If you happened to go to sleep early last night, you may have missed a little story about Tim Schafer’s DoubleFine Productions (Costume Quest, Brutal Legend and assorted other awesomeness) starting a Kickstarter project to fund a new game and documentary. The project, called DoubleFine Adventure Game, had an ambitious goal of $400,000 with a deadline of 34 days. In a matter of 8 hours, the project was fully funded with over 10,000 donors chipping in to make the project a reality. As of publishing, the project has nearly raised double its goal as nearly 17,000 gifts have come in. According to a tweet from Kickstarter, this is kind of a big deal:

If you are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, the website was founded to help individuals and small teams find funding for creative projects. The charitable giving system in the United States is complex, requiring federal and state approval in order to collect charitable contributions and provide tax incentive for individual donors. Additionally, foundations typically do not award grants to those that don’t have a 501(c)(3) determination letter from the federal government. This means that the bulk of funding available in the country isn’t accessible by individuals or small-groups. As a society, we’ve lost the patronage model. There are few wealthy benefactors left that fund solo artists for the sake of new visual and performing works.

Enter: Kickstarter.

Kickstarter has turned the fundraising community on its ear by operating counter to contemporary fundraising practice. Instead of requiring the enormous infrastructure that comes with being a charitable organization, the site provides a vehicle for projects to receive crowd-sourced patronage. Instead of a single wealthy donor, Kickstarter encourages people to find a project they are interested in and make a gift in any amount. Whereas some fundraisers pay lip service to the, “no gift is too small” mentality, Kickstarter lives by it. The beauty of it all is that, once the project is funded, the creator retains complete autonomy in the execution.

There are no donors attempting to impose their will and no corporate entity focused on balancing the budget. Kickstarter ensures the integrity of the projects on the site by requiring an all-or-nothing agreement. Creators must indicate how much is necessary to complete the project as detailed. If the goal is not met, funds are returned to donors. This has bred creative promotion techniques, which, in turn, led to enhanced utilization of the site.

Double Fine decided to take advantage of the service for a number of reasons. First, they wanted to demystify the game development process. According to the Kickstarter page, Schafer and company believe that the larger a studio is, the less light shines through. One major component of Double Fine Adventure Game (the official name of the project) is to create documentary following the creation of this new game. Second, they want artistic freedom.

In the videogame industry, developers often require publishers in order to begin work. Retail games can cost well over $10 million to create, and smaller titles like those that appear on Xbox Live and Playstation Network aren’t exactly cheap, running up bills in the millions. Publishers want to see a return on that funding. It’s an investment. Using this Kickstarter project, though, gives Double Fine a great deal of creative freedom.

The project will take six-to-eight months and result in a classic point-and-click game and multi-part video documentary. Backers at the $15 level or greater will be part of a behind-the-scenes community, receive the game (via Steam when completed, gain access to the beta along the way and have the video series available as it rolls out. From there, the benefits for investment only get sweeter (all reward tiers include all lower-level benefits):

$30: HD download of the documentary, game soundtrack
$100: DoubleFine Adventure poster (suitable for framing), thanks in the game credits
$250: DoubleFine Adventure poster signed by Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert and the design team
$1,000: Mini-portrait of the donor painted by the game’s artist
$5,000: Larger, original painting used in the final game
$10,000 (only one available and you’re too late): Lunch with Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, tour of the Double Fine offices

So, why is this such a big deal? While a number of independent studios have found success with Kickstarter projects, Double Fine is the largest and best known to ever pursue this avenue of funding. Given their success, we are very likely to see other mid-sized studios jump on the idea. It won’t become the exclusive way games are funded, but with so many interesting games dying on the vine due to lack of publisher interest, we could see a new injection of creativity.

Gamers tired of military shooters and cookie-cutter sequels are going to get their fix from a new drug. Finally, it serves as a reminder of how important reputation is. Every single one of those 17,000 donors is a pre-sale for the game. On Day 1, Double Fine Adventure Game turned a 100% profit provided Tim and team stick to the $400,000 budget.

Power to the people.

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• The Simpsons Arcade Game Coming to XBL and PSN

Redditor screamingheebijeebis is a lucky, lucky man.

Rather than blowing the 50% off coupon for any Bethesda game he received during the Steam Great Holiday Gift Pile immediately on Skyrim, he waited…

And waited.

Eventually, his patience paid off. Skyrim‘s currently on Steam’s Midweek Madness sale for -33% off. Throwing in the additional 50% off coupon, screamingheebijeebis managed to get Skyrim for $20.

Sure, he’s a little late to the Skyrim hype. The “arrow to the knee” memes have slowly died out, but since Bethesda’s recently released the Skryim Creation Kit, there’s no doubt going to be a resurgence of people playing Skyrim (on PC, anyway) for the high-res texture pack.

