Blog Posts from "Hellforge" - Gameriot.com

Square Enix Mystery Game Is A New Final Fantasy

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:57:17 -0400

Leaked scans from Weekly Jump, a major Japanese enthusiast publication, confirmed that the the mystery game that's been teased on Square Enix's website is none other than a title by the name of Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden, an RPG for the Nintendo DS. The game is expected to be released in Japan this coming Fall.

Final Fantasy Gaiden is a standard menu-driven RPG with parties consisting of four characters encountered throughout the story. IGN, which received the translations, notes that the battle system lacks mana points (MP) but contains the presence of a "Charge" command next to standard fight and item commands, which sounds a bit like a Limit Break.

Additionally, the game is said to contain a heavy customization element for character equipment, which also results in changes to the character's appearance. While this may come as a standard feature in Western RPGs, such customizability is a rare feature to JRPGs, and it may well stand as one of Square Enix's new innovations to the genre.

The article reveals that in Final Fantasy Gaiden, players will take the role of a young teenager tasked by a king to rescue his kidnapped daughter. From the outset, it sounds like a very clichéd premise, but like any Final Fantasy game, I suspect that there will be twists and turns as players proceed through the storyline.

If the artwork and character designs on the teaser website seemed familiar, it's because they were designed by Akihiko Yoshida, who previously worked on the artwork in both Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII.

We expect to know more about Final Fantasy Gaiden within the coming days.

Source: IGN

Various Bashiok Tidbits

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sp3tSnAz) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:39:42 -0400

There were a number of interesting posts on the official Diablo 3 forums, so rather than summarise each one, you can see quotes of the most interesting bits below.

First Bashiok talked about the lack of LAN in Diablo 3 after someone asked a question about it:

Q u o t e:
All removing LAN support does is hurt legitimate buyers, pirates will have LAN and their free game.It might take them a while to reverse engineer it, but they WILL have it.

More so than overbearing/invasive anti-piracy measures that would affect everyone who buys the game regardless of how they're going to play it instead of just those that may want a LAN feature? I would doubt it.

I don't know a lot about it, Diablo III isn't really facing the brunt of the Battle.net 2.0 features just yet, but I think that removing LAN in an attempt to avoid more severe anti-piracy measures is pretty cool. We're saying "Hey, we're pretty sure you're going to love our game. The multiplayer is really the best part though. In order to get in on that that we'd just like to make sure you bought the game. Cool?"

Next was a really big quote about patch 1.13 and why it was delayed:

Many of you are wondering what's up with the patch and the ladder reset. While I've sprinkled some information around, it's about time it was all mashed up in one easy-to-read location.

The Story -
Once upon a time our internal legacy development teams wanted to put some much needed love into Diablo II. Diablo II doesn't have tournaments with millions of dollars swirling about them, so it generally took a back seat to the patch development time of our other legacy titles. But one day the planets aligned, and it was finally time to give the old girl a new coat of paint and break a bottle of champagne over her bow with the release of a patch. This went well. Meetings were held, the community was involved and polled, and an extremely long list of ideas and changes was created. That list was then cut down to changes felt to be either necessary changes, or easily implemented to ensure development time was efficient. This also went well.

Not long after, the alarm bells sounded. The patch was progressing quickly, and the release was potentially imminent. Early on it was decided, and somewhat of a no-brainer, that a ladder reset with coincide with the patch release. With the patch progressing well, a potential release of two weeks was estimated, and as always this is the exact amount of forewarning given to players and the community before a ladder reset. An announcement was made quickly and immediately to ensure a full two week notice was given. There are many reasons for this standard two-week notice, not the least of which is that most players don't understand the meaning of ladder and non-ladder, and how a reset affects their characters. Following any reset our support departments are flooded with issues related to the change of their characters, so we attempt to inform beforehand and avoid any unnecessary confusion.

This was all well and good, the community was excited, and the developers were having fun and enjoying being able to work on Diablo II again. Then, as it tends to do, reality struck. (Warcraft III Custom Map Security Warning http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=16888549346&sid=3000) Work had to be swiftly and immediately realigned and has and continues to be focused on addressing issues for a different title to resolve a very serious issue.

The Now -
The Warcraft III patch is now on the Public Test Realm (PTR) and testing is progressing. Once that patch is released work can shift back to Diablo II and the 1.13 patch, and we'll be working to getting that patch up on its own PTR as soon as possible. This could be a matter of weeks. Once it's up and in a testing state for all of you, it's then going to be a matter of ensuring the features are good and it's a solid patch. The more people we have testing the patch and providing valid feedback, the better the patch will be, and hopefully the quicker it will be released. So that's my challenge to you. You've been waiting a long time, you want an awesome patch, you want a reset. To get all that, we need good solid testing and feedback, reproduction steps for bugs, detailed descriptions of issues or errors, etc. So once this goes live on the PTR, I expect some crazed-youruinedtheeconomy-testing.

Next someone asked whether Diablo 3 will cost any money to play online:

Mike mentioned it in an Activision Blizzard investor meeting [paraphrased] "A player that buys Starcraft 2 at retail will have the ability to play on Battle.net with no additional fee."

I'll point out that this is a very carefully worded statement.

as well as:

Q u o t e:
So you mean you have to subscribe to the online fee in order to find the high level weapons and use all of battle.nets features right?

No.

Someone then asked about loading screens in Diablo 3 and Bashiok had the following awesome news:

There aren't any loading screens. Personally I think it's amazing and I don't understand the magic the programmers have worked, but the game is instant or near instant. The same is true for initial game load. Start up the game, create a character, click a button and the game world shows up. No waiting and no real discernible pause. Mileage may vary slightly of course, but it would (from what I've seen) be in the realm of a second or two second pause at most.

That's about it for the news!

Enjoy

Tetsuya Nomura Discusses Kingdom Hearts 3 Possibilities

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:27:44 -0400

In a new interview contained within Square Enix's 358/2 Days Ultimania book, Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura shared his thoughts on the newly released 358/2 days spin-off for the Nintendo DS and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep game, for the PSP. Interestingly enough, the developer opened up on the subject of the continued development of the Kingdom Hearts series, with the possibility of Kingdom Hearts 3, which should come as exciting news for any fan of the action RPG series.

