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This is news worth working on a weekend for. Firaxis have announced Civilization: Beyond Earth, a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri. There’s an announcement trailer below, which doesn’t show any of the game but does set the scene.

… [visit site to read more]

He got some free stuff for reporting it, but he could've held out for more!

Ever tell ghost stories around a campfire? Or recount your life's adventures at a party? Storium by Stephen Hood aims to recreate those experiences, with the Internet acting not only as your audience, but your collaborators. You begin by choosing a world with a unique setting and history, and from there, create your own tale to tell within it. Other players can then join in on your story, contributing their own characters and actions.

The game is focused on writing, but mixes in game mechanics such as cards representing characters, items, obstacles and goals to keep players focused and the story moving forward. Think of it like a session of Dungeons & Dragons where the focus is less on killing monsters and more on acting out a scene.

The game has already been funded via Kickstarter, though more funding means more worlds for users to play in. So far, Storium is supporting worlds and settings like Bram Stoker's Dracula, a Red Dawn-like world where Russians invade the US, post-WW2 Los Angeles, and a near future where criminals and law enforcement alike alter their genes to become superhuman. There are no solid release windows or platforms given on the game's Kickstarter page, but it is advertised that players will be able to access Storium "with just your computer, tablet, or smartphone." [Image: Storium / Stephen Hood]

Ever tell ghost stories around a campfire? Or recount your life's adventures at a party? Storium by Stephen Hood aims to recreate those experiences, with the Internet acting not only as your audience, but your collaborators. You begin by choosing a world with a unique setting and history, and from there, create your own tale to tell within it. Other players can then join in on your story, contributing their own characters and actions.

The game is focused on writing, but mixes in game mechanics such as cards representing characters, items, obstacles and goals to keep players focused and the story moving forward. Think of it like a session of Dungeons & Dragons where the focus is less on killing monsters and more on acting out a scene.

The game has already been funded via Kickstarter, though more funding means more worlds for users to play in. So far, Storium is supporting worlds and settings like Bram Stoker's Dracula, a Red Dawn-like world where Russians invade the US, post-WW2 Los Angeles, and a near future where criminals and law enforcement alike alter their genes to become superhuman. There are no solid release windows or platforms given on the game's Kickstarter page, but it is advertised that players will be able to access Storium "with just your computer, tablet, or smartphone." [Image: Storium / Stephen Hood]

Warning: Today's Saturday stream may contain material that spoil the events of a fantasy book published in 1937. Read more...

PAX is a behemoth. A monolith. An institution that has very nearly outgrown the ubiquitous webcomic that spawned it. It's an incredibly popular event, where tens of thousands of video game fans come together to celebrate their favorite geeky pastime. But I think the convention still has a lot more growing to do, and in some ways is growing in the wrong directions. This year, I decided to skip PAX East entirely.Read more...

Are you at PAX East this weekend? If so, you might want to stop over at the Unreal Engine Epic Booth #1447 to check out the first ever tournament for Tiny Brains developer Spearhead Games' upcoming Project Cyber. The game is a 3-on-3 take on soccer, with a distinct cyberpunk flair and aesthetic.

Spearhead has intimately tied Project Cyber to livestreaming; the studio streams the game's development weekdays on their Twitch channel, takes suggestions on features to implement from their audience, and features in-game livestreaming as well. Those who tune in for a match of Project Cyber can even trigger in-game events with their votes, according to studio co-founder Malik Boukhira. "The possibilities for this technology are endless, and we'll be soliciting more thoughts about it at the Unreal Engine Epic booth," he said in a press release.

There's no expected release date for Project Cyber, but even if you're not at PAX East, you could potentially get in on the action early by requesting one of Spearhead Games' free Steam keys via their website. Thus far, more than 50,000 people have requested such keys. [Image: Spearhead Games]

Why The Evil Within is like old school Resident Evil, and why that could be good or bad.

QUOTE | "We're looking at it as kind of the Navy SEALs of game development training." - Veteran game designer and director Warren Spector, talking about the new academic program he's creating at the University of Texas in Austin.Read more...

Capybara Games co-founder and president Nathan Vella tells Joystiq that its next game, Super TIME Force, should be available in either late May or early June for both Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

"It's in QA, going into cert soon," Vella told Joystiq when we asked about the oft-delayed game's release. "It's out of our hands until Microsoft certification is done with it, but it's not the hardest game to certify because it doesn't have any multiplayer and it only has a single leaderboard."

Vella tells Joystiq that the game's numerous delays were to enhance the game's original design, turning a good idea into a great game.

"I hate the idea of gamers wasting their time on a game. Buying something because they believed it was one thing and having it turn out to be something else, and with Super TIME Force that could have happened in a weird way. It was always cool, the original game jam game was cool, but what we've turned it into is what I think people expected when they saw the very first trailer." [Image: Capybara Games]

It’s been interesting watching post-AI War Arcen at work. Their idiosyncratic drunken approach to genres has always resulted in games worth talking about. Granted, some of those words might not be all that complimentary, but they’ve never once released a game that had any hint of hubris. Not even when they return to the space strategy genre that pays the bills. The Last Federation’s a “strategy/tactics game set inside a simulation game,” which sets it apart from AI War’s ridiculous spectacle of death. It displays the one thing that’s true of Arcen’s game: it was announced in January, and it’s coming out next week. … [visit site to read more]

Ah, conventions. While a reason for giddy exuberance among gamers big and small, they’re not unlike games journalism’s answer to The Labors of Hercules. Seriously, these stop being fun after the fifteenth interview of the day. Trust me on this. Brr. Anyway. With everyone else on the floor and alit with excitement about upcoming games, this is probably the perfect time to talk about discounted games. Old games, new games, games you’ve probably never heard about. They might lack the razzle and dazzle of upcoming games but at least you can play them now. Either way, the Bargain Bucket is rattling with cheap bargains for you. Today’s plushie is brought to you by Angel Tear and the number 12.

