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Acer will help Starbreeze make its VR headset
Starbreeze may be comparatively new to virtual reality headsets (and hardware in general), but it's getting some big allies in its corner. The Payday 2 game studio has revealed that Acer will help design, make and sell its theme park-oriented StarVR headset as part of a planned joint venture. Yes, the computer industry veteran is doing more than just making VR-ready PCs. While Starbreeze already has some help from outsiders (Toshiba is one of its partners), the alliance should give it a better shot at becoming a significant player in the VR world. And for Acer, this isn't just about entering an undiscovered country -- this and the company's existing mobile efforts are a hedge against a declining PC market. Update 6/25: The two sides have formalized their deal, and expect to ship the initial batch of VR headsets this year.
'Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons' coming to PS4, Xbox One and mobile
At this point in the PlayStation 4's and Xbox One's lifecycle, they almost seem more like "in case you missed it" machines than those offering brand new experiences. That isn't always a bad thing though, and especially not where the excellent Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is concerned. Starbreeze Studio's heartbreaking indie hits Microsoft and Sony's latest consoles "this holiday season" according to a press release. Furthermore, IGN reports that it'll feature a few new additions as well, including a director's commentary track, a concept art gallery and a soundtrack. And if you've heard your console-owning pals raving about the game but don't own one (or a PC) yourself, Brothers will hit the App Store and Google Play later this year as well. Just make sure you're not playing in public toward the end -- trust us.
Rumorang: Riddick dev helming new Syndicate game
A new report suggests that Starbreeze Studios is working on a new Syndicate game, with Electronic Arts set to publish. Word of the Riddick and The Darkness dev's involvement with the title first made the rounds last October. Possibly related is a new casting call posted on superannuation for actors in an upcoming "futuristic" Starbreeze/EA title called "DART," which according to the post will be set in a "high tech city."Though nothing has been formally announced, sources tell GI.biz that the Syndicate series is behind EA and Starbreeze's mysterious Project RedLime, which was originally referred to as a "classic franchise" for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. While that project was said to be "already deep in development" in February 2008, don't expect to revisit the classic cyberpunk series anytime soon. According to the report, the new Syndicate title won't be released until Starbreeze finishes up its current project based on Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne. Until then, the four gentlemen in the corner giving us the crazy eyes will just have to wait.
EA and Starbreeze to revisit a "classic franchise"
EA and Chronicles of Riddick developer Starbreeze Studios have announced plans to revitalize "[one of EA's] most acclaimed classic franchises" for the Xbox 360 and PS3. While details on which project are slim the codename for the title is Project RedLime, which sounds like it could be a new Gatorade flavor. According to Starbreeze CEO Johan Kristiansson Project RedLime is "already deep in development." Remember when we just said deets were slim? What I mean is they are none. Nothing is known about the mysterious project, but details are promised in the coming months. We're calling it now, Populous. Actually, we hope we're wrong. [via Joystiq]
The Darkness' laggy multiplayer to be patched
We have good news for everyone who already purchased The Darkness (or will be after trying the demo) and have tried to enjoy the game's laggy online multiplayer. Over on The Darkness' official MySpace page, Lord Sonatine has confirmed that they'll be releasing a multiplayer patch sometime in August to fix the lag issues that so many players are experiencing. Lord Sonatine explains that the problem stems from poor host upstream speeds which weren't caught while developing the game due to the studio's uber fast internet hookup. For now, they recommend hosting a match with less players which will help alleviate the bandwidth strain on the host.On behalf of the hundreds of people we've heard complain about laggy The Darkness multiplayer we send a well deserved thank you to Starbreeze Studios for the patch. That is, if the patch will actually fix the lag problem. Stay tuned ...[Via Xbox 360 Rally]
The Darkness demo slithers onto the XBLM (finally)
We were promised it in June, it was then delayed a few times, but it is finally here. Up on the XBLM this morning is a 1.27GB single player The Darkness demo featuring three campaign levels of death, darkness and more death. And if you don't already know, The Darkness has received generally favorable reviews for its campaign although most everyone agrees that its multiplayer is rather lackluster. But the demo is all about the campaign, so if you have yet to get your hands on The Darkness we advise giving the demo a download and experiencing first hand what black eels with teeth protruding from your body actually feels like.
The Darkness Achievements menu shows progress!