However, he states that the development of the next true Kingdom Hearts installment will not be done until after Final Fantasy Versus XIII is complete.

-- So is it possible that there will be another game connecting BbS and KH1? And might that be KH3...?

Nomura: Who knows? I already have ideas for the next installment. But since Birth by Sleep isn’t even out yet, I don’t have to think about it until awhile from now. Recently everyone kepts asking me when I’m planning on coming out with KH3. Even though I’m currently busy with Final Fantasy versus XIII, I’m also thinking that it’s almost time to start thinking about it seriously. Though it’s entirely possible that the next game in the series won’t be KH3.

-- So what will it be?

Nomura: I can’t say that quite yet, but it will be more “offical” than a side story. I actually told the producer this recently, and he said “...what?” It’s the mystery KH. (laugh) Of course, I am also thinking about KH3.

-- Well, I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next in the series, of course we have to wait until these three games are released.

Nomura: Yes. With these three games we decided to show a new KH, with one of the answers to this being Days. That’s why it has a different feeling from the previous games, and we’re a little anxious to hear about how the fans reaction is going to be. This is the first time we’ve had a multiplayer mode, so I hope everyone will try it out and tell us what they think. Also, there will be a lot of people for whom this will be their first KH game, friends who invite them to play on multiplayer, or they became interested because it came out on the DS. So for those people I would like to say, please try out some of the other games in the series. And of course, for those people who have been with us since the previous games, I hope you will continue to support us. It’s because of you we’ve managed to bring the KH series this far. I hope we can continue to live up to your expectations.

Source: KHInsider's translation of 358/2 Days Ultimania

Blizzard: No LAN in Starcraft II, Possible Battle.net Microtransactions

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:13:27 -0400

Blizzard informed the community last year that Diablo III would not have any LAN support. When word broke out, those in the Starcraft II community were understandable perturbed and concerned that the upcoming RTS from Blizzard would suffer the same, LAN-less fate.

Blizzard's bigwig Rob Pardo confirmed with IncGamers that one of the features that made the original game popular at LAN parties and cybercafes would be completely missing in action for the sequel. When asked about LAN support, Pardo immediately responded, "we don't have any plans to support LAN. We will not support it." He further clarified that the only multiplayer available will be on Battle.net.

In the same interview, Pardo also said that there would be "zero percent" chance that the game would ever follow in the footsteps of other recent RTS titles like Tiberium Wars and Supreme Commander and appear on consoles, which should soften the LAN-less blow somewhat for any PC-exclusive gamer.

Starcraft II Lead Producer Chris Sigaty mentioned in the same interview that Battle.net will be free and that the current mock-ups of possible revenue models does not include any form of advertising, which leads us to think that they may be pursuing microtransactions of some sort for the service, because, we asssume, that Activision's billions aren't enough to sustain the cost of running a network. If that is truly the case, then Valve's and StarDock's respectively free operations of Steam and Impulse have me very confused.

Are You A Bad Enough Dude To Rescue The President Of Honduras?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:31:28 -0400

I decided to get topical on the recent coup d'etat in Honduras. Before anyone decides to bite my head off, I'm well aware that the only 'bad dude' in this scenario is the President of Honduras himself. But hey, I found an opportunity to make a joke and seized it.

Diablo III DeviantArt Delights

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:10:59 -0400

As a follow up to Snail's Final Fantasy Deviations series, I've set up to collect and feature some of the most creative fan-made art and wallpapers based on Diablo III that DeviantArt has to offer. Here are but a few pieces of fan-made tributes to Blizzard's upcoming epic.

Check it out.

Be sure to check back often for more fan art features!

Final Fantasy XIII: Japanese Voice-Over Recordings Done

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:48:52 -0400

The Japanese voice actress for Final Fantasy XIII's Vanille, Yukari Hukui, has disclosed on her personal blog that the voice-over recordings for FFXIII has finally been completed.

She mentions that the entire process took over a year and that tears were shed between all of the game's voice actors, a cast which includes Maaya Sakamoto (Lightning), Daisuke Ono (Snow) and Masashi Ebara (Sazh).

It's good to know that with the all dialogue and story elements complete, it's only a matter of time before the game is completely translated into English. With everything on track for a Japanese release of Winter 2009, little doubt remains that the game will be out before the MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy Deviations Chibi Edition

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:39:30 -0400

We like to keep things light and cute here at Limit Break, and following up on Snail's Final Fantasy Deviations article, I've set out into DeviantArt's colossal archive of game-inspired fan-art to deliver some of its cutest chibi (miniature) characters.

Don't forget to support the artists of these fine works with a click-through!

Check it out.

As a bonus, here's the baby chocobo pet owner, Sazh, as a cute caricature.

Check it out.

Check in often with Limit Break for the latest visual treats!

Top 10 Most Wanted Features in Diablo III

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:04:47 -0400

Were Diablo II a pair of shoes, it would be showing its age after almost a decade of constant wear and tear. With no contenders to the Action RPG throne, and like a bad mixed metaphor, Diablo III has huge shoes to fill as the successor to what has been dubbed the best Action RPG of all time.

Blizzard holds us in awe with the spectacular gameplay videos they release from time to time, and all that's left for them is to ensure that the game lives up to our expectations. With that in mind, there's a number of things Blizzard could take note of as they polish the game to glimmering perfection:

1. Make all skills worthwhile.  Diablo II benefited as much as it suffered from its abundant amount of skills, half of which were poorly balanced or given little thought. While I'm not expecting every skill and skill combination to be useful in every given circumstance, I'm hoping that Blizzard to puts some major thought into the design of these skills that will make each them worthwhile additions to a character's repertoire of talents.

2. A unique playstyle for every class.  Most of us have played each of Diablo II's seven classes to death, and then some, so it is with little doubt that we want to experience something new with the character classes that the new game has to offer. So far, the Wizard's temporal spells and the Witch Doctor's ability to combine his or her abilities to produce fearsome monstrosities manage to give these characters prime, standout qualities. However, as much as I like seeing new things, it goes without saying that most of us will still enjoy the traditional hack and slash experience that the Barbarian has to offer.

