Another rung closer to perfection: Diablo III to get ranked ladder support "in a couple of months"
For the last couple of weeks, Diablo III game director Josh Mosqueira has collapsed into winks and nudges at any mention of a potential ladder system for the interconnected RPG. Nobody’s been sure whether he’s hinting at an imminent release, or displaying an involuntary reaction to a much-requested feature he knows he can’t deliver.
Turns out it’s the former: Diablo’s worst kept secret, season play, will come in Reaper of Souls’ first big content patch in a couple of months’ time.
Riot pull Night Hunter Rengar skin from League of Legends test servers, refund players
Those of you who’ve been wearing Night Hunter Rengar’s skin for MOBA matches, like unusually social Buffalo Bills, will find a small pot of refunded cash where your dreadful garb once was.
The reason? Riot have been listening to feedback about the night hunter’s hood, and want to make some “technically complex” changes that involve plucking Rengar from the lanes for a short while.
Smite is out today: here's a touch of cineMOBA courtesy of Hi-Rez's animators
Smite is going to be unavoidably massive. How do I know that? Because Tencent, the Chinese investment company which backed League of Legends in the early days, have bet one of their luxury converted farmhouses on it. They won’t let Smite be any other way.
There’s a better-than-average chance of it being good, too. As Hi-Rez have pulled staff from Tribes Vengeance, Smite has benefitted from an influx of developers who know how to make competitive multiplayer games immediate (not to mention slippery).
Here's a preview of the sort of hero-levitating and ground-splitting you can expect to be getting up to in Hi-Rez's action MOBA. Which, not coincidentally, is out today.
Blizzard on Diablo III's missing PvP: "There's probably not a week that goes by that we're not talking about it"
The auction house is dead. Loot 2.0 is go. Reaper of Souls is out. But the question of PvP still remains. Since the Diablo III dev team scrapped team deathmatch, only an apologetic brawling mode has emerged in the way of competitive slashing.
But lead producer Alex Mayberry says Blizzard still talk about PvP “all the time”.
“There’s probably not a week that goes by that we’re not talking about about PvP,” he told PCGamesN. “That being said, I don’t know when, or if, we’re going to get it in.”
Betrayer stabs Early Access in the back in favour of full Steam release
Betrayer’s black-and-white art style ensures it stands out in the screenshots, but it doesn’t need monochrome to differentiate itself (not least because the FPS genre is hardly drowning in colour as it is).
No: open-world survivalism, some early Monolith pedigree, and a death system sourced from ye olde MMOs is more than enough to make Betrayer stand apart.
And now it’s left Steam Early Access, it turns out you can turn the colour back on anyway. See the greenery turned green and plenty else besides in Betrayer’s launch trailer.
Fancy dress: Guild Wars 2's Wardrobe System detailed
Guild Wars 2 has no dearth of exotic armours, from purely cosmetic items to adventuring gear that provides stat bonuses. The transmutation system meant that you could - at the cost of a transmutation stone - combine the stats of one item with the look of another. But you actually had to have the items in your inventory, and it would forever take up space in your bank or bag if you intended to keep applying it every time you upgraded your gear.
An overhaul changes all of this with the introduction of the Wardrobe System, designed for all of Guild Wars fashionistas. From April 15th, a new tab will appear in the Hero Panel, one where the skin of every item you’ve unlocked has been gathered, waiting to be applied to a hideous piece of gear to make it look more presentable. You don’t want to look like a vagrant if you’re invited to a charr tea party.
Molyneux on indies: "What I'd say is, enjoy this time, because it won't last."
Taking a break from selling snake oil, Peter Molyneux spent a bit of time at GDC spreading doom and gloom about the current indie scene. In an interview with CVG, the 22Cans founder predicted the demise of the trend, with indie’s selling out.
“Don't think we're going to be all indies for the next five years - these things go in cycles, just like in the music business,” Molyneux said. “You have a time where punk is big, and then you have times like now where everything is manufactured.”
Double Fine is tailoring its publishing process to the diverse needs of indies
Yesterday’s launch of Escape Goat 2 wasn’t just a big deal for developer MagicalBeanTime; it’s also a new chapter for Double Fine, which has gone from needing publishers, to independently publishing its own games and now to publishing other indies.
But Double Fine have been trying to play it down. The company wants to leverage its experience to promote and assist other developers without taking away attention from the game, said CEO Justin Bailey in a chat with Game Informer.
