We met with producer Johan Andersson at Paradox Interactive’s offices in Stockholm to talk about the upcoming expansion of last autumn’s Hearts of Iron 3. Exactly what changes have been made with the expansion and why is it going to please history buffs more? Watch the video here.
Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi
April 7th, 2010 by gamereactorBad Company 2 sells 2.3 million
March 19th, 2010 by gamereactorStockholm based EA DICE have announced that Battlefield: Bad Company 2, released earlier this month has sold-through 2.3 million copies (according to internal data) so far across three platforms in Europe and North America. It is on track to becoming the best selling release of March.
A happy quote courtesy of the press release:
“We are so thrilled with the success of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales and fan response. In the first 48 hours we had such a tremendous rush to multiplayer gameplay that our servers experienced overwhelming demand. This is a testament to the massive response players have had worldwide for the extraordinary action experienced in the Battlefield sandbox,” says Karl Magnus Troedsson, Executive Producer, Battlefield Franchise. “DICE and EA have brought more servers online. We now have enough capacity to handle all BFBC2 connections seamlessly and we continue to monitor online play daily.”
For more on this, read on.
Magicka interview
February 10th, 2010 by gamereactorWe sat down with Johan Pilestedt, game director at Arrowhead Game Studios, to talk about their four player wizard simulation set in a generic fantasy world – Magicka.
A prototype of the game won the Swedish Game Awards (indie/student competition) back in 2008, and ever since the team from the Northern parts of Sweden (Skellefteå) have been hard at work with the full game. Due out during the second quarter of 2010, Magicka, is not what you would expect from a top down fantasy title as it does away with levels and loot and in return focus on a fun and innovative magic system that allows players to mix and match spells on the fly. Watch a video of the interview here.
Swedish Magicka picked up
January 23rd, 2010 by gamereactorTaking a look at the screens from Magicka you could easily dismiss it with the word “oh, another Diablo clone”. However, that is not the case. Not at all. No loot, the experience points, very few items, and a “very generic fantasy world” (developer’s own words). Instead the main selling point of the game is the spell system, that allows players to combine spells from different elements. The addictive quality in Magicka is in its playability rather than stats and numbers.
Arrowhead Game Studios won the Swedish Game Awards in 2008 with a prototype of Magicka and the game has now been picked up for publishing by Paradox Interactive.
The game is in development for PC and consoles (no word on whether it will be both PSN and XBLA at this point) and aimed for a digital release next fall. Check out the screens and trailer here.
GRIN’s final pitch
January 12th, 2010 by gamereactorWhen Stockholm based, GRIN went under last summer they were working on a Final Fantasy spinoff called Fortress that Square Enix cancelled and a sequel to Bionic Commando: Rearmed, but they also worked on at least on major pitch. Senior character artist and concept artist Joakim Hellstedt’s online portfolio revealed some artwork and gameplay sketches from the “pitch” (no working title) that showed a ninja battling a dinosaur (looks like it was taken from Calvin and Hobbes) and a helicopter.
If you want to see more head over to Hellstedt’s online portfolio, there is also some artwork from Fortress there.
Win a trip to P.I.C 2010
December 1st, 2009 by gamereactorFor 2 days only, Paradox will be bringing anybody who’s anybody in the PC strategy gaming industry, to Stockholm, Sweden for Paradox Interactive Convention. The event is closed to the general public, but Paradox wants to give one lucky winner + friend a chance to join them! Rub shoulders with the masterminds behind games like Mount & Blade, Hearts of Iron 3, Majesty 2 and Sword of the Stars. Discuss games with some of the most influential editors and writers from various gaming media worldwide and get the first hand scoop of what’s hot and upcoming in the PC strategy gaming arena.
Paradox will fly a selected winner and a friend to Stockholm (provided you don’t live here already) to be the “voice of the gamer” at this event. The coverage from a “gamers perspective” will be published on their forums and various other channels.
How to win:
Simply join the official Paradox Interactive page on Facebook! Easy as pie!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paradox-Interactive/166743484574?
The winner will be drawn from their Facebook page member list on December 6th. In addition, 20 people will win a consolation prize in the form of a digitally distributed Paradox game of their choice.
Conditions
- This event will be closed to the general public.
- Paradox will cover flights and up to 2 nights hotel.
- To be eligible to enter you must join our Facebook group before 5th of December.
- All the rules, prizes and information of this contest are subject to change at any time at the discretion of Paradox Interactive.
- Entrants must be over 18 years old.
- If selected as our winner, you must accept a participation agreement in writing as well as verify your personal details.
- The results of the competition will be final and cannot be overruled or questioned.
- Each Entrant releases Paradox Interactive and their assignees and licensees, from any and all claims or liability (now known or hereafter arising), including but not limited to any claims for defense and/or indemnity, in connection therewith.
For questions, comments and perhaps some answers please go to: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10466664#post10466664
Just Cause 2 set for March release
November 25th, 2009 by gamereactorAvalanche Studios have been working on their follow up to 2006’s Just Cause for quite some time, in fact ever since they finished the first one and it has now finally been given a definite release date.
Rico Rodriguez will embark on his journey to the island nation of Panau on March 23 (North America) and March 26 (Europe) next year in order to hunt down his former handler and friend Tom Sheldon who has gone rogue with a shedload of agency cash.
New Just Cause 2 screens
November 16th, 2009 by gamereactorStockholm based outfit, Avalanche Studios have worked long and hard on Just Cause 2 and sometime next year the fruit of their labour will be unleashed onto store shelves. While building on the premise of the first game Avalanche are looking to deal with the flaws and shortcomings of the original with this title. Check out recently released screenshots of the action adventure title here.
New Just Cause 2 stills
November 2nd, 2009 by gamereactorStockholm based developers, Avalanche studios are approaching the final home straight with Just Cause 2 and now have a new bundle of screenshots titled “No Ordinary Mission” for general viewing. Check out how the action on the island of Panau will look like when the game hits the shelves next year. See the stills here.
Games to look for in November
October 30th, 2009 by gamereactorSometimes things are left out for a reason. Sometimes they are forgotten. Sometimes nature strikes with furious anger. The reason why one of the biggest releases of November was left out of this month’s “Games to look for” is… well, let’s just say it was a total brain meltdown. We thought we had shot it… Apparently not. Can you tell which major title is missing from the show? Watch the video here.
