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Archived News:
Telltale announces to expect the first episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne
- A Telltale Miniseries on February 23rd, though it will actually premier in
an "extended preview event" starting on February 14th. Here's the plan:
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries will premiere its
first of three episodes, 'In Too Deep,' this February 23rd on PC/Mac from the
Telltale Online Store, Steam, and other digital distribution services, the
PlayStation®Network for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3, the Xbox Games Store
for Xbox One® and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft,
followed by a release on compatible iOS devices via the App Store, and
Android-based devices via Google Play and the Amazon App Store starting February
25th. The second episode in the miniseries, 'Give No Shelter,' will follow in
the month of March, and conclude with the third episode, 'What We Deserve,' in
April. All three episodes in the miniseries will be available for purchase at
the cost of $14.99 USD or equivalent when the first episode debuts, including
access to the second and third episodes as they become available.
In this premiere episode, 'In Too Deep,' Michonne joins Pete and his crew on the
sailing ship The Companion as they cruise the coast for survivors and supplies.
When a desperate signal for help draws them to a scene of horrific massacre,
Michonne and the crew are lead further to the floating survivors' colony of
Monroe, which may just be harboring the person responsible for the carnage.
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries stars the iconic,
blade-wielding character from Robert Kirkman's best-selling comic books,
portrayed in-game by award-winning actress Samira Wiley (Orange is the New
Black). Haunted by her past, and coping with unimaginable loss and regret, the
story explores Michonne's absence between issues #126 and #139 of the comic
book. Over the three episodes of the miniseries, players will discover what took
Michonne away from Rick, Ezekiel, and the rest of her trusted group... and what
brought her back.
Ahead of its release, fans are invited to get an exclusive extended preview of
the first episode of the series on Youtube.com/TelltaleGames this Sunday
February 14th at 8:30pm EST / 5:30pm PST. The development team will introduce
the series allowing fans to experience the first five minutes of the premiere
episode, exploring Michonne's struggle to remain among the living while being
haunted by her past.
CCP has released a February patch for EVE Online, updating their MMORPG
with extensive changes, all detailed in
these release notes. Most significant is probably a new feature to allow
players to transfer skill points.
This previous blog post has all the details on how this works, and here's an
overview from their announcement: Skill Trading is a new option for EVE
Online players to use Skill Extractors to remove accrued skillpoints from one
character in order to create an item called a Skill Injector. That Skill
Injector can then be traded to another character--typically for in-game currency
via the markets of EVE--and used to apply a pool of skillpoints to the second
character, boosting whatever skill levels they want to apply the skill points
to.
In essence, Skill Trading is trading character experience from one character to
another, a particular bonus for any secondary (or “alt”) characters if a
player’s main character has a surplus of skillpoints in areas he or she might
not currently use. It’s also a way for any pilot to reassign skills and further
craft their characters, accelerate supporting skills, quickly get into an
Alliance’s fleet doctrine, or jump into a new ship class a bit quicker than
waiting out the training time.
EVE Online players have long been able to sell whole characters to each other
through a forum-based marketplace known as the Character Bazaar. With each sale
comes the history of the character, its name, and possibly its assets--but also
its reputation, good or bad. While there is still a place for characters to
change hands in the bazaar, Skill Trading offers more granular control and
flexibility over character progression.
A The Flame in the
Flood Wildlife Tips trailer shows off this "rogue-lite river journey,"
celebrating the news that this crowdfunded survival game will be released on
February 24th. The Windows version is currently on
Steam early access, and
here's a bit on the game and its pedigree: Pack your bags for a downriver
journey of survival and self-reliance. The Flame in the Flood lands on Xbox One,
PC and Mac on February 24, 2016.
The Flame in the Flood is a rogue-lite river journey through the backwaters of a
forgotten, post-societal America. Forage, craft, outwit predators and brave the
rapids as you make your way down the procedurally generated river.
Get lost in the fragile beauty of a forgotten world designed by veterans of both
BioShock and BioShock Infinite, played to the tune of an original soundtrack
composed by alt-country star, Chuck Ragan. Hunt, trap, and craft to not only
endure, but survive.
Brave the dangers of the water as you seek refuge from the harsh realities
surrounding you, accompanied by your trusted companion, Aesop. The ultimate
wingman, your canine friend is as cunning as he is adorable, sniffing out and
gathering the supplies essential to stay warm, stay fed, and stay alive.
