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The Evercade VS captures the spirit of retro gaming
Nostalgia is more than just games from the past and the makers of Evercade know this. With collectible cartridges and secrets to unlock the VS is a refreshing spin on the "mini" console.
Original Fallout games are once again Steam-powered
When Bethesda took over the rights to the Fallout franchise from previous holder Interplay in January, the company promised to have Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics back on Steam "at the earliest date possible." Turns out, the earliest possible date was earlier this week, a turnaround of just more than five months. As announced on the Bethesda blog, all three games support Steam Cloud saves, Fallout and Fallout 2 can run in either high-resolution or classic low-res mode, and Fallout Tactics is currently not compatible with Windows 8. Each game is $9.99 apiece or $19.99 when bundled together as the Fallout Classic Collection. Or rather, they would be, if the Steam Summer Sale weren't currently going on, marking individual titles down to $4.99 and the Classic pack to $12.99. Isn't that a nice case of coincidental timing? [Image: Bethesda]
Iconic PC shooter Descent 2 sets sights on Steam
Little over a week after its predecessor came to Steam, Descent 2 is now available on Valve's digital distribution platform. You can grab Descent 2 on Windows PC for $10 right now. Descent 2 takes place directly after the events of the first 3D first-person shooter. At the outset of Descent 2, players are outfitted with an experimental warp core and blackmailed into exploring mines beyond our solar system. The sequel was initially planned as an expansion, but due to the popularity of the first game, Descent 2 was fleshed out to be a full-fledged follow-up. [Image: Interplay]
Classic PC shooter Descent plots a course for Steam
Iconic 3D first-person shooter Descent has finally arrived on Steam. Normally priced at $7, Descent is on sale for $3.49 until February 18 as part of a special launch promotion and compatible with Windows PC only. The plot of Descent revolves around an alien computer virus that has managed to infect off-world mining robots. Players assume the role of a mercenary, hired to investigate the disturbance for the company and eliminate the alien threat. And, as Rock, Paper, Shotgun points out, the original Descent will turn 19 tomorrow. While we'd like to make a big deal about it, Descent isn't old enough to enjoy a crisp Appletini on an Autumn's day like a real adult so therefore we can't be expected to take this milestone seriously. Hit us up when you're 21 years old, Descent. [Image: Interplay]
Bethesda working to bring old Fallout games back to Steam
The trio of Fallouts that vanished off the face of digital distribution are set to reappear on Steam, thanks to Bethesda. According to tweets published yesterday, the company is working to bring Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics there "at the earliest date possible." The games' removal from portals, including GOG, was precipitated by Bethesda taking over full franchise rights on January 1, 2014. Bethesda reached a settlement with former holder Interplay back in 2012, after years of legal dispute that trace back to Interplay's plans to develop a Fallout MMO. As for returning the games to GOG, which gave them away for free in its recent winter sale, Bethesda tweeted it'll "have a look at other options once we handle Steam." We've reached out to the company for more details.
PSA: Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics pulled from GOG.com
Digital distribution channel GOG.com has pulled Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics from its virtual shelves. The decision is in regards to new IP owner Bethesda, which officially took over full franchise rights from Interplay as of January 1, 2014. The settlement between the two companies was reached early last year after years of litigation over a Fallout MMO in development at Interplay. If you've purchased any of these Fallout games through GOG prior to Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at 3:59PM GMT, you can still re-download through the "My Games" section, but new customers are hereby barred from purchasing and downloading these games through GOG from here on out.
MMO Burnout: Wasteland 2's early beta
The grandfather of the dynamic RPG is releasing a sequel next year, and those of us old enough to remember the original are throwing out our hips with joy. Twenty five years is a long time to wait for a rightful heir to the throne, even though we've been treated kindly with spiritual successors along the way in the form of the Fallout franchise. Still, nothing compares to the original Wasteland and how it changed the RPG genre, and Wasteland 2 has already begun to redefine gaming with one of the largest crowdfunding drives to date. For those who pledged $55 or more to Wasteland 2 during its Kickstarter campaign, a shiny new early access beta key was waiting for them earlier this week. This Steam key allowed early-access players into this very early beta build to kick the tires a bit and see how this game works. Read on for my impressions of Wasteland 2 from the perspective of both an original Wasteland fan and a modern gamer.
