Now we know that next-gen is really here. The recommended minimum PC specifications for Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs elicited little more than a pause because most PC gamers assumed that all the open-world razzle-dazzle would require some decent hardware to back it up. The PC specifications for Call of Duty: Ghosts indicate what many of us have anticipated. Next-gen games may require PC upgrades.
OS: Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 8 64-Bit
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHZ / AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHZ or better
RAM: 6 GB RAM
HDD: 50 GB HD space
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti / ATI Radeon HD 5870 or better
Sound: DirectX Compatible Sound Card
DirectX: 11
Recommended: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
Goodbye 4GB of RAM and 32-bit Windows! People scooting along at the low-end of Steam’s hardware survey better start making upgrade lists or hope to get a Steam Machine.
What’s better than winning virtual loot in Borderlands 2? How about winning real loot by collecting virtual loot in Borderlands 2? Beginning October 11th, Gearbox is going to give away $100,000 worth of swag to Borderlands 2 players in the Loot Hunt including $50,000 to one lucky Vault Hunter. By obtaining a special gun, and playing while connected to the internet, players will unlock the ability to take part in a Community Goal that will result in getting a contest entry for that day as well as in-game loot.
Basically, a Community Goal involves killing a special type of enemy with that day’s unique gun. If you guys cumulatively kill enough enemies singled out in the daily Community Goals, then you’ll unlock a Community Reward (read: uniquely super-awesome gun) at the week’s end!
Only US residents are eligible for the real rewards, but everyone can obtain the in-game loot by participating. The contest ends on Novemember 7th.
The PlayStation 4 controller will have basic PC functionality. Sony’s Worldwide Studios honcho Shuhei Yoshida confirmed on Twitter that the DualShock 4’s basic button and analog stick controls will work on PC just by plugging it in the USB port. When asked if the controller would be recognized at the API level as a DualShock 4 by Windows after launch, Yoshida replied that people will have to “wait for [the] field report” for more details.
Sony will likely need to write additional software to enable the Touchpad and other features on the controller that would not be recognized natively. If that is done, then it’s likely that the PS4 controller could stand toe-to-toe with the Xbox One controller or even the newly revealed Steam controller for PC gaming.
You’re all excited about the power of the cloud, Kinect 2.0, and all the great stuff Microsoft says the Xbox One will deliver, so you snagged a preorder of the Xbox One Day One edition. Won’t your pals be jealous when they see your cool commemorative Day One controller while they’re stuck using the lame plain Xbox One controller? Maybe not. In fact, there may be a good chance they’ll be laughing at you. According to a report from GBM, some retailers are saying that there is no guarantee of getting a pre-ordered Day One edition console on day one. Best Buy and Target told GBM that they’ll do their best, but it’s out of their hands.
“Best Buy and other retailers holding pre-orders on the XBOX ONE: DAY ONE EDITION have no control over the number of units the manufacturer would provide on it’s release date, however, all retailers including Best Buy, are in constant communication with Microsoft so we may be able to comply and meet the demand of all these pre-orders. Should it occur that stocks would run out, the last customer on the waiting list will become the first customer in line for the shipment of the next batch of the XBOX ONE: DAY ONE EDITION.”
Microsoft stands by their November 22nd launch date for the Xbox One and has said that there should be no issues with pre-ordered supply for the Day One or regular console packages.
EA is exploring offline mode for SimCity. Patrick Buechner, General Manager for Maxis Emeryville, posted a “State of SimCity” article outlining where the controversial game stands seven months after launch. Buechner reiterated that the team reads and listens to fan input, citing the addition of the ability to raise and lower roads as an example of feedback leading to an improvement. On the subject of larger spaces, Buechner said the team investigated various ways to increase city size, but that it isn’t practical with the Glassbox engine. He did have some good news regarding the an offline mode being added to the game.
