Trailersoft, a division of Ubisoft that was funded when Yves Guillemot’s cat stood on his keyboard and added an extra zero to the trailer team’s budget, has been very busy lately. The pressure of releasing the hourly reminders that they have Splinter Cell and Assassin Creed games coming out has tired the poor folk out. They’ve gone a little bit avant garde with this trailer for the newly unveiled Panzer General Online. The game is a free-to-play turn-based wargame for browser generals. You will stare at your hexagons and make tactical decisions about the Battle of Omaha Beach, the Battle of Monte Cassino, and more. The trailer shows that off with a plastic army man fighting off a tank. (more…)

Remember that Eve Online Oculus Rift dog-fighting game that Brendan had a peep at in April? CCP were very coy about it, stating it that it was a prototype, and even hinting that it might never see a wider release. Well, it turned out when they were saying that they were also wearing Oculus Rifts, so we couldn’t see the winking that was going on. This is the biggest flaw of the Rift: the subtle interplay between journalists and winking developers collapses when you can’t see eyes. Anyway, CCP have realised this and set the record straight at Gamescom: it will be coming out, it’ll be released in 2014, and here’s a bloody trailer of EVE: Valkyrie. (more…)

EA have decided it’s time to hit the reset button on their DLC sales machine long running franchise with the official announcement of The Sims 4. The big plays this time around are focused on the titular little beggars themselves, promising “these Sims have evolved into beings whose every action is informed and affected by interactions and emotional states.” Creepier still we’re gifted with enhanced “ability to affect the mind, body and heart” of the poor dears. The promise of never before seen godhood over ever more realistic humans is mighty tempting, I’ll admit. Trailer after you’ve drowned in the pool with no ladder.

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EA have decided it’s time to hit the reset button on their DLC sales machine long running franchise with the official announcement of The Sims 4. The big plays this time around are focused on the titular little beggars themselves, promising “these Sims have evolved into beings whose every action is informed and affected by interactions and emotional states.” Creepier still we’re gifted with enhanced “ability to affect the mind, body and heart” of the poor dears. The promise of never before seen godhood over ever more realistic humans is mighty tempting, I’ll admit. Trailer after you’ve drowned in the pool with no ladder.

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Were you just thinking “gee whizz, there sure aren’t very many games out at the moment, I want something to play”? Were you perhaps, wondering this out loud? Maybe screaming it to the heavens? WELL CONGRATULATIONS, CITIZEN, your prayers have been answered by the gamejam god. The descriptively named 7 Day FPS came to an end last week, and has produced a heaving, sweating pile for you to pick through. All 161 finished titles can be accessed on the official website along with ideas and concepts for a further 117 that didn’t make it all the way. I’ve picked out a few highlights below.

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In an attempt to make sure that no-one else is allowed to have money ever again, Blizzard announced free to play online CCG Hearthstone back in March. Using characters and lore from the rather popular World of WarCraft, the plan was for a late summer beta with a same-year release, the first part of which has now come to fruition. Momentarily available only in North America, you can sign up for a shot at a key over on Battle.net while you wait for those bits and bytes to be shipped over the ocean. Some thoughts on what we’ve already seen of the game once you’ve become a hero.

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With a name like The Magical Realms of Tír na nÓg: Escape from Necron 7 – Revenge of Cuchulainn: The Official Game of the Movie – Chapter 2 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa, you’d expect something to be a joke first and a game second. But, like Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden before it, TMROTNN:EFN7-ROC:TOGOTM-C2OTHBS is actually looking like a rather enjoyable game to, you know, play. The genre’s entirely different – abandoning the mean, merciless, hardwood courts of JRPG parody for a metallic future motif and gun-heavy mechanics to match – but consider me very interested.

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The only bad thing I can see about World Of Warplanes coming out of beta is that it signals an end of innocence for all children. After seeing the free sky sorties that Wargaming’s free-to-play action game is capable off, there will be no more childhood games of ‘Spitfire’, where kids run around with their arms out pretending to be planes, and occasionally gob on the other team’s coats. No-one will want to bother when it turns out you can do it for free and with much less phlegm involved. And when kids aren’t spitting on one another, then their innocence is gone. Though there might be some drool, because World Of Warplanes is a rather handsome game of sky violence. When can you expect it to peel the beta sticker off? I’ve posted that information, along with a new trailer, beneath. (more…)

Given the length of time it takes me to come up with each new article title, I understand how difficult naming things can be, so I’m sympathetic but intrigued as to what exactly an “Aarklash” is. Once provided with the Legacy subtitle I know a metamorphosis takes place, creating an isometric, party-based RPG coming exclusively to PC. Rumour (also known as hard fact) has it that developers Cyanide Studio are putting the focus on difficulty, forcing players to consider positioning and ability usage of their four man person creature party in even the most basic of fights. Essentially, if the words “very difficult Planescape Torment” cause a physical reaction in your parts, this may be the game for you. A new trailer dispels a few more mysteries after the cut.

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We’ve long lamented the inanity of delaying EU releases. Archaic systems meant that games were once released on Tuesdays in the States, and Fridays in Europe. And before the oceans between were concreted over, most were in ignorance of the difference. But now, in our contiguous international continent, this gap has become rather problematic. From the blatantly obvious way it encourages piracy (“This game is available, your friends are enjoying it, but we’re not going to let> you buy it!”), via the tiresomeness of not being able to play friends via multiplayer/co-op, to the ridiculous hiding from social media, YouTube, etc half the world needs to conduct to avoid having games ruined, it’s obviously a dated and anachronistic way of things. With PC gaming so dominantly sold online in the UK and US, it’s time for it to end.

Now apply this all to a game that’s not even getting a physical release in the UK! Europe and Asia’s Saints Row IV, that you can’t even find a link to pre-order on PC on its own website, is artificially delayed until the end of the week.

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