Saracen

Empire at War 2! It'll be a Victory Games F2P though just like C&C... Almost an inevitability. Although, if done correctly, it could be rather good. But I have a feeling EA would love to use that franchise to get another Star Wars RTS out the door in some fashion.... Almost a bitter irony when you really think about it.

StarDrive beta is now available on Steam! Tell your friends, family and sworn enemies: intergalactic 4x space war is here! Pre-order with 15% discount and play now! http://store.steampowered.com/app/220660 EDIT: Look how it's doing in the top 10 Best sellers Best way to describe this game: It's very similar to Master of Orion 2, but in real time. Mix that with Galactic Civ 2 for Planet Management.

I would type a long explanation. But All you need to know is this was a kickstarter project from just a single, 30 year old indie developer who had a vision to create a RT4X game like Sins of a Solar Empire. He just about succeeded and began building upon the concept he created on his own, in his bedroom. Iceberg Interactive saw it, chucked a tonne of extra money his way for better tools and extra industry advice... and now he is close to 1.0 Final (Awaiting Steam release date.) Anyway, rather than let me ramble on, I'll show an old trailer let this chap do the explaining.

But as an RTS in which you can pause to make more important decisions, yes. The closest thing this game comes to is Imperium Galactica 2: Alliances. A game which I have many a time raved on about in these forums and I regard to be one of the greatest RTS games ever developed. Despite PC Gamer UK giving it a huge review back in 2000 and gave IG2 a huge 94% score.. It was also a so-called "Blip on a radar that no-one has heard about..." and it's the only game which has spent 13 years constantly on my hard drives through the years, and the first game I'll install after a fresh format. I still play it at least once or twice a month. Alternatively, and to put it in a better perspective. Imagine if Sid Meier's Civilization game was real time and in Space. That's what you've got here.

Oh well. The pre-order now, play now business model is becoming a more common practice on Steam nowadays.. The game is effectively done. But Zero-Sum games are not happy enough yet to call it final release.. So let's up the Ante with an official announcement trailer released today.

Well that's Iceberg Interactive's terminology for it... There's lenty of previews and opinion around the web, let's plays on YouTube etc. You pay $29.99 to pre-order. That pre-order just gives you access to the Beta. I Personally know it's a safe bet, which is why I'm grabbing it the moment it's out! Some bigger companies might offer their Beta's for free to play. But this is one guy who's done the job. Since I really only support independent developers these days.. He can take my money! And maybe no-one around here has heard about it. But there's an ever growing and very active community. Once reviews come out I'd imagine that'll change exponentially given that anyone who's played it, has called it better than Sins of a Solar Empire.

For all those who are interested. The game will be available for pre-order on Steam at 6PM GMT today. Pre-order will let you in to the pay to play open-beta. Nerdgasm

Oh Jesus Christ, another Reboot / Sequel This is the exact reason I've ditched the AAA gaming market altogether and have no interest in Next Gen consoles. I am rather strictly indie nowadays. At least they offer some form of Innovative gaming experience and are prepared to take the risks. It stands to reason why I'm also getting an OUYA. I know, I know... I'm complaining as usual. But as an older gamer, I'm growing tired of the roads the big companies have gone down and are going down. I want that golden age of gaming back where bedroom programmers ruled the day and new ideas didn't make publishers send developers back to the drawing board. It's no wonder in a pre-GDC 2013 survey, 44% of all attending developers have said they'll go the kickstarter route to fund their games... Publishers are killing the industry by recycling the same old rubbish or killing classic legacies... and almost half the people who work 2-3 years on a game for our entertainment are sick of it.

Hardly.. Given that it has a campaign that'll take you at least 3-4 times longer than the average $60 game. Plus the quality of development you get from Blizzard, you're getting one hell of a bang for your buck. I thought Wings of Liberty was well worth more than the money I paid, and that's not including the amount of Skirmishes and online I got out of it. I expect HotS to be no different.

I find myself at the polar opposite end. As you know I'm very excited for the OUYA and have become somewhat an unofficial ambassador on their Facebook page by answering any query I can. So Android gaming has taken a precedence for me of late. Where I wouldn't normally play games, I am... Where I wouldn't pay for any sort of title on there, I am. It's been quite a paradigm shift in regards to my gaming habits. So where my PS3 was once used with enthusiasm, it's now gathering copious amounts of dust. Nowadays it's PC and Android gaming all the way, and often a regular interfacing between the two.

Perhaps, but CoD has become its own worst enemy by doing yearly updates. There's no need to compete directly as Battlefield 3 still has legs, and is a much better quality online shooter. I don't think personally it was just Warfighter's fault (although there was a lot wrong with it). A lot of people have had experiences where playing the same thing over and over gets awfully tiresome. Eventually fatigue sets in, even if there is a huge social aspect of playing with friends over VOIP. It's better for a company to just release a good solid quality title in a franchise that changes more dramatically over 2 or 3 years rather than just slightly every year. That said I think EA are making the wrong move releasing Battlefield 4 so soon. BF3 still has some great legs to it online, and is still a lot more refreshing than any yearly CoD ever will be. I would have preferred Bad Company 3 because the campaign in those games is a lot more enjoyable. Bad company is a fuller, more well rounded package, with 4 good solid characters, good humour and a strong enough story to keep you interested. The campaign length is usually twice as long as CoD's is as well... But standard Battlefield itself is, and always will be multiplayer only.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and will probably trade that up to a Sony Xperia Z in the near future. Then I'll move on to a Samsung Galaxy S4 when that comes out... I love being on contract. Always at the peak of the best.

