Posts in category pc
by Randy Nelson Aug 28th 2008 4:00AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Fighting, Online
The UK's official Xbox 360 magazine posed an inevitable question to
Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono: How's it going to play online? For his part, Ono was quite frank, saying, "
Obviously lag will be a huge problem for online play. We're working on it. It's quite difficult for 3D Street Fighter at the moment."
Asked how the developer is going about, er, combating the problem, Ono got technical. "In order to prevent the lag we're thinking about trying to balance it up at [the] user interface level and input timing," he said. "We still haven't got a complete plan as yet. We're still working on it. That's all we can say at the moment." Okay ... we'll let you get back to that, then.
by Alexander Sliwinski Aug 28th 2008 3:00AM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Action, Puzzle, RPGs, Strategy
American McGee's Grimm continues on
GameTap this week with
The Girl Without Hands -- yup, it's getting darker.
Same as every week, the episode is free to non-subscribers for the
first 24 hours after release. Also, this week, the service gets into the drug trade by adding the addictive
Puzzle Quest.
There aren't any additions to GameTap's
gratis games lineup this week, but the full list of free-to-play titles can be found after the break.
Continue reading GameTap Thursday: Grimm dirties another tale, Puzzle Quest drops some runes
by Christopher Grant Aug 28th 2008 1:00AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Video
Something
totally gross is afoot on the intergalactic mining vessel USG Ishimura. The latest issue of the animated
Dead Space comic is now available for your viewing pleasure, complete with subtle pans, focus pulls, and just enough
squishy sound effects to get the whole thing across.
As far as video game advertising goes, we've gotta say these comics/videos are pretty effective. Watching these chumps try and kill the space-baddies is pretty frustrating when we all know that you need to
strategically dismember them. You can't just shoot willy-nilly! And seriously, how do you expect to do any damage without a badass spacesuit and accompanying laser triton? You know what, forget it! We'll just do it ourselves ... drat, advertising!
In case you're behind, here are the previous issues:
Continue reading Dead Space Animated Comic: Issue 5
by Randy Nelson Aug 27th 2008 11:30PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, Simulations
Speaking with the Associated Press,
Spore creator and bona fide master game designer,
Will Wright, seemed surprisingly ... okay with the various "Spore-nographic"
organs creatures people have made using the
Spore Creature Creator. "Some of it's really good for what they were shooting for. It's amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated," Wright said.
On the topic of giving creative power (and lots of it) to players, Wright explained, "When you give players creative control, you have to expect they're going to do the unexpected," but he was quick to add, "We just have to make sure those people aren't messing up the experience for others." To this end, Wright told the AP that there will be a system in place whereby players can "ban" content from ever appearing in their own
Spore universe. Elsewhere, we fully expect there to be entire universes populated solely by undulating naughty bits.
by Randy Nelson Aug 27th 2008 10:30PM
Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters
Is that the sound of Satan sharpening his skates? According to a new interview with Team Xbox, 3D Realms boss George Broussard implies that – dare we say? – development of
Duke Nukem Forever is going along swimmingly. You know, just like it has been since ... 1998.
All most kidding aside, Broussard tells the site that the developer has "several hours of fairly polished game to play," and that, "It's fun, it's in focus, we know what bits are fun and which are not, and it's just a matter of time now." But clearly, time moves a little slower in 3D Realms', er ... realm. Given that the company has already
denied reports that it's coming this year, we'll have to make due with
Duke Nuken 3D on XBLA "sometime in September." Of 2008. Really. Promise.
[Via
Big Download]
by Alexander Sliwinski Aug 27th 2008 4:00PM
Filed under: Mac, PC, RPGs, MMO
When a company has one of the most successful
MMORPGs games of all time, the last thing anyone there wants to do is throw a wrench into what the customers' rigs can handle. To that end, the Blizzard team explained in a few interviews last week that
World of Warcraft's graphical updates will happen over time with expansions. Don't go expecting something like
World of Warcraft 2 or a major graphics overhaul, which might hurt the customer base.