When browsing through the Achievements menu in the pause screen in The Darkness, we came across a nifty feature that we saw in GRAW 2: Achievement Progress reports. Any Achievement that requires you to do an action multiple times, it will display a percentage for completion on the bottom. Also, the "collectibles" Achievements show which ones you're missing in numerical order, so that is very handy indeed. Starbreeze knows where it's at.
Final reminder: win The Darkness from X3F
Alright folks, this is it. Today is your last day to enter our Fanboys Fight for The Darkness giveaway. Not to be cocky, but we currently have just over twice as many entries as PS3 Fanboy. If you don't already know, whichever site gets more entries gets an extra copy of The Darkness to give away. So far, it's looking pretty good for us to have that third copy. If you'd like your shot at The Darkness, head over to the official contest page and enter. If you don't, then the Darkness will possess you and give you cool superpowers. Wait ... no ... if you don't, then the Darkness won't possess you and give you cool superpowers*, so hurry up and enter already.*Regardless of whether or not you enter this contest, you more than likely will not be possessed by anything other than jealousy of the winners, or elation, should you turn out to be one those winners.
Reminder: win The Darkeness from X3F
Just a quick reminder for those of you who missed it on Friday (or don't look at our fabulous pinboxes on the right side of the page), we're still running our Fanboys Fight for The Darkness contest. We're having a little competition with PS3 Fanboy, you see. Whichever site gets more entries also gets a third copy of The Darkness to give away, leaving the losing site with a paltry two.It's super easy to enter. All you have to do is go to the official contest post and leave a comment that finishes this sentence: "The 360 version of The Darkness is better than the PS3 version because ... "See? Easy, right? Head over to the contest page and get commenting. We're accepting entries until 11:59 EDT tomorrow. You can read the official rules by clicking here.
Video: First 25 minutes of the Darkness
Over at Gametrailers, diablokiller18 uploaded the first 25 minutes of The Darkness' single player story. Sure, the aspect ratio is wrong, and we're not entirely sure if he's "allowed" to do that, but it builds hype, and if the first review is any indication, the game is going to be a summer blockbuster anyway. Obviously, spoilers and potentially NSFW language can be found, so if you don't want to ruin the experience, we suggest you avert your eyes. Otherwise, embrace The Darkness and enjoy.[Thanks Joshua]
Video: The Darkness? More like Teh Hawtness!!1
The new trailer for The Darkness is sweeping the interwebs, and it's totally awesome. It's got a nice narrative by the Darkness itself. It shows off aspects of the game not yet seen, in a more underworld-type setting. It's making the 25th of June all the more painful a wait. Which is somewhat of a good thing, as the anticipation only makes us more excited. Are you going to devour some hearts later this month?
Achievements come out of the ... er ... Darkness
Xbox 360 Achievements, the sly dogs, got their hands on the Achievement list for Starbreeze Studios' comic book adaption, The Darkness. Upon looking at the 50 Achievements available you can tell that there is a heavy emphasis on the multiplayer aspect of the game which we definitely like to see, although we can't tell if these require to be in ranked games in order to be unlocked, or if they can be performed in public matches. Our favorite from the list, would easily be "Knuckle, Meet Face", for indulging in your first melee kill. What's yours?
Video: Hell as seen in The Darkness
Literary depictions of Hell vary considerably from person to person. Dante described the 9th circle of Hell as a frozen wasteland, made so by the chilling wind created by the Devil's wings. Meanwhile, Hell as depicted in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (truly a masterwork of the 20th century) gives its inhabitants a wide array of personalized punishments from which a sinner must choose. In The Darkness, it seems, Hell and its appearance are completely at the whim of the Devil. In the video above it is depicted as a war zone (reminiscent of WWII) with a blackened sky and withered landscape. We have to admit, listening to the Devil say "this is my dream of you" is pretty damned creepy. Check out another video (featuring Pestilence, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse) after the break.
