PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

I really don’t think I’m exaggerating. In the same way that Narbacular Drop made you sit back and go, “Woah!”, so too does Void. It’s certainly not the first time manipulating time bubbles in the world has been done, but it’s certainly the best I’ve ever seen it, and it’s the first time it’s just felt right.

(more…)

I simply must go (but baby it’s cold outside) the answer is no (but baby it’s cold outside) your welcome has been (how lucky that you dropped in) so nice and warm (look out the window at that meteorite storm)

Shelter with me inside the ramshackle construct behind door number twelve.

(more…)

At the Spike VGAs, some dudes from those American Pie movies awarded Blizzard with this year's Gaming God award. Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce, and Allen Adham took to the stage to accept, revealing Diablo 3's final introductory cinematic. As you can imagine -- actually, wait, don't imagine. Just watch it above already!

I’ve been playing games on computers for the vast bulk of my life. From BBC Micro to Spectrum to 486 to assorted Athlons to the quad-cored radiator I used today, I’ve rarely been far from a keyboard. I have seen much, I have played much, I have learned much. But learning so often comes from failure. There have been many, many failures: these are but a few.(more…)

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, Shawn Pierre of Origaminc is playing with time, luck and platforms in Mr. Condyle's Escape.

What's your game called and what's it about?

The name of the game is Mr. Condyle's Escape. The game is about a misunderstood scientist who is was trapped in a virtual world and must escape by getting past the world's defense systems. Players must choose the moves for Mr. Condyle in advance, before the world is set in motion. Once the game world moves, Mr. Condyle will need to avoid wonderful traps, such as Death Balls or Spore Chambers, while also navigating though constantly shifting environments, in hopes of reaching the goal or surviving for a certain period of time.

The very important #indieVisibilty awards ceremony took place in London last night, organised by SizeFiveGames, officiated by OneLifeLeft, and with awards selected by IndieGames and “Rock, Paper, Shotgun”. You can see the full list of the awards distributed below, including Best Minecraft, Nicest Man, “best attempt to do what mainstream devs will not”, and Notch’s game of the year.

Well done to all those involved!(more…)

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Well, nothing. Because they’d perished, like the rest of them.

Happy Christmas, everyone.(more…)

Sundays are for waking up early to see what the previous night’s hype ceremony has disgorged into the guts of the internet. Then, later, you turn to other things. Words on those games. What might there be amongst the debris? Let’s scavenge.

• It’s difficult not to be impressed by Totilo’s profile of Tim Sweeney, a programming legend who is about to be added to the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Totilo explains a bit about why the mind behind Epic’s tech is so important: “These days, if a company wants to show off how impressive their new computer, phone or console is, the easiest path is to get the latest Unreal Engine on it. They want Sweeney or one of his colleagues on stage showing how well it runs and how easily people can make games with it. “He enabled us to make fun games that I call ‘system justifiers,’” Bleszinski explained. “He made an engine that made it easy for developers to make good-looking things fast, which then let you get a great-looking game on an iPad 2 or through a 3D card and show your wife that ‘this is why I got this.’”"

(more…)

Yes, Bioware are making an RTS. It’s powered by the Battlefield 3 engine. It’s PC-only. Dr Ray said: ““We’re bringing BioWare’s vision for emotionally engaging gameplay and great attention to quality to the strategy genre and the Command & Conquer franchise. I am excited to welcome BioWare Victory to our label. They are a great addition and the team is working hard to make sure Generals 2 truly immerses and engages players into this intense, gritty, modern war experience.” And Executive producer Jon Van Caneghem said: “With Generals 2, we are bringing the Command & Conquer franchise back to its roots, blending strategic gameplay with fast-paced action — all set in visually stunning theaters of war powered by Frostbite 2.”

See trailer below.(more…)

So here’s a genuinely interesting twist. Epic’s next game steps away from space marine bombast to be a game where “you explore, you scavenge, you build and ultimately you survive.” It’s called Fortnite and it sounds like my kind of game, frankly. There’s no word of what formats it is on, so might not be PC, but I think we can assume that it will be, given the clear Minecraftian inspiration. Like Minecraft, enemies come out at night, so players will be spend the daytime scavenging to bolster their defences for the night.

Teaser-y trailer below. Thoughts, Internet?(more…)

At the Spike VGAs, some dudes from those American Pie movies awarded Blizzard with this year's Gaming God award. Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce, and Allen Adham took to the stage to accept, revealing Diablo 3's final introductory cinematic. As you can imagine -- actually, wait, don't imagine. Just watch it above already!

Or should we say "Nyu" partnership: Capcom has inked a deal with Nyu Media, an intermediary localization company that specializes in Japanese indie titles, to bring (guess what) Japanese indie games to North American and European PCs through the usual stable of digital distribution platforms.

The first indie title to be released under Capcom's watchful eye will be Satazius, a "retro chic arcade shooter" from Japanese development studio ASTRO PORT. The shmup will launch on December 20 via Steam, Direct-2-Drive, GamersGate, and "other major digital distribution services" for $5.99 USD.

