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Archived News:
inXile entertainment announces that now that the
Wasteland 2 beta has launched, they
are planning on launching Steam Early Access for the RPG sequel tomorrow. Here's
word: For the first time, gamers are getting the chance to play inXile
entertainment’s Wasteland 2, which was successfully crowdfunded through
Kickstarter in April 2012. More than ten thousand backers entered the backer
beta on Wednesday, through their Kickstarter or late pledges to the project.
Wasteland 2 will also be entering Steam Early Access on Friday, to allow late
backers to purchase and jump on immediately.
Wasteland 2 is a post-apocalyptic RPG with old-school sensibilities, with a
heavy focus on tactical turn-based combat, a deep and open world and reactivity
to player choices. It is the sequel to 1988’s Wasteland, with the player taking
control of a party of Desert Rangers striving to bring peace to the wastes. Set
15 years after the original, the game does not require familiarity with the
original’s plot but does follow up on the original’s story in many ways.
The Wasteland 2 beta consists of the first four major areas of the game and
related minor maps, along with character creation, world map travel, and random
encounters. More areas will be added as the beta progresses. Beta backers and
early access gamers will get exactly the same content here.
Gamasutra points the way to
a
Facebook post by Jesse Sosa that indicates that his former employer Terminal
Reality may have closed down, which is supported by some of the comments that
followed. Here's the post: "For those that have known me for a long time know
that I was at TRI for 10 years. TRI seems to have finally shut down. A lot of
different emotions are passing through me at the moment. I left there when I saw
things going downhill but I have always kept up with them and hoped for the
best.
Now that they're gone, I'm just kind of feeling nostalgic it seems. I hope they
all land on their feet. Most of those guys are still like family to me. I know a
good amount are on their way to Austin, so at least I'll be seeing them soon."
Gamasutra has been unable to confirm this, noting that the
Terminal Reality website currently
states it is undergoing renovations.
GamesBeat has a report that Al Lowe has retired from working with Replay
Games on the Leisure Suit Larry series he created. The post originally
included comments from Lowe indicating the parting was on good terms, but an
update subsequently clarified this is not actually the case, with Lowe vaguely
stating "numerous reasons" were behind his decision not to renew his deal.
Kotaku picks up the story from there, reporting that some of this traces
back to an incident earlier this year where Paul Trowe, CEO of Replay Games,
received probation after pleading guilty to displaying harmful material to a
minor, a misdemeanor in Texas. That is the part that is not in dispute, though
the explanations of what actually happened differs depending on the source, but
it involved sending an underage girl a video of her boyfriend having sex with a
man, which Trowe, who is openly gay, characterizes as an attempt to show her
that her boyfriend was being unfaithful. They quote Trowe saying he would not
have done this had he known she was only 16 years old. "There were many reasons
for my departure, including that [2012] incident," Lowe explained to Kotaku. "As
far as I know, Replay Games still has the rights (from Codemasters, owners of
the I.P.) to do Leisure Suit Larry games, but they'll have to do them without
me."
Blizzard announces
closed beta testing is underway for the Reaper of Souls expansion before
it is added to the open beta that is Diablo III, their action/RPG sequel.
Here's word: Invitations to this next phase of our public test are now
being delivered to nephalem worldwide. If you've been invited to the Closed
Beta, we'd love to hear all about your adventures on the forums, watch your live
streams, and see screenshots and videos of your experiences in Sanctuary. Please
keep in mind that Reaper of Souls is still in development, which means that all
content in the Closed Beta is subject to change and isn't necessarily
representative of the final game.
Steam News announces a
free weekend is now underway for
Dino D-Day, which is
also on sale. Word is: "Play Dino D-Day for FREE starting now through Sunday at
1PM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Dino D-Day at 80% off the regular price!"
Here's a refresher on this unusual game: The year is 1942. Adolf Hitler
has succeeded in resurrecting dinosaurs. The reptilian horde has trampled Europe
and the Mediterranean. Can nothing stop the Nazi’s dinosaur army? Dino D-Day is
a frantic, action-packed multiplayer game that transports you to a World War II
that should have been.
Steam News announces the
Saints Row IV - Child's
Play Pack is now available to help
Saints Row IV players
help charity: Be charitable and support Child's Play! Show the world that
you are the best President ever, by rampaging the Steelport Simulation with the
Digital Dino outfit and the totally bananas Robochimp outfit. Spread your
message of altruism on the streets from within the Retro Racer vehicle; it's
what your parents always dreamed of for you!
