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Archived News:
Ken Levine's Twitter feed has a bunch
of little tidbits about his next game as Ken engages with some of his followers
to answer all manner of questions,
tweeting
that he is "trying to do open dev," and pointing to his
GDC 2014 talk on Narrative
LEGOs as a "starting point." Along the way he
says
"Vampires in EVERY game. But with capes, not abs,"
that this
isn't a new Freedom Force game (saying "that's still in my back pocket"),
that it won't
be shown at E3. More concretely,
he mentions
a genre: "We're playing with something sci fi. Or sci-fi ish." He
also notes
the impact of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, saying: "Had Mordor
impacted the project? mostly in that it validated that people would care about
narrative replayability,"
and he
addresses target platforms, saying: "As of now, developing for pc." Thanks
GameInformer.
Electronic Arts reports their Q3 FY15 financial results, describing them
with terms including "great execution," "excellent performance," and
"record-breaking financials," as they report non-GAAP net revenue of $1.428
billion for a diluted earnings per share of $1.22. They celebrate with
an infographic with milestones from the quarter, and here are the aspects
from the report they are highlighting: Selected Operating Highlights
and Metrics:
- Calendar year 2014 EA was the #1 publisher on
PlayStation®4 and Xbox One consoles in the world, driven by the success of
Dragon Age™: Inquisition, FIFA 15, NHL®15, Madden NFL 15, EA SPORTSTM UFC®,
TitanfallTM, Battlefield 4TM, and FIFA 14.
- SimCity™ BuildIt just launched in December and has
already achieved 22 million downloads to date and has reached the top 5 iOS
game downloads in more than 100 countries.
- Dragon Age: Inquisition captivated fans and
critics worldwide and it quickly became the most successful launch in
BioWare™ history in addition to being named to more than 200 “Game of the
Year” lists. The single player campaign alone has been enjoyed for more than
113 million hours.
- Monthly active users for EA’s mobile titles
averaged more than 160 million in Q3.
- EA’s mobile sports games continue to engage
players, with Madden NFL Mobile and FIFA 15 Ultimate Team™ together
averaging 45% more monthly active players through Q3 compared to our
previous iterations in the same period last year.
Selected Financial Highlights:
*On a non-GAAP basis
- For the quarter, net revenue* of $1.428 billion
was above our guidance of $1.275 billion. Diluted earnings per share* of
$1.22 was above our guidance of $0.90.
- On a trailing twelve month basis, EA had net
revenue* of $4.337 billion of which a record $2.178 billion was digital*
(more than half for the first time ever), net income* of $833 million and
operating cash flow of $1.150 billion (a record for a calendar year).
- EA raised fiscal 2015 net revenue* guidance from
$4.175 billion to $4.253 billion and diluted EPS* guidance from $2.05 to
$2.35 per share.
- Net revenue* for EA’s FIFA, Madden NFL and Hockey
Ultimate Team services continued to grow, collectively up 82%
year-over-year.
- EA repurchased 2.5 million shares in Q3 for $97
million, pursuant to the $750 million share repurchase program initiated in
May 2014.
Indiegama announces Army 21, their debut title for Windows PC (a
reassurance that we didn't miss the first 20 installments in a series), saying
this online action/strategy team combat game is already in the alpha testing
phase. Those interested in the test can sign up on the
Army 21 website, where they offer
this trailer with a
look at the game. This is the output of a one-person studio, founded by Tom
Spencer-Smith, who has worked on AAA series including Command & Conquer, Need
For Speed, FIFA, and Crysis, and the plan is to bring this to Kickstarter and
Greenlight later this year. The developer offers a list of six tings that make
this unique, which is more than six times what the average game could claim.
Here's word:
- The gameplay is pretty unique. It's a 6-team game,
with a total of up to 60 players. Gameplay involves base warfare: you build
up your team's base (a set of buildings), defend it, and destroy the bases
of the other teams. When a base is destroyed, that team is defeated, and the
players are reassigned to the remaining teams. This goes on until there is
one team remaining. Its a mix of action and strategy played in first person.