My hats off to you, screamingheebijeebs, for being able to contain your Skyrim-boner until now. I’ll see you in a month.

• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming Tomorrow
• Bethesda Releases an Impressive Creation Kit & Skyrim Workshop Preview Video
• Mod Tools Coming for Skyrim Next Week
• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming in January
• Bethesda Confirms Mod Tools for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Howard’s D.I.C.E. 2012 Keynote Hints At Skyrim’s Future

Paradox Ineractive CEO Fred Wester has said that over 95% of the company’s revenue comes from digital distribution.

He said:

My own experience of digital distribution is that we made 1.5 percent of our revenue from digital distribution in 2006, while the digital number in 2011 was over 95%. One of the reasons for this growth is that we have made a big push for digital, but the other reason is that customers always strive for more convenient forms to consume entertainment.

He makes a very good point, and one that backs up the idea of an all-digital future. It certainly is more convenient to download a game than going to the shops to buy it, and takes up less space in your house. Useful since we all have tiny houses thanks to all the bankers.

Via [RPS]

• Trine 2 Finally Gets a Release Date
• GameStop Buys Spawn Labs and Impulse, Closes In On World Domination
• ARMA 2 DLC “British Armed Forces” Released Today
• Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West Free This Weekend on Steam, 50% off
• Steam Sells Out of Digital Copies of Prey
• Braid available for PC

If you’re like me, you’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of the Creation Kit for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim since the game’s release back in November.  Also, if you’re like me, you’ll be excited to know that it’s coming out tomorrow.

HOORAY!!! Ahem…

All this is according to a tweet by Pete Hines, the VP of PR and Marketing for Bethesda.  In addition to announcing the Creation Kit, Hines also hinted at a surprise that will be included.  Horse Armor, maybe?  Dragon Riding?  MMORPG?  My answer is, “probably.”  But in all reality, we will just have to wait and see tomorrow.  The Creation Kit will be available through Steam in the Tools section. Be sure to jump in there and grab it as soon as it gets released, and get started putting chests of Daedric armor in Riverwood.  You deserve it.

Only a few more hours, guys!

• Savvy Shopper Buys Skyrim on Steam for $20
• Mod Tools Coming for Skyrim Next Week
• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming in January
• Bethesda Confirms Mod Tools for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Skyrim Creation Kit Now Available on Steam, Modding Madness to Follow
• Bethesda Releases an Impressive Creation Kit & Skyrim Workshop Preview Video

There are a few things I just can’t resist in this world. Chinese buffets, performance art involving two guys in colorful masks having a choreographed battle, radical girls who don’t shave their pits, and that strangely appealing smell of gasoline are a handful of them. One that might trump all those things combined, which I think would be an anarcha-feminist buffet in a lucha mask doused in gasolene, is quirky dōjin soft.

So I guess my perfect thing would be an anarcha-feminist buffet in a lucha mask doused in gasolene and developed by a small group of people independently in Japan. Don’t you judge me.

For those who don’t routinely stroll down the video game paths less traveled, dōjin soft is the rough Japanese equivalent of western indie games. Some dōjin soft will base their games on existing material or character designs, much like dōjinshi, but most are based on their own original ideas. Unlike western indie games where the focus has shifted to the realm of the console marketplaces, games in this category are overwhelming released on the PC. Very few end up over here in any easily accessible or translated form.

The odds are, if you’ve played any dōjin games before, you played something from the Touhou Project or one of the slightly experimental titles that show up on Steam from time to time, like Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale and Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters. Both of those games were translated and released in America by Carpe Fulgur, an indie localization company who deserve multiple rounds of applause both for taking the chance on these games and giving them absolutely fantastic translations. Conveniently enough, they also localized Fortune Summoners, which is what put this game on my radar.

Fortune Summoners is a 2D action-RPG platformer with puzzle elements and, obviously, a very thick anime influence. I have the suspicion that a lot of you are going to read that line and immediately go out and play this, but you should probably keep reading. Going back to the anime comparison, this is a magical girl show in side-scrolling form. It follows three classmates who attend a rural magic school through their various adventures and surprisingly well done character development. All of the characters have great interactions, and the story itself, while having little more than standard anime-like progression, hits some nice high points. I have to assume a lot of that is owed to Carpe Fulgur’s great localization.

It is also super cutesy. Cutesy enough that I can’t imagine how creepy the messageboard posts about this game are going to be if it gets popular. They will probably have more moe than the three stooges. There were definitely a couple parts where the budding friendship between the main characters made me raise an eyebrow and go “I hope this doesn’t turn into Blue Drop.”

There is one element of dōjin games that I haven’t mentioned yet- many of them aren’t particularly accessible to anyone outside of their target niche. This can be for various reasons. Sometimes the quality is just too low for the average western gamer, sometimes if they aren’t translated the language barrier is too much to get through, sometimes there are tentacle scenes. Erotic tentacle scenes. Fortune Summoner’s specific problem involves its learning curve and combat system.

