Archived News:
EA tweets a confirmation of indications of plans for Battlefield 3 Premium, saying more details are coming on June 4th. No need to wait, however, as BF3Blog has details, saying this will include the all the previous and upcoming DLC for the military shooter sequel as well as new maps, weapons, vehicles, and more. According to their fact sheet this will be released on June 4th for USD $50.00.
Mark Rein tweets that Epic has prevailed in their legal battle with Silicon Knights in U.S. District Court. Silicon Knights accused Epic of failing to support their licensing of the Unreal Engine 3 for Too Human, and sued Epic. Rein says simply: "Case over. Jury finds for Epic on all counts." Rather than winning a settlement, Giant Bomb reports Silicon Knights is now on the hook for $4.45 million in damages in this case. Thanks VG247.
Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe and Replay Games tell VentureBeat they plan on suing Wisecrack Games to shut down a Kickstarter crowdfunding project, saying it infringes on their copyright and misrepresents Lowe's participation. In a separate campaign from Replay's campaign to Make Leisure Suit Larry come again, Wisecarck is seeking to raise $500,000 to create Sam Suede in Undercover Exposure, a revival of a project that Lowe was once a part of before it ran into funding problems. To that end, the page states: "This is not a revival or a remake. It’s a New original game based on the comedic game design by Al Lowe & Ken Wegrzyn." The page includes an image and bio of Lowe, which could certainly lead to the inaccurate impression he is currently directly connected to this fundraiser. "I think the blatant misuse of the Leisure Suit Larry name and copyrighted material shows clear disregard for copyright law," says Replay's Paul Trowe. "To piggyback on someone else’s success is not only rude but also illegal. Those who continue with this will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. We are suing today." Wisecrack Games responds with the following statement: "Wisecrack Games has not infringed or otherwise violated any rights of Replay Games. Wisecrack’s references to Al Lowe’s accomplishments, including his work on the Leisure Suit Larry series, are truthful, come directly from Mr. Lowe’s website with his permission pursuant to a written agreement, and constitute de minimis and fair uses under applicable law." On a related note, there is a Leisure Suit Larry Team on Sex, Comedy and Kickstarter interview on GamesIndustry International.
Indie Royale now offers The Graduation Bundle, their latest bargain-priced collection of indie games. This includes the PC debut of Dead Pixels. Here's word: "Graduation is a time of new beginnings and with that in mind, Indie Royale has just released its latest game pack, the Graduation Bundle. Titles in the new bundle include cult classic action-adventure game The Void, retro zombie side-scrolling shooter Dead Pixels, first-person, multiplayer-centric nautical action game The Ship, puzzle platformer 1000 Amps, Metroidvania-ish 8-bit platformer LaserCat and, as a special bonus, a Steam Beta key to hot F2P action-RTS AirMech (which includes an Indie Royale-only in-game item code)! Additionally, buyers who spend over $7.00 get progressive chiptune rocker Cheap Dinosaurs' self-titled album."
This trailer offers a teaser for The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, NeoCore's recently announced supernatural adventure game. The clip show the game's youthful protagonist, his FINAL FANTASY-sized sword, and a traditional Lugosi-style Dracula. Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day: George Lucas: I’m Going to Retire. Thanks Vincero.
CD Project RED officially announces Cyberpunk as the new project they've been teasing, saying this will be a computer role-playing game based on the Cyberpunk pen-and-paper system that "will set new standard in the futuristic RPG genre with an exceptional gaming experience." The game doesn't seem to carry a release date yet, and they say it will be developed by a new team composed of veterans from the Witcher franchise. A second piece of concept art accompanies the announcement, and here it is with the first, and here's word on the game: During its Summer Conference today, CD Projekt RED Studio announced its currently-in-development triple-A game based on renowned pen-and-paper-RPG designer Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk® system.
At the conference, CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski promised players that this game would have all of the hallmarks of the Witcher series that has made the developer so well-known and loved, and even more. Their upcoming RPG will be designed for mature and demanding players who expect to be treated seriously, and the game will be richly detailed, non-linear, and with a complex and gripping story. This much is expected from the talented studio, but the new universe brings with it some new twists in their game design. Players will experience the world through their own, unique characters chosen from different classes – be they blood-thirsty mercenaries or cunning hackers – that they will equip with vast selection of cybernetic implants and deadly weapons. As in the Witcher series, players will face morally ambiguous choices, their actions influencing events in the world at large and the fate of the individuals they encounter.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Bethesda Blog announces the DOOM 3 BFG Edition, a bundle of DOOM games for release this year on PCs and consoles. This trailer shows off the project, and here's what they say: "DOOM 3 BFG Edition is the ultimate collection of groundbreaking games that defined the first person shooter. It includes DOOM, DOOM 2, DOOM 3, and DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil, as well as the ‘Lost Mission.’ All DOOM 3 content has been re-mastered for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in stunning 3D for an even more terrifying FPS experience." Nowhere is a Windows edition mentioned, but there is a PC-DVD version among the packages shown at the end. Continue here to read the full story.
Danny Bilson has parted ways with THQ, reports latimes.com, saying Naughty Dog veteran Jason Rubin is taking over as president of the publisher/developer, saying Bilson was leaving "to pursue other interests." There is an interesting article on Kotaku (thanks nin) profiling Bilson, and outlining his previous accomplishments in the worlds of comic books and cinema.
Paradox Interactive announces Sword of Islam, an upcoming DLC pack for Crusader Kings II that will add the ability to play as Muslim rulers in the strategy sequel. They say the DLC and a patch to support it will be released next month: The DLC will release at the same time as the next hefty patch which adds new features to the game, such as an expansion of the map into Mali-Songhay, differentiation on strong and weak claims, new plot, expanded combat and more.
Sword of Islam enables players to rule as the Muslim lords, delivering a wealth of specific new mechanics distinctive to these rulers, creating a whole new gameplay experience. Laws, marriage, holding, traits , titles and more will work completely differently.
Paradox Development Studio will post a detailed development diary each Friday where they’ll elaborate on the new features of the patch and the DLC in the official Crusader Kings II forum: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?551-Crusader-Kings-II
Hi-Rez Studios announces that closed beta testing will commence tomorrow for SMITE, saying they are not planning character wipes after the beta, so those who test upcoming Windows and OS X MOBA will get to keep their progression as the game moves into open beta testing and ultimately goes live. They also outline what the beta will entail: The Closed Beta build of SMITE includes seventeen playable gods from five mythological pantheons on a fire-themed battleground map. Five gods are available for free - Artemis, Ra, Kali, Ymir, and Sun WuKong. Additional gods can be unlocked via gametime or more quickly via in-game microtransactions. Hi-Rez Studios will be adding new playable gods during the Beta period and beyond.
"We are excited to shake-up the moba genre with SMITE" says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. "Whether you are a fan of existing DoTA type games or MMO PvP battleground play, we invite you to check out SMITE and play alongside our dev team in Beta."
I really need to get Cesar Milan in here or something, as our little buddy the Gunnar-man has been taking to marking around the house, a recent development that has gotten worse, rather than better since we've been trying to address it. He's an intact male, and the balls are often thought to be a factor in this, but there's no explanation for why he waited until he was seven years-old to start in. Either way it has to end soon, or MrsBlue is going to make me turn him into sausage.
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