In the hoo-rah jingoism of Call of Duty and other military action shooters, it’s easy to forget that many of the scenes depicted in the games would be judged contrary to the laws of war. The BBC reports that the Red Cross would like games to encourage their players to adhere to the international treaties governing behavior on the battlefield. Commit a war crime? Face the consequences! The video news story features a lot of Arma III footage to back up the claim that games depicting warfare are getting more realistic.
The story includes Marek Spanel, CEO of Bohemia Interactive, speaking about how they’re incorporating some of the Red Cross recommended concepts into their game. Specifically, shooting a civilian will result in your fellow soldiers firing on you to presumably stop you from ruining the effort to win over the locals’ hearts and minds. Spanel must be talking about the campaign Bohemia promises to add to the game someday since the in-game editor lets you make and share scenarios with any virtual atrocities you want. I tested it in the editor, and you can murder noncombatants all day with nary a word from your soldiers. Still, with the kind of verisimilitude Arma III strives to present about modern warfare, it’s interesting to see some effort to incorporate real-world moral concerns, even if it has to come as free DLC.
My review of Arma III touched on the freedom the editor allows, and how user-made content is mostly what Arma III offers for now.
Get a good, long look at Valve’s newly announced Steam Controller. Notice anything different from the controller you have plugged into your PC now? It’s missing analog sticks or a d-pad! Valve’s idea of a controller made for PC gaming uses dual circular trackpads to translate thumb movements into commands. Valve promises that the control method’s “resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse.”
The Steam Controller also features a touchscreen in the middle to be used in ways similar to the Wii U. They can set it to be a second screen, a menu, the player’s inventory, or any other function they wish. The controller screen will pop up on the main TV or computer display when a player clicks it, so they can keep their eyes on the action.
Valve expects community hackers and modders will help bring new functionality to the controller due to its open software.
Admit it. You thought I was going to incorporate the name of Planetary Annihilation’s spiritual ancestor, Supreme Commander, into the title! Uber Entertainment’s planet busting real-time strategy game entered beta yesterday. If you took part in the Kickstarter at the Commander level or above, or you purchased Early Access on Steam, you should already be able to download and play the beta. If the trailer didn’t get you drooling, Uber mentioned some things to come in the backer email.
“So, what’s next? We’ll continue to make your experience as best as possible. Also, Galactic War, in-game community-related features, better modding support, and a mod marketplace are all on deck.”
Planetary Annihilation is scheduled to launch in December of this year.
Rockstar revealed more details of their vision for Grand Theft Auto V’s online multiplayer mode. Their latest blog post starts by warning players that while they are working on internal testing and adding more servers to avoid “teething problems,” the first few days of Grand Theft Auto Online may be temperamental. Rockstar explains that server load issues are the reason for the iFruit iOS app and Social Club features not working correctly.
Rockstar confirmed that there will be an in-game store to purchase virtual funds with real world-money. Earlier this week, some cash shop information had been uncovered by players sifting through the game’s files, causing rumors of pay-to-win or free-to-play gaming structure being imposed on Grand Theft Auto Online. The developer insists that the cash shop is a convenience option only.
You will have the option to purchase GTA$ through the in-game Store. The game and its economy have been designed and balanced for the vast majority of players who will not buy extra cash. There is no in-game paywall and nothing that should disrupt the balance of the game. You don’t have to spend real money to attain the cars, guns, clothes, flash and style of a high-roller in Los Santos, but can if you wish to get them a little quicker. The economy is balanced differently from the single player economy, and cash earned in one cannot be taken over to the other. Most players will earn cash much faster Online than in Story Mode.
The blog post ends with a preview of some of the upcoming free updates to the online mode. Rockstar plans to add a content creator so fans can design their own deathmatch and race scenarios, a capture the flag mode, a “Beach Bum” pack that will add more in-game items, and cooperative heists that will include a planning board feature similar to the singleplayer game. Grand Theft Auto Online goes live on October 1st.
Valve is giving away 300 prototype Steam devices. Following on the previous announcement of the SteamOS, Valve revealed that they will be randomly selecting about 300 Steam users to help them test the prototypes of Steam Machines. While Steam Machines will be manufactured by various hardware partners, Valve is developing their own prototype for testing purposes.
