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Archived News:
Blizzard announces details about BlizzCon 2014, saying this year's
installment in their annual gaming convention will take place on Friday,
November 7th and Saturday November 8th at the Anaheim Convention Center in
California. The bulk of the $199.00 tickets for the event will go out in two
batches on May 7th and May 10th, while a consignment of tickets to the exclusive
pre-BlizzCon dinner will go on sale for $750.00 each on May 14th to benefit
charity. "BlizzCon is always the biggest highlight of the year for us," said
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "With Hearthstone
and Reaper of Souls recently launched and Heroes of the Storm and Warlords of
Draenor gearing up for beta, 2014 is already shaping up to be an epic year for
Blizzard gamers. We can’t wait to celebrate and share what we’ve been working on
with everyone this November." Here's more on the planned festivities:
- Hands-on play time with the latest versions of
Blizzard Entertainment games
- Global finals for Blizzard eSports, including the
StarCraft® II World Championship Series Global Finals
- In-depth discussion panels with Blizzard game
developers and artists
- Competitive and casual tournaments for players to
showcase their talents
- Community contests with great prizes
- Commemorative merchandise based on Blizzard
Entertainment’s game universes
- More activities and attractions to be announced
Gearbox Software announces that multiplayer support for the original
Borderlands will live on past the impending
end of GameSpy services, as
Gearbox is transitioning the role-playing shooter to Steam for multiplayer
support ( Borderlands 2 already uses Steam). They point to the
2K Blog for more details, where word is the previous two Civilization games
are also moving to Steam to extend their multiplayer support. Conversely,
this page lists legacy games that will lose online services as of May 31st.
Here's word: Beginning May 31, 2014, select legacy titles from the
Borderlands® and Civilization® catalogs will temporarily go offline while
service is transitioned to Steamworks. During the transition, players will
experience interruption of several features, including online play, matchmaking
and voiceover Internet protocol (VOIP) where applicable. Players will not
experience interruptions to offline play.
The list of 2K titles currently slated for online migration includes:
- Borderlands® (PC)
- Civilization® III
- Civilization® III: Conquests
- Civilization® III: Play the World
- Civilization® IV
- Civilization® IV: Beyond the Sword
- Civilization® IV: Colonization
- Civilization® IV: Warlords
Starting May 31, Borderlands® PS3 and Civilization® Revolution PS3 will also
go offline as a result of GameSpy Technology's online service termination. We
are currently investigating the technical feasibility of transitioning those
titles. Again, players will not experience interruptions to offline play for
these titles. We will provide updates as they become available.
Additionally, 2K will discontinue online service functionality for a number of
our legacy titles that use GameSpy. We apologize for the inconvenience this may
cause.
2K titles losing online service as of May 31, 2014
- Close Combat First to Fight (PC / Mac)
- Jetfighter (PC)
- Jetfighter V: Homeland Protector (PC)
- Leadfoot (PC)
- Rune (PC)
- Stronghold 2 (PC)
- Stronghold Legends (PC)
- Top Spin (PS2 / PC)
- Top Spin 2 (PC / DS)
- Vietcong (PC)
- Vietcong Demo (PC)
- Vietcong Fist Alpha (PC)
- Vietcong 2 (PC)
- Vietcong 2 Demo (PC)
- MLB Fantasy All-Stars (DS)
- Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (DS)
- Major League Baseball 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars (DS)
- NHL 2K10 (Wii)
- NBA 2K10 (Wii)
Steam now offers Rube
Works: The Official Rube Goldberg Invention Game, a puzzle game based on the
comically complicated contraptions created by cartoonist Rube Goldberg. The
game's website offers links
to mobile versions, while Steam bundles the Windows, Linux, and OS X editions at
a 40% off launch discount. Here's the lowdown: Rube Works features Rube’s
cartoons, contraptions, and irreverent humor and animates the iconic invention
cartoons in a way never seen before. The game combines the puzzle genre with
slapstick humor and creative problem solving. Imagine the goal is to carve a
turkey—and you have a penguin, a bucket, a rooster, a box of sand, a sea sponge,
a seesaw and an ice cream maker to complete the task. Then imagine connecting
these objects together with string and pulleys along with the laws of gravity
and cartoon physics to create a Rube Goldberg machine and proceed to the next
level.
