Archived News:
PS3 Site Polska has word, in the site's native Polish, on plans for console versions of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. They say this comes from a TV interview where CD Projekt's Michael Kicinski answered about console plans, saying (translated): "Yes, it is for us an entirely new project. But of course, already working on it. You can expect that during such events as the largest fair in the world of computer games, or E3 and Gamescom inform you about what is currently working on ..." They also address the first thought that popped to mind after reading this, saying (also translated): "And no, this is not a statement or taken out of context or incorrectly translated." Thanks Videogameszone.
Telltale's episodic Jurassic Park: The Game is delayed, as the developer has sent a letter to those who have preordered the movie-based game that even though the first episode was due this month, it no longer has a set release date. They will be providing a full refund over the coming days to all preorder customers, as well as a full game for free as compensation. PC Gamer has the full letter, which explains the situation like this: Our goal was to release the first episode of Jurassic Park: The Game this month, and currently we are very excited about how the game’s creation is progressing. The game’s mechanics and storytelling have come together in such a way that we see great potential, so much so that we feel we can push these elements to the next level if we spend some extra time working on them. It is because of this that we are delaying Jurassic Park: The Game on PC to ensure PC players get the best possible gaming experience.
We’ll be investing the extra time into making the game great and it will be released simultaneously on every platform this fall. We regret any disappointment on the part of our fans but we are confident you’ll be pleased with our decision when the game comes out.
Battle.net announces that version 4.1 of World of Warcraft is now live, adding the Rise of the Zandalari to Blizzard's MMORPG. The update also introduces the new Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms system as well as a new Guild Finder and Guild Challenges. They offer the complete patch notes.
Steam News announces a new automatic update is now available for Homefront, addressing some issues with Kaos Studios' first-person shooter. The update also includes word on a future update with more significant changes: "Additionally, here are a few of the items that are currently in testing for future patches: hardcore mode, more player admin options (votekick/voteban/voterestart/votenextmap), and additional anti-cheat functionality."
Matrix Games announces Team Assault: Baptism of Fire, a World War II turn-based tactics game in the works at Zeal. The game's official product section is online, offering some screenshots, this trailer, a June 15, 2011 release date, and a link to another mini-site with more media and details. Here's word on the game: Team Assault boasts an in-depth combat system that booth favors realism and exciting gameplay. Weapon accuracy and penetration, cover versus weapon penetration, recoil, encumbrance and wounded soldiers are only some of the included features. Also included are near limitless customization options. The included map editor and force creator will allow you to design finely tuned squads that perfectly suit your needs and command styles. A map editor is also included so constructing all new tactical puzzles and environments is possible as well!
An update on the Line of Defense Website by Derek Smart discusses the size of the game world in Line of Defense, 3000AD's upcoming science fiction MMOG. The post is accompanied by some new screenshots showing the game's expansive environment, and here's a bit of outlook on them: "My single greatest concern at this point is that it is so huge that most gamers used to the “closed in” level based design of fps games, may just get lost in there. Or at best, be intimidated by the size of it all. Our friends used to [older] fps games like Planetside, will probably appreciate the scope of it all. But despite that, even if you had 128 people in a single world, that is still a heckuva lot of space to run around in. Sure there are all kinds of vehicles (incl. naval units), aircrafts, jetpacks and such to use, but for my part, running (first or third person) around in these bases is a lot of fun. Especially if you know where you’re going (there’s a map for that)."
The Paradox Interactive Forums have word on a new patch that's now available for Supreme Ruler 2020 and Supreme Ruler 2020 Gold, updating Battlegoat Studios' strategy games to version 6.8.1. They announce a permanent price reduction for Supreme Ruler 2020 Gold to $9.99, as well as plans to update the base game with the content of the Gold edition: "Not only will 'Update 8' be provided free-of-charge to all existing Supreme Ruler 2020 and Supreme Ruler 2020 Gold owners, but all owners of Supreme Ruler 2020 will receive a full update to bring them up to date with the latest Supreme Ruler 2020 Gold edition which includes all content released since the game launched." The patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, and WorthPlaying.