3. Player Killing: Do it right or take it out.  As a veteran of the series, I'll be the first to say that there was never any real fun in killing other players. It was maybe fun for the first few times, but the lack of proper player versus player mechanics made it an exercise in damage versus rejuvination potions. While I'd be happy to see the implementation of proper PVP mechanics, I'd prefer it if Blizzard focused on developing the game's strengths in cooperative gameplay instead of poorly mimicking a competitive game.

4. Drench us in blood and gore.  With zombies losing their heads and spurting blood to form pools beneath their frozen bodies to exploding magma golems, and demons that turned to ash, the original Diablo contained just about the right amount of graphic violence. Not too much, and not too little. The less violence sequel took a lot of the visceral experience away, featuring far less blood and fewer sinful visual delights. It goes without saying that we'd like for Diablo III to be just as bloody as the original, if not more so. A bit of ragdoll physics here and there could certainly help to spruce up the display of flying, dismembered limbs.

5. Don't skimp on the single player.  Single player felt quite a bit like an afterthought in the Blizzard North-developed Diablo II, and even more so in Hellgate: London. With consideration to the many roguelike enthusiasts who view the Diablo series as a culmination of the dungeon crawling genre and those who have a strong preference for offline gaming, it's hoped that these players are able to enjoy playing the game by themselves as much as the rest of us will in co-op online.

6. Build on the cooperative aspect.  Here's hoping that Diablo III produces the same close knit, cooperative feeling for Action RPGs as Left 4 Dead did for first person shooters. Cooperating with other players should consist of more than rushing towards the final boss in five minute games. I think that it should live up to the term 'cooperative' and be about full participation and teamwork. Counting on someone to watch your back should mean something more than having them give you their spare piece of armor.

7. Give us a challenge.  At the appropriate difficulty, the game should be a proper challenge, and in other words, a game. Unlike its direct predecessor, Diablo III should be about more than just grinding for loot, levels and rushing to kill Diablo or Baal. It's a tough, dangerous world out there, and it should feel appropriately threatening. While survival shouldn't be impossible, neither should it be a complete cakewalk.

8. Have an economy that carries weight.  Having gold should mean something more than just having more money to gamble for random items. Gold should feel like a well earned reward for battles well fought. In other words, it should have value.

9. Tell a powerful story.  The story should serve as more than just a basic plot device. Give us a story to remember that carries the Blizzard tradition of great storytelling.

10. Respecs!  There's nothing more frustrating than having to abandon a character with dozens of hours put into it over a tiny issue. Give us the ability to remake our characters (at whatever in-game cost) so we don't have to abandon them at the slightest mistake.

Bonus Round: LAN Support  It's recently been revealed that the game would be lacking LAN support, leading to cries of outrage from gamers everywhere. Here's a shoutout to them.

What would you like to see?

Adam Sessler Swipes At L4D Petitioners

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:56:09 -0400

"Quit your *****ing!" (Sorry, censors.)

Everyone's favorite video game journalist Adam Sessler discusses the amazing sense of entitlement that gamers seem to have with L4D and encourages us to give Valve the benefit of the doubt. Valve doesn't have a habit of screwing us over, so I don't see why we can't give them a chance.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Sessler's Soapbox

"It's kind of juvenile," concludes Sessler, and he refers to the entitlement that Diablo fans with their sense of entitlement about the art style. "The internet when it comes to games can be such a nation of whiners, when there's far better things to be doing."

The petitioners have since responded to his rant in the L4D2 Boycott group. With a logo like that, how could they possibly be accused of being juvenile?

Source: G4TV.

EA Games: Everything On The Disc Is A Demo

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:59:06 -0400

As most of you will know by now, Sims 3 was leaked weeks before the game's official release date. Unperturbed by the rampant piracy that is often cited as a cause for poor sales in the gaming industry, EA CEO John Riccitello had this to say in an interview with IndustryGamers: "By the way, if there are any pirates you're writing for, please encourage them to pirate FIFA Online, NBA Street Online, Battleforge, Battlefield Heroes..."

"If they would just pirate lots of it I'd love them. Because what's in the middle of the game is an opportunity to buy stuff."

Anyone who's purchased the game will know that a huge chunk of content isn't even saved on the disc, and those who own it will have to go online to activate their game to download about 3GB worth of content for the rest of the game, available only to legitimate customers. Riccitello explained, "A huge amount of the gameplay is an overlay for the community, where you are sampling assets created by other people. So for the pirate consumer, they don't get the second town, they don't get all the extra content, and they don't get the community."

Like Valve and Stardock before it, EA believes that the real value of a game comes in its online services. However, unlike the aforementioned companies, which provide free DLCs for owners of the game, EA's plan is to ultimately make a lot of money from the sales of content packs and virtual items.

Riccitello said, "I'm a longtime believer that we're moving to selling services that are disc-enabled as opposed to packages that have bolt-ons.... So the point I'm making is, yes I think that's the answer [to piracy]. And here's the trick: it's not the answer because this foils a pirate, but it's the answer because it makes the service so valuable that in comparison the packaged good is not. So you can only deliver these added services to a consumer you recognize and know... So I think the truth is we've out-serviced the pirate."

While providing online services is a laudable idea, I'm not so sure that stripping content from the original game only to sell it back to players for additional money is the right way to go about it. Given the demand for these items, EA will without a doubt manage to sell hundreds of thousands of these virtual items in the same way that Bethesda managed to make a killing from its Horse Armor DLC for Oblivion, so like it or not, the model is probably here to stay.

What are your thoughts?

Source: Ars Technica

Duke Nukem Forever Still Not Dead, Development Of Another Duke Game Revealed

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:59:33 -0400

E3 came and went, and Duke Nukem Forever's supposed death turned out not to be a publicity stunt after all. As a sometime fan of the original game that once represented itself as the sole icon of PC gaming, I feel somewhat obligated to keep covering the story despite my utter lack of faith in where any of it is headed.

