Terry Cavanagh throws a ton of game ideas into the online hive mind, and it looks like he found one that sticks with Halting Problem (tentative title). Last week Cavanagh posted a set of Vines – "Pushing a block" and "Fistbump" – and this weekend he wrote in his blog that Halting Problem will probably be his "main focus for a while."

"A proper, meaty puzzle game is something I've wanted to make for ages, and I'm having lots of fun just messing around with the mechanics for this one and seeing what I can make out of them," Cavanagh said. It's inspired by DROD, but also things like Qrostar games, Zachtronic games, and my flatmate Increpare's games."

Cavanagh said he's really excited about this one – and so is that happy little sprite.

A Batman: Arkham Origins pre-order image on Amazon offers Deathstroke as a playable character via DLC. Check it out in a rolling image header here.

Batman and Deathstroke went head-to-head in last week's teaser video, but there was no word on how the striker of mortality would be incorporated into Arkham Origins. This could be a Catwoman in Arkham City situation, where she got an entire spin-off campaign, or it might be something entirely new.

One aspect of Arkham Origins is confirmed today – Kevin Conroy will return as a voice actor.

This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.

I had my World of Warcraft year. In 2007, when 'The Burning Crusade' came out, the game clicked with me and it became almost the only thing I played for months on end, to the point where I started raiding with an up-and-coming guild. I know many other people who've had that year, with WoW or some other massively multiplayer game, before they lost interest, burnt out, or continued out of habit more than joy. In the last year or so, I've tried several massively-multiplayer role-playing games – Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, The Secret World – and couldn't find that magic again. I could admire the design, but quickly lost interest in playing them. I was starting to think I'd never really like a massively multiplayer game again – and then, on a whim, I decided to check out Defiance.

Defiance is the main game I've been playing for two weeks now, and this may continue. It's not that it's less flawed than the other MMORPGs, but instead that the parts of the game that it focuses on hold much more appeal to me. To put it another way: Most games within this genre are focused on combat, and Defiance's combat is significantly more fun for me than its competitors'.

Continue Reading

Kevin Conroy will be in Batman: Arkham Origins, and he's already spent 10 months in the studio recording those gruff-yet-dulcet tones. Conroy confirmed his involvement at Dallas Comic-Con, but didn't specify if he plays The Bat himself – not that he has to. He opened the panel with, "I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman." Because, you know, he is.

NAG magazine reported in April that Warner Bros. had passed on Conroy for Arkham Origins.

Conroy voiced Batman in both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, and he was the man behind Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Beyond and subsequent DC universe cartoon spin-offs. Arkham Origins is scheduled to launch on October 25 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U.

Today's Gold Box deal of the day on Amazon is BioShock Infinite. Downloadable PC versions of the game are $25 off ($35), whereas boxed copies of the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are $20 off ($40) for today only.

Meanwhile, $35 Steam codes through Groupon for the game appear to still be available until the end of the day. What we're trying to say is, today might be a good day to buy a new game.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Krillbite Studio's first-person baby simulator/horror game Among the Sleep has completed its 30-day Kickstarter campaign, raising a grand total of $248,358 from 8,110 backers – nearly $50,000 more than the $200,000 fundraising goal originally set.

All that extra cash will be put towards buying ice cream, Oculus Rift compatibility and a developer commentary track, though the campaign's bonus earnings didn't extend far enough for the "supersecret free DLC" stretch goal to be funded. Among the Sleep is expected to launch on PC, OSX and Linux during the fourth quarter of this year, but intrigued folks can go ahead and check out the game's public alpha.

The upcoming console/PC iteration of Resident Evil: Revelations will include a trio of confusing new costumes for Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Keith Lumley, Capcom has announced. As can be seen in the gallery, Jill and Chris both sport equally leggy nautical-themed outfits, while Keith channels his inner One Piece character as a shirtless sword-guy in hammer pants.

Costumes are unlocked by playing through the game's Campaign and Raid modes, in addition to "other unlocking mechanisms" that Capcom is keeping a secret. We're just hoping Capcom eventually rides this train of thought all the way to its logical extreme: Pretty Soldier Sailor Claire Redfield.

Costco UK is selling an FMCG International F1 racing simulator for £89,999.89 (including delivery and installation!), or $138,338.83, which is still significantly cheaper than owning an actual Formula 1 car. We also assume it's probably a tiny bit safer and easier to maintain, but that's just a hunch.

