Author - Jerry Paxton

Arma 3 Laws of War DLC Raises Over $170K for ICRC

March 21, 2018 – As pledged last August, independent games developer Bohemia Interactive has donated half of its 2017 net revenue from direct sales of the Arma 3 Laws of War DLC to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The total amount raised is USD 176,667 (one-hundred and seventy-six thousand, six-hundred and sixty-seven US dollars – approximately EUR 143,543 or GBP 126,016).

To further celebrate the special occasion, the studio published a special blog post, which includes a new story trailer for the DLC, plus an infographic with statistics on how people played Laws of War’s mini-campaign.

“With over two billion gamers worldwide, video games have an incredible potential to convey the importance of international humanitarian law (IHL). The collaboration between Bohemia interactive and the ICRC has been extraordinary and we have learned a lot from each other by exchanging ideas and our respective expertise on how to incorporate IHL into a video game. The success of the Arma 3 Laws of War DLC has shown us that video games are one of the many ways to reach new audiences and call attention to the fact that wars do have limits and rules. We are also very grateful that Bohemia Interactive will donate $176,667 to the ICRC, which shows their commitment to support our work, to help people affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence in over eighty countries.” said Helen Durham, Director for International Law and Policy at the ICRC.

Bohemia Interactive’s CEO, Marek Spanel: “We knew this DLC’s theme might seem a bit unusual, but we also felt that it has a rightful place in a game like Arma 3. At the same time, our community normally expects more traditional content you’d see in a military game, such as new weapons, tanks, and helicopters. That has made it even more amazing to see the immense level of player support for the Laws of War DLC, which really shows again how both games and the gaming audience have matured. If you also consider that some of our players are in the military or might pursue a military career in the future, then we’re glad this DLC has been able to increase awareness for this important topic. And being able to also make a financial contribution to the ICRC’s efforts is a great bonus.”

Arma 3 Laws of War is a downloadable content pack for Bohemia Interactive’s military game Arma 3. It explores a different perspective on the battlefield by introducing a fictional humanitarian NGO faction calledIDAP (International Development & Aid Project) to the game. The package also includes a new van, a drone, outfits and gear, and a range of decorative objects such as shelter tents and medical or food supplies. One of the main highlights of the DLC is the “Remnants of War” mini-campaign. Here, players take on the role of IDAP explosive specialist Nathan MacDade, and uncover what happened in the town of Oreokastro – witnessing the long-term consequences of war and particularly the effects of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Furthermore, the Laws of War DLC implemented a free Showcase scenario on the topic of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This singleplayer scenario, which is presented as a virtual reality training course hosted by IDAP, aims to provide all Arma 3 players with the opportunity to become more familiar with the DLC’s complex and serious theme.

More information about the Arma 3 Laws of War DLC is available at arma3.com/dlc/lawsofwar.

THQ and Nickelodeon Announce Games Based on Nick Classics

NEW YORK / VIENNA– March 21 2018 – THQ Nordic and Nickelodeon today announced the global revival of several game titles connected with Nickelodeon properties.

The full list of game titles are:

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • Back At The Barnyard
  • Catscratch
  • Danny Phantom
  • El Tigre
  • Invader Zim
  • Jimmy Neutron
  • My Life As A Teenage Robot
  • Rocket Power
  • Rocko’s Modern Life
  • Rugrats
  • SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Tak And The Power Of JUJU
  • The Fairly OddParents (US only)
  • The Ren & Stimpy Show
  • The Wild Thornberrys

On-shelf availability will be announced in the coming months.

“The appetite for Nickelodeon content old and new continues to grow and it’s exciting to bring our beloved content to new audiences through this partnership with THQ Nordic,” said Jon Roman, Senior Vice President, Toys, Nickelodeon. “These titles were popular when they were first released and we can’t wait for fans around the world to rediscover their favorites.”

“This one hits close to home! We are very proud of signing this agreement, which was originally executed by the “former” THQ Inc,” comments Adrienne Lauer, VP Digital Sales & Business Development Americas at THQ Nordic. “We believe the combination of strong licenses and solid, crisp gameplay was one of THQ Inc’s trademark strategies, and we intend to continue this tradition. I am confident we chose one of the strongest partners for doing just that. It is a perfect fit for our “asset care” strategy: bringing back fan-favorites, continuing to support legacy games and make them available on current and even next-gen platforms.”

iBuyPower Rates GamingShogun One of their Top Gaming Blogs

Here’s a cool bit of news that I was very excited to see – iBuyPower, a well-known maker of custom PC gaming machines, has listed GamingShogun.com in their post of top gaming blogs to follow. You can check out the full posting of sites and blogs here as well as their official site for custom PC details. Seeing things like this really make us all feel good knowing that our years of trying to bring interesting geek news to light is appreciated.