3D Realms claim that Duke Nukem Forever is still in development and that word of its demise has been greatly exaggerated. This disclosure can be found in court documents in the company's countersuit against publisher Take Two, and specifically reads: "[3D Realms/Apogee Ltd.] admits that it has continually worked on the development of the DNF for many years, and continues to do so,"

Additionally, word has gotten out that Take Two has also funded a completely separate game called “Duke Begins” as a part of an October 2007 agreement that saw the publisher provide the company with $2.5 million to “help fund the development of the DNF game”.

It's all very mindboggling as to why Take-Two would spend so much money on not one but two games from this dilapidated franchise. If you seek a headache, you can read the rest of the details at Shacknews.

Fight Club DLC To Hit Mass Effect

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:43:38 -0400

A number of websites are reporting that Mass Effect will be seeing the release of one more DLC, but they seem to be suffering from some memory loss when they say that 'nobody knows what it is' or that the announcement was somehow a 'leak' due to the fact that it was posted on Bioware's Mass Effect Twitter.

A little digging into the archives of the internet reveals that the new DLC was announced way back in 18th February as a "Fight Club DLC", which adds a fighting arena as additional content to the game.

The news of the DLC was revealed on the bonus disc included in the Platinum Hits version of Mass Effect which was titled The Future of Mass Effect. Lead designer Preston Watamaniuk had this to say about the DLC:

"We had something in Mass Effect that again, we weren't able to pull off just because we didn't have the time and we didn't think we'd be able to do it well enough, which was a fight club or an arena," said Watamaniuk. "So we're actually working on that for our next downloadable content piece and we're hoping it'll be really special."

Additionally, Casey Hudson, the project director of Mass Effect, explained that the DLC would focus heavily on combat rather than storytelling. This differs from the first free DLC, Bring Down the Sky.

He explains, "We wanted to be able to give people a much more combat-oriented, lighter-story experience. You're going to go to a kind of casino gaming fight club space station."

Mystery solved. Thanks for the research, Dashui.

Tales of Graces Combat Trailer Hits The Web

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:08:41 -0400

It is with little doubt that the Tales games are some of the most popular JRPGs in Japan, and this popular series of games even has its own Tales of Festival event, which celebrates the games, designers and even its voice actors who give interviews and answer questions from the fans.

The latest Tales of Festival, which took place just a few days ago saw the announcements for the DLCs for Tales of Vesperia PS3, and release dates for the anime feature films, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike and Tales of Symphonia: Tethe'alla Arc.

A new trailer for the upcoming Wii game, Tales of Graces, was also released. Graces is the first 'mothership' title in the Tales series for the Wii. The previous game, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was classified as a spin-off sequel to the original title for the GameCube.

The trailer depicts the protagonist of the game, Asbel Lhant, running around various locations in the game as they show off combat mechanics (sidestepping) new to the series and ends with a few narrative scenes. Check it out:

Graces looks every bit as impressive as Abyss and Vesperia. Let's hope it lives up to the franchise.

Tales of Vesperia PS3 Adds Exclusive Content And PSP Integration

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:37:06 -0400

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reports that Tales of Vesperia, which is headed for the Playstation 3 later this year, is to come packed with a veritable bounty of exclusive features, including an all new character addition to the game's existing cast, new quests, new monsters and even larger monsters. Players can also expect to explore an entirely new dungeon called the “Inner Sanctum of Ester”.

In addition to the extended content, Tales of Vesperia for the PS3 also boasts interconnectivity with the PSP escort title, Tales of VS., allowing players with both games access to exclusive challenges, dialog skits (a staple of the Tales series), and Tales of the Abyss-inspired costumes. The PSP game also features brand new animation scenes from the animation studio Production I.G.

In related news, Production I.G., which also produced the scenes for the original game, is also producing the upcoming Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, a full length feature film, slated for a Japanese release on 3rd October 2009. The anime adaptation features the game's protagonist, Yuri Lowell, during his time as an Imperial Knight, depicting events that lead up to the action in the game.

All in all, these are exciting announcements for any fan of the series, and any JRPG enthusiast who has yet to try it certainly ought to give the game a chance.

Related Article: An Insight Into Tales Of Vesperia

Blizzard Explains Lingering Blood & Gore Decals in Diablo III

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:05:24 -0400

A user on Battle.net posed a question to Blizzard concerning the presence of blood and gore in Diablo III and asked whether we can expect such details to linger on the ground indefinitely, as opposed to watching them fade away after awhile.

Blizzard community manager Bashiok promptly responded with the following explanation:

"Even decals, which are textures, impact performance. So there has to be some limit on how many of them are allowed to linger and for how long. We have to try to strike a balance somewhere. Also, a ground literally covered with corpses or blood becomes less and less interesting, more and more confusing, and can actually create some frustration.

Regarding visible markers, we put a lot of effort into building rooms and areas to ensure that the randomly generated dungeons are indeed random, but also not confusing and maze-like. We don't want everything to look the same. So in that respect a visual marker of a blood spot or corpse really shouldn't be necessary."

Diablo III Lead Tech Artist, Julian Love, provided an additional detailed response:

"Every independent thing that we show in the game has to be put into a special package that we call a "draw call," which is then delivered to the 3D card to be rendered on screen. It's not too different from preparing xmas gifts in that everything you want your relatives to receive must be packaged up in some way and then driven across the country in order to arrive there on time. Your CPU does this packaging and delivery and it takes a lot of bandwidth, so it ends up being one of the most crucial expenses to manage. Now, the truly horrible thing is that from a draw call cost perspective, each individual splattering of blood on the floor is every bit as expensive as a character or a dead body: they both cost one draw call. Beyond that, the differences tend to be somewhat trivial.

So, that's a lot of words just to say that blood splats can be every bit as expensive as, and in some ways, more expensive than dead bodies. It's counter intuitive, but this is the way it actually works."

Diablo II Patch 1.13 Delayed

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:51:32 -0400

It's been awhile since we heard anything about the development of the new 1.13 patch for Diablo II which looks like it has been delayed. Official word was given by Blizzard community manager Bashiok regarding the development of the patch:

Work on the patch was put on hold for a while due to higher priority issues, but it commences, and it is nearing.