Sanctum 2: The Last Stand
is a new DLC pack that's now available for
Sanctum 2, the tower
defense/FPS sequel. Here's word from
Steam News: Return
to the Arc Islands for The Last Stand! Lume activity has increased exponentially
and you and your fellow Core Guardians find yourselves more outnumbered than
ever. Even out the odds by Utilizing the new Orbital Strike Relay tower and
smash down a lazer from the sky into their FACE! Defend the Core on four new
maps, one of them being a remake of the classic old Arc map. To help you face
the new enemies in The Last Stand, the Bright Foundation has placed the most
powerful weapon you've seen so far on three of the four new maps - The
Rolfinator Defensive Turret, a turret that you can actually jump inside yourself
and control to obliterate the enemies from afar.
A
post on the Pinkerton Road forums from Jane Jensen clarifies that
the report that
Activision is blocking a Linux edition of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
20th Anniversary Edition is not accurate, because there never was a plan
to create one. Here's word: 1. First, we never said MGX would be released
on Linux only that Moebius would be. If you look down at the bottom of the
kickstarter page it just says MGX is new and still TBD. So there were no
promises broken or blocked by either Pinkerton Road or Activision. Keep in mind
that from the start we realized that MGX was a game we were working with a
publisher on, and we would have less control over. I don't see that as a bad
thing. It's FANTASTIC that we are doing the GK1 remake. And that means working
with the GK license holder. Also, to reiterate, MGX/GK1 is *not* being funded by
kickstarter. That money all went into Moebius (and then some).
2. Secondly, we are thrilled to have gotten the license to release GK1 on PC,
Mac, Apple mobile and Android. There is no anti-Linux conspiracy. We are also
not releasing on console either, for example. It was simply a matter of "these
platforms make the most sense in the market right now, let's release there and
see how it goes". We may be granted permission to do more platforms later, but
that depends on how well the game turns out and how it sells.
I know those of you who are passionate about Linux are disappointed, but there
is nothing to be upset at Activision about (or, I hope, me!).
There's
more about this in a follow-up post from Weldon Hathaway of Phoenix Online
Studios: Also, a note of clarification, as it seems my original post gave
some folks the impression that this was something that happened along the way.
That's not correct. Linux was never one of the platforms we would be developing
for, I had just assumed that we would be doing all the same platforms that we
were doing with Moebius. I wasn't aware that was not actually accurate until a
couple of weeks ago so the misinformation from the announcement thread is 100%
my fault for making a bad assumption and I am sorry for that.
- ACE Team, ATLUS Games and Tripwire Interactive on
Humble Weekly Sale.
- Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition on
Steam. Save 80%.
- Kerbal Space Program on
Steam. Save 40%.
- Spaceforce Constellations on
Steam. Save 20%.
- Strike Suit Zero on
Steam. Save 75%.
Paradox Interactive reveals their plans to release Conquest of Paradise
on January 14th as the first expansion for Europa Universalis IV, their
grand strategy sequel. They offer a
new video developer diary
where Studio Manager Johan Andersson discusses new features in the upcoming
add-on, focusing on "the expanded gameplay and mechanics for the Native American
tribes, including new nations, unique buildings, and nomadic peoples." Here's
more on the expansion:
Paradox Interactive, a publisher of games and a ticket holder to paradise, today
announced the release date for "Conquest of Paradise," the first expansion to
Europa Universalis IV created by Paradox Development Studio. The expansion,
which challenges players to conquer the New World for their ever-expanding
empires, will arrive for PC, Mac, and Linux on January 14, 2014. Conquest of
Paradise will feature a completely randomized American continent for players to
face, as well as Colonial Nations and Native American Nations, in the critically
acclaimed empire-building game.
Continue here to read the full story.
GOG.com has kicked off their winter sale, a
which will offer daily specials from their online marketplace for DRM-free
games. To help get things rolling, they are offering a 100% discount on
Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics, making the
seminal RPGs free for the next 48 hours. Here's word on what else is involved in
the event: To make sure gamers check in constantly during their two-week
long special offer GOG.com is launching three diffrent types of exciting daily
deals. Each day, a selection of deeply-discounted, great games--celebrated
classic and new acclaimed indie--will be showcased by a well-known YouTube
gaming channel in a daily sale up to 75% off. Meanwhile, GOG.com's community
will also have their say - each day they will vote on which of two daily game
bundles will get an up to 80% discount. If that wasn't enough each registered
GOG.com user will receive daily Mystery Boxes with gifts of special sales or
even the occasional free game. Of course, all of the games in this sale are
covered by GOG.com's recently-announced 30 Day Money Back Guarantee everywhere
in the world, so gamers can try out any title--new or old--they've been curious
about with confidence.
