By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 11:51 pm
Valve has introduced a new refund policy for Steam that allows you to return games and DLC within two weeks of purchase, provided you haven't played the content in question for more than two hours. With seemingly no fanfare, the new refund policy went into effect today. The latest Steam client update notes its new integration with Steam refunds and the Steam support site, and a new page devoted to refunds has gone live.  In short, you can return most anything within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. The key restriction is that you can't have played the game for more than two hours. In the case of DLC, you can't have played the base game for more than two hours since buying the DLC. You also can't have consumed or transferred the content in question. Refunds, which can be requested through Steam's website, will be issued within one week of approval. There's no specific reason you'll need to qualify; whether you don't like the game, it goes on sale just after buying it, or it simply doesn't run properly on your computer, you'll be able to get a refund. If, for whatever reason, there's an issue refunding your original payment method, the money will be added to your Steam Wallet. This applies to pre-purchased games as well. At any point prior to release, you can request a refund. After its release, the 14 days/two hours rule applies, though it's unclear how Valve will handle cases where you receive bonus content (say, Team Fortress 2 items) for preordering a game. In-game purchases work differently. As long as you haven't "consumed, modified, or transferred" the content, you can request a refund on in-game purchases made in Valve's games within 48 hours of purchase. (That means things like level boosters are non-refundable.) Third-party developers will be able to enable refunds if they want to, but whatever they choose, you'll be able to tell what is and isn't refundable before buying it. There are some other restrictions of note. Movies can't be refunded, nor can gifts that have been redeemed by the recipient. Additionally, if you are VAC banned from a game, you'll be ineligible to request a refund on it. Valve also offered a disclaimer regarding the use of refunds. "Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam--not as a way to get free games," the website states. "If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you. We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price." Previously, Valve had pushed back against laws requiring it to offer refunds in Europe, asking users to waive their rights upon purchase. This new refund policy seems like a major--and very welcome--step forward.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 11:11 pm
Bungie today announced the changes being made in Destiny's new 1.2.0.2 update, which seeks to make changes based on feedback gathered following the recent launch of the House of Wolves expansion. The patch fixes a number of issues, such as Weekly Heroic strikes not awarding engrams, Trials of Osiris emblems not being sent to your mailbox if your inventory was full, and fusion rifles working as they did prior to the balance changes made in the 1.1.1 update. Other changes deal with treasure keys, which should now become less rare. You're guaranteed one after completing your first Wanted Fallen bounty of the week, and the drop rate for keys has been increased in small chests at the end of the Prison of Elders, as well as in ether chests. Destiny briefly went offline earlier today as the 1.2.0.2 update rolled out. The game's servers are now back online, and these changes should all be in place. Read on for the full list of patch notes. For more on Destiny, check out some of the trademarks recently registered by Bungie, which may potentially point to future Destiny content. Destiny 1.2.0.2 patch notes:Key Highlights- The first Wanted Fallen Bounty completed each week is now guaranteed to drop a Treasure Key
- Greatly increased the drop rate of Treasure Keys from the small chests at the end of the Prison of Elders
- Increased the drop rate of Treasure Keys from Ether Chests
Prison of Elders- Greatly increased the drop rate of Treasure Keys from the small chests
- Class Items will now drop from Level 32, Level 34, and Level 35
- Fixed a bug in which the Ship (Hildian Seeker) did not drop under certain circumstances
- Fixed a bug in which the 'Elder Cipher' Bounty could not be acquired if your Bounty inventory was full
- You will need to defeat Skolas again to receive the 'Elder Cipher' Bounty
- Damage caused by Qodron's Gaze is reduced by 25%
- Damage multiplier for the Jailbreaker buff increased by 100%
Trials of Osiris- Fixed an issue in which Trials of Osiris emblems were not sent to the Postmaster if your Emblem inventory was full
- Passage Coins can now be dismantled
Weekly Heroics- Fixed an issue where the Weekly Heroic strikes did not award engrams (Note: Tooltip will not display them as rewards)
World- Increased the drop rate of Treasure Keys from Ether Chests
- Ether Chests may only be looted once per spawn
- Ether Chests will no longer grant ammo consumables when opened
- Ether Chests will now grant a small amount of Queen's Wrath reputation when opened
- Ether Chests now have a chance to drop Tokens of Flight, Identity, and Judgment
Quests- Petra will no longer display a quest waypoint for players who have not purchased House of Wolves
- Fixed a bug in which players abandoning the 'Gone to Ground' quest were still being directed to the Venus Patrol
Bounties- The first Wanted Fallen Bounty completed each week is now guaranteed to drop a Treasure Key
Weapons- Fixed a bug in which the 1.2.0.1 hotfix mistakenly did not contain the 1.1.1 Fusion Rifle balance changes. As a result, players were playing with its pre-1.1.1 weapon balance state. The original fix has been reapplied.
