Blizzard’s free-to-play card game based on the Warcraft universe, HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft, will go completely open for everyone in December.

Chiec creative officer Rob Pardo announced the news in today’s BlizzCon, and added the possibility of a delay is there, and December may mean January “in Blizzard speak”.
iPhone and Android versions of the game are also being developed, and are slated to go wild in the second half of 2014.

Ramp Champ, a popular iOS game and Macworld’s “Best Designed iOS Game of 2009″, is getting a big update after its recent acquisition by developer Seven Gun Games.

The dev got to work immediately, and the game is getting a “long overdue” update, as team’s Rodney Jenkins told me, which should be up by now.

Duane Schor, president and owner of Seven Gun Games, said:

“We are bringing back the game you know and love with revamped graphics. We’d also like to announce that Ramp Champ 2 will be coming to an iPhone, iPod and/or an iPad near you!”

So, while the update revamps graphics and tweaks the game, a brand new entry is coming soon. Another update for the original Ramp Champ will be released, and will feature GameCenter integration as well as “all new original ramp packs for the fans”.

The team also provided us with a dandy press kit, and images included follow below.

We’re very happy to promote small teams, and will continue to do so. Games Thirst is gamers-first, and we understand a developer’s passion. So, cheers to this, and hope all the best for Seven Gun Games! We’re looking forward to more of your stuff!

Call of Duty: Strike Team is a Call of Duty tailored for smartphones and tablets, and represents Activision’s biggest push in the mobile market thus far.

Available for £4.99/$6.99/€6.99, the game features in-app purchases to upgrade soldiers and equipment, with The Guardian stating they can get as high as £69.99.

Tokens can be earned by playing the Survival mode, playing on consecutive days, levelling up or playing the campaign.

The official description reads:

“The year is 2020. Tensions run high amongst the world’s superpowers. In a surprise attack, the U.S. finds themselves in a war with an unknown enemy. Your mission is to lead a Joint Special Operations Team in a global effort to hunt down those responsible.”

Featuring first-person and third-person shooting gameplay, Strike Team allows people to easily transition between the two in order to tackle ground-level combat or co-ordinate the squads.

A campaign “full of epic, cinematic moments in diverse locations around the world” is offered, alongside a Survival Mode where you can “put your skills to the test as you fight off waves of increasingly difficult enemies” and “compete against family, friends and the Call of Duty: Strike Team community for leaderboard domination.”

Call of Duty: Strike Team is only compatible with and optimized for iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad (4th generation), and iPod touch (5th generation).

The original game took the top spot in the paid-for iPhone chart and came second on iPad. Altogether, different versions accounted for three of the top 10 downloads on both devices.

Games in general accounted for almost all of the iPhone chart and the majority of the iPad chart, with non-game applications more prevalent on the free app listings.

Here’s the full quencher:

Best Selling Paid iPhone apps

Angry Birds
Fruit Ninja
Doodle Jump
Cut the Rope
Angry Birds Seasons
WhatsApp Messenger
Camera+
Words with Friends
Tiny Wings
Angry Birds Space

Best Selling Paid iPad apps

Pages
Angry Birds HD
Angry Birds Seasons HD
Where’s My Water
Fruit Ninja HD
Angry Birds Space HD
GarageBand
Words With Friends HD
Cut the Rope HD
Keynote

Most popular free iPhone apps

Facebook
Pandora Radio
Instagram
YouTube
Skype
Words With Friends Free
The Weather Channel
Twitter
Temple Run
Google Search

Most popular free iPad apps

Skype for iPad
The Weather Channel for iPad
Netflix
Angry Birds HD Free
Kindle
Facebook
Pandora Radio
Calculator for iPad Free
Fruit Ninja HD Free
Words With Friends HD Free

Plants vs. Zombies 2, originally slated for a July 18th release, will now be released later in the summer. Stay tuned for more details.

— Plants vs. Zombies (@PlantsvsZombies) June 26, 2013

All we know is that the game needs more time to develop so that it can meet fan expectations.

