Big Download Blog

Will Wright not offended by Spore porn

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T20:00:00 00:00

One of the biggest attractions of the upcoming game Spore is the ability to design and evolve your own alien creatures. People who have used the already released Spore Creature Creator have gone nuts with their own creative monsters and some have had some . . . interesting appendanges. In a new chat about the game for the Associated Press (and posted on Yahoo) Spore's creator Will Wright says he doesn't mind the more adult creations that have been made for his game.

Wright states, "Some of it's really good for what they were shooting for. It's amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren't messing up the experience for others." Spore will indeed have filtering software to keep people who download new user creator content for the game away from such creations if they so wish. Spore itself is still due for release on September 7.
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Nvidia pushing for more 3D PC gaming

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T19:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Hardware

There have been tons of different approaches for making PC games and then projecting them into 3D space. Nvidia believes it has a new solution and showed off their plans at their own Nvision conference this week. Our sister site Game Daily has a report on some of Nvidia's plans for this subject.

Nvidia is partnering up with TV manufacturers like Mitsubishi and PC LCD monitor makers like Viewsonic (like the one pictured above) to support their upcoming GeForce Stereoscopic technology. Nvidia will release an emitter and 3D glasses in the new future that will allow anyone with a PC rig with an Nvidia Geforce 8 graphics card or higher to view over 350 PC games released in the last five years in 3D. Pricing for the GeForce Stereoscopic technology, along with a release date, has yet to be announced. Meanwhile, San Diego based iZ3D already sells a similar technology along with their own $600 22-inch monitor that they claim supports over 400 PC games in 3D.

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Dead Space DVD and Blu-Ray animated prequel details

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T18:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Culture, Survival horror, Dead Space

Electronic Arts is really pushing the marketing of its upcoming survival horror game Dead Space. This week, details were revealed on one of the side projects for the game; the direct-to-DVD animated prequel that's being handled by Film Roman and Starz Media. The DVD will be released on Oct. 28 by Anchor Bay, a week after the game's release.

The film will be released in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats and High-Def Digest reports that both versions will have deleted scenes and trailers, a digital copy version that can be transferred (legally) to your PC or mobile video device and two exclusive cheat codes for the game. The Blu-Ray version will have additional downloadable animatics from the movie and a Blu-Ray first; an isolated music score that you can download in MP3 format.

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Legendary video destroys the world

Steven Wong — 2008-08-27T17:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Action, FPS, Survival horror, Trailers, Video

From New York to London, the end of the world takes on many looks and shapes. In Legendary, major cities get torn apart by mythological creatures released from Pandora's Box. In this latest video, the game's developers go into detail about what it takes to bring about the end of the world and why it makes for great tourist attractions.

Download the Legendary Behind-the-Scenes HD Video - Episode 4 (510 MB)
Download the Legendary Behind-the-Scenes HD Video - Episode 3 (51 MB)
Download the Legendary Behind-the-Scenes HD Video - Episode 2 (59 MB)
Download the Legendary Behind-the-Scenes HD Video - Episode 1 (141 MB)

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Review: Tank Universal

Steven Wong — 2008-08-27T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Features, Action, FPS, Indie, Opinion

Tank Universal captures the nostalgic feel of classic games like Battezone mixed with an art style similar to the movie TRON. Even the plot follows a TRON-like plot line. A person diagnosed with a terminal illness enters into a virtual reality, where he ends up in neon world primarily made up from simple polygons. There, he joins a rebellion group fighting against a murderous and oppressive dictatorship. In order to upset the seat of power, players must jump into a tank and start blasting away the opposition.

This low-cost independent game may be a little thin on plot, but it more than makes up for it through gameplay. Players drive a virtual tank and battle through maze-like zones dotted with deadly enemies and turrets for 30 levels. These levels have great variety to keep players engaged for hours. The game primarily involves capture-the-flag with some take-and-hold elements thrown in, but doesn't always repeat the game types. Sometimes, it's just a matter of getting from point A to B without being destroyed.

