May 22, 2013, Ridgewood, NJ - Kalypso Media today announced that a free gameplay update for its gangster-themed simulation game, Omerta – City of Gangsters, will be available on May 23 for Window PC. The update will download automatically for players when they next launch the game.
As well as an overhaul of the game interface and cover mechanics, the free update will add a host of new features including new sandbox game modes, new opposing gangs in single-player, re-balanced multiplayer modes and new multiplayer maps. Kalypso has also released a trailer featuring some of the new additions included in this update.
NeocoreGames has released The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing on Steam. It's currently on sale for $13.49.
Quote:
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is a real-time Action RPG filled with fierce and demonic battles, memorable characters, and a refreshingly unique story loosely based on Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula.
Set in a gothic-noir universe resembling a fantastical 19th century Europe filled with monsters, magic, and weird technology, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing will follow the son of the famed hunter, known in-game as Van Helsing, in a tale wrought with wry humor and snappy dialogue. Van Helsing, a larger-than-life hero possessing a dark yet romantic charm, will follow his path to the dismal land of Borgovia where former supernatural foes have enlisted his help to defeat a new scourge terrorizing the ravaged city.
NetherRealm's Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition will be arriving on PC July 3rd, it includes the original game and all DLC. Click the headline to read the press release.
With all the talk of next generation consoles sometimes it's nice to go back and take a look at some older games and relive those beloved memories we have when we were young gamers. The Game Inquirer take a look at Crazy Taxi and Mario Kart: Double Dash this week, two fantastic racers.
Quote:
We kick off the very first episode of Retro Wednesday – a weekly show where the crew at The Game Inquirer sit down and take a look at older games that have left a lasting impression whether it be a good one or a bad one. Every week two of the crew members each pick a game to play and discuss.
Hold on to your butts! Agent Voxine is about to drop some knowledge about Paths and what to expect once you arrive on planet Nexus. Are you ready? This lesson might be a painful one.
Microsoft it attempting to clear up the confusion it created in regards to game installations and used game fees on Xbox One. It looks like games will be tied to your account, not the console. And the used game fees could be as high as full MSRP. More from IGN:
Quote:
In a blog post, Major Nelson has some good news. "Should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile," Nelson wrote. The blog post also mentioned that customers will be able to trade and sell their used games at retail outlets.
However, Microsoft executive Phil Harrison, in an interview with Kotaku, has some potentially bad news. The aforementioned 'fee' to play games on a second account? Full MSRP. So unless you want to use your account for your entire family, you'll be dishing out an extra $40, $50, $60 for siblings or friends to try out new games. Harrison did tell Kotaku that his company plans to allow gamers to 'trade' their used games online somehow - though declined to get into further details.
Microsoft has confirmed that its upcoming Xbox One console will not require a constant Internet connection to function.
Quote:
Microsoft's next-generation Xbox--the Xbox One--will not require a constant Internet connection to function, the company confirmed today following its reveal event.
"No, you don't always have to be connected," Xbox boss Don Mattrick said on Spike TV. "Gamers can calm down; we've got you covered."
Update: According to this article on Kotaku the Xbox One will require an Internet connection.
Quote:
"There are many devices in your life that require the Internet to function," he said. "Xbox One is no different in that it requires, at some point in the beginning and at various times through its on state, to connect to our cloud and to our Internet. That is to deliver Xbox Live functionality, that is to deliver download content to you, that is to deliver some of the innovations around TV and entertainment that we showed today. But it doesn’t require it to be online all the time."
So how often does it check your connection? "Depends on the experience," Harrison said.
"For single-player games that don’t require connectivity to Xbox Live, you should be able to play those without interruption should your Internet connection go down. Blu-ray movies and other downloaded entertainment should be accessible when your Internet connection may be interrupted. But the device is fundamentally designed to be expanded and extended by the Internet as many devices are today."
The Verge is reporting that the Xbox One will not be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 game.
Quote:
If you were hoping to play your vast collection of Xbox 360 games on Microsoft's latest creation, we've got a spot of bad news. Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten confirmed to The Verge that the new Xbox One console will have no backwards compatibility whatsoever.
"No, there's not," said Whitten, when we posed the question. "The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn't really work from that perspective."
That means that Xbox 360 discs won't work, but also extends to Xbox Live Arcade downloadable titles. Anything that was designed for the Xbox 360 will have to be rebuilt, and it sounds like Microsoft doesn't plan to do so.
Born Ready Games has released the Heroes of the Fleet mission pack for its space combat game, Strike Suit Zero. In addition, they've launched a Strike Suit Zero Workshop on Steam, and the game is on sale at 50% off until May 27th at 10AM Pacific Time.
Quote:
Strike Suit Zero has launched a New Workshop today on Steam.
In addition Strike Suit Zero - Heroes of the Fleet , all new content for Strike Suit Zero is Now Available on Steam. To celebrate the Strike Suit Mega Bundle is 50% Off!*
Strike Suit Zero Workshop
Adventurous Mod-Makers can now take the Strike Suit Toolset, for a spin...
Use the Strike Suit Toolset to create your own ships, weapons and missions for Strike Suit or break away entirely and make brand new games!
Strike Suit Zero - Heroes of the Fleet DLC
Five battles. Five heroes. The history of the mysterious Black Fleet revealed.
The war is over, but your training is just beginning. Enter the U.N.E. Training simulator and relive five heroic moments from the U.N.E./Colonial War. A new A.I. - Control V2.0 - has been assigned to the simulator and recreated five missions that explore the origins of the Colonial Black Fleet that will push your skills to the limit.