A quick peek at Nyu Media's site reveals a few more titles currently slated for "early 2012:" Cherry Tree High Comedy Club, Ether Vapor Remaster, Fighting Fairy (working title), eXceed 2nd - Vampire REX and eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package.

Wow. We look forward to a little Japanese absurdity shaking up the western indie-gaming scene.

I appear to have accidentally spent last night (until about 6am) discovering that there ain’t no party like a philosophy party. I stumbled home in the early hours of the morning, and now what limited brain activity I’ve got is almost entirely focused on trying to solve the problem of how to make a fry up appear in front of me, without any of the ingredients or the capactiy to collect the ingredients. Thankfully, my Savy-deputy Tony Heugh took sympathy on my self-enduced shambolic mental state, and has helped me bucket up this load of bargains for you this week. There’s more cheap games over at SavyGamer.co.uk (more…)

“Feed the world. Let them know it’s Christmas time.” But I’ve only got six dining room chairs, Bob. “I don’t care. I’m too busy thanking God it’s them instead of my friend.” I hate you, Bob.

Ah, the Christmas classics. Not talking of which, what’s the tenth game in our NOT IN ANY ORDER list of the best games of spaceyear 2011?

(more…)

Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, creators of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, have reportedly shut down. The details regarding the closure are currently very s.k.e.t.c.h.y. UkraNews reports, citing sources, that CEO Sergei Grigorovich told the staff in a meeting this morning that he had decided to close the company. GSC is said to have had between 40-50 employees.

RockPaperShotgun, which has been on top of this story, got in touch with GSC and obtained the ominous: "Sorry, no comments at this point." There are also Tweets from employees confirming the closure.

STALKER 2 was expected to launch sometime in 2012. We'll update as more information becomes available.

The words, I do not have them. Hatoful Boyfriend is a game about the lives, loves, classes and picnics of young, argumentative pigeons and their pigeon teachers at the world’s only pigeon school. It’s more a visual novel than a game, but you do get to make a few choices and increase your character’s stats and… well, it’s about pigeons dating. And going to a posh school. I would imagine that’s reason enough to play it.(more…)

Gosh, did we really not post anything about super-stylish indie puzzler Q.U.B.E. since Lewie’s interview a while back? It looks like we did not. And it’s a game worth keeping an eye on, I think, not just because it’s a neat idea for a first-person game, but also because it’s the first title from the Indie Fund, that cabal of clever indies who have got together to back innovative projects. Q.U.B.E. will be their first game, and it’s an intriguing prospect: a first-person puzzle of escalating complexity, based on the properties of a selection of coloured cubes. You can take a look at the official trailer below for a bit of an illustration of what that means, and remember that the game is out December 16th on Steam.(more…)

Christmas, as we all know, is a time for stealing. Wait, taking? Giving? I forget. It’s also a time for building up toward for a ridiculously long time, leading to features that you even have to write on your day off. Not that I’m bitter. I’m not bitter. I’m bitter. So what’s behind the door today, children? Oh, you’ve already clicked, haven’t you?

(more…)

“Is there anything you like about Christmas?” wondered my significant other last night, after I’d just expelled another long moan about the hassle of the holiday season. I didn’t have to think for long. “Yes!” I exclaimed, confidently. “There’s usually an episode of Dr Who on.” For, despite the good Doctor’s televisual output being what I would generously describe as ‘uneven’, it pushes most of the right buttons for me to never want to miss it. What I don’t yet know is how much this extends to games based on the last Gallifreyan’s time-bending adventures. The recent clutch of free point and click adventures were miserable, clunky affairs, but looks as though there’s something more significant on its way though – Dr Who: The Eternity Clock is due for PC and console next year. Even though the BBC promptly pulled the trailer they accidentally stuck online last night, I’ve reversed the polarity of the neutron flow so you can watch it below.(more…)

Thief-inspired Doom 3 mod The Dark Mod has received an extensive new update over here. What’s most interesting about this appears at the end of the announcement, saying that the build does not utilize the recently-freed Doom 3 source code (and as such requires Doom 3 multiplayer to be installed), but that the team are going to try and start integrating the mod using it, so that they can create a standalone game. The team have asked for help in making this happen: “The Dark Mod can not be a standalone release until all the Doom 3 art assets and animations have been fully replaced. If you wish to help with that effort, please visit The Dark Mod forums and post in the “I Want to Help” sub-forum.”

