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Archived News:
The Witcher 2 Website has word to expect a new version 1.2 patch for CD Projekt RED's action/RPG sequel tomorrow. In the meantime, they offer the patch notes, which include word that besides changes and bug fixes, the patch will also include all previously released DLC as well as a new DLC called "Barbers and Coiffeuses" for all your hairdressing needs. The change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
OnLive has a new deal with Intel, which, combined with a new universal controller, will bring the cloud-based gaming service to connected TVs and Blu-Rayplayers, reports Gigaom. On a related note, Eurogamer says OmLive is slated to launch in the U.K. this autumn. Here's word on the connected TV deal: The Intel partnership, which is being announced ahead of next week’s E3 video game confab, will embed OnLive technology onto Intel CE4100 Embedded Processors. That means TVs, Blu-ray players and other devices using the Intel consumer electronics chipset will soon have access to the video game service, expanding availability to tens of millions of new devices.
But streaming to the TV is just one piece of enabling users to play cloud-based video games. Users also need a way to control those games. So OnLive is releasing a new universal controller designed to work with just about any connected device. The controller works either by establishing a direct wireless connection, or through a USB dongle connected to the device.
Closed beta testing of Hellgate is slated to begin tomorrow, offering players the first crack at this MMORPG revival of Hellgate: London. There's still time to apply for a beta key, and here's word on what to expect: The new and enhanced Hellgate, formerly known as Hellgate: London and including the Hellgate: Tokyo expansion, will reopen its gates to players who crave life and death encounters. Available in both third-person and first-person perspective, this dark world of futuristic demons utilizes random maps and intricate weapon customization to provide a refreshing gameplay experience. Hellgate also offers a choice for players to join other parties in multiplayer mode, or go it alone in a solo campaign - if they dare...
Snail Games announces registration is now being accepted for closed beta testing of The Chosen, an upcoming free-to-play MMORPG based on Chinese history. Word is: "Players can sign up now to get the first glimpse into a legendary ancient China, where The Chosen must return balance to a war-torn universe. Three kingdoms – the Light, the Dark, and the Human Worlds need nothing short of a hero to challenge the gods and end their crippling conflict once and for all. Closed beta registration for The Chosen will remain open until the testing period officially begins on June 13, 2011."
The Secret History of the Riddick Team from 1UP.com has a history of Starbreeze, talking with current and former employees of the Swedish developer. They discuss The Darkness, Riddick, and the upcoming Syndicate remake Project RedLime in this in-depth piece.
A trailer on G4tv.com shows off 15 minutes of gameplay footage from Alice: Madness Returns, the upcoming action/adventure sequel. They say: "The gameplay video presented below is taken from just after Alice’s first jump into Wonderland, and reintroduces you to a few familiar faces, gives you a taste of the slick and quick combat, and lets you gaze in awe at some truly spectacular vistas along the way." They also offer another trailer that reveals some of the mini-games players will encounter.
The DCS Website now offers a new patch for DCS: A-10C Warthog to update the combat flight simulator to version 1.1.0.8. The new version adds new units as well as bug fixes. A list of highlights follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Games
- Dungeon Keeper on GOG.com.
- Ultima Underworld 1+2 on GOG.com.
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II on Impulse.
- Wing Commander - Privateer on GOG.com.
Patches
All DLC on Direct2Drive. Save 15% with code "EXTRAS" at checkout.
- Airport Simulator on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- AI War Alien Bundle on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- AI War: Children of Neinzul on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- AI War: Fleet Command 5.0 on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- AI War Light Of The Spire on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- AI War - Zenith Remnant Pack on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- Alice: Madness Returns on GamersGate. Save 10% on preorders.
- Batman: Arkham Asylum GotY Edition on Games For Windows. Save 50%.
- BulletStorm on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- Bundle #1 on Show Me the Games. Save 75%.
- Crysis 2 Limited Edition on Impulse. Save 50%.
- Dead Space 2 on GamersGate. Save 25%.
- Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition on GamersGate. Save 25%.
- Dreamcatcher Sci-fi Bundle on Impulse. Save 50%.
- Dungeon Siege 3 on GamersGate. Save 10% on preorders.
