Monday, May 14: Minecraft Does The Hunger Games

Something really awesome has been going on right under our noses. On certain Minecraft servers, folks have been re-enacting The Hunger Games. And it’s really, really fun. Called Survival Games, the custom game pits Minecraft players against one another in 24-player free-for-all matches styled almost identically to the popular book and movie series, right down to the circular starting positions. Let the Minecraft Survival Games begin.

Monday recap:

Battlefield 3 is trying its best to become Call of Duty

Happy 10th birthday Ludum Dare!

You and everyone else in the world have seen the movie, now it’s time to mod your own Avengers game

Tuesday, May 15: Diablo 3 Launch Filled With Gremlins

It’s one of the most anticipated PC games of all-time. Yet Blizzard still wasn’t prepared for the volume of players that bombarded Diablo 3′s servers on launch day. The “Error 37″ results frustrated countless fans, but after the smoke cleared, how did Diablo 3 actually play? Check out our ongoing Diablo 3 review in progress to find out.

Tuesday recap:

Diablo 3 is here! And someone beat it before you even started playing

Nvidia is taking its GPU tech to the cloud(!) for streaming gaming

TERA wants you to run for office

Wednesday, May 16: Feel the Payne All Over Again

The two weeks until Max Payne 3 hits PC don’t have to go by in slow motion. Let’s put those itchy trigger fingers to good use: fire up the original Max Payne and its sequel, The Fall of Max Payne, and breathe new life into Remedy’s classics with stellar mods! You’ll be amazed at how this collection of tweaks and total conversions brings old-school Max back from retirement. Check out these Max Payne 1 and 2 mods.

Wednesday recap:

Gamers won’t be going on down to South Park until 2013

Monster mash: Dreadline is a potential indie gem

RTS classic Kohan stole the show at a recent GameSpy LAN party

Thursday, May 17: Warlock: Master of the Arcane Casts a Spell

If the Majesty fantasy franchise and Civilization had a baby, it would look a lot like Paradox’s new fantasy turn-based strategy game. Warlock: Master of the Arcane is fun, and a great deal at $20, but it’s still lacking some of those core strategy features that make Civilization so great. Learn more in our complete Warlock: Master of the Arcane review.

Thursday recap:

Blizzard apologizes for rough Diablo 3 launch, delays Auction House

Epic Games promises the next gen gaming through Unreal Engine 4

There were rainbows and ponies in Diablo 3′s launch, too — no seriously, there’s a hidden level you’ve gotta see

Friday, May 18: Giveaway Time!

Courtesy of our friends at iBuyPower, we’re giving away a smoking hot new Nvidia GTX 680. If you live in the U.S. or Canada (sorry, international friends) and you’d like to plug a $500 GPU into your rig, head on over to GameSpy’s Facebook page, “Like” us, and provide some basic info. Good luck in GameSpy’s GTX 680 giveaway!

Friday recap:

Sorry guys, that Far Cry 3 beta won’t be on PC

Electronic Arts didn’t want to publish any of these crowd-funded games, but it will distribute them for free!

Mark your calendars, 46 indie gems are getting deeply discounted on Steam next week

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/AcF8Lbsj1xE/1220946p1.html

After Diablo 3′s rocky launch, I kind of get it — this is probably the kind of thing Blizzard needs to get working on the first go. I mean, they already messed with the $60-and-upwards we shelled out by making it so frustrating to log on to a single-player game, and the stakes are significantly higher here: if the RMAH’s launch is riddled with as many issues, Blizzard will be muddying an endless stream of players’ cash.

That means we now have an extra week-and-a-bit to simply think about the impending RMAH and, I don’t know, get angry over it or whatever. It’d be a shame to ruin the relationship this early on without trying to work through our problems with it first, though. So will you be partaking in the RMAH? What possibilities do you see for it, either as a buyer or a seller? Is this a case of being able to make a small profit off a game that most of us are already playing, will it keep out the hackers, cheats, and charlatans, or is Blizzard simply validating a pay-to-win scheme?

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/iqm0_zyCKNI/1224768p1.html

She joins an existing motley crew of a monk, a hillbilly, and a glowstick-bracelet-adorned time traveler. Aapparently the future will see even more embarrassing raver fashion. Oh god. I’m going to leave this planet now; send a spaceship to collect me when the fads have passed in a few centuries’ time.

Head over to Ron Gilbert’s blog to gawp at the full-line up of characters so far. All four will be playable characters, and as nobody’s corked this whole leakage with some kind of convenient announcement yet, we can probably assume that even more characters are being primped and powdered backstage for their mysterious, high-profile debuts. I don’t know. Double Fine designer JP LeBreton seems just as confused about the whole ordeal as we are. Really. He’s totally not putting his Double Fine acting skills to use or anything.

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/M7EGN3D_fEs/1224769p1.html

The Steam Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed sale is seeing the mysterious dropping of prices all over the place. A half-price discount has snuck up on Assassin’s Creed Revelations and its associated DLC packs. Everything else gets a clean 75% — that includes the deluxe editions of both Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2. It works out to $5 and $7.50 respectively (and this is where I probably get to do the required “X game is discounted” price comparison of videogames to a fast-food lunch. Gaming is the more nutritious activity, right?).

