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12,000 Warcraft III Players Banned 10:59 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: real-time strategy
(5 comments)
Battle.net is now reporting that 12,000 users have been banned from Warcraft III for cheating:
A number of additional accounts and CD keys have been tied to the use of a hack or cheat program while playing Warcraft III on Battle.net. In keeping with our aggressive stance against cheating, we have permanently closed 12,000 Warcraft III accounts. 6,000 of the Warcraft III CD keys used with the now-closed accounts have been banned from ladder play for one month, and 1,000 more have been banned from ladder play permanently. Repeat offenders risk having their CD keys disabled, which will result in the permanent removal of their copies of Warcraft III from Battle.net.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Expansion Revealed 10:56 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: real-time strategy
(0 comments)
Revealed via the Atari beta testing website is the unnamed expansion pack for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, along with the ability to beta test said expansion. More info here.
Project: Snowblind Diary 10:52 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: action
(0 comments)
Gamespy popped out the first of its developer's diaries for Project Snowblind, a cross-platform shooter from Crystal Dynamics and Eidos. Today's topic is the game's weapons:
Welcome to the first in a series of development diaries straight from the team here at Crystal Dynamics! We're hard at work putting the finish touches on Project: Snowblind, a frenetic first-person shooter which puts players in the boots of a bio-enhanced super-soldier who's smack-dab in the middle of a war for humanity's future. We're really excited about some of the surprises and innovations we've cooked up for you. I'm Zak McClendon, one of the designers on the project, and I'll be taking you through some of the great toys we've got on tap for the player's awesome arsenal.
Close Combat: First To Fight Preview 06:22 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: action
(1 comment)
Game Informer today carries a huge preview of Destineer's U.S. Marine squad combat title, Close Combat: First To Fight:
At the most basic core, First To Fight is built around the Marine system of "ready, team, fire, assist," or RTFAS. This term refers to the distinct roles and duties of a typical four man Marine fire team. The ready position, the team leader, is the man charged with issuing out orders for the rest of the team. He's the leader and the brains behind how the team works together as a single entity.
The remaining three team positions are essentially support, but each of them does serve their own unique purpose. The fire member, for example, is usually the soldier carrying the heavy firepower and is also the one usually in charge of laying down massive suppression fire on enemy locations. Each soldier in the four-man team has a distinct role to play, but as expected, none is more important than the other. The team may be made up on individual men, but in the field of battle, they're meant to be a single force.
Brothers In Arms Theme Song 06:17 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: action
(3 comments)
Gearbox let us know that they've released the theme song for their upcoming World War 2 action title, Brothers In Arms:
In June of 2004, Gearbox Software's music producer, David McGarry, traveled to Prague to record the famous Filmharmonic Orchestra performing the BiA sound track.
Download here.
Worthplaying Goodies 06:16 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: general news
(0 comments)
Top 20 Best Selling Games of December 04:56 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: general news
(2 comments)
Here are the NPD Group's list of top 20 best selling PC games from December, which is of course the busiest shopping month of the year:
1) Half-Life 2 - Vivendi Universal - $50
2) World Of Warcraft - Vivendi Universal - $49
3) The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts - $46
4) Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - Atari - $37
5) MS Zoo Tycoon 2 - Microsoft - $37
6) Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth - Electronic Arts - $46
7) The Sims 2 Special Edition - Electronic Arts - $46
8) Rome: Total War - Activision - $42
9) The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts - $19
10) Call Of Duty - Activision - $27
11) Doom 3 - Activision - $38
12) Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth DVD - El)ectronic Arts - $48
13) MS Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection - Microsoft - $30
14) Sid Meier's Pirates - Atari - $45
15) Call Of Duty: United Offensive Expansion Pack - Activision - $28
16) Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault - Electronic Arts - $46
17) Halo: Combat Evolved - Microsoft - $32
18) World Poker Championship - Valusoft (THQ) - $19
19) MS Flight Simulator 2004: Century Of Flight - Microsoft - $27
20) Sponge Bob Square Pants: The Movie - THQ - $19
The French are taking over!
