THQ have signed up to distribute their games digitally with digital download company Gamer’s Gate. Currently the deal includes worldwide access to Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance as well as the original titles Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander. There are also plans to bring S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Full Spectrum Warrior, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights and the upcoming Frontlines: Fuels of War to the service.
However, “worldwide” does not seem to include Australia and New Zealand, which is pretty disappointing.
What with Duke Nukem Forever getting a trailer release it seems like it’s the season for releasing trailers of games that we thought were dead. This time it’s Highlander, that was initially announced in 2004. Like the Duke Nukem trailer this one is void of any game play and is of pretty crappy quality. On the upside the voice acting seems pretty good and it looks like it had some pretty intricate and expansive backgrounds.
If Guitar Hero fuels the fantasy of being a guitar god, then Guitar Wizard will provide the tools to actually make that happen, on a real guitar. It’s the next logical step for novices who have never picked up a six-string before Guitar Hero, or those who have found traditional teaching methods unengaging and inefficient.
Guitar Wizard teaches you through method alone, making no reference to music theory - with each string designated a shape and each fret color coded. As songs play, the shapes and colors move across the screen in a manner akin to Guitar Hero. The resulting drawback is that instead of referring to E, B and G strings, you’ll forever know them as diamond, heart and square strings.
The set up isn’t too badly priced either. During a hands on interview at CES, Guitar Wizard’s makers have quoted a full package cost of US$300, and that includes a Washburn guitar, MIDI pickup and software. If you’ve got your own guitar, you’ll only need to purchase a MIDI pickup and software for US$150.
Time to get all excited again because another morsel of Spore news has been let loose. This time the news comes from an unexpected place, MacWorld. Of course being that the announcement was at MacWorld the news is that Spore will be released simultaneously on both Mac and PC later this year. Yeah, we have heard “later this year” from the Spore team before but we will forgive them if they don’t break our hearts again. EA Maxis VP of marketing Patrick Buechner had this to say about EA’s decision to bring Spore to the Mac:
“[We] think the Macintosh user is somebody who is, typically, a creative individual. Part of the appeal of the Mac is that it allows you to do creative things very easily. And we think that lines up very closely with what you can do with Spore … So it just feels like a natural place for Spore to be, and we’re thinking about it up front rather than as an afterthought.”
An official announcement is expected later today along with a preview at MacWorld.
Ever thought that regular football was a bit tame, and that it could do with a healthy dose of orcs? Well, someone in the late 80’s obviously did when they created the table top game Blood Bowl, which features an American League Football style game in the Warhammer universe. Focus Home Interactive and Cyanide Studios are bringing Blood Bowl into the 21st century with a video game adaptation that is quite unique, in that nerds and jocks will love the subject matter.
The game features two modes of play, a standard sports game mode like Madden , and a faithful-to-the-original table top mode. Blood Bowl should be out late 2008 for both PC and Xbox 360.
This new clip from Capcom explains Bionic Commando’s swinging action. If you were thinking it would simply be an automatic lock-on system like the Spider-Man games then think again – Bionic Commando is going to require some skill. I’m sure the game will get intuitive once you get the hang of it, but it’s possible the beginning difficulty will deter a few gamers.
Well, well, well.. Who would have thought 3D Realms would actually release a Duke Nukem Forever trailer? And here we were thinking that news regarding its development was just some inside industry joke. We now have to ask: if/when this gets released, will it even have the same politically incorrect charm of the original shooter now that the world has changed from the one it left 10 years ago?
Last week my ears immediately perked up when they came across internet rumors suggesting a merging of the Command and Conquer series with the first person shooter genre. Today, a press release from EA has finally confirmed these rumors, along with the above screenshot as further evidence.
Steam will help out gamers wishing to avoid Christmas-shopping at the mall by launching their gift purchasing service. Now, once you’ve purchased a game for yourself on Steam, there is an option to gift the same item to a friend. The recipient will receive an e-card which guides them through the Steam download process. With an ever-expanding list of games to choose from, there’s bound to be something in there which will bring Christmas cheer to those around you.
