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Archived News:
Steam News announces a
free weekend is underway for
Fallen Enchantress:
Legendary Heroes, coinciding with a 75% off sale on Stardock's
standalone strategy expansion. Here's word on why the Enchantress has fallen,
and can't get up: The Fallen Enchantress seeks to destroy the
civilizations that have risen from the ashes of the Cataclysm. Fortunately, your
fame has spread and great heroes have been drawn to your banner. With your new
champions, you will confront new horrors like liches, brood hunters, banshees,
and the dreaded hergon.
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes is the new standalone expansion to
Stardock’s turn-based, fantasy strategy game. Players will forge a new empire in
a world sundered by powerful magic, fight against terrible creatures, complete
quests and rediscover lost secrets in their bid to rule the world of Elemental.
Steam's Game and Player
Statistics page shows another new record of 8,466,441 concurrent users, just
a couple of days after setting the
previous record at 8,357,541. The accompanying chart indicates the record
came at around noon PST yesterday.
Some server side issues in Elite:
Dangerous popped up last night, according to a
thread on reddit talking about missing cargo, missing funds, and in some
cases, huge influxes of capital.
This
older forum thread has posts about the new problem, and there is widespread
speculation that there are delays in dealing with this because the developers
are on holiday. However, there is also
this thread
asking where things currently stand that has a number of reports saying
everything is back to normal. Thanks
Massively.
A new
Letter from the Chairman on the Roberts Space Industries website gives a new
year update from Chris Roberts of Cloud Imperium along with some thoughts on
Star Citizen, their upcoming space combat game (thanks 88fingers). Chairman
Roberts explains that when he will "just smile" when he sees expressions of
doubt that the game will live up to expectations raised by its extremely
successful ongoing crowdfunding campaign. "Because with the community we have
and the passionate and talented team of developers I can’t imagine us 'flopping'
as a few bloggers have predicted," Roberts explains. "Not because we’re better
than everyone else, but because building a game this way, in total lock step
with your community, means it’s pretty hard to fail in the long run. Will we
build everybody’s dream game? Of course not, that would be impossible! But with
this level of engagement and iteration I think we’ll build something special
that people can happily lose themselves in even if it doesn’t have every feature
they dreamed of." He also talks about what this year holds for the game, saying:
"Star Citizen isn’t a sprint, it isn’t even a marathon. There is no final finish
line the way you would have with a traditional retail game. Star Citizen is a
way of life for as long as the community is engaged by it." Here's word on plans
for 2015: This coming year will be an even bigger year than 2014 – the FPS
module will go live to backers, we will be giving our first drops of the
Persistent universe, starting with the Planetside social module, the multi-crew
Arena Commander and the first Episode of Squadron 42.
2015 is where the game will be shaped. And it will be shaped with your input. So
get in the game and let us know what works and what doesn’t for you!
It’s going to be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and I couldn’t imagine
doing it with a better group of people than group of developers working on the
game and the amazing Star Citizen community.
- Carpe Fulgur Collection on
Steam. Save 80%.
Square Enix can't even claim a total of one million subscribers across three
different MMORPGs, reports
Polygon, saying the publisher's
latest annual
report ( Adobe Acrobat format) reveals an unimpressive user-base for Final Fantasy
XIV: A Realm Reborn, Final Fantasy XI, and Dragon Quest X
(thanks
Polygon). This does not seem to be a causing them concern, however, as they
state this leaves the games with "a solid revenue base." Here's word: "Three
major MMO titles—'FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN,' which began operation last
August, 'DRAGON QUEST X,' which was launched in August 2012, and 'FINAL FANTASY
XI,' which has entered its thirteenth year of operation—maintain nearly
1,000,000 paying subscribers all together, and have established a solid revenue
base." Japanese financial reports have a different tone than their western
counterparts. Here's a moment of Zen from the management guidelines that lead
off the report: Everything in the world interacts to form a massive
system. Nothing can stand alone. Everything functions with an inevitable accord
to reason. It is vital to gain a proper understanding of the constantly changing
tides, and to take advantage of these variations instead of struggling against
them. We shall continue to work towards harmony and serve as an integral part of
this ever-fluctuating system.
Desura now offers digital
distribution of Chaos Ride, a fast-paced, futuristic racing game for
Windows with optional support for Oculus Rift VR headsets. A
launch trailer offers
a look at the game's Unity Engine graphics and science fiction sensibilities.
Here's word on what they call the "fastest racing game ever made": Chaos
Ride is a futuristic arcade racing game, influenced by all the insanely fast
arcade racers of the early 00's - Wipeout, Extreme G, Ballistics, Outrun 2 et
al. Players pilot their neon hover-cycles through nine different locations at
speeds of up to 800mph.
Set entirely inside tubular-shaped tunnels, the game uses a unique method for
navigating the tracks. Racers primarily build speed by gaining momentum, which
they acquire by angling their vehicles at optimum trajectories as they race. As
with any other racing game, it’s all about finding the best racing lines to
shave seconds from your lap times – only in Chaos Ride, this happens at
jet-engine velocities while things explode around you. Imagine piloting a
rocket-powered bobsled, while avoiding and competing against nine other
rocket-powered bobsleds, at 800mph, and you have a rough idea of the core
gameplay experience.
Based on the series of mobile titles of the same name, the game includes 18
tracks, 90 events, a vehicle customisation system, a 15-hour single player
campaign, split-screen multiplayer for up to four players, and full support for
the DK2 Oculus Rift.
Continue here to read the full story.
There do not seem to be nearly as many sites to track NFL playoff picks as for the
regular season, but the PoolTracker site we used last year worked well enough
for the few who participated, so here's a
Blue's News Playoff
Pool with the same settings as last year. Good luck to those trying to wrest
my playoff crown.
Had a fun evening in front of the TV last night, as TCM ran a mini-Marx Brothers
marathon. I actually have these on disc, so it's probably emblematic of what a
cord-cutter I am not that a broadcast could inspire my viewing, but what can I
say? Captain Kangaroo taught me well. Hope 2015 has been equally enjoyable for
you so far.
I thought there might be enough news to post an evening roundup last night, but
I was wrong. I may be equally wrong about this evening, we'll just have to see.
R.I.P.:
Mario Cuomo, former New York governor, dies at 82. The man who would be
king.
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