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Archived News:
Activision Blizzard announces their third quarter 2014 financial results,
saying they are better-than-expected. They offer some details about their
business, including word that World of Warcraft is back up to 7.4 million
subscribers, after dipping to 6.8 million as of
last quarter. Here are
some big numbers for your crunching pleasure: For the quarter ended
September 30, 2014, Activision Blizzard’s GAAP net revenues were $753 million,
as compared with $691 million for the third quarter of 2013. On a non-GAAP
basis, the company’s net revenues were a record $1.17 billion, as compared with
$657 million for the third quarter of 2013. For the third quarter of 2014, GAAP
net revenues from digital channels represented a record 67% of the company’s
total revenues. On a non-GAAP basis, net revenues from digital channels
represented 43% of the company’s total revenues.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Activision Blizzard’s GAAP loss per
diluted share was ($0.03), as compared with GAAP earnings per diluted share of
$0.05 for the third quarter of 2013. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s earnings
per diluted share were a record $0.23 for the third quarter of 2014, as compared
with $0.08 for the third quarter of 2013.
EA announces they
have ceased development on Dawngate, the MOBA game they hoped would
compete with the likes of League of Legends. Word is they will continue to
operate it for another few months, and they will be refunding all money spent by
players during the beta. Here's word from Matt Bromberg, Group General
Manager: Whenever we begin a game project, we do so with great hopes and
expectations. In this case, we chose to enter a new genre for EA in MOBA, one
that we knew going in was extremely competitive. We built a game in Dawngate
that wasn’t simply a clone of existing MOBAs, but one that truly pushed the
genre forward in many ways. Dawngate has been in beta for almost 18 months,
including a full open beta for the past six months. Through that time, we’ve
taken a lot of feedback from players and delivered lots of new features and
innovations. And although the game has grown, we’re not seeing the progress we’d
hoped for. This isn’t the outcome we wanted, but beta testing is about learning
and improving, and ultimately, about making difficult decisions about how to
proceed.
As for the incredibly talented team of designers, producers, engineers, and
artists who have put so much creative energy into Dawngate: The game was truly a
labor of love, and it shows. We’ve got nothing but gratitude for their hard
work, and pride about what’s been accomplished.
As a part of the process of closing down Dawngate, we’ll continue to operate the
game for the next 90 days. All players will be entitled to a full refund of any
money spent during the beta. For most players, we’ll process those refunds
within the next 10 days. If we don’t have current payment information on file
for you, we’ll need to reach out first before initiating the refund. If you have
any questions, you can reach us at help.ea.com.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is now available, an update of the
action/RPG The Binding of Isaac for Windows, OS X, and Linux remade with new
graphics, a new soundtrack, and full controller support (thanks Batman). There
are links to purchase the game and the soundtrack on the
Binding of Isaac website. Here's the
deal: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is the ultimate of remakes with an
all-new highly efficient game engine (expect 60fps on most PCs), all-new
hand-drawn pixel style artwork, highly polished visual effects, all-new
soundtrack and audio by the the sexy Ridiculon duo Matthias Bossi + Jon Evans.
Oh yeah, and hundreds upon hundreds of designs, redesigns and re-tuned
enhancements by series creator, Edmund McMillen. Did we mention the
poop?
CCP announces the new Phoebe update is now live in EVE Online, their
sci-fi MMORPG. In case it isn't obvious from the self-explanatory name, they
offer details on what Phoebe brings to the game: We are happy to announce
that the Phoebe
release has been successfully deployed to Tranquility!
Phoebe brings a whole host of new changes, including
Invention Updates,
changes to travel in New Eden, the new
Mission Objective Guidance System, the addition of
unlimited skill queues, changes to
trial account restrictions,
multisell!,
changes to exploration content and
significant changes to the user interface that should allow easier and more
efficient piloting of your spaceships!
You can check out an overview of all these features in CCP Seagull's "Coming
to EVE Online with the Phoebe Release" dev blog, and find more granular
details in the full
patch notes.
For general feedback on this release you can post and discuss in
this forum
thread. To discuss issues, please see
this
thread. For those of you playing with our Mac client, please report your Mac
specific issues in
this
thread.
