Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/JoystiqThe Joystiq Podcast combines insightful commentary on the week's video game news and culture with several disembodied, often spooky, voices. Voices may or may not belong to Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann, Joystiq.com editors, or their guests. Spookiness not guaranteed where prohibited, please check local laws. More information available at www.joystiq.comJoystiq interview: Dragon Age storytellinghttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

BioWare's return to PC as a primary platform has been met with rapture and glee from the PC gaming crowd. The development chops of the Canadian company are almost impossible to question, with hit after hit being released from its Edmonton headquarters. Now the reunion with keyboard and mouse is accompanied by the most ambitious fantasy RPG BioWare has attempted since the original Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age: Origins is a true return to roots for the company, a homecoming with its dearest fans.

It makes sense then to find David Gaider, one of the original writers of the Baldur's Gate plot, at the keyboard behind Dragon Age. We had the chance to talk briefly with the author about what this highly-anticipated title will offer. Though he couldn't reveal much in the way of story components, he did offer a tantalizing view into the world's history. Join us as we talk with Gaider about stepping back from Mass Effect's advances, the joys of returning to PC gaming, and what he considers required reading for any Dragon Age fan.
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]]>biowaredavid-gaiderdragon-agedragon-age-originsfeaturedThu, 04 Sep 2008 20:00:00 ESTJoystiq interview: Dragon Age storytelling (Page 2)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-2/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

How would you compare what you've done with the story in Dragon Age to what you did with Baldur's Gate?

Dragon Age is a huge game, much like Baldur's Gate. I don't know that we'd ever make a game as big as Baldur's Gate again, though. That game was just ridiculously huge. That said, there is something to making a game that is substantial like that. The word "epic" is thrown around like there's no tomorrow, but in some ways epic does fit with the scope of the game's story. It's a long story that takes your character through this large arc. It's appropriate for what we're doing.

It is also similar to Baldur's Gate insofar as how much we focus on character. You have all your party members, and I would say almost a third of the writing that's been done is just for the members themselves. The amount of talking they do may in fact be sort of endless. I think for a lot of players that's really important. To this day in any given forum, people will still bring up characters from Baldur's Gate. Some of them are quite beloved. I would like to think as a writer that Dragon Age is the next step from there. Not to knock the Baldur's Gate characters, but these are the characters you'll be interacting with at length for a long period of time ... they're important to the story.

Go for the eyes Boo! Go for the eyes!

Exactly.

It seems as though Dragon Age is very much BioWare returning to its roots. Was that a conscious decision or just a reaction to the way the company and gaming as a hobby has been going?

The company has gotten big enough now that we can have several projects on the go at any given time. Console has its place, of course, and we can't ignore them.

"We chose the subtitle 'Origins' specifically. This is where it begins, and we're not abandoning the PC gamer."
I'm sure a lot of PC gamers would love it if we did, but we can't. What PC players hate, though, is when you have a game that tries to work on a PC and a console at the same time. It has to go for the "lowest common denominator." I think that's a legitimate concern. I think there are games that have successfully worked on both platforms, I don't think it needs to be that way. But here we're focusing on, we're starting on the PC.

We're doing a couple of things differently with this game, though. I mean, we announced Dragon Age really really early. In the normal scheme of things, we would have probably only been announcing it around now for release next year. Instead we announced it really early so that PC gamers wouldn't feel left out. They could look at Mass Effect and know we had huge plans for Dragon Age as a world. We chose the subtitle "Origins" specifically. This is where it begins, this is where the new story starts, and we're not abandoning the PC gamer.

That's something I wanted to mention; origins would seem to suggest a number of things especially for PC gamers. A lot of them still see the Baldur's Gate series as this great franchise that they'll really appreciate forever. Do you see Dragon Age as an attempt to go for that kind of success?

In the end the proof is going to be in the pudding. Rather, the proof is in the eating of the pudding. A lot will depend on how well the game does, right? Before we go crazy with it we want to see how the game is received. I think we're very confident, though, that there's a big group out there that has been anxiously waiting for something like this. I think they'll really respond if we've done well.

