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| by Danny Internets | April 16th, 2009 - 3:17 pm
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As an avid PC gamer, I am frequently dismayed at the departure of polish and quality control from the industry, a change which has become increasingly evident in recent years. Unlike many of my peers, I refuse to grow numb to what many consider “teething” periods for new games shortly after their release, periods in which we pay retail prices for beta software. It’s a matter of principle that often casts me in the role of the hyper-critical curmudgeon battling off the mindless hordes of raving fanboys while reminding everyone that there was once a time before patches could be used to fix broken software after reaching the hands of the consumer.
While Stardock may have rightfully earned a large stock of credibility with PC gamers for its public stance on piracy and DRM, pushing Gas Powered Games’ Demigod out the door before it was ready on April 14th cannot and should not be excused. For those of you who haven’t picked up the game yet (or don’t plan to), an extremely large number of users are experiencing difficulty with the game’s networking which is unable to negotiate connections between different users’ routers properly, resulting in the inability to connect to games for which Stardock is squarely to blame (Stardock wrote the netcode for Demigod rather than Gas Powered Games).
Obviously the variety of networking configurations used by players is vast, however most other companies using similar lobby formats and Games for Windows Live have developed successful solutions (Relic’s Dawn of War 2, for example). Considering that Demigod effectively has no single player component, the fact that they didn’t perform adequate testing of the game’s multiplayer connectivity is an oversight of staggering proportions. Furthermore, there is a software bug in which players who actually can connect to their opponents still aren’t able to join the game, so either way players are beset with technical issues beyond their control.
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| by Danny Internets | April 15th, 2009 - 3:05 pm
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American director Gore Verbinski recently announced that he will surrender the helm of the extremely successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise ($2.6 billion international gross) in order to pursue a new oceanic film project entitled Bioshock, after the multi-platform first-person shooter of the same name by 2K Games.
Verbinski was expected to direct a fourth installment of Pirates, but recently broke the news to producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he would prefer to bring the sunken city of Rapture to life on the silver screen. Also signed on to the project is screenwriter John Logan, whose credits include Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai, and Gladiator.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s gunning for an R rating?
We’re prepared to make it an R-rated movie. I don’t intuitively see it as PG-13. The content and the graphic nature of the story itself is smarter than that. It’s not for young kids.
The utopian references and the way the characters and world are drawn in that delightfully inspired Jules Verne and Ayn Rand style places the film in a more elevated realm. It’s the realm of a graphic novel. It has to have that edge.
Source
If you’re anything like me, you just squealed, flapped your hands around, and maybe peed a little (it happens).
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| by Danny Internets | April 6th, 2009 - 3:38 pm
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Stardock and Gas Powered Games (publisher and developer, respectively) announced today that their upcoming PC exclusive real-time strategy game, Demigod, has gone gold today and will be available at retail and by digital distribution on April 14th.
Interestingly, the digital download version of the game is affordably priced at only $39.95 MSRP, which is $10-15 cheaper than comparable new releases on the PC. Stardock explains that the lower price is not to suggest a bargain-quality title, but instead to entice more gamers to give it a try with a preemptive sale strategy in which the packaging costs savings are passed along to the consumer.
Demigod features hot army-on-army action with matches pitting up to 10 different players against one another. The game’s setting revolves around a unique mythology which establishes a pantheon of powerful gods, one of which has recently disappeared. The power vacuum spurs the demigods from across the mortal realm to wage war with one another as they each vie for the opportunity to ascend to full-fledged godhood.
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| by Danny Internets | March 27th, 2009 - 8:20 am
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Yesterday on the Sims 3 website, development head Rob Humble announced that the next installment of the franchise, one of the most financially successful ones in history, will pass up on employing draconian DRM methods this time around:
Hello everyone I wanted to share news with you regarding our copy protection plans for The Sims 3.
We’ll have more information for you as we get closer to launch about everything we’ll have to offer on TheSims3.com and The Sims 3 Store, but we have heard your requests over the past months and here is our plan for The Sims 3.
The game will have disc-based copy protection - there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed.
We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.
Source
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| by Timmy Walnuts | March 26th, 2009 - 8:34 pm
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With the Games Developer Conference of 2009 well on its way, the biggest story to hit so far is that of OnLive. A new way to game, OnLive will allow gamers to play titles that are streamed. Now I’m not very computer-programming savvy, so when I read that its similar to “cloud computing” I have no idea whats being discussed. The concept, however, is very intriguing.