Plants vs. Zombies 2 is suppose to be a free-to-play game that’ll introduce micro transactions for power-ups. The game is a timed exclusive for Apple devices and will appear on other devices later – on a yet unannounced date.

Source: VIA [ Two Dash Stash ] ]]> http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/06/26/plants-vs-zombies-2-release-date-pushed-back/feed/ 0 http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/04/11/real-racing-3-chevrolet-pack-adds-100-events-trailer-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=real-racing-3-chevrolet-pack-adds-100-events-trailer-released http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/04/11/real-racing-3-chevrolet-pack-adds-100-events-trailer-released/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:58:15 +0000 http://www.gamesthirst.com/?p=55830 Real Racing 3 developer Firemonkeys has released a trailer for its incoming Chevrolet pack, alongside fresh details.

The pack adds two new cars, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and the Camaro ZL1. There’s a new event type called “Hunter”, over 100 new events and cloud save functionality will also be added.

This game was developed by a small team of 15 people, Blizzard chief creative officer Rob Pardo said while announcing the game during a PAX East panel this morning. The goal is to create a simple, competitive game with a more mobile team than they’ve used for bigger efforts like StarCraft II and Diablo III.

In HearthStone, you play as one of nine World of Warcraft classes, collect cards, and battle people online. It’ll be out on PC and MAC, with an iPad version coming later. Not solid release date was announced, however.

There’s a beta coming this summer, but you can you sign up for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on Blizzard’s website right now.

“Once again, Criterion still manages to stand out and offer something fresh, setting a new standard in open-world driving games with – that word again – a seamless feast of quality,” wrote the magazine of the game.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted will be released on October 30th.

Thanks, CVG.

The Angry Birds franchise, including its multiple titles, clock about 200 million active players each month, Rovio’s executive Vice President Andrew Stalbow told an audience at the MIPCOM conference in Cannes.

Elsewhere, Rovio has said over 1 billion people have downloaded an Angry Birds game.

“In any given day, we have 20-30m people playing our games connected. And in any given month we have up to 200m people playing our games,” Stalbow said at the event (via The Guardian).

Angry Birds Star Wars, Rovio’s latest title, will see a launch on November 8th.

For comparison sake, social games juggernaut Zynga has 306 million active players every month according to the firm’s own estimates.

That’s according to an Apple investor, who told Fortune that multiple sources confirmed the invite send out date as October 10th.

If true, Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 will face some stiff competition come Christmas.

EA tweeted the UK demo availability times: “The #FIFA13Demo shows up tomorrow (11th of Sept) starting at 9am UK on PC, between 10am-2pm UK on Xbox, and between 10pm-2am UK on the PS3!”

We believe the demo will be available in the U.S. sometime today on Xbox 360, and when Sony updates the US PS Store tonight.

Pre-ordering the game for PC or Mac saves you 2$, making it 18$, instead of the standard 20$. These versions will include 3 new playable sidekicks: Blackguard Dorn the half-Orc, half-elf Wild Mage Neera, and a normal human monk named Rasaad, along with a new dungeon called The Black Pits, within Underdark, which wants you to battle through fifteen arena-like levels.

There’s also an iPad version that will cost 10$, and Beamdog hopes it will be released at around the same time as the PC/Mac version. This edition of the game will be utterly different when it comes to interface, so that it takes full advantage of the device’s touch screen and general functions. Unlike the computer players though, iPad players will have to buy Dorn and Neera separately in the form of DLC, as well as additional voice sets and portraits, but The Black Pits will be there when you buy the game.

Lastly, both the computer and iPad versions will feature cross-platform multiplayer across all the versions, as well as all the classes, kits and races available in Baldur’s Gate II, with many of the original game’s bugs being coded out.

Beamdog has also given a description regarding Black Pits. It reads as follows:

-

“Rouse yourselves, you lice-laden layabouts. Stand and salute your new master, Baeloth the Entertainer!”

