I’ve got to admit that I’m pretty biased in how I’m approaching this news, but that’s how we do a lot of our actual “news posts”: stuff that we think is interesting, no matter what era of gaming it pertains to. The Polish game developers over at CD Projekt held a big “spring conference” today, announcing a whole mess of things that touched on both their “retro marketplace” GoG.com and their upcoming 360 re-release of last year’s The Witcher 2. There’s a lot of really cool stuff to cover, and it’s broken down into segments just past the cut.
Highlights include the original Witcher being on the Mac…today for real cheap, along with the “Enhanced Edition” (pseudo-expansion) coming to The Witcher 2 on PC “before April 17th”. Read on for more juicy news from today!
Geralt the Witcher makes his comeback
The titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, is getting a lot of exposure this year. To get things started, Mac users have access to the original game starting as of earlier today; this also means that the Steam version of the game is now a SteamPlay title, meaning if you’ve already bought it on PC – which is likely, you’ve got it on Mac now too. He’s also got an iOS comic coming out for free, tailored specifically to the iPad. The story will focus on “a perilous situation where the reknowned monster hunter may finally meet his match”. Also, “werecats”. We need some concept art of those, stat.
PC users aren’t left out in this front, however. They’re getting the big update that CD Projekt RED is calling the “Enhanced Edition” of Witcher 2 on April 17th, but the twist is that people will start pre-loading it on the 11th. If you’ve already purchased the game, you may be interested to hear that you’re getting another back-up copy through GoG.com that same day, courtesy of CD Projekt. Pretty nifty!
I’m excited to see how much bigger The Witcher 2 feels with the Enhanced Edition content – it was already an enormous game at launch.
GoG.com gets bigger, more current games join its forces
CD Projekt’s service for revitalizing old “classic” titles has long been just that, but now it seems like they’re taking a step forward in history as well. Ubisoft’s taking the plunge here, with “Premium Editions” of both the original Assassin’s Creed and Heroes of Might & Magic V (with both expansions to boot) coming to the site. Expect soundtracks, artwork, extra videos…you know, what we’ve come to expect from a Good Ol’ Games release. Are they still officially called that nowadays? I’m not sure.
In addition to that, a brand new game from the creators of Machinarium, entitled Botanicula, is available for pre-order on the site right now. It’s another point and click game, pre-orderable for a seriously low $8.99 until April 19th. It looks like a really interesting game and I’m gettin’ in on the ground floor with it, unlike my rather late-to-the-party discovery of their previous title.
A Post-Apocalyptic Giveaway
Perhaps the most exciting bit of news, and probably one you’ve already heard, is that the classic Fallout is free for the next 48 hours on GoG. Go! Now! Seriously, get it while you can, the servers have been up and down a few times.
That’s all the major stuff from the spring conference; I think I’ll have to sit down with Botanicula and toss up a review for that, but in the meantime, there’s a vault to save.