Archived News:
Creative Assembly invites everyone to sign up for alpha testing of
Total War: Arena, the upcoming
team-based installment in their strategy series. They offer
an alpha gameplay trailer
to generate interest, and will follow this with a livestream tomorrow on their
Twitch channel at 17:00 CEST
(11:00 am EDT). Here's word on the game: "Total War: ARENA is a free-to-play,
team-based strategy game, putting players in the middle of epic-scale battles.
Using key elements of award-winning Total War design, it is made from the
ground-up for multiplayer realtime strategy fans, with players going
head-to-head in 10v10 battles." Continue here to read the full story.
Codemasters announces a delay to F1 2015, saying the racing sequel will now take
the green flag on July 21st in North and Latin America and on July 24th in
Brazil. The game was previously expected next month, but they don't address or explain the delay, instead offering console
gamers something shiny: "North American gamers who pre-order F1 2015 at
GameStop/EB Games will receive a collectable F1 2015 metal case. Latin American
gamers can also secure the metal case by preordering the game at participating
retailers in their respective countries (check local stores for details)." They
also offer a new teaser trailer.
Continue here to read the full story.
Kalypso Media announces Espionage is the next expansion for Tropico 5,
adding some spy-themed intrigue to the island dictator sequel. This will come to
the Windows, OS X and SteamOS editions of the game on May 28th, and to the
console editions to follow at a later date. Here's word: 'Espionage'
features the all new campaign 'The Maltese Toucan,' a thrilling new adventure
wherein Tropico’s precious treasures need to be protected against foreign agents
at all costs. Only you, as El Presidente, can keep Tropico safe from enemy spies
and foreign powers that might try to steal your island’s best kept secrets for
their own gain.
Protect Tropico’s borders and reveal enemy agents by installing Security
Checkpoints and throwing them in the island’s new Dungeon. Train your own spies
in the new Spy Academy and send them off to steal foreign capital or top secret
technology from your enemies. Foil attacks on your beautiful island paradise by
building the Ministry Of Information and monitor your citizens according to the
strict Tropican data privacy laws. For additional air security you can call on
the new Police Blimp, and for serious military scenarios you will be equipped
with some new toys: the Mechanized Garrison is battle seasoned and ready for any
state of emergency!
Spanning six missions, you can expect manipulation, revolts and acts of sabotage
as you use all the resources at your disposal to protect your island from the
outside powers trying to move in. Will your drink be 'shaken or stirred' at the
end of this thrilling spy tale?
NASCAR '15 is now available
on Steam,
offering the latest installment in the official game of the auto racing series.
Word is: "Featuring the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, NASCAR '15 is the
officially licensed racing simulation game. Includes Quick Race, Career and
Multiplayer modes." There's also a playable demo
on Steam (thanks Frans)
offering a test drive. There's no description of the demo, but the top current
review helps understand what it includes: "Gives you Charlotte (both day and
night). Drives the same as last year's game in terms of car handling. The true
test is how the multiplayer lobbies work this year and unfortunately, you cannot
know that by playing the demo."
Steam News announces the
release of Making
History: The Calm and the Storm Gold Edition, an updated edition of
their turn-based strategy game described thusly: "At last MH Gold, the game
widely hailed by users as the ultimate open-ended, just-one-more-turn WWII grand
strategy experience, is on Steam. Choose any nation, remake history and paint
the world your color. Try the FREE demo." As that last sentence notes, a demo is
now available, and there's a description for this one: "Play a national leader
before and during the second World War. The demo offers the complete game system
with a limited number of turns and the ability to play a single scenario."
Thanks Frans.
A
post on the Desura blog addresses failure to pay developers in a post from Bad
Juju, the ironically named owner that bought the service from Linden Labs last
year. The post from Head of Developer Relations Lisa Morrison explains their
current circumstances (thanks
Gamasutra). Here's word: This morning, we have been working hard to
address the concerns and fears surrounding delayed payments on Desura. We want
to reach out and let everyone know that those experiencing payment issues ARE
being heard. First and foremost we want to apologize that this has happened at
all, one dev experiencing this is one too many. The issues have stemmed from a
number of factors coming together in a bad way. The acquisition of the company
last year has presented us with a number of very difficult issues to tackle, and
we have been clearing those hurdles as efficiently as we are able. This has been
compounded by the office being relocated, and by the current hospitalization of
our CEO.
