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New Duels of the Planeswalkers expansion released

blaha — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:00:00 +0000

More challenges, Achievements, unlockable cards and decks have come to Duels of the Planeswalkers courtesy of an expansion pack. The update — which apparently doesn’t have a name but released this afternoon — ushers in a new slice of single-player campaign, too that is said to feature more battles against bad dudes in order to unlock Rhys the Redeemed’s and Chandra Nalaar’s respective decks.

To get a bit more specific about the expansion’s details: three totally new decks are being added on top of three new unlockable cards for the game’s now-eleven decks. Five more puzzle challenges and host migration functionality round the 400 MSP package, which apparently also dishes out Avatar awards (as seen above).

Ranger Pack DLC announced for Metro 2033

blaha — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Earlier this week, the Metro 2033 crew made it clear that an announcement about the post-apocalyptic shooter’s first DLC would be made soon. They weren’t kidding. This afternoon, THQ pushed back the curtain, revealing “The Ranger Pack,” an optional bit of content that changes the way the game is played.

According to VideoGamer, the “Ranger Pack” adds Achievements and two new weapons, the Heavy Automatic Shotgun and the Volt Driver, to the game. More interestingly, it adds a new mode of play called “Ranger Mode,” which further reduces ammunition while increasing the damage of ammo and enemies. Ranger Mode also kills the HUD, so be prepared to count bullets and actually rely on that fancy lighter.

The DLC doesn’t have a firm release — THQ says “the very near future” — or an official price. However, the DLC will be made available for the Xbox 360 and the Steam version of the game.

Ranger Pack DLC confirmed for Metro 2033 [VideoGamer]

Steam for Mac is now available with a free copy of Portal

blaha — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:55:00 +0000

As promised, Valve released the Steam client for Mac this afternoon. The program is available for free, just like it’s PC brother, and can be downloaded at the official Steam website. You can’t miss the link unless you’re blind. If that’s the case, well, you probably won’t be able to play any of the games Valve announced or even read this post. We’ve yet to enable our Braille feeds. Sorry about that.

In case you’re wondering what should available, check below the fold. A smattering of titles, large and small, are slated to go live at some point this afternoon. According to Valve, a “new group of games highlighting an area of Steam functionality” will be released each and every Wednesday. This week’s, according to Valve, “show off” Steam Play which is a hip feature that keeps you from having to pay twice for the same game across the service’s two platforms.

Note: we’ve heard reports that users can’t purchase new games yet. We’ll update the post when that functionality finally appears.

Update 1: Portal is free this week

Update 2: If you’re unable to play Portal on Mac Steam close it and run this in Safari: steam://run/52003 This will open Steam bypassing the beta check. (Thanks, @Jcapote)

GAMES:

And Yet It Moves
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Bob Came in Pieces
Bookworm Deluxe
Braid
Brainpipe
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
Chuzzle Deluxe
City of Heroes: Architect Edition
Civilization IV: The Complete Edition
Cooking Dash
Diaper Dash
The Dig
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
DinerTown Detective Agency
DinerTown Tycoon
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
Escape Rosecliff Island
Fairway Solitaire
Fitness Dash
Football Manager 10
Galcon Fusion
Gemini Lost
Guns of Icarus
Hotel Dash Suite Success
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
KrissX
Loom
Luxor
Luxor 3
Luxor: Mahjong
Machinarium
Mahjong Roadshow
Max and the Magic Marker
My Tribe
The Nightshift Code
Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar’s Eye
Parking Dash
Peggle Deluxe
Peggle Nights
Portal
Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery
Quantz
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
Tales of Monkey Island Season 1
Toki Tori
Torchlight
Trijinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
Unwell Mel
Valarie Porter and the Scarlett Scandal
Wandering Willows
Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
World of Goo
Zenerchi
Zuma Deluxe

Steam for Mac is now available

blaha — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:55:00 +0000

Note: we’ve heard reports that users can’t purchase new games yet. We’ll update the post when that functionality finally appears.

GAMES:

PSA: Super Street Fighter IV’s second costume DLC is live

blaha — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Feel the need to purchase a grass skirt for Dan or proper cowboy attire for Ken? Until this afternoon, that wasn’t possible. Capcom-Unity has pointed out that the second set of downloadable costumes for Super Street Fighter IV, dubbed the Super Shoryuken Pack, is now available over the Xbox 360′s and PS3′s respective digital stores.

The set, which adds the aforementioned attire as well as new duds for Ryu, Akuma, and Gouken, is set at $3.99 (or 320 Microsoft Moon Points). Pictures available over at Capcom-Unity.

Second Set of Super Street Fighter IV Alternate Costumes Now Available [Capcom-Unity]

Metro 2033 DLC details coming soon?

blaha — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:30:00 +0000

In late April 4A Games hinted oh-so-subtly that the next bit of DLC for Metro 2033 would “probably” not be what we expect from DLC for the post-apocalyptic sewer-shooter. We immediately shot publisher THQ and the 4A Games crew 642 e-mails about the possible inclusion of a Tooth Fairy avatar or a Flower and Rainbows-themed missions. Understandably, neither of the companies replied.

