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After Catacombs Details01:37 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: mmog(1 comment)
As promised yesterday, Mythic gave out some more details on what it would be working on after Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs, including 'instanced rvr' and merging servers without actually making anyone move. Here's some poop on what this server cluster thingie offers:
We have been paying close attention to the community feedback from our different servers. Several servers have populations high enough to support exciting RVR. However, our lower-pop servers often don't have enough fighting players logged in simultaneously, and gameplay on those servers is suffering.
To alleviate this problem, we've come up with a new solution: we will "cluster" the servers. The intent of this system is to give players lots more friends and enemies in RvR, but not change the home server's community unless the players seek to do so. The way it works is as follows:
Servers that are clustered will have shared battlegrounds and frontier zones. Thus, all players on the clustered servers will RvR together.
For PvE, players will have a choice of which server's PvE zones they wish to enter (among the servers in that particular cluster). The current plan is to put an NPC in the capital city that controls which server's PvE zones you enter - if you want to venture to another server in the cluster, you may do so by talking to that NPC, which will let you zone into other server's PvE and housing zones. For example, if in a cluster of three servers, players on all three servers can adventure on each of the three server's PvE zones.
Players will be able to send private messages (/sends and /tells) to each other across the clustered servers, just as if they were physically logged on to that server.
Players from "foreign" servers that are adventuring on another server in their cluster will be identified as "[playername] of [servername]" or something similar.
Some servers will be clustered and some will not, depending on population.
By the way, since no one voted for Codename Panzers, I sub'd it out with Catacombs. It even fits the alphabetical order of the poll, so hey. :)
Paramount has acquired film rights to Tom Clancy's video game Splinter Cell and hired Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) to direct.
Variety says Berg is writing the script along with Splinter Cell game writer J.T. Petty and John J. McLaughlin (Man of the House). Paramount said the movie is aimed at combining the game's blend of stealth action with a "dynamic, original" character.
Auto Assault Interview #2 - NetDevil Project Lead Scott Brown fuels our interest about his studio's post-apocalyptic vehicular online world. Includes three exclusive screenshots and an exclusive concept drawing.
MSUC Mod Grand Finals Finalists Announced09:28 am
- Andrew Burnes
- games: action(0 comments)
"Epic Games announces the finalists for the Mod category for Grand Finals of the NVIDIA $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest. To even make it to the Grand Finals is an amazing accomplishment for these dedicated and creative teams. To be selected as a finalist for the Grand Finals is to be the cream of the crop. Each and every one of these mods are the best of the best and worthy of play by all."
JoWooD Productions continues its successful cooperation with the German developer Piranha Bytes by publishing one of the most spectacular titles of the coming year: Gothic III, the third part of the legendary RPG saga. "Being listed in all major 'most wanted' charts across Europe, Gothic III is the top title of the coming year. To publish a game with such popularity, potential and quality, is a great chance for us to push a world-wide known brand even further" ,comments Andreas Tobler, CEO of JoWooD Productions Software AG. JoWooD Productions takes this chance and will try to break RPG selling records of the past!
"Our main efforts are to increase quality, atmosphere and fascination in Gothic III, to deliver an unbeatable RPG experience to all the Gothic fans out there. But even with all the improvements and innovations, we continue to build upon the unique concept of the Gothic titles", promises Mike Hoge, developer Piranha Bytes.
Release date not revealed fact fans.
Juiced In North America09:14 am
- Andrew Burnes
- games: racing(1 comment)
THQ has announced that Juiced will finally see the light of day come May after being left in publishing hell by the closure of Acclaim:
"THQ is extremely excited to be entering into a long term relationship with Juice Games, as the global publisher for the keenly awaited street racer, Juiced," said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, worldwide marketing, THQ. "With the additional time we've allocated to the title, we're certain that Juiced will excite gamers across the globe even more than originally anticipated."
"Every developer dreams of having a few months to polish their creation so that it truly matches the original vision they had for it", stated Colin Bell (founder of Juice Games). "That's exactly the opportunity we've been given by THQ. Racing game fans are very discerning, and we're keen to deliver something that far exceeds their expectations."
Expect a demo sometime near launch to showcase the improvements over the European release.
