PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

Hello! Did you miss me? Did you even notice that I was gone? I’ve been holidaying for the last week, leaving more resolute men to sift through the upheavals and upheavings of E3, but I’m back now.

To the surprise of not a single soul, I choose to return by gesticulating in the direction of a stylised indie game. Trash TV appears to be a platform game at first but is really more of a puzzler, although a puzzler in which the solution to everything is GUNS. There’s loads of GUNS and they enable the television that you are inexplicably controlling to escape from the garbage-haunted recycling plant that is an abattoir for such trash and detritus. The demo’s on Steam, the soundtrack is superb. Trailer below.

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Nexon is now a minority shareholder in MMO publisher NCsoft, having purchased 3.218 million shares of the company from NCsoft chairman/cofounder Taek Jin Kim to the tune of ₩804.5 billion ($685.43 millon) - 14.7 percent of total stock. This makes Nexon the largest shareholder in NCsoft, according to VentureBeat.

The purchase is part of a two-year agreement between the two South Korean game companies, though the specifics of said agreement remain shrouded in mystery. This announcement comes somewhat cooly on the heels of reports that claimed Nexon had designs to take over EA; reports that ended up being far less interesting than originally thought.

Want to know how to best build your character? The Diablo 3 wiki has wicked sample builds for every class.

Hello youse.

What’s that? You want me to recommend a new game that you might like? How can I possibly do that? How am I supposed to know what kind of games you like? I’m not psychic!

Or am I?

This week, I want to introduce you to a game of simplicity and beauty. A game called Divinare!(more…)

Sundays are for rest and recuperation. Or that’s the fantasy. In reality you are just fighting on another front, in a different kind of war. Perhaps you will get just enough downtime to read some of what has been written about your beloved videogames. Or perhaps not.

• There have been many dismissive pieces of writing regarding this year’s E3, but I was surprised to see Gamasutra editor Kris Graft adding his voice to the anti-E3 choir: “Go to E3 and try to identify trends, you’ll soon realize that you’re looking into the past. E3 2012 could’ve been E3 2006. It is a museum without the informative placards. It’s an archaeologist’s dream. It’s a reality show starring a washed-up rockstar. It’s old gameplay. Old themes. A parade of old business models meant to pacify retailers, patting them on the head to assure them that they will be as relevant five years from now as they are today. E3 2012 was a fool’s circus, more than any other E3 that I’ve been to. It insulted my intelligence, and insulted my enthusiasm for video games.”

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Bam. Neal Stephenson, the author of science and historical fiction like Snow Crash and The System Of The World, has just announced he’s making a game. In fact, he announces he’s been researching how to make a game for years, and now he’s ready to make it. A sword fighting game, that will address his frustration with how sword fighting has been portrayed and delivered so far. With a Kickstarter video. With Gabe Newell in it. You need to watch this pitch video, below. CLANG!

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The next live-action adventure title in the Tex Murphy series, Project Fedora, has been fully funded with a week left in its Kickstarter campaign. After raising almost $500k from over 5,000 fans, creators Chris Jones and Aaron Conners are turning their attention to the project's stretch goals in the event they raise even more money for the project.

Stretch goals include porting the game to additional platforms in more languages as well as expansions on the game's story. Jones discusses the team's "big finish manifesto" in the video above.

[Thanks, Shaun!]

A Mother's Inferno begins on a train, travels through the juiciest bowels of Hell, and ends up somewhere in between, covered in neon blood and reeking of vomit and mental decay.

It's a short journey, if that helps.

A Mother's Inferno, a PC/Mac title at E3's IndieCade from Denmark's National Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment, examines the five stages of loss as represented by train compartments filled with all manner of angry, illusive and violent demons.

It's first-person, told from the perspective of a mother whose son is suddenly and violently possessed, thrown around their train compartment, and stolen into the leftover nightmarish world. As a red-stained landscape looms outside the train's windows, the mother attempts to reclaim her son, battling evil spirits with just a shard of glass and, we assume, her love.

Another week, another inbox stuffed full of Kickstarters people believe are worth a mention. So below you’ll find the latest on the status of all the projects that have caught our eye, successes, failures, and the in-between.

As ever, two things. Firstly, our including a link to a project here does not mean we endorse it, or believe it’s worth giving your money. That’s your choice. Secondly, if you think I’ve missed something, email me at the address behind my name above, rather than leaving comments. (And can I suggest not being rude about, or titling your email, “I can’t believe you forgot…”) Sending us a link is no guarantee it’ll appear in the Katchup. The value of Kickstarter projects can go down as well as up. Your home may be at risk if you do not keep up your payments to Tim Schafer.

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One of those things that’s much more practical in video games than in real life: Jumping off really tall buildings. There’s three games for bargain prices that let you do just that this weekend. If jumping from great heights isn’t your thing, there’s also a game about a car. A car what goes fast. What ever will they think of next? To keep yourself informed of all the games that are cheap, you can and should rely on SavyGamer.co.uk. Here’s the bargain bucket: (more…)

Transcripted takes two fairly disparate gameplay concepts and combines them to create something new. Specifically, it blends 2D omnidirectional shooting with a match-three puzzle mechanic. Or, if you want the elevator pitch, as it was given to me by publisher TopWare's PR director Jake DiGennaro, it's Geometry Wars meets Zuma.

In a game where balance is so important, Blizzard is being very careful about how to expanding the online portion.

IGN user AlexBroPA conquered Diablo 3's Inferno mode solo with this level-60 Wizard build. Find out how he did it, then make your own run at Diablo.

