Archived News:
Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson announces a bunch of Xbox 360 news that includes a couple of tidbits for PC gamers, including a May 17th release date for the Windows edition of Fable III. Here's word: Fable III for Windows – Launching in the US on May 17, Fable III for Windows takes gamers back to Albion for the next installment of the beloved Fable franchise. Players can take advantage of the same great action found on the console game as well as a full 3-D functionality made possible by NVIDIA technology and a PC-exclusive hardcore mode which offers a higher level of difficulty.
The BBC is planning a free-to-play MMOG based on cult sci-fi television series Doctor Who, reports Big Download, though details are scant at this time. The game will be titled Doctor Who Worlds In Time, and the plan is to launch later this year, allowing players to "follow in the footsteps of the eccentric and brilliant Doctor by travelling through time and space, exploring new worlds and encountering many alien races, both friend and foe."
A new automatic Steam client update is now available, and, as noted here, in the new version the Steam screenshots feature is now out of beta and available to all. Here's word: Steam just made it easier to take and share screenshots of your favorite games.
Press your hotkey (F12 by default) while in any game that runs the Steam Overlay to take screenshots. Then publish them to your Steam Community profile as well as Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit to share them with your friends.
With 1GB of personal Steam Cloud storage, you can upload thousands of screenshots to show off your best moments for all your friends to see. Or you can make them private if you'd rather keep them to yourself.
The Command & Conquer Website now offers confirmation of indications that a new studio called Victory Games will be developing the future of the real-time strategy series, headed by veteran developer Jon Van Caneghem. They have an interview with Van Caneghem with hints of what they have planned, as he says: I can tell you it’s a Command & Conquer game for the PC, but we’re not yet at a stage where I can go into any details—we’ll be prepared to make a more formal announcement later in the year. We’re not just working on a game, though. Our general focus is on the future of Command & Conquer. That means updating a lot of the core technology to create a stable base for future development, and leveraging that work on this first game.
The RIFT Website announces that the head start program for Trion Worlds' MMORPG is now underway, saying: "Head Start is here, and everyone who has pre-ordered RIFT will be able to join the fight for the fate of Telara starting at 10:00 AM PST on Feb. 24, 2011! It’s time to enter the nexus of the planes and wage war on the forces of the Blood Storm. For more information on Head Start, visit www.RIFTgame.com/headstart." In addition, Trion announces they have registered more than one million accounts for the game: Trion Worlds announced today that more than one million accounts have been created to date, signaling a high level of interest for the company’s first massively multiplayer online game, Rift™, which is scheduled to launch March 1st in North America, March 3rd in pan-European countries, and March 4th in the UK. The news hits just as the game’s Head Start period begins, giving pre-order customers advance playtime before servers officially open on launch day.
Launching with 33 Head Start servers, Rift will feature dedicated realms for PvP, PvE, and role-playing players. Servers are live today, coinciding with the game’s Head Start period, which lasts until the game launches next week. Find the official server list on Rift’s official forums at: http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?79032-Official-Rift-Server-List!&p=1198848#post1198848
Rift pre-orders are available at www.RIFTgame.com/preorder and special Founder’s Subscription plans remain available until March 15th.
Wadjet Eye Games now offers online sales of Gemini Rue and they are extending the Limited Edition CD deal for their sci-fi/noir adventure game through February 27. In addition to the game, they have also released a playable demo as a sample of what to expect from the game, which they describe like this: "Gemini Rue is a gripping adventure set in a bleak future dominated by the corrupt Boryokudan crime syndicate. Alternating between two characters, ex-assassin Azriel Odin and hospital inmate Delta-Six, players must uncover the secrets both men are hiding and discover the bond between them. Inspired by the old-school adventure games of Sierra and LucasArts, Gemini Rue features a point and click interface, hand-painted backgrounds, professional voice acting, an original soundtrack, and optional in-game commentary." The demo is mirrored on AtomicGamer.
