PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

Here's some awesome news for adventure fans: Gabriel Knight creator Jane Jensen is working on another project, with King's Quest: The Silver Lining dev Phoenix Online Studios, along with Titan Quest developer Khaeon Gamestudio and comic artist Roman Molenaar! Even better news: Phoenix's new game won't use any IP that Activision owns!

Cognition is an episodic detective adventure about an FBI agent who gains the power to see past events related to any object she touches. Agent Erica Reed uses these abilities - and, hopefully, some traditional investigative methods as well - to hunt down a serial killer, and attempt to solve the murder of her brother. It's coming to PC, with mobile and console versions "also under consideration."

Phoenix plans to release four episodes of Cognition, but needs your help to fund development. It's set up a Kickstarter seeking $25,000 for initial development costs. As always, there are bonuses associated with various Kickstarter tears, not the least of which is this game actually happening.

In early November KingsIsle will be rolling out a new African-themed world for Wizard 101 called Zafaria to its public test servers, and we've got your first look. It's the second act in Wizard101's current mainline plot and the first major expansion for the popular family-friendly MMO since Celesti...

EA has called a truce in its war of words with bitter franchise rival Call of Duty. In a new interview with IGN, EA executive vice president Patrick Soderlund said, "We all respect what Call of Duty brings and what they're going to come with. Right now we're out in the market, and that's all I k...

It's Halloween, the day we all turn our attention to all things spoooooooky. In honor of this occasion, Heidi Kemps makes a convincing case for the secret scariness of the seemingly non-horror-oriented Ecco the Dolphin. Later, the Joystiq staff will share their own picks for unintentionally frightening games. We'll just leave you in suspense for now (boo!) Dolphins! Every adolescent girl on the planet loves dolphins, but being a fan of marine life in general, I really liked dolphins. I was certainly among the many, many girls with Lisa Frank school supplies emblazoned with imagery of brightly airbrushed, neon-colored dolphins, but I was far more into porpoises than even that, with plenty of other themed baubles in my possession. So, of course, when Ecco the Dolphin came out for the Genesis, I was excited to check the game out, especially with the rave reviews it had received in magazines at the time.

Little did I suspect the horrors Sega and Novotrade had in store for me.

Clap your hands everybody, if you got what it takes, it's the IGN AU Pubcast yo, and we want you to know that this - is our distinctly Aussie take on the traditional podcast, blending our love of gaming with beer and toilet humour - and a liberal dose of intelligent debate. Sorry, that didn't rhyme. I gotta look into my skilz. I gots billz to pay after all...

Zynga dominates the casual online games space, but Electronic Arts recently proved with The Sims Social that there's room for big brands. Rovio is currently developing an online world for Angry Birds. But when it comes to brands, there's perhaps none bigger than Hollywood celebrities. And new game company Entertainment Games is licensing Hollywood icons for players to use as playable avatars in Retro World, which will launch in November as a free-to-play game...

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Fred "Trunks" Wood educates us on that thing we all need with his 8-bit inspired platformer, Love+ -- read on to learn how Trunks makes Love. [Fred "Trunks" Wood could use some Love (left), and James Bennett's music station.]
What's your game called and what's it about?

My game is called Love+. It's a stylish indie platformer with a retro visual style that comes straight out of the 8-bit generation, a clever checkpoint mechanic and a smooth soundtrack by James Bennett. The idea of the game is to get from the start to finish of each level with as many lives intact as possible.

Final Fantasy lost its way. The creative experimentation seen in Final Fantasy XII and XIII, while admirable, steered the series in a direction that many devoted fans openly lament. Even Final Fantasy XIII-2 appears reactionary; it exists to advance a story, yes, but also to address numerous consumer complaints leveled at its predecessor. I enjoyed both Final Fantasy XII and XIII, though I can say without hesitation that Square Enix's past works reached far greater heights...

Beginning in November, EA's Origin service will offer PC downloads from Capcom, Warner Bros. Interactive and THQ. This third-party support means the service will be able to offer Batman: Arkham City, Saints Row: The Third and more. The three publishers are the first to offer third-party support ...