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The next chapter in the Red Orchestra francise is a Pacific based WWII shooter. Several other games have visited this Theater before, but I played them and came away unimpressed. Still early, so we shall see. http://risingstormgame.com/

Umm...yawn?



Nothing in that vid impressed me. It looks like a campaign expansion for BF3, rather than an entirely new entry to the BF franchise. Yet another scripted campaign; yet another series of hanging by your fingertips/having big objects fall on you; yet another bump in graphics to no good purpose. Boooring. About the only thing that caught my eye were the squad commands - reminds me a bit of Op Flashpoint...but, of course, Op Flashpoint had an open, sandbox campaign. Guess DICE was too busy bumping up the graphics to really offer anything new in terms of a SP campaign.

I find it ironic that the early comments on this video are all along the line of "this is going to kill COD!". Umm...how? As we've seen over the course of BF3 development, BF is slowly morphing into COD. Scripted campaigns with over-the-top action sequences; EA/DICE pumping out new BF/Medal of Honor entries to the series every other year; DLC that is dripped-dripped-dripped out to get every last dollar from the fanbase before rushing off to the next entry to the series. I know PC gamers like to pretend that BF3 is a proper PC game (I say pretend because BF2 was the last true PC entry to the franchise), but barring graphics, EA's handling of BF is now almost indistinguishable from how Activision is handling CoD. While BF3 was quite the jump from BF2 (but not that big a jump from Bad Company 2), BF4, based on this vid, seems to be an almost indistinguishable step.

I'll keep an open mind, especially since I haven't seen anything of the all important MP yet, but the SP campaign is not making me excited.

If BI can get their act together by putting together a decent MP component into Arma 3 (I mean an MP mode that has lots of public servers with standard gameplay modes like conquest, etc. that CoD and BF players will instantly recognize), I think there is a big opportunity for that game to become the new, preferred FPS experience.

Hearts of Iron III collection-$6.24. Get it while it hot!

I did a search here and it surprised me that CoH was not listed. And if it is, then my 44 yr old eyes missed it. This game is very well done, and although my meager system can't process the graphics very well, it has enticed me to buy a new rig just to play this. Graphically it is eye candy, and the online capability is just plain fun, as long as you have an equally competent opponent, mostly on your side rather than the opposition.

Company of Heroes

Has anyone played this?

I've played this one for a couple of days now and am really liking it. At this early stage I'm guardedly optimistic. The game does seem to break the grindy WoW model, and there's a lot I like about it. I suspect Mr. VanOrd at Gamespot was not being overly generous by giving it a 9 Editor's Choice score.

1) Almost everything you do gives you experience. Like to explore? Experience. Like to craft? Experience. You even gain experience for reviving people. It's a game that never seems to waste my precious gaming time.

2) The combat engine may not be a huge step up from other MMO's, but you can attack on the fly, hit numerous enemies and use special dodge moves, making the combat much more fluid, dynamic and exciting. Also, fighting with other people on a moment's notice is a rush!

3) The game looks absolutely beautiful. I'm hard pressed to think of one that looks better.

4) Even if the area is designated for lower levels, GW2 adjusts your character to the level of the region your playing in. This has a number of benefits, like how your drop loot will always be appropriate to your level. Also, it goes a long way towards preventing high-level players from lording over noobs in the beginning regions.

5) The community seems on the whole nicer and more helpful. As one review put it, this is at least partially due to the removal of the specialty-based system where your party is only as strong as its weakest link. The system in GW2 is blameless, which alleviates a lot of the stress and pressure for noobs and casual players. In the chat you never see those annoying and tiresome "LFG 2 tanks, 2 dps, one healer for ravenous bugblatter beast of Trall dungeon" messages. lol

6) The story maybe doesn't have all the elaborate cut scenes of games like SWTOR and Secret World, but it is very good, big and epic, and doesn't make you read too, too much. I loath having to read too much text in games. ;) Also, the fact that you can actually see and hear your character talk makes it a lot more engaging. I love how you kind of create your own story as you go, and get the feeling that no two people playing the game will have exactly the same story. It's hard to explain in a few words how they pull this off, you would have to experience it for yourself to see what I mean. In any event I never feel like I'm in a hero assembly line like other mmo's.

7) I love the crafting and buying and selling on the exchange, and they give you interesting things to do when you aren't exploring, questing, and fighting.

