Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
TIMESTAMPS
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20111207155539/http://www.firingsquad.com:80/
Today marks the launch date for Intel�s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. T... [+](Comments)
Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plen... [+](Comments)
Power supplies are like the red-headed step-child of computer components. Nobody pays attention to them until they throw a hissy-fit or burn the house... [+](Comments)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks� latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anti... [+](Comments)
The Avatar S gaming mouse is NZXT's second foray into the input device arena, following the original Avatar they released back in 2008. Featuring five... [+](Comments)
L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Devel... [+](Comments)
In the market for a new keyboard? ThermalTake may just have what you're looking for with their eSports Challenger series of gaming peripherals. There'... [+](Comments)
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course... [+](Comments)
Have an HDTV, Blu-ray player, or other device that you want to connect to your wireless network, but can't because it doesn't have wi-fi built in? IOG... [+](Comments)
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle a... [+](Comments)
Equipped with two Cayman architecture processors, AMD has taken the single card performance crown again. And with a BIOS setting pushing the envelope ... [+](Comments)
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally deliv... [+](Comments)
Intel Graphics Performance Analyzers take game development to the next level. Go inside Sid Meier�s Civilization V as engineers and developers worked ... [+](Comments)
Browse thousands of products to read user reviews and other sites' reviews, discuss, or post your own user reviews. Here are the Editor's Picks: » HARDWARE PRODUCTS
Steam's Daily Deal is Orcs Must Die! for $3.75 (75% off), just visit that store page to be entered in the Steam Daily Wishlist Giveaway
Impulse has a selection of SEGA items on sale this week, including Universe at War: Earth Assault for $6.80 (66% off), Aliens vs. Predator for $6.80 (66% off), Total War: Shogun Gold Edition for $2.50 (50% off), Alpha Protocol for $6.80 (66% off), Medieval II: Total War Gold Edition for $3.40 (66% off), and Rome: Total War Gold for $3.40 (66% off)
Impulse's Daily Deal is Total War: Shogun 2 for $15 (50% off), some DLC is also discounted
GamersGate has kicked off Week 2 of their Holiday Gift Guide Sale with up to 85% off a boat load of titles, including R.U.S.E., Europa Universalis III Chronicles, Crazy Machines 2, Red Faction: Armageddon, Drakensang, Atom Zombie Smasher, AI War, The First Templar, World in Conflict, The Sims Medieval, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, BioShock 2, Gothic Complete Collection, Sim City 4 Deluxe, and many more
Tripwire Interactive have given us the skinny on this year's Christmas-themed event and content update for their horrific cooperative-survival FPS, Killing Floor. 'Twisted Christmas 2' offers a new level populated by unique enemies, as well as new achievements and unlockable player skin that are only available during this limited-time event. On top of that, they're also releasing some free DLC in the form of the Winter Weapons Pack, and everyone that doesn't already own the game can play it for free this weekend.
Check out a bunch of screenshots and renders of the new content in the gallery above; here are more details from the press release:
As many of the fans have already guessed, Santa's bringing plenty of gifts for the Killing Floor community this Christmas season! First up, the holiday event of the season is back with the Killing Floor Twisted Christmas 2 event, starting tomorrow, 7 December and running through 4 January. The event features an all new level, Ice Cave, as well as brand new Twisted Christmas music to get you in the holiday spirit.
But wait - there's more! Santa is bringing even more gifts - the Winter Weapon Pack, with seven brand new weapons complete with new achievements, free to everyone who owns the game. Returning from last year's event we have Christmas themed specimens replacing all of the regular baddies, Santa�s Evil Lair, Christmas themed achievements and the chance for those who missed unlocking the special Baddest Santa character last year to grab him this time around.
On top of all that, another character pack DLC - Steampunk 2, bringing you the rest of the Steampunk-styled characters to complete the set. And, just so everyone can try it out, the whole lot is free to play this weekend (8 Dec - 11 Dec)!