The Space Jade website offers a new
playable demo of an early version of The Adventures of Space Jade, a
side-scrolling action/adventure "mixed with a little bit of RPG elements and
puzzle solving." Here's word on the game: "Explore one seamless world with five
different environments - Make way through the treacherous jungle - Solve puzzles
in ancient temples - Beware deadly traps in pitch black caves and discover
hidden secrets in the depths of the water."
Indie developer Arkavi Studios announces a name change for Star Lords,
saying it will henceforth be known as Lords of the Black Sun, taking the
occasion to also announce the 4X space strategy game has entered the beta phase.
They say the beta "features highly improved AI that utilizes the ship design
component, making for more powerful ships and tougher battles, and offers
streamlined gameplay and interface functionality, better lighting, and more."
There are details on the
Steam Community website, and here's a summary of new beta features:
- Improved AI: Now the AI fully uses the ship design
component and its latest additions, designing more powerful ships and better
managing its military forces making it a significantly tougher opponent.
- Major bug fixes and fixed some crashes and
stability issues. Bug and crash fixes include the corrupted save files bug
and the Trade Routes menu crash.
- Multiplayer is now being tested internally. While
it's not available in this first Beta release, it will be included soon.
- Added revamped Light and Medium Draakian ships
models.
- Conquest Bundle on Bundle
Stars.
- Octodad: Dadliest Catch on
Steam. Save 33%.
- Portal 2 on Steam.
Save 75%.
- Titanfall on
Amazon.com.
Save 38%.
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines on
Steam. Save 75%.
EA and BioWare announce an October 7th release date for Dragon Age:
Inquisition, in North America, saying the release of the next installment in
their action/RPG series will follow for Windows, PS4, PS3, and Xbox 360 in
Europe on October 10th. A new
gameplay trailer
accompanies the news, and here is the announcement: BioWare™, a division
of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), today announced that the
highly-anticipated, epic role-playing game, Dragon Age™: Inquisition will be
available in stores and for digital download on October 7 in North America and
October 10 in Europe. In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the expansive, beautiful world
of Thedas is being torn apart by a massive, mysterious breach in the sky.
Players must assume the role of the Inquisitor and lead a team of legendary
heroes to uncover the truth behind the impending devastation.
“Our goal with Dragon Age: Inquisition is to usher in the next-generation of
role playing games.” said Aaryn Flynn, General Manager of BioWare Edmonton and
Montreal. “Players will experience the rich storylines and characters that
they’ve come to expect from BioWare, in an expansive world with large open
environments just begging to be explored.”
Players can pre-order* Dragon Age: Inquisition to get special bonus content.
Visit the Dragon Age website for more
information on editions, including the Deluxe Edition available for pre-order
and the upcoming Inquisitor’s Edition.
Become a fan of Dragon Age:
Inquisition on Facebook and follow us on Twitter® via
http://www.twitter.com/dragonage.
Continue here to read the full story.
The
Codies Blog has first details on GRID Autosport, a new installment in
Codemasters' racing series coming to Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on
June 27th. The post is quite lengthy, as it discusses how the game should better
align with the expectations of fans who were disappointed in GRID 2, though they
do boil it down to 10 words in their TL:DR summary: "Yes, we have an in-car
view, two in fact." There are
posts on NeoGAF
(thanks
DOSGaming) where a purported Codemasters developer says PC is the lead
platform here, and the PC edition will not be a port.
This
trailer celebrates the return to the roots of the series, and here's a bit
on their plans: While we were patching GRID 2 and releasing new content,
we were busy gathering feedback. We devoured the comment threads under articles
about GRID 2 on gaming websites, took stock of our reviews, and of course,
digested all the comments on our social channels and forums where we received
direct feedback. It’s this feedback that helped create GRID Autosport.
If GRID 2 raced off into a more narrative-led world of racing with more
accessible controls, it’s clear that for many of you, that wasn’t what you
wanted or expected from GRID 2. So with GRID Autosport we had the opportunity to
make a much more focussed motorsport game, a desire that many of you have
expressed directly to us, and a game that in spirit goes back to some of our
earlier titles in terms of content and handling.
Continue here to read the full story.
1C Company reveal plans for King's Bounty: Dark Side, a new installment
in the King's Bounty role-playing series coming to Windows PCs this summer. The
1C Publishing
website has details and some screenshots. Here's the deal: 1C Company
is excited to announce the upcoming release of King’s Bounty: Dark Side, the
next chapter in the award-winning King’s Bounty saga.