8) It's no accident that I've often thought of Skyrim when playing GW2, as the soundtrack is done by none other than Jeremy Soule who did the Skyrim soundtrack.

9) It doesn't seem to be pay-to-win, nor do I detect the developer making cheap cash grabs for your money. By contrast, Cryptic/Perfect World is notorious for all their subtle and not so subtle cash grabs in Star Trek Online and Neverwinter.

Anyway, it's a huge world to explore with tons of content, and I've only just scratched the surface, nor have I yet done the big World War PvP's. It will be interesting to see how GW2 hold up over the long haul. BTW, as a minor complaint, not sure I like the name Guild Wars. To me it sells the game short, and fails to give it the epic feel it deserves, unlike names like Lord of the Rings or Elder Scrolls. I suppose since the first GW did so well, they wanted to keep the name for brand recognition.

Hmmm...
Quote: REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced that John Riccitiello will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective March 30. The Board has appointed Larry Probst as Executive Chairman to ensure a smooth transition and to lead EA's executive team while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The Board will consider internal and external candidates with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.

Mr. Probst has played a leadership role at EA since 1991. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board since 1994, he previously served as the Company's CEO from 1991 to 2007. As CEO, Probst successfully grew the Company's annual revenues from $175 million to approximately $3 billion, led EA into new platforms such as mobile, online and other emerging markets and expanded its international presence to more than 75 countries.

"We thank John for his contributions to EA since he was appointed CEO in 2007, especially the passion, dedication and energy he brought to the Company every single day," said Mr. Probst. "John has worked hard to lead the Company through challenging transitions in our industry, and was instrumental in driving our very significant growth in digital revenues. We appreciate John's leadership and the many important strategic initiatives he has driven for the Company. We have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition."

On behalf of the Board, Lead Director Richard A. Simonson stated, "As we begin the CEO search, we are fortunate that Larry, who has a proven track record with our employees, partners and customers, has agreed to assume a day-to-day leadership role as Executive Chairman. He has 16 years of experience as CEO of EA and a deep understanding of the Company's strategy, management team, business potential and industry trends."

Mr. Riccitiello stated, "EA is an outstanding company with creative and talented employees, and it has been an honor to serve as the Company's CEO. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and after six years I feel it is the right time for me pass the baton and let new leadership take the Company into its next phase of innovation and growth. I remain very optimistic about EA's future — there is a world class team driving the Company's transition to the next generation of game consoles."

Business Outlook

EA expects that its revenues and earnings per share for the current quarter will be at the low end of, or slightly below previously issued guidance provided in its press release dated January 30, 2013. Actual results may be materially different and can be affected by many factors, including the levels of usage of the Company's digital products, initial sales of new products that will be released before the end of the quarter and other factors detailed in the Company's annual and quarterly SEC filings.

EA will announce its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 results on May 7, 2013 and will host a conference call at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET) to discuss the results.

Tactical Intervention has gone into open beta:

Quote: TACTICAL INTERVENTION Open Beta
OG Planet now offers access to open beta testing of Tactical Intervention, the new first-person shooter from Counter-Strike co-creator Minh "Gooseman" Le. Open testing is expected to run from now until March 25th, followed by the game's official launch on March 28th. As noted on the game's Facebook page, testing is currently only offered in North America.

As soon as I learned there were no iron sights I lost interest. What is it with this recent PC obsession with not having iron sights in a shooter? When Fallout 3 was released, I recall nothing but complaints and moans about how the game wasn't "a real shooter" because you could not aim down your weapon. But when it comes to Counter-Strike GO, or now this, suddenly not having iron sights is a popular design decision. Huh? :hmmm: Even Call of Duty has iron sights....

Seriously! Way to go, Matrix/Slitherine! And rumors are it is going to be turn-based!

Quote: Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) and Games Workshop (www.games-workshop.com), two giants in their respective specialist markets, have signed a deal to produce a strategy video game set in the popular Warhammer® 40,000® universe.

"This deal represents yet another testament to our continuous aim to reach new audiences, without losing sight of who we are and what we do best", said JD McNeil, Chairman of the Slitherine Group. "It's all about creating strategy games that are targeted to a particular audience and addressing a very specific need in the market. The Warhammer 40,000 setting is a perfect fit for the style of strategy games that we make and will be very popular with fantasy and science fiction fans alike. Joining forces with Games Workshop will allow us to bring an wonderfully deep and appropriate IP to the Turn Based Strategy genre”.

