Several years ago (back when we were still posting on this website), it would've been a fitting way to start an article about Star Wolves by writing how underrated it was, how unique of a space-RPG gameplay it offered. But by now, the same can hardly be said about its latest sequel, Star Wolves 3, anymore. Or maybe that's just my EVE Online addiction talking... Anyway, the Russian publisher 1C Company is pushing on with the series, and today announced an upcoming expansion pack called Star Wolves 3: Ashes of Victory.



Developed by the same vodka-drenched bunch from Elite Games Team, the expansion is currently set for a Q3 2010 release. Among its advertised features, there will be improved graphics, a large-scale scenario covering more than 110 solar systems, "thoroughly re-worked" tactical and role-playing systems (a hint at how terribly flawed said systems were in the first place?), new NPCs, new factions, new ships, weapons, equipment, (...)

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A couple of months - hopefully no more - after its Japanese and North American releases next month (on February 19 and 24, respectively), Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope will also be released in Europe and other PAL territories. In a super-standard press release today, the European branch of Square Enix promised to release this Xbox 360 RPG prequel in spring 2009, though they have yet to pinpoint a more precise date.



They did however come well prepared for the occasion, unloading this plump piece of artwork above, along with plenty of screenshots that you can see below - granted they're still from the Japanese version. There was also that new Star Ocean 4 trailer we posted a few days ago, and updated yesterday with a high-res version. Yeah, it's no Final Fantasy XIII, but it'll have to do, for now. (...)

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Whenever you say Blizzard, you say Battle.net. Whenever you say Battle.net, you say free services and servers provided by Blizzard for their online community. This big badass company has been facilitating the virtual life of its fans for as long as I can remember, feeding them with decent and stable servers for their non-MMOish titles, such as the Warcraft and Diablo franchises. Fun times, indeed.

... Up until now. According to Big Download, things are about to change very soon. While covering a Diablo III gameplay panel at this year's BlizzCon, game producer Jay Wilson said something in the lines of:

"We are looking to monetize Battle.Net so that we get to keep making these games and updating features. We kind of have to."

Obviously, this will piss off fans like never before. I mean, many of them already frowned when Blizzard started to stare more at their profits and less at their fan base, with World of Warcraft squeezing large amounts of money each day, and with Starcraft 2 being cleverly sold as three separate games. But now, this?

The "good" news is that we have no details about what this "monetizing" actually means, or if it is aimed at the gamers themselves, or at some random advertising companies. Will we be forced to pay a monthly fee? A one-time fee? Or will we be staring at Coca-Cola commercials on every fucking Battlecruiser, while wiping the floor with the Protoss forces? Time will tell.

By the way. I find it peculiar that all these "clever" marketing strategies, specially designed to bring more income at all costs, have started right AFTER Activision got their paws on Blizzard. Hmmm...

Richard Garriott is so damn good at what he does, that life on Earth is becoming incredibly boring. Tons of games produced: checked. Awesome ideas that revolutionized the gaming industry: checked. Tons o' money to spend mindlessly on various things: checked. And finally, spare time: checked.

So why bother staying here, on this God forsaken planet, when one such as our Lord British can just... take off into space? For a mere 30 million USD, Garriott is journeying beyond the stars (literally), into a 10-day boyscout trip to the International Space Station.

His father, Owen, who was also a spaceman in 1973 (at least, for 60 days), is supervising the whole thing from the mission control center, in Moscow. Right next to that vodka distillery.

Another preorder opportunity has just popped up on the steamy service known as Steam, and this time, it's all about trading goods, raping galaxies, visiting planets and colonizing worlds full of hot virgins. That's right, X3: Terran Conflict is coming soon to a PC near you. Or, more likely, in front of you.