The body is available in "your own choice of colour" and is made out of various combinations of composite materials, alloys and carbon fiber, with real wheels, tyres, chromed-out exhaust tips and everything. There's no engine or transmission, obviously, but it does come with one of those totally awesome detachable steering wheels.

The gaming portion of the rig is powered by an Intel Core i7, an SSD of unknown capacity, 16 gigs of RAM and a non-specified graphics card outputting to three 23-inch adjustable TFT monitors. Meanwhile, sweet jams are pumped through a 5.1 audio system into both the car's body and your body, since the subwoofer is located directly behind the driver's seat.

EA recently provided us with a producer walkthrough video for The Sims 3 Island Paradise DLC, an upcoming expansion pack for the game. The DLC takes players to the Isle Paradiso where, as seen in the video, they can cruise on houseboats from port to port.

Players will also get to build their own resort on the island when the expansion launches June 28. Before that, however, The Sims 3 Dragon Valley world will open on May 30.

Next week marks the Steam debut of Humble Heart's XBLA darling, Dust: An Elysian Tail. Dean Dodrill, animator and creator of Dust, took to Twitter to announce the May 24 launch date; though there is currently no Steam product page.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a 2D action platformer in the vein of Metroid and Castlevania, featuring beautiful hand-drawn sprites throughout. Aside from being visually appealing, it's also a delight – a game our review said "doesn't do much to innovate the platform-adventure sub-genre, but it does manage to look and play beautifully throughout, and sometimes that's enough."

The first community-created updated for Team Fortress 2 has rolled out: 'Robotic Boogaloo.' Continuing the robot theme of previous Team Fortress 2 updates, Robotic Boogaloo adds 57 new artisanal hats, helmets, bonnets, turbans, crowns, toppers and other headgear – all created by the community.

Robotic Boogaloo isn't all hats but, naturally, it's mostly hats. Each new Team Fortress 2 item can be found within RoboCrates – rare drops after June 3 – that can be opened with a key from the Mann Co. store, each costing $2.50. The revenue from these items will then be shared amongst all creators responsible for Robotic Boogaloo content.

[Rough translation of the above dialogue: "...whatever."]

The ever-sullen Squall and his friends are set to make a high-resolution return, as Famitsu reports that Square Enix is developing a remastered PC version of Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy VIII was originally released for the PlayStation in 1999, and PC players saw a no-frills Windows port one year later. News of Final Fantasy VIII's forthcoming rerelease follows up on last year's upgraded PC port of Final Fantasy VII, which added cloud saving and unlockable achievements. While the new version of Final Fantasy VIII boasts a graphical update, no further details are known, and a release date has not been announced.

Join Joystiq in the streets of Neo-Paris and the intricate pathways of the mind in this Remember Me video preview. Dontnod's memory-focused action game features strategic battle jeans, "remembrane buoys" and even more dubiously named plot devices, if you can believe it.

Remember Me launches for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on June 4.

Kevin Flynn, who's worked for the last two years as a senior product manager for EA's UK arm, has left to join Activision's UK side as a senior brand manager on Call of Duty. Flynn's previous efforts for EA include launching Battlefield 3 and its subsequent Premium DLC campaigns in the region.

Flynn enlisted with the Call of Duty squad this month, which we imagine must be the busiest time to sign on for an Activision paycheck. With Call of Duty: Ghosts launching on November 5 and next week's next-generation engine reveal during the Xbox event on May 21, we just hope Mr. Flynn is finding adequate time for his lunch break every day. A hungry worker is not a happy worker!

The results are in, and fans have voted to make Beowolf the fourth new character in Lab Zero Games' little fighter that could, Skullgirls. An ex pro wrestler, Beowolf and his trusty folding chair (named The Hurting, naturally) have come out of retirement in order to test the true limits of his strength. Being a wrestler and everything, Beowolf's playstyle has been influence by Street Fighter's Rainbow Mika and El Fuerte, as well as Tekken's King.

Beowolf is the fourth new character to be funded by Lab Zero's wildly successful Indiegogo campaign, which raised over $800,000 for DLC production back in March. Three other characters, Eliza, Squigly and Big Band, are also currently in development. Squigly is expected to be the first released, dropping alongside the PC version of the game sometime this summer.

Continue Reading

Series creator Hideo Kojima announced Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is coming to the PC. Speaking on his HideRadio podcast, Kojima revealed the upcoming port. The news was then confirmed by Platinum Games creative producer Jean Pierre Kellams.

We'll have further details as we learn them.

Continue Reading