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Archived News:
When word emerged in December
that GSC Game World was back in operation Valentine Yeltyshev said they "would
definitely win the legal action" against West Games for IP infringement over
West's proposed
shooter STALKER Apocalypse, but that they would not start it. Apparently,
they've reconsidered, as the public relations director for the revived GSC Game
World now tells
Polygon that they would consider a lawsuit if it came to it. They don't
offer a direct quote, put paraphrase him: "For the time being, Yeltyshev says
that GSC is not at all concerned about West Games but will not hesitate to take
action if they try to bring their STALKER game to market." He also repeats his
explanation that the team at West Games was working on a Flash S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
game, rather than a proper installment in the series. Yeltyshev also expresses
skepticism over the untested
crowdfunding platform West Games is using, and a perusal of the
World Wide Funder website shows
that at three percent funded, STALKER
Apocalypse is one of their most successful projects, earning the game a spot
as one of three images on the site's masthead (the other two are clipart).
Thanks nin.
Atari Announces Asteroids: Outpost, a PC reimagining of the classic
arcade shooter being developed by Salty Games exactly like the original except
for the 2D vector graphics, and just about everything else, as they describe an
"open world, sandbox style, survival experience." The
Asteroids: Outpost website is
live, and word is this will enter early access soon. In the meantime, here are
some
screenshots, and here's the announcement: Atari®, one of the world's
most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, today
announced the upcoming release of Asteroids: Outpost™ for PC. This re-imagining
of the world-renowned 1979 arcade shooter puts players in the role of a deep
space miner, as they struggle for survival in the asteroid belt. Asteroids:
Outpost reinvents the classic Atari title as an open world, sandbox style,
survival experience, where players mine, build and defend their base and grow
their fortune as they go “from rocks to riches”.
Set in the distant future, Asteroids: Outpost thrusts players into a harsh deep
space environment. While on a massive, unforgiving asteroid, players face the
challenges of exploring the asteroid, collecting resources, scavenging for ore,
crafting equipment, and expanding their territory as they build highly
customized bases - all while forming alliances and fighting off other players in
challenging multiplayer gameplay. Recurring showers of smaller asteroids
represent a source of wealth and a threat as players shoot down these incoming
projectiles to defend their claims and harvest their components.
“Asteroids is one of the most iconic titles in Atari’s portfolio of more than
200 games and franchises, and we’re looking forward to ushering the game into
today’s digital gaming era,” said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer, Atari.
“We’re paying homage to the original Asteroids by incorporating classic features
such as asteroid blasting capabilities, while introducing a completely new
premise and gameplay. Asteroids: Outpost will appeal to both fans of the classic
Asteroids as well as enthusiasts of immersive survival games and expansive
MMOs.”
Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order announce a March 10th
release date for Cities: Skylines, their upcoming urban planning game for
Windows, OS X, and Linux. The news is accompanied by
a new trailer showing
off the game at 60 frames-per-second. The
Cities: Skylines website is now
accepting preorders of the game as either a Standard or Deluxe Edition, offering
the following incentives:
- Five additional in-game items (Basketball Court,
Botanical Gardens, Merry-go-round, Bouncy Castle, Dog Park), adding fun,
style and practicality to any town!
- Digital art book containing building blueprints
and other original concept art
- Four digital postcards
Continue here to read the full story.
Frontier Developments has released the first major patch for Elite:
Dangerous, updating their space simulation to version 1.1. This expands the core
game with new Community Goals, as well as graphical enhancements and new
localizations. They take the opportunity to say a version 1.2 update is planned
for early March, which will "introduce new ways for players to group together,
communicate and locate friends in Elite: Dangerous’ galaxy." A
new trailer shows off
version 1.1, and here's word on what it adds: Community Goals unite
players with a shared objective, allowing the entire Elite: Dangerous community
to participate in major new story events, supplying the construction of new
capital ships and working together to reshape the boundaries of human-controlled
space. Players will collaborate to help build new starports in undeveloped
systems, giving all players a new launch pad for exploration of the galaxy.
Community Goals can be played in Multiplayer, Solo or Private Group modes, with
all players contributing to the outcome of the objective and impacting Elite:
Dangerous’ shared, connected galaxy.
1.1 places players firmly at the centre of Elite: Dangerous’ galactic expansion.
Player-supported starports will acknowledge their chief benefactors, and the
player who contributes the most material to the construction of an Imperial
Majestic class Interdictor or Federation Farrgagut class Battlecruiser will be
given the honor of naming the new capital ship. The in-game galaxy map will now
credit the discovery of systems, planets and other bodies with the name of the
first player to scan them, and the change applies retroactively to the 895,135
systems players have explored since launch – just 0.000223 percent of our Milky
Way galaxy.
Elite: Dangerous 1.1 extends route planning to 1,000 light years and enhances
the appearance of planets throughout Elite: Dangerous’ full-scale recreation of
the Milky Way. The dark sides of populated worlds can now be seen illuminated by
city lights and the cloudy atmospheres of gas giants have been given greater
depth and richness.
Continue here to read the full story.
