CCP Games reveals Odyssey, Eve Online's 19th expansion, at PAX East

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Eve Online, CCP Games’ nearly 10-year-old massively multiplayer online role-playing game, will receive its 19th expansion, Odyssey, on June 4, the developer announced today at PAX East.

The update will include a revamped scanning mechanic, user interface tweaks and hidden locations among the ever-expanding game’s 7,929 solar systems.

Polygon spoke to Jon Lander, executive producer of Eve Online, at PAX East about the expansion and how CCP aims to entice new and old players alike with its components.

Lander framed Odyssey as a continuance of the game’s evolution, which is tied to its roots.

“Really, 2012 was about getting the foundations in place for a second decade, and Odyssey will be the the first step in that. It’s taking is back…

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Via: Polygon

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    Mythology and religious elements in games help tell broader stories in fewer words, scholars say

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    Using elements from mythology and religion in video games can help developers tell a “better” story, because providing a real-world background familiar to players can paint a broader narrative in fewer words, according to speakers at a PAX East panel today.

    Vancouver School of Theology graduate student Emily Jarrett and Michael Lowings, technical team lead at genetics program developer Delta Genomic, believe that use of religious tropes and elements in games can help create greater stories, as they provide pre-existing foundations that can easily be built on or adapted.

    “We’re interested in telling better stories,” said Jarrett,”and what matters isn’t necessarily [the audience], but how [developers] tell those stories, engage people…

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    Via: Polygon

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      A Minecraft Player Just Created What Could Be The Beginnings of Artificial Intelligence, Sort Of

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      A Minecraft Player Just Created What Could Be The Beginnings of Artificial Intelligence, Sort Of

      My biggest accomplishments in Minecraft so far have been building my dream home (complete with fireplace, library, greenhouse, and swimming pool) and a five-way track switcher that I definitely did not copy off a Youtube video. Redditor AllUpInHyuh, on the other hand, created what he or she is calling “a working neuron.”

      An Imgur gallery is accompanied by snippets of text like the following:

      The box on the left represents the extracellular concentration of sodium (initially high). Stacks will be drawn out and “diffuse” into the intracellular chest.

      And:

      Gold pressure plate can be thought of as a binding site for neurotransmitters. As the number of sprites released from dropper grows, the signal from plate increases. The quantity of items in chest determines the threshold for stimulation.

      I have no idea what any of that means, but given that the discussion in the comments turned almost immediately to this project’s hypothetical applications toward creating artificial intelligence, I think we can conclude that it’s pretty serious. After all, according to this sciencey-looking page, a human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons. That seems doable, right?

      Just made a working neuron in a video game. thought this transcended r/minecraft
       [Reddit]

      Via: kotaku

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        Robert Bowling's Breach and Clear aims for a distilled console experience on mobile

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        Gun Media and former Infinity Ward developer Robert Bowling’s new mobile game, tactical military hybrid Breach and Clear, aims to bring a tightly-knit tactical military experience to players who want a quick mobile fix.

        In the game, players are tasked with raiding areas and clearing them of enemies, or “breaching and clearing,” as the military term explains.

        The game will release with four starting maps: a dusty Turkish bazaar, an underground Afghanistan bunker, a German Black Forest outside environment and a Chinese cargo tanker in a thunderstorm. Each map has four separate areas that must be breached and cleared of enemies. Maps can be switched between three-quarter and top down views as well as rotated to allow a clear view of the…

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        Via: Polygon

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          Firaxis teases 'what may be coming next' for XCOM at PAX East panel

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          A brief glimpse of the future of XCOM was shown off during Firaxis’ PAX East 2013 panel moments ago, hinting that a new alien threat may be aligning against planet Earth.

          The teaser, which featured a static-riddled message from the “councilman,” delivered an ominous message to close out the panel.

          “This next one is big,” Firaxis’ Jake Solomon told the panel’s attendees. “You’re not going to see it anywhere else, we’re not even going to talk about it for a while. This is for those of you who care enough to be super fans and came to this panel. We wanted to give you a sneak peek at what may be coming next, so, we have an incoming transmission from the councilman.”

          The message, which was fairly difficult to translate, was not an…

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          Via: Polygon

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            Sanctum 2 trailer offers a first look at gameplay

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            Coffee Stain Studios, the developer behind first-person shooter and tower defense hybrid Sanctum 2, released a new trailer featuring a short visual introduction to gameplay.

            Sanctum 2 is a sequel to 2011′s Steam title. The trailer, which you can watch above, features a look at the game’s environments, tower defense elements and more. Conflict from a shooter perspective is also included.

            Sanctum 2 is being developed for Steam, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network and is expected to launch later this year. The game will feature co-op for up to four players. Coffee Stain recently revealed a new character class, the designated marksman SiMo. Check out the game’s development blog for more.

            Via: Polygon

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              Civilization V's Next Expansion—Brave New World—Releases In North America On July 9th

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              Civilization V's Next Expansion—Brave New World—Releases In North America On July 9th

              Firaxis today announced at their PAX East panel that the recently announced Civilization V expansion, named Brave New World, will release in North America on July 9th. International gamers can expect to play the expansion on July 12th.

              Update: Here’s ten minutes of footage from today’s panel—this is everything you need to know about the expansion.

              Via: kotaku

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                You'll Soon Be Able To Use XCOM Soldiers In Civilization V [UPDATE: Now with video]

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                You'll Soon Be Able To Use XCOM Soldiers In Civilization V [UPDATE: Now with video]

                Today Firaxis—the makers of both XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Civilization V—announced that you can research something called the XCOM Project in your game of Civ V.

