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The debut 'Sea of Thieves' campaign almost makes it fun again
Sea of Thieves was an opportunity for Microsoft and studio Rare to do something completely new. The multiplayer pirate simulator promised endless hours of entertainment. A sandbox world steeped in lore in which you make your own adventures. But upon the game's release in March this year, the internet was befuddled, asking the question: Is this really it? There just didn't seem to be that much to do, but Sea of Thieves was always supposed to follow the "game as a service" model of trickling in new content. That starts with The Hungering Deep campaign that beached earlier this week in a flawed but potentially important step in re-injecting some semblance of fun into the game.
Mueller investigation interviews Facebook staff in Russia probe
As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election continues, Wired reports the team interviewed "at least one member of Facebook's team that was associated with President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign." There's no word on what was discussed or implication of what this means, but it comes just a day after the Senate released Facebook's statement that it found "insignificant overlap" between Russian propaganda ads and the Trump campaign. Facebook hs reportedly handed over those Russian ads to investigators, but where things go from here remains to be seen.
GoFundMe shuts down campaigns for Charlottesville suspect
Crowdfunding platforms are taking a no-tolerance approach to campaigns raising money in support of James Fields, the man accused of driving a car into protesters at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. GoFundMe has already removed "multiple" campaigns for Fields. Speaking to Reuters, strategic communications director Bobby Whithorne said: "Those campaigns did not raise any money and they were immediately removed." He added that GoFundMe will delete similar campaigns if more are created.
Valve releases the first multiplayer campaign for 'Dota 2'
Dota 2 isn't just an ever-repeating, five-on-five race to destroy your enemy's base. Every so often, Valve adds temporary cooperative game modes to the MOBA that unite the toxic player base against an entirely different end goal. In the build-up to The International 7 -- a yearly tournament that's like the Wimbledon of Dota -- Valve has just released the most elaborate of these yet. It goes so far as to call "Siltbreaker: Act I" the first multiplayer Dota campaign, since it plays more like a quest-centric RPG than anything else. Unlike the core MOBA, though, it's not free-to-play.
Kickstarter seeks creators to launch more ambitious projects
If you look at what's trending on Kickstarter, you'll see a bunch of gadgets, games and quirky knickknacks. While they all look fun and promising, it seems Kickstarter wants to see grander campaigns much more creative and forward-thinking than usual. The crowdfunding website has published its first request for projects that focus on innovative designs and revolutionary technologies. Its design and tech team is looking for three types in particular, starting with ones that push the envelope.
Facebook co-founder donates $20 million to elect Hillary Clinton
Mark Zuckerberg's other half, Dustin Moskovitz, has pledged to donate $20 million to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic efforts this election year. Moskovitz, a co-creator of Facebook and founder of Asana, outlines his intentions in a Medium post that criticizes Republican candidate Donald Trump and praises Clinton.
Tinder wants to talk to you about organ donation
If you're hot and horny then there's one thing that's guaranteed to kill the mood stone dead: a long discussion about organ donation. Tinder isn't too worried about harshing that buzz, which is why it's teamed up with the UK's blood and transplant service to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. For the next two weeks, users will be able to spot celebrity profiles like Olympic gold medalist Jade Jones as well as TV stars Jamie Laing and Gemma Oaten. If you swipe right on any of the three, you'll be greeted with a notification saying "if only it was that easy for those in need of a life-saving organ to find a match."
The entire 'Black Ops 3' campaign will be unlocked from the start
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 developer Treyarch is embracing the Netflix way of doing business. When the game launches for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 6th, its entire campaign will be available to play, director Jason Blundell tells Eurogamer. You'll be able to play the final chapter first and work backward, or pretend you're a time-traveler with a broken teleporter and play every section out of order. Or you can play it the retro way: Chronologically, unlocking new weapons and plot points as you go.