Daedalic Entertainment announces The Whispered World 2, a return to the
setting of one of their first adventure games, saying this is coming to Windows
and OS X late next year.
This trailer offers a cinematic introduction to the sequel, and here's
word: With completely new 3D visuals, The Whispered World 2 will take
players back to Silence, a world made of dreams. We accompany Noah, a teenager,
who lost his little sister Renie in the hazardous real world and now hopes to
find her again in Silence. His quest leads him to another visually impressive
and emotional adventure, where players get to solve plenty of mysteries
surrounding Noah, his sister and the dreamscapes of Silence.
Apart from an emotionally rewarding yet humorous story, adventure-fans can look
forward to a reunion with old friends and many new features.
Continue here to read the full story.
Frontier is now distributing the first alpha build of Elite: Dangerous
for backers of their upcoming return to the world of their Elite sci-fi
shooter series. They offer
this developer diary video to show what this will include. Those interested
in getting in on the action can still back the game through
its website. Here's word on plans for
alpha testing: Backers who pledged for access to the Alpha will
experience different Alpha phases over the coming months, providing early access
to Elite: Dangerous while it is being developed and the opportunity to give
invaluable, focused feedback to Frontier and help further shape the game.
The aim of Phase One – ‘Single Player Combat’ is to test key aspects of ship
control and combat systems. Piloting a Sidewinder with varying weapon
configurations, players progress through 8 single player scenarios – initially
designed to familiarize players with the controls, gradually increasing in
difficulty and complexity.
A new gameplay trailer
from SOMA shows off an area from the upcoming sci-fi/horror game from
Frictional Games. Word is: "Upsilon is the first environment highlight, and all
footage was captured directly from gameplay." They are targeting a 2015 release
for Windows and PlayStation 4. Continue here to read the full story.
The Long
Night Kickstarter offers a playable demo for Long Night, an upcoming
survival/horror game from indie developer Trickster Face. In addition to
attracting backers, they are hoping this can also inspire support for the game's
Steam
Greenlight campaign. Here's word on the game, which they hope to release in
April 2014: "Long Night is a third person survival horror where you play David,
a teenage boy who needs to fight his fears and rescue his friends, locked up in
their own nightmare. Long Night brings back and improve the first Resident Evil
gameplay (Exploration, Enigma, Survival, Boss Fight), adding some true annexes
story to the main quest, more fluid control and a credible, horrific story.
Gameplay: Chase, hiding places, mental state management, exploration, enigma and
unique bosses fights."
- Acer C720 Chromebook on
[Phoronix].
- AOC Q2963PM 29- UWHD MyMulti-Play AH-IPS Monitor on
eTeknix.
- ASRock Z87M Extreme4 (LGA 1150) Motherboard on
eTeknix.
- ASUS USB-AC56 Wireless Adapter on
LAN OC.
- BitFenix Shadow on
techPowerUp.
- Cooler Master Eisberg 120L Prestige on
ocaholic.
- Dropcam HD Wi-Fi Wireless Video Monitoring Camera on
Bigbruin.
- GeForce GTX 670 vs GTX 770 on
ocaholic.
- Genius Energy Mouse with Smartphone Charging on
TweakTown.
- GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 Gaming Motherboard on
Hardware Heaven.
- NZXT Phantom 530 Full Tower Chassis on
Pure Overclock.
- SanDisk Optimus Eco SAS Enterprise SSD on
The SSD Review.
- Silverstone Fortress Series FT04 Chassis on
eTeknix.
- XFX R7950 Double Dissipation Video Card on
Legit Reviews.
- The Fallout Lanius team announces plans for another live-action
not-for-profit fan film called Fallout Lanius Crossroads. You can keep tabs
on what they're up to through
Facebook and
YouTube…
I had a 12 win week in
Beat the Insiders, which isn't as good as it sounds since a lot of us did
well. The good news, so to speak, is I was so far down in the rankings I still
ended up being listed as "most improved" for the week by moving up two spots.
The comeback continues when week 15 gets underway tonight, so watch out! A mere
dozen wins stand between me and first place.
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