Source: Battle.net Forums

This news may come as a disappointment to many fans, but we're assured that the patch has not been abandoned. One does wonder what the 'higher priorities' may be in reference to. Feel free to speculate in the comments!

Fully Painted Diablo III “Overthrown” Diorama Unveiled

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:36:10 -0400

Sideshow Collectibles' impressive Barbarian-themed diorama, entitled “Overthrown”, previously shown as a grey prototype at last year's San Diego Comic Con is now available for pre-order in fully painted form at a whopping cost of $299 and weighs 15 pounds.

Backstory

Within the world of Sanctuary in the Kingdom of Khanduras, barbarians are an ancient class of legendary warriors. Barbarians are known for their immense size, relentless fury and two-weapon fighting techniques and dwell upon their sacred Mount Arreat. Though once misunderstood to be simple and aggressive invaders, they are a noble, proud people, upholding great tradition - protecting Mount Arreat and the mysterious artifact it holds.

Scale

Detail

If you've got the money to spend, you can pre-order it here.

8-Bit Ninja Gaiden Papercraft Diorama

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:11:43 -0400

We're certainly fond of game-themed papercraft at Hellforge and this 8-Bit Ninja Gaiden diorama isn't one to slip our attention. Originally discovered on Papercity, the source material is available for download in PDF format for you to create your very own diorama. I'd recommend glossy cardboard or hard paper for anyone who plans to recreate the scene.

Download it here.

Related Post: Team Fortress 2 Papercraft

World of Crashes Meets Team Fortress 2

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:25:40 -0400

Someone with too much time on his hands and a fine sense of humor got the bright idea to tune Team Fortress 2's memorable sound effects to a World of Crashes video compilation. The effect is both amusing and sounds painful all at the same time. This video is credit to team.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy Preorder Bonuses Revealed

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:12:36 -0400

Final Fantasy fans in the United States intent on playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP later this year are in for a sweet treat if they decide to pre-order the game from either GameStop or Amazon.

Pre-orders made through GameStop will be getting two exclusive special edition slip covers of their Dissidia case, available in black for Chaos, and white for Cosmos.

Those who pre-order the game from online retailer Amazon will receive an exclusive limited edition sampler CD featuring 10 short-sampled tracks from the game, which is basically a preview of the full soundtrack.

Between the two choices, most fans will likely view the slip covers as the better choice, especially if they already intend on grabbing the full length OST.

Left 4 Dead Comes Back To Life With Campaign Add-Ons

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:47:14 -0400

Many people were worried that Left 4 Dead was left for dead when the sequel to the game was announced just a few weeks ago. With over 30,000 complaining gamers in an ongoing campaign, Valve has been quick to step up to defend themselves and urged the anxious masses to have a little faith in them.

Today, they've made good on their word with the announcement of the full Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools, which they plan to release next week, in addition to new key features for the game that will undoubtedly revive the game from the dead.

I'll let Valve do the talking:

Add-Ons

Third party campaigns are designed to be installed using a new Add-On framework. Content authors will be able to package up their new maps, along with new posters, models, and textures, into a single .VPK file. To install and activate this content in-game, players need simply download the .VPK and double click on it. Alternatively, they will be able to drop it into a new "addons" folder. The list of installed add-ons will be viewable from a new item on the 'Extras' main menu flyout.

Matchmaking

Because Left 4 Dead is all about sharing, we've re-tooled Left 4 Dead's matchmaking system to provide extensive support for custom add-on campaigns. When creating or searching for a lobby, a new option named "Add-on campaign" will let you select from among the add-on campaigns that you have installed. You can then find games or lobbies as well as create a lobby for that campaign. You can invite your friends, too. If they do not have the campaign installed, they will automatically be offered and an option to download it.

We've also made it easier to create lobbies by adding a 'Create Lobby' option directly from the 'Play Online' menu. Once you're ready to go, the new matchmaking system will automatically try to find any dedicated servers nearby that have the custom add-on campaign installed, or you can make your own local server.

Authoring Tools

We're also officially releasing the Authoring tools/SDK. Thanks to all who provided feedback during the open beta, the authoring tools have been updated with a few fixes and several new additions, including:

The tutorial_standards map has been expanded into a minimal example campaign add-on called 'Dead Line'
A new command line utility for creating and extracting from .VPK files
Source files for all the official campaign maps

In addition to all this, Valve has put up a new tutorial on how interested modders can package up their campaigns into add-ons on the Developer Community wiki.

I for one can't wait for the Shawn of the Dead tribute mod, Left 4 Winchester, assuming they get their recent legal issues cleared up. Hopefully news of the authoring tools will reinvigorate the project.

Metal Gear Online Presents: A Song For You

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:03:31 -0400

Here's a little known fact: If you win a round in Metal Gear Online, you can perform a "SONG" emote, as shown in this video. This is the result, as performed by one "terminatorglock". Stay tuned for the Wilhelm scream at the end.

The Madness Of A Diablo II Player

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:03:24 -0400

I have written the following article to examine the processes that go through one's mind as one plays Diablo II. Here I will make an attempt to note the feelings and actions of one such player as he or she is enveloped in a violent drama of madness and frustration.

-----

Chapter I: Origins

You're new to Diablo II, and you're proud of your level 60 character. You've been playing the game for about a week, in the comfort of friends, and after a few false starts with a few bad characters, you think you've finally gotten the hang of things. Your character's poorly armed and thus you intend to do something about it.

One of your friends advises you to join a “Baal run”, which he says is a quick and easy way to get geared up in the safety of seven other players. “The more players, the merrier” he says. “Increases the chance of getting better loot, too!”

Convinced and optimistic, you hit the Join Game option and behold a veritable selection of games that fit your criteria. In fact, the whole list is filled with nothing but games labeled “Trade”, “Baal run” and “Cow Run”. You click on one of the Baal runs and log right in.

By the time you get in, everyone's already leaving. You do this three to five more times before you realize that the easiest way to get in one of these games is to look at the name of an ongoing game like “Baal Runs 067” and create “Baal Runs 068” before anyone gets there.

