Rock, Paper, Shotgun

By Adam Smith on May 16th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

One day there will be a tag, ‘indie games that Adam honestly intends to play for hours and hours but hasn’t had a chance to yet’. It’d cover all the hundreds of exciting projects people write to me about, or that I discover on my many nocturnal voyages around the internet, but never quite find the time to become properly acquainted with. I’ve played Warbarons, a browser-based strategy game inspired by Warlords, but I’ve certainly not explored Warbarons. Maybe it’d be easier if I didn’t insist on enjoying this sort of thing and plumped for games that have a more obvious and concrete narrative route instead. Maybe now and then, but here’s to all the stories that are mine and mine alone. Warbarons might provide a few.

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By Jim Rossignol on May 16th, 2012 at 6:00 pm.

Stardock and Ironclad Games send word that the final phase of their Sins Of A Solar Empire: Rebellion beta is now underway, and have immortalised that event with a YouTube’d trailer, which you can see below, along with the main trailer. The pre-orders for the new version of the game get you access to the beta, of course, and you get $10 off if you own the original game. I have to say I am quite excited about Rebellion, which arrives June 12th, because even though it is essentially a standalone expansion, it’s as close as we’re going to get to a sequel to the original RTS, which consumed a huge chunk of my time when it hit four years ago. Rebellion, with a huge suite of options derived from the previous mini-expansions, and new visuals, is certainly going to get my attention.
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By Adam Smith on May 16th, 2012 at 5:00 pm.

I spent most of last night and this morning punching things so hard that their skin had no option but to fall off. Most of the time I don’t actually want to play the murderous hero though, even when that hero is a monk who thinks the path to holiness is a fist-inflicted form of trepanning. Sure, that guy’s got chutzpah, but I’d rather be watching him go about his business, perhaps tactically teasing the best out of him instead of steering him around in a more hands-on fashion. If you like the idea of visiting Tristram but don’t have an internet permanently plugged into your face, or simply don’t care for Diablo III, it’d be a fine idea to play Towns instead.

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By Jim Rossignol on May 16th, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

Project CARS creative bossman Andy Tudor has dropped us a line to say that the company has raised €1,000,000 for their crowd-sourced racing game. As we explained previously, the game is relying on community commitment to making the racing game work for its funding, and for some of its creative content. Tudor says: “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the passion, enthusiasm, and dedication of the gaming community so this is also a big thank you to all those that have contributed so far, and an encouragement to others with big ideas for games and want to see them get created.”

It’s interesting to note that there are plenty of community-driven projects, where large sums of money are being raised, which have no link to Kickstarter. The internet’s direct-funding revolution has many forms…

By Jim Rossignol on May 16th, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Bioware send word that they’re having another free-to-party party this weekend. It’s taking place from Thursday, May 17th at 12:01AM CDT / 5:01AM GMT, and ends on Monday, May 21st at 2:00AM CDT / 7:00AM GMT. The usual limits apply: Level 15 cap, but you can freely play PvP zones. Only people (or email addresses?) that have not played the game previously will be able to participate in this free weekend.

Assuming you’re not busy, of course. You’re probably busy. That’s fine too.

By Nathan Grayson on May 16th, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Goodness. Rift‘s PvP may not have managed to set the world on fire straight out of the box, but now it seems to be upgrading from a wet match to a full-sized flamethrower. In short, Conquest pits three new cross-dimensional factions against each other in open world battles where “everyone can contribute.” Even crafters “play a vital role,” apparently. So basically, pick a side, venture over to Stillmoor, and join the impressively multifaceted three-way fray. Somewhere along the way, points get captured and everyone dies. Yeah, it sounds kind of Guild-Wars-y, but it’s still quite a sizable shift in philosophy for a free update to an MMO that’s been around for more than a year.

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By Nathan Grayson on May 16th, 2012 at 10:00 am.

THQ’s tightrope dance-battle against Death while suspended over an active volcano continues. In short, THQ’s doing better than expected, but it still lost another $50 million last quarter. So then, what’s the forecast for the company that already took a chainsaw blade to Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium‘s massively multiplayer bits? Well, there are some ups and downs to be sure. Mostly, though, we’re looking at an ugly, undifferentiated heap of questions.

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By Nathan Grayson on May 16th, 2012 at 9:00 am.

OnLive and Gaikai are pretty silly names. I mean, OnLive is a made-up word that rolls off the tongue far better than it does the brain, and Gaikai actually refers to the ocean, which is sort of the opposite of the clouds. So when I saw “Nvidia” and “cloud gaming” in the same sentence, I was thrilled. What would a graphics hardware manufacturer with a history of impressively impenetrable names do when matched against this caliber of peer? “Grid,” as it turns out. Well, er, OK. Man, that’s not ridiculous at all. In consolation, it’s promising latency that’s “comparable, if not better, than gaming on a console at home.” I guess that’s something.

Alternative headline: Hawken Is Going To Be Playable First Over Gaikai.
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By Nathan Grayson on May 16th, 2012 at 8:00 am.

I’m pretty sure McPixel is a point-and-click adventure. Kind of? I mean, there’s definitely pointing, and clicking typically follows – as is its tradition – but events from level-to-level make almost no coherent sense. As a result, it seems less like an adventure and more like a series of incredibly silly, largely unrelated events. Oh, also, you have 20 seconds to finish each level before it, well, explodes. Currently, there’s only a demo, but it spans more locations – from abandoned World War II trenches to prehistoric times to the Death Star – than most full games. And while this demo packs a scant six levels, the final version’s bringing more than 100 on June 6. There’s also a secret ending, but, uh, you probably want to avoid it. Fair warning. Fortunately, the rest stays on the fun side of “dumb fun.” If you’re still on the fence, you have 20 seconds to watch the trailer after the break before this post explodes.

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