Here's the details on the new weapons:
The Sharpshooter gets a shiny .44 Magnum revolver - good for dual-wielding for even more stopping power.
The Commando picks up a US Army surplus M-4 Carbine, with a nice, new red dot sight fitted.
For Demolitions, we've removed the sight and added the under-slung M-203 single shot grenade launcher. Wonderful all-purpose weapon!
Support Specialists can get their hands on a semi-automatic combat shotgun.
Berserkers can go all Scottish, with a massive two-handed Claymore. Perfect for the holiday season...
Following on from Horzine's earlier experiments with healing darts, they have now provided the Medic with an MP5 machine pistol, mounting a dart-firing device.
Ripped from the arm of a dead Husk the Firebug gets his asbestos-covered hands on the fireball launching Huskgun!!! Charge this baby up and watch the zeds explode in a ball of flames!
Steam's Daily Deal is R.U.S.E. for $10 (67% off), don't forget to simply click on that link to be entered in Steam's Daily Wishlist Giveaway
Impulse has a selection of SEGA items on sale, today it's Condemned: Criminal Origins for $5 (66% off), Aliens vs. Predator for $6.80 (66% off), Total War: Shogun Gold Edition for $2.50 (50% off), and Total War: Shogun 2 DLC for 50% off
Impulse's Daily Deal is LEGO Batman for $10 (50% off)
GamersGate has kicked off Week 2 of their Holiday Gift Guide Sale with up to 85% off a boat load of titles, including R.U.S.E., Europa Universalis III Chronicles, Crazy Machines 2, Red Faction: Armageddon, Drakensang, Atom Zombie Smasher, AI War, The First Templar, World in Conflict, The Sims Medieval, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, BioShock 2, Gothic Complete Collection, Sim City 4 Deluxe, and many more
Rockstar Games has let out a handful of new screenshots from the upcoming third-person shooter sequel Max Payne 3. This time, they focus on a few of the weapons in our hero's arsenal, including the newly-unveiled G36 Commando assault rifle. Check them out in the gallery above, and look forward to the next behind-the-scenes trailer for the game, which they say will shed more light on weapons and targeting.
We've known another Command & Conquer game was in the works as far back as February, when an official website was mistakenly brought online that included an interview with the head of Victory Games, EA's new studio. Not much was confirmed aside from the existence of an upcoming PC game in the franchise, but it was mentioned that there would be a more proper announcement "later in the year." Now that December is here, perhaps that ship is finally getting ready to sail.
This makes it pretty obvious that Alliances is likely to be a subtitle and/or theme of the new Command & Conquer. (EA may be trying to keep us on our toes by registering so many and encompassing all subsets of the franchise.) Of course, the parallels everyone has begun to drawn here lead back to that unannounced BioWare game that looks suspiciously like an RTS in the Spike VGA teaser footage -- could Victory Games be collaborating with this new BioWare studio on the next C&C; title, or have they been re-branded? Perhaps the new C&C; is something entirely separate from what's to be unveiled on cable TV this Saturday? We'll have to wait and see.
EA/DICE has released all the specifics on the impending update for their modern military FPS, which is set to go live on PC late tonight (around 11PM PST). The Battlefield 3 R3/R11 (client/server) patch includes a large variety of bug fixes and balance tweaks, but the bulk of its 2GB size will be comprised of content for the soon-to-be-released Back to Karkand digital expansion pack; that will be automatically available next week, for free to all that pre-ordered BF3 and $15 for everyone else. Here are the full release notes:
Bugfixes
Fixed a problem with spawn timer now showing blue border on startup and lost spawn point
Fixed a problem where player who joined queuing on End of round got spawn screen stuck on screen, but unable to do anything with it untill next round loaded
Fixed a problem where camera would change to 3rd person on killcam when killcam was turned off in server settings
Fixed stat references on several dogtags
Fixed for surveillance ribbon not counting TUGS
Fixed a missing combat area lines on the minimap for Grand Bazaar conquest small
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Fixed a problem where placing C4 with the russians soldier was playing US faction VO
Fixed a problem where TV guided missiles could be shot into its own helicopter and destroy it
Fixed a problem when attempting to fire lock on weapons without a target
Tweaked the chat, it should now be a bit easier to read
Fixed several vehicles that did not properly shoot rockets and guns towards their predictive sights
Fixed the G17 Supressed Laser not working properly
Added alternate HUD colors to help colorblinds
Added a network interpolation setting. This allows users with good bandwidth reduce latency, but might increase some stuttering. The user can find what works best for his connection by tweaking the slider.