Players uses three different resources. Moving near a glyph will convert it to your side, enabling your production facility to produce computer controlled tanks to fight alongside you. The more glyphs you control, the stronger your side will be. Taking down major targets earns upgrade points which can be used to purchase special weapons like missiles and speed boost. These special weapons need shard points to operate, which are dropped by enemies after you blow them up.

Appreciation for the art style will largely depend on how big of a TRON fan you are. Environments are mostly black with glowing red and blue lines, made up of sharp, box-like objects. Many areas are sparsely decorated. The training room, for example, is a huge square with a single box-shaped computer in it. Some areas, like the tram level, look fantastic because of its size and special effects, but the style also has a few drawbacks. The biggest problem is that almost everything uses the same few colors, which makes it very hard to spot enemies at a distance. The game also uses a film grain on top of everything, which makes it even harder to see. It's a little frustrating to run into black walls hidden in darkened shadows while trying to dodge tank fire, but you eventually get used to things and learn to compensate.

For the most part, Tank Universal is a very strong and challenging battle game. The virtual tank is easy to control, and if players hold down the fire button long enough without being hit, they can fire off a charged blast that will destroy most targets with one hit. Enemies react competently to try to stop you. Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said for computerized allies. They do a decent job of slowing down enemies and taking capture points, but there are times when they don't seem to be doing much of anything. There's no way to give them orders, so you can't defend weak positions, call reinforcements or set up a distraction. One example is during the evacuation sequence where you need to need to fend off incoming enemies to help vessels escape. Oftentimes, this requires you to become a one tank army that constantly rushes from one end of the map to the other.

The game has a few minor issues, including collision control between tanks. Sometimes hitting a friend or ally will stop you dead in your tracks, other times you'll pass straight through them. One sequence early on in the game has you running through a tank battle on foot looking for an escape tunnel. However, the mixture of dark graphics, constantly falling down, invisible walls, and a strange inability to jump or climb over small inclines gets in the way. However, it's hard to be too nitpicky about a game that costs about $10 on Steam, especially since the tank fighting and strategic elements work so well.

The real disappointment comes from the lack of multiplayer. Although there's a skirmish mode, Tank Universal doesn't feature a multiplayer system, which is a complete shame because this game practically screams for it. Computer controlled opponents aren't bad, but there's no substitute for the challenge of actual live players. Still, players get their money's worth and then some for their purchase. If you're a fan of the TRON art style, and want a fantastic action strategy game for a budget price, Tank Universal is such a great deal that it's practically a steal.

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New Far Cry game in early development; will stick with Africa setting

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: FPS, Far Cry 2

Ubisoft's upcoming open world shooter Far Cry 2 has a lot of people expecting it will be great. So, apparently, does Ubisoft who are now in early development of the next game in the series at their Montreal studios. Videogaming247 has a quote from team member Patrick Redding who confirmed the plans during last week's Games Convention.

Interestingly, the dev team will apparently keep Far Cry 2's Africa setting for the follow-up game with Redding saying, "There are still things we want to do with the African setting, and I think it's safe to say we'll continue to explore it." While he says other locations might be considered for other titles in the series, he adds, "I think to save time, for us, one of the reasons we chose to use the African setting is because we felt that in order to retain the Far Cry brand value, of an exotic, dangerous environment, a place that maybe people haven't had a chance to see themselves, or have seen extensively in film, television and other games, we wanted to choose Africa."
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Download: Space Siege DVD ROM Recognition Fix

Steven Wong — 2008-08-27T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Patches, Action, RPG, Survival horror

This patch fixes Space Siege's problem with recognizing certain DVD drives. Patch must be copied into game directory and run with the disc in drive.

Download the Space Siege DVD Recognition Fix (16 MB)

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Asheron's Call releases 100th content update

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, MMO

It's one of the longest running MMOs in history and this week Turbine announced that their first game, the fantasy MMO Asheron's Call, just had its 100th free content update released to its subscribers. For those who need details, this update adds the beginnings of the much requested (by the game's players) an Elder Games system along with two new PvP controllable towns.

