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Feral to produce Mac-native version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Feral has announced that it will release a Mac-native version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Already available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, the Mac-compatible version will be released this winter. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to the original Deus Ex, released in 2000 for the Mac and other platforms. The game has already received widespread critical acclaim, so its release for the Mac will come as welcome news for series fans who haven't bought it for one of the consoles (or anyone like me who's recently had their console die on them -- to the last I will grapple with thee, Sony). Feral hasn't announced a specific release date or price for the Mac version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but it'll most likely be priced comparably to the PC version. It's a fair bet the game will require some hefty hardware to run it, however; don't be surprised when your old school MacBook's Intel GMA 950 doesn't make the list of supported graphics processors.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution coming to Mac this 'winter 2011/12'
In the future, the world is split between augmented superhumans and boring, meat-based humans. In the present, our technological distinctions are a little more pedestrian: Xbox or PS3? Mac or PC? While the former has already been addressed by the multiplatform release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the latter is a decidedly PC-only affair. But like the original Deus Ex, which was ported to Mac OS shortly after its release, Human Revolution will enjoy a Mac OS release courtesy of the good people at Feral Interactive sometime this "winter 2011/12." Specifics on pricing, date, and system requirements will be announced "later this year." Eidos Montreal general manager Stephane D'Astous says, "We are delighted to partner with Feral, a leading expert in development for the Mac platform, to bring the acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution to Mac players." With two million units already shipped, a Mac release should help Eidos Montreal's surprise hit find an even larger audience.
Dead Island shambles up UK charts, Space Marine drops in second
Love it or leave it zombie RPG Dead Island has consumed the top of the UK sales chart in its debut week. Another premiere expounded righteous force for the Emperor: Warhammer 40K: Space Marine. Chart-Track notes the PC sales for Space Marine were actually higher than Dead Island, which it believes is due to the former not being available on UK's Steam at launch. Driver: San Francisco shifted down into third in its second week on the charts, while Resistance 3 invaded the UK, nabbing fourth place in its first week available. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, currently in fifth, is doing its part to suppress the Zumba Fitness conspiracy, by keeping the dance fitness simulator in sixth. Other notable premieres were 3DS's Star Fox 64 3D and Kinect's Rise of Nightmares in ninth and a brisk 37th place, respectively. Check out the drying paint of a fresh UK top ten after the break.
The Joystiq Show - 007: Digitally Augmented Edition
Deus Ex: Human Revolution kicked-off the season of big releases a couple of weeks ago, and along with it came no shortage of controversy. GameStop pulled PC copies and ended up giving purchasers a $50 voucher after removing the included OnLive codes. An interview with Shawn Freeman provides a look at one side of that story, and some insight into GameStop's future digital plans. The retail situation was not the only source of controversy though. While Human Revolution was widely praised for the many elements it got right, there were a few divisive ones that couldn't be overlooked. Plenty of frustrations are shared in this week's roundtable, but remember, it comes from a place of love -- mostly. Part 1 (3:02) - Interview: Shawn Freeman, SVP and General Manager, Digital Business - GameStop Part 2 (20:39) - Roundtable: Deus Ex: Human Revolution Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes [Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Host: Richard Mitchell (@SenseiRAM) Guests: Shawn Freeman, Xav de Matos (@xav), Ben Kuchera (@BenKuchera) and Tom Chick Producer: Jonathan Downin (@jonathandownin - Game Thing Daily) Production Coordinator: Richard Mitchell Music: Trash80 and Broke For Free. See the full guest list, and stream the show, after the break.
The Lawbringer: WoW in fiction and the GameStop debacle
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play? Greetings, Lawbringer readers. We've got two very interesting emails this week from readers that are about as diverse as they come. First, we'll be looking at using World of Warcraft in fiction and whether or not that's a good idea, despite its potential fair use classification. Second, a reader wants to know what happened with GameStop over the past few weeks concerning Deus Ex: Human Revolution and whether it could happen in relation to Blizzard. Your emails are awesome, and you should send me more of them. "But how?" cries the inquisitive reader. Send your emails to mat@wowinsider.com with something Lawbringer in the title, and I will try my best to answer the question in the column. If you've got a question about the legal nature of the video game industry, MMOs, etc., ask away.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution ships 2 million units
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has shipped 2 million copies across North America, Europe and PAL territories, Square Enix announced today. Although that's "shipped" and not "sold," the game is certainly no slouch in that department, having topped the UK charts since launch and the US sales chart for August. Next up for Human Revolution is the "Missing Link" DLC, available next month. Square Enix is also certainly augmenting its development staff at Eidos Montreal to get more content out and fast-track that inevitable sequel.