Please be aware that new A.I.'s are prone to malfunction and we cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or safety of the simulations....
The live reveal will begin at 1 PM EST, 10 AM PST. You can view it live at this link.
If you are at work and can't stream, I'll summarize the major points with live updates in the thread that can be found by clicking the headline. Please also feel free to join the discussion as the news unfolds.
It's all about the pre-E3 press conferences this year.
Rock Paper Shotgun got to spend some time with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger and have written a highly favorable article about their experience with the game.
Quote:
Gunslinger is such a good time. I went in with absolutely no expectations either way, and absolutely loved my weekend with it. I certainly couldn’t help wondering how fantastic it would have been for it to be an open world game, with the levels as missions within. It does make that incredibly stupid faux pas of having areas of the sprawling levels you’re just not allowed to walk toward – “You’re wandering from the story” – which rather emphasises that point. But within its own restrictions, it remains the most fun I’ve had with a shooter in ages.
Not enough free-to-play mech games for you? Well now there's another one to look forward to. Stompy Bot Productions has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Unreal Engine 4-powered Heavy Gear Assault, with a goal of $800,000.
What if gaming became as immersive as lucid-dreaming? And wouldn't that be awesome. The first steps towards making that a reality are being taken now.
Quote:
It’s called neurogaming, and it’s riding on the heels of some exponential technologies that are converging on each other. Many of these were on display recently in San Francisco at the NeuroGaming Conference and Expo; a first-of-its-kind conference whose existence alone signals an inflection point in the industry...
Driven by explosive growth in computer processing, affordable sensors, and new haptic sensation technology, neurogame designers have entirely new toolkits to craft an immersive experience that simulates our waking life. Lucid journeys into the dreamscapes depicted in films like Inception may soon become possible...
The neurogames on hand now are just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible, but it’s clear that we are forever eliminating the barrier between our games and our brains.
38 Studios is dead but Kingdoms of Amalur may live on, as VG 24/7 reports certain unnamed parties are interested in the IP.
Quote:
Speaking to the site about the sale, Providence-based lawyer Richard J. Land said, “Who knows what the value ultimately will be. But there is interest in the assets,” suggesting a game publisher or studio has already approached those handling the sale regarding a purchase.
The 3DS classic comes to Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC!
Play as Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and a cast of new characters as they unravel the mystery of the Queen Zenobia cruise liner. With scarce ammo, tight corridors and countless monster roaming the ship, longtime fans will enjoy this return to horror.
DIAMOND CITY-- We here at WarioWare, Inc., are working with our fearless leader, Wario, to create his new Wii U game, Game & Wario – a game that can only be described as incredible, amazing, stupendous… and a bunch of other adjectives! To help Wario achieve his dream of funding this awesome game by his target launch date of June 23, he has created his own special crowdsourcing site called Crowdfarter.com. Here, visitors “donate coins” to the game by “liking” the site and daily updates from Wario via Facebook or by tweeting them to the masses on Twitter. Wario is so excited about bringing his genius vision to reality that he can hardly contain himself.
Click on the headline for the 'press release' and Wario's Focus Group video.
The third video of The Last of Us Development series highlights crafting and scavenging, and the difficult choices Joel and Ellie must make in order to survive.
The Last of Us is in stores June 14, 2013. Pre Order now.
The Last of Us is genre-defining experience blending survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Cities are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature. Remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.
Developed by Naughty Dog, The Last of Us is being made exclusively for the PS3 system.
Batman: Arkham Origins features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline occurring several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Taking place before the rise of Gotham City's most dangerous villains and assassins, the game showcases a young, raw, unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, witness identities being formed and key relationships being forged.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist offers two player CO OP mode with 4 mission types, 14 maps with 2 player split-screen.
Play as Sam Fisher or Isaac Briggs (a CIA operative) and work as a duo : help your teammate access parts of the maps you couldn’t access on your own, create your own tactics depending on your Play Style and watch each other’s back as you complete missions.
After a well-deserved heavenly hiatus, the Metal Jesus is back with another round-up for his retro running crew. This week, MJ looks into a relative newcomer in the Metal Man Cave: the recently-obsolesced Wii.
Frequently derided by "core" gamers as a non-serious contender in the games space during its tenure, Nintendo's massively successful waggle box was indeed a magnet for motion-control shovelware, some excellent first-party releases notwithstanding. But hidden amongst the piles of pointless third party pish were a few worthy and unique titles. Spade in hand, the Rock Redeemer is ready to unearth some Wii releases worth owning and share them with his metal masses.
My Wii has been so depressingly underused. I doubt it's seen more than 40 hours of playtime in its life, with half of that being Netflix usage while my 360 was out for repair.
Star Trek: Into Darkness has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it's not setting any light-speed records with a debut that's lower than the studio's expectations.
Here is the Weekend Boxoffice Chart for the weekend of May 17th to May 19th, 2013.
SEGA has announced that Total War: Rome 2 is the fastest pre-ordered Total War game to date, with over six times the number of pre-orders its first official week compared to Shogun 2. The Collector’s Edition has also pre-ordered well, with over half the available copies already sold out in the US.
Devolver Digital has released the first screenshots of Shadow Warrior, click here to see them. There is also a teaser trailer that lists the release date as fall of this year.
In the above video from the Dallas Comic Con, Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy reveals that he's been involved with "the next Arkham game" for the last several months. This may contradict reports from a couple weeks ago where Warner Bros. stated he won't return in Arkham Origins because they wanted a younger voice actor, or it could mean he's involved with Rocksteady's rumored next-gen Batman game.