You'll be able to put an Alienware Alpha in your living room next month
The Alienware Alpha, the not-Steam-box, is set to launch next month, with four different versions estimated to ship on December 12th.
“It’s unique,” said Alienware’s Frank Azor when we took a look a couple of months ago. “Very few companies will be able to provide something like this due to the amount of engineering, development and thoughtfulness we’ve had to put in.”
Way of Life is Crusader Kings II's roleplaying expansion
Crusader Kings II has had more expansions than Henry VIII has wives. A lot more, actually, since he only had six - the lazy bugger - while Paradox’s grand strategy and intrigue sim has given rise to eight expansions, and lots more DLC. And while the last one, the excellent Charlemagne, launched not that long ago, another is on the horizon. It’s called Way of Life, and it’s a wee bit different.
After "winding down" earlier in the year, Irrational Games starts hiring again
When Irrational Games finished working on BioShock Infinite and its DLC, Ken Levine switched off the lights. He wanted to move onto something new, and that apparently meant "winding down" the studio. Over 70 staff were laid off, while Levine and 15 others remained to create a new, smaller studio.
But Irrational is now hiring again.
Why pro StarCraft 2 has rejected the classic maps
If you tune into any StarCraft tournament this month or next, you’ll note that everyone is playing on the same map pool we’ve had since midsummer. In fact, just last week, the DreamHack Open Twitter account reassured viewers that DreamHack winter would be decided using the Season 3 WCS map pool.
What’s striking about all this is that every single tournament organizer has rejected Blizzard’s Season 4 ladder map pool, which was compiled via fan vote from a list of StarCraft 2’s oldest and best-known competitive maps. While fans might wax nostalgic about the days of Daybreak and Ohana, the pro scene seems to be saying that the past is best left to memory.
A capital ship invaded the Elite: Dangerous premiere
On Saturday, Frontier Developments hosted an Elite: Dangerous premiere, showing off the release version of the space sandbox. If you weren’t able to go there in person, not to worry, as the whole event is now up on YouTube, with interviews with David Braben and the team, and glimpses into the greater universe that surrounds the game.
Shroud of the Avatar's pre-alpha launches on Steam Early Access
Richard Garriott’s crowd-funded MMO, the obtusely named Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, appeared on Steam Early Access today, after going through the Greenlight process earlier this year.
Its launch on Steam coincides with a new update, release 12, which is available to players on Steam today. Its launch on Valve’s platform means that the game will now be running 24/7, apart from planned downtime for maintenance and updates.
Total War: Attila invades Rome in February
Just as Barbarian Invasion followed the original Total War: Rome, on the heels of its successor comes Total War: Attila, where the organised Romans and their fancy, shiny armour face hirsute, exceptionally angry men. Attila’s hordes will be heading west and into the empire on February 17th.
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