As always, we believe the best way to ensure that the right products are getting made is to let people try them out and then make changes as we go. We have designed a high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming, for the living room, and for Steam. Of course, it’s also completely upgradable and open.
The sign-up process for getting on the list of candidates has a deadline of October 25th.
Paradox released a gigantic patch for Europa Universalis IV yesterday. The free 1.2 update has a massive changelog which can be found on the official forums. It adds a lot of convenience and interface features as well as patching up a long list of bugs. You won’t get immortal Cardinals in your game any longer and Unam Sanctam has been renamed to Deus Vult, which should excite everyone, right? More importantly, Paradox added five new Steam achievements to the game including this gem:
Luck of the Irish – Conquer all the British isles as an Irish country
As mentioned by Tom, you can’t just cheese this achievement by knocking the difficulty down to easy. No blarney! You’ll have to grind your way through it the manly way.
In related news, Paradox also released the American Dream and National Monuments 2 DLC which can be purchased directly from the publisher as well as through Steam.
Remember when Burnout was about crashing instead of just racing? Former Criterion developer Adam Sawkins does. You can tell from Truck Stop, his Unity-built version of what Burnout used to be. Truck Stop has two things that would make any latter day Burnout update more awesome: 1) destructible environments, because why just wreck cars when you can wreck other stuff as well? And 2) zombies, because zombies.
You can see more of Truck Stop and support it on Steam Greenlight here.
Girl Fight is out today. No, not the Michelle Rodriguez movie. The latest game from Microprose. That’s right, Microprose. The publisher of games like X-Com, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, and Master of Orion is publishing Girl Fight for download on Xbox Live Arcade and Sony’s Playstation Store.
Featuring eight lethal ladies each with deadly sex appeal, these girls can devastate their opponents using conventional combat techniques and metaphysical powers. Girl Fight brings intuitive fighting mechanics with slick animations to deliver a fun fighting experience that’s easy on the eyes.
Of course, this isn’t the real Microprose. It’s merely a name fished out of several rounds of acquisitions and slapped onto hilariously inappropriate games like Girl Fight. It may be easy on the eyes (seriously?), but it sure is hard on the brain.
Mo’ money, mo’ problems! Internet sleuths have discovered files indicating that Grand Theft Auto V’s online multiplayer feature will offer in-game cash for real-world money. As detailed in this Reddit discussion, while the in-game Store feature is currently disabled, the public files on Rockstar’s servers (accessible with a bit of work) show four “cash card” DLC items that can be purchased to add funds to your online character’s account. The cards offer $100,000, $200,000, $500,000, and $1,250,000.
“Cash is king in this town. Solve your money problems and help get what you want across Los Santos and Blaine County with the purchase of cash packs for Grand Theft Auto Online. All purchased cash is automatically deposited into your character’s bank account. Spend wisely, cash therapy is fleeting.”
The prices for the in-game cash is unknown at this time. The offer of in-game cash purchases would seem to suggest that the multiplayer component of Grand Theft Auto V will make acquiring and spending money a focus. Hey, those disappearing car mods don’t pay for themselves! Grand Theft Auto Online releases for free to all owners of Grand Theft Auto V on October 1st.
Don’t expect a lot of indie games on the Xbox One until 2014. Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Microsoft’s Phil Harrison predicted that indie games wouldn’t be coming to the next-gen console through their newly announced publishing program until next year.
I don’t think we’re going to see things at launch. I don’t think it’s realistic to see a developer get the programme and build a game and get it into the market on November 22. It’s reasonable to expect in early 2014 we’ll start seeing the first games come through.
Phil Harrison reiterated that despite some policy reversals, Microsoft’s vision for the console hasn’t changed.
Viewers of last night’s 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards were treated to proof positive that at least one of the winners of the Best Writing in a Variety Series award plays Spelunky. During the awad presentation, a video montage of the Colbert Report team at one point featured writer Rob Dubbin playing the sadistically tough platformer. Just after the broadcast, Mossmouth’s Derek Yu congratulated Dubbin on Twitter.
@supererogatory @robdubbin And a massive congratulations to you, Rob!
@mossmouth @supererogatory hey thanks! super pumped it worked out with the cameo. much honor to you sir.