Increased the Spawn protection radius on TDM
Fixed a problem with smoke on land vehicles, Missiles should now miss more often
Fixed a problem where users could end up with IRNV scope in any vehicle
Fixed a problem where player dies if vaulting over a ledge and into water while sprinting
Fixed several crashes and increased general stability
Fixed a problem where the user was unable to revive two players that have the bodies one over the other
Fixed so you can assign an axis and use as a digital input. This makes it possible for the player (on pc) to assign one of the sticks on a gameped to be used for throttle/brake.
Fixed a problem with the Kill camera acting up when suiciding from parachute
Fixed air radar was showing to much. now lasertagged, heatsignature above threshold, enemy missiles and capture points are only visible on air radar
Fixed a problem where the game would enter a technical hang if the user pressed pause menu and tilde at the same time
Fixed a problem where you could get green flashes on screen
You can now reassign cycle weapons
Fixed so the weapon zooms automatically after bipod deploy is gone when using zoom toggle
Fixed a problem where the parachute would stay stuck in air if the owner was killed
Balance Tweaks
Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the minimap when fired.
Tweaked Tactical Light so it is not as blinding over longer ranges.
Tweaked the IRNV scope so it is limited to usage only at close range.
Reduced heat masking effectiveness of Spec Ops Camo.
Fixed a bug where Ammo spec would give additional 40mm grenades instead of Frag spec.
Increased the number of additional 40mm grenades from Frag spec.
Fixed so AT mines only live for 20 seconds after a player dies to prevent infinite mines.
Increased the Time to Live on sniper caliber rounds to allow extreme distance shots.
Fixed several weapon descriptions, calibers, and fire rates. The weapons themselves have not changed.
Fixed so the M9 and MP443 pistol can be equipped by the opposing faction when it is unlocked at 100 kills.
Fixed Laser Guided Missiles missing their targets if the target is moving too fast.
Reduced the effectiveness of Stealth on Air Vehicles.
Reduced the effectiveness of Beam Scanning for Jets.
Reduced the damage done to Armored Vehicles and Infantry from AA guns.
Increased the damage RPGs and Tank shells do to AA vehicles.
Slightly decreased the accuracy for all weapons on fully automatic, burst fire is now preferable at mid to long range.
Increased the effective accuracy of long bursts for LMGs when using a bipod.
Slightly increased the range of the 44magnum bullets.
Increased the close range damage of 4.6x30mm and 5.7x28mm bullets.
Increased the reload time of the Mortar from 3.5sec to 4.8sec and increased the time it takes before a shell hits the ground.
Reduced the aimed accuracy bonus given by a Suppressor for the MP7, P90, PP2000, PP-19, and UMP45.
Increased the range and FOV for designating targets with the SOFLAM and vehicle Laser Designators.
Decreased the effectiveness of 12g FRAG ammo when equipped on semi-automatic and automatic shotguns.
Slightly Increased the power of Fighter Jet Cannons against all vehicle targets, especially Helicopters.
Decreased the power of Miniguns against Jets and Helicopters.
Increased the power of Stingers against Jets.
Flares reload times for Jets and Helicopter Gunners have been increased.
Tweaked the AN94 so its burst fire better conveys the real world advantage offered by this weapon.
Added Single Shot to the AN94 as an available fire mode.
Slightly increased the recoil on the M416 and removed the Burst Fire mode (this weapon incorrectly had burst fire, which was not authentic).