This game is hard. Japan hard. There really isn’t a way around that. It isn’t like, say, AMY where the difficulty comes from poor decisions and shoddy programming, but the gameplay will certainly take most people an extended amount of time to get used to. If you fire up Fortune Summoners and play it as the side-scrolling hack-and-slash it looks like it should be, you are going to be more frustrated than a politician with morals. This is more of a tactical game, almost playing like an old school arcade beat-em-up at times. Timing is absolutely everything.

There are some things that just don’t help no matter what though. The controls are touchy, and every character seems to be running on ice. This makes platforming as well as dodging enemies- both crucially important to surviving- quite difficult. The enemies are certainly never going to cut you any slack either, as the game’s default difficulty is “easy” for a reason. They are just unrelenting. I found myself in plenty of “fuck this game” situations where the enemies would just pin me against a wall and slaughter me all because I mistimed one block. I don’t want to call it cheap, because it strikes me that the enemies are unforgiving on purpose, but that certainly doesn’t dull the seething rage over multiple party wipes.

The friendly AI in Fortune Summoners sort of shines though. You can tweak their performance and make them play exactly as you want, choosing what moves or spells they use and what situations they use their magic in. You’ll want to mess around with this, as you will definitely find yourself relying on the AI more often than you would usually. It certainly could have been deeper, but it was also way deeper than I expected it to be.

Since “Ghosts and Goblins frustratingly hard” is aimed directly at their target demographic, that really isn’t enough to take many points off Fortune Summoners arbitrary numerical score. Sadly, the game does find some ways to nickle and dime itself down. There are technical issues that might sprout up on you. I suffered through massive slowdown in menus and some fight scenes, which was linked to running multiple monitors and may or may not be a Windows 7 issue as well. Another issue is that the game can only be played in windowed, zoomed 1280 by 960 resolution, or full screen with stretching. With more and more people making the plunge into larger monitors, that ends up becoming a bit of an issue as well.

The quirks aren’t limited to tech either. The seemingly convenient “quick heal” button ends up being relatively useless as it has an inexplicable cool down timer. Enemies have infinite MP while you can’t even purchase MP restoring items in shops, you can only loot them. (Edit: I was wrong, as Tim in the comments helpfully pointed out, MP restoring items are available in certain shops as you progress. I must have given up on buying them too soon.) You have to sheath your sword in order to interact with anything at all, which might not sound so bad but trust me- it gets tedious. Some of the quests and how to trigger them are maddeningly vague, which will send you running around quite often. Seeing those same locations over and over again makes the game seem smaller and more repetitive than it actually is.

When you do the math, it really comes down to your personal preference. After I got the hang of the combat system, I had a fun time with this game despite its issues. It is a different take on the action RPG genre, and it features a nice, light little anime plot with some nicely done character development. A welcome departure from the bleak, gory, blood-filled, anime and games I am generally entertained by. I’d suggest most people check out the demo first before they commit one way or the other though.

At the very least it will give you something to cleanse your pallet with when you are done playing Katawa Shoujo.

Pervert.

Here’s the Rundown:

+ D’awwww look at all those adorable slimes.
+ Well programmed AI.
+ Solid plot and characters.
+ Unique combination of genres.

- Technical issues and gameplay quirks make things more difficult than they should be.
- Already really fucking difficult with some time needed for players to adjust to the combat, which might turn off some people. /coughcasualscough
- Almost comically vague quest hints leading to backtracking hurts the stories flow and makes things feel slightly tedious. Not to mention it being the definition of a slow starter.
- Could stand to stay at $15 permanently instead of rising up to a $20 full price- it is much easier to suggest this game at $10 or $15 than $20.

7 and 7.5 represent a game that overall manages to be worth a playthrough, just not worth your money. These scores are for games that are relatively good, but you would generally only consider them as a rental.

Fortune Summoners – Secret of the Elemental Stone was Developed by Lizsoft and Published in America by Carpe Fulgur. It was released in America on January 30th, 2012 and in Japan in 2008 or something. I couldn’t figure it out. Google is hard and I’m lazy sometimes. Hence why most of the screenshots up there are from the Japanese version- loading FRAPS is too much effort.  The game is available on Steam for $20 and will be available on Gamersgate soon as well.  The copy used in this review was purchased by the reviewer because he can’t ever get enough Japanese bullshit, and played to completion in roughly 20 hours. PS: Rin is my favorite in Katawa Shoujo <3

• Double Fine’s New Adventure Game Breaks Kickstarter Record, Exceeds Fundraising Goal First Day
• Savvy Shopper Buys Skyrim on Steam for $20
• Paradox CEO: Digital Distribution Makes Up Over 95% of Revenue
• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming Tomorrow
• Alan Wake Coming to PC on February 16
• Skyrim PC Patch 1.4 Releases on Steam, Bug Fixes Detailed

Remedy Entertainment has announced that Alan Wake will be available on Steam on the 16th of February.

