Archive - 2014

3D Realms Purchased by Danish Investment Firm

2014/03/03
Jerry Paxton
Industry News, News

apogeelogo

Aalborg, Denmark – March 3rd, 2014 – Danish investment firm, SDN Invest, has acquired Apogee Software, Ltd d/b/a 3D Realms (not to be confused with Apogee Software, LLC – publishers of Rise of the Triad) SDN Invest is part-owner and principal investor in Denmark-based game studio and Rise of the Triad developer, Interceptor Entertainment. Effective immediately, the new CEO of 3D Realms will be Mike Nielsen. Mr. Nielsen also serves as Chairman of the Board at Interceptor.

SDN Invest was founded by Nielsen when he stepped down as CEO of Coolshop.com – a leading online retailer in Northern Europe that he co-founded in 2002 – to focus on investing in companies with potential.

“3D Realms is legendary for its contributions to the gaming industry, as both the pioneer of the shareware model and an always generous partner who has provided both funding and guidance to game studios such as id Software, Parallax Software, Remedy Entertainment, and many others,” remarked Nielsen, the newly appointed CEO. “3D Realms has also developed, co-developed, and co-financed such hits as Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad, Raptor, Shadow Warrior and Prey. There are only a handful of independent studios with a better track record of original games. Yet even with this stellar track record, we hope we can take the company to new heights.”

“3D Realms has always been a defining part the PC games industry.” Added Frederik Schreiber, CEO of Interceptor Entertainment. “Getting 3D Realms under our wings is a huge step for us and we are extremely excited about the acquisition.”

Scott Miller, co-founder of 3D Realms concluded, “My long time partner George Broussard and I are extremely proud of our past, especially as developers who always tried to partner with up-and-coming studios who just needed their break. Our history shows we did that throughout the 1990s & 2000s, and I expect the new 3D Realms to continue with this tradition in full force. Our industry needs more good guys, who honor the profession and fellow hard-working developers.”

NASCAR 14 Review

2014/03/01
Judgeman
News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

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It’s that time of the year again, time to turn left and race for that checkered flag. NASCAR 14, from the folks at Eutechnyx and Deep Silver, is a direct sequel to the 2013 release of NASCAR the Game: Inside Line. The decision to not go into the next generation consoles means that the graphics for NASCAR 14 wouldn’t be getting a major overhaul, so Eutechnyx focused on giving the player more online functions, a deeper design center, and tweaking the artificial intelligence to make the game more challenging.

Story

This is a sports game, so there isn’t a story to tell. The closest thing we have to a story is the career mode, so I’ll go ahead and talk about that in this section. Career mode allows you to play as a user-generated driver, the new kid on the circuit, and race in the NASCAR season. One of the first things you get to do is customize your car. Car customization is deep in NASCAR 14, with a wide array of colors, finishes, and patterns to choose from. The layering system works out nice too, to add depth of color to your car. This is a nice addition to creating your own racing team and giving you a sense of ownership in NASCAR 14.

Once your car and team are customized, it is off to the first race of the circuit, the Daytona 500. Race weekend is filled with all the events that a typical NASCAR event has, from the practice laps to the duels and finally, the big race. After each practice lap, you’ll be able to fine tune your car to make it work the way you want it to work, and then test it again in the next practice lap.

Between events, you’ll be able to chase down new sponsors to increase your income, which you can put right back into research and development for your racing team. You can even manage your pit crew to help shave seconds off of your pit stops. These are great features that really bring to life the world of NASCAR for any fan. Everything in career mode worked out fine and felt like it needed to be there. For the more casual fans, you do have the ability to skip events during a race weekend if you just want to get out and race. Once I had run a few practice laps and qualified first for the Daytona 500, I was good to go ahead and get that race started.

Game Play

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first, this game NEEDS a steering wheel controller with a gas pedal to be played correctly and get the full effect. If you are a racing game aficionado for the PC, odds are you already have one so you should be fine. If you want to get the most out of NASCAR 14, then invest in some sort of wheel controller, it will save your sanity. I don’t have one, so the keyboard was all I had to use. The game is controlled just by four buttons, up and down arrow are gas and break respectively, while left and right are just that, left and right. The problem with this control scheme is that you will over-steer too much and the fine adjustments to steering just isn’t there. This is a major problem when you go into a turn three deep.

