EA responds to forum ban fiasco, promises “more equitable rules” going forward
I don’t think anyone’s ever held up gaming forums as bastions of sanity and rational thought, but EA’s current forum policy is a bit, well, bonkers. Recently, multiple users alleged that they’d been unceremoniously booted from their Origin accounts – as in, the games that they purchased – for various acts of rabble-rousing on the forums. One even received an indisputable lifetime ban for quoting the word “e-peen.”
Surely, though, there’s a method to the madness, right? Well, er…
New Max Payne trailer explores design, technology, and gratuitous face-shooting
Did you know that each slow-mo shot Max Payne fires into some poor thug’s kneecap is worth 347 hours of hard development labor? No? Me neither, because I just made that up. Based on the way the above trailer’s disarmingly calm disembodied voice describes the animation system, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true. The end result? Max twists and pirouettes through the air like a blood-soaked ballerina. It looks pretty glorious, honestly.
Also, as a sidenote: I know Max shaves his hair for, like, half of the game, but the trailer’s back-and-forth shifts between time periods make MP3 look like a buddy cop movie starring Max and Sam Fisher circa Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Gaming industry, please, drop everything you’re currently doing and make this happen.
Torchlight II delayed, probably not seeing light of day until 2012
It looks like the year of the hack ‘n’ slash – as foretold in The Prophecy – won’t be 2011 after all. First Diablo and his army of the damned tried their damndest to make it our the door at the tail end of 2011, but ultimately failed. And now it seems that Torchlight II has hit a similar snag.
MechWarrior Online to be powered by CryEngine 3
Piranha Games and Crytek have announced that MechWarrior Online will use Crytek’s CryEngine 3 for development on the F2P mech sim.
It’s welcome news for gamers who feared that F2P MechWarrior would translate to “cheap” MechWarrior. CryEngine 3 powered Crysis 2, after all, and I’m sure I can’t be the only one with visions of the MechWarrior: Living Legends mod for Crysis dancing through his head.
Good Old Games, maybe not so old anymore
Good Old Games has announced its intent to pursue newer games and “exclusive release opportunities with certain developers,” according to a GOG.com press release. The shift is part of an overarching goal to become the second largest independent digital distributor.
Managing Director Guillaume Rambourg said, “We will be adding newer games into the catalog in 2012. Traditionally, GOG.com has looked for great classics that are three years old or older. We will continue to add classic games, of course, but we are actively working to sign newer titles now.” He reiterated GOG’s commitment to its “core values” of flat international prices, no DRM, and extra content for customers.
Skyrim: Show us your Dragonborn (and we’ll show you ours)
PC Gamer is loving Skyrim, we’re all talking about it every day in the office, and one of the most interesting things about it is just how different all our characters are. So, in the interests of sharing, we’ve brought you pictures of all our Dragonborn heroes to take a look at. Each one is different, both in looks and approach, so take a look to see just how much variety is on offer.
This isn’t just about us though, we want to see your Dragonborn too! Tell us about who they are in the comments, or share a picture in this forum thread started by DuddBudda.
Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes showcases two heroes in new spotlights
I love a good three way, especially when there are Goblins and Orcs involved. Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes has just released trailers detailing two of our favorite heroes found in this three-team based, action orgy. I tend to lean more towards the support roll of the little goblin, Glowgob. If introducing someone’s face to an axe sounds more your style, check out the orc warrior, Bax. Those who need a break from Grandma’s cheek pinching should look into the Thanksgiving beta event starting November 23th. Want more info? Visit their website and read on to see our impressions of Glowgob and Bax.
And in other PC gaming news…
So, there are rumours that Assassin’s Creed 3 could be set in Egypt, following on from previous rumours of Assassin’s Creed: American Revolution, all these suggestions are far too sensible folks! Let’s see some mad ones!
Lazyfroguk got the ball rolling by suggesting this in the original thread. Can you do any better?
“Personally, I would like the next one to be in a Neanderthal period. Our assassin would hop clumsily from rock to rock in search of a mate, fending off competitors with a hidden bone attached to his wrist with strips of mammoth fur.”
Check inside for a selection of building climbing, wristblade using PC gaming news.
