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Space strategy sequel StarDrive 2 set for September
StarDrive developer Zero Sum Games announced the sequel to the 4X space strategy game. Due out in September, StarDrive 2 places players in a procedurally-generated galaxy with real-time battles. Players also lead an alien race from planet to planet, researching technologies and populating worlds and take on AI opponents in a battle arena mode. The game will also include Steam Workshop support, adding ease of use to the series' current mod support. StarDrive 2 will launch on PC, Mac and Linux on Steam and other retail channels for $29.99. Those that played the original StarDrive will receive a 33 percent loyalty discount on the sequel. [Image: Iceberg Interactive]
Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity 'looking good' for winter 2014
Pillars of Eternity can now be expected by winter 2014, Obsidian revealed in a forum update. The developer announced its delay last week following its initial projected launch of spring 2014. It was delayed due to the increasing scope of the game following its generous funding. The game formerly known as Project Eternity was funded on Kickstarter in October 2012, earning a whopping $3.9 million. Junior Producer Rose Gomez's forum post this week noted that the developer will not pursue any more stretch goals for the project, which still accepts pledges on the game's site. Project lead Josh Sawyer also noted last week that the developer wasn't planning on announcing a specific release window after its delay, saying that because Obsidian isn't a publisher, it didn't "have to." He added that "virtually nothing good comes from us releasing a date before we're very confident in it." [Image: Obsidian Entertainment]
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords heading to Europe, Australasia this spring
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords will launch this spring on PSN, Namco Bandai (soon to be Bandai Namco) announced today. The launch window for the free-to-play fighting game is for Europe and Australasian regions; no word on a North American release date as of yet. It was originally expected in winter 2013. Meanwhile, Japanese players should be able to check out the game today. SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is exclusive to PS3, and features weapon forging and discovery as well as elemental combat. According to the trailer that accompanied the announcement, players will "gather allies from around the world" by using friends' characters for support in their battles. Other than that, it is entirely a single-player experience.
Slender: The Arrival stalks Steam this month
Blue Isle Studios' spooky tall-guy simulator Slender: The Arrival will turn up on Steam by the end of the month, according to a newsletter floating around the developer's official forums and Facebook page. The newsletter states that the game will drop by "this Halloween," and that the Steam version will include "new content," though no further specifics were given. More information is expected later this week, so sayeth a developer post on the forums. Slender: The Arrival originally launched for Mac and PC back in March of this year, and is currently available in non-Steam flavors starting at $10.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle coming to NA, EU in 2014
Hyper-stylized, multi-generational 3D manga fighter Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will bring equestrian combat and psychically-summoned spirits to North America and Europe sometime in 2014, Namco Bandai announced at its pre-TGS showcase earlier this week. The PlayStation 3-exclusive fighter was released in Japan near the end of last month and has "reached 500,000 sales," according to producer Noriaki Niino (left). When it does finally launch in western territories, the localized version of All Star Battle will be on par with the Japanese version's character balance: "We are still making character adjustments – even in the Japanese version – based on the feedback that we're getting from fans," CyberConnect2 president and CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama (right) told us, when asked about the potential for future balance updates. "All of that feedback will be implemented in the overseas [version]."
The Crew aims for Q1 2014 release
Buckle up, racing fans: You might be sitting in the driver's seat of The Crew early next year. In an investor's call, Ubisoft said that it's aiming for a Q1 2014 release for the persistent online racing world. Production Director Pete Young said in a recent blog post that the studio is striving to connect players through this racing title: "We're making it extremely easy to see the players that are around you, quickly group up with those guys, make new friends and take on missions cooperatively." The Crew will be available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. If it's got you itching for more info, check out Ubisoft's guided gameplay video from last month after the break.
Routine coming in 2013, Oculus Rift support and scary robots in tow
Lunar Software has finally given us terrestrials our first glimpse into the in-game world of Routine, its moon-based first-person horror game that originally debuted at last year's Gamescom. Aside from giving us a healthy dose of the game's neo-80s post-VHS visual aesthetic, this trailer also reveals that the game will be released on Steam at some point in 2013, and that it'll support the Oculus Rift. Look, we're going to be honest: We're not entirely sure we could handle something like this in conjunction with the Oculus Rift. We like space and suspense and atmospheric isolation as much as the next group of touched individuals, but we also enjoy how consistently dry our pants are at all times.