Considered a serious competitor to the console market, OnLive will let even low-end computer users, whether you are an Intel Mac running Mac OSX or a Windows PC running XP or Vista, stream any top end games. Though these games are limited to publisher releases, many big players have already signed on, including EA, Take Two, and Ubisoft. The idea is simple: OnLive will have dedicated servers to running these 7th generation games, requiring just a video output in order to play. Depending on your internet connection, “seamless” play can be achieved in standard or high definition, with a 1.5Mbps or 5.0Mbps connection, respectively. The creator, Steven Perlman (of QuickTime and WebTV fame), claims the system to be “future-proof,” meaning that games developed for future consoles and higher end computers will play fine through their hardware, as all the upgrading will be done on the back-end, within the servers hosting the games. Games will be available for a one time rental or a permanent purchase. Pricing, though has been a little iffy. No definite prices have been set, although we know that there will be a monthly subscription fee, and other fees may apply.
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| by Danny Internets | March 26th, 2009 - 9:20 am
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While this footage is already featured at virtually every gaming website this side of China, I would be remiss in not posting it here in case some folks haven’t stumbled upon it yet.
A teaser trailer to the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, one of the greatest first-person shooters ever made (both online and offline), was debuted yesterday at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The phrase “teaser” certainly holds true here; no actual in-game footage is shown, however intense loyalty and respect for the franchise gives it license to be perhaps a bit more coy than usual.
Worth noting is that the Call of Duty prefix seems to have been omitted from the game’s title. No word yet whether or not this is an official change, or just a short-hand way of referring to the game in the trailer.
Release date: 11/10/09.
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| by Danny Internets | March 24th, 2009 - 11:03 am
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Good things come to those who wait. That is, unless you’ve been waiting for Fallout 3’s newest DLC, The Pitt.
After having been delayed until the end of March, The Pitt was finally released today by Bethesda Softworks to Xbox and PC users. To the dismay of its fans, many of whom stayed up past midnight to be the first to experience the DLC hot off the presses, the release is apparently so riddled with bugs that the game is unplayable under most circumstances.
Within minutes of The Pitt’s debut, internet forums buzzed angrily with reports of a myriad of bizarre technical problems ranging from out-of-place smoke stacks to floating objects (trees, barrels, rocks, etc.) to system instability. While not game-breaking, perhaps the most obvious issue with the game is the presence of numerous red exclamation point boxes (pictured above) dotting the landscape, which are used in other Bethesda games (such as Morrowind and Oblivion) to indicate missing texture files.
Apart from its cosmetic problems, a number of serious glitches also plague the expansion. Most notably, users report that the downtown area of the city itself, an activity hub integral to advancing the story among its other uses, causes repeated system crashes at the loading screen upon entry. PC users complain of both constant crashing to the desktop and hard lock-ups requiring a cold reboot. For many, the game is simply unplayable in its current state.
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| by Danny Internets | March 23rd, 2009 - 11:47 am
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In a press release issued this morning, Microsoft has confirmed that Valve’s upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead, the Left 4 Dead Survival Pack, will be released on April 21. The developer has previously announced that the release will be simultaneous across platforms, so this is equally good news for PC gamers.
This will also coincide with the release of the Critic’s Choice collectors edition of the game.
Best news of all? It’s free.
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| by Danny Internets | March 23rd, 2009 - 9:24 am
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Fans of film noir story-telling and hard-boiled, bullet-dodging detectives rejoice! Rockstar Games officially announced today that Max Payne 3 is on the way:
New York, NY – March 23, 2009 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that Max Payne 3 is currently in development and scheduled for a winter 2009 release on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC. Developed by Rockstar Vancouver, Max Payne 3 tells the story of a retired police detective embroiled in a world of corruption, turmoil and intense violence.
The award-winning Max Payne franchise put players in the role of Max Payne, a hard-boiled New York City detective with a penchant for violence, out to avenge the death of his family. The latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyper-intense action that fans have come to love, while moving the story of Max in a new direction.
“We’re starting a new chapter of Max’s life with this game,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation.”
Since leaving the NYPD and New York itself behind, Max has drifted from bad to worse. Double-crossed and a long way from home, Max is now trapped in a city full of violence and bloodshed, using his weapons and instincts in a desperate search for the truth and a way out.
Max Payne 3 will be available in winter 2009 for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PC.
For more information, log onto www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3.
Source
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| by Danny Internets | March 20th, 2009 - 2:03 pm
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Bioware announced yesterday that they are now ready to receive applications for those eager to participate in the beta testing of the game’s toolset, which will be included with the PC release of Dragon Age: Origins later this year (Q3 2009):
We are taking applications now from Community members who want to participate in this closed-beta test of the Dragon Age: Origins Toolset, an opportunity to help temper the Dragon Age Toolset into something that may be used for years to come by a vast and thriving community.
We are looking for a wide range of computer systems, testing experience and a variety of technical areas of expertise. No experience with toolsets? No problem. We are looking for all types of users.
To Apply for the Dragon Age Toolset Beta test, please click here: Dragon Age Toolset Beta
- Evil Chris Priestly, Community Coordinator
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