Fire Emblem trailer
At its pre-TGS conference, Nintendo confirmed that a new Fire Emblem is on its way to 3DS and will be the first version to feature co-op play. See the game in action below.
At its pre-TGS conference, Nintendo confirmed that a new Fire Emblem is on its way to 3DS and will be the first version to feature co-op play. See the game in action below.
The PC RTS set in George R R Martin's Game Of Thrones world but sadly bereft of Sean Bean will be released on September 29, Rock Paper Shotgun reports. Developer Cyanide made 2009's Blood Bowl and is now hard at work on two RPGs: one is another Game Of Thrones tie-in, the other called Orcs & Men.
Platform holders and alleged developer all deny knowledge of supposed RTS.
3Crimson: Steam Pirates, the first game to be published under the Bungie Aerospace banner -which is the Halo developer's way of giving a leg-up to independent studios - will be available as a free download for iPad from September 1. However, not everyone is pleased by the news. Andy Moore, one of the developers of the strategy game SteamBirds to which Harebrained Schemes' work bears a more than passing resemblance, considers on his blog whether he is entitled to be annoyed by his work being cloned. In the comments, he's since backtracked from his original claim that "Bungie is being a moral dick," but he raises some interesting questions about when cloning's hypothetical statute of limitations ought to expire.
The publisher has pulled a series of volte-faces regarding From Dust's PC DRM, with conflicting statements and forum posts promising the DRM would be removed or toned down. If the latest one is to be believed, however, the controversial always-on DRM is to be removed. "We recognise that one of our posts in the From Dust forum regarding the need for authentication in the game was not clear," it reads. "We sincerely apologise for the misunderstanding. Our tech teams are working on a patch that should release in approximately two weeks that will eliminate the need for any online authentication."
Last night saw the grand finals of the After Hours Gaming League, with Microsoft taking on Zynga at Starcraft II to bring down the curtain on a tournament devised by popular Starcraft II shoutcaster Sean "Day[9]" Plott. According to the league's Twitter, Microsoft won, and donated its $5,000 reward to Amnesty International. Other companies that took part in the tournament included Google, Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox, Twitter and Yelp.
Ubisoft has further raised the hackles of the PC gaming community with this week's belated release of the PC port of Eric Chahi's From Dust. Rock Paper Shotgun weaves a complex tale of the publisher's seemingly ever-changing stance on the inclusion of its widely detested DRM, a terrible, unoptimised port bereft of customisation options, and an outpouring of vitriol on the Ubisoft forums that seems to have culminated in the publisher saying it will refund those dissatisfied with their purchase which, by the sounds of it, is just about everyone.
Can Gas Powered Games' free-to-play take on the classic strategy series live up to its heritage? Follow the source link for the full review.
The planned European release of Double Fine's mech tower defence game was blocked by a Portuguese board game called Trench. Microsoft has this morning confirmed that Trenched will finally be released next month, under a new name, Iron Brigade.
Valve's action-RTS is set for release before the year is out, and this week's Gamescom event in Cologne will host the game's first public showing, as well as a million-dollar team tournament featuring some of the original game's most high-profile players.
1Riot Games has revealed League Of Legends: Dominion, which adds a new capture-and-hold game mode and a new map, Crystal Scar, to its hugely popular free-to-play RTS. The developer says the new mode is a faster-paced alternative to the more strategic Summoner's Rift, with matches typically lasting for just 20 minutes. While it declined to specify a release date, Riot will be showing Dominion for the first time at next week's Gamescom in Cologne.
Fansite Dota-Two has been passed a letter purportedly sent out to high-profile Defense Of The Ancients players inviting them to next month's Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany, where the game's long-awaited sequel will be unveiled. It reads: "Valve is developing and publishing Dota 2, and the event at Gamescom will mark the first public presentation of Dota 2."
Microsoft has signed up strategy game Skulls Of The Shogun for Xbox Live Arcade. The game has been developed by Haunted Temple Studios which was founded last year by employees laid off from EA's Los Angeles studio after the completion of Command & Conquer 4. "Microsoft totally got our vision and have been fully behind it ever since, and the support we're getting out of them has been seriously as much as I could ever ask for," studio founder Jake Kazdal, who has also worked on Rez, Space Channel 5 and EA's cancelled Spielberg project LMNO, said. "Our extended team is now more powerful than ever!" Microsoft Studios director of first-party Ted Woolsey added: "This studio has kind of the best of both worlds. On the one hand, they practically personify the kind of DIY ethos and independent spirit that's the hallmark of today's most exciting developers. More than that though, it's a studio made up of AAA veterans with incredible resumes. These guys know how to ship great games, and that's huge."
1Released on Xbox Live Arcade in the US two weeks ago, Double Fine's spin on the tower defence genre is yet to launch in the UK due to a trademark held by a Portuguese board game designer. "This entire process has been very frustrating to us," project lead Brad Muir told Destructoid. " Microsoft owns the IP for Trenched and [is] working to resolve things as quickly as possible. I wish there were more information to give but it's still unclear as to how things will shake out. The one thing I do know is that the game will be released in those territories."
Speaking to MCV, 2K president Christoph Hartmann defended the company's decision to reboot the beloved strategy series as an FPS. "The 90s generation of gamers all love XCOM and we own the IP, so we thought, okay, what do we do with it? Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it," he said. "The problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing - strategy games are just not contemporary. It's not a case of cashing in on the name. We just need to renew it because times are changing."
2StarCraft II shoutcaster Sean "Day[9]" Plott has formed the After Hours Gaming League, which will see some of the most high-profile tech companies in the world face off in an eight-team tournament. The idea came from an in-house StarCraft II tournament at Facebook to which Plott was invited, after which Facebook suggested it be expanded to include other companies. Amazon, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yelp and Zynga are all on board, with the $5,000 grand prize donated to the winner's chosen charity. The tournament began on July 5, and the grand final, at Facebook's Palo Alto campus on August 19, will be streamed live on Justin.tv, Day9.tv, and Facebook Live.
New machine-learning technique could greatly improve AI design process, researchers claim.
1Rui Alipio Monteiro, the Portuguese whose First World War-themed board game Trench was revealed last month to be the reason for the European delay of Double Fine's XBLA title Trenched, appears ready to fight publisher Microsoft every step of the way. Explaining that his trademark covers electronic games as well - and claiming that one is already in development - he said in a statement: "[Microsoft], until the present date, has never contacted nor has any relation with Rui Alipio Monteiro. [Portuguese firm] Criações a Solo and Rui Alipio Monteiro, taking into account all investment already made, cannot do anything but obviously defend all their author's copyright and intellectual property against any infringements, as any designer would."
Social games Pet Society and Restaurant City also heading to iOS.
The Facebook incarnation of Sid Meier's classic series was first announced in 2009 and has been in closed alpha since January, but is now open to all. At the time, Meier explained: "To win in Civ World, you'll need to collaborate with your friends in order to do well in the game and become ruler of the world...games will have a well-defined beginning and end, each ending with a triumphant civilisation and one person recognised as that game's most prestigious player."