Steam Community Items
To be clear, for those who make decisions based solely on video thumbnails Instagram is not coming to Steam. But boy, it'd be pretty funny if it did.
Instagram for Steam announcement [SpookyFries69]
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To be clear, for those who make decisions based solely on video thumbnails Instagram is not coming to Steam. But boy, it'd be pretty funny if it did.
Instagram for Steam announcement [SpookyFries69]
It's easy to have lost sight of it amongst the more contemporary series flying off to new owners today, but for me, one of the most important prizes up for grabs in the great THQ auction was the fate of the Homeworld series, which even ten years since its last release remains one of the most beloved and respected PC properties of all time.
While the original three titles were published by Sierra, THQ later purchased the rights to the series to complement their acquisition of Relic, the team behind both Homeworld and Homeworld 2. With THQ now no longer around, those rights have to go somewhere, right? But where?
Unlike other more high profile properties, there was no word from THQ in its main letter on the fate of Homeworld, meaning that like other "legacy" franchises, it's still under legal lock and key.
There has been movement today, though, from about the only place you can expect Homeworld movement these days: its fans. Rob Santos, the boss of a fledgling outfit known as teamPixel—which "for over 8 years [has] specialized in web design, web development, desktop software, and mobile applications," according to Santos—told us over email that his company had tried to join in on the auction for THQ's franchises, but was told that Homeworld was part of a " legacy assets bucket", and wouldn't be up for bidding until a later date.
Until then, he's got a movement going called SaveHomeworld. Setting up an IndieGoGo page, he says teamPixel is looking for funds to do three things: get the original Homeworld on digital retailers Steam and Good Old Games (it's not available for either), develop a touch-based version of the game for mobile platforms, and ultimately, develop Homeworld 3.
That last one is a pretty lofty goal for a studio nobody has ever heard of, especially one with a lack of game design experience, but you've at least got to admire their spirit, because if there's one property above all others that deserves to find a good home at the end of this mess, it's Homeworld.
Remember, though: Santos' company may not be the only ones interested. If these older series weren't up for grabs today, who's to say that when they are made available, someone like EA or Ubisoft doesn't swoop in with their millions and snap it up?
SaveHomeworld.com - Homeworld 3 and Homeworld Touch [IndieGoGo]
Set against the backdrop of a prank call by Earles & Jensen, this video by Jim Dirschberger and Travis Millard is great. And gives me the sudden urge to open a phone book and start calling every EB Games in the country.
Gamemasters [EightyFourFilms, via Laughing Squid]
Man, all my budgies do is sit there. These budgies on the other hand, they know how to shred,* and they know how to shred hard. Look at them go in their tiny skateboards.
Old video, sure. Cute though, so thought it was worth sharing. Maybe it'll cheer some of you up.
Well, here we are. End of the day. How are you guys, are you doing okay? Feel free to talk about birds, skateboarding, Tony Hawk, or just about anything else here in this open thread/post or in the Talk Amongst Yourselves forum.
See you tomorrow!
*And by shred I mean occasionally nibble on their skateboard.
More of Trieste Visier skatebirds wingin it [Sk8birds via Buzzfeed]
For all intents it happened late last year, but today the results of an auction called it: THQ, formerly one of the biggest video game publishers in the world, is no more.
It's been a hell of a ride.
While technically first formed in 1989 as Trinity Acquisition Corporation, THQ began business proper in 1990, as "Toy Head Quarters," only entering the video game business in September 1990 when it bought the video game arm of Brøderbund, a publisher famous for releasing the original Price of Persia.
Its very first game was... Peter Pan and the Pirates, released in 1991.
The gaming side of THQ was soon performing so well that in 1994 the company ditched toys (like figures and board games based on Home Alone) and dedicated itself wholly to releasing video games. Some of its more notable releases in these early years include certain Nintendo versions of games like Pit-Fighter and Road Rash. Unlike other competitors, who by the mid-90s were falling over themselves to release games for the new PlayStation, Saturn and N64 consoles, THQ made deals with developers to continue releasing titles on older platforms like the SNES, which resulted in massive profits for the company, as the costs of publishing on those systems was a fraction of what it was for newer consoles.
In 1997, THQ released its first wrestling game with the WCW license, which was a massive success, and while it swiftly lost that license to rivals EA—foreshadowing similar battles to come over the UFC license—it made amends a few years later by going out and getting the rights to WWE games instead. Wrestling games would remain a staple of THQ's product lineup until the very end.
