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Archived News:
Capcom announces that Lost Planet 3 is now available for Windows, Xbox 360,
and PlayStation 3. Here's a launch trailer, and
here's the announcement: Lost Planet 3, the immersive sci-fi experience of the summer is out today
(PS3/Xbox 360/PC), and don't you dare miss it! To celebrate this auspicious
occasion, check out the launch trailer after the jump.
Want the game right now? You can get it digitally on Steam or PSN. You can
also order the game through the Capcom Store to get a free "Climate Pack" bonus.
Expect lots of LP3 community activities over the coming weeks, including
multiplayer sessions with Capcom!
Continue here to read the full story.
Publisher Deep Silver and developer 4A Games confirm plans to release a
dedicated OS X edition of Metro: Last Light, saying the first-person
shooter sequel will come to Macs on September 10th via the App Store and Steam.
They also announce a Linux edition is also coming sometime before the end of the
year, and note that both ports are being handled directly by 4A Games. "The Mac
and Linux versions of Metro: Last Light are further testimony to the power and
flexibility of the 4A Engine," said Oles Shishkovstov, Chief Technical Officer
at 4A Games. "Development was handled in house by 4A games, and we are very
happy with the results. We hope that Mac & Linux gamers will appreciate our
efforts to create the best possible version for their machines." Here's the
plan: Metro: Last Light on Steam will support Steam Play, meaning that
owners of any Steam version will automatically find the game added to their PC,
Mac and Linux Steam libraries.
Metro: Last Light for Mac and Linux will receive the same DLC packages as the PC
and console versions.
The Metro: Last Light Season Pass, and the Faction Pack and Tower Pack DLC will
be available at launch for the Mac release , and the upcoming Developer and
Chronicles Packs will release on Steam and the App Store alongside the PC and
console releases.
Steam News announces the
release of the Windows edition of
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol,
and this port of the iOS flyer is also available on
GameStop PC
Downloads. Here's your briefing, pilot: "The skies over Europe are a
dangerous place, where ace pilots lead their squadrons to glorious victory or
crushing defeat! Take control of dozens of the most famous fighter planes of WWI
and head into the dogfight. Roll, slip, and loop to get the drop on enemy aces.
Upgrade your fighters over the course of your campaign and promote your best
pilots so they learn new skills to give them an edge in battle. Can you change
the tide of the war? Or will you go down in flames to an enemy ace?"
Steam News also has word
on the release of Space
Ace, Don Bluth's sci-fi take on Dragon's Lair.
Size Five Games announces an innovative solution to the problem of needing
opponents to enjoy Gun Monkeys, their procedurally generated deathmatch
platforming shooter. "It's a unique solution to a frustrating situation", says
Size Five Games' Dan Marshall. "Despite universally positive reviews, Gun
Monkeys just hasn't sold enough to keep servers perpetually-buzzing with
players. It's infuriating, but the important thing to do now is to make sure the
people who have bought the game can enjoy it as intended." The game is already
sold on Steam as a
two-for-one deal, giving you a key to give to a friend, but now waiting too long
for a game can generate additional keys to hand out. Here's word: As of
the most recent update, if you're sitting on an empty server for a few minutes,
and no one comes along to play against, the game will now fling you a free Steam
key for you to gift to a chum.
“The most frequent comment in my inbox ant the moment is ‘this game is amazing,
why aren’t more people playing it?’ Well, hopefully this move will bring in new
interested players too, since they’ll always be able to play friends when
servers are quiet.”
"Free keys are limited per player, and it won't generate free copies for ever,
but for now it's a fun and unusual way to combat the Curse of the Indie
Multiplayer Game. Let's see how it goes."
Steam now offers early
access to SpeedRunners, a four-player competitive platformer featuring
grappling hooks and interactive environments. The game is coming to OS X as
well, but it looks like early access is just for the Windows edition, allowing a
discounted chance to play the game and to influence its development. As
noted here the first update is already available, adding a new map. The
tiny Build Games website has
details and a trailer,
and here's a primer on the game: The objective is simple: Outpace your
rivals by reaching the edge of the screen. You'll have to contend with wall
jumping, sliding, obstacles, traps, grappling hook swings, and more as you dash
towards victory, but that isn't all. With plenty of power-ups and weapons
ranging from barrels to missiles there's more than just the terrain to worry
about. A well timed attack is all it takes to propel yourself from last to first
in this mayhem inducing racing game.
Continue here to read the full story.
This new trailer is a
version of the Gamescom Naval and Fort trailer from Assassin's Creed IV Black
Flag, the next installment in Ubisoft's stealth/action series. Here's
word: "The latest Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag walkthrough showcases the new,
exciting naval fort gameplay. The walkthrough opens with our new hero, Edward Kenway and his companion Adewale as they discuss the “country called Jackdaw”
before diving into the thrilling excitement of a fort raid from sea. The
gameplay includes commentary from game director Ashraf Ismail." Continue here to read the full story.
