Archived News:
Steam News announces a
daily deal where
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is 50% as their new Daily Deal. They are
offering an additional bonus for the next 24 hours, as you can pick up a copy of
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
for free between now and 1:00 pm EDT tomorrow, saying: "Add it to your account
during the free period and own it forever." There is also an
Abe's 18th Oddiversary sale on GOG.com where DRM versions of the various
games in the series are on sale.
With closed beta testing of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege set to begin
tomorrow, Ubisoft now offers
this trailer to
celebrate the occasion. The accompanying description outlines the scope of
testing of the tactical shooter: "The Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Closed Beta
goes live on September 24th. 14 Operators. 3 Maps. 2 Multiplayer Game Modes.
Terrorist Hunt. They’re all available for you to experience before Rainbow Six
Siege releases on December 1st. We can’t wait for you to join us and your
friends in the destructible combat arenas of the Siege." Those interested in
participating can still sign up on the
official website
while Amazon
is offering what seems like a sure way to get in, as they are "selling" beta
codes for free (thanks
GameWatcher). There are even more details in
the
UbiBlog. Continue here to read the full story.
Bohemia Interactive announces they are offering access to the beta version of
the Eden 3D editor for Arma III, though they warn this will be updated on a
daily
basis, and testers will be playing "an experimental and largely untested version
of Arma 3," where parts of the game will sometimes be "completely broken" (I'll
just let you all write your own jokes for that one based on BI's history). They
say the editor will be released for free to all owners of the military shooter sequel
next year, but those willing to deal with all the above caveats can right-click
on Arma 3 in the Steam Library, go to properties and opt-in to receiving Arma 3
development builds via the BETAS tab.
This video is a
capture of a live stream where the developers from Bohemia Interactive give a
demonstration of the power this provides to add new and modified
content to the game. Continue here to read the full story.
Bethesda.net now offers the
latest installment in
their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. video series from Fallout 4, which is up to Endurance. They don't have
much to say about this one: "This week's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. video focuses on
Endurance. Study it carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes
you S.P.E.C.I.A.L." Continue here to read the full story.
The Dota
2 blog has details on the Frankfort Major, the first of their recently
announced series of major tournaments for Dota 2. Tickets will go on sale
next week, qualifiers will take place next month, and the finals are in
November. They add they are working on the underlying map rendering tech and
other improvements, saying: "Over the coming weeks we’ll be working on UI
improvements based on the feedback we’ve received and releasing our first
seasonal Compendium. You can also expect to see the 6.85 game balance update
later this week." Here's word on the tourney, and its three million dollar prize
pool: Over the last five years, The International has become the pinnacle
moment for the world of professional Dota. Now the excitement of the biggest
event in esports is coming to the Majors, a series of seasonal marquee
tournaments, which will take place throughout the year and around the globe.
Dota’s newest tradition begins this fall with the Frankfurt Major.
The first Dota Major will take place over six days at Festhalle Messe in
Frankfurt, Germany from November 16 through the 21st. It will feature 16 teams
all competing at the main event for a total prize pool of $3,000,000, and will
be produced by ESL.
Attendance to the Frankfurt Major will be open to the public and will not
require a ticket for any day except for the day of the finals, which will take
place on Saturday, November 21st. Tickets to the Frankfurt Major Finals will be
sold in two separate waves this Sunday, September 27, the first at 11:00am CEST
and the last at 7:00pm CEST. Each ticket will cost €50, and will be available
here.
Assault Android Cactus is now available
on Steam, where they
offer a 20% launch discount on this twin-stick shooter for Windows, OS X, and
Linux.
This announcement has details on the release, word that the soundtrack is
also available, and a link to
this launch trailer.
There's a good summation in
this post: "Assault Android Cactus is an intense arcade style twin stick
shooter - pick from one of nine unique synthetic heroines and blast your way
through overwhelming robots hordes to save the ship from its own workforce.
Supports single player and local co-op game modes." Continue here to read the full story.
Link of the Day:
Ridley Scott Planning Another Three 'Prometheus' Films?! Thanks nin. Besides
all else, he's almost 78 years old.