Everyone grab their towels and their Baby Ruth bars, as
a new post on the Sims blog
announces that EA Maxis has overcome the vast technological hurdles that
prevented the inclusion of swimming pools in The Sims 4, and a new patch is now
available allowing you to dive into this new feature right now.
This trailer shows
various ways to enjoy pools in the lifestyle simulation, such as the vanilla
backyard pool, the more obvious house with a pool on every available surface,
and of course, the pool with the wall you build around it to drown all the
swimmers, our top-seller every year. Continue here to read the full story.
Choices have consequences is the lesson EA wants to bring home in
a new trailer from
Dragon Age: Inquisition called "choice & consequence." This caps off a series of
features on the upcoming RPG sequel using gameplay footage to show it off.
Here's the official description: "As the influential leader of the Inquisition,
the weight of your decisions will be felt across the world of Thedas. Everything
from the race of your Inquisitor to the dialogue choices you make in
conversation has an impact on your story. How you choose to lead is up to you,
but remember, in Dragon Age: Inquisition choices have consequences. Making a new
ally can also lead to the creation of a new enemy." Continue here to read the full story.
"Fast Cars in Moscow" are on display in
a new trailer from
World of Speed, a depiction of some of the most responsible Russian driving to
be found on YouTube today. The clip offers some of the first gameplay footage
released by Slightly Mad Studios from their upcoming MMO racing game. Here's how
they describe it: "The extended gameplay footage, from a community live stream,
shows a fierce race between a RUF RK Coupe and a Mercedes SLS down the winding
streets of Moscow. The footage provides a look at World of Speed in action and
highlights the type of close races and raw speed and power that awaits players
in the game." Continue here to read the full story.
- Banished on
Steam. Save 50%.
- Gauntlet on
Steam. Save 33%.
- Shadow Warrior on
Steam. Save 75%.
Rockstar Games announces new details about the upcoming current-generation
release of Grand Theft Auto V, confirming
recent indications this will include
enhanced first-person support. Here's
a video and here
are the details that Rockstar apparently learned
from IGN: With exactly two weeks to go until launch, IGN spent some
time with the new version of Grand Theft Auto V, including the all-new First
Person Mode. Exclusive to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC versions of Grand
Theft Auto V, this new mode gives players the chance to explore the world of Los
Santos and Blaine County directly through the eyes of their character, revealing
all the world's glorious details in an entirely new way. For more details about
First Person Mode, check out
the first of IGN's 3 exclusive feature stories this week. Here's a sampling:
"There’s so much new about this version Grand Theft Auto V, but it’s
obvious Rockstar was keen to deliver something above and beyond a technical
upgrade – it’s given players an entirely new way of playing the game. From
shooters to action games, we’re all used to adopting the first-person, but
the way in which this new perspective transforms the GTA 5 experience can’t
be understated; it fundamentally alters how you inhabit and interact with
this world. It rewrites the experience."
Read the full story here:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/04/grand-theft-auto-v-a-new-perspective
Available in both GTAV and GTA Online, we've made a host of changes to
accommodate this new perspective, including the creation of an optional first
person cover system, a new targeting system, a more traditional FPS control
scheme, and integrating thousands of new animations into the existing game. It's
also available at the touch of a button so you can easily switch back and forth
between perspectives.
Alongside the new First Person mode, Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 4, Xbox
One and PC features hundreds of additions and enhancements including 1080p
resolution at 30FPS on PS4 and Xbox One (4K compatible on PC).
Continue here to read the full story.
The GeForce website now offers new
version 344.60 WHQL-certified drivers for NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. These
are recommended for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Here's word: "The new
GeForce Game Ready driver, release 344.60 WHQL, includes improvements which
allows GeForce owners to continue to have the ultimate gaming platform. In
addition, this Game Ready WHQL driver ensures you'll have the best possible
gaming experience for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare."
This
Steam Community post announces open beta testing of Steamworks
support for Red Faction:
Guerrilla is now underway, as Volition progresses on removing reliance
on Games for Windows LIVE from the shooter sequel. Here's how this works: Red
Faction Guerilla Steamworks Open Beta!
