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Archived News:
The H1Z1 website
reveals that Sony's zombie game is coming to Steam early access on January
15th (thanks
Massively). SOE's John Smedley shares more on what to expect
on reddit, making it clear this will still be a work-in-progress at that
point: After a lot of hard work, we've decided to make the release date
January 15th, 2015. This gives us just enough time to polish what we have and
put out something we'll be proud of and hopefully you'll be excited to play.
Why did it take longer than we originally thought? It's a fair question. The
simple answer is once we saw what we could have had earlier it wasn't good
enough and we wanted to put something out that we would be proud of. What you'll
be playing January 15th is a really fun game, but it's early. It's everything
Early Access should be - a fun and compelling game that isn't finished. Our goal
is to have you help us finish it and have it be a game we can build a large
community in over time.
Is it going to be a finished game? Absolutely not. If that's what you're
expecting, DO NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS. The goal here is to let you in early and
help us mold it into a game you want to be a part of for quite a long time.
We'll have 2 SKUS when we launch. The basic early access sku for $19.99 - which
will let you into the game and have a great time, and a more expensive one which
we'll announce here shortly. The difference between the two will be things like
access to some of our different game mode servers (which you can get access to
by purchasing tickets or earning them as well) and other specifics we'll be
outlining soon.
Is H1Z1 going to be better than Day Z day 1? No it won't. We'll get asked that
question a lot and I wanted to be up front about it. We're not as feature rich
and they have a lot of really cool stuff we just don't have yet. That being
said, we're also a different game. We're an MMO and our goals are to create a
large scale world that gives you the incredible feeling of being a survivor in a
zombie apocalypse.
We'll be starting out with roughly 64k square Kilometers, but we plan to grow it
right away.. and over time create our virtual version of the US post apocalypse.
Look for us to start adding land right away post launch.
There's an open letter on The
Witcher website in which CD Projekt RED informs everyone of another delay to
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Their RPG sequel is now expected on May 19,
2015 after last being due
in February (at one point it was planned for release this year). Here's word on the latest
setback: Ever since we started working on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we
knew it would be an ambitious game. We wanted, and still aim, to give you an
incredible experience, an epic adventure in a vast, completely open fantasy
universe.
The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have
had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see
many details that need to be corrected. When we release the most important game
in our studio’s history, we must be absolutely sure that we did everything we
could to limit any bugs to a level that will allow you to enjoy the game
thoroughly.
With this in mind, we took another look at current workloads and what they mean
for the team. Even though everyone is working at full speed, we concluded that
we need another 12 weeks, so we are shifting the release date of The Witcher 3:
Wild Hunt to May 19th, 2015.
We owe you an apology. We set the release date too hastily. It’s a hard lesson,
one to take to heart for the future. We know what we want to do to make Wild
Hunt one of the best RPGs you will ever play. And we continue to work hard to
achieve just that. So, we apologize and ask for your trust.
Thank you for the all support you show us on a daily basis. We truly do
appreciate it. It has fueled us in our passion since the start and will continue
to do so.
Publisher Versus Evil and developer Stioc announce The Banner Saga 2,
saying the role-playing strategy sequel will come Windows, Xbox One, and
PlayStation 4 in 2015. Next year is when to expect more details as well, as the
announcement focuses more on the first game than the second one: For The
Banner Saga 2, Stoic will continue the legacy and story of The Banner Saga, an
epic experience for PC, home consoles and mobile that was recently confirmed as
an upcoming release for PlayStation ® Vita. Featuring stunning 2D animation and
art, a unique tactical combat system and a cast of unforgettable characters, the
original game earned several awards and nominations, including winner of the
2014 Geekie Awards for “Best Video Game”, finalist for “Excellence in Visual
Arts” and two honourable mentions for “Excellence in Design” and “Excellence in
Audio” at the 2014 Independent Game Festival.
“The critical reception and widespread fan appreciation for The Banner Saga is
overwhelming and humbling, and has the team at Stoic dedicated to delivering a
fantastic sequel with The Banner Saga 2,” said Arnie Jorgensen, co-owner and art
director, Stoic. “Here we are announcing our next game, our way, on a world-wide
stage. We have surrounded our development efforts with quality people like
Austin Wintory, Malukah, Taylor Davis and the Versus Evil team. We couldn’t be
more excited.”
Blizzard Entertainment announces the North American release of the
Goblins & Gnomes expansion for Hearthstone, adding more than 120 new
cards to Blizzard's virtual-card strategy game: Goblins vs Gnomes throws
players in the middle of the epic rivalry between Azeroth’s audacious goblin
engineers and their equally “adventurous” gnomish counterparts—and these
pint-sized tinkerers are ready to stir up trouble. Their incredible inventions
and mechanical monstrosities are marvelous to behold … but when Hearthstone
players deploy them in a duel, the results can be quite unpredictable.
