Publisher of crowd-funded role-playing game Pillars of Eternity, Paradox Interactive have confirmed that the game which was originally scheduled for a late 2014 release is going to be pushed back to release sometime in early 2015 instead.

Developer Obsidian have made the decision because having raised $4 million for the game back in October 2012 they want to make sure that when the game is released that the backers and other players will be getting the best product they can do. Obsidian say they have been working on the game continuously since the Kickstarter closed but that with a little more time they can be sure that all the bugs are properly ironed out before release. They also say that they might turn to crowdfunding for future products and so want to be able to point to a successful Pillars of Eternity because of that.

A playable Beta version has already been made available to certain backers and it’s feedback from that which has contributed to the decision to push the release date back. It’s unclear exactly which parts of the game are to be worked on but Obsidian are to use the extra time to generally optimise the game.

“Since the very beginning of this project, we promised our fans and ourselves that we would release this game only when we knew it would be absolutely ready for the best experience possible,” Obsidian chief executive Feargus Urguhart said in a statement. “We are coming into the home stretch but are pushing the release out just a bit to make sure we honor that promise we made originally. Thanks for your patience and support, it will be worth the wait.”

I like many people like getting good deals, especially on games, and most of the games in my library come from Game Bundles. Game Bundles are an awesome way to get some awesome games for very cheap. So I’m going to point out some Bundles that caught my attention which are currently going on in order to pass on some awesome deals to you.

Indie Royale: Mystery Bundle

One of the more interesting Bundles I’ve come across this week is the Indie Royale Mystery Bundle. This Bundle runs to around October 14^th. What makes this bundle unique is that each day a game is revealed, 10 in total. Also each day the price of the bundle, which started at $0.99 (£0.61) is increased by $0.30 (£0.19), but no matter what day you buy it you will still get all the games in the bundle. So the sooner you buy it the better the deal, even though you won’t know all the games, but that’s part of the fun of it.

As of writing this article 3 games have been revealed. The 1^st is The Sun at Night, a game about where you play as a dog trying to help bring down the Soviets who have taken control of the world though newly discovered energy sources. The 2^nd game is Hero of the Kingdom, which is a RPG that has you exploring, questing, fighting, and gathering supplies. And the 3^rd game revealed so far is Huntsman: The Orphanage, which is a 1^st Person Horror and Exploration game.

I personally can’t wait to see what else is revealed.

If you want to pick it up you can here

Bundle Stars: The Evolution Bundle

This Bundle runs through to the end of October. The Evolution Bundle consists of 6 games, which are currently on Early Access, for $3.40 (£2.16). This Bundle has a nice variety of game types, including a platformer, a fighting game, a strategy game, a RPG, and a couple of rouge-likes.

The 1^st game in the bundle is Colossal Kaiju Combat: Kaijuland Battles, a fighting game in which you play as a Kaiju and fight other Kaiju. The 2^nd game is Freaking Meatbags, a real-time strategy game that combines base building, tower defense, work management, and some shooter-like action. You can read my full First Look of the game here. The 3^rd game is Fancy Skulls, a challenging first person shooter with procedural generation, permadeath and a distinct art style. 4^th is the game Steam Bandits: Outpost, a RPG inspired by games like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger where you can explore dungeons and strange new lands, while combating a variety of foes with your party. The 5^th game is Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars, a starship roguelike which is a sandbox adventure game of interstellar exploration and combat. And the last game in the Bundle is Dreaming Sarah, a surreal adventure platformer game with puzzle elements, where you play as a girl named Sarah who is in a coma and trying to wake up.

If you are interested in this Bundle you can pick it up here

Other Interesting Bundles to Check Out

Indie Gala Every Monday Bundle

Humble Bundle Weekly Bundle: Neko Entertainment

According to a number of sources, including Youtube personalities such as TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling of Escapist fame, videos for the newly released Shadow of Mordor game are being systematically removed or having their monetisation options blocked. The fault, once again lies, with DMCA copyright claims. Big surprise…

Now game releases like this often have a wave of DMCA claimed videos in the first few weeks as the automatic process is over-vigilant and it’s often soon sorted out to the satisfaction of all (i.e. most companies realise that the videos are great promotion and release the claims). What makes this one so different is that we’re hearing that for some reason or other, videos made by people who entered into a promotional deal with the game’s development company, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment (WB Games), have not had their videos affected in any way.

