Archived News:

Monday, Oct 29, 2012

Football Manager 2013 Demo

Steam's Football Manager 2013 Page now features a playable demo of the next installment in this association football/soccer simulation. This will offer a chance to kick the game around, but there are no details on what this offers. Thanks VG247.

Natural Selection 2 Early

The countdown timer on the Natural Selection 2 Website is now set to expire in just about 24 hours, as Unknown Worlds announces the action/strategy sequel will be released at 8:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm PDT) tomorrow, instead of at the stroke of midnight Halloween, as was previously planned:
I wanted to let you know that Natural Selection 2 will be releasing a bit early! It should go live at 5pm PST tomorrow, instead of our original plan of 12:01am PST on Halloween (7 hours early). This means our UK brethren will be able to play at the stroke of Halloween, for them.

Valve on Linux Plans

Ubuntu Vibes quotes (or paraphrases) Valve's Drew Bliss speaking at a Ubuntu Developer Summit in Denmark praising Linux as being amore viable gaming platform that Microsoft's just-released Windows 8. They summarize what they learned about Valve's Linux plans going forward in handy bulleted form:

  • Steam client is running nicely on Ubuntu and many developers have approached them with good game products.
  • Cooperation with Canonical has been good.
  • Ubuntu is preferred platform as it has a large user base and good community support with a strong company like Canonical behind it.
  • Linux has everything they need: good OpenGL, pulseaudio, OpenAL and input support.
  • New Source engine games will be available for Linux.
  • No firm time frame for Steam Linux release, but soon.
  • Copy protection is up to the game publishers.

Assassin's Creed III Microtransactions?

An interview on Worthplaying talks with Damien Kieken, multiplayer game director on Assassin's Creed III, discussing the stealth/action sequel. They discuss the game's multiplayer modes, multiplayer map design, how many maps to expect (fewer than 10), and more. Worthplaying also notes that this week's XBLA and PSN store updates both feature new Erudito Credit packs for sale, which allow players "to acquire some game items, disregarding your current level."

Steam Halloween Sale

Steam's Halloween Sale is underway, offering discounts on all games with spooky content, which is a lot of them, far too many to list (about 80 titles in all). Discounts range from 25% to 75% off.

MechWarrior Online Open Beta

Open beta testing of MechWarrior Online is now underway, offering the promised opportunity to check out this multiplayer mech combat game:
Infinite Game Publishing (IGP) and Piranha Games announced today that after a decade of fan anticipation for a new MechWarrior game, MechWarrior Online has entered Open Beta. Mech combat has finally returned to millions of both veteran and new MechWarrior players at www.mwomercs.com. The highly anticipated and hotly previewed MechWarrior Online puts players in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the battlefield, the mighty BattleMech™. Already widely embraced by gamers in Closed Beta, its successful Founder’s Program achieved more than $5 million in sales since July.

“After a brief delay, we are very excited to open up the game and look forward to continuing to expand the Inner Sphere to both new players and our loyal fans. They have offered critical and immediate feedback, helping make MechWarrior Online the game it is today,” said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games.

Bullock continued, “We’re excited to enter this phase of development with our publishing partner, Infinite Games Publishing. Working together we have laid the groundwork for a full pipeline of content between now and our official launch early next year, and beyond.”

Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of a wide variety of devastatingly powerful Mechs. Customize each of your Mechs to suit your preferred battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons and tweak armor with near endless options.

Play MechWarrior Online now for FREE at www.mwomercs.com.

Loot Drop Social Ghost Recon Game Dropped

Brenda Romero tweets that Ubisoft has cancelled Ghost Recon Commander, a social game they tied in with the tactical shooter series. John Romero's new bride (formerly Brenda Brathwaite) says: "Sad news. Today, Ghost Recon Commander was cancelled. As a result, we laid off a team of kick-ass developers. If you have openings, ping me." This comes shortly after Loot Drop decided to cancel its Kickstarter for SHAKER, planned as an old-school RPG from Romero nee Brathwaite and Tom Hall.

Evening Previews

Into the Black

Link of the Day: Not sure how much of the storm we are supposed to have endured thus far, but we've been hanging in pretty well. The power is still on, as is the roof, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and hang tight.

