Archived News:
The Need for Speed Blog has word that the Legends and Speedhunters DLC packs are not only headed to the Windows edition of SHIFT 2 Unleashed as previously announced, but that they will be offered free of charge, a drastic change from initial indications they would not be coming to the PC edition of the racing sequel at all. The DLC will be released through Origin.com on Thursday. Here's word: Beginning June 30th, the DLC packs will be available to download, for free, from Origin.com. In case you missed it: the Legends Pack features a dozen cars and 5 new tracks from racing's golden age, and the Speedhunters Pack added two new game modes - Drag and Standing Mile - as well as 14 new vehicles to try against your friends for epic Autolog battles.
Devolver Digital tweets about how they are "keeping it real in the BFE" with the upcoming Serious Sam 3 BFE by not devolving gameplay in the first-person shooter prequel: For those still asking, Serious Sam 3: BFE will still have health, weapon and ammo pickups like the originals. Keeping it real in the BFE!
Steam now offers a new automatic patch to update Sid Meier's Civilization V, the (just one more) turn-based strategy sequel. The change list is extraordinarily lengthy, and offers this note about the new version: "Pacing has received a large amount of work. Expect to have more of a challenge managing your empire at higher difficulty levels than you did before. Consider dropping a difficulty level if you have problems."
The Metro: Last Light interview on VG247 is an article based on a conversation with 4AGames studio communications lead Huw Beynon about the upcoming Metro 2033 sequel as well as getting hands-on play with the first-person shooter. They discuss how the follow up will be similar to its forebear, as well as differences, taking about more powerful weapons, survival/horror elements, cut scenes, moral choices, branching storylines, and more.
Games
- Trainz DLC: The Duchess on Steam.
Patches
California State Senator Leland Yee's statement is now online reacting to the latest setback in his ongoing efforts to craft a violent games bill that passes constitutional muster. Unsurprisingly, he decries this as harmful to the kids, accusing the SCOTUS of putting the interests of corporations, rather than the Constitution, ahead of them: “Unfortunately, the majority of the Supreme Court once again put the interests of corporate America before the interests of our children,” said the law’s author, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). “As a result of their decision, Wal-Mart and the video game industry will continue to make billions of dollars at the expense of our kids’ mental health and the safety of our community. It is simply wrong that the video game industry can be allowed to put their profit margins over the rights of parents and the well-being of children.”
The Unreal Development Kit Website now offers the new June beta of the Unreal Development Kit, the free SDK which allows the creation of both free and commercial Unreal Engine 3 projects. They highlight new features including a new foliage editor, new map templates, and various other enhancements. They also shine the spotlight on a UDK project that has piqued a lot of interest, offering a Hawken UDK showcase with a look at Hawken, the mech combat game in the works at Adhesive Games. The new UDK is mirrored on Gamer's Hell and WorthPlaying, and there is an interview on Edge Magazine where Epic's Mark Rein talks about the UDK.
Pro Cycling Manager Season 2011 is now available, and a new patch is also now online to update the latest installment in the bicycle racing series to version 1.0.1.1. The patch is available on this page and the mirrors on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, and The Patches Scrolls, and the patch notes follow. Continue here to read the full story.
A new trailer has more from the upcoming Annihilation DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, showing the new zombie content this will add to the game. The clip is titled "In the Jungle," after its jungle setting, and the choice of background music, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which was a hit for The Tokens in the early 60s. This DLC is due for Xbox 360 tomorrow and on other platforms whenever Activision gets done making it rain with Microsoft's cash. The embedded version is below. Continue here to read the full story.
There's a Tribes Ascend Preview on IGN with a look at the upcoming TRIBES revival in development at Hi-Rez Studios. In spite of what we were told about this being a "traditional" multiplayer game, as opposed to the more MMOG-like upcoming Tribes Universe, the preview includes word that Tribes Ascend will be a free-to-play game. In addition to that revelation and other details about the game, the preview also includes this teaser trailer offering the first look at gameplay.
Codemasters announces the Valley of Death DLC for Operation Flashpoint: Red River will be released tomorrow for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, offering a new gameplay trailer showing off what to expect. Here is a description of the Valley of Death, where you should probably fear some evil: "The Valley of Death Pack features eight new Fireteam Engagements playable in single-player or in four player online co-op. Two new Combat Sweep missions, two new CSAR missions, two new Last Stand missions and two new Rolling Thunder missions are set across stunning new locales. Players will fight through the warehouses and factories of a former Soviet Manufacturing town and carry out operations in a riverside mudbrick village set beneath foreboding hilltop ruins." The embedded version of the trailer follows. Continue here to read the full story.
GeForce.com now offers the long promised patch for Crysis 2 to add DirectX 11 support to Crytek's first-person shooter sequel. This is a three-part release, involving a new version 1.9 patch, as well as the previously accidentally revealed DX11 Tessellation Pack with pre-tessellated geometries and a Hi Res Textures pack that will support both the DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 editions of the game for users with 64-bit OSes and 1 GB graphics cards. One or more of the downloads are mirrored on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, and WorthPlaying. To help understand what this is all about, an article on GeForce.com explains how all this works. Finally, an update on the Crytek Website says to expect the map editor for the game on Wednesday. Here's the explanation on how to update, depending on where you acquired the game: If your copy of Crysis 2 works through EA Download, EA Origin, Steam, or another digital distribution service with uniquely protected game executables do not download the file labelled Patch 1.9 as your copy will have to receive the patch through their services. You are free to download the DirectX 11 update and high resolution packs, however, as they work with all versions of the game – just ensure you’re patched to version 1.9 before installing them."
The United States Supreme Court has ruled against the state of California in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, No. 08-1448, the appeal previously known as Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association. The New York Times (thanks Neutronbeam) reports the court ruled 7-2 that this law violated the First Amendment of the Constitution, with Justices Thomas and Beyer the dissenting votes. This was California State Senator Leland Yee's latest attempt to pass a bill restricting the sale of violent games to minors, which had already been struck down not once, but twice. Here's word on the decision: Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for five justices in the majority in the video games decision, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, No. 08-1448, said the court refused to create a new category of speech beyond the protection of the First Amendment. Depictions of violence, he said, have never been subject to government regulation.
The fact that the law tried to protect children, Justice Scalia added, did not alter the analysis. Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined the majority opinion.
Aspyr announces plans to release a Macintosh OS X edition of Duke Nukem Forever this summer via Steam, saying this will support Steamworks features as well as Steam Play. "We are thrilled to play a part in bringing this gaming experience to the Mac," says Michael Rogers, President of Aspyr Media. "Duke Nukem Forever represents many of the best aspects of gaming: shooting aliens, saving ladies in distress, and great tag-lines. We think Mac gamers will love taking a bite of Duke’s special pain cake."
GfK Chart-Track has the list of the 20 bestselling full-price PC entertainment titles for the week ending June 25th. This week F.E.A.R. 3 enters the chart at number three, and The Sims 3: Generations holds onto the top spot, while Duke Nukem Forever drops from number four to number 12, and Dungeon Siege III is now #13 after being number two last week. MCV also shares the U.K. all-platform charts, where Zumba Fitness continues to hold the number one position.
The Battlefield Heroes Website has word that this free-to-play military shooter is back online after a hacking incident which is attributed to LulzSec's recently concluded hacking spree. Here's what they say happened: Service has been restored on Battlefield Heroes following a short hiatus related to a security breach. Our investigation is ongoing, however it appears screen names and encrypted passwords associated with an early beta version of Heroes have been compromised. To the best of our knowledge, it appears that no personal data was compromised – no emails, account history, credit card numbers or payment methods. Any further updates will be posted on this page. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The Word of Notch has news from the Minecraft developer that the planned "adventure update" for the sandbox game will be part of a future version 1.8 update. This was announced as part of the next version 1.7 update, but he now explains this plan has changed, and the game will likely not meet its planned November 11th release date: That means 1.7 will be released soon, containing only pistons and probably a couple of bug fixes. The adventure update will take however long it takes, and will be released as 1.8. It might be a long wait, but it will be worth it!
After 1.8, we’ll have to start crunching for the full release in November. That includes finishing up the mod api, improving stability and performance, adding supporting features like friends lists and a proper server browser, integrating singleplayer and multiplayer, and most importantly fleshing out the gameplay.
The release date is almost certainly changed to sometime the week after 11/11/11, and we’re working hard on setting that up. We want to make a big spectacle out of the release where we involve fans and celebrate it properly.
Shrapnel Games announces the release of new patches for Dominions 3 to update the Windows, Mac and Linux editions of Illwinter Game Design's fantasy-themed strategy game to version 3.27. The new version adds new full-screen resolutions among the general changes, and also includes some modding changes. Additionally, the game is on sale between now and July 4th for 25% off.
I made the summer's first batch of Buffalo chicken wings over the weekend, and they came out very nicely. I've got the technique for making them on the grill down pretty well, and they are surely less unhealthy that way than deep frying them. I do still need to get better at cutting them apart, however, as I tend to cut through bone, which doesn't harm the flavor, but does make some of them less aesthetically pleasing.
Today is National HIV Testing Day.
R.I.P.: Legendary Comic Artist Gene Colan Passed at 84, Industry Reacts.
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