They even gave us this nifty badge!

cd projekt RED Announces New Division

March 20, 2018 – CD PROJEKT RED, developers of Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher and GWENT, to open a new division — CD PROJEKT RED Wrocław. Located in the city of Wrocław, south-western Poland, the new studio will join forces with CD PROJEKT RED Warsaw and Cracow, and bolster development of Cyberpunk 2077 — the upcoming futuristic AAA role-playing game.

“Wrocław is one of the biggest and most technologically advanced cities in Poland and a playing field for serious creative talent. I think the scope of our current and future projects, as well as the overall package we’re bringing in, will pull in people who were hesitant to move to Warsaw or Cracow.” — says Adam Kiciński, President and Joint CEO, CD PROJEKT Capital Group. “The founding dev team of CDPR Wrocław is already pretty stellar, but I still can’t wait to see what talents we’ll discover in new people along the way.” — Kiciński adds.

Consisting of 18 talented industry veterans, Wrocław-based developer, Strange New Things, will form the core of the new studio.

“We’re pretty hyped to be on the spearhead of this new office.” — says Paweł Zawodny, Head of Studio, CD PROJEKT RED Wrocław. “We know Wrocław inside out and it’s an amazing place to make games. The team is strong, and I’m sure we have both the experience and the creative firepower to make Cyberpunk 2077 an even better game.” — Zawodny adds.

“Aside from their immense technological knowledge and artistic flair, the core team of CD PROJEKT RED Wrocław are just great people.” — says Adam Badowski, Game Director for Cyberpunk 2077 and Head of CD PROJEKT RED. “CD PROJEKT RED is not a typical game developer — we put gamers, creative freedom and quality games above making business. These guys not only share this approach, but, much like the rest of the team, think that this attitude is essential to creating epic video games.” — Badowski adds.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole: From Dusk Till Casa Bonita DLC Launch Trailer

March 20, 2018 – Today Ubisoft® and South Park Digital Studios announced that South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ From Dusk Till Casa Bonita DLC is now available on PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and PC. From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Ubisoft San Francisco, From Dusk Till Casa Bonita DLC adds an all-new story campaign and superhero class to South Park: The Fractured But Whole. From Dusk Till Casa Bonita is available for the suggested retail price of $11.99.

Mysterion’s sister is in trouble. She’s fallen in with the Vamp Kids of South Park, who have descended upon Cartman’s favorite restaurant, Casa Bonita. Visit the famous family eatery and explore Black Bart’s Cave, watch the cliff divers, taste the magic of Mexico and defeat the brood of Vampires.

Fight darkness with darkness and embrace the new Netherborn class, which features four new occult powers. Dress the part in new Goth costumes and gain some sweet loot. Enter the battle alongside Henrietta, the Goth: a powerful support Witch, and bring your new powers and buddy to the rest of your superhero adventure.

For more information about South Park: The Fractured But Whole, please visit southparkgame.com, and for the latest on all Ubisoft games, please visit news.ubisoft.com.

Europa Universalis IV: Rule Britannia Launch Trailer

STOCKHOLM – 20 March 2018 – The old king of legend couldn’t control the waves with a flick of his hand, but you, his heirs, can master them with the power of your navy and the reach of your trade fleets. The destiny of millions is in your hand in Rule Britannia, the newest immersion pack for Paradox Development Studio’s classic historical strategy game Europa Universalis IV.

Rule Britannia brings greater depth to the lands of England, Scotland and Ireland while offering tools that will deepen the experience of Europa Universalis IV no matter where you choose play. The mission system has been completely reorganized (with new unique missions for the British and Irish nations), and any nation with a fleet can choose a naval doctrine that will boost its galleys, reduce its maintenance cost or strengthen the power of its trading ships.

