PC Gaming News - March 3, 2009

Well let's see if we can get more than three submissions posted today! For starters, we have a few tidbits including Runes of Magic info, a patch for Napoleon in Italy, and a 2K Sports title heading to retail.

Napoleon in Italy Patched
Matrix Games said a new patch for Napoleon in Italy is now available, updating the retail version of the PC game to v1.1. The patch offers a few fixes and AI improvements "in a variety of areas" including sieges and objective selection. Here's a bit on what this game is all about: " Lead the young Napoleon's French Army on his first campaign against the Austrians and Piedmontese in Northern Italy or try to stop Napoleon’s dedicated army and tactical brilliance with the mighty allied army of Austria.  Experience a great interface and addicting gameplay in this realistically modeled game of Napoleonic combat."

Major League Baseball 2K9 Now Available
2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K9 has shipped to a retail outlet near you, slated for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, the Nintendo Wii and Windows PC. "Featuring National League Cy Young Award Winner Tim Lincecum, Major League Baseball 2K9 adds to its impressive library of player–specific animations with more than 300 new Signature Style animations. Players are brought to life at the plate, on the mound and in the field, to play ball like never before." This new season offers an improved two-step Precision Pitching control, deeper Swing Stick batting and more.

New Dungeon for Runes of Magic
With a few more weeks to go before the official launch of Runes of Magic (currently in open beta), Frogster has released new information about the high-level dungeon Kalin Shrine, set to go live at launch. According to the company, the shrine, located in the dusty wastes of the Dust Devil Canyon, is a "mysterious place where the dark mage Regin has taken possession and where he sets players some huge challenges." The dungeon can only be undertaken by characters level 50 and over, as not only ghosts, rune guardians and grave robbers occupy the shrine, but boss level opponents support the powerful magician as well.

BB Tanks Begins Open Beta
OGPlanet announced that its turn-based strategy tank shooter BB Tanks has entered open beta, and OGPlanet members can download the client from the official site. Players take control of a "zany cartoon" tank, each offering unique weapons and quirky characteristics. Players can battle up to seven opponents on playing fields that face ever-changing map conditions. "While the game had been in an informal open beta before," explained Don Choi, COO of OGPlanet, "we recently took the game offline to do a major revitalization through an internal closed beta. The result is a streamlined, user-friendly version of our cartoony tank game. The players will be thrilled with how BB Tanks is shaping up."

Closed Beta for Galaxy Online Begins
IGG reports that the alpha testing of Galaxy Online successfully closed, and now the game has entered closed beta. The beta program already began this morning at 4:00am (GMT-5), and all characters created in the closed beta will be kept once the program completes. Registered testers can go ahead and download the client from here, whereas IGG posted a newbie guide here. Galaxy Online is a strategic online game taking place in the "vast expanses of space," combining elements such as a commerce system, planetary colonization, warship design and more.

Rise of the Triad DRM-Free
GOG.com's latest addition to its DRM-free library now includes the infamous FPS, Rise of the Triad: Dark War, originally released back in 2994 by Apogee software. Selling for a mere $5.99, the company also uploaded a video to get you re-acquainted with the old-school PC shooter here. Additionally, Seven Kingdoms 2 is alos available for the same price, Enlight Software's fantasy-based RTS released in 1999. Both games are without DRM, and are XP and Vista compatible.

EA Kicks Off Spore API Contest
EA is calling on "aspiring developers" to create the next Spore app, either from scratch using the Sporepedia content, or by way of the game's downloadable source code located here. "Whether it's a display of your own creations, a visualization of current Most Popular New creations or a scenic diorama of Sporecast creations, your only limit is your imagination!" EA and Maxis also uploaded a batch of inspirational screenshots including a creature battle, aquarium, and a buddy browser. To enter, designers need to send a link to the application to this address. There's no submission limits, however the deadline to submit apps in April 6, 2009.