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Archived News:
ArenaNet announces it is debuting two playable demos for Guild Wars 2 to
attendees of PAX East this weekend, one PvE and the other PvP. They don't say
when these will be publicly released (technically, they don't actually confirm
they even will be), but they do outline what they will
demonstrate from the MMORPG: ArenaNet is bringing the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns demo
to fans at PAX East after announcing it as the first expansion to Guild Wars 2
in January at PAX South. Fans should line up early at ArenaNet’s booth (#5116)
to get their hands on two different demos. There is a PvE demo that takes
players on the first steps of the journey into the new Heart of Maguuma jungle,
where they can experience the revenant, the entirely new playable profession
coming with the expansion. They can also get a glimpse of the Mastery system,
ArenaNet’s new approach to introducing endgame progression in an MMO. There is
also a PvP demo of the all-new Stronghold game mode. Stronghold introduces new
strategy and role-play into PvP with a mode where teams become either pirates or
knights who must infiltrate and defend ground to kill the enemy lord. In
addition to the opportunity to get hands-on with Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns,
ArenaNet will have a stage at its booth running developer-hosted demos, guest
play sessions with popular online Guild Wars 2 streamers and trivia contests
with prizes.
The
Bethesda Blog has news that tomorrow and Saturday Bethesda will stream
gameplay footage from Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, the just-revealed
shooter sequel. Here's the plan: This week Bethesda TwitchWorks comes in
at a special time!
Tune into Twitch.TV/Twitch, or watch
our Bethesda channel re-host of the
world premiere of gameplay for
Wolfenstein:
The Old Blood.
The stream, featuring Pete Hines and myself, starts live from PAX East at
10:30 am est on both Friday, March 6th and Saturday, March 7th!
Steam now offers listings for
Steam Machines,
the upcoming computers that will actually be able to play supported Steam games.
This points the way to a
Steam Machines
storefront with pricing on specific models ranging from $479.99 to more than
one model for $4999.99. This does not mean they are finally available, but it
does pin down a timeframe for their release, saying the first models should go
on sale in November. They also have new pages with info on the
Steam Controller,
Steam Link, and
SteamVR.
Here's
a final video developer diary for Cities: Skylines, paving the way for next
week's release of Colossal Order's city builder. Here's word on the themes
explored in the new diary: Never before seen in a city builder, Cities:
Skylines contains the first integrated Dynamic Water System giving all the
rivers and estuaries within the game real-world mass and direction. This will
mean that you must think carefully where to place your water services to ensure
that your city’s waste will go downstream and that you don’t pollute your
population’s water supply!
The video developer diary also explores Zoning within the game, built to enable
you to reasonably simulate a realistic city of up to one million people, along
with the District Tool and the Economic Simulation model.
Continue here to read the full story.
Capcom Unity offers a new
Resident Evil Revelations
2 - Episode 3 teaser trailer to promote the next installment in the episodic
survival/horror game. They say: "After this week's shocking (pardon the pun)
revelation, Episode 3 promises to be an intense, important chapter in the Revs 2
plot. We've got a quick teaser clip of said episode, and a batch of screens that
further tease the events of next week's events. Again, if you don't want to have
anything revealed, don't read ahead!" Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day:
Lion Opens Car Door in Drive-Thru Safari Park. Upholstery cleaning not
included.
Industry veteran Phil Harrison is leaving Microsoft, reports
GamesIndustry.biz, saying they have learned this "through multiple sources
at GDC," though the company is not yet confirming the departure. According to
the little birdies they've been flocking around with, Harrison's departure stems
from not getting being put in charge of Xbox when Don Mattrick departed and Phil
Spencer got the job.
There's a follow-up to Valve's
announcement of the free Source Engine 2 on
Rock, Paper, Shotgun, where they talk with Valve's Erik Johnson
(inaccurately promoting him to "studio founder" along the way), who explains how
Valve will make money while giving away their development tools. Erik explains
that Source 2 games must be made available though Steam, which will pay Valve a
30% commission on all sales. There is no exclusivity to this, however, so said
games can also be sold elsewhere as well, with no additional proceeds to Valve.
