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Bethesda & InXile announce 'Hunted: The Demon's Forge,' a co-op 'roots' game

by JC Fletcher { Mar 15th 2010 at 11:27AM }

Click to descend into the Lair of Screenshots
If you and your friends are eager to dive into a monster-filled dungeon -- and who isn't -- then Bethesda has a thrilling announcement for you: The publisher is handling a new co-op fantasy action game, Hunted: The Demon's Forge, developed by Interplay founder Brian Fargo's InXile Entertainment.

Fargo describes Hunted as an "upcoming release that takes us back to our roots," and the screenshots (in our gallery below) paint a pretty clear picture of what that could mean: warriors and archers putting holes in orc-looking things with sharp objects and magic.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge is in development for Xbox 360, PS3 and Games for Windows (PC). We'll have some impressions of the game later today.

Gallery: Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Brink trailer showcases acrobatic, lanky dudes

by David Hinkle { Mar 12th 2010 at 7:30PM }

Whomever compiled this Brink trailer must have enjoyed themself some Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, because we swear we've only seen dudes stylishly dodge projectiles like that in a Hideo Kojima game. But, we digress.

There are plenty of other noteworthy things, but if you're looking for actual in-game footage, you won't find it throughout the three minutes of video above. But, hey, if the CG is any indication, there will be lots of action to look forward to in Brink. That and curiously tall, acrobatic gentlemen wearing a variety of neat masks.

First screens from Fallout: New Vegas surface, feature glorious beards

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 7th 2010 at 7:00PM }

Click to embearden

Around these parts, we're all avid supporters of a thick, lustrous beard. Though our tastes for the gaming industries various genres differ greatly, we can all get behind any game so long as it includes characters with copious amounts of facial hair. For this reason alone, a recent batch of screenshots has placed Fallout: New Vegas firmly on our list of most anticipated games of 2010.

You can check out images depicting New Vegas' unprecedentedly hirsute ensemble in the gallery below. There's also a Super Mutant with heart-rimmed glasses and a doo-wop weave, and man, we've got to find out what that's all about.

Gallery: Fallout: New Vegas

QuakeCon 2010 announced for August

by Ben Gilbert { Mar 6th 2010 at 12:15AM }

Ahh yes, another year, another QuakeCon. The annual mecca for all things id Software (and now all things Bethesda Softworks, as well) will be returning to Texas this year on August 12-15, presumably with the usual three-plus hours of John Carmack keynote in tow (he goes on and on because he loves!).

As usual, the goings-on will be free, with the 72 hours of pure, unfiltered nerddom sponsored by parent company Zenimax Media (alright, alright -- it's very likely that the Bawls energy drink company is putting up some money as well). Little is known about the actual events of the show this year outside of the aforementioned cursory details, though, yes, the traditional event-wide network will again be available for attendees who bring PC rigs. That means order the purple neon light for your PC today, friends, not tomorrow.

April OXM features Fallout: New Vegas, Halo: Reach

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 5th 2010 at 7:30PM }

The small, irradiated pool of Fallout: New Vegas knowledge is about to get bigger. Bethesda has announced that the April issue of Official Xbox Magazine -- set to hit newsstands next week -- will devote its cover story to the game. Readers can expect an eight-page spread on New Vegas and, as a bonus, the included DVD will also feature some exclusive gamer pics (what, no Avatar items?).

Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the magazine has an eight-page feature on Halo: Reach as well. All in all, probably something Xbox gamers should keep an eye on.

Fallout 3 irradiates Games on Demand

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 2nd 2010 at 12:45PM }

Attention would-be wastelanders, Fallout 3 is now available on Xbox Live Games on Demand. The game clocks in at 5GB and is available in all Xbox Live regions except India, Japan and New Zealand. It costs $29.99 in North America, which is about even with most retailers. As usual, prices for other regions will vary.

Meanwhile, Street Fighter IV -- previously available only in North America and Asia -- is now available in all Xbox Live regions. Before you plunk down the cash for Street Fighter IV, though, don't forget that you can grab something a little more super next month.

Shortcut - Add Fallout 3 to your Xbox 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]
Shortcut - Add Street Fighter IV to your Xbox 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]

Bethesda: Brink release dates are 'speculative'

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 1st 2010 at 10:17AM }

Initially appearing to be a bit more official than the standard placeholder date, a Brink sweepstakes page on GameStop's website declares the first-person shooter's release date as September 7, 2010. Publisher Bethesda Softworks tells Joystiq that the date should be "considered speculative." A representative for the company explained, "Often times retailers will assign a release date for a game that falls within the game's announced launch window. While we have announced that Brink is due out in Fall 2010, we have yet to announce an official release date for the game."

GameStop now notes on its Brink page: "Official pricing and release dates have not been announced by the publisher. These are estimates only and subject to change."

[Via Videogamer]

Fallout: New Vegas plot details surface from USA Today

by Ben Gilbert { Feb 22nd 2010 at 5:25PM }

Aside from a cursory description of the game's premise on its official website, we've heard very little about Fallout: New Vegas. Today, friends, that changes, with a USA Today feature that reveals the game's protagonist as a shot and left-to-die package delivery boy who finds himself in Sin City "and the surrounding area" in 2280. "You were a courier, and you were obviously carrying something that somebody wanted," Bethesda Softworks' Pete Hines says of the player's character. "Part of the story is finding out what you had and what they took."

Hines additionally insists New Vegas will "feel" far different from 2008's Fallout 3 through one key aspect: the setting. "Vegas is up and running. It is not a ghost town. It still exists and thrives. There are casinos, and you can go down onto the Strip. It will have a very different feel from that standpoint."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hines also notes that the New Vegas will "take you hundreds of hours to explore every nook and cranny" -- not unlike the 2008 iteration of the Fallout franchise. We'd be straight lying if we said we weren't unbelievably ready to invest that time in more of the Fallout universe this fall, even after all of last year's DLC.

