Duke Nukem Forever Demo Release Date May 17, 2011
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Ladies and Gentelmen, Randy Pitchford.
Duke Nukem Forever demo coming June 3rd on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 only to First Access Club Members. If you want to become a First Access Club Member, buy the Game of the Year Edition of Borderlands or preorder Duke Nukem Forever at GameStop.
Duke Nukem Forever is coming June 14th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
InFamous 2 Beta Takes a Swipe at the 360 May 15, 2011
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I just started beta testing the inFamous 2 UGC and so far have been quite impressed by the comprehensive access to the game testers are being given right now.
When cruising around the city I happen to catch this storefront.
inFamous 2 Story Trailer May 15, 2011
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Now that the Playstation Network is coming back online I thought I’d cover next month’s PS3 exclusive release inFamous 2.
The story of inFamous is inspired by the classic super hero staples. A realistic hero getting powers out of sheer coincidence and how the world around him treats him as a terrorist or as a savior. You have an entire city to roam around in. You can choose to do good deeds and become the city’s hero or selfish deeds and make the citzens hate you.
In this new game, you’re entering a whole new city in search of a way to enhance your powers in order to defeat this super powerful foe hinted upon at the end of the first game. Here, take a look for yourself.
I got in on the game’s User Generated Content beta, but due to the network being down, was unable to shoot anything from it and post it online. The toolset looks really in depth for modders to just have a blast with, enabling you to create missions, download new missions, and alter downloadable missions all you want. Here’s a quick runthrough of that.
I have seen a more in-depth video about the feature online, but unfortunatly Sony hasn’t yet posted it to their YouTube Channel. If I can find a YouTube embed of it, I’ll make sure to link that.
This feature is what the current beta is testing. The beta started around a day before the PSN went down, and I have no idea if they extended the time for the beta, but rest assured if I can get the beta running, I’ll capture some footage of it.
inFamous 2 is coming June 7th, 2011 exclusive to the Playstation 3.
Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club Members Might Get their Demos Next Week May 11, 2011
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If you bought the Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition or preordered Duke Nukem Forever at GameStop (or both) you were given a code with access to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club (FAC). The major selling point of being a member of the FAC was that FAC members would get access to the highly anticipated Duke Nukem Forever demo before anyone else would.
Well, I’ve been in da club for a few months now and it’s had a few benefits so far. I got first announcement of the Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition, and now Gearbox is allowing FAC members first chance at access to their first Gamer’s Day.
Well, a very interesting e-mail came into FAC members mailboxes yesterday. They are requesting that everyone update their requested platforms before Sunday the 15th. If they don’t know what platform you want specifically, they said they’re going to just default to giving you the PC version.
The key point to that email is that the cutoff date for the platform choice seems to be Sunday, could this mean that the demo is going to ship out next week? That would make it come a little less than a month before Duke Nukem Forever hits store shelves (and a little more than 10 days past it’s original release date).
Regardless, Duke Nukem Forever (the full version) is coming June 14th, 2011 for Xbox 360, PC and PS3.
Major Alan Wake News Announced, What Could it Be? May 10, 2011
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UPDATE: A member of the Alan Wake forums has reminded me that Remedy was in fact looking for a Kinect developer in their jobs page a few months ago following the release of Alan Wake. I thought I remembered that when writing this article, which is why I devoted a whole section to the possiblity they might do a Kinect game, but I couldn’t find the exact posting when I took the article to print. Now the possiblity of a Kinect game has a bit more credibility.
After a few days of speculation, Remedy has announced today that they are working on a new Alan Wake related project. However, this project is NOT Alan Wake 2 and it is not DLC for Alan Wake. What it is, is being saved for later.
My speculation. First. The time of reveal, “later” is not defined, however Remedy will be doing meetings at E3 this year, and it might coincide with that. Given this extremely vague statement is that there are only so many things that this new project could be. If it’s not Alan Wake 2 and it’s not DLC for the first game then what could it possibly be?