The Battlefield Franchise has technically already done Vietnam... I can't see EA wanting to visit that again until they've exhausted all other possible events, time era's etc.. After all if Black Ops 2 is anything to go by, everyone's done the modern military shooter to death and has suddenly moved on to Tom Clancy inspired near future military shooters... I'm sure we'll get around to Battlefield 0AD eventually and we'll all start firing bows and arrows at each other. Ironically this does seem to be the weapon of choice since Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 have used it. Surely that's another bandwagon that'll be done to death. To be honest though, there really wasn't room for 2 highly respected military shooters in the EA line-up. MoH was always eventually going to lose out to Battlefield.

I'd advise not to neglect exploring the history of the Islands. There's an awful lot of World War 2 bunkers which contain a lot of the letters. But also the verticality of this game is immense as well. Cave systems, underground ravines long lost buried temples etc are all very well hidden and are equally as expansive and a joy to explore as the surface itself. It is particularly necessary if you are considering going for that 60 relics trophy. Although the exploration itself is more than enough reason... All I can say is that the team that developed this game have gone above and beyond what's expected. Vaas also has to be one of the best villains in gaming history. Such a brilliant and well realised character. So yeah, no need to say what I'm playing... I've almost done my 2nd playthrough in a lot more detail. I'm amazed how much I actually did miss the first time around!

Have you guys seen the "reboot" that's in development? Certainly looks good. A big graphical upgrade, with some extra depth, as well as a lot of the existing foundations in place.

^^ This. I don't care what this guy says from whatever this company is I've never heard of. Most high ranking games developers have lost the plot! It's like this new Need For Speed: Most Wanted that's out. Every aspect of that now is tied into the autolog system. Which means you can't turn a corner or do anything without some notification popping up saying that "Friend X has beaten you, done more miles, smashed more billboards" I look at all this and think... Who cares! I like many gamers play games for immersion. I want to feel a part of the world I'm in regardless of the genre and what I'm doing. Bringing all this social crap into my single player game absolutely kills that completely! I can imagine in the future this getting into RPGs where every bloody quest you undertake measures your speed, number of kills etc.. and then we'll be told that we didn't beat Fred's time because we were too busy looting for essential items. So it's essential that we must try again. This isn't playing with others, it's just bone idle laziness and an excuse to shorten the game further by trying to add unnecessary replay value to a game. If I want to play with others, there's a menu option that says multiplayer.. I shall click and select it when I wish, and then I will interact with humans who also play that game. If I want to be social, I'll go outdoors where social activities are supposed to take place.

That video has some truth within it... I'll just put this video here to show evidence that cash cow rubbish does exist... You may have seen it already, but here it is anyway.

I've been playing Dishonoured.... What a game! So good in fact that Borderlands 2 has gone back on the shelf and can wait until I've finished Dishonoured at least twice. I also purchased and watched the classic movie "Das Boot - Directors Cut" on Blu-Ray a couple of months back. Which prompted me to go and buy Silent Hunter 3 & 4 as well... Check out this Screenshot I captured in SH4... it's a thing of beauty!

I think it's alright actually... so long as it does the job. It's a much better size too which makes all the difference. Makes you realise what a behemoth the original PS3 was, and what an unreliable piece of crap it was too.

I barely touch my PS3 these days (PC Gaming will always be king). But I guess it's a good option for those still looking to purchase one. Personally, I'm waiting on the OUYA. I want to see that little $99 Rubiks cube sized console hit the market and see what it's capable of. It's something new and takes console gaming in a whole new direction. But for the price point, I've got the money burning a hole in my pocket to take the calculated risk.

I started playing a bit of Tiberian Sun the other day. In comparison to all other games in the entire franchise, I have to say that one really has not aged well. That said though, it still still has the most difficult campaigns of all C&C games. Even if they're arguably not all that fun to complete. That said, my most favourite C&C moment probably came in the form of a certain piece of Renegade Marketing. With the news of the release date potentially falling back further, they took it upon themselves to have Havoc visit Westwood. It was great to see that despite all the politics that were going on during that time, that the team could still poke fun at themselves.

I keep in contact with old Westwood developers don't you know... This amused me today *cough*

It's not really looking for a buyer as such. What the company is doing though is downsizing it's development infrastructure. Harvard Bonin Jr. (Now working for Sony but has many contacts at EA) made mention of it on Facebook a while back. The company is to continue eliminating a lot of its in-house high cost studios and franchises and look towards cheaper alternatives. These include the opening of the EA 8lb Gorrilla Studio which is focussed entirely on cheap iPhone titles (and Android in the future) and most recently converting well known franchises to free-to-play. It's more an evolution of the company. The bosses have gotten greedy, casual and mobile gaming is gaining ground, and business models have changed with other companies to adapt to the current climate. Because less and less people are buying full price and instead are opting to spend small amounts over a long term. The $60/£40 game is no longer the power-seller in this industry. If there is to be any selling off then it will be in the form of development licenses to 3rd party developers. We've already seen this with the Need for Speed Franchise and a few others that I can't bring from memory at this point. Nevertheless, expect this behaviour to continue. EA's days as a games developer is slowly taking a less involved roll. Instead you're more than likely to see the company as more of a publisher to many 3rd party developers. Eliminating the in-house costs is the key here.

Here's something of interest whilst I was viewing Facebook... Remember Mark Skaggs? Worked for EA, got a bit upset when he left along with others? Check this attachment out and specifically the current company he works for along with the title he's worked on. Probably Coincidence... But one hell of a one!

I still do a lot of writing, but I get paid for it now!