In an interview with VideoGamer.com, Blizzard's Rob Chilton explains that "usability" has always been more important to the company than technical prowess. Obviously,
Blizzard's judgment on how to run Azeroth, compared to those who yearn for a
full-blown graphics overhaul, has paid off in
million billions for the developer.
Source -- Brack clarifies graphical update plans (WoW Insider)
Source -- WoW graphical reboot may never be necessary (VG)
by Alexander Sliwinski Aug 27th 2008 2:00PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters
Far Cry 2's Narrative Designer Patrick Redding informs
VG247 that Ubisoft Montreal has started work on the next
Far Cry game. He tells the site that Africa still has a "huge amount of promise" and there are still things they'd like to do with the setting, but he hedges it all by saying that the team is still in "preliminary stages" of development.
Redding expresses that the
Far Cry 2 engine could be used to make other locales, but that to save time the team will probably build on the sequel's African setting. He wants to stick with the series' exotic settings, but feels that jungle islands aren't as exciting as when the original
Far Cry released four years ago.
by Christopher Grant Aug 27th 2008 9:58AM
Filed under: Mac, PC, MMO
Perhaps the vagaries of reality have finally taken hold and you've done it. You've canceled the WoW account. Now you're back together with the Mrs., you've re-memorized all your kids' names, and you've got something that approximates steady work. Life, it would seem, is perfect. Then you heard the siren call of
Wrath of the Lich King and – what is this? – you shut it out. Fine ... be strong.
But can you shut out the opportunity to drive your Sword of a Thousand Truths deep into the spotted fur of Bambi's mother? Sure, you cried during
Bambi like everyone else did, but can you really resist transforming sweet, innocent Bambi(na) – spotted in
Wrath's Northrend – into the crazy-eyed "Vengeful Bambina"? Blizzard's hoping you can't. But what if the kids see what you've done? You'll lose it all! Again!
[Via
WoW Insider]
by Randy Nelson Aug 26th 2008 8:00PM
Filed under: PC, MMO
EA Mythic has announced that its MMO treatment of the classic Games Workshop tabletop game,
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, has begun its march towards store shelves.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (best known in the MMO community as
WAR) is finished and off to the magical disc-forging factory,
preceding a public beta set to begin September 7, for which more than 800,000 players have registered. A very large, metal switch connected to what are surely fortress-like game servers will be flipped to the "fully on" position September 18, which is when the rest of the world will go to
WAR.
by Randy Nelson Aug 26th 2008 6:30PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Business
Red Mile's interactive adaptation of Frank Miller's landmark, hard boiled graphic novel(s),
Sin City, has a new-ish developer. The title was originally being handled – presumably with those special gloves used for working with razor wire – by Transmission Games, the same outfit producing
Heroes Over Europe for Red Mile. Both games have 2009 release dates.
The publisher, who is working with Atari to get its games onto shelves, tells GameSpot that work on
Sin City: The Game was handed to another developer "quite some time ago." Said developer's identity is unknown, but we do know that Frank Miller
practically hand-picked his old pal (and
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay writer) Flint Dille to "spearhead the design, scriptwriting, story generation, and overall production" of the game, which will – unsurprisingly –
utilize Unreal Engine 3. Also, the color red. Lots of it.
(And no, the new developer isn't Platinum Games, despite
MadWorld's more-than-vague resemblance to Sin City.)
by Randy Nelson Aug 26th 2008 3:01AM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs, MMO
We've heard of 18-hour bras, but 18-hour boss battles? Ridiculous! A couple weeks back,
we reported on a Final Fantasy XII guild that attempted to take down one of the game's new big bads, the Pandemonium Warden, only to succumb to fatigue, hunger, sleep deprivation, and general near-deathness at the 18-hour mark. Square Enix now
says it has heard the fan outcry against the idea of such longevity-rich enemies and is fixing things.