Turbine first released Asheron's Call in November 1999 via publisher Microsoft and made a point to have the game feel like a ongoing storyline was taking place with monthly events and content released. Two commerical expansion packs for the game have been released since the launch and the free content updates have also continued. Turbine took over full control of the game from Microsoft in 2003. The game has even outlasted its graphically improved sequel Asheron's Call 2 which launched in 2002 but shut down completely just three years later.

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Impulse Phase 2 launches; adds 2K Games titles

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T14:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Biz, Downloads

Stardock has released it's promised next major update for its Impulse digital distribution platform. "Phase 2" of Impulse adds a number of games from publisher 2K Games to its line-up, including Civilizations III, Shattered Union, Sid Meier's Pirates! and Sid Meier's Railroads! The update also adds the new enhanced version of Tilted Mill's Children of the Nile to the game line-up along with a number of other non-game PC software applications for download and purchase.

As we previously reported, Phase 2 of Impulse also adds a number of new features including ImpulseReactor which will allow developers to add things like matchmaking , cloud computing, rankings, achievements, multiplayer, NAT negotiation, and more. The recentStardock strategy game The Political Machine 2008 will be the first game to have the new Impulse Reactor feature. Also a private beta of MyImpulse has begun which will allow any developer to submit a game or other program for sale via Impulse. According to the press release, "A team of Impulse moderators evaluate the submission and (if accepted) could go live within one business day."

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Penumbra: Requiem now available for download

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, Adventure, Survival horror

The Penumbra first person horror action-adventure game series just got an expansion pack. Penumbra: Requiem is now available for download at Gamersgate and Direct2Drive for just $9.99. The expansion from developer Frictional Games requires the installation of Penumbra: Black Plague.

In a note on the Frictional Games web site site, the developers state that this expansion concentrates on the physics puzzles and gameplay more than previous installments. According to the site, "Requiem does its best to deliver a nightmarish and feverish atmosphere. Penumbra: Requiem is an attempt to deliver a fresh and rewarding experience and not just some rehash of previous material." While the expansion is for the moment for the Windows platform Macintosh and Linux users will get their own versions soon, according to the web site.

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New Europa Universalis: Rome expansion announced

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, Strategy

The folks at Paradox Interactive continue to stay busy. Last week they announced plans to release Hearts of Iron 3, the latest game in their WWII strategy series. Today the publisher announced plans for yet another downloadable expansion pack to a previous historical strategy game, Europa Universalis: Rome.

The expansion is titled Vae Victis and will be available for download via Gamersgate for $9.99 in late 2008. The expansion concentrates on the Roman Senate where you will have to deal with the many members and parties in order to have your goals as leader of the Roman Empire accomplished. You have to make sure the ruling party votes for issues in your favor and have them pass laws that you want to see past. The expansion will also have things like updated military AI and an overhauled interface.

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Big Iron: Chill out

Rafe Brox — 2008-08-27T13:00:00 00:00

I must not overheat.
Heat is the chip-killer.
Heat is the thermal death that brings total obliteration.
And when it comes, I will turn the fans on to speed its path.
Where the heat has gone, there will be processing.
Only my FPS will remain.

Last week, we talked about the importance of feeding enough watts to your components to allow them to perform their best. The other side of that coin is dealing with the waste heat that is a byproduct of all that high-speed math. Heat's pretty much as far down the entropy scale as you can get -- most of what we do turns organized energy, one way or another, into heat. The problem with this state of affairs, at least for electronics, is that they are happier the colder their environment is.
If you're like us here at BI, you'll want to keep tabs on how good a job your cooling solution is working... before something locks up, melts, or lets the magic smoke out. Fortunately, there are a lot of monitoring tools at our disposal, in addition to self-protection circuitry and sensors in today's CPUs and most current BIOS implementations that will either slow things down, or shut them off completely before a catastrophic heat event takes place.

