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Archived News:
Maxis announces SimCity Cities of Tomorrow, an expansion coming to
their SimCity reboot on November 12th, propelling the game into the
future. We have
three screenshots and here's part of the announcement: REDWOOD CITY,
Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bring the cities of today into the world of tomorrow.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced that the SimCity™ Cities of
Tomorrow* expansion pack is currently in development for Mac and PC and will be
arriving November 12. Built upon the foundation of the ultimate city building
simulation that has more than 2 million players worldwide, SimCity Cities of
Tomorrow gives players the ability to transform their cities as they take them
on a journey 50 years into the future. Using new technologies and experimental
urban planning techniques, mayors will shape the destinies of their cities,
thriving in a utopia of clean technologies, or a dystopia of
hyper-commercialism.
“Will the world of tomorrow be a utopia powered by clean energy or an industrial
society consumed by mass commercialism?” said Patrick Buechner, General Manager,
Maxis Emeryville. “With SimCity Cities of Tomorrow, players can build the future
as they imagine it. Transport your Sims on MagLev, power your cities with fusion
reactors or tidal wave generators, manufacture a legion of drones to serve your
Sims and build massive MegaTowers that dwarf modern skyscrapers. We’re giving
you plausible technologies to take your cities onto a journey 50 years into the
future. What will you create?”
Ice-Pick Lodge announces Knock-Knock, a survival/horror game that will be the
next offering from the Pathologic developer. This is in development for Windows
PCs, but does not yet carry a release date. Here's
a stylized trailer and
here's word: A wooden house stands in the forest. A single man lives
there.
The house recieves visits from unusual guests that knock on the window inviting
this strange hermit to join them in a game of hide-and-seek. To win, simply
remain alive and maintain your sanity until sunrise. Approaching the Visitors
head-on is a dangerous idea.
As soon as the first Visitor emerges from the forest, the countdown begins.
Every passing hour brings them closer to the house, and the house's walls offer
no sanctuary. Something is already inside. Something is opening the window and
banging around in the kitchen. Something controls the cellar and attic.
Floorboards creak softly deep in the bowels of the house.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new DLC pack for Tropico 4 called The Academy is now available,
offering a new way for El Presidente to train his troops in the island dictator
sequel. The Windows edition is available
through Steam and the
Kalypso Launcher.
Word is: "‘The Academy’ DLC features a new building, an additional mission and
much more, all for you to put to use in training new troops as you and El
Presidente prepare to quell an uprising on the island of Isla Guerra."
Steam News announces a
free weekend is underway for
The Showdown Effect
and that the multiplayer action game is on sale for 75% off. Here's the
deal: The Showdown Effect is a 2.5D multiplayer action game inspired by
80’s and 90’s action movies. Champions from throughout time fight to death for
fun, for glory and for awesome.
The Showdown Effect recreates the outrageous combat found in classic action
movies and then takes it one step further. Use weaponry pulled straight from the
silver screen's unparalleled arsenal: shotguns, baseball bats, assault rifles,
umbrellas, grenades, katanas, rocket launchers and more.
Additionally, The Showdown Effect has just launched new Steam Trading
Cards!
Steam News announces the
release of Euro Truck
Simulator 2 - Going East!, new DLC for the transport sim. There's also a
demo of the full game on
The Patches Scrolls and
they also have a demo
for the new add-on. Here's a description of the DLC: "Going East! add-on expands
the original Euro Truck Simulator 2 map with new destinations for cargo delivery
across Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary."
Undead Labs announces a Steam release date for State of Decay,
saying their oral hygiene zombie game will go live tomorrow for
Early Access (thanks
IncGamers). Here's word: What you’ll see this Friday, if you choose to
join forces with us to make the PC version kick ass, is a test version. It’s not
ready to be reviewed. It will not be perfect. It may still have crashes. What it
won’t have is a keyboard and mouse interface…not at first. Why not? Over the
next however many weeks, we will be putting up versions of the keyboard
interface and using your comments and feedback to make it awesome. Right this
minute, the Early Access version requires an Xbox 360 controller (or a
compatible 3rd-party controller, although we haven’t done much testing with
those yet).
This process is not for everyone. Casual players, the easily frustrated, and the
short of time should NOT get the Early Access version. Hey, I am all three of
those things, y’all. Those are not criticisms. It’s just that we want everyone
to have the experience that best suits their needs. You all deserve the best, so
if you’re not into giving feedback, just wait a few months and play the final
version after we make it great.
Phoenix Online Studios now offers the final chapter in Cognition: An Erica
Reed Thriller, their episodic mystery series. The Windows and OS X game is
available through the official website as
well as the digital distributors listed
on this page.
They offer this trailer
for the new chapter as well as a new
previously on... trailer,
which contains spoilers from the previous chapters. Word is: "With three grisly
cases solved, Erica finally has the Cain Killer within her reach in Cognition's
intense finale. But her colleagues have fallen and she stands alone -- unless
she's willing to accept the help of someone she does not trust. In the moment of
truth, will she go for justice or revenge? The choice is yours." Continue here to read the full story.
Frenemies: Part One
kicks off a live-action mini-seriesto promote the availability of Europa
Universalis IV, Paradox's strategy sequel. The clip includes a fun send up
of old toy commercials and a LAN party where we explore cultural stereotypes and
foot fetishes. Word is: "The new series, entitled “Frenemies,” showcases the
lengths that ordinary people will go to in order to achieve global conquest in a
multiplayer game of Europa Universalis IV, including fragile alliances, brutal
warfare, and unexpected diplomatic provisos. Also, someone explains what casus
belli means!" Continue here to read the full story.