AGD Interactive announces the release of King's Quest III Redux: To Heir Is Human, just one month after announcing this freeware remake, and less than a week after Telltale announced they are reviving the King's Quest series upon which it is based. They also announce their next project, Mage's Initiation: Reign of the Elements, saying this "will combine classic adventure puzzles with RPG-style character customization in a format reminiscent of Sierra's famed Quest for Glory series" when it is released late next year. More details can be found on this page. The PC and Mac editions of King's Quest III Redux can be downloaded from this page, and here's more on what to expect from that: King's Quest III Redux stays true to Sierra's 1986 classic while improving on elements that detracted from the original experience. Where the original King's Quest III had blocky 16-color EGA graphics and a frustrating text parser, AGD Interactive's remake features hand-painted SVGA graphics and a point and click interface reminiscent of later games in the series. The game has been polished to perfection, with lush storybook-style visuals, professional voice acting with Hollywood actor Robert Adamson in the role of Gwydion, and an original digital soundtrack composed especially for the remake. While the gameplay is largely unchanged, King's Quest III Redux does include a number of original puzzles and puts a new spin on the story.
GameSpy Technology announces that beginning tomorrow they will be offering game developers free access to their cross-platform game services. Word is: "On Friday, GameSpy Technology’s APIs will be available via an easy online self-service process, allowing all developers to access the APIs and begin adding online functionality to their games right away. The cross-platform SDKs include open APIs for rich player data tracking to gauge game performance and audience engagement, user-generated cloud storage content tools to enable actively-engaged communities to collaborate and extend the gameplay experience, social network integration, in-game or web-based commerce and competitive matchmaking services. GameSpy Technology’s services have been tested and proven at multiple levels of scale, from small indie games all the way up to multi-million selling online console titles."
Big Download has a follow-up on news of layoffs at LEGO Universe developer NetDevil. Word is the LEGO Group has bought up the LEGO MMORPG and the NetDevil offices where the game was developed, and is hiring some of the team to support the game. Word is other NetDevil staff will be moving to nearby offices to continue development of Fortune Online, a browser-based online action/RPG, but the Gazillion rep they spoke with would not comment on Jumpgate Evolution because of the Codemasters lawsuit over the game.
gamigo announces Golfstar is live, offering an MMOG based on the sport Mark Twain supposedly called "a good walk spoiled." For now, only the English version is available, but they say other translations will follow in the coming weeks. Here's a bit on the game: "The highlight of the game is its multiplayer mode, which really lives up to its name. In it, up to 30 players compete on one course at the same time. The other players' golf balls are visible to all, which means players can see how their opponents are playing in real time."
Robot Entertainment announces Orcs Must Die, a fantasy-themed action/strategy game from this developer formed by veterans of Ensemble Studios. The game's product section is online, we have some screenshots, and the announcement trailer shows off some fast and furious action. Here's a bit: "Orcs Must Die! challenges players to defend fortresses under siege. With a wide variety of traps and weapons to choose from, Orcs Must Die! dares players to find the best ways to hack, launch, flatten, gibletize, and incinerate an endless army of filthy orcs and their vile allies. Orcs Must Die! features a vibrant look, addictive gameplay, and a blatant disregard for the welfare of orcs." The embedded trailer follows. Continue here to read the full story.
EA's Maxis studio reveals another of the heroes from Darkspore in this trailer, which shows off Viper "the Toxic Ravager," one of the 25 characters in the upcoming action/RPG. Word is: "From a basic attack called Venom Blade that poisons enemies, to Virulent Vines, an ability that roots a single enemy in place and afflicts him with a disease that spreads to others, Viper’s formidable powers make him a particularly potent and lethal warrior. Viper’s squad ability, Thornado – which enables him to rapidly spin in a circle, releasing poisonous thorns in all directions – is another way Viper causes widespread damage. The new Hero Spotlight Video gives gamers a sneak peek into increasing the effectiveness of Viper’s poisons via the Hero Editor, in order to make him the perfect Darkspore Hero."
The Elder Scrolls Website now offers a trailer from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, the upcoming fifth installment in the role-playing series. The clip includes cinematics and gameplay, showing off environments, monsters, and combat. We've posted a copy to the YouTube, which is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
Paradox Interactive announces March 29th is the release date for Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game, so this standalone Hearts of Iron II game will just make its outside Q1 release window. Here's word on the game: "Developed by a team of experienced modders from the Paradox forum, Darkest Hour is a stand-alone Hearts of Iron II game featuring a mixture of short and in-depth campaigns set across the darkest chapters of the 20th century, from the outbreak of the Great War up to the onset of the Cold War. Darkest Hour will introduce a new artificial intelligence that is now able to react to hundreds of different situations simultaneously, along with a dynamic diplomatic system that will allow the player to have a real impact on the course of history." They also offer a new trailer showing off the game.
