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Archived News:
Via reddit, there's word on
Ars Technica confirming a practical, if profit-eating response from the
developer of Hotline Miami 2 to the game
being refused
classification in Australia. "If it ends up being not released in Australia,
just pirate it after release," designer Jonatan Söderström wrote in an email
reply. "No need to send us any money, just enjoy the game!" Devolver Digital
confirmed for Ars this is genuine, and
Fictional
Devolver CFO Fork Parker tweets a confirmation that this is legit as well.
"He’s said similar things in the past," a Devolver Digital PR rep told Ars. "And
yes, I can confirm he wants people to enjoy the game."
A free weekend is underway for the Saints Row franchise, which includes
a sale on the open-world action series.
Steam News has word,
saying the sale runs through Monday at 1:00 pm EST, while the free weekend
concludes Sunday at 4:00 pm EST.
Steam News announces
another free weekend and sale is underway, as
Sid Meier's Civilization:
Beyond Earth can be played gratis between now and Sunday at 4:00 pm EST,
and the turn-based strategy game is 40% off between now and Monday.
A new development
update announces plans for updates to Elite: Dangerous, including
word on a first major patch that will go live for the space combat game next
month, and how to get in on beta testing if you so desire (thanks
PC Gamer). Here's word: Following up on my post last week I will
provide more information on our process moving forwards and dates for the next
two major releases. As you’ve seen since the game’s initial release we have
issued a number of point updates, the latest being 1.05 this morning. These are
typically restricted to urgent and/or low risk changes and will continue on a
regular basis as they allow us to respond as we need to. These aren’t scheduled
in the same way as the major updates, but will be ongoing.
More significant updates allow us to add new features and content (as well as
sweeping up a host of fixes and tweaks that haven’t been deemed suitable for the
intermediate point releases).
Currently beta testing will be available for those who already have beta access
for the main game. For players participating in the beta tests there will be a
separate mechanism for playing so testing does not affect your game and that you
can continue to play the retail version as well. Options for players currently
without beta access to be able to purchase beta access will be available.
Details will be made available nearer the time.
Depending on how the update Betas go in test, we expect them to be released to
everyone a week or so after the Beta release.
As you all know we’re also working on paid expansions for the game and these
will have their own beta periods as well, we’ll again make details available of
how this will work as we near their release.
The first planned significant update will be 1.1 and will enter beta in the
first week of February. We’ll be talking next week about how 1.1 will introduce
a new way to collaborate with other players in the galaxy in preparation for
1.2’s major Wings update. We have some some good news for planners of long
journeys - V1.1 will also have a significant increase in the maximum distance
for the route planner. We’re currently looking at extending this to 1,000 light
years!
Looking further ahead there will be a 1.2 update which is planned to enter beta
testing in the first week of March. The focus for this update will be Wings and
other multiplayer goodness. I’ll provide more detail in future updates.
As promised, the Double Dragon
Trilogy is now available
on Steam. Update: Also on
GOG.com (thanks
Ladron3dfx). Here's word from Steam News: A groundbreaking, uber-popular
game upon its arcade debut in 1987, Double Dragon is the undisputed godfather of
co-op beat ‘em all!
Enter Double Dragon Trilogy, a compilation including all three installments of
the beloved arcade series: Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2: The Revenge, and
Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone. The first one begins with Billy and his
brother Jimmy, two martial arts experts, in a mission to rescue Billy's
girlfriend, Marian, who’s been kidnapped by the Black Shadows Gang. All your
favorite moves are here: punches, kicks, elbows, knees, head-butts and an
assortment of not-exactly-street-legal weapons.
A new video diary for
Skyforge is the second in a series on the upcoming MMORPG, centered
around the game's combat system, and how it has evolved over the course of
development, accompanied by
this article on the same topic by Dmitry Borodin of Allods Team. The
description o the clip explains: "Obsidian Entertainment and the Allods Team are
offering a rare, in-depth look of the combat system from the upcoming fantasy
MMORPG Skyforge with an all new Developer Diary. The Developer Diary describes
the journey the combat system of the game has taken from more traditional MMO
combat, to the unique, fluid, action-oriented combat of Skyforge today. The team
looked at action and arcade fighting games for inspiration in combat, creating
an MMO that uses a more sophisticated combo system. The Developer Diary also
answers questions like why character classes can heal, but there is no healer
role in Skyforge." Continue here to read the full story.
