All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Battle it out on two fan-favorite maps from Killzone 2.

Sega has not been using the property and did not appeal to renew the registration with a declaration of continued use.

Game designer Shawn Elliott and IGN editor Mitch Dyer examine the moral repercussions of Rust's flexible systems.

The recent release of the Beasts of War downloadable content pack for Total War: Rome 2 has ignited a backlash among series fans, who accuse developer Creative Assembly of deliberately withholding finished content from the retail version of the game in order to release it later as paid DLC.

Players claim that the Camel Cataphract units featured in the Beasts of War pack were originally seen in a Creative Assembly-produced Let's Play video prior to Total War: Rome 2's release. The video additionally outed the existence of the Mercenary Naked Swords unit, which wouldn't be seen until the later release of the game's Caesar in Gaul paid DLC.

Players posted these allegations at Creative Assembly's Facebook page and on the official Total War forums. Further complaints arose when forum mods allegedly moved related threads to the Rants and Raves sub-forum, which is only publicly viewable by registered users.

Speaking to Eurogamer, brand director Rob Bartholomew apologized to fans, explaining that the content originally featured in Creative Assembly's Let's Play videos differs significantly from the paid DLC units.

"At the time of this video's recording, these units were not finished in terms of art, gameplay or design and as a marketing team we should have double-checked the likelihood of them making it into the final game," Bartholomew said. "Obviously we don't want to feature content that won't be in the game intentionally, especially when it would otherwise be pointless, as in this case where there was a huge variety of other great units to show off. That's our basic human error and I apologize for letting that through."

Bartholomew additionally detailed company-wide plans to carefully check pre-release content prior to publication, in order to avoid future conflict. "[The units] weren't working pre-launch in the sense that they were finished, being largely placeholder and subject to change," he said. "However, I completely appreciate that this sounds like a 'get out' on a technicality to a fan feeling aggrieved by this, so again I do apologize for not thoroughly checking enough that all content in that video was absolutely ready for public viewing and understanding. We've put checks in place now that should prevent that in the future."

[Image: Creative Assembly]

The Cursed Forest is a free horror game made in the CryEngine. I decided to take a look, surely the forest couldn't be that cursed?Read more...

Slightly Mad Studios is expanding the collection of vehicles in Project CARS with another prominent addition, as Radical Sportscars is the latest car manufacturer to join the WMD-powered title.

Project CARS will feature three of the British company’s prototype racers, the cars will play a pivotal role in Project CARS’ extensive career mode, providing players with challenging vehicles to prove themselves in on their way to the top of the racing world.

The selection of Radicals in Project CARS starts with the company’s most successful car, the Radical SR3. Built on a spaceframe chassis, over 800 SR3s have been built in various configurations, making the SR3 the most successful entry-level prototype on the market.

Project CARS puts players behind the wheel of the race-ready SR3 „RS version“ that is powered by a 260hp Powertec 1500cc 4-cylinder engine.

Drivers who have successfully mastered the SR3 RS can graduate to the SR8 RX. A faster and more powerful version of the SR3, the SR8 RX is powered by a RPX 2.7 liter V8 engine, giving aspiring racers 430hp to advance their career with.

Radical-SR8
Radical-SR3
Radical-RXC

The Radical gang is completed by an exciting new upcoming model, the RXC Turbo. Powered by a Ford Ecoboost 3.5 liter Turbo engine providing 460hp, the RXC differs from the other two Radicals in two important ways:

Unlike the other two Radicals in Project CARS, the RXC is a coupe instead of an open-top car. Another main difference is that the RXC is fully road-legal, making it a very potent competitor for the other road-going sports cars in Project CARS.

Radical in Project CARS

Radical SR3 RS
Radical SR8 RX
Radical RXC Turbo

WMD members will be the first to test-drive these new additions once they are added to the Project CARS development builds.

To shorten the waiting time, members also get to follow every aspect of the car development process on the WMD forums, from the first steps of development to the finished car out on track.

Project CARS will be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam OS, PC, and Wii U starting Fall 2014.

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Microsoft's cloud storage service has changed its name and now offers Achievements on Xbox One.

The following comes from an EDGE interview with CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson...

“We thought the game wouldn’t stand a chance (with SteamWorld Tower Defense). To our surprise, Steamworld Tower Defense paid for itself quite quickly. I say it was a surprise, because the DSiWare Store was an abomination. There weren’t very many games on there and it was near-impossible to navigate. We got a great review from IGN, which probably saved the game.

The (3DS) ocean was very blue there compared to what the App Store had become. If we were going to leave mobile, we didn’t really know where else to go. We had no connections with Valve, Sony or Microsoft, but we had developed, submitted and published Steamworld Tower Defense. Nintendo treated us with respect from the very outset. It was a breath of fresh air to actually talk to real people from the platform on which we were about to launch, and Nintendo had completely transformed themselves.

The 3DS hardware was cool, but the really strong titles hadn’t arrived, and unit sales hadn’t taken off. The 3DS was in limbo. And yet, we had nowhere better to go. Then, in spring 2013 came Animal Crossing: New Leaf, sold like crazy and ruled the eShop sales charts. Suddenly it became clear that the 3DS was a hit product, dwarfing the PS Vita and beating all other devices.

We – and a few other indie devs – became poster boys for the new, indie-friendly Nintendo. We weren’t expecting them to be so responsive and personal – they’ve really turned themselves around in that respect. I would recommend any developer to contact them.”

