hologames

The last week, particularly the last few days, has been full of new PC game release dates and announcements. What will next week, which also happens to be Gamescom week, bring us? We’ll just have to wait and see — in the meantime, check out what the last seven days brought us.

Exclusive features

• StarCraft II: We conclude our strategy guide to Blizzard’s game with entries on the Protoss and Zerg factions along with some of the game’s achievements.
• Blood Bowl Legendary Edition Interview: We chat with members of Cyanide Studio about their upcoming update to 2009’s fantasy-themed sports game.

Downloads

• Global Agenda Free Trial Client: Try out this recent first person shooter MMO for free.
• Mafia 2 demo: It’s a playable slice of the upcoming open world crime action game from 2K Games.
• Victoria 2 demo: Check out this portion of the recent historical strategy game from Paradox Interactive.
• The Scourge Project Demo: This is a free look at the recent third person shooter that uses Unreal Engine 3.
• BioShock Infinite trailer: This is the first CGI trailer for Irrational Games’ upcoming shooter title.
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution gameplay trailer: Check out this first look at actual game play from Eidos Montreal’s action-RPG.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 9 – 15

The Best of Big Download: August 9 – 15 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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APB developer Realtime Worlds may be laying off the entire Project: MyWorld team, according to reports from VG247 and Develop, with sources also alleging the dissolution of RTW entirely. One source apparently told VG247 that “The MyWorld team has been completely laid off. As many as 60 may have gone, but there’s a rumor they may be trying to sell the team as a smaller entity.” VG247 also alleges that “the Scottish developer is seeking to sell on APB entirely.”

In early July, RTW announced forthcoming “redundancies” at its Dundee studio, specifically referencing a “second, unannounced project” — now known to be Project: MyWorld. In a statement offered to Joystiq this morning, RTW echoed that earlier announcement: “Further to the press release issued on the 7th July announcing the post-launch restructure for APB and expected redundancies, the 30-day consultation period with the affected staff has ended. The supporting infrastructure for a game inevitably changes once released, and those staff that couldn’t be redeployed to new projects in the Art, Audio, Coding, Design, Production, and QA departments have regrettably been made redundant. APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players.” No specific numbers were given.

Realtime Worlds refused to comment on rumors of a full-studio closure or the possibility of APB being sold off. If you’re an employee of RTW with more information, we’d love to hear from you.

Rumor: Realtime Worlds lays off MyWorld team, reduces APB team size originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s hard to not get excited for Codemasters’ next entry in the Dirt franchise after peeping the handful of shots that were just released. As seen in these screens, Dirt 3 won’t exclusively be terrorizing soil, but also leaves and snow. The horror!

Continue reading Dirt 3 screens attack the environment

Dirt 3 screens attack the environment originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a few of the bright and generally welcoming environments of Lego Universe — today, we get a look a few screenshots from the MMO’s Gnarled Forest area. We never would have assumed a game about toy heroes could contain such ominous imagery. Check out the images after the break.

Continue reading Chew on these Lego Universe ‘Gnarled Forest’ screens

Chew on these Lego Universe ‘Gnarled Forest’ screens originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine announced a second downloadable game today, and we’re reeling from the double Double Fine. Let’s all take a minute to reflect on the first Double Fine downloadable game, Costume Quest, with some screens of the neighborhood RPG. Feels like it was just yesterday that we heard about this!

Continue reading Costume Quest screens are a treat

Costume Quest screens are a treat originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, LSD: Dream Emulator is the weirdest game ever made by anybody. After becoming entranced by the hours of footage from the game currently on YouTube, we feel like we can make that statement with complete certainty. The game features no plot or any goals to speak of whatsoever — it only tasks the player with taking short, ten-minute jaunts through areas inspired by a dream journal kept by a staff member of its Japanese developer, Asmik Ace Entertainment, who may or may not have been tripping on LSD at the time.

If that sounds like something you can get behind, you’ll be pleased to learn the game’s creator, Osamu Sato, recently announced on Twitter that the game would be coming to the PSOne Classics storefront on PSN. Of course, it’s unlikely the game will come to the U.S. store, as the title was never localized for the States. That’s no problem, though — you might be able to find it at your favorite online auctions site for upwards of $200. That’s a small price to pay for immeasurable weirdness!