This video offers a
look at Total War: ATTILA with a cinematic the intro explains is a
work-in-progress using the game's engine. The clip shows the plight of those
forced to live as nomads by Hun forces. Word is this connects to a new game
mechanic: "To survive in this world of turmoil and strife, certain factions have
adopted a migratory lifestyle, characterised in Total War: ATTILA’s new horde
mechanics. Unlike traditional Total War factions, whose development relies on
static towns and cities, these migrating hordes are free to rove the map and
pitch their tents where they will. Hordes represent the military might of an
army combined with the economic, production and recruitment potential of a
settlement, and offer players the first truly nomadic experience in Total War
history."
- Relativity on
WIRED.
"A Mind-Bending Game Being Designed in the Open." Thanks nin.
The
WildStar website outlines "big plans" Carbine Studios has for their MMORPG
this year. WildStar Product Director Mike Donatelli expresses pride in
some awards the game collected as 2014 ended, but also takes criticisms of the
game head on, saying they will that they will continue to enhance WildStar, they
will be making it "a more fun, less grindy, game," and that one of their focuses
will be to support varied play styles and group sizes. Here's a portion with a
bit of the big picture as well as specifics on their next update: Getting
more specific and focusing on our next update, The Protogames Initiative, we are
adding many new features, including:
- Protogames Academy – a training dungeon to prepare
lower level players for telegraphs, interrupt armor, and boss mechanics.
- Ultimate Protogames – an exciting new dungeon for
upper level players.
- They Came from Fragment Zero! – a level 6 shiphand
that introduces players to group gameplay at a much earlier level.
- LFG upgrades – currently, some shiphands,
adventures, and dungeons are intentionally hidden or need to be unlocked.
Unfortunately, this keeps many players out of the content. Moving forward,
all of this content will be added to an expanded LFG tool.
- Datascape 20 – the 40-person dungeon wasn’t
getting played as often as we hoped. Not only was the content challenging,
but roster management was painful. In the next update we will lower the
player requirement down to 20.
Looking further ahead into 2015, we will ramp up shorter-session (30-45
minute) gaming content. The intent is to give players something they can do more
quickly in game that still delivers a sense of accomplishment (and meaningful
loot). Some of the things we plan in this timeframe include:
- A new Contracts system which will provide players
with short, fun objectives throughout different kinds of WildStar content,
enabling them to obtain rare and exciting rewards.
- Revising overall levelling and elder games
experiences and making adjustments to enhance story immersion, fight combat
fatigue, and fine-tune our reward streams.
- As our Raiding guilds begin to face Avatus in the
Datascape, we’re working on your next challenge! A brand new 20-player
experience.
- This isn’t everything, not by a longshot. We’ve
got much more in store for you in the coming months and the bottom line is
that we have very big plans for WildStar in 2015. We hope that you’ll join
the conversation and help us shape WildStar’s future.
A post on the
Turtle Rock forums has a response from the developer to backlash over their
recently unveiled
plans for DLC to follow the release of Evolve, their upcoming
asymmetric multiplayer shooter (thanks
VG247). Reacting to complaints that this is a cash grab, Turtle Rock
cofounder Phil Robb made the following statement: Regarding DLC:
A lot of folks seem to be under the impression that we've got all this content
done and we shave off a hunk to sell separately. That just isn't the case. When
Evolve hits the shelves, none of the DLC will be done. Behemoth won't be done.
None of the planned DLC hunters or monsters will be done. The only exception to
this might be some skins that were working on now while we wait for all the
final stages of packaging, manufacturing etc. to finish.
If we thought we could have finished all those monsters and hunters for ship we
would have put them in the box. (Keep in mind, we pretty much have to have the
game done about 2-3 months before it's available to you guys...we can keep
fixing bugs and such, but content is locked.) The bundles that include 4th and
5th monsters, hunters, etc., just mean that when they are done and we put 'em
out, you get 'em.
Hunters and monsters are a pretty big undertaking, they cost a lot of money and
time to make. We're hoping that once people see how much new hunters and
monsters bring to the game that they'll feel like they got their money's worth.
As we got closer to finishing Evolve we ended up with designs for a bunch of
monster and hunters that we just didn't have the time and money to make. Instead
of throw them all out, why not put together a budget to make them as DLC? Means
more content for the people who love the game and want more. It also means all
those ideas get to see the light of day. Oh yeah, and it means more work for TRS
and we can keep paying our bills and making cool stuff! wink
That's all well and good...but our number one rule for DLC is never split the
community. Never.
So we worked it out so that any DLC maps are free, any new game modes are free.
Then, recognizing that not everyone wants to buy DLC, we made sure that even if
you didn't purchase any of the paid content, you could still play with people
who did! So if I buy a new monster or hunter, and you don't, we can still play
together. You may not want to buy it, but your original purchase of the game
will be enhanced by it anyway because you can still get into games with people
who wanted to buy them. Hell, you can even set the DLC characters and monsters
up as opponents in solo games.