Details of the deal including the content and features of the game have not yet been announced, but development is already underway on multiple platforms, involving the best talents in design and development available to the Slitherine Group.

Jon Gillard, Head of Licensing at Games Workshop said: “Slitherine are clearly established and successful masters of their genre of games, and there are many fans of their work here at GW. It’s a pleasure to work with such like minded individuals who share our passion for strategy games of all types”. Woohoo! :vsign::hurray:

I always ask myself and come to the conclusion of Gameplay > Graphics. Sure in a perfect world I would want both but that doesnt always happen. Aion SWG AOC SwTOR name all the MMO and still I end up back playing Ultima Online. **** graphics but a simplified gameplay that surpasses even the most complicated and indepth games out today.

This UO server has been up for just over a week and is going strong with new players starting every day. A 15 year old game that is still able to draw people in and get them addicted from day one. They've got the most features of any UO free shard out there and the dedicated staff has created the most balanced world possible! Here are just a few of our many features:

Insta-Hit and Pre-Casting
UO:R Style Factions
Automated Duel/Tournament Arena's
Champion and Paragon Spawns
BOD's and Plant System
No Mounts
Lotteries
and much more! Check them out at www.uoimmortalis.com, visit the IRC channel and forums to meet the community and learn more!

Hey guys, I am a multimedia designer from Ireland doing my last year of college. I am doing my dissertation on "The development of narrative in computer games".

I was wondering could you take 5 -10 minutes out of your day to fill it out for me, it would be massively appreciated.

Here is the link.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KUt...nMTDE/viewform

Thanks in advance. :)

Anybody tried it yet? What do you think so far?

A cross between John Tiller's War over Vietnam, and the Battles from the Bulge engine. Where you have realtime ground and airforces (maybe naval as well). In a hypothetical cold war turned hot Europe. That would make an awesome game.

OK Scott, rather than muddy the waters more in the SC:HOTS post, I thought I would open a thread on Secret World. Yes, after taking a close look at it, I'm about 60-70% there. One woman described it as the X-Files meets HP Lovecraft meets City of Heroes, and I thought, oh yes, that's me! :) I also really like idea of the free-form character skills not tied to classes or anything, and the exotic James Bondish locations are a big plus too. And of course I love the 'Cthulu' beast. That is so cool! I wonder if the game has the alien 'grays' ;) Having played Funcom's 'The Longest Journey' many years ago, I know they are capable of telling a great story every bit as good as Bioware or Bethesda. The only thing it seems to lack as far as I can see are cool personal vehicles (Shaggy's Mystery Machine??? lol, but this is a minor quibble.

The Metacritic scores are averaging 73%, though it's interesting to note that very few people rated it mediocre. It seems that people either loved it or hated it. Many people have written that this is not your typical everyday MMO, even going so far to say that it is the most different MMO on the market. Someone else noted that with TSW, Funcom took a daring approach to what he called the stick in the mud MMO industry.

Yeah, I took the personality test, and like Scott, it had me pegged as a Templar, though I may be inclined to indulge my 'ornery' side and do the Illuminati. ;)

Anyway, if anyone here has played it, please do post your comments.

This looks interesting:

Quote: Spiders Studio and Focus Home Interactive unveil Bound by Flame

While part of Spiders Studio's team finishes development of Mars War Logs, releasing soon on digital distribution platforms, we are pleased to unveil Bound by Flame. Bound by Flame is their bigger project, under development for months now and targeted for release on PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360® at the end of 2013.

We present Bound by Flame to you with the very first screenshot of the game. This action/role-playing game lets you play a mercenary possessed by a flame demon in an ambitious Dark Fantasy universe.

As a victim of this demonic influence, players will have to choose between the powers offered by this evil or to reject the demonic influence, developing heroic talents instead. Dangers, and enemies becoming more terrifying and fearsome in battle, will be temptations to acquire more power by giving up part of the hero's soul to the demon. Progression of the demonic influence will be reflected by the transformation of the hero's body.

Through its different chapters, Bound by Flame will offer many quests around a primary, epic adventure. Depending on the choices made by the player and the influence of the demon, some chapters will offer different scenarios and a different experience, adding important replayability to the game. Real-time battles are impressive and dynamic. If the player begins the game knowing only the basics of combat, fire magic, and assassination, he will be able to specialize by unlocking and improving many skills and powers, through 3 different skill trees.