It is incumbent upon us to make the millions (or billions) of transistors in our small, rectangular minions happy by keeping them at a sane temperature. This means we'll need to be moving heat away from the hottest, most expensive bits, and then getting it the hell out of the box.

The first part is done by the heatsink and fan combo (commonly abbreviated HSF). Affixed directly to the video card, motherboard chipset, or installed on our CPU, this is typically a many-finned feat of engineering wrought in aluminum, copper, and occasionally something more exotic, and sporting a fan or two. The simplified name of the game here is air flow and surface area. The bigger the thermal delta between the cooling surfaces and the transistors supplying the heat, the faster that temperature will try to equalize, wicking heat away from that fragile, temperamental bit of silicon.

"Temperamental"? Anthropomorphize much?

NEXT >>

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Joystiq gets response from E For All organizers

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Biz, Culture

We are not sure why the IDG World Expo would respond to our sister site Joystiq about a story that we first wrote about the apparent lack of game publisher interest in this year's E For All Expo. In fact we alerted IDG that we were working on such a story and wanted a comment beforehand. But in any case they did indeed send a comment to Joystiq and other media outlets so in the interest of fairness here is that response:

"We're disappointed that you didn't contact us yesterday before putting up your E for All post, and we hope you'll do so in the future. At this point, we'll just say that the show isn't over until Tiger hits his last hole in one, Microsoft has packed up its last Xbox, Target has sold its last Wii Fit, Fatal1ty has blown away his last opponent, and the World Cyber Games National champions are crowned. Further announcements are forthcoming, and we are confident that E for All 2008 will be a great event for everyone in the game community."

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Guide to TF2 Heavy Achievements, Part 3

James Murff — 2008-08-27T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Expansions, Features, FPS, Multiplayer, Team Fortress 2

Da, Comrade? Vat can we help you with? Oh, you haf your new orders? Glorious! Praise to Mother Russia in all her visdom! We heard you will be gettink new weapons to assist in your fight for one of the Amerikanski corporations. While we do not applaud you working for capitalist dogs, we do not question to visdom of the Motherland. So, in celebration of your new orders and weapons, we will give you this document. It details how to acquire your new armaments. Do not misuse it or distribute it to the enemies of Mother Russia, or we will be forced to inform the KGB of your treasonous actions! You may view parts one and two of our guide as well.

Icing on the Cake

Get 20 kills on players that you're dominating.

This one is not, as you might be led to believe, getting 20 dominations. This is actually killing 20 people that you are currently dominating again without them killing you (hence removing your nemesis status). Chances are you can get this easily, since players that you are dominating are likely to continue to die by your hand. So to get it normally, find a Medic to pair with and go at it!

To farm, get a friend to be Scout on the opposite team and kill him 23 times. 3 times will give you the domination, and the other 20 will give you the achievement. If a Medic is with you, you can also get Big Pharma and Division of Labor rather painlessly. Easy but takes a long time to farm. Make sure that the Scout is dominated before you kill him more.

Tip: If you are killed by the same person you are dominating after killing them again (such as being killed by a Pyro's flames), it still counts.

Crock Block

Survive a direct hit from a critical rocket.

This one is pretty easy to get. Have a Medic continue to heal you as you fight a Soldier. When the Soldier fires a critical rocket, jump into the path of the rocket and let it explode against you. As long as you are overhealed, you will survive it. To do this normally, just be an offensive oriented Heavy that has a Medic attached who suicidally jumps in front of rockets.

To do it farming-wise, just hold in front of a Soldier until he hits you with a critical rocket, and make sure that you are overhealed or being healed by a Medic. As soon as you get hit by a critical, as long as you didn't die, you will get the achievement.

Tip: As the achievement suggested, splash damage doesn't count. The rocket must hit you directly.

Kollectivization

Get 1000 assists.

This one is the Heavy grind. It is probably the achievement you will get last, mostly out of the fact that it will take forever to get. Doing this normally and doing it farming is pretty much the same process. There isn't anything special to doing this. Start up a Heavy, start killing stuff. The only difference between normal and farming is whether or not the enemies will fight back.