There are Co-op and Versus game modes. It's hella fun even with a handful of
players.
- The game appears simple but actually has a lot of
depth. This is needed in part to tackle the chicken-and-egg problem of
multiplayer games for unknown developers: players come when the game is fun;
but the game is only fun when there are players. Solution: the game must be
fun with no players, or with only a few players; i.e. the game needs to be
fun when you're playing against Bots. I've added depth by having multiple
simultaneous and differently-scoped objectives: you are playing to beat all
5 other teams and be the last team standing; playing to attain a higher
difficulty level; playing to beat the best time and best points recorded for
each difficulty level; and above all playing to gain a high Army Rank on the
Worldwide Leaderboard. Army Rank is determined by your Skill, Reputation and
Experience, and in turn gives you certain privileges, status and
responsibilities within your team and within the game.
Continue here to read the full story.
An Interview Without
the Vampire is a new video promoting Magicka 2 with a mix of
live-action and gameplay footage. They also urge anyone interested in their
magickal action/adventure sequel to sign up
on this page for the chance to win
exclusive in-game rewards, including the chance to name an NPC (warning,
bonerfarts is already taken). Here's word on the trailer and the rewards
program: In the newly released video, viewers will sit in on a very
special conversation with Brad, who is not Vlad, who is not a vampire, as he
comes to terms with his demons, and reminisces about slaying those demons using
a fantastic spellcasting system with up to four players—ahem, Wizards.
Signing up on the Magicka 2 website will offer would-be Wizards the chance to
earn a variety of in-game goodies in the PC version, including new weapons, a
new robe, and delightful avatars and icons on the Magicka 2 forums. These
rewards can be unlocked by playing exclusive, never-before-seen Magicka 2
content not even included in the main game, giving players the chance to
experience an exciting side story set in the rich lore of Midgard.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Crew Street Edition Pack is now available
on Steam, offering some
new rides for The Crew,
Ubisoft's open-world driving game. Word is: "This bundle includes the MINI
COOPER S 2010, the BMW Z4 sDrive35is 2011, the DODGE RAM SRT-10 and the 2015
Ford Mustang GT Fastback as well as exclusive customization possibilities."
- Portal 2 on
Steam. Save 75%.
A new Fire in the Deep
DLC pack is now available for
Trials Fusion,
adding new challenges to the stunt riding game. Here's what this
offers: Get on you motorbike within the infernal heat below the earth's
surface with the fourth content pack for Trials Fusion: Fire in the Deep!
Go underground with:
- 11 new tracks including 9 Classic Trials Tracks,
one Skill Game and one FMX Track
- 27 new challenges from secret locations to
surprising mini-games
- New 'Billy Gruff' helmet and skin for TKO-Panda
& much more!
In addition to the rundown on Raid Mode in Resident Evil Revelations 2
on Capcom Unity, Capcom
also announces pre-purchases are now underway for Resident Evil Revelations
2 / Biohazard Revelations 2
on Steam, saying this will offer "access to each piece of content as it goes
live," with the first episode due on February 24th. On the other hand, there are
no discounts or other preorder incentives, and waiting for a game review before
buying is often its own reward.
Dying Light is now available via digital distribution, offering
Techland's new take on the zombie epidemic following their Dead Island
series. This page on the game's website
offers links to where to get the game in various territories. There's been some
discussion in our forums over the lack of reviews for this, which may be
explained by
a post on GameSpot where they explain they "only recently received the
complete, finished game for review," so they will need more time to post an
evaluation. Here's word on the game: Dying Light is an action survival
game presented in first-person perspective. The game is set in a vast and
dangerous open world. During the day, you roam an urban environment devastated
by a mysterious epidemic, scavenging for supplies and crafting weapons to help
you defeat the hordes of mindless, flesh-hungry enemies the plague has created.
At night, the hunter becomes the prey as the infected grow in strength and
aggression - but even more lethal are the nocturnal, inhuman predators that
leave their nests to feed. You will need to make use of all your skills and any
available means to survive till dawn.
