RPG

Notes from the Diablo III class panel

Posted Oct 10th 2008 11:30PM by Daniel Whitcomb
Filed under: Action, RPG, Survival horror, Diablo III

Hello from Anaheim! The first of the Diablo III panels for the day, the class panel, just let out. There's a lot of juicy details to report, including on the newest class, the Wizard. So let's get to it.

Gallery: Diablo III

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First Hinterland free content update released

Posted Oct 10th 2008 7:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, RPG

As promised earlier this week, the folks at Tilted Mill did not waste any time in releasing the first free content expansion for their fantasy RPG-village building sim Hinterland. The full game was released only last week but this new content update is now available via Valve's Steam client.

As we previously reported, the new content update adds wo new characters (the Archer and the Dwarf Warrior) along with new features like creature specific item drops, a new character info screen, auto-equipping, acquiring resources through economic means and more. In addition, the update adds French, German and Spanish language support for the game along with numerous balance changes and bug fixes.

Diablo 3 trailers call in the Wizard class

Posted Oct 10th 2008 5:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Action, RPG, Trailers, Video, Diablo III

It was revealed at Blizzcon 2008 that the Wizard class will be making a return in Diablo 3. These videos show first looks at how the class will play in the upcoming, highly anticipated, action RPG. The gameplay trailers are a little show plenty of action and powerful spells.

Download HD Diablo 3 Wizard Trailer (86 MB)
Download HD Diablo 3 Wizard Gameplay Trailer #1 (41 MB)
Download HD Diablo 3 Wizard Gameplay Trailer #2 (65 MB)
Check out all the Diablo 3 downloads

Gallery: Diablo III

Fallout 3 pirated...on the Xbox 360

Posted Oct 10th 2008 5:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: RPG, Fallout 3

Remember earlier this week when it was revealed that Ubisoft didn't want to release a day-and-date PC version of Tom Clancy's EndWar because they were afraid of piracy and its effects on the console versions? Well as it turned out the just-gone-gold code of Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3 has indeed shown up on some pirate web sites and BitTorrent locations..except it's not the PC version but the Xbox 360 port (it's more than likely that the leak came from someone who got the code from one of the game's replicating plants).

Our sister site Joystiq got a "no comment" from Bethesda Softworks on the subject but apparently the publisher has been active in sending out cease-and-desist orders to any site that hosts the Xbox 360 code. We think that piracy is bad no matter what the platform but it does show the PC game market is not the only one that's affected by such actions. That calls into question Ubisoft's reasoning for holding out on an EndWar PC port. Just sayin....

Gallery: Fallout 3

New Diablo III screenshots show off the Wizard

Posted Oct 10th 2008 4:30PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Action, RPG, Screenshots, Diablo III

BlizzCon is well underway but Blizzard hasn't forgotten those that can't attend. The official web site for Diablo III has just been updated with info and new screenshots of the just revealed third player class, The Wizard. The screenshots show only the female form of the class; the male version apparently is being kept under wraps.

The dozen and one screenshots show off the wizard dealing some damage with various powers and are among the best looking shots yet released for the game as the character is shown using several of her various powers. Again, stay tuned as our team will be giving hands-on impressions of the game later this weekend.

Gallery: Diablo III

Interview: Pete Hines on Fallout 3

Posted Oct 10th 2008 3:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Interviews, RPG, Fallout 3

When it was announced that Bethesda Softworks' next major internal game project would not be a new Elder Scrolls game but a continuation of the Fallout RPG series first created and published by Interplay, many were excited and some were concerned. The small but rabid fan base of the first two games questioned whether the new development team was going to "get it" in terms of Fallout's humor and game style, especially since none of the original Fallout team members was going to work on the new game.

Soon those fans, and everyone else, will know whether or not the long awaited Fallout 3 will live up to its own promise as well as the legacy of the first two games. So far it seems like Fallout 3, while certainly different than the first two games, will carve out its own legacy very nicely. Big Download was able to get Bethesda Softworks PR head Pete Hines on the horn briefly to answer some post-gone gold questions about the game as well as some other topics.

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Freeware Friday: Shut Up And Jam Gaiden

Posted Oct 10th 2008 2:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Indie, RPG

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

There are some games made to just be weird, hilarious, and satirical all at the same time. They are few and far between, but it's great when they show up on the gaming radar. It means that there's a new hilarious game to play, and that's always a good thing. The game this week is one of these kinds of games. It's a satire of Japanese role-playing games, internet culture, and the absurdity of sequels. For a good laugh at the expense of these different things, Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the HoopZ Barkley SaGa is the best.

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New Diablo III playable class: The Wizard

Posted Oct 10th 2008 1:30PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Action, RPG, Diablo III

BlizzCon 2008 has open their doors at the Anaheim Convention Center and at least one major bit of news concerning Blizzard's upcoming action-RPG Diablo III has been revealed; the third playable class called The Wizard. The first word of the new class comes from our sister site Joystiq.

The Wizard's description? "A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow." It joins the previously announced Witch Doctor and Barbarian classes with two more still to be revealed (although a photo of a game screen at Joystiq shows the visuals of all three classes). Stay tuned as our own BlizzCon team plans to post up their own impressions of Diablo III this weekend from the event.

Gallery: Diablo III

Fallout 3 TGS 2008 trailer shows off the American way of life

Posted Oct 10th 2008 12:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Action, RPG, Trailers, Fallout 3

This trailer for Fallout 3 shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 demonstrates what the post apocalyptic American life is all about. Guns, explosions and exploding mutants.

