Author - Jerry Paxton

War Thunder Update 1.39 Goes Live

2014/04/16
Jerry Paxton
News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

war-thunder-shot1-2011.12.2

(MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION) – April 16, 2014 – Gaijin Entertainment has announced that update 1.39 for their WWII MMO mega-hit War Thunder is live. This major update is a milestone for Gaijin Entertainment as they release several new features including the support for user generated content, squadron battles, the addition of even more planes, and early access to Ground Forces Expansion.

War Thunder now supports user-generated content and players have access to special downloadable tools.  From now on users are able to create their own planes, from adding the tiny details inside the cockpit to truly personalizing their plane’s skin or creating a completely new model. A quick-check system ensures that newly created planes fit within the game’s parameters before allowing players to use them on local PC in custom missions or share them with the community.

Players can go one-step further in the creative process by using stand-alone maps and missions editor. Players can ingeniously build upon existing maps, using them as a blueprint, or go off on an inspired tangent to devise their own brand of new maps. Players can share as well as test out user-generated content via a special area housed within the War Thunder forum. Click here for instructions: http://wiki.warthunder.com/index.php?title=War_Thunder_CDK

1.39 also offers Squadron Battles – competitive events for player created factions complete with PvP-rating for squadrons, calculated by the Elo system. In addition, update includes an additional 18 new aircraft, changes in the interface and improvements for player progression. Last, but not least, update 1.39 will allow those players who currently possess codes for the Ground Forces Expansion Closed Beta to be the first to play as either a tank or an aircraft 24/7, but not from the very start. Gaijin Entertainment will slowly implement Ground Forces Expansion into the update to ensure seamless gameplay.

The new mission called Battle of Kursk is based on a real life historic engagement that took place July – August 1943 where the Soviets defeated the German strategic offensive, thereby turning the tide on the Eastern Front. In the game, Kursk will provide players with AI-tanks, field artillery and planes fighting alongside real players.

For more information on the update: http://warthunder.com/en/game/changelog

Respawn and EA Dish On Next Steps for Titanfall

2014/04/15
Jerry Paxton
News, PlayStation 4 News, Windows PC News, Xbox One News

Titanfall_Gameplay_Thumbnail

Looks like the folks at EA and Respawn Entertainment are not resting on their laurels with the success of their online shooter, Titanfall. Instead, they have posted up an entry on the game’s official site detailing the game’s next steps. Here are some of the talking points, but be sure to checkout the full post for more info.

Future Updates to Titanfall

• First, we tend the garden and keep the weeds out. The focus here is on the current game, rather than adding new features. One category here would be minor tweaks and fixes, such as our recent adjustments to the Gooser challenge, more generous Hardpoint scoring for attacking players, and weapon balance tweaks to the Titan 40mm and Quad Rocket. Our ongoing improvements to matchmaking also fall into this group. This is all about the core health of the game.

• Next, there are “convenience features” – these are not huge infrastructural pieces, but they will make your life more pleasant in Titanfall, and they tend to be related to things you use or do repeatedly. For example, our most recent update introduced the requested Party Colors feature, allowing you to easily identify fellow party members both in game and in the lobby. The next update will bring more convenience features such as: the ability to rename your custom loadouts and to make custom loadouts specific to each game mode, a way to filter your Challenges by criteria such as ‘closest to complete’, and displaying the final scoreboard from your previous match in the Last Game Summary so you can review the scores at your leisure in the lobby.

• Then there are the “infrastructural features”. One example of this is the recent beta release of Private Match. In future updates, we’ll be bringing you the first wave of custom Private Match options, allowing you to personally tweak your Private Match experience in a variety of ways. Whenever possible, we want to get these kinds of features out early in beta form, in order to get your feedback and arrive at the best possible result through multiple iterations. Competition-oriented and what we call ‘competitive spirit’ features also fall into this category. More on that in future updates.

Preview of Wasteland 2’s Post-Apocalyptic Los Angeles

2014/04/14
Jerry Paxton
News

Newport Beach, CA – April 14 2014 – The Wasteland 2 beta has been out for several months now, and players from 181 countries have put in 26 million minutes or almost 50 years of gameplay time. Based on beta testing metrics and feedback, inXile Entertainment estimates the game will take about 50 hours to complete for a regular playthrough.

Less than half of the game is currently available in beta form on Steam Early Access, with an update coming next week that will add another major area. After that update the beta will include most of the Arizona portion of the game. Many of the game’s zones have completely different states based on the choices you make.

“I felt it was important for us to exceed our Kickstarter backers’ expectations and deliver a truly deep RPG,” says Brian Fargo, CEO. “There is a tremendous amount of gameplay that is either easy to miss or mutually exclusive, so while those 50 hours will suffice for a single play-through, there are plenty of reasons to go back for a second one.”

inXile Entertainment is also unveiling more of the second half of the game, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Where Arizona contains many areas from the original and is defined by its arid desert-scape, Los Angeles features the ruins of familiar landmarks overgrown with wild plant life, crawling with weird creatures, and dangerous mad cults. There are hints of a threat from this region to not just the Desert Rangers, but all of humanity. Will Ranger Team Echo be able to find and halt this threat?