A
Steam Community group announcement has details on the release of Norse
Dragons, a third free DLC pack for
Wargame: Red Dragon.
This comes along with a
new patch for the RTS game and coincides with a 75% off sale on the
franchise. Here's word on the DLC, the patch, and the sale: Wargame is
back again with a third free DLC for the million-selling franchise's third
installment, Wargame Red Dragon. In this new expansion for the spectacular
real-time strategy game from Eugen Systems, which will patch automatically into
the game when it releases later today, no less than 60 new units make their way
to the battlefield!
Dedicated to the Scandinavian coalition, it features more than 60 new units for
Sweden, Denmark & Norway. Effectively propelling this coalition as well as the
individual countries into the early 90's era, it will bring them onto an equal
footing with the other nations from Wargame: Red Dragon. Every type of unit is
represented (planes, infantry, tanks, IFVs.) including some iconic and
long-expected "Northern" units: the Saab Gripen, Frømandskorpset, NASAMS... And
as a bonus, ANZAC will also get an extra unit, in the form of the Vickers Mk.11.
And there's more good news: Wargame is the Midweek deal on Steam! From tonight
until Friday, February 13, you can buy Wargame Red Dragon, AirLand Battle,
European Escalation or the Wargame Franchise Pack which includes all Wargame
games, at an amazing 75% discount!
A post on
Rock, Paper, Shotgun catches up with development of Godus, the god
game from Peter Molyneux and 22Cans that entered early access
in September 2013. Get ready to use your
shocked face when you learn that some of the promises Molyneux made about the
project have not come to pass, starting with a missed release date. They also
cite the lack of promised Linux support and other major features, and now
the team says they "simply
can’t see us delivering all the features promised on the kickstarter page."
There's more on this
on GameSpot, where Molyneux admits to overpromising (again), but expresses
optimism in explaining reductions of staff on the project, saying they are
looking to hire replacements. However, they also have an anonymous quote from
"one person with intimate knowledge of the Godus project" who calls it a
"failure," adding "suffice to say, the Godus Kickstarter will not be fulfilled
and the team have either quit their jobs or have been moved on to a new
project." As for why stretch goals have not been fulfilled, Molyneux tellingly
admits it's because they have been neglected, saying, "I take the point that
some of the pledges should have been met, and that we should have taken the time
to work on them."
NVIDIA now offers new version
347.52 WHQL certified drivers for Windows,
calling these " Evolve drivers." They add: "With performance
optimizations, new SLI profiles, and other tweaks, our latest Game Ready drivers
are a recommended update for all GeForce GTX users," later specifying they will
improve "performance in Assassin's Creed Unity, Battlefield 4,
Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Crew, and War Thunder, to name
but a few examples."
A forum post
by a Blizzard community manager explains that recent shifts atop the
leaderboards for Diablo III are the result of a round of bans for those
caught cheating in the action/RPG sequel. The post explains they will continue
to take such actions going forward, though they may not
always be publicized. Here's word: Some of the shifts you may be seeing on
leaderboards are a direct result of a recent ban wave issued for cheating.
Players that were found to be in violation were removed from the leaderboards
and other rankings have been adjusted appropriately as a result. This means your
ranking may have increased if someone ranked above you was removed from the
leaderboard. As we move forward to future seasons and eras, we'll be continuing
to monitor for such behavior and take appropriate action, though we may not
always message when such ban waves occur.
BAFTA announces ( Adobe Acrobat format) nominees for the
British Academy Games Awards, with
Alien: Isolation picking up six nominations and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
getting four. Both games are up for Best Game award along with Destiny,
Dragon
Age: Inquisition, Mario Kart 8, and Monument Valley. The awards are to be
handed out at a ceremony on March 12th.
Publisher 2K and developer Turtle Rock
announce the release of Evolve, their four-versus-one shooter for Windows,
Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The game's
launch trailer is
online, and here's the news: 2K and Turtle Rock Studios announced today that Evolve™, the 4v1 shooter in
which four Hunters cooperatively fight to take down a single-player controlled
Monster, is now available worldwide for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and
entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment
system, and Windows PC. Evolve is a cooperative and competitive experience
enjoyed online, as well as offline solo.
“2K and Turtle Rock Studios did a remarkable job delivering such a creative and
ambitious game,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Evolve is an
innovative and highly replayable experience that will define this console
generation for years to come.”
Evolve features a wealth of content playable both online and offline, with three
playable Monsters, 12 playable Hunters across four unique classes, four game
modes, and 16 maps. Evolve also includes Evacuation, a unique experience that
combines the full array of maps, modes, Hunters, and Monsters into a single
dynamic campaign offering near-limitless variety. In Evacuation, players choose
a side – Monster or Hunter – and play through a series of five matches, where
the outcome of each match directly impacts the next, totaling over 800,000
possible gameplay combinations for ultimate replayability.
“Our philosophy is to build incredibly fun game experiences that we can’t find
anywhere else, and we’ve achieved that with Evolve,” said Chris Ashton,
co-founder and design director at Turtle Rock Studios. “After years of iteration
and playing the game every day, Evolve is a polished and balanced experience for
players to enjoy online, cooperatively with friends against AI, or completely
alone offline.”