"Our collaboration with Marvel on The Incredible Hulk will give gamers the opportunity to play as one of the most powerful and exciting characters to ever exist," said Michael Pole, EVP, Worldwide Studios, VU Games. "The Incredible Hulk will deliver unlimited power and freedom immersed in an authentic world that will engage Hulk fans and core gamers."
"We are very excited to have Radical developing this new Hulk title, continuing another blockbuster Marvel game franchise," said Ames Kirshen, Director Of Video Game Development at Marvel Enterprises. "Vivendi Universal Games and Radical are creating an interactive world where the player will have all of the freedoms and larger than life abilities of the Hulk in enormous and interactive 'sandbox' environments which really capture the essence of the character."
In The Incredible Hulk, players can jump anywhere, climb anything and smash everything -- even destroy entire buildings -- as the Hulk, the strongest hero there is! Gamers will create their own Hulk-powered weapons from anything they can rip out of the environment, unlock new moves to battle huge enemies in epic boss fights and experience deep and varied game elements by exploring free-roaming non-mission and side mission gameplay.
1) Half-Life 2
2) World Of Warcraft
3) World Of Warcraft Collector'sEd
4) The Sims 2
5) Roller Coaster Tycoon 3
6) EverQuest II
7) EverQuest II
8) Half-Life 2: Collector's Ed
9) The Sims 2 Special Edition
10) EverQuest II Collector's Ed
11) MS Zoo Tycoon 2
12) Rome: Total War
13) Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault
14) Doom 3
15) Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
16) Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault Director's Ed
17) Ultima Online: Samurai Empire Expansion Pack
18) Need For Speed: Underground 2
19) Axis & Allies
20) Call Of Duty
Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and Slitherine Strategies' (www.slitherine.co.uk) are pleased to announce that their new turn-based empire-building and ancient battles game, Gates of Troy, has a new demo available at the Matrix Games website (www.matrixgames.com) and on game demo sites across the internet.
The new demo gives you three campaigns to play, along with three tutorial missions, and over 100 turns to experience them. This is over three times the content of the original Gates of Troy demo and will help show off the depth of the game. Enjoy battles, empire and city building, and historical accuracy in a turn based title that includes 3D tactical battles.
More Game of the Year Stuff02:01 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: general news(1 comment)
More Game of the Year Award action is taking place as PC.IGN and GameSpy named its best PC award winners. No huge surprises in either; a few snubs perhaps, but interesting reads nonetheless. The newly redesigned Shacknews is holding its GoTY voting, as are we with for PC games on the front page, and console games here.
Our PC & console combined overall winner poll will be up on Christmas day.
Case Blue places the player into the role of either a German or Russian ace pilot. With your wit and skill you will battle either for a second German advance into Soviet Russia, or mount the Russian defense against the German Luftwaffe. With over 1,000 different missions,
Case Blue packs in a lot of entertainment for flight sim fans on a budget. Enjoy over 400 multiplayer co-operative missions and over 550 single player missions that will keep your eyes as busy as your hands until the end of the war.
The Last Days takes place, unsurprisingly, during the final hours of World War 2. Fly in one of four theaters:
Lvov, Berlin, Hungary or the Ardennes. Experience over thirty dynamic campaigns. If Case Blue wasn't large enough for you, how about over 1,600 new single player and multiplayer missions! The Last Days includes over 450 new historical aircraft skins that will make any military enthusiast drool with delight. Can you turn the impending German defeat into a victory, or will you fly with the allies and try to hasten the end? The Last Days takes you to the very brink of disaster where it is all on the line and every mission can be the difference between victory and defeat.
CDV Software Entertainment today announced that Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars , the sequel to their critically acclaimed real-time strategy title, Cossacks: European Wars , is in development and is slated to ship worldwide for the PC in April 2005. Cossacks II will put gamers in control of 19th-century European nations as they wage war, secure alliances and work to economically and militarily overpower their opponents. With an all-new enhanced 3D graphics engine and featuring more than 150 unit types and a realistic troop morale system, Cossacks II Napoleonic Wars will keep armchair emperors glued to their screens as they fight historical battles on an epic scale.
In development by GSC Gameworld, Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars expands upon everything that gamers enjoyed about the original internationally acclaimed Cossacks: European Wars. Gamers will take on the roles of diplomat, warrior and economist as the leader of one of six European nations as they expand their empires through treaties, truncheons and treasuries. Utilizing an attractive 3D engine, the game will allow for 64,000 units to be onscreen simultaneously, as armies battle in sweeping landscapes featuring more than 1,000 types of realistic flora and fauna. For more information about Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars , please visit
http://www.cossacks2.de.