Chapter II: The Worldstone Chamber

For the first time ever, you're the first one in a game with seven other players and by the time the last person has logged in, everyone's already off to kill Baal by heading to the Worldstone Keep. The battles are easy, and you feel safe surrounded by so many other players. In a few minutes, the entire party has made its way down to the final floor and proceeds into the Worldstone Chamber, where Baal awaits.

With Baal almost dead, everyone comes in close to pick up the items he drops. Baal explodes like a pinata, showering the vicinity with runes, unique items and an assortment of rare trash. It's been awhile since you've gotten any decent loot so you'd be happy if you managed to get anything. In the blink of an eye, almost everything is gone.

“But wait a moment,” you think to yourself, “There's two items left on the ground. I'm not too late!” You try to pick it up but it simply flops on the ground. You click it again and it flops yet again. “Oh crap! My inventory is full!” you think to yourself. In the split second that this thought has passed through your mind the items left on the ground are no more and everyone has left.

Chapter III: Hell Is Other People

Slightly frustrated, you realize that “Baal runs” might not be the thing for you and decide on an alternative way to arm yourself. You remembered how you managed to get some decent loot off Diablo the last time you killed him.

Feeling renewed, you log into a friendly game intent on killing Diablo, thinking you'll find players with whom to party up. After you type a few brief messages in the chat console, you find yourself in a party of three others of similar level, and together, you set off into the River of Flame to put an end to his reign of terror once more.

Eight minutes in and your motley crew is at the Chaos Sanctuary and Diablo's death is fairly close at hand. Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, a new player logs in. He's twenty levels above the rest of you and your greetings are met with an icy silence. Unperturbed, you and your party resume slaying the last of Diablo's minions.

A portal opens up, and in a split second, the words “You Are Dead” are splayed on your monitor. You wonder what has happened. One of your teammates is also down, and the last guy, who's managed to get away, types a stream of profanity, enabling you to understand about what has happened in the bits and pieces that make sense. Diablo's still alive, but he's almost dead when the killer returns. Your murderer finishes him off in a few quick slashes and, like Baal, he explodes like a pinata, showering the place with loot. The loot disappears in seconds and the killer is gone as quickly has he arrived.

Chapter IV: Superstition

You are angry, not just at the player who killed you but at the developers themselves. You try to tell yourself that player killing is all part of the game. You do not say this with much conviction and wish player killing was entirely nonexistent from the whole experience, having just been on the receiving end of this gameplay feature.

Undaunted, you decide to arm yourself by going it alone against the easiest, and arguably most lucrative boss in the game: Mephisto. After a few tries, you've figured out a way to safely kill him without ever dying but you have yet to get any decent loot from killing him. It's been nothing but blues and rares since you started. You tell yourself, “It's only been fifteen minutes. I'll get lucky soon enough.”

You check the time. It's been two hours since you first started and the best thing you have to show for it is an Iceblink set of armor. Where's Skullder's Ire when you need it?

Occasionally, you get a decent drop and you start to become superstitious about it. Tracing back the steps that caused you to get a good drop and struggling to get your mind in that mental state you were in when it happened.

You find yourself slowly going mad as magical thinking takes over your thoughts. You think to yourself, “The last time I received that excellent drop was when I killed Mephisto under two minutes!” believing in some nonexistent timer, and try to replicate the process. It doesn't work, but like a compulsive gambler, you're stuck at the slot machine.

This lasts for several hours before you decide to retire from your fruitless pursuit.

Chapter V: Long Live The King

“Okay, this isn't working out” you think to yourself, and your friend messages you with the suggestion of joining a “Cow Run” which promises easy drops from the game's easter egg/hidden portal in the game's first Act.

It certainly sounds promising, and with that, you find your hope renewed. Soon enough you find yourself participating in a bunch of these runs, and you even learn how to open up a portal on your own.

You think naively to yourself, “All is well with the world.”

This blissful contentedness only lasts until some guy gets the bright idea to kill the Cow King while everyone's busy fighting cows, effectively preventing you and anyone else in the game from ever opening a portal again.

You can always join another person's game, but you feel like something inside you has died with the death of the Cow King. You curse life itself and wonder why you're subjecting yourself to this torture.

“Time for a new character?” Damn right. As it turns out, creating new characters was all you ever enjoyed about the game, and it's the reason why you still play it, eight years since then.

Guitar Prodigy Plays Diablo's Tristram Theme

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:58:35 -0400

Having just completed Mass Effect and seeking something else to play, aside from what I already am, the thought of playing the original Diablo happened to cross my mind, and the first thing that came to me was the timeless theme of Tristram. As expected, my interest shifted towards rediscovering this wonderful song and I stumbled upon this little gem on YouTube. I just thought I'd share it with all of you.

And now, onto a new game!

Tristram Song Played On An Acoustic Guitar

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:38:04 -0400

Multiplatformed Final Fantasy XIII Will Not Be Compromised

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:56:45 -0400

Final Fantasy fans worried about a compromise in FFXIII's quality due to the multiplatform release on both the PS3 and 360 can rest their fears as Square Enix has just announced that the quality of the Playstation 3 version of the game will not be affected in any way by the release.

With the game due out on both consoles in 2010, FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase dispelled the myth that content would be left out of the Playstation 3 version due to the 360's DVD size limitations.

He said to news website VideoGamer.com: “The team is targeting to create an equal experience on both the 360 and the PS3, so there are no limitations. For example, right now we’re working on the PS3 version first, and once we’ve completed that we’ll really know how much game there will be to fit onto the Xbox 360 discs.

“So we don’t know how many discs it’ll be housed on for 360, but there won’t be a chance that we’ll compromise anything because, oh it didn’t fit in the 360 discs so we’ll have to take it out of the PS3 version, or vice versa.”

This is excellent news for users of Sony's console, and although our fears are laid to rest, 360 users might want to consider picking up a PS3 for the Japanese voice track.

The Ubiquity of Lists: Please Stop Whining

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:32:53 -0400

I discovered an article on reddit today, and it was both poorly argued and poorly written. The article in question was a plea for the gaming media (meaning sites like ours) to stop penning lists. There are a number of things about the organization of the words the author chose that simply do not flow well together, and the arguments were, at many points, baseless and consisted of little more than the author's subjective opinion but stated as facts.

