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Archived News:
Avalanche's
Christofer Sundberg tweets that Just Cause 3 is gold, and the
completion of development on the open-world action sequel makes it sound like
it's on track for its planned December release. Word is: "#JustCause3 is.....
GOLD today!! Awesome work to our team taking this creation of ours and have
evolved it with excellence! #RicoWasHere." Thanks
DSOGaming.
The Overwatch blog
has details on changes Blizzard is planning for Battle.net, which will include
the addition of voice chat. This will initially be tested in the Overwatch
beta, but they indicate this will eventually be part of the Battle.net app:
We're in the process of working in some slight updates to Battle.net in
preparation for the upcoming
Overwatch beta test,
and wanted to give you the heads up. This update will lay the foundation for us
to test voice chat functionality within the Overwatch beta.
We're excited for players to give this feature a try during the Overwatch beta
and look forward to your feedback. Further details on our voice chat plans for
Battle.net will be released further down the road, but for now, please see the
FAQ below.
Bethesda.net has more details on the impending closed alpha test for DOOM,
id Software's upcoming return to their demonic, sci-fi shooter series. They
clarify what they mean by alpha, how Wolfenstein: The New Order preorder
customers can possibly participate, and how they will definitely get into an
upcoming beta test. They also outline what the alpha will include and provide
this video with a look
at gameplay, and more on what to expect from producer Marty Stratton. Here's
word on the goals of this test: First, these are not Betas, nor are they
game demos. Instead, these are a series of closed tests with limited
functionality – in the case of tomorrow's Closed Alpha, one map, one mode, and a
partial selection of weapons and equipment – with the goal of banging on a bunch
of back-end functionality in a real-world setting. Sure, the team at id Software
will be taking a close look at feedback on the gameplay itself, but that’s just
part of the goal here. Much of this initial Closed Alpha is dedicated to
assessing how real people connect to servers, systems and the back-end
infrastructure needed to operate the game. In other words, all the technical
stuff that’s essential to helping id’s vision for DOOM come to
life.
Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News announces
that Descent: Underground is now available
on Steam, and this
incomplete revival of the 6DOF shooter series can be had for 17% off its full
price. Word is: "A true first person shooter deserves all six degrees of
freedom. Fight through twisting tunnels & vast caverns where the concepts of up
and down mean nothing and danger lurks around every corner. This is Descent:
Underground!"
Those interested in Ashes of the Singularity should get their ashes over
to Steam, where this new
DirectX 12 real-time strategy game from Stardock and Oxide has entered the early access
stage. They celebrate the news with a new
early access developer
video with an outline of what the game is about, and
this news post has all the details: A real-time strategy game on a
scale never before seen where even the smallest units have diverse, independent
weapons systems and every shot fired has its own targeting solution and
ballistics model, Ashes of the Singularity explores entirely new and engaging
game play fundamentals coupled with jaw-dropping visuals. With literally
thousands of units acting independently on screen at the same time, players are
introduced to a familiar infrastructure of real-time strategy game play while
focusing their attention not on small engagements between a handful of units,
but instead waging large-scale wars across multiple simultaneous battlefronts.
The first game to utilize developer Oxide Games’ powerful Nitrous engine, Ashes
of the Singularity places the player at the head of a war between a group called
the Substrate, led by an AI called Haalee, and all of humanity as they strive to
expand further out into the galaxy.
Continue here to read the full story.
SEGA and Creative Assembly announce An April 28, 2016 release date for Total
War: WARHAMMER, the first installment in a planned trilogy of fantasy-themed
strategy games. They also unveil details on a pair of special editions of the
fantasy strategy game, a High King Edition and a Limited Edition, and they have
opened up preorders to each, so you can reserve the
Standard,
Limited, and
High King editions now. Preorders entitle purchases to a free Chaos Warriors
race pack, and this
trailer shows off the preorder bonus. Here's a mostly English explanation of
the plan: SEGA® Europe Ltd. and Creative Assembly today revealed the
Pre-order Bonus, High King Edition and Limited Edition for Total War™:
WARHAMMER®, the game that brings to life the most comprehensive vision possible
of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world -Total War: WARHAMMER will be the first in
an epic trilogy, supported with free and paid-for content post-release and is
set to launch on April 28th, 2016.
Pre-order Bonus – Chaos Warriors Race Pack:
Those gamers who pre-order any edition from participating retailers will receive
Total War: WARMAMMER’s first DLC for free alongside the game on release day. The
Chaos Warriors Race Pack includes three new playable Legendary Lords, enabling
you to select the corrupted and powerful Chaos Warriors as your race in the
Grand Campaign.
Featuring unique new mounts, bloodthirsty units and monstrous creatures, this
Race Pack also brings with it a brand new, narrative-driven quest chain for each
Legendary Lord, and an armoury of twisted and cursed magic items.
Continue here to read the full story.
Command: Northern Inferno is now available from
Matrix Games, offering a new strategy game based on a Cold War incident in
1975. In addition to being a standalone game, this also operates as DLC for
Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations.
This trailer sets the
scene with a very 70s-style news report, and here's the scenario: "The year is
1975, the Cold War is omnipresent and beneath the veneer of détente, the tension
between the two superpowers irreversibly escalates towards the ultimate
confrontation. As an at-sea 'accident' results in the sinking of a Royal Navy
frigate and the Warsaw Pact is mobilizing, events rapidly spiral out of control.