The Steam version of the game will be the first out, with other digital versions and a boxed edition coming later. On Valve‘s digital platform the game will be $29.99 for the game and DLC, and $34.99 for the Limited Collector’s Edition.

Markus Mäki, CTO at Remedy, said:

We’ve done our best to do justice to the PC version and do things the way they should be done for PC. The PC version looks absolutely beautiful. We’re bringing the game to life in a whole new way.

Remedy note the key differences with the PC version are as follows:

• “Higher resolutions and higher fidelity”
• Mouse and keyboard support, along with gamepad
• Support for 4:3, 16:9 and  16:10 aspect ratios
• Multithreaded engine that takes advantage of quad core CPUs
• Field of view adjustment and an option to hide the HUD
• Works with AMD Eyefinity 3D 3-screen mode
• Works with NVIDIA NVISION2 Stereoscopic 3D

• Mass Effect 3 for PC Will Not Be Available on Steam
• Steam Sale Day Nine: F.E.A.R, Black Ops 50% off
• Steam Sales Day 5: Dirt 3 66% off, Rage 50% off
• The Steam Holiday Sale is Now On, Until the First of January
• Steam Autumn Sale Day 3: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dead Island
• Steam Begins Autumn Sale: Day 1 Brings Savings on Mass Effect 2, Portal 2

It’s the moment fans of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have been waiting for, or at least those fans that are playing on PC. As of today, Patch 1.4 is live on Steam, which means a huge quantity of bug and quest fixes for you, the PC gamer.

Better yet, Bethesda stated in their announcement that the Skyrim Workshop on Steam is now supported via the launcher. The Skyrim Workshop will give the community a fast and easy way to distribute and download mods, which can be created with the upcoming Creation Kit. That link also has a video showing some of the awesome new features included with the Creation Kit.

Bethesda also said that the Xbox360 and PS3 versions of the patch have been sent out for approval. Hopefully Microsoft and Sony have learned from the week-long debacle that was Patch 1.3, and will make reviewing Patch 1.4 a far shorter process.

If you’re curious whether the bug that’s been plaguing you has been addressed by the patch, the list of fixes is below.

BUG FIXES

• General optimizations for memory and performance
• Fixed occasional issue with armor and clothing not displaying properly when placed on mannequins in player’s house (PS3)
• Long term play optimizations for memory and performance (PS3)
• Improved compiler optimization settings (PC)
• Memory optimizations related to scripting
• Fixed issue with dangling scripts not properly clearing from memory
• Fixed crashes related to pathing and AI
• Fixed crash in “Haemar’s Shame” if player had already completed “A Daedra’s Best Friend”
• Fixed rare crash with loading saved games
• Fixed issue with accented characters not displaying properly at the end of a line
• Fixed issue where dragon priest masks would not render correctly
• Fixed issue where quests would incorrectly progress after reloading a save
• Fixed issues with placing and removing books from bookshelves in the player’s home
• Optimized bookshelf script in player-owned houses that would occasionally block other scripts from properly firing off
• Fixed issue where weapon racks and plaques would not work correctly in player’s house if player immediately visits their house before purchasing any upgrades
• Fixed issue where the player house in Windhelm would not clean up properly
• Fixed crash related to giant attacks and absorb spells
• Fixed issue with ash piles not cleaning up properly
• Fixed occasional issue where overwriting an existing save would fail
• Fixed memory crash with container menu
• Fixed infinite loop with bookshelves
• Fixed issue where transforming back to human from werewolf would occasionally fail
• Bows and daggers will display properly when placed on weapon racks
• Fixed occasional audio issue that would play sound effects louder than intended
• Fixed bug related to hitching between cell boundaries
• Master Criminal achievement/trophy unlocks properly in French, German, Spanish and Italian
• Fixed issue where traps in Shalidor’s Maze would not work properly in French, German, Spanish and Italian versions