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One of the items that Eutechnyx wanted to work on was improving the artificial intelligence of the other race drivers. Since I never played a NASCAR game in my life, I have no comparison to whether or not they made this happen. All I can say is that the other drivers pissed me off something fierce, so maybe Eutechnyx was successful. Once I had finally got some handle on the controls and would race the Daytona 500, I would get cut off or pinched by the other racers, trying to shove me out of my line. Not being a fan of NASCAR, but I was almost positive that you just cannot come down from a turn to bump another racer off of their line once they’ve established themselves. And with the keyboard control scheme, any little shove anywhere would lead me to over compensate and spin out, causing a massive wreck.

During races, you will have to keep an eye out for the various penalties you can acquire as well. In trying to avoid yet another wreck, I steered my car under the yellow line and was summarily black flagged for it. Pit row also has a strict 55 mph speed limit, which must be obeyed in order to avoid that penalty. It’s a great feeling to a game when all the little things are put in there.

Online multiplayer is available, with a new league mode for this year. You and your friends can set up your own NASCAR league and head through the season, racing against each other and the bots for the overall cup. These leagues are fully supported by statistics, replays, rankings and challenges so you can fight for bragging rights among your NASCAR group. If you just want to race online, race matchmaking is available to pair you up with racers of the same skill level.

Aesthetics

The aesthetics of NASCAR 14 is probably the weakest aspect of the game, but they are not horrible to say the least. Visually, the game looks like its predecessors, without having any significant increase in graphics. The game is being designed for the 360/PS3 generation so the developer really didn’t focus on trying to push the boundaries of the visuals of the game. What you do get is enough to make the experience enjoyable and look good too. Damage will show up on your car if you bang into one to many obstacles, and seeing the dust come up down the track is a great early warning sign to watch out for a wreck ahead of you. The car models look clean and the lighting is well done.

Sound design is typical for this type of game, with nothing really being too bad or too great about it. Voice acting is standard and what you would expect, with the in-game voice coming from your race manager, helping you “see” the track. Soundtrack is typical as is the sound effects for the game. Nothing that I would call memorable, but also nothing that I would call horrible either.

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Final Thougts

Reviewing a NASCAR title, for me, was an interesting experiment. I am no fan of the genre, not in the slightest, but had fun playing this game. I would still pick up a copy of Forza or Gran Turismo over NASCAR 14 any day of the week, but NASCAR 14 does a great job in simulating the NASCAR experience, and I know there are a lot of NASCAR fans out there looking for just that. For the PC, the biggest suggestion I can make is to invest in a steering wheel controller, because the keyboard just doesn’t give you the fine tuning in steering that a wheel will. The career mode is packed full of neat extras, like r & d and sponsors, while the car customization is deep and fun to play with. In the end, NASCAR 14 cannot compete with the polish and fun of either Forza or Gran Turismo, but NASCAR 14 is the only game in town that will replicate the NASCAR experience, and it does it well. NASCAR 14 is available now for the PC and PS3 and is coming soon for the Xbox 360.

[easyreview title=”NASCAR 14 Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ]

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Star Lords Gets Alpha Update

2014/02/28
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

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Haarlem, The Netherlands – February 28, 2014 – Development of Iceberg Interactive’s upcoming 4X space-strategy game Star Lords is progressing apace, as Arkavi Studios has provided a huge new update for its growing fan base. The new build offers gamers a streamlined, user-friendly UI, a more stable build, a more active and fleshed out domestic policies mechanic, an overall graphics update, a change in currency that encourages more exploration, and much more.

Details for the 16.0 Updated Build Include:

  • Streamlined UI (game creation screen): Players now have a single menu with three tabs: Race Selection, Galaxy Settings and Game Settings. Each of these tabs has been greatly improved from the previous menus, with less cluttered and better organized information.
  • Stability Improvement: a new series of experimental fixes will fix most (if not all) stability issues. Regretfully, some of these experimental fixes involve temporarily removing the weapon and armor ship parts from the game. These will be reinstated in a later build. It’s very important for Arkavi Studios to know if these fixes are working on a variety of PC configurations, so any feedback on whether or not the game still crashes for you is very important.
  • Domestic Policies: The domestic policies mechanic has been fleshed out and further balanced, with various random events having an impact on the population’s approval of certain policies. Now, an event message box will pop up when the majority of the population disagrees with one of your policies.
  • Bug Fixes: Among them, most (if not all) of the full-screen issues (such as the screen only displaying a part of the UI for example) should be fixed, the tutorial text is no longer out of bounds and the crashes on loading a game should be gone once and for all.
  • Balancing: Some general balancing has been done, most importantly, every player now starts with 5000 BC, to make the early game more challenging, and exploration more rewarding, with valuable space debris having a bigger impact than before.
  • Graphics Update: Improved backgrounds and updated the ship models for the Krifith Empire. More improvements in this aspect will be introduced incrementally.