Runner 2 Vita release window narrowed to 'between mid-July and mid-August'
The PlayStation Vita version of Gaijin Games' Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien will block, spring, slide and/or jump its way onto PlayStation Network sometime between mid-July and mid-August, Gaijin Games designer Danny Johnson told us during this week's E3 in Los Angeles. "At least that's the plan," Johnson said. "The version we have here [at E3] has been in development for a couple weeks – less than a month I think – so it's something that's fairly recent. We don't have the kinks quite worked out yet, but we wanted to show people that it's a thing." We spent time with the demo on-hand, and found that it was identical to the console/PC versions, save for some framerate issues on certain levels. Johnson added that the framerate problem is one of the kinks Gaijin has yet to work out, but that the release build will be on par with the existing versions on terms of performance.
Dark Souls 2 takes over Los Angeles building, coming March 2014
An enormous sign on the LA Convention Center, where E3 will be held starting June 11, pairs Dark Souls 2 with a March 2014 release window. Two separate photos of the sign were posted to the web by All Games Beta and Twitter user VaatiVidya. While it seems the writing is on the wall, we've contacted Namco Bandai to confirm the game's March 2014 release window.
Flipnote Studio 3D hits NA eShop this August
Flipnote Studio 3D, Nintendo's free, three-dimensional animation software for the 3DS, will be available on the North American eShop sometime in "early August," according to the software's newly launched official English website. As is the case with Flipnote Studio 3D's Japanese counterpart, users will be able to export their animations to one of two networks: Flipnote Gallery: Friends and/or Flipnote Gallery: World. Usage of the Friends network is free and allows the user to share their animations with their 3DS buddies, whereas the World network is a paid service accessed by a global community of users. The subscription fee is $0.99 for 30 days of access. Additionally, the app comes with a free 30 trial period, and the World network is freely available every day between 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. local 3DS time. The user can also earn Coin Points and Collector Points by submitting and evaluating Flipnotes, which can lead to free months of playtime if they're awesome enough at either activity.
Rise of the Triad out this summer, here's what you'll need to play it
The release window for Apogee Software and Interceptor Entertainment's revival of Rise of the Triad has been narrowed from sometime this year to sometime this summer, it was announced on the game's official blog today. Also unveiled, in addition to the homage cover artwork above, was the fact that RotT will be available simultaneously on Steam, GOG and Green Man Gaming upon launch. In order to run it, first-person nostalgia aficionados will need a minimum of two gigs of RAM and either a Radeon HD 3870 or an NVIDIA 8800 GT, plugged into the same motherboard as a 2.4 GHz dual-core processor running Windows XP or newer. For the best experience, double the RAM, bump up to the 64-bit version of Windows 7 and drop in a Radeon HD 6950 or GeForce GTX 560.
Kingdom Under Fire II gets 2013 launch window in SE Asia
It's been a couple of years since we last heard about Kingdom Under Fire II, so it's good to check in with one of our neighborly MMOs to see... oh hey! You're launching! What are the odds that this would happen during a completely random house call? OK, so the good news is that Kingdom Under Fire II has been scheduled for a 2013 launch. Unfortunately, the bad news is that so far this release will be limited to Southeast Asia at first. Apparently developer BlueSide wants to see the game in action in that region first before rolling it out elsewhere. The title is a combination of action-RPG and real-time strategy, promises battlefields with "thousands" of soldiers fighting at once, and will be launching on the PC and PlayStation 3. [Thanks to Steparu for the tip!]
River City Ransom sequel announced, crowdfunding to begin this summer
Indie development house Combit Studios has announced that it will be partnering with River City Ransom EX developer Million to create "an official, worldwide follow-up to River City Ransom." The game will be available for Windows in August of 2014, according to Combit's official blog.Further information will be released at a later date, leading up to an eventual crowd-funding drive scheduled for sometime this summer. In the meantime, an official placeholder website will gladly add your email address to its mailing list.Combit Studios' project appears to be completely unrelated to that other official sequel to River City Ransom that was announced back in 2011. Developed by Miracle Kidz and originally slated to launch on WiiWare sometime last year, River City Ransom 2 was shelved in favor of original projects.
State of Decay gets new trailer, coming to XBLA in June
Undead Labs has announced a June release window for State of Decay on Xbox Live Arcade. The game, formerly known as Class3, features a whole mess of zombies and survival horror action. While State of Decay will come to PC in addition to XBLA, the release window announcement from Undead Labs only specifically notes that the Xbox 360 version will launch in June.The developer recently unveiled a new trailer for the game as well, which we've embedded above.