Continue here to read the full story.
Kotaku Australia reports that Hotline Miami 2 has been refused
classification in Australia, meaning the game will not be sold in the region.
After years of wrangling, Australia recently
added an R18+ rating for mature games,
but word the serial killer sequel's inclusion of a scene where a character is
"implicitly" raped goes too far, and this "visual depiction of implied sexual
violence" has resulted in this situation. They say developer Dennaton says they
are considering reworking the game, though the story also notes that these
complaints are not "an exhaustive list" of reasons the game was refused
classification.
The Dark Souls II
website announces some downtime for From Software's action/RPG sequel on
February 4th to roll out a new patch with new content and changes to pave the
way for the upcoming The Scholar of the First Sin DLC. The news is accompanied
by some new Scholar of
the First Sin screenshots. Here's the big list of planned changes:
- Added new character, The Scholar of the First Sin.
- Additional item description text.
- Choosing to enter the Covenant of Champions will
now allow enemies to continue to respawn after being defeated.
- Choosing to enter the Covenant of Champions will
now cause enemies to inflict more damage to the player.
- Players will gain access to a new item: The Agape
Ring. When players equip the new Agape Ring, souls collected from kills
during online play will be absorbed by the ring rather than the player. This
allows players to control their online matchmaking experience by limiting
their total souls collected.
Continue here to read the full story.
Capcom Unity announces a new release schedule for Resident Evil
Revelations 2, saying the first episode is now expected on Steam for all
territories on February 25th, calling this "the slightest of delays" as it is
one week after what was
previously
planned. The news comes with a pair of new enemy videos,
one showing off the
Orthrus and the other
of the Sploder. They also attempt to explain the game's complex release
plans, which include the ability to buy each of the four episodes a la carte for
$5.99 each, the whole season for $24.99 (we're not sure they ran that through a
calculator, since it's over a dollar more than the cost of individual episodes),
or $39.99 for the retail disc. The disc version will come after the episodic
releases and will cost over 50% more, but they outline a bunch of bonuses it
will include that will not be part of the game's digital distribution. Continue here to read the full story.
Techland is ramping up for the release of Dying Light with some viral
content about the viral outbreak that will cause the game's zombie infestation.
There is now an official
website for the city of Harran, the game's fictional setting, and this
offers hints about the game's story as it has been "hacked" to get word out
about survivors trapped in the city, while the authorities try to cover things
up. Word is: "Players can explore the site and see how the city once was watch
as the viral horror slowly unfolds through the eyes of the mysterious hacker.
Players can also begin to piece together the viral outbreak story and other
in-game elements that have yet to be revealed as they explore the site." They
also offer the plans for a 3D printable zombie figurine as a free download
from Dropbox. For those who get this printed, they also offer a
video guide on painting it
with protips from one of the game's concept artists. Dying Light is due for
Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on January 27th in the Americas, January
28th in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and January 30th in Europe. Continue here to read the full story.
Oddworld Inhabitants announces a February 25th Steam release date for
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, the remake of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee announced
a couple of years ago. Word
is this will offer a couple of enhancements based on feedback from the already
released PS4 edition: Oddworld fans will be delighted to learn that
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty will be releasing for Windows PC, Mac and Linux on Steam
on February 25th, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 3 versions are planned for
release early March.
All versions will take advantage of the post-launch improvements and tweaks made
to the PlayStation 4 version, including the fan-requested ‘old school’ control
settings, feature the same celebrated QuikSave and QuikLoad functions and of
course offer a full rack of achievements and online leaderboards for
speedrunners, and cloud saves on Steam.
New ‘n’ Tasty will be available on Steam for $20 / £15 / €20, with a further 10%
discount on pre-purchases. Further details on the pre-purchase offer, date and
specs for the Windows PC, Mac and Linux versions will be available soon.
TreeFortress Games announces that early access to JumpJet Rex is now
available on Steam,
offering the chance to try your skills at this throwback 2D platformer. An
early access launch
trailer shows things off, and here's the spiel: "JumpJet Rex is available
for $9.99 during Early Access (includes two copies of the game) and will
officially launch in March. A throwback to strenuous platformer games of old,
JumpJet Rex features fast-paced gameplay in a 16-bit aerospace world, where
players take control of a T-Rex with interstellar jump boots in order to save
dino-kind from extinction by a giant asteroid (based on a true story, dinos had
space travel). " Continue here to read the full story.
Today would have been the 86th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but that
gets officially celebrated next week. It is
also the sixth anniversary of the "miracle on the Hudson" plane ditching that
rightfully made a household name of Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger,
aka the man everyone wants to be the pilot on their flight.
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