As the millennium rolled around, THQ began to get a little more serious, expanding its business and either buying or opening a number of new studios like Volition, Relic, Vigil and Kaos. It had also signed big deals with Disney, MTV and Nickelodeon to release licensed titles based on their properties, and before long this would grow to be one of the most successful arm of THQ's business. And also one of the most precarious.
With the addition of even more licenses, like Games Workshops' Warhammer 40K, it looked like THQ was well on its way to becoming one of the biggest publishers in the world, vindicated by the fact that in 2007 the company enjoyed its biggest year of sales (and profits) on record. Series like Dawn of War, Red Faction, Full Spectrum Warrior, Destroy All Humans and Saints Row were doing well, and a flood of big-selling kids games based on wrestling, Pixar's films and Spongebob Squarepants were printing money.
By 2009, the bottom had fallen out of the licensed kid's market. Most of THQ's "core" games were reviewing well but not necessarily selling well. The global economic crisis had hit consumer's back pockets. Only two years after enjoying record sales, which at one stage had THQ threatening to rival traditional powerhouses EA and Activision, the company was forced to begin a process of consolidation and retreat that it was unable to halt.
Despite pledges to focus on fewer but better games, and cuts to studios that weren't seen as performing, THQ continued to bleed money, with its biggest games—like new entries in the Saints Row and Dawn of War series, UFC fighting games and titles based on rapper 50 Cent—failing to recoup enough cash to stop the losses.
In 2010, the publisher revealed the uDraw tablet, a multiplatform device designed to allow gamers to... draw on a screen. It was a disaster. It cost $100 million to design and manufacture, a significant amount for a company already in financial trouble, and sales were so poor they can't give the things away.
By 2011, in no small part due to the losses suffered from the uDraw, the retreat was in full swing, with THQ backing away from licensed children's game development and pledging to focus solely on quality games for the core audience. A noble goal perhaps, but the games which followed—like the hugely-disappointing Homefront and Red Faction Armageddon—didn't deliver the sales THQ needed.
That focus became even narrower a few months later, as by January 2012 only a core of the publisher's core games were being focused on, chiefly Saints Row, Darksiders, Company of Heroes, Metro and UFC. Red Faction was taken out back and shot.
June 2012 saw THQ hand over their UFC license to rivals EA, a bitter move considering the battle between both companies over the rights and their previous history with wrestling titles. A month later, Devil's Third, a game being overseen by famed Japanese developer Tomonobu Itagaki, was offloaded, as THQ could no longer afford it, and a month after that, in August 2012, a project involving film director Guillermo del Toro was also cancelled.
By now, THQ's big bet on core titles had come to nothing. November 2012 saw the publisher default on a loan which, despite a heroic attempt at raising extra cash in the form of a charity games bundle, would lead to a bankruptcy declaration. And the auction that played out this week, in which the company's studios and properties were picked over by rivals before THQ's bosses declared the end of the business.
A sobering testament to the scale of THQ's demise: by January 2013, there had been twenty former THQ studios that had been either merged, sold or closed down between the late 90s and 2012. By the time of this week's sale, only Relic, Volition, Montreal and Vigil remained.
A few staffers are being kept on to oversee the dismantling of THQ and the transition of its studios to their new owners, but really, history will decree today as the day THQ died. It's a sad and ignominious end for a company that at one point challenged the industry's greats, but video games are a ruthless business that punishes those even half a step behind the times. Despite its best intentions in more recent years, the successive blows THQ received around 2009 were simply too great to overcome.
Best of luck to all those affected by the closures and sales.
Just a few hours before today's news bonanza, Nintendo unleashed this trailer for Fire Emblem: Awakening, the upcoming fantasy strategy-RPG that will be out for 3DS on February 4.
In it, you can see a whole bunch of the game's classes, some of which are wayyyy overpowered (Myrmidon) but I won't get into that right now. Enjoy.