Tweaked the spawns for TDM on Kharg Island, Grand Bazaar, Caspian Border, Seine Crossing, Operation Firestorm, Damavand Peak and Noshahar Canals
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Tweaked the Gas station Capture area on Conquest on Caspian Border
Steam's Weekend Deal is BRINK for $5 (75% off), DLC is also discounted, and you can play for FREE this weekend until Sunday at 1pm Pacific
Steam's Daily Deal is Dungeon Siege III for $20 (60% off), don't forget to simply click on that link to be entered in the Steam Wishlist Giveaway sweepstakes
Impulse is running a sale on sci-fi games this week, which offers Sol Survivor for $2.50 (75% off), Star Ruler for $10 (50% off), EVE Online: Incursion for $10 (50% off), Flatspace II for $8.50 (66% off), and Armada 2526 for $15 (50% off)
GamersGate's Holiday Giftguide sale offers up to 85% off scores of titles including Metro 2033, Two Worlds 2, Tropico 4, Total War: Shogun 2, Orcs Must Die!, ARMA 2, Dungeon Defenders, Renegade Ops, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Dead Island, Bastion, Homefront, Sanctum, Darksiders, and The Witcher 2
If yesterday's Syndicate gameplay trailer didn't sate your lust for weaponry, check out these screenshots of some of the upcoming shooter's various death-dealers in action. Most of the images appear to have been taken slightly off to one side, so you get a better view of the gun model and what it would look like in your hands. You still see plenty of the carnage coming out the business end, though, not to mention a taste of the game's... overzealous lighting effects, in the gallery above.
Hidden Path Entertainment have revealed that their excellent indie tower defense game will be seeing some additional GLaDOS infusion next week with the release of its first story expansion DLC. Titled Defense Grid: You Monster, this $5 add-on pack features more Portal-themed content in the vein of the two bonus levels introduced during the Portal 2 "Potato Sack" ARG.
In all, there will be 8 new levels with 35 challenges, plus new achievements, all under the direction of everyone's favorite homicidal AI. The DLC arrives on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday, December 7th. If you want to get back into the game and practice some before then, there's also been a major free update that was rolled out today, featuring an improved UI along with new game modes and challenge missions for existing levels.
EA/DICE have announced that the first downloadable expansion pack for Battlefield 3 will be ready to play in just under two weeks on Tuesday, December 13th (for PC and 360, PS3 users get it a week earlier). Featuring classic maps, vehicles, and weapons revamped for the Frostbite 2 engine and full integration with the base game's online experience, Back to Karkand represents a major increase in available BF3 content. Best of all, it's free for anyone that pre-ordered the Limited Edition of the game; everyone else will need to pay $15.
Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is a huge expansion pack featuring four legendary Battlefield maps reimagined in the Frostbite 2 engine. Three new vehicles (the VSTOL fighter jet, Desert Buggy, and an APC), ten new weapons that you can bring back to the base game, and a new layer of persistence with our all-new Assignments make this a must-have for any Battlefield fan.
Our four new maps are Wake Island, Sharqi Peninsula, Gulf of Oman, and Strike at Karkand. Over the years these maps have been played billions of times and now they�ve been reimagined with the power of the Frostbite 2 engine. To top it off, we�re taking the level of destruction to the next level as well � entire huge portions of these maps can be razed to the ground.
We�re also introducing the Assignments system. For example, to complete the �Let it Rain� assignment players must score 20 kills with Light Machine Guns and two mortar kills. When you have met the requirements, you will unlock a new Back to Karkand weapon (with a matching set of dog tags) to use in Back to Karkand and the original Battlefield 3 maps, which will mix in server rotation. You will also unlock the next Assignment in the series, the new Creeping Death Assignment.
Bethesda has announced on their official blog that the mod tools for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be launching sometime in January. While a little later than many would have hoped for, they do offer one possible reason why modders will have to wait that long to get their hands on the Creation Kit: Steam Workshop integration.
