Archived News:
S2 Games announces that Heroes of Newerth is free-to-play for the next week to celebrate the one-year anniversary of that action/RTS game. They are kicking off the week (10 days, actually) with a new content patch. Here's word: The F2P session allows new players to sign up for a free HoN account so they can familiarize themselves with the session-based, multiplayer, action-RPG at no cost. Players can purchase a specific coin package during the HoNiversary event and receive a free account that they can use for themselves or pass along to a friend. Additionally, all players will be rewarded 100 Gold Goblin Coins and 100 Silver Coins for their first completed game during the course of the F2P week.
As part of the HoNiversary celebration, S2 Games is also delivering a game patch that will increase customization for current HoN fans and make the game more accessible for new players.
The APB-Reloaded Website talks about what's being done to the APB: All Points Bulletin revival to prepare for its upcoming open beta test. On a semi-related note, GamesIndustry.biz (registration required) has word that the original game's creator David Jones has joined on at Reload Productions in an advisory role. "This game was my passion back when I was developing it with Realtime Worlds, and I'm extremely excited to be able to participate in fulfilling the long term vision for the title," said Jones. "After seeing what the team has done with the game thus far, I'm certain that APB Reloaded will become the title that truly breaks new ground for online game experiences, especially with transition to a free-to-play model."
CNET News has word that the NPD's analysis of video game sales in April 2011 shows a significant rebound, up 20% over April 2010. Word is: "Software led the way, NPD reported, with sales up 26 percent from a year earlier. In a release accompanying the firm's monthly report, analyst Anita Frazier pointed out that April was the first month since November of last year that video game software saw jumps in both dollars and units sold."
EA announces that preorders of Alice: Madness Returns at GameStop, Amazon.com, or the EA Store come with a bonus digital download of the game's original soundtrack with nine songs and an all-new track by Chris Vrenna, formerly of Nine Inch Nails. Additionally, the version of the game for preorder from the EA store is called Alice: Madness Returns – The Complete Collection, which, among other things, comes with a free copy of the original American McGee's Alice, which was previously only announced as a bonus for consoles. Here's the somewhat garbled word on the content of the complete collection: The Complete Collection consists of Alice: Madness Returns™, Weapons of Madness and Dresses Pack, and the original American McGee’s Alice™! Return to Wonderland and battle the corruption with all new weapon upgrades as well as 6 new collectible dresses. The new fourth tier of weapons tips the scales into Alice's favor by unlocking a whole new level of destruction.
In the announcement of their E3 plans, Paradox Interactive includes a Q3 release window for Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter, their 4X space strategy sequel. The Sword of the Stars 2 Product Section, which originally showed the game due in Q1 this year, now offers a precise date of August 16, 2011. On a related note, there's a Sword of the Stars II interview on Strategy Informer where Kerberos CEO Martin Cirulis answers questions about the game.
SEGA West CEO Mike Hayes tells Eurogamer that an Aliens vs. Predator sequel is not being considered at the moment, in spite of apparent interest early last year. "The Aliens universe is so interesting that there are different things that we can do before we go back to an idea of sequelisation," Hayes says. "There's a lot more we can do first before we would consider doing a sequel on AVP."
- Fallout 3 on Games For Windows. Save 50%.
- Serious Sam HD: Double Pack on Steam. Save 75%.
- Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter on Steam. Save 75%.
- Serious Sam HD: Gold Edition on Steam. Save 75%.
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter on Steam. Save 75%.
Still on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day: PONYMEN. Thanks Ant via TDW Geeks.
This trailer from Diablo III demonstrates the follower system in Diablo III, which is the updated version of the hirelings from Diablo II. The clip shows the ranged attacks of the Enchantress and the Scoundrel and the tankiness of the Templar, with glimpses of attribute screens showing their skill levels and the use of armor and equipment, including rings and amulets. Thanks IncGamers.
NowGamer offers quotes from the current issue of Play Magazine where Obsidian Entertainment CEO (and Black Isle Studios veteran) Feargus Urquhart talks about the possibility of creating a sequel to Planescape: Torment, the highly regarded RPG developed by Black Isle towards the end of the last millennium. He says this was ruled out about ten years ago, but this doesn't mean it's still out of the question, though it doesn't sound like this is going anywhere particular at the moment: “I remember right after finishing Planescape: Torment I spoke to Chris Avellone [Obsidian creative director] and asked what he wanted to do, and he was like, ‘I don’t wanna do a sequel!’ We haven’t talked about it in ten years, but it might be different now. But a lot of revisiting old games is about saying, ‘okay, that worked in 1999, what would work now?’ And how would you do it again?”
But while it’s not entirely off the table, Urquhart does have concerns that would have to be addressed: “We’d have to think a lot about it, because it would have to be done right, otherwise the fans of the original would be pissed off and new people wouldn’t get it. That would be terrible.”