Goblins vs Gnomes card packs are available in-game now for gold or real-world
currency, priced the same as Expert card packs from the original Hearthstone:
Heroes of Warcraft set. Players can also win Goblins vs Gnomes cards as rewards
in the Arena or craft them using Arcane Dust earned from disenchanting cards in
their collection.
The official release date for Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
is tomorrow, but
the new installment in the action/adventure series is available in North America
now through Steam. This
is accompanied
by word of the release of the game's soundtrack as a free download from
SoundCloud. Word
is: "Composed by the talented Wilbert Roget, II, we uploaded the first eight
tracks this morning along with notes detailing his inspirations and influences.
Look for another drop of music next Monday." Here's a description of the
game: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is the sequel to the
critically-acclaimed Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and the first-ever
four-player co-op experience with Lara Croft. Featuring stunning visuals and a
brand-new story, players must work together to explore the temple, defeat hordes
of enemies from the Egyptian underworld, solve devious puzzles, and avoid deadly
traps. All the while, players will compete for treasure, powerful artifacts, and
ultimate bragging rights.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris takes place deep in the deserts of Egypt. In
her new adventure, Lara must join forces with rival treasure hunter Carter Bell
and imprisoned gods Horus and Isis, to defeat the evil god Set. As Lara and her
companions fight the elements of nature across the sands and through ancient
tombs, they will battle legendary deities and creatures of myth. With the fate
of the world at stake, Lara must recover the fragments of Osiris to stop Set
from enslaving all mankind.
Gearbox Software announces additional details about the recently
announced Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
They say they expect the Windows patch to show up on Steam on December 16th, and
offer the following outline of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode: After you’ve
downloaded the update, Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode will be unlocked for any
character once they have completed the main story missions in True Vault Hunter
Mode and reached level 50. In UVHM, players can reset their mission progress at
any time from the main menu in order to replay multiple times.
Additionally, enemies and bosses will scale according to your current level. If
you’re playing with others, enemies scale to the highest-level player in the
party. Here are the changes you can expect in UVHM:
- Regular enemies will receive a 1.5x health
multiplier and 1.5x shield multiplier
- Badass enemies will receive a 2.5x health
multiplier and 3.5x shield multiplier
- Enemies are now more likely to drop ammo, plus
enemies and chests will give you better gear than in other playthroughs
- Elemental weapons will also be more effective, as
will gear with elemental resistance
If you want to chat about Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode with the community, be
sure to check out
this thread on our forums, which also includes some insight from the
developers about how the playthrough has been balanced.
The official version
of the new Metal Gear Online trailer clarifies that this will be the online mode
in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, so it will presumably be
coming to Windows as well as consoles when the next installment in the stealth
series. Konami also offers some new details on what to expect: "METAL GEAR
ONLINE represents the third iteration of the popular multiplayer game, newly
redesigned with the familiar gameplay and aesthetic styling of its companion
single-player campaign METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. With a focus on
Tactical Team Operations, the game features a ‘class system’ that more uniquely
defines the strengths and abilities of player characters on the battle field.
Key characters from the series including Venom Snake and Ocelot will also make
appearances in the anticipated multiplayer feature." Continue here to read the full story.
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II on
Steam. Save 66%.
- Lichdom: Battlemage on
Steam. Save 70%.
Link of the Day: WILL
IT CEREAL?
A new
Trademark filing for a video game Meantime was made by a company called Roxy
Friday, which rpg codex
says traces back to Brian Fargo and inXile Entertainment. They note that Meanwhile
is actually the name of a time-travel RPG cancelled by Interplay in the late 1980s,
making this a suspect
for the new RPG revival plan inXile recently
revealed. The intrigue surrounding this can be ramped up further since the
article was updated with the revelation that the same entity has
filed a trademark application for Van Buren, which was the codename for a
project once intended to be Fallout 3 back in the Black Isle Studio days, adding
another suspect to questions about who exactly is Keyser Soze here. Thanks Gamer's Hell.
Devolver Digital announces Enter the Gungeon, a "gunfighting dungeon crawler"
in development at Dodge Roll for release next year on Windows, OS X, Linux, and
PlayStation 4. The game's official
website is live, but for now just redirects to
the reveal trailer for
the game, which shows off a top-down, throwback style. For more on what to
expect, there's an
article on the PlayStation.Blog by Dodge Roll's Dave Crooks explaining the game. Here's word: Just
revealed at the Sony PlayStation Experience keynote, Enter the Gungeon is a
brand new gunfighting dungeon crawler coming in 2015 to PlayStation4, PC, Mac
and Linux from the gun-slinging warlocks of Devolver Digital and the
dodge-rolling masters at development studio Dodge Roll.