Confirmed: Riddick remake is really real
Uncovered last week, the remake of Chronicles of Riddick for new-gen consoles has been confirmed for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. As previously revealed, the game will be titled Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. The game will receive a graphical face-lift and will feature a new single-player episode that takes place after the eponymous escape from Butcher Bay. Not only that, but the game will also feature online multiplayer. We must note, as does Joystiq, that the developer's commentary mode that was hinted at last week is not mentioned in the Sierra press release. Here's hoping it makes it into the final game.Assault on Dark Athena is expected to arrive by the end of the year.[Via Joystiq]
Riddick Remake coming from Starbreeze
According to UK magazine MCV, Starbreeze will be revisiting The Chronicles of Riddick after finishing The Darkness. Pro-G reports that the game, reportedly a remake, will be called The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and that the game will feature a longer single-player campaign, online multiplayer support, and a developer's commentary mode. Frankly, we really dig the idea of hearing developer commentary as we play. Perhaps this is a feature we might see in more new-gen titles. When Pro-G contacted Vivendi Games for comment, a representative wouldn't provide any details but noted that an announcement is expected soon.Anyone out there excited to fight their way through a retooled Riddick?[Via Joystiq]
The Darkness demo slated for early June
A bulletin recently posted by the official MySpace page of the upcoming 2K title, The Darkness, has clarified several details about the new release. The juiciest of these tidbits is the revelation that a demo is slated to be released before the game hits store shelves. The bulletin notes that the demo won't be finished in time to make any magazine covers, so it will download only. Currently, the demo is scheduled to arrive approximately 3 weeks before the title debuts on June 25th, so it should be on Marketplace in the first week of June or so.Also mentioned in the bulletin, a new video has been created, though it has yet to escape the evil clutches of the "certain voluntarily regulatory agencies." We can't imagine what sort of agency would prevent the distribution of horrifyingly violent material, but then again we're to desensitized to judge anymore. The bulletin also reveals that those who pre-order the title from EB or GameStop get an exclusive 2K Sports Darkling that wields a baseball bat. Nice.Here's hoping the demo comes out sooner rather than later.[Thanks, Ben Furneaux]
The Darkness trailer creeps out XBLM
The Darkness trailer that was released on the interweb last week is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. So, if screen-door-quality internet streaming video isn't your cup of tea, you can now download it in glorious High Definition. It's definitely worth checking out in HD, too, as the graphical fidelity is top notch in The Darkness. What we're getting at here is that the game looks nice. Well, nice may not be the proper word. Let's see ... gruesome, that's the word! It looks gruesome. Of course, if you're stuck at work and can't download it now, you can always check out the streaming version we posted earlier. Enjoy.Who's planning on picking up The Darkness?
New Darkness trailer emerges
If you can say one thing about Starbreeze Studios, it's that they know how to make a pretty game. Chronicles of Riddick stands as one of the best looking games on the original Xbox, and Starbreeze's latest, The Darkness, looks to do the same for the Xbox 360. GameTrailers has released the latest trailer for the game, featuring some impressive in game footage. Both the environments and the characters show off some serious polish. Everything is sharp, clear, and clean. Even better, the game looks like it might have a story that's worth seeing (the voice acting is top notch, too). Check out the trailer after the break.
20 new screens emerge from The Darkness
2K Games has updated their official website for the comic book based shooter, The Darkness. There, you can find 20 new screenshots of the game. A few of the images we've seen before, but the vast majority of them are new. This game is looking extremely pretty, and given Starbreeze Studios' track record with Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, there's little question that the gameplay will be up to snuff. A neat little factoid for you fanboys out there is that Mike Patton will be lending his voice as the title character. Those of you who have heard "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things" should recognize that he is most definitely capable of providing a voice of something unearthly. With the critical acclaim of Riddick behind it, are you looking forward to The Darkness?[Via Xboxyde]
The Darkness meets The Interview
CVG recently sat down with Starbreeze, developers of The Chronicles of Riddick (and the underrated Enclave), to talk about their upcoming 360 title, The Darkness. The interview covers a number of topics, including why Starbreeze decided to tackle a relatively unknown comic and what sort of pressure they feel after Riddick became a huge success on the original Xbox. The developers admit that putting a shooter out for the 360 in the wake of Gears is "intimidating," but they remain focused on presenting the best game possible. They cover all the basic questions about what it's like to develop for 360 and how involved the comic creators are. Our favorite exchange involves the developers discussing the difficulty of bonding with a hitman, the main character of The Darkness. "The Darkness is quite a dark character - a hitman. Although he suffers from the normal trials and issues that we all do.""Yes, like 'Who do I want kill?'"We can all identify with that, right? Hit the read link for the full interview.[Via Digg]