QUEST FIXES

• The Unusual Gem that was inside the Thalmor Embassy is now accessible after finishing “Diplomatic Immunity”
• In “Breaching Security”, the quest token is no longer required to receive a fortune reading from Olava the Feeble
• Fixed issue where Galmar would not complete Joining the Stormcloaks properly if “Season Unending” was an active quest
• Fixed issue where starting “Season Unending” after finishing “Joining the Stormcloaks” would prevent “The Jagged Crown” from starting properly
• Fixed issue where progressing through “Message to Whiterun” while “Season Unending” was still open would block progression for both quests
• In “Arniel’s Endeavor”, fixed issue where a quest journal would trigger multiple times
• In “Forbidden Legend”, the amulet fragment can no longer disappear after player leaves a dungeon without taking it
• Fixed rare issue in “Forbidden Legend” where killing Mikrul Gauldurson while sneaking would make his corpse unaccessible
• In “The White Phial”, the phial can no longer disappear if player leaves dungeon without taking it
• “The White Phial” will now start properly if player already has a briar heart in their inventory
• Player can no longer get stuck in Misty Grove after completing “A Night to Remember”
• Fixed issue where leaving Riften during “A Chance Arrangement” would prevent quest from progressing
• In “Darkness Returns”, a door in Twilight Sepulcher will properly open if the player leaves the dungeon for an extended period of time before completing the quest
• In “Revealing the Unseen”, if the player leaves the Oculory for an extended period of time after placing the focusing crystal and returns, the quest will proceed correctly
• “Onmund’s Request” will now start properly if player has already found Enthir’s staff before receiving this quest
• Fixed instance where Tonilia would stop buying stolen items and also would not give Guild Leader Armor
• “Repairing the Phial” will start properly if player already has unmelting snow or mammoth tusk in their inventory
• Finding Pantea’s Flute before speaking with Pantea no longer prevents her quest from updating
• In “The Break of Dawn”, fixed rare instance where a quest object would spawn incorrectly on the Katariah during Hail Sithis
• Fixed rare issue in “The Mind of Madness” where player is unable to equip the Wabbajack
• Fixed issue in “Pieces of the Past” where Mehrunes Dagon’s Razor will not trigger properly if player leaves the cell for extended period of time before activating it
• “Blood’s Honor” will start properly if you visited and completed Driftshade and an extended period of time passes before starting the quest.
• Fixed rare issue where “Dampened Spirits” would not start properly
• Fixed issue where player would be unable to become Thane of Riften if they purchased a home first
• Fixed issue where killing guards in Cidhna Mine would block progression for “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine”
• Fixed numerous issues with “Blood on the Ice” not triggering properly
• In “Blood on the Ice”, Calixto can now be killed if player owns a house in Windhelm
• In “The Cure for Madness”, killing Cicero then resurrecting him no longer impedes quest progress
• Fixed rare issue in “To Kill an Empire” where an NPC would fail to die properly
• Clearing Knifepoint Ridge before starting “Boethiah’s Champion” no longer prevents quest from starting.

• Skyrim Update 1.4 is Coming – This is What Will Change (PC, Xbox 360 and PS3)
• Skyrim Patch 1.4 Anticipated for PC This Week
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• Brink Updates Will Adress Lag Issues – Should Be Coming Next Week

Steam users looking forward to finally accessing the service on mobile devices, begin frolicking in drunken revelry.  Valve has finally made the Steam app, which shuns neither iOS nor Android users, available to the public.

I’m sure most of you were as frustrated as I was when you saw the announcement for the mobile app, rushed to get the app, and then realized that the app was in closed beta. Dispel thy frustrations and love the fact that you can use Steam with your phone or tablet. LOVE IT.

• Valve Release Steam Mobile App for iOS and Android
• RipTen’s Mobile Roundup – October 20th
• Angry Birds Seasons Comes to Android
• Alan Wake Coming to PC on February 16
• 29,000 Valve Fans to Play Half-Life 2 Simultaneously on Saturday
• Ace Attorney 5 Announced for Japan

Members of the Steam group “A Call for Communication” will be playing Half-Life 2 simultaneously this Saturday to send a message to Valve.

The group, which is asking for Valve to release some sort of confirmation or information about Half-Life Episode 3 (or Half-Life 3, if that is the case), will be playing from 11:00am until 11:30am PDT (7:00pm-7:30pm GMT) on February the 4th, this Saturday.

The mass-playing is done in the hope that Valve will notice their efforts through positive means rather than just complaining.

Instead of focusing efforts in a negative and disrespectful way, we have decided to gain Valve’s attention by delivering a basic message: Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Why not join them? There’s nothing to lose. You get to play a fantastic game, one of the best ever made, and feel solidarity with your gaming community. It’s a great idea and I’ll be trying my best to join in.

Via [PC Gamer]

• Beloved Half-Life Sound Designer, Face of Gordon Freeman Has Left Valve
• Awesome Half Life Fan Film “Escape From City 17″ Part II Finally Released
• Protesters Picket for Half-Life 3 and Lunch with Gabe Newell
• Is Portal 2 Valve’s Final Single Player Game?
• Aperture Science Starts Mysterious Countdown. Portal 2 Releasing Early?… or Something More? (Update)
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two 75% off on Steam

Valve have today announced a free mobile app which is integrated with their digital distribution service, Steam.

The Steam app supports Steam friends and chat, viewing community groups and user profiles, gaming news, sale info and purchasing games, and viewing screenshots.

Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve, said:

The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers. Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale – these are all features customers have requested. Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.

You can download the free app for Android or iOS here and link it to your Steam account. It is just a beta sign-up at the moment, however:

Those who wish to join the beta just need to download the Steam app (free of charge) and log in to their Steam account via the mobile app to express interest in the beta. Gamers will be added to the Closed Beta as the service ramps up.

And now for something completely different, courtesy of Chad:

• Steam Mobile App Now Open to Everyone
• Gabe Newell Addresses Steam Forum Hacks, Admits Accounts May Have Been Compromised
• RipTen’s Mobile Roundup – October 20th
• What’s Happened To The Once “Glorious” Steam Sale?
• Angry Birds Seasons Comes to Android
• Portal 2 Pre-order Bonus Will Include Custom Bots

Deep Silver has announced new story DLC for Dead Island, which allows gamers to play out the story of Ryder White.

The DLC will focus on what Ryder had been doing in the events before and during the Dead Island campaign, and it shows his dual identities as a military man and a loving husband.

The content will bring with it several new hours of new content under a playable Ryder, as well as two new blueprints and weapons. It’s being billed as a single player campaign.

Ryder White DLC will be available on February 1 on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam.

• Dead Island Ryder White Trailer is Bloody, Gives Some Backstory
• “We Have Been Waiting For You” Fallout: New Vegas Old World Blues DLC Trailer
• New Fallout: New Vegas DLC Old World Blues Screens
• Zombie Action/RPG “Dead Island” Finally Revealed (Trailers/Screens/Details)
• Double Fine’s New Adventure Game Breaks Kickstarter Record, Exceeds Fundraising Goal First Day
• New Video Game Releases: Jan. 30 – Feb. 6

THQ have announced that the severed heads of the TF2 cast will be available to all Steam players of Saint’s Row: The Third.

Alongside tomorrow’s Genkibowl VII DLC, the game will be updating with the Team Fortress 2 heads and a likeness of CheapAssGamer’s CheapyD as a new homie.

So, this is weird, isn’t it? At least this time TF2 is doing the penetrating, rather than the other way around.

Via RPS

• Free TF2 De-Make “Team Fortress Arcade” Out Now
• Trade Your TF2 Items for Games with the Steam Trading Beta
• Valve Adds New Weapons to TF2, Community Goes into Meltdown
• Mysterious “Grockets” Appear in Team Fortress 2
• The TF2 Über Update Day Three: World War Wednesday
• The TF 2 Über Update Day Two: Timbuk Tuesday

If your primary computer is a Mac, as is my situation, you may find your choices severely limited on Steam. While some great titles like Left 4 Dead are available for Mac, the majority of major releases I must watch my PC brethren play with envy. Still, more and more titles are being launched with Apple gamers in mind, and the most recent of these is Limbo, a 2D platformer we made unique by its monochromatic art style.

While the game was released 3 weeks ago on the Mac App Store, the versatility and cross-platform capability of Steam make it an ideal place to purchase the title if you haven’t already. While the game is a little late to the party, having been around for over a year already, it is still a must-have title. Check it out on Steam!

• Calculations Complete: Portal 2 Out Now
• Ripten Review: Limbo
• Bang For Your Buck: TRINE
• Double Fine’s New Adventure Game Breaks Kickstarter Record, Exceeds Fundraising Goal First Day
• Savvy Shopper Buys Skyrim on Steam for $20
• Paradox CEO: Digital Distribution Makes Up Over 95% of Revenue

Last year, many large EA-published titles including Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 were inexplicably removed from Steam. After some inquiries into the problem, EA revealed that it had a problem with Valve’s terms of service that restricts content provider’s ability to provide patches and content.

However, when Sims 3 ended up appearing on Steam, it appeared that EA and Valve had come to some sort of agreement to allow EA games to show up on Steam.

Apparently, this isn’t the case.

In a Q&A about Origin and Mass Effect 3, Bioware Community Coordinator Chrs Priestly revealed that, for now, Mass Effect 3 would not be coming to Steam, for the same concerns that EA has had before:

During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content.  We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

We can only hope that EA and Valve pull another Sims 3 to have Mass Effect 3 up on Steam.

• Dragon Age II Removed From Steam, Terms of Service are the Culprit
• Report: EA Pulls Crysis 2 From Steam to Make it Origin Exclusive – EA Denies Claims, Says Valve is to Blame
• 84% of PC Gamers Will Want To Upgrade For Battlefield 3
• EA’s Origin Not Required For The Old Republic
• Alan Wake Coming to PC on February 16
• Steam Sale Day Nine: F.E.A.R, Black Ops 50% off

Valve have announced a handful of statistics on Steam‘s performance in 2011, including that year-over-year unit sales have increased 100%- again.