Steam Workshop is a new service Valve launched recently, which offers integrated mod sharing, browsing, and installation to Steamworks titles via the Steam Community. So far, it's been used mainly for Team Fortress 2 custom content, but Skyrim will be the first single-player game to use the service for the distribution of mod materials. According to the current place-holder web page, we will be able to "find and install the best mods for Skyrim directly from Steam!"
Bethesda also reiterates their continued dedication to updating Skyrim, mentioning that a new patch will be arriving next week (to fix the problems the recently-released v1.2 patch created...), and many more will be on the way in the future:
After the holidays, we�ll continue to release regular updates for the game � through full title updates, as well as incremental �gameplay updates� to fix whatever issues come up along with rebalancing portions of the game for difficulty or exploits. We plan on having a lot of these, not just a few. Overall, you should expect updates to be hitting the PC and Steam earlier and more often, as that�s a process we control. Console updates will follow, as they must be certified and processed by those manufacturers.
We all know this is a huge game, and everyone has a different experience. We�ll continue to do everything we can to make the game better and better for as many people as possible every day. We�ve also realized that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care. If we get too aggressive trying to fix a minor issue, we run a risk of breaking something larger in a game like this. To be safe, we are prioritizing code side fixes right now over data fixes. Quest and balance issues are usually data, and those will start rolling in a large way with the January updates.
Happy December! Steam is already getting into the holiday spirit with their Daily Wishlist Giveaway sweepstakes. Make sure you have at least 10 games on your Steam wishlist, then all you have to do is visit the store page for the Daily Deal (today it's Terraria) to be entered into the drawing. Every day throughout the holiday season, 10 people will win the top 10 games on their wishlist, so make sure you enter as often as you can.
Steam's Weekend Deal is BRINK for $5 (75% off), the DLC is also discounted, and you can play the game for free all weekend until Sunday at 1PM Pacific
Impulse is running a sale on sci-fi games this week, which offers Sol Survivor for $2.50 (75% off), Star Ruler for $10 (50% off), EVE Online: Incursion for $10 (50% off), Flatspace II for $8.50 (66% off), and Armada 2526 for $15 (50% off)
GamersGate's Holiday Giftguide sale offers up to 85% off scores of titles including Metro 2033, Two Worlds 2, Tropico 4, Total War: Shogun 2, Orcs Must Die!, ARMA 2, Dungeon Defenders, Renegade Ops, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Dead Island, Bastion, Homefront, Sanctum, Darksiders, and The Witcher 2
Green Man gaming has taken 30% off 2K Games again, in lieu of the UK-exclusive EA Games blowout
Game Informer has revealed the cover of their January issue to depict all of your favorite characters from Comedy Central's animated show, South Park. Apparently, they'll be unveiling the first details on a new video game fully endorsed and supported by the series' creators and producers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, next month. Described as an "ambitious project" "unlike the cash-in Acclaim titles" from ten years ago, this is a "full-scale RPG" that is being made in collaboration with THQ and Obsidian Entertainment. No word on a release date window yet, but it will be coming to PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Impulse is running a sale on sci-fi games this week, which offers Sol Survivor for $2.50 (75% off), Star Ruler for $10 (50% off), EVE Online: Incursion for $10 (50% off), Flatspace II for $8.50 (66% off), and Armada 2526 for $15 (50% off)
GamersGate's Holiday Giftguide sale offers up to 85% off scores of titles including Metro 2033, Two Worlds 2, Tropico 4, Total War: Shogun 2, Orcs Must Die!, ARMA 2, Dungeon Defenders, Renegade Ops, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Dead Island, Bastion, Homefront, Sanctum, Darksiders, and The Witcher 2
If you've been itching to take to the skies in a manner more peaceful than something like Battlefield 3, you might be interested in a playable demo for Bohemia Interactive's recently-released helicopter flight simulator, Take On Helicopters. You'll have plenty of time to dig out your joystick, as the installer weighs in at around 4GB; get it from the official website, Atomic Gamer, or Gamer's Hell. From the press release:
The demo gives a great taste of the unique array of helicopter gameplay featured in the full version of the game.