Rob Dubbin, as well as being an Emmy Award winner, writes about gaming for Kill Screen.
Valve has anounced SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system that will allow gamers to stream their games to their televisions and other devices. Beyond being just a cloud gaming service, Valve is positioning the software as an all-inclusive entertainment solution. The system boasts features for the living room, including in-home streaming, media services, sharing, and other family options. In typical Valve fashion, the system will be open for users to share and modify.
Steam is not a one-way content broadcast channel, it’s a collaborative many-to-many entertainment platform, in which each participant is a multiplier of the experience for everyone else. With SteamOS, “openness” means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they’ve been able to. Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want. Gamers are empowered to join in the creation of the games they love. SteamOS will continue to evolve, but will remain an environment designed to foster these kinds of innovation.
The free operating system will be available “soon” according to Valve.
I knew the $8,000 I spent in Grand Theft Auto 5’s car shop upgrading the bumpers, window tint, spoiler, and adding glossy pink paint was totally worth it to make Michael’s new cotton-candy hatchback. If there was anything that would get Michael out of his mid-life funk, it would be this! Unfortunately, there’s a known issue with the car garages in Rockstar’s criminal magnum opus that made me lose that Strawberry Shortcake commuter car. According to the official support page, they’re looking into the problem.
In the meantime, please try to avoid parking a car in a garage, driving one already in a garage, or getting in a default vehicle, when playing as a character other than the one with your upgrades.
Franklin is such a thoughtful young man. He’ll just steal another hatchback for Michael.
Race the Sun is in trouble. The sales of the procedurally generated racer have not been as fruitful as the developers hoped they would be. Aaron San Filippo, half of the Flippfly development team, wrote this blog post that comes with some less than stellar sales figures. He blames a common perception amongst gamers that “runners” should be free or on mobile devices, as well as the lack of exposure that comes with not being available on Steam.
Here’s where the story gets a bit discouraging. In our launch month, we’ve sold 771 copies, or about $7,400 worth.
Sales have fallen off pretty steadily as the media attention has died down. Our worst day came last week, at 2 copies sold.
This may seem like a pretty big number to some – but keep in mind there are two of us, with families to support, and bills to pay. Additionally, the game’s online features require a back-end server, and there are monthly costs associated with that, as well as our web hosting and other expenses.
Aaron San Filippo goes on to explain the Steam Greenlight votes have not been forthcoming, but that they are looking at other platforms like Desura or GoG.com on which to release the game.
Tom liked Race the Sun so much, he did a podcast with the developers.
In the pilot episode of TNT’s Falling Skies, Noah Wyle’s character is on the run from aliens. He has to travel light. When you’re on the lam from aliens, you can’t pack a lot. In fact, you can only bring one book. So Noah Wyle’s character soulfully considers whether to bring Jules Verne or Charles Dickens. The show was so awful that I don’t remember which one he chose.
But I know that me and my colleague Bruce Geryk would totally choose Verne, because there’s never going to be a good solitaire boardgame based on a Dickens novel. Geryk and I adore — yes, adore — Chris Taylor’s Nemo’s War, based on 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. We prove it on this podcast with Taylor. We adore it so much that we don’t mind it’s lack of aesthetic appeal or its rough edges or the fact that you can’t play competitively, so it’s not a really good candidate for a Tom vs Bruce article.
And now publisher Victory Point Games has announced Nemo’s War will be getting better production values and refined gameplay under the rubric of their Gold Banner series, which revisits their more popular titles. From their latest newsletter:
By popular demand, Nemo’s War will be first on the Gold Banner playtest table, with [Victory Point Games] boardgames producer, Josh Neiman, heading this second edition project, ably assisted by the game’s original developer, Alan Emrich and VPG co-founder, Stephanie Newland. Chris [Taylor] will be communicating his notes and thoughts to us to charge forward with and we will get the job done with Chris in the loop every step of the way and commenting his thoughts to us as his schedule allows. Expect us to round off some of the wargame edginess in this game’s presentation to make it more friendly and accessible to a broader market, but the great narrative and tension-filled solitaire gameplay will remain, of course!
The Gold Banner version of Nemo’s War will be out not soon enough.