Note: This is getting 1000 assists, not providing 1000 assists. Kills do not count towards this.

Spyalectical Materialism

Kill or assist in killing 10 cloaked spies.

This one is mostly luck to get in normal play. You have to bump into an enemy Spy or see them cloak in order to get a bead on an enemy Spy. However, as it also counts if you get an assist, this is a great achievement to get by working with a Pyro on defense. If you damage the Spy, and the Pyro torches him, you will get progress towards this achievement.

To farm this one, work with an enemy Spy. Have him cloak in front of you, and then unload on him while he is still cloaked. After he dies 10 times, you will snag the achievement. Extremely easy to farm as long as the Spy fights the temptation to backstab you (which is a rather large temptation, we must admit!).

Tip: The spy must be fully cloaked or beginning to de-cloak as he died. If you kill him as he cloaks, before he finished, it doesn't.

Permanent Revolution

Kill 5 enemies without spinning down your gun.

This one is incredibly easy to get, as long as you manage to not die between killing enemies. Make your way to the enemy base and get near a high-traffic area. Start spinning your gun, and just start killing enemies. Make sure you have alt-fire constantly held down to keep the gun spinning after a kill you keep from wasting ammo. After 5 kills, if you didn't wind down, you will get the achievement.

To farm this one, get 5 Scouts to line up. Unload on them, not stopping until the very last one has died. As soon as the 5th Scout falls, you will get the achievement. You don't even have to use the alt-fire to continue the spin like doing it normally.

Tip: If the gun at any point starts to spin down, it counts, even if it never comes to a complete stop.

Communist Mani-Fisto

Kill an enemy with a critical punch.

This one can be easy or hard, depending on what kind of Heavy you are. If you are the kind to get up in the face of your enemy, you should get this easily. If you are the kind that plays mind games and attacks mostly with firearms, you may find it a little hard. Since a critical Heavy punch will kill just about any class in a single hit, it's fairly likely that if you kill an opponent, it was a critical and you'll get the achievement.

To farm this, get a Medic with Kritzkrieg to charge up his ubercharge and then uber you. As you have guaranteed criticals, walk up to any enemy class and punch them. They should die after one to two hits, netting you the achievement with minimal effort.

Tip: This is more of an easter egg, but right-clicking while punching punches with the right hand!

Redistribution of Health

Heal 1000 damage with med-kits in a single life.

This one is rather dangerous for a Heavy to do, as it's very easy to die without a helpful Medic around. However, it's easier for defensive Heavies than offensive Heavies, thanks to the better location of med-packs. Basically, as you get damaged, heal yourself through med-packs instead of Medics, and you'll get the achievement as long as you stay alive to pay the 1000 mark.

To farm this, get near a full med-pack an enemy Demo to plant two bombs under you and blow you into the air. The bomb damage and fall should nearly kill you. Then collect the med-pack to instantly return to full. Repeat until achievement is gotten. Remember that you can fall on med-packs to keep from dying, as the health triggers before fall damage.

Tip: This does not include healing through the cabinet. The achievement will not trigger until you die.

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Gary Oldman joins Call of Duty: World at War

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T11:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Culture, FPS

We are not quite sure how this bit of news wasn't covered more by the tons of journalists at Games Convention last week but G4TV has it on their video interview with the producer of Call of Duty: World at War. The upcoming WWII shooter has enlisted Gary Oldman to portray one of the characters in the game.

It sounds like Oldman will be voicing a Russian sergeant in the game's second campaign as the Soviets invade Berlin in the end of the War. Kiefer Sutherland has already been announced as another Hollywood actor joining the voice cast; he will be an American sergeant in the game's Pacific campaign. The title, from developer Treyarch and publisher Activision is due for release this fall.