Oblivion-Lost.com and GSC Game World are proud to announce the schedule of the next fans/developers chat. The chat will take place in the IRC channel of Oblivion-Lost. Find all the essential info here.
As for timing, you should join the channel on Friday, December 17th from 5 to 7 pm GMT. The topics for discussion: gameplay, AI, beta trials, modding tools.
The invited guests are:
Alexey Sityanov - Lead Game Designer
Dmitry Yasenev - AI Programmer
Andrew Kolomiets - Mod Tools Programmer
Oleg Yavorsky - PR
And some other guests might appear as well during the chat.
Finger: Much of the Guild Wars world works under "instanced" zones instead of the old Diablo 2 method of creating a game to bring your friends into. It's obviously a better idea from a gamer's perspective, but does this system generate lots of logistic and other server issues? Do you think it will be worth the effort in the end?
Jeff Strain: If it is a better idea from the gamer's perspective, then it is absolutely worth the effort! Gamers see Guild Wars and the gaming features that it provides, but there is another product driving everything behind the scenes: the Arena.net global gaming network. This game network was built from the ground up as a step forward in online gaming technology, and it provides the infrastructure for many of the unique features in Guild Wars, including on-demand content streaming, a global namespace, international play, a singular global client, and of course the ability to offer the game without requiring a subscription fee. The technology is unique in that it is built around a "distributed confederacy" model in which our servers located in datacenters around the world work together to migrate your account and character records to different datacenters as you play with and against players from around the world in cooperative and tournament missions. You don't have to pick a server and live there forever or choose a game host for your Guild Challenge battle. Nor do you have to wait in a queue to play because you happened to choose a server that is overloaded at the moment. Instead, the network handles it all behind the scenes on your behalf. All you see is that you can play when you want, with whom you want, and it all just works. Is it worth it? Absolutely!
Battlefield 2 takes the same fun, action-packed approach to engaging multiplayer combat as the two previous Battlefield titles, but it's set in a new era, with improved graphics and mechanics, and of course, lots of new hardware. If the predecessor title Battlefield Vietnam was a "Hollywoodized" take on the Vietnam war, then Battlefield 2 can be seen as a Middle-East/Manchuria flavored dose of "CNN Lite."
Tell a little about what you really enjoy in MMOGs… PVP? Crafting? Socializing?
Achieving and exploring are key to me. Socializing is the glue, though, especially in the form of guilds and groups. I really have no desire at all to play an MMOG soloing -- in fact, the lack of pro-grouping mechanics in several of the more recent MMOG releases has been a big turn off for me personally. Finding some new area, or defeating a powerful NPC, or acquiring new loot are all important to me, but only in the context that the experience is shared with others in my group or guild. That, and it's fun to talk about non-game related issues -- small talk I suppose - in-between battles or strategy sessions. I'm not a big PvP player, nor a big crafter, but I truly believe I could be, which is why they are both important for Vanguard -- my hope is that our next game will offer PvP and Crafting systems that will appeal to the type of gamer I am as well as the traditional player.
HomeLAN - As we look ahead to 2005, what video or PC game that is currently scheduled to be released that year are you most looking forward to and why?
Tim Gerritsen - Ok, it's trite, I know, but I would have to say the game I'm working on right now, but for reasons I feel justified in saying. We've been in a virtual blackout on our current title since its inception and not being able to talk about it has been maddening, especially in light of what we have to offer. We just didn't want to fall into that trap of hyping things up way ahead of time. We'd rather show what we have when we are ready and have people evaluate it for what is right there on screen rather than promising the stars and falling short. I am ecstatic that we will soon pull the lid off of what we've had in the works for so long in the not too distant future. I can't wait. Just saying this much is already too much and will get me a world of trouble, so I'll just go back to being quiet about it for now.
HomeLAN - What are the development team's main goals in making Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?
Ashley Cheng - We like our RPGs to be the biggest, deepest, and most engrossing of any other out there. Our main goal is for Oblivion to be as entertaining and polished as possible. For the next generation platforms, we want to be the new gold standard of RPGs because we are able to do things that no one else would even attempt. Since we are an independent publisher/developer, we make the kind of games we want to make and we're willing to take those risks that others might not, or won't.