GOG.com
announces the release of Grim Fandango Remastered for Windows, OS X,
and Linux, offering an updated edition of the LucasArts classic. This is
also available on Steam
and probably elsewhere as well. In addition,
GOG.com also
announces that LucasFilm on GOG.COM: Wave II continues" (not to be confused
with Wave III, which would be a whole different thing), as they have added
Star
Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II,
Star Wars:
Republic Commando, and
Star Wars: Starfighter
to their DRM-fee marketplace, with each carrying a 20% launch discount. Here's
word on the Grim Fandango remake: Grim Fandango is just one of those
games, it doesn't really need much of an introduction. The unique blend of
Mexican folklore with film noir stylings - Tim Schafer's last and greatest
hurrah as LucasArts' adventure-gaming-extraordinaire - is widely considered to
simply be the best adventure game ever made. Grim Fandango Remastered refreshes
and refines the award-winning title, finally making a piece of history available
to everyone - hassle-free with no need to leave the dry land. The remaster
modernizes the game's presentation and gameplay in a way that improves, but does
not distort, the original experience. That means higher quality models and
textures, but a familiar unaltered art style; the same musical score as before,
re-recorded in higher quality with no unnecessary compression; and perhaps best
of all: a new point-and-click interface - but one that is fully optional - the
original tank controls are just a few clicks away.
Gearbox Software notes today is the release date for the new
Lady Hammerlock Pack for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, their
shooter/RPG prequel.
This earlier post outlines the contents of the pack and
Gearbox Software Support has details on the patch that accompanies the
release that also includes changes for all users. Unfortunately, a problem has
cropped up with the patch, and
Gearbox Software
Support now has a warning for those who have applied the January 27 update.
Until they work things out, they warn you should probably avoid using the
Grinder, because due to a bug, it's not always just the same old grind: It
has come to our attention that the January 27 game update for Borderlands: The
Pre-Sequel, which releases alongside the Lady Hammerlock Pack, has an unforeseen
issue.
Specifically, when the update is applied, putting three items of purple rarity
into the Grinder has the potential to cause a crash. The team is hard at work at
addressing this issue as quickly as possible -- until then, we recommend players
use the Grinder at their own risk.
Should players not wish to receive this update, which is required to play online
and access the Lady Hammerlock Pack, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players should
not accept the update when prompted to download while Steam players can put
Steam into Offline Mode.
We'll share more information on the resolution to this issue as soon as we have
it confirmed -- keep an eye on the Knowledge Base article here for the
latest.
A bit over a year ago Petroglyph kicked off a
Kickstarter for a World War II RTS game called Victory, but this
was later cancelled, with the
developer saying they "learned that Victory is definitely not the type of game
that the Kickstarter community craves. They have now launched a new
Victory Command website
for a reworked version of the game (thanks
IncGamers). They are accepting signups from those interested in beta testing
and offer this short trailer to promote
the project. Here's a bit on the plan: Victory Command is a free-to-play
RTS that pits you and four of your friends against five enemies in tactical
combat.
Choose a company of units comprised of either infantry, jeeps, or tanks and
customize them for battle with literally millions of strategic combinations. No
battle will be the same.
Teamwork is key in this 5v5 arena. Coordinate with your other commanders to
out-gun, out-maneuver, and out-play your rivals.
Ubisoft announces today is marks the release of the new Hurk DLC for
Far Cry 4, which adds five new missions and an armory of new weapons. This
is available separately of as part of a season pass, and they note that season
passes are still
on sale.
Here's the deal: Ubisoft announced that Hurk Deluxe downloadable content
for Far Cry 4, will be released today. Hurk Deluxe includes five missions
playable in single-player and co-op, including Yak Farm, Blood Ruby and Hurk’s
Redemption. This content also gives players access to an arsenal of new weapons
including a harpoon gun for Hurk.
Hurk Deluxe is available as part of the Far Cry 4 Season Pass or can be
purchased separately. The Season Pass is still available and includes Hurk
Deluxe as well as the following content: The Syringe and Escape from Durgesh
Prison, already available, Overrun and Valley of the Yetis, both to be available
soon.
