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I'm starting to think Duke Nukem Forever is the longest running scam in the history of gaming. Yup, I'm a little slow on the draw. Kotaku reports on a MAGfest panel in which Duke Nukem voice actor Jon St. John teased the crowd with the following statement:

"He's asking about Duke Nukem Forever, let me go ahead and tell you right now that I'm not allowed to talk about Duke Nukem Forever." *crowd groans with disappointment* "No, no, don't be disappointed. Read between the lines. Why am I not allowed to talk about it?"

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Duke Nukem Forever (PC)

The Latest FilePlanet Game Demos

4:33 AM - -

I was sure that I saw a cool sounding demo pimped for FilePlanet yesterday, and now I can't find it. So I've sent out angry messages wondering why people are trying to screw with my head. Damnit! Since I was picking around in there, here's a look at the latest FilePlanet additions demo-licious additions!

Lucid Puzzle Demo: Puzzle game where you must connect all the same colored blocks using a single continuous line. Connect the colored blocks based on the target color.
Virtual City Demo: Build a city of your dream - a residential paradise or an industrial center. Make your city a better place to live and accomplish the construction of landmark buildings in this exciting game.
SAS: Secure Tomorrow Demo: In SAS: Secure Tomorrow, players take on the role of the leader of a top SAS commando team as they attempt to thwart the plans of a secretive and deadly terrorist organization.
CSI: Deadly Intent Demo: In CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Deadly Intent, players help solve Las Vegas' most gruesome crimes with the brand new characters and cast from the latest season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead Client (Indie Game): Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead is Eric Ruth's tribute to both the days of retro gaming and Valve's award winning FPS franchise. This de-make was developed with one particular game: transforming Left 4 Dead to what it have been on the Nintendo Entertainment System at full force by creating this title available for free.
Call of Duty 4 - Star Wars: Galactic Warfare Mod: The goal is to unite a favourite game CoD4:MW with the classic universe of Star Wars, as the best trilogy ever. With this total conversion, it combines a lot of the known battlegrounds, characters and weapons of Star Wars with the fantastic gameplay of the COD4-Multiplayer. Either as a trooper of the Imperial Forces or as a soldier from the Rebel Alliance you will fight on some different locations.

Topics: Games, Demo
Related Games: Virtual City (PC)

K.O.S. Secret Operations Open Beta Begins Next Week

3:49 AM - -

Open Beta for K.O.S. Secret Operations kicks open on January 12th, giving peeps an early look at the free-to-play shooter. Initial players of the open beta (ie. those who login within the first 3 hours of launch) will receive a limited edition in-game "Red Bull Mask". Key KOS features include:

The first free-to-play FPS to use the preeminent Source game engine
Play online with your friends from around the world -- for free
Multiple game modes
Compare yourself to all players through our individual and clan ranking system
Grow your gunner through leveling and special abilities
Need more players on your side? Draft some KOSbots, the latest in AI infantry
Secret documents can be found in-game, which can be traded for special items
Confident in your skills? Enter Pro Mode and put your (in-game) money where your mouth is!
System requirements allow virtually any PC to play

The game comes bundled with Xfire, enabling players to easily communicate with each other via voice chat during game play, along with other unique features such as live stream video, one click screen snapshot, video capture, and community page access.

Here are some rather tiny screenshots.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: K.O.S. -- Secret Operations (PC)

Not The News...

12:01 AM - -

11 Comments

Tee hee, Andrew might be really mad at me right now. Last night I emailed him saying that I broke my arm and leg, and would be away for 6 weeks. /Shrug. It amused me. Alright, I vow to go at least a week without posting anything bacon related. Even if the coolest game ever is announced and bacon is featured prominently. You won't hear about the cool bacon game here. No sir, not here. Even though it's cool. And delicious.

Fictoids From The Planet Fictoidus

The harmonica is the world's best-selling musical instrument.
Women buy 40 percent of all condoms in the United States.
The rock group U2 was originally called Feedback.
In Sweden, it's against the law to train a seal to balance a ball on its nose.
Among other things, ninjas were trained to tell what time it was by looking into a cat's eye.

Topics: In-House, In Other News...

Sponsored Links

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

New EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate Screenshots

6:10 PM - -

EverQuest II... new screenshots... upcoming expansion... that is all.

Topics: Games, MMORPG
Related Games: EverQuest II (PC), EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate (PC)

BioWare Blog: Enemy Defenses in Mass Effect 2

6:01 PM - -

The BioWare Blog has been updated with a little ditty on the power resists in Mass Effect 2. Where there was nothing in ME1 to explain why your powers were being resisted, for ME2 BioWare has added indicators to let folks know what's what. This is the first entry in a new ongoing series of ME2 blog entries.