Post-apocalyptic worlds in video games don't necessarily have to be grimdark, depressing or colorless. There are many fine examples where the game's design either moves beyond these tropes, or develops them to perfection. We have collected a few of them below.
source: Enslaved.uk
source: veteran0121's let's play of the game
source: Half-Life Wiki
source: Xytrasx's walkthrough of the game and The Chrono Wiki
source: NormanJayden's let's play
source: 50CALBR's gameplay video
source: Retsupurae
source: The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Wiki
source: Fallout.bethsoft.com
source: Borderlands2.com
source: official trailer
Make sure to submit your own picks in the comments! With visual support.
Watching a city buzz at night time is awesome—all the cars, all the lights. It's hard not to feel awe. It's even better if you're watching a city's downtown though. Things seem to move at a different speed, almost.
Here is a video of a downtown in the upcoming Sim City; it's buzzing at 'cheetah' speed. Boy is it beautiful.
Cheetah speed [oceanquigley]
One of the sad and somewhat odd outcomes of today's big auction of top games and studios from game publisher THQ is that no one—not EA, not Activision, not Take Two, not Bethesda, not Ubisoft... no one—made a bid for the action-game series Darksiders and Vigil, the studio that made those games.
Look, even here at Kotaku the Darksiders games aren't uniformly loved. But some of us dig them and we can now share the bittersweet news that some very talented game developers dig them, too.
Here's Atsushi Inaba, the head of Platinum Games, makers of Bayonetta, Vanquish and other cool action titles:
And here's a translation, via our own Brian Ashcraft:
"In THQ's studio and IP selling off auction, Darksiders is unsold? [We] wanna buy it...on the cheap..."
Earlier today, some of us half-kidded that Nintendo should have snatched up Vigil. The Darksiders games are, more or less, an M-rated love letter to Zelda (please don't read that the wrong way!). Nintendo obviously didn't go for Vigil. If Platinum did? Or even went just for the series? We're not rooting for people to be out of work, but either result would be fascinating.
We're following up to see what could come of this.
This Wednesday edition of Kotaku's The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can't wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon.
• Yesterday's release Ni no Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (PS3) is $57.99, free ship from J&R. Only two bucks off, but this is the only retailer with a discount. No sales tax except in NY.
• The Secret World (PC download) is $10 at Origin (next best $30). This MMO recently changed to the subscription-free model similar to Guild Wars 2.
Sega Genesis and Retro Sega Games are on sale at Green Man Gaming and activates on Steam. The Mega Drive (aka Genesis) collection is $1.50 for a single series, with each series including 10 games. Includes classic series such as Golden Age, Streets of Rage, and Shining Force.
• SEGA Megadrive Collections is $1.50 for each pack (10 games each pack)
• SEGA Retro Bundle is $16.87 (includes all 5 Genesis packs plus the 5 games below)
• NiGHTS into Dreams HD is $5.36 (next best $10)
• Jet Set Radio is $2.72 ( list$10)
• SEGA Bass Fishing is $2.44 (next best $9)
• Crazy Taxi is $2.44 (list $9)
• Space Channel 5: Part 2 is $2.44 (next best $9)
Microsoft Store is offering 1600 Xbox 360 LIVE points ($20 value) with the pre-order select Xbox 360 titles for $59.99 with free shipping. Microsoft recently added Gears of War Judgment to the eligible titles.
• Feb. 5 release Dead Space 3 Limited Edition
• Feb 19 release Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Feb. 26 release Bioshock Infinite
• Mar. 5 release South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Mar. 15 release Tomb Raider
• Mar. 19 release Gears of War: Judgment with a Classic Hammerburst Weapon and Alex Brand Playable Character
• Mar. 19 release Crysis 3 Hunter Edition
• Mar. 26 release Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel
• Mar. 31 release Lost Planet 3
• Mar. 31 release Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14
• Spring 2013 release Grand Theft Auto V
• This week Toys 'R' Us has a "Save $20 off 2 Wii U games" sale on titles priced $49.99 or more. [Dealzon]
GameFly
• Darksiders Franchise Pack is $19.99 (next best $40). Includes games I & II, 11 DLCs, and the Season Pass.
