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Huh? If there’s one thing I didn’t expect the next big Lord of the Rings game to resemble, it was Assassin’s Creed. But that’s all I could think about when watching this footage of Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor (well that, Bacon Pancakes, and this otter). It’s an open-world action RPG, and when Wraith-possessed (sigh) Ranger Talion sauntered up a wall and rope-walked over a courtyard, it was right out of Ezio’s* skillset. When he then used his Wraith powers (sigh-sigh) to scan the crowd, they might as well have added an eagle screech and a wink. Not that it didn’t look like fun, and there’s some stuff in here about a nemesis systems that you should look at, but the inspiration is incredibly obvious.(more…)

If you’re one of the few people to own an Oculus Rift, there’s a 99% chance it’s one of the original devkits. That means it’ll have a low-resolution screen, head-tracking problems, and might even make you feel nauseous while you use it. That’s why Anamnesis is so clever: it’s a mystery game which treats the Rift not as a head-mounted display, but as a pair of magic goggles you look through to see extra information about the world.(more…)

Eric Doty spends his days at Microsoft as a content producer and community strategist for Xbox, but he also aspires to create video games. Enter: Troubadour, an "interactive graphic novel" about "growing up in the digital age" from Doty's independent studio, Cicatriz Entertainment.

Doty tells Joystiq he's had the idea for over two years now and that Troubadour is chiefly about "our own social anxieties and the consequences we face when technology permeates so much of our world" - even if those consequences aren't all bad.

To celebrate Audio-Technica's arrival in the gaming headset market, we're giving away a couple of premium gaming headsets!

Creator Dean "Rocket" Hall says we should expect the updates to fully roll out in about six months.

As Age of Wonders 3 is a game about leading nations into conflict, its rogues are less "deadly shadows" and more "subtle, calculating political agents." Think: Richard Nixon, only with a diabolical army of bearded succubi.

After debuting on the PS Vita months ago, Zen Studios’ kung fu-themed rhythm fighter KickBeat has finally landed on Steam. Has it gotten any better?

A new golf sim is coming to the new consoles.

As I wandered the debris-strewn wasteland of discarded smartphones that is the aftermath of the perfect storm of disposable consumerism at CES in Vegas earlier this month, my plan had been to regale you all with a twisting tale of ultra mobile technology and gaming. To talk about the iPhone and how its performance has ballooned by 40 times since introduction in 2007. And what it all means for the PC. I wrote it up and even managed to crowbar in an anecdote about the afternoon I spent lounging in the sun at the Colombo Swimming Club chatting to Arthur C. Clarke without once mentioning 2001 (true story and all that). But then I thought sod that whimsy, I’ll save it for another day. I’ve got an Intel Haswell-powered Sony Vaio Tap 11 at the moment. Will it game? (more…)

Hardware manufacturer Alienware has clarified earlier statements it made regarding the moddability of its upcoming Steam Machines lineup, revealing that component upgrades will be possible but difficult.

"Upgrading the internal components will not be as easy as compared to other platforms [...]," company general manager Frank Azor explained in a statement to Eurogamer, "but we will not prevent a customer from upgrading."

Azor cited the small physical size of Alienware's Steam Machine as a specific factor impeding hardware upgrades. Azor recommends that users who approach PC hardware with upgrading in mind should stick with pre-built setups like the Alienware X51. Previously, Azor implied that Alienware's Steam Machines hardware would not be moddable at all, noting that "this particular product is restricted in its upgrade options."

Alienware announced this week that new models of its Steam Machines hardware will be issued yearly as the company updates internal components and specifications. Alienware's first Steam Machine will launch in September.

Of all the things for DayZ to be inspired by, I didn’t think it would be the 1947 song “Buttons and Bows”. But according to zombie master Dean Hall’s RedditAMA, DayZ’s eventual future will include bows, throwable weapons, and more zombies. Bows, people. Bows. Oh, wait. And arrows. That makes more sense.(more…)

Open development is just about the worst idea for games.

People like to think they’re pretty special. And people do tend to have a habit of thinking what they think is right, and those who disagree are wrong. In my case it’s actually true, but unfortunately that’s not always the case for others. And really, honestly, the very last thing I want is other wrong people to be influencing the games I’m going to play. Developers have to stop asking other people how to make their games.