August NPD: Annual sales drop again, Deus Ex augments the top spot
We're starting to see a trend develop -- a super, super disheartening trend. According to the NPD group, total sales in the U.S. gaming industry dropped 23 percent year-over-year during the month of August; almost exactly the same amount sales declined in July. NPD's Anita Frazier explained, "the bulk of the decline can be attributed to the shift of the annual Madden release from August to September." (The NPD actually counts August 30 as part of September, which seems pretty zany.) Gaming hardware saw an increase in sales over July, largely fueled by the price cuts endured by the 3DS and PlayStation 3. According to a memo sent out by Nintendo following the NPD report, the 3DS discount moved 185,000 consoles from August 12 through the end of the month. This wave managed to increase dollar and unit sales of handheld hardware to a year-over-year increase over August 2010, which bucks the downward trend followed by the rest of the industry. Hooray for discrete electronics! Surprisingly, the top-selling game for August was Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which was only on store shelves for five days during the NPD's tracking window. The group doesn't expect the augmented title to rollover its reign into September, instead expecting Madden to reign supreme. Check out August's Top 10 software performers after the jump!
Deus Ex 'Missing Link' DLC gets a trailer, more details
Square Enix has shed some more light on Adam Jensen's retroactively mysterious disappearance covered in the upcoming "The Missing Link" downloadable content for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. As previously revealed, the DLC fills in a three-day chunk of Deus Ex, during which Jensen loses the use of his cybernetic augmentations. We assumed the DLC would include new characters and story, but today Square officially revealed a much more interesting tidbit: The ability to "rebuild Adam's augmentation set." In other words, players will be able to reapply those wasted Praxis points on more useful augmentations. We're guessing Jensen is still stuck with his most useless augmentation, however, that being his permanent sunglasses. "The Missing Link" will arrive next month.
Deus Ex 'Augmented Edition' Blu-ray soundtrack issue solution in 'final stages'
Purchasers of Deus Ex: Human Revolution's "Augmented Edition" on PS3 were supposed to receive a DVD with the game's soundtrack on it. One slight problem: the disc that says "DVD" on it is actually a Blu-ray disc, meaning that consumers who want to transfer the soundtrack to their computer's media library need a Blu-ray drive on their computers, which isn't exactly a standard feature. We contacted Square Enix, which has been aware of the situation since the game's launch, about the current status of a fix. The company told us at the end of August that it was working on a solution. Today it tells us that it's in the "final stages" of figuring something out. If there were only a simple, technological way to take music, already awkwardly confined to physical discs, and make it easily available on the internet. It's a conundrum that we're glad to hear Square is taking weeks to figure out.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution's 'Missing Link' DLC due in October
Though it's being outpaced by unglamorous leaks, the Deus Ex DLC drip-feed continues with a few more details on Human Revolution's upcoming add-on. Square Enix has announced that "The Missing Link" will be available in October, bringing with it new environments, characters and some narrative embellishment. As we've already reported, the DLC will address a temporal gap in the storyline that has been made mysterious retroactively by the announcement of this DLC. From now on, become suspicious every time a protagonist takes a nap and the screen blacks out.
Video: If Deus Ex were even further ahead of its time
This isn't quite the Deus Ex: Didn't Have a Subtitle remake we had in mind.
Deus Ex maintains UK top spot, Driver races into second
Deus Ex isn't quite ready to give up the glory it earned for knocking Zumba Fitness off the top of the UK All Formats sales chart last week. The conspiratorial RPG may have experienced a 46 percent reduction in sales from its debut week, but it still had enough to keep Driver: San Francisco in second place for its premiere week. The usual cast make up the rest of the top ten, including Zumba Fitness dancing in third (take that!), with the exception of Madden NFL 12, which found a nook in sixth. The only other new title to enter the top 40 last week was Bodycount, which despite serious faults, found a home in 36th place. Find the UK top ten after the break.
Deus Ex website RSS reveals 'Missing Link' DLC details
While Square Enix left clues hinting at DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, we doubt the publishers expected its plans to be revealed quite this easily. After following a convoluted breadcrumb trail of images and websites hinting at the truth, eager fans have uncovered the official details ... right in the Deus Ex website's RSS. Opening up the DeusEx.com RSS XML reveals that the DLC will indeed be titled "Missing Link" and will take place during a three day-period in which protagonist Adam Jensen "vanishes," after which he must escape from a freighter. The clincher: His augmentations have been disabled. "Hey," you're undoubtedly thinking, "wouldn't that mean his cybernetic arms would just stop working?" You're right, of course, but we're talking about the same game that allows players to knock a guard unconscious without being noticed by the other guard standing two feet away. Some suspension of disbelief is probably in order. Assuming the RSS is correct, the DLC will be officially revealed on September 8. We've included the RSS description after the break. Be warned that it contains some minor spoilers.