Auto Assault Q&A; 04:49 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: mmog
(0 comments)
On the grill at Gamespot today is an interview with Netdevil prez Scott Brown about its forthcoming massively multiplayer auto dueler, Auto Assault:
GS: Tell us a bit about the postapocalyptic world that Auto Assault is set in. How big is it, and how is it divided up (if it is divided at all)? Are there many towns and cities? Where will you go to repair your vehicle or rest up?
SB: The Auto Assault world is broken into regions. Each region consists of a highway map, several instanced highway exit maps, and a few towns. The highways are huge maps, usually more than 30 square miles of territory. This is where you play with lots of other players, completing missions and wreaking havoc on the world. Some mission arcs will include playing a part on an instanced map that you can either play alone or with your current convoy of fellow drivers. These maps are instanced just for your group and they retain the state of what missions you have completed on them. For example, if you destroy an enemy base on an exit map, when you return with a later mission, the base will remain destroyed. Each map has at least one repair station where you are returned when your vehicle is destroyed. The highways also have truck stops, which are large repair stations with stores. Players can travel quickly between truck stops and towns once they have discovered them in the game.
Ex-Lover Deletes Lineage Character; Arrested 12:20 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- mmog: role-playing
(25 comments)
Coming from the land of the bizzare, and Boomtown, is the news that a woman was arrested for deleting the character info of her ex-boyfriend in the MMOG Lineage:
The jilted girlfriend, said to be in her thirties, logged onto her ex-lover's Lineage account with his username and password. Once there she deleted his game data including all the items, weapons and clothes he had collected.
Although the boyfriend did not suffer financially he reported the misuse of his account to the police. Police then reported the woman of Toyama Prefecture, to the Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office accusing her of violating a law banning illegal access to someone else's online accounts.
Just remember this when you break the heart of the next elf you meet in World of Warcraft.
Dark Sector Info 12:15 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: action
(3 comments)
Computer & Video Games now has the first solid info regarding Digital Extreme's next-gen action game, Dark Sector, thanks to their sister publication PC Zone:
The game is set in space, in the mysterious realms at the edge of the solar system, where you play a high-tech stealth agent with a host of supernatural powers. The tagline for the game is "every generation a few are born with the power to control," which is not only a sly hint as to the developer's intentions, but a key to the gameplay itself. Using a combination of cyber-implants and psychic skills, you'll be able to manipulate time, the environment and computer systems in a variety of cool ways, giving you a huge amount of control over a highly reactive world.
Third-person anime-esque stealth-action? Sign me up.
Incredible Hulk Graphics Engine Details 12:13 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: general news
(0 comments)
Over on HomeLan you can read a detailed description of the graphics engine in the new Incredible Hulk game, as written by Neall Verheyde of Radical Games:
Chris Cudahy (Lead Programmer) did a lot of work to enhance the decal system which handles the bulk of the damage effects on the world. It handles radial-damage (like the circular shock wave when Hulk flies into the side of a building), cone-damage (sonic clap), and basic impacts, cracks, breaks, etc over all sorts of terrain. The decals are usually augmented with particle effects for debris, dust, smoke, and flame. Most damage effects are persistent in the world. Decals are eventually recycled, but a LOT of destruction can be layed down before this happens.
Kutaragi Disses Sony 12:07 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- consoles: general news
(2 comments)
Playstation guru Ken Kutaragi was today biting at the hand that feeds him as he bemoaned Sony's backward stance on digital music players, especially ones that play MP3s, and assured this will be corrected with the PSP:
Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said he and other Sony employees have been frustrated for years with management's reluctance to introduce products like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, mainly because the Tokyo company had music and movie units that were worried about content rights.
Kutaragi said Sony's original spirit of innovative technology had grown "diluted." "We have to concentrate on our original nature — challenging and creating," he said.
Activision Buys Doom 3 Xbox Developer 12:01 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- games: general news
(0 comments)
Vicarious Visions, the studio responsible for bringing an expanded version of Doom 3 to the Xbox, has been purchased by its publisher:
The acquisition underscores Activision's strategy to continue building its technical infrastructure in order to take full advantage of the high-growth potential of the next-generation hardware platforms by acquiring technical and design talent with a history of high-quality product creation, while over time enhancing the company's financial operating model.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vicarious Visions' 100-person studio, headquartered in Troy, NY, with offices in Mountain View, C.A, has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. As part of the transaction, Vicarious Visions' management team and key employees have signed long-term employment contracts with Activision.