In Other News...12:02 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- in-house: in other news...(20 comments)
TGIF! I almost wish I left Half-Life 2 off the game of the year poll, just to see how the rest would fare without Valve's 800 pound gorilla on their back. World of WarCraft isn't doing too badly, but other than that, it's not terribly competitive. Half-Life 2 also has the largest fan sites, so I doubt there would be enough outside traffic to swing the vote away from where it's currently heading. Then again, as many people have pointed out, VE is just another Half-Life 2 fan site anyhow (cough). The poll runs until Christmas Eve, so know knows what may happen? We might have a hot battle for 3rd-5th places or something!
Today's question is: Do you think Duke Nukem Forever will be released in 2005? If so, we could be bitching about how bad it's beating everyone in next year's polls. ;)
Thursday , December 16, 2004
2004 PC Game of the Year Poll11:44 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: general news(8 comments)
As promised a little while back, the poll for PC Game of the Year 2004 is now live (which as you might've noticed takes up half the page on our right). It's not just for fun either, the results will carry over to our actual awards. Obviously, a lot of people are going to vote for certain games, so if you feel merciful, select something a little less obvious to vote for and spread the love around a bit. I'm sure the developers of the other 20+ games will appreciate it. ;)
The poll runs until the 24th. We'll crown the winners on Christmas.
The results of our Halo 2 vs Half-Life 2 poll can be found here.
A plane carrying 500 plus passengers, including a Senator who's set to run in the next presidential election (these guys have been watching too much 24) has been taken hostage by zombie Cabbage Patch Kids who have chemical weapons and know how to use them. These two cursed dolls demand a mysterious item from a research lab located in Southern Africa. Solid Snake is sent in to infiltrate the heavily guarded lab and meet the hostage's demands.
The story behind Metal Gear Acid may seem a bit odd at a glance (okay, maybe we shouldn't be calling the hostage-takers Cabbage Patch Kids), but we've actually gotten caught up in its happenings over our play time. Fans of the Metal Gear Solid games will probably want to know in advance that Acid isn't as big a production as those titles, so don't count on voice acting or fancy choreographed cinema scenes. The story is told through high resolution characters shots and still backgrounds with a few scrolling effects used to make things move.
Judging by the clips that we saw, Play-chan isn't going to be all that interesting as a video playback device, at least on the GBASP. Video quality, while certainly better than what the GBA is capable of with the current MPEG2 software implementations, suffers from lots of compression artifacts. Whether this is just an example of poor compression on Nintendo's part (and why would this be the case if Nintendo's goal was to show off its new technology?), or if the device is incapable of handling higher bit rates is something we'll have to see for ourselves when we get the unit in our hands and are able to compress our own movies.
Jungle Beat impressed us enough via the E3 demo from earlier this year, but it's when you spend some quality time with the game that you fully realize that Nintendo's creative juices -- you know, the same juices that fed masterpieces like Made in Wario -- are in full force. The conga controller is used for surprisingly precise control of Donkey Kong. You'll make him run, jump, beat the crap out of enemies, bop enemies on the head, swim, swing between vines, repel off walls and just about everything you can do in a normal platform game. You'll also control Donkey Kong as he rides on beasts and floats through the air in bubbles and on parachutes. And this is through just the first four levels.
On the 480 x 272 screen of the PSP, that's 391680 sub-pixels to go wrong. Import buyers and Japanese gamers are reporting that some PSPs are experiencing pixel problems -- a dead pixel, a stuck pixel (where the pixel is always lit) and even multiple pixel failures. It is unknown how common this problem is with the first batch of PSPs in Japan. Sony has not issued a statement yet as to how it plans to deal with the problem or what tolerance level (how many dead pixels the screen has) will be required for warranty return; Nintendo of America issued a zero-tolerance policy for a similar problem of the Nintendo DS. The widespread shortage of the PSP may be a factor in how Sony handles the problem, as screens with dead pixels cannot be repaired once they've left the assembly floor, and there may not enough PSPs to hand out brand new ones fpr problem-prone systems.
Sony Computer Entertainment was not able to respond by publishing time on its plans to address such problems, or cite how often errors are being reported with the launch units so far. PlayStation Portable in Japan is covered by a one-year warranty, and a Repair Request card is enclosed along with a phone number and website link for general info.