Across the realms, individuals of great power and prestige receive a scroll via magical means. Unfurling it, they discover that they have been selected as one of the very few to enjoy the finest forms of entertainment in all creation…

Come one, come all! Baeloth the Entertainer cordially invites you to the greatest spectacle the realms have to offer – mortal pitted against mortal in a desperate bid to survive! Thrilling combat, scintillating magic, and the grim spectre of death lurk above this, the greatest of all shows! All this and more can be enjoyed within… THE BLACK PITS!

Deep within the Underdark where few dare to tread, the mad drow Baeloth has used his extensive mastery of magic to force a duergar colony into creating an entertainment complex of his own design. He has invited guests from across the realms, from Maztica to Menzoberranzan, and they will readily attend – Baeloth is known to be an excellent showman.

—

The Black Pits is one of the enhancements that make up Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition that allows you to create a full party and battle through fifteen hellish battles in a desperate bid to escape. Difficult challenges, unique battles, and a bizarre cast of characters await you within the Underdark!

• A stand-alone adventure set deep within the Underdark
• Fifteen levels of arena-style combat challenges
• Full control and customization of up to six party members
• Over 6 hours of additional gameplay

The Black Pits are your new home… enjoy your stay while you can!

-

There’s also a description of the character Dorn:

“Do not annoy me with such simplistic notions of morality.”

Born in the Spine of the World, Dorn fled to Luskan with his human mother when a rival tribe annihilated his father’s savage people. In that northern city, Dorn’s ruthless strength soon won him a deadly reputation and the attentions of a band of mercenaries whose wickedness exceeded even Dorn’s. Imprisoned for the crimes of the entire group, Dorn made a fiendish bargain granting him even greater power and the promise of revenge.

A Blackguard of few words, Dorn is only too happy to ally himself with a child of Bhaal and cut a bloody swath across the Sword Coast with his black greatsword, as long as that path continues to lead him to the traitors he has sworn to destroy.

—

Dorn is a half-orc Blackguard whose otherworldly patron grants him terrible powers in the form of his black sword and unholy spells. Add him to your Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and inflict evil to the last corpse.

Dorn adds the following Enhancments to Baldur’s Gate:

• The Blackguard Dorn II-Khan, a new NPC to join your party
• Up to four hours of additional gameplay
• The Blackguard kit to create your own champion of evil

Betrayed by his former companions, the half-orc Dorn Il-Khan lusts for revenge and glory in equal measure.

UK games industry expert and chairman of UKIE Andy Payne revealed the information to Videogamer.

“Activision are like a machine,” Payne said. “I have to be careful what I say about these guys because I know them so well and they’ll cane me.”

Payne added: “Activision are a machine. They’re very good, and you know what, what people don’t realise with Activision is, the two studios working on the Call of Duty franchise are collaborative studios. That’s unheard of. All the assets are reusable, so they’re not wasting time.

If we were modelling this [points to VideoGamer's interview set-up], we’d have to build this, build that, takes time, right? Costs money. The two studios are saying, ‘I need a tank, pull it off from the library’. And those assets are also going to be starting to be used by the mobile team, which is going to be based in Leeds.”

I’m my opinion, this is a good move. Why? Because as the games industry widens and iOS/Android platforms become more disruptive, companies will have to find new ways to take advantage, and by having a dedicated team to make sure its mobile offerings aren’t rubbish, Activision will continue to grow its venerable franchise until it becomes ubiquitous.

Apple has told its Asian component suppliers to ready for mass production of the new device by September.

The smaller iPad will feature a screen smaller than 8 inches. All current iPads boast a 9.7 inch display.

But Epic Games co-founders Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein have collectively described the currently iOS-exclusive, Chair-developed Infinity Blade as the “most profitable game we’ve ever made” when considering the amount of money and time invested relative to the money coming back.

What was even more striking to the venerable developers is the sheer amount of power packed into a 2012 iPad. Sweeney says they’re very close to what PS3 and Xbox 360 can output. Crazy, right? Well that’s the way of the future, it seems, other firms had better roll with the punches or get rolled over by them.

Thanks, Gama.