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Star Citizen has raised over $1 million in contributions so far, an impressive number considering that the site where payments are made hasn't been especially stable. While that option will remain as is, Cloud Imperium has also started a Kickstarter campaign as another way for would-be fans to contribute.
Beyond the convenience factor, it's also just nice to see everything about the game laid out in an easily readable format. If you haven't been keeping up, this is a good way to quickly see why so many of us are anticipating Star Citizen.
"It is all about giving our fans the opportunity to choose the platform and payment provider they feel the most comfortable with," says designer Chris Roberts. "We asked whether they wanted Kickstarter as an option and they spoke! Between Kickstarter and the original site, which supports Paypal and major credit cards, I believe we have the tools in place to make everyone feel comfortable in backing this game."
[It Came from Japan! is a series where I seek out and review the weirdest, most original and enjoyable titles that never left the Land of the Rising Sun.]
There are some games that live up to the hype, but then there are a few that far exceed it. Sweet Home turned out to be one of those games for me. I played it for this feature series last year out of curiosity, not expecting to take to it as strongly as I did. It’s now a game I list as my favorite for the original Nintendo -- or Famicom, rather, since it was a Japan exclusive, after all.
Sweet Home is said to be the birth of survival horror, but it’s much more than that. It’s a one-of-a-kind gem that splices various genres to create a game unlike any other, or so I thought. But then readers reached out to me here and on Twitter with game recommendations. One that kept coming up was Laplace’s Demon. From a distance, it looks like a spiritual successor to Sweet Home.
I knew I had to cover the game for the series, so here I am, hoping I strike RPG-horror gold again.
Interplay has followed Larian Studios to become the next company offering a "pay what you want" sale on GOG.com. If Larian's deals didn't get your attention, this most certainly shall. They've got an interesting little setup going on.
Paying any amount of cash gets you eight games, including M.A.X, Jagged Alliance 2, and Shattered Steel. If you pay above the average price (currently $11.31), you get 20 games, including Messiah, Battle Chess, and Earthworm Jim 3D.
However, if you go for the premium minimum price of $34.99, you get everything Interplay has. That's Fallout, MDK, Freespace 2, and loads more for a total of 32 games and a saving of more than $150. I personally couldn't resist this one.
The deal will last another 14 days.
Couple of bits of information coming out of today's CD Projeckt/GOG.com Fall Conference about The Witcher 2 and the studio's upcoming Cyberpunk title. Firstly, Cyberpunk 2077 is the official name for the new RPG with CD Projeckt saying the game will be more of a "sandbox" game compared to their previous titles.
The Witcher 2 has now finally come to Mac and is available on GOG.com and Steam where you can get the game for 25% off its normal price. Best of all, if you already own the GOG.com edition for PC then you will get the Mac version free of charge.
CD Projeckt also announced that a variety of modder teams would be receiving their REDkit modding suite soon, with the full toolkit being rolled out for free in the first half of 2013. It's going to be real interesting seeing what mod teams can come up with for a game like Witcher 2 -- it's a title that's begging for new content.
This year, two reigning incumbents are looking to win themselves a second term of power. I am, of course, talking about president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama, and president-man of the eighth console generation, the Wii home entertainment gaming family device.
Really, the difference between the two situations is practically non-existent. Both became world leaders from humble and unlikely beginnings. Both have won praise and criticism for their unorthodox ways. Both have great marketing departments. Also, Obama said "videogames" once a few years ago so he is totally videogame-related and that makes this post okay.
Anyway, the point is, this upcoming election is not about Obama vs. Romney. It's clearly about Obama vs. the Wii U, and I urge you all to cast your vote for Nintendo this November. Why? Because the Wii's reign was blatantly better than Barack Obama's reign, and the Wii U shall logically run America better.
GOG.com/CD Projeckt didn't disappoint with its Fall 2012 Conference this afternoon, not only announcing almost 30 games for Mac but brand new titles arriving on the digital distribution service within the next few weeks.
There's a mix of classics like Sim City 2000, Syndicate, and Dungeon Keeper along with newer titles like FTL and Machinarium. Best of all, if you purchase a Mac title, you will get the PC version as well for no extra cost. This sounds like a great way to fill up a Macbook with some classic PC titles.
Also announced for GOG.com are three new titles, the fluid puzzler Puddle, the retro 2D platformer Giana Sisters - Twisted Dreams, and the point-and-click adventure title Deponia 2: Choas on Deponia. You can pre-order these three titles for a special price on GOG.com for the next seven days.
Originally scheduled to launch in September, Rockstar had Max Payne 3's Hostage Negotiation Pack pushed back to sometime "later this fall." Sure, some of us were a bit upset but I was too distracted with the free weapons bonus Rockstar gave as compensation -- sorry, what delay?
Well, Rockstar has today confirmed that Hostage Negotiation will now be coming out on October 30 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The DLC, which features four new multiplayer maps, a new avatar faction as well as two new rifles and other items will cost 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99 for PSN and PC users.
According to the company, they'll be giving "detailed previews of all four new maps" some time next week.
Max Payne 3 Hostage Negotiation Pack DLC Coming to All Platforms on October 30th [Rockstar]
Nintendo has confirmed to Kotaku that, as much as it tries, it's still struggling to embrace the world of online gaming. Only a "select" number of Wii U games will support voice chat in multiplayer, and there are currently no plans for an official headset.
Although the Wii U GamePad contains a microphone, it will not be compatible with voice chat. Anybody who wants to talk to players will need to use a third-party headset (Nintendo recommends Turtle Beach or Mad Catz), which will work when plugged into the 'Pad's headphone jack. The Pro Controller does not have a jack, so won't work with any headset.
