PC Game News

Forbes posted an interview with Notch and Jakob Porser, of Mojang, on Friday. The interview begins with the basics and background of Minecraft and also discusses Scrolls a bit.

Here is one of the questions on Scrolls:

"Can you tell us a little about what we can expect from Scrolls?

Jakob: Scrolls will be about strategy from start to finish. The player starts out with a collection of magical scrolls. From this collection they must design a deck to take to battle against other players. As they win matches they gain points which can be used to acquire new scrolls to improve their deck or maybe create a new one. As they do battle they must use their deck to outmaneuver their opponent. Summon minions to fight for them, blasting their opponent with spells, have siege weapons wreck havoc with the enemy defenses, all while managing the resources needed to play the scrolls in their possession

Scrolls is a very dynamic game and with a steady addition of new scrolls inserted over time, the players will have to be on their toes in order to be successful."

Read the full interview on Forbes.

Paradox Interactive and NeoCore Games today announced the release of King Arthur: Fallen Champions, the standalone game that bridges the storyline between King Arthur and King Arthur II. To celebrate the release, the King Arthur Collection is 75% off on Steam.

"King Arthur: Fallen Champions relies on a story-based, mission-to-mission plot. Players will choose missions and upgrade heroes.
Each hero has his own storyline and each of these storylines incorporates three battles, adding up to a total of nine skirmishes plus the confrontation with the major foe in the 10th battle.

King Arthur: Fallen Champions tells the tale of three brave souls. A knight, an enchantress, and a prophet – these three will become champions of a forgotten battle that began long, long ago.

Sir Lionel, a noble knight who ventures out to the aid of a damsel in distress; Lady Corrigan of the Sidhe, a twilight creature trying to find her way home; and Drest the Chosen, a Northern shaman driven onward by visions and voices. The three will ultimately join forces as champions against an ancient and long-forgotten evil.
Each of the three heroes has a unique storyline for their specific adventure with different quests, battles and fights."

T3fun today announced that Hallgate Tokyo, an expansion for Hellgate Global, will be released next week on September 22nd.

"As demons start to raze the city of Tokyo, heroes from London decide to help the remaining Tokyo soldiers in their war against demons. The upcoming expansion boasts tons of new features and updates which include:

New Storyline

Hellgate Tokyo continues the story of the London Resurrection. Heroes will be able to continue mankind’s fight for survival in the new expansion. Heroes start in Tokyo Base, and continue on to different locations as they progress through the story. Tokyo is composed of 24 new levels, with new monsters and boss monsters.

New Modes

Hellgate Tokyo introduces two new modes, Cow Room and Base Defense.

In Cow Room, heroes will test their strength by facing hordes and hordes of zombies. These zombies can puff out flames, and some of their rooms may contain boss monsters that drop new recipes and shield set items. Also, sandstorms hinder heroes’ seeing ability, adding extra challenge to the mode.

In Base Defense, heroes defend supply bases against a horde of demons. In order to overcome the challenge, heroes are required to work with other heroes to ensure the safety of the bases. If the heroes manage to defend the bases, they will receive rewards ranging from palladium to rare set items or legendary items, depending on how well they manage to defend the bases.

Re-opening of Hell Mode

Ask, and thou shall receive. Heroes wanting more challenge from Hellgate Tokyo will now be able to play in Hell Mode, with the chance of better loot and experience from upgraded mobs and bosses.

Hellgate Global crosses new borders with its latest expansion, Hellgate Tokyo. New maps, items, achievements, and bosses will be introduced with the expansion. Heroes around the world now unite to survive and win against the threat of annihilation from the destruction wrought by demons from hell. Hellgate Tokyo brings with it new challenges that heroes will be dying for!"

Several new posts on the ArenaNet blog offer a detailed description and information on the asura race in the upcoming Guild Wars 2. In addition, a new trailer highlighting the asura has been released.

"Asura are diminutive, vibrant geniuses with chips on their shoulders. We first met them in Guild Wars: Eye of the North, but their history might surprise some people. Before 1078 AE (~250 years before GW2 present day), the asura lived underground, building their civilization in dark caverns. They rarely came out, and few other races encountered them.

Then, Primordus, the Elder Fire Dragon, stirred and awoke evil creatures that lived even deeper underground: destroyers. When the destroyers swarmed forth from their pits, they drove the asura up and out, into the light of day. Many of you may remember helping save the asura in Eye of the North.

While grateful to be alive, the asura had a difficult time with the transition from subterranean society to surface dwellers. Fortunately, they’re more stubborn than an ettin gnawing on a dolyak bone. They refused to be victims, and instead, leveraged their strengths to create an even better and bigger home for themselves. They built Rata Sum—a city that takes one’s breath away—and have honed their “alchemagical” knowledge beyond that of any other race."

ATLUS and Frozenbyte today released a new Trine 2 trailer, highlighting the environments in the upcoming platformer sequel.

"The video offers a lush visual tour of the many exotic and breathtaking environments in the game, which is slated to release on PlayStation®Network for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PC later this year.