Hi-Rez Studios offers the
first trailer from Paladins - Champions of the Realm, showing off
gameplay footage from the upcoming team-based shooter from the developer of
SMITE and Tribes Ascend. They have also opened up signup for beta testing of the
game on the Paladins website, though they
do not yet provide a timeframe for when testing will begin. Here's the elevator
pitch for the game: "Paladins offers deep strategy and in-match character
progression through decks of collectible cards, which enhance a character’s core
set of abilities. The game will be free-to-play for PC and current-generation
consoles, and will enter Early Access later this year." Continue here to read the full story.
A
post on Eurogamer.pl has some comments from a voice actor suggesting another
new Wolfenstein game is in the works, following Machine Games' successful reboot
of the alternate-history shooter series following Wolfenstein: The New Order and
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood.
Eurogamer.net has the English translation of word from Alicja Bachleda-Curuś,
who voiced Wolfenstein: The New Order's Anya: "I'm working on a video
game, first part of which I have already made. Now we're making a second one,
which will take two more years," she says. "I played this game as a child. I was
very happy when I got to the point where I could shoot Hitler."
A Microsoft Security
Bulletin reveals that Microsoft is turning off the service for secdrv.sys
driver for Windows 7 and Windows 8, following
word that this will not be
supported in Windows 10 (thanks
DSOGaming). This disables support for Safedisc, but the news is not all
good for DRM haters, as they warn this may prevent some older games from
operating, though they offer a workaround: After you install this
security update, some programs may not run. (For example, some video games may
not run.) To work around this issue, you can temporarily turn on the service for
the secdrv.sys driver by running certain commands, or by editing the registry.
Note When you no longer require the service to be running, we recommend that you
turn off the service again.
Warning This workaround may make a computer or a network more vulnerable to
attack by malicious users or by malicious software such as viruses. We do not
recommend this workaround but are providing this information so that you can
implement this workaround at your own discretion. Use this workaround at your
own risk.
Video game voice actors who belong to SAG-AFTRA are considering a strike to get
better back-end bonuses from their work on games that go on to sell in large
numbers (thanks
VG247). There is a lot of activity right now on Twitter using the hashtags
#PerformanceMatters
and
#iAmOnBoard2015, where, for example, Wil Wheaton,
says: "I love voice acting in video games, but our employers don't seem to
think #PerformanceMatters, so I voted YES to strike. #iamonboard2015." There's
more on the topic on the
SAG-AFTRA
website, where they note that negotiations have been underway since the
beginning of the year, and say they are at a "crossroads" after a meeting on
June 23rd that did not result in an agreement. Here's a bit: As you might
know, the Interactive Media Agreement was first negotiated by SAG and AFTRA in
the mid-1990s, and this agreement is still the template we use today despite
radical changes in what we are required to do on set and in the recording
studio. We’re looking to bring this long-standing agreement into the 21st
Century by addressing the following issues, which were arrived at after
extensive one-on-one, small group and big meeting interactions and discussions
with members like you.
Please read What
We Stand For and
What We
Stand to Lose and make sure to navigate to the
Get Involved
section of the website to sign up for our mailing list. We’ll be using the list
to stay in contact with members like you and let you know how you can
help.
Behind the Score with Inon Zur on Bethesda.net talks with the composer about
his soundtrack for Fallout 4, Bethesda's upcoming RPG sequel. Zur discusses his
influences and how the score for the new game will differ from its predecessors.
There are also sample tracks as well as a
video of him playing
the Fallout 4 theme on piano. Here's a bit: But what specifically
does that mean in terms of the Fallout 4 score? And how is it different from
previous Fallout scores? For Zur, it’s about capturing the humanity of the game.
From his first meeting with Audio Director Mark Lampert and Game Director Todd
Howard, Zur felt that this game – more than any previous Fallout – is a very
personal story. Which is why Zur suggested having the piano play a prominent
role in the game’s score, as he felt the piano could capture the more personal
nature of Fallout 4.
Continue here to read the full story.
Farewell to summer, as today is officially the first day of autumn in these
parts. The recent unofficial end of summer helped prepare for this as expected,
as it's been getting steadily cooler. In the past few days I've started to
notice it getting darker earlier as well, which can be a bummer, but I'll try
and focus on the good news, which is that the Gunnar-man and I can take
afternoon walks without the heat and sunshine melting my little buddy. And in
further looking on the bright side, for all of you down under, happy spring!
R.I.P.:
Obituary: BioWare, Junction Point, Origin veteran Peter Shelus.
R.I.P.:
New York Yankees Legend Yogi Berra Dies at 90.
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