Archived News:
Joystiq has details on the gradual demise of Games for Windows LIVE,
following up on the
report
last year that the reviled DRM would be going away for good this year. Though
the blurb about the closure was quickly deleted, they show that a good number of
games have now dropped GFWL, and there are more that still plan to. Thanks nin.
Slitherine
announces that Pandora: First Contact is now being distributed as a
multiplatform game, with the Windows, OS X, and Linux editions of the 4X
strategy game will all be included in one DRM-free package going forward. This
will apply to all games distributed by Slitherine in the future, as word is:
"This also marks an evolution in Slitherine’s distribution. In the future all
multi-platform games (PC/Mac/Linux) will have a single download or disk
containing all formats, allowing players to download and play the games on all
operating systems they own." Those who already purchased Pandora can contact
Slitherine support to get access to download the game for additional platforms.
Telltale Games recently removed Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures
from their online store, as they explain
in a post on their forums: "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures has been
withdrawn from sale on digital distribution platforms due to the expiration of
our digital distribution agreement with Aardman Studios. We currently do not
have any plans to renew this agreement at this time."
That post does offer instructions on how to install or reinstall the game
for those who already purchased it from Steam, their store, or Xbox LIVE, though
for iOS, they direct users to iTunes support, saying: "The decision to restore
the app may be at their discretion." Thanks nin via
Joystiq.
A new trailer from
Rambo the Video Game shows gameplay from the upcoming movie tie-in. Some
movement-free shooting is featured and in what seems like trolling, they
highlight some quicktime events. Continue here to read the full story.
Core Online website has the minimalist
announcement that "Core Online is discontinued," revealing an end to Square
Enix's beta online game portal. They refer those with further questions about
this to this
support page where there's an indication that this actually shut down a
couple of months ago: "Core®Online was released as an experiment to see what
demand there would be for HD games played via the browser. However, due to
limited commercial take-up of this initiative, Core®Online closed on Friday 29th
November 2013." They also say there are no plans to reopen the and that users
with unexpired memberships as of the closing should have received full refunds
for their most recent payments. Thanks
VideoGamer.
Valve is not currently planning on bringing virtual reality hardware to retail,
in spite Oculus Rift's Palmer Luckey
reported
comment that "Valve's VR tech is the best virtual reality demo in the world
right now." There's word on this on
Rock, Paper, Shotgun from the Steam Developer Days, where Valve revealed it
will work with third-party developers on hardware, revealing they already
collaborated with Oculus Rift on the improved
Crystal Cove headsets they recently showed off. Valve's Michael Abrash did
not rule out Valve eventually creating its own commercial VR glasses down the
road, and he predicts that high quality VR headsets should be widely available
within two years or less.
Focus Home
Interactive tweets about the release of
Call of Cthulhu - The video game screenshots (concept art, actually), revealing plans for a
new game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, saying the images are the "very
first production arts for Call of Cthulhu - the video game by Frogwares (PC and
Next-Gen Consoles)." There are no further details on this for now. Thanks
Eurogamer.
The
United Stated Patent and Trademark Office listing for Star Wars 1313 reveals
that Disney and LucasArts have allowed the trademark for Star Wars 1313 to
lapse, declining to renew it after it expired at the end of last year (thanks
Player Attack). The game was "on hold"
even before it was announced that LucasArts would
cease internal game development, but many were still hoping this Boba Fett
game would eventually be completed. Word is the TM was "Abandoned because no
Statement of Use or Extension Request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was
issued."
A Warlords of Draenor "scouting report" on the
World
of Warcraft website has
more on the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, and what it adds. This
includes discussion of the
level 90 cap this
will bring, and keeping with recent
indications also has word they are experimenting with allowing players to
purchase level 90 upgrades for their characters: We’ve also heard feedback
from players that they’d be interested in boosting multiple characters to 90,
including alts they play with friends on other factions and realms. We’ve been
evaluating ways to make that possible without having players go through
roundabout methods (such as purchasing multiple boxes and performing multiple
character transfers), and in the near future we’ll be testing out a feature that
gives you the option to purchase a character upgrade directly. We’ll have more
information to share later—including details on our character-upgrade plans for
Asian regions where players don’t buy expansion boxes—but you’ll start seeing
pieces of the process soon on the PTR, so keep an eye out.
Incognitagame.com now redirects to
invisibleincgame.com, as
Klei Entertainment announces the turn-based espionage game they were
developing under the name Incognita has been renamed Invisible, Inc.,
apparently having received the memo about Latin being a dead language (thanks
Polygon). Word is: "After some focus testing, Invisible, Inc. was better
received than the old "Incognita". Our focus of the design does not change in
that it will still be a game of turn based tactical espionage." A
new alpha gameplay trailer
already reflects the name change, and those interested in "early alpha access"
can preorder the game and
get in on the action. Continue here to read the full story.
Ars Technica - Analysis: Why SteamOS probably won’t cause a PC gaming
revolution.
Anyone looking to buy a SteamOS box this year is going to find it nearly
impossible to avoid one major downside when compared to a Windows machine:
the library of games that are playable natively on SteamOS is much smaller
than that for Windows and will likely remain so for the forseeable future.
It's not a small difference, either—Steam's online store currently lists 486
games that run on Linux compared to 2,483 that work on Windows. The 75
percent of the Steam library that doesn't run on Linux includes an
overwhelming majority of the titles on Steam's top sellers list as well as a
number of big name titles that most any potential SteamOS customer is going
to want to play.
I have an appointment today to finally talk to a doctor about my shoulder, which
I injured years ago as a young weekend warrior. It's been something I've been
able to live with, but in recent months it has started to bother me
more-and-more, to the point where something needs to be done. I'm hoping this
will not involve surgery, but I'm more than 99% convinced it will, so my more
realistic hope is that it won't be especially complicated.
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