Archive Entertainment announces the full release of version 1.0 of 8BitMMO
after a brief 14-year development run for this free construction/sandbox MMOG.
The game is available for free through the 8BitMMO
website or Steam.
Here's word: Development on 8BitMMO originally began in 2001, when solo
indie developer Robby Zinchak began working in his spare time on a sandbox game
where all players could help build the world together. The game went through
many iterations and several rewrites. Finally, a publicly playable build was
ready in June of 2011. It was well received, and later that year Zinchak began
working on the title full-time. 8BitMMO continued to be improved as time went on
and a community built up around it. It was selected for Steam Early Access and
launched there on December 13, 2013.
The title has grown immensely over the past few years, with now over 650,000
registered users and a user-built world that is larger than the combined
landmass of the United Kingdom. The fan community is small, but fervent, with
some users writing novels-worth of fanfiction, creating a 3d-printed model of
their character, or in one case even getting a tattoo of the game.
Zinchak has added many new features in the past year based on feedback received
from players. One major new feature recently added is a new competitive PvP/PvE
game mode called Transponders that allows players to build a base and then
summon a raid consisting of monsters and other players. Enemies spawn in
increasingly difficult waves, and the winning side is awarded gold for their
victory.
The game has won several awards, including Best Technological Game at Tokyo Game
Show's Sense of Wonder Night, Winner of the Seattle Independent Game
Competition, and Director's Choice at the Indie Prize Showcase in San Francisco.
Even though this is the official launch, the game will continue to be updated
with new content even after this release.
This video kicks
off a four-part video guide to Blackguards 2, Daedalic Entertainment's strategy/RPG
sequel. Their description of the clip is general, rather than specific: "These
videos will show what is new in the game and give useful tips to ensure a safe
trip to become the conqueror of Southern Aventuria." Continue here to read the full story.
- Addonics Pocket UDD25 USB 3.0 External Dock on
TweakTown.
- AMD FX-8320E Performance On Linux on
Phoronix.
- BeQuiet Pure Rock Heatsink on
FrostyTech.com.
- Box Cube Reaper System on
pcGameware.
- Corsair Gaming Sabre Optical RGB Gaming Mouse on
eTeknix.
- Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR4 16GB 2666MHz Memory Kit on
Legit Reviews.
- D-Link DNS-320L on
PC
Review.
- Fractal Design Kelvin T12 AIO CPU Cooler on
TweakTown.
- iControl Networks Piper Smart Home Security System on
Nikk Tech.
- Kingston HyperX Cloud II on
ocaholic and
Vortez.
- littleBits Smart Home Kit on
TechSpot.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Video Cards (ZOTAC and MSI) in SLI on
TweakTown.
- Samsung Portable SSD T1 500GB on
ocaholic.
- Swiftech H240-X CPU Liquid Cooling AIO KiT on
HARDOCP.
- Team Group M131 16GB Dual Flash Drive on
eTeknix.
- Tesoro Gandiva H1L Laser Gaming Mouse on
Bigbruin.com.
- Thermaltake Core V21 Micro-ATX Case on
Benchmark Reviews.
- Transcend SSD370 (128GB, 256GB & 512GB) on
AnandTech.
Well I called that pretty well, as the loophole I noticed in the forecast came
into play, and the storm formed farther east than first thought. This means that
even though they predicted 12"-24" of snow, we will end up with under a foot when it's all said and done, (though in fairness, the snowfall is
apparently pretty impressive east of here, so here's hoping everyone stays safe
in those areas). Amusingly, because the weatherman added the caveat that the
storm would be smaller if it formed to the east, this morning he is claiming the
2"-6" of not-blizzard we received is just what he predicted, which is pretty
weak. Anyway, I'm not complaining that there's less shoveling to do, I'm just
amused by the reluctance to admit the advance hysteria was overblown. In a
bloviated press briefing from our governor and a panel of solemn officials this
morning, he announced the lifting of all the unnecessary travel bans they
enacted in case this was an actual blizzard. They say the fact that nobody died
on the roads proved this was all quite prudent. I just want to point out that if
they ban cars altogether, road deaths will drop to zero permanently.
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