In Star Lords, players take command of one race to join the struggle for supremacy in the galaxy. As the leader of an empire, players are tasked with exploring the stars, colonizing new worlds, managing an empire, and conquering whoever dares to oppose them. Within a framework of turn-based strategy and turn-based combat, Star Lords endeavours to differentiate itself by enabling players to beat their opponents by using generals, diplomacy, intelligence, trading, or plotting the downfall of enemies by financing wars against them or aiming to cause anarchy.

Star Lords is currently in the Alpha stage and available on the Steam Early Access program at $19.99. store.steampowered.com/app/246940/

Space Run Teaser Trailer

2014/02/28
Jerry Paxton
News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

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February 28, 2014 — We are thrilled to unveil today, with a video, Space Run. This PC game mixes strategy and space ship construction in real time, borrowing certain mechanics from the “tower defense” system with numerous twists and hyper dynamic gameplay. Space Run is a nod to ’80s science fiction and pays homage to many of its tropes and references.

Space Run is a true indie title developed by a “one-man studio”, namely Sylvain Passot who, after spending 10 years in a large French development studio, decided to develop his own concept, “‘Space Run”. Although nowhere near the scale of the productions he had previously worked on, Sylvain was supported with enough resources to complete and add the finishing touches to his game, and Space Run still has plenty of surprises in store with its well-oiled game mechanics, addictive gameplay and intense, exciting missions.

We were won over by Space Run, which has already proved a hit with numerous European journalists who tested the first game levels at various press presentations earlier this year. Space Run will also be demonstrated and playable at GDC Play in the US during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco from March 17-21, 2014, when an even more complete version will be available, as the game is set for release in May priced under $10.

We are therefore delighted to reveal a first teaser of Space Run, which takes us to the outer limits of space beyond the final frontier!

Trailer

EVE Fanfest 2014 First Round Programming Revealed

2014/02/27
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News, Windows PC News

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February 27, 2014 – Reykjavik, Iceland: CCP Games, the world’s leading independent developer of massively multiplayer games, today announced the first round of programming for the tenth EVE Fanfest, the massive gathering that will celebrate eleven consecutive years of growth of the EVE Universe.

EVE Fanfest is the annual festival at which over 1,000 EVE Online capsuleers, DUST 514 mercs, soon-to-be EVE: Valkyrie pilots and their friends and family come together in Reykjavik, Iceland, for three days of celebration. This year promises to be the most expansive Fanfest yet as the three different games set in the EVE Universe converge into a single fan experience.

Unique events supplement the amazing panels, presentations, PvP tournaments, exotic local excursions, game demos, round tables, developer pub crawls, concerts, parties and unprecedented access to the development team.

Highlights include:

  • The first live demo of EVE Online’s summer expansion and more information about the long-term vision for game.
  • Reveals of what’s next for DUST 514 and a world-first hands-on opportunity with its next major evolution.
  • Exclusive hands-on with an entirely new build of the virtual reality dogfighting game EVE: Valkyrie and details about what’s in store for the game recently announced as an Oculus Rift launch title.
  • A special dedication ceremony for the “Worlds Within a World” monument to EVE players. This unique event, taking place in picturesque Reykjavik Harbor where the monument will be installed, will feature the monument’s creator, Reykjavik city officials and players from around the world.
  • The “Make EVE Real” speaker track returns with visionary scientists outlining how the science fiction portrayed in the EVE Universe might not be that far off from reality. Among the speakers is Dr.
  • Michael Meyer, who will speak about his work as the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and how the Curiosity rover has changed the way mankind searches for extraterrestrial life.
  • Headlining the legendary convention finale, the “Party at the Top of the World,” are musical acts Z-Trip (US) and FM Belfast (Iceland). Z-Trip returns triumphantly from last year’s massive DJ set and FM Belfast is back again after their killer 2010 performance.
  • Further updates on CCP’s transmedia projects, such as the company’s collaboration with Dark Horse and its partnership with director Baltasar Kormákur on an EVE television series.

That’s just some of what EVE fans will be able to look forward to. Much more will be revealed between now and the end of April–including the final schedule–with several surprises in store for the event itself.