Stop dunking those eggs: Telltale's Game of Thrones won't be a sequel
Telltale’s take on Game of Thrones, the TV adaptation of George R R Martin’s series of fantasy novels, begs many questions and the studio is light on answers. Beyond the books and TV show is a lot of history: things merely hinted at or explored in spin-offs like the Tales of Dunk and Egg - in both short story and comic form - offer a lot of directions for the developer to take.
We can probably rule out the games taking place entirely prior to the TV show and books - like we saw in the 2012 video game - however, as CEO Dan Connors told Digital Trends that “It’s not a prequel, no.”
Breaking: Facebook plans to buy Oculus VR for $2 billion
Social network giant, Facebook, has just announced plans to purchase VR developer Oculus for $2 billion, split into $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares in Facebook itself.
Oculus has developed relationships with developers like CCP, whose EVE: Valkyrie dogfighting game they are co-publishing, and Valve, where they have been experimenting with different ways to provide a virtual reality experience. There was even murmurings, or maybe simply hopes, that Valve would purchase Oculus - though this certainly won't happen now.
While Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg might sound like strange partners for the developer, the platform is no stranger to games, as soul destroying and mind numbing as they may be. Beyond its potential for gaming, Zuckerberg sees the Oculus Rift as a way to bring people together, he explains in a statement. This brings it in line with Facebook’s goal to “make the world more open and connected.”
Making The Vanishing of Ethan Carter look as good as reality
The Astronauts, developer behind Weird Tales-inspired pulpy adventure game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, boast that “you’ll see some of the most realistic environment pieces ever created for a video game” when you slap your eyes on it.
The studio is going for photorealism. Erosion on stone, dust lying in the right place, chips in walls, staining - it all adds to a feeling that you’re not seeing a 3D model, but a real, tangible object, building or place.
It’s all down to the awkwardly named process of photogrammetry. “With photogrammetry, we no longer create worlds while isolated from the world, surrounded by walls and screens,” says The Astronauts co-founder Andrzej Poznansk.
Notch kills possible Oculus deal in light of impending Facebook acquisition
The immediate reaction to Facebook’s plans to buy Oculus VR have been hostile to say the least. Hilariously, my Facebook feed is filled with venom: Facebook users condemning Facebook, claiming that it’s ruined yet another thing they liked. And it was as I was chuckling at those comments that I noted Notch weighing in on the matter. I’m not laughing as much now.
A big deal like this was bound to rub some developers the wrong way, and the first victim is an Oculus Rift version of Minecraft. Mojang and Oculus VR were in talks, and now they are not.
CEO of Oculus is answering questions on reddit http://www.reddit.com/user/palmerluckey
Galactic Civilizations III – First Gameplay Video Unveiled
Stardock has released the first gameplay video for Galactic Civilizations III, showing how players move around and explore in hex-based gloriousness, as well as a fleet dominate the skies in its conquest of other territories and the game’s WIP UI. Galactic Civilizations III Alpha will be available on Steam on March 27th. Enjoy! Continue reading
Open World Survival Horror “Grave” Gets New Screenshots & Kickstarter Campaign
Broken Window Studios has sent us a new set of screenshots for its open world survival horror game that will support Oculus Rift, Grave. Grave is a first person, open world survival horror experience. Survive the night with a arsenal of defensive tools, and explore an ever-changing world filled with frightening creatures. Continue reading
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls & BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea DLC Episode Two – Now Available
Blizzard and 2K Games have announced that Diablo III: Reaper of Souls and the second episode of Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea DLC are now available. Reaper of Souls adds a challenging new act to Diablo III in which players will embark on a dark and perilous journey through terrifying landscapes; explore the legendary city of Westmarch; and slay countless minions, each hell-bent on bringing their heroic quest to a grisly end. Continue reading
STALKER Inspired Free-To-Play “Survarium” Gets New Beautiful Screenshots
Vostok Games has released a new set of screenshots for its upcoming F2P title that is inspired by the STALKER series, Survarium. Survarium is a free2play MMOFPS game set in the near future that is under closed beta and is powered by the new proprietary Vostok Engine. The game focuses on the aftermath of a massive ecological catastrophe on Earth, the reasons behind which are only vaguely known, and the following screenshots show off some of the game’s new assets. Enjoy! Continue reading
GTC 2014: NVIDIA Outs Pascal, Titan Z, Tegra Updates
NVIDIA's 2014 GTC (GPU Technology Conference) kicked off with a bang this morning in San Jose California, with NVIDIA CEO... Read More
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