Archived News:
Steam News announces the release of HOARD, the action/strategy game from indie developer Big Sandwich Games. HOARD puts players in the role of lovable dragons, who must do battle with the evil humans that surround them. Word is: "Scare villages! Burn castles! Collect gold and gems! Kidnap princesses! Roast pesky knights! Fend off thieves! Topple giants! Build a hoard of treasure! Compete or cooperate with other dragons in epic multiplayer battles! Your goal is simple, but challenging: build the biggest pile of gold that you can!" The game is on sale at a 10% savings for its first week of availability.
SEGA announces the launch of Spiral Knights, Three Rings' free-to-play MMO action/adventure game that's shown off in this launch trailer. "The response we have seen from players during the preview has been fantastic," said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. "We are tremendously proud of the team; they have worked hard over the last four years to bring the co-operative fun of Spiral Knights to life and we are delighted to be bringing their game to the world in partnership with SEGA. All that is left to say is: Watch out for those jelly cubes!" Here's more:
Spiral Knights pits players against the creatures of Cradle, where they must fight to survive by scavenging materials from the ever-changing worlds beneath the surface. The game features:
- A constantly changing world brought to life in a vibrant, retro-inspired visual style
- Intuitive pick-up-and-play controls (including both mouse-only and gamepad control)
- Opportunities for players to create guilds, craft new gear, and customize the looks and abilities of their characters
- Easy matchmaking for co-op mayhem with parties of up to four players
- Gear and weapons upgradeable through adventuring or through the purchase of Crystal Energy
Futuremark Games Studio announces "Last Stand," a free DLC update for Shattered Horizon to add a single-player component to their zero-gravity first-person shooter. This trailer shows off what to expect, and here's word: "With the Last Stand update all game modes can now be played in single player with and against bots. The update also adds the new Last Stand game mode which pits a team of four against waves of increasingly difficult bot enemies. The Last Stand game mode can be played offline with bots or in online co-op with friends." It's not clear if the DLC is available yet, but the game is on sale on Steam at a 50% discount. Shattered Horizon requires a DirectX 10 compatible graphics card and Windows Vista or Windows 7.
A new DETOUR video blog is now available, offering a first look at this road construction/strategy game first announced two years ago. The clip shows a gaming session versus a couple of AI opponents giving a real sense of what the game is all about. The clip concludes with word to expect this soon, as the game is due for release in Q2 of this year via Steam. Thanks Mike Martinez via Destructoid.
Closed beta testing is now underway for Defenders of Ardania, Paradox Interactive's tower offense game set in the world of Majesty. Those interested in participating can still sign up on this page.
"Doom was the game that made me rethink everything I thought about games - control systems, design, rendering. It convinced me that games were the future of entertainment." -- Valve's Gabe Newell on his three favorite games.
Link of the Day: TAS Super Mario Bros. 1 2 2J 3 Quad run in 10-39.75. Thanks Ant via Reddit. Pretty amazing, though the soundtrack is a trifle tough to take.
A playable demo for Bulletstorm is now available, offering the expected sample of the first-person shooter from Epic Games and their People Can Fly studio. The demo is available through Games For Windows and Steam. We don't have details on the demo, but the announcement does have this blurb on the game: Since the arrival of Grayson Hunt and his band of space pirates, Bulletstorm has received worldwide acclaim, with Yahoo! Games calling it, “the most original shooter in years,” and MSN declaring Bulletstorm “a fantastic game.” Bulletstorm tells the story of Grayson Hunt and Ishi Sato, ex-members of an elite military force called Dead Echo, now mercenaries on the run across the galaxy. Stranded on Stygia, a paradise lost that has been overrun by rampaging freaks, flesh-eating plants and creatures the size of skyscrapers, their main objective is to survive long enough in order to exact revenge on the one person responsible for their plight.
The MyCrysis Forums now have word on the availability of a new automatic patch to update Crysis 2 to version 1.2.0.0. The new version of Crytek's first-person shooter sequel has further anti-cheat measures, adds a crouch toggle option, fixes occasional login issues, and more. The manual version of the patch can be found on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls, and there's also a note for Steam users, warning they: "will experience some prolonged loading times in this patch for which we apologise. We will update the Steam build in the next few days to resolve this issue." The Crysis 2 Update Thread and Crysis 2 PC fixes & info threads have each been updated, and the complete patch notes for the new version follow. Continue here to read the full story.
Ubisoft announces Anno 2070, a new installment in the Anno/A.D. series of strategy games that will send the franchise to the future when it's released this winter. Here's a portion of the announcement: Developed by Related Designs in collaboration with Blue Byte, Anno 2070 takes place in a near-future environment where climate change has forced humanity to adapt to rising sea levels that have left stretches of once-fertile land completely inhospitable. Players need to master new technologies while facing numerous ecological challenges to build their empires. Anno 2070 offers players the ability to be architects of the future and create the world of tomorrow.
“Anno 2070 is a very ambitious game that will feel both familiar and fresh to fans of the series,” said Adam Novickas, director of marketing at Ubisoft. “Due to the game’s futuristic setting, the development team wasn’t restricted by historical boundaries and was able to dream bigger than ever before. It’s a new take on a great franchise that both newcomers and longtime fans will love.”
This new trailer from Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale introduces the fighter from the upcoming Forgotten Words RPG. The clip demonstrating the game's hack-and-slash combat is also embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
Here's a second Dangerous Curves trailer from SHIFT 2 Unleashed, the just-released racing sequel. The clip features Chris Rado talking about what it takes to handle a corner at 190 mph, and how you know when you've hit the very edge of your car's limits. Here's the embedded version. Continue here to read the full story.
Battlefield Play4Free is now live, offering all comers access to this free-to-play military shooter developed by Easy Studios. The site offers this launch trailer, and various support threads in their forums for Alerts, Players helping players, Store Support, and Technical Support.
PlanetSide Universe has word from SOE's John Smedley that the recently revealed cuts at SOE will not actually negatively impact PlanetSide Next, as he says the online shooter remake is actually slated to receive more resources, rather than less: "PlanetSide Next is getting More resources and will be out a little later in the year but we are pulling out all the stops to make it great." Thanks Big Download.
The Arma 2 Website announces Reinforcements for Bohemia Interactive's military shooter sequel arrived in the U.K. and the Czech Republic on Friday: "We’re pleased to announce the release of a standalone expansion pack Arma 2: Reinforcements in the UK and Czech Republic. The latest expansion in this military simulator series hit the shelves on Friday 1st of April."
GFK Chart-Track has the top 20 bestselling PC games in the U.K., updated for the week ending April 2nd. SHIFT 2 Unleashed enters the chart at number nine, but otherwise things are pretty stable, with The Sims: Medieval, Crysis 2, Total War: Shogun 2, and Football Manager 2011 holding steady in the top four sports. MCV has the all-formats chart, where Crysis 2 holds the top spot.
The Valve PotatoFoolsDay ARG Wiki shows indications that the Potato Sack collection on Steam contains some sort of alternate reality game hinting at something. The pack was released on April 1st, which means this is more likely to be the case, or less likely, or, of course, neither. Thanks Destructoid via Reddit.
- Elder Scrolls V Skyrim on Maximum PC. Thanks Bill.
The Mets emerged from the weekend with a winning record, and the Knicks made the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2004. Yeah, sure... I know this is some sort of elaborate April Fools' Joke, I just need to figure out how you guys rigged this up.
|
Twitter 
