New character and dedicated servers arrive in the esport formulated to be an actual sport, Arena: Cyber Evolution!
Yearly Archives: 2014
Dofus Eliotropes Gameplay Trailer
The signature class of the Wakfu anime joins the Dofus roster, bringing manic portal fun.
Forge of Empires/Grepolis kick off holidays with new Winter events
With the Holiday season just around the corner, online games developer InnoGames starts the festivities with three winter events starting today. Forge of Empires, Grepolis and The West all start their own celebrations with their respective themes and rewards.
Forge of Empires changes things up this year with their first major event to run on mobile as well as browser. The holiday experience will run from December 1 to January 5 and will feature two new buildings and a new currency. Players can acquire stars, the medium of exchange, through unique quests and trade them for special rewards. To commemorate Christmas, a unique building will be given out on December 24.
On their end, Grepolis and The West both center their events on the advent calendar which consists of 24 days. Tyche’s Calendar from Grepolis lets players win special rewards through a new Wheel of Fortune each day. Similar to last year’s event, the first daily spin will be free. Unlike last year, players will get new rewards and options, including the chance to refill a wheel and get one of four new rituals. The event is playable in both the browser version and mobile. In addition, Grepolis will run a Facebook giveaway parallel to the event. The West on their end will allow players to open the doors on their advent calendar and receive a nice item every day.
For more info, visit http://www.innogames.com/
Warframe Mesa Profile
The outcast Warframe, Mesa, joins the roster.
Bless Online New Combat Closed Beta Preview
Bless Online showcases the capabilities of the Unreal 3.5 engine in this updated combat trailer.
Orcs Must Die! Unchained: Mage trainee Apprentice Now Available
Update 1.7 is here, and Gameforge is expanding the hero ranks in Orcs Must Die! Unchained with the high-spirited Apprentice. Heroes are now also clearly labelled, making it easier to tell whether a hero is suited to attack or defense. In addition, players can now see just how well their teammates are playing, thanks to a newly-introduced point scoring system.
Create Chaos with fire and ice
The Apprentice is a product of the prestigious school of War Mage. The bold adolescent can barely keep a handle on her magical powers, which often has her wandering from one catastrophe to the next. The product of one such catastrophe is Feebee, the little bat that supports Apprentice. In a match her unpredictability is clear to see: she changes her magic element and resistances, thereby able to take it to her enemies using a variety of fire, frost, lightning and arcane magic. If the young lady is not able to help herself out of a sticky situation with magic, then she always has her stolen tomb at hand, ready to swipe at the enemy.
Support from the community
Just like the Apprentice learnt tips and tricks from her teacher, the War Mage, publisher Gameforge and developer Robot Entertainment are learning things from the community feedback they are receiving.
“We are extremely grateful to the participants of the running closed beta, for their excellent feedback and for the support that they have given us so far. This form of feedback is incredibly important and valuable to us as we work on creating the best possible Orcs Must Die! experience”, said Patrick Winkler, Product Director of Orcs Must Die! Unchained at Gameforge.
Gameplay improvement
To promote balanced teams and to ease initial play for beginners, symbols now display a hero’s recommended position: attacking players are marked green with a sword; defence red with a shield. Moreover, in game players can now see how well their teammates are doing in the MVP ratings as well as who is the best leader and defender, providing another motivational impulse to make them give their all for their team. A selection of new skins then completes update 1.7’s offering.
The features of update 1.7 at a glance:
+ New hero: Apprentice
+ MVP ratings: ranking lists that show players their rating within their team
+ Symbols now show a hero’s ideal position, whether in attack or defence
+ New skins for the Ancestor, Temper, Ball-and-Chain, Prospector and Apprentice
For more info, visit http://en.omd.gameforge.com/#/
FF XIV ARR: “The Art of Eorzea – Another Dawn” available now
From today, FINAL FANTASY XIV®: A Realm Reborn™ fans and adventurers can immerse themselves in the beauty of Eorzea in the new ‘The Art of Eorzea – Another Dawn’ art book, available to purchase now via the Square Enix Ltd., Online Store!
Making its debut at the FINAL FANTASY® XIV FAN FESTIVAL in London last month, “The Art of Eorzea – Another Dawn” show-cases the graphical and artistic beauty of Eorzea, its inhabitants, threats and more – in a collection of over 1,000 illustrations, sketches and bonus art across 304 stunning, full-colour pages. The art book also features both Japanese and English text written by FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn artists themselves.