Players will be able to enjoy a generous variety of demo content, all playable above a huge section of the Seattle terrain:
Free Flight mode
Light and medium helicopters
30 x 30 km section of the Seattle terrain
2 singleplayer scenarios
3 time trial courses
3 training scenarios
1 multiplayer scenario
A powerful 2D scenario editor (limited version, does not allow saving or loading)
SEGA and The Creative Assembly announced today that two new DLC items are now available for Total War: Shogun 2 on Steam. One includes an extra playable clan (the Hattori), historical scenario, and unique armor for generals that were previously exclusive to the limited edition of the game. The other, simply titled "Blood Pack," includes various violent effects and animations that make combat more brutal and gory to behold (look too close and you might get some splatter on the screen!). They cost $4.99 and $1.59, respectively.
The powerful and secretive Hattori clan, masters of the shadowy arts of assassination and bribery, are now available to unlock in your Total War: SHOGUN 2 campaign. Featuring the most powerful battlefield ninja available, an extra historical battle scenario, extra armor and an XP injection for your Avatar, the Hattori Clan can be played in single and multiplayer campaigns and in online battles. This DLC pack was originally included in the SHOGUN 2 Limited Edition.
Also available now is the Total War: SHOGUN 2 �Blood Pack�. In true Seven Samurai style, this mature content adds decapitations, limb removals, blood-spatter effects on weapons and battlefields and much more. With this DLC, your forces can now tear chunks out of the enemy with rifle or cannon fire, but be wary of getting too close to the action or you may find yourself getting sprayed! Please note this content has a higher age rating than Total War: SHOGUN 2 and can only be purchased by those age 18 and up.
Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
Direct2Drive seems to have started doing daily deals now, too. They must have had some success with their 2-week trial run doing a countdown to Black Friday.
Impulse is running a sale on sci-fi games this week, which offers Sol Survivor for $2.50 (75% off), Star Ruler for $10 (50% off), EVE Online: Incursion for $10 (50% off), Flatspace II for $8.50 (66% off), and Armada 2526 for $15 (50% off)
Direct2Drive's Daily Deal is Tropico 4 for $20 (50% off)
GamersGate's Holiday Giftguide sale offers up to 85% off scores of titles including Metro 2033, Two Worlds 2, Tropico 4, Total War: Shogun 2, Orcs Must Die!, ARMA 2, Dungeon Defenders, Renegade Ops, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Dead Island, Bastion, Homefront, Sanctum, Darksiders, and The Witcher 2
Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit yesterday, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick responded to speculations and predictions concerning the potential success of rival publisher EA's upcoming MMORPG, and what effect that could have on his company's cash cow franchise World of Warcraft.
Unsurprisingly, Kotick insisted that they're not that worried about Star Wars: The Old Republic stealing hundreds of thousands or even millions of players from WoW, as some analysts believe could happen; in fact, he doesn't think EA will make much of a profit from the game, if any at all, due to the undoubtedly expensive licensing agreement they've had to make with LucasArts:
"Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars," Kotick said. "We've been in business with Lucas for a long time and the economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas, so I don't really understand how the economics work for Electronic Arts."
EA has previously said that they would achieve profitability with SW:TOR if they reached only 500,000 subscribers, but ol' Bobby apparently doesn't even think they'll be able to manage that:
"If you look at the history of the people investing in an MMO and achieving success, it's a small number," Kotick said.
Either way, it will be interesting to see how The Old Republic is received when it launches in late December, with genre juggernaut (genrenaut?) World of Warcraft's subscriber count continuing to dwindle. At last count, with the end of their previous quarter on September 30th, Blizzard reported a remaining 10.3 million active subscriptions, following the loss of another 800,000 accounts since June. Two months later, that number is likely even lower. Could that be the result of a struggling economy, maybe an excess of great games to play this year, or are people finally ready for a new MMO?