… [visit site to read more]

I would like more games to recognise that they have absolute control over their environment, and I want them to use that to mess with me. I also want them to recognise that my agency isn’t an issue in this as well. That’s what SightLine does: it was initially developed as an Oculus Rift, but it can be played without the headcase. It’s first-person puzzle game about what happens to the world when you’re not looking, warping the world as you gaze elsewhere. There’s a short demo on the Indiegogo campaign, and it’s definitely worth playing.

… [visit site to read more]

Puzzle-platformers cause enough trouble for my weak wits even with only two dimensions, let alone three, so I’m still a bit baffled by Miegakure moving into four. It’s not 3D with some Braid-y time-twisty shenanigans on top, oh no, but four-dimensional space, a theoretical realm of existence that our meagre meatbags are too stupid to experience. Look, have a gander at a new trailer and see what you make of it.

… [visit site to read more]

It's officially PAX weekend! If you're not out and about in Boston checking out games and hanging out with gamers, you can catch up on this week's best content over at Kotaku Selects.Read more...

There Came An Echo has geek credentials coming out of it’s face hole–Wil Wheaton and Ashly Burch are on board as voice actors–but I’m not all that bothered by the cast. Not when my voice is the real star. It’s a voice controlled squad strategy game where you’re shouting down orders to your team. Initially controlling a single player unused to the violence that’s being asked of him, you’ll talk him through each step required to turn a cryptographer into a corpse-maker. Follow my voice to the trailer…

… [visit site to read more]

Double Fine’s Hack ‘N’ Slash piqued my curiosity when I saw (and video-ed) its ultra-clever hacking antics last month, and soon it will give you the keys to its sparkling kingdom of 1s and 0s. Since it’s a videogame, that of course means a trailer is in order, lest people just stand in place, slack-jawed, like racers who’ve yet to hear a starting gun. In the modern gaming world, we are lost without trailers. They tell us where to go, what to buy, how to live. It’s a chilling thought, but look! A funny video on the Internet and huh what was I even talking about again?

… [visit site to read more]

Having spent four seasons watching the once bright-eyed son of Rick Grimes harden under the weight of the zombie apocalypse, seeing actor Chandler Riggs clicking away on a mouse in the lower right corner of a League of Legends stream on Twitch is just surreal. Read more...

Escort missions. Not being able to pause when you need to. Never having a line piece appear in Tetris. Read more...

Ever wonder what $41 million looks like? It's a lot more blue than we would have thought.

This is the first public demonstration of Star Citizen, Chris Roberts' interstellar crowdfunded project. It's 14 minutes of pretty planes and space battles in a very early build. The yelling isn't part of the game - that's the crowd at PAX East. Chances are, a lot of those people are cheering because they're finally seeing their money in digital, playable form.

Star Citizen has raised more than $41 million in crowdfunding. [Image: Roberts Space Industries]

Prepare to laugh, cry, and be amazed in this week's Top 5 Titanfall Kills of the Week.

David Buckley, composer for Call of Duty: Ghosts, signed on to write the music for Batman: Arkham Knight. Buckley will co-compose the game's soundtrack with Nick Arundel, the composer that scored the other two games in Rocksteady's Arkham triology: Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.

Aside from Call of Duty: Ghosts, Buckley's work in the video game space includes Metal Gear Solid 4 and Activision's Shrek Forever After game. He also composes music for the CBS TV show The Good Wife and the Ben Affleck-directed film, The Town, and provided additional music for Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia film.

Announced in March as the final game in the series from Rocksteady, Batman: Arkham Knight will prominently feature the Batmobile as a primary gameplay element. The game is set in a section of Gotham City that's said to be "five times larger" than that of Arkham City, and will include "traffic-friendly streets" to accommodate for the Dark Knight's favorite ride. It will also spotlight the aptly named Arkham Knight, an arch-villain created from scratch by Rocksteady and DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns. The game is slated to launch later this year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]

You go through the trouble of collecting all 8 badges and defeating the Elite Four—and in some cases, sometimes you even try to catch them all. But what for? Pokémon games sometimes treat you rather poorly after doing all that work, when you think about it.Read more...

I've gotten flak in the past for being overly glib with my use of the word "shred," but I'd say there's enough finger-tapping and cello-sawing going on in this video to qualify.Read more...

- in development by Mike Tonder of Tone Red Studios
- planning a Kickstarter
- will bring it to Wii U if things go well
- will have to get Nintendo's approval
- dev has ideas for GamePad usage
- drawing inspiration from the game Solstice
- built using the Unity 3D Engine
- music and sounds you hear in the trailer are not indicative of final content

Trials Fusion: Come for the camaraderie of four-person multiplayer races, stay because your pelvis was atomized by an oncoming tree. [Image: Red Lynx]