They hash through what might be the best option for small developers choosing
between Unity 5, Unreal Engine 4, and Source 2, all of which have recently
introduced new business models making them all more affordable.
Stardock announces Ashes of the Singularity, an upcoming real-time
strategy game, which will be the first game using Oxide Games' Nitrous Engine,
which was announced
in late 2013. "In Ashes of the Singularity, players can take command of the
forces of either the post-humans or those of Haalee," said Brad Wardell,
president & CEO of Stardock. "This is a galaxy-wide struggle in which each
'battle' wages across the surface of an entire planet. The scope of the conflict
is unlike anything players have seen before." The
Ashes of the Singularity website
offers images and details, as well as
sales of a founder's
edition, which includes access to a friends and family beta, among other things,
as well as a Founder's Lifetime Edition which include all future content for
those who are willing to spring USD$99.99 based on the announcement and
screenshots. That price has an asterisk, but there is no associated footnote to
explain what sort of catch it involves.
Stardock also offers first details on Servo, a new sci-fi RTS game from
BonusXP, the developer founded
by ex-Ensemble developers. The
announcement trailer
offers a look at gameplay, and word is this will enter early access at some
point before its full release later this year. Meantime, word is this is now
available for preorder for those into that sort of thing: From the minds
behind some of the most iconic PC games in the last two decades comes an
incredible new title: Servo, a real-time strategy game that marries the
persistent progression of gathering and equipping scavenged loot with intense
RTS gameplay. Created by ex-Ensemble Studios developers at Allen, TX-based
independent studio BonusXP and published by Stardock, Servo is now available for
pre-order at
http://www.servogame.com/store for $19.99. Servo will enter Early Access in
the coming months before its release later in 2015 and is being demoed at this
year's Game Developer's Conference in booth 2655.
Servo puts players in command of a team of far-future mercenaries who pilot
their immensely powerful giant war machines, called Servos, in dangerous
missions to profit from the deadly but valuable Bloom that consumed Old Earth
centuries ago. Though humanity fled the doomed Earth decades ago, the way home
has recently reopened – and the mysteries lying dormant in Old Earth’s ruins
will change humanity’s fate once again.
All of Servo’s modes demand players master the economic, tactical, and strategic
layers that make up the backbone of deeply involved real-time strategy gameplay.
Capture Bloom sources to power global upgrades and Servo-supporting drone armies
in order to win competitive player-versus-player games. Survive wave upon wave
of terrible Bloomspawn attacks through skillful coordination with friends in
co-op battles. Unravel the mysteries of Old Earth by overcoming the unique
challenges in each of the 25 story-based missions.
Win or lose, every battle unlocks new parts to equip onto your Servos. Void
Beams, Hydra Launchers, Nemodium Blades, and much more can be slotted into the
dozen-plus slots on each Servo. Designing a team of Servos that works well
together to execute your strategies – and can react to the new challenges each
match brings – is as important as building up an economy or landing a perfect
rocket swarm.
The team behind Servo includes longtime Ensemble Studios and Age of Empires
veteran Dave Pottinger and respected strategy mind Bruce Shelley, whose design
credits include Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, and Age of Empires.
Continue here to read the full story.
Indie developer Blowfish Studios
announces Siegecraft Commander, an action/strategy game coming to Windows
10 and Xbox One, saying this will support cross-platform play between those
devices, similar to what was
announced for Gigantic.
This page
has some details on the game, and
this announcement trailer
shows it off. Here's word: Siegecraft Commander is the most recent
installment in the popular ongoing Siegecraft universe and challenges players to
create the ultimate medieval fortress and wreak havoc and destruction on enemies
with tower flinging fun! Carefully plan the location of the towers and walls in
your fortress network to outmaneuver your foes. With a combination of twitch
mechanics and positional tactics, the objective of the game is to build a
fortress in a branching structure with specialized towers connected with lofty
indestructible walls. The process of building a base, locating resources and
dispatching units, along with fierce positional tactics and earthshaking
cascades of destruction lend the game a feeling not unlike most RTS titles. Fans
of cult classic Moonbase Commander will appreciate the fresh look and overall
improvements.
