Age of Conan near-future patch plans

The following information from Game Director Gaute Godager is about the plans for the near future.

Fellow Hyborians!

As you may have noticed we have had frequent patches the last two weeks. We hope this will soon start to quiet down, but as long as there are major issues – and there have been – we will dedicate the Conan team to fixing them and giving you these fixes as soon as possible! We have a plan on how to move this game forward because as you know, what you have today is but the platform – the dawn of this world. I hope you enjoy the game as is, but I can ensure you, this is but the beginning!

Our focus from now on can be summarized by these points:

1. We will add content, specifically in mid-late thirties and mid-late fifties and make the leveling speed smoother in those areas, reducing the need to grind.
2. We will have an overhaul of the PvP system – adding consequence and a host of small things.
3. We are fixing bugs you reported through all channels we can get information from.
4. We will add a new large outdoor region in the 55-60 range this summer!
5. This is only a small taster! More information about the exciting summer and fall Roadmap will come the end of the next week!
6. We are staffing up Customer Service, Quality Assurance and Community departments!

I will spend some words on a bit more details now.

1.

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Posted under Tech News

This post was written by Veg on June 3, 2008

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Guitar Hero 4 going out into the world

guitar_heroAfter months of financial statement teases and the initial reveal in an issue of Game Informer, Activision has officially released the first details of Guitar Hero 4, now known as Guitar Hero: World Tour. The game will be available this Fall on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The same development teams that created Guitar Hero III are back on board with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions being developed by Neversoft, while Vicarious Visions is creating the Wii version and Budcat is bringing it to the PS2.

Guitar Hero: World Tour looks to be the beginning of a completely era for the Guitar Hero series. As was revealed by Game Informer, World Tour will feature a drumkit and microphone along with the Music Studio track editor and an eight-player Battle of the Bands mode. Any song created in the Music Studio can be shared with other gamers through the game’s online database GHTunes.

Other gameplay options will include a four-player “full band” mode (that can be played both online and locally) and singleplayer Career mode that can be played with any instrument. ..

Activision is saying that World Tour will feature the largest number of tracks in a music game ever. As of now, four bands have been confirmed to have a place in World Tour: Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles and Sublime. And all of the songs will be master tracks; there will be no covers on Guitar Hero: World Tour. The game will also offer “significantly more localized downloadable music than ever before on all of the next-generation consoles.” So while it’s vaguely worded, it sounds like downloadable tracks are coming to the Wii as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Posted under Gaming, Platform-PC, Platform-PS3, Platform-Wii, Platform-Xbox 360, Tech News

This post was written by Veg on May 23, 2008

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Nintendo Wii Fit gets a workout

Wii FitThe Wii Fit, which comes complete with its own special balance board, is one of the new fitness computer games from the Nintendo stable, which already includes virtual games such as tennis, boxing and bowling…

Sophie, a publicist, shows me the new hardware for Wii Fit at her office in Soho. On the floor in front of a giant TV is a pressure-sensitive balance board about the size of weighing scales. In fact, what the new Wii does is to weigh you straight away. Along with your height and age, the computer then works out your body mass index. Mine is 29.36, somewhere between Medically Obese and About To Drop Dead. “It’s not 100 per cent accurate,” Sophie says, tactfully. “Muscle weighs more than fat.” “Thanks,” I say. “I can see why you’re in PR.”

[Youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=t3pfQdADxEs[/youtube]

Next, after some rudimentary balance exercises in which I am revealed to be fundamentally lopsided, the machine computes my “Wii age”. It is 65 (my actual age is 43). “Oh dear,” says Sophie. I have to choose a “Mii”, an icon to represent myself on screen. I go for a perky little chap with a side part and pot belly. He introduces himself. In Japanese. The English language version is not available yet, but if its success over there is anything to go by – more than a million copies of the game sold in just over a month – this game won’t be sitting on shop shelves for long.

I select an on-screen tutor, wondering if it’s morally or legally OK to lust after a computer-generated fitness instructor. She greets me with what I take to be a provocative pose. “She’s saying, ‘Hello, you fat bastard’,” the photographer says.

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Posted under Gaming, Platform-Wii, Tech News

This post was written by Veg on May 11, 2008

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World of Uwe Boll-craft?

A lot of gamers would know Uwe Boll. He’s the guy who directed several movie adaptations for video games such as House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark. He’s also the brains behind the new Far Cry movie.

Despite his long history in making movie adaptations of video games though, Boll doesn’t seem to be Blizzard’s prime choice for making the World of Warcraft movie. In fact, as MTV reports, they practically laughed at him when he offered to do so.

Boll recently got into contact with Paul Sams of Blizzard to make the movie. Boll relates the reply he got was a flat-out denial:

We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you. Because it’s such a big online game success, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongoing income, what the company has with it.

Source

Thank goodness Uwe Boll won’t get his hands on this popular game to make a movie. It’s been a good six or seven months, I’d say, since I pulled myself from the clutches of WoW (although I still have my level 70 toon just in case…), but still, if it was made into a movie, I’d prefer it be made into a good one. Blood Rayne was a serious letdown.

For all the Uwe Boll haters, the comment “not to you… especially not to you” has to be extremely humorous and rewarding.