World of Tanks Video Developer Diary Released

2014/02/27
Jerry Paxton
News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

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February 27, 2014 — Wargaming today released the trailer for World of Tanks developer diaries, focusing on major improvements the game will receive in 2014.

“It will be a truly transformative year for the game,” said World of Tanks Producer Mike Zhivets. “Enhancements planned for 2014 touch upon the very core of World of Tanks, and each of them will overhaul the look and feel of the title, inducing the tank combat experience we deliver with a whole new level of realism and immersion.”

Throughout 2014 World of Tanks will get the revamped graphics renderer, adding a greater level of detail to vehicle models and providing for a more realistic gaming environment. The technical enhancements in the game will also extend to its physics engine, introducing highly responsive gaming environment, dynamic suspension, blown-off turrets and damageable small parts, whilst its gameplay will be enriched with the much requested Historical Battles and a new meta game functionality—Fortified Areas.

The company will explain each new feature in more detail in a series of dev diaries.

About World of Tanks

World of Tanks is the first and only team-based, massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 300 armored vehicles from United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, Japan and China, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.

Join World of Tanks:

Trailer

Shadowrun: Dragonfall Available Now

2014/02/27
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

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Kirkland, WA (February 27, 2014) Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun: Dragonfall, a major expansion for the magic-meets-cyberpunk tactical RPG mashup Shadowrun Returns, has launched today. Featuring a 12+ hour campaign set in the city of Berlin, Shadowrun: Dragonfall also contains a multitude of new features and enhancements for the core Shadowrun Returns game. The title is available for $14.99 (requires the original game to play) for Windows, OSX and Linux at the Steam store http://store.steampowered.com/app/272030, and a DRM-free version is offered at GOG.com. The original Shadowrun Returns game is also on sale for $14.99 for a limited time.

“The response to Shadowrun Returns was so overwhelming that it inspired us to pull out all the stops in creating Shadowrun: Dragonfall. We really did our best to listen to fans and act on their feedback,” said Jordan Weisman, founder of Harebrained Schemes and creator of the Shadowrun game universe. “We are thrilled to unveil our next story and can’t wait to see all the awesome new Shadowrun stories that the community will create with the Dragonfall expansion and the Shadowrun Editor.”

In addition to the incredible support they gave the project, from its announcement through its historic milestone as the first $1m+ Kickstarted videogame to ship, fans have shared hundreds of free Shadowrun adventures and content with the Steam Workshop community (http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=234650), greatly expanding the game world developed by Harebrained Schemes.

Shadowrun Returns debuted in 2013 to much acclaim. The game won numerous “Best of 2013” awards including four from Diehard GameFAN (2013 Game of the Year, Best PC Exclusive Game, Best Digital/Downloadable Game and Best Strategy Role Playing Game) as well as a Top Game of the Year Award from Gamasutra, and it appeared as a recommended game in Holiday Gift Guides from IGN and Board Game Geek.

SHADOWRUN: DRAGONFALL STORY

In 2012, magic returned to our world, awakening powerful creatures of myth and legend. Among these was the great dragon Feuerschwinge, who emerged without warning from the mountains of Germany – unleashing fire, death, and untold destruction across the countryside. It took German forces nearly four months to finally shoot her down. This event became known as the Dragonfall.

Now, 42 years later, the world has changed. Unchecked advances in technology have blurred the line between man and machine. Elves and trolls walk among us, ruthless corporations bleed the world dry, and Feuerschwinge’s reign of terror is a distant memory. Germany is splintered – in Berlin, a stable anarchy rules the city. Known as the Flux State, it’s a place where almost anything goes, power is ephemeral, and the right connections can be the difference between success and starvation. For you and your team of battle-scarred shadowrunners, there’s no better place to earn a quick payday.

But a new threat is rising, one that could mean untold chaos and devastation. One that soon has you and your team caught on the wrong side of a deadly conspiracy. The only clue: whispers of the Dragonfall. Rumors that the Great Dragon Feuerschwinge may still be alive, waiting for the right moment to return…

