Author Archives: gstaff

Extra wave of Brink features spawned

With only a few more weeks to go before release, the following BFG-derived previews should serve as a nice prelude to a full-on assault of Brinkage.

Check below for several articles featuring new video, screens and interviews from our most recent press event. As usual, we’ll update as more come in:

  • Joystiq talks about Brink being an “evolution” for the first person genre
  • Gamespot talks to Splash Damage’s lead designer Neil Alphonso
  • IGN previews the Operative
  • GamePro discusses the game with game director Paul Wedgwood
  • VG247 video feature and screens
  • New gameplay impressions at GameRevolution
  • Game Informer interviews art director Olivier Leonardi
  • WireJacked interviews lead writer Ed Stern

And after the break, watch a GameTrailers interview with game director Paul Wedgwood.

Continue reading full article ›

New Skyrim previews come in for a landing

Following our spring BFG press event, a flock of Skyrim previews have now come to roost on the internet. Journalists got a long look at many facets of the game, and were also handed some brand-new screenshots to check out.

Stretch your wings with articles from the following outlets — we’ll update the post as more swoop in.

After the break, check out Gamespot and IGN’s interviews with Todd Howard.

Continue reading full article ›

The early bird gets the double-barrel shotgun

Today we’re excited to announce that if you pre-order RAGE, you’ll automatically get upgraded to the Anarchy Edition, which adds four downloadable in-game items to your post-apocalyptic arsenal. The items include…

  • A Double Barrel Shotgun
  • Crimson Elite Armor
  • Fists of RAGE
  • Rat Rod Buggy

All four items are exclusive to the Anarchy Edition — available in the US and Canada with your pre-order from GameStop, Amazon.com, Steam, or Direct2Drive. For folks pre-ordering in Europe, we’ll have more details soon.

In case you’ve been under a meteor or sleeping in an ark, RAGE releases on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on September 13th (September 16th for Europe).

European community tournament for Brink announced!

Wanted to share details on this awesome opportunity for Brink fans in Europe.

Put together by our colleagues in our London office, between May 4th and May 6th, they’ll be running a community tournament at Splash Damage HQ — pairing gaming journalists with members of their respective online communities. Together they’ll form four-person teams (one journalist, three community members) competing against other community teams in Brink’s Stopwatch mode.

To find out how you can get involved (including rules), check out the sites participating:

The winners of the event will receive either an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3, plus a copy of Brink.

id Engine Evolution

Just watched this GameTrailers.com video highlighting the evolution of id Software games through the years — from Commander Keen to RAGE. More than anything, the video reminded me of how blown away I was by Wolfenstein. Buried in storage somewhere, there’s a a Wolfenstein “movie” I made when I was 13 — combining gameplay footage and live-action nonsense in my backyard (from an FPS viewpoint, of course).

Watch the video above and feel free to share your favorite id memories in the comments section.

Fan Art Update

Hope everyone’s enjoying their Friday night. Before some relaxing, I thought I’d share the latest fan art contributions sent to us. Some really fantastic stuff — including our first fan art for RAGE!

Regarding our fan art section, please pardon our dust. We’re in the process of moving everything to the Bethesda Blog Flickr page. There you’ll find three album sets: Latest Fan Art, Elder Scrolls Fan Art, and Fallout Fan Art. As we get more contributions for our other titles (RAGE, Brink, etc.), we’ll create new albums.

If you’d like to share your work, email us at bethblog@bethsoft.com. Likewise, if you see your contributions on the Flickr page already, feel free to send us updated information for the image(s). With the Flickr page, we’re now able to put titles and descriptions in for each piece.

Brink’s DOOM Pack previewed

Recently GameStop put up a new video showcasing their pre-order bonus for Brink in North America. For those of you that might have missed it, the DOOM Pack features the following in-game items…

  • Unique “Hellspawn” body tattoo
  • Exclusive UAC (Security) and Cacodemon (Resistance) customized skins for the Bulpdaun SMG
  • Exclusive UAC Marine Body Armor (Security) and Lost Soul Screaming Skull
  • (Resistance) t-shirts, exclusive UAC beanie cap (Security), and DOOM bandana (Resistance)

For more details, visit GameStop’s website. If you want the DOOM Pack and you’re outside North Amercia, check our blog post here.

What we’re playing

While it’s been awhile since the last time we did one of these, I can assure that we not only love playing making games, we still use up our free time playing them. With a slew of awesome games now available (including Crysis 2, Total War: Shogun 2, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3), not to mention a new system (Nintendo 3DS), we’ve got plenty to keep us busy before and after work.

This week’s featured game is Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP (iPad) — currently being played by Harvey Smith (Arkane) and Michael Musick (id).

Below you’ll find all the games we’re playing this week that aren’t Portal 2 (it’s almost here!). Let us know the games you’re playing and what you think we’re missing out on.

Harvey Smith: I’m playing Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP (shown above), which is by far the best adventure game I’ve played in many years. It has a sense of wonder and mystery that most games lack, delivered in parts by the minimal storytelling, by the very analogue touch gameplay controls and even activation UI, and by the distinct (and unusual personality) of the setting and fiction.

Shinji Mikami: F1 2010.

Matt Hooper @id_Hooper: Crysis 2, Torchlight, Dead Space 2, and Bullet Storm.

Cory Dornbusch: Total War: Shogun 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Aaron Mitschelen: Rift. Also playing  Disgaea 4 in Japanese.

Mark Lampert: Unreal World.

Frank Matzke: Super Street Fighter IV (3DS) and  Crysis 2. Continue reading full article ›

The Top 10 Most Vile Roundups

Let’s get one thing straight: Clavicus Vile (pictured above, kickin’ it) is the most outrageous and excellent Elder Scrolls god, and there’s really no arguing to be done. That said, if you somehow feel differently, IGN has their own opinion in a new “Top 10 Gods of The Elder Scrolls” article. Vile believers: don’t believe their lies.

A few more tidbits from around the web:

Steamworks feature set and system requirements for Brink revealed

Over the past few months, we’ve seen a surge of requests from the community asking about Brink’s PC system requirements. Today we’ve got those details PLUS information on how the game uses Steamworks. Lets start with the latter…

With the inclusion of Steamworks, players will have the following features…

  • Steam Achievements
  • VOIP (in addition to the already existing in-game chat)
  • Leaderboards
  • VAC (Valve Anti Cheat)
  • Dedicated Servers
  • Friends Support
  • Steam Cloud (for save data)

After the break, check out the game’s minimum and recommended system specs…

Continue reading full article ›