You may be stuffed if you imported, so be careful before you pay through the nose for one of the first units.
Eighteen-year-old Phillip Littler was charged with voluntary manslaughter on Thursday.
The boys had been staying with their grandmother in Lakeville. According to reports, Neal Littler pulled out an unopened blade, at which point his brother pointed a handgun at Neal's head. After a heated exchange, Phillip pulled the trigger.
Littler is currently being held at St. Joseph County Jail and will make his initial court appearance Friday.
At the beginning of each multiplayer match, you'll choose a class, which determines your weapon loadout for the game. In general, you'll be able to carry only two weapons, as well as the bone saw, which is used for melee combat or as a weapon of last resort if you run out of ammunition. Thankfully, you can pick up ammo from your defeated foes. Pariah also features a number of vehicles that you can use in battle, including the Wasp, a three-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, as well as a futuristic four-wheeled vehicle with powerful dual rocket launchers.
We noticed that the game also incorporates a health system not unlike the one found in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. That system has been slightly modified for Pariah. It consists mainly of a series of boxes that represent your health. When you sustain damage, a box will drain, but if you can find cover, a partially-drained box will restore itself. However, if a box is completely drained, you'll need to use a med pack to restore it. So, as with Halo's shield system, this will force you to in battles to find cover and buy enough time for your health to restore.
"Spyware is a serious and growing problem for PC users, and customers have made it clear that they want Microsoft to deliver effective solutions to protect against the threat," said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft. "Through this acquisition we're excited to be able to provide near-term relief to Windows customers by offering new technology to help keep spyware and other deceptive software off their PCs."
Microsoft plans to make available to Windows customers a beta version of a spyware protection, detection and removal tool, based on the GIANT AntiSpyware product, within one month. The upcoming beta will scan a customer's PC to locate spyware and other deceptive software threats and enable customers to remove them. The tool will be configurable to block known spyware and other unwanted software from being installed on the computer. It will be available for Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions.
Cold Winter Coverage08:59 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- consoles: ps2(0 comments)
New hands-on previews of Cold Winter, Vivendi's PS2 first-person shooter, are now online. Below is a clip from IGN, with another look on 1UP:
Technologically, Cold Winter is quite an impressive accomplishment. It offers a high level of outright detail, including good polygon counts, clear textures, and plenty of rich lighting. But beyond the obvious, the game also features a wickedly complex dynamic lighting system that drapes collages of moving shadows from every major object in the game world. Atop all this comes Karma physics, a way for the developers to express their creative violence. The physics first bless the game's characters with ragdoll death animations. We've seen that before, but when a tumbling body can also be subjected to 14 distinct dismemberment zones (a la Soldier of Fortune), the aftermath of a shootout can be unsettling and neat-o-burrito.
You can also find a developer diary on Computer & Video Games.
Take-Two Buys Amped Developer; Other News08:24 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: general news(1 comment)
Amongst today's Take-Two financial shenanigans it was revealed that they have purchased the Top Spin and Amped developer, Indie Game Studio, from Microsoft. The studio has begun development of next-generation console titles, with no further details revealed.
Also coming out of the Take-Two camp today were these tidbits:
Close Combat: First To Fight, ESPN Major League Baseball, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Motocross Mania 3 and Stronghold 2 will be released between February and April. Movie tie-in The Warriors will finally see the light of day sometime between May and July.
General 2005 releases include two PSP titles utilising known Take-Two IPs, a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie tie-in, and a new game based upon "a proven brand," which will be released for console platforms.
The company is evaluating how to build upon their incredibly successful NFL game of 2004, now that the license is solely owned by EA.
Take Two told everyone to STFU and would not comment regarding Duke Nukem Forever, Max Payne 3, or Serious Sam 2.
Execs would also not comment regarding next-generation console plans.
55 SKUs will be released during their 2005 financial year.
Take-Two has proposed a $7.5m settlement to get the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission off their back over past financial irregularities.