The Assassin’s Creed series blends seamlessly into the backdrop of the Ubisoft weekend, which sees everything in the publisher’s catalog discounted by 33%. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow — who knows which games will be taking the (price) hit next?

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/pAC2OmJ08yU/1224770p1.html

Path of Exile resembles nothing so much as an alternate-universe Diablo sequel where a dark and gory atmosphere, complex skill interactions, and the ability to completely gimp your character with poorly thought-out decisions are all still critical parts of the experience. Sure, it makes concessions to modernity with its fancy-schmancy 3D graphics, but it does so while so perfectly aping Diablo 2′s aesthetic that one could be easily forgiven for getting them mixed up at a glance.

Monster Pinata

While the item-hunting loot-pinata gameplay is nearly identical to what we’re used to from Diablo and its host of clones, PoE actually changes things up a bit with its skill system, which cribs just as much from Final Fantasy games as western hack-n-slashers. Its passive skill tree is functionally the same as the sphere grid in Final Fantasy 10, with everyone sharing a single enormous map of nodes, the entirety of which can be navigated by characters of any class.

The six different classes each have their own starting point on the grid, which makes obtaining certain stat increases and passive skills easier for each, but there’s nothing to stop a bloody-minded Witch from pursuing the Marauder’s elemental resistance and regeneration bonuses. The result is a huge number of viable builds, along with an even larger number of completely non-viable ones.

There will inevitably be some flavor-of-the-month-ism cropping up, but this system offers much more than “oh screw it, just make a hammerdin.” Skills, meanwhile, are granted by gems which are socketed in weapons and armor and can be further enhanced by modifiers in linked slots, and the result is absurdly complex and nuanced.

Geared for Success

This is still very much a gear-driven game, and PoE adds to the acquisition of random junk with extensive customization options. About a dozen different types of orbs can be acquired and used to rearrange the slots on a piece of gear. Change the color of sockets to accommodate different gems, turn common equipment into rare or magical items, or clear bonuses away and reshuffle them completely. In fact, these orbs are Path of Exile’s de-facto currency in the absence of gold. For all intents and purposes, bartering items for orbs isn’t any different than doing so for gold, except for the name and the fact that as useful items they provide their own built-in money sink. The only thing missing is runaway inflation. Yeah, I’ll miss that.

Even better than all that, Path of Exile happens to be free. At least, it will be come June, and Grinding Gear is strongly emphasizing its “ethical” approach to the microtransaction angle. When this thing hits, anything you might throw real cash down on should be purely aesthetic and won’t offer anything remotely resembling “pay to win.” Time will tell on that promise, but those words are like music to gamers’ ears.

$10 Beta

If you missed the open beta and need your old-school loot fix now, you can still get beta access if you drop a minimum of $10 on future microtransaction content. At present there are only two acts available, but they’re substantial, and with four difficulties to play through it’s possible to run a character up to about level 70 without much in the way of grinding. But be warned: trade windows and an auction house have also yet to be implemented, so if you want to do much exchanging of goods it’ll have to be by partying up with someone, dropping the loot on the ground, and then walking past each other like a cheesy movie hostage exchange.

Content is still being added pretty regularly, and I already got an easy hundred hours of entertainment out of that 10 bucks. Anyway, whether you’re in the “D3 sucks cuz they changed it too much and Torchlight is too cartoony” club or just a little budget-conscious, Path of Exile might be closer to your ideal. If, conversely, you happen to have a stupid amount of money to throw around, Grinding Gear offers a $1,000 option that gives you a diamond-studded non-combat kiwi pet, among other things. I’ve already seen a half dozen of those running around in the wild, so there are at least a few people out there who like this thing enough to bleed a small fortune at it.

Spy Guy says: The existence of Path of Exile just goes to show that regardless of where Blizzard takes its franchises, there will always be options where PC gamers can turn to if they aren’t feeling it. However, if you want a dark, gritty action-RPG you can play offline, you’ll have to wait until Grim Dawn comes out next year.

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/qAZbz0_EPFM/1224771p1.html

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN’s weekly show that attacks your funny bone for massive damage. Your guides this week will be Daemon Hatfield, Greg Miller, Anthony Gallegos, and Ryan Clements.

This week: Diablo III, what gamers want from next-generation consoles, and new characters confirmed for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

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Please to enjoy:

Inquiring minds: e-mail us your questions.

Article source: http://feeds.ign.com/~r/ignfeeds/all/~3/WCtfuJfTr08/1224755p1.html

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Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/eFFYlvNI_-Q/1224728p1.html

Very little is still known about this project (like what it’s going to be called), other than the fact that R.A. Salvatore is helping pen the lore behind this world, much like he did with the recently released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Perhaps more details will be revealed at E3 in a couple of weeks. What do you think so far? Personally I think it looks a hell of a lot better than that first screenshot of Elder Scrolls Online.