For those who want to talk to us directly, there are a number of ways to make
contact:
IRC: Irc.freenode.net #Desura
Email: acctg@desura.com,
Devsupport@Desura.com or
LadyAijou@badjuju.com
Twitter: @Desura, @LadyAijou
We do need to ask patience on the part of the press for inquiries to us about
these issues. Tony has been in contact from the hospital to say that he has been
admitted, and his health is a pressing concern and top priority to us. Please
send those inquiries to LadyAijou@badjuju.com and I will personally help arrange
interviews and statements from Tony.
For Developers being effected:
We are not refusing to pay you, this is a promise. There are delays, and issues
which need work to correct, but we will absolutely be paying all accounts due.
If you have not reached out about your issue, please email one of the above
addresses, and you WILL get a reply from me personally. You do matter, and we
are taking this very seriously
I hope that this will help to allay some of the fear and anger surrounding this.
I do understand the frustration, and we are already working on changes. The
entire site and client are being completely redone, to give developers far more
control. I hope that our devs will work with us on the solutions, and will
please bear with us a little while longer as we implement the changes that are
needed.
RPGWatch has a follow-up to the recent
tease of a follow up to Expeditions: Conquistador with the official
announcement of Expeditions: Viking, a sequel to Logic Artists' historical RPG (thanks Xhemesis).
Word is: "Set in the late 700’s A.D., Expeditions: Viking is a tactical RPG
where players inherit the leadership of their clan and are charged with
elevating their clan’s status by adventuring in far away lands and defending
their home from their enemies both foreign and domestic." They have an
announcement trailer and here is more on the game: Expeditions: Viking
is a Historically-themed RPG set in the Viking Age. As the new leader of a
humble clan of farmers and fighters players must adventure into the unknown
lands to the west to raid and/or trade their way to wealth, fame and glory. Will
you rewrite history as a peaceful and benevolent trader? Or pave your road to
Valhalla with the treasures and bones of your fallen enemies? Experience choice
and consequence as never before in the much awaited addition to the Expeditions
Series, Expeditions: Viking.
Continue here to read the full story.
GOG.com has added some new freebies to their DRM-free game library, and while we
thought we saw a blog post about this, we cannot locate a news story about this,
perusing their
listing
of free titles shows it now contains 14 games along with a set of digital
comics. Thanks nin.
Early Access to Victory Command is now available
on Steam, offering the
chance to pay for access to Petroglyph's MOBA which will eventually be a
free-to-play game (thanks Gamer's Hell). Here's what they are and are not promising
participants who pony up for access: Victory Command is expected to be
Free to Play at launch with in-game microtransactions as well as a Premium
membership program. We are charging for Early Access to support the ongoing
development efforts, fund the infrastructure during Early Access, and to give us
the opportunity to engage with a passionate, committed audience that we can work
with to make Victory Command great.
To say thank you for the support of our Early Access players, if and when the
game launches in full release, it is our current plan that every Early Access
player will receive a gift of in-game currency or Premium membership equal to or
above the price of Early Access, however we can make no guarantee that a full
release or the gift will happen.
A new gameplay trailer
from Overwatch offers an extensive introduction of the Hanzo character in
Blizzard's upcoming teamplay shooter. Here's word on the nine minute clip:
"Master bowman Hanzo takes aim against his foes in this complete, unedited match
from an early version of Overwatch, captured in 60fps on PC. Here, Hanzo is on
the attack in King’s Row, a Point Capture/Payload hybrid map situated in the
heart of England." Continue here to read the full story.
Actually, that headline covers most of this.
Kotaku summarizes a
reddit thread on the maddening inconsistency of hitboxes in Counter-Strike:
Global Offensive, as the shooter does not seem to always properly acknowledge
bullets hitting their targets. After a GIF showing this in action gained
traction, Valve's Matt Wood chimed in explaining this years-old issue will be
addressed at some point, saying: "Hi, Kevin. It's being worked on. We don't have
an eta."
This weekend marks Memorial Day here in the U.S. so I'm expecting things will be
pretty quiet until Tuesday. If you are heading somewhere for the holiday
weekend, have a fun and safe time.
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