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Archived News:
EA Announces
that
SimCity 2000 is the latest addition to their
On the House program, making the beloved urban planning game free for Origin
users. As usual, the offer is for a limited time, but those who get the game for
free will be able to play it from now on. Word is: "This classic title goes way
beyond building a city. You’ll be laying down districts, assuring everyone has
power and water, acting as the mayor, and making sure to keep your citizens
happy, healthy, and wealthy. The game’s iconic art style will transport you back
in time."
An
update to Battlelog has word that Final Stand is not the final DLC for
Battlefield 4, as EA announces that more content is coming to the military
shooter sequel. They are playing this close to the vest for now, saying: "We
will share details on exactly what this new content will be, and when it will
arrive, in the near future. We understand that this may lead to even more
questions about our plans, but rest assured that we’ll get back to you on the
future of Battlefield 4 when the time is right." One hint about where they are
going with this comes as the solicit suggestions from fans for classic
Battlefield maps they hope to see remade. Also,
MP1st notes a
tweet from David Sirland responds to a tweet saying "the new content to bf4
NEEDS to be free" with the suggestion that it will, with the affirmation that
"Indeed, it does."
Ubisoft reveals plans for an
HD remake of Might & Magic Heroes III coming to Windows and tablets
next month. Word is: "On January 29th, 2015, discover a new way to experience
the best Heroes title ever with Heroes 3 HD! In addition to refined graphics and
resolution, you will be able to play online with full Steamworks support
(including online lobby) and on the GO thanks to iOS and Android tablets
versions!" Here's a
trailer and a preliminary feature list for the revival of the turn-based
strategy classic:
- A new HD experience: re-live the Heroes®
III in HD, a true craftsmanship which offers players updated graphics, with
wide screen compatibility.
- Enjoy the critically acclaimed Heroes® III
gameplay, with 7 exciting campaign scenarios, around 50 skirmish maps, a
local multiplayer mode and a map editor.
- A new online multiplayer lobby tailored for PC:
Now Steamworks compatible, the PC version of Heroes® III offers an online
multiplayer lobby, where you can share your experience with the Heroes® III
community.
- Play Heroes® III on tablets anywhere:
Heroes® III now features iOS and Android tablet versions, upgraded with
intuitive touch controls to enjoy this passionate game experience anywhere…
anytime.
Continue here to read the full story.
Soldak Entertainment announces Zombasite, a zombie-themed action/RPG they're
bringing to Windows, OS X, and Linux "when it's done," which they currently
project will in Q2 of next year. There are some details and a feature list on
this preliminary webpage,
and here's the meat of the announcement: Zombasite is a nasty, voracious,
all-consuming Zombie Parasite. It doesn't just reanimate the dead into mindless
zombies. It is intelligent, insatiable, and unstoppable-infecting and killing
the living, spreading faster and in more ways, helping the dead utilize many of
their original skills, and mutating the dead with new powers. Dark elf zombies
are terrifying!
So what does this have to do with you? You are the leader of a clan trying to
survive the apocalypse. This is easier said than done. When a follower dies,
they can't be saved by any means. The Zombasite is highly contagious and zombies
are quickly ravaging the world's surface. Food is a critical resource that must
be obtained. Vendors are rare and have limited supplies. Some of the stronger
monsters have survived and are as dangerous as ever. Clans of humans and
monsters are fighting over what few supplies are left. Even within your own clan
it isn't safe. Humans living on the edge are even more unstable than usual. So
yeah, survival isn't easy.
Chaos Reborn is now available
on Steam as an early
access title, with the new game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop
currently carrying a 15% discount. Here's word on how this differs from the
eventual full release: "The early access version of Chaos Reborn will feature a
variety of multiplayer PvP matches with truly random wizards and spells. Later
versions will allow your wizard to progress through a single player campaign and
unlock different abilities and staves that will let you influence your spells
and strategies." Here's more on the game itself: Chaos Reborn is a quick
paced turn based strategy game in which 2 to 4 wizards battle for dominance on a
hex based map. The weapons at their disposal are a mixture of creatures they
summon to do their bidding and a massive variety of spells. Each creature and
spell has a chance of success and can be used only once. Each creature may be
summoned as an illusion with a 100% chance of success, but can then be
"disbelieved" by the enemy wizards, destroying it instantly. The cherries on top
of this sundae of magic are that each spell may shift the alignment of the board
towards chaos or law, making the associated spells easier to cast and each
wizard can bring powerful staves, which can further influence their odds or give
them special abilities.
