It would be a fool who ignored the power of Maple Story. However, we arguably weren’t fools for not troubling you with the news of a MapleStory 2 last month. At that point Korean publishers Nexon had only put up a useless teaser site. Now there’s a trailer to make something of a more useful announcement.

You don’t care about MapleStory, you say? Sure, it’s not exactly core RPS material. But we should be interested it in anthropologically, if nothing else. This is a game that’s seen over 67 million players, and earned more than $300m before it was even famous. It’s a phenomenon, no question. And now it’s got a really stupid CGI trailer, complete with dubstep.

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Level With Me was a series of interviews with game developers about their games, work process, and design philosophy. At the end of each interview, they designed part of a small first person game. You can now download and play the final resulting game!… (more…)

There’s something haunting about The Shivah‘s opening sequence. It starts like a terrible joke: with a rabbi, a cantor, a near barren synagogue and an unconscious old woman. But it doesn’t end that way. Where you’d expect a pun, we see instead the slow, hypnotic dissolution of a man’s faith.

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”

“How could God let this happen?” (more…)

When Pool Nation appeared on Steam a few weeks ago, I was keen to try it but haven t had time until the week just gone. I d heard good things from friends who d played on previous generation consoles, and I ve been a fan of chalking my cue since developing an unexpected obsession with Jimmy White s Whirlwind Snooker back in the days before I was old enough to squander my fifty pence coins at a table in the local boozer. I didn’t expect to find myself playing the career mode in the small hours of the morning, or to care about perfecting my jump shot, but that’s precisely what happened. Here’s wot I think.>

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This is too sad. Kingdoms Of Amalur, the basis for one of the best RPGs in years, has failed to sell in 38 Studios’ assets auction. As reported by Polygon, no one was prepared to put up what current owners Heritage Global Partners were willing to take, despite another $320,000 being raised for other sales, including the Rise Of titles. But poor old Amalur remains on the shelf of the money-eating firm, unloved, and undeveloped.

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Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Natural Selection 2, have announced a new game in a genre that they “do not believe has yet been invented”. Popping players in a customisable submarine, Subnautica will “combine elements of role playing, sandbox, exploration and cinematic games to create a unique experience”. There aren’t many details yet but there’s a superficial (at least) resemblance to Hello Games’ recently announced No Man’s Sky, particularly when it comes to close encounters of the weird kind: “Interaction with impossibly diverse and fascinating creatures. Some of these creatures will be truly enormous, all of them will be unique.” I’ve embedded a video below and Unknown Worlds promise open development, with early access some time next year, and frequent updates at their site.

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I think I know what hell will be like. It will be someone demanding you put all the Street Fighter games in order on a shelf. The latest entry to the entirely garbled series will be Ultra Street Fighter IV, come August next year. It evolves to the next level!

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I tried not to post this, but I can’t help myself. Even as I get my paws on one multiplayer retrofit with Just Cause 2′s multiplayer mod, another appears on the horizon. I’m going to be stalking the Euro Truck Simulator 2 multiplayer mod until it gets released. Come and watch the development video below for some hot convoy action. (more…)

The Banner Saga‘s first chapter is due out next month. It’s certainly much anticipated, coming from a team of ex-Biowares, and following a phenomenally successful Kickstarter. A tactical RPG, turn-based combat combined with a unique way of delivering its narrative, it’s going to be interesting to see how it suits people’s tastes. It certainly divided John and Adam, as they played through the first three or four hours of the game.>

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You scope the joint, I’ll distract the pooches and my hulking great friend here will break a hole in the wall. We’re going in.

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