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'Splitgate' is getting a map builder and new modes on January 27th
Splitgate is getting a slew of updates on January 27th with its Beta Season One update.
CBS All Access show 'The Good Fight' comes to TV June 16th
When The Good Fight debuted on CBS All Access, it became the streaming service's first exclusive show. It's kept audiences hooked since 2017 and was recently renewed for a fourth season. Now, season one is coming to CBS, meaning you'll be able to view the first episodes without an All Access subscription.
Path of Exile holding PvP invitational this weekend
To conclude Path of Exile's first PvP season, Grinding Gear is holding the game's first invitational tournament this weekend. The PvP invitational will take place over two days, with the European tournament on Saturday, January 17th, and the North American tournament on Sunday, January 18th. Sixteen players will compete in each invitational to win various prizes from Razer and Karma Koin. Following the invitational, Path of Exile will begin (pardon the pun) gearing up for PvP season two, which is slated to begin in "early February." The studio said that the second season will contain improvements as suggested by the community. [Source: Grinding Gear Games press release]
Diablo III patches 2.1.2 and ends season one
There's a lot happening around the rainbow-and-glitter landscapes of Diablo III, although perhaps the biggest is the implementation of Patch 2.1.2 to the game. This patch adds in powerful ancient items, increases the drop rate for legendary items, and gives players more survivability with additional life and higher life-on-hit percentages. As Diablo III ushers in the patch, so it too prepares to say goodbye to the first season. The game is preparing to end season one and has posted a guide to aid players as they make the transition to the limbo that exists before season two. Season one is expected to end some time in early February, possibly February 3rd. Players on both the PC and consoles soon will enjoy an event full of boosts, including additional treasure goblins and higher drop rates. These boosts will begin tomorrow and continue through Friday, January 23rd.
E3 2014: Recapping Guild Wars 2's first season
With Season Two of Guild Wars 2's living story starting up on July 1st, players are eager for more information. So far, only snippets and clues have teased fans. To try and glean more details, I sat down with Associate Game Director Steven Waller and Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside at E3 2014. Before moving on to what lies in store, however, the devs wanted to look back at the impact of the first season. Oh, and they offered a new trailer that adds a bit more fuel to the teasing fire!
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars 2's living story soundtrack
I'm going to make a bold statement here that might net me some haters, but here goes: I think that Guild Wars 2 is better off now that it's cast off Jeremy Soule and moved on to in-house composers. Soule's soundtrack was great in parts, but he's not the be-all, end-all of good video game music. And his company's unexplained decision to yank the soundtrack from its store (and not even offer a digital version) irks me beyond the telling of it. Good luck finding it! So today I'm going to give tribute to the two men who have been forging ahead -- spectacularly, I might add -- with scoring Guild Wars 2's ongoing living story updates. Maclaine Diemer and Leif Chappelle have been whipping up a wide variety of tunes to go with the various story elements and events. To ArenaNet's credit, the studio has been posting these downloadable tracks for free on SoundCloud. And while rumor has it that Diemer and Chappelle are already composing music for season two, I thought it'd be worthwhile to go back and share some of my favorites from their season one portfolio. I won't be dipping into Super Adventure Box, however, as we did that last year.
Guild Wars 2 encourages patch mystery and player speculation
Death to Guild Wars 2 patch notes? ArenaNet might not be going that far, but it may be getting a lot more secretive about them in the coming months. In an interview on IGN today, Lead Developer Colin Johanson said that the team learned a lot from the first season of GW2's living world, especially how much the players loved to speculate and discover patch additions organically. He said that the team observed players becoming more engaged when ArenaNet dropped in content that wasn't spelled out in the patch notes. Johanson said this trend will continue: "You don't know what's going to happen and you don't know what you're going to find. Every week you want to search every corner of the world because the next hint for the living world could be hidden anywhere." Johanson talked about the great changes to the world, especially in regard to the team nuking the city of Lion's Arch. He mentioned a player who predicted that the event would occur back in January: "It was really interesting for us to see that, and to be able to point back at him and say, 'Hey man, you nailed it!' and to be able to call that out was really cool."
Star Wars: The Old Republic 2.7 patch promises big guns and fast ships
The public test notes are out for Star Wars: The Old Republic's Patch 2.7, and if one thing's for certain, this update is going to be a meaty one indeed. On the Galactic Starfighter front, BioWare is adding two new scout ships and two new strike fighters to the roster. There will also be an additional map, Denon Exosphere, to be that hotshot flyboy or flygirl you know you are in your heart. This map takes place in and around a wreckage field and a space station. Patch 2.7 has plenty for the ground game as well. It will conclude the first season of ranked arena PvP, add a Quesh Huttball warzone, give the Dread Fortress a nightmare mode, and jumpstart the next portion of the story with two flashpoints: Korriban Incursion and Assault on Tython.
Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR year-end report on PvP
In July, I took the famous Bartle Test and pitted it against the state of Star Wars: The Old Republic at the time. The test, based on the research of Dr. Richard Bartle, measures the types of activities within an MMO that players find fun. Of course, there is plenty of crossover, and very few people fit neatly into one category, but I believe that if an MMO hits all the categories well, it will be highly successful, at least from a player's point of view. In the research, player motivation is divided into four categories: Achiever, Explorer, Killer, and Socializer. I have never been a fan of the term Killer as used to describe the type of player who likes to compete directly with other players, but then, I didn't earn a PhD from the University of Essex, either. The Killer category has always been described as more than someone who likes to PvP in the sense that most MMOs provide PvP. A Killer likes to compete, plain and simple. He wants his skills pitted against the skills of other players, and he wants to be recognized for it. In SWTOR, many Killer-types will hang out on the steps of the Sith Academy on Korriban dueling, partially because they find dueling enjoyable, but also because it is in sight of many other players. (That's where recognition comes in.) In July, I gave SWTOR very poor marks in the Killer category. I wrote, "Later this year, BioWare plans on introducing a content specifically focused on PvP, but given the team's track record, I have my concerns," and then I gave the team an F in this category. Has BioWare been able to raise that grade? And how have things changed since mid-year?
Path of Exile interview reveals plans for player-generated races
Although there is no Some Assembly Required in the title, don't let that fool you; today's focus is on one of the founding precepts of this column, player-generated content. It's just not sandboxy player-generated content like we've covered before. Today's special edition explores the PGC proposed for the decidedly non-sandbox action RPG Path of Exile. At GDC I sat down with managing director Chris Wilson and technical director Jonathan Rogers to discuss Path of Exile and their idea of adding player-run races to the game. A fan favorite, these timed gaming experiences are currently only officially sponsored events grouped into seasons, the first of which just concluded. However, devs would like to give players the opportunity to create and host unofficial events (meaning results won't have any bearing on the seasons) to allow players to enjoy this wildly popular facet of the game in a place where they can practice skills, test themselves against friends, or just enjoy a unique challenge.
Path of Exile's season one race events start February 23rd
Path of Exile is bringing back the popular race events from beta and organizing them into seasons. Race events are limited-duration challenges that put players into a new character and a fresh economy to compete against each other for various prizes. The first season of these events will begin on February 23rd and continue through April 7th. It will be made up of 109 events that take place solely on the weekends, and it will feature different start times so that players across the globe won't be at a significant disadvantage based on location. There are several ways to win prizes through these races. Players accumulate reward points that contribute to both season and lifetime prize tiers, and they can win additional goodies if they place in the top ranks for multiple events and the season as a whole. [Thanks to Josh for the tip!]
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Blu-ray beams down July 24th
After a teaser release of three episodes earlier this year, CBS Home Entertainment has set a date for the complete first season Star Trek: The Next Generation to arrive on Blu-ray, just in time for its 25th anniversary. July 24th the six-disc set hits shelves featuring all of the first season episodes remastered in high definition complete with recomposited special effects and 7.1 DTS-HD surround soundtracks, as well as a slew of special features including new behind the scenes interviews and featurettes on the HD upgrade process. Check after the break for the press release with a list of episodes and features, plus a video preview of what the new effects look like from The Next Level teaser in January. Check Entertainment Weekly for another preview of the upgraded footage, while TheHDRoom has a few still captures from the Blu-ray versions.
The Big Bang Theory S1 and S2 will finally hit Blu-ray July 10th
Considering the usual subject matter of The Big Bang Theory it's a bit bizarre that the first couple of seasons weren't already available in high definition, but Warner Home Video has now announced they will be released on Blu-ray July 10th. While later seasons have already seen Blu-ray releases, those looking to start back at the beginning for Leonard, Sheldon, Penny and the rest of the crew had been stuck with DVDs. Assuming you're a fan of CBS' comedy series, you can preorder each Blu-ray / DVD combo release now, priced at $23.99 for the first season and $54.97 for the longer second season. Of course, what we're really wondering is what this means for other orphaned releases that only have some or none of their seasons available on Blu-ray as studios have shifted strategies, we're still waiting for How I Met Your Mother season one. Drop a note about any other shows you're following that have holes in their HD releases in the comments below, or just check out a video clip of the show with the canned laughter cut out -- it's... different.
Riot CEO Brandon Beck on forging success with League of Legends
Riot Games has announced player numbers for its extremely popular League of Legends title, and they're pretty phenomenal. With over 15 million registered players, the Defense of the Ancients-style online multiplayer RTS can now brush shoulders with games like Blizzard's World of Warcraft (12 million players), Call of Duty (13 million players on Xbox Live), and The Sims (16 million copies sold), as one of the biggest PC games in history. Granted, as a free-to-play title that relies on microtransactions for revenue, League of Legends has more access to a wider audience than games driven by retail sales or subscriptions. But there's no question at all that this is a huge and exceptionally popular game. Joystiq got to talk with CEO and co-founder of Riot Brandon Beck about today's announcement, and he says that even the company was surprised by how big LoL (as it's called in shorthand) has gotten. "The growth of the League of Legends community far exceeded our expectations," he tells us. "We are proud of the numbers we are hitting on our platform and are confident our fantastic team can continue to grow and evolve our PvP.net technology to handle even greater numbers."
