Michael
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- May 26, 2015
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Twitch Bans Adults Only games
Original story:
Twitch has updated its rules of conduct to disallow streaming of Adult Only games, the company announced today. That means any game classified with an AO rating by the ESRB will be banned from the service, including games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Manhunt 2.
"Previously, we made game-specific decisions about which games would and would not be available for broadcast – sometimes due to overtly sexual content, sometimes due to gratuitous violence," the company said in its statement.
"This is unsustainable and unclear, generating only further confusion among Twitch broadcasters. We would like to make this policy as transparent as possible."
While few games are rated AO anyway – there's a full list here and few will be missed – it may have interesting global ramifications: especially in Australia where it's more common for games to be rated R18+.
"While the ESRB ratings apply exclusively to US titles, our policy extends to versions of these games in all territories," the statement reads. "Generally, if the US version is rated for Adults Only (18+) or has an equivalent rating in your territory, you should not broadcast that game on Twitch."
The Binding of Issac: Rebirth adds daily runs and leaderboards:
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will feature daily runs with leaderboards, co-creator Edmund McMillen has announced, allowing players to compete on a more-or-less level playing field for the best score on the internet. Yes, all of it.
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"Every day the game will generate a specific seed that will be generated the same for everyone (minus locked things) and you can now compete against the internet for best score in the run!" McMillen explained. "This feature was one of my favorites in Spelunkyand i always wanted to do it in Isaac… But how do you score a game like Isaac? More on that in a later post."
The "minus locked things" comment refers to the fact that some players will have unlocked more powerful items than others, giving them a potentially significant leg up on everyone else. Hey, life's tough—and McMillen's promise of more information about how the game will be scored suggests he has a plan for redressing imbalances, at least partially.
The post also revealed a pair of new items for the game: Dead Eye, "a fan suggested item that raises damage with each consecutive hit and causes your tears to become red glowing balls of death if you play well," and Continuum, which turns your eyes purple and causes your tears to "loop back" when they're shot off the screen.
Squad marches onto Kickstarter
Squad is a name so generic that—despite the fact we've covered the game multiple times before—I feel the need to explain exactly what it is every time I post about it. It's a standalone team-based FPS being made by the developers of the Battlefield 2 mod Project Reality. Given the quality and popularity of that mod, the hope is that Offworld Industries can deliver something special even without DICE's groundwork.
The community seems convinced that's the case, as, only a day into Squad's Kickstarter campaign, the game has raised over $79,000 CAD. It's well on the way to the goal of $184,000 CAD.
For more on what Squad has planned, check out this Kickstarter pitch video.
There are stretch goals, too. Everything from new factions, such as the British and Russian armed forces, to a selection of new and remade maps.
For more details and a full round-up of planned features, head over to the Squad Kickstarter page.
More free Wither 3 DLC
CD Projekt Red is releasing 16 bits of DLC, for free, for no other reason than that the words "free" and "DLC" rhyme. Actually, that probably isn't the reason either. Whyever they're doing it, it means 16 mini-additions to the already massive RPG. This week's bundle has just now arrived, and includes a new mission and a new look for one of the game's main characters.
ADVERTISING
Here's what you're getting:
Battlefield Hardline: Criminal Activity DLC
Battlefield Hardline's Criminal Activity DLC is set in an alternate reality in which, variously, night clubs, malls, apartment blocks and derelict logging concerns are patrolled by anthropomorphic gun-toting... oh wait, they're just masks. That makes more sense.
ADVERTISING
Oh well, I'm less excited now I've realised this isn't a gritty Sonic reboot. Still, I've started this post, so it's only fair I post the trailer anyway.
EA says the new crop of maps are highly destructible, and "littered with small-time crime jobs". The Criminal Activity pack will be out next month, with Premium subscribers getting a two-week head start over gen pop.
CS:GO 'Bloodhound' update brings new maps, XP system
Valve deployed an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive this evening that adds Operation Bloodhound, a fresh set of community maps and weapon skins that you can pay $7 for the chance to play and earn.
Rails, Resort, Zoo, Log, and re-released versions of Agency and Season are included in the Bloodhound Access Pass, which also opens up two new “campaigns,” a continuation of the web of challenges players can complete to earn weapon skins or unlockable crates.
ADVERTISING
New maps are welcome, but the packaged metagame content is the least interesting aspect of CS:GO to me—I’d much rather weapon unlocks be attached to an enhanced stats system that helps me understand where I’m at as a player. Instead, Valve has added another layer of profile progression, Profile Rank. “As you increase your Profile Rank, not only will your CS:GO profile evolve to show off your new title and icon; but the first time you rank up each week will earn you a weapon drop.” It’s weird that player profiles will have two pseudo-military ranks—one to measure their competitive skill, and another to measure how much they’ve played across all modes.
Other than map tweaks, there are no stated changes to weapon balance or other aspects of CS:GO. I do like that the match timer for casual has been cut by 45 seconds to a more respectful 2:15, but otherwise the focus of this update is squarely on shoving more maps, monetized missions, and weapon skins into the game. But hey, the new Falchion knife (already listing at about $400 at the time of this post) has a cool animation, I guess.