Features of Europa Universalis IV: Rule Britannia include:

  • New British Missions: Exclusive Mission Trees for England, Scotland, Ireland and Great Britain, embedded in the new Europa Universalis IV mission system (coming with the 1.25 update).
  • Innovativeness: Earn rewards for being the first nation to unlock new knowledge, including lower power costs.
  • Naval Doctrine: Adopt a general strategy for your fleets, giving you bonuses to ship maintenance, trade power or battle performance.
  • Anglicanism: A new Protestant faith can appear in England with new bonuses and religious choices.
  • New Units: New army designs for British and Irish nations, including independent Northumberland and Cornwall.
  • New Music: The epic score of history has been filled out with new music to backdrop your quest for world supremacy
  • Knowledge Sharing: Help your lagging allies or subjects by promoting the spread of institutions in their realms.
  • Trade Steering: Force your defeated enemies to have their merchants fill your coffers.

Europa Universalis IV: Rule Britannia is now available in the Paradox store and on Steam for the suggested retail price of $9.99.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/europa-universalis-iv-rule-britannia/EUEU04ESK0000051.html

Assault Gunners HD Launch Trailer

TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT (MARCH 20, 2018) – Marvelous Europe — publisher and localizer of the fan-favorite SENRAN KAGURA series — today announced that ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION is now available for PlayStation®4 and Windows PC via Steam. ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION ‘Standard Edition’ is available for purchase for $9.99 and a ‘Complete Set’ containing all DLC bundled with the base game retails for $11.99. All DLC is also available separately for purchase as the ‘ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION EXTRA PACK’ for $4.99.

ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION is available for purchase at the following storefronts:

To celebrate the launch of ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION, Marvelous is offering a 10% launch discount on both the Standard Edition and Complete Set of ASSAULT GUNNERS HD EDITION on Steam and on PlayStation 4 (PlayStation Plus subscription required). This limited time offer ends on March 27.

Sea of Thieves: Museum of More Pirate Trailer

March 20, 2018 – Like many of us on the team, we grew up as big fans of timeless classic movies like “The Goonies.” So it should come as no surprise that when our team went looking for the perfect person to play the lead role in the Sea of Thieves cinematic trailer, Sean Astin sat atop our list.

Today, before the official release of Sea of Thieves, I am excited to world-premiere our launch cinematic trailer, featuring Sean Astin as the curator at the Museum of More Pirate. A man determined to share his lifelong passion by preserving exhibits and sharing tales of real explorers from the game who’ve already become the stuff of legend. Sean brings an appropriate shot of charm and enthusiasm to the role and is known for his screen appearances in such well-loved stories as “The Lord of the Rings,” “Stranger Things” and, favorite of the team at Rare and early inspiration for Sea of Thieves, “The Goonies.”

Sean was an incredible partner to work with to bring the Museum of More Pirate to life as a testament to the fantastic community that has already formed around Sea of Thieves. From the first Technical Alpha in December 2016 to the recent Final Beta, we were consistently astounded by the stories cultivated by real players across the world. Thank you to Sean, our partners at 215 McCann and the fine folks at Rare for helping us to create a testament to Sea of Thieves’ established real player legends like Pikaaroon, Lizalaroo and KattTruewalker. We can’t wait to see what adventures inspire new exhibits in the museum starting tomorrow.

And if you’re looking for a final peek at the Sea of Thieves experience, check out our launch gameplay trailer featuring the first look at the mysterious and deadly kraken.

Our celebration of the launch of Sea of Thieves doesn’t stop here, however, as there are an array of global activities to satisfy your inner pirate. Those looking to test their mental mettle can embark on The Quest for the Golden Bananas, which sees crews work together to solve riddles for a chance at winning a set of four real 18-carat gold bananas.

We have our launch events across all Microsoft Store locations in the U.S., with special events at the flagship Microsoft Store in New York and Sydney. For our friends across the pond, The Voyage live stream will follow the escapades of some of the best Sea of Thieves content creators.

Tomorrow is a special day for the team at Rare and all of us on team Xbox. Sea of Thieves is an experience years in the making, and we couldn’t have gotten here without our teams globally. The Museum of More Pirate is just the latest testament to the great partnerships at work here. We hope that you’ll have as much fun playing Sea of Thieves as we have had making and supporting it.

Sea of Thieves arrives on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC tomorrow, Mar. 20 and is available from the Xbox Store, Windows Store, all good retailers globally as well as included as part of Xbox Game Pass at launch. For more information on the game please visit Xbox.com/SeaofThieves.

