Freshly Sliced: Shacknews
Shacknews - Your source for the latest video game news
Friday, March 12 2010, 2:42 pm by
OnLive Readying Subscription-Free Cloud Gaming
Though online game streaming service OnLive will initially only be available to those willing to pay a monthly subscription of $14.95, the company has revealed plans to launch a subscription-free service--dubbed OnLive Game Portal--before the year's end. As OnLive CEO Steve Perlman explains: The OnLive Game Portal is for gamers looking for direct access to OnLive games without being required to subscribe to the features of the full OnLive Game Service. Through the OnLive Game Portal, gamers will. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 2:40 pm by
Puzzle Quest 2 Media Blowout
When Puzzle Quest 2 was first announced, way back in November 2009, there wasn't much in the way of media for the puzzling Ninteno DS and Xbox 360 sequel. Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS That changed today, with D3Publisher passing along more screenshots plus a trailer that offers a glimpse of what players are in for when Infinite Interactive's color-matching RPG hits Nintendo DS and Xbox 360 (as an Xbox Live Arcade download) this spring. [video]17568[/video]
Friday, March 12 2010, 2:00 pm by
Original Civilization Could Have Been Quite Different
In his keynote address at GDC 2010, Sid Meier discussed a few prototype designs for the original Civilization. If these had made it into the final game, the series--and gaming history as we know it--might be very different from what we know and love. Sid Meier's Civilization V Originally, Meier designed Civ as a real-time game. Taking inspiration from SimCity, he wanted to have a player's civilization grow around them. In actuality, players became observers. The mantra was "it's good to be king,. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 1:20 pm by
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Media Builds Up The Architect
BioWare has released new Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening screenshots and a trailer showing the fantasy RPG's expansion pack villainous Architect, a scheming intelligent Darkspawn. "The Architect is the first darkspawn to develop a will of his own," BioWare explains, "an unusual outcast who seems not to be subject to the call of the Old Gods, nor to the other darkspawn compulsions." How should adventurers approach such a being? Bioware advises that "treating him as anything other than what he is. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 12:40 pm by
BioShock 2 MP DLC Already on Disc; 2K Explains
The first piece of publisher 2K's "aggressive post-launch downloadable content plan" for BioShock 2 arrived yesterday, adding some new multiplayer characters, weapon upgrades and a higher rank cap in exchange for 400 Microsoft Points / $4.99. Yes, Louie McGraff has been locked away. You'll need to pay bail to get him out. However, buyers quickly noticed that the download itself was extremely small--23KB on PC, 108KB on Xbox 360 and 103KB on PlayStation 3--suggesting that the download wasn't addi. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 12:00 pm by
Game Developers Choice Award Winners Named; Uncharted 2 Wins Big
In a double-whammy of awarding goodness, the winners of the tenth annual Game Developers Choice Awards were revealed yesterday evening at Game Developers Conference 2010 following the twelfth annual Independent Games Festival Awards. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and 'Best Debut Game' recipient Torchlight This time around, winners were selected by "a new invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry" known as the International Choice Awards N. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 11:20 am by
Independent Games Festival Winners Revealed, Co-op Crime Game 'Monaco' Swipes Grand Prize
The "4-player co-op crime caper" Monaco has made off with the Grand Prize in the 2010 Independent Games Festival after the winners were named during GDC yesterday. Other winners include S2 Games' RTS-RPG Heroes of Newerth, puzzle platformer Max & the Magic Maker and the iPhone game Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor. All awards come with a $2,500 prize except for the Vision award sponsored by digital distributor Direct2Drive and the Grand Prize, which offer $10,000 and $20,000 respectively.
Friday, March 12 2010, 10:40 am by
Rob Pardo on Blizzard's Success and Failures
During his Game Developers Conference 2010 presentation, titled "Making a Standard (and Trying to Stick to it!): Blizzard Design Philosophies", Blizzard executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo discussed the company's past games and examined some of the successes and failures within these games. The talk was obviously geared toward game developers, but I found it incredibly interesting to hear a Blizzard executive's opinion on which systems and game features were successes or failures.. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 9:39 am by
Brink Cinematic Trailer Will Blow You Away
A new cinematic Brink trailer by CGI wizards Blur might not be representative of Enemy Territory developer Splash Damage's latest class-based shooter but it is very attractive. Brink is scheduled for a PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 release this fall, published by Bethesda. To see the actual game, check out last year's trio of gameplay trailers. [video]17562[/video] Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.