I have a good feeling about it, it's not just because I created the world. I watched this game grow before my eyes, I got to start see the cutscenes back, see the world I created take on a life of its own. The coolest thing is when the artists started getting on board. They're one step ahead of me now, instead of me being the one to say "well this is what this should look like". I have that same feeling as I did when we were at this point in developing Baldur's Gate. There's always that point where you're like 'this game is utter crap!' Then it starts to change, and finally we're at the point where we're like 'wow, this game is awesome!'

We really hope this is the launching point for something bigger.

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]]>biowaredavid-gaiderdragon-agedragon-age-originsThu, 04 Sep 2008 20:00:00 ESTJoystiq interview: Dragon Age storytelling (Page 3)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/joystiq-interview-dragon-age-storytelling-page-3/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

One last question: I'm sure that as a fantasy writer, you read a lot of fantasy as well. Who are some authors you would suggest to gamers that are looking forward to Dragon Age, as a sort of primer to get them in the mood for the world?

There is one series of books that is required reading for any Dragon Age fan. It's not to say we copied him, but it's required reading for what it represented when I was thinking about the game. I sort of got tired of the same old fantasy-style stories. I read The Belgariad and Wheel of Time back to back, right? And they both started the same way, with a "chosen one" with a boy in a remote village who is carried away just as his village is destroyed ... they both started the same way. They're both decent series, but they're very high fantasy titles.

Then I picked up a series of books by George R.R. Martin called A Song of Ice and Fire. It's a low magic world there, and ours is a bit higher. Dragon Age is lower than the normal fantasy world, though, because magic is sort of rare and mages are very distrusted. As I described how Darkspawn came to be, people kind of have a bad opinion about them as a group.

For me, it was the tonal shift that really changed for me personally. It was such a dark story, and sometimes I think he may get too dark ... but it was focused on politics and civil war, dark and gritty, and there was the possibility that characters you loved might die. I went from being kind of "meh" on fantasy in general to really excited because of these books. We didn't go out to copy his works, but that sort of shift, that darkness, that seriousness are all elements we've embraced for our game. That's the tone of Dragon Age.

Thanks so much for your time, sir.

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]]>biowaredragon-agedragon-age-originsice-and-fireThu, 04 Sep 2008 20:00:00 ESTWhite Knight Story release still unknown [update]http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/white-knight-story-coming-to-japan-dec-11/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/white-knight-story-coming-to-japan-dec-11/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/white-knight-story-coming-to-japan-dec-11/#commentsFiled under: ,


Update: Ack! It seems the release date is still unconfirmed. Why are you doing this to us, Sony? Why?

Is this what the "day of awakening" was hinting at? Just a couple of days after we got that promise of new info from Sony, we hear that Famitsu has nailed down a date for White Knight Chronicles (that's White Knight Story to you and me): December 11.

Now, does that mean that you'll be getting your hands on this terrifically sexy PS3 RPG anytime soon? Well, no, not necessarily. But it's certainly not bad news if you've been salivating since our 2007 hands-on with the game.