Sumthing Else Music Works announces a May 24 release for Warhammer 40,0000: Dawn of War II The Complete Soundtrack, a 2 CD collection of the orchestral music from Dawn of War II, Chaos Rising, and Retribution composed by Doyle W. Donehoo.
Battle.net has news that a new version 1.3.3 patch for StarCraft II is now available on the Public Test Realm for the real-time strategy sequel. The post offers an outline of what the patch does, but no outlook on when it will have its full release.
Impulse announces the ten bestselling titles on the service for the week of April 17 - April 23:
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity
- Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
- Defense Grid Gold
- X3 - Gold
- Sins of a Solar Empire Expansion Bundle
- Sins of a Solar Empire - Diplomacy
- Star Ruler
- Runaway Bundle
- Armada 2526 - Supernova
- Gratuitous Space Battles
All preorders on Direct2Drive are 10% off.
The TrackMania website now redirects to this trailer showing TrackMania2 Canyon, Nadeo's upcoming racing sequel, in action. There's also a French preview of the game on Jeux Video and a German preview on PCGames.de, each of which offers the same half-dozen new screenshots. Thanks Frans via Maniaplanet.
Activision announces the contributions of an all-star cast of voice talent to the Call of the Dead zombie level in the upcoming Escalation DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, including director George A. Romero, the inspiration for the level. Here's word: In addition to George A. Romero, whose credits include Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead, he is joined by Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose credits include the hit TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cruel Intentions; Robert Englund, best known for originating the role of Freddy Krueger in the successful Nightmare on Elm Street franchise; Michael Rooker, most recently acclaimed for his work on AMC's horror drama The Walking Dead; and Danny Trejo, who starred in 2010's action-thriller Machete.
Ubisoft announces plans to begin closed beta testing of TrackMania2 Canyon in July, as development progresses on Nadeo's racing sequel and the ManiaPlanet portal for TrackMania, ShootMania, and QuestMania. They also say that beta testing nears on the upcoming first-person shooter and that their RPG plans are still alive: "In addition to TrackMania2 Canyon, a closed beta of ShootMania, ManiaPlanet’s FPS, will be available in the coming months. QuestMania, an RPG, also will be available via closed beta at a later date. The result will be a single ManiaPlanet community where players are free to engage with any of the three games however they choose, whether by creating and communicating, organizing and cooperating, competing, or simply playing for fun." Here's word on the TrackMania sequel: Nadeo has improved upon that foundation with TrackMania2 Canyon, delivering tremendous advances in graphic quality, racing realism and network infrastructure while maintaining the intuitive gameplay, captivating racing modes and familiar community tools that make the TrackMania series unique.
A stake in social gaming monolith Bigpoint has changed hands in a deal said to value at $350 million, reports Develop, saying: "The transaction is complex and not all information has been disclosed." Here's word on the deal, which still needs to gain regulatory approval: In June 2008, General Electric, NBC Universal and private equity firm GMT Communications acquired a 70 per cent controlling share of Bigpoint. That deal was valued at about $100 million.
Now two other private equity firms have acquired a controlling stake from that 70 per cent.
TA Associates and Summit Partners LP – both based in Boston Massachusetts – have obtained a “slight majority” of the company.
LucasArts announces they've signed a studio-wide multiyear deal to use Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for multiple projects on all the game's supported platforms. "LucasArts is now primed to capitalize on Unreal Engine 3's ability to scale across platforms, from mobile, through PC and console all the way up to the next generation of games," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "We can't wait to see what happens when LucasArts combines their talented workforce and amazing intellectual properties with Unreal Engine 3."
The Capsized Website reveals that Alien Trap's 2D platformer will be released via digital distribution this Friday along with a demo. Word is: "Capsized will be released for digital download on April 29th! It’ll be released on Steam for $9.99, and for download on our website. A free demo will be released on the same day. We also have a video interview with the two developers recorded at SXSW – thanks to Indiepub." That video interview can be found on the YouTube.