Friday, March 12 2010, 8:25 am by
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Announced
Telltale Games has revealed that the mysterious Sam & Max project it had teased last year is indeed a third season of the episodic adventure game series, titled 'The Devil's Playhouse.' 'The Penzal Zone, the first of the season's five monthly episodes, will arrive on April 15 to kick off a tale where "Max has been bestowed with a set of powerful psychic abilities from an unusual ancient source that he'll wield against the strongest and strangest foes the Freelance Police have ever faced." "Tell. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 7:40 am by
Deus Ex 3 Trailer Introduces Human Revolution
Deus Ex 3 is now officially named Deus Ex: Human Revolution, developer Eidos Montreal revealed during GDC yesterday with a swish new cinematic trailer. The trailer--created with Square Enix--revels in the prequel's cyberpunk and Renaissance themes and gives a look at some swish augmentations and tech. There's still no word of a release date for Deus Ex: Human Revolution--originally due in late 2009--or confirmation of platforms beyond PC, though PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions are expected.. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 7:00 am by
Morning Discussion
Friday already? Fabulous. Finally enough time to give our GDC 2010 coverage a proper read. Now get out of here! Can't you see we don't want you anymore? Why can't you go back where you came from? Now, leave us alone! Go. Go!
Thursday, March 11 2010, 8:30 pm by
Lead and Gold Hands-on: Team Shooting in the West
Lead & Gold: Gangs of the Wild West is a team-based, third-person shooter set, unsurprisingly, in the wild west. It sports a stylized look and a good amount of humor (I can shoot people's hats off!). When you shoot an enemy, damage numbers pop-up and critical hits will make these numbers grow. At GDC 2010, I got my first chance to play the PC version of the game with some of the developers at Fatshark. The game uses engine technology licensed from GRIN, but has been modified to suit Lead & Gold.. […]
Thursday, March 11 2010, 8:00 pm by
Gaikai Promises Subscription-Free Cloud Gaming
While online game streaming service OnLive will require users to pay $14.95 a month on top of the as-yet-unspecified purchase or rental fees, indirect competitor Gaikai has confirmed to Joystiq that it won't require any sort of monthly subscription fee. Both OnLive and Gaikai use a cloud-computing approach in which game data is processed by an external server. The visuals are then streamed to players through a web browser plug-in, with their control inputs then piped back to the server. Users of. […]
Thursday, March 11 2010, 7:20 pm by
Slider Impressions: Good, Silly Move Fun
Following last night's PlayStation 3 Move extravaganza, Sony had one more motion-controlled game up its sleeve: Slider. The premise is simple. Two office workers, Tobio and Karin, carom down Tokyo streets on office furniture to try to get away from Yakuza thugs. Along with the wackiness, the bright lighting and colorful art reminded me of the arcade classics SEGA was prone to putting out in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as Crazy Taxi. On the first level, I played Karin as she rolled down. […]
Thursday, March 11 2010, 7:00 pm by
Evening Reading: Nightly Faylure
Morning Discussion is starting to look a little crowded. Here, let me help. What's that? Where's Brian? Why, he's off at a magical land known as GDC 2010. Sorry kiddos, you'll have to make due with mean old Mr. Faylor for just a while longer. Yes, I know, he smells a little off. And the way he talks about himself in the third person is ...disconcerting, especially with those crazy eyes of his, but you'll be fine. I promise.
Thursday, March 11 2010, 6:20 pm by
The Settlers 7 Trailer Talks Customization
Civilization and Railroad Tycoon veteran Bruce Shelley walks us through this trailer for Blue Byte's The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom, helping explain some of the strategy game's customization elements. He's also forced to hold his own microphone. [video]17556[/video] Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream. The Settlers 7 hits North America in PC and Mac form on March 23, complete with that new DRM of Ubisoft's which requires players to have an active internet connection.
Thursday, March 11 2010, 5:42 pm by
BioShock 2 Tops U.S. Console Sales in February as NPD Reveals Hardware and Software Figures
With February 2010 now behind us, research firm NPD Group has released its regular breakdown of the past month's U.S. console hardware and software sales. A few interesting tidbits: The Xbox 360 outsold the Wii for the first time since September 2007, which is when Halo 3 was released. The PlayStation 3 edition of BioShock 2 is nowhere to be found despite the Xbox 360 version topping the chart. The bonus-packed PlayStation 3 edition of Dante's Inferno outsold the regular Xbox 360 iteration. BioS. […]
Thursday, March 11 2010, 5:40 pm by
Paid Mass Effect 2 DLC Arrives April 6
Having previously said that not all of Mass Effect 2 downloadable add-ons would be free, developer BioWare has informed Joystiq that the first paid bit of DLC will hit April 6. According to the site, the add-on, "Kasumi's Stolen Memory," brings another party member to the sci-fi shooter-RPG, along with the Locust SMG weapon, a "flash-bang grenade loyalty power," and a new mission said to last "about an ho...
Thursday, March 11 2010, 5:00 pm by
Perfect Dark Screenshots Get Classy
4J Studios' prettied-up port of Perfect Dark is almost here, so to celebrate, creator Rare has released some screenshots that see some characters dressed all fancy like. Boasting online multiplayer, enhanced visuals and a much smoother framerate over the Nintendo 64 original, the Xbox 360 recreation of Perfect Dark will be available as an 800 Microsoft Point / $10 Xbox Live Arcade download come next Wednesday, March 17.
