Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Company of Heroes 2 Begins War on Gaming PressEarly this morning a delivery person showed up at my door with shocking news: HITLER BEGINS WAR ON RUSSIA. Either that was the world's most delinquent paper boy, or THQ really wants us to get excited about Company of Heroes 2.


Not only did THQ send me a FedEx wake-up call at 7AM, they also got me to translate Russian. The card accompanying this poster-sized piece of World War II nostalgia reads "Briefings begin May 7", indicating we're just three days away from the big reveal of the sequel to one of the greatest real-time strategy games of all time.


Well, aside from what's already been revealed via magazine scans.


I just wish THQ hadn't gone the newspaper route (*rimshot*) with this initial tease. It's not that I don't appreciate the significance of June 22, 1941. It's not that I hate history. It's the fact that the obsessive compulsive collector in me now feels I need to collect the entire set of 1941 cover sheets from The New York Times.


Note to insane PR people: That was not a request.


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Relic's popular Company of Heroes will be out next year, according to scans of PC Gamer magazine posted at Polygon. This confirms rumors of its development and will make Mr. Luke Plunkett one happy camper.


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

THQ's 2014 Lineup is Alive and Well (On Paper, At Least) Further distancing the company from rumors that its 2014 lineup had been canned, today's third quarter 2012 financial results from THQ list inSANE, Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online, and several more unannounced core titles that should be showing up over the next couple of years.


Warhammer 40k fans in particular should be pleased that the upcoming massively-multiplayer game based on the beloved universe is still slated for release somewhere in fiscal year 2014 and beyond. The fate of the MMO project was still up in the air following THQ's assurance that its 2004 lineup was not cancelled.


During the fiscal announcement conference call it was revealed that THQ is currently seeking a development partner for the MMO.


The report lists four games slated to be released in fiscal year 2013, which begins in April: South Park: The Game, the annual WWE game, Metro: Last Light, and Devil's Third. Titles slated for release in fiscal year 2014 and beyond include an unnamed title from Turtle Rock Studio, Dark Millennium Online, inSANE, Homefront 2, and the unnamed project from former-Ubisoft beard Patrice Désilets.


Note that Metro: Last Light has been pushed back from its original summer release. During the conference call it was explained that this was in order to facilitate a strong marketing push, something the original lacked. It's all part of THQ's new plan to deliver strong core titles with aggressive marketing strategies.


THQ also indicates that there are four unannounced core titles in development for fiscal year 2014, one of which is likely the long-rumored new Company of Heroes game.


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Following the failure of its uDraw tablet for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and December's shutdown of it's children's game division, THQ has officially announced today that it's focusing on its core franchises. So Spongebob is out, UFC, Darksiders, Company of Heroes, inSANE, Saints Row and Warhammer 40,000 are in.


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

These Are the Best PC Game Mods of 2011Every year thousands of PC gamers around the world sacrifice some of their play time in order to make the games they play even better that the original developers, and every year the community at modding hot spot ModDB choose the very best. Who made the grade this year?


This is the joy of PC gaming right here. Long after console gamers have shelved their old favorites for the next big thing, PC game modders are doing things like adding online multiplayer to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, creating new levels for Company of Heroes, or crafting an entirely new game from the code of another.



MOTY Players Choice - Mod of the Year - Mod DB


Hit up ModDB for the full list of this year's deserving nominees, and then dig out those scratched and dusty discs and have some fun.


Mod of the Year Players' Choice Awards [ModDB]


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Relic Working On Company of Heroes 2?Oh please God let this be true.


The rumours section of the latest issue of PC Gamer magazine says that, in addition to its work on yet another Dawn of War game, THQ's Relic is also gearing up for something to do with Company of Heroes.


They don't explicitly say what that is, but the chances of it being an expansion to a 2006 game are, well, remote. So after I get down hoping this is true, I'm going to hope it's a sequel, and not some action game spin-off.


We've contacted THQ for comment and will update if we hear back.


PC Gamer January 2012 [PC Gamer]


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Women Responsible for Company of Heroes' Developer Death SentencedThe two women responsible for the tragic death last year of Company of Heroes developer Brian Wood have been sentenced to prison, The Herald reports.


Jordyn Weichert and Samantha Bowling, both from Oak Harbor, Washington, were both steering the vehicle that collided with Wood's car last September, killing the developer and injuring his pregnant wife. Two friends of the girls responsible were also killed.


