Nope, that's not a typo. The last PC RTS game from the now shut down developer Ensemble Studios cost just a thin dime to purchase from Games For Windows Marketplace for the next 20 or so hours. Once more it looks like this is the Complete Edition with the game's two expansion packs (The WarChiefs and the Asian Dynasties) included along with the original game. Any way you slice it this is a massive value.
RTS
Age of Empires III just 10 cents today at Games For Windows Marketplace
Nope, that's not a typo. The last PC RTS game from the now shut down developer Ensemble Studios cost just a thin dime to purchase from Games For Windows Marketplace for the next 20 or so hours. Once more it looks like this is the Complete Edition with the game's two expansion packs (The WarChiefs and the Asian Dynasties) included along with the original game. Any way you slice it this is a massive value.
Company of Heroes Online has free "Loyalty Packs" for owners of previous games
The packs include "Hero Units, Army Items, experience points, and supply points" for use in Company of Heroes Online. It you own the original Company of Heroes, the Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor expansion packs and/or the Company of Heroes Gold Edition you can plug in your retail CD Key in the "Redeem Code" box in Company of Heroes Online's in-game store to gain access to the Loyalty Packs.
Natural Selection 2 closed beta begins Friday; limited to first 10,000 pre-orders
Now Unknown Worlds has announced that the beta version of the game will finally be released on Friday via Steam. Folks who have already ordered the beta test or ordered and have played the alpha version will gain access to the beta build which will include the new alien Fade creature plus new alien structures and more content. Like the alpha test the beta build will also contain the game's mod tools for people to make their own levels for the game. Unknown Worlds will also be updating the beta on a weekly (more or less) basis). Access to the beta test will cost $34.95 but only 10,000 beta seats are secured; after those are set the beta will be made unavailable for purchase. Everyone who purchases the beta version will get free access to the final version of Natural Selection 2 when it is released
Our sister site Joystiq has a new cinematic trailer showing off the new alien (and Nightcrawler-like transported capable) Fade character which you can check out after the jump:
Continue reading Natural Selection 2 closed beta begins Friday; limited to first 10,000 pre-orders
Men of War Assault Squad open beta now on Steam
The open beta has two playable factions from the full upcoming game (the US and Germany) as they battle it out on a number of different maps. In addition to gameplay modes like Assault Zone, Combat and Frontlines, up to four players can check out the new Skirmish gameplay modes on two of the beta's maps. There's no word on how long the open beta will last.
R.U.S.E. DLC coming for free (with nuke cannons) in December
The map pack contains three new maps for the Eugen Systems-developed game set in Holland, Italy and North Africa for 2v2 and 3v3 supported team battles. The pack will also have two new gameplay modes. One is called Total War where the game's time period starts in 1939 with history advancing every 10 minutes. This will cause new units and tech to be unlocked constantly. The other mode is "Nuclear War" where players will be able to build Long Tom cannons with nukes as ammon. Kaboom!
King Arthur The Druids expansion coming by end of 2010
Titled King Arthur: The Druids, the expansion will have a new single player campaign that adds over 30 hours of gameplay. It has you in the role of King Ryons, the leader of the Druids, as he tries to expand his faith to others. As you can see the game will have some fantasy elements such as dragons Pricing for the expansion has yet to be announced.
Bloodline Champions open beta starts December 15; pre-orders launched
There will actually be two pre-order versions of the game. One will cost $29.99 and will contain 16 bloodlines (the game's term for classes. You can also get four additional bloodlines for an extra $9.99. Then there's the $89.99 version which can access all 20 bloodlines, a lifetime VIP membership and a lifetime discount to purchase items from thein-game store. Bloodline Champions will also have a free version with "a limited number of bloodlines available in rotation."
Report: StarCraft II pirated copies downloaded millions of times on BitTorrent sites
While the file itself may be downloaded it's currently unknown how many of these files are actually playable due to the game's requirement that it be signed on to Battle.net to play online. Blizzard recently banned several thousands StarCraft II players for multiplayer cheats and hacks; it's also possible that other gamers could also be banned for playing illegal copies.
Blizzard to greatly expand its office space by the end of 2010
The Orange County Business Journal reports that Blizzard, which already occupies an office complex of 235,000 square feet in Irvine, has signed a lease to occupy two more buildings next to its current offices. The space, which will add another 100,000 square feet to Blizzard's offices, is supposed to be ready to move in by the end of 2010.
It's not currently known what departments of Blizzard will be headed to the new facility but the company, which has about 1,100 team members and is hiring for another 150 employees, is already working on four known projects. Of course it continues to expand and support World of Warcraft and it's developing the first of two planned continuations of StarCraft II. It's also making the long-in-development Diablo III and is also deep into making its unannounced next MMO project. There are rumors of even more games that are in the works as well.
[Via Starcraft.org]
Kings and Castles to get monthly DLC updates; perhaps microtransactions
Specifically, Taylor states that after Kings and Castles is released, the plan is to offer players regular monthly DLC updates Taylor says their plan is to "take the downloadable content model to all new levels.". In fact Taylor says the game might also support microtransactions as well. Taylor also hints that Gas Powered has other games in the works that have yet to be announced.
Bloodline Champions currently schedule for late 2010-early 2011 launch
The game, developed by Stunlock Studios, was picked up for publishing earlier this year by Funcom in a bit of a change for the company's normal MMO game lineup. Today, Funcom stated that the game currently has 150,000 players participating in its closed beta test. While Bloodline Champions is designed to be free-to-play there will be optional paid memberships and an in-game item store
StarCraft II sales in South Korea slower than expected, says report
What happened? The article speculates that developer Blizzard has tried to exercise more control over how StarCraft II is used in pro gaming tournaments and in the broadcast of those tournaments in South Korea compared to the original game. That control, plus the 12 year gap in between the two games, may have kept some original StarCraft players from switching to StarCraft II. However the article adds that a number of Korean pro-players have now begun to switch from StarCraft to StarCraft II in tournaments so perhaps the transition will simply take longer than first expected.
Shogun 2 Total War gets March 15, 2011 release date
The title from developer The Creative Assembly was first announced just before E3 2010 and is the first real sequel to the original Shogun Total War that the developer first released in 2000. There's no word yet if Shogun 2 Total War will have a beta or demo or if the new game will use Steamworks as did the previous two Total War games did.
[Via email press release]
Blizzard launches toll-free phone Battle.net Authenticator
Basically you will now be able to sign into Battle.net while playing World of Warcraft by calling the number, entering your unique PIN and a one-time security code that will show up when you attempt to sign into Battle.net. So far this service is just for US users for World of Warcraft players although support for StarCraft II could be added later
StarCraft II gets small patch update
The patch fixes three specific things. One deals with the Terran Thor unit which will now "prioritize attacking ground combat units over Medivacs" with the new patch. Also, some new game catagories have been added to StarCraft II that "filter Tower Defense and Tug of War custom maps" Finally the patch "fixed a desync that could occur when trying to watch replays that had a dependency on bank files."