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Big Ideas: Looking back is looking forward

Akela Talamasca — 2008-08-27T11:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Culture, Features, Opinion, Meta BD

Common wisdom has it that if you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it. What, then, should we think of the recent trend in gaming to bring back, and in some cases revamp past video games? I'm thinking here mostly of Bionic Commando's recent upgrade to be both a completely new reimagining of the franchise (yes, now it's a franchise at last) and an update of the classic arcade hit which itself includes a version of the original. Developer Grin is covering all bases, giving die-hard fans what they want while at the same time bringing in new fans who may never have played the first release.

Is it a good idea to keep mining the past for the hits of the future? How much life do these games still have in them? Is it possible to revamp an old game sufficiently to make it feel new while retaining its old-school flavor? Let's take a look.
If one were being fractious, one could call the spate of existing and upcoming historical game releases a case of extreme sequelitis. Does Space Invaders really need to be redone for modern sensibilities? What about Pac-Man? Galaga? Shouldn't the industry spend its time working on original IPs? By re-releasing classic titles and "evolving" existing games, aren't we just displaying a serious lack of innovation and showing contempt for the games-buying masses? Where does one draw the line?

If I were inclined to be fractious myself, I would call this viewpoint sour grapes-ism. Instead, let's address these concerns.

First, those who cry "foul" at the idea of game sequels in general often neglect to address the fact that sequels sell really really well. Let's not forget that this is a business, and the cost of developing a new IP is higher than ever. It's not wrong for a company to look at the numbers and say "What the hell, let's go 'round one more time". The only time it becomes a burden is when 1) The sequel fails to improve in any way upon the original, and 2) More shelf space is accorded to a sequel than to a new IP. But improvement on a franchise is something assessable only after the fact, so it's unfair to the developing team to castigate them outright. And let's face it: someone is buying these games, so there must be some value to be had.

Second, to be honest, no game really needs to be redone. It's best to try to respect the vision of the team and consider that they made the closest version of what was in their heads given the talent, resources, time allotted, and publisherial (that's probably not a word) pressure involved. Very rarely do games truly represent the original ideas thrown wildly about at the initial pitch meeting. At the same time, it's okay to acknowledge that twenty years gone, old Bump 'n' Jump is looking pretty long in the tooth. Make that sucker 3D, and it's a whole new game.

It's also important to remember that no matter how horrendous a remake might turn out to be, there's always the original to be replayed. But there's a problem with that as well. After decades of playing all manner of different games, you will likely subtly have gotten used to a faster manner of play, a more responsive set of controls. Old games aren't just slower-paced, they're sluggish in the handling department as well. Five minutes with Rally X was nearly enough to make me forswear anything made earlier than 1995. Remakes can fix these issues and heal old wounds.

What about the importance of original IPs to the industry as a whole? Here's something else people tend to forget: sequels come from original IPs. Remember the original Ultima? That series only got better and better as time went on. Of course, it also got worse after a certain point, but the idea remains: all sequels come from somewhere. So when you're arguing in favor of a new IP, keep in mind that if it sells well enough, it too will get The Treatment sometime down the line.

This is not to spurn a truly original idea, of course. Tim Schaefer's entire oeuvre consists of nothing but originals, no sequels. Have his games been important to the industry? Perhaps in the sense that his creativity might inspire others, but the classic adventure game genre seems to have had its day, and now languishes as a whole; Psychonauts itself didn't sell in the numbers it deserved to. And by the way, Mr. Schaefer has said he'd love to do a sequel to that title.

Is there a lack of innovation in the games industry? Take a look at the indie game development scene. There are games whose sole purpose is to exist merely to prove the efficacy of a gameplay idea. These games traditionally have had a hard time getting noticed, but digital distribution has made it easier than ever for a lone developer to get his baby out into the world. So we needn't worry that traveling backward for game ideas is hurting the industry. In fact, one could argue that the success of remade titles and sequels provides the foundation for indie games to be able to thrive.

So, returning to old games for inspiration isn't a bad thing, but is it a good thing? The fact of the matter is, sequels and revamps will never stop being made. Publishers and developers will always try to cash in on nostalgia as a motivation to play a new game based on an old one. It all depends on which development team gets to make the game; a talented studio will make an old idea fresh, while a mundane studio will run an old IP into the ground.