[Thanks, erico316]
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]]>level-5sonywhite-knight-chronicleswhite-knight-storyThu, 04 Sep 2008 13:29:00 ESTPAX 2008: Penny Arcade Adventures producer gushes about Episode 2http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-penny-arcade-adventures-producer-gushes-about-episode/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-penny-arcade-adventures-producer-gushes-about-episode/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-penny-arcade-adventures-producer-gushes-about-episode/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Last week during PAX 2008, we sat down with Hothead COO and Penny Arcade Adventures Producer Joel DeYoung as he guided us through Episode 2 and improvements to the engine. The gist of it is: if you liked Episode 1, you'll like Episode 2 that much more. Here's the rundown from our talks:
  • Highlighting points of interest has been made easier! "If you have your proximity putting you close enough to 2 or 3 things, you can slide through that with bumpers," said DeYoung.
  • There are now difficulty levels, including an Insane Mode (unlockable only after beating the game). Special collectibles and pickups are only available if you play Insane Mode. Comparatively, Episode 1's difficulty is "a little easier" than medium.
  • All the weapons have been replaced. Tycho gets a shotgun, Gabe has new fist upgrades and your player now possesses -- wait for it -- a hoe! Also changed are the special attack minigames.
  • You now have, among other new items, a revive potion. Healing won't be enough to bring your troops back to life. "Just adds a little bit of depth to it," said DeYoung.
  • The real-time reaction for defense has been made more obvious (e.g. "Block!" now appears when you need to push block), but nothing analogous for attacking has been added.
More after the break.
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]]>hotheadhothead-gamesinterviewjoel-deyoungjoystiqfeaturespaa-episode-2pax-08pax-2008penny-arcadepenny-arcade-adventurespenny-arcade-expoThu, 04 Sep 2008 10:30:00 ESTPAX 2008: One hour with full version of Fallout 3http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-one-hour-with-the-full-version-of-fallout-3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-one-hour-with-the-full-version-of-fallout-3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-one-hour-with-the-full-version-of-fallout-3/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Click for all our Fallout 3 coverage
We were given one hour with Fallout 3 at this year's PAX, and we don't mean some pared down, nerfed, demo-ized level; this was the full version. Not only that, but the Bethesda folks showed it to us in the tricked out Fallout 3 Airstream Trailer, complete with a nuclear family peering in.

Lead designer Emil Pagliarulo started us out roughly an hour into the game, when you exit the vault for the very first time. We missed the whole "growing up" phase in order to rush right into the action. We didn't mind. but what of our first 18 or so years? Maybe you start out on the cellular level, and fight your way out in a glorious Spore/Fallout hybrid. Your guess is as good as ours.
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]]>bethesdafalloutfallout-3hands-onimpressionsjoystiqfeaturespax-08pax-2008penny-arcade-expoThu, 04 Sep 2008 10:00:00 ESTBloody new DeathSpank trailers, details from PAX 2008http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/bloody-new-deathspank-trailers-details-from-pax-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/bloody-new-deathspank-trailers-details-from-pax-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/bloody-new-deathspank-trailers-details-from-pax-2008/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While Hothead is busy pimping its upcoming Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 2, let's not forget about its other, simpler-titled project DeathSpank. The company has released three new teaser trailers for the snarky title ("Fight" is shown above), built from the ground up with Joystiq's own Ludwig Kietzmann in mind as the target demographic.

During last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo, Hothead COO Joel DeYoung said he considered the game a "more Diablo-esque" episodic action RPG with ample amounts of creator Ron Gilbert's humor, "lampooning video game space and the idea of the video game hero that takes himself too seriously." The game is not using PAA's Torque engine. More information about DeathSpank should be coming "soon," he said. After the break, check out the "Item" and "Armor" trailer. (Spoiler: Two of these three videos use the phrase "Thong of Justice.")

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]]>death-spankdeathspankhotheadhothead-gamesron-gilbertThu, 04 Sep 2008 08:30:00 ESTPAX 2008 hands-on: Valkyria Chronicleshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-hands-on-valkyria-chronicles/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-hands-on-valkyria-chronicles/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/pax-2008-hands-on-valkyria-chronicles/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Final Fantasy Tactics meets X-Com in a Miyazaki-esque, Advance Wars universe. With watercolors. That's what you get when you play Sega's upcoming strategy RPG, Valkyria Chronicles. The PS3 exclusive is already out in Japan but will be heading West before the end of the year and, from what we saw of the game at PAX, it will be Sega's console gem of the year.