                What that does is replace what would normally be paratrooper units with actual XCOM soldiers that drop from the Skyranger. Check out what that looks like in the screenshot above.

                Here it is in action:

                Via: kotaku

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                  XCOM: Enemy Unknown Is Coming To The iPhone And iPad This Summer [Update: Now With More Info]

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                  Firaxis’ summer is going to be quite busy. They just announced today at their PAX East panel that they’ll be bringing the fantastic strategy game from the PC/consoles over to the iOS platform.

                  They showed off a quick demo of what the game will look like on your palm-friendly device, but we’re told that it’s basically the entire game carried over to mobile. We’ll have impressions for you as soon as we can get our hands on it. No word on pricing yet.

                  UPDATE: I spoke with Firaxis’ Jake Solomon on the show floor today while he showed me XCOM: Enemy Unknown on an iPad. He opened up the familiar map of the XCOM base, and swiping between locations seemed like a natural fit. So did the gameplay, which is predominantly cursor-driven and so perfect for taps and swipes on a touch screen.

                  But I got a few other interesting tidbits, too, so I’ll share them here with some bullet points:

                  • Development—or the porting process—of the iOS edition started at the tail-end of development on the PC/console versions of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
                  • The iOS versions feature the same UI as the game, with a few tweaks for things like swiping, but the iPhone version will differ from the iPad version for obvious reasons like the limitation of screen real estate. Can’t squeeze in as much details on a tinier phone.
                  • Solomon couldn’t say what iPad/iPhone editions the game will launch for, but he did say that he’s seen the game run on multiple versions of the iPad.
                  • The total number of maps you can play on are less than what you’d find on the PC/console editions.

                  We’ll share more when we learn more.

                  Via: kotaku

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                    Now Homeless, the Retro Games Podcast Retronauts Wants Your Kickstarter Money

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                    Now Homeless, the Retro Games Podcast Retronauts Wants Your Kickstarter Money

                    After the tragic shuttering of 1UP alongside a few other publications last month, the retro games podcast Retronauts found itself without a home. Naturally its hosts, former and slightly-less-recently-former, have turned to Kickstarter to fund its revival.

                    Bob Mackey, Ray Barnholt and Jeremy Parish are asking for $12,000 for equipment and recording space, and in return they’ll make at least another 26 episodes with a fourth, rotating guest host. Considering they’ve reached over $20,000 with 29 days left to go, I’m not sure why I’m even writing about this, besides the fact that Retronauts was one of my favorite podcasts.

                    We’d like to keep Retronauts going for at least another year, but we’re in need of the equipment and resources necessary to produce the quality podcast you’ve come to expect. Sure, we could always use Skype, but nothing beats the intimacy of four people in a tiny room screaming at each other about Milon’s Secret Castle.

                    Couldn’t agree more. I don’t even know what Milon’s Secret Castle is, but that’s part of the reason why I love listening to this podcast. I also love the fact that there are no ridiculous $10,000 reward tiers on this Kickstarter—the image above is the t-shirt design (subject to change) backers of $50 get, and the maximum contribution of $300 gets you a spot in that rotating fourth host chair to yap about classic games on the air. Some people (me) would argue that’s worth it.

                    Disappointed that you missed out on one of those sweet rewards? Well, we just added a bunch more!
                     [Twitter]

                    Via: kotaku

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                      If You're Still Mad About SimCity, At Least You Can Sign This Petition

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                      If You're Still Mad About SimCity, At Least You Can Sign This Petition

                      Their message is clear: What happened with SimCity is not okay.

                      Their demands are simple: Remove the always-online requirement from SimCity and future games.

                      And they are legion.

                      Their change.org petition has almost 75,000 signatures. Who knows if it will have any real-world effects, but at least it’s keeping the dialogue up. That’s what we’re doing here, after all. Hell, they could have done this on whitehouse.gov and forced Obama to chime in.

                      Thanks, simpsonfreak1120!

                      Via: kotaku

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                        Next Mass Effect Will Be Fresh, New and Mostly Made in Montreal

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                        Next Mass Effect Will Be Fresh, New and Mostly Made in Montreal

                        A panel celebrating the recently-concluded Mass Effect trilogy produced scant details and vague teases about the future of the series and its creators at PAX East in Boston today.

                        “We are starting to get ready to develop another Mass Effect game, and it’s going to be a new thing,” series executive producer Casey Hudson said at a Mass Effect retrospective at PAX East in Boston today. “We want to be able to give fans an opportunity to get back into the world with these things you’ve come to know and love about the Mass Effect experience but start something fresh and new—a new way for you to explore the whole universe in Mass Effect.”

                        For series fans, even that little bit of info might be a welcome update.

                        The game will be developed primarily by BioWare’s Montreal studio, though Hudson, in the studio’s Edmonton headquarters, will serve as the executive producer. As we’ve previously reported, Commander Shepard will not be returning.

                        Hudon and the series’ lead designer Preston Watamaniuk will mostly be working on a non-Mass Effect project. “We are developing a whole new fictional universe at BioWare for myself and Preston [and other main Mass Effect trilogy creators.] That’s kind of our next thing,” Husdon said. “We’re focusing on building something new the way we did at the very beginning on Mass Effect.

                        Hudson also seemed big on the planned Mass Effect movie in development at Legendary Pictures. “That hopefully should be seen as a good thing,” he said, “Because what we’re looking at are, I think, the right things to make sure it’s gong to be a great movie. It’s not just going to be a movie; it’s going to be really special.” We’ve not heard much about the movie lately, so a mention is encouraging.

                        The image of the Citadel up top is from the original Mass Effect trilogy.

                        Via: kotaku

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