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Archived News:
Steam is now offering
the promised preloads of the client for the upcoming open beta test of DOOM, id
Software's first-person shooter sequel/remake. Word on the DOOM website
is: "Download the Open Beta
and dominate your opponents in DOOM's signature, fast-paced, arena-style
multiplayer combat from April 15 to 17." Here's more from Steam: In the
DOOM Multiplayer Beta, fans will have the opportunity to play the brutally fun
and challenging shooter weeks before its release. The Beta will feature two
maps, Heatwave and Infernal, and two modes, Team Deathmatch and Warpath, along
with never-before-seen weapons, armor sets, taunts and hack modules.
Steam News announces a
free week is underway for
Cobalt, and the
platformer can be played for free through midday Sunday. The pitch for this one
asks as many questions as it answers: Forget everything you’ve learned
about combat. Cobalt’s slo-mo mechanic lets you perform moves that other games
can’t comprehend. Play through the story and discover answers to mysterious
questions including: What happened to the humans? Why am I riding a space
hamster? How is my cyborg head so good at deflecting bullets? Multiplayer is a
less cryptic, though equally enjoyable affair: face off against friends and
enemies in local or online multiplayer, learn the intricacies of over 80 maps
and 67 weapons, and dominate the leaderboards.
UbiBlog has news that the promised Survivor Mode update is now live in
Far Cry Primal, Ubisoft's prehistoric shooter. Here's part of the outline of
how this works: Stripping Far Cry Primal of its minimap, Survivor mode
challenges players to pay closer attention to their surroundings for signs of
nearby threats or resources. At the same time, it significantly diminishes how
often those things pop up throughout the world during the day, which makes
hunting opportunities precious, crafting materials scarce, and enemies more of a
surprise. The addition of a stamina meter means you’ll now need to rest to stay
strong – and also to avoid wandering through the darker, deadlier nights and
their wealth of hungry predators. And while your animal companions are more
important than ever, they’re also more fragile since can’t be revived if you let
them die.
Finally, if you want to gamble all your progress and see how far you can make it
with just one life, Survivor mode also introduces permadeath options. In
addition to making your way through Oros with infinite respawns, you can now
give yourself an extra life that replenishes after a certain amount of progress,
or just go for broke with no chance of continuing.
Cliffski's Blog announces that Democracy 3: Africa is now available,
offering the chance to explore new frontiers in the politics simulator. The post
includes a new let's play
video but not much about the expansion, so here's the description
from Steam: Democracy
3: Africa uses the base design and gameplay from the original game but the
diversity of social and economic situations in Africa presents you with new
challenges and opportunities. Foreign aid and investment takes on a new meaning
and often comes with strings attached. Serious issues like malnutrition and
access to clean water could be a matter of life and death for the poorest. This
new game will let you try your hand at governing the diverse democracies of
Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Senegal, Tunisia, Botswana
and Mauritius.When you step down, will your country be in a better state than
when you took up office?
Creative Assembly announces plans for free DLC for Total War: Warhammer,
calling this a program, and saying it will add new heroes, legendary lords, and
an entire playable race in the months following the release of the
fantasy-themed strategy game on May 24th. "With both Rome II and Attila we were
able to release playable factions, new formats and even a free campaign
expansion as a thanks to players for supporting Total War," explains Creative
Assembly Brand Director Rob Bartholomew. "The Warhammer Fantasy Battles World is
gigantic, and we’re looking forward to exploring it over the forthcoming
trilogy. But that incredible cast of characters and monsters also provides us
the chance to make lots of interesting Free DLC to support our games over time."
This blog has a full outline of their DLC strategy.
A new update is now available for SMITE, updating Hi-Rez Studios' MOBA with a
new god and kicking off a month-long event called Escape from the Underworld
which features exclusive skins and rewards along with a new themed Arena map.