Take on the role of one of several Gungeoneers, each haunted by their past and
looking for a brighter tomorrow, as you Enter the Gungeon. Set your sights on
the Cult of the Gundead as you blast through hand-designed chambers of the
Gungeon's constantly evolving labyrinth of firepower.
Seek out the one gun above all other guns – the gun that can kill the past –
while exploring and unlocking a variety of fantastical weapons that unleash
everything from missiles, lasers and cannonballs to bizarrely effect a volley of
rainbows, fish, foam darts and bees. We're going to write that sentence again so
that you can say it out loud, slowly:
...a volley of rainbows, fish, foam darts and bees.
Continue here to read the full story.
BioWare's
Mark Darrah tweets about how they will miss their goal to patch Dragon
Age: Inquisition "on most platforms," but
later
clarifies the one platform they expect to patch tomorrow is Windows, saying
simply "we will be patching the PC." There are no exact details about what this
first patch will do for the RPG sequel. Thanks Mischiew.
Capcom Unity officially announces Street Fighter V, confirming
leaked plans for this to be exclusive to Windows and PlayStation 4, and adding the
fighting sequel will support cross-platform gameplay. They offer the official
launch of the announcement
trailer that first revealed their plans, and here's what they have to say
about it, including word that they will show a live SF5 match later this week:
Hey guys, big news: STREET FIGHTER V is coming and will be exclusive to
the PlayStation 4 and PC. What’s even bigger news is that our partnership with
Sony will result in SFV having cross-platform play, which will in turn unite our
Street Fighter fans into one grand player base. That’s right; PS4 owners will
now be able to lay the smack down against PC owners and vice-versa, a first for
the Street Fighter series!
As I’m sure a lot of you out there are eager to see how the game looks, we’ve
provided some screens and a gameplay trailer below. Please take note that SFV is
still early in development.
But the hype doesn’t stop there as Sony is also bringing USFIV to the PS4! As
you guys can see, the partnership has only just begun and it’s already a huge
win for the community.
As much as I would just like to just go ahead and let everything sink in, I have
one more surprise for you all! On December 13th, we will be showing the first
live match of Street Fighter V at the Capcom Cup. You’ll definitely want to tune
into Capcomcup.com to watch all the action unfold. Currently the release dates
for USFIV and SFV have not been announced yet, so I’ll definitely be back with
that information and more in the future. GET HYPE EVERYONE!
Continue here to read the full story.
The
GfK Chart-Track PC top 30 for the week ending December 6th in the U.K. shows
one new entry, as The Crew pulls in at number 10. Ubisoft's open-word
driving game debuts at number 6 on the
all platforms chart, while FIFA 15 kicks the new CoD game out of the top
spot. Here's the summary: ‘FIFA
15’ (-2%) moves back into top spot for the first time in 6 weeks.
It means last week’s No1 ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ (-34%) is pushed down
to No2 while ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ (-20%) is a non-mover at No3. Ubisoft’s ‘Far
Cry 4’ (-13%) also holds its position at No4 in its third week. The biggest
mover comes in the form of ‘Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham’ (+99%), which thanks
to retailer promotions is propelled from No19 to No5. It places ahead of
Ubisoft’s new racing title ‘The Crew’. the Tuesday release is the highest new
entry in the All Formats chart this week at No6.
‘Assassin’s Creed: Unity’ (-29%) drops two places to No7, while both ‘Minecraft:
Xbox Edition’ (+4%) and ‘Minecraft: Playstation Edition’ (+1%) climb to No8 and
No9 respectively. After last week’s Black Friday boost ‘Driveclub’ (-30%) slips
two places to No10. There is also a debut in the Top 40 for Square Enix’s
‘Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 Remix’ at No31 exclusively for PS3.
Kotaku has details from an announcement that Shanda Games will be launching
Borderlands Online in China, saying this is an MMOFPS based on Gearbox
Software's role-playing shooter series. There's no indication this will head
westward at this point, but here's word on what they're up to: "Players will be
able to play as four distinct character classes that are similar to the
characters found in the original Borderlands. The characters available are the
soldier, hunter, siren, and what looks to be the berserker." Word is the game
will be free-to-play.
To follow up yesterday, today Twitter asked if I know "Ellen DeGeneres, Barack
Obama and jimmy fallon." The answer is still no, and the Oxford comma is still
missing, but at least I understand why they asked this time.
Today seems to be something called Green Monday. I hesitate to joke that while
there are only 52 Mondays each year, Crayola makes 120 different standard colors
of crayon, so there are some marketing opportunities being missed here. How long
before we get the Burnt Sienna Monday we deserve?
R.I.P.:
Video-game pioneer Ralph
Baer dies --
Baer’s Odyssey- Meet the serial inventor who built the world’s first game
console.
R.I.P.: John Lennon, October 9, 1940-December 8, 1980.
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