One area we wanted to improve in Mass Effect 2 was enemy power resists. In ME1 enemies would sometimes resist your powers, but it wasn’t clear when they would, or why. More importantly, if your enemy was resisting your powers, there was nothing you could do about it.
For Mass Effect 2 we’ve combined enemy resists with defensive shields, armor, and barriers. These defenses are displayed in a bar over the enemy’s health bar. As long as the bar is visible, your target is resistant to powers, but all powers deplete his defense bar. Once the defense bar is gone, he is vulnerable to all your powers. Only powerful enemies have a defense bar, weaker enemies are always vulnerable.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Mass Effect 2 (PC), Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Interview

5:53 PM - -

IGN features a new interview with Fernando Melo, the Online Producer of the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins expansion pack, "Awakening". The three-page Q&A; goes over the story, characters, the option to re-spec, the new monsters and lots of other stuff that they "can't really comment on yet". Here's the bit on why the Ostagar DLC has been delayed:

IGN: Origins has been supported by a large amount of DLC from launch. The most recent of which, Return to Ostagar, has been delayed until the end of January at the earliest. Is there any explanation as to why the delay occurred? Is it solely to release the DLC for all three platforms at the same time, or was there another issue?
Fernando Melo: No, it has nothing to do with platforms themselves. It's a quality issue where, literally, at the last minute, we spotted something that had made it through our own testing, EA's testing and was at Microsoft already. But it applies to all three platforms; it wasn't something specific to Microsoft, we just happened to catch it there first. We probably could have gone with it, but it's something that was serious enough that we felt it impacted the quality [of the DLC] and we made the choice to delay it to give our fans the best experience with it. That was the reason behind [the delay] -- we want to make sure that we don't cut any corners when we do the DLC. There's already a lot of content out, there's a lot more coming -- we just announced the expansion pack, and there's more coming after that. I think the worst thing we could do after that is do anything "to poison the well," to use the expression, or put fans off from feeling that they're getting the best content from us. It's a long term decision instead of a short term decision.

Topics: Games, RPG
Related Games: Dragon Age: Origins (PC), Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening (PC)

No Dark Void Demo For PC, Console Versions Available

5:26 PM - -

A Dark Void demo has been released to Xbox Live, and is on the way to the PlayStation Network tomorrow. If you're a PC user then no demo for you. You should go out and buy a console because the 90's are over my friends! I didn't want to play with a stupid jet pack anyway. Plus I'm afraid of heights. And allergic to menacing robotic thingies. I'm pulling out my SNES, those were easier times. The game ships January 19, 2010.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Dark Void (PC), Dark Void (PlayStation 3), Dark Void (Xbox 360)

Left 4 Dead Most Requested Trade-In of '09

5:14 PM - -

Gamasutra runs down the most requested trade-in games of 2009 according to game and movie trading site, Goozex. Valve's Left 4 Dead hit the number one spot. Here's a look at the top ten overall requested trade-ins, as well as the PC top ten. You can read up on consoles at Gamasutra.

Overall

1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Killzone 2
4. Infamous
5. Resident Evil 5
6. Fable II
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Gears of War 2
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. Batman: Arkham Asylum

1. Fallout 3
2. The Sims 3
3. Dragon Age: Origins
4. Borderlands
5. Crysis
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Mass Effect
9. Gears of War
10. Far Cry 2

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Fallout 3 (PC)

Team Fortress 2 Updated

5:10 PM - -

As per the Steam News, updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Server Browser (for TF2 and DoD:S)

Added a client-side server blacklist
- Supports blacklisting of specific servers, all servers on an IP, and all servers on a class C range
- Saves the server list to a file, and has an Import button to allow easy sharing (cfg\server_blacklist.txt)

Balance changes

Reduced the health penalty on The Sandman
The Force-A-Nature knockback on target now
- Only applies to hits that deal more than 30 damage and are in close range
- Factors in the firer's angle of attack when determining the knockback direction
- Has less of an effect on grounded targets
The Dead Ringer now
- Reduces cloak to 40% when uncloaking early
- Has a 35% cap on the amount of cloak it can gain from an ammo pack
- Has a quieter de-cloak sound

