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Archived News:
Blizzard announces plans to conduct a stress test in Overwatch this
weekend, so they will be making additional accounts as eligible for beta testing
of the upcoming team shooter. They will be flagging these accounts on Thursday
to give new participants the chance to download the client and testing will run
from Friday until Monday.
This post has
further details and a FAQ on the process. Here's word on your chances of getting
in if you have opted in to testing in Battle.net: "Beta Test Weekend
participants are chosen from our Overwatch beta opt-in pool based on a variety
of factors, including (but not limited to) your Battle.net region, when you
signed up, your computer hardware specifications, and an element of luck."
UbiBlog announces
the wild run has begun with the release of the Wild Run expansion for The Crew,
their MMO action driving game. A
new launch trailer
illustrates the news, and here's word on the release, which also includes a
graphics upgrade for the original game: Get even more out of your
experience with The Crew with the new Wild Run expansion, available now on Xbox
One, PS4 and PC. Try out four new types of vehicles – three Specs and one whole
new family of vehicles (motorcycles) – and experience the game like never before
with a graphics upgrade, as well as new weather and lighting effects. The
upgrade will be free for all players, whether you pick up Wild Run or not, so
you’ll still be able to see the core game in all its shiny-new glory.
Head out on the open road (or take your adventure off-road) with the new
Dragster, Drift and Monster Truck Specs. Or, take a break from four-wheeled
vehicles for a while and give the new motorcycles a spin. Take part in the
FreeDrive activities for endless activities. Set the location and make up your
own rules with the FreeDrive Challenges, or let the game come up with its own
randomized objectives with the FreeDrive Stunts. Either way, you and your crew
are in for quite a ride.
Continue here to read the full story.
Daybreak Games announces the release of the Terrors of Thalumbra
expansion for EverQuest II, which is now available through the
EverQuest II website.
This will soon be followed by the release of The Broken Mirror expansion
for the original EverQuest, which they say will show up sometime tomorrow
on the EverQuest website.
Word is: "These exciting additions to the long-running, massively multiplayer
online role-playing game (MMORPG) series bring new solo and group adventures,
features, challenges and more to the world of Norrath." Here's more on
each: WHAT TO EXPECT: The Broken Mirror brings four new expansion
zones and three revamped zones to the original EverQuest, as well as instanced,
scalable versions of the Plane of Hate and Plane of Fear for level 75-105 raids.
It adds new quests, missions, heroic adventures and raids to take on, while
introducing new spells, AAs (Alternate Advancements) and a convenient Illusion
Key Ring.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Thalumbra is a new overland zone featuring a new
contested zone and special quests for Adventure and Tradeskill players. It
includes scalable, level-agnostic dungeons for players levels 20-94, plus raid
zones, heroic dungeons and advanced solo dungeons for level 100 players. Terrors
of Thalumbra evolves the Deity system and also brings the new Item Infusion
upgrade system and new best-in-slot relics to EverQuest II.
Here are the
patch notes for today's update to Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's
MOBA. The update adds new early game character scaling changes and kicks off
Cho'gall Hero Week,
introducing the game's new two-headed hero. For the time being you cannot buy
the new hero, who was handed out to BlizzCon attendees as well as some random
players. Here's word on how he's being spread virally:
- Cho’gall Awarded to BlizzCon Attendees
- All players who attended BlizzCon 2015, or
purchased a Virtual Ticket, will permanently receive Cho’gall in their
Hero Collections.
- Unlock Cho’gall by Playing with Friends
- Cho’gall cannot be purchased using Gold or
real money.
- Instead, players who don’t own the two-headed
ogre can unlock him by completing a brand new Special Event Quest!
- Special Event Quest: Cho’gall Buddy Brawl
- Win 2 Games as Cho or Gall while partied with
a player who owns Cho’gall to permanently unlock the Hero.
- Win 4 games as Cho or Gall while partied with
players who have not yet unlocked the hero to earn 2,200 Gold.
- Those who own Cho’gall may only earn this
gold reward once. However, they can still help as many other players
unlock the hero as they wish.
Hi-Rez Studios announces closed beta testing is now underway for Paladins,
their upcoming team-based shooter. The
Paladins website offers signups for the chance at a free invitation, as well
as sales of founder's packs which guarantee access, though this is to be a
free-to-play game upon official launch next year. A new
"meet the champions"
trailer offers a look at the game's cast of characters, and here's a rundown
on testing plans and the game: Players interested in joining Paladins’
closed beta can sign up for a chance to earn a free invite at
www.Paladins.com. Alternatively, instant
closed beta access can be acquired by purchasing the Paladins Founder’s Pack,
which includes an exclusive Fiery Warhorse mount and 20 card chests, for $19.99
USD. In-game progress may be wiped during the beta phase as the game continues
to evolve, although any purchases made will always be saved.
During this first phase of the closed beta, access to Paladins’ servers will
only be available from noon to midnight EST, eventually moving to 24-hour
testing as soon as possible. Streaming and video capture are allowed from the
beginning of closed beta.