I feel slightly uncomfortable when someone attempts to shove an opinion down my throat and force me to swallow it as a matter of fact, so it is for this reason that I write a rebuttal to the aforementioned article.

Instead performing the simple exercise of pointing out all the flaws in his article, I've opted instead to use my time rephrase parts of the article from my personal point of view, and jump to the defense the Top 10 List while I'm at it. It will be written, at times, from a 2nd person perspective as a response to the author of the original article.

The words written by the author are coded in pink, a color in which such ferocious whining is appropriate.

Dear Mr. Pinnell: Do tell me my argument sways you in any way.

James Pinnell writes, "Hit absolutely any gaming site through any social networking portal, whether it be N4G, Digg, Stumbleapon and so on, and it’s almost incredibly likely that you are going to encounter at least one, if not more, Top 10s. Am I honestly the only gamer who cannot stand the sight of these completely vapid wastes of virtual space?"

One can visit any gaming website, proxied through a social networking portal like N4G, Digg or StumbleUpon, and it would be unlikely for one to not encounter at least a single Top 10 list, penned, no doubt by a writer as arguably indolent as myself. It's sometimes wearying to see the sight of these lists, which are sometimes written bereft of wit. However, it's quite silly to say that all lists are bad. Were they bad, they would not be popular, especially not on StumbleUpon.

If people did not like the way these lists were written, they wouldn't be elevated to stellar heights of popularity. I often enjoy reading the humorist Seanbaby's lists on Cracked and it's because they're hilarious. Vapid and uninformative? Perhaps. But who cares, really?

Dear Mr. Pinnell: The sentence, "Am I honestly the only gamer who cannot stand the sight of these completely vapid wastes of virtual space?" is freaking awful for a variety of reasons, the premier reason being that you've passed judgment onto every single list in existence without providing an ounce of proof, prior. To call these lists a "complete waste of virtual space" is a summary judgment in which you assert your personal views as a statement of fact.

James Pinnell writes, "Not only are lists the most lazy form of filler, they contribute nothing of any value to the general information or news stream. But more importantly, they’re a symbol of how the new media landscape is forcing writers to spend less time on writing quality articles and more time pushing out an alarming amount of dredge."

Some would argue that an alarmingly large number of lists exist to contribute little of any value to the general news stream. Likewise, it could also be argued that the ubiquity of lists has become a symbol of the new media landscape, and often encourages writers to spend less time conjuring up original articles. I would disagree, however, with this so-called argument.

Lists have existence since time immemorial. I could cite the examples of the Proverbs, contained within the Bible, or more popularly the 10 Commandments which could well be presented as the "Top 10 Commandments" in this age.

On a more serious note, I could cite the Book of St. Albans, first printed in 1486, and attributed to Dame Julia Berners as a Top 15 List of the hierarchy of hawks and the social ranks for which each bird was supposedly appropriate.

The book is about as subjective as any Top List you'll read on a gaming website and no less poorly researched than the majority of what you'll read. The point remains, however, that the Top List has been in existence for a very long time. It's not something introduced by the "new media landscape" whatsoever.

Dear Mr. Pinnell: Here you are again, with the assertion of your own opinion as a statement of fact with very little to back it up.

James Pinnell writes, "When I joined Gamer Limit as an Editor, one of the first types of articles I decided to remove from the site were T10s. Aside from being a completely subjective, poorly written, traffic puller, they have completely made legitimate awards reasonably irrelevant. Originally, lists were left for E3, or the occasionally slab of targeted light humour. The problem now is that a large majority of gaming media sites use them to fill the spots in their 24hr blanket coverage."

Dear Mr. Pinnell: I loathe pedantry as much as the next person, but the editor isn't a title worthy of capitalization, especially when you state plainly that you are but one of the site's many editors.

To state that every Top List is also completely subjective, poorly written and serves to do nothing more than draw traffic is to also employ a logical fallacy known as an inductive fallacy.

The proportion Q of the sample has attribute A.

therefore

The proportion Q of the population has attribute A.

To put it simply, an inductive fallacy is a mode of thinking, which takes knowleddge from one's experiences and incorrectly extends to another.

Furthermore, lists were never 'originally' left for E3, a fairly nascent gaming convention. Can you back your assertion with any evidence? I would cite decades old issues of PC Gamer, Nintendo Power and Computer Gaming World as proof that lists have existed in gaming media publications for as long as they existed.

While it's true that many gaming media sites use them to fill out content, and others like GamesRadar and Cracked consist mainly of lists, there's nothing to actually indicate that these lists are a problem in any way. You only call them a problem, but why is this so? Your concept of lists as a problem originates from your inductive fallacy.

James Pinnell writes, "It’s reasonably widely known that a large bulk of content written on blogs and central gaming sites usually goes completely unread. The sheer amount of content generated in the space of a single hour is mind blowing, a simple look on any social link aggregation website will demonstrate that. But how much of it is worth reading? And what happens to those must-read articles that get dumped in the rubbish bin of invisibility?"

Dear Mr. Pinnell: That's not actually true. To state that something is 'widely known' and thus requires you to provide no evidence is a bare assertion fallacy and a red herring, at that.

Despite what you may think, it isn't easy to come up with lists unless they're nothing more than one liners. It is with this yardstick that we are able to measure notions of quality. A poorly written list might simply consist of "Top 10 RPGs" and throw Chrono Trigger into the top spot without an argument as to why it deserves to be there. A better list might be entitled "Top 10 RPG Storylines" with concise arguments for each entry.

Note: At this point, I've opted out of arguing against his points against Digg, which you may read in his article, because it seems irrelevant to bring the subject of how Digg operates into the subject, which surely isn't the fault of any writer whose articles are picked up by the Power Digger, whose preferences are his or her own.

James Pinnell writes, "Arguably, they do gain a lot of traffic. People love to argue and flame the writer, as well as each other, creating nothing but hotair and insults, rather then interesting and intelligent debate. Then they leave as quickly as they came, moving onto the next lamp like moths, ignoring any of the interesting features regarding interviews with developers, previews on new games or anything that required actual effort and, shock horror, journalistic input by the writer."