PCG has the news on Carmack’s latest side-project, which is making a VR kit. Carmack showed it off behind closed doors at E3, allowing people to play Doom 3, with full-on surround-o-vision. Carmack says: “This is literally held together with duct tape, but the guts of this is going to be made available as a kit for around $500.”

So not a commercial thing, but a do-it-yourself VR system with Carmack’s brain behind the gadgetry. I’m getting one. For research and development purposes, you understand. Anyone else?

In an effort to weed-out oiks, riff-raff, rotters, fakes, frauds, bounders, curs and cads from Flare Path’s readership, from this week onwards only individuals able to answer ‘yes’ to one of the following questions – Do you rush outside and start scanning the sky on hearing an unusually throaty aero engine? Is your contentment reservoir refilled by the whistling of distant trains? Have you named your children after obscure WW2 Royal Navy minesweepers? Does your ‘If I Ever Won The Lottery’ list begin 1) Quit job. 2) Buy vast rural estate. 3) Purchase Panther tank? – will be able to see the ‘Read the rest of this entry’ link lurking under intros like this one. (more…)

Awesome-looking spaceship-managing rogue-like type FTL: Faster Than Light, is going to get a beta later this month, according to Mr Jubert. You’ll recall that the game did extraordinarily well over on the Kickstarters, raising an extra special $200k when they were only asking for $10k. Really, Internet, you do spoil us.

New video below!(more…)

Despite having some clever ideas as far as classes and combat are concerned, RaiderZ character aesthetics are very clearly targeted first and foremost for an Asian audience.

Fight in player versus player matches or battle against computer-controlled enemies in this visually impressive online FPS.

Join IGN Prime and rock out for some early play time with Starvoid, an RTS/MOBA hybrid with instant drop-in multiplayer!

Neverwinter aims to give you a Dungeons & Dragon's experience with their take on instanced dungeon runs.

Curt Schilling's embattled 38 Studios has declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation), as Rhode Island and federal authorities open an investigation into how the company handled its finances.

WPRI reports the state police, attorney general's office, U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI will investigate 38 Studios, "both the money that came from the state as well as the money that came from Bank Rhode Island." The Providence Journal confirmed the bankruptcy this afternoon.

Beyond the controversial tax-payer backed loan of $75 million to 38 Studios, the Bank Rhode Island reportedly loaned the developer $8.5 million earlier this year against tax credits that haven't materialized.

Here’s what I don’t understand: business. What a good job I partake in the running of this one, eh? Anyone want to swap RPS for some sweets? Or indeed, Activision. Remarkably, parent company Vivendi may be looking to sell Activision-Blizzard on, and this announcement has seen a drop in their share value. Not even the almighty might of Call Of Duty seems to be enough to keep the business worth keeping as far as the massive megacorp are concerned, perhaps looking for a fast injection of cash. Gamasutra reports that Bloomberg are saying the part or full sale of the company will be discussed on the 22nd June during an investor meeting in Paris.

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We pick 20 of the most interesting games shown off at E3 2012 that will be made available to the mouse and keyboard crowd.

Curt Schilling's embattled 38 Studios has declared bankruptcy, as Rhode Island and federal authorities open an investigation into how the company handled its finances.

WPRI reports the state police, attorney general's office, U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI will investigate 38 Studios, "both the money that came from the state as well as the money that came from Bank Rhode Island." The Providence Journal confirmed the bankruptcy this afternoon.

Beyond the controversial tax-payer backed loan of $75 million to 38 Studios, the Bank Rhode Island reportedly loaned the developer $8.5 million earlier this year against tax credits that haven't materialized.

Bullet Run's mix of action, wit and visual spectacle could be enough to engage an audience looking for something a bit less serious.

The iconic actor discusses how Family Guy has made the translation to a MMORPG and the continuing legacy of his performance as Batman.

Carlos Bordeu from ACE Team is excited about being able to talk about his new game, Zeno Clash II. And that makes for good reading. We talked to him about open worlds, new technology, and how a game inspired by “the punk fantasy art of John Blanche” is going to play. Read on for elucidation.(more…)

So Tex Murphy will be back. The Kickstarter for the FMV adventure series’ return, Project Fedora, looked wobbly for a while, especially when aiming for a mighty $450,000, but with some pretty inventive updating they’ve managed to tiptoe over the line with still over a week to go.

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The fifth Humble Indie Bundle has been an unqualified success. Only halfway through its run, and it has already raised an astonishing $3.2 million, from over 400,000 purchases. With additional surprises pretty much inevitable, it’s fascinating to see just how high those numbers are going to go. I grabbed the chance to speak to one of the Humble Indie Bundle’s team, Richard Esguerra, to find out what it’s like to be sat at the other side of this. We talk about the experience of achieving this level of success, controversies encountered along the way, and whether this money is changing lives.

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Topware and Reality Pump (who previously worked on the Two Worlds games) have just announced a survival horror game called, well, Sacrilegium. Starring a lady called Alex, it’s an international tale of horror and combat, in which you’ll meet numerous unsavoury characters, and uncover occult plots in North America and Europe. The gallery of images show a classically spooky world, where everyone is doing their business at night. The feature list talks about combat and motion capture, stuff, but also – oddly – eye-tracking: “Eye-tracking: 3D-ET™ – the revolutionary proprietary technology that offers three dimensions, providing a more real and captivating experience than any other implementation available today. Already tested and reverently welcomed by actual PC players.”

THAT HORROR GAME IS WATCHING YOUR EYES.