On October 17, players will be able to download the full, digital, product worldwide, while the retail boxed outlet is heading to European stores in the same day. In case you don't know the new and enhanced features that this game will offer, here is a short list:

- A brand new user interface allow full control using only the mouse
- New and improved mouse flight controls
- Several new races and factions, including Earth's primary military force, the Terran United Space Command
- Independent, non-player owned corporations, complete with unique ships and stations, offering new friends or foes to players
- New group management system allowing for better control of large numbers of ships in your fleet
- Over 100 new ships and several new ship classes
- Double the amount of distinct weapons
- The ability to board and capture huge capital ships with your own mercenaries and soldiers

Despite having gone gold earlier this month and receiving what looked like a final release date for October 3, X³: Terran Conflict isn't quite ready to be put to the test by its hardcore fans, after all. But don't worry, it won't be much longer. According to a recent update posted by German developer Egosoft, they had to push back the game's release to October 10, "due to unforeseen delays in the production process".

Aside from fixing whatever is wrong with it, the devs are also promising to "sweeten the waiting time" with more screenshots, videos and blog entries. And speaking of videos, we seem to have missed a few of them during our extended summer break. Well, no matter, here they are now.

We all know RPGs are almost on the brink of extinction – and I mean true RPGs, deep story, memorable characters, rapeable Ladies Aribeth, and stuff like that, not some junk food hack and slash that mindlessly (though sometimes, pretty addictive) set you up in a dungeon crawling with sponge blobs, pink rabid bunnies or giant weeds that seem to have an issue with your well being.

The last really good one to hit the market was Bioware’s Mass Effect (and we are still waiting for that PC “port” to make us drool even more), amongst others. As much as we have enjoyed it, we just couldn’t stop that saliva coming out when we heard Greg Zeschuk, BioWare’s general manager, bragging on the MTV channel about how great Mass Effect 2 will be.

First of all, we’ll have more side quests. More and better, he says. Quests that are actually worth doing, not just skip them for that main plot that needs solving RIGHT NOW.

"Side quests can sometimes be left on the side, so to speak. Pardon the pun. But a lot of times it's even just getting that whole game done, that whole first shot [that is important]. We look at Mass Effect 2 as incredibly exciting. Just the amount of effort and knowledge and know-how that went into building the technology for the first one is huge, and [we now have] the chance to actually make things a little bit richer."

Secondly, we’ll get the same treatment here as we’ve got in most BioWare/Black Isle sequels, more exactly an enhanced world, the solving of various technical issues that may (or may not) appear at some point or the other, basically, a truly revamped content that will make the player have an instant erection. What can I say, words are good, they have always been. Hopefully, this is not some media bullshit.

Gamespot scoop.

There was so much more I wanted to stuff into that title, but basically this is the story: Larry Niven, the sci-fi author best known for his Ringworld series, is working on a completely new game, together with the folks from Alchemic Productions. It's called Free Fall, it plays out in zero-gravity, and it's not based on any of his other books. Dunno about you, but I'm starting to feel the itch, drooling at this very first concept art.


If you're thinking about the old Ringworld adventure games from the early '90s, you can drop that thought right away. Kotaku managed to speak with Alchemic co-founder Rick Ernst about the project, and from what they write, Free Fall sounds like a lot more action-oriented game.

"Desiring more involvement than simply handing over his books as source material, Niven is working with Alchemic to create an entirely new fiction for the game, which will center around a nation of miners and spacers that inhabit Earth's Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt. You begin the game as newly immigrated Earther looking to get a fresh start as a miner who soon finds himself embroiled in miner revolution."

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In a bit of a contradiction to this week's press release announcing the PC version of Mass Effect - which credits no other studio except BioWare - it appears that indie developer Demiurge Studios is actually the one doing the dirty work of porting this Xbox 360 RPG to PCs. As spotted on FiringSquad, the Massachusetts-based developer has revealed on its blog that it "began working with BioWare during the final stretch of development for the Xbox 360 version", adding gameplay and performance enhancements for the PC version. And they also let slip a few specific details.

"Mass Effect for the PC features a third command wheel so players can access squad members separately, a new inventory system, customized key mapping and a brand new minigame. Extra attention was focused on visuals, offering higher resolution graphics for an enhanced gaming experience for the PC."

Don't forget to check out the first screenshots from Mass Effect PC, if you haven't yet.

Freshly served with today's announcement of a PC version, here are the first eight Mass Effect PC screenshots we yanked from BioWare's website.


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