Spike VGA award nominations announced
Gamerfitnation have spotted the list of Spike VGA awards nominations and, as ever, there’s are some unusual decisions. Minecraft grabs a nominations for PC game of the year while indie favourite Bastion picked up a surprising five nominations, meanwhile Deus Ex: Human Revolution misses out on a nomination for Game of the Year and, most bizarrely of all, Battlefield 3 isn’t nominated for Best Graphics.
The Spike VGA awards will take place on the 10th of December, and will see the unveiling of a new Bioware game (pictured above). Check inside for a breakdown of the relevant nominations:
EVE Online: Crucible arrives November 29. Going “back to basics” as promised
The 15th expansion to Eve Online, Crucible, will be available for download on November 29.
This update is focused on bringing EVE “back to basics” and improving graphics, interface and mechanics. The expansion’s targeted focus on improvement, not innovation makes sense; earlier in the year, CCP’s CEO offered a sincere apology to the community for “losing sight of the simple things.” Now, those simple things are CCP’s primary target.
Click through for the first list of tweaks. CCP have promised to send us more details next week.
Minecraft Pocket Edition arrives on iPhone. Smaller, lighter, clunkier
Minecraft: Pocket Edition has just been released on iPhone. It’ll set you back £4.99 / $6.99. It’s been available on Android devices for a while.
Don’t get too excited though. This is a scaled down version of Mojang’s blocky building/adventuring sim; it doesn’t feature item crafting, NPCs or biomes. You can still build stuff with 36 different block though, and even invite a few friends on the same wi-fi network for some co-op creations. As for the controls: it’s no mouse and keyboard but it’s playable. Mojang are hoping to improve Pocket Edition with incremental updates over time.
Let us know how you get on with Minecraft Pocket Edition in the comments. The first person to create something impressively PC Gamer-related on Minecraft Pocket Edition (Android or iPhone version) and link us to a screenshot wins some form of prize!
Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand details emerge
Back to Karkand, the first Battlefield 3 DLC pack, will be released next month, and will bring several classic Battlefield 2 maps to Battlefield 3′s Frostbite 2.0 engine. Along with new weapons and vehicles, it’ll also see the return of Conquest Assault mode, an asymmetric version of Conquest where one team defends the capture points and another tries to take them.
BF3 blog have rounded up the full list of details about what the pack includes, and you can find them beneath the cut.
Splash Damage working on new game based on ‘major entertainment brand’
UPDATE THE SECOND – It seems all this fuss has been over nothing, with Splash Damage’s Paul Wedgewood tweeting:
“We’re not working with Disney. We’re not building a pop culture IP. We’re only using BRINK tech for BRINK updates atm.”
UPDATE – Both Eurogamer and Kotaku are speculating this could be a Marvel comics game, based on the sentence “a company widely believed to have given up on the console publishing business”, which could well be Disney, who own the Marvel brand. The timing also fits with the ’50 years’ quote, as the Marvel we know first took off in 1961 with the creation of the Fantastic Four.
Could we see an Avengers game based on Brink? Would it resemble the awesome looking cancelled Avengers FPS from THQ (video above)? We can only hope.
Original post follows.
Hiding in the corner of an Industry Gamers article is a hint at Brink developer Splash Damage’s next project. Apparently the studio has “at least one unannounced project for a major entertainment brand”, which will be based on the Brink engine. Exactly which brand it is is still a secret, but the article claims it is: “One of the biggest American pop culture brands of the last 50 years.”
Speculation at the ready people! What could it be? What 50 year old pop culture license could lend itself to Brink’s technology?
Rift gets ‘biggest patch since launch’
Rift has launched it’s 1.6 update, described as ‘the biggest patch to hit Rift since launch’. The update is called ‘From the Embers’ and adds an enormous new zone called the Ember Isle, twice the zone of the the game’s previous biggest zone and packed full of new content.
Click through for full details:
Play Star Wars: The Old Republic next weekend!
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, Bioware have confirmed the date for the massive Star Wars: The Old Republic stress test weekend, and it’s the 25-28th of November. The huge event will include anyone who has ever applied for the beta, plus anyone who picked up a key in giveaways.
Our own Old Republic beta key giveaway ends today, so you still have some time to grab one and secure your place. If you’ve already entered, your code will arrive as soon as the doors close, but be sure to register it before midnight tomorrow, or it’ll expire.
Last weekend beta testers put a million hours into The Old Republic. Given the amount of extra players invited, the next one looks set to smash that record.
