| Diablo 3 Launch Events Posted: 02 May 2012 09:15 AM PDT Diablo 3 will launch on Tuesday 14 May to quite some fanfair. Here's the lowdown on the Diablo 3 Oxford Street HMV launch event, London: Blizzard developers Julian Love and Leonard Boyarsky will be on-had to sign copies, including Collector's Editions, "attendees will have a chance to participate in organized activities and win great prizes," reads the Blizzard events page. That's not to be sniffed at: Oxford Street HMV midnight launches have a history of giving away some very tasty prizes, from rare and sought-after in-game goodies to expensive electronics. Blizzard will host similar events across Europe in Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, Warsaw and across the world in the U.S., Southeast Asia, Korea and Taiwan. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/diablo-3-launch-events/ |
| Torchlight II – Pre Posted: 02 May 2012 09:15 AM PDT 
[Pre-order here] A major investor in Runic Games and the owner of Cryptic Studios,
Perfect World Entertainment is now cross-promoting Neverwinter and
Torchlight II. By pre-ordering Torchlight II, gamers will have guaranteed access to Neverwinter’s Closed Beta phase. However, note that access might not necessarily be CBT 1, but perhaps during CBT 2 or 3.
I am sure you have read about Neverwinter, the MMORPG currently in development by Cryptic Studios of Champions Online and Star Trek fame. Bought over by Perfect World Entertainment last year, Neverwinter was sent back to the drawing board for a re-development due to the Free to Play direction. Last I heard, the game will sport action combat. What about Torchlight II?
Developed by Runic Games, Torchlight II is essentially a Diablo-style game, yet with quite a number of differences. The list is kind of long to post here, but you get the drift. Though a single-player setting in the original game, there is now co-op features in the sequel including LAN )local area network) and online. Unlike Diablo III, Torchlight II can be accessed offline during single-player sessions. Note that this deal is for pre-orders via the official site only. If you pre-order through Steam, you will only get a free copy of Torchlight (the prequel). Below is quote from the official press release: We’re excited to announce that pre-orders for Torchlight 2 are available today! As an added bonus to the purchase, anybody who pre-orders Torchlight 2 will receive access to Dungeon and Dragons Neverwinter when it enters closed beta later this year. Torchlight players will be among the first to receive a closed beta key to enter the realm of one of the year’s most anticipated MMOs. Players can expect to receive an email containing their beta code around the time Neverwinter closed beta kicks off. (*Beta key holders are not guaranteed immediate first access to Neverwinter closed beta but will be granted entrance dependent on testing needs*)
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/04/torchlight-ii-pre-order-and-access.html |
| Queen’s Blade Online (KR) Posted: 02 May 2012 09:14 AM PDT 
[More info] As with most Korean games, there is usually a spokesperson if budget allows. They can range from actress to actors, singers to athletes and most recently, politicians. Well, the most common is still models, and developer Liveplex (Dragona fame) confirmed that China car show model, 艾尚真 (Ai Shang Zhen), will be representing Queen’s Blade Online in Korea. This will be the first time a Chinese model is collaborating with a Korean game developer as a product spokesperson.
