Investors.com hashes out the possibility that Activision is looking to
acquire Take-Two Interactive, one of the many reports that stem from a research
note from Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey on Friday describing "an emerging
romance" between the two companies. This nauseous image is said to be based on
both company's ambitions to create Hollywood movies based on their games. They
quote the Hickey analysis as advising: "For Activision, acquiring Take-Two
Interactive would be a no-brainer, in our view, circling some of the strongest
development talent and owned IP in the world, within a company that has nearly
$1 billion in cash and trades at a comparably lower multiple." Thanks nin via
Polygon.
The
Icewind Dale website has details
on the
Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, an updated version of the beloved
RPG in the works at Beamdog for release on Windows and OS X as well as mobiles
"when it's ready," though they add this is "likely within a month." Here's word
on how this is being enhanced:
Beamdog and Wizards of The Coast announced
at PAX today that pre-orders have begun for Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition ahead
of its upcoming release.
Originally released in 2000, Icewind Dale is hailed as a classic Dungeons &
Dragons adventure based in Wizards of The Coast's legendary Forgotten Realms
campaign setting. The Enhanced Edition will allow new and experienced gamers
alike to enjoy this epic adventure as never before. Available on PC, Mac, iPad,
and Android tablets and phones, the game will retail for $19.99 on desktop and
is available for pre-order now.
Icewind Dale has been enhanced with new kits and character classes, dozens of
new items and spells, and restored quest material cut from the original game.
The redesigned user interface features Zoom capabilities and a Quickloot Bar,
among numerous other improvements. Up to six players can simultaneously enjoy
Icewind Dale with the new cross-platform multiplayer mode.
An
article on the AGH University of Science and Technology website has details
on the RAYA real-time sound engine for video games, which tackles audio
reproduction with the type of ambition that is often reserved for improving game
graphics. Word is: "All audio effects are computed based on the actual geometry
of a given game level as well as its acoustic properties (acoustic materials,
air attenuation). The sound changes dynamically along with movement of the game
character and sound sources, so the listener can feel as if he was right there -
in the game." They offer
this video demonstrating how this works using Quake III Arena. Thanks
Wookiestick.
Continue here to read the full story.
EA announces those interested in getting underway ASAP in
The Sims 4
can start preloading from Origin now in advance of this week's launch of the
lifestyle simulation. Here's word:
Pre-load is currently rolling out for
everyone who pre-ordered the game on Origin. When it’s available in your area,
just launch Origin and download your copy. You can check to see by hovering your
cursor over the game tile in your Game Library.
Once you’ve pre-loaded The Sims 4, your game will unlock once the game launches
in your region. For fans in the US, that means it’ll start rolling out at 12 AM
EDT on September 2, 9 PM PDT on September 1.
Fans in other regions can find their local release schedule below:
September 2: North America, Central Asia, and Russia
September 4: Australia, Japan, and Europe (excluding the UK)
September 5: New Zealand, India, South Africa, and the UK
Valve lists the following as the 10 bestselling titles on
Steam last week:
- The Walking Dead: Season Two
- Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- DayZ
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
- Sid Meier's Civilization V: The Complete Edition
- Sid Meier's Civilization V Beyond Earth
- The Crew
- Metro Redux
- Age of Mythology: Extended Edition
Brad Wardell - 3 things that have made gaming social media more toxic.
First, I want to emphasize that the gaming media isn’t some monolithic
thing. There are a lot of good publications and journalists in the game
industry. But at the same time, they, like you, know who and what I’m
referring to, are often appalled by them, so I think they, and you, will
forgive me if I simply describe the usual suspects as “the gaming media”.
It’s not just that the gaming media publicizes every tawdry rumor or
speculation about the individuals involved in making games. It’s that they
actively take sides and drive the narrative. This is extremely divisive and
thus creates a constituency of people waiting “their turn” to air their
grievances.
Looks like my ambitions to do something dramatic in Manstiovia today may be
derailed by wet weather. What's weird is we often have company for Labor and
Memorial day weekends, and typically have great weather, so the lack of planning
for this weekend now seems like good planning, as we managed to avoid invoking a
rainout.
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