Be More Pirate – We hope you all enjoy Sea of Thieves.

Thermaltake Unveils TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem with AI Voice Control

Taipei, Taiwan-March 19th, 2018-Thermaltake, a leading brand in chassis, power supply units and cooling markets, is thrilled to launch TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem along with TT AI Voice Control, synchronizing all your gaming station color theme with your voice. TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem is the intelligent lighting system for PCs that combines the most advanced addressable LED lighting with TT AI Voice Control and the patented TT RGB PLUS Software. TT RGB PLUS ecosystem provides unlimited possibilities for color play, light synchronization for games, music, CPU temperatures and other TT RGB PLUS products: Riing Plus LED RGB Radiator Fan Series, Pacific W4 Plus CPU Waterblock, Pacific V-GTX 1080Ti Plus Transparent GPU Waterblock Series, Pacific PR22-D5 Plus Reservoir/Pump Combo, Pacific RL360 Plus RGB Radiator and Pacific Lumi Plus LED Strips. No matter which compatible product you choose, the voice control function makes the lights easy to set up and control. Once you have connected TT RGB PLUS App with the TT RGB PLUS Software through your local Wi-Fi network, you can ask the app to turn the lights on or off, switch light modes, dim the lights, change light colors, or adjust light speeds or fan speeds.

TT AI Voice Control is currently only available for *iOS devices, and requires the TT RGB PLUS Software 1.1.5 version or later. The updated app is now available on the Apple App Store, and will be released on Google Play soon. The latest TT RGB PLUS Software is open now for download from the Thermaltake official website.

*Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

For more details on Thermaltake TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem, please visit:

http://ttrgbplus.thermaltake.com/

Ubisoft Unveils GDC 2018 Lineup

PARIS – March 16, 2018 – At the Games Developers Conference (GDC) 2018, starting Monday, March 19 through Friday, March 23, Ubisoft will look to inspire attendees with a diverse program of presentations and speakers. The sessions will highlight Ubisoft teams’ latest technical innovations, approach to long-term brand management, lessons learned from AAA and Live game development, and much more.

Ubisoft will have a dedicated lounge, located in the Moscone Center, West Hall, 2nd floor, where GDC attendees can see presentations from Ubisoft speakers, get their hands on Far Cry 5 ahead of its release, and meet with recruiters. The Ubisoft Lounge will be open from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (except for Friday, March 23 where it will close at 4:00 p.m.).

The talks for the GDC Main track will feature speakers like Jean Guesdon (Assassin’s Creed®), Nouredine Abboud (Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands), Leroy Athanassoff (Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege), Damien Kieken (For Honor®), Matthew Rose (Starlink Battle for Atlas™), Fredrik Brönjemark (Tom Clancy’s The Division®), Etienne Carrier (Far Cry® 5), Marco Renso (Mario + Rabbids® Kingdom Battle),  and many more. These speakers and more will discuss the process and techniques to create games some of Ubisoft’s most popular games.

Women in Gaming Rally

Ubisoft is proud to collaborate with Xbox on the 18th Annual Women in Gaming Rally. Diverse teams strengthen creativity and innovation across teams, and women play an important role in that. Ubisoft focuses on promoting an inclusive work environment that encourages understanding and respect between the diverse groups of people who make up our company, and is committed to work with the industry to increase the representation of women in game development. The Women in Gaming Rally is on Tuesday, March 20 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Contemporary Jewish Museum and will include Ubisoft’s Stephanie Perotti (VP of Online Games), Liz England (Game Designer, Ubisoft Toronto), Jolie Menzel (Lead Narrative Designer, Ubisoft San Francisco) and Jean Raymond (Digital Sales Director, Ubisoft San Francisco) on panels and networking activities.

Sponsored panel

This year, Ubisoft is sponsoring “Accessibility in Games: Where we are and where to next,” panel taking place Wednesday, March 21, at the Moscone Center, West Hall, Room 2000. The panel will feature Cherry Thompson (accessibility advocate and streamer), Tara Voelker (Gaming & Disability Community Lead, Xbox) Jason Canam (Director, Household Games) and David Tisserand (User Research Process Manager, Ubisoft). Ian Hamilton, an accessibility expert and advocate will moderate the panel which will explore the changes in the industry, the challenges encountered by developers today and discuss directions where the accessibility topic can go in the future.