Mortal Online announces they are now offering 14-day free trials for this fantasy-themed MMORPG. This page offers further details, including how this does not require credit card information. There are certain restrictions, as word is: "Trial accounts are restricted to 600 skill points and the maximum for all skills is capped at 60. Trial players new to the game should take a look at the Character Creation Tutorial Video in the multimedia section. The video was created by the Mortal Online Community and offers helpful insight for new players." Thanks Ant.
Developer NetDevil "suffered crippling layoffs last night," reports Eurogamer, saying this news comes by way of "multiple reports," including Facebook updates and a blog update from animator Toby Cochran. The reports are not confirmed by NetDevil or their owner Gazillion Entertainment, but things sound dire, as they say there's an image of a tombstone circulating on Facebook inscribed with: "NetDevil RIP October 1997-Feb 2011." Here's word from Cochran's blog: "Unfortunately a lot of talented folks lost their jobs as we have found out on Facebook! I personally think it's pretty terrible to find news out that way and not to be correctly notified. We all were receiving phone calls tonight and I just got mine about 2 hrs ago. From what we've been told a handful of artists will be kept on board and continue working on Lego Universe. But at the moment that will be a very, VERY small team. As the count continues to rise on FB, they've cut over 20 people."
Wargaming.net announces that World of Tanks has set another world record for concurrent players in an MMOG, saying on January 23rd the number of players on the game's Russian server totaled 91,311. "We are excited to see so many people playing World of Tanks and the new record is an important achievement for us," said Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. "However, with the population of the game growing steadily another week or two would let us report a more impressive record as the current PCCU number surpasses 120,000 players." Earlier this year they announced a record of 74,536 online players.
The Duke Nukem Forever interview on Eurogamer.net talks with Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software about the upcoming shooter sequel. As noted on MCV, at one point he admits that the game is still 3D Realms' vision, and not the game he would have designed: "No, it's not my game. My commitment is to make sure that I and you and we all finally get to play the game we've been waiting for all this time. So the commitment that I've made with my studio is to make sure 3D Realms' vision is realised."
Upcoming action/RPG sequel Dungeon Siege III will not feature the ability to respec character abilities, reports Siliconera, who asked Feargus Urquhart of developer Obsidian Entertainment why this is the case. "I think respec is an idea… you know that’s a hard question. If we were making a MMO like Warcraft and I’ve put a billion hours into this character and I kind of want to do something different with this character. Instead of doing PvE [player vs. enemy] stuff, I now want to do PvP [player vs. player] stuff I absolutely have to respec it do that," Urquhart explained. "In other words, it's not like the player becomes less successful with their character because of the game or because now they can play the game in a totally different way. In a lot of ways, it is not as necessary, but it was a hard decision to whether to provide that or not. A lot of it came down to it’s not like you’re making a decision like 'I played 75% of the game PvE and now I want to play PvP and now I have to respec or I’m not going to be as good as players at the same level'."
Bitmob - Come get some: Why you should fear low-brow games.
With the release of titles like Bulletstorm and Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) in the coming months, I think it’s safe to say that this spring will be a time for gratuitous, graphic violence and gruff, vulgar-mouthed protagonists rather than silent heroes struggling with nuanced existential crises. While I’m certain that these titles will be less the end of intelligent gaming as we know it and more mindless fun, one does begin to wonder whether they are symptoms of a larger problem.
I recently mentioned my confusion over the icon next to the URLs in Google Chrome, which seemed to always state the site's identity could not be verified. Someone commented that this is because the identifier only applies to sites with SSL certificates, which turns out to be the case, and is explained here. This makes me feel better about the whole situation, though I don't understand why they even bother to display the icon for regular http connections, but there's probably a good explanation for that as well.
Today is the 15th anniversary of Qtest! Where does the time go?
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