The
CLANG Kickstarter Page has word that development of author Neal Stephenson's
sword fighting game "has hit the pause button." The post speaks of risk-averse
publishers being an obstacle to securing further support for the project,
suggesting this was all undertaken without a full understanding of the way
publishers tend to operate. The post is very long and says the "project isn't
dead in dead-parrot sense," but the outlook seems grim. Thanks Joao via
Kotaku.
An
article titled Trolls and Tribulations on GamesIndustry International talks
with Linda Carlson, Director of Global Community Relations at Sony Online
Entertainment about the difficulties inherent in managing online communities,
where the nights are long and the tempers are short. She explains their approach
to griefers includes the possibility of banning someone from playing their games
if they can determine he or she is being excessively abusive even when this is
external to a game, using Twitter abuse as an example: "Not only will we
ban your forum account, but if it's serious enough we'll call up customer
service and have you banned from all of our games. We do not need those
individuals as customers," Carlson says of the most offensive and anti-social
players. "A very influential player, high up in a huge guild - we'll still ban
them... In our games, if you are an exploiter we don't care who you are, how big
your guild is, how many people you threaten to take with you when you go.
"We can control anybody who's playing our games...[but] if we know who you are
and you're abusing somebody on Twitter, we will ban your game account and we
will not accept you as a customer ever again. It's not always possible to
identify people [in that way], but we take that seriously."
This trailer offers
the first look at gameplay from The Inner World, "a fabulously twisted" 2D
point-and-click adventure in the works at Headup Games for release on Windows,
OS X, and iOS. Word is the trailer features "Friedrich Nietzsche (or someone at
least very similar) sharing highly interesting insights into the most beautiful
genre of modern video gaming." Here are
some
screenshots and here's the description of the game: Robert
is a novice, a bit clueless, but with a heart of gold. He lives a peaceful life
as a court musician in Asposia's largest wind monastery. Contrary to the laws of
physics, Asposia is an enormous, hollow space surrounded by an infinite expanse
of earth. The world's air is provided through three wind fountains, but as one
wind fountain after the other petered out and the wind gods came to Asposia, all
of the sudden Robert found him in the middle of a whirlwind.
Together with the help of the mysterious thief Laura, his best intentions and no
clue whatsoever, Robert sets off on his adventure to discover the secret of the
wind's disappearance. Will the young adventurer be able to save his world? And
what are Laura´s secret intentions…?
Continue here to read the full story.
AMD now offers new
WHQL version 13.9 Catalyst drivers for AMD/ATI graphics cards running under
Windows 7 and Windows 8.x. This is their first certified driver for Windows 8.1,
though they note: "AMD Catalyst 13.9 does not include support for AMD CrossFire
Frame Pacing or the very latest CrossFire optimizations." Moving right along,
they also already offer the first beta of Catalyst version 13.10
on this page, saying this "includes additional performance improvements and
fixes not found in AMD Catalyst 13.9."
The GeForce website now offers new version
327.23 WHQL-certified drivers for NVIDIA graphics cards running under Windows
Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.x. Here's word on what they provide in addition
to performance improvements over the 320.49 drivers: "This Game Ready WHQL
driver ensures you’ll have the best possible gaming experience and is also a
recommended driver update for the Windows 8.1 Preview. GeForce R326 drivers also
provide performance increases for a variety of different games."
NAMCO BANDAI announces a release date for the console editions of Dark Souls
II, saying the action/RPG sequel will come to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on
March 11, 2014 in the Americas. The
Dark Souls II website offers preorder bonuses for those console versions,
but not the Windows edition, and word is the PC version will not be released
simultaneously with the other versions: "Dark Souls II will be launching in the
Americas on March 11, 2014 on the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system
and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft with the PC
edition to follow shortly." Also, here's a
new "Aching Bones" trailer from the game. Continue here to read the full story.
The
Steam Community website announces another 25 games have received community
approval through the Steam Greenlight process, and these will all be coming to
Steam when they are released. Word is: "With this batch coming just three weeks
after our last batch of 100, we continue to add games to Steam at an increased
pace. Make sure to stop back often to vote; the lineup continues to change
quickly and new submissions are posted daily."
This page has the list of new approvals.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - To Boycott PAX Or Not To Boycott PAX?
To Boycott PAX Or Not To Boycott PAX? That really is the question these
days, isn’t it? The saga, up to this point, has been long, turbulent, and
ugly. Penny Arcade’s tangled two-headed hydra of a creative force has been
at the forefront of some pretty nasty movements over the years – the
Dickwolves incident, which saw Mike “Gabe” Krahulik and Jerry “Tycho”
Holkins stand resolutely unapologetic over a rape joke that made many fans
deeply uncomfortable (instead of saying sorry, they went and sold freaking
merchandise), easily stands as the most visible. In the wake of that,
similar incidents, and Krahulik acting vocally intolerant of transgendered
people, Gone Home developer Fullbright – who we spoke to in regards to this
article – went so far as to pull out of this year’s PAX altogether. But
others – many of whom absolutely abhor Penny Arcade’s oftentimes turgid
stances and values – attended despite all of that. Speaking with developers
behind games like Journey, Always Sometimes Monsters, and Child of Light,
and other fans and critics from many walks of life, I found out why.
- An early version of
Zenzizenzic is now available to solicit feedback on this indie
twin-stick shooter as they strive towards a
Steam Greenlight…
Avast thar maties! Ye best be talking like a pirate today! Suggested phrases:
"Shiver me timbers!" "Blow me down!" "Statistics show that piracy actually
increases sales!" Yaaar!
R.I.P.:
Former Nintendo president Yamauchi dies.
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