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/q_VV_uwcpR0/1224763p1.html

No Money Down

My first Quake Live match was a bit of a wakeup call. And by “a bit,” I mean “the kind encountered by someone who’s spent the last 30 years in a coma.” I had no idea how much my fast-paced arena FPS muscles had atrophied until I sluggishly meandered right into rocket after rocket in a blistering round of CTF. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing. Even so, it also etched another none-too-subtle point into my brain: the modern shooter landscape — F2P or not — is pretty much entirely bereft of this sort of thing.

No, I’m not trying to turn this into yet another war of words between old and new-school shooter fans. But iron sharpens iron, and I entered the fray with the equivalent of a blade that’d been honed on a cat scratcher. There is, however, a bright side to my bellyflop: Quake Live is pure Quake to its very core. Live is, after all, a repurposed version of Quake III: Arena, so the speed, iconic weapons, and over-the-top level selection are present and accounted for. Almost all of that stuff is open from the get-go, too. Meanwhile, standard modes — team deathmatch, free-for-all, duel, CTF, and clan arena — round out the package quite nicely. Clan arena especially ended up ensnaring me in a diabolical web of, “Oh, just five more minutes,” with its mix of surprisingly tactical team play and rapid-fire bursts of round-based chaos.

With the exception of some of the more outlandish maps and a few non-traditional modes (Harvester, Freeze Tag, Red Rover, Attack and Defend, Domination, 1-Flag CTF), Live was pretty much my playground from the moment I installed its browser plug-in. In that respect, Quake Live is pretty much the free-to-play dream: near-instant fun for nary a nickel, dime, arm, leg, or firstborn child. I simply signed up, picked my poison from a fairly intuitive match browser, and, after a brief YouTube-style ad, I was fragging away light as a feather — in large part because I wasn’t weighed down by the lingering guilt of some ill-advised purchase.

In that respect, Quake Live’s old-school heritage pairs up well with its shiny new business model. It’s incapable of charging for weapon unlocks, perks, and things of that sort, simply because Quake III was designed long before those things even existed. Somewhat amazingly, it didn’t even ask me to pony up for character skins. I had access to nearly 60 intergalactic gluttons for punishment — from space bikers to eyeball monsters — right off the bat. Really, the only thing that screamed “You are missing out!” was the option to sample a few Domination matches.

Insert Coin

Thanks to the giant, always-present Pro membership ad in the browser’s upper right-hand corner, it wasn’t very hard to sign up. In addition to unlocking a handful of maps and the aforementioned modes, a $4-per-month (nearly $50 annually) Pro subscription granted me the ability to start my own matches instead of simply hopping into the queue for somebody else’s and hoping for the best. The range of customization options at my disposal proved almost intoxicating as well. I became an equal parts loved and feared deity of map managing, forging lopsided weapon stats and even using my vast array of sliders to alter the very forces of friction, just because I could. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such minute attention to detail in an F2P game.

But then the whole system falls apart. See, there aren’t actually any microtransactions in Quake Live; you’re either a subscriber or you aren’t — a have or a have-not. And while countless volumes have been written about power and inequality over the course of human history, Quake Live’s book report is just one game-browser page long. Generally, scrolling through it yields one or two premium/pro mode matches — which, far more often than not, are too underpopulated to actually get a match off the ground. Meanwhile, I tried starting a game of the Live-exclusive Freeze Tag mode, only for my server to get the cold shoulder for 15 minutes until it automatically shut down. The bottom line? There simply aren’t enough premium/pro players to make these things feasible.

Oh, but wait, Quake Live offers the option for Pros to invite five whole standard players to a pro/premium mode or map. Gee, that’s enough for nearly half a game! Thanks so much for that, id.

Free or Flee?

Quake Live is an excellent free experience, nailing the meat-and-potatoes basics of fleet-footed arena-based shooting without walling off anything truly essential. However, if you’d like to broaden your mode horizons and have the option to customize matches to your heart’s content, a $4/month Pro subscription is pretty much your only option. Just be prepared to sigh loudly as potential combatants opt to play yet another round of team deathmatch instead.

Spy Guy says: Far be it from me to complain about a setup where the free version is better than the paid one! Good old-fashioned Quake III may not be the shiniest shooter around, but it remains one of the best. Have you tried it? How do your twitch skills hold up after all these years?

Article source: http://feeds.gamespy.com/~r/gsfeeds/all/~3/vEtrDMsN5Yk/1224765p1.html

On the Time Splitters article the other day a poster was raging about there not going to be another one. I told them that they should email Free Radical and at least suggest a Kickstarter for a new one. $1-2 million, with people paying $50+ getting a copy of the game automatically (which seems pretty normal). Sure, that’s a small budget by modern console standards, but it’d be good for a PC, XBLA or PSN downloadable game, and could be made as they want it to be, not how the publisher wants it. Plus, its a lot safer going via downloads than retail.

Crowdsourcing has tremendous potential, and lets us put our money where our mouth is.

Article source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/ea-origin-wants-crowd-funded-games-6377513