Heralded for their colorful, fantastical art direction, the Trine games place players in an incredibly detailed, unique realm, filled with dazzling flora and eyecatching creatures.  The new trailer released today previews many of these unexplored, alluring areas, showing off Trine 2's bold use of color and lighting.

For more information, please visit https://www.trine2.com."

The first trailer for Max Payne 3 was released today, giving viewers a look at the upcoming sequel that has been delayed multiple times. The game is currently scheduled to be released in March for the PC and consoles.

"Still haunted by the memories of his traumatic past, Max begins a new life working private security protecting a wealthy industrialist and his family in São Paulo, Brazil. When gangs target the family under his protection, Max is forced to fight to save his clients and clear his name, in a bid to, once and for all, rid himself of the demons that have tortured him for far too long."

Tripwire Interactive today announced the release of Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, the new sequel in the WWII series.

"The game ships with:

• The famous RO multi player that has been attracting so much acclaim in previews, with 3 core game modes and 10 maps
• Full single player campaigns for both the German and Russian sides
• Persistent stats tracking and player progression, including unlocks and the ability for your character's appearance in game to change over time
• First person cover system, real blind fire, suppression, bullet penetration and many more new and innovative game mechanics
• Squad and platoon command system
• WWII weaponry redefined: true to life ballistics, bullet penetration, breathing, adjustable sights, free aim, weapon bracing and more
• Mod SDK for the creation of everything from maps to full total-conversion mods

And in the spirit of the usual Tripwire Interactive support for all our titles, the following are already in production, for release (free) over the coming months:

• New weapons for the infantry
• New vehicles – German Panzer III and Russian T-70
• New maps
• Multiplayer Campaign
• Co-op mode

The game is now available digitally on Steam, Gamers Gate, Direct 2 Drive, Green Man and other digital distribution sites as well as in stores across the US, with stores around the globe following shortly. Boxes are also available for purchase off our own web store at https://www.tripwireinteractivestore.com/."

The list of new PC game releases, DVD and Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of September 12th, 2011.

PC Games:

• Call of Juarez: The Cartel
• Hard Reset
• Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
• Sengoku
• TrackMania 2 Canyon

Movies Opening This Week:

• Drive
• I Don't Know How She Does It
• Restless (limited LA/NYC)
• Straw Dogs
• The Lion King 3D

DVD and Blu-Ray releases:

• 17 Miracles
• 3 Women [Criterion Collection Blu-Ray]
• Avenging Eagle
• Beverly Lewis' the Shunning
• Bill Cunningham New York
• Blood Brothers
• Blue Bloods: The First Season
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Blu-Ray]
• Camelot: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]
• Citizen Kane [Blu-Ray]
• Conan O'Brien Can't Stop [Blu-Ray]
• Don't Say a Word [Blu-Ray]
• Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti 5 & 6
• Exterminator [Blu-Ray]
• Glee: The Complete Second Season [Blu-Ray]
• Golden Swallow
• Gundown
• Halloween II [Blu-Ray]
• Haunting of Molley Hartley [Blu-Ray]
• Hesher [Blu-Ray]
• Hide and Seek [Blu-Ray]
• Incendies [Blu-Ray]
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 6 [Blu-Ray]
• Killer Clan
• Laid Off
• Lake Placid 2 [Blu-Ray]
• Last Lullaby
• Le Quattro Volte [Blu-Ray]
• Live at Montreux 1994
• Lourdes [Blu-Ray]
• Love Wedding Marriage [Blu-Ray]
• Manhunter [Blu-Ray]
• Masterpiece Mystery: Inspector Lewis 4 [Blu-Ray]
• Meek's Cutoff [Blu-Ray]
• My Life as a Dog [Criterion Collection Blu-Ray]
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos The Hands of Fate
• O Brother, Where Art Though? [Blu-Ray]
• Our Latin Thing 40th Anniversary Limited Ed.
• Outsourced: The Complete Series
• Poltergeist II: The Other Side [Blu-Ray]
• Rescue Me: The Complete Sixth Season
• Robocop 2 [Blu-Ray]
• Sanctuary: The Complete Third Season
• Sounds and Silence: Travels with Manfred Eicher
• Spartacus: Gods of the Arena [Blu-Ray]
• Star Wars: The Complete Saga [Blu-Ray]
• Star Wars: The Original Trilogy [Blu-Ray]
• Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy [Blu-Ray]
• Supernatural: The Complete Sixth Season [Blu-Ray]
• The 10th Victim [Blu-Ray]
• The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-Ray]
• The Count of Monte Cristo [Blu-Ray]
• The Dog Who Saved Halloween
• The Frighteners [Blu-Ray]
• The Hills Have Eyes [Blu-Ray]
• The Last House on the Left [Blu-Ray]
• The Silent House
• The Tempest [Blu-Ray]
• Thor [Blu-Ray]
• Trainspotting [Blu-Ray]
• True Legend [Blu-Ray]
• Up From Slavery
• Wishful Drinking

Flying Wild Hog today announced the released of Hard Reset on Steam, the FPS set in a cyberpunk world.