John Schappert has parted ways with Electronic Arts, where he served as COO, to join social gaming giant Zynga, reports Reuters. Here's word on what could be interpreted as a sign of the times: "Zynga, which has enjoyed explosive growth with games such as FarmVille and CityVille, is gaining an executive with deep experience in leading a publicly traded video game company, which could help it gear up for an initial public offering, analysts said. A regulatory filing released on Tuesday showed Schappert resigned from EA on Monday. He had worked at the video game publisher for 22 months, and before that at Microsoft Corp for two years." Thanks Develop.
It seems that some layoffs have hit Obsidian Entertainment, according to the Twitter feeds of ex-staff saying they've been let go. Akil Hooper tweets: "11 years, nearly a dozen shipped titles, Designer, Lead, Producer. 1 cancelled game, survived 7 layoffs, 8th got me. Not a bad track record." QA tester Ashley Betters tweets: "No longer work at Obsidian. I guess this means I will have to start buying my own pens." A tweet from Justin Reynard offers sympathies: "Today marks my 3 year anniversary working at Obsidian Entertainment. To my coworkers (and sadly the ones we've lost) you guys are amazing.<3" Producer Jason Fader adds, simply: "*sigh*." A post on the Obsidian Forums says: "According to LI, producer Tess Treadwell and designer Sydney Wolfram (and three interns) seem to be got laid off too." Thanks VG247.
This trailer offers a look at the Rise of the Zandalari content in the upcoming version 4.1 patch for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Word is: "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm patch 4.1 is just on the horizon. Building off of our preview of the Rise of the Zandalari content introduced in this patch, we’re pleased to present you with the official patch trailer!"
GFK Chart-Track now offers the top 20 bestselling PC titles in the U.K. for the week ending April 23, a list presumably delayed by Easter. This week Portal 2 jumps in at the #1 position. Also, MCV has U.K. all-platform sales figures for March, where Homefront was the #1 seller, and EA managed to place 12 games in the top 50.
LEGO Group announces plans to launch a "major" content update next week for LEGO Universe, the MMOG based on the popular building blocks toy. Among other things, this will introduce a community building project: "An upcoming community building mission will have all minifigures in the LEGO Universe working together to help assemble the greatest in-game creation yet - Nexus Tower! Currently under construction, the Nexus Tower will protect the Nexus of Imagination from Maelstrom enemy forces upon completion."
The Bethesda Blog now offers a new trailer on "the basics" from Brink, kicking off a "Get SMART" series of trailers from the upcoming first-person shooter. The clip provides "helpful advice on how to get to grips with the innovative new shooter," and they say more clips in the series will follow leading up to the game's launch for all platforms on May 10 in North America and May 13 in Europe.
EA announces that Darkspore is now available in North America, and that the Spore-inspired action/RPG will be released in Europe on Friday. This launch trailer celebrates the release, and here's word on the game: Unlike any other action RPG, Darkspore enables players to collect an arsenal of living weapons - genetic heroes with different combat abilities - and upgrade them with tens of thousands of collectible body parts and armor. With three distinct classes, five different genetic hero types, and an almost limitless number of customization options based on loot collected throughout the campaign, players can create any number of awesome Heroes with which to do battle. Utilizing technology from the award-winning Spore Creature Editor, players can modify heroes and their respective stats, in order to improve skill sets as well as changing the overall look of the three-Hero squad.
The Word of Notch has details on mod support in Minecraft, the indie sensation that people dig so much it now boasts over seven million registered users and over two million sales. The post outlines plans to offer modders the source code and introduce a certificate system to allow users to choose which developers they feel they can trust. The original plan was to charge a fee for this which would not be "prohibitively expensive," but a pretty rapid post followed backtracking on this unpopular concept, as Notch says: "Because of overwhelming feedback, the cost of the mod api access will be 0 dollars. Our intention wasn’t to make money off selling the access, only to ensure some level of quality. Obviously that wasn’t the most popular idea in the world. ;)"
Paradox Interactive announces development is complete on Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword, and the now-gold hack-and-slash (and shoot) sequel will be released via digital distribution on May 3. This trailer shows off the game, and here's word on what it entails: With Fire and Sword builds and expands upon the highly regarded combat system from Mount & Blade: Warband. Firearms and battle formations based off real-world military strategies have been introduced to the battlefield. Also, muskets and pistols can now be used as sidearms in hand-to-hand combat to quickly drop your foes. In addition to the enhanced single player mode, Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword also provides a host of original multiplayer content including the new game mode: Captain, where up to 16 players can command a squad of solders.