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Posted under Entertainment, Gaming

This post was written by Veg on April 21, 2008

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Wii Fit is going to sell for $89.99

We know that Wii Fit is due out in America on May 19th, but today, Nintendo of America announced that it will be selling Wii Fit with the balance board for $89.99.

The game features over 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities. The hope is to “provides consumers with a fun, easy and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines.” While it won’t make you fit and lose lots of weight, it’s better to do this than sit on a couch.

I’m sure we’ll start seeing studies of people losing weight on Wii Fit, but don’t be hooked into buying any books about it.

If you are in New York, you’ll get a special treat if you buy it from the Nintendo World Store. From April 18-20, the first 1,000 customers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit will receive a limited edition Wii Fit t-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of Mr. Miyamoto.

EDIT: Oops. Sorry everyone. Wife double-posted this story. Yup, we’re getting one of these for sure. Guess that means I have to exercise more now, eh?

Source

Posted under Tech News

This post was written by Nicki on April 16, 2008

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Wii Fit priced, dated and…

the wife has already let me know that we’re getting one.

Wii FitWii Fit has already made waves in Japan, selling more than 1.4 million copies since December, and Nintendo of America has finally announced how much it will cost us to get in shape when the game finally hits North America on May 19. The Wii Fit package, which includes both the game and the wireless balance board, will sell for $89.99.

The title features more than 40 different games and activities, in areas such as yoga, strength training, and aerobics. Nintendo also announced that the first thousand people who pre-order the game from the Nintendo World Store in New York City will receive limited-edition t-shirts featuring everyone’s favorite tea-table up-ender, Shigeru Miyamoto.

While the game will be priced slightly higher than the $75 it was originally sold for in Japan, it is probably due to the sturdier version Nintendo had to make for bigger folks on this side of the Pacific.

Source

Posted under Gaming, Platform-Wii, Tech News

This post was written by Veg on April 15, 2008

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Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta

After what many have seen as an eternity, Flagship Studios has finally released another patch for the single-player version of the Hellgate: London. Caution that the patch is a beta and not a final release. If you wish to install the beta patch there are a large number of fixes discovered and tested in the multiplayer version. Just be certain to back up your save games before installing beta patch.

Download Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta (US)
Download Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta (UE)

Also of note is that the Test Center server was updated with an early build of Hellgate: London Patch 1.3.

Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta Patch Notes:

Hello Hellgaters!

We’re very pleased to bring our single-player gamers up to date with this patch. We’ve been putting a lot of focus on the online space where we get a great deal of testing done on our Test Center servers. The consistent feedback and requests to have these same improvement made available for those of you that enjoy offline, single-player gaming has not gone unheard! We’re still a small studio, so getting everything done as fast as you and we want to can be a challenge. So we greatly appreciate your patience while we got this patch into the development / test / release cycle.

You’ll find tons of bug fixes, skill changes, class balances, UI updates, graphic enhancements, and much more in this patch.

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Posted under Gaming, Patches, Platform-PC

This post was written by Veg on April 6, 2008

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UAB Hospital prescribes WiiHab

FOX6 shows us how patients recovering from spinal injuries are getting help from the Nintendo Wii. Doctors have found that using the video game system helps patients recover more quickly.

wiihab

Posted under Gaming, Platform-Wii, Tech News

This post was written by Nicki on April 3, 2008

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Latest Steam Update

A Steam client update is now available. To apply the update, click the File menu inside of Steam and then select “Check for Steam Client Updates…”. The specific changes include:

Steam Client

  • Fixed corrupt backup creation for certain games
  • Updated game overlay to support Assassin’s Creed

Posted under Gaming, Patches, Platform-PC

This post was written by Veg on April 2, 2008

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Unreal Tournament 3 Bonus Pack

ut3.jpgThis Bonus Pack includes 3 new maps (well, 2 revived back to life for UT3 and 1 completely new map).

  • Morbias is the deathmatch arena that started it all, perfectly suited for anything from small intense duels to chaotic free-for-all matches.
  • The Unreal Tournament classic, Facing Worlds was one of the most played maps in gaming history, beloved sniper map.
  • Searchlight is an intricate new capture the flag map designed for both z-axis rooftop runs and strategic indoor gameplay. Returning classics and fresh new designs let you experience Unreal gaming like never before.

DM-Morbias: The Morbias Station is a transport hub that focuses all traffic passing through Taryd’s jumpgates. The Station offers a terrestrial shuttle, storage facilities (with quarantine services for live cargo), and a social center where guests can meet incoming visitors or hold private meetings in a neutral setting.

DM-FacingWorlds: The Necris have forced their way into even the most revered of Izanagi landmarks. Their corruption has spread to the Temple of Facing Worlds, and one of its towers is already showing the effects of infection and decay.

CTF-Searchlight: The lighthouse serves as a beacon to this remote island, thought to be the ancient home of the Necris Prophet. The spiritual components of the Necris conversion are greatly misunderstood, and their power is vastly underestimated. Those who are willing to face the impact of their conversion often come to religious centers like this one to meditate.

Unreal Tournament 3 Bonus Pack

Posted under Gaming, Patches, Platform-PC

This post was written by Veg on March 27, 2008

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