Interplay retrieves Freespace IP from THQ for $7,500
Freespace, the interstellar combat series developed by Volition and published by Interplay, is now back in Interplay's library, fully and officially, following a stint at THQ. Interplay paid $7,500 to snag the Freespace rights in a THQ bankruptcy sale this month. THQ was bound to find some emotionally rich items in the back corners of its closet eventually – but Freespace wasn't going to save the company, it seems. Interplay never lost the right to sell Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2, even after THQ bought Volition in 2000, when Interplay itself neared bankruptcy. Let the rampant sequel speculation begin.
Spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment in 'very early' stages
While many have anxiously awaited a sequel to Planescape: Torment, it's not the pipe dream it once was. Brian Fargo – the InXile Entertainment founder who has the Torment rights and once ran the original game's developer, Interplay – has said a successor is in the works, though there are a few caveats fans should consider.For one, the sequel will ditch the Planescape setting for the Numenera role-playing system, the Kickstarter-funded brainchild of Monte Cook blending together sci-fi and fantasy elements to emphasize "story and ideas over mechanics." Cook should be a memorable name to those who played the Planescape pen-and-paper campaign setting, having helped design and write that series and numerous other games for Wizards of the Coast back in the day. "The more we explored the Numenera setting, the clearer it became that it's a natural fit for a Torment game," Fargo told Rock Paper Shotgun.And with the new setting, Fargo suggests that this sequel will be less so in the literal sense and more so in the ideas Planescape: Torment presented to players. "Rather than overt links, we are trying to recapture the feeling that players experienced through PST –both while playing it and after having completed a playthrough. We will remain true to the essence of PST, but we'll also be looking for ways to improve the areas in which PST could have been even better."The new Torment game is still a ways off, "very early" in the pre-production phases, Fargo says. "We have a basic story outline, design sketches of the major characters, and thematic concepts defined," Fargo said, adding that with Wasteland 2 in full production, InXile can't focus too great of resources to working on this new Torment game.However, with writers and concept artists finished their early stages work on Wasteland 2, they're freed up. "There will be some other surprise talent that I'll announce later on but I thought it important to stress the heritage of the great team we have." As for funding this sequel, Fargo is unsurprisingly considering Kickstarter.
'Project V-13' kind of returning through Black Isle fund drive
"Project V-13" has returned from obscurity, tied to another name returning under mysterious circumstances: Black Isle Studios. Interplay's mystery studio, which former Black Isle founders are not involved with and don't really know about, has started a funding drive for a game called "Project V13," a "post-apocalyptic strategy RPG," introducing the longtime Interplay staff working on the game.The original plan for Project V-13 was to make an MMO in the Fallout universe, a plan that is no longer possible, because Interplay no longer owns the rights to make a Fallout MMO, following a protracted legal battle with Bethesda.There's no evidence that this new version is massively multiplayer. Its strategy RPG gameplay involves character creation, and rebuilding and management of facilities within an abandoned "colony." There are references to "meeting friends" and "fighting neighbors," suggesting some kind of multiplayer, but this game is very likely neither Fallout nor MMO. "PV13 has been in development for years," the funding site notes, "but we've had to make some major changes recently. We believe the changes are for the better and we're excited about working on this new iteration of PV13."The fund drive is Mayan Apocalypse-themed, of course. By paying into the fund drive, you move a countdown clock forward, postponing the apocalypse, as it were. You also get access to a backer-only forum.What you don't get is the game. The funds raised will go toward a "prototype," which will then be shopped around to raise additional development budget. There's no indication on the website that backers will get access to this prototype, either. So, while you may think of Kickstarters as extended pre-orders, this non-Kickstarter drive should be seen as more of a "donation."