The State of Camelot07:28 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: mmog(5 comments)
Mythic man-steak Mark Jacobs updated the Camelot Herald with his seasonal State of Camelot address where he outlines what they will be doing for Dark Age of Camelot in the coming months. Here are some crunchy excerpts which I'll translate for the MMORPG impaired (wink):
Well, the last six weeks has seen the release of two of the most anticipated and expensive, MMORPGs to date along with the release of our next, but certainly not last, expansion pack Catacombs. These games were built to crush the competition but they will not succeed. Yes, we have lost subscribers but we aren't hiding and we certainly aren't running from the competition. As I've always preached, competition is good for the industry and good for the soul (even if it is a little hard at times). So, what are we going to ensure that DAoC continues to be one of the top US MMORPGs? Simple, we are going to continue to improve it. Catacombs injected a new graphics engine that puts the game right up there or ahead of anything else on the market. Our instanced areas and other changes have made the game easier than ever to play and succeed in than ever before. New classes and new areas have added new depth to an already deep world. And, best of all, the Catacombs launch was the cleanest launch of all time from our perspective (least downtime, fewest bugs, fewest customer support calls, etc.) and we have set the standard (again) for the launch of a product. However, that is not good enough and over the next few months, here are some of the presents that players will find under their Mythic trees. Matt will be giving out more details on all these things tomorrow.
Translation: We lost a lot of players to World of WarCraft and to a lesser degree EverQuest II, but we aren't going to sit on our asses doing nothing about it.
First, we are going to be adding a lot more options for customization of your characters. What we've done is great, but we want to be even better. So look for an ongoing effort to make a diverse world even more diverse.
Second, as always Mythic has been listening to its player base and we know that on some servers, the lack of a large number of players engaged in RvR at any one point in time can be an issue. Because DAoC is both a PvE and RvR game, we are particularly vulnerable to downturns in the population of a server. So, we have been thinking and trying to come up with a good solution. While we could do something like a server merge, we wanted to come up with something better since even a "simple" merge has a host of problems associated with it. Well, it has taken a bit but we have come up with something that is even better. Thus, we introduce server clustering. Without going into too much details, what this means is that players will have a lot more friends and enemies in RvR, but not change the home server's community unless the players seek to do so. We believe this will make for even better RvR without any of the problems associated with server merges and players leaving their communities. We are the first to ever do this in the industry and we hope that you will enjoy it.
The third present is Instanced RvR areas. This is one of the most requested features by our players and, as always, we have been listening. Adding iRvR to our game takes it to an entirely different level and the stuff that we are working on for it I think will surprise you.
Translation: They are working on some new portal technology where players from the different DAoC servers can play against each other, yet still enjoy the perks of being on smaller pop servers.
The v1.5.1 patch includes new commands for enhancing scripting,
mods
and tournament support, decreased CPU utilization on maps
containing vehicles,
and optimizations and improvements for single and multiplayer maps as
well as other gameplay updates
The v1.5 patch includes a new multiplayer map titled Tigertown,
as well
as new commands for enhancing scripting, mods and tournament support,
and HTTP
redirection for servers running mods and/or custom maps as well as
other
gameplay updates
This update brings your retail game to v1.2 and features 2 new
multiplayer
maps, as well as a few multiplayer fixes. Both the Seer Council
Conceal
Ability and the Chaos Taint Ability have been adjusted.
- Violent, gory and blood-filled
- n Player watches other humans being devoured
- n Player kills aliens and federal agents
Kills federal agents? Uh, they do that in the Matrix movies as well, but like in the movies: they aren't real Federal Agents, they're bad guys... Hell, in Half-Life 2 they aren't even Americans!
San Andreas Ports Dated01:41 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: action(8 comments)
It was today announced that ports of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PC and Xbox will be released June 7th 2005 in North America, somewhat later than expected.
No other news regarding changes or improvements, however.
The game, called "Blitz: Playmakers," is being designed with the help of a writer from the now-canceled ESPN series "Playmakers," which the NFL condemned for its behind-the-scenes portraits of player drug use and mayhem.
"No longer bound to the NFL license, there will be no league restrictions on content and gamers will finally experience what makes playing a football video game really fun: off-field controversies, dirty hits, excessive celebrations and much more," Midway marketing chief Steve Allison said in a statement.
"Blitz: Playmakers," featuring a fictional league and fictional teams and players, is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2005, a Midway spokesman said.
The Settlers: Heritage Of Kings Demo10:21 am
- Andrew Burnes
- games: real-time strategy(0 comments)
Ubisoft has now released an English language version of the Settlers: Heritage Of Kings demo that was previously only available in German. Grab it from one of the following links:
EverQuest II Review - "Our report on Sony's parallel version of Norrath, the latest release based on its landmark persistent state property."