THQ and Games Workshop announce an extension to their license granting THQ exclusive rights to publish video games based on the Warhammer 40,000 across all platforms, "including core, social and mobile rights." They call this a multi-year extension, but do not specify how many years. "The complex, futuristic war-torn universe created by Games Workshop equipped THQ’s award-winning development teams with the material to create one of the most loved PC franchises – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War," said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. "Our envisioning of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will continue to grow with top quality games across all platforms, including the upcoming launches of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online."
1C Company announces the release of Supply Pack Alpha, a multiplayer DLC pack for Men of War: Assault Squad, which offers five new competitive multiplayer maps for the military strategy game. The DLC should be available now or soon through the 1C Store and Steam. They also offer a new patch (direct link) to update the game to version 1.85.3, which improves gameplay elements, fixes balance issues, and adds new vehicles, including the M4A4 Sherman, M4A4 Firefly, StuG III G, and StuH 42. These patch notes outline all the changes. The patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, Strategy Informer, and WorthPlaying.
Dark Energy Digital announces Hydrophobia Prophecy, an enhanced edition of Hydrophobia, the survival/adventure game set in a flooded environment. The game is set to launch on Steam and PSN on May 9, and they say that discounted preorders on Steam are underway, though this may be premature, as the project isn't listed there yet. Here are some screenshots, and this document offers a complete feature list.
Turbine announces they are taking control of European operations for Lord of the Rings Online, their Tolkien-inspired MMORPG. This Turbine Global Service FAQ has all the details on what this means to players.
The Miner Wars Website outlines Keen Software House's plans to attend E3 in June. Though the developers of Miner Wars 2081 won't actually have an exhibit, but they are putting put out the call for those interested in a "little engagement during the day or an after-hours imbibement [sic]." They also offer a reminder about their weekly voice chat and they have an outline of future update plans for their 6DOF shooter, and the list of planned changes follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Update: Thanks for all the interest in the giveaway, but our supply of beta keys is finally exhausted. Microsoft Game Studios has provided us with beta keys for Age of Empires Online, the upcoming online installment in the strategy series. We probably have enough keys to cover everyone who is interested, but we'll offer them on a first-come, first served basis in case the demand outstrips the supply. If you want one, simply post a comment to this story expressing your interest, and we'll send a key to the email address associated with your account here. Update: It should be noted that this is being run through Games for Windows LIVE. Update: Thanks for all the interest in the giveaway, but our supply of beta keys is finally exhausted.
GameFront - Fun Fun Fun.
I don’t want games taken “seriously” by some arbitrary social judge if it means gaming itself has to be serious business. Some may consider me an uncivilized troglodyte for this, but like I said last week, I want fun games more than any other type of game. I love and respect that games can be deeper, and I am excited about the potential for interactive entertainment as a narrative medium. Again, however, I fear that discussion about the “Citizen Kane” of gaming often outweighs the discussion about whether or not Bulletstorm is awesome because you can shoot a guy in the dick. It may not be the most culturally significant thing in the world, but it’s a damn good laugh, and I think that’s the most important thing in the world.
It's supposed to hit 80 °F here today, which will be pretty heartwarming as it warms everything else, as it helps put a long, cold winter behind us. Of course I'll be singing a different tune as the long, hot summer proceeds, but for now this has me happy.
R.I.P.: Phoebe Snow, Who Sang 1975 Hit 'Poetry Man,' Dies.
|
Twitter 