The Bethesda Blog has details on the next major patch for the recently-released Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The 1.2 update is already available for the PlayStation 3 version of the game (though it's called 2.01 on there), while the Xbox 360 and PC versions will be updated this Wednesday, November 30th.
Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to look forward to in terms of PC fixes, with most of the patch notes listing the resolution of obscure issues like an NPC sleeping animation bug, corpses disappearing prematurely, and dead bodies showing up as guests at the player's wedding. The improvements to the keyboard and mouse controls are more than welcome, however, provided they work properly:
UPDATE 1.2 NOTES (all platforms unless specified)
Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player�s wedding dead
Dragon corpses now clean up properly
Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)
I'm really hoping that we see a lot more and bigger updates to address some of the more pressing and prevalent issues people are experiencing with Skyrim, some of which were noted in my lengthy review of the game. Also, there is still no word on when the modders tool set (Creation Kit) will be released...
Direct2Drive has a selection of Cyber Monday 2-for-1 deals, most of which seem to be bundles of newish games with their predecessors, Saints Row: The Third comes with Saints Row 2, Batman: Arkham City comes with Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3, etc.
GamersGate has kicked off the first week of their Holiday Giftguide sale with up to 85% off scores of titles including Metro 2033, Two Worlds 2, Tropico 4, Total War: Shogun 2, Orcs Must Die!, ARMA 2, Dungeon Defenders, Renegade Ops, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Dead Island, Bastion, Homefront, Sanctum, Darksiders, and The Witcher 2
NVIDIA has released a new set of beta drivers for GeForce GPUs, bringing improvements for several new games. The new version 290.36 package includes a PhysX update that is recommended for Batman: Arkham City, as well as ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It also resolves various bugs and glitches for Battlefield 3 and others.
You can download the drivers here by selecting your operating system, and here are the full release notes:
NVIDIA Ambient Occlusion
Adds NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Adds NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
NVIDIA PhysX
Updates PhysX System Software to version 9.11.1107 for the best PhysX experience in Batman: Arkham City.
NVIDIA Surround
Enables NVIDIA Surround support for Intel X79 SLI-certified motherboards.
NVIDIA SLI
Added or updated SLI profiles for Crysis 2, Heroes and Generals, Inversion, Stronghold 3, and Syndicate.
3D Vision
Adds support for 3D Vision over native DisplayPort 1.1 connection - available on BenQ XL2420T and BenQ XL2420TX monitors.
Added or updated the following 3D Vision game profiles:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 � Rated Good
Cang Sheng � Rated Good
Diablo 3 � Rated Good
Fei fei � Rated Good
Final Combat � Rated Good
L.A. Noire � Updated Rating To 3D Vision Ready
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 � Rated Fair
Qian Nv You Hun Online � Rated Good
QQ Xi You � Rated Good
Sonic Generations � Rated Good
Xian Tu � Rated Good
Yong Bing Tian Xia Online � Rated Good
HD Audio
Updates HD Audio driver to version 1.3.9.0.
Bug Fixes
Fixes random flickering as Windows boot logo is loading or fading away.
Fixes corruption in Crysis 2 with SLI and lower quality shadow settings.
Fixes ability to set Surround resolutions to 5760x1080 using custom resolutions.
Fixes some random instances of triangular artifacts when playing Battlefield 3.
Fixes corruption and flickering of some objects in Battlefield 3 in the New York single-player level when anti-aliasing is enabled.
Fixes corruption seen in Settlers 7 with the NVIDIA 275.33 drivers.
Fixes playback of videos or live TV using Window Media Center resulting in a black screen.
Fixes the issue where 1920x1080 @60Hz PC resolution mode switched down to @59Hz.
Fixes mouse cursor flickering and shaking in Crysis 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Deus Ex and Civilization V when SLI is enabled when using 3DTV Play.
View Killing Floor Twisted Christmas 2 Event Screenshots -- 16 Image(s)