Ubisoft's fiscal year 2010-2011 results ( Adobe Acrobat format) are now online, showing a €52 million net loss for a year on sales up 19% to over €1 billion. In the section labeled "non-recurring reorganization charges," they reveal the "termination of certain projects," which are not specified: "Ubisoft has taken measures to adapt its structure to major changes in the industry by reorganizing the roles and operations of its studios, which has resulted in the termination of certain projects."
Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson's tardy list of LIVE Activity for week of May 2 includes the usual rundown of Games for Windows Top LIVE Titles based on UUs. Here's that list:
- GTA IV
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
- Section 8: Prejudice
- F1 2010
- Street Fighter IV
- Colin McRae : Dirt 2
- Resident Evil 5
- Fallout 3
- Bioshock 2
- Halo 2
- Bulletstorm
- Gears of War
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Red Faction Guerrilla
- Dead Rising 2
- Lost Planet 2
- FlatOut UC
- Tinker
- Section 8
- Battlestations: Pacific
A tweet by Ed Vaizey seems to reveal plans for an Aliens game from strategy specialists The Creative Assembly, saying: "Great visit to Creative Assembly one of UK's best developers. Now hiring for new blockbuster based on Alien." Computer and Video Games follows up on this, saying SEGA has confirmed the report, but will not be revealing genres or target platforms at this point, though they do say it is coming to consoles, and that it will be a triple-A game: "This is very much a triple-A project," Sega West boss Mike Hayes added. "We want this to be a peer to the likes of Dead Space 2." There's also word on Gamasutra from SEGA calling this a "console core game," and that they are hiring staff and building a new facility for the project: "The developer said that it is set to open a new 10,000 square foot facility in the area in aid of the game's development, and noted that it plans to have around 200 staff within the year. 160 people currently work at Creative Assembly."
Battlefront.com now offers playable demos for the Windows and OS X editions of Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy, their World War II strategy game. The demo offers PBEM/TCP multiplayer and includes three scenarios created specifically for the demo, including a training mission. Limitations include the disabling of QuickBattles, the inability to save maps created with the scenario editor, and the inclusion of nag screens.
Battle.net outlines the latest hotfixes implemented on the server side over the past week in World of Warcraft, Blizzard's MMORPG. Word is: "Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below will go live the moment they are implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this thread in the days ahead as additional hotfixes are applied." Thanks Ant.
City Interactive has officially announced Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, reports IGN. The story is basically identical to a revelation earlier this year, saying the military shooter sequel will use Crytek's CryENGINE 3, though they add a tentative 2012 release window.
Square Enix offers revised projections for its fiscal year ending March 31st, reports MCV, saying the Japanese developer/publisher is now looking at 12 times the losses they predicted, as they now anticipate losing 12 billion yen (approximately $148 million USD) instead of the previously announced 1 billion yen. About 0.6 billion yen of this is blamed on "the Tohoku Pacific Ocean Earthquakes and Tsunami," and here's the explanation of the rest: "Under a rapidly changing operating environment and more prudent estimates of future cash flows, the company plans to write down goodwill (approximately YEN 8.8 billion)," states a company statement. "Further, as a result of introducing a tightened selection standard regarding title lineup to strengthen the revenue base of the Company’s digital entertainment segment, project development cancellation and related losses (approximately YEN 4.5 billion) are expected."
In spite of selling just short of 22 million games during the past financial year, Japanese gaming giant Konami reports a drop in profits and revenue, according to MCV. Word is: "Japanese publisher Konami generated YEN 12.9bn (£98m) in profit for its financial year ending March 31st 2011, a three per cent drop from last year’s YEN 13.3bn (£101m). Net revenues fell 1.6 per cent year-on-year from YEN 262.1bn (£2bn) to YEN 258bn (£1.9bn). This is across its overall business. In its video games division revenues fell 6.7 per cent from YEN 142.7bn (£1.08bn) to YEN 133.1bn (£1.01bn) year-on-year. Its strongest performing games were Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and PES 2011. Sales of the Pro Evolution Soccer series have now reached 69.7m units worldwide."
A pair of new updates on the ArenaNet Blog deal with the creation of the city of Lion's Arch in the upcoming MMORPG sequel. An article by content designer Matthew Medina called Building the Heart of the City offers a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating the city, and Matt says: "I also want you to see how we’re infusing Lion’s Arch with all the little touches that we hope will make your downtime between personal story steps and dynamic events as entertaining and immersive as possible!" There's also this article with more details on what they call the "most diverse and cosmopolitan city in Tyria," offering this trailer to show it off.
The official A Game Of Thrones - Genesis Website is now live, providing an online home to Cyanide Studios' upcoming game based on the George R.R. Martin's series of A Song of Ice and Fire novels. The site includes information and media and forums to foster discussion of the project.
A new trailer from DiRT 3 shows off more of Codemasters' upcoming rally racing sequel. The clip features Ford cars, the Ford logo, and a Ford sponsorship, but no dirt. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
So is Thursday the 12th supposed to be lucky?
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