Download HD Fallout 3 TGS 2008 Trailer (29 MB)

Fallout 3

Vault-Tec engineers have worked around the clock on an interactive reproduction of Wasteland life for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own vault. Included in Fallout 3 is an expansive world, unique combat, shockingly realistic visuals, tons of player choice, and an incredible cast of dynamic characters. Every minute is a fight for survival against the terrors of the outside world-radiation, super mutants, and hostile mutated creatures. (Screenshot 1 of 81)

Big Download (with WoW Insider) to cover BlizzCon 2008

Posted Oct 10th 2008 8:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Culture, Action, MMO, RPG, RTS, Meta BD, Starcaft II, World of Warcraft, Diablo III

Yeah, the Tokyo Game Show may be happening right now but that event is almost all console games. The real cool PC cats know that the place to be this weekend is BlizzCon 2008. And we can report that thanks to our friends at our sister site WoW Insider Big Download will have exclusive coverage of the events going on at the Anaheim Convention Center beginning today and ending on Saturday.

Specifically our special WoW Insider correspondents will be covering the non-World of Warcraft games that will be shown at BlizzCon. Yep, that means both Starcraft II and Diablo III will be covered on our site (and it looks like Diablo III will be playable to the public for the first time this weekend). Of course WoW Insider is your best bet for coverage of all of the World of Warcraft related news and events at the event and we want to thank the team for their help in covering BlizzCon for us. It's going to be a very cool couple of days and we hope you stick around for it.

BlizzCon 2008 updates

Posted Oct 9th 2008 7:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Culture, Action, MMO, RPG, RTS, Starcaft II, World of Warcraft, Diablo III

We are just a couple of days away from the start of BlizzCon 2008 and Blizzard has been updating the official web site with more info on what will be happening at the convention on Oct 10-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center. One big development is that Blizzard will be streaming "selected" portions of its various game tournaments from the BlizzCon web site so folks who are unable to attend can at least see some of the tournament action for free.

Also, people unable to attend can enter the Original Question Contest. You can submit a Blizzard related games question and Blizzard team members will answer a select number during BlizzCon. People who have their questions selected for answering will get a prize package of BlizzCon related merchandise as well as an ATI graphics card.

Fallout 3 PC system specs revealed

Posted Oct 9th 2008 4:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Hardware, RPG, Fallout 3

With Fallout 3 now gold and heading for replication, the game's official web site has posted up both the minimal and recommended system specs for the PC version.So now you should know whether or not your rig will be able to run Bethesda Softworks' long awaited post-apocalypse RPG:

Minimal System Requirements

Windows XP/Vista
1GB System RAM (XP)/ 2GB System RAM (Vista)
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 256MB RAM (NVIDIA 6800 or better/ATI X850 or better)

Recommended System Requirements

Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2 GB System RAM
Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA 8800 series, ATI 3800 series)
Supported Video Card Chipsets:
- NVIDIA GeForce 200 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 9800 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 9600 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 8800 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 8600 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 8500 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 8400 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 7900 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 7800 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 7600 series
- NVIDIA Geforce 7300 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
- ATI HD 4800 series
- ATI HD 4600 series
- ATI HD 3800 series
- ATI HD 3600 series
- ATI HD 3400 series
- ATI HD 2900 series
- ATI HD 2600 series
- ATI HD 2400 series
- ATI X1900 series
- ATI X1800 series
- ATI X1600 series
- ATI X1300 series
- ATI X850 series
Gallery: Fallout 3

Fallout 3 goes gold

Posted Oct 8th 2008 8:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: RPG, Fallout 3

"Gone Gold" announcements are usually anti-climatic when a publisher has already announced a release date for the game in question. But they are still fun to know about anyway. So it goes with Fallout 3, the post-apocalyse RPG from Bethesda Softworks that got the "gone gold" label today, according to a press release over at Worthplaying.

The game is still set for release in the US on Oct. 28.which means we just have 20 more days until we start leaving the Vault and exploring the blasted out remains of the Washington DC area. Europeans have to wait until All Hallow's Eve to get their copy of the game. Remember that while Fallout 3 won't have a mod edition out of the box (it may be released later) new content for the game is planned after its release.

Gallery: Fallout 3

First Hinterland free downloadable content revealed

Posted Oct 8th 2008 6:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Expansions, RPG, Strategy

As mentioned in our new interview with the folks at Tilted Mill today, the developer plans to release its first downloadable content update for Hinterland, their recent fantasy RPG-village building sim. The developer sent over a press release with details on the new content.

Two new characters (the Archer and the Dwarf Warrior ) will be included in the update along with features like creature specific item drops, a new character info screen, auto-equipping, acquiring resources through economic means and more. The free content update will be released via Steam "shortly" but no specific release date was announced.

Gallery: Hinterland

Fallout co-creator speaks on Fallout 3 and MMO

Posted Oct 8th 2008 10:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Interviews, MMO, RPG, Fallout 3

On Tuesday we reported that Tim Cain, one of the original developers of the Interplay Fallout RPGs, was taking on the duties of design director at NCsoft's Carbine Studios. But that doesn't mean he's forgotten the Fallout franchise. In a new chat over at Edge Online, Cain states he is looking forward to playing Bethesda Softworks' take on the series with Fallout 3. Cain is quoted as saying, "It's not necessarily the direction I would've gone, but I can tell you I have my Fallout 3 pre-ordered. I want my life-sized Pip-Boy. I'm going to be playing that at the end of the month."

Cain does have a design concern about both Fallout 3 and the upcoming Fallout MMO that's being handled by the now revamped Interplay. Cain says in the article, "The biggest problem I have with expanding the game is that the original games were designed to make you feel like you were one of the last people left on Earth. And with Fallout 3 and the online version, I'm curious about how they'll handle making the game not feel too crowded--making it feel like there's not much life left out there after the war."

Gallery: Fallout 3