Continue here to read the full story.
Sega announce that Lost Contact is now available for Alien: Isolation,
offering the fourth DLC pack for the survival/horror game. Here's the deal:
Sega announced today that ‘Lost Contact’, Alien: Isolation’s fourth
add-on pack, is available to download from today. ‘Lost Contact’ adds a new
Salvage Challenge to the game’s Survivor Mode, pitting players against a series
of 10 challenges in a new map featuring some of the game’s toughest enemies.
Stranded in one of the more remote sections of the station, Axel has lost
contact with his colleagues and must use his skills and cunning to do what he
can to escape. Through a series of ten increasingly challenging tasks, he must
navigate the corridors and crawls spaces, crafting items to give him the edge
against some of the station’s toughest opponents.
‘Lost Contact’ is the fourth add-on pack for Alien: Isolation’s Survivor Mode,
and adds the second Survivor Challenge map to the game. With only one life to
play with, each challenge accepted brings a new objective and enemy type where
one wrong move can, quite literally, be your last. Completing challenges unlocks
rewards and points, giving access to new items to collect and craft. Should
players score enough points, they can be traded for a save slot at the expense
of their final score and position on Alien: Isolation’s leaderboards.
Techland announces the Cuisine & Cargo DLC is now available for Dying
Light, the first of three packs comprising the season pass for the zombie
game. Here's the deal on the DLC and the two packs to follow: Techland
revealed the release dates for all three content drops of the Season Pass for
Dying Light. The first drop, titled ‘Cuisine & Cargo’, launches on February 10th
for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4* - supplying players with two extremely
challenging new missions. Techland has promised to continue supporting Dying
Light with new content for many months to come, including the release of
‘Ultimate Survivor Bundle’ in March and the May launch of ‘The Bozak Horde’ DLC.
“The goal is to let players enjoy the game well after release with such drops
and other free initiatives which are already in the works and will be announced
very soon.” - Adrian Ciszewski, Game Director
The Dying Light Season Pass contains:
- Cuisine & Cargo (February 10th) – Available
exclusively as a part of the Season Pass offer, these two hardcore missions
let players investigate buildings sealed off in the very first days of the
outbreak. Explore the ominous corridors of once the most famous restaurant
in Harran, and employ both stealth and combat to ransack a zombie-filled
loading bay at the abandoned railroad yard.
- Ultimate Survivor Bundle (March) – Players
will receive seven unique in-game items that will bring fighting zombies to
a whole new level. Grab three special outfits and four blueprints for
over-the-top weapons to make your adventure in the quarantine zone even more
fun.
- The Bozak Horde (May) – The final Season
Pass drop will deliver a new map and gameplay, playable in single-player and
co-op. Go inside the Harran Stadium and test your combat know-how against
relentless hordes of the Infected. Fight increasingly stronger enemy waves
as you oppose a mysterious psychopath called Bozak.
The season pass costs $19.99 / €19.99.
*Note: ‘Cuisine & Cargo’ will go live on the PlayStation Store in Europe,
Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia on February 11th.
Full Control announces plans to release the Salamanders Expansion for
Space Hulk: Ascension this month, though they aren't committing to exactly
which of the month's remaining 18 days will see the release of the turn-based
strategy add-on. "This is our most exciting chapter release to date, with a
bucketload of new content for Space Hulk: Ascension players," said Thomas
Hentschel Lund, CEO of Full Control. "The 3D models of the Salamanders are
fantastic with lots of new details, and their scorched skin and bright red eyes
make them stand out as a force to be reckoned with in the iconic Space Hulk
universe." Here are some details: Featuring over 30 hours content, Space
Hulk: Ascension - Salamanders is turn-based strategy at its finest. The
Salamanders board the Space Hulk - Virtue of Hatred - to find priceless pages
from the Tome of Fire... or wreak revenge on any who have dared despoil them.
Featuring new gameplay hooks to the story missions, in the Salamanders Expansion
players will face environmental challenges as well as an onslaught of hordes of
predatory, alien Genestealers.
The Salamanders bring new abilities to the table, as players can now have two
Heavy Class Terminators in a squad, each with the option of having a Heavy
Flamer to boot. The Salamanders also have an extra Flamer pattern too, and can
walk unharmed through flames. The new Salamander Librarian also has some
ferocious new pyromantic psychic powers.
Had a couple of no-shows for Mutant Monday, so MrKawfy and I took a shot at the
Interstellar Marines free
week dealie. There is theoretically a way to play a private co-op game with your
friends by choosing a private or friends-only option and being the first to join
a server, but it was just impossible to be the first to join a server. Our
experience playing publicly was exactly what's described in
this post, of getting killed
by friendly fire in the spawning area, so we gave up pretty quickly. Giving
friends the chance to play together is a key part of a co-op experience, so
hopefully they will work this out. We ended up playing more of the Portal 2
co-op campaign that neither of us ever finished, and had a blast. And this was a
fine contrasting example of how to do co-op right, as picking it from the menu
puts the game into an immediate search for your friends.
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