believe me it can be dangerous in Salem, their descendent has the ability to pick up where your character left off. The concept of revenge and towns policing themselves and even sanctioning hits on griefers is going to be a really compelling aspect. We know we’ll see some interesting things when the community finally has a chance to play Salem later this year.”
Paradox Interactive announces the release of a new trailer for Pirates of Black Cove, Nitro Games' real-time strategy/role-playing game they unveiled at the recent Paradox Press Convention, though at the time the title was reported as Pirates of the Black Cove (with a "the"). The trailer has neither animations nor gameplay, offering some concept art with blurbs about the game's three factions, but the announcement offers some new details on the game, including a Q2 2011 release window. It also includes the following feature list:
- Roam the open World with your Pirate crew and pick up missions as you sail the seas.
- Notoriety and fame brings you closer to your ultimate goal: to be the King of All Pirates
- Battle it out with the forces of Black Cove and other colonial nations on both land and sea
- Gather infamous pirates to your crew, but be sure to keep them happy or they’ll side with your rivals
- Select your character from several different Pirate Captains, each with their own unique skills and features
- Varied units and weapons allows You to carry out the battles as You see fit
Steamcast Episode #47 has part one of an extensive two-part interview with Valve Software managing director Gabe Newell (with an assist from Erik Johnson), offered in a few different formats. These show notes have a general outline, though it basically just lists the names of the Steam forum users who asked the questions, but there's also a transcript of the discussion showing topics include Valve's use of biometrics to test games, whether they will ever revisit the abandoned prototype for Prospero, challenges to development of Portal 2, their efforts at helping hearing impaired gamers, graphical bugs, improving their development tools, what Valve looks for in a résumé for new hires, microtransactions in Team Fortress 2, DotA 2, facial animations, Valve's office culture, other media like comics; videos; and short movies, supporting older hardware, and more. The second part of the interview is to be released tomorrow. Thanks Jeromy and The KillSmith.
Aeria Games has launched Tauri World, a new browser-based sci-fi real-time strategy game with a steampunk feel thanks to "unique visuals based on the blueprints of Leonardo da Vinci." Here's a blurb on the game: "Beyond Earth lies Tauri World where mankind has made its new home. In Tauri World, players take part in construction, expansion, and combat to increase their island colony’s size and strength. As players develop enough infrastructure on their island, they can expand and migrate to new locations using advanced technology like Colonization Ships. If players are able to manage their resources and territories wisely, they can go to war and conquer new land throughout Tauri World."
LeagueReplays.com offers a tool that allows the replay of League of Legends matches. Word is: "Matches are replayed within the actual League of Legends client, allowing full quality replays, with negligible performance impact while playing the game and file sizes much smaller than video. The camera may also be freely controlled while playing a replay, alowing [sic] the viewer to spectate [sic] whichever area they are most interested in." As noted by Games On Net, a huge thread on the League of Legends website discusses this tool, as Riot Games has long promised an official version of such a tool, but so far have not delivered, although they have also expressed concerns that this unofficial tool might be broken by future updates to the game.
The DCS: A10C Warthog interview on Games On Net talks with Jim Mackonochie of The Fighter Collection, developers of this upcoming hardcore combat flight simulator. They discuss how this evolved from a simulator used by the U.S. military, how the game is accurate in every detail except for classified details, enemy and wingman AI, the mission editor, system requirements, tutorials, future content updates, and more. He concludes saying the game should be released via digital distribution by the end of this month, and a boxed edition should follow in two or three months.
As noted on the ArenaNet Blog, this is Human Week for Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet's upcoming MMORPG sequel. They offer an article called Against the Wall: Humanity in Guild Wars 2 where writer John Ryan discusses the creation of the game's humans, and there's a large Human profile on the Guild Wars 2 site.
This eBay auction offers the original painting that served as the cover art for Castle Wolfenstein, Muse Software's Apple II, DOS, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64 seminal stealth game that served as an inspiration for id Software's Wolfenstein 3D. The auction is being offered by Walter "2" Costinak, a friend of the site who contributed countless pieces of art over the years, though he is not the artist who created this painting.
Bitmob - The hypersexualization of women damages in-game storytelling.
A male designer and/or a male audience is clearly the reason Rubi looks like she does. Her posture in the promotional material is suspect. Note how her pelvis is pushed slightly out to accentuate her curves. Her tightly wrapped clothes and her weapon holsters add to the effect, and the upward angle of her head makes her neck seem longer and more graceful. The tattoos indicate a target audience in their twenties or early thirties. It seems subtle, but the sexual tension is palpable before you even install the game.
Kaedrin's PrC Pack version 1.41 on the Neverwinter Nights 2 Vault is the latest installment in this very extensive Neverwinter Nights 2 modification, which adds dozens of new PrCs, 123 new spells, 93 general feats, along with various changes, tweaks, and bug fixes. This BioWare Social Network post outlines the changes in the new version. Thanks LittleMe.
MrsBlue called me downstairs in a panic this morning because she couldn't find her keys. I kidded her as I always do on such occasions that I keep meaning to suggest that she keep them in the same place at all times to avoid this (the joke being I've suggested this a thousand times already). She objected that this is what she does, saying that she leaves them right there on the corner of the table where my keys were sitting, to which I replied that she'd obviously left her keys outside in the lock. When she found them there, she asked how I knew, and I told her that I had left my keys in the inside lock, so it struck me she had unlocked the door with her keys and locked it with mine before leaving them on her designated spot on the table. That's me, Stephen "Blue" Heaslip, consulting detective. Sherlock Holmes probably has nothing to worry about yet, but I think I've surpassed Jonathan Ames, and am on my way to Encyclopedia Brown status. Bugs Meany beware!
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