Posted on 16th April 2010 by Ramajay in Videogames
An Independent British game development company, Goldhawks Development, have decided to create an XCOM Clone.
The game will be a Turn Based Tactical strategy game where you defend the earth from Aliens.The tactical combat stages of the game will feature a tile based isometric view in which you control up to 16 soldiers. The team is implementing a Cover feature where soldiers can take cover behind objects in the environment, and fully destructible terrain.
Another interesting feature will be Randomly generated terrain. Because the entire battlefield is tilebased, the developers have the flexibility to randomly generate various submaps with building types,props and scenery then stitch them all together to present the player with a fairly unique battlefield each time.
It seems we will never see a triple AAA class remake of XCOM, so these indie ventures are the best we can hope for. Does anyone remember Gladius for the Xbox? Another great Turn Based Tactical Combat title that was great fun. It also featured an engaging Co-Op mode.
There’s no word on whether this new XCOM remake will feature Co-Op or any form of multiplayer.
Nvidia has released new WHQL drivers for its GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, and 300-series desktop GPUs and ION desktop GPUs. Owners of their spanking new 400 series of cards have to continue using 197.41 drivers, however.
There are the usual game related enhancements as well as the following:
What’s New in Version 197.45
- Recommended for achieving the best performance with the new GPU-accelerated features in Adobe CS5.
- Added support for the new version of MotionDSP?s video enhancement software, vReveal, which adds support for HD output.
- This driver package installs NVIDIA PhysX System Software v9.10.0129.NVIDIA PhysX acceleration is available on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series, 100-series, and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory and a minimum of 32 processor cores.
- This driver package installs the HD audio driver, version 1.0.9.1.
Grab them while they’re hot! (Remember to select your correct video card series and Operating System , either 32 bit or 64 bit)
Posted on 5th December 2009 by Ramajay in Videogames
Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward twittered that patch 1.06 is currently in certification at Microsoft and Sony and include the long awaited Javelin exploit fix.
1.06 for the PS3 and Xbox360 will include the Javelin fix,care package glitch fix, and various fixes for areas where players could get stuck in the game’s geometry.
The approach from Microsoft and Sony to this couldn’t have been more different. Microsoft almost immediately moved to ban several Xbox Live players who were found to be using the in-game glitch, which was as a result of Infinity Ward’s programming mistakes and oversight.
Sony took a very hands off approach and decided it was up to Infinity Ward themselves to issue a fix for the issue.They didn’t ban anyone.
Posted on 5th December 2009 by Ramajay in Videogames
The demo of the long awaited, and much hyped Bayonetta action game is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and over the Playstation Network.
Bayonetta is a sexy, violence filled third person action adventure game in which the heroine shoots bullets from her heels and summons explosive attacks with her hair. Yeah, you know you have to see what this one is about!
You can download a demo of the hack and slash title Fairytale Fights from the Xbox Live Marketplace now. The game looks like fun, if you’re into mindlessly hacking away at a variety of cute opponents. It’s a bit amusing that it only lasts for 90 seconds..it makes you wonder at what point the developers think you’d get bored of the gameplay!
The PS3 is due to get the demo on the Playstation Network by the 10th of December.
Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 owners can now add Pets to their avatars in Xbox Live.
The Xbox Live Avatar system has steadily expanded the number of props and clothing options that can be used to showoff your own unique style. Most of the top tier games release backgrounds, helmets and other paraphernalia for use with your avatars, and we can’t wait to see what cool pets will be released. We’ve heard that there may even be a Chocobo to celebrate Final Fantasy XIII being released in March 2010!
In what could be a shot across the bows of Steam and Impulse, Microsoft has announced that its Games for Windows Live platform will soon allow games to be downloaded.
That means that Microsoft is getting into the Digital game distribution business on the PC, a space which has been dominated by Valve’s Steam platform by a wide margin in the past.
Should Valve be worried? Given that the consumer response to Games for Windows has been lukewarm in the past, we don’t think so. If, however, Microsoft offers Digital Distribution to developers and publishers that would be using it’s Games for Windows platform anyway, these developers and publishers may decide to forgo Steam or Impulse distribution plans. We’ll keep you informed on how this all turns out!
Forza 3 may have started a trend with developers. The game shipped on two DVDs, and apparently Mass Effect 2 for the PC and the Xbox 360 will ship on two DVDs as well. Hopefully we will have the option to install the additional content from the second DVD onto the Xbox 360’s hard drive. PC Gamers are accustomed to swapping discs during an install, the pleasure may be new for 360 owners however.
Bioware’s community manager Chris Priestly assures gamers that there will only be one swap of discs necessary so that it does not affect gameplay.
