It's been a rough year for THQ and things have looked even rockier for one of their most anticipated upcoming titles Darksiders 2.
Back in April, an interview spread speculation that the game might not even be released - although THQ were quick to dismiss that, explaining that the team only needed more time for polish.
Now it seems like Darksiders 2 is polished and ready to go, with THQ announcing that we can expect to grab the game on August 14th. The release date was announced during an investor's call last night, with THQ's CEO Brian Farrell saying:
| "We look forward to launching Darksiders [2] beginning on August 14 in North America. We have made significant changes to our business, and are on track to execute our strategy of delivering quality connected core gaming experiences." | |
Being clicking fanatics we were excited when Blizzard told us they were bringing out Diablo 3's Game Director - Jay Wilson - to Australia. I was even more excited when they told me I'd get to sit down and talk to him. Now that the game is just 3 hours out, I thought I'd whet your appetite with our entire conversation with Jay - we talk about everything from death penalties, player built economies, Jay's favourite classes and the creation of sound in the game.
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| The man of the third of an hour. |  |
Basically, I had 20 minutes to talk to the driving force behind one of the biggest games of 2012, and I opened with a question I already knew the answer to (but it was with good reason). Read on!
GAME Australia went into administration yesterday and with that
we got news that they would be unable to supply Diablo III to those who had pre-ordered it - and they would also be unable to refund that money. There is a ray of light for pre-purchasers however, with Blizzard announcing they would honour Diablo III pre-purchases and refund the amount already paid. The following was announced on the
Battle.net forums:
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Australian GAME customers with a valid preorder/prepurchase receipt dated before May 15, 2012 can do the following:
1. Purchase the digital version of Diablo III from http://www.diablo3.com now or anytime before May 21, 2012.
2. Download and start playing when the servers go live!
3. Submit your GAME Australia preorder/prepurchase receipt to us before June 30, 2012.
4. Receive a credit from Blizzard, for the amount you paid in advance to GAME Australia for Diablo III. This credit will be applied to the payment method used for the digital purchase.
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How excellent is that? More details are to follow, so if you have pre-ordered from GAME and are looking to recoup some of your losses, make sure to keep your eyes peeled!
A little while ago Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon Alpha, a short film to promote Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. At 25 minutes long, it makes for excellent watching during your lunch break - not too long and not too short. The film also boasts an impressive line up of talent working on it too - directed by Academy Award winners Hervé de Crécy and François Alaux Tim Sexton and written by Tim Sexton, 2010 Academy Award nominee for Children of Men and Gregory Pruss.
But enough of my blather - you can watch the video embedded below or in our
videos library - going full screen for HD of course. It should be noted though, this video's not for kids - there is coarse language and, naturally, some violence.
Ghost Recon Alpha - Short Film Video
Posted: 15 May 12
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Keiji Inafune of Megaman and Dead Rising fame presented his upcoming PlayStation Vita game last week and it is now available for you to watch in English, care of PlayStation Japan who found two half asleep Japanese girls to translate the entire event for us. All up the presentation comes in three parts - the first talks about the design of the game, the second talks about the music (with composers Yasunori Mitsuda and Wataru Hokoyama) and the third part looks into the multiplayer aspect of the game.
There are also art designs throughout the presentation, showing off the body horror art style of the game, full of tortured, no-longer-human monstrosities. The sacrifice in the title comes from how you gain more power as you play - you can choose to sacrifice or save the monsters you fight - saving them from their hideous new existence or sacrificing them to gain power for yourself. If you need more power and have run out of things to sacrifice (the game also mentions sacrificing items you gain) you can sacrifice parts of yourself. As the multiplayer demonstration shows, you can also sacrifice your comrades.
Soul Sacrifice looks awesome so far and it really can't come soon enough to the PS Vita. I've embedded the third part of the presentation below (because it has the most gameplay) but it is all worth a look - you can watch the first in our video library
here, the second
here and the third
here - and don't forget to go full screen for HD!
Soul Sacrifice "Announcement Presentation - Part 3" PS Vita Video
Posted: 14 May 12
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We've got two reviews to kick off your week - one for Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition and the other for Max Payne 3. The first - Minecraft - is by Limimi, who thinks the multiplayer portion of the game is better on 360,
| Of course, that’s only in single player - you don’t have to worry about other people in multiplayer, but expect to be shunned. Multiplayer Minecraft is more about co-operation rather than competition and it is one area the Xbox 360 port truly shines over the PC.
