Welcome to the Friday Tech Roundup! Contained herein is a weekly dose of some of the best tech news from across the Internet, rounded up for your edification and entertainment. Read on for all the details of Windows 8.1, Nintendo’s method of monetising fan videos, and the $325,000 burger that you probably wouldn’t want to eat.

The fifth Battle Arena Melbourne fighting game tournament kicks off at Melbourne’s CQ tonight, with around 300 players expected to fight it out across 11 different games.

The Couchwarriors crew have been responsible for some of the most impressive gaming tournaments in Australia, including their corroboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last year.

Along with three days of frenzied, adrenaline-filled action, this year’s BAM will feature a live performance from chiptunes artist Pselodux. Tom Taylor, author of the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic, will be signing comics on the Saturday, while the NewGamePlus TV crew will be hosting a qualifier in association with Monash University’s High School eSports League.

This, of course, is an entree to the main course, which includes the following: Events for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012), Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, The King of Fighters XIII, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Dead or Alive 5, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Super Smash Bros Brawl & Melee, as well as the first Australian tournament for Injustice: Gods Among Us and an exhibition event for Mortal Kombat.

If you want to watch the action for yourself down at Melbourne’s CQ, a $10 spectator pass will cover the whole weekend. You can also watch the action live from Friday to Sunday on Shadowloo’s TwitchTV channel.

The full schedule is available over on the BAM website, and as always, go Sydney.

News of Maxis’ upcoming Sim City expansion has accidentally hit the internet, with Green Man Gaming posting a listing for the DLC on their site (and then quickly removing it).

Maxis have since confirmed the expansion on their Facebook account, saying “Some of you may have seen thrilling new SimCity content that arrived too early at the gate. It’s coming May 28th. We think you’ll be amused.”

Unfortunately it wasn’t pulled down quickly enough, with one quick-thinking YouTube user catching the whole thing below.

Source: VG247

Metro: Last Light is the direct sequel to Metro 2033, and promises to fix all the complaints about the original while simultaneously looking drop-dead gorgeous and pushing your PC as far as it can go. Does it live up to the claims? Find out in our video review.

WARNING: Metro Last Light is rated R18+ in Australia. The following video contains scenes and language that are not suitable for viewers under 18.

Back in February, Avalanche Games’ CEO released several blurry sepia-toned screenshots of what looked for all the world like a new Just Cause game. “Just Cause 3?!” I screamed excitedly, ripping my pants off in anticipation — but it was not to be.

Avalanche’s chief creative officer Christofer Sundberg has revealed to Edge that the screenshots were actually “from a steampunk-style game we had in development that we put on ice.”

“I really love that art style, and to combine it with sandbox gameplay is a dream of mine,” he said. “Fortunately, being an independent developer I can control my own destiny and we’ll make something in that world sooner or later.”

Well! I’d better put these pants back on then. So what ARE Avalanche working on? “We are developing for both current and next-gen, but the earliest we’ll be able to talk about it and go into any detail is after the games we are working on are announced,” he said.

“We’re also announcing new, interesting tech development that we do internally, but that is not until later this year.”

Source: Edge Online

A website for a MOBA called Dawngate has appeared overnight, offering a chance to be a part of a MOBA that “looks and feels familiar while offering a whole new way to experience MOBA gameplay”.

“Dawngate empowers you to forge the champions you love for the roles you want in a competitive arena,” claims the site, “shaped by ever-evolving, community-driven content and story.” And, well… that’s all there is to know so far, other than the fact that EA have signed on to publish it.

You can hit up the official site to sign up for beta, or perhaps mine meticulously through the source code for clues. With EA on board though, I should think we’ll be hearing more about this next month at E3. Stay tuned.

Source: Blue’s News

It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything about DARK, the vampire stealth game — perhaps it’s been quietly recovering its strength in a casket of native soil. In any case, there’s a new trailer out that shows off the various skills in the game, which you can see below. It’s a somewhat underwhelming bit of gameplay video and doesn’t seem to look as good as early-released screenshots, which doesn’t bode well for its upcoming PC release in the next few months. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Source: Blue’s News

Former THQ boss Jason Rubin has revealed that 4A Games worked in gruelling conditions to finish Metro: Last Light, including being packed together on folding wedding chairs and with power and heat going off for days at a time.

“4A’s staff sat on folding wedding chairs, literally elbow to elbow at card tables in what looks more like a packed grade school cafeteria than a development studio,” writes Rubin in a revealing post on GamesIndustry International.

Rubin explained that power and heat were unreliable, with 4A staff working “in their parkas and struggling to keep their fingers warm in temperatures well below freezing”. The team also apparently had to deal with constant corruption, with Rubin saying that “When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever, someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be ‘seized’ at the border by thieving customs officials.”

The whole blog post is very eye-opening and worth a read, so check it out.

Source: GamesIndustry International

Codemasters have released the full track listing for the upcoming GRID 2, which launches on May 30. There are 82 tracks in total, although this list includes the pre-order bonus tracks that not everybody will (immediately) have access to. Still, it’s an impressive figure and when you consider the LiveRoutes system that changes the tracks as you drive, should make for some good replayability.

Also just released is this new trailer for the game, which shows off the tracks in the Asian region. Take a look.

Check out the track listing below.

(more…)

EA have announced that they will no longer be moving forward with the online pass system, despite being one of the most ardent supporters of the idea. Why? Well, because you demanded it.

“None of our new EA titles will include that feature,” said EA’s John Reseburg in an interviee with VentureBeat.

“Initially launched as an effort to package a full menu of online content and services, many players didn’t respond to the format. We’ve listened to the feedback and decided to do away with it moving forward.”

However, Reseburg did emphasise that EA was “still committed to creating content and services that enhance the game experience well beyond the day you first start playing,” which presumably means multiplayer, DLC and other various add-on components.

Source: VentureBeat (Thanks, Stefan)

In part two of our interview with Nate Mitchell, VP of Product at Oculus Rift, we discuss upcoming resolution improvements to bring the tech into HD, how the reaction has been from both indie and major developers, and how they’re dealing with simulation sickness issues.

Coffee Stain Studios have announced that Sanctum 2, the sequel to the original FPS/TD mashup, has now launched on Steam. Priced at $14.99, the developers are promising a sequel rebuilt from the ground up with new towers, new enemies, and more customisation and loadout options than ever before.

A new progression system and four character classes help round out the new features — but interestingly there’s also a DLC season pass, something usually reserved for AAA publishers. For $11.99, it offers access to four DLC packs for the price of three, with all content set to be available by February 2014. Still, as an enormous fan of the original I can’t wait to check this one out.