We were guided through the game's tutorial by the producer, Christopher Kaminski, who showed off the basic gameplay mechanics. It's a strategy RPG, but there's no grid. Instead, you have a "fuel" meter, which depletes as you move farther, giving the game more of an action RPG feel.
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]]>hands-onimpressionsjoystiqfeaturespax-08pax-2008playstation-3PS3Segavalkyria-chroniclesThu, 04 Sep 2008 07:00:00 ESTDissidia and Patapon 2 dated for Japan; FF Agito still years awayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/dissidia-and-patapon-2-dated-for-japan-ff-agito-still-years-awa/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/dissidia-and-patapon-2-dated-for-japan-ff-agito-still-years-awa/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/dissidia-and-patapon-2-dated-for-japan-ff-agito-still-years-awa/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Sony Japan has announced release dates for several PSP titles that all eyes (or in case of Patapon, "eye") have been on. Dissidia: Final Fantasy will sneak in right before Santa Clause shows up on December 18. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam and the rhythm soldiers of Patapon 2 Donchaka will march in November 20 and 27, respectively. No word yet on North American or European release dates.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy Agito XIII looks like it's still a long way off from coming to a Sony portable near you. Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura explains the game isn't expected to release until after PS3's Final Fantasy XIII and Versus arrive. In short: We're looking at 2010 or later before Agito's release. Will the PSP, as we know it, even exist at that point?
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]]>agitodissidiafinal-fantasy-xiiifinal-fantasy-xiii-versuspatapon-2Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:30:00 ESTBethesda radiates light on Fallout 3 DLC planshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/bethesda-radiates-light-on-fallout-3-dlc-plans/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/bethesda-radiates-light-on-fallout-3-dlc-plans/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/bethesda-radiates-light-on-fallout-3-dlc-plans/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Vaultnews Shacknews caught up with Bethesda veep Pete Hines and Fallout 3 art lead Istvan Pely during PAX and asked the duo a whole mess of questions about - you guessed it - Fallout 3. One of the most salient responses came to a question regarding how the developer expects DLC quests for the game to shake out.

On the scope of DLC, Hines told Shacknews: "We want stuff that's going to be several hours. Not just like a one-off thing, but something like where you can download it and play it for X number of hours," further clarifying plans by adding, "It'll be similar to what we did with Knights of the Nine in Oblivion, where it's like whole new quest lines, new stuff, that kind of thing."

As for a post-launch DLC roll-out time line, Hines was non-committal, saying only that "we already have folks starting to look into what [the DLC] might be."
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]]>bethesdadlcfallout-3Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:30:00 ESTRumor: Square Enix may sell stand-alone Final Fantasy XIII demohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/rumor-square-enix-may-sell-stand-alone-final-fantasy-xiii-demo/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/rumor-square-enix-may-sell-stand-alone-final-fantasy-xiii-demo/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/rumor-square-enix-may-sell-stand-alone-final-fantasy-xiii-demo/#commentsFiled under: ,

Speaking in an interview with Japanese magazine Dengeki PS3, Square's Tetsuya Nomura allegedly revealed that the company may offer the demo version of Final Fantasy XIII - set for inclusion with the (for now Asia-only) Blu-ray release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: Complete - for sale separately at retail.

This as-of-yet-unconfirmed news comes from FinalFantasyXIII.net, which, in addition to its translating of the article, reckons that the idea of charging for the 90-minute-plus demo is fairly unprecedented. You know, we could have sworn we saw Gran Turismo 5: Prologue for $39.99 at Target just the other day ...

[Via PS3 Fanboy]
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]]>demofinal-fantasyfinal-fantasy-xiiisquare-enixtetsuya-nomuraTue, 02 Sep 2008 17:30:00 ESTSony awakens hope for White Knight Story updatehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/sony-awakens-hope-for-white-knight-story-update/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/sony-awakens-hope-for-white-knight-story-update/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/sony-awakens-hope-for-white-knight-story-update/#commentsFiled under: ,


The Japanese you see in the above image reads "The day of awakening is coming soon." So, that either means that Level-5's long-delayed coffee shipment is finally on the way, or we're about to (also finally) get a fresh look at its mighty big PS3-exclusive RPG, White Knight Story.

Last we heard of the game, it was still on for release (in Japan, at least) before March 31, 2009. The last time we played the game was at Tokyo Game Show 2007. It's about time for an update, and, oh ... TGS 2008 is just around the corner on October 9.