- Frozen Synapse on Impulse. Save 20%.
- Frozen Synapse on GamersGate. Save 20%.
- Frozen Synapse + Soundtrack on Impulse. Save 15%.
- Frozen Synapse (Soundtrack Bundle) on GamersGate. Save 20%.
- Grand Theft Auto 3 on GamersGate. Save 66%.
- Grand Theft Auto 3 (Mac) on GamersGate. Save 66%.
- Red Faction on Steam. Save 75%.
- Red Faction II on Steam. Save 75%.
- Red Faction Guerrilla on Steam. Save 75%.
- The Star and the Crescent on GamesFront. Save 15%.
- Tales of Monkey Island Complete Pack on Steam. Save 66%.
- Tidalis on GamersGate. Save 50%.
- War Plan Pacific on GamersFront. Save 15%.
Still on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.
The Ultima Forever Website now offers free downloads of the PC edition of Ultima IV, celebrating 30 years of games in this classic RPG series originated by Lord British. This follows speculation that something like this might be happening when a couple of Flash-based Ultima IV remakes recently received DMCA takedown notices. Here's word on the festivities, which also include the release of updated versions of Ultima Underworld 1+2 on GOG.com: EA and BioWare Mythic are celebrating 30 years of the Ultima Franchise by offering a free PC download of the classic Ultima IV, one of the most heralded RPGs in gaming history. The download is available at the newly launched Ultima heritage site www.UltimaForever.com.
Stretching across dozens of games, multiple platforms and three decades, millions of people from all over the world have set out on great adventures in the world of Ultima. Beginning with the classic Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, they have braved perilous dungeons, faced off against fearsome enemies, conquered lands and saved the world. The original Ultima series includes some of the most beloved fantasy games of all time and helped set the stage for the pioneering Ultima Online, which launched more than a decade ago and was recognized with the inaugural GDC Online Hall of Fame award in 2010.
Continuing the celebration, the classic PC editions of Ultima, Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II have been re-mastered for current PC operating systems and are available today on GOG.com. Stay tuned for more information about additional re-mastered Ultima titles in the future.
Steam now offers the Windows edition of the Escalation DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch's first-person shooter sequel. Here's word on the $14.99 USD pack: "'Escalation', the second Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, contains 5 all-new exceptionally varied maps; featuring 4 Multiplayer maps and an epic Black Ops Zombies experience with all-new playable characters." On a related note, the promised free multiplayer weekend for Call of Duty: Black Ops is now underway on Steam. Here's the deal on that: "If you already have Steam installed you can click here to install or play. If you don't have Steam, you can download it here."
There's a brief interview with Paul Meegan on MCV with the first public comments from the president of LucasArts since he took over that post a year ago. The company seems to have had as many shakeups as game releases over the past decade, and he frankly admits: "I think people look at it and wonder why it hasn’t done better in recent years." Over time LucasArts has gone back and forth on what kind of games they should make, and Meegan feels they need to focus on their core property: Lucasfilm has some of the most beloved and powerful brands in entertainment, we have a loyal community of fans, and talented people in every discipline. We’re surrounded by staggeringly bright and creative people at the top of their games.
In recent years, LucasArts hasn’t always done a good job of making games. We should be making games that define our medium, that are competitive with the best of our industry, but we’re not. That has to change. “Our priority is to create authentic, immersive, high quality Star Wars games.
The E3 trailer from The Darkness II offers the first look at gameplay from the upcoming action/adventure/first-person shooter sequel. The clip features cut-scenes, shooter and melee combat, as well as The Darkness. The trailer concludes repeating the game's previously announced October 4, 2011 North American release date. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Gearboxity announces free multiplayer DLC for Duke Nukem Forever as a bonus for anyone signed up as a "first access club" member as of today. Entrance into this club requires having preordered Duke Nukem Forever or ownership of the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition. Here's word on the DLC: With the Duke Nukem Forever demo just around the corner for members of the First Access Club there, Gearbox Software and 2K Games are thrilled to announce that the First Access Club benefits don't stop there!
Any First Access Club member who has registered as of today will receive the very first downloadable Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer add-on pack for free when it's released!* Surprise!