You might recollect from a few months back that Cyanide announced they were making a videogame version of the tabletop combat system Confrontation. There’s apparently been a bit of progress in that area, because Cyanide have released a teaser trailer (via Blue), which you can see below. It seems to feature a lot of heavily out of breath characters. Regarding the game itself Cyanide explain: “With a core focus on strategy, Confrontation challenges players to lead a squad of elite soldiers, helping them evolve into a unit that is equal parts brain and brawn. Recruit, develop and equip your squadron and the powerful allies that fight by your side; establish new strategies to destroy your enemies!” No word on a release date, but I’d go for “2012ish”. Seems like a fair bet.(more…)

I’ve been reading some interesting discussions about Dear Esther of late, with some folks maintaining that it’s “not even a game”. With just wandering about and some artful narration going for it, you can see why some people are sceptical about it being in the same category as all those other things, with their hi-score tables and their comprehensible rule sets, that currently sit in the big box of games. Whether or not it’s a game, you’re going to be able to pay $10 on Valentine’s Day next year, and wander lonesomely through its breath-takingly remade landscape. It really is quite an extraordinary thing to see, outdoing most mainstream games’ environment work with its lavish Source-powered environments. The Chinese Room also announce that: “In other news,we can also confirm we will be speaking at GDC2012′s Game Design track about Dear Esther,the approach to environmental build, audio, voice-overs and storytelling.”

Actually, if I am honest, it’s quite a boring award, what with it being Best Project 2012 at games industry networking event, Game Connection, which was taking place in Paris this week. But that’s not to say it’s not worthwhile – indeed, it nudged me into posting two lovely trailers for the action platformer, Tink, which you can see below. The absurdly-named developers Mimimi say of the game: “Tink is a 3D action adventure game set in Tinkerworld, where everything can be built from basic materials as long as the idea behind it is strong enough. Cities, forests, mountains and seas are crafted from nothing more than color, paper and glue.” Which sounds a lot like how we made RPS! Anyway, the game looks exquisitely lovely, and might actually be the most colourful game ever made. Seems like that’s deliberate.

Tink is apparently destined for Steam sometime next year, if Mimimi can raise the money they need. I suspect they will.(more…)

Terry Cavanagh’s extraordinary first-person co-op puzzle game, At A Distance, is now available to download for free. You’ll need two networked PCs side by side to play it with a friend or helpful acquaintance. I played it with an Alec, as you can read here. We found it to be something quite special, demanding both considered co-operation, spatial thinking, lateral thinking, inside-out thinking, and boiled thinking, fresh from the pot. It’s remarkably atmospheric, too, and goes a long to way towards showing how minimal first-person visuals can be, while still telling you everything you need to know.

There are some things you should not ever doubt. There will be death. There will be taxes. But there will also be a certain type of videogame. Can you guess what happens to who? And where does it happen? I think you know this one…(more…)

Side-scrolling procedurally-generated post-apocalyptic magical adventure thing A Valley Without Wind has entered a multiplayer testing phase, which is available to pre-ordering types. Arcen say: “For those interested in opting into co-operative play in the same server/world with up to a few dozen other players (perhaps even more), head over to the AVWW multiplayer wiki and check out the FAQ section along with other related notes, specs, and such.” There’s a big old post from Chris Park (as is his style) explaining more over here.

From this astonishingly boring website, it seems there is to be a GTR3. Which is a dull way of announcing good news. More details are hard to come by at this point, as SimBin – currently the only name attached – are maintaining “radio silence” on their forum. So we have just this obscure and tiresome site that seems to be loading something for two minutes, and then doesn’t. And nothing more. The developer of the first two GTRs, Blimey! Games, no longer exists. And the company that replaced it, Slightly Mad Studios, is working on Project CARS for 2013, after offering Shift 2 this year. So will this be developed internally at SimBin, without Ian Bell? We’ve no idea, because they’re being so peculiarly opaque.

From this astonishingly boring website, it seems there is to be a GTR3. Which is a dull way of announcing good news. More details are hard to come by at this point, as SimBin – currently the only name attached – are maintaining “radio silence” on their forum. So we have just this obscure and tiresome site that seems to be loading something for two minutes, and then doesn’t. And nothing more. The developer of the first two GTRs, Blimey! Games, no longer exists. And the company that replaced it, Slightly Mad Studios, is working on Project CARS for 2013, after offering Shift 2 this year. So will this be developed internally at SimBin, without Ian Bell? We’ve no idea, because they’re being so peculiarly opaque.

From this astonishingly boring website, it seems there is to be a GTR3. Which is a dull way of announcing good news. More details are hard to come by at this point, as SimBin – currently the only name attached – are maintaining “radio silence” on their forum. So we have just this obscure and tiresome site that seems to be loading something for two minutes, and then doesn’t. And nothing more. The developer of the first two GTRs, Blimey! Games, no longer exists. And the company that replaced it, Slightly Mad Studios, is working on Project CARS for 2013, after offering Shift 2 this year. So will this be developed internally at SimBin, without Ian Bell? We’ve no idea, because they’re being so peculiarly opaque.

From this astonishingly boring website, it seems there is to be a GTR3. Which is a dull way of announcing good news. More details are hard to come by at this point, as SimBin – currently the only name attached – are maintaining “radio silence” on their forum. So we have just this obscure and tiresome site that seems to be loading something for two minutes, and then doesn’t. And nothing more. The developer of the first two GTRs, Blimey! Games, no longer exists. And the company that replaced it, Slightly Mad Studios, is working on Project CARS for 2013, after offering Shift 2 this year. So will this be developed internally at SimBin, without Ian Bell? We’ve no idea, because they’re being so peculiarly opaque.