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Field Report #2: StarCraft 2 and the RTS Genre

Olga — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:07 +0000

A lot of times we play games not for preview or review, but just to have fun (Shocking, we know!). Field Report provides our first-hand experience with the latest games.

Blizzard’s StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

While I am going to eventually write a full review for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, I’m not quite ready to do that. I have, however, found myself thinking a lot about the RTS genre and its evolution over the last few years. Many felt the genre had left Blizzard behind, pointing to the work done by Relic with games like Dawn of War II as the true evolution of the genre.

Call of Duty: Black Ops heading to the DS.

Star Trek Online drops in price as season 2 hits.

“Best of Indie” bundle returns via Direct2Drive.

Fairytale Fights developer/publisher in trouble.

Indie Games C…

Daily Filter: July 28, 2010

Olga — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:07 +0000

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you’re eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Today’s Filter includes a trailer for the upcoming PSP-exclusive God of War: Ghost of Sparta, a launch trailer for the first Alan Wake DLC, and a “soundtrack behind-the-scenes” video for Call of Duty: Black Ops this November, a “companion” title on the Nintendo DS will land behind enemy lines to join the fight at retail.

Developed by n-Space, Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Nintendo DS will feature the expected level of military-based action, from “taking the controls of an attack helicopter to flying an experimental stealth fighter jet.”

Call of Duty: Black ops (Nintendo DS)

The handheld title will include six-player online multiplayer alon…

StarCraft 2 Ladder Map List and Images

Olga — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:06 +0000

There are a lot of maps in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, but you might not realize it if you only player Ladder games or games of a certain type — 1v1, 2v2, and so on. There are, in fact, 52 maps available from Blizzard with the shipping version of SCII.

All 52 maps from StarCraft II

Of course, not all of these are used on the various Ladders (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and FFA). Blizzard will add and remove maps to the ladder throughout the life of the game, but they currently utilize the following map selection pools (note: the number of players refers to the number of possible starting positions).<…

QuakeCon 2010 Tournaments put $50K on the Line, Pre-Registration Now Open for ‘Pro’ Gamers

Olga — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:06 +0000

When QuakeCon 2010 kicks off on August 12, the world’s elite frag-masters will be on hand to scoop-up their share of $50,000 in prizes.

QuakeCon will open its doors to the public between August 12 and August 15 and feature multiple tournaments for “professionals” and “up-and-comers” alike, with free-to-play, browser-based Quake Live as the game to master.

Quake Live

In the Intel-sponsored Quake Live Master Championship, “top professionals” from the world of Quake Live will face-off in a 64-player, double elimination bracket. The ultimate champion walks away with $14,000…

Exclusive Lore Excerpts from Elemental: War of Magic Limited Edition World Guide

Olga — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:06 +0000

Included with the limited edition of Stardock’s Elemental: War of Magic is a lore book called the Hiergamenon World Guide.

Shacknews has teamed up with Stardock to present some excerpts from that book over the next few days, starting with a look at the game’s “Sovereign’s of the East”, seen below.

Three pages from the Hiergamenon World Guide for Elemental: War of Magic

The book was written by Stardock CEO and Elemental lead designer Brad Wardell and Random House, which is also publishing the companion book

Two in-game images (from last night) and a teaser trailer have been released for Obsidian’s Dungeon Siege III, which will be published by Square Enix.

Although Square Enix purchased the intellectual property for the series from creator Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games, Taylor is involved in the project, offering feedback and criticism to the team at Obsidian.

While you fine folks will have to wait a bit longer for in-game action, this teaser trailer should help set the mood.

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Shackvideo users can use the CVG reports.

Rather than release the upcoming free-to-play WWE Smackdown vs. Raw Online in Europe and North America, THQ core games boss Danny Bilson said a new, as-yet-unnamed title would make its say to those markets and feature more casual gameplay than THQ’s traditional Smackdown vs. Raw series.

Beyond the Asian-only free-to-play title, THQ is currently developing a new installment in its popular WWE Smackdown vs. Raw Raw series and WWE All Stars. The fourth title, according to Bilson, will be “less simmy” than the traditional WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series and more in line with the accessible play of All Stars.

Star Trek Online has been permanently cut to $19.99 to celebrate the launch of its ‘Season Two’ update yesterday.

Subtitled ‘Ancient Enemies,’ the update brings eight new Klingon Episodes starring “the Fek’ihri, the fabled enemy of Kahless, founder of the Klingon Empire” as well as a little peace and love on the Federation side with ‘Federation Diplomatic Corps’ missions.

There’s also a higher level cap plus new ‘Mark XI’ items, new ‘Tier 5′ ships and “high-level versions of …