Microsoft’s Windows 8 App store is going to be a bit more restrictive than what we’re used to seeing from a Windows platform. While the software giant has been courting developers, they still want them to submit their software to Microsoft for certification before releasing it on their App store. Microsoft says this additional step is required to provide better quality products for Windows 8 even going so far as to say it will help limit “excessive or gratuitous profanity.” However, there are some developers who think the added restriction is the last thing Windows needs. When Windows contacted Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson to submit Minecraft for certification for Windows 8 he straight-up told them that he wasn’t interested.
Of course he also went to twitter to have a bit of fun with it, according to Kotaku. Notch gave his reason for not submitting Minecraft through Microsoft’s certification via twitter saying, “I’d rather have Minecraft not run on win 8 at all than to play along.” Considering that Minecraft has already sold a crap-ton (that’s the scientific term, right?) of copies it most likely won’t affect the game’s long term success, but it may, as Notch points out, deter a few people from converting to Windows 8 in the first place. Many developers have come out against the more restrictive Windows 8, with most expressing their distaste that the traditionally open platform now seems to be closing its doors a bit. Leave it to Notch not just say no, but to say no publicly.
Via: Venture Beat
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The more I see about the new Hitman game, Hitman: Absolution, the more likely I am to pick up a copy once it’s released. Thanks to fans of the franchise and how they created their own sort of customized “hits” in previous titles, IO Interactive have taken that idea and integrated it into the online play for Hitman: Absolution. The basic idea is simple; players can create contracts for any character within the game and give them to other players as challenges. In the video below they created a contract for a police sergeant who is part of the game’s main plot, giving players the options to deal with him in a way they couldn’t in the main game. It’s a really simple idea that should give the game a bit more longevity than previous titles.
Source: Kotaku
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I’ve spent some time talking about Day Z in the past, particularly lamenting the fact that if I want to play the game I’d have to buy Arma 2, a game I’m not really interested in. It appears, however, that the promised standalone version of Day Z is not only in development but fairly close to being released. Speaking with Eurogamer, Dean Hall, creator of Day Z says that not only does he want the game released before the years’ end, it has to be. The reason is because of the copycats, most notably War Z which before long will begin to take part of Day Z’s potential market. That’s good news for all of us who want to get their hands on the game sooner rather than later. Even if zombie titles tend to spread like actual zombies, not all of them can be good. Day Z is just trying to make sure it’s released before we’re all officially sick of them.
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Torchlight 2 has been out for a few days, and while games like Borderlands 2 are getting all the hype, I think it’s fair to say that Runic’s dungeon crawler isn’t quite getting the attention it deserves. One of the game’s most defining features is mod support, another step by Runic to keep the player base happy. Well there’s a new mod out, one that allows players to respec their characters, something which isn’t allowed in the standard version of the game. So if you don’t feel like leveling more than one Engineer in order to test out all of its abilities you can simply download this mod and respec as many times as you like. I like the game, but it definitely beats having multiple redundant classes just to test new builds.
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Finally, I had finished writing about X-Com, I swear, but then I stumbled upon this interactive trailer and just had to add it to the wrap-up. It allows viewers to make basic gameplay selections which are explained in the context of the real game by the narrator. It’s like those old adventure books where readers were asked to turn to page 10 if they wanted to open the door or turn to page 12 if they didn’t only it’s animated and actually fun. Out of all of the ways I’ve seen companies hype a game, this has to be one of the most creative. I’ve already played the demo, but I spent some time with this interactive trailer anyways. It’s was vastly more fun than it should have been. I’ve linked it below, but I’m not sure if it will work the same, head on over to YouTube if you’re having trouble making selections.