[Via Wired]
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]]>level-5white-knight-storyTue, 02 Sep 2008 16:00:00 ESTNew Fallout 3 Achievements will set your pants on firehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/new-fallout-3-achievements-will-set-your-pants-on-fire/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/new-fallout-3-achievements-will-set-your-pants-on-fire/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/new-fallout-3-achievements-will-set-your-pants-on-fire/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Is your craving for Fallout 3 currently and properly satiated? If so, hold onto this link for a fix later, but otherwise check out Xbox360Achievement's listing of the game's, well, Achievements. Aside from the usual (30 quest-based, 9 level and karma-based), our favorite new achievement is going to be Psychotic Prankster, which essentially involves adding to your "Exploding Pants" statistic by "placing a grenade or mine while pickpocketing." Of course, the highlights of these little Gamerscore supplements are the associated Vault Boy icons, which would make a great collage for our desktop background.

[Thanks, Dan]
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]]>achievementsbethesdafalloutfallout-3Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:30:00 ESTSuper Mario RPG, Clu Clu Land press A to attack Virtual Consolehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/super-mario-rpg-clu-clu-land-press-a-to-attack-virtual-console/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/super-mario-rpg-clu-clu-land-press-a-to-attack-virtual-console/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/super-mario-rpg-clu-clu-land-press-a-to-attack-virtual-console/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Well, this is certainly a great surprise for Labor Day. We're pretty sure one of these Virtual Console games needs no introduction or description. It just needs your money.
  • Clu Clu Land (NES(R), 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points): Obviously the greatest game about a sea urchin ever conceived. Obviously.
  • Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super NES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): A little-known collaboration between small developer Square Enix (at the time an even tinier Squaresoft) and struggling console maker Nintendo. The game is virtually unknown in all parts of the world.
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]]>clu-clu-landmariomario-rpgnintendosquare-enixsquaresoftsuper-mario-rpgvirtual-consolevirtualconsolemondayMon, 01 Sep 2008 10:00:00 ESTPAX 2008: Dragon Age: Origins, now with blood and ceilingshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/pax-2008-dragon-age-origins-now-with-blood-and-ceilings/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/pax-2008-dragon-age-origins-now-with-blood-and-ceilings/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/01/pax-2008-dragon-age-origins-now-with-blood-and-ceilings/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The Dragon Age: Origins booth at PAX08 has been surrounded all weekend by both walls and people lining up to get inside. So when PAX opened for the third and final day this morning, we bolted straight to the game booth and avoided the nasty line. By joining in with the first group of the day to see the game demoed live. It didn't take very long for the room to fill up and once the doors close, we were elbow-to-elbow with what turned out to be some pretty enthusiastic BioWare fans.%Gallery-30910%

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]]>biowaredragon-agedragon-age-originsjoystiqfeatureslive-demopax-2008pax08penny-arcadeMon, 01 Sep 2008 07:00:00 ESTPAX 2008: Count all the pretty pieces in the tabletop gaming galleryhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-count-all-the-pretty-pieces-in-the-tabletop-gaming-gal/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-count-all-the-pretty-pieces-in-the-tabletop-gaming-gal/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-count-all-the-pretty-pieces-in-the-tabletop-gaming-gal/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


One of the best things about PAX is that it's not just all about video games. There are legions of people who still enjoy doing it old school, and that includes board games, tabletoppers, and RPGs. We witnessed people playing everything from the massive, sprawling, plastic-fest of Twilight Imperium to the simple wordplay of Apples to Apples. Heck, even the final elimination round of the Omegathon was a Jenga showdown.

Check out the gallery below that's filled with people who still love how a pair of dice feels in their hands. To those about to roll, we salute you.
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

]]>board-gameBoard-GamesPAXPAX-08PAX-2008PAX2008RPGtable-toptabletopSun, 31 Aug 2008 21:00:00 ESTS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky recalled, delayed 'a few days'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-clear-sky-recalled-delayed-a-few-days/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-clear-sky-recalled-delayed-a-few-days/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-clear-sky-recalled-delayed-a-few-days/#commentsFiled under: , ,


We know the news of a brief delay for the much-anticipated prequel to GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. must be disheartening for fans of the title -- however, those same fans will probably be pleased to know of the heartbreak that Clear Sky's delay will ultimately prevent. It seems that publisher Deep Purple Silver recalled copies of the title that had been distributed to North American retailers due to a printing error that left the cases sans CD keys. Apparently, those things are kinda important.