League of Legends for Mac still expected this fall
You might remember that, back in early June, I met with the guys from Riot Games to play the Mac version of their free-to-play, DotA title, League of Legends. At the time, they said that they expected to release the title on our platform sometime "later this year," after they'd finished up their work with the big Season One update. Now, however, Season One has been out for a little while, and our readers are getting a little antsy -- where's LoL for the Mac? Riot tells us that it's still coming. The game did get delayed longer than expected, but in an official statement, we're told that they "are putting some final touches on the Mac product and expect to ship by this fall." Season One was the priority, even while we were being shown the preview for the Mac version, but "now that it's out," Riot says, "we can focus on finalizing the Mac client and other upcoming features." That sounds good. Since I first played the game for that preview, I've become a big fan; it's a quality version of the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, and the fact that it's free to play on the PC (or in Bootcamp, if you can't wait any longer) is just icing on the cake. We'll keep an eye out for the Mac release and let you know when it's ready.
Make love not war: STO's Craig Zinkievich shows off the Federation Diplomatic Corps
As everyone knows in the television business, the second season of a show is usually tons better than the first (unless it's Heroes, for some reason). Considering how well Star Trek Online's Season One update was received across the community, the STO team has a lot of work to do to meet and exceed that standard with the upcoming Season Two. Cryptic plans to roll out one of these bigger updates every three months, which puts Season Two smack in the middle of July. ZAM caught executive producer Craig Zinkievich on the way to his ready room for a chat about Season Two. The big discussion revolves around the launch of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, an effort to provide an additional emphasis on exploration, diplomacy and anthropology that STO's combat-centric gameplay has so far been lacking. Apparently, players will have to rise through the diplomatic ranks almost like a separate leveling system as they engage in first contacts and the like. We'll just have to wait and see if they introduce a "lengthy patronizing Picard-style speech" as one of the skills. Zinkievich also pontificated on ship interiors and the new Dabo minigame, both of which are much-requested features to help Star Trek Online feel more, well, Trekky. You can get your captain on by reading the full interview over at ZAM.
Preview: League of Legends, Season One
Riot Games' League of Legends has been winning accolades and fans since it released last year for a few different reasons. It's a highly polished version of Defense of the Ancients, the company has supported the game with continuous updates and new content, and oh yeah -- it's a free-to-play title. Lately, Riot has been working on a major update they're calling "Season One," designed to make the game a little more compatible with competitive play, as well as implement some of the most requested features for the game. The update should be out within a few weeks, they told us, but on the floor of E3, we got to see some of the new tweaks in action. %Gallery-95725%
Star Trek Online's Season One gets a booster shot
It's been three months since the launch of Star Trek Online, and the developers haven't been sitting on their hands in the interim. With the large Season 1 patch still fresh in player's minds, the team has made a quick turnaround on the followup Season 1.1 patch. While not boasting the wide-reaching expansions that the prior patch did, this patch addresses several quality of life issues, including death penalties, mission difficulty, and the dreaded "commodity missions" receiving an overhaul. Players will have three difficulty options for battles -- Normal, Advanced, and Elite. Normal is unchanged from the present, while Advanced and Elite get progressively harder, incorporating the game's death penalties and strengthening enemies in exchange for more drops of higher quality. As a boon to players who prefer the current difficulty, Normal challenges are still free of any penalties for death. There are also improved spoils from badge vendors, and a buff to the reward and procedures of missions asking you to ferry supplies. With an extensive list of bug fixes, balance tweaks, and small improvements, any Star Trek Online player is sure to get some benefits out of the latest patch.
Video shows DS9 Under Siege in Star Trek Online
While DS9 may well be one of many people's favorite spots in Star Trek Online, things have heated up since the release of Season One, the recent free addition to the game. Part of this new batch of things to do, DS9 Under Siege, lands players in the middle of an attack on DS9 from an interesting quadrant, and is relatively certain to hook you up if you're in the mood for one hell of a battle. For those of you who may not have checked out this new content as yet, we've snagged a shiny HD video of this new fleet action for you from our sister site, Joystiq. With more Cardassians and what appear to be Jem'Hadar ships than you can shake a tricorder at, this seems like an addition to Star Trek Online that players are enjoying. So set your phasers on "cool" and check beyond the break for the shiny DS9 Under Siege trailer -- or let us know how you're liking this particular bit of Season One content in the comments below.
Invasion of Deep Space Nine invades Star Trek Online
The next mission from "Season One" of Star Trek Online's free content updates will soon be added to the game. Titled "DS9 Under Siege," the new episode will bring about a massive invasion upon the typically peaceful space station Deep Space Nine. You might know it from the show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Remember? It was right there in the title. Check out the trailer above to see what players will be up against when the new episode launches. (Spoiler alert: It's lasers. You're going up against lasers. So many lasers.)