The Witcher Peek #8 - "CD Projekt invites you to pour another ale, pull your chair near the hearth, and learn about the origins of magic."
Dark and Light Screenshots #51 - More of the visual delights that developer NP Cube is implementing in its fantasy-themed persistent state project. Three exclusive screenshots.
The £75m Nightmare Before Xmas05:44 am
- Andrew Burnes
- consoles: general news(3 comments)
Due to the recently discussed console hardware shortages that have hit the UK especially hard, over �75 million could have been lost in retail sales; understandably, retailers aren't too chuffed:
MCV estimates that in the six-week period from November 8th to today (December 17th), around 455,000 PS2 and Xbox console sales will have been lost at a value of some �45.5m. In addition, industry analysts are estimating that at least 930,000 software sales (based on two games per new console) will have been lost, adding a further �27.3m to the total revenue shortfall.
"To work out how much has been lost due to the hardware shortage, you look at last year's numbers for November and December, plus a little growth, then add the value of two to three software titles per console sale lost," one publisher boss told MCV.
You can grab the original C64 edition of Treasure Island Dizzy, the second game in the eggs-on-legs series, right now from Codemasters Downloads in Demos [runs in a self-contained emulator for PC].
If you can cope with the 8-bit eggcitement, plunge into the world of the somersaulting eponymous hero, as he finds himself gently poaching on the silent, sun-kissed beach of a seemingly deserted island...
Can you help him find a way back to his chums, the Yolkfolk, and lodge his compensation claim with the travel agent? And, for the Dizzy experts, there are 30 very will hidden gold coins to collect.
Forgive me Lord for selling my C64 to pay for a Mega Drive.
With a top-notch environment, the cars had better look spectacular, and GTR really tries to impress. With over 70 cars, GTR counts 27 licensed GT cars and 33 licensed NGT cars to present a field of competitors that are able to look and definitely react like the real thing. These cars aren't just modeled for their paint job because GTR cars are programmed to handle like the real machine, not how some programmer feels a certain car should operate. GTR is a European-developed game, so we are pleased to find a lineup of cars dominated by European automakers, bringing a respite from the recent proliferation of games dominated by Asian models.
The cars are detailed beyond expectation, both inside and out. Damage shows up fairly accurately, but the real view is from inside the cockpit. Slide inside one of GTR's machine, and you will find a realistic environment surrounding you just like a car on the circuit might, and if the female driver who got out left the seat too far forward, go ahead and adjust it to your liking. We're not kidding - these cars really do have adjustable seats to let you get comfortable.
"As of December 7th, I have resigned from my position as managing and creative director of Reflections Interactive," confirmed Edmondson to MCV. "Having founded Reflections in 1984 and enjoyed almost two decades of creative and commercial success there, I still feel a great sense of attachment to the studio and am very sad to leave. Reflections remains home to a team of talented and committed people and I wish them all a great deal of success in the future. It is too early for me to announce my own plans, but I fully intend to carry on creating original IP and bringing successful games to market."
Due to continued demand, BattleGoat Studios is pleased to announce the re-opening of the Supreme Ruler 2010 Beta to new applicants. David Thompson, Lead Designer, explained the decision to add more testers, "We've had excellent success with our Beta to this point, but we've had an incredible amount of interest from people that missed the original signup, particularly many dedicated contributors to our forum ( http://www.bgforums.com ). Now that we're wrapping up the final features, it's the perfect time to get additional testers involved."
Starshatter extends the game concepts of the classic space simulations by combining fighter and starship combat in a single game. You begin the game as either a fighter pilot or the commander of a small starship. As you progress through the game, you can earn promotions and awards until you are commanding a massive fleet carrier with three wings of fighters and a complete escort of warships.
The new demo includes the training campaign, Operation Live Fire, and the first five days of the first dynamic campaign, Operation Highland, along with a few single missions and a few multiplayer missions that can be enjoyed entirely for free.
In Other News...12:09 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- in-house: in other news...(32 comments)
It looks like the poll is holding up pretty well to you guys beating on it, so it should be ready to put into the actual front page later today (plan is to stick it on the right side under the tower banner). Since the poll is back, do you think we should ditch the question of the day and just use the IONs for off-topic posts?
