BioWare autonomous, but more commercially conscious, say Muzyka and Zeschuk
Despite being a part of EA, BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muyzka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk maintain that BioWare retains “huge autonomy” and is “not being forced to do anything or told to do anything.”
In an interview with Eurogamer, the two founders clarified their relationship with EA and how BioWare operates, now that it has so many different high-profile projects and responsibilities. They described how their corporate responsibilities have removed them from close, direct involvement with game development, and how more stringent business practices like market research, mock reviews, and extensive testing have become a part of BioWare’s development cycle. For all that BioWare has evolved, however, they maintain that they are still faithful to the company’s core values.
And in other PC gaming news…
Voxatron! The a platformer/shooter set inside a completely destructible world of voxelly goodness! This adorably blocky looking endeavour is brought to our attention by Indiegames and it looks great. So great it apparently gives the guy in the opening cutscene a nosebleed… I think. It’s not really clear what’s going on there.
Check inside for a destructibly cubular selection of PC Gaming news.
Diablo 3 item database details weapons and armour, Inferno difficulty tier teased
Blizzard have launched a huge Diablo 3 item database detailing the base stats of hundreds of weapons and armour pieces, as well as a few crafting recipes. It looks as though Diablo 3 items will start out with a base build, like the Glorious Chopsword, which will gain two random properties like elemental damage or life steal when crafted, hopefully turning it into a “Glorious Chopsword of Fiery Electrocution,” or something.
The item database is great if you want to plan ahead with your Diablo 3 build, figuring out what you can craft when to have the best weapon. Alternatively, just skip to the highest level stuff to wonder at immense legendary items like the Moon Slayer, or find cheeky X-Men references like Logan’s Claw for the Monk (which regenerates health, of course).
It was in the middle of a search for these items that Tom F went “hmmm!” from across the office. When Tom goes “hmmm!” it normally means he’s found something interesting. In this case, it’s the four tiers of Runestone listed in the item database.
Hearts of Iron: The Card Game now in open beta. “Panzer Repair Shop” card up for grabs
Paradox Interactive have just announced that Hearts of Iron: The Card Game is in open beta.
The beta lets you play in casual games for free. Competitive games and tournaments will cost. Sign up before October 17 and you’ll get three limited edition cards to bolster your deck including the “Panzer Repair Shop” card. Here’s hoping you’ve got some busted up Panzers in your deck.
Hearts of Iron: The Card Game is played entirely in-browser. You get to play as the Axis, Allies or Comintern and create a own custom deck depending on your style of play. Read Evan’s early impressions here or click though for a video tutorial from the devs.
Notch lists his “nerdy games” for “real gamers.” Tell us yours and win something nerdy
Earlier today, Notch posted a selection of “nerdy games” for “real gamers.” Dungeon Master 1 and 2, Eye of the Beholder 1, 2 and 3, and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos all make the list.
The Minecraft creator reckons his selection “all capture a certain common theme and feeling in a way that hasn’t really been done before or since.” He also pointed out The Legend of Grimlock – an upcoming dungeon crawler that he suspects will be impressively nerdy. The developers, Almost Human, are hoping to get it released before the end of the year.
It got me thinking – what’s the nerdiest game you’ve got into? Post a story from a nerdy game in the comments. The nerdiest anecdote wins something nerdy from the PC Gamer prize vault for nerds.
Mass Effect 3 online pass hints at multiplayer mode
Mention of an ‘online multiplayer pass’ has been spotted by Eurogamer in an advert for the collector’s edition of Mass Effect 3, strengthening rumours that Mass Effect 3 could feature a co-op mode when it’s released in March next year.
Eurogamer previously reported that Bioware are working on a “standalone” four player co-op mode with “competitive elements”. CVG cited a “reliable development source” as the origin of information they received suggesting that Mass Effect will get “original missions made for online,” designed to be replayed over and over again. “We’re exploring multiplayer in all of our games and all of our franchises,” BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka told Eurogamer. “It’s always an idea we’re interested in.”
Owen got a chance to quiz associate producer Michael Gamble about the existence of a co-op multiplayer mode at Gamescom this year. No matter how hard Owen tried, Gamble remained evasive.
Darkness 2 trailer’s evil arms harm armed goons
The latest Darkness 2 trailer shows more clearly the slightly cel shaded, comic-book aesthetic Digital Extremes are adopting for the sequel. The Starbreeze adaptation of the comic series was almost monochromatic, and Jackie’s demonic arm powers needed darkness to recharge. In the trailer above he’s marching through well lit areas with snakey whacking arms on full show, which suggests we won’t have to take as much care and planning to get past all of those gangsters, seemingly quite happy to get into a fight with a demonic enemy wielding four arms and two guns. That’s the trouble with goons. They never know when to run.