But a reveal of the mystery content is coming soon. According to a recent tweet from the game’s official Twitter account, the team is hoping to “take the wraps off (the DLC) this week.” Chances are we just blew the surprise for all of you (the latter guess is a really good one, one source not close to the project has claimed) but at least we’ll know for sure in just a few days. Fingers crossed.

Metro 2033 DLC Details Due This Week [IncGamers]

Next Assassin’s Creed viral website opens for business

blaha — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:27:00 +0000

It appears that Ubisoft has something for missing body parts and viral campaigns. At least, when it comes to some sort of Assassin’s Creed follow-up. (Probably Brotherhood.)

This afternoon several Destructoid users received a pretend letter from a Dr. Warren Vidic, the head genetic researcher and lead on Assassin’s Creed‘s time machine venture: the Animus Project. In the letter, Vidic asks the reader if he’s interested in a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity and welcomes him to “a new dawn of man.” Interestingly, the letter includes a link to a flash-based Assassin’s Creed website which details five weapons: a dagger, a syringe, a fan, an axe, and a radical arm prosthesis dubbed the “Claw.”

There’s a small riddle involving glyphs embedded amongst the weapons, easily solvable by browsing the website. Each weapon, when clicked on, reveals one of the glyphs (and a short, grainy video showing the weapon’s use in-game). The very last glyph is located offsite, seemingly, but we brute-forced it and netted the attached wallpaper for our efforts.

At the end of the day, we’re not sure what the hell this website is for. Presumably, it’s for Brotherhood‘s multiplayer component — all those Animus machines gives us that vibe, but we could be wrong. We totally thought that chili dog last night wouldn’t give us a single problem, and well, our toilet is now begging for relief.

Note: the site also has a countdown timer, which we’ll suppose will continue to count downwards until it hits zero. A transcript of the letter is available below the fold. Thanks, tipsters!

Dear [Whomever],

Hello and welcome to the new era of Abstergo Industries. I am Dr. Warren Vidic, the head genetic researcher and lead on the Animus Project. I would like to extend to you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will ensure your place in history. An offering to you to welcome a new dawn of man. Take this image and answer my call. A great battle looms to finish the past and begin the future. JOIN US…and see a new era rise.

Dr. Warren Vidic

Threads of Fate heading to PSN

blaha — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:20:00 +0000

It appears that the next PSOne Classic release from Square Enix after Final Fantasy IX will be Threads of Fate, a dual-perspective action RPG released originally in the US in the year of Patrick Bateman (2000 AD). No official release date is known.

According to a recent Joystiq post, Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto and the people who follow him, are reason we’ll see this re-release. Hashimoto polled his dudes, asking what game they’d like to see. Threads of Fate apparently popped up enough to please Square’s board. Next time, though, we hope fans will scream and rage for Another Mind. Granted, it never hit the US, and well, we have the slightest idea what it’s about but oh my god look at that cover art.

PlayStation RPG Theads of Fate coming sewn to PSN [Joystiq]

Natsume talks Harvest Moon, FarmVille, and learning

blaha — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

We’ve always thought about social game sensation FarmVille as a much simpler version of Harvest Moon. But it’s a simpler version that has eclipsed the more complex series in following. Or, at least, creator Natsume doesn’t brag about 80-something million moms buying and playing its game.

In a recent interview, Siliconera asked Natsume VP of Operations Graham Markay about what Harvest Moon can learn from the Facebook game. Markay said that the Harvest Moon series could learn a thing or two about the app’s social experience, but added that that will only become “more possible as the online capabilities of handhelds and consoles mature.”

Earlier in the conversation though, Markay touched on a bigger, possibly more important lesson: Harvest Moon could use a dose of FarmVille‘s bite-sized, pick up and play design: “It would be pretty interesting to try marrying that sort of (FarmVille) design with the RPG and relationship-building aspects that are such a big part of the Harvest Moon experience.”

Harvest Moon certainly has its bright spots (the Librarian’s looks and that fact that you could, at one time, drop your babies into voids by bathtubs, shoot to mind immediately) but we think it’d be great to see the game evolve in these directions. What say you?

The Rise Of FarmVille And How Harvest Moon Can Grow From It [Siliconera] [image]

Blur devs aren’t ruling out a handheld release

blaha — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Blur developers Bizarre Creations aren’t ruling out a possible handheld release of their racing game. In a recent interview with VG247, lead designer Gareth Wilson kept the possibility of such a thing open. But he also made it clear that Bizarre would probably get another developer to handle the title’s theoretical handheld release.

“Not right now,” he said. “But maybe in the future. And to be honest, handheld is not something that we would do anyway.”

“It is something that we would get someone else to do. Just license out the rights to the game. We’re not really set up for handheld development here.”

Blur on handhelds? Hell, we’ve barely even played it on consoles. We’ll have to get much more familiar with that before we get too pumped about the possibility — even if it would be nice to have that grown-up kind of Mario Kart game to play while sitting by that smelly dude on train. You know, the dude that smells like urine? That guy.

Interview: Bizarre Creations’ Gareth Wilson on Blur [VG247, via MTV Multiplayer]