Paladins combines classic fantasy elements and visuals with modern multiplayer
action design. Players on each team must work together to capture points and
push their colossal, base-annihilating siege engine toward the opposing side’s
gates across a vast map. Every champion has a primary weapon, unique combat and
movement abilities, a personal mount, and a customizable deck of cards. These
cards are drawn and activated as matches progress, giving players and teams
strategic opportunities to change the course of each game.
Continue here to read the full story.
AMD is offering new beta version 15.11.1 Catalyst drivers for AMD and ATI
accelerators running under Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 (thanks
AnandTech). These are beta drivers, and some known issues remain, but they
promise quality and performance optimizations for Star Wars: Battlefront,
Fallout 4, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and Call of Duty: Black
Ops III.
The official website
for Star Wars Battlefront reminds us that today is the release date for
the Force-powered action game, saying it is now available for Windows, Xbox One,
and PlayStation 4. A
week-long Twitch stream is underway to celebrate the news, and the Windows
edition can be picked up now on
Origin Games. Here's the game's official description: Feel the
ominous thud of an AT-AT stomping down on the frozen tundra of Hoth. Zip through
the lush forests of Endor on an Imperial speeder bike while dodging incoming
blaster fire. Engage in intense dogfights as squadrons of X-wings and TIE
fighters fill the skies. Immerse yourself in the epic Star Wars™ battles you’ve
always dreamed of and create new heroic moments of your own in Star Wars™
Battlefront™.
EA Studios CFO Blake Jorgensen revealed plans for an Assassin's Creed-style
"gigantic action" game at a technology conference yesterday.
GameSpot has word that Jade Raymond, who was integral to the development of
the Assassin's Creed series at Ubisoft, will be developing this as part of her
assignment to help EA expand in the action genre. "We've never really operated
in the largest genre of gaming, and that's the action genre," Jorgensen said.
"That's the Assassin's Creed-style games; more open-world, more single-play
versus multiplayer. It's not been an area that we've operated in. We recently
hired Jade Raymond, who was behind the Assassin's Creed franchise for Ubisoft
and she will be building an action genre for us through a studio we're building
out in Montreal right now. So a lot of excitement around the action genre."
Steam News announces
that Disgaea PC is
coming to Steam "soon," offering the chance to play this tactical role-playing
game first released for PS2 in 2003. Here's word: Disgaea
PC is coming soon to Steam! In this Strategy RPG, train your characters to
level 9999 and deal damage by the millions in the wacky Netherworld that is
Disgaea.
New to Disgaea PC are
updated UI and textures, keyboard, mouse, and controller support, all content
from Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, support for Steam features such as
achievements, cloud saves, badges, and trading cards, and much more!
Add Disgaea PC to your
wishlist on Steam to receive the latest updates!
Ancient Domains Of Mystery (ADOM) is now available for Windows, OS X, and
Linux, offering this Roguelike that's starting to live up to its title, since it
was first released in 1994. There's a post
on the game's blog covering the news, including details on a new patch that
accompanies the release. Here's the description of the game: ADOM
(Ancient Domains Of Mystery) is one of the most successful roguelike games ever
created, boasting a brilliant mix of story, RPG, exploration, and intensely
strategic and flexible combat. The Steam version adds various Deluxe features
like achievements, difficulty level customization and various play modes (e.g. a
story mode allowing to save and restore games, a weekly challenge game, an
exploration mode and more). ADOM has been in development since 1994. In 2012 its
development was revitalized with an immensely successful crowdfunding campaign
on Indiegogo, now allowing us to offer ADOM both with ASCII and graphical modes
enabling you to choose freely.
- Cooler Master Barebones Novatouch on
LAN OC.
- DEEPCOOL Gamer Storm Gabriel Low-Profile CPU Cooler on
PC Perspective.
- Feenix Aria Audiophile Gaming Headphones on
TweakTown.
- Gelid Antarctica CPU Cooler on
Hardware Slave.
- KIDZ GEAR Bluetooth Headphones on
Technology X.
- Lian Li PC-Q10WX on
ocaholic.
- MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK Video Card on
HARDOCP.
- Patriot Memory Viper 4 DDR4-2800 16GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on
TweakTown.
- Phanteks Enthoo Evolve on
Modders-Inc.
- ROCCAT KOVA 2016 on
Vortez.
- Saitek Heavy Equipment Precision Control System on
Ten Ton Hammer.
- Thermaltake Poseidon Z RGB Mechanical Keyboard on
Benchmark Reviews.
- Toshiba Canvio Desk 4TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive on
Nikk Tech.
- Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme 6GB on
techPowerUp.
Didn't realize it in time, but a note on
VG247
notes that yesterday marked the 11th anniversary of the release of Half-Life
2. I'll avoid taking this as an opportunity to grouse about Half-Life 3 or
Episode 3, and just celebrate what a good game that was, as I've lost track of
how often I've replayed all or part of that game. Any time you're ready Gordon,
we're waiting for you... in the test chamber.
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