Right now we have a team specifically focused on exploring the possibility of an offline mode. I can’t make any promises on when we will have more information, but we know this is something that many of our players have been asking for. While the server connectivity issues are behind us, we would like to give our players the ability to play even if they choose not to connect. An offline mode would have the additional benefit of providing room to the modding community to experiment without interfering or breaking the multiplayer experience.
Patrick Buechner ended the post by thanking fans for their passion and emphasizing his own commitment to the game.
The Minerva’s Den DLC for BioShock 2 is now available on Steam. Long trapped behind Microsoft’s Games for Windows Live, the DLC adds a self-contained episode to Tom’s favorite BioShock game. There’s also a patch for the base game that adds full controller support, removes all GFWL, and disables the Securom DRM. As an added treat, if you already have BioShock 2 on your Steam account, you got the DLC for free! It’s a BioShock miracle!
Update: The patch notes have been published. The key from any digital copy of BioShock 2 can now be used to add the game to your Steam library. You’ll get Minerva’s Den for free as well. Multiplayer comes with all map pack DLC and the XP progression has been tweaked to be “quicker and easier.”
Sony Online Entertainment is now offering players a way to purchase an immediate jump to level 85 in EverQuest II. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an MMO to offer this since players have been buying and selling high-level character accounts for years. Senior Producer, Holly Longdale, explained that SOE is adding the so-called “Heroic Character” feature to EverQuest II in response to fan requests.
“Former players don’t want to play catch-up to Level 95, existing players don’t want to start over at Level 1 with their friends, and some players just want to get into high-end guilds and raids because that’s what they love to do. There’s been a lot of great feedback that led us to create Heroic Characters.”
“The goal is to provide a fun and easy option for existing and returning players to play or experiment with our characters and have immediate access to high-level content. And we think we’ve created a great program for everyone!”
Everyone can create a free jump-started character until October 15th during the “Hero’s Call” event. After that, it will cost real-world money to get a leveled character, but there will be a try before you buy option. SOE will allow you to check out a Heroic Character until level 86 for free.
The fact that Batman: Arkham Origins has a Season Pass offer isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that Warner Bros. Games expects gamers to fork over $19.99 for what seems to be a lot of cosmetic skins. According to what producer Guillaume Voghel told IGN, gamers are totally going to get their money’s worth.
“The costume DLC is going to be available with the Season Pass and it’s basically a bonus right?” he explained. “There’s going to be a lot of value in that Season Pass. One of the items we can’t talk about yet… We’ll just wait for the gamers to really see what the entire package contains. It’s going to be a big deal.”
Here’s my proposal to all developers and publishers that want me to buy their DLC packages up front: When you can tell me exactly what you’re selling, I’ll give your offer more consideration. Until then, you can stop wasting my time.
Frictional Games’s latest project is being teased. The newly launched “Soma Systems” site leads to a progress bar (currently at 18%) and some futuristic error messages. According to the “Vivarium” case file on the web page, some researchers have found an ominously primitive item during a salvage mission. The accompanying video (seen above) seems like it could’ve come straight from the depths of the SCP Foundation, which would imply that Frictional is sticking with horror.
Soma, by the way, is a potent drink used in Vedic rituals and appears as a drug in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World as well as Phillip K. Dick’s VALIS. A quote from VALIS appears on the Soma website in a coded message. “It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.”
Come on, Sega! You’re not even trying. 25 extra lives for Sonic Lost World if you order through Amazon? Thanks for nothing. The GameStop offer is an unlockable Omochao buddy that helps the player collect rings in co-op mode. I don’t think there’s ever been a better argument against retail exclusive pre-order bonuses.
Tom loved Rebuild on the iPad and so did I. It’s a terrific game of personnel management, urban revitalization, and dealing with the shambling masses of undead. Should I send Frank out to the dangerous hospital zone to clear out some zeds, or should I pair him up with Betty to scavenge for supplies in the suburbs? Frank isn’t very good at combat, but he needs more toughening up before the hordes of undead arrive in three turns. On the other hand, my merry band is running low on food… Decisions like that made pressing that next turn button compelling.
