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Archived News:
The
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market website shows a new
trademark filing in Europe for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. There are no details
about what this is for besides covering a video game and related materials.
Those who don't want to get their hopes up for a new full installment in the
Deus Ex action/RPG series can be forgiven, after the last two such stories
resulted in
an April
Fools joke and a mobile
game. We'll have to wait and see what comes of this. Thanks
IncGamers.com.
The
WildStar website announces this is a "Bonus Beta Weekend" for Carbine
Studios upcoming MMOG, meaning they are offering beta access to everyone who has
preordered the game, simultaneously raising the level cap from 17 to 20. Word
is: "This is our way of gathering the feedback we cherish and saying thank you
to all of our loyal testers. Which is why we would love it if you logged in this
weekend, enjoyed the extra 3 levels and the bonus game time because it will
greatly help us be that much more prepared come launch day June 3rd."
A new Raven's Cry website
announces a new October 14, 2014 release date for Raven's Cry,
TopWare's upcoming seafaring RPG. This is the latest delay for a game that was
announced for release in Q2 2012, then
delayed to October 2013, and
delayed again to this May following
a developer switch before this
latest setback. They explain that the game "has doubled the amount of cargo in
her holds," and list the following new features it will include:
- New skills for the captain (a skill tree with over
25 options)
- The personal story of Christopher Raven (more than
25h of main storyline)
- Additional adventures and skirmishes (open-world
setting and side quests)
- An economic system with a wide variety of tradable
goods and simulated price adjustments
- Realistic naval combat
- Depictions of the dark life of pirates (cinematic
cutscenes)
Steam now offers early
access to TUG, a "multiplayer, open-world, sandbox-RPG using social
sciences to allow players to impact how the game evolves." They will be adding
features (and raising the price) as time goes on, and here's an outline of where
the Early Access alpha currently stands: The game currently features two
gameplay modes: Creative Mode and Survival Games. In Creative Mode, players can
unleash their creativity on the landscape of TUG by digging and building the
terrain and exploring the near-infinite procedurally generated world. In the
Survival Games, players spawn on a multiplayer map and must race to collect
resources, craft weapons and tools, and battle it out to the last Seed standing.
Players must utilize the environment to forge tools and weapons, create traps,
and sabotage opponents.
Currently in alpha testing, the game will have new features and gameplay systems
continuously being added, upgraded, and expanded on. New modding tools will be
released periodically so players can create their own maps, tools, and weapons
and share them.
A new Rezzed 2014
trailer shows off Stronghold Crusader 2, Firefly's upcoming besieged RTS
sequel. The clip shows off the game and reveals it includes a skirmish mode, and
this blog post fills in
details on how this will operate. Here's a bit: This includes eight AI
characters and the ability to take your castle siege online, which extends to
eight players and the option to play in teams or co-op. It simply wouldn’t be a
Crusader game without a skirmish mode and the kind of replayability that offers.
This is what we intended to deliver from day one and it’s fundamental to the
game’s design. Skirmish mode will be included in the game at launch alongside
two single player campaigns, one from each side of the conflict between the
invading Crusader hordes and Arabic freedom fighters.
Continue here to read the full story.
The
Oculus Rift website announces that Michael Abrash has joined the company as
Chief Scientist, just
days after
Facebook acquired Oculus for a reported two billion dollars in cash and stock
(thanks Shaul and
TechCrunch). Abrash had previously been at the forefront of Valve's efforts
at exploring the same sort of virtual reality setups as Oculus, and this also
represents a reunion of sorts with John Carmack, as the pair worked together at
id Software back in the day. Here's a bit on the news from the post in Mike's
own words: The final piece of the puzzle fell into place on Tuesday. A lot
of what it will take to make VR great is well understood at this point, so it's
engineering, not research; hard engineering, to be sure, but clearly within
reach. For example, there are half a dozen things that could be done to display
panels that would make them better for VR, none of them pie in the sky. However,
it's expensive engineering. And, of course, there's also a huge amount of
research to do once we reach the limits of current technology, and that's not
only expensive, it also requires time and patience – fully tapping the potential
of VR will take decades. That's why I've written before that VR wouldn't become
truly great until some company stepped up and invested the considerable capital
to build the right hardware – and that it wouldn't be clear that it made sense
to spend that capital until VR was truly great. I was afraid that that Catch-22
would cause VR to fail to achieve liftoff.