It could be a Alan Wake iPhone game. Remedy had just completed the iPhone version of Death Rally, and Barry Wheeler from Alan Wake did make an appearance in the game as another car driver. Remedy owns the Alan Wake rights, and can develop games for whichever platform they choose. If they wanted to tell a side story as some are speculating might take place between Alan Wake and the projected Alan Wake 2, the iPhone may be the best platform to tell it. Side stories of Mass Effect, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, and RAGE have all been released to the iPhone platform and been quite good, as well as been popular purchases. Remedy has posted up requests for mobile developers on their jobs page, and while it could’ve been because they plan to release more games for mobile phones, having mobile developers working there could give them options on expanding more of their properties to mobile platforms.
It could be an Alan Wake Kinect game. Other than the fact that Alan Wake was on the Xbox 360, the platform of the Kinect, Remedy was hiring producers for a Triple-A console title after the release of Alan Wake, and since Remedy has announced this is NOT Alan Wake 2, a Kinect side story might be something they might be interested. It was also noted on a few gaming sites that Remedy was hiring Kinect developers after the release of Alan Wake and the possiblity could exist that it could be for this project. The Kinect has a very impressive install base for such a new and expensive peripheral, but since its launch there has not been a large wave of regular Kinect game releases, making Kinect a prime market to tap into.
It could be the long requested PC version of Alan Wake with support for better graphics, controls retooled for the PC, and offering new features like the Xbox 360 DLC included. This has some credibilty given the fact that the announcement included phrases like “This will be a good jumping point for new Alan Wake players.” PC users have been demanding this game on the platform since it was announced it would release only on the Xbox 360, espessially given there were demos of the game on the PC done during it’s five years of development. Alan Wake would have required a pretty high end pc to run at optimal performance (A Multi-Core CPU and Shader Model 3.0 GPU with Windows Vista/7 would practically be required), which might have made Remedy rethink releasing it on the PC platform at launch, but over the last year those features are now pretty much standard in most PCs, and it could be the time to launch it. Plus, if you add in new levels or features to the PC version, it would give a good incentive to make a PC version the platform of choice.
The only other possiblity I can envision is that the next game could involve an open world Bright Falls, something along the lines of Alan Theft Auto or Grand Theft Barry. The original design document for Alan Wake called for an open world Bright Falls with dynamic day, night and weather effects, and based upon the toolsets I saw in the behind the scenes documentaries in the LCE version of the game, and the pictures posted in the Alan Wake: Illuminated book, or in various official screenshots released over the year (such as the image of Alan standing in the bookstore in daylight). Unfortunatly, we never really got to see day and night transitions happen in real time in the game, all transitions like that happened during cutscenes, and the player always had a set direction or showpiece during day scenes with very little opportunity for further exploration. There were going to be things included in the game had they gone the open world route like explorable buildings including a museum, and even a dirt track for racing and time trials. These would’ve been fun little diversions during the story. Although, what the storyline that would be about for a game that provided an open world Bright Falls (which would not be Alan Wake 2) would be anyone’s guess. I have seen open world expansion packs for games which just involved easter egg hunts (Like the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Expansion), but these were just small expansions released for a budget price and that was a long time ago.
I’ve also recieved speculation from a peer of mine that thought this new game might be a prequel and reminded me that Max Payne 2 was released just 18 months after the first Max Payne, which made sense. The Max-FX tools were already built and they just needed to be upgraded for Max Payne 2. Very comprehensive Alan Wake tools already are built and tons of unused Alan Wake assets did not make it into the final game, any of it could be used in this new Alan Wake game.
Regardless, this announcement is fantastic for Alan Wake fans who are hungry for more from this franchise. I have sent a press inquiry to Remedy about their E3 plans. If I hear any response I’ll be more than happy to inform all of you when the time is right.
The project, whatever it is, currently has a projected release date of Fall 2011.
Major RAGE News, Editor and Gameplay Footage May 8, 2011
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A lot of news on id Software’s RAGE has hit the web this week, as well as some brand new footage of the game.