"We have shared a strong relationship with Activision over the past five years on platforms ranging from Game Boy Color to most recently the Nintendo DS, Xbox and Sony PSP," said Karthik Bala, CEO of Vicarious Visions. "Joining the Activision family seemed like the logical next step and we look forward to continuing to build great games and a great company together."
With recent successes such as Spider-Man 2 and the Tony Hawk games, who can blame them?
A Good Year For Xbox 11:56 am
- Andrew Burnes
- consoles: xbox
(17 comments)
Microsoft released a whole load of back-rubbing stats about the Xbox in 2004 today, so let's get started:
- Xbox Live online gaming service has set a new standard for online gaming with more than 1.4 million members around the world, surpassing expectations and cementing its position as a leader in the digital entertainment landscape.
- Xbox was the only platform to see year-to-year growth during Q4 as well as the full calendar year 2004, while the overall market was down year-to-year, in Europe.
- Xbox market share for 2004 was an impressive 29.46 percent, increasing 7 points from the 2003 calendar year (UK).
- Overall software sales for Xbox lead the way in 2004, growing units sales 44 percent during Q4 and 48 percent for the calendar year 2004.
- There are now more than 200 Xbox Live-enabled titles, making it the richest library of online console games available today.
- Halo 2 has now sold more than 6.4 million copies worldwide.
- The overall Halo franchise, which includes predecessor "Halo: Combat Evolved" for the PC and Xbox, has sold a collective 12.8 million copies in just three years.
- Smashing previously established records, the Xbox Live community has logged a record-breaking 91 million hours playing "Halo 2" since the title's launch - more than any other Xbox Live game in the two-year history of the service. In addition, the instantly immersive gameplay has resulted in close to 61 million logged sessions on the game, with an average session lasting nearly 92 minutes, approximately the length of a major motion picture.
Perimeter Addon Announced 11:47 am
- Andrew Burnes
- games: real-time strategy
(2 comments)
K-D Labs and 1C Company today announced an expansion pack to the most innovative real-time strategy game of 2004, Perimeter:
The story of "Perimeter: Emperor's Testament" opens new pages in the Exodus history. Whereas the Spirits are on the way to their destination and the Harkbacks are seeking the mythical Earth, the Emperor builds up his Sponge Empire using automatic bases - his Vice Frames. He creates the Mechanical Spirit to help him discover new Worlds. One of the Vice frames starts the testing of this mechanism, this leads to appearance of the super mind - Mechanical Messiah and the discovery of the parallel Chain of the Psycho-sphere Worlds. We also meet the "lost" Exodus Frames and find traces of the mysterious alien race. The sides are in the middle of the deadly battle - who wins? The player will find out the answer during 25 missions of the Single Player campaign.
Screenshots can be found on the official site.
Ubisoft Reports Sales 11:28 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: general news
(1 comment)
Ubisoft sent out a press release announcing 2004-2005 third quarter sales of $231 million. Here's a cut from the pr, hit the comments for the full release: Today, Ubisoft, one of the worlds largest videogame publishers, announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004-2005. Third quarter sales totaled $231 million and Ubisoft projects record fourth quarter 2004-2005 sales of more than $273 million.
Excellent holiday season in 2004: all major titles successful:
- Prince of Persia Warrior Within: 1.9 million copies sold in one month
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: 1.4 million units sold in seven weeks
- The Settlers: Heritage of KingsTM (PC): 220,000 units sold in five weeks in Germany alone
Nvidia Interview 11:23 am
- Jeff Tom
- hardware: nvidia
(0 comments)
XBitLabs have scooped an interview with Nvidia during the recent CES as they go over how they'll work with Sony on PlayStation 3. Enjoy: Anna (X-bit labs): From the technology stand point what will the new GPU developed for Playstation 3 resemble if we compare it to the desktop chips by NVIDIA?
David Roman: This is the next generation GPU, so after the GeForce 6 series this is going to be the next generation. So, this will be everything we have in GeForce 6 + whatever else we bring out. Obviously it will support DirectX 9, shader models 3, it will be the most feature-rich, the most powerful GPU that we've ever created actually, when it comes out.