Items- Tokens of Flight, Identity, and Judgment can now be dismantled to gain +10 House of Judgement reputation each
- Ammo consumables can now stack to 100
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 10:50 pm
Even if it was just an online poll, being voted the "worst company in America" in 2012 and again in 2013 was something Electronic Arts had major problems with and took serious steps to correct. Executive editor Ian Sherr of GameSpot sister site CNET dives deep into the subject as part of a wide-ranging feature published today that offers an inside look into how EA got there, and how the company hopes to change in the future. The story starts off with EA interim CEO Larry Probst's reaction when he found out his company received the ugly honor a second time. "It was a hideous thing," he said. One person speaking to CNET about that day said Probst "hit the roof."  Now, a year and a half later, Probst--who was brought on as interim CEO after John Riccitiello quit in March 2013--recalled what he told his senior staff at the time. "The message I tried to deliver was, 'This will not happen again,'" Probst said. "'As long as I draw breath, this will not happen again.'" Probst brought together a team of EA executives (he referred to it as a "rehabilitation group") for an important meeting in April 2013. Their directive was to systematically develop a set of policies regarding what EA could do differently to better address the concerns and desires of gamers. In September 2013, Andrew Wilson was named the new EA CEO. Five months later, in February 2014, he assembled 146 of EA's top executives at the company's headquarters for a non-traditional meeting. The group came together for one purpose: to try to better understand why some customers were so upset with EA. Sherr writes: "The group was led to the basketball court, which had been temporarily remade into a conference space with stations of computers and telephone lines. For hours, executives went through the steps of installing, troubleshooting, and playing the company's games. They also listened in on customer service calls so they could hear firsthand players' frustrations." Wilson admitted that EA didn't always do a great job of thinking about what its business decisions meant "in the context of the player experience." Head to CNET for the full story, which goes into a lot more depth about EA's new "player-first" mentality.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 10:35 pm
Despite the fact that Super Smash Bros. boils down to various Nintendo (and some non-Nintendo) mascots beating each other up, the series has never felt particularly dark or brutal. Cut in some footage of Mortal Kombat's X-ray attacks, however, and things quickly change. The new video above, entitled Super Smash Bros x Mortal Kombat, comes from YouTube user Sterling. It takes footage of Super Smash Bros. and cuts it in short clips of Mortal Kombat X-ray attacks, which provide a graphic view of characters' bones being crushed, stabbed, broken, and so on. It's made all the better (or more unsettling, depending upon your perspective) that the choice of X-ray clips line up so well with the Smash Bros. attacks. The video's already gotten a strong response, and Sterling has said he'll be creating a sequel. He's also taking suggestions--what would you like to see next?