Pay-what-you-want Interplay bundles on GOG for a limited time
In addition to all that Mac OSX hoo-haa that happened earlier today, GOG announced a trio of pay-what-you-want Interplay bundles, featuring games such as Shattered Steel, Messiah, Earthworm Jim and Fallout.Available for the next 14 days, the bundles' incentivized pricing structure should be familiar to anyone who's bought a Humble Bundle. Any price entered will purchase the basic bundle of eight Interplay games, which includes Conquest of the New World and Evolva, among other things. Paying more than the average price ($11.50 as of press time) unlocks 12 more games, and dropping down $35.00 or more brings the bundle's total up to 32 games.The $35 bundle also includes 21 different soundtracks, 37 wallpapers, 410 pieces of artwork, a 205-page "Fallout Bible" and "much more." Click here for the full list of games in each bundle.
Original Fallout and Planescape: Torment dev Black Isle Studios re-opens [updated]
The studio that created classics like Fallout and Planescape: Torment may be rising from the ashes – at least in name. A website for Black Isle Studios popped up with the image you see above and a mailing list signup, as NeoGAF discovered. There's also a Twitter account and a Facebook page tied to the website, and if you sign up for the mailing list, Black Isle is said to be a "a division of Interplay."InXile's Brian Fargo doesn't seem to be involved, as he tweeted, "I just read that Interplay is bringing back Black Isle. Hmmm... Not enough info for me to comment." We've already reached out to Obsidian – where many ex-Black Islers went when the studio shut down in 2003 – and have yet to hear back.Update: Interplay CEO and entrepreneur Herve Caen is behind the resurrection of Black Isle, we're told. The studio's website is also registered to Interplay, per WHOIS search. It's unclear who – if anyone – from the original Black Isle staff is involved with the studio.Update 2: Obsidian tells Joystiq that the new Black Isle, "Doesn't involve Obsidian at all." We've yet to hear back from Interplay or Herve Caen.Update 3: Obsidian creative lead Chris Avellone says on Twitter, "I know nothing about the Black Isle Studio news announcement, doesn't involve me or Obsidian... or well, anyone that I know. ;)"
Good Old Games taking half off Interplay titles this weekend
Good Old Games is hosting an Interplay 50 percent off sale this weekend, cutting the prices of 32 games right in half. Or, as we like to call it, this is GOG's "buy 16 games, get 16 games free" sale.The sale includes Fallout 2, Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, MDK, Freespace and Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus, for $3 each. Every title is $3, actually, making the entire bundle $96 -- a savings of $96. Yes, that's what we meant with "buy 16, get 16 free." This could also be the "buy one, get two half off" sale, or the "buy 8, get 16 half off" sale. Take your pick; any way they're all good old games for a great new price.The sale runs from now until Monday at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Fallout: The first modern role-playing game
This is a weekly column focusing on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. It wasn't supposed to be Fallout. After the role-playing game genre crashed in 1995, new models for the style began to appear. Smart money would have been on the wildly popular Diablo to become the trendsetter, where Fallout was an underdog from the start. At the 2012 Game Developers Conference, Fallout's lead producer, Tim Cain, described its creation: he was the only Interplay employee assigned to the game for months, it was almost canceled twice, and when it shipped Cain was told it was a "risk" despite the low level of company investment. Despite all that, the original Fallout has become widely known as one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, and the model for the biggest RPGs of recent years. Several weeks ago I argued that Ultima was the most important game series of all time, but Ultima's influence through new games was almost gone in 1997. Fallout was its replacement; it was the first modern role-playing game.