Dear Mr. Pinnell: Again with the generalization fallacies. Your article would be a disappointment if I had any expectations with which to begin. When one visits a website via a link (wherever it may be from), it is because one is simply interested in the article in question, rather than the site in general. The bounce rate is simply a fact of the web. People just don't have the time to peruse through entire archives of a website simply because they enjoyed a single article written by the author.

That being said, you could always post related links within the article itself to similar articles that may interest the reader.

You should also know that it's quite frankly insulting to compare your readers to mindless moths. As writers, we ought overy much to respect our readers and their willingness to take the time to share their views on our articles.

James Pinnell writes, "If we hark back to the era of the magazine, or even the early website, this wasn’t the case. Interesting features on the state of the industry, of the people who worked in it, the games that were made from it, and the culture that spawned from it, were the norm. Sites like ours, The Escapist, Destructoid, and many others do continue to provide expert commentary and actual coverage (outside the press release), but many blogs and sadly a lot of the mains are just falling back on lists."

Prior to Web 2.0, it was difficult for any writer to receive feedback from his or her readers because the limited technology prevented such an exchange of views from happening. Magazines were, and still are, for the most part, one-sided affairs. It is for this reason that the print media is losing its hold, as readers flock to more interactive venues on the Web 2.0.

Dear Mr. Pinnell: Time Magazine called "You" the person of the year in 2006. It's the power of crowdsourcing. Embrace it or be left behind. You can't expect to be a driving force behind opinions on the web if you insist on bashing what's popular, you ******* god-damned Hipster. I say these words in jest, of course, but I'm sure you'll catch my drift that whinging about the popularity of lists, be they good or bad, isn't the way to go about swaying anyone's opinion.

James Pinnell writes, "My concern is that this flood of lazy work will become all that is available. Press releases, lists, rumours, video rants and teasers. We now have access to the most comprehensive information network in the world, and slowly but surely, uninformed opinion and junk articles are rising to the top. People will quickly blame the reader for this, but I will blame the writer."

Dear Mr. Pinnell: Why are you so concerned with what others write on their webspace? Nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to read these lists. I know, it might even sound a little hypocritical coming from me, seeing that I'm writing a rebuttal to your article and all, when I could have chose simply to ignore it--but the point remains that I have an obligation to jump to the defense of the articles I, and many others like me simply enjoy reading.

To assert that uninformed opinions and junk articles will rise to the top is blatantly fallacious. Where's your proof, sir? As always, the 'blame' if there ought to be any 'blame' with which to begin, lies in those consumers who enjoy consuming these articles that you do despise.

James Pinnell writes, "I encourage all of my fellow journalists who strive to be the light in the slowly growing dark in this industry to start focusing on why you started writing in the first place. I’m sure it wasn’t to create fanboy fodder, and I’m definately sure it wasn’t to bring down the high standard of journalistic integrity created by our magazine forebears."

To hell with the legacy. Like Proteus, fashion trends and biology, the landscape of popular media shifts and evolves at the mercy of natural selection, which in this case consists of the readers.

Virtuoso Pianist Performs Chrono Trigger Renditions

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:46:21 -0400

I was merely traveling about my way on the internet today when I happened upon a master pianist who goes by the name of zohar002. My interest was piqued when I saw that he had performed the melodies of the memorable Chrono Trigger, a favorite of mine, on the piano. Feeling curious, I clicked.

I was taken away by the music, and it is with these songs that I wish to share with you my feeling of elation.

He regales us with his resplendent skill in his remarkable renditions of the indelible themes from games like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Star Ocean 3, giving us new moments to remember. Here are his performances with Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Trigger - Corridors of Time

Chrono Trigger - World Revolution

Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

"This is the kind of music to hear when you fall in love," posted one commenter. I couldn't agree more.

George R.R. Martin Confirms A Song Of Ice And Fire RPG and RTS Games

no.spam@gameriot.com (Sol Invictus) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:06:21 -0400

George R.R. Martin, writer of the ever popular medieval fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire series of books has confirmed on his livejournal that the previously reported A Song of Ice and Fire video game, developed by the Cyanide Studio, is not one, but two games in development at the France-based company.

The games will come in the forms of an RPG and a Real Time Strategy title developed for both the PC and "next-generation" console platforms (we assume he refers to the 360 and PS3).

Here's what Martin has to say:

For years now fans of my epic fantasy series A Song of Ice & Fire have been writing and emailing me to suggest... ask... beg for the books to be made into a videogame. I'm thrilled to be able to announce that, at long last, those requests are being answered. Cyanide Studios, an independent videogame developer based in Nanterre, France, has acquired an exclusive option to develop Ice & Fire as both an RTS (Real Time Strategy) and RPG videogame for next generation consoles and PC.

Cyanide will begin development immediately, with an eye toward rolling out the games for release in the summer of 2011. "We are all huge fans of 'A Song of Ice and Fire', so it is a true honour for our teams to be entrusted with creating the first video games inspired by this masterpiece" said Patrick Pligersdorffer, Managing Director of Cyanide. "The twists and turns of the plot will allow us to deliver an experience which can be enjoyed by both long-time fans as well as gamers new to the series. Its rich web of characters, set in a universe where nothing is just black and white, make it an ideal background for both an RTS and an RPG."

Cyanide first approached me about videogame rights five years ago. No agreement was reached at that time, but Patrick and his colleague Joe Ryan have maintained their interest in the series over the years, impressing me with their doggedness and determination. Since that first contact, Cyanide has opened a studio in Montreal and more than doubled its headcount, and now have the resources to produce both RTS and RPG games that will, we hope, satisfy all my fans and readers, and gamers unfamiliar with the books as well. I am pleased to be in business with the Cyanide, and look forward to working with them on the games.

Cyanide was founded in 2000, and has developed and produced games in numerous genres, including sports management, real time strategy, fantasy, and action RPGs. More information is available through the company website at www.cyanide-studio.com

As a reader of the series, allow me to say that I am absolutely effing ecstatic!