Fallout: New Vegas coming this fall, teaser coming ... right now

by Justin McElroy { Feb 4th 2010 at 10:36AM }

Bethesda sent word today that the Obsidian-developed Fallout: New Vegas will start irradiating store shelves this fall. It's a little less nebulous than the previous "sometime in 2010," but it's still not specific enough for our tastes.

No, the real draw today is the second half of Bethesda's release, the debut teaser trailer that we've put just above. No gameplay, but it's got style and Sinatra to spare.

Also ... is that a Helghast? It's not, right?

[Update: Bethesda updated the game's official description with a few details. You can find them after the break.]

Continued →

Namco Bandai to spread Fallout: New Vegas across Australia, Europe

by Randy Nelson { Jan 29th 2010 at 5:00PM }

Holy wow, there's actually some news about Obsidian / Bethesda's Fallout: New Vegas. We hadn't seen hide nor hair of the game since its announcement in April of last year and ... well, we still haven't. No, dear Readers, today's news is merely that the game will be distributed in many locales outside of the US by Namco Bandai.

Specifically, the Japan-headquartered giant will be putting New Vegas into the hands of gamers in Australia, Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Rivet City. (We made that last one up.) For its part, Bethesda mostly talked up the partnership, but added that, "Fallout: New Vegas builds upon the immersive gaming experience that made Fallout 3 the 2008 Game of the Year." Yes, please!

[Via CVG]

Interplay's 'Fallout MMO' beta to begin shortly before world ends

by Griffin McElroy { Jan 25th 2010 at 12:30PM }

It seems all the legal rigmarole between Interplay and Bethesda isn't slowing down the former's work on Project: V13, an MMO set in the latter's Fallout universe. At least, that seems to be the message from Interplay, which recently announced a development partnership with Masthead Studios, which is lending Interplay its technology, tools and resources as it continues work on the post-apocalyptic online game.

In fact, Interplay is so confident in the game's future release, it went ahead and announced a tentative date for the game's beta testing phase: 2012. Perfect! That should leave a few months for them to work out the kinks, then a few months for us to enjoy the game post-launch, and then the sun will explode.

Rumorang: Elder Scrolls MMO three years into development

by Ben Gilbert { Jan 20th 2010 at 12:45PM }

According to VG247's "very reliable" source, Bethesda Softworks is already three years deep into development on an Elder Scrolls MMO. Recent court documents in the ongoing Bethesda/Interplay lawsuit have allegedly revealed that Bethesda has "close to 100 people working on a secret World of Warcraft-type MMO" -- a tasty piece of info that it's said to be currently fighting to have redacted from a 218-page court transcript.

Furthermore, the unannounced MMO is said to be "very close" to being unveiled. We could even be seeing a release of the purported title later this year, as the transcript is said to also reveal a four-year development cycle (starting in late 2006 would put that either later this year or early 2011). Bethesda has commented in the past that it is currently not working on an MMO, though ZeniMax Online (another studio under Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media) is working on a currently unannounced title. We contacted Bethesda for comment and were told, "We aren't talking about what that studio is working on and don't comment on rumors and speculation."

Source 1 - VG247
Source 2 - Duck and Cover Forums

New Brink video shows how to customize your lanky, lanky character

by Griffin McElroy { Jan 18th 2010 at 2:13PM }

If you're as intrigued as we are by Splash Damage and Bethesda's co-operative FPSRPG Brink, you'll probably want to check out the video above, which shows the many options you'll be afforded when customizing your personal freedom fighter. For instance, what kind of full-torso tattoos would like? And how many mohawks do you want perched atop your skull? Three, you say? Wonderful, wonderful.

Though all of the characters designed in the video turn out horrifically homely, there certainly seems to be a lot of depth in the customization tools. We just hope there's an option to shorten our characters' arms, as all of the soldiers seen in the trailer above probably do a lot of tripping over their own forearms.

Writers Guild of America announces 2010 game writing nominations

by Ben Gilbert { Jan 15th 2010 at 11:15PM }

Well folks, we've been here twice before -- it's that very special time of year when the Writers Guild of America announces nominations in the category of "Videogame Writing." As has been the standard for the past two years, the list of games is a dubious mix. We'd certainly point to Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 (our 2009 Game of the Year, lest you forget) and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 as worthy of the title, but ... well, nearly everything else on the list strikes us as either unworthy or straight up misplaced. It reads as follows:

Assassin's Creed 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Wet
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

We're just as flummoxed as you are that titles like Wolverine and Modern Warfare 2 showed up -- especially while a litany of other great writing falls by the wayside (we're looking at you, Dragon Age and Professor Layton 2) -- but that might have something to do with the WGA membership requirement for consideration in the nominations. Regardless, we'll find out who's going to take the golden manuscript home when the show takes place simultaneously in both Los Angeles and New York City on February 20.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

id 'ramping up' hiring for Doom

by Richard Mitchell { Jan 13th 2010 at 8:30PM }

While id is currently keeping Rage at the forefront of its media presence, it looks like things are starting to accelerate for the next entry in the Doom series. Bethesda has made a note on its official blog that id is currently hiring, with "several programming positions open, as well as positions in Animation, Art, Design, IT, and Management." While the post doesn't directly specify that the company is hiring for Doom, it does point to the image at right as a clue to what the studio is "ramping up for."

Announced in 2008, the next Doom project is "not a sequel to Doom 3, but it's not a reboot either," according to id's Todd Hollenshead. It won't be called Doom 4 either. Whatever it is, we probably won't be hearing about it anytime soon.