Want to know how the game plays? Well take a look at this impressive five minute gameplay video.
Next off, all of you dedicated modders out there are going to be very happy to hear that editing tools for RAGE will ship with the PC version of the game. Like with Doom 3, the Editor will be accessible in the developer console, allowing you to create levels from scratch or modify existing ones. You will even be able to modify audio files.
The problem is that this comprehensive tool will likely require a pretty high end PC to use to it’s fullest potential (likely higher than RAGE’s system requirements, which will probably require a powerful PC), and building a full level from scratch with the tools is going to take a lot of work.
As for multiplayer, well the game has a multiplayer component but it will not support a traditional deathmatch mode.
RAGE is coming September 13th, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 .
Duke Nukem Forever Shrinker Trailer May 5, 2011
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A new “What Would Duke Do” trailer has hit the internet today, courtesy of Gearbox Software and 2K Games.
The Shrinker Gun, made popular in Duke Nukem 3D, which had the ability to shrink your enemies, making it easy to stomp on them with your mighty foot, looks to be making an appearance, but more than that, the ability to get shrunk, also possible in Duke Nukem 3D, looks to be making a return, as this trailer demonstrates.
The early previews of the game taken from the Duke Nukem’s Titty City event did mention that practically a whole level will take place with you playing as a shrunken Duke Nukem. This looks to be the footage of that level.
Duke Nukem Forever will release June 14th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
UPDATE: 2K has also announced that a lot of Duke Nukem Forever content has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. A premium theme and new avatar clothing is for sale at various MS points. However, Duke Nukem Forever gamerpics have been released for free.
The Darkness II Release Date May 4, 2011
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2K Games has linked this on their twitter feed. As far as I can tell, this is probably the first official trailer released for the Darkness II, although there has been various amounts of images and previews released for it since PAX.
The trailer glosses over just what’s been going on with the game’s protagonist, Jackie, since the completion of the first game and features no in game footage. However, at the end, it announces The Darkness II’s release date.
The Darkness II is coming October 4th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360, PS3.
Gears of War 3 Beta Players Offered Friend Codes on May 8th May 3, 2011
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The Gears of War 3 beta testers (myself included) are being notified by e-mail that Epic is going to be offering extra codes to offer to their friends, to bring more people into the Gears of War 3 beta.
By default, all Gears of War 3 Beta players with a valid e-mail address tied to their Live account are being offered at least one extra code to pass along to their friends on the 8th of May.
However, that’s not all. Starting yesterday, any beta testers who do any or all of the following tasks will get one extra code to pass along, making for a total of five codes.
1. Buy any Gears of War 3 content in the Marketplace, including avatar clothing or avatar items.
2. Play 20+ hours of the beta since yesterday.
3. Buy a new 12-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold,
4. Log 100 hours of play in Gears of War 1, 2 or any of the DLC. Single or Multiplayer.
Gears of War 3 is coming September, 2011 exclusive to the Xbox 360.
Duke Nukem Forever System Specifications May 3, 2011
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2K Games has announced today on their twitter feed and blog, exactly what the PC specifications are for the highly anticipated game, Duke Nukem Forever.
So, without further ado, here’s what you’ve been waiting thirteen years to read.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.0 Ghz
Memory: 1 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 256 MB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.6 Ghz
Memory: 2 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 512 MB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS / ATI Radeon HD 3850
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
OTHER REQUIREMENTS & SUPPORTS
Initial installation requires one-time internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, Microsoft DirectX, Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (ATL), Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, and AMD Dual Core Optimizer. (AMD optimizer required only for specific AMD processors to run the game correctly, but installs for all of them.)
Those are some pretty steep specs. I like how the Dual Core Optimizer is included since it usually fixes most gaming problems for people with multiple core AMD processors, but it’s only needed if you’re using Win XP. It won’t even install if you have Vista or 7 installed.
Duke Nukem Forever will release June 14th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
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