Kickstarter now requires developers to make "every reasonable effort" to finish projects
In the last couple of years of crowdfunding, two things have ceased to be shocking. First, that Kickstarter can be a really good thing for undermonied game developers. And second, that it can go badly wrong - even for the most experienced project managers.
Kickstarter the organisation has traditionally stood well back from disputes over failed projects. But updated Terms of Service that’ll come into effect after October 19 will grant backers what they’ve been missing: a legal leg to stand on, should things go south.
John Carmack on what the Oculus Rift's integrated audio can do for gaming
The weekend’s Oculus Connect conference has flooded the internet with keynotes from staff at the VR company - where water cooler chat, you imagine, ends with a totally reengineered water cooler.
In one panel, CTO John Carmack talked up the good VR can do for sound in gaming - where audio is traditionally under-resourced.
“All that audio stuff that everybody always wanted to do and we never thought made the grade for traditional gaming? Now we can actually make a difference,” said Carmack.
Tim Schafer explains why Spacebase DF-9 is being flung out the airlock early
When Double Fine announced the imminent release of Spacebase DF-9, last week, it came as a bit of a surprise. It seemed early, and a long list of hoped for and planned features had yet to be implemented. Now they won’t be implemented at all. Early Access once again looked like a risky gamble.
Tim Schafer recently took to the Steam forums to explain the studio’s decision.
Stronghold Crusader 2 launches (a sack of diseased camel heads over your castle wall) tomorrow
Stronghold Crusader 2 launches tomorrow, having had its release date pushed back by three weeks to patch up some last few oddities and bugs, which is good news for fans of castles and knocking things over. I've been playing the base building RTS under the watchful eye of Simon Bradbury, lead designer at Firefly, who patiently peered over my shoulder as my idiot castle was stomped by the easiest AI opponent.
Nvidia: “Titan sold way above our expectations”
With the launch of Nvidia’s new line of Maxwell GPUs, the GTX 980 and GTX 970, we had the chance to chat to Scott Herkelman, Nvidia’s head of GeForce GTX, about the Moore’s Law defying graphics cards and also Nvidia’s other anomaly: the Titan series.
No other card manufacturer has a card priced in the same region as the Titan series. Who’s buying them and in what numbers?
Assassin's Creed Unity DLC finally takes us to China on a quest for revenge
Ubisoft has pulled back the curtain on its post-release, season pass plans for Assassin's Creed Unity, and the publisher has managed to squeeze in a welcome surprise.
Along with the expected stuff like new weapons and customization options for Arno’s Parisian adventure, a new story campaign will take the Assassin out of the French capital and into the crypts of Saint Denis.
Far more interesting, though, is a standalone game separate from the story of Unity, set in 16th Century China with a female Assassin, Shao Jun.
Runescape's Lost City of the Elves has been found - it's always in the last place that you look
Back in January, Runescape players got to vote on what Jagex should work on for its next large update. The vote was between the invention skill and the Lost City of the Elves, Prifddinas. The latter won by a mere ten percent, making it about as close as the recent Scottish independence referendum. Maybe a bit less important, though.
Now the city has made its way into the game, all shiny and completely filled with elves.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is vastly improved by an adorable canine mascot
Metal Gear Solid is rarely adorable. Confusing and a bit depressing, sure, but it doesn’t delve into the realm of cuteness. That is, until now. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which was recently announced for PC, is undoubtedly the most cuddly, strokable Metal Gear game. And it’s all thanks to DD, a pup that Snake rescues after finding its dead mother.
DD is clearly the real star of The Phantom Pain.
Pathologic remake trailer is appropriately discomforting
Ice-Pick Lodge’s Pathologic Kickstarter - the remake of the developer’s first brilliant, but clunky, impenetrable survival mystery - has reached the mid-point of the campaign and the outlook is pretty good. With 14 days to go, it’s already raised almost $230,000 of its $250,000 goal.
There’s a proper trailer now, too, and it’s appropriately enigmatic and disquieting.
Steam active userbase doubles in two years to 100 million
It’s hard to imagine that somebody could collect 100 million anything and not win the grudging respect of enthusiasts everywhere.
Through persistence and patience, Steam has collated 100 million players - slowly at first, and then in a cascading rush - and gently pressed them into its charcoal book of PC games.
Triad Wars is an online crime simulator - "the flipside of Sleeping Dogs"
Triad Wars sounds like a Facebook game about spreadsheet management, but isn’t. It’s actually a sort-of-sequel to Sleeping Dogs from that game’s developers, United Front Games. Expect a “pure sandbox” PC game that’ll sit snugly alongside GTA Online and APB Reloaded in the emerging online crime genre.
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