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Archived News:
Crytek announces they are adding Linux support to their CryENGINE, saying
they will be showing off a penguin-powered version of their game engine to
attendees of the Game Developers Conference. Here's word: During
presentations and hands-on demos at Crytek's GDC booth, attendees can see for
the first time ever full native Linux support in the new CRYENGINE. The
CRYENGINE all-in-one game engine is also updated with the innovative features
used to recreate the stunning Roman Empire seen in Ryse – including the brand
new Physically Based Shading render pipeline, which uses real-world physics
simulation to create amazingly realistic lighting and materials in CRYENGINE
games.
Blizzard announces the launch of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
after an extended beta period for the free-to-play card game. Here's the
deal: Blizzard Entertainment today announced that Hearthstone™: Heroes of
Warcraft™, its free-to-play digital card game, is fun! Like, really fun. Which
is good, because it’s now officially out of beta and fully released upon the
world! Speaking of the world. . . .
“We saw some reports early on that Hearthstone might destroy the planet*,” said
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re pleased to
see that the game has been released and the planet is still here . . . though we
apologize for all the lost productivity.”
Hearthstone is now available on Mac and PC, with iPad support coming soon.
Android device, iPhone, and Windows tablet versions are in development and will
be available in the future.
Bohemia Interactive announces the final part of the Arma 3 single-player
campaign will be released on March 20th as a free download for owners of the
military shooter sequel. "The final installment of our campaign gives players
the chance to experience combat on a larger scale than we've seen so far," said
Arma 3’s Creative Director Jay Crowe. "Tactical freedom - together with big,
combined arms engagements - is at the heart of Episode 3’s gameplay, as we
follow Ben Kerry’s story to its conclusion." Here are some details: The
episode’s content package also includes three brand new vehicles. The first new
vehicle making its way into Arma 3’s sandbox is the A-164 Wipeout single-seat
aircraft. The A-164 Wipeout, successor to the legendary A-10, features improved
performance and armaments, adding some real punch and some great new gameplay
opportunities to the NATO faction. The other new aircraft is the To-199
Neophron, which serves as a great addition to the CSAT forces due to its
agility. The To-199 Neophron is perfect for Close Air Support and taking off
from rough terrain. The third new vehicle is a 6x6 mine resistant standard
transport truck, named Tempest. Its primary role is to carry troops and cargo,
and its modular design allows for several transport variants of the Tempest
truck: cargo, refuel, medical, repair and ammo re-supply.
Last but not least, the Win campaign episode delivers a separate ‘Fixed-Wing’
Showcase mission, which introduces players to the new aircraft via a thrilling
new scenario. The massive 270 km² Altis terrain has also not been left
untouched. New points of interests have been added, with the highlights being an
athletics stadium and ghost hotel compound.
Danish developer Full Control has released Space Wolves,
the promised new DLC pack for
Space Hulk, their Warhammer 40,000-based strategy game. The Windows,
OS X, and Linux DLC is available
on Steam, and requires
the base game (which happens to
be on sale) to play.
"We’re excited to release the Space Wolves upon the Space Hulk Universe and are
looking forward to the responses from the fans," said Thomas Hentschel Lund, CEO
of Full Control. "Introducing the fierce Space Wolves and Wolf Guard, players
can play as these ruthless, savage warriors from Fenris in all of the other
Space Hulk missions to exterminate even more Genestealers and take back more
infested ships." Here's word on the pack: The Space Wolves Expansion comes
with the 'Fangs of Fenris' campaign, which features three new missions set in a
cool and chilly environment. There are 11 new unique Space Wolves terminators,
which users can play in all other missions, new weapons with new rules such as
the Frost Axe and Wolf Claw and the campaign also contains a Runepriest with the
new skills Murderous Lighting and Hurricane. Furthermore, new chapter specific
rules are introduced adding a new level to the game play.
Respawn has explained
to Eurogamer why the Windows installation of Titanfall takes up 48GB of disc
space, compared with the 17GB the mech shooter occupies on an Xbox One. Word is
this is because the PC edition installs 35GB of uncompressed audio to help save
CPU cycles on lower-end systems. "We have audio we either download or install
from the disc, then we uncompress it. We probably could have had audio
decompress off disc but we were a little worried about min spec and the fact
that a two-core machine would dedicate a huge chunk of one core to just
decompressing audio," explains Respawn's lead engineer Richard Baker. "So...
it's almost all audio... On a higher PC it wouldn't be an issue. On a medium or
moderate PC, it wouldn't be an issue, it's that on a two-core [machine] with
where our min spec is, we couldn't dedicate those resources to audio."
Arc Games announces Star Trek Online is ready to boldly go onto OS X
computers: We are extremely excited to announce that our Mac client for
Star Trek Online is now officially live! We have wrapped up our Open Beta
testing period, and we want to extend our warmest welcome to the STO Universe to
all Mac users.
Our newest addition of players who utilize the Mac client will be playing on
Holodeck, the same server that our PC players play on, allowing them to team up
with their friends and fleetmates to boldly go where no one has gone
before.
Steam News announces the
release of Cities in
Motion 2: European Cities, a new expansion for
Cities in Motion 2,
adding "a multitude of brand new structures" to the transport simulation. Here's
word: This entirely new expansion gives you control of a new setting with
an old world feeling. A campaign inspired by bustling metropolitan areas leads
you on an adventure tackling the transportation conundrums in cities inspired by
Liverpool, Prague and Düsseldorf. So hop on and keep Europe moving!
