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Boss Fight Books: Season 2 covers Metal Gear Solid, Spelunky, and more
The second season of Boss Fight Books will feature in-depth analyses of Metal Gear Solid, Baldur's Gate 2, and other landmark games, independent publisher Gabe Durham announced this week. Boss Fight Books: Season 2 is a collection of six books that each exhaustively cover a single game, with developer interviews and other supplementary material accompanying author insight. Announced works include Spelunky by designer Derek Yu, Baldur's Gate 2 by author Matt Bell, Bible Adventures by Gabe Durham, World of Warcraft by Daniel Lisi, and Metal Gear Solid by Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? creators Ashly and Anthony Burch. The subject of a sixth book will be picked from nominations suggested by Kickstarter backers. Originally pitched as "the 33 1/3 of video games," Boss Fight Books launched last year with a series of six volumes covering Galaga, Jagged Alliance 2, and other titles at length. Actor Ken Baumann penned the first entry in the series, offering a personal look at Nintendo's widely praised SNES RPG Earthbound. Boss Fight Books: Season 2 has already surpassed its Kickstarter funding goal. Books will begin shipping out to backers in May, 2015. [Image: Boss FIght Books]
Dedicated app will stream every episode of The Simpsons, and more news for January 16, 2014
Fans of The Simpsons will be happy to hear they'll soon be able to download an app which will allow them to legally stream all 24 seasons of the show for free. The app will be coming courtesy of the FX network, whose sister site FXX got the exclusive on-demand rights to The Simpsons in a deal worth almost US$1 billion last year. This is huge news for Simpsons fans as there is currently no legal way to stream the series online or via an app. But the app won't be free for everyone. In order to stream The Simpsons through the new app you'll need an FXNOW account, which only about half of US cable providers offer. In more news for the morning of January 16, 2014: Refurbished Late 2013 13-inch MacBook Pros are now for sale in Apple's online store. Customers can save between $200-270 depending on which model they buy. Baldur's Gate II is now available for download in the App Store. The game is one of the most popular RPGs of all time. Features of the game include the final chapter of the Bhaalspawn saga, easy multiplayer gaming and The Black Pits 2: Gladiators of Thay saga. Baldur's Gate II is $14.99. Apple has released a small update to the WWDC app. Version 1.0.3 addresses an issue where developers were unable to log in to watch videos from the 2013 WWDC. WWDC is a free download. The US Patent and Trademark Office has published an Apple patent application for a "Method to send payment data through various air interfaces without compromising user data" -- essentially a patent that details a backend strategy for enabling contactless payment systems for mobile devices. Does this mean an iWallet is coming soon? Who knows. Apple has thousands of patents for products and tech that never see the light of day.
Project Eternity now Pillars of Eternity, Obsidian debuts trailer to celebrate
As a name, "Project Eternity" always felt like a high-fantasy placeholder - which it apparently was, as Obsidian's crowdfunded roleplaying epic will henceforth be known as "Pillars of Eternity." While Obsidian offers no explanation for the new name, nor how these pillars grew to such a ripe old age, it has issued the above trailer. It describes the clip as a teaser, and while technically that might be true, there's far more footage of actual in-game content here than we normally see. Combat, spellcasting, biologically improbable huge spiders; it's all here, and the game's aesthetics look like a modern take on the Western roleplaying games of the late 1990s, typified by such classics as Baldur's Gate 2. Obviously that's by design as Obsidian's website is currently running a poll asking fans which late-90s RPG they'd most like Pillars of Eternity to resemble. Additionally, if you happen to have put down some cash to fund Pillars of Eternity, you can now pay a visit to the game's backer's portal. This allows you to make further donations to the project, earmark your donations for specific purposes and select which backers' rewards you'd like to receive in exchange for your optimistic contribution.
Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition encounters a release date
Come November 15, Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition will make its debut on the PC, Mac, iOS and Android platforms. That date appeared this morning on the game's official website, where developer Overhaul Games has also added a pre-order link. Overhaul Games seems to be adding many of the same features found in its previous Baldur's Gate remake to Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition (higher-definition graphics, simple multiplayer options, new characters), though this game has a $25 price tag. On the other hand, Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition should offer more content than its predecessor, as it includes both Baldur's Gate 2 and the Shadows of Amn expansion pack.
Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition back on track for PC, Mac
Overhaul Games' rejuvenated Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition will be available for PC and Macs on November 15, the company announced today on its official forums. Android tablet and iPad versions "will follow soon afterwards." Meanwhile, the Mac and PC versions are already available for pre-purchase at $24.95 through Beamdog. Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition includes recreations of the original Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and its expansion pack, Throne of Bhaal. Additionally, four new characters (and their associated quests) are included in the PC/Mac releases, but iOS/Android users will need to download this content as DLC. Whether this DLC comes at a price, however, was not specified, but we're checking. Update: Beamdog's Trent Oster has informed us that these four characters will be paid DLC on the mobile versions, but that the iOS/Android releases of the game will have a lower cost of entry as a result.
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition crit-hits Mac on Feb. 22
Mac users eager to get their D20-rolling hands on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition will be able to do so very soon. The upgraded version of the turn-based classic will make the journey to Mac on February 22. The Mac version is available for pre-loading now via Beamdog, carrying the same $20 price as its PC counterpart.If you're curious as to how well the game holds up, check out our Deja Review.
