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Archived News:
Battle.net announces
Blizzard is now accepting preorders of Nova: Covert Ops, their upcoming
StarCraft II mission pack bundle. Pre-purchasing all three packs will net a 33%
savings. In addition to the discount, this carries an additional incentive:
"Those who pre-purchase Nova Covert Ops will receive a unique Nova portrait, as
well as a Covert Ops Ghost skin for their Ghost units. The Nova portrait is
limited to the pre-purchase bundle, and will be gone once the first series of
missions launch." Here are the details from a FAQ on the topic:
- What does the Nova Covert Ops bundle contain?
- The bundle contains the entire story arc of
Nova Covert Ops, which includes all three mission packs and the Covert
Ops Ghost skin. Each mission pack contains three campaign-style
missions. Those who pre-purchase the bundle will also receive a Nova
portrait.
- Can I buy each mission pack individually?
- Yes, but only the Nova Covert Ops bundle is
available for pre-purchase. Individual mission packs will be available
for purchase when the first pack goes live in spring of 2016. Each
mission pack contains three campaign-style missions.
- Can I get the pre-purchase goodies after the
first mission pack is live?
- The Nova portrait is only available for those
who pre-purchase Nova Covert Ops. The Covert Ops Ghost skin is available
if you pre-purchase Nova Covert Ops, or own all of the mission packs.
Please note: the Covert Ops Ghost Skin will be awarded once all of the
mission packs are owned.
- How much will each mission pack cost?
- Each mission pack will be $7.49 USD, but you
can pre-purchase all three now for $14.99 USD.
- When will I receive the Nova portrait and
Covert Ops Ghost skin?
- If you pre-purchase the Nova Covert Ops
bundle, you will receive the rewards on or before the release of the
first mission pack.
- Do I have to own a version of StarCraft II in
order to purchase Nova Covert Ops?
- No, you may purchase Nova Covert Ops through
the Starter Edition without owning any version of StarCraft II.
Origin Games now offers Jade Empire - Special Edition for PC as a
free offering through their "on the house" program" (thanks
Polygon). This offer is for a limited time, but once accepted, the game is
free to keep. Here's a reminder on BioWare's martial arts RPG: When
danger threatens, you travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the
Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City.
In your adventures you face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic
and magical martial arts, and discover the darkest secrets of the world.
Only by mastering the greatest fighting styles and defeating the most powerful
enemies will you earn your place as a master of martial arts in the world of
Jade Empire.
Steam News announces the
release of Don't Starve:
Shipwrecked as early access DLC for
Don't Starve, the
survival game for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Here's word on the single-player
expansion: In Don't Starve: Shipwrecked, Wilson finds himself stranded in
a tropical archipelago. He must learn to survive all over again in this new
environment filled with new biomes, seasons, and creatures.
Don’t let the tropical breeze lull you into a false sense of security - the
world might be different, but it is still equal parts unforgiving and
uncompromising. You will quickly find these islands are full to the brim with
things that want to kill you.
The
GeForce website announce the availability of new version 359.06
WHQL-certified drivers for NVIDIA graphics cards, saying these are the "game
ready" drivers for Just Cause 3 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, though as
previously indicated,
getting these requires the use of the
GeForce Experience
software. They offer a
trailer showing off NVIDIA water effects in Just Cause 3 and
another showing
GameWorks features in Rainbow Six Siege, noting the game is free with the
purchase of a qualifying video card. Word is: The new
GeForce Game Ready 359.06 WHQL drivers
for Just Cause 3 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege are now available to
download via GeForce
Experience. With Game Ready optimizations for Avalanche's open-world,
chaotic sandbox, and Game Ready optimizations and a
SLI profile for
Ubisoft's tactical action game, our new drivers will give you the best possible
experience while saving the day and blowing stuff up.
Continue here to read the full story.
Team17 tweets
that they've launched a video Advent calendar
through
YouTube where they are giving out free games every day between now and
December 7th, which marks their 25th anniversary.
This tweet
points to the day one
video, saying "Here's Day 1 of our Advent Calendar. Be quick to get the
hidden surprises!" The video notes that today's gift is for Xbox One, and it's
not clear if there will be any PC deals along the way. Thanks
PC Gamer. Continue here to read the full story.
Just Cause 3, is now available, and
Steam News notes that
they now offer the game,
saying: "With over 1000 km² of complete freedom from sky to seabed, Rico
Rodriguez returns to unleash chaos in the most creative and explosive ways
imaginable." Reviews are popping up all over, though for a multi-platform
release it can be hard to tell which system was being used. You can find
evaluations of the open-world action sequel on
Ars Technica,
Destructoid,
Eurogamer,
GameSpot,
Giant
Bomb,
Kotaku,
PC Invasion,
PCGamesN,
Polygon,
and
Rock, Paper, Shotgun. There's a
Just Cause 3 Graphics & Performance Guide on the GeForce website for NVIDIA
owners and buried deep in the comments is the admission that the game engine
does not currently support multi-GPU configurations. Apparently SLI or Crossfire
support, if possible, will require an update to the game itself. That's not the
only technical issue people are running into playing this, as
GameWatcher notes lots of posts on
reddit and the
Steam Forums
outline other problems users have encountered.