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 10:10 pm
Every week Activsion has been revealing a few new tracks for the upcoming guitar game revival Guitar Hero Live, and this week we learned those songs a little early. - Queen -- "Tie Your Mother Down"
- Alice In Chains -- "Stone"
- Bullet For My Valentine -- "Temper Temper"
- Deap Vally -- "Lies"
- Wolfmother -- "Sundial"
- Weezer -- "Buddy Holly"
- Angus & Julia Stone -- "A Heartbreak"
- Catfish and the Bottlemen -- "Kathleen"
- Neon Trees -- "Everybody Talks"
- New Politics -- "Harlem"
These tracks join the 47 songs previously revealed below. Note that the tracks revealed so far will be either a part of the main campaign or accessible through the free Guitar Hero TV mode. E3 is fast approaching, when we expect to hear even more information about the game including exactly how Guitar Hero TV will work. But stay tuned later this week when we'll have a Q&A with the developers and updated impressions of the game and guitar so far. In the meantime, check out this gallery of images of the new Guitar Hero guitar hardware.      
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 10:08 pm
The Batman: Arkham Knight trailers are coming in thick and fast in the lead up to its release. The latest, which you can watch below, features Harley Quinn. The trailer shows Harley, armed with her trusty baseball bat, tearing through a wave of Gotham City police officers. She even uses some of her tricksy traps for a little more explosive action. Harley Quinn is playable in a story mission that is exclusively available to those that pre-order. As previously revealed, the Harley Quinn downloadable content pack takes place prior to the events of Arkham Knight, and tasks Quinn with the goal of infiltrating Blüdhaven in order to rescue Poison Ivy. The Harley Quinn DLC was first announced in July last year, and will include four challenge maps that will allow you to play as her and "utilize unique weapons, gadgets, and abilities." Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment recently showed off the Gotham's Future skin pack, which has been announced only for the PC edition of Arkham Knight and features the Batman Beyond costume. After multiple delays, Arkham Knight--the conclusion to Rocksteady's Arkham series--launches June 23 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 09:35 pm
Ubisoft has said it will announce multiple new games at E3 2015 and confirmed comedian and actress Aisha Tyler will once again be hosting its press conference. "E3 is always a very special moment for the entire gaming community because we all come together to share our visions for the future of entertainment and reveal the games into which we've been pouring our energy and passion," said co-founder and CEO of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot. "We love being a part of this great community, and our talented teams continue to take risks, push boundaries and offer more freedom, and choice within our games so that we can create long-lasting, enriching experiences for the players." Ubisoft also released a teaser for its E3 press conference. Watch it below. In addition to these new titles, Ubisoft is expected to show off Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Tom Clancy's The Division, and Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft has confirmed its E3 media briefing will take place on June 15, starting at 3 PM PDT. During a recent earnings call Ubisoft teased a AAA game that will not be announced at E3. Although it did not provide specifics about the mysterious game, the publisher said it will be available sometime in the company's current fiscal year, which means it should be released before April 2016.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 07:30 pm
 The Bat cleans up Los Santos with his new grapple hook! Check out these Grand Theft Auto V Batman mods, Just Cause 2 Grapple hook and more!
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 04:21 pm
 Firaxis is back with a host of new alien combatants in XCOM 2.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 06:55 am
 In this quick gameplay clip from Lego Words you fly a plane to a new island, find a nice lady, then find a digging machine and dig tunnels. Then you find a bear and tame it, what a full day!