Report: Square Enix to expand Eidos Montreal, add 350 employees by 2015
Do you still find it difficult to reconcile the critically adored, Western-developed Deus Ex: Human Revolution with the Square Enix logo on the game's packaging? You'll get over it in the coming years, as La Presse Affaires reports that Eidos Montréal aims to double in size and accomodate 350 additional employees by 2015. Though Square Enix has yet to officially announce such plans, the report states that a tentative agreement has been made between the Japanese company (which acquired Eidos in 2009) and financier Investissement Québec. The deal, when solidified, will grant tax credits and a $2 million subsidy to Square. Earlier reports suggested that Square would establish a new studio once talks with several Canadian provincial governments had concluded. According to La Presse, it has opted to boost its existing Eidos location from 330 to 680 employees over the next four years. Square will reportedly increase staff count by 100 toward the end of 2012. This news bodes well for Eidos Montréal's two current projects, particularly for Th14f. One of those 680 employees should be able to come up with a proper logo. [Thanks, Phillipe.]
Square Enix responds to Deus Ex racial controversy
If you've yet to meet Letitia in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, then go ahead and watch the above clip. Discussed by Time's Evan Narcisse in this article, Letitia has come across as a racist character to some (including Evan). According to a statement from Square Enix, that was never the intention. "Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fictional story which reflects the diversity of the world's future population by featuring characters of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds," the statement reads. "While these characters are meant to portray people living in the year 2027, it has never been our intention to represent any particular ethnic group in a negative light." Whether or not Letitia was created to paint "any particular ethnic group in a negative light," many feel she does.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution conspiracy hints at new content
A code on the Deus Ex: Human Revolution title screen was actually part of a deeper conspiracy that, if followed to its conclusion, led to the image we've posted above. The prevailing theory about what it means, in combination with the day and time stamp in the bottom left of the image, is that Square Enix could announce DLC for its hit game as soon as next week. The image was discovered after internet sleuths followed the code to GPS coordinates for Uluru rock in Australia. Combined with a password of "11m13clinic" and some Twitter help from the game's producers, the clues eventually unlocked the image (which is probably a clue in itself). If you want the full breakdown, head over to VG247.
Deus ex machina: Zumba pushed out of UK sales top spot
The ten long weeks of Zumba Fitness and its representative armpits ruling the UK charts is at an end. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has augmented chart news in its debut week, leaping straight to number one. Chart-Track notes that, in just two days of sales, the latest Deus Ex came just 26,000 units short of outperforming Deus Ex: Invisible War's seven years' worth of lifetime sales. Zumba Fitness still managed to take second place. But, third place went to another newbie, Rugby World Cup 2011, which was only 400 sales short of overtaking Zumba. Disney's Lego Pirates of the Caribbean kept on sailing strong in fourth, with Call of Duty: Black Ops ascending thirteen spots into fifth, thanks to pricing deals and the launch of the Rezurrection map pack. Head past the break for the UK top ten.
Adam Jensen really wants his mirror replaced
If you've spent a considerable amount of time with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, then you know protagonist Adam Jensen is in need of a new bathroom mirror. His landlord isn't really making much of an effort to replace it, though. This, as you can imagine, upsets Mr. Jensen just a tad.
The Eyeborg Documentary compares real life augments with Deus Ex biotech
Eidos Montreal commissioned a cyborg to document real-world advancements in biotechnology that could serve as precursors to the gadgets used in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, titled The Eyeborg Documentary. Why "Eyeborg," you ask? Filmmaker Rob Spence has a prosthetic eye -- but this isn't your grandma's prosthesis. Spence's is a wireless camera that transmits footage to a receiver, with no connection to his optic nerve, not to mention it looks pretty cool when he reveals it from under his eye patch. Spence documents the height of artificial-limb and augmented-reality advancement, following a man with a computer chip behind his retina, a health-bar-encoded firefighting helmet, two men's bionic arms and three bionic legs, all in a very viewable 12-minute timeframe. We may not have machines guns in our forearms yet, but this stuff is still spectacular.
GameStop giving customers a $50 gift card, other perks for Human Revolution flub
GameStop is offering a "$50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase" offer to those who bought the standard PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from the mega retailer. After what the company pulled over the past few days, including the OnLive coupons from PC boxes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and eventually the entire game itself, we hope it's not pulling our leg now, too. GameStop associates also just received this email, so please practice a bit of augmented patience, as they catch up with the speed of the internet and await procedures from corporate. Anyone who ordered the PC version of Human Revolution through GameStop simply needs to bring in the email and their store receipt or order confirmation for their consolation prizes. [Thanks, Greyline]