Iron Sky: Invasion Delay

TopWare Interactive announces a delay to the release of Iron Sky: Invasion, Reality Pump's upcoming game tie-in with Iron Sky, the sci-fi comedy film referred to as "Nazis on the moon." The Iron Sky Invasion Website now has a countdown timer ticking off the seconds until the game's release on November 22nd. Here's word on the setback:
Alexandra Constandache, CEO of TopWare Interactive: "After thoroughly testing the game within the community, we’ve listened to the feedback and have decided to implement some positive changes that will allow us to retain our high quality standards. We all here at TopWare Interactive and Reality Pump are huge fans of space combat simulations and want to combine the humor and bizarre world from the movie "Iron Sky" with great game features.”

Hero-U Details, Interviews, Rewards

The Kickstarter for Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption has more on this upcoming RPG from the folks who created Quest for Glory. They mention a recent interview they did on Girl Gamer that accidentally mentions that Lori Ann Cole has a husband and their Armchair Arcade Matt Chat (also mentioned below for familiarity), and go on to offer details on how relationships will work in the game, and outline "spooky" support options in the form of new Halloween-themed reward tiers. Thanks nin.

U.K. Charts

GfK Chart-Track offers their updated list of the 20 bestselling full-priced PC entertainment titles in the U.K. for the week ending October 27th. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a new entry at number two, while Medal of Honor: Warfighter debuts at number one. Warfighter is also the new number one on the all-platforms chart, where Forza Horizon dawns at number three.

Skyrim Premium Edition Outed

A listing on Amazon.de reveals plans for a premium edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim coming to retail. This lists a December 7th release date and contents that include a world map, a t-shirt, a novel, postcards, and a disc full of music, walkthroughs, and other bonus material in addition to the highly regarded RPG sequel. Eurogamer has a confirmation from Bethesda that this is a real product, and that it's coming to the U.K. as well, so it seems safe to presume it's coming to all territories.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Trailer

Xbox Live's Major Nelson put Jeannie back in her bottle long enough to post an Official Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Live Action Trailer. The Guy Ritchie-directed clip features all sorts of Hollywood talent demonstrating their love for the upcoming shooter sequel.

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

  • ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 on Overclockers Club.
  • CM Storm Ceres 400 Ultra-Portable Gaming Headset on Ninjalane.com.
  • Cougar Challenger Case on AnandTech.
  • Epson WorkForce WF-7520 all-in-one wide format inkjet Printer on TechwareLabs.
  • EVGA Z75 SLI Motherboard Review with Z75 vs Z77 on HCW.
  • GIGABTYE Z77X-UP7 Motherboard on Bjorn3D.
  • Ineo SSD-HDD Docking Station – I-NA321U+ on Computing on Demand.
  • MSI GEFORCE GTX 650 Ti 1GB Power Edition Video Card Overclocked on TweakTown.
  • TRENDnet TV-IP672WI Megapixel Wireless Day-Night PTZ IP Camera on Nikk Tech.
  • Xigmatek Asgard 381 Mid-Tower PC Chassis on eTeknix.

Out of the Blue

Hurricane Sandy is not yet imposing her will on our area the way the first forecasts suggested, so it's still a mystery what sort of impact the storm will have. It's a bit drizzly and windy now, but that's obviously just the early hints, and our village has already declared a state of emergency, which sets a tone. As I said yesterday, there's no reason to be particularly concerned for the BlueTower, as the worst we are likely to suffer in our location is a power outage (though, of course, that would impact my ability to update the site), and here's hoping that others in the path of the storm are equally secure, and that everyone manages to come through this relatively unscathed.

Scathing Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Stunt Crazy: Trick or Treat Pack.
Stories: Hurricane Sandy tracked by Google.
'Skyfall' Screenwriter Reportedly Hired To Pen Bond 24.
How Patsy Grimaldi, the 81-Year-Old New York Pizza Legend, Is Getting His Good Name Back.
Science: Cheap colour test picks up HIV.
Carbon nanotubes fit by the thousands onto a chip.
'The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey' & HFR 3D- Film Ushers In New Technology.
Media: Halloween Scares from Texas! A Very Tall Monster.
Baby Chomps into first birthday cake.
Bruce Willis Causes Massive Property Damage.
Follow-up: Fukushima fish still contaminated from nuclear accident.
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