EA News
has a follow-up from Peter Moore who wants it clear that he didn't
say what some people think he said about EA
not shipping any "offline" games: Today, most games are “online” in some
way, shape or form. Many games connect in online multiplayer modes; others
include online services which allow for periodic content updates, sharing stats
or achievements or connecting with friends; and others are games downloaded
through digital delivery methods like Origin or the App Store. The reality is,
the Internet and social connectivity touches every one of our titles today – and
has for several years.
What that does NOT mean is that every game we ship will require an online
connection. Many, if not most, of our games include single-player, offline modes
that you can play entirely without an Internet connection, if you so choose. We
know that’s something many of our players want, and we will continue to deliver
it.
We missed the fact that the 17th anniversary of Team Fortress passed last
week. We'd feel worse if
Valve didn't miss it too. Here's their razzle dazzle on the topic: "Anyway,
to celebrate our right-on-time, certainly-wasn't-on-August-24th birthday, we're
pushing out an update! Just like last year, we're handing out Birthday Party
Hats, which you can equip all year round, and Birthday Noise Makers, which can
only be used over the next couple of days."
Rockstar Games announces they will release an official trailer for Grand
Theft Auto V on Thursday. As you can see, that's about all of it: "The
Official Trailer for Grand Theft Auto V
will debut here at the Rockstar Newswire and on the
GTAV site this Thursday,
August 29th. Details on exact timing forthcoming... "
Full Launch sale on ShinyLoot.
New e-tailer holding indie game sale.
- BioShock Infinite on
Green Man Gaming. Save 50%. They have a coupon for 20% off too.
- God Mode on
Steam. Save 66%.
- Symphony on
Steam. Save 66%.
Cancer On The Game Industry - I Am Not A 'Cancer' On The Game Industry.
Thanks nin.
But I do believe that free-to-play has a number of advantages for players
and developers alike. On the development side, a free-to-play game lowers
the risk involved in making a game. A developer is able to release a high
quality game that represents a fraction of the total vision, and if players
think it is fun and justify it by spending money, the developer can continue
to improve the game for months or years on end. If the game does not find
success in the marketplace, it is far better to release a game and fail
after a year of work than it is to fail after six years of blood, sweat and
tears.
Nexon America announces they will publish Extraction, an upcoming
free-to-play tactical shooter from Splash Damage. Last year, Splash Damage
announced Dirty Bomb, a free-to-play
shooter, and though this isn't mentioned in Nexon's announcement, Extraction is
indeed Dirty Bomb with a new name. There's a post on the
Splash Damage forums addressing this (thanks
IncGamers), saying Dirty Bomb backers will still be first in line for the
game following the new deal: "You'll get everything included in your Founder's
Pack. Your digital goods carry right over to Extraction, and you'll receive any
physical goods at game launch (though we'll do our best to get those to everyone
well before then). Founders will also be first in line for the Closed Beta when
that's ready to launch." Here are some
extraction
screenshots, and here's word: Extraction combines tactical gameplay,
fast-paced action and an ever-expanding roster of playable characters to create
a highly competitive team-oriented shooter. Players can choose from dozens of
unique roles with different playing styles and abilities, and fight in teams to
defeat their opponents by defending or attacking key objectives. Set in
evacuated London following a mysterious radiological attack, elite squads of
mercenaries secretly unite in the city’s abandoned streets to extract the
valuable information left behind. Extraction offers a fair and balanced playing
field, achieved through ECHO, a powerful analytics and telemetry system.
Digital Trends has a preview of the
recently announced Ultimate
Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2: Digistruct Peak DLC for Borderlands 2,
Gearbox Software's RPG/FPS sequel, saying to expect the pack one week from today
on September 3rd (thanks nin). On a related note,
IGN says to expect a Borderlands 2 Game of the Year edition announcement
soon, saying they learned this from "a GameStop source." Back to the preview,
Digital Trends includes word that in addition to raising the game's level cap to 72, the new add-on will also
allow players who have leveled up to set "Overpower" levels to fight enemies up
to level 80. The article explains why they are going this route instead of
simply raising the level cap directly to 80: The entire world is affected
when you load up a game set to a certain Overpower level; monsters are more
deadly, and they drop more powerful loot. Your skill advancement still caps out
at level 72, but the eight Overpower levels allow you to use this higher-level
gear. Once you’ve unlocked all of the Overpower levels and jump into a max-level
game, you’ll face monsters at level 80+ and find gear rated for level 80 that
you can now use.
You’re probably wondering at this point why Gearbox is even bothering with the
new Overpower leveling system when the new level 72 cap could just as easily
have been a level 80 cap. “If you look at our skill tree, you’ll definitely
notice that we’re running out of skill points,” Reiss says. “We’re trying to
keep the diversity there. We do want players to level up and get more skills and
have a lot of fun with that, but Digistruct Peak adds the icing on top of the
cake, pretty much. More challenge, more adventure, more gear to
collect.”