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In this video, Bobbya1984 attempts to ditch his Call of Duty tactics and try's to play Titanfall the right way.

A portion of a Nintendo Life review...

Ardent golf aficionados will find a reason to enjoy NES Open Tournament Golf, but those with a passing interest in the sport won't necessarily find themselves any more enthused after playing this one. If you don't own a set of novelty club covers, this one probably isn't for you.

Full review here

Coming from a recent Yahtzee article...

So personally I think it may be in Nintendo's best interests to give up while they're in distant third place and pull a Sega, 'cos a dedicated games platform relies almost solely upon the quality of games, and that quality has dropped due to a lack of due care and attention, brought about by issues with the platform, ironically. If that was out of the way, and enough pride had been swallowed that you can tolerate the sight of, say, Majora's Mask being available for download on Steam, maybe Nintendo could remind us why we loved them in the first place. And if Nintendo and Sega were back on even turf again, existing only as competing developer/publishers, then it'd be like Holmes and Moriarty matching wits once more. Crucially, Nintendo, that is a battle that you could currently win. All you have to do is not redesign Mario with a scarf and bandages around his shoes.

Full feature here

Descent 2 is Now Available on Steam!
You're going down... again.

If you thought Descent™ went to the edge of 360° 3D power-blasting sensory insanity, then prepare yourself. You're about to plunge over the edge, and into the depths of Descent II™.

Suddenly warped into the outer reaches of the Zeta Aquilae System, your new mission sends you into the black depths of treacherous alien mines. You blast through enemy robots with powerful new tools, leaving their flaming hulks in your exhaust. Your ultimate goal: to exterminate the alien robot stronghold from the enemy Alien Base and claim total control -- it's 30 new levels of outrageous destruction.

But this time, you're not alone.

Joining you on your deadly new assignment is your loyal Guide-bot. This faithful companion rushes with you through the twists and turns of the menacing darkness, often scouting ahead to hunt down the orbs, powerups and tools you desperately need to complete your job. But beware -- raging enemies are still determined to destroy you, including the menacing Thief-bot who's set on stealing your weapons of destruction and precious powerups. Get ready -- Descent II™ is about to take you on a whole new synapse-smashing ride.

No release date for the free FTL ‘Advanced Edition’ addon as yet, which makes me an even sadder boy than I already was. Especially in the wake of the new Clone Bay subsystem being revealed.

“The goal of the Clone Bay was to really disrupt the core way you play the game,” the devs have explained. “You’ll be able to send crew off into dangerous situations without fear of death. Giant alien spiders will no longer be the terrifying, unstoppable force that you’re used to, since the system can simply revive your crew after the event.”

“Giant alien spiders will no longer be… terrifying” is a bold claim, isn’t it? … [visit site to read more]

Check out our hands-on previews of Avalanche 2: Super Avalanche, Blood of the Werewolf, Videoball, and Krautscape.

Angel-armored knights, demon scientists, and monsters from Greek myths: here's a look at what you'll face in Lords of Shadow 2.

Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available on May 20 in North America, May 22 in Australia and May 23 in Europe according to an action-packed new trailer.

- sold 35,717 copies in its first week
- Donkey Kong Country Returns sold 163,310 copies in its first week
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D sold 104,569 copies in its first week

A portion of a Wired review...

For every maddening, difficult level, there are 10 delightful ones. Stick with Tropical Freeze–-past the frustration, past the sometimes unfair deaths–and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Full review here

Attention hungry iOS Threes addicts and sad Android users: You, too, can play Threes all day long with the browser game, designed specifically for those who want to spend hours avoiding actual work (or those who forgot their spectacles at home). Seriously, only open this game if you're OK with not doing anything productive the rest of the day.

You already opened it? Oh, man. We warned you.

Threes comes from artist Greg Wohlwend and designer Asher Vollmer, and it's a brilliantly simple premise: On a four-by-four grid, slide numbers together to create larger numbers, all divisible by three. One and two make three, three and three make six, six and six make twelve, and up from there, squishing together the same, three-based numbers to achieve the high score.

The Threes browser game doesn't include the amiable chatter and unique personalities of each number featured in the iOS version, but it has the option to play the game's music. The big version comes from Angela Li, @angelaconstance on Twitter, and it's been approved by Wohlwend and Vollmer.

"We're really flattered that a fan would take the time to put Threes in the browser like this," Wohlwend tells Joystiq. "It's a fan-made, free game that doesn't try to profit from our hard work on Threes. We're currently trying our hardest to stay focused on the next update as well as on porting to Android. While the obvious feelings of 'uh-oh, people really want to play Threes everywhere' kind of permeate our thoughts more and more, and it's hard to focus on what we need to because of that, we feel this homage was done with the right kind of heart."

Everyone who's rabidly awaiting the arrival of Dark Souls II knows that it's going to a nihilistic affair where they're going to die a lot. Nobody's fooling themselves. But, hey, this new trailer wants you to know all that painful trial-and-error builds some character. It's even got some sunshine in it!Read more...

Free to Play is a feature-length documentary created by Valve.

When Brian was a kid, his mom accused his friend of stealing an NES game. That destroyed the kid's life.

FF XIII got a bad rap after it launched. But now, a few years later, it's time to take a closer look.