'Call of Duty: Black Ops 3' nixes campaign on last-gen consoles
If you're still rockin' a PS3 or Xbox 360 and are looking forward to the next Call of Duty release, Activision dropped a bit of bad news. The studio announced that Black Ops 3 won't feature a campaign mode on those last-gen consoles. Why? "The ambitious scope of the 1-4 player co-op Campaign design of the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions could not be faithfully recreated on old generation hardware," the company explains. Due to the fact that the game will only offer multiplayer and Zombie modes, Activision is setting the price at $50. As you might expect, other features that take advantage of the power of the Xbox One, PS4 and PC -- like eSports tools and the Weapons Paint Shop -- won't be available either. The game arrives on November 6th, and if you were really looking forward to that co-op campaign, there's the 1TB PS4 bundle.
Hillary Clinton recruits a Google exec as her chief tech officer
Hillary Clinton may not have even formally announced that she's running for President yet, but that isn't stopping her from gearing up for what should be a very tech-heavy election. Both the Washington Post and Reuters claim that the former Secretary of State has hired Google executive Stephanie Hannon as her campaign's chief technology officer. The higher-up will reportedly watch over a team building apps, websites and other tools to help enchant voters.
Kickstarter project aims to revamp galactic sandbox Chosen Space
Not every Kickstarter fundraiser is for a brand-new IP; some campaigns are launched in an effort to fund a more fully realized version of an existing property. And so it is with the browser-based galactic sandbox Chosen Space, which launched in 2006 and is now asking for funds to be reborn as a far better version. Developer MMO Lab is attempting to secure £5,400 to finish the previously self-funded project. The new Chosen Space: Relaunched will feature improved graphics, new features, and additional features. "We've developed our own game engine called MMO Lab which will allow us to finally make the Chosen Space we've always imagined, and which the players have always deserved," the studio posted. Chosen Space is a "living" sandbox that balances strategy and RPG elements as players customize ships, explore the galaxy, and engage in trading and conquest. The new version is preparing to go into alpha testing at the start of the new year. We've got the crowdfunding pitch video after the break for your edification.
Hyrule Warriors' adventure mode has NES Zelda appeal
Nintendo offered new details on Hyrule Warriors during a Nintendo Direct livestream last night dedicated to spilling new beans on the game. The Tecmo Koei-developed offering will include an adventure mode that features a NES-style map inspired by the original Legend of Zelda. In it, players hack through levels with unique victory conditions, such as "defeat 300 enemies in 10 minutes," acquiring and using classic items from the Zelda series to find rare goods like heart containers. Additionally, Zelda fans will appreciate the familiar ability to chop away at grass in Hyrule Warriors and attack the chicken-like Cuccos, which will attack players after enough unjust damage has been done to the creatures. The livestream also touched on the game's leveling and skill/equipment crafting system; we've embedded the full Hyrule Warriors Direct stream for your viewing pleasure. Hyrule Warriors will launch September 26 for Wii U, and those that register their copies on Club Nintendo by October 23 will receive two Ganondorf costumes. [Image: Nintendo]
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Nightfall's soundtrack
We're slowly but steadily working our way through the Guild Wars library, having already covered Prophecies and Factions in this space. It's time to move on to the third and final full campaign of the original game: Nightfall. Nightfall has a special significance for me in that it was my starting point for actually going through the entirety of the game prior to Guild Wars 2's release. While I've never been a fan of desert and Middle Eastern settings, I must admit that Jeremy Soule's return to the score isn't something to be ignored. Perhaps there aren't as many stand-out tracks as in the previous campaigns, but on the whole the score is well above-average compared to many MMO soundtracks.
Neverwinter unveils the Campaign system
The first major content addition to Neverwinter isn't just bringing new dungeons, it's bringing a new way to experience the game's content. The new Campaign system will see its debut in the region of Sharandar. This isn't just another name for a series of quests, but rather a new way for players to unlock both new rewards and new areas simply by adventuring and completing larger goals. The Campaign window is a new UI element that lists a number of Projects players can undertake. Questing in the area, running solo instances, or diving into the new dungeons will provide new rewards that can be spent on clearing projects, unlocking new regions, new dungeons, and so forth. Players can also earn new equipment by completing other Projects, which offers several methods to reap the benefits of hard work. The new system, like the rest of the content, is still due out for sometime this summer.