Also, an old game will always be new to someone. This current generation of gamers will likely never have heard of the Intellivision and the games it could play. They might find Mappy to be as engaging a title as it ever was. Or, horror of horrors, upon replaying that old ROM of Ikari Warriors, you may find that your fond memories are based less on gameplay than on people's tendency to romanticize the past.

Finally, lest you worry that this trend will dominate games for years to come, let's not forget that you, the game-buying public, vote with your dollars. You will choose the next big hit franchise based on nothing more than how well it plays, how well it breathes new life into an old chestnut. It's you who will decide whether it was a good idea to bring back Alone in the Dark, or if it should have been left Alone, in the Dark.

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Strong Bad trailer declares freedom

Steven Wong — 2008-08-27T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Adventure, Indie, Trailers, Video

The first Strong Bad game only released a few weeks ago, but the tireless developers at TellTale Games are right on schedule with the second monthly episode of this hilarious adventure game series. Is the world ready for the independent nation of Strong Badia the Free? We'll soon find out. For more humor, check out the first video for Behind-the-Bad and see how Strong Bad got into video games to start with.

Download the SBCG4AP Episode 102 HD Trailer (28 MB)
Download the Strong Bad Behind-the-Bad Part 1 Video (151 MB)

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Star Wars Galaxies online trading card game launched

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, MMO

Last month we first reported on plans by Sony Online to launch an online collectible trading card game based on their long running MMO Star Wars Galaxies. This week the game has officially launched. This is not quite a stand alone game like the Everquest based Legends of Norrath; you must be an active subscriber to the Star Wars Galaxies MMO or a former player in good standing (i.e. you don't owe Sony Online money) to play the trading card game.

The official title for the game is Star Wars Galaxies: Champions of the Force and there are over 250 cards to collect and current and former subscribers will get access to five Booster Packs for free every month. There's a 14 day free trial to the game that you can download at the title's official web site.
[Via Massively]

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Download: Spore Creature Creator v1.01 Patch

Steven Wong — 2008-08-27T09:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Downloads, Patches, Sandbox, Simulation, Spore

Patches update both the full retail and trial versions of the Spore Creature Creator to v1.01. Patches are for the PC version only. Please download the appropriate one for your version you have installed.

Download the Spore Creature Creator 1.01 patch for full retail release (86 MB)
Download the Spore Creature Creator 1.01 patch for trial version (86 MB)

Spore Creature Creator v1.01 Patch Notes:

Patch Fixes

* Improved thumbnail resolutions for saved creatures.
* Added five new animations, recorded when creating animated GIFs in Test Drive Mode.
* Fixed a randomly occurring system hang.
* Fixed a crash associated with EADM.
* Creatures no longer disappear from the Sporepedia when the save flow is interrupted.
* Corrected the Audio buzzing found on systems with nForce2 integrated audio.
* Updated Spanish and Polish readme files.
* Updated the EULA found in the installer.
* Integrated the newest save creature PNG.

NOTE: This allows creatures PNGs made with Spore to be drag-and-dropped into the Spore Creature Creator. Spore Creature Creator players who do not patch will not be able to drag-and-drop PNGs created in patched versions of the Spore Creature Creator or Spore.

* Improves overall stability.

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Is Duke Nukem Forever really playable? Apparently,

John Callaham — 2008-08-27T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: FPS

The ongoing saga of Duke Nukem Forever has spilled over into the upcoming release of the Xbox Live Arcade port of the classic 1996 released shooter Duke Nukem 3D. In a new chat with Team Xbox, 3D Realms' president George Broussard is still asked about the long awaited next game in the series and Broussard sounds almost like it's ready to be shipped in a few months.

Broussard claims, "There are several hours of fairly polished game to play. We're actively testing parts of the game and getting feedback from play testers and things are coming together. It's fun, it's in focus, we know what bits are fun and which are not, and it's just a matter of time now." So we can expect our preview code next week, George? Huh? Oh well; it was worth a shot.

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