Alienware predict their Steam Machine will be the "least profitable system we ever sell"
The range of third-party Steam Machines at CES in January was a funny-shaped fanfare for living room PCs - but the noise has since subsided into uneasy silence as manufacturers prepare their wares for market.
Alienware’s Steam Machine is the one Valve believe will “make the most Steam users happy”. But Alienware aren’t expecting it to make them bags of cash on the scale they’re used to.
Google Glass engineer Adrian Wong joins fight for car park spaces at Oculus VR
Adrian Wong spent three and a half years as Google Glass’ lead electrical engineer - but left at the start of this month to work on a chunkier set of goggles.
Rune, Talion, rune: Shadow of Mordor's weapon upgrade system detailed
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s sulky wraith-ranger Talion has more than a few tricks up his sleeve to make slaughtering orc warchiefs and their snivelling minions a wee bit easier.
The latest trailer shows off the rune system, that empowers the rangers three weapons with shiny, magical properties which allow him to murder orcs with greater ease. I suspect that this was not part of Tolkien’s vision.
Slap your eyes on the video below.
Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon is a hex-based waaaghgame that "anyone can play"
The Battle for Armageddon is one of the central conflicts in the bloody, war-torn Warhammer 40K universe, pitting the totalitarian Imperium of Man against the relentless green tide of Orks. Inspired both by World War 2 and wargames, it co-exists but is separate from the Warhammer 40K tabletop game, and is perfectly positioned to be given a digital makeover by the wargame publishing factory that is Slitherine.
Developed by Lordz Games Studios and Flashback Games, Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon has more than a hint of their other series, Panzer Corps, but it’s all informed by Games Workshop’s board game. The two already share similar concepts, despite the many light years between them. Lordz and Flashback hope that it will be “a gateway into the world of wargames.”
Dota 2 International prize pool nears $6 million as people gobble up compendiums
A lot of you lovely lot have been grabbing the Dota 2 International’s compendium, it seems. A lot of $2.50 purchases have been made, which have gone into the massive prize pool for the tournament.
The total is edging ever closer to the whopping $6 million mark. Upon hitting the mark, compendium owners will be rewarded with an item that allows them to customise a building in their base.
Star Citizen Arena Commander module takes off on May 29th for backers
All space cowboys, otherwise known as Star Citizen’s army of backers, will get access to the game within a game, Arena Commander, come May 29th, Cloud Imperium announced today. That’s a week this Thursday.
Two modes will be made available to all backers: Free Flight and Vanduul Swarm. Some lucky testers will also receive access to the online modes, with more being brought in further down the line.
Dead Island: Epidemic hits Steam Early Access and isn't free-to-play yet
The latest addition to the list of Steam Early Access titles is Deep Silver and Sunlock Studios’ Dead Island spin-off, Dead Island: Epidemic. It hit the service today and is currently in closed beta, as well as being “fully functional,” according to the devs.
The free-to-play MOBA is not free-to-play on Steam right now. While those invited into the closed beta don’t have to pay, others have to cough up some cash for an early look.
Diablo 3 celebrates its birthday with 100 percent bonuses to Legendary loot and Rift Fragment gains
It was Diablo III’s two year anniversary last week, and it’s come a long way since its troubled birth. Gone is the awful Auction House, Loot 2.0 has revolutionised the never-ending hunt for gear and Reaper of Souls expanded the campaign and added the lovely, bulky Templar.
To celebrate, Blizzard’s rewarding Sanctuary defenders. But not for long. Log into Diablo III this week, and you’ll be able to gather a mountain of Legendary loot.
Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth funded through Kickstarter, new trailer filled with mystery (and blood)
Exogenesis ~Perils of Rebirth~ is being developed by an indie team from the Philippines. And yet, as you can probably tell from the title's wave dash usage, it's clearly referencing Japanese games. Japanese visual novels, to be exact, with the developers name-checking Ace Attorney and Zero Escape as inspirations. The narrative-heavy point-and-click has now passed the $32,000 Kickstarter goal, securing funding for its post-apocalyptic tale of treasure hunters, obsession, and a device called the "Lazarus Protocol". Don't worry, I'm sure it's not an ominous portent of coming tragedy.
GOG "would definitely consider" Early Access, but prefer curatorial approach
We're less than halfway through the year, and Steam has already released more games than it did during the entirety of 2013. Part of the reason for that rise is increased activity among services like Early Access, Steam's alpha funding category. Steam may now host more games, but many of them are still being actively developed. CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski has now said that their digital distribution channel GOG "would definitely consider" following an Early Access style service, but that, if they did, it would have to be more heavily curated.
Interview: Adding Shieldmaidens To War Of The Vikings
By Paul Dean on May 19th, 2014 at 7:00 pm.
By Paul Dean.
War of the Vikings, Paradox Interactive’s sequel to the gritty and gruesome War of the Roses, is about to receive its first expansion, a relatively modest addition that adds one new class: the Shieldmaiden. Executive producer Gordon Van Dyke, a veteran of multiplayer development who can trace his history back to some of the early Battlefield games, says it’s an opportunity to not only shake up the way the game is played and the patterns that players are falling into, but that it might also be a chance to challenge a few assumptions about gender.
At Paradox’s annual convention in January, Van Dyke spoke to me about his plans to introduce women warriors to the game and how it was important to him that they be dressed in realistic, practical gear rather than sporting the tired trope of stylised “boob armour,” the sort of curvy breastplates and chainmail bikinis that have plagued video games for decades. He explained how this expansion is his chance to make good on his ambition, why there should be women warriors in his game and how he relishes a chance to challenge some of gaming’s sexist conventions.
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