This
post has the patch notes including details on the new god, Jing Wei: The
Oathkeeper, also offering
this trailer highlighting all the changes. There is also
this dedicated
mini website for the Escape from the Underworld event. Here's a bit more on
that: Escape from the Underworld will run for four weeks, starting today
for the PC version of SMITE, and will feature a new themed Arena map while
players are able to earn special rewards for playing weekly quests including
five exclusive skins. A new 60-second Arena bonus round has also been added,
with additional match rewards for the winning team. This event will also run on
PS4 and Xbox One versions of SMITE in the near future.
Continue here to read the full story.
En Masse announces Secrets & Shadows, an expansion for TERA coming to their
MMORPG in May. True to the add-on's name, they aren't revealing everything about
this just yet, but they plan on dribbling out details over the coming weeks
on this page, where
they kick things off with details on the Ninja class. Here's word: "Anchoring
the Secrets & Shadows update is the brand new ninja class, a covert strike force
of elins who wield oversized shurikens and operate as hit-and-run short-range
fighters. The ninja’s quick abilities enable players to dodge and evade enemy
attacks while dealing deadly damage." Here's a new
ninja teaser trailer.
Continue here to read the full story.
Zetsubou No Shima
trailer shows off the zombie chapter of the new Eclipse DLC that's launching
next week for Call of Duty: Black Ops III for PS4 and next month on other
platforms. Here's word: "Following the events of Der Eisendrache, the Origins
heroes find themselves stranded on a remote Pacific island, home to a secret
biological research lab experimenting with Element 115. Players will face new
terrifying enemies, devastating traps, and classic Zombies side quests to
enhance the Origins narrative." Continue here to read the full story.
The news in January that Leslie Benzies was leaving his
position as head of Rockstar North was a little odd, as it said his decision not
to return capped a "sabbatical" that had lasted well over a year. Now
Kotaku has a follow-up, saying Benzies is suing Rockstar over his departure,
saying he was "enticed" into taking his leave, and that the company engaged in
"numerous deceptions" intended to deprive him of royalty payments. He claims he
was denied access to their offices on April 1, 2015 when he attempted to return
from his September 2014 sabbatical, and has apparently been in negotiations over
the terms of his departure ever since. Rockstar has countersued Benzies, saying
he is owed no additional money due to breach of contract. Thanks nin.
Dark Souls III is now
available for Windows and consoles, offering the latest installment in this
action/RPG sequel from FromSoftware. We're not sure if this will be more
enjoyable if you play with a controller, but the
announcement on Steam
includes word on a Steam Controller bundle and discount among four separate
mentions of the hardware. Since that's the focus of the release announcement, we
turn to the game's Steam
page for a description of the game itself: DARK SOULS™ III continues
to push the boundaries with the latest, ambitious chapter in the
critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series.
As fires fade and the world falls into ruin, journey into a universe filled with
more colossal enemies and environments. Players will be immersed into a world of
epic atmosphere and darkness through faster gameplay and amplified combat
intensity. Fans and newcomers alike will get lost in the game hallmark rewarding
gameplay and immersive graphics.
Now only embers remain… Prepare yourself once more and Embrace The
Darkness!
Early access to Ascent: The Space Game is now available
on Steam, offering a
first chance at checking out this sandbox PVE space MMOG for Windows featuring
billions and billions of stars. There are a few "advanced-game aspects of the
game" that come at a premium, three $0.99 monthly services that will set you
back $2.97 per month if you use them all. There are all sorts of details on the
game's official website along with a
web-based demo to check this out in advance. Here's more: Ascent is a
Player Vs Environment space-based MMO with a focus on exploration and community.
With over 270 BILLION star systems to explore and an emphasis on strong Sci Fi,
Ascent encourages Exploration, Colonization, Starbase construction, Research and
technology, Asteroid mining, Farming, Trading, and - of course - Combat.
Outside of a pre-defined "Apollo Sector" of nine star systems, everything in the
game is made by players. Colonies and Starbases have been built on and around
planets and later connected by jump gates. A fully dynamic stock market is
maintained by what players frequently buy and sell, with the ability to set
prices on various materials at your base. Colonies with individual NPC AI
following Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be hired to trade on your behalf, or
bribed to allow a smuggling enterprise in another player's colony. Even the
governing bodies from colony Mayors, planetary Governors, star system Senators
all the way to a Colonial President are all elected by players to give the
entire player base a unified voice in their own pocket of space.
