E3 2011: (We Hope) Prey 2 Is Awesome - PC Preview at IGN When Bethesda showed a smattering of its upcoming games, Prey 2 got a lot of buzz. A first-person shooter that's ditching just about everything folks remember from the original, Prey 2 tosses you on an alien planet and casts you as U.S. Marshall Killian Samuels. You're a bounty hunter, the world's open, and IGN's Charles Onyett described Prey 2 as "a game worth paying attention to." We agree. Greg Miller: Colin, we've both seen Prey 2 -- what was your first impression? Colin Moriarty: Well when I initially saw the game back in Utah a couple of months back, I was blown away. What do you think of what you've seen? Greg Miller: Yeah, I never heard anything good about the original Prey, so I was a bit taken aback by how cool Prey 2 looked. Colin Moriarty: I have no problem with a more linear style FPS -- and that's obviously what we were shown in the beginning of the demo, as you said -- but I agree, its segue into the open world portion of the game really blew me away. Get the bounty.
Assassin's Creed III details possibly leaked by Ubisoft survey, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Xbox 360 News According to a supposedly-official Ubisoft marketing survey, the next Assassin's Creed - presumably Assassin's Creed III - could contain faster free running, enhanced Eagle Vision, a crafting tool, and several other additions and reinventions, even including a new assassin, time period, and city. If it is legit, it's still just a survey, and not a list of definite changes, but it may give insight into Ubisoft's direction. Without further lead-up to the obvious Family Feud reference...survey says: Would you like to see ____ in the sequel to the ASSASSIN'S CREED: BROTHERHOOD? That's a lot of italicized ideas, but it all sounds like what we'd expect Ubisoft to be considering for its next Creed game. Speaking to MCV last month, Sardin commented, “If you’ve read the comic books you will see that we took Assassin’s Creed to the USSR, or Caesar’s Rome – that’s a good example of what we could do in the coming years in the next video games."
Appeals Court Destroys First Sale; You Don't Own Your Software Anymore Earlier this year, we noted that the 9th Circuit appeals court was facing three separate important cases about the "first sale doctrine." We also warned that the 9th Circuit can be wacky at times, and its first ruling of the three confirms that, by effectively wiping out the first sale doctrine and stating that buying a piece of software is not really buying a piece of software -- and that, in many cases, you've merely licensed it and cannot resell it. The key point: We hold today that a software user is a licensee rather than an owner of a copy where the copyright owner (1) specifies that the user is granted a license; (2) significantly restricts the user's ability to transfer the software; and (3) imposes notable use restrictions. The full ruling is here: The case involved a regular eBay seller, who bought some copies of Autodesk at an "office sale" from a company who was no longer using them. That said, this case is hardly over.
Hitman: Absolution The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina vs. Ocarina - Nintendo 3DS Feature at IGN There's no arguing that Ocarina of Time is one of the most highly revered games in the history of gaming. Given that it is over a decade old, however, there are definitely a few places where this old classic could use a little spit shine. Due to the technical limitations of the N64, Ocarina's once super sharp graphics are now starting to show their age. Lucky for us, Nintendo's newest handheld, and a long-overdue remake, are set to bring Ocarina into the new millennium in style. But exactly how different is this new version going to be? In this first set of images (Ocarina 3DS is on top, the original is on bottom), Link faces off against Ingo at Lon Lon ranch in a race for Epona's safety. Although nearly every aspect has been updated in some way (from the grass and fence to the character models), it looks like this new version will still retain the simple, polygonal look of the original, just with even more detail.
What Happens To All That Digital Goodness You Have Purchased After You Die? With the proliferation of digitally distributed content, the question of ownership is always looming overhead. Part of that question is what happens to it all after you die. In the physical realm, any books, movies, games and music you purchase throughout your life can be left to your children and other heirs. Things aren't so simple for ebooks and iTunes files that you may have bought. Tex D'urt (I see what you did there) sent in this analysis by the Wall Street Journal on the question of who, if anyone, can inherit your digital library. Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more complicated.And one's heirs stand to lose huge sums of money. As the report points out, some people can spend as much as $360 a year on digital content. It is this non-transferability of the content that is the stickler.
Zero Punctuation Zero Punctuation is The Escapist's groundbreaking video review series starring Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Every Wednesday Zero Punctuation picks apart the games so you don't have to. Called "hilariously cutting ... first legitimate breakout hit from the gaming community in recent memory" by Boing Boing, see why gamers love it and developers fear it. South Park: The Stick of Truth - Yes, There Really Were Crying Koalas
Steam (software) Prior to Steam, Valve had problems releasing updates for their online games, such as Counter-Strike, wherein a patch would result in the disconnection of the larger part of the online user base for several days. They decided to make a platform which would update games automatically, and implement better anti-piracy and anti-cheat measures. Valve originally approached several companies – including Microsoft, Yahoo! Steam's development began at an uncertain date prior to 2002. The Steam client was first made available for download in 2002 during the beta period for Counter-Strike 1.6. Valve's Half-Life 2 was the first game to require installation of the Steam client to play, including for retail copies. In 2005, the first third-party games began to appear on Steam. Announced in beta in September 2013, Steam introduced the ability to share most games with family and close friends by authorizing machines to access one's library. The Steam interface, with the Steam Store selected.