Flipside controller tries again, thanks to iOS 7
The Flipside iPhone game controller was a Kickstarter project that began last year with an ambitious goal of US$135,000, raising only about $10k of that before getting canceled due to lack of interest. Things have changed since the project was shut down in January, however. Apple has announced iOS 7, and with it, a set of official SDK hooks for game controller support, which means we're going to see a resurgence in third-party controllers like this one. Now the Flipside is back, restarting its campaign on Indiegogo for a more reasonable $40,000. For $60, you can pick up an early founder's deal on the controller, which is set to be ready for use sometime next year. So far, the Flipside isn't exactly raking in the dough (it's earned about $300 as of this writing), but maybe the second time will be the charm. This definitely won't be the last we see of third-party controllers getting a big boost out of Apple's iOS 7 game controller hooks. Once the operating system is ready and out in the public's hands, we'll see many more of these units become available. Who knows -- maybe if Apple sees a market for controllers like this, we'll eventually see an official controller designed in Cupertino. It would certainly be a great way to kick off the market for apps on the Apple TV.
Hyperspace Beacon: The roleplayer's guide to SWTOR event planning
Amidst the critiques and patch reviews, the reasons I stick with Star Wars: The Old Republic sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Despite being irritated by the way BioWare handled specific parts of this Star Wars MMORPG, I still find the setting and the storytelling to be superb. These interwoven tales of adventure and chaos provide an incredible platform for my favorite thing to do in an MMO: roleplay. I've covered several topics about roleplay in this column. From breaking into the community to an RP wishlist to resolving RP-related conflicts, I've might have covered everything except for one of the most basic of roleplay elements: How do you host a roleplay event in SWTOR? Although Star Wars: The Old Republic varies in its presentation and tools, the types of events you can throw are pretty similar to the ones you can throw in any other MMOs. The tiny details vary, but the three basic type of events can be narrowed down to social, PvE, and PvP.
Face of Mankind releases from-scratch engine tech demo
As part of its in-progress Kickstarter campaign, Face of Mankind is planning for funding beyond its original $50k goal. One of the stretch goals -- at $250k -- is to build an entirely new game engine with brand new art assets. And to help show off what we could expect with that new engine, Nexeon Technologies has released a tech demo video. The video spotlights an interesting marriage of futuristic sci-fi structures with natural environments, without allowing one style to overcome the other. It also shows the night and day cycles, where Creative Director Marko Dieckmann explains that the contrast between the two will be much more significant than most other MMOs, allowing darkness to provide an "interesting strategy to combat." With 23 days to go in the Kickstarter campaign, the company is currently at around the halfway mark for their 30-day goal, so we'll be watching this stretch goal with particular interest. [Thanks to everyone who tipped us on this!]