Kickstarting the future of game publishing: An interview with Brian Fargo
When I was 12 years old, my days mainly consisted of one thing: playing games on my Commodore 64. I would set my alarm early to get some gaming in before school, think about the games all day during school, then come home and play as much as I could before my parents made me stop and do homework or chores. Aside from TSR's Gold Box series, the two games that molded my childhood and my love for gaming were Wasteland and The Bard's Tale. Both of these games were made by Interplay Productions, a company founded by Brian Fargo in 1983. Fargo has always been an iconic figure to me. I regularly name my MMO characters Faran Brygo (a name he used for an NPC in the original Wasteland). I'm certainly not alone in my love for Wasteland (which I have labeled for years as my all-time-favorite RPG), but I think it's safe to say that many gamers who enjoyed Wasteland always wondered why there was no sequel. Fallout 1 and 2 were "spiritual successors" to the game, but for copyright reasons, they were never actually labeled as true sequels. Fargo tried to make a true sequel for 20 years but was always met with brick walls from publishers who weren't interested in resurrecting such an old game. Enter Kickstarter. After the wild success of Tim Schafer's Double Fine crowdfunding campaign, Fargo got the idea to try it out for himself. The timing was right with the current nostalgic gaming scene, the popularity of the post-apocalyptic genre, and the fact that most of Interplay's original fans are now in a position of making a tad more income than allowance money from childhood chores. We sat down with Brian Fargo to discuss his views on the potential of Kickstarter, the future of Big Brother game publishers, and Wasteland 2.
Ask Massively: Thieving on the fast track edition
One of our readers was kind enough to point us to two sites that, once again, were stealing our posts without crediting our authors or anything like that. (I don't mean "this post looks suspiciously similar"; I mean abusing copy and paste.) Unfortunately, while we're aware of these things, there's not a whole lot we can do other than request that the sites get taken down. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's all we can do. I guess it's nice to be good enough that your work is worth stealing without credit? That's something. This week's installment of Ask Massively isn't going to focus on that, however. Instead, we're going to focus on the recent spate of MMO litigation and the potential for a boxed RIFT expansion. If you have a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of Ask Massively, mail it along to ask@massively.com or leave a comment in the field below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
This Week in MMO: Lawsuits edition
It's that time again, folks. Gary Gannon and guests Mike B. and Mike Schaffnit bring you this week's edition of This Week in MMO, and today the spotlight is set on the Bethesda-Interplay lawsuit, which was recently resolved in Bethesda's favor. Meanwhile, console gamers everywhere are surely pleased to hear that they won't be left out of Blizzard's upcoming Diablo III, as it was recently confirmed that the game will be making the jump to consoles as well as PC. And finally, to top it all off, the guys have a chat about SOE CEO John Smedley's thoughts on the free-to-play business model and PlanetSide 2's newest trailer. If you've got an hour to kill, just click on past the cut for the full episode.
Bethesda and Interplay settle Fallout MMO lawsuits, Interplay's rights revoked
Bethesda and Interplay have been embroiled in a legal battle for quite some time now, arguing over whether or not Interplay had the rights to create a Fallout MMO. Well, that lawsuit has finally been settled and it appears that Bethesda has come out on top. In a press release today, Bethesda announced that "under the terms of the settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately." Bethesda fails to make any mention of whether or not the studio will use its freshly re-acquired rights in order to actually make a Fallout MMO, however, so the future of the online wasteland remains in flux. [Source: Bethesda Game Studios press release]
Bethesda settles all Fallout IP related lawsuits
Bethesda Softworks and Interplay have reached a settlement in their protracted dispute over the rights to the Fallout IP, specifically in regards to an MMO, which Interplay announced five years ago. Bethesda states that as part of the settlement the "license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately." Bethesda parent company ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million "as consideration in the settlement," each side will pay its own legal fees, and Bethesda will retain rights to the Fallout intellectual property. Interplay has no ongoing right to the Fallout brand nor any Fallout intellectual property. Finally, Interplay's rights to sell Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics will expire in December 2013, along with any other merchandising rights it had in association with those properties.
The MMO Report: Cool balloon bro edition
This week on The MMO Report -- where everyone prefers "a blaster over hokey religions and ancient weapons" -- Casey tries to make the most of a slow MMO news week. He reports that the fallout over Fallout Online has settled, Multiverse (the Buffy/Firefly MMO platform) is dead in the water, CCP is launching EVE Online character avatars into orbit via balloon, and Star Wars: The Old Republic is boasting 350,000 concurrent users. There's no mailbag this week, he relates, because everyone's too busy playing lightsabers with their friends, which is probably true. He also thanks BioWare for teaching him how to /getdown... and I think you should tune in at the five-minute mark to see his moves for yourself. The video's tucked behind the break for your amusement!