1954 Alcatraz is now available
on GOG.com and
on Steam, offering a
point-and-click adventure set in the Rock, the absence of Sean Connery and Nick
Cage notwithstanding. Here's
a trailer showing off
what this is all about, and here's word on the game: 1954: Alcatraz is the
story of Joe and Christine, a husband and wife duo caught between violent
gangsters and the country's most secure prison. With mutiple endings and
solutions, and a mature story that delves into topics of social and sexual
identity, 1954: Alcatraz is not a typical adventure game.
Will Christine help Joe to break free and use the hidden stash of loot to run
away together? Will Christine keep the money for herself and turn to the embrace
of Joe's former partner? Will Joe escape through violoence or trickery and
deceit? It's up to the player to decide.
1954: Alcatraz is now available worldwide for PC on Steam, and PC and Mac on GOG
for $19.99 including a full localization in English and German, as well as
French and Russian subtitles.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Elder Scrolls Online website announces more beta invites are
going out to help with the final scale test of Bethesda's upcoming MMORPG this
weekend: Join us in our final scale test event this weekend—more invites
are on their way!
We’re sending out invites for our final ESO scale test. We need your help to
push our systems, so check your email and join us. If you’ve been invited to
previous beta events, you’ll be able to participate this weekend, too. This may
be your last chance to help us test!
For this beta, there’s no need to follow a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). We
invite you to post your screenshots, videos, and impressions, and to livestream
your adventures for everyone to see. Be sure to use the #esobeta tag to share
your favorite moments with the world.
Participants this weekend will also unlock an exclusive monkey vanity pet for
PC/Mac that will be available at launch.
Thank you for testing ESO. We hope to see you this weekend and at
launch!
Link of the Day:
Burnout Tire
Explosion. The sympathy of friends is always a comfort. Thanks nin.
CD Projekt RED announces February 2015 is when to expect the release of The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the next installment in their RPG series. They had
previously hoped to release the game before the end of the year, and their
announcement explains the reasons they made the "difficult" decision to delay
things: Ever since we started working on the third installment in The
Witcher franchise, it has been our aim to produce a title that would take our 11
years of experience in creating RPGS and distill them into a quintessence, into
a game that would effectively crown those years. At the same time, we have
wanted The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to expand creative boundaries, set new
benchmarks, develop the genre as a whole. Ultimately, you, the players, must get
an unforgettable adventure to experience in a vast, open world – and that’s most
important. We’ve created a story that flows naturally, cinematically, rendered
it in amazing sound and visuals, while preserving full freedom of choice – all
for you. We knew this to be an ambitious plan, but believed we could achieve it
by bringing together our team with its creative energies and current gaming
platforms with their technical capabilities. A project this vast and complex
would inevitably require special care in its final stages, manual fine-tuning of
many details, thorough testing time and again.
We recently reexamined what we had achieved thus far, and faced a choice about
the game’s final release date. The decision we made was difficult, thoroughly
considered, and ultimately clear and obvious. We could have released the game
towards the end of this year as we had initially planned. Yet we concluded that
a few additional months will let us achieve the quality that will satisfy us,
the quality gamers expect from us. Consequently, we have set the release of The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for February 2015.
Dear gamers - we know many of you would have liked to play The Witcher 3 sooner,
as soon as possible, even. We’re sorry to make you wait longer than you, or we,
initially assumed you would. At the same time, we believe the game will prove to
be worth the wait and meet the expectations you have of us. We believe The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be an exceptional RPG, one of the best, providing many
hours of wonderful entertainment.
Dear shareholders – we are aware of the responsibility that rests with us and
thank you for the trust you have granted us thus far. We firmly believe that
quality – more than any other factor – determines a game’s success, and that the
decision we have made is thus equally valid in business terms.
Titanfall is now available in North America, offering the chance to strap in
with Respawn's multiplayer mech shooter for Windows and Xbox One, and Respawn
tweets
this image showing them attending a little midnight madness to launch the
game. They
also mention via Twitter that a patch is available for the PC edition to
address delays in joining private server lobbies. We noted the first
reviews rolling in last night, but the game still doesn't have a
PC metascore. There's live-action
and gameplay in a trailer called
Titanfall: Life is Better With a Titan - Extended Cut promoting the release and there's another live-action clip on
Your Titan is Ready (thanks
Polygon). Here's word from
the announcement: Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and independent
videogame developer Respawn Entertainment announced that Titanfall™ is now
available at retail stores across North America exclusively for Xbox One®, the
all-in-one entertainment system from Microsoft and on Origin.com for PC. Since
its unveiling last June, Titanfall has seized the attention of gamers around the
world with its exhilarating first-person action gameplay centered on the dynamic
between elite assault pilots and agile, heavily-armored, 24-foot titans. The
game has been praised by critics and fans for delivering a unique, fun and
thrilling experience while setting a new bar for online multiplayer gameplay.
GameSpot claims “Titanfall is a leap forward for shooters”, while Rolling Stone
calls Titanfall “the most anticipated next-generation videogame of the year”.
“Creating Titanfall has really been an incredible journey for our team at
Respawn and we’re excited to be able to finally get the game we’ve been making
into everyone’s hands,” said Vince Zampella, a Co-Creator of CALL OF DUTY and
Co-Founder of Respawn Entertainment. “We’re a small, tight-knit team, and I’m
proud to have come together with them over these last few years to create
something that we think pushes the boundaries and is above all else
fun.”
Continue here to read the full story.
Yesterday marked the 14th anniversary of the announcement of the original Xbox.
That seems surprisingly recent, which I guess shows how entrenched the brand has
become in a relatively short time. And happy new year, as the NFL year begins
today. No, I don't have a check-writing joke for that one.
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