"
In response to these events, we have determined that further alterations are required to prevent such battles from exceeding a certain predetermined length of time," reads the latest community update from PlayOnline. What will these "alterations" consist of? "Included in the version update scheduled for early September will be modifications to the degree of difficulty of Pandemonium Warden (and associated pets), Absolute Virtue (and associated pets), and Jailer of Love. The aim of these changes is to create battles where a decisive outcome may be reached within a shorter period of time."
Square's statement also reaffirmed the company's continued "commitment to a healthy and wholesome game environment." You know, one where players aren't passing out while playing.[Via
Massively]
by Christopher Grant Aug 26th 2008 1:38AM
Filed under: PC
Don't believe the hype: PC gaming, while not the juggernaut of year's past, is doing just fine, thank you. One need look no further than Big Download's roundup of the fall's biggest PC releases. Of course, the list is full of the big AAA releases one would expect – that would be your
Wrath of the Lich Kings, your
Warhammer Onlines, your
Spores, your – but just as interesting is the huge amount of multiplatform games hitting the platform.
Silent Hill Homecoming,
Saints Row 2,
Dead Space,
Prince of Persia. In other words, there's something for everyone. So hop in and see what PC gamers have in store this year.
by Randy Nelson Aug 25th 2008 9:41PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Business
Ben Judd, Capcom's
Bionic Commando, er ... commander, reports in his latest blog entry that the PSN/XBLA/PC release,
Bionic Commando Rearmed, saw combined first-week sales of 130,000 copies across the three platforms. The news prompted Judd to exclaim, "Holy fiddlesticks!"
Judd qualified his excitement, saying, "That may not seem impressive compared to package titles that sell in the millions but compared to other digital titles that is a friggin juggernaut!" Seemingly very pleased with not only the reviews (which are averaging above 80%) and sales of his first game as producer, he made a point to let gamers know how they've impacted Capcom's digital strategy going forward. "Basically, we have set a standard in digital gaming," he said, adding, "The bar has been raised and you have let developers around the world know that if they invest the time, money, and heart into making (and remaking) some great games, you will support that initiative."
We have a pretty good feeling that, following the success of
BC:R, Judd's going to have a
much easier time getting Capcom brass behind whatever project he chooses to tackle next.
by Randy Nelson Aug 25th 2008 2:30PM
Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Online
Valve's four-player fix of zippy-fast zombie action has been pushed back a bit, but thankfully not 28 days later; just 16.
Left 4 Dead had been slated to hit PC and Xbox 360 on November 4, but its evil will instead take up residence on your platform of choice November 20. The date is significant in that it's the 10th anniversary of another Valve game you may have heard about – the original
Half-Life.
If you just can't stand a first week of November devoid of something new to play, fear not. Might we suggest:
Fallout 3 (Oct. 28) or a little game called
Gears of War 2 (Nov. 7).
[Via
Shacknews]
by Justin McElroy Aug 25th 2008 11:35AM
Filed under: PC, Action, Strategy
Video games based on the
Lord of the Rings franchise have been a mixed bag at best, but, as you know, there's one sure-fire equalizer when it comes to quality: Freeness (or is it freeosity)? Using that logic, Kongregate and ArtLogicGames'
Epic War, an
LOTR-inspired strategy game, may just be the best of the lot.
The premise is simple: you defend your castle with a turret and an army of Tolkien-created creatures, all the while trying to get your forces to the enemy castle to demolish it. No, it's not exactly canon, but that's good news, because it means you can inexplicably throw out an army of dwarves, elves and hobbits with no worries of watching a favorite character die.
As you progress through the battles on the world map, you'll earn experience you can use to train your units, acquire new types like wizards and dragons and gain new powers for your turret. It's hard to break the addiction cycle when the upgrade or character is just a quick battle away.
Give it a whirl, let us know what you think. And if you know of a free game that you'd like us to feature, let us know in the comments.
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Posts in category pc
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