“The Art of Eorzea – Another Dawn” art book is available to order now via the Square Enix Online Store at: https://store.eu.square-enix.com/emea_uk. Each copy of the art book also comes with a special in-game bonus item – the “Model Enterprise” minion (including miniature Cid!).
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn is an online game offering players the chance to be part of an epic and ever-changing universe as you adventure and explore with friends from around the world. Experience all the hallmarks of the best-selling FINAL FANTASY franchise – airships, chocobos, moogles, and more!
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn “Game of the Year” edition is available now for PC. To purchase, and for more information, please visit: https://store.eu.square-enix.com.
Spicy Horse Launches Real-Money Version of Akaneiro via Odobo
Spicy Horse is a game developer well known for producing dark fantasy action games (ARPG). For the first time this accomplished studio is venturing into the world of real-money gaming and has selected the Odobo platform to deliver its new content.
Spicy Horse is best known for hit ARPG games: Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, The Gate and BigHead BASH. The studio is headed up by high profile game designer American McGee whose reputation within the gaming industry stems from credits for hit titles such as: American McGee’s Alice, Alice: Madness Returns (published by EA), the first two Doom and Quake games (developed by iD software).
Spicy Horse is a perfect example of the appetite among casual game developers to sample real-money gaming. It illustrates how effectively the Odobo platform is enabling studios, with great products, to enter the real-money space in addition to providing a more effective solution for experienced real-money game studios.
The first game due for release is the hit underworld title Akaneiro. Spicy Horse is working with Odobo and Odobo’s in-house studio, Wild Game Reserve, to build an impressive 5×3 slot version that retains its powerful Japanese Edo-era theme and captures characters and features from the original ARPG. Red (riding hood) remains the key character with blue karma crystals and red karma shards triggering free spins and bonus games. Players are challenged to slay the Yokai demons and slash their way through the evil forces that stand against them.
Spicy Horse is also well known for high-octane and dramatic games and fans of this horror/action genre won’t be disappointed with the dark graphic visuals that feature in the Akaneiro slot game. The game also features 25 paylines, 10 standard symbols, two wilds and two scatters. Each symbol is derived from the original game particularly the bonus scatters. Red karma shards, formed from the crystallised blood of slain Yokai, were originally a ‘power up’ that provided extra lives or the energy required to activate powers. Here in the real-money version, they trigger 10 free spins. Blue karma crystals have been adapted from an in-game form of currency to act as a trigger for the four picks bonus game.
American McGee, said “When Odobo put forward the suggestion of turning Akaneiro into a slot game I was insistent that to go ahead the game would have to reflect the thought and features that made the original so successful. I couldn’t be happier with the result and without Odobo, we would not have navigated the minefield of regulation to build this game. The team has handled all the necessary real-money requirements from maths to localisation and turned Akaneiro into impressive and fully compliant real-money entertainment.”
Mark McGinley, Studio Manager at Wild Game Reserve, said, “It’s been a pleasure to work with Spicy Horse on this project. It’s been an exciting challenge for both sides with a shared determination to do this great title justice. We’re really proud of the result.”
Akaneiro is available to try for free at: http://odo.bo/p/akaneiro
tinyBuild Games: Mike Rose Now Joins the Team
tinyBuild Games today announced the next step in its indie publishing push, with the appointment of Mike Rose as its new “in the know” guy.
Alongside its own in-house projects, tinyBuild has been treading the indie publishing waters for a while now, helping out on promising third-party titles like first-person gun-ballet Lovely Planet, backwards-platformer Spoiler Alert, and furniture eat-em-up Not the Robots.
Now tinyBuild is stepping up its publishing efforts, and has brought Rose onboard to help guide the assault. Rose was previously a video game critic for eight years, writing for numerous high-profile outlets including Gamasutra, Pocket Gamer, Kotaku, Gamezebo, and more.
“I know the indie scene like the back of both of my hands, and the fronts of them as well,” Rose mused. “I started out writing about games due to my love for finding smaller, lesser known titles from new developers, so this move into more directly helping developers create the games of their dreams is simply my obvious next step.”
For more info, visit http://tinybuild.com/hello-im-the-new-guy