Continue here to read the full story.
In what appears to be a trend, Wired Productions announces Super Dungeon Bros is
another upcoming game that will support cross-platform multiplayer play between
Windows 10 and Xbox One. "We’re very excited to feature cross-device multiplayer
in Super Dungeon Bros," said Leo Zullo, Managing Director of Wired Productions.
"Cross-device gameplay has long been a wish of the gaming community. We’ve
worked extremely closely with our development partners to make Super Dungeon
Bros one of the first titles to support this innovative feature." Here's a
gameplay teaser trailer
and here's word on the game: In Super Dungeon Bros, a band of four mighty
bros raid the endless dungeons of Rökheim, a giant scar of godforsaken earth,
where wars are waged in underground crypts built by the gods themselves. Teams
of up to four players will control hard rocking warrior bros in ever-changing
dungeons that combine rock and fantasy with dangerous foes, deadly obstacles,
and hazardous puzzles. Fans are encouraged to register their interest at
www.superdungeonbros.com, which
will be updated with further Super Dungeon Bros details over the coming
weeks.
Continue here to read the full story.
Slitherine announces that Vietnam '65 is now available, offering the chance
to go in country to experience the Vietnam War on Windows or iPad. The
Slitherine website has details
on how to get your copy, and
a new trailer shows
off a little of what to expect. A 10% launch discount is also available on the
PC edition, and they are offering a free Steam key to anyone who buys a copy of
the PC version from the Matrix Games or Slitherine store. Word is this game
involves winning the war of propaganda as well as battles, meaning this virtual
war will be as tricky as the actual conflict it simulates: Fifty years
ago Operation Rolling Thunder was launched. Supported by dozens of US
fighter-bombers, this massive bombardment campaign aimed to persuade North
Vietnam to cease its assistance to communist insurgents in South Vietnam and to
destroy key military targets. Soon after ground units were also deployed and the
US was fully involved in this iconic Cold War conflict!
Early 1965 US commanders did not realize that they were embarking on a very
tricky unconventional war. In Vietnam, firepower and technology only get you so
far. Thanks to their knowledge of the terrain, close relationship with the local
population and their mastery of guerrilla tactics, the Viet Cong and the North
Vietnamese Army regulars proved to be a dangerous and elusive enemy.
In Vietnam’65, a new strategy game releasing today on PC and iPad, players will
experience the true essence of this war. Developer Every Single Soldier has
focused on providing a realistic and credible Counter-Insurgency model. As a
result, victory is not determined by simply eliminating the enemy, but rather by
winning the Hearts and Minds of the local population, thereby gaining their
support to crush the insurgency. Finding the right balance between conducting
raids, ambushing the insurgents and securing the confidence of the locals is
crucial in Vietnam’65. But the jungles of Vietnam are full of traps and
surprises, not to mention the difficult task of keeping up support for the war
back home in the USA...
Continue here to read the full story.
Here's a GDC sneak peak
trailer from Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, Fatshark's upcoming
Warhammer action game. Word is: "Independent developer, Fatshark, released a new
gameplay trailer today, showcasing some of the co-operative action and first
person shooter/melee combat in Warhammer: End Times Vermintide. The footage
shows one of the earlier missions in the game, where the heroes weave their way
through the streets of Ubersreik in an attempt to reach the city garrison to
warn them of the Skaven invasion." Continue here to read the full story.
I've been meaning for a while to comment on
the news forum thread about the Elite: Dangerous launch, as this has become the
most popular thread in the history of this site. It is now approaching 1100 posts
(hey, it's not like we're reddit here), and remains on topic, a contrast to the
other threads rounding out our all-time top four, as none of the other three are about games
at all. In fact, the Elite: Dangerous launch thread has more than twice the
comments of the next closest game-related thread, which was about the
launch of Half-Life 2.
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