BioWare has released Shadow of Revan, a new digital expansion for
Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMORPG
launched a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. "Revan’s storyline is filled with the intense cinematic action and BioWare
storytelling that fans have come to expect from Star Wars: The Old Republic,"
said Jeff Hickman, General Manager of BioWare Austin. "With Shadow of Revan,
we’re delivering our most ambitious story-driven expansion yet." A
new launch trailer
shows things off, and here's further word from
the announcement: Shadow of Revan features five
new levels of story-driven Star Wars™ adventure, in which players go
head-to-head with Revan, one of the galaxy’s most powerful characters in The Old
Republic universe. A threat to both the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic, Revan
has forged an army of “Revanites” with a deadly plan that will change the galaxy
forever. Players must face their destiny and lead the fight against Revan. The
battle against Revan begins now!
Continue here to read the full story.
Slitherine announces the release of Frontline: The Longest Day, a sequel to
Frontline: Road to Moscow that's now available for Windows, Android, and iOS.
The PC edition can be found
on Steam, and here's word on this recreation of D-Day: "70 years after the
Normandy landings, players have the opportunity to relive this key moment of WW2
in Frontline: The Longest Day. They will have to lead their troops across
beaches heavily defended by veteran soldiers of the Wehrmacht. Finding a path
through minefields, bunkers, artillery barrages, and antitank barriers will
require courage and tactical science! Successor to the very successful
Frontline: Road to Moscow that reached the top of the charts on iPad this past
spring, The Longest Day keeps all the ingredients that made the previous game
highly addictive while introducing brand new battlefields, plenty of units, and
more complex combat mechanics for an intense experience of the D-Day
operations!" Here's the
launch trailer. Continue here to read the full story.
Techland has released the
opening cinematic from
Dying Light, shedding more light on their upcoming zombie game. Here's word:
"Fans can start to get a taste of how the outbreak and subsequent world
reactions have totally reshaped Harran. It seems that those in charge of the
situation are slowly choking all life out of the city of Harran, the same
infected war zone that players will be dropped straight into right after this
opening warning. The video is available in 5 languages to showcase which (but
not all) of the languages which the game will have full voiceover support."
Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day:
Half-Life 2 Gordon Freeman HEV Suit Hoodie. That's not cheap for a hoodie,
but damn.
The
BioWare Blog has more details on the Dragon Age: Inquisition patch
expected today as well
as word on plans for additional post-release support for the RPG sequel, saying
that "over time" they will be adding features and content that was cut due to
time constraints before launch as well as new multiplayer content. Here's
more: Beyond Patch 2 we’ll continue to release patches that focus on
gameplay improvements. We’ve already lined up a number of improvements and fixes
we’d like to include in Patch 3, and of course we’ll continue listening to you
to make sure we’re addressing your concerns.
I wanted to call out a few specific topics as well, as they relate to patches:
- Keyboard & Mouse controls – Patch 2 includes the first range of fixes
towards addressing the feedback we’ve received on the PC controls; it cleans
things up so you’ll see fewer problems with the current layout. This gives
us a more stable base upon which to work. After Patch 2 goes out, our next
priority is to improve the PC mouse/keyboard controls further. We’re
investigating how to expand on PC usability and functionality to address
specific requests from the community. Keep an eye on
this
thread by Mark Darrah for more updates.
- Some people have reported problems with party banter firing. To find out
more about how the Banter System works
please go here. We have also
identified that in some edge scenarios, banter isn’t firing as often as we’d
like, so we’ll be increasing the percentage chance of it happening. This
increase will come after Patch 2.
The Frontier
Developments forums have word that there will not be a progress wipe upon
the official launch of Elite: Dangerous, so those who have been playing the beta
have a leg up on future players. Though the Internet rarely spawns
disagreements, there are mixed reactions, and the 100+ page thread includes
expressions of joy as well as complaints that this sanctifies the actions of
some who have exploited prerelease bugs.
GameArt Studio announces they are shutting down
Quantum Rush Online
and will merge its multiplayer elements into the recently released
Quantum Rush Champions to
prevent confusion about their futuristic racer. Now the only confusion is how to
accomplish this, as they are frank in admitting they don't have how this will
work completely worked out yet: Since last week the full version of the
future racer Quantum Rush: Champions is available on Steam. The Quantum Rush
developer team from Berlin has decided to transfer in medium term the
multiplayer elements from Quantum Rush: Online to Quantum Rush Champions, to
develop Quantum Rush: Champions towards players being able to play the game
together with friends.