Where will your journey take you?
Citing a problematically small active playerbase for the mode,
Riot Games announces they are dropping the Dominion game mode from League
of Legends after a four-year run as an alternative challenge for players of
the MOBA. They describe the mode's death spiral that's prompting the move:
We want to support game modes delivering consistently engaging and
competitive experiences. Fewer than 0.5% of players actively play Dominion and
we’re aware some number of even that small population is still bots. We haven’t
been supporting Dominion, and we’ve trapped ourselves in a vicious cycle where
the queue isn’t large enough to warrant major attention, but falls prey to bugs
and periods of imbalance from the introduction of new champs and items (which
then drives down the size of the queue, and so on).
In the absence of our attention, matchmaking and game quality in Dominion varies
wildly based on daily engagement. Because of how matchmaking works, the longer
someone looking to play Dominion waits in queue, the wider the pool of potential
foes the matchmaker can pull from -- with such a small population, Dominion
games can match up widely divergent skill levels after long enough queue times.
Unhealthy queues that force players to endure long waits with fluctuating match
quality ultimately creates an overall poor experience -- one we take
responsibility for.
We might have been able to break out of that downward spiral with more dedicated
resources, but we chose Summoner’s Rift as the core League of Legends experience
with its depth of gameplay, match pacing, and path to mastery. When it comes to
the resources required to keep Dominion permanent and solve the inherent design
problems and give it ongoing live balance support, we’ve consistently devoted
them to Summoner’s Rift and related features because we felt they’d improve the
overall League experience more.
-
Human- Fall Flat -- Steam Greenlight. "Human:Fall Flat is a quirky,
open-ended physics-based third person puzzle and exploration game set in
surreal, floating dreamscapes. Your goal is to escape the dreams of falling
by solving puzzles with nothing but your wits and physics."
-
Wincars Racer -- Steam Greenlight. "Wincars Racer is a fast-paced online
racing game with a strategy twist. It blends the instant fun from arcade
racers with strategic and competitive features."
Kickstarter campaign for OVERLOAD is now underway, seeking $300,000
to develop "the ultimate six-degree-of-freedom shooter" by Revival Productions,
a developer looking to revive this genre they helped pioneer back when they
helped create the original Descent back in their days at Parallax
Software. The plan is to make this for Windows and consoles, but their first
stretch goal of $350K will add Linux and OS X versions. Here's more on their
background and the origins of this project: In 1993, we founded Parallax
Software to build our dream game, Descent. It was the first 3D game that allowed
you to move, turn, and fire in any direction. The mind-blowing--and sometimes
nausea-inducing--gameplay was matched by the technology behind it, which pushed
the limits of what was possible in rendering, AI, and multiplayer. It was a
milestone game that sold millions of copies and spawned two sequels.
Because of our desire to be close to family, Parallax Software eventually split
to form Outrage (Matt Toschlog) and Volition (Mike Kulas). Outrage and Volition
remained sister companies and shared in each other’s knowledge and expertise.
We’ve remained close friends, but have always wanted to find a way to work
together on a project again. The one project that we both really wanted to work
on, that we couldn’t not make, was an all-new six-degree-of-freedom shooter.
In 2014, after years of talking about it, we began working on Overload. The core
objective with the game is to take elements of classic 6-DOF shooters and use
modern technology to push Overload to a whole new level. We’re thrilled with the
progress we’ve made so far, but there is still a lot left to do, and that’s
where Kickstarter comes in. We need your help to ensure Overload will be the
ultimate six-degree-of-freedom shooter.
Steam now offers a playable demo for
American Truck Simulator, allowing the chance to get behind the wheel of
a big rig in SCS Software's transport sim sequel. Here's word on what this
includes: If you are still unsure whether to take the risk and buy the
game for fear of technical incompatibility, we are happy to announce the
availability of a free American Truck Simulator demo. Try it out to make sure
the game will work on your computer before making the purchase decision. You can
grab it from Steam now, just as the game itself.
The demo is limited by the number of jobs taken and only contains the state of
California, but technically it's identical with the game itself. If you purchase
the game after playing the demo, you can continue driving where you have left
off, as the save game stored in the demo mode is compatible with the full game.