Bound by Flame lets the players customize their character. During the creation of their hero, players will be able choose their gender and freely alter their facial characteristics. This will of course have an influence on the demon's appearance. Bound by Flame also includes a crafting system, allowing them to create and improve equipment, including their armor and weapons. Several companions will join the player during his quest, and will, depending on the player's actions, develop friendship, romance or rivalry.

Finally, the bestiary of Bound by Flame is rich and spectacular. Today's screenshot introduces you to the terrifying Swamp Beast, but you will get to fight many other impressive creatures: shadow dragons, liches, undead, ice creatures... epic confrontations abound. Which path will the players take? Will they lust after the demon's power and magic to annihilate their foes, or will they favor their combat skills and their bravery?

Bound by Flame is targeted for release on PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360® at the end of 2013.

bound_by_flame-01.jpg Attached Images

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To the surprise of dozens.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/21/ig...share_facebook

I posted this earlier on Facebook, but I'll re-post it here for those that want to comment.

Quote: Originally Posted by Don Maddox One by one, all the old game sites are being shut down. In part, you can thank greedy Google for destroying online advertising. But it's also a direct result of the bully tactics employed by virtually every game publisher, both big and small. I've learned the hard way that you either print what they want or get blacklisted and deprived of access and advertising income. But being the rebel that I am, I'm going to keep telling people that sucky games suck no matter how loud or threateningly the publishers squeal.

And we wish it would go back where it came from.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/al...critic-reviews

Unbelievable. It's truly staggering that developers can take an excellent franchise, a pile of money, and an experienced development house, and then come up with something so infuriatingly pathetic and uninspired. Seriously, titles like this are enough to make me wonder why I even bother wasting my time, hoping for a decent game among the tons of utter crap foisted on the public these days.

One disappointment after another.

I've been following this game since last year's E3 and today's video - released to announce that it will be a PS4 title - just makes me more excited:



I just hope that it doesn't turn out to be a PS4 exclusive. This vid is reported to have been captured from a PC demo, so I am hopeful that Ubisoft will keep it as a cross-platform affair. But you never can tell. Sony has A LOT riding on the success of the PS4, so I wouldn't put it past them to offer a lot of cash to make some hot titles be restricted to the PS4.

Guess we'll see.

This is an interesting post from one of the Egosoft devs (the X-series of space sims) defending Steam as their DD platform of choice. It makes for interesting reading:

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=333164

Quote: Dear Customers,

Ever since 2006, when our games became first available on the Steam platform, there have always been critical discussions about Steam in our community. After our move to make Steam a mandatory requirement for activation and updates of X3: Albion Prelude at the end of 2011, these discussions heated up and some of our fans turned away from our games in protest at this step.

Since I take these concerns seriously, I would like to respond to the main criticisms from my perspective as a game developer, and make an important announcement at the same time.

Here is a link to our FAQ to help those of you who want to know what Steam really is and what it does and does not do:

The most common misconception is that people believe they have to be online to play our games. This is not true. You can play games without being online through the so called "offline mode", but yes you do need to install the Steam client and have to be online when you install the game on a new machine. Another important fact: you can install our games on multiple machines, but you can not play on multiple machines at the same time (just like with a DVD). Every time you want to switch from one machine to another, you have to be online for a moment before you can switch that machine back into "offline" mode. But now lets get to the main reason for this mail:

Long term support and new updates:

Ever since the first X game, we have released free updates for our games. Among other things, these updates also allowed our games to continue to run on new versions of the operating system or on more modern hardware (this patch, for example, was needed to make XBTF run on fast machines) ( XBTF patch for Win64). Developing updates for a game long after its original release, however, does cost money. This service is only affordable for a developer who is still making money from old games.

Every developer who did not sell all rights to a publisher, but is in the fortunate position to sell directly on Steam has a huge incentive to continue to support their game in this manner. We have seen that even such an old title as X: Beyond the Frontier (1999) still finds new fans on Steam, and we have been able to develop the updates to make a game from 1999 run on Windows 7 64bit and Windows 8. Without Steam we would not have been able to provide this service; an advantage not only for us but for all our customers.