Deep Silver explained that the delay would only push the game's North American Sept. 5 release back "a few days" (the European release date is unaffected by the printing snafu), though a few retailers are listing Sept. 15 as the new launch date. We know you're jonesing for some further adventures in Chernobyl, but don't do anything brash. We wouldn't suggest playing laser tag in a poorly maintained nuclear waste repository, for instance.

[Via 1UP]
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

]]>deep-silverdelayGSC-game-worldstalkerstalker-clear-skySun, 31 Aug 2008 17:00:00 ESTPAX 2008 hands-on: Demigodhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-hands-on-demigod/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-hands-on-demigod/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/31/pax-2008-hands-on-demigod/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Following an interview with Gas Powered Games at PAX 2008, we got some hands on time with their newest creation, Demigod. The first thing we noticed while watching it running on glowing, envy-inducing PCs was how deliberate much of it looked. Everything from the unit/map design to the ease-of-use control scheme oozed hours of careful consideration on developer GPG's part. While the concept of Demigod tends to bewilder many who hear it -- ourselves included -- understanding the idea only took us a few minutes of playing the atypical strategy game.

Players only control their Demigod and its set of abilities. Our time was spent with the RPG-style Torchbearer, a Norse flavored character that can switch between ice and fire modes. We were digging his armored-burn-victim look, which just so happened to feature more armor and less burn. The Torchbearer is all about freezing everything before switching to fire and watching the screen light up as your enemies burn. Our magical offensive certainly got us some kills, but it wasn't moving the battlefront at all. Once we began to work more attentively with our AI-controlled troops of the non-Skynet variety, the battle quickly shifted to our favor.

Our actions in-game where peppered by murmurs of, "Oh, whoa." and "I want this game, now" from various onlookers behind us. We were starting to agree with this sentiment. It surprised us to find out that the game is actually running on a version of the Supreme Commander engine, as we saw more visual variety in 30 minutes with Demigod than we ever did playing hours of SupCom. GPG assured us that the system requirements are designed to include low-end machines, which is very much due to the fact that Demigod doesn't try to do a thousand things at once on-screen while you play it. (our wallets say thanks) Looking at the game, it was fairly hard to imagine that the harpy-like creatures and wiggling death-plant-things were living in the same engine that featured angular robot-spiders and hover tanks that bogged down our computers just a year and half ago. All in all, Demigod looks like it's going to steal away our precious personal time when it eventually ships on Stardock's Impulse service next year.


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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

]]>demigodgas-powered-gameshands-onimpressionsjoystiqfeaturespax-08pax-2008pax08Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:00:00 ESTBigCast PAX special goes crazy with Warhammer Online devshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/30/bigcast-pax-special-goes-crazy-with-warhammer-online-devs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/30/bigcast-pax-special-goes-crazy-with-warhammer-online-devs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/30/bigcast-pax-special-goes-crazy-with-warhammer-online-devs/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

While discussion on Warhammer Online is conspicuously lacking, Mythic Entertainment designer Paul Barnett and producers Jeff Hickman and Josh Drescher managed to to venture into some strange, hilarious and very NSFW territory on BigDownload's BigCast PAX special. Listen to the podcast (again, it's NSFW) here.
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

]]>bigdownloadpaxpax-08pax-2008penny-arcade-expoSat, 30 Aug 2008 08:00:00 ESTPAX 2008: Todd Howard talks Fallout 3, MODs & console powerhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/29/pax-2008-todd-howard-talks-fallout-3-mods-and-console-power/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/29/pax-2008-todd-howard-talks-fallout-3-mods-and-console-power/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/29/pax-2008-todd-howard-talks-fallout-3-mods-and-console-power/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


In an interview with Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard we discussed Fallout 3's lack of a MOD support and this generation of consoles. While Howard admits the team wants to add support for user generated content he confesses adding the feature -- which was included in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- is a daunting task for a team eager to complete the epic adventure.

"We don't [have MOD support at launch], we want to but we have our hands so full with getting the game out and getting tools out there that work well for people and with the game is a pretty big undertaking," Howard told Joystiq.


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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

]]>fallout-3pax-2008todd-howardFri, 29 Aug 2008 22:00:00 EST