Now that the 5 million player mark has been met, the Steam servers are busier than ever. 2011 saw 780 Petabytes of data sent out through the tubes to us gamers, meaning the Steam infrastructure had to more than double.

Steamworks titles did well this year as well, with a 67% increase in registrations over 2010, up to 14.5 million.

Valve‘s Gabe Newell, a man who must have had a fucking good Christmas this year, said:

Steam and Steamworks continues to evolve to keep up with customer and developer demands for new services and content. Support for in-game item trading prompted the exchange of over 19 million items. Support for Free to Play (FTP) games, launched in June, has spurred the launch of 18 FTP titles on Steam, with more coming in 2012. Looking forward, we are preparing for the launch of the Big Picture UI mode, which will allow gamers to experience Steam on large displays and in more rooms of the house.

Now comes that awkward time where I ignore all the times I’ve berated Activision for having high profits and congratulate Steam on such a successful year. I suppose the difference is that Steam doesn’t leave gamers with such a sore arsehole.

• Modern Warfare 3 Will Use Steamworks and Feature Dedicated Servers
• Valve Says Microsoft Needs To Be More “Comfortable” In Opening Up XBL
• What’s Happened To The Once “Glorious” Steam Sale?
• The TF2 Über Update Day Three: World War Wednesday
• Upcoming “Steam Guard” Offers Users Higher Security
• Valve to Provide Mac Graphics Code to Other Developers

Artist Ed McMillen revealed via his Twitter feed that an expansion to The Binding of Isaac is in the works:

“Just got finished drawing up icons for a new item set in the isaac expansion they are called “trinkets” held items that give passive bonuses”

“there are 20 of them, they will be as common as pills and cards but easier to get out of the fortune teller machine, another new addition.” (One of the items he teased is the Red Patch, as pictured above.)

“the additions i mentioned will only be a very small portion of the mega expansion that should release next year”

“I have no release date for it, im working on it casually. it will be 3 bucks and add about 50% new content, details on what as i make them.”

So there it is folks. Ed McMillen is hard at work generating new content for The Binding of Isaac‘s “mega expansion”, all for a paltry $3. Considering that the original game is only worth $4.99 on Steam, the $3 for such a large expansion is well worth it. I just can’t wait to see what twisted things McMillen decides to add in next.

[Via IndieGameMag]

• Dead Island ‘Ryder White’ Story DLC Announced – Screens and Details
• Arkham City is Now Available for PC, So is the Robin DLC
• RipTen Review: The Binding of Isaac (PC)
• Behold The Official Trailer for The Binding of Isaac
• New Total War: Shogun 2 DLC Hits Steam Today
• More Details on “The Binding of Isaac”

Just a few days back, Indie Royale announced that its pre-orders for its New Years bundle were open, accepting any payment amount above $3.99. The announcement also included some vague descriptions of the games that were to be included into the bundle.

The New Years bundle has finally gone live today. The following games are included (with their descriptions from the bundle pre-order announcement):

• The premiering game: Super Crossfire
• FPS/RTS experience: Nuclear Dawn
• Music puzzler: Fractal
• Award-winning 2D platformer: Max and the Magic Marker

• Pre-order the New Year’s Indie Royale Bundle Now
• Nuclear Dawn Updated, Free Weekend Next Week
• RipTen Review: Nuclear Dawn (PC)
• Free TF2 De-Make “Team Fortress Arcade” Out Now
• Third Humble Indie Bundle Raises Over $2 Million
• Pay What You Want for the Third Humble Indie Bundle

If you’ve got anything left after your Christmas shopping spree and the Steam Holiday Sale, throw it towards the New Year’s Indie Royale Bundle. Really, with a pre-order minimum of $3.99, that’s chump change. Not to mention, the price is prone to fluctuate from hereon out (and probably upwards), so locking in your $3.99 is probably the best bet to get the bundle at the lowest price.

The New Year’s bundle is guaranteed to have a game that’s a blend of FPS and RTS available on Steam, a single player puzzle game for Steam and Desura, an “award-winning” 2D platformer for Steam and Desura, and the premiere of “an arcade shooter with a twist” for Desura.

Pre-ordering the New Year’s Indie Royale Bundle also guarantees you a copy of George & Jonathan’s “Beautiful Lifestyle” techno-funk album, which you can preview here on their bandcamp.

The Indie Royale New Year’s Bundle is expected to launch sometime later this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

• The New Years Indie Royale Bundle Goes Live
• Double Fine’s New Adventure Game Breaks Kickstarter Record, Exceeds Fundraising Goal First Day
• Savvy Shopper Buys Skyrim on Steam for $20
• Paradox CEO: Digital Distribution Makes Up Over 95% of Revenue
• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming Tomorrow
• RipTen Review: Fortune Summoners – Secret of the Elemental Stone (PC)

If you’re having a little bit of trouble with Super Meat Boy‘s servers, it’s probably because Team Meat‘s been hacked.