• Mass Effect 3 is $14.99 (list $30)
• Stacking is $7.49 (list $15)
• Psychonauts is $4.99 (list $10)
NewEgg
• Halo 4 with an Xbox LIVE 12 Month Gold Membership is $69.98, free ship (separately $80)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PC) is $39.99, free ship (next best $60)
• Hitman: Absolution (360, PS3) is $27.99, free ship (next best $40)
• Record of Agarest War Zero Limited Edition (360) is $19.99, free ship (next best $25)
Green Man Gaming
• Yesterday's release Rush Bros. is $11.96 (next best $15)
• Today's release Strike Suit Zero is $15 (list $20)
• Today's release The Cave is $11.25 (next best $15)
• Today's release The Sims 3: 70s, 80s & 90s Stuff Pack is $16 (list $20)
• Jan. 25 release DMC: Devil May Cry with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $37.50 (next best $50)
• Jan. 29 release Dungeonland is $7.50 (list $10)
• Feb. 5 release Omerta: City of Gangsters with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $25.50 (list $40)
• Feb. 12 release Aliens: Colonial Marines with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $35 (next best $45)
• Mar. 5 release Tomb Raider with $2 Credit or $1 Cash Back is $33.75 (next best $45)
• Mar. 5 release South Park: The Stick of Truth with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $45 (next best $49)
• Mar. 31 release Metro: Last Light with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $45 (next best $60)
• Apr. 2 release Defiance is $45 (list $60)
• Apr. 23 release Dead Island Riptide with $3 Credit or $2 Cash Back is $30 (list $40)
• Virtua Tennis 4 is $12 (next best $15)
• Alpha Protocol is $12 (list $15)
• Endless Space: Admiral Edition is $12 (next best $30)
• Gemini Warsis $8 (next best $20)
• PID is $8 (list $10)
• Lucius is $4 (next best $20)
• Dark Void Zero is $1 (next best $5)
Amazon
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Wii U) is $46.99, free ship (list $60)
• LEGO Lord of the Rings (360, PS3) is $29.99, free ship (next best $40)
• THQ Mega Pack (19 PC download games) $24.99 (list $50)
• Bit.Trip Complete (Wii) is $12.85 (next best $20)
• Karaoke Revolution Glee: Volume 3 with Microphone (360) is $12.10 (next best $20)
• Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii) is $10.99 (next best $20)
Best Buy
• NBA 2K13 (Wii U) is $39.99, free ship (next best $56)
• Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3) is $29.99, free ship (next best $40)
• Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends (360) is $20.99, free ship (next best $27)
• Crosswords Plus (3DS) is $19.99, free ship (next best $29)
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS) is $19.99, free ship (next best $40)
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (PS3) is $17.99, free ship (next best $32)
GamersGate
• The Walking Dead Game (PC download) is $12.48 (next best $25)
GameStop
• XCOM Enemy Unknown (PC download) is $39.99 (next best $50)
Walmart
• Aliens: Colonial Marines Collector's Edition (360, PS3) is $86.76 (list $100)
• Xbox 360 Live 12-Month Gold Membership Card is $39.99, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $49. [Dealzon]
• Xbox 360 4GB Console with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is $209.99, free ship from TigerDirect. Next best is $260. [Dealzon]
• Nintendo 3DS XL (Blue/Black) is $179.99, free ship from Best Buy. Next best is $200. The Flame Red non-XL 3DS is also available at $149.99. [Dealzon]
• Xbox 360 4GB Slim Console is $179.99, free ship and comes with a $20 gift card from Best Buy. Usually $200 for the console alone. [Dealzon]
• Sennheiser X320 Xbox 360 Gaming Headset is $89, free ship and comes with a 3 Month Xbox Live subscription from eBay Deals. Next best is $142. [Dealzon]
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells PlayStation Move Bundle is $44.99, free ship from Best Buy. Next best is $60. [Dealzon]
• HP Envy dv7t-7200 Quad Edition 17.3-inch laptop with Quad Core i7-3630QM, 1080p display, GeForce GT 650M 2GB, 8GB RAM, Blu-ray, Windows 8 is $978.74 with $9.99 shipping from HP. List price is $1,305.
• Dell XPS 8500 Desktop with a $400 coupon is $999.99. Comes with Quad Core i7-3770 (3rd Gen), Radeon HD 7770 2GB, 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD + 32GB SSD, and Blu-ray. Free ship from Dell Home. That's cheapest ever by $100.
• HP ENVY h8-1540t Desktop with Ivy Bridge Core i7-3820, Radeon HD 7570, 10GB RAM, Windows 8 is $849.99 with $9.99 shipping from HP. New low by $35. List price is $1,000.
As always, smart gamers can find values any day of the week, so if you've run across a deal, share it with us in the comments.