Today I would like to invite you all to participate in the public beta of Red
Faction Guerilla with full Steam Support and complete Games for Windows Live
Removal.
-) Matchmaking and Multiplayer via Steamworks
-) No Games for Windows Live sign-in required
-) Leaderboards via Steam
-) Voice Chat via Steam
-) Achievements via Steam
-) Uses DX9 Renderer by default as DX10 created a lot of problems and resulted
in performance drawbacks (that should also fix Win8 issues)
-) At first launch the game attempts to migrate savegames from GFWL to the new
system
To access the beta please do the following:
Follow this guide
http://ds.nordicgames.at/SteamBetaBranchGuide.jpg
Under Step 1 select of course the Red Faction Guerilla App
Password for step 4 is: nordicrfgbeta
The branch for Step 6 is named publicbeta
I would like to invite everybody to report errors and bugs here so we can
further improve the game.
Steam now offers the
official release version of Double Action: Boogaloo, the free-to-play shooter
inspired by John Woo-style action movies (thanks Ant via
Linux Today). This had a preliminary release over
the summer, but
GamingOnLinux notes the official release came a couple of weeks ago for
Windows and Linux. There's also
a recent update with the status of the OS X edition and workshop
support: The Double Action team has been eating apples all week and the
result is that the OSX version of DA is almost ready. Its bits and bytes are
currently loaded into Steam and ready to be processed and downloaded by all of
our beautiful players, we just have to do make sure none of the apples have any
bugs before the hour of final disbursement (exactly what hour? I dunno, whenever
we stop eating them apples.)
In addition we're going to release the OSX version in tandem with the Steam
Workshop, which will let anyone build and distribute modifications to the game,
some of which may be incorporated back into the official version. All of this
will happen perhaps some time this weekend (exactly what day? I dunno, whenever
it's done.)
EDIT: Sorry guys, looks like the workshop is going to take longer than we
thought, it's coming soon, but not as soon. We'll push forward with the Mac
support, but workshop will be in a later update.
The Team Fortress
website announces a "Tomb Contest" where Valve and Square Enix are opening
up the opportunity for the community to create promotional Tomb Raider-themed
content for Team Fortress 2. The winning entries will be used as preorder
bonuses for Lara Croft
and the Temple of Osiris, while rejected entries will probably make for
some epic nude Lara matches on Valve's private servers.
This page has the
complete rules and here's word on how you can help promote the new Tomb Raider
game: Square Enix has agreed to open up the Tomb Raider IP so that we can
have a contest. All of the Tomb Raider games are fair game, so if you've been
waiting for your chance to put the heavy in short shorts, this is it. (Please
don't do this.) You're welcome to pull from your favorite villains, heroes,
levels, or any bit of lore. Because this upcoming game takes place in the
classic Tomb Raider universe, we'd like to steer you towards the classic Lara
games, rather than focusing on last year's "Tomb Raider".
CVG has details on SEGA's financial reporting, saying the Japanese giant
lost two billion yen in the first half of their fiscal year. Word is:
Revenue totalled 154.2 billion yen (£850m/$1.36b) during the six months
ended September 30, down 4.9 per cent year-on-year, while operating profit
declined by 72.2 per cent to 3.45 billion yen (£19m/$30.3m).
Zoom
Sega's consumer business, which houses its games, toys and animated films
divisions, brought in revenue of 48.6 billion yen (£268m/$428m), up 10.3 per
cent year-on-year, although operating income declined by 16 per cent to 939
million yen (£5.2m/$8.2m) due to increased advertising expenses.
- Panzer General Online on
UbiBlog. "Introducing alliances."
Today is an election year here in the States, a mid-term dealie where local
races are the big story. It's good to finally get to this point, as the
materials that have flooded us this year has been insane. It seems far more
dramatic this year as switching from DirecTV to cable has allowed us to be
targeted with even more local ads than before, and over the past couple of
weeks, the inundation of TV ads has gone from extreme to ridiculous, and
yesterday there were ten candidate flyers in the mail. I know most people are
skeptical when voters claim to remain undecided late in the races, but clearly
the candidates believe it.
R.I.P.:
Car Talk Host Tom Magliozzi Dead at 77. Sad news.
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