Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Too much or too little. It seems like game trailers can never show just enough. I’m dubbing it the Quantum Conundrum Conundrum in honor of today’s absolutely unhinged trailer for Kim Swift’s brain-twister. I mean, I suppose it’s understandable, given that Square and Airtight (Squaretight?) had to condense four dimensions‘ worth of stuff into one video. But goodness, there’s a lot going on here. Boxes fluffifying, safes swooping in meticulous, war-like formation, and images shifting every two seconds – as though powered by my web-browsing habits. It’s all a bit much. Watch the full thing after the break. Then re-watch it to figure out what was actually going on.

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One of the issues that faced sandbox robot MMO Perpetuum was the frequent accusation that its world was simply too small. That’s one of a number of issues being addressed in a major patch tomorrow, which constitutes an expansion called Gamma Frontier. Aside from vastly expanding its territory, with twenty-four new islands (there are currently twelve), the game will be introducing player-built structures and bases, allowing players to terraform landscapes, erect base structures, and fortifying them with defences such as walls and turrets. Along with these features, there’ll also be fixes to a number of in-game issues, a reworking of the production and resource systems, and a new landscape rendering engine. Those robots are going to have a lot more space to roam, and plenty more tools to make use of it.

Gamma Frontier is set to go live tomorrow night. I’ll be intrigued to see how it changes the game.

EA have confirmed that Battlefield 3 is to get a “Premium” service, apparently allowing people who purchase it early and immediate access to future DLC, as well as a greater range of items and customisation options. BFBlog appears to have the details, although this is unconfirmed by EA, who say the details are to be announced on June 4th. The “leaked” details include the price: $50 as a one-time fee. For that you’ll reportedly get all the existing and future DLCs, as well as: 20 maps (in total, presumably?), 20 new weapons, 10+ new vehicles, 4 new game modes, 30+ assignments, unique in-game knife, dog tags, and camos, unique weapon camos, and a bunch of other stuff.

Hmm. I can see why this might sell, but personally I ran out of patience with BF3 within a few weeks of launch. Perhaps I’ll head back after the summer, but it just didn’t hook me.

Tiny & Big is one of the oddest and cleverest indie projects I’ve had the pleasure to play in recent months. It sees you trying to rescue some pants, and chopping, lassoing, and rocket-propelling the scenery to do so. See the trailer below for the tone and feature-illutrative game footage. Black Pants have announced that they are expect to launch the game, via many of the usual digital distribution outlets, on June 19th. That’s good news. Better news: it’s available for pre-order.

Cheers to Pixel Prospector for the notification. (more…)

There’s a new Humble Bundle, wouldn’t you believe it. And blimey, it’s a good-un. I’m not in charge of deciding what’s best, but this looks to me like one of the best bundles I’ve ever seen. Just look at this list: Amnesia, Limbo, Sword & Sworcery, Bastion, and Psychonauts. Seriously. And it has an absolutely brilliant video to promote it.

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Currently debuting exclusively in the Bundle in a Box, which contains several superb adventure games, The Sea Will Claim Everything is Jonas Kyratzes’ first commercial game. With illustrations by Verena Kyratzes that could happily sit in the kind of book that would have made ten-year old Adam very happy indeed and overflowing with imagination and creativity, it’s wordy and, at times, wonderful, but then there are the other times. Here’s wot I think.

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I can only assume I Inceptioned the idea into Ubisoft’s collective head. Yesterday, reporting on the news that John Beiswenger had dropped his daft lawsuit against Ubisoft, I contacted the publisher to ask if they were now going to respond to the extreme allegations of illegal activity made against them by Beiswenger’s lawyer. Despite the promise of a statement in return, nothing came, and yet today via Gamasutra they’ve announced they’re filing a complaint against the eccentric author. I think I’ll email Ubisoft asking them if they’re planning to drop all their stupid DRM forever more, and see what appears elsewhere tomorrow! Anyway, the news is, they’re filing a complaint against the eccentric author whose lawyer made such extreme allegations of illegal activity against them.

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When Skyrim’s Dawnguard DLC was announced, we were worried it might end up just being a pair of equippable contact lenses. A new prE3 trailer shows that it’s actually some manner of major expansion with attempts to blot out the sun being made and all sorts. What seems clear is that players will be faced with a choice; do you wish to live in a graveyard and eat people, all supernatural-like, or would you rather have a pair of equippable contact lenses? See for yourself.

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Phew, that was close. With literally hours to spare the Kinetic Void Kickstarter met its goal and has been successfully funded. Aiming for $60,000, and with only $40,000 raised with a day to go, it looked like the procedural space explorer would miss the target by a significant chunk. But then like in every basketball movie ever made, the coach called time out, pulled the Kickstarter into a huddle, and reminded them that the magic isn’t in their missing team pencil, but in their hearts. And with that they ran back onto the court and extraordinarily raised $26,501 on the last day. More than a third of the total.

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June 2012 will bring the Sword of Islam expansion to Crusader Kings II, allowing players to select any Muslim dynasty at the beginning of the game and “delivering a wealth of specific new mechanics distinctive to these rulers, creating a whole new gameplay experience. Laws, marriage, holding, traits, titles and more will work completely differently.” Equally exciting is the news that a major patch will be arriving at the same time as the DLC, expanding the map into Mali-Songhay, and adding more complexity to claims, a new plot and expanded combat. The actual DLC will set you back $9.99 or an equivalent of your local coinage. A trailer of maps below.

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