GOG shows you how to 'enhance' old Baldur's Gate games
Following the delay of Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, GOG.com swooped in with a guide for how to make your own enhanced versions of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2. While the dow noted the delay to the update from Trent Oster's Beamdog, the distributor saw that as an opportunity to post the step-by-step guide to enhance the games' graphics. Credit goes to GOG.com forum user GoJays2025 for putting the guide together.For the record, the enhancement requires six mods, and both of the games. It's convenient, then, that GOG.com has them on sale at $3.49 each. Meanwhile, Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition is scheduled to hit November 30.
Dungeons & Dragons games on sale through GOG
Look, playing actual Dungeons & Dragons takes a lot of time and effort. First you have to find a group of people you don't hate to play with, and then you have to spend days constructing a campaign for them to adventure through. And then, when you finally get down to playing, that one guy decides to be a maverick a pull some crazy stunt that breaks the encounter.Thankfully, there are alternatives for people who want the lore without actually having to play Dungeons & Dragons, and said alternatives just happen to be on sale at GOG for the next six days. Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga, Baldur's Gate 2 Complete, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, Icewind Dale Complete, Icewind Dale 2 Complete, Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone and Planescape: Torment are all available for less than five bucks, or in one big bundle for $30.01.
Baldur's Gate for iPad will be under $10, include multiplayer
Good news on that new version of Baldur's Gate that was just announced. Not only is it going to be released for under $10, but it'll also include multiplayer of some kind. What kind? Details are still fuzzy, but developer Beamdog says not only would it be crazy to sell it for more than $10, but there will also be some way to play with your friends, included. Here's hoping that's some real-time co-op gameplay, and not just competitive leaderboards. Though we won't turn down competitive leaderboards either, for that matter. And there's even more than that: The game's sequel, Baldur's Gate 2, is also coming to iPad even later on in the year. It's been a long time since we've seen these games, but if you're ready for a return to the D&D setting of the Baldur's Gate series (or are just interested in visiting for the first time), you're in for a treat.
Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition also in the works (plus bonus BG:EE details)
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition hasn't even been an official thing for 24 hours, and yet its sequel is already in the plan, according to the above tweet from Beamdog's creative director Trent Oster. Beyond the fact that it exists, precise information regarding Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition is even slimmer than what we've got on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.What we do know, however, is that both games will also include their respective expansion packs: Tales of the Sword Coast for Baldur's Gate and Throne of Bhaal for Baldur's Gate 2. The team at Overhaul Games is correcting issues with Baldur's Gate's multiplayer, and there may even be a chance that your original save file could still work.
Baldur's Gate teaser site gets a countdown and a soundtrack
BaldursGate.com just appeared back at the end of February with naught more than a poem and a rumor, and it's lain dormant since then -- until now. Just this evening, a countdown has appeared on the site, along with a tune (more on that in a second), both that seem to be hinting at a big reveal coming up in just about twelve hours from now, at 11am Pacific on Thursday morning. The music, which is reminiscent of the theme from the legendary singleplayer RPG (and sounds great) is indeed linked to a file on Beamdog.com, which is former BioWare designer Trent Oster's website, and has previously published an enhanced remake of BioWare's MDK2. Considering that the sound file is actually located at "files/overhaul/theme.mp3," it's probably a good bet that the announcement is some sort of Baldur's Gate remake from Oster's studio, Overhaul Games. For exactly what platforms however (PC, iOS, or even consoles), we'll have to wait until the official word arrives. The good news is that there's not too long to wait. If you hurry, you can listen to the minute-long theme music about 720 more times before the big reveal arrives.
The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle
From talking with Richard Bartle, reading his blog, and looking over several interviews that he's done, I've concluded that the co-creator of the first multi-user dungeon is, in many ways, a card. A smart one, a perceptive one, and an outspoken one, but a card nonetheless. I say this in a good way, of course, because for all of the verbal pussyfooting that often goes on in this industry, it's refreshing to hear the voice of someone who knows what he thinks and isn't afraid to say it, even if it goes against the grain. Dr. Bartle's name often comes up in discussions of both MUDs and MMORPGs. His designs, work and scholarship have influenced MMOs in substantial ways, and it's possible that if our children end up learning about massively multiplayer RPGs in school some day, Bartle's name will be mentioned once or twice. While he's sometimes polarizing, it's hard to deny the incredible work he's done, which is why I was excited to get to talk to him about this month's subject on the Game Archaeologist. So hit that pesky jump and let's pick the mind of a guy who really earned the right to post "FIRST!!1!"
Baldur's Gate 2 Complete now available from GOG
If you've been picking up the major releases from Good Old Games over the last couple of months, you're probably set in terms of gaming for the next ... forever. Baldur's Gate, Master of Orion, Neverwinter Nights Diamond, Icewind Dale 2, and the rest add up to approximately way too many hours of gameplay. And now GOG has announced the final game from its Atari-Hasbro deal: Baldur's Gate 2 Complete, containing both Baldur's Gate 2 and the expansion, Throne of Bhaal. It's available DRM-free for ten bucks, on PC only. Mac owners are free to live productive lives -- unless they boot into Windows.