The world is plunging towards another global conflict - but this time, there
will be no post-war recovery, only nuclear disaster." Continue here to read the full story.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is due in a couple of weeks, and Activision paves
the way for the release with
a launch trailer with
gameplay from the futuristic shooter sequel. The clip comes along with a very
information-dense description of the entire game: Call of Duty: Black Ops
III is the ultimate 3-games-in-1 experience. In Campaign mode, you must navigate
the hot spots of a new Cold War to find your missing brothers. Players can play
the campaign cooperatively or solo and are now always connected to the
intelligence grid and their fellow operatives during battle. Multiplayer
features a new momentum-based chained movement system, allowing players to
fluidly move through the environment with finesse, using controlled thrust
jumps, slides, and mantling. Black Ops III multiplayer also introduces the new
Specialist character system, which allows players to master 9 characters'
battle-hardened weapons and abilities through a challenge-based unlock
progression system. No Treyarch title would be complete without its signature
Zombies offering. "Shadows of Evil" has its own distinct storyline right out of
the box, set in the fictional 1940s Morg City, where four particularly troubled
individuals - the femme fatale, the magician, the detective, and the boxer -
star in this film-noir inspired horror story.
Continue here to read the full story.
Frontier Development offers a
first video developer
diary for Planet Coaster, highlighting "the individual experience" in
their upcoming theme park game. They promise to release such diaries on a
monthly basis, and provide the following outline of what this first one covers:
"In their first developer diary, the team look at how the expressive individuals
that make up Planet Coaster’s crowds fuel every aspect of your designs. They
become a ‘living user interface’ that lets you see your park working for real as
you build rides and sculpt the environment to your heart’s content." Continue here to read the full story.
Coffee Stain Studios and Bossa Studios announce a collaboration as unusual as
their games, unveiling plans for Goatbread,
what they are calling "cross-love content" for Goat Simulator and
I Am Bread.
You can find more details and keep up with this project on the
Goatbread website, here is
a teaser trailer, and
here is the plan: Coming soon to Steam, players will be able to access
the super new cross-love content, GoatBread, for both I Am Bread and Goat
Simulator. I Am Bread will have a new Goat Simulator-inspired level ‘RAMpage
mode’, and Goat Simulator a new, playable piece of bread. Crumbs! This brand new
content will be included in both games and is free to existing owners, adding
100% more Goat and Bread to their experience.
Continue here to read the full story.
Activision Blizzard
announces the formation of a new division to support the
burgeoning world of esports, saying they have appointed former ESPN CEO Steve
Bornstein as chairperson and MLG co-founder Mike Sepso as a senior vice
president of the new unit. The announcement covers the company's history in
esports, and states the mission of this new division is to "build on the
Company's competitive gaming leadership by creating all-new ways to deliver the
best-in-class fan experience across games, platforms and geographies, furthering
the development of its world-leading esports ecosystem." Here's a quote on all
this from the big guy: "Celebrating our players and their unique skill,
dedication and commitment is the essence of our esports initiatives," said Bobby
Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "Blizzard Entertainment
and Activision Publishing have been leaders in the development of esports. With
that leadership, our strong franchises, our deep history and experience in
esports, and now two additional industry leaders, we intend to further enhance
our efforts and make certain this remains an important growth driver for
Activision Blizzard."
Kotick added, "There are no better leaders for this new initiative than Steve
and Mike. Steve has unparalleled experience in creating a sports network
powerhouse and his groundbreaking leadership at ESPN and the NFL Network shaped
how the whole world experiences sports. Mike's entrepreneurial vision helped
make 'esports' a household word and he is uniquely positioned to take the
experience to the next level."
DSOGaming has some leaked shots of the weapon selection from the DOOM
closed alpha that's getting underway this weekend for select Wolfenstein:
The New Order preorder customers. There are a few familiar items core to the
series like a plasma rifle (though this used to be a plasma gun... does shooting
plasma benefit from a rifled barrel?) and a super shotgun, along with some newer items like
a personal transporter and frag grenades. Perhaps most notable are the absences
of signature weapons at both ends of the scale, as the chainsaw and BFG are
missing.
Ubisoft continues to support tomorrow's console release of Assassin's Creed Syndicate
with more media and details from the next iteration in the stealthy
assassination series. They now offer
this "gang 101" trailer
showing off how success in the game will rely on cultivating and utilizing the
gangs of London, reminiscent of Scorsese's Gangs of New York. Here's word
on the narrated clip: "Today we released a Gang 101 trailer where Game Director
Scott Phillips walks viewers through the essential information they’ll need to
grow their gang and influence in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate." Continue here to read the full story.
Thanks to all for the congratulations on the Mets winning the National
League pennant. It's very exciting that the team is playing
so well when it matters the most, and a World Series appearance is way ahead of
where anyone could have expected them to be at this point in their rebuilding
effort. Like most sports,
baseball is a zero-sum game by design, so you grow calloused to the pain of
others, but it's hard to not feel sympathy for long-suffering Cubs fans, and I have a
dear online friend who is one of them, so this is a rare case where winning fills me with empathy. But on the bright side, the Cubs had a fantastic
season, they remain a promising young team, and Joe Maddon is a classy guy and a
terrific manager, so their future looks very promising. Here's looking forward to
the World Series.
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