Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates |
- Dark Souls PC Gets Saddled With Games for Windows Live Support
- Guild Wars 2 – Counting down to pre
- Dragon Blade (CN)
- Dragon Age 3 Goes… French?
- Republique May Pave The Way For More Hardcore iOS Games
| Dark Souls PC Gets Saddled With Games for Windows Live Support Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:42 PM PDT After a lot of hopeful wishing and petition-signing, Dark Souls has been officially confirmed for release on PC. That’s all well and good; the game and its predecessor have an ardent fanbase, with many of them feeling Souls was the best game released last year. Seeing a niche product like this brought to a new platform is a very encouraging sign for the series, though unfortunately those who decide to play the Prepare to Die Edition on PC will be forced to use Games for Windows Live. As pointed out by GameSpy, the box art Namco Bandai showed for the game at a Las Vegas event today carried the GfWL logo, a fact that has not sat well with many PC gamers who would prefer to avoid Microsoft’s online setup whenever possible. (Microsoft ruffled some feathers when it tried charging PC gamers for the service like it does Xbox Live members, though it later realized the error of its ways.) Just as Namco Bandai was encouraged to bring Dark Souls to PC through a petition — which was praised by those at the company for raising awareness for the issue — it’s now being urged to release the game sans Games for Windows Live support by fans signing a new petition. “GFWL is unpopular, difficult to use, inconvenient, has terrible online support (a key feature in Dark Souls), and is downright unpleasant,” reads the petition letter written by Big Mclargehuge, which I can’t help but suspect is not, in fact, the author’s real name. “After anxiously awaiting a PC release for this fantastic game it feels like a real slap in the face hearing Dark Souls will use Games for Windows Live. We recommend Valve’s Steamworks in place, as this DRM is much easier to use, less intrusive, more reliable, and more accepted among PC gamers. Please reconsider the use of GFWL, or offer the game on both services. Thank you for taking the effort to port this game, but for a lot of customers it’s Steam or no sale.” In many cases I fit into that group of people who greatly prefers games to use Steamworks, though its absence didn’t stop me from playing the likes of Battlefield 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. I suspect that many of the hardcore Dark Souls fans with a PC capable of playing it will not be dissuaded by GfWL’s use, and those without a PS3 keen on playing it still will, though I do think there is a case to be made that the experience will be hampered by it. Last year Microsoft admitted the service had a “rocky start” but claimed it would continue to improve thanks to feedback received from developers. Yet between the Games for Windows Marketplace being moved over to Xbox.com, where it’s been woefully underserved — you could be forgiven for visiting the site and being completely unaware it’s home to anything related to Games for Windows — and the lack of updates to Live, it feels a lot like it’s all been left to rot, only to be used by first-party titles and the occasional third-party game whose publisher decides against Steamworks or some other alternative. While Microsoft has seemingly been very complacent, doing little to actually offer a reason to use GfWL, Steam has continued to grow. Valve has released a mobile app for Steam, improved its content delivery system, and shown off a new UI that will make Steam play nicely with television sets — all in the last year. On the other hand, the reason I most commonly hear GfWL’s name brought up is because someone is displeased it’s being used by a highly anticipated game or because it’s causing problems (like the locked Windows Live ID error I ran into when trying to play Arkham City on PC last year). I don’t imagine the petition will reach anywhere near the 1 million signatures it’s hoping to get, especially when you consider the petition to bring the game to PC in the first place didn’t top 93,000. With the game’s release set for August 25, it’s not inconceivable that Namco Bandai and From Software reconsider their choice, but they had to know going with GfWL would be an unpopular decision. That suggests to me the likelihood of Dark Souls coming to PC and not requiring you to type in a Windows Live ID for online support is fairly low. Hey, at least we can hope for Blighttown to be fixed, right? Similar Article: http://www.1up.com/news/dark-souls-pc-games-for-windows-live Related posts: |
| Guild Wars 2 – Counting down to pre Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:42 PM PDT
I personally think this is good and positive skepticism, since ArenaNet promised much over the year and I really want the system to be flawless. There really should be a countdown timer somewhere on the pre-purchase website though. Well then, see you all in the beta since all pre-purchases get players in! And who the heck actually bought The Secret World over Guild Wars 2? Similar Article: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/04/guild-wars-2-counting-down-to-pre.html Related posts: |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:42 PM PDT
The trailer left me with quite some thoughts. It seems like a mixture of Blade Soul in terms of design, TERA in open world non-target action combat, and perhaps even Aion at the ending sequence with the wings. And not forgetting the trademark loli race which is in almost all “big” 3D online titles now. Still, Dragon Blade looks promising, I am certainly not discounting it yet. Similar Article: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/04/dragon-blade-cn-new-gameplay-trailer.html Related posts: |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2012 05:42 PM PDT Dragon Age 3 might be going French on us, according to recent hints dropped by Bioware at PAX East. Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw said, "If we really have to go somewhere urban, let's This would suggest a move to Orlais, which is in the south west part of Thedas, to the west of Dragon Age and DA2 setting in Ferelden. The natives of Orlais have French accents. Mike also said that Bioware has taken fan feedback on the series seriously, and some of the changes to Dragon Age 3 include the removal of follower equipment and possibly customisable armour. Similar Article: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/dragon-age-3-goes-french/ Related posts: |