Instead of the slapped together terror which is the vanilla Minecraft multiplayer (ip server joining, the awful server-side software), the use of Xbox Live means the Xbox 360 Edition naturally has much better support. On top of that, it comes with split screen multiplayer (although only on HDTVs) - and while split screen is rarely ideal, it’s an amazing way for a veteran Minecraft player to help out someone new to the series. | |
Thanks to the successful release of DayZ sales for Arma 2 have leapt up the Steam charts - the game is in the top 5 sales in both the US and EU as a result.
Limimi pimped the mod back before it was cool, and since then I've been playing it. And there's something in the game nobody has spoken of - being a bad guy.
First - a little background for those who don't know what it is. And be forewarned - screenshots don't do this game justice, so this is going to be a wall of text.
At first glance it probably looks like a 'zombie' mod for the ultra hardcore shooter Arma 2, but it's not. It's a survival mod with zombies as a dressing. The game begins and you are plonked on the coast of Chernarus - the North Asian paradise from the main game. In your hands is a Russian made Makarov pistol, and in your kit is an assortment of survival gear.
As first spotted by
Kotaku AU, GAME Australia has entered administration - following reports from staff members that the video game outlet would not be receiving copies of Diablo III for customers ahead of its impending release. GAME stores Australia-wide were sent emails notifying them of the company's woes this morning, with GAME's Marketing Manager also confirming the reports to Kotaku AU this morning.
Entering administration is a way for a troubled company to attempt to resolve some of its issues and continue operating - under the control of an external administrator. In the case of GAME Australia, that administrator is Price Waterhouse Cooper and it seems they plan to continue trading for the meantime. So you'll still be able to purchase from your local GAME store, buy online and make pre-orders - although as
Lifehacker points out, making purchases online is a risky proposition - you would be seen as an unsecured creditor, who are only repaid once the administrator and secured creditors (banks) have been given their money back.
Money refunds for pre-orders will be honoured however, according to PWC.When the UK branch of GAME went into administration, GAME Australia were keen to point out that they were a separate entity - although many believed that they were only delaying the inevitable. This is sad news for GAME Australia's employees and sad news for Australian gamers - GAME never really had great deals on new releases (that I saw) but they often had amazing sales. I never would have played Mirror's Edge if I hadn't picked it up for $4 at GAME.
Update: If you're after more information on what's happening with GAME Australia right now, you can read a FAQ on the
GAME Australia website.
Blizzard were a little upset when Valve took the name DOTA for their upcoming Free to Play MOBA DOTA 2 - understandably so even. DOTA began life as a map for Warcraft 3, based on a Starcraft map - two games designed and released by Blizzard. Nevertheless, Valve had trademarked the name, they'd hired IceFrog - who worked on the Warcraft map. A war was fought in the courts but apparently Valve picked ganker hero Nyx Assassin, as we now know the agreement the two gaming Titans have come to.
Valve will continue to use DOTA commercially, including DOTA 2, while Blizzard will preserve noncommercial use of DOTA for its community with regard to player-created maps for Warcraft III and StarCraft II. StarCraft II's previously named Blizzard DOTA will now be named Blizzard All-Stars in accordance with the agreement, which means we might actually see the mod at some point.
Valve's lovable head Gabe Newell said of the matter:
| "We're pleased that we could come to an agreement with Blizzard without drawing things out in a way that would benefit no one. We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities." | |
It's Friday boys and girls and that means it's time for another episode of the 5 Inch Floppy! This week Junglist explores TERA, the Korean MMO which recently went international. While Junglist has never been particularly fond of MMOs, TERA boasts action oriented combat and some very saucy outfits - so what does he think? Watch it and find out!
You can watch the 5 Inch Floppy embedded below or in our
videos library - going full screen for HD of course. And as always, you can get more of your Junglist fix by checking out the 5 Inch Floppy on
Facebook and the
5 Inch Floppy Blog!
5 Inch Floppy - TERA
Posted: 11 May 12
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