TopWare Interactive announces that Raven's Cry now has a new developer,
and Two Worlds developer Reality Pump is now completing the pirate-themed
adventure game. Raven's Cry was originally being created by Octane Games, and
was originally announced for release by the
middle of last year. Earlier this year they
announced the game will be released on October 24th, and while it might not
make that date following the switch, they say it is still expected by the end of
this year, and they offer
the first
screenshots to show what to expect. TopWare doesn't reveal the exact
circumstances that lead to this change, though the announcement clearly
indicates they weren't happy with where things were going: The game has
been delayed since it was first shown to the media last year, and after
analysing the game’s development, TopWare made the tough decision to reorganize
the project. The core storyline and dark setting of the game will remain
untouched, but additional features and a new open world will be implemented by
the Polish team. In addition, Topware has kept a close eye on message boards and
early feedback, and will be including a few interesting tweaks and features
requested by pirate fans.
Continue here to read the full story.
GfK Chart Track now offers its weekly U.K. sales charts, a day later than usual.
The
full-price PC game chart has a new entry at number two, where Tom Clancy's
Splinter Cell: Blacklist slipped past a load of Sim sentries. The
budget price list is shuffled a bit, and Spore is enjoying a moment in the
sun. As for the big
all platforms/all prices top 40, the top three are all new in a big shakeup.
Here's their summary: The
top three are all new entries this week with ‘Saints Row IV’ landing at No1,
followed by ‘Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist’ at No2 and ‘Disney Infinity’
at No3.
‘Saints Row IV’ is the 4th biggest launch of the year so far (behind Tomb
Raider, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us). It fails to outperform the debut
of predecessor ‘Saints Row: The Third’, but is still the second best launch for
the controversial series. Taken over from THQ by Deep Silver/Koch, it is the
ambitious publisher’s third different title to reach No1 in the All Formats
chart this year (the others being Dead Island Riptide and Metro Last Light).
This is a feat only matched by EA. Sales were split 69% on Xbox 360 and 31% on
PS3. The highly anticipated ‘Disney Infinity’ opens strongly, selling 3.6 times
more starter pack units at launch than the original Skylanders. It performed
best on Xbox 360 with a 43% share, then PS3 at 22%, Wii 21%, Wii U 10% and 3DS
4%.
Last week’s No1, ‘Payday 2’ (-76%) tumbles to No18 while the rest of the Top 10
mostly shuffles amongst themselves. ‘Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition’ (+3%), ‘Black
Ops II’ (-17%), ‘FIFA 13’ (-14%) and ‘Animal Crossing: New Leaf’ (-9%) all drop
two places to No’s 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively. ‘Lego Batman 2’ (+1%) is a
non-mover at No8 ahead of ‘The Last of Us’ (-9%) at No9. 2K Games/Take 2 enter
the chart at No10 with ‘The Bureau: Xcom Declassified’ and there is also a new
face at No22; the Wii U exclusive ‘The Wonderful 101’.
The
GeForce Website has word that Watch_Dogs (Watch Dogs) will receive some PC-specific
enhancements thanks to a partnership between NVIDIA and Ubisoft (thanks
PC Gamer). They offer
a trailer to accompany this news:
NVIDIA and Ubisoft have signed an unprecedented technical alliance that will
see their best games enhanced with PC-exclusive effects and features. To date,
we've confirmed the inclusion of
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist and
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag in the alliance, and now we're pleased to
announce that one of the year's most anticipated games,
Watch_Dogs, is joining the roster too.
Specific details about Watch_Dog's enhancements will be revealed in the coming
months, so make sure to stay tuned to
GeForce.com for all the info. In the meantime, here's Ubisoft with an
overview of the game for those just discovering the wonder that is Watch_Dogs.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Raven - Legacy of a Master Thief has been updated
on Steam
to include Ancestry Of Lies, the second chapter in this point-and-click
adventure series. "In the second chapter of the game we’ve crammed it full lots
of twists and turns that will keep players guessing. This part of the story is a
real gem; even though we want to progress with the genre, we also wanted to keep
the classic elements that players already love," said Jan Theysen, Creative
Director at KING Art. "We’ve struck a fine balance between focusing on speeding
up the gameplay and creating a deep and interesting story which charms players,
but also broadens our audience."
A new video from
FIFA 14 shows off gameplay in the upcoming installment in the association
football/soccer simulation, including a little "pro versus schmo" action as a
pro player takes on a YouTube user in the game. The clip runs almost 38 minutes
and features a lot of gameplay amid a lot of chatter. Continue here to read the full story.
Back in the day, hardware upgrades for a PC gaming enthusiast were constant: the
state of the art evolved too fast to sit still. Nowadays this has calmed down
significantly, while new technology continues to improve, but the need to
upgrade so rapidly is gone. This is to the point where I was almost surprised by
the recent realization that my machine was behind the curve, even though it's
been years without any sort of real performance boost. I may do a full upgrade
with a new CPU/mobo at some point to follow, but in the meantime I'm very happy
with a simple video card upgrade, as I picked up a GTX 760, and this
bang-for-the-buck card performs like a champ. Using it to replace the GTX 260 in
my aging E8500-based PC has pushed it back to being an above-average gaming
system, and eventually putting this card into a rig with a new CPU and an SSD
should be pretty awesome.
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