Heroes and Castles updated to version 3.0
Foursaken Media's Heroes and Castles has been updated yet again, with lots of new content to play. The game, which allows you to level up a hero by defending a town and its various resources against an army of invading minions, has been popular for Foursaken already, and the team told me during GDC that they were planning on adding plenty of extras to the game this year. They've reached version 3.0 now, and the latest update adds three new heroes: an Assassin, a Barbarian, and a Druid, each with their own abilities and weapons. There's also a brand new campaign for the game that must be unlocked to play, with new maps to fight over, and new allied units to join you in battle. You can upgrade buildings and units even further, the graphics now boast real-time shadows, and the game's performance has been upgraded overall. Finally, there are new achievements to earn in the game, which the best players can go after for Game Center glory. That's a sizable update that adds even more value to this excellent $1.99 game. Heroes and Castles can be downloaded right now. [via Touch Arcade]
Laying the groundwork for Galcon 2
Developer Phil Hassey kicked off our meeting at last week's GDC by showing me a necklace and a fridge magnet set both based on his oft-remade game Galcon, just two of the different rewards in the Kickstarter that recently raised him over $25,000 for development. Hassey has remade Galcon quite a few times during his years of development (including for a few popular iOS versions), but Galcon 2 promises to be his biggest work yet. Not only will it bring multiplayer to the title, but Hassey has a whole bunch of wild ideas about how far the gameplay can go. The basic idea of Galcon is that you have a series of planets on your screen, and you can drag your finger from one to another to send ships to attack. Make sure you control more ships on that planet than anyone else, and you own it, with the eventual goal being to take over the whole screen. But that simple gameplay has spun off into dozens of variations for Hassey. Armed with his Kickstarter money (not to mention the extremely dedicated fanbase that comes along with a successful Kickstarter), Hassey has turned Galcon into an engine, essentially. He's created a mod system that allows anyone with the tools to dive in and tweak the Galcon ruleset as they see fit, and this has brought about lots and lots of interesting new twists on the old Galcon gameplay. For one thing, Hassey was able to remake all of the previous Galcon modes with his mod tools as mods, so all of the different modes from Galcon Fusion (including Stealth, where ships can be invisible, and Assassin, where a round of different players each needs to take out just one other target at a time) are already ready to go for Galcon 2. Plus, he's passed off the mod tools to his alpha testers, and they've made some really incredible stuff already, including a map of Earth you can play Galcon on (by sending ships around to different cities), and other ideas like dual Galcon (where two players can play on the same screen), and a turn-based variant. All of these mods are already up and running, and while Hassey hasn't optomized any of it, he and his community have basically built an infinite Galcon machine. When the game finally does come out on iOS, Hassey will be able to take the best of both his and users' mods, and update the game with them as he sees fit, which means he'll have an endlessly replayable, ever-evolving Galcon title. Currently, the graphics on the game are fairly basic, with simple shapes for ships and planets alike. But Hassey's also working on making those look better -- the fridge magnets, in fact, are the first colorful signs that planets will each have their own colors, renders and flavors. Hassey says he plans to work more on getting the world of the game to look just as impressive as the mechanics running behind it already are. And then, says Hassey, he has even bigger plans. He told me that he envisions not just a multiplayer game, but essentially a Galcon universe, with a galaxy of stars in various clusters, each of which makes up a multiplayer Galcon map. Guild functionality is already something he's working on, so the idea is that players could form up in clans, and then battle across this virtual map, earning victory points to conquer stars in each constellation. In this game, players could have different classes (with different abilities like invisible ships or faster moves), and would have to work together to try and take over the whole galaxy together. It's a wild idea, but Hassey says he's never been more excited about development. Working with the Kickstarter community has given him no shortage of excitement and creativity, and the sky is the limit on what this game could eventually become. It's hard to say when we'll see the "final" version of Galcon 2, but maybe there doesn't need to be one. Hassey says he's released seven different beta builds since January, and that's the current plan for the game going forward: just to keep feeding his Kickstarter backers new game content and see what they do with it. Whenever the game does officially arrive, it's sure to be very impressive indeed.
Blizzard's Project Blackstone is a Heart of the Swarm viral campaign
Blizzard Entertainment registered a site called ProjectBlackstone.com late last year, and fans wondered if maybe it might be related to the mysterious upcoming Blizzard project code-named Titan. But no such luck, it seems: The domain went live this week and, soon after that, some crafty Redditors found the password. (It's "Y7_$0>0k_3<$m," if you want to try it yourself). The whole campaign has been revealed as a Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm tie-in.Opening the site up reveals emails between various Terran characters talking about experimenting on Zerg lifeforms and presumably we'll see updates in the future that will fill out the story heading into the new game. Heart of the Swarm, the second part of the trilogy that Blizzard's Starcraft 2 has become, is due out on March 12.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
