Capitalizing on all the E3 hype, Valve announced the release date for the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. CS: GO will launch simultaneously on XBLA, PSN, PC, and Mac on August 21, 2012.

The original Counter-Stike came out almost 13 years ago, and this new release will feature new maps, characters, and weapons. It will also have updated versions of classic maps like “de_dust.” CS: GO will cost around $15 or 1600 Microsoft Monoply Money Dollar Points.

Color me surprised for two reasons. One: there’s going to be a limited edition of Blades of Time coming to PC and Mac at the end of May 2012. Two: Because publisher Iceberg Interactive is handling distribution rather than Konami, the game was actually announced before the release date!

Retail copies will be available  in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and South Africa, while digital copies will be available worldwide. Blades of Time: Limited Edition will come with the Dismal Swamp DLC, exclusive Outbreak mode maps, a digital version of the game’s soundtrack, and more.

[Source: Iceberg Interactive]

The Mistborn fantasy series by author Brandon Sanderson will be “lurching” its way onto PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,  PC, and Mac in fall 2013 courtesy of developer Little Orbit. Sanderson himself is writing the story for the game, titled Mistorn: Birthright, and it will be set several hundred years before the events of the books.

The game is set to be an action-RPG, and Mistborn‘s unique magic system based off metals lends itself well to an interactive medium. This won’t be Sanderson’s first time working with videogames as he did story development for iOS game Infinity Blade II and wrote the Infinity Blade: Awakening tie-in novella. According to the press release, players will “suit up as Fendin “Fiddle” Fathvell, an arrogant young nobleman who must quickly master his newfound Allomantic abilities before forces at work can destroy his entire family.”

[Source: Mistborn: Birthright]

The world doesn’t end in 2012, at least that is not the check out date according to Fate of the World: Tipping Point. Also, there is no fugitive asteroid coming to claim us all. According to the game, the world will most likely suffer a slow, agonizing death full of drought, famine and civil unrest a century or two from now. This is good news for us, bad news for future generations and careless time travelers.

Despite the dark and sardonic outlook, this turn based card game manages to instill hope in an otherwise crumbling world. This is because in Fate of the World: Tipping Point, or FotW:TP for short, you’re placed in the mantle of power, with the chance to turn things around through real world solutions. This is no walk in the park, however, as with this power players must balance resources and public perception or they will wind up on the wrong end of a revolution. Are you up to the challenge?

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Today Riot Games announced that the Mac version of their extremely popular free-to-play MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game League of Legends has been put on the back burner indefinitely.

According to Riot, the reason the project was put on hiatus was due to inconsistencies in the frequent updates and patches. These issues all stem for the fact that, while Riot handles all development on the PC, the Mac version of LoL is being developed externally by TransGaming. While Riot is able to keep up with all the patches and new content, TransGaming seems to be a bit slower, often leaving LoL outdated and unavailable to Mac gamers. Read more… »

Chris Hecker (Spore, Quake) announced Thursday the price for early beta access to his latest espionage game, SpyParty, will be $15. This gets you access to the early beta, access to the forums and discussions, as well as the complete game once its released. Players who sign up through the game’s site will also have a chance to lay down $50 or more for their name to be included in the credits once the full title is released.

$15 dollars is a justified price, Hecker says, as it “has become the de facto price point for AAA Indie Games.” Is SpyParty a AAA indie game and is it worth $15 dollars? A good number of people certainly think so. Last time Hecker checked in on the numbers, there were more than 700 gamers already signed up and ready to go. That’s only a few months after he opened the sign up. Not convinced?

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Brain Candy announced Thursday that its upcoming PC/Mac title, Fray, will be available for pre-order in Q4 of this year. As the cherry on top, every pre-order will come with an immediate beta version and a free copy of the game for a friend. Yes, Brain Candy is planning on running a buy-one-get-one-and-a-half-free sale.

If that wasn’t enough, the independent French developer also released pre-alpha screens of the game. It has Gamer Limit feeling generous as well with more for you after the break.

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Apparently, it’s The Next Big Thing. While upcoming titles are resting on the laurels of legacy and countless years of hype (see Duke Nukem Forever), or new technology, publisher prestige and leaked trailers (see L.A. Noir), this game boldly tells you upfront, claiming to have transcended into greatness with little more than a few flashes of style. Offering gameplay in the vein of point-and-click adventures, Pendulo Studios promises “a story that will force you to use your brain power thanks to hundreds of puzzles. You will be titillated by its movie-like action sequences, and you will go into hysterics during the countless moments of sheer comedy.”

Read further and judge for yourself.

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Early Friday morning, GameTrailers revealed the world premier trailer of Telltale Games’ long awaited episodic adventure, Back To The Future The Game. Back in June, Telltale released a teaser announcing the project along with a Jurrasic Park title. For six months, fans have been on pins and needles — and for anyone (including myself) following the hype, this particular trailer was supposed to be epic. Telltale themselves said, “it looks fantastic!”

All subjectivity aside, there can be an argument as to why the trailer fails or succeeds in delivering 1.21 jiggawatts of excitement. It lends itself perfectly to this next installment on what it takes to hype up a game right, or wrong. A bit of fair warning, this article bears potentially gruesome videos after the jump.  We’ll let you decide why they’re both gruesome.

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Gaijin Games’ awesome Wii-Ware title, Bit.Trip Beat, recently made its way to the iPhone. The pong-inspired retro-rhythm title also made moves this morning. As of 9AM PST this morning, Bit.Trip Beat has also been available for PC and Mac via Steam.

Hit the jump for more information including Beat’s sale and the Steam version’s added features.

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Today Blizzard Entertainment released the first new official custom map for its insanely popular RTS StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Dubbed ‘Burning Tide,’ the new map pits two teams of three against each other in a race to reach a set number of resources.

Think that sounds easy enough? Well, of course there’s a twist. Much like the campaign level ‘The Devil’s Playground,’ Burning Tide features periodic lava flood which interrupt your resource gathering. Read more… »

Today Blizzard Entertainment revealed that within the first month of it’s release, StartCraft II has sold three million copies. The crazy thing is, one million of those copies were sold on launch day. What’s even crazier is that half of the three million were sold within the first 48 hours of release, setting “the record for fastest-selling strategy game of all time.”

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said, “We appreciate all the enthusiasm that players around the world have shown for StarCraft II. It was important to us to deliver an overall gameplay experience that was accessible, balanced, and fun, and it’s been gratifying to see how strongly the global community has already embraced the game.” Read more… »