While I was skeptical at first, a quick google proved that she is more than capable of the task at hand, seeing that she has no qualms showing off some skin in her modelling career. Hopefully her cosplay photos of Queen’s Blade Online’s character are out soon ^__^
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/04/queens-blade-online-kr-spokesperson.html |
| The Unfinished Swan Brings a New Angle to First-Person Puzzlers Posted: 02 May 2012 09:14 AM PDT Remember the Halo Reach sniper rifle shot heard (and bounced) around
the world? The one that ricocheted in such a crazy way that it
actually went through the head of the very fellow who fired it in the
first place? Bizarre as that situation may sound, it can serve as one of many crazy
ways to assassinate someone in Dishonored. During the tail end of
a recent hands-off demonstration, co-creative directors Harvey Smith and Raf
Colantonio briefly went quiet as a Bethesda staffer playing showed off a
particularly slick method of taking out multiple targets: Having the
player character, Corvo, slow down time before laying down a spring razor
trap and using his Blink ability to teleport a short distance
away just in time to see the trap detonate when time resumes
flowing at a normal rate. To get back to Reach’s unintentional
suicide, Smith explained, “Sometimes, when you activate Bend Time,
you can actually see the bullet in the air; you can actually then
Possess the guy who shot it and walk him around to the front. When
time resumes, the bullet kills him and he has this very shocked
expression on his face.” Smith has previously described Dishonored as an action-stealth title in
terms of its overall genre, but he cites titles like Far Cry 2, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, and Deus Ex as examples of what he,
Colantonio, and the rest of the developers at Arkane are going for with their new creation: An
open-ended game driven more by systemic interaction than by
scripted spectacle. In other words, they want to simply provide a
suite of tools, and objective, and then let players go at it. Corvo has
a number of tools — including gear such guns, daggers, traps, grenades
and weird steampunk treasure detecting devices as well as more supernatural
abilities such as Bend Time, Possession, and Windblast — and his task is simply to find his targets and neutralize them. This can be as simple as
stabbing someone in the face; as odd as possessing fish and mice to
navigate through the sewers below until you find said target before
possessing him to make him jump out a window; or as elaborate and
non-lethal as arranging to have his identity stolen in order to condemn him to work in the very same salt mine that he owns. 
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/previews?cId=3187061 |
| Will LittleBigPlanet Karting Fulfill Our Mario Kart Wish List? Posted: 02 May 2012 09:14 AM PDT Remember the Halo Reach sniper rifle shot heard (and bounced) around
the world? The one that ricocheted in such a crazy way that it
actually went through the head of the very fellow who fired it in the
first place? Bizarre as that situation may sound, it can serve as one of many crazy
ways to assassinate someone in Dishonored. During the tail end of
a recent hands-off demonstration, co-creative directors Harvey Smith and Raf
Colantonio briefly went quiet as a Bethesda staffer playing showed off a
particularly slick method of taking out multiple targets: Having the
player character, Corvo, slow down time before laying down a spring razor
trap and using his Blink ability to teleport a short distance
away just in time to see the trap detonate when time resumes
flowing at a normal rate. To get back to Reach’s unintentional
suicide, Smith explained, “Sometimes, when you activate Bend Time,
you can actually see the bullet in the air; you can actually then
Possess the guy who shot it and walk him around to the front. When
time resumes, the bullet kills him and he has this very shocked
expression on his face.” Smith has previously described Dishonored as an action-stealth title in
terms of its overall genre, but he cites titles like Far Cry 2, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, and Deus Ex as examples of what he,
Colantonio, and the rest of the developers at Arkane are going for with their new creation: An
open-ended game driven more by systemic interaction than by
scripted spectacle. In other words, they want to simply provide a
suite of tools, and objective, and then let players go at it. Corvo has
a number of tools — including gear such guns, daggers, traps, grenades
and weird steampunk treasure detecting devices as well as more supernatural
abilities such as Bend Time, Possession, and Windblast — and his task is simply to find his targets and neutralize them. This can be as simple as
stabbing someone in the face; as odd as possessing fish and mice to
navigate through the sewers below until you find said target before
possessing him to make him jump out a window; or as elaborate and
non-lethal as arranging to have his identity stolen in order to condemn him to work in the very same salt mine that he owns. 
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/previews?cId=3187060 |
| SimOcean: The New Sim Game From Maxis? Posted: 02 May 2012 03:18 AM PDT 
SimOcean has been registered as a new trademark by SimCity developer Maxis. While there's a chance that it's just a placeholder, a case of Maxis protecting any future expansion of the Sim franchise, it seems unlikely. The Sims series is yet to branch out into sea and with Maxis coming to a close on XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the SimCity on the cards for 2013, it wouldn't surprise us if the studio has a sea-based Sim game is already in the pipeline. 