Sarah Northway has announced a Kickstarter to raise funds for the revamped PC version of her zombie apocalypse game. Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville will come with big additions like NPC forts to trade with, a campaign that moves from small towns to a big city, an optional real-time mode, and all-new art!
My biggest expense for this game is the art. I want to bring Gangs of Deadsville to as many new players as I can, which means focusing on how the game looks and feels as much as how it plays. I’ve hired lead artist Adam Meyer of Steamroller Studios, who defined the new style of clean vector art and iconic characters.
And what art it is! The graphics on the iOS version aren’t bad, but there is a bit of disconnect between the gory illustrations and the almost cartoony map. The new style appears to unify the art between the screens. Check out some more screenshots of the new look here.
If you haven’t played it yet, the mobile version will be on sale throughout October for 99 cents! The original free Flash version is still available as well, but it doesn’t have all the features of the current game.
Starbound, the side-scrolling procedurally generated planetary exploration game that is totally not Terraria, won’t launch until sometime in 2014. The game will only be released in beta form at the end of this year according to an update on the Starbound Newsletter despite earlier estimates of a 2013 launch given to pre-order customers. Chucklefish explained that the 1.0 release was pushed back due to normal development growth.
When we began pre-orders back in April, the idea of not completing the entire game by the end of the year seemed absurd! So we set our official “release date estimate” for 2013 and elsewhere stated that the game would definitely be out this year.
Game development is fairly unpredictable, though, especially on games as large as Starbound, and things often take much longer than we could have thought possible. Given that, we’d taken the stance that it’s the beta that will definitely be available this year, not the full game. While we’re always actively talking to people in IRC and the forums, we only recently updated our website’s info to reflect these changes! Sorry about that.
Coincidentally, Terraria received its 1.2 update this morning which added a slew of bugfixes, new features, enemies, and items – including craftable rocket launchers. Watch out Skeletron! I’m going to have a rocket launcher when next we meet!
Nintendo’s Pikmin 3 gets paid Mission Mode DLC starting today. The $1.99 Collect Treasure content pack is the first Mission Mode DLC available. The pack adds four stages to the game. A second pack is scheduled to be released soon. According to the announcement, a game update will add a free Mission Mode stage and global rankings to the game for everyone.
Forward Unto Dawn! Microsoft’s blockbuster Halo 3 will be free for all Xbox Live Gold members in October. Major Nelson announced that the Games with Gold program continues in October by offering Might & Magic Clash of Heroes starting tomorrow, and Halo 3 starting on the 16th. As with previous Games with Gold releases, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to keep the games in their library even if their subscription lapses if they download them during the offer period.
Roberts’ Space Industries announced that Star Citizen blew past another crowd-funding record. The $20 million stretch goal has been achieved unlocking first person combat on “select lawless planets.” It was just a scant couple of weeks since the first person shooter stretch goal was announced along with passing the $18 million funding milestone, but Chris Roberts revealed the next stretch goal. At $22 million, the developer will add better faces to the game using Infinite-Realities‘ scanning technology.
Roberts addressed concerns that the game could become a victim of feature creep by pointing out that they have two types of stretch goals. The first kinds of features are already being implemented but need funding to complete, and the second type being features that can actually speed development.
But both types of goals are carefully considered – we don’t commit to adding features that would hold up the game’s ability to go “live” in a fully functional state. Also remember that this is not like a typical retail boxed product – there is no rule that all features and content have to come online at the same time! As you can see from the Hangar Module we plan to make functionality and content come on line as it’s ready, so you should look at the stretch goals as a window into the future of functionality and content additions we plan for the live game.
In celebration of the new crowd-funded record, players are getting an aquarium added to their hangars! Will fish collecting be as popular as it was on Mass Effect’s Normandy?