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Candy Crush Saga developer King says it isn't trying to strip Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga of its name - but a legal opposition to the word "Saga" remains in action, Stoic says. In a statement on its website, Stoic says it's making another game in the Banner Saga universe, regardless of King's trademark attempts:

"We won't make a viking saga without the word Saga, and we don't appreciate anyone telling us we can't. King.com claims they're not attempting to prevent us from using The Banner Saga, and yet their legal opposition to our trademark filing remains. We're humbled by the outpouring of support and honored to have others stand with us for the right to their own Saga. We just want to make great games."

In December, King claimed The Banner Saga was "confusingly and deceptively similar to [King's] previously used Saga marks," but just yesterday said it wouldn't take action against Stoic. "King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying to build on our brand or our content," King said.

King has also filed to trademark the word "candy," and that one has been approved for publication in the US, giving the public 30 days to file opposition against the mark before it becomes law. King said it already trademarked "candy" in the EU because its IP "is constantly being infringed," but it won't enforce the mark against all uses of the word. "Some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so," King said.

Bethesda has revealed a host of famous names, including Michael Gambon, John Cleese and Bill Nighy will lend their voices to TESO.

Actually, that should be “Footage Of Age Wonders III‘s Rogue Leader”. I was trying to be cool, and now I’ve backed myself into a corner. Help me out by shaking your monitor around as you watch this short trailer for the fantasy strategy game’s Rogue class. It will make it appear as if the footage was roguishly taken.(more…)

Just a quickie for our Euro-pals: Blizzard's digital collectible card game Hearthstone is now in open beta on your side of the ocean too. To hop on board, download the Windows PC or Mac client here.

It’s been nearly a week since Klei ROCKED THE HEADLINES by changing its turn-based strategy stealth game’s name from Incognita to Invisible, Inc. “What could it possibly mean?” nearly every human on Earth pondered simultaneously. Then they all caught the hidden pun, embedded with a deadly precision, and chuckled in perfect harmony. With that blanket of sound covering their actions, Klei quickly slipped all sorts of new features into the rechristened game before anybody even knew what hit them. They thought they got away with it, but I knew what was up. I tracked designers James Lantz and Jason Dreger back to Klei’s secret cyber-noir rooftop lair and forced them to divulge secrets about the new name, the game’s (some would say) too-high difficulty, plans for upping replayability, how much content will be in the final game, and when Klei’s hoping to release it for real. All that and more is below. 

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Since Nathan first covered it, Rain World has comfortably met its Kickstarter target and been accepted through Steam Greenlight. To celebrate, its small team released new details about the manner in which its slugcat protagonist and world of bat-things and lizard-meanies operate, along with a new trailer.(more…)

Alienware has clarified that its upcoming Steam Machines can be upgraded, but it will not be easy to do so.

You know, I’ve always kinda wondered if the saying “cute as the dickens” is nature or nurture. I can’t not say it when I see something adorable, yet I don’t really remember my parents ever using it to great effect. Perhaps it’s simply buried in my genes, a vestigial reminder of the iron-fisted grip tiny doe-eyed things have on my biology. Regardless, I uttered The Phrase the moment I laid eyes on The Mims: Beginning, which will presumably be followed by The Mims: Middle and The Mims: End. Don’t let its Spore-like color palette fool you, though. This god game takes more from Populous and Black & White than it does EA’s evolutionary misstep.

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PlanetSide 2 has received a new roadmap, detailing what's coming to the popular shooter and when.

Who’s Action Henk, you ask? WHO’S ACTION HENK? Hah, that’s a good one.

You mean you really don’t know? Wow. What rock have you been living under? Probably not one with a mossy underbelly of pure, congealed thrills, I’m guessing. That’s the kind of rock Action Henk would live under if Action Henk ever decided to live under a rock. But you know what he does instead? He eats boulders for breakfast. Also moss. Also you. Henk really likes to eat.

But boy can he ever move. He might possess Mario’s doughy physique (albeit in action figure form), but his game plays like a modern take on classic 2D Sonic The Hedgehog.

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Credit where credit’s due: Cyanide is a deceptively productive studio, not to mention a rather ambitious one considering the constraints it works under. It might not be the biggest-budget operation, but the French wearer of many hats and waver of many national flags has recently produced a not-entirely-terrible Game of Thrones RPG, Impire, Dungeonbowl, and Of Orcs & Men. The latter, while depressingly flawed, is most relevant here given that Styx: Master of Shadows presumably takes place in the same world. It stars fleet-footed, dagger-tongued goblin Styx, who is apparently the Very First Of All Goblins. The game will be a mix of extremely vertical stealth and fantasy role-playing, which sounds downright fascinating.