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/simocean-the-new-sim-game-from-maxis/ |
| MAZE: The Treasure Hunters (CN) Posted: 02 May 2012 03:18 AM PDT 
This game was actually revealed a couple of years ago to be in development over at G*Star (I think it was 2010), but since then nothing much was heard about it. This is MAZE: The Treasure Hunters, currently in development by Korean studio DreamExecution, the same folks who brought us War Rock (link). The artwork might be quite similar, but I can assure you that your opinion will be changed after watching the trailer below.
The trailer certainly reminded me of Tomb Raider (also The Mummy and Indian Jones), which of course is part of the marketing strategy now to promote this game. Players will be sent to different parts of the world to explore ancient crypts, tombs, underground mazes, labyrinths, pyramids and what not. 
As seen in the trailer, there will be various adventure gadgets to use as well to get across platforms. MAZE is also touted as the mixture of 3 genres: AVD (Adventure Game) + RPG + FPS in an online environment.Team work is also very, very important due to some of the puzzles’ designs. This game is looking very unwelcoming for the newbs~!
ChangYou will be the publisher of the game in China, and MAZE is the company’s 3rd of 5 games revealed for 2012 and early 2013 in a campaign call “Game+”. You can view the other 2 games here (link), with God Slayer leaving a very positive impression as well. I am not sure what the screenshot below means, but it looks great… (^___^)v
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/04/maze-treasure-hunters-cn-debut-trailer.html |
| Dungeon Striker (KR) Posted: 02 May 2012 03:18 AM PDT 
[More info] If you did not read about the game in my previous posts, here is a quick rundown. Dungeon Striker is the 2nd action MMO title from Korean developer Eyedentity Games, which is also the creator of the awesome Dragon Nest. The game is vastly touted as the “cute version” and SD (super deform) of the upcoming Diablo III by the media, and after watching a couple of videos below, I have got to agree with them.
I only have videos of 2 classes to show currently from the Korean forums, but you will get the juice of what Dungeon Striker is about (hint: it is in the name). Getting it release a couple of months after the Korean gamers are done with Diablo III and are having serious hangovers will be a good strategy in my opinion. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/05/dungeon-striker-kr-closed-beta-1-videos.html |
| Is Black Ops 2 America’s Metal Gear Solid? Posted: 02 May 2012 03:14 AM PDT Remember the Halo Reach sniper rifle shot heard (and bounced) around
the world? The one that ricocheted in such a crazy way that it
actually went through the head of the very fellow who fired it in the
first place? Bizarre as that situation may sound, it can serve as one of many crazy
ways to assassinate someone in Dishonored. During the tail end of
a recent hands-off demonstration, co-creative directors Harvey Smith and Raf
Colantonio briefly went quiet as a Bethesda staffer playing showed off a
particularly slick method of taking out multiple targets: Having the
player character, Corvo, slow down time before laying down a spring razor
trap and using his Blink ability to teleport a short distance
away just in time to see the trap detonate when time resumes
flowing at a normal rate. To get back to Reach’s unintentional
suicide, Smith explained, “Sometimes, when you activate Bend Time,
you can actually see the bullet in the air; you can actually then
Possess the guy who shot it and walk him around to the front. When
time resumes, the bullet kills him and he has this very shocked
expression on his face.” Smith has previously described Dishonored as an action-stealth title in
terms of its overall genre, but he cites titles like Far Cry 2, Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, and Deus Ex as examples of what he,
Colantonio, and the rest of the developers at Arkane are going for with their new creation: An
open-ended game driven more by systemic interaction than by
scripted spectacle. In other words, they want to simply provide a
suite of tools, and objective, and then let players go at it. Corvo has
a number of tools — including gear such guns, daggers, traps, grenades
and weird steampunk treasure detecting devices as well as more supernatural
abilities such as Bend Time, Possession, and Windblast — and his task is simply to find his targets and neutralize them. This can be as simple as
stabbing someone in the face; as odd as possessing fish and mice to
navigate through the sewers below until you find said target before
possessing him to make him jump out a window; or as elaborate and
non-lethal as arranging to have his identity stolen in order to condemn him to work in the very same salt mine that he owns. 
Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/previews?cId=3187062 |
