All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Kart racer joins Instant Game Collection, plus sales on 2013 and Vita games.

Chris Roberts' upcoming space epic Star Citizen has surpassed yet another crowdfunding milestone, by attracting over $39 million to the game's development to date.

As with previous funding milestones, topping $39 million adds a new feature to the game. Specifically, a star system known as UDS-2943-01-22. "The object, once thought to be a single massive star, is actually a trinary star consisting of two white dwarfs and an active pulsar orbiting one another," reads the developer's official description. "Because of the complex gravitic factors at work, it is now believed that a jump point leading to the system likely exists in or near explored human space. Beyond the bizarre stellar makeup, the composition of the system is all but unknown."

With $39 million out of the way, Star Citizen fans can now set their sights on the next stretch goal. If Star Citizen attracts over $40 million in funding, developer Cloud Imperium Games will add an additional two star systems to the game. Beyond that, the development team has also added a new stretch goal at $41 million that will fund a team of developers to create procedural generation technology for "future iterations of Star Citizen." [Image: Cloud Imperium Games]

Elite: Dangerous is the crowdfunded re-birth of the classic Elite space trading game, which used ancient magics to cram an entire wireframe universe inside a computer. This new, modern magic is trickling its way through an alpha development process, and last week Adam and Graham got access to a series of singleplayer scenarios designed to demonstrate the game’s combat systems. Graham is playing it with the Oculus Rift headset, Adam is playing it with aplomb. They gathered beneath a moonlit asteroid field to discuss their thoughts so far. … [visit site to read more]

Jakks Pacific has created the first officially licensed Mario Kart ride-on for children, which comes out next month.

Fans of seagulls, embedded games journalism, surfer dudes, and discussions about Thief, Strider, and Earth Defense Force will love today's show.

You know that Lunchables makes pizzas and hot dogs? Brian and Greg discuss while being horrible in Minecraft.

Naomi and Marty go hands on with the collector's edition of Dark Souls II and show you all of the incredible goodies that come in it.

Happy 60th birthday to Sid Meier, the legendary game designer best known for Civilization, Pirates!, and many other strategy games. Celebrate by checking out our profile of Meier's life, career, and history. "While you were playing, I memorized the algorithms."Read more...

A portion of a C3 review...

Smart puzzles wrapped up in a beautiful aesthetic with an amazing soundtrack make the (short) journey to the final credits an absolute pleasure. Overly slow character movement, no hints system for rookies, and - you guessed it - a shorter than expected experience, mar what is otherwise a truly joyous piece of gaming art.

Full review here

Thanks to Connor for the heads up!

Most birthday celebrations involve a cake, paper hats and some light tomfoolery, but celebrating the life anniversary of an inanimate object is understandably a little less rowdy. The PS Vita enters its third year of existence by slashing prices on a bunch of games, starting tomorrow.

The PS Vita Anniversary sale, which runs through March 3, makes it a good week to be a PS Vita owner. PS Plus subscribers can grab games for up to 75 percent off, while everyone else can enjoy deals of up to half-off. Cheap downloads for Hotline Miami, Escape Plan, Flower, Killzone Mercenary and many more are available. If you're a PS Plus member, you can grab Machinarium for a paltry $1.75.

A supplemental Back to 2013 sale provides further temptations tomorrow with discounts on Dragon's Crown, Guacamelee, Spelunky, Super Motherload and Injustice: Gods Among Us. Many of the PS Vita games are cross-buy enabled, and PS3 users can enjoy discounts on Diablo 3, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Rayman Legends, Terraria and more.

Both promotions will be active after the PlayStation Store updates tomorrow. There's quite a lot to pore over, so we'd suggest taking a second to review your checkbook first. Checkbooks are still a thing, right?

The next, big Castlevania title may not be hitting Nintendo platforms, but there's no denying the franchise's rich history with Nintendo over the years. I'm sure we'll see more Castlevania action on Nintendo platforms in the future, but for now we can look back on how the franchise got to where it is.

Nearly 30 years (and 30 games) after its incredible debut, Konami's Castlevania series is still going strong. Relive its entire legacy.

Ashley Johnson comes by to talk about Ellie in Left Behind, and a Thief developer talks about reinventing the franchise.

It's been almost two whole months since we bid farewell to 2013, but it's so hard to let go of the good times. Sony takes a nostalgic look back at the year we left behind with an upcoming round of PlayStation Network price drops on some of 2013's notable digital releases.

Sony's Back to 2013 Sale has a lot to offer for RPG fans, with Tales of Xillia available for $19.99 ($14.99 for Plus members), Dragon's Crown up for $24.99 ($17.49 for Plus), and Ni no Kuni dropped to $9.99 ($6.99 for Plus) -- its lowest digital price to date. Atlus' classic PSone RPG Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is also on sale this week for $4.99, or $3.49 for Plus subscribers.

Other noteworthy drops include Diablo 3 for $39.99 ($34.99 Plus), Rayman Legends for $41.99 ($29.39 Plus), and WWE 2K14 for $39.99 ($29.99 Plus). Sale prices start tomorrow, and last through next Monday.

[Image: Sony]

It’s taken an enormous amount of willpower to resist the charms of Divinity: Original Sin since the Early Access version arrived on Steam. It’s not that I’m worried about playing parts of the game before it’s complete – I’ve already spent two days in its company – it’s that I’m in need of an RPG partner. Far too many of my friends are either unnerved by the idea of traipsing through a fantasy world with me while I talk to dogs, cats and cows, or they’re digging their heels in and waiting for the full game to be released. A new video shows some of the environments due when that happy event occurs, sometime in Spring. There are also weather effects. Around thirty seconds in, a big ol’ monster slips on some ice and falls on its arse.

… [visit site to read more]

While snack traditionalists cling desperately to their ketchup and mustard, those possessing progressive taste buds have succumbed to the spicy siren song of Sriracha. What sorcery is this? It's not magic — it's chemistry. Read more...

Man, that's one hell of a system! Looks like the creators of this Chinese knock-off gaming device decided that sticking some big-name characters on their box was the key to success. I would love to see what this thing actually plays like.

Another entry in the high-quality game art canon by Titan Books releases this week. Take a peek inside now.

Harold Ramis — director and co-writer of Groundhog Day and the brains behind the Ghostbusters operation, died today from complications related to auto-immune inflammatory vasculitis. He was 69.Read more...

Will the split between 360, Xbox One, and PC mean fewer people buy Microsoft's new console? We discuss.

Larian Studios' latest high fantasy epic, Divinity: Original Sin, is now slated for a Spring release, and to whet players' appetites, the developer has issued the above trailer, titled "Spring Is Coming."

According to a press release issued by Larian, the Spring launch window will allow the developer to utilize more of the feedback it has received from the game's Kickstarter backers, as well as those playing the game's Early Access incarnation. "Divinity: Original Sin features a huge and reactive RPG world with unparalleled 2-player co-op, and Larian is taking the time necessary to make it right and polished," the developer stated.

If you'd rather not wait a few nebulous months to dig into Divinity: Original Sin, there's still time to join the Early Access test. While there is a $40 cost of entry, Larian claims that the Early Access game will continue to receive content updates and bug fixes for the foreseeable future. [Image: Larian Studios]

Play an oldschool text adventure to see Jared's favorite games of all time! Be warned: you might get eaten by a grue.

And on the 11th day, the lord of 'Twitch Plays Pokémon' was brought back to life.Read more...