Samantha Bowling was sentenced to five years prison on three counts of vehicular homicide, while Weichert, who was driving at the time, was sentenced to eight years.


Both women were charged because of the nature of the crash; Weichert was apparently removing her sweater at the time, with Bowling holding the wheel while she did so. As the car veered out of control, Weichert grabbed the wheel while Bowling still had her hands on it, resulting in the car careening across traffic and colliding with Wood's vehicle.


Brian's wife Erin gave birth to a daughter earlier this year.


Link ChevronTwo sentenced for car crash that killed 3 [The Herald]


Company of Heroes - Legacy Edition

Company of Heroes Online Goes Dark March 31Company of Heroes Online, whose beta began in July, will be closed down entirely on March 31.


In-game currency - COHO Cash - is no longer for sale, and players are being urged to spend any balance they have pronto.


As a token, THQ is offering anyone who registered with the beta before Feb. 1 a copy of Company of Heroes Gold for $4.99 through the THQ online store. The code for the game is available through the Company of Heroes Online closure FAQ.


Relic Entertainment, the game's maker, said it is "still working on our plans for the Company of Heroes franchise and are not ready to discuss details yet,' that doesn't sound too optimistic for the chances of this game being released as a full retail version. Especially if, as Joystiq notes, THQ's other freemium venture, WWE Online, also has been shut down.


Company of Heroes Online Beta Shutting Down [Game Politics]


Call of Duty® 2

Bring Back World War II Commenter Bipolar.Bear.Disorder is missing the good old days of World War II in today's installment of Speak-Up On Kotaku.


Am I the only one left in the gaming community that misses World War II games? With everyone's intense focus on modern and future warfare, I feel as if World War II video games, my favorite genre, have fallen a bit by the wayside. Of course, World War II games are still being released, but not on the constant scale that used to be the norm. I understood that some people had begun to feel as if the era had been overdone and cliché, but I must admit, I really miss FPS games where aim was more important than perks, and headshots didn't have to come from sniper rifles.


With this sudden influx of contemporary war games set in the present and future, I feel like we as gamers lose an important facet that was prominent in the more well-made productions. I can't really explain what I mean by it, though. To me, it just feels like games like Modern Warfare and Medal of Honor miss some important element that was in their earlier iteration. It isn't the scope of the war, or even the actual combat itself. I just don't think that war games set in a modern period have the same "magic," for lack of a better term; that games like Call of Duty 2, Brothers in Arms, and Company of Heroes had. Maybe it's a sense of righteousness, with a clear sense of who the enemy is and what our goals are. Maybe since it took place "so many years ago," it seems as if it's another time in another place.


I just don't understand why gamers and developers had begun to ignore World War II. Maybe it was being overdone, but I'm pretty sure developers hadn't used the era to its fullest potential. There are so much other stories left to tell. There's so much things developers hadn't done yet. This current batch of modern-combat games cannot match the ones that took us up Normandy Beach, fighting through once-pristine French streets, to reach the city of Berlin.


Maybe that's what's missing in these games set in modern conflicts. In this day and age, undoubtedly fueled by countless government scandals and corruption, any war taking place seems wrong and, well, stupid. Not getting into any specifics here, but the general populace had developed distaste for war and bloodshed. For patriotism and pride. That's where World War II games came in. They weren't meant to trivialize the war, neither making it bearable and "cutesy," or making in into the Hollywood-style action-paced machismo slugfest that dominate the current shooting galleries. They were a sort of remembrance, in a way, for the countless men and women who have died in such a tragic war. In World War II, that was both humanities highest point and lowest point in history. It'd be a shame to forget it in such a quickly growing medium.


About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight it here.


RIP - Trilogy™

Heroic Company Of Heroes Dev Lives On In His Daughter In September Company of Heroes Online lead designer Brian Wood was killed in a car crash. His pregnant wife Erin survived. NBC's Today talks with the widow about how she's keeping Brian's memory alive for her newborn daughter.


Brian Wood lost his life in September of 2010, but through his actions a new life was preserved. Following the accident that took his life, the gaming community rallied behind his wife Erin, donating funds to help ease the grief of losing her husband with a new baby on the way.


Revisiting the story, NBC's Today featured Erin and her two-month-old child Sierra Grace Wood, exploring how Brian's memory will be preserved. It's a touching end to a tragic tale.


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