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 05:26 am
Hatred is perfect fodder for "What other people think I do/What my parents think I do" memes--memes that would include tiny boxes for "What the media thinks Hatred is," "What 14-year-olds think Hatred is," "What the developers think Hatred is," and so forth. But there's really only one box that matters, and that would be the one in the lower right: "What Hatred actually is." Here's what Hatred actually is: An isometric semi-open street-level shooter in which you kill designated numbers of progressively tougher adversaries before advancing to the next area. You have three main weapons--which you aim with an analog stick on your gamepad--as well as grenades, and the ability to duck. The basics are not terribly dissimilar from the first top-down iterations of Grand Theft Auto; Hatred is, ostensibly at least, an engine for quick, unthinking bursts of multidirectional fire, as opposed to, say, Hotline Miami's trial-and-error kinetic problem solving. You can drive various vehicles, but they control like lead; fortunately, driving is optional, save for one stage near the end in which you control a SWAT van. Something-something da police.Hatred's stark, Sin City aesthetic is irreproachable, and the number of destructible objects is astonishing. In too many other respects, however, there is precious little to say about Hatred: the action is simple, levels lack painfully in variation and escalation of arms, and frequent linearity only exacerbates the tedium. You simply wander through suburban neighborhoods and other mundane locales, mowing down whomever might happen to stand between you and your assigned kill count. There is no thrilling five-star moment in which whirring helicopters or SEAL Team Six members show up; the game's idea of variety is to introduce armored enemies who don't die after being shot just once. Hatred has you firing almost endlessly at the same six or seven types of victims for a few hours, and then it ends. Aesthetics aside, it is thoroughly unspectacular, and any primal enjoyment you may be having wears off by the third stage. And so you have it. Hatred is a boring '80s-style arcade game with excellent visuals. There are dozens of better, cheaper games that do what Hatred does, which leaves one real reason why anyone might want to play it: Your primary targets are innocent, predominantly unarmed, uncharacterized civilians who run, scream, cry, beg for mercy, and endure brutal executions in order for you--the Antagonist--to remain alive. Unlike in Grand Theft Auto V or Saints Row, there's not even the flimsiest effort to provide a barrier of unreality. Bystanders are not simple victims of collateral damage: You are explicitly told to kill, "cleanse," and "execute" the innocent. Problematically, Hatred isn't fun to play. Its attempted power fantasy comes not from the exhilaration of superhumanity, but from the slaughter in and of itself, and unlike listening to a Slayer album or watching Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, this is not a passive experience. Best of luck to anyone who can answer the question of why Hatred is meant to be, in the developer's own words, "pure gaming pleasure." Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. I'm hunting...everything.Yet there's an irony to Hatred. It might almost be a game worth clutching pearls over if the Antagonist never opened his mouth. But he does. Often. And while he exhibits a detached malevolence with his early one-liners, as you progress, there's a pronounced air of Metalocalyptic silliness, as the Antagonist grumbles about tasting the blood of innocent and proclaims everything as "stinking," "worthless," or "pathetic," with the same whining conviction of children who don't want to eat their vegetables. He growls about how the only thing he hates more than politics is politicians, expressing his rage with all the murderous intent of a petulant Oscar The Grouch. The goofiness climaxes in the game's final moments: the acting reaches for Tommy Wiseau-level arch camp, to the point where it seems impossible to imagine that developer Destructive Creations meant for its shrug-worthy Dethgame to truly matter. Hatred isn't going to make mass murderers of anyone, but it still wants to be every mass murderer's favorite game. The shift in tone from horrifying psychopathy to mustache-twirling supervillainy feels like an intentional joke by the developers, an attempt to make Hatred a new generation's Postal or Hong Kong 97--and it might have been funny if the rest of the game's particulars weren't a semi-monthly real-life tragedy. But there's an even greater irony at work here, in that having brutally killed thousands of innocents, survived police retaliation, and laid waste to everything good in the world, even while the Antagonist devours scenery behind the mic, you feel nothing. Hatred is too repetitive to be exciting, too dumb to be frightening, too basic for you to feel accomplished at its end, too dour to be violently cathartic, too self-serious to engender ironic amusement, and yet still too childish to matter. It will be given more credit than it's worth--all a game like this can do is provide meager table scraps to a ravenous desire already deeply embedded in pre-existing monsters, and that's not a problem that treating Hatred as Videodrome made (new) flesh will cure. The fact that the final product fails even to be worth a primal psychotic scream of victory against society at large for the people it might encourage means it laughably fails even at being dangerous. Meaning, essentially, it's a nothing of a game.
By Anonymous on Jun 02, 2015 04:29 am
 Lego Worlds had a surprise release on Steam Early Access; Batman: Arkham Knight won't have any loading screens, and Destiny developer Bungie trademarks something called "Eververse Trading Co."
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