Steam Play (Linux and Mac):

Today when we talk of "PC Games", we no longer ONLY mean Windows. For some time already, both Mac OS and Linux have become valid alternatives. External partners ported our games over to MAC and Linux and sold them as a new product, sometimes for a different price. Unfortunately these externally developed ports had a number of problems for us as a developer as well as for our customers:

For the customer: Should you ever switch to a different operating system and want to continue playing our games, you had to buy the game again.
For the developer: Since the porting is not based on a single set of source code, it gets increasingly expensive to develop updates for all platforms.

Steam's solution to this problem is quite radical and customer-friendly. Steam encourages all developers to turn their titles into so-called "Steamplay" games, where versions for all operating systems are part of just one product. You buy it once and you can play it on all operating systems that the developer supports. This even works if you bought a game for windows in the past and the developer adds support for another operating system later.

Trusting Valve / Steam:

I can not overstate how the above two points as reasons to consider giving Steam and the company that operates, Valve, a leap of faith. One argument commonly heard against Steam on our forums is that people are worried that they are dependent on Steam's existence in the long term. What if Steam goes out of business in the distant future? Maybe I will not be able to play my games then. (sidenote: We do provide a "no-steam.exe" for our games for exactly this extremely unlikely case.

It is much more likely, in fact, that a game you own on DVD will not work anymore at some point in the future because:

a) The last available version of the game does not run on whatever the latest hardware or Windows version is.
b) You may have switched to a different operating system or even a new type of hardware for your living room PC (read about BIG PICTURE below).
c) Or maybe the DVD is no longer readable.

Steam creates a financial incentive for developers to update their games long after release and to bring it to as many Steam platforms as possible. This is a big advantage for all customers.

Also, do not forget that Valve, the company that operates Steam, has a direct financial incentive to maintain the platform in the future and keep it as attractive as possible. If our fans are happy and continue to use their service, they can make money selling games.... I would agree. :) This is why I get so frustrated when certain devs, particularly those from the grog scene, sneer at Steam and call it unnecessary/unwanted (but then proceed to come up with their own DD scheme that doesn't have anywhere near the exposure/popularity/benefits of Steam :rolleyes:). I think we can all come up with more than a few good grog titles out there that would have benefited greatly from a Steam release...but no. :angry:

Anyhoo, thought the above made for some interesting reading seeing how it came from someone who knows a lot about the business of game design and selling.

Wow, Dawn of War 2 has really kicked off a 40K frenzy for me. I had forgotten just how much I loved this setting. Anyhoo, seeing how I am almost finished with the stock DoW 2 campaign, I decided to start pricing the Chaos Rising expansion. I discovered that most DD retailers still want around $19 for it, but Amazon has the DVD version for $5! So I picked it up at a 75% discount! I also noticed that they had the DVD of Space Marine for $6 (that's $30 on Steam!). After giving the demo a try on Steam, I decided I liked it enough to get that as well. So, for $11, I got two games (no tax & free 2 day shipping)! :cool: Looks like it paid for me to not get hooked on DoW 2 for a bit. :D

Next up: DoW 2: Retribution. Amazon has it for $14, versus $29 on Steam. :yummy:

Just thought I would pass on word of the savings.

For the Emperor!

[this story is about a month a month old]

Yep. According to their lawyers, they own the term space marine in all formats and will defend their intellectual property rights.

In response to complaints from Games Workshop that others are infringing, Amazon is already blocking the sales of e-books and other items which contain mention of space marines.

Quote: Originally Posted by MCAH Online In their last email to me, Games Workshop stated that they believe that their recent entrée into the e-book market gives them the common law trademark for the term “space marine” in all formats. If they choose to proceed on that belief, science fiction will lose a term that’s been a part of its canon since its inception. Space marines were around long before Games Workshop. But if GW has their way, in the future, no one will be able to use the term “space marine” without it referring to the space marines of the Warhammer 40K universe.

I used to own a registered trademark. I understand the legal obligations of trademark holders to protect their IP. A Games Workshop trademark of the term “Adeptus Astartes” is completely understandable. But they’ve chosen instead to co-opt the legacy of science fiction writers who laid the groundwork for their success. Even more than I want to save Spots the Space Marine, I want someone to save all space marines for the genre I grew up reading. I want there to be a world where Heinlein and E.E. Smith’s space marines can live alongside mine and everyone else’s, and no one has the hubris to think that they can own a fundamental genre trope and deny it to everyone else.

In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K Space Marines Is there something in the water that is making people turn into giant dicks?