A Screenshot from Los Angeles:

WL2_LosAngeles_SneakPeek

Team ROCCAT’s HyuN Wins WCS America

2014/04/14
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News

HyuN-Seokhyun-Ko

Hamburg – April 14, 2014 – Starcraft II pro, Ko “HyuN” Seok Hyun, emerged with the World Championship Series America gold medal yesterday after defeating Kim “Oz” Hak Soo four games to two in a best-of-seven final.

The first major title of the year for Team ROCCAT, “HyuN” routed a number of world class players, including 2013’s most successful player, Yun “TaeJa” Young So.  The victory is also his first major individual award for “Hyun” since DreamHack Valencia 2013.

Since signing with Team ROCCAT in February of 2014, “HyuN” has relocated to Germany and refocused his efforts on perfecting his craft.  He will look to repeat his success in the upcoming Copenhagen Games and DreamHack Bucharest.

“We are delighted and proud of HyuN’s win and we congratulate him on a well-deserved WCS victory,” said ROCCAT founder and CEO René Korte.  “HyuN was poised and focused during the tense and dramatic matches, and showcased what competitive gaming is all about.

“I’ve been working diligently to recapture the edge needed to win a major tournament and this victory is very sweet,” said HyuN.  “I would like to thank my fans and ROCCAT for supporting me and making victories like this possible.”

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth Revealed

2014/04/12
Jerry Paxton
News, Screenshots / Photos, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

CivBE_3

From PAX East comes info on the next Firaxis game, Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth, which takes gamers to new worlds to conquer. The game will feature a number of new features to the series – including a “tech web” approach to new technologies as opposed to the more traditional, linear progression system in past Civilization titles. Check out the trailer and some screenshots below.

Trailer

Screenshots

Via Polygon

PAX South Announced

2014/04/12
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News, PAX

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Boston, MA – April 12, 2014 – In front of a sellout crowd at PAX East 2014, ReedPOP, the world’s leading producer of pop culture events, and Penny Arcade, one of the largest gaming communities on the Internet, announced the addition of a new PAX event to the calendar – PAX South. Slated to debut in San Antonio, Texas in early 2015, the southern addition marks the fourth PAX show and third to occur in the U.S., continuing the tradition of proving the most authentic celebration of game culture in the world.

PAX South expands an event calendar that includes shows in Seattle, Boston, and Melbourne, Australia.

The new show will build on the foundation of the PAX format giving fans a healthy mix of the latest and greatest in video games, tabletop games, game inspired music, competitive gameplay, and insight from leaders in the world of gaming. The annual events give gamers a PAX show for every season throughout the year. 

“The love of gaming in all its many forms, whether that be on a TV, a computer, a phone, or even a tabletop, is hitting an all-time high. PAX gives gaming fans one place to get a glimpse of emerging trends and does it in a truly fun and interactive way,” said Lance Fensterman, Global Vice President of ReedPOP.

Robert Khoo, Penny Arcade President, added, “Since its launch in 2004, PAX events have doubled in size almost every year, and our Seattle and Boston events represent the two largest gaming festivals in North America. We’ve been hearing for years that those in the south had a tough time making it to the northern corners of the country; PAX South has always been a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if.'”

The addition of PAX South continues ReedPOP’s recent expansion in the live events space as the company further solidifies its place as the world’s number one provider of pop-culture events. Since the beginning of 2014 the company has announced the creation of a new consumer book event, BookCon, a targeted comic book convention in New York City, Special Edition: NYC, and the oversight of the largest comic convention in Australia, Oz Comic-Con.

Wargaming to Help Restore Maus Super-Heavy Tank

2014/04/11
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

Metro-maus1

April 11, 2014 — Wargaming today unveiled its plans to join with its long-term partner, the Russian Kubinka Tank Museum, to reconstruct and put back in running condition the only remaining Panzer VIII Maus tank.

“Wargaming closely cooperates with military museums around the world,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Publishing at Wargaming. “We are excited to contribute to the Kubinka’s initiative and plan on supporting the museum in future. We’ll help it put together an exclusive collection of armored warfare, assisting it in lifting and reconstruction of legendary military vehicles and enriching its exhibition with renowned machines from private collections from across the world. A unique selection of legendary warfare will attract military enthusiasts from Russia and abroad, sparking interest towards military history and inspiring younger generations to learn more about their country’s past.”

Regarded as the epitome of excellent tank design, the colossal Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus is the heaviest, fully enclosed armored fighting vehicle to see completion during World War II. Weighing 188 tonnes, only two prototypes were ever completed. The sole surviving tank is housed at the Kubinka Museum with an empty hull.

The museum and Wargaming intend to re-build its interior from scratch based on authentic diagrams. Missing parts will be restored in single quantities at a number of tank-building plants, with the entire process supervised by experienced warfare instaurators. The conserved Maus will be stored at the Kubinka Museum so that people from all over the world may come see the renowned vehicle with their own eyes.

Wargaming is involved in a number of socially significant projects that aid in the preservation of historic heritage. The company has launched a global campaign to assist in the search for and conservation of military warfare worldwide, including the support of the Soviet T-34-76 tank restoration in Belarus and the lifting and reconstruction of the KV-1 USSR tank in Voronezh, Russia. Other activities include the recovery of the world’s last remaining Dornier Do 17, now on display at the Royal Air Force Museum in Cosford, United Kingdom, the Wargaming Education Center at the Tank Museum at Bovington, United Kingdom, and the on-going sponsorship of the USS Iowa, docked in the Port of Los Angeles, California