Thanks again for all of your support, and always bet on Duke!
*Platform availability and eligibility is subject to local laws and regulations.
A post by Capcom's Christian Svensson to Capcom-Unity announces a change to their plans for DRM on the upcoming Windows edition of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, following up on the controversy over last week's announcement that the enhanced brawler would require a constant internet connection to play (thanks Joao). Thanking everyone for their "passion, input and support," this update kicks off with a headline saying: "SSFIV: AE PC – DRM: We Had it Wrong," going on to explain why and how: The argument that legitimate users would have a worse experience than pirates was the loudest and most convincing. We certainly don’t want that to be the case and that was never our intention.
So we’ve heard you loud and clear and here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Shortly after launch (it might even be at launch, but we’ll see how submission timing and approval goes) we will roll out a small title update that will completely remove the character limitations for offline mode. That is to say, once you’ve updated, you will be able to use all 39 characters when not connected to the Internet to practice your combo timings, have some fun with a friend on a laptop, or whatever while offline.
As one would logically expect, to get any of the benefits of the online services (online multiplayer, replay sharing/watching, achievements, etc.) you must be online and logged in.
With that hurdle hopefully now cleared, I hope that we can make Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition the most successful fighting game ever on PC. I’d certainly like to continue to grow our audience on the largest platform in the world.
The Duke Nukem Forever Launch Trailer (NSFW) looks to show off the upcoming first-person shooter sequel and chew bubblegum, and it is all out of gum. The clip features signature Duke moments including combat, strippers, and wisecracks, including a shot of a three-breasted boss monster. The ESRB rating information at the beginning accurately warns of Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, as well as Use of Drugs and Alcohol; though the part about "Mature Humor" may be a stretch. Hail to the king, baby.
Battle.net outlines the latest hotfixes implemented on the server-side for World of Warcraft, Blizzard's MMORPG. The once-furious pace of these patches seems to be slowing, as the reasonably sized list covers changes between May 20th and June 1st. Thanks Ant.
The Deus Ex: Human Revolution interview on original-gamer is a video conversation with Jonathan Jacques-Belletete, art director on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the action/RPG prequel in development at Eidos-Montreal. He discusses the enormous pressure the team is putting on itself to create a game that lives up to the original, which is considered one of the finest computer games of all time, while still creating a game appealing and accessible to those new to the series.
The version 1.8 patch for Crysis 2 mentioned last night is not the promised DirectX 11 patch that was recently said to be coming "very, very soon." Apologies for any confusion or other problems this error caused.
CNET - E3 and the video game bubble.
This year promises to be another all-out spectacle, but is it really necessary? And, more importantly, is the show again getting too big for its own good? The key piece of evidence is that the majority of newsworthy announcements come not from E3 itself, but from a trio of large-scale press conferences held by Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft before the show formally begins (and these press events are not officially part of the E3 show). By the time the doors of the Los Angeles Convention Center open, the major news is already out there, and easier than ever for everyone to see, as the three major press conferences are now streamed live via Web video. It's also worth noting that every video game publisher does a separate press tour with its new games either before E3 or after, or sometimes both.
Salon.com - Are video games turning against the U.S. Army?
The first is called "Homefront," which -- not surprisingly -- comes from John Milius, the director of the 1980s rogue classic, "Red Dawn," and (appropriately!) the real-life inspiration for Walter Sobchack from "The Big Lebowski." Milius' game is not groundbreaking in its graphics or gameplay but in its portrayal of a post-imperial America bereft of power. The depiction is a direct affront the first half of The Complex's assumption -- that America is always The Most Powerful Nation On Earth. No doubt, that renders the game unpatriotic in the eyes of some or at least "disturbing," as the New York Times claims. Why? Because, writes the Times, the game means "the inkling that America might not necessarily be the most important place in the world forever" may be "finally sinking into our national consciousness... no matter what the politicians say.
A recent inquiry about finding .plan file updates here inspired Frans to tinker around and make a couple of changes to make it easier to find older updates (not that there are that many current ones in these days of Twitter and other ways to get out such information). The summary page now offers a list of .plan files by company ( like so).
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