The hackers tried to bring up the security flaw to Team Meat via their Twitter, but whoever was updating the Twitter feed felt it wise to brush the hacker off without checking to see if it would really be a problem. And a problem it was, since the hacker exploited it.

Apparently offended by Team Meat’s attitude, he modified Team Meat’s servers, affecting the leaderboards so that players cannot upload their information and gain the achievements they much deserve, including the achievement for the Steam Great Gift Pile.

• Behold The Official Trailer for The Binding of Isaac
• More Details on “The Binding of Isaac”
• Super Meat Boy PC Available to Preorder Now on Steam
• Super Meat Boy PC Due Nov. 30th, Two New Playable Characters
• Celebrate Super Meat Boy’s Birthday with a Team Meat Video Commentary
• Team Meat is “Hard at Work” on Their Second Game

The Kid knew he could do it. Didn’t even have a doubt that Bastion would be a great success. And it was, selling 500,000 copies and gathering over 60 awards. Just in the time for the New Year. 

Supergiant Games announced just yesterday that with the recent Steam and XBLA sales, Bastion had hit the 500K mark. To top it off, it’s made a lot of end of the year awards from various publications (including RipTen’s Best Downloadable Game and Biggest Surprise):

Associated Press – Top 10 Games of the Year

Entertainment Weekly – Best Videogames of 2011

TIME – Top 10 Games of 2011

USA Today – Top 10 Games of 2011

NPR – Ten Best Video Games of 2011

CNN – Top 10 Video Games

Wired – Top 20 Best Games of the Year

Paste Magazine – Game of the Year

Boston Herald – Best Game of 2011

A.V. Club – 10 Best Games of 2011

ScienceFiction.com – Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Video Games of 2011

Spike VGAs – Best Downloadable Game, Best Original Score, Best Song

Inside Gaming Awards – Best Downloadable Game, Best Indie Game, Best Original Score

IGN.com – Best XBLA Game

VentureBeat – Best Indie Games of 2011

Giant Bomb – Best Music, Best Debut Game, Best Downloadable Game, Top 10

TotalBiscuit – #1 Game of 2011

UGO – Best Downloadable Game of the Year

Yahoo – Best Downloadable Game

Game Informer – Best RPG Innovation (The Narrator)

Official Xbox Magazine – Best Music

GameSpot – Song of the Year

Team Xbox – XBLA Game of the Year

Quartertothree – Game of the Year

XBLA Fans – Best Audio, Best Visuals

Xbox 360 Achievements – Best Arcade Game

Rock Paper Shotgun – The Games of Christmas

IndieDB – Worldly Award for Best Gameworld, Players Choice Top 10

HorribleNight – Best Downloadable Game, Best Soundtrack, Indie Developer of the Year

IndieGames.com – Top 10 Indie Games of the Year

The Escapist – 12 Games of Christmas

Reaction Time – Best Downloadable, Best Voice Acting, Best Soundtrack

TrendyGamers – Downloadable GOTY

Gamezebo.com – Best PC Game of 2011

XBLARatings – XBLA Game of the Year

Press X or Die – Game of the Year

Unwinnable.com – Best Surprise Indie Darling

RipTen – Best Downloadable Game, Biggest Surprise

Reviews on the Run – Best Downloadable Game

IndieGameReviewer.com – Best Indie Game of the Year

gamrFeed – Best XBLA Game

Media Kick – Readers Choice, Best Downloadable Game

Kotaku Australia – Readers Choice, Indie Downloadable GOTY

Level Save – Game of the Year Pick

Click Online – Top 7 Pleasant Surprises

Piki Geek – Top 10 Best of the Year

nJoystic – Best Soundtrack

Press2Reset – Best Soundtrack, Best Song

The Sixth Axis – Best Downloadable Game

MiddleEast Gamers – Best Indie Game

Kotaku – Pick, Best Game Music of 2011

GamerCrash – Best Soundtrack

Gamercast – Top Downloadable Game

Bishop’s Gaming World – Best Soundtrack, Top 10 Games of the Year

Tom’s Hardware Turkey – Most Original Game, Best Narrative, Best Original Score

 

No surprise there, really. Bastion‘s one of this year’s best gameplay experiences. Here’s hoping that Supergiant Games keeps on churning out the good stuff in 2012.

Via [Supergiant Games Blog]

• Bastion Now Available on Steam
• Geeked Out: The Kid Munny
• RipTen Review: Rock of Ages (XBLA)
• Meet The Cast Of The DeathSpank: The Baconing In This New Trailer
• The Steam Version of Bastion Features Portal Turrets!!
• RipTen Review: Bastion (XBLA)