Paradox Interactive announces new gameplay features coming next week to
Cities Skylines in the upcoming Snowfall expansion for the urban
planning game, while also revealing new features coming to the base game via an
accompanying free patch. They will begin a live stream showing off the expansion
on Twitch today at 11:00
am Eastern Time. Here's the rundown on free changes coming in the patch: In
addition, Paradox has also detailed the features that will be added to Cities:
Skylines for all players in a free patch on February 18, whether the
weather-oriented expansion is purchased or not. All players will see the
following additions:
- Rain and fog-based cosmetic weather for existing
maps outside the new “Winter” themed maps
- A new Theme Editor for map modding, allowing
players to create new Map Themes ranging from different terrain styles to
incredible alien worlds; here is one such incredible alien world
-
Whoa cool!
- Pretty cool, right?
- An expanded UI for public transportation
management
- New Chirps from everyone’s favorite in-game social
media avatar
- New Hats for everyone’s favorite in-game social
media avatar
- Newfound respect for everyone’s favorite in-game
social media avatar
Konami announces Cloaked in Silence, the upcoming DLC for METAL GEAR ONLINE,
the online component of METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. The pack will come
next month, adding Quiet, the previously
teased new character, along with other new content. This will come alongside
additional paid content as well as a free content patch that adds a new
competitive map called SABOTAGE. Here's word: Konami Digital
Entertainment, Inc. has announced a new DLC campaign for METAL GEAR ONLINE, the
dedicated, squad-based multiplayer component of the best-selling METAL GEAR
SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. Entitled ‘Cloaked in Silence’, the new content will
be released in March 2016 and adds new maps, a new character and additional
content to the multi-player experience.
‘Cloaked in Silence’ is an ongoing part of KONAMI’s commitment to continually
enhancing the METAL GEAR ONLINE element. The downloadable content adds three new
maps to the multi-player game:
- Coral Complex: A dedicated Motherbase
environment, allowing players to access tall towers, use storage containers
and other internal areas as cover for tactical advantage. Coral Complex
mixes open areas and a myriad of hiding opportunities.
- Rust Palace: Set within Afghanistan, the
Rust Palace is a large multi-level building. The skeletal nature of the
decrepit ruin means that cover is scarce, and the internal areas are rich in
dusty rooms and high-up sniping positions.
- Azure Mountain: An outdoor plain under
Africa’s baking sky. A small cluster of buildings offers scant cover, with
only derelict walls and occasional scrubland surrounding the massive rock
known locally as the Cradle of Spirits.
METAL GEAR ONLINE’s ‘Cloaked in Silence’ DLC also sees the debut of Quiet as
a playable character. A buddy character familiar from METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE
PHANTOM PAIN, Quiet is a legendary sniper who can take out distant targets with
excellent accuracy. Quiet’s movement speed is extremely fast and allows for
unique jumping abilities over high steps where a player would usually need a
ladder. She can also temporarily cloak her visibility while sprinting to
activate a boost in movement speed.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Steam page for HITMAN
now offers surprisingly steep system requirements for the upcoming continuation
of IO Interactive's assassination series. Here's what they say it will take to
run the game: MINIMUM:
OS: OS 64-bit Windows 7
Processor: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz / AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 / Radeon HD 7870
DirectX: Version 11
RECOMMENDED:
OS: OS 64-bit Windows 7 / 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1) or Windows 10
Processor: Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz / AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 / AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
DirectX: Version 11
A new developer update
video for Overwatch discusses what to expect now that beta testing of
Blizzard's upcoming multiplayer shooter has resumed. Word is: "Game director
Jeff Kaplan discusses what the Overwatch development team has been working on
since the Closed Beta went on break in December—including a new game mode, new
maps, a new player progression system, and a variety of improvements to our
Private Game feature." There's also a new
Player Progression
Preview to outline how this aspect of the game will unfold. Here's a bit on
that: To this end, we've added a brand-new player progression system to
the game, which gives you the ability to earn levels and unlock loot to
customize the appearance, sounds, and other cosmetic aspects of your heroes—and
it's available to check out right now in Phase 2 of our Closed Beta
test.
Happy Ash Wednesday! Glad I caught that one as it slipped past me that yesterday
was Fat Tuesday. I guess this means I missed Mardi Gras, but I probably wouldn't
collect any beads anyway, as in spite of El Nino, it's a little cold to be
flashing my boobs these days.
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