That worry is now gone. Facebook's acquisition of Oculus means that VR is going
to happen in all its glory. The resources and long-term commitment that Facebook
brings gives Oculus the runway it needs to solve the hard problems of VR – and
some of them are hard indeed. I now fully expect to spend the rest of my career
pushing VR as far ahead as I can.
It's great to be working with John again after all these years, and with that
comes a sense of deja vu. It feels like it did when I went to Id, but on
steroids – this time we're working on technology that will change not just
computer gaming, but potentially how all of us interact with computers,
information, and each other every day. I think it's going to be the biggest
game-changer I've ever seen – and I've seen quite a lot over the last 57
years.
A video tease in Instagram
shows a snippet of gameplay from Call of Duty: Ghosts- Devastation, which
will make it's timed exclusive debut on Xbox LIVE next week. The short clip has
some pretty clear clues that this will include something akin to the Predator
from the predator movies, as it features a nigh-invisible opponent, signature
Predator clicking noises, and the movie quote "if it bleeds..." At no point,
however, does the player character sing any of Long Tall Sally... Thanks
GameSpot.
A new Meat the Flockers
trailer is an introductory clip for Flockers, showing off the upcoming new IP from
Worms
originators Team17. Word is this is coming soon to Steam Early Access:
Team17 recently lifted the wool on its brand new IP, Flockers, during its
global unveiling at PC and indie gaming show, EGX Rezzed.
Flockers is a twisted blend of Lemmings’ inspired gameplay and Tim Burton style
macabre, all topped off with a dose of that classic Worms humour!
Set hoof into this sinister, steampunk inspired world as you navigate the
hapless sheep through a plethora of dark, heinous puzzles in an attempt to save
them from their impending doom. Flockers will be coming to PC via Steam Early
Access in Q2 2014.
Continue here to read the full story.
Here's a trailer
from LEGO Minifigures Online, revealing a pirate world in Funcom's upcoming
toy-based MMORPG. Here's the description, straight out of talk like a pirate
day: "Ye think yer a proper pirate, aye? Well, then! Head over to Volcano Island
and battle the terrible ghost pirate Dreadleg, or mark yer maps for Treasure
Island and best the most terrifying o' sea monsters: Crikey the Kraken! This be
what separates the scallywags from the swashbucklers and the bilge rats from the
buccaneers!" Continue here to read the full story.
The Fine Young Capitalists
is a game project looking to increase the presence of women in video game
development, embracing anyone who identifies themselves as female. Here's their
pitch for your pitch: Any person who identifies as a woman can prepare a
proposal of up to 1,500 words in length explaining their concept for a video
game. Each pitch will be judged on originality, financial viability, level of
immersion, fun, aesthetic and feasibility with the require budget. The top 5
proposal will be given to professional concept artists and writers to create a
fully realized pitch document that they can use to sell the concept to 3rd
parties.
These pitches will be placed online and voted on by anyone interested in
supporting women in video game design, with the pitch that receives the most
votes being made into a real game and digitally distributed for the entire
world. Profits from the sale of game will be given to charity.
A couple of photos relating to this site popped up on social media yesterday...
My towering buddy Redwood posted a photo of
us from QuakeCon 1998 that also prominently features Robs and esses,
bringing back lots of fun memories (this was marked private, so I've posted it
locally). Also,
a twitter
post shows a Blue's News t-shirt that has seen its share of service. I know
there have been lots of requests for new ones, which I guess I have to look
into, as the condition of that one proves.
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