Activision Blizzard Media claims the recent Major League Gaming
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship set some viewership
records for an esports broadcast. Here's a bit along with the relevant
footnotes: Activision Blizzard Media Networks, a division of Activision
Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), today announced that Major League Gaming's
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship (CS:GO Major) set new
viewership records during its March 30 - April 3 broadcast from Columbus, Ohio.
Audiences generated 71 million video views,(1) watched a record-breaking 45
million hours of live broadcast(2) and set a new record of 1.6 million
concurrent viewers(3) across OTT, web, mobile and in-game streaming during this
year's event.
This breaks the previously-reported CS:GO Major record of 34 million hours
viewed and 1.3 million concurrent viewers set at the 2015 CS:GO Major in
Cologne, Germany.(4)
(1) Data provided by MLG.tv, Twitch and GOTV
(2) Data provided by MLG.tv, Mars.tv, Twitch and GOTV
(3) Data provided by MLG.tv, Twitch and GOTV
(4)ESL Press Release
Virtual Rogue on Steam
is a top-down Roguelike for Windows where you play as a text document seeking
revenge on a computer and its user for throwing you into the recycle bin. Word
is: "The game contains 6 different characters to choose from, 121 different
items, 36 different pickups, and 31 different enemies and bosses. Everything
from items, pickups, enemy locations and formations, level layouts, bosses,
shops, to almost all other components of the game are procedurally generated
each and every run!"
Chunks is now available as an early access title
on Steam, offering the
chance to play in a block based sandbox environment from Facepunch studios.
Though this is listed for Windows, it is created for virtual reality, and is
heavily moddable, much in the vein of their Garry's Mod, and at this point one
of the functions included is the ability to create a functional roller-coaster.
They explain this is all quite early, so they are eager to hear from you if you
think Chunks blows chunks: It’s still quite early in the development of
Chunks. But it’s an exciting point to be at.
It doesn’t have a sh*tload of stuff to keep you super engaged yet. There’s a
bunch of quality of life stuff we need to do. Some menus are confusing. Some of
the tool controls are confusing. We’re totally aware of all this stuff.
But it’s cool and has a ton of potential. We’re really proud of what James has
achieved with it. At Facepunch we have a history of long term development of our
games, we don’t expect Chunks to be any different. Feedback is really valuable –
so if you play it and something is tricky or confusing, please let James know.
Especially if you have already refunded it because you hated it.
- ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum Graphics Card on
HARDOCP.
- GIGABYTE BRIX Skylake BSi7H-6500 Ultra Compact PC on
TweakTown.
- Intel 750 NVMe 400GB U.2 SSD Bootable RAID 0 on
TweakTown.
- Marley Rebel BT Headphones on
Technology X.
- Mushkin Blackline PC4-2400 Ridgeback Memory on
Hardware Asylum.
- Mushkin TRIACTOR 480GB SSD on
Nikk Tech.
- Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile Heatsink on
FrostyTech.com.
- Patriot Supersonic Mega 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive on
TweakTown.
- Razer Orochi 2015 on
Vortez.
- Zalman Z9 Neo White ATX Computer Case on
Benchmark Reviews.
The coffee maker disasters at the BlueTower have become less frequent, but some
traditions are hard to give up entirely, and we recently lost our coffee carafe
to a gravity-related incident. I switched to a ceramic filter holder years ago,
but we'd continued to use the carafe that comes with the plastic Melitta cone,
as these are easy to find in the supermarket. Or at least they used to be...
they suddenly seem to be impossible to locate in this area. After an unsuccessful
hunt for one, I picked up a replacement carafe for an automatic drip machine.
This has a flat top with a hole in it which turn out to line up with our filter
holder perfectly, and it finally sits perfectly flat, instead of wobbling around
a bit, the way it did on the Melitta carafe.
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