There’s just one problem, and I’ll let Jim’s Of Orcs & Men WIT take it from here: “The game is essentially a series of stealth-then-fight setpieces. This would be fine, except it’s a terrible stealth game.” That, um, doesn’t bode particularly well.

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CD Projekt's Marcin Iwinski talks 36+ different endings, the massive world, and much more.

Who says (virtual) crime doesn't pay? Jason Rohrer, developer of controversial house defense and burglary game The Castle Doctrine, is taking $3,000 from the game's alpha-period earnings and offering it up as a bounty to any and all players during a special contest to celebrate the game's impending January 29 release date. The current exchange rate is $146 in-game dollars to $1 real-world dollar, so the more money you have in game, the more money you can claim. While the $3,000 bounty will be divided amongst all players, only the best (worst?) criminals can also win some other real-life prizes.

The top eight players will receive various items that touch on Rohrer's personal history. Sixth through eighth place will receive a $50 gift card to Custom Cartridge, a guns and ammunition store Rohrer visited, second through fifth place will receive an anti-burglary device known as a Door Devil, while first place gets a dog club - "the club that started it all," as Rohrer describes it. Each of the top eight players will also get to have their favorite in-game painting become a real-life, 20x20" giclee-printed canvas.

Players have until 5 p.m. Pacific on Monday, January 27 to amass their virtual fortune, at which point Rohrer will take a snapshot of the server database. The top eight players will be ranked according to their house value, so long as that house is on the public house list, and not kept private.

You can read more about the contest, as well as its rewards and rules, on the official Castle Doctrine site.

This afternoon King – owners of Candy Crush Saga and 17% of the dictionary – issued a statement regarding the story that they had filed an objection to Stoic’s attempts to trademark “The Banner Saga”. As we pointed out, their actions are hard to perceive as anything other than over-reaching what is necessary when asserting their trademark. Or, in this case, arguably attempting to assert a trademark they don’t actually have. Apparently believing they are the only company allowed to make games with “saga” in the title, King has exercised this by attempting to prevent others studios’ efforts to protect their unique game names with a trademark.

Yet in King’s statement (below), they make it clear that they don’t believe that Stoic is trying to profit from a similar name, and say they do not wish to prevent Stoic from using the name. A claim that seems, well, rather peculiar given the circumstances, and their appearing to say something quite different in their “Opposition”. It’s something Stoic have now told RPS they’re not too pleased about either, stating, “We won’t make a Viking saga without the word Saga, and we don’t appreciate anyone telling us we can’t.”

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The new Infamy DLC for the heist-based shooter will break you down to build you back up.

Independent Games Festival organizers have revealed the winners of this year's IGF Student Showcase category, honoring entries from the NHTV University of Applied Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Cambridge, among other institutions.

This year's top picks feature Hopoo Games' run-and-gun roguelike platformer Risk of Rain, Albert Shih's forced-perspective puzzler Museum of Simulation Technology, and Hafiz Azman and Winston Lee's single-switch rhythm game Rhythm Doctor.

Other winning games include Mahdi Bahrami and Moslem Rasouli's Engare, Philipp Beau and Daniel Goffin's Symmetrain, Ostrich Banditos' Westerado, Unblanched Peanuts' Foiled, and Hack n' Hide's Cyber Heist. Five additional games received honorable mentions.

This year's IGF saw a record-breaking number of entries, including 346 projects developed by students. The IGF's Main Competition finalists were announced earlier this month, nominating indie standouts like The Stanley Parable, Device 6, and Papers, Please.

Roberts Space Industries' in-development spacefaring MMORPG Star Citizen earned over $5 million over the last two months of its extended crowdfunding campaign, reaching a grand total of $37 million as of this week.

The latest funding milestone nets players an additional in-game star system located in the middle of a rectangular planetary nebula. The nature of Star Citizen's final system, which will be unlocked once the campaign reaches its $40 million stretch goal, will be decided by community vote.

Star CItizen earned over $2 million when it turned to Kickstarter for ancillary funding in 2012, and developer Roberts Space Industries continued to solicit backer support via its official website in the months afterward. Star Citizen will offer persistent-universe, moddable multiplayer gameplay following the launch of its individual gameplay modules throughout 2014.

Bethesda anticipated that its upcoming MMO would be rated T. The ESRB just delivered the company a stinging blow.