Completely bizarre ‘LSD’ game coming to PSOne Classics originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Narrators. Narrators never change. Yes, of course Ron Perlman will be featured in Fallout: New Vegas, but you might be interested in hearing about the cadre of other famous folks lending their voices to the forthcoming Obsidian-developed RPG. Wayne Newton will play radio DJ “Mr. New Vegas,” while Matthew Perry will voice “Benny, the head of the Geckos family.” Felicia Day is handling the voice of “Veronica, a sarcastic Brotherhood of Steel scribe.”

In addition, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn favorite Danny Trejo will give his gravitas to “a third playable companion,” hilariously named “Raul the Ghoul.” Kris Kristofferson, Michael Dorn, William Sadler, John Doman, and Rene Auberjonois make up the rest of the star-studded list. We’re not quite sure which one is the biggest celebrity — and thus can’t predict which character will disappear after the first ten minutes. It was so much easier when we were dealing with Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart!

Wayne Newton, Felicia Day lending voices to Fallout: New Vegas originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“We thought based on the preorder trends that we saw and what we were hearing from retailers and consumers alike and we built our plans for growth in UFC this year,” THQ CEO Brian Farrell said on an earnings call today. However, with 2.7 million units sold relative to last year’s 2.9 million units in the same period, it’s clear the sequel didn’t show signs of “growth.” (Was it Red Dead’s fault?)

After reaffirming it as “still a top franchise” Farrell told the call, “What we’re thinking about – not to necessarily reinvigorate it because it’s a great franchise – but as I said in my prepared remarks, we’re considering a longer development cycle. 15-, 18-, 21-months between releases rather than annually.” That increased development time will, ostensibly, increase product quality and, with fewer releases, increase consumer demand. That combined with the UFC training and fitness game (not to mention PSP ports), Farrell assures analysts that “We think there’s a lot of growth to be had with the UFC franchise over the next several years.”

Farrell is quick to declare that there will be a UFC game in the next fiscal year. “We will have a UFC title in fiscal ‘12,” he said directly. “The question is timing, as I said. Could it be 15-, 18-, 21-months? That depends on both the scope of the game, the window, and how we want to release that game. As I said in my prepared remarks, we thought maybe a 12-month cycle might be a little quick but it’ll be somewhere around 18-months give or take a few months.”

If you consider this year’s UFC Undisputed 2010 on a 12-month dev cycle, an 18-month cycle would put its successor somewhere around late November 2011, smack dab in the middle of the busy holiday shopping season. Might be a tough spot for a UFC game to fight its way out of.

THQ looking at ‘longer development cycle’ for next UFC originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week we had a number of game announcements, but in the next couple of weeks you can expect a boatload of news to come down the pike thanks to QuakeCon 2010, Gamescom and more. While you’re bracing yourself, check out this past week of news:

Exclusive features

• StarCraft II: Read our final verdict on Blizzard’s long awaited RTS game in the full review. Plus you can read the first two parts of our strategy guide for the game, beginning with the basics and then our look at the Terran faction.

Downloads

• Borderlands 1.31 patch: Get the latest update to Gearbox’s hit FPS-RPG hybrid.
• Trine 1.08 patch: The latest patch for Frozenbyte’s platform-puzzle game.
• Fable 3 Intro CGI Trailer: Check out the pre-rendered intro to Lionhead’s upcoming RPG.
• Create Announcement trailer: It’s the first footage of EA’s upcoming sandbox platformer.
• Dirt 3 Teaser Trailer: Codemasters’ upcoming and next off-road racing game gets the CGI trailer treatment.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 2-8

The Best of Big Download: August 2-8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From August 8 through August 14, Kmart is offering lowered — and some dramatically lowered — pricing on Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 (the older, less svelte models) and Sony PSP. As this is an inventory clearance sale, we’re not looking at discounts on PSP Gos and brand new black Wiis, so much as the original Wii with Wii Sports going for $149.99 (normally $200) and PSP “Entertainment Packs” (think Hannah Montana’s purple PSP) going for $129.99 (normally $200).

Remaining inventories of Xbox 360 Arcade systems will be discounted as low as $129.99 (normally $150), and 250GB Elite models will drop to $199.99 (normally $250). If you can find an FFXIII, Splinter Cell: Conviction, or Modern Warfare 2 “Super Elite” bundle, they’ll be going for $279.99 (normally $350). We’d like to apologize in advance to all the Kmart employees about to receive a flood of customer service calls.

Kmart holding inventory clearance sale; Wii, 360, PSP all discounted originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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