| Republique May Pave The Way For More Hardcore iOS Games Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:41 AM PDT Ryan Payton left 343 Industries last year to found a new company called Camouflaj where he planned to work on games that spoke more to his values than what he was doing at the Halo 4 developer. We now know what the company’s first project will be, and as is the trendy thing to do these days, it is turning to Kickstarter to help get the game off the ground. The newly-launched Kickstarter has revealed Republique, an iOS game combining survival horror and stealth that has been partially inspired by 1984. The video above features the very first trailer and a few minutes of Payton speaking about the game, which looks very promising based on the early footage and details. “From the very beginning, we set out to design a game and write a story specifically for mobile devices,” Payton said, “because last year I decided I was going to stop complaining about the lack of ‘real games’ on mobile and start making one.” He goes on to explain how he quit his job at 343i last year and liquidated his life savings to start Camouflaj. However, with the game’s production cost estimated at being over $1 million, Payton can’t be expected to fund the game himself. Partners have been found to cover half of that amount if enough interest can be garnered through this Kickstarter campaign, which is seeking the other $500,000. Although a percentage of the game’s net profits had to be promised to these partners (assuming the game gets made), it does seem like a smart way to go with the company’s debut title. As with other Kickstarters, the goal has to be reached for Camouflaj to actually see any of the money pledged, so keeping that number lower and more realistic improves the chances of the game happening. $500,000 is, however, a large sum of money, especially for a new developer without someone like Tim Schafer attached to it. (And remember, Schafer was only looking for $400,000.) Ryan Payton is fairly well known among the hardcore audience, the target of this game, but it’s unclear at this point if his track record (before working at 343i, he played an important role at Kojima Productions and on Metal Gear Solid 4 in particular) is enough to help attract half a million dollar’s worth of interest. Another important distinction between this and some of the biggest videogame Kickstarter successes thus far, like Double Fine’s adventure game and Wasteland 2, is that this is an iOS-focused project, whereas those were focused on PC gaming. By and large, iOS gamers are used to paying a dollar or two for their games, and occasionally a bit more in the case of something like Infinity Blade. While they are free to pledge $1 to Republique, it’s only once they’ve promised $10 that they’ll actually be receiving a free copy of the game or something more (like having their face or name in the game, visiting Camouflaj’s studio, or a signed poster). I’m hopeful this Kickstarter does pan out. For as much as I enjoy many of the cheaper games available on iOS, I’m very much interested in seeing meatier experiences designed specifically for the platform, as opposed to ports of older titles that may or may not be suited to a touchscreen (Grand Theft Auto III, Final Fantasy Tactics, The Bard’s Tale), especially now that I’ve got an iPad of my own. Gamers pledging half a million dollars and the game going on to experience some degree of success — it doesn’t have to reach the same heights as Infinity Blade — could inspire publishers to see this sort of undertaking as a worthy venture. Luckily the game itself, based on the trailer, looks very good, and that should help the Kickstarter’s chances. “You receive a desperate phone call from Hope, a young woman trapped within a shadowy totalitarian state,” a description on the Kickstarter page reads. “Using a stolen phone, she calls and begs you to hack into the nation’s surveillance system, assume control, and help her escape from the clutches of the omnipresent Overseer.” You assist Hope by guiding her around, creating distractions, and ensuring she is not captured. The emphasis appears to be far more on stealth than it does any sort of combat, though Hope does tase an enemy at one point. There are several examples of distractions given; with a simple tap you can turn off lights, hack computers, wiretap phone calls, close doors, and call elevators. The relationship between the player and Hope is being heavily emphasized and is part of the reason motion capture is being used. There will be both voiceovers and real-time cinematics to advance the branching story, which will take 4-6 hours to complete and includes Metroidvania-style exploration. Payton has clarified on Twitter that the game has “deep, non-linear, dynamic, sandbox gameplay” as opposed to what you would see in an FMV game. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out, but in theory, it sounds like a big step beyond the vast majority of iOS games. If nothing else, it certainly looks better than most. With 31 days to go and the Kickstarter being publicized for only a few hours, 476 backers have pledged $28,380 as of this writing. That’s a far cry from how much is needed to make this game a reality, but it’s also a solid start. With some development work already being done and potential backers able to see video of the game and not just some promises of what it will be, surpassing the $500,000 mark within the next month seems very doable. Similar Article: http://www.1up.com/news/republique-hardcore-ios-games Related posts: |
not go to Kirkwall," during a Dragon Age panel, "Let's go somewhere new. Maybe somewhere a little more… French."
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