The Rainbow Six
website announces Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is now available,
offering the chance to siege the day with the latest installment in the tactical
shooter series. The
GeForce website offers a Graphics & Performance Guide on how to get the best
visuals for the game on their hardware. The game is available
on Steam and
Steam announces that if you buy the game there before December 14th you get
a free copy of Rainbow Six Vegas 1. This offering is being applied retroactively
to all who preordered the game as well. Here's the description of the game: Tom
Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege invites players to master the art of destruction.
Intense close quarters confrontations, high lethality, tactics, team play, and
explosive action are at the center of the experience. The gameplay sets a new
bar for intense firefights and expert strategy in the rich legacy of past Tom
Clancy's Rainbow Six games.
Key Features
THE SIEGE GAMEPLAY
For the first time in Rainbow Six, players will engage in sieges, a brand-new
style of assault. Enemies now have the means to transform their environments
into strongholds: they can trap, fortify, and create defensive systems to
prevent breach by Rainbow teams.
To face this challenge, players have a level of freedom unrivaled by any
previous Rainbow Six game. Combining tactical maps, observation drones, and a
new rappel system, Rainbow teams have more options than ever before to plan,
attack, and diffuse these situations.
AMD now offers new version 15.11.1 Crimson reference hotfix drivers for AMD
graphic cards. These have a bunch of changes and fixes, and importantly, address
the problems where fan speeds were
impeded (thanks
HARDOCP). Here's word on what's changed: Resolved Issues with AMD
Radeon Software Crimson Edition 15.11.1 Update
- [82050] Star Wars™: Battlefront - Snow flickers in
a few locations in the game
- [82240] Star Wars™: Battlefront - Sky rendering
may be broken in some game locations
- [82645] Fallout 4 - The compass may flicker during
gameplay on AMD Radeon R9 390 series products. We continue to investigate
the issue with AMD Radeon R9 290 and AMD Radeon R9 295X2 series products
- [82667] Star Wars™: Battlefront - Shadowy textures
are visible around hills/structures/caves
- [81890] Just Cause 3 - Texture corruption may be
experienced during gameplay
- [54874] Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - Poor AMD
Crossfire™ performance may be experienced
- [82338] The driver installation may fail while
installing the ACP component
- [82426] The font size in Chinese language
installations may be too small
- [82438] The label range values in some AMD
Freesync™ installations may be incorrect
- [82536] The Radeon Settings dropbox does not close
when it is clicked on a second time
- [82603] The AMD Overdrive™ fan settings is always
set to ON after first edit on reboot
- [82586] Language shows up as Chinese Simplified
when Chinese Traditional is selected in Windows® 7
- [82656] Radeon Settings crashes on the Display tab
when cloning a display via HDMI on some notebooks
- [82671] Overdrive™ fan speed is reset to Manual on
exiting from a 3D game or application
- [82766] Radeon Settings does not get upgraded in
some install scenarios
- [82691] AMD Overdrive™ cannot revert to default
settings in some situations
Paradox announces the release of Europa Universalis IV: The Cossacks, the latest
expansion for Europa Universalis IV, their grand strategy sequel. Here's
a new launch trailer
and here's word on the add-on and the accompanying new leaderboards: The
day has come!
Europa Universalis IV: The Cossacks has arrived on digital storefronts
around the world, bringing not just hosts of invaders and rebels, but a pile of
new features, mechanics and improvements to the best-selling historical grand
strategy game from Paradox Development Studio!
We are also revealing a new feature that will let you track your performance
against your own history and against other players around the world.
The Leaderboard will
record any game score you achieve in Ironman mode (where you can earn
achievements) so long as you are logged in to your Paradox Account and have a
forum registration. (And if you don’t have a Paradox Account, this is a great
reason to have one.)
Watch your scores improve as you learn the game, or as you move from country to
country, strategy to strategy. Can you beat our development team at their own
game?
Continue here to read the full story.
Softplanet Studios announces the release of FIM Speedway Grand Prix 15, a new
licensed motorcycle racing game for Windows. You can find all the details on the
game on its official website, and get a gander
at gameplay in this
trailer. Here's part of the announcement: Speedway is one of the most
unique motor sports with supporters across the globe. The sport sees competitors
racing on unique motorbike setups - namely with tremendous power and no brakes.
The latest game focuses on the most important and prestigious speedway
competitions – The Grand Prix, which determines the Individual World Champion.
This title was created by SoftPlanet Studios and produced under license by BSI
Speedway Limited, so players will find all the stadiums and riders from the 2015
season – with stars such as Tai Woffinden, Greg Hancock, Jaroslaw Hampel and
Nicki Pedersen.
In FIM Speedway Grand Prix 15 the player will need to show his skills and
tactics in the fight for the title of World Champion. The game includes two
driving modes: arcade for beginners and simulation, where the player has control
over rider’s body balance. FIM Speedway Grand Prix 15 is reflecting the nuances
of the sport that can decide who wins the race, such as dynamically changing
track surface that creates zones of better and worse grip.
Continue here to read the full story.
Happy Giving Tuesday!
Look at that, December is here! If I seem surprised, it's because the autumn has
been quite mild in this area, which normally has token spring and fall
transitions between lengthy summers and winters. The change in the calendar may
be bringing a change in this situation, though, as I had to break out a winter
coat yesterday for the first time since last winter. It's a good news, bad news
situation for the Gunnar-man, as he likes walking better when it's not hot out,
but there are far fewer of his friends out and about to run into.
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