Speaking of long-delayed MMOs, VG247 spotted that SOE have revealed that The Agency is now scheduled for the second half of 2011. The combat-led MMO has apparently required quite a lot more work to make it enjoyable, and it certainly had a quiet showing at E3. I’ve posted the most recent game footage below – a PvP sequence – for reference. And it does look kind of interesting, what with being a proper manshooter and everything. What still isn’t quite clear right now is how the hub-based missions will create a sense of “worldiness” and quite how the “massive” aspect of the game will manifest. We’ve had a few failures in that regard since PlanetSide. (more…)

The first few scraps of information about the new Tomb Raider, officially revealed yesterday, are beginning to appear. NeoGAF have been plundering the unreleased Game Informer article by their own nefarious methods, and we learn a few interesting morsels. Like, for instance, Lara is to be 21 in the new game. Keys to the tomb. And deaths are to be brutal. Erk. It’s sounding like this is going to be part Tomb Raider, part Survivor, and I’m very intrigued. More bits and pieces below.

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Oh dear, it seems that the big old delay on the release of Jumpgate Evolution isn’t simply down to putting on a few more layers of polish. IncGamers spotted that Codemasters are suing developers NetDevil, and parent company Gazillion, for breach of contract. The UK publisher is seeking the repayment of development costs and its legal expenses. A PDF of the complaint filed can be found here. Codemasters have declined to make any further comment, but the proceedings leave the final release of the game in doubt. NetDevil had previously stated that they wouldn’t release the game until they were happy with it, so it will be interesting to see what further light is cast on that by the case.

But hey, it was> kind of bland when we saw it a preview… (EDIT: It also seems that Netdevil founder, and Jumpgate originator, Scott Brown, has left Netdevil.)

Timed to coincide with tonight’s release of World Of Warcraft’s Cataclysm, BBC 1′s Panorama tonight covered the topic of videogame addiction. I have always approached the subject of gaming addiction with great seriousness, because it’s my belief that if gaming is inherently harmful, I want to know about it, and I want to warn others who game. And I want to approach the subject with appropriate scrutiny, and with evidence-based understanding. It’s something I expect of others when they approach the subject. It was not present tonight. It was astonishing. An openly ignorant series of anecdotes and half-truths, forming a dangerous, lazy treatment of a serious subject.

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In response to tonight’s episode of Panorama, and the accompanying discussion of the subject at the moment, I’m reprinting an article I wrote in 2007 about the subject of gaming addiction. Originally written for PC Gamer, my intention was to explore the subject from an investigative angle, rather than as an attempt to prove an agenda of either side. Sadly, I’ve yet to see another piece approaching the subject in the same way in the years since. In the hope of throwing out a little evidence at this time, I’m re-posting it below. Clearly this is three years out of date now. The most crucial change since it was written is Keith Bakker’s complete reversal of his beliefs given at the time, now no longer recognising compulsive gaming as addiction, and no longer treating it. This change has a significant impact upon how the piece is read.>

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The jury is, as far as I can tell, still somewhat out on the Games For Windows do-ever, but Microsoft’s Steam rival has certainly been offering a few tempting mega-discounts lately. This time (as LewieP tips us off to) it’s the original STALKER (Shadow of Chernobyl) for less than a pound/dollar. Only lasts for today, so get a wriggle on if you want it and aren’t one of those chaps claiming a moral objection to GFW.

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It’s hot text time, you. Choice Of The Dragon collided with my consciousness the other day, and after initially sneering at the concept of a multiple choice question-based game about pretending to be a fantasy stereotype, I quickly discovered that the only thing a narrow mind brings me is a lesser gaming life. (more…)

Do you know what I did? You do? Oh. So yeah, I wrote about Tron 2.0 for Eurogamer. With the new movie coming out soon, it seemed a good time to go back to a game that is oddly similar to the plot of the next film. I wrote words. Some of them were:

My lasting memories were of three things: 1) The pink worm monster thing I could never beat. 2) The light cycle races I could never win. 3) The Disc weapon. What I’d forgotten was that it was in many ways as much of an RPG as Deus Ex. Not only is there a good deal of walking through friendly areas, or areas populated with friendly NPCs at least, but there’s a lot of chitchat with them and your companions. Combined with this is the levelling up – something that’s so incredibly rarely featured in an FPS. And then on top of that is the absolutely superb way it lets you add in various abilities, augmentations and weapons.

Hands up if you knew that PS3 downloadable murder-mystery Blue Toad Murder Files was coming to PC. Hands up! Higher! Great, thanks. Those of you with your hands up will be taken out the back of Castle Shotgun and lynched for not informing us that this was happening. After the lynch, there will be a dynner. By then I expect you’ll have seen the error of your ways.

Blue Toad Murder Files is available from Steam right now, and a lovely trailer follows that’ll let you sample the masterful work of voice actor Tom Dusseck. He does all the characters, you know. (more…)

Strictly speaking this was revealed last week, but I have been away from my instruments, and therefore unable to continuously monitor The News. DICE have said there is a fifth BFBC2V map, but it’s not going to be available right away. Why not? Well, it needs to be unlocked. They explain: “You and all your friends playing on PS3, PC, or Xbox 360 need to perform 69 million team actions across Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. So what’s a team action? Well, it’s any and all of these: resupply, revive, heal, spot, and repair. We start counting on December 21st, so make sure you contribute from the start!”

Hmm. There’s a trailer for this shackled map, below. Exciting! (more…)