Games confirmed to support this rather crippled option are Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Assassin's Creed III, and Mass Effect 3.
Voice chat has never attracted me too much, so I'm not broken up over this. However, it's certainly indicative of Nintendo's continued struggle against modern expectations, as it still finds itself unable to serve otherwise standard features in a standard, or efficient, way.
Today is a decent day to be a 3DS owner, as a heap of stuff is headed your way. First off we have Sparkle Snapshots 3D (3DS eShop, $5.99) and Gradius (3DS VC, $4.99) headed to the eShop, along with a Moshi Monsters Moshlings Theme Park demo.
If you're not satisfied yet, there's Puzzler World XL (DSiWare, 500 Points) and Reel Fishing Ocean Challenge (WiiWare, 500 Points). Not like that will actually satisfy you or anything.
Also, Ocarina of Time 3D ($39.99), Star Fox 64 3D ($39.99), Style Savvy: Trendsetters ($39.99), Mario Kart 7 ($39.99), and Super Mario 3D Land ($39.99) finally make their way to the 3DS eShop as part of Nintendo's full-game download initiative.
Pretty soon third party will be following suit, starting with Castle of Illusion. Then next week you have Ghost 'n' Goblins to look forward to!
Check out Wreck-It Ralph from the upcoming film doin' his thing in Sega's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. He gets to make an appearance in the game through a Sega and Disney collaboration. Players will be able to race as Ralph, taking control of his transformable vehicle. Just don't...wreck it. Yeah.
On the flip side, Sonic the Hedgehog will make in appearance in the Wreck-It Ralph film, which hits theaters on November 2nd.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will launch for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Vita and PC this holiday season.
On this week's Podtoid, Jonathan is deemed too heterosexual to enter his own home, Conrad hires assassins to eliminate two rude barbarians, and Jim converts to Christianity to help his 2016 presidential bid. Elsewhere, we have another commercial idea for the GameCube and think longingly about our old friend Samit Sarkar.
As if that wasn't enough, we chat about Ragnarok Odyssey, Doom 3, Retro City Rampage, and compare the Wii to politicians. Oh, what a fun day at the fair!
As ever, you can subscribe to us on iTunes and RSS, buy our Android App or download directly!
Laura Fryer headed up WB Games Seattle as its manager, and now she'll be doing the same at Epic Games' Seattle studio. She also has Microsoft on her resume as one of the founding members of the Xbox project. She launched XNA and created the Xbox Advisory board during her stay there.
While there she also served as executive producer on Gears of War and Gears of War 2, so she knows her Epic stuff. She now brings 17 years of industry experience to Epic.
This new Seattle studio is focused on "engineering efforts" for Unreal Engine 4, whatever that means.
Some of my fondest gaming memories come from the early 1990's, where Sega used its Model 2 arcade board to launch several great titles. Releases like Virtua Fighter 2, Sonic the Fighters, and Cyber Troopers Virtual-On seemed like the most advanced games ever made at the time.
Sega has announced that they're taking five of these games and re-releasing them on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network as their Model2 Collection. Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers. Cyber Troopers Vurtual-On, Virtua Striker and Sonic the Fighters will drop later this year, adding online play and other tweaks.
The pricing set for Japan is 800 Microsoft Points, or $10. Here you'll find the official Japanese website for this collection.
This new trailer from Sega Japan for the Model2 Collection really takes me back.
GoNintendo has an image of a list of details for some of the Nintendo Land minigames, giving us details on Yoshi's Fruit Cart, Captain Falcon's Twister Race, and Octopus Dance.
Octopus Dance is the greatest name ever given to a minigame. The description calls it a rhythm-based dance attraction, but I like Jonathan Holmes' description more:
"One game is about Yoshi putting fruit in a cart and the other is about the Octopus from Game and Watch dancing it's sweet little ass off until the player is left IN TEARS."
As you've gathered, Yoshi's Fruit Cart has our favorite dino putting fruit in a cart in a "brain-teasing attraction" that uses both the television and the GamePad.
Finally, Captain Falcon's Twister Race has you holding the GamePad, narrow end up, to guide a wind-up vehicle through a race.
Skylanders was one of the biggest surprises of 2011. Pretty much everyone expected it to be a cheap cash-in of 90s nostalgia to sell toys to unsuspecting kids -- and boy, were we wrong.
It was actually a pretty fun, serviceable action game, and the toy craze took off like wildfire. Now here we are in 2012 with the sequel, featuring even bigger Skylanders and even more toys.
In light of this, I have bad news for you folks: it's time to break out your wallets again.
It's 8am, and I'm drinking my morning tea and going through my press releases and work mail like I do every morning when I find a message from EA pointing me to the premiere trailer for the fourth multiplayer expansion pack for Battlefield 3, called Aftermath, which is due out at the end of November/early December.
*click*
and then...BWWWWOOOM. Ka-BOOOM. RUUUMMMMMBLE. KA-TA-KA-TA.
Jesus! I'm awake now. Thanks, DICE and EA. But I get why it's loud. The whole episode is set in post-earthquake Iran, where everything is a mess, and sh*t is still going down. The end of the trailer hints at more earthquakes on the way, too.
Aftermath features a new game mode called Scavenger, where players start equipped only with a knife, sidearm, and one grenade. They're forced to search the wreckage to find better gear and survive.
Something like this is now playing out in my office as I recover from the subwoofer mini-earthquake this trailer caused.
Conventions
