Civilization: Beyond Earth - Gameplay Footage

I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. Civilization V has shaped up to be one of my favorite games. I have sunk many, many hours into that game which, for all the shoddiness of it's AI, has fantastic gameplay. More of that gameplay, in my opinion, isn't a bad thing. 

But that said, watching this looks like... more of that gameplay. In fact, it looks remarkably like a reskin of the original game. One might even say a substantial mod. 

Yes, it has a revamped tech tree which ought to be interesting. I've only played one other game with a tech web, and it does change things to an extent. But the change isn't that substantial.

The quest system seems like a simple, but nice, addition. Almost seems akin to EUIV's National Missions.

I'm just afraid that this game will come out in October shiny, new, and feeling stale.

The Future of the Homeworld Franchise

Ever run across information about a game you once loved through sheer coincidence? After a string of Wikipedia cross referencing starting with EA, I found myself on the article about the now defunct THQ. Turns out as part of their liquidation, they've been shedding subsidiary studios and IPs like mad, some for profit, others closing for a loss.

Probably of the highest interest to me was a link to this article on Gamespot. Turns out the Homeworld IP rights will soon go up for auction in a court supervised sale. From the article:

THQ has announced that it will sell the remainder of its intellectual properties in a court-supervised sale. The publisher has already sold the majority of its studios and games following news of its bankruptcy last month.

THQ will now accept bids on franchises including Darksiders, Red Faction, Homeworld, MX; owned software including Big Beach Sports and Destroy All Humans!; as well as licensed software including Marvel Super Hero Squad, Supreme Commander, Worms, and more.

I also have to say I take interest in where Red Faction and Supreme Commander end up. Hopefully there will be some coverage of the results of these sales.

I also wonder how this is going to affect the Homeworld Touch/3 Kickstarter, and the same project on Indigogo. I really don't see any shot in hell of Kickstarter raising enough funds for this group to buy the franchise rights. No matter how much they fund raise there is an EA equivalent publisher who can top their bid by an even million. It's a nice gesture, but I'd be shocked to see it come to fruition.

This is one of the games I remember most fondly from my youth. The original game in particular completely blew my mind in terms of what a strategy game could be, particularly for its generation, and I would love to see a new iteration of the franchise further push the boundaries of the strategy paradigm, especially now that there is a real dearth of solid strategy titles being released into the market.

Total War: Rome II

Oh. My. Heavens.

After every indication pointing to the next CA strategy game being one based in WWI, after two years of fans begging for a sequel to Rome, this hits the internet. If you care about cinematic trailer, that's cool, though the important part hits the video at 2:35.

All I can say is, I'm pretty sure life has no meaning until this comes out. And when it does finally come out, if you expect me to do anything other than go to work, eat enough to sustain myself, and play this game, you don't know me well enough.

Nerd anticipation starting now.