This time with the Humble Bundle is a collection of Electronic Arts' works. Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Crysis 2: Maximum Edition, Mirror's Edge, Medal of Honor are all up for your support of charity. Go above the average purchase price and you'll also unlock Battlefield 3 and The Sims 3 + Starter Pack.
The last year or so has been very trying for THQ as things are quite rocky. Any good news would be amazing for them. Thankfully they'll have at least something to smile about for a little bit as THQ is the sole subject of the next Humble Bundle.
As per the usual, pay what you want for the games below and split it up between THQ/Charity/ or Humble tip. Soundtracks come with the games as well as the chance to come away with Saints Row: The Third with a purchase over the average purchase price. Remember, all titles are PC only and require Steam. Happy Humble Bundling!
Aligning with the explosion of E-Sports over the years and the rise of TwitchTV, Paradox Interactive is betting the virtual sport farm. As the first title to enternally support streaming directly to TwitchTV, The Shadow Effect is attempting to test out the often stated adage of "If you build it, they will come", but will that work in the world of gaming to attract gamers to a game that at the moment has exactly zero public players?
The popularity of TwitchTV will only go so far as The Showdown Effect needs to find a following before TwitchTV integration will mean anything. On the flipside, a casual TwitchTV viewer will have a ridiculously easy route to see the game in action at the low low price of free. Can you beat that?
[Full Press Release available after the break.]
San Francisco – June 4, 2012 – TwitchTV, the world’s leading video game broadcasting network, today announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) that Paradox Interactive will be the first publisher to enable players to broadcast live gameplay directly from their games to the TwitchTV community.The Showdown Effect is their inaugural title featuring this functionality in the form of a direct link from the game’s dashboard to TwitchTV’s broadcasting platform. Given the proliferation of marquee brands streaming content on TwitchTV, the trend toward making the process more accessible for their fans was a logical next step.
“We’ve seen explosive growth in the live broadcasting industry which is happening organically with gamers and strategically with publishers, both of which recognize that gaming has evolved into a spectator phenomenon,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of TwitchTV. “Enabling players to stream their games to TwitchTV with a quick click - such as what Paradox Interactive is doing with The Showdown Effect - opens the door even wider to potential streamers in the gaming community.”
Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of PC-based strategy games whose portfolio includes firmly established PC franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, the Hearts of Iron series, Magicka, Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim and the upcoming War of the Rose s. 2012 marks Paradox Interactive’s most ambitious line-up of titles to date. Among them is The Showdown Effect, which is the first game to have TwitchTV integration.
“We wanted players to be able to easily broadcast The Showdown Effect directly from their computers since many of our games are already being streamed in a less turnkey manner,” said Fred Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “The Showdown Effect is a multiplayer game inspired by 80’s and 90’s action movies and packed with weird and wild weapons from frying pans and broomsticks to light sabers and shotguns; it really lends itself to a spectator driven medium like TwitchTV.”
On Tuesday, June 5th at 12:00pm, Paradox Interactive will premiere their latest content from The Showdown Effect at TwitchTV’s stage in the South Hall (Booth #347). TwitchTV will also be live broadcasting new and upcoming content daily from some of the biggest video game publishers in the industry, including 2K Games, Ubisoft, Activision, SEGA, CAPCOM, Electronic Arts and more.
Beyond Paradox Interactive, TwitchTV is working with several of the largest hardware and software publishers with additional integration announcements planned this year.
About Paradox Interactive Since 1999, Paradox Interactive has been a leading global publisher of PC-based strategy games. Its steadily-growing portfolio includes firmly established PC franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron and Magicka. 2012 will be Paradox Interactive’s most ambitious line-up of titles to date with such anticipated releases as War of the Roses, Starvoid, A Game of Dwarves and Dungeonland. It is also expanding its presence in the free-to-play arena through Paradox Connect with upcoming games such as Salem: The Crafting MMO. For more information, please visit www.paradoxplaza.com and followwww.facebook.com/ParadoxInteractive and www.twitter.com/pdxinteractive
About TwitchTV TwitchTV is the world’s leading video game broadcasting network where more than 17 million gamers gather every month to watch and interact around the games they love. TwitchTV’s proprietary video delivery platform and infrastructure form the backbone of a distribution network for leading video game broadcasters including pro players, tournaments, leagues, developers and gaming media organizations. TwitchTV is leading a revolution in gaming culture, turning gameplay into an immersive entertainment media experience. Learn more at http://twitch.tv.
Releasing today on PC is Paradox Interactive and Turbo Tape Games' Naval War Artic Circle.
Paradox Interactive and Turbo Tape Games give you the opportunity to decide the fate of the world in two scenario-driven campaigns – play as either the NATO forces pulled together to combat a rising threat or as the Russian Navy, hungrily pushing out of her Northern bases to secure badly needed resources. Meticulously researched ships, planes and submarines are at your disposal, along with their powerful weapons systems. Realistically modeled weather and radar systems further enhance your experience. Naval War: Arctic Circle challenges veteran wargamers to a fatal game of hide-and-seek, where the first one to be spotted could be the first one to go down.