Changes / Fixes

Fixed a performance & stability issue with AMD processors
Improved the stability of the game server -> item backend connection
Fixed a rare server crash related to dispensers
Added min/max values to viewmodel_fov convar to match the settings in the slider
Reduced the number of moons in ctf_doublecross, sadly
Demo playback now ignores sv_pure settings, allowing demos to easily contain custom content
Fixed a crash related to sv_pure and the wireframe_dx6 shader
Players can no longer shoot while stunned
Fixed a bug that caused movement speed reductions to not work on stunned players
Soldier Rage bar no longer resets when touching a resupply cabinet

Achievement fixes

Fixed the "Second Eye" Demoman achievement
Fixed a bug in the "Play Doctor" Medic achievement
Changed the requirements for the "Medals of Honor" Soldier achievement
Updated description for the "Blind Fire" Demoman achievement to better explain the requirements
Fixed an issue that affected several achievements requiring the use of the Equalizer

Community requests

Added "skip_next_map" server ConCommand to skip the next map in the map cycle
Added "Play a hit sound whenever you injure an enemy" option to the Multiplayer->Advanced options menu
Added server "tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads" convar. When set, shotgun & scattergun pellet spreads will use a non-random distribution
Added a "show_htmlpage" command to allow server operators to display custom web pages to clients

Changes to the TF Bots

In KOTH mode, Bots are now
- More likely to roam around and hunt enemies if there is lots of time left
- Become more likely to push for the point as time runs down, or their teammates start to capture it
Medic bots now
- Opportunistically "overheal" nearby friends when they can
- Prioritize healing of injured nearby friends more
- Don't focus on Heavies quite so exclusively
- Don't spam their Medigun continuously at round start
- Won't choose cover far below their heal target so much (koth_nucleus)
- Fight back with their syringe-gun appropriately
Various improvements to combat behaviors
General bot improvements
- They no longer stand still on the point when capturing or defending it
- They choose more varied routes now
- They choose better defensive spots around captured points
- They fall back to another weapon when they entirely run out of ammo
- They adjust their FOV when using zoomed in sniper scope
- They treat in-range Sentries as the most dangerous threat
- They fire their weapons is more realistic bursts
- Engineers use their shotgun properly
Added a "virtual mousepad" concept to rework how bots track enemy players
- They now periodically estimate the position and velocity of the enemy they are tracking, instead of "locking on"
- After rotating beyond a maximum angle, they will pause for a fraction of a second to re-center their "virtual mouse"
- Allows for over/undershoot "slop" in aiming. Looks more natural, and allows skilled players to dodge
- Addresses the "180 spin around and fire", "Heavy bot is OP", "Sniper is OP", and "I can't fight a Heavy bot as a Scout" issues
Tuned Sniper spot finding algorithm to generate more diverse locations, partially addressing the "Predictable Sniper camping spots" issue
Soldier bots are more careful to not fire rockets that will explode on nearby geometry and kill them
Fixed a bug where bots tried to heal from a Dispenser being carried by an Engineer
Tuned scoreboard logic to guard against malicious server operators spoofing bot pings to hide the "BOT" tag
Added more bot names as suggested by the TF community

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Team Fortress 2 (PC)

Divinity II: Ego Draconis Launch Trailer

3:36 PM - -

Deja vu? I feel like this is the game of a thousand launches. CDV Software has announced that Divinity II: Ego Draconis is now available in North America on the Xbox 360 and PC.

Flash HD (61MB) / Flash SD (19MB)

Topics: Games, RPG
Related Games: Divinity II: Ego Draconis (PC), Divinity II: Ego Draconis (Xbox 360)

Direct2Drive Top Ten Sales Chart For Last Week

2:22 PM - -

Direct2Drive shares their top sales stats for December 27th through January 2nd. What was hot? Grab a gander!

Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition (PreOrder)
Dragon Age: Origins (Mac) version
Torchlight
Aion
Civilization 4: The Complete Edition
The Sims 3
Dragon Age: Origins (Mac) Digital Deluxe Edition
Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition
Star Trek Online
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Bundle

Topics: Games, Sales Charts
Related Games: Star Trek Online (PC)

Left 4 Dead Goes Seriously Old School

2:00 PM - -

6 Comments

Groovy 'n stuff! Put on some plaid pants and take a trip back in time with Eric Ruth's 8-bit version of Left 4 Dead. "Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead" v1.1 is now available for download. Here's the scoop on the project, along with a little gameplay flick.

Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead is a retro de-make of Valve's hit zombie killing masterpiece. Lovingly recreated in a fashion that would have been acceptable in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, this de-make stands as the flagship title of the upcoming Pixel Force series from Eric Ruth Games. Go alone, or invite a friend for 2 player co-op against the zombie apocalypse in all 4 of the original game campaigns. 2 difficulties and all 4 of the survivors make a glorious 8-bit appearence, complete with first and second tier weapons scattered along your path to escape. So, grab your controller of choice and kick back with an award-winning retro take on the end of the world with Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Left 4 Dead (PC)

Mass Effect 2 Vanguard Class Video

1:49 PM - -

Who's up for some more Mass Effect 2?! You know, if you keep making that face it'll stick that way. Grab a taste of the Vanguard class below. "In Mass Effect 2 no one is deadlier than a charging Vanguard". Apparently.

Flash HD (65MB) / Flash SD (19MB)

Topics: Games, Action / Roleplaying
Related Games: Mass Effect 2 (PC), Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

Mod DB Announces Top 100 Mods of 2009

1:29 PM - -

Mod DB announces the Top 100 Mods of 2009 after 80,000 votes worked to determine the best of the best. They don't appear to be ranked in any sort of way, but now that the player's choice top 100 have been named, Mod DB will showcase the editor's picks of 2009, ending on February 20th when they will name the hall of fame entries for '09.

Mods selected for the top 100 by the Mod DB community include The Haunted (UT3), The Nameless Mod (Deus Ex), MechWarrior: Living Legends (Crysis), The Dark Mod (DOOM 3) and Star Wars Mod: Galactic Warfare (CoD4).

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Half-Life (PC), Unreal Tournament III (PC)

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Media

1:27 PM - -

4 Comments

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening... ie. the media I forgot to post up!

For centuries, the Grey Wardens—the ancient order of guardians, sworn to unite and defend the lands—have been battling the darkspawn forces. Legend spoke that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but somehow they remain.
You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain.
How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with "The Architect", and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine.

A Stunning World Expanded: BioWare's deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine

Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations
Rebuild the Grey Warden order and establish their base of operations at Vigil's Keep

All-new Complex Moral Choices: Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style

Shape your entire experience based on the choices you make and how your handle complex situations

New Ways to Customize your Hero: Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party

Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais
Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins

Even more Bone-Crushing, Visceral Combat: Battle against a new range of horrific and terrifying creatures

Put your skills to the test against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon!

Flash HD (66MB) / Flash SD (20MB)

Topics: Games, RPG
Related Games: Dragon Age: Origins (PC), Dragon Age: Origins (Macintosh), Dragon Age: Origins (PlayStation 3), Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360), Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening (PC), Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening (Xbox 360), Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening (PlayStation 3)

Mass Effect Redemption Comic On Stands Now

12:33 PM - -

The Mass Effect comic written by Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters, with artwork by Omar Francia, is now available from the Dark Horse website, as well as from comic book stores. Taking place before the events of Mass Effect 2, "Mass Effect Redemption" follows the story of Liara T'Soni as she desperately attempts to track down Commander Shepard.

Topics: Games, General
Related Games: Mass Effect (PC), Mass Effect 2 (PC), Mass Effect 3 (PC)

Sail Simulator 2010 Docking Near You

5:52 AM - -

19 Comments

Iceberg Interactive is pleased to announce the signing of publishing rights for various countries for Sail Simulator 2010 PC. Developed by Dutch studio Stentec Software, Sail Simulator 2010 promises to amaze sailing and simulation enthusiasts with its stunning look, feel and realism. The game will launch on February 26, 2010 in the UK, Ireland, France, Scandinavia, Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. You can check out a trailer below.

Features for Sail Simulator 2010

The most realistic and best looking sailing simulation software ever made.
For sailors and gamers of all ages above 6.
Learn to sail with several boat types and weather. Ideal for boat trim and regatta training.
Online Multiplayer sailing and racing with open and organized sessions. Create your own online session with racing courses and weather and compete in popularity with other sessions.
Compete through an evolutionary session ranking and personal ranking system. Train a race as much possible. Beat strong sailors to become the top ranked sailor in the world.
Sailing fleet: Laser, 470, Valk, VOR70, Bavaria 36, YD40.
Sailing areas: Scheveningen, Cabrera, Koh Hong, Treasure Island.

Topics: Games, Simulation

Farm Frenzy 3: Ice Age Released

5:47 AM - -

All y'all farmers in the house, Farm Frenzy 3: Ice Age is now available for the PC, the latest in the time and resource management series is now primed for download at a cost of $9.95. The game can be played as a standalone or can be added to previous Farm Frenzy versions.

Topics: Games, Simulation
Related Games: Farm Frenzy 3: Ice Age (PC)

Review & Preview Roundup

5:14 AM - -