"In a world where artificial intelligence research has gone awry, robots rise up against their masters and become the killing machines we all knew they were destined to be. Only your hero stands between a metallic hell and the safety of all humankind.

In response to reviewer and demo feedback, the release version includes an option to change the game's field of view, more checkpoints, and a fast menu option has been included, among other changes.  See full release notes for Steam here: https://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2117678

See it for yourself, and buy Hard Reset on Steam for the low price of $29.99. Dive into the exciting solo campaign, and enjoy it over and over again to unlock all of the weapons, find all the secrets and get the highest score. Relive the days of shooters that remind us of gaming's arcade roots."

New weapons trailer:

It looks like fans of BioWare’s “upcoming” release Star Wars: The Old Republic may have to wait even longer to finally get their Wookiee paws on the game. In spite of the fact that BioWare and EA opened up the game to preorders (unless you live in Australia, that is), they’ve not indicated any information as to a release date outside of “Holiday 2011″.  With 2011 drawing to a close, and no information on a more concrete date having been released, … →

THQ and Volition today released a new trailer for Saints Row: The Third, introducing the Deckers in the upcoming next installment in the action adventure series. The game is scheduled to be released on November 15th in the US and November 18th in Europe.

"The Deckers… elite cybercriminals… hackers… unrelenting online gamers. Their next target: the Third Street Saints. Upon arriving in Steelport, the Saints find their bank accounts wiped out by a Deckers cyber-attack. For the Saints, there’s only one thing left to do: hack into the Deckers user-net, engage in their own brand of cyberbullying, and shut down the Deckers’ network… permanently. But in this world, Deckers mastermind Matt Miller is a virtual god, capable of altering physics, setting firewalls, and unleashing his own deadly, maxed-out avatar. Are you ready to f*** s*** up in virtual reality? "

Valve today announced that it has added support for the Ruble, the currency of Russia.

"With millions of players in Russia already using Steam, adding Rubles and local pricing for Russia will make Steam's catalog of PC and Mac games even more accessible.  Prior to the addition of Rubles, Steam was available in Russia with support for other payment methods such as WebMoney, Visa, Mastercard and ClickandBuy."

"PC Gaming has always been strong in Russia, and we're excited to help improve the experience for Steam customers." said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development "We're hoping to make gamers happy over the coming months by improving their access to great games."

A new Battlefield 3 trailer was released last Friday, which highlights the style and tone of the upcoming sequel.

"Tone is vibe. It's style. It's a feeling. It's why The Dark Knight is awesome and the 60s Batman is not, the difference between Saving Private Ryan and Hogan's Heroes. It's one of those things which, if you do it right, affects everything. More than anything else in Battlefield 3's single player story, this is where we set out to do something different.

Battlefield 3 goes much closer to contemporary reality and current events than previous games in the series. We’re depicting a war and everything that suggests. We have tried to get closer to the slang of the modern warrior. We are mixing tension-building passages with the chaos of suddenly erupting firefights. We’ve sought to keep the game feeling as plausible as possible, because the moment the audience stops believing it could happen, then you’re just like every other shooter."

Electronic Arts and Starbreeze Studios today announced a new Syndicate franchise, which will be a "reinvention" of the 1990s series by Bullfrog Productions. The new series will be an action adventure/shooter game, has been in development for two years, and is scheduled to be released in 2012.

"Set in 2069, Syndicate takes players into a dark, Machiavellian world run without government oversight with many syndicates vying for total dominance of their local market place. With no one to question their intentions or actions, three mega corporations – Eurocorp, Cayman Global, and Aspari – are at the forefront of this brutal war for control of the pivotal American market. In the world of Syndicate, everything is digitally connected, including the people. Players aren’t limited to the weapons in their hands. Through DART 6 bio-chip technology implanted in their head, players can slow down time and breach the digital world around them to take down their foes using a variety of upgradable hacking mechanics. Syndicate’s blend of fast-paced, futuristic, action shooter settings and story combined with innovative chip breach gameplay instantly immerses players in a unique digital world.

“Our goal with Syndicate is to provide a challenging action shooter for today’s gamers as well as fans of the original. I’m sure they will enjoy and recognize the legacy that made it such a classic,” says Jeff Gamon, EA Partners Executive Producer. “Fans of the franchise will recognize many weapons and environments in the game, but in a whole new way. The game also provides a separate and deep 4-player co-op mode featuring missions from the original cult classic, which adds another layer of depth to the overall experience.”

Syndicate will be available in early 2012 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and the PC. For more information on Syndicate, please visit www.syndicate.ea.com."

A new trailer for RAGE has been released, which highlights cooperative play in the upcoming FPS by id Software.

"Get the first look at RAGE's co-op mode in our latest gameplay trailer — Wasteland Legends: Water Service. In this co-op area, the Shrouded clan come to Wellspring to destroy the town's water supply and two warriors join forces to fight off the invasion. It's up to a duo of heroes to disarm bombs, take out bandits and save the town once again."