Time has come to join the Dark Journey to the other side of Teana and visit a
mysterious part of the world never before seen by royal bounty hunters.
For the first time in King’s Bounty series, players will be able to choose their
hero’s race as well as class. Become a fearless Orcs warrior, lead and heal your
troops as a Demoness, or use dark magic as a fearsome Vampire.
The world is in turmoil. After winning the battle of Tristrem, arrogant elves
plunder Orcish villages, desecrate holy shrines, and massacre the innocents.
Orc-Baghyr, the greatest living Orc warrior, is forced to flee with a handful of
loyal followers. He vows to return with a stronger force and retake his
homeland!
Armies of human knights invade the land of Atrixus. A young Demoness named
Neoleene, still mourning the death of her royal father, and her small unit of
devoted imps is all that stands in the way of the invading horde.
Castle of the ancient Morton clan is threatened by an army of vampire hunters.
Young Daert leaves home to seek allies among the other Dark races. All must join
him or perish.
Fates of the three heroes are sealed. They come together in the depths of the
Black Cave, where many centuries ago races of Light imprisoned Ancient Evil. The
heroes exchange vows and share antique artifacts, then gather their armies and
march to fight for the very survival of their race. They must unite against the
Light or face extinction!
King’s Bounty: Dark Side features:
- New companion system (different companions for
each character);
- New battle companion;
- New units, artifacts, and rage abilities ;
- Over 100 new quests and 15 new locations
King’s Bounty: Dark Side is scheduled to be released in summer 2014.
A new Rise of Incarnates
website is now online and is accepting alpha signups for this upcoming
free-to-play brawler from Bandai Namco (thanks
CVG). This announcement
has details, saying this "is scheduled for release in the latter half of 2014
for PCs in the Americas," and the site includes
an announcement trailer,
as well as details on the
alpha. Here's the outline of what this is all about: BANDAI NAMCO Games
America Inc. today announces an entirely new franchise, Rise of Incarnates.
Forged by the creators of Tekken and SoulCalibur; unfettered 3D battles are
about to be unleashed upon PC gamers. Rise of Incarnates is scheduled for
release in the latter half of 2014 for PCs in the Americas.
Born from BANDAI NAMCO Games’ fighting game pedigree, the teams behind Tekken,
SoulCalibur, and Gundam Extreme VS unite to bring Rise of Incarnates to life.
Rise of Incarnates features ground-breaking 2 vs. 2 gameplay, a multitude of
characters and roles, and battlegrounds throughout shattered yet accurately
rendered real-world cityscapes. These diverse character types and roles, each
with unique skills and powers, appeal to a variety of play-styles while
accommodating expansive team dynamics and strategy. Players employ sharp
reflexes, mental resolve, and strategic insight as they run, jump, and fly
through 3D arenas, engaging in both close-quarters combat and long-range
assaults.
Players take the role of “Incarnates”, humans that command untold mythical
powers as they vie to avoid tragedy and reshape the course of their world. Due
to their special abilities, Incarnates are both feared and loathed by the
general population while being persecuted by the authorities that want to
harness and use their power for their own nefarious needs. One day, a mysterious
voice calls out to the Incarnates telling them the only way to avoid certain
destruction is to destroy the “Sovereign of this era.” It is here that the
battle for dominance amongst Incarnates begins and the fate of life on Earth
hangs in the balance.
“As a new franchise, Rise of Incarnates represents the next big step in
expanding BANDAI NAMCO’s footprint in the Free-to-Play gaming space,” said In
Joon Hwang, Director of Digital Games at BANDAI NAMCO Games America Inc. “Having
been built from the ground up, Rise of Incarnates contains the necessary
attributes that create a rich and dynamic gaming environment that fans are sure
to enjoy.”
Rise of Incarnates for PC is scheduled for release in the latter part of 2014.
To learn more about Rise of Incarnates please visit:
http://www.riseofincarnates.com/.
To learn more about BANDAI NAMCO Games America Inc. go to:
http://www.bandainamcogames.com/home.html.
Continue here to read the full story.
Happy Earth Day! Here's hoping you got the Earth something nice to mark the
occasion... it's always been good to you.
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