SHADOWRUN: DRAGONFALL FEATURES

  • Experience a New Full-Length Campaign: Return to the “Tech meets Magic” future of Shadowrun in an all-new 12+ hour campaign. Operating out of an offbeat hub neighborhood, you’ll choose which missions to accept and how you’ll approach them while navigating the dark underbelly of “the Flux”.
  • An Exciting New Locale: Shadowrun: Dragonfall transports runners to the Free City of Berlin, a thrilling Shadowrun setting full of gorgeous new hi-res environments, a diverse new cast of characters, and a new soundtrack by Sam Powell, the composer of the original Sega Genesis Shadowrun game.
  • Command Your Team: Lead a small team of shadowrunners, each with their own outlook and backstory. The members of your team are designed to play unique roles during missions, and each has a distinct set of skills, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
  • New Weapons, Portraits, Enemies & More: Try your hand at the long-range sniper rifle, explosive grenade launcher, or stun-inducing taser. Chrome yourself out in the latest cyberware, and take on deadly new enemies – including new magical creatures like gargoyles and fire drakes. Dragonfall brings a host of new items, characters, over 60 new portraits to choose from, and many other improvements to the Shadowrun Returns experience.
  • Save Anywhere: You can save your progress at any time during the game. The new save-game functionality is available in new downloads of Shadowrun Returns and through a patch for all existing copies.
  • New Game Editor Features: Dragonfall brings a wide range of enhancements to the Shadowrun Returns game editor for community content creators – including a scripting system to better control lighting, tracking mission objectives in the main game UI, placing exploding barrels, and allowing players to input keypad passwords and custom text strings in conversations. In addition, content creators will be able to use all of the new Berlin environment art, items and characters in their own stories along with assets from the original Shadowrun Returns campaign.

Razer Game Booster Now Saves Games in the Cloud

2014/02/27
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

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CARLSBAD, Calif. – Razer™, the world leader in entertainment devices and software, today announced a new feature for Razer Game Booster that automatically saves game data and settings to the cloud for thousands of titles.

In its beta version, Razer Game Booster’s Save Game Manager will back up a user’s game progress to Dropbox. Other cloud storage services will be enabled in the program’s full release. Save Game Manager is compatible for games with local save files and it supports fully automated backup services for more than 2,000 titles. The list of supported games can be continuously updated by Razer’s software engineering team as new titles are released and users may manually add games, ensuring that every supported game works with the Save Game Manager.

“We continually work to enhance the gaming experience for our Community,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “There are few things that take the fun out of gaming more than lost game progress or disappearing settings. It is our hope to rid the world of such frustrations and help make sure that losing game info never happens again.”

About Razer Game Booster: Razer’s free Game Booster software is a simple to use game launcher with performance enhancing utilities, saved game backup and screen capture tools.

Game Booster: Boost your game and PC lifespan while keeping it in top shape.

• Maximizes your system performance to give you higher frames per second, by automatically shutting off unnecessary processes and applications when you’re gaming, and resuming them when you’re done
• Configures and optimizes your PC’s settings for peak gaming performance
• Keeps your components up-to-date with the latest drivers, so you always get the best out of your system
• Defrags your disks, prioritizing your game folders for faster loading and enhanced system efficiency for even smoother gameplay

Save Game Manager: Never worry about losing a save game again.

• Automatically backs up save game files onto your favorite cloud storage services whenever your progress is saved. After all, lost save games don’t respawn!
• Keeps your game settings in the cloud, so you won’t have to memorize resolutions, anti-aliasing multipliers or anisotropic filtering definitions anymore
• Syncs as many save game files as you want for safekeeping, free of charge

Game Launcher: Experience enhanced PC gaming.

• Catalogs and presents your entire library of games in a robust command center for easy access
• Scans your PC to find your existing games, keeping your collection up-to-date without you lifting a finger

Screen Capture Gallery: Immortalize your best gaming moments.

• Captures your epic moments in HD with a customizable hot key
• Records videos of any length without unwanted watermarks
• Shares your game walkthroughs and winning streaks in just a few clicks, so you can show off to everyone on Facebook and YouTube

For more information on Razer Game Booster and its many included features, please visit www.razerzone.com/gamebooster/.

Game Booster Video

Adam Driver May Play Villain in Star Wars: Episode VII

2014/02/26
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, Movie News, News

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The folks at Variety have reported that, according to their sources, “Girls” star Adam Driver is closing a deal to star as a villain in the highly-anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII. According to their sources, the villain will be similar to Darth Vader in that, it is probably another dark lord of the Sith. Variety also reports that, previous, Disney was rumored to be looking at Michael Fassbender and Hugo Weaving for the villain role. Personally, I just hope that the rumors that Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be playing Thrawn turn out to be true – that guys is, physically, perfect for that role.

Also, I should note that we titled this with a “…May Play…” as, until official announcements are made, this is all technically unconfirmed.