Cardinal Quest is free for a day
Turn up the volume and click play. That’s how all video games should sound.
Cardinal Quest – the roguelike from Ido Yehieli – is free to download today. It normally costs $4.45/£2.87. To download use the code and URL Ido tweeted earlier today. Feeling short on bandwidth or hard drive space? Try out a demo version of Cardinal Quest on Kongregate or Ido’s own site.
Enjoying Cardinal Quest? Got a better-sounding trailer to share? Let’s talk.
Battlefield 3 beta bans could suspend Origin accounts
A bit of troubling news from the Battlefield 3 beta. Some modders have found a way to change the player limits on Operation Metro, and have been running servers that let up to 128 players onto the map. RPS have spotted an official DICE forum post, since removed, which says that anyone stumbling into these modded servers could have their Origin account suspended, denying those players access to any games they’ve bought through Origin.
Explore 30,000 parsecs of Star Wars: The Old Republic
As reported on RPS, this rather cool map viewing tool has popped up on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic site. There’s lots of satisfying zooming about involved and a bunch of videos highlighting the varied climates you’ll be exploring when the game launches on December 22.
Possibly most exciting though is the 3D ship viewing tool. Fancy inspecting the exterior of a BV-17 Thunderclap? Fill yer boots fellow Star Wars fan.
Why not read our recent Star Wars: The Old Republic preview while it loads? Craving more TOR? Read the rest of our Star Wars: The Old Republic news.
Help NASA explore Mars with Mapper. Poke around secret lakes and earn achievements
Hidden Object games suck… right? You’re usually finding things like umbrellas and beach balls. Mapper does not suck. Mapper has you staring at the lakes of British Columbia, looking for things like “dark sediment” and super rare “microbialite.” It’s like Facebook with with less fancy dress and more sci-fi. You could potentially find a sea beast. Or at least end up on a leaderboard.
What’s all this for? NASA are testing strategies to help us explore the moon, mars and asteroids. Do well enough and we’ll be playing Mapper on Mars soon. Potentially.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 trailer tries to survive Paris
Here’s a bit of footage of Modern Warfare 3′s Spec Ops survival mode from the Call of Duty Elite event in LA, spotted on CVG. It shows a new map set in Paris. Judging by the suicidal nature of the enemies, it’s a very early round, but it doesn’t take long to get to unlock a sentry gun to take out a horde of pesky attack dogs. For an overview of the Spec Ops mode, check out this analysis of the official Spec Ops survival trailer. That shotgun seems satisfying, but it doesn’t look quite as flash as the Parisian map currently in beta testing in that other shooter, does it?
Aliens: Colonial Marines trailer shows 11 minutes of in-game footage, fights Alien queen
Here’s eleven minutes of in-game footage from Aliens: Colonial Marines, with some additional commentary from Gearbox CEO, Randy Pitchford. The film took a long, long time to get to the Alien-blasting, but in the demo we see a dozen taken out in the first few minutes. The Aliens license is strangely cursed. So many developers have been influenced by ruined facilities like Hadley’s Hope and the Aliens monster that the source material that inspired them can seem a little generic but OMG HE JUST PICKED UP A PULSE RIFLE. And it’s one of those turrets! Now there’s an alien queen! Power Loaders have flame throwers now!
Portal 2 DLC out Wednesday, adds new co-op missions, challenge mode and leaderboards
Wednesday October 5. That will be the day in which the Portal 2 Peer Review DLC will be released. The free mission pack will extend Atlas and Peabody’s co-op adventure and add a new challenge mode for single player and co-op maps.
Back when Valve announced first DLC pack, they also mentioned leaderboards so all your friends and a bunch of strangers will all know how exactly how smart you are (or aren’t), which explains the ‘Peer Review’ handle. That means your performance will be graded by both Glados AND the conglomerate hivemind of the The Internet. NO PRESSURE.
In more ‘free stuff from Valve’ news, the third volume of the Portal 2 soundtrack, Songs to Test By, is available now on the Portal 2 site, featuring such classic hits as Some Assembly Required, Your Precious Moon and Robots FTW.
Payday: The Heist preview
Bank robbers are badass. John Dillinger, Jesse James, Hans Gruber. They may be breaking all kinds of laws, but dammit; they’re sticking it to The Man. They’re people we daydream about – something Overkill Studios picked up on when diving into their first release, Payday: The Heist.
“It’s one of those concepts that once you see it in action, you understand that it’s brilliant and wonder why no one has done it before,” says creative director Simon Viklund. “We went boldly into the preplanning phase with the firm conviction that Dane Cook was right when he said, ‘more than sex, every guy wants to be part of a heist.’”