There had already previously been a bit of a kerfuffle over the fact that only those Youtubers who would accept the deal would get review copies, and not every reviewer who wanted to play and review the game for their work. If the part about the content creators with deals not being hit by this is true then the waters have just gotten a bit murkier.

It is assumed that the claims are being made on the assumption that WB Games have registered the game’s cutscenes with the Content ID system, and the system is just working as intended (as it always is). The problem is that cutscenes are part of the gameplay in such a genre as Shadow of Mordor belongs to, so cutting them out can lead to a jump between points which doesn’t look terribly professional from a video-making standpoint.

As of time of writing though, WB Games has yet to make a comment about the situation so all speculation and rumor for the moment. Updates will follow when or if the information comes to light.

Fans of Zelda listen up. There’s currently a fan-project going on which is aiming to remake Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the PC in a 2D pixel-art style. It’s still in a very early stage right now, and made of assets taken from other top-down Zeldas with the addition of new music and graphics although obviously being an early version there’s still a lot of placeholder stuff dotted around.

It’s currently at 10% completion according to the counter on the site that is hosting the download for an early demo version. The original Ocarina of Time was an N64 3D polygon game so it’d be interesting to see how well someone who played the original thinks it lives up to the nostalgia in a very different art style.

You can find the game here: [x]

Hey everyone!

September is over, and October is upon us. It was a crazy month, starting out with some great guests on the Indie Game Show and ending with EGX. In case you missed anything this month, here’s a quick recap:

Pumpkin Online

Monique and Malik from Pumpkin Interactive stopped by the Indie Game Show and chatted with PredictedCyborg and Digmbot about their game. It has since been funded on Kickstarter. A farming MMO based around building community and crafting, rather than combat, the game looks to be truly unique. Characters are created totally outside the norms of most games, meaning that male, female, straight, gay, or anything in between is a possibility in this game. With skills that are dependent on working together to make the most out of the ingredients you mine/farm/fish for, Pumpkin Online is one that Cy and Digm are super excited about.

Sanitarium.FM eSports

Esports is huge, and this month saw the official launch of the station’s eSports section. headed up by Digmbot and Novindus, our eSports coverage will look to cover LoL, DOTA2, Starcraft II and Smite. News, analysis, tutorials and more are coming down the line. And, as a special bonus, Smite pro team Snipe has signed on to mutually promote eSports with us. Look for some exclusive interviews as well as opinions from the boys in Snipe as they claw their way through the ranks of the Smite Pro League in search of the World Championships. And don’t miss the Starcraft II coverage along with all the hottest LoL and DOTA2 action.

The Bloggers Are Multiplying

You all know about Thay, our Indie blogger. Shes amazing, right? Well, we’ve expanded our roster even more this month. With Novindus fully onboard as a DJ, we also now have BlueStripePanda and Darkseeker helping bring you even more news. Darkseeker has already written an amazing in depth look at the new Total War: Atilla, and BlueStripePanda’s wonderfully crafted Lego Batman 3 roundup will leave you with a smile on your face. Welcome them to the team and look forward to what else they’re going to be bringing us. In addition, Thay has something special up her sleeve, so stay tuned for that.

Twitch & YouTube

After some needed tweaks, we’ve gotten the station Twitch and YouTube pages fully up to snuff. So get ready to watch a tone of stuff as Lonesamurai digs into the new WoW expansion. PredictedCyborg tackles Hearthstone, Digmbot has a go at Starbound and we might even stream you some eSports games along with some commentary and tutorials. If you don’t catch it on Twitch, be sure to head over to the YouTube channel to catch the vods.

EGX

EGX was INSANE! I don’t even know how many metric tons of coverage went up on the site. Seriously, just load it up and check out all the videos, developer sessions and staff opinions. Our personal picks from the show? Elite:Dangerous, Total War: Atilla, Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor. On the indie side, Volume, Magic Circle and Nuclear Throne look amazing. What are you waiting for? Get to reading!

So guys, it was a crazy month. Don’t forget, we need YOU to help us promote. Retweet, reblog, refacebook, re…Google plus? Does anyone use that? YOU SHOULD! And you should promote us with it! Help us grow folks! And be sure to tune in to all the shows so you can chat with your fellow inmates and the staff. Till next month!

~Digm