The Third Reich Preview 11:15 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action / roleplaying
(0 comments)
RPGVault have scooped some hands on time with Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich and posted some impressions of it. Here's a bit: One thing that can be reported is that the small sampling we saw gives every indication the title will retain and build on some of its predecessor's key strengths. One of these is the look. Freedom Force very effectively captured the visual essence of the comic book medium and transferred it to the computer screen. It appears the sequel will do the same. In some regards, it may be even better. For instance, although only an impression, it seems like there are more usable and destructible elements within the environments. This is great in terms of allowing your characters to feel like powerful superheroes, although you might not want to go around demolishing every lamppost, phone booth, mailbox and building since doing so will reduce your prestige rating. Then again... In a related vein, the results of behaviors such as smashing things or tossing a car will seem natural, at least within the game context; things will shatter and bounce, debris will hit and injure innocent bystanders, etc.
Eve Online: Exodus Preview 11:13 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: mmog
(12 comments)
PC.IGN are sporting a new preview of the expansion Eve Online: Exodus, from CCP. Here's a clip: Speaking of industry, you now have the ability to access the trade market while in flight, instead of having to dock at a station. This makes sense to me in a science fiction context. You still have to physically reach the location where the items are being housed, but it's nice to be able to multi-task trading with other duties, like pirate missions or resource collection. CCP has also introduced day trading indicators, which means you can research price histories on the thousands of different goods available for purchase. A little speculation can go a long way, and we're told that some Corporations dedicate almost all their time to just trading goods, so price history is a huge boon there.
Restricted Area Preview 11:11 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: role-playing
(0 comments)
Also from GameSpot is a preview of the action-RPG, Restricted Area. So what exactly is Restricted Area? Restricted Area is an upcoming action role-playing game that may very well remind you of Blizzard's popular Diablo games. That's because this German-designed role-playing game uses a similar 2D, isometric graphics engine that renders the action very much in Diablo style. However, that doesn't mean that this is a traditional sword-and-sorcery style game. In fact, Restricted Area is set in the apocalyptic future, where you'll have to roam around the world, armed with firearms and other special gear, blasting away at hundreds of monsters, mutants, and more.
Advent Rising Preview 11:09 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action
(0 comments)
IGN and GameSpot both have previews of GlyphX's third-persion action game, Advent Rising. Here's a bit from IGN: For those who haven't jumped on the Advent Rising train thus far, GlphyX's title is the first in a planned trilogy of action-adventure games starring central character Giddeon. Offering players both third-person and first-person camera perspectives, this science-fiction shooter is built upon the Unreal Warfare engine, generating massive landscapes with striking color and detail. And, working with award-winning science fiction author Orson Scott Card, GlyphX plans on telling an original branching storyline in which the players' actions affect the story's outcome.
Star Wars: Empire at War Preview 11:07 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: real-time strategy
(0 comments)
GameSpot have whipped up a preview of Star Wars: Empire at War, LucasArts latest take on the real-time strategy genre: The new game will take place in the Star Wars universe all right, but its actual events will take place between the not-yet-released film Episode III and the 1977 film Episode IV (better known simply as Star Wars, the first movie in the original trilogy). The action will take place in the same galaxy and will include tours of duty on such planets as Hoth, Endor, Tattooine, and Dagobah. You can also expect to see classic troops and ships in the game, like stormtroopers, Imperial snowspeeders, and the impressively huge four-legged walking AT-ATs (from The Empire Strikes Back), as well as speederbikes and AT-STs (the not-so-impressive two-legged walkers that appeared in the battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi). And in space, you can expect to encounter classic ships like TIE fighters and Y-Wings (and their bomber variants), in addition to humongous Imperial capital ships. (In fact, you can expect to see, and play as, both land and space units in the game...simultaneously.)
Stolen Developer Diary 09:21 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action / strategy
(0 comments)
More from Computer&VideoGames; today as they also have a developer diary of Stolen, from Blue52. Check it: One of the main challenges from a design point of view is the knock on effect this has on balancing specific areas. It has been quite a juggling act to maximise player choice, without breaking other mechanics. This has made Stolen fascinating to work on from a pure design point of view. Because Anya, the character you play, is so incredibly capable it has produced quite a few conundrums. It is very exciