Archived News:

Monday, Aug 08, 2011 International Cat Day

World of Warcraft Patched

Blizzard tweets that a new version 4.2.0A patch is now live on all realms for World of Warcraft, their MMORPG. The new version is entirely bug fixes; you can read all about them in the patch notes or below. Continue here to read the full story.

Drakensang Online Open Beta Begins

The Drakensang Online Website announces that open beta testing of this MMO action/RPG is now underway. Word is: Bigpoint’s quest for heroes and warriors to step into battle against the dark forces of the Anderworld has begun! With the long-awaited launch of the Open Beta, fans of action RPGs will finally be able to explore the epic world of Drakensang Online, the free-to-play online browser game. The game invites players to take up arms as fearless Dragonknight freedom fighters or wise and magical Spellweavers to wage a brutal war against the terrifying dragons and savage monsters of the Anderworld. The international release of the game will be offered in 19 different languages including German, English, French, Spanish and Italian."

Portal 2 Price Drop

Portal 2 on Steam now reflects what seems to be a permanent price drop for the platformer sequel, which now sells for $29.99. Valve also offers a Portal Bundle of Portal and Portal 2 for $34.98. Thanks VG247.

Dodge Wars: Battle for Mount Olympus Announced

The 8 Red Pixels Website offers a new "reveal" trailer for their debut title, Dodge Wars: Battle for Mount Olympus, a team based competitive online multiplayer dodge ball game using the characters and mythology of ancient Greece for its setting. This UDK-powered game will be released first as a PC download this holiday season, and this announcement has further details.

To the Moon Announced

Freebird Games announces To the Moon, an upcoming indie RPG/adventure game with a very unusual premise: "Imagine a world where doctors can rework your memory in order to grant your greatest wish… but there's just one catch: It will be the last thing you'll ever remember." The game is expected this autumn, and this trailer offers more on what to expect, and here's a bit more:
If you had the chance to relive your life, would you change things? Would you try to achieve some grand goal? Could you find love? Fame? Fortune? Or would you realize that sometimes the past is meant to stay the same. Join Dr. Rosalene and Watts on their journey and travel To The Moon.

League of Legends: Dominion Trailer

The League of Legends Website now offers a new gameplay trailer from League of Legends: Dominion where the developers at Riot Games discuss this upcoming mode being added to their MOBA game, offering insights into their goals and objectives in creating the new mode. When the recently announced Dominion mode will be introduced is still not set, but the accompanying text with the video says it is "just on the horizon."

Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland Patch

A new patch is now available for Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland, updating the strategy expansion to version 3.05. The download is available on AtomicGamer and The Patches Scrolls. The incredibly long patch notes outline all the included changes.

Evening Previews

etc., etc.

Into the Black

Link of the Day: Amnesia Dark Descent in Real Life. Thanks Auger and Ant.

Take-Two's Q1 Losses; New GTA Next Year?

Forbes has the financial report from Take-Two Interactive for the publisher's just-ended fiscal Q1 2012, which shows a net loss of $8.7 million USD (11 cents per share) compared with earnings of $26.3 million USD (30 cents per share) for the same period last year. The article attributes the downturn to "weak sales of 'Duke Nukem Forever' and higher marketing and other expenses," even though it later quotes Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick saying the first-person shooter was profitable (though he did express disappointment in the game's reviews). Despite the losses, the company is still projecting a profitable fiscal 2012, and $2.00 per share earnings in fiscal 2013 (which begins in April 2012), prompting speculation that this is when the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series is expected.

New Dungeons & Dragons Online Content Next Month

Turbine sends details on Secrets of the Artificers, for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, saying this Update 11, will go live next month in their D&D MMORPG. Details on the content in this free update and its associated Premium Adventure Pack follow. Continue here to read the full story.

Fallen Earth Patch Wednesday

The Fallen Earth Facebook Page has a brief announcement to expect a patch for Fallen Earth on Wednesday for the post-apocalyptic MMORPG. Word is: "Patch day on Wednesday! Better fast travel system, some sweet new reward vendor items, and tons of bugfixes. Keep checking our homepage and Facebook for more info."

World of Warplanes Website

Wargaming.net has launched a new World of Warplanes Website as an online home to this upcoming MMO action game set during the "Golden Age of military aviation." At this point the site offers some info on the game along with a bunch of screenshots.

NPD and EEDAR Collaborate on Digital Sales Analysis

NPD group and EEDAR announce a strategic collaboration to improve measurement and analysis of the video game industry to include digital transactions in industry sales analysis: "EEDAR will exclusively work together and collaborate with The NPD Group in North America to support the development of a total market tracking service for interactive entertainment, including both physical and digital transactions in all mediums (console, mobile and online)." How this will provide enhanced access to closely guarded proprietary sales information is not explained in detail, but here's a bit on what they say this will involve:
"The NPD Group and EEDAR have always shared a common goal of providing information and insights to our clients in the games industry," said David McQuillan, President, Games, The NPD Group. "The growth of the digital channel within the games industry presents numerous challenges and opportunities that we believe are best addressed for our clients through a formalized, collaborative effort between The NPD Group and EEDAR. We expect that this synergy of resources and vision will result in greater transparency into the total games market including digital forms of distribution as well as the established physical format."

New Civilization V DLC Packs This Week

2K Games announces a pair of DLC packs for Sid Meier's Civilization V to be released for the turn-based strategy expansion on Thursday through {steam) and "select digital partners." The two packs are the Korea Civilization and Scenario Pack and the Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack, which will be offered for $4.99 USD each, or for $7.49 USD as a bundle. Details on the packs follow. Continue here to read the full story.

DC Universe Online Server Merges Begin Today

The DC Universe Online Facebook Page announces that the first of the previously announced server mergers for DC Universe Online is taking place today, beginning the process whereby the 26 servers for SOE's superhero MMORPG will be merged into four regionalized "MegaServers." This starts with the merger of European PC servers, which is, subject to change, to be followed Wednesday's U.S. PC merger, Thursday's U.S. PS3 merger, and the European PS3 merger slated for next Monday. They explain the downtime associated with this, how they are dealing with duplicate player and League names that this will result in, and how players will now be able to switch between PvP and PvP play on the same server. Here's word from DCUO executive producer Lorin 'DeadMeat' Jameson: "I am very excited about this move to MegaServers and I know that everyone is going to be happy with how this will expand your game play possibilities and the level of fun you have in DC Universe Online. We will be keeping everyone updated on the progress of this plan in the Announcements sections of the forums so stay tuned!" Thanks GameInformer.

Red Orchestra 2 Delayed

Tripwire Interactive sends word of a small setback to the release of Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, saying it is now due on September 13, 2011. Their highly anticipated World War II first-person shooter sequel was previously scheduled for worldwide release on August 30, and here's word on the fortnight delay:
Tripwire Interactive today announces that the release date for Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is shifting back two weeks to September 13, 2011. While we understand the fans are clamoring to get their hands on the game, we felt we needed the extra two weeks to get it right and add the extra polish the game (and the players) deserve.

U.K. PC Charts

GfK Chart-Track has the list of the 20 bestselling full price PC entertainment titles in the U.K. for the week ending August 6. Once again the top five is 80% Sims games with only Football Manager 2011 breaking up the Maxis hegemony. That Sims supremacy seems hardcore compared with the U.K. all-platforms chart, where Zumba Fitness continues to exercise its dominance.

Borderlands 2 Details

Presumably not engaging in "shoddy journalism," a post on PC Gamer has some details on Borderlands 2 from the Game Informer cover story on the upcoming role-playing shooter sequel. Word is the game will feature four new playable characters, with the cast from the original game appearing as NPCs. Here's more:
Gearbox have also decided to scrap all of the weapons from Borderlands 1. The randomly generated guns of the first game gave rise to thousands of mad scope/ammo/manufacturer combinations. New manufacturers will bring their own visual twists to each weapon, and players will now be able to add custom decals and enhancements to their favourite pieces.

Of the four new characters, only one has been revealed so far. He’s a stumpy “Gunzerker” called Salvador. He can dual wield any weapon and improve his abilities using the familiar three-branch skill tree of the first game. He’ll be able to choose from a wider selection of vehicles (ie: more than one), and use the new currency, Eridium, to buy new items or upgrade his armoury.

1UP Label Closing

Blitz Games is closing its 1UP label, reports Develop, where they say the label's focus on indie gaming has been harmed by a changing marketplace. “What’s changed is that the market seems to have shifted quite a lot in the way games are sold,” 1UP producer Neil Holmes told them. “Two years ago you could go through all of the portals and you could get business in all those portals. Now, if you go through Steam you can get good sales, and that’s about it; if you go through anywhere else you’re nowhere.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ShakyCam Footage

This trailer offers over thirty minutes of footage shot off a screen showing the demonstration of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at QuakeCon 2011. The clip of Bethesda's upcoming role-playing sequel has not been removed just yet, though the almost desperate way the description stresses the "fair use" section of the Copyright Act of 1976 suggests they know this may not be completely kosher. Thanks Computer and Video Games.

Gatherings & Competitions

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

Out of the Blue

The last time I grilled chicken I had a little disaster, as I initially forgot to boil the marinade to decontaminate it so I could use it to baste the chicken as it cooks, so I tried to speed the process by putting it on the stove. Just as I was getting ready to turn the chicken I went inside to collect the marinade, and arrived just as it boiled over into a giant mess, so my chicken started to burn before I got back to it. Last night I was extra motivated to make it perfectly to make up for this, and after getting the fire going just right I put the chicken on, and the very next second the first raindrop fell in what turned out to be an incredibly heavy rain storm, which lasted exactly as long as my cooking session. The chicken came out okay considering I had to keep the grill closed and couldn't see very well, but it was far from the perfection for which I was striving, as I only ended up with one set of grill marks out of an ideal four, and the chicken came out a trifle chewy. One more incident in a row and I'm going to redub this recipe Murphy's Chicken, after the law of the same name.

R.I.P.: Hugh Carey Is Dead at 92.

Links: Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play: Amateur Ninja.
Potty Racers 3.
Mad Farmer.
Links: 5 More Impractical Ideas For BioShock Cities.
The 6 Things Every Great Rockstar Game Does Wrong.
Images: Awesome Left4Dead graffiti spotted in Brooklyn's 7th Ave station.
Batman’s Prom Ride.
7 Pictures of Cosplayers Having Fun.
Media: Skyrim/Inception Trailer music) mashup. Mute the left. Thanks reddit.
A Halo Proposal at the Red vs. Blue Booth at Comic Con 2011.
Uncovering Static -- A 64k demonstration. Another Assembly entry. Thanks Auger.
The Funnies: The Problem With The Avengers Movie.
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