Archived News:
Post-apocalyptic MMORPG Fallen Earth is going free-to-play, reports Massively, where they have first word on the change, which does not yet have a scheduled launch date. They have all the details, and here's a quick summary: "There will essentially be four tiers of this new business model: completely free, plus the Silver, Gold, and VIP subscription levels. The subscriptions will offer reward points, much as the game does now, but with even more items to purchase with those points. Keep in mind that these may not be the official names of the subscription tiers on release."
Major Nelson's list of LIVE Activity is catching up, as the latest report covers the week ending June 6th. As always, in addition to console sales figures, this offers a list of the top 20 Games for Windows LIVE titles (based on UUs), which is reproduced below. Continue here to read the full story.
"With the varied distribution opportunities now available to developers, it felt like the perfect time to move away from AAA development," says Ex-Rockstar developer Anthony Gowland. "It’s totally viable for a small team, or even a single dedicated guy, to create and market a successful game independently."
"We're blackballing any sites that don't love banana pancakes from reviewing Serious Sam 3: BFE. You've all been warned. #BetterBetOnSam." -- Devolver Digital.
A new patch is now available for DiRT 3, updating Codemasters' rally racing sequel to version 1.1. The download is available on ActionTrip, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying. The patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
This support page offers a new patch for Star Ruler to update BlindMind Studios' science-fiction strategy game to version 1.0.7.8. The download is mirrored on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying. The patch notes outline what the patch does, and the change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Matrix Games now offers a new patch for Advanced Tactics: Gold, updating the strategy game to version 2.05. Here's the skinny on the new version: "The new update includes new cavalry units, another level of AI opponents, more variety in random map choices, and overlays for scenario design. In addition, the update also adjusts some production and fuel costs, and fixes a number of bugs." The download is mirrored on AtomicGamer and Gamer's Hell.
A new patch is now available for Baseball Mogul 2012, updating the latest edition of this sports simulation to version 14.07. The patch is available on this page and it is mirrored on AtomicGamer, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying. The change list follows. Continue here to read the full story.
Games
- The Cat and the Coup on Steam.
Patches
- Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project on GOG.com. Save 60%.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter Nights 2 Platinum on Direct2Drive. Save 50%.
- Fallout New Vegas Digital Collector's Edition on Direct2Drive.
- Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days on Steam. Save 66%.
Still on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.
This trailer is the E3 walkthrough for Assassin's Creed Revelations, showing some of the upcoming final chapter in the adventures of master assassin Ezio. The clip is accompanied by developer commentary explaining what's going on. The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.
GameFront has a statement from Electronic Arts saying they did not pull Crysis 2 from Steam (thanks Computer and Video Games), in spite of the implications of the "only on Origin" button they display for the first-person shooter sequel. Rather this seems possibly connected to the game's ability to sell content from within itself. Here's word from EA: It’s unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA.
Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that service – many of which are not imposed by other online game services. Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam.
Crysis 2 continues to be available on several other download services including GameStop, Amazon, Origin.com and more.
AMD now offers new version 11.6 Catalyst reference drivers for AMD/ATI graphics cards. The new drivers are available for Windows 7/VISTA, Windows 7/VISTA 64-bit, Windows XP, and Windows XP 64-bit. The release notes have details on what's new and different, which include performance improvements for a number of games when using a Radeon HD 6000 series accelerator. This page has a hotfix for a "No compatible hardware found" error some users may encounter.
2K games sends along a statement disavowing the Redner Group's comments about Duke Nukem Forever reviews and saying this has caused them to end their relationship with the PR Firm: 2K Games does not endorse the comments made by Jim Redner and we can confirm that The Redner Group no longer represents our products. We have always maintained a mutually-respectful working relationship with the press and do not condone his actions in any way.
EA announces the release of the Crysis 2 Decimation Pack for Windows and Xbox 360, which adds five new maps and two new weapons to Crytek's first-person shooter sequel. The Windows edition is available for purchase from within the game, the Xbox 360 version is up on the XBL Marketplace, and the PlayStation 3 is due on the PSN on June 28th in North America and June 29th in Europe (hackers willing). These five new maps are based on new locations: 5th Avenue, Chasm, Plaza, Prism, and Apartments, and here's word on the new weapons: "First the FY71 Assault Rifle, perfect for tearing through a line of enemies or battling over long distance; Secondly we're pleased to introduce the Smoke Grenade. Now you can grab a little extra protection when stranded out in the open with low power on your Nanosuit. It's also an excellent tool for sneaking past enemy defenses, or covering your retreat in an emergency situation!" All of this is shown off in this new trailer, which is embedded below. Continue here to read the full story.
THQ plans a new direction for Dawn of War III, reports Eurogamer, where they have first details on the next installment in Relic's sci-fi real-time strategy series. "We're working on the next-generation of that franchise right now," THQ's Danny Bilson tells them. "I feel like an ass saying it's fantastic, but it is. And we're going to do something with it you haven't seen before. Preserving some things that have always been great about the first two generations of it, going back to 1 on some things, 2 on some things, and 3 will bring us some new things. When you see it you're going to go, whoa. I promise." He also strongly hints the game could be announced in August at Gamescom, and offers a general overview of what to expect: "Now Dawn of War III, either way, is going to have a much larger strategic component to it, more of a global battle going on with little tactical things, sort of MMO-like."
Ars Technica has a screenshot of a since-deleted tweet from PR firm The Redner Group with an overt threat about negative reviews of Duke Nukem Forever, saying: "#AlwaysBetOnDuke too many went too far with their reviews...we r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn't based on today's venom." A follow-up tweet backs off from this and apologizes: "I have to apologize to the community. I acted out of pure emotion. I will be sending each of you a private apology." A pair of subsequent tweets stress that this was Redner acting on its own, and that "2K had nothing to do with this." As of this writing the Metacritic scores for the first-person shooter sequel are 57 for the PC edition, 56 for the Xbox 360 edition, and 48 for the PlayStation 3 edition.
I recently picked up a big bucket of sunflower seeds, thinking these would be a healthy snack compared with chips and the like, especially given you probably burn off some of the calories in each seed just extracting it from the shell. While they are certainly indeed healthier than chips, I probably should have looked at the label before deciding, as it would be helpful to note that these things are 75% fat (albeit mostly polyunsaturated), but more significant is that while the nutritional information says a 50 gram bag of nuts "only" has 5% of your RDA of sodium, this is actually if you shell by hand and just eat the nut. If you crack them in your mouth like I do, the salt on the outside increases this almost tenfold, supplying well over 1000mg of sodium, which is 45% of your RDA right there.
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