How exactly this will be implemented is not yet known. The basic idea came from
the community in the first place, as many fans had asked if and when they would
have the chance to play Quantum Rush: Champions together over LAN.
The idea to introduce a mutliplayer part for Quantum Rush: Champions will be of
advantage for interantional players as playing with Quantum Rush Online, due to
the servers being placed in Germany, led to some shortcomings.
But this means as well that Quantum Rush Online is put on ice and the servers
are swithced off, to bundle all resouces to press ahead optimally with the
further development of Quantum Rush: Champions.
Here's a new trailer from
Blackguards 2 is part two of a "new features" clip, explaining that feedback
from the first Blackguard is influencing the design of the strategy/RPG sequel.
Daedalic Entertainment says: "Hello and welcome to our second part of our video feature series to our
upcoming strategy RPG Blackguards 2 in the universe of the Dark Eye. This time
it’s all about the gameplay and what you can do to overcome your enemies. How do
you like the changes we did? We’re thrilled to hear your feedback!" Continue here to read the full story.
The
AMD Gaming blog announces the release of a new
AMD Catalyst Omega special edition software update, saying this adds
"enhancements to enrich the user experience." Much of the post wants us to
marvel at the magic of driver updates improving hardware performance, and they
quantify a couple of improvements: "For example, early buyers of an AMD Radeon™
R9 290X GPU who download and install the AMD Catalyst Omega driver can realize
up to 19% faster* gameplay on BioShock Infinite. Similarly, users of AMD’s
advanced APUs like the AMD A10 7850K can achieve up to 29% faster** gaming
performance on Batman: Arkham Origins." Here are the new features that inspired
them to start a new fraternity: The AMD Catalyst Omega driver extracts
the true potential of GCN-enabled AMD APUs and GPUs. Here are a few examples of
new AMD Catalyst Omega driver capabilities:
- Enabling the UltraHD revolution: UltraHD
TVs and monitors are now available, and becoming much more affordable.
UltraHD displays demand UltraHD content—but very little content or
entertainment is being recorded in 4K at this time. The good news: we are
offering built-in Ultra HD upsampling with frame rate conversion and HD
detail enhancement that will convert 1080p videos to near UltraHD quality on
4K displays.
- Perfect Picture UltraHD: Our Perfect
Picture UltraHD technology strives for “pixel-perfect” images, with
Compression Artifact Removal 2, and Frame Rate Conversion for Blu-ray
Playback enabling pixel-by-pixel image processing.
- What is better than even more powerful?
Smoother: There are many reasons that make AMD APUs and AMD GPUs a match
made in heaven. But one of the major ones is that one brings out the best in
the other. When select products are paired together through Dual Graphics
with frame pacing enhancements, the powerful gameplay becomes smooth.
Here are examples of AMD enabling developers to deliver outstanding user
experiences:
- OpenCL™ 2.0 Support: Enabling developers to
extend the reach of their app content and functionality based on industry
standards.
- TressFX Hair 3.0: Introducing new gaming
capabilities for game developers with TressFX, such as rendering of fur onto
“skinned” geometries.
- CodeXL Tools: A comprehensive tools suite
for the performance-aware developer to Debug, Profile and Analyze
applications. Also included is a realtime display of APU power consumption
that collects data on power consumption, core frequency, temperature changes
and voltage and current levels.
I mentioned the other day I was shopping for a balaclava, and I wasn't just
making a ninja joke, as I'm making it a mission to fight the winter more
effectively this year, a plan it took me a surprisingly long time to formulate
considering how much I dislike being cold. It started when I used some gift
cards to get my first-ever down coat, and since then I also ordered a few pairs
of thermal underwear. Some sort of snow pants/bib will follow, and a
reexamination of my whole boots/socks/gloves setup and I should be better
equipped. I've made a promise to the Gunnar-man to not let the weather interfere
with our walking schedule (and there's a nor'easter going today to test my
resolve), and some better gear should go a long way towards helping me keep it
no matter what winter has in store for us.
R.I.P.:
Ken Weatherwax, Who Played Pugsley on TV’s 'Addams Family,' Dies at 59.
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