Naval War: Artic Circle is avaiable on all major digital distribution platforms and retail.
Console gamers who aren't familiar with the advantages of PC gaming will no doubt be wondering what the difference will be between their selected version of Battlefiled 3 and it's PC counterpart. The below video in it's 64 player glory with ultra high detail for that killer rig you hopefully have will definitely have any gamer drulling.
It's the time to not play for free ( it's actually Free-to-play, of course), but pay what you want. 5 more Indie titles are up for grabs in what was to be inevitably called the Humble Indie Bundle 3. This time around for a limited time ( two weeks) you will be contributing to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play once again with the following five titles to come your way for how ever much you deem to pay.
As one of those series' of games that's infamous for being so different that it in a way differentiated itself a little too much for the masses, Oddworld Inhabitant's ODDWORLD is to get another chance to garner more fan's by way of Valve's Steam. Every release with the 'Oddworld/ name is to get re-released in their entirety in one cool package. As to when or the cost of the titled ODDBOX is landing on Steam is still TBD, but rest assure it will be soon as it's slated for "this 2010 Holiday season". More info on the games can be found after the break.
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, 1997 – The first Oddworld Inhabitants release that introduced loveable Mudokon factory-slave Abe to the world. Abe, an exploited factory worker, discovers a dark secret about his missing co-workers and learns that he must overturn his greedy corporate captors, to save his enslaved brothers and himself. This platform puzzle game classic introduced the much-lauded gamespeak innovation and unparalleled CG quality visuals that helped it achieve an 85% metacritic rating.
Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, 1998 – The bonus sequel to Abe’s Oddysee that was not part of the Quintology, but gave Oddworld Inhabitants an opportunity to improve on the gameplay of Oddysee, while also adding depth to Abe’s tale within Oddworld. The critics agreed that OI had succeeded in its aims, evident by its 88% metacritic rating.
And released to PC platforms for the FIRST TIME…
Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee, 2001 – The second game in the Oddworld Quintology was also the first Oddworld game in full 3D. Munch is one of last ‘Gabbits’; a race endangered by the activities of the nefarious Vykkers Laboratory. With the help of Abe, hero of the previous Exoddus and Oddysee games, Munch leads the quest save to his kind from extinction, in this mix of adventure, strategy, puzzle and platform gameplay. The game achieved a Metacritic average of 80%.
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, 2005 – The fourth game from Oddworld Inhabitants, is also considered by many as one of the best Xbox games of all time. Stranger’s Wrath, tells the tale of a bounty hunter, who while catching criminals for moolah, is attempting to conceal a secret that if revealed, could endanger his life. The first full-on action title in the series, mixing 3rd and 1st person combat / shooter gameplay, the game was set in the Wild West of Oddworld, far from the industrial lands that housed Abe and Munch’s tales. The game adapted Oddworld’s unique Gamespeak feature, using it more as a soft hint system to give the game wide player accessibility without ‘dumbing the game down’. The game also debuted a ‘live ammo’ concept where the ammunition was made of living creatures, and had to be caught for the player to use. The game was globally very well-received, achieving a Metacritic of 88%.
With monstrous releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops behind us we must not forget about our Indie Developer brethren. Coming from Swedish developer Spelagon is Heavy Hogur. A title of the likes that's largely only seen in the PC space for some odd reason. A puzzle game set beneath the earth, you're a lone Dwarf collecting treasury as you weave your way through each of the 60 rooms while the floor/ground beneath you gives way to the literal weight of Heavy Hogur himself. Releasing Sometime in December 2010, fans of Lazy Raiders on Xbox LIVE Arcade should find themselves right at home minus the twisting and twirling of course.
If you've haven't experiencde Darksiders up until now, you just might be in luck for waiting on the PC version of the game as you have quite a few perks to purchasing the title digitally. Depending on where you buy the game you may find yourself in a bit of a bind assuming one of the attached offerings is of your liking. Entire other games as an incentive is absolutely the way to do it, if at all.
In addition to purchasing the game through traditional retail outlets, gamers can opt to get their copy of Darksiders for the Window PC from 12.01am EST on the 23rd September through a variety of Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) partners. Users who pre-order Darksiders PC from Steam will receive a digital copy of Titan Quest™ Gold Edition for free, pre-ordering from Direct 2 Drive will earn gamers a free copy of Red Faction® Guerrilla™ for PC and Gametap is offering a free copy of Company of Heroes® with each pre-order.
Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented, “THQ is dedicated to delivering great product to the PC gaming audience so Vigil Games has pulled out all the stops to make this title every bit as satisfying as its console counterpart. We hope the PC audience enjoys battling the forces of heaven and hell in this great game.”
Being received rather well back in Janurary of this year from press across the industry, it most certainly doesn't hurt if more people get to play Darksiders not from their couch, but their preferred 2 foot experience with the most pixel pushing power they can muster.