The Walking Dead season two peers through a fall 2014 release window [Update: It was fogged, coming 2013]
Update: Telltale Games confirmed to Joystiq that The Walking Dead season two is coming in fall 2013, citing a statement to Game Informer: "The current estimated release window for season two of The Walking Dead is for fall of 'this' year (2013), and not 'next' year (2014) as has been reported after a recent interview. We apologize for any confusion and thank you and all of our fans for your continued excitement for Telltale's series."The horde is coming!Original Story: These ain't no 28 Days Later zombies: Telltale's The Walking Dead season two has a tentative launch window of fall 2014, studio CEO Dan Connors tells Eurogamer. Season one concluded in November 2012, and recently writer Gary Whitta outed a mysterious "something extra" coming before season two hits."He's been sacked. We threw him into the zombie pit," Connors jokes. But really, "We'll probably have something to announce fairly soon about what we're going to do. It'll be different."Whether something "different" is a line of trading cards, collectible stuffed animals or a Broadway show is still up in the air. Connors says he's a fan of the PS4 but he can't announce The Walking Dead on Sony's console yet. Executive Producer Kevin Boyle tells IGN that Telltale is looking forward to trying its formula on next-gen platforms."Season two will read what you did in season one and that will tailor some of the things that happened in season two," Boyle says. "They'll be a lot more social and in-between episode features for season two that definitely exploit what the new platforms have to offer. We're super-excited about PlayStation 4 and what all the other big console manufacturers have in store."There's no word if saves from PS3 games will transfer to the PS4.
Age of Wushu delays launch to 'spring 2013'
Time to put on your lemon faces, folks, because this news is going to make you pucker up: Snail Games has announced that Age of Wushu is delaying its launch. The release, which was originally scheduled for February 1st, has now been moved to a more nebulous "spring 2013." The studio says that the delay is the result of testing: "Based on player feedback and data from the second closed beta, we have decided to revise the launch timing to spring 2013. This will allow us to better address community feedback and continue to update the game. When a more precise update on the release timing is available, we will share that information."
Project X Zone crashes US, Europe, Australasia this summer
Project X Zone is slated to hit the 3DS in North America, Europe and Australasia this summer, Namco Bandai announced.Project X Zone launched in Japan in October with more than 50 playable characters of 29 franchises from Namco Bandai, Sega and Capcom. The game has more than 200 characters total, including protagonists, enemies and those in cutscenes only. In September, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada tweeted that he would push Namco Bandai to localize Project X Zone, and it seems his confidence wasn't for naught.To supplement the good news, check out a gallery of fresh Project X Zone images right here.%Gallery-176869%
CD Projekt RED talks tentative Cyberpunk 2077 launch window, 'other project' in secret message
If there are two things we love around the Joystiq office, it's clandestine communication techniques and robot ladies with big praying mantis-style arm blades. Obviously, we were chuffed to bits when Cyberpunk 2077's ultra-stylized teaser trailer gave us a big ol' dose of the latter, but it turns the former was in there as well, waiting to chuff our bits even further.A single frame at the end of the trailer contains a message from developer CD Projekt, which states that the game's release date is "currently scheduled way off in 2015, but in truth the delivery date is more like 'when it's done,'" which was the "date" officially given in the trailer.The missive goes on to say that CD Projekt's "other project," which is also a "fully open-world game with an intense story," is much closer to completion and that further information will be delivered on Tuesday, February 5. Here's hoping said information is contained within a floppy disk buried in a secret location that can only be discovered by dialing into a BBS, whose number can only be found by decoding the hexagon string written in Morse code on a scroll strapped to the leg of a pigeon. But which pigeon?!
Microsoft Surface Pro launching in January starting at $899
Microsoft has pinpointed the price points for both versions of its forthcoming Surface Pro tablet, which is set to release sometime in January. When the new year does roll around, the 64GB Surface Pro will cost $899, while its 128GB twin will go for $999.Both versions come with a stylus and otherwise identical internal specifications, although neither SKU includes a Touch/Type Cover, which costs an extra $120/$130 respectively. What your money does net you, however, is a higher-resolution screen than the Surface Pro's baby sister, a Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics thingy, 4 gigs of RAM and (most importantly) the full version of Windows 8 Pro.Due to its upgraded internal doohickies, the Pro's battery life is expected to be around half of that enjoyed by the Surface RT, which translates to a little over four and one-half hours of doin' stuff, according to our friends at Engadget. Which, should be plenty of time for the person you're sitting next to on that business flight to ask what kind of iPad you're using.
Zynga's online gambling initiative to launch in the UK next year
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus is making good on his promise to expand the social/mobile developer's grasp into the world of online gambling in the first half of 2013, according to Gamasutra. As expected, the roll-out will take place in Not America -- the United Kingdom, specifically.Facilitating this expansion is bwin.party Digital Entertainment, an existing online gambling operator that has partnered with Zynga to aid in its transition from fake addictions to the real deal. Zynga's first title in this new space will be a slots simulator based on the Farmville franchise, which may explain why the Zynga Slots team was the only one to survive this week's layoffs at Zynga Austin.
