Rock, Paper, Shotgun

By Nathan Grayson on May 15th, 2013 at 2:00 pm.

Babies are the truest scions of terror. They represent the most primal, universally relevant fears we humans can have: responsibility, loss of freedom, uncontrollable fecal matter, etc. Among The Sleep, however, is not a horror game about raising an infant (although, thinking about it, that could be incredible), but rather being one. It teeters onto the scene at a good time, given that small-time survival-horror’s been hit by the Slenderfication Beam and the Dead Spaces and Resident Evils of the world don’t seem to understand that it’s not particularly scary to be the unstoppable monster that slaughters everything. A breath of fresh (read: putrid and rotting, with a hint of squash-flavored baby food) air is much appreciated right now, and you can have a go at it this very second. So hop to it. Oh, but don’t step on the cracks. As we all learned from our childhood peers on the playground, lives are at stake.

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By Nathan Grayson on May 15th, 2013 at 12:00 pm.

If past me – Nathan the Younger, EverQuest fiend extraordinaire – knew that I/we would eventually be complaining about having access to too many free MMOs, he’d probably shake his head in shame and see if there was still time to have a traumatic experience that’d turn him into a dystopic totalitarian dictator. But here I am – kind, vaguely humble, and only prone to conquering the most formidable of grilled cheese sandwiches – and now Rift’s shedding its subscription in favor of something a bit more comfortable. Truth be told, I kind of assumed it had already flipped the switch. Hm. Well, anyway, explanatory “don’t worry guys seriously no buying power never mind that everyone always says this” trailer after the break.

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By Craig Pearson on May 15th, 2013 at 11:00 am.

DICE, the developers of Battlefield, and EA, who now own the rights to make Star Wars games, have bowed to the inevitable. According to a report in Gamasutra: “Electronic Arts has opened a new DICE studio in Los Angeles, with a key focus around creating new video games in the Star Wars franchise.”
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By Nathan Grayson on May 15th, 2013 at 10:00 am.

Nvidia’s Shield is technically an Android-based device, but a) what kind of mighty android machine overlord needs a shield and b) we’re a PC gaming website. So then, why am I posting about this rare breed of land-dwelling game clam? Well, because it flawlessly streams just about any PC game you can throw at it – or at least, it will once that feature leaves beta a couple months after launch. Do you feel like an itsy bitsy screen, infinitely twiddle-able thumbsticks, and the ability to play anywhere in the whole wide worrrrrrrrrrrld (as long as your PC is, er, pretty close by) will greatly enhance your experience?  Then stream your eyeballs past the break for details.

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By Nathan Grayson on May 15th, 2013 at 9:00 am.

I love stories with happy endings. And uplifting middles. And only sorta upsetting beginnings. This is the rare tale that both rides that grin-coaxing emotional rollercoaster and focuses on issues of gender inequality in the gaming industry. A rarity? You don’t even know the half of it – mostly because I haven’t told you about any of it yet (jeez, hold your horses). But in short, Hawken publisher Meteor – whose executive branch is apparently half female – had a minor kerfuffle involving a monolithic poster of a scantily clad, Rosie-The-Riveter-esque character smack dab in the middle of its offices. So a few employees played a prank involving an equally nonsensically dressed male technician, and the results were, well… just delightful.

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By Craig Pearson on May 15th, 2013 at 8:00 am.

Hey, everyone! What’s free and now available to everyone with an internet connection? Hang on, my phone’s ringing… What? She’s crying! You’re right, I should stop and think before posting open-ended questions to a popular website. No, I guess I didn’t think it through. Look, Dad, there’s no smoke withou – okay! Jeez. Tell her I’m sorry. Hey, everyone! What game’s now free and now available to everyone with an internet connection? Everyone answering Anno Online, I appreciate your ability to see past a “your mother” joke. You’ve made a retirement age lady very happy.
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By Craig Pearson on May 14th, 2013 at 8:00 pm.

Making Left 4 Dead campaigns is an interesting challenge. You’re building levels for a game that decides when and where to attack the player, and you have almost no control over those moments. It means your focus is in creating the world and in making it an interesting space for the players to exist in. You can’t guarantee that the cleverly designed chokepoint you made will ever be used as one, but you can make it the prettiest damn corridor the player will ever see. The setting is one of the biggest considerations you have, and then you have to have the talent to pull it off. It’s why I think most L4D campaigns take such a long time coming. Dniepr’s a Left 4 Dead (1 and 2) campaign that’s set in the Ukraine, including Pripyat, and has been three years in development. There’s a quite startling pair of trailers below.
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By Jim Rossignol on May 14th, 2013 at 7:00 pm.

Sanctum 2‘s release is hovering over us like a drone, and that’s a good thing, because Dr Smith rather enjoyed the original game, and I’ve got a kick out of what I’ve played so far of that shiny sequel. However, there is already something else with the Sanctum name on it on the Steam store page, and that’s Super Sanctum TD. And this where things get a bit meta: it’s a tower defence game from inside Sanctum 2, as you can see in the trailer below. It is apparently the result of nine months work, and is either free if you pre-order, or $4. It’s a tower defence game, like I am not sure they actually made in 16-bit days.

Hmm.
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By Craig Pearson on May 14th, 2013 at 6:00 pm.

By the time I’ve finished writing this paragraph, I expect Arcen Games to have written, coded and released 17 games, with additional DLC and ports. They’ve already released procedurally generated platform RPG A Valley Without Wind 2 and disappointing environmental puzzle game Shattered Haven this year, while turfing out hefty patches in preparation for an AI War expansion pack. And now I’m told turn-based 4x strategic god-game Skyward Collapse is out before the end of May. Guys, slow down! I can’t write that fast.
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