Original story:
Twitch has updated its rules of conduct to disallow streaming of Adult Only games, the company announced today. That means any game classified with an AO rating by the ESRB will be banned from the service, including games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Manhunt 2.
"Previously, we made game-specific decisions about which games would and would not be available for broadcast – sometimes due to overtly sexual content, sometimes due to gratuitous violence," the company said in its statement.
"This is unsustainable and unclear, generating only further confusion among Twitch broadcasters. We would like to make this policy as transparent as possible."
While few games are rated AO anyway – there's a full list here and few will be missed – it may have interesting global ramifications: especially in Australia where it's more common for games to be rated R18+.
"While the ESRB ratings apply exclusively to US titles, our policy extends to versions of these games in all territories," the statement reads. "Generally, if the US version is rated for Adults Only (18+) or has an equivalent rating in your territory, you should not broadcast that game on Twitch."
The Binding of Issac: Rebirth adds daily runs and leaderboards:
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will feature daily runs with leaderboards, co-creator Edmund McMillen has announced, allowing players to compete on a more-or-less level playing field for the best score on the internet. Yes, all of it.
ADVERTISING
"Every day the game will generate a specific seed that will be generated the same for everyone (minus locked things) and you can now compete against the internet for best score in the run!" McMillen explained. "This feature was one of my favorites in Spelunkyand i always wanted to do it in Isaac… But how do you score a game like Isaac? More on that in a later post."
The "minus locked things" comment refers to the fact that some players will have unlocked more powerful items than others, giving them a potentially significant leg up on everyone else. Hey, life's tough—and McMillen's promise of more information about how the game will be scored suggests he has a plan for redressing imbalances, at least partially.
The post also revealed a pair of new items for the game: Dead Eye, "a fan suggested item that raises damage with each consecutive hit and causes your tears to become red glowing balls of death if you play well," and Continuum, which turns your eyes purple and causes your tears to "loop back" when they're shot off the screen.
Squad marches onto Kickstarter
Squad is a name so generic that—despite the fact we've covered the game multiple times before—I feel the need to explain exactly what it is every time I post about it. It's a standalone team-based FPS being made by the developers of the Battlefield 2 mod Project Reality. Given the quality and popularity of that mod, the hope is that Offworld Industries can deliver something special even without DICE's groundwork.
The community seems convinced that's the case, as, only a day into Squad's Kickstarter campaign, the game has raised over $79,000 CAD. It's well on the way to the goal of $184,000 CAD.
For more on what Squad has planned, check out this Kickstarter pitch video.
There are stretch goals, too. Everything from new factions, such as the British and Russian armed forces, to a selection of new and remade maps.
For more details and a full round-up of planned features, head over to the Squad Kickstarter page.
More free Wither 3 DLC
CD Projekt Red is releasing 16 bits of DLC, for free, for no other reason than that the words "free" and "DLC" rhyme. Actually, that probably isn't the reason either. Whyever they're doing it, it means 16 mini-additions to the already massive RPG. This week's bundle has just now arrived, and includes a new mission and a new look for one of the game's main characters.
ADVERTISING
Here's what you're getting:
- New Quest: "Contract: Missing Miners" - Miners from a small Skellige village are disappearing. Investigate and find out what's happening!
- Alternative Look for Yennefer: Check out this entirely new look for the mighty sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg!
Battlefield Hardline: Criminal Activity DLC
Battlefield Hardline's Criminal Activity DLC is set in an alternate reality in which, variously, night clubs, malls, apartment blocks and derelict logging concerns are patrolled by anthropomorphic gun-toting... oh wait, they're just masks. That makes more sense.
ADVERTISING
Oh well, I'm less excited now I've realised this isn't a gritty Sonic reboot. Still, I've started this post, so it's only fair I post the trailer anyway.
EA says the new crop of maps are highly destructible, and "littered with small-time crime jobs". The Criminal Activity pack will be out next month, with Premium subscribers getting a two-week head start over gen pop.
CS:GO 'Bloodhound' update brings new maps, XP system
Valve deployed an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive this evening that adds Operation Bloodhound, a fresh set of community maps and weapon skins that you can pay $7 for the chance to play and earn.
Rails, Resort, Zoo, Log, and re-released versions of Agency and Season are included in the Bloodhound Access Pass, which also opens up two new “campaigns,” a continuation of the web of challenges players can complete to earn weapon skins or unlockable crates.
ADVERTISING
New maps are welcome, but the packaged metagame content is the least interesting aspect of CS:GO to me—I’d much rather weapon unlocks be attached to an enhanced stats system that helps me understand where I’m at as a player. Instead, Valve has added another layer of profile progression, Profile Rank. “As you increase your Profile Rank, not only will your CS:GO profile evolve to show off your new title and icon; but the first time you rank up each week will earn you a weapon drop.” It’s weird that player profiles will have two pseudo-military ranks—one to measure their competitive skill, and another to measure how much they’ve played across all modes.
Other than map tweaks, there are no stated changes to weapon balance or other aspects of CS:GO. I do like that the match timer for casual has been cut by 45 seconds to a more respectful 2:15, but otherwise the focus of this update is squarely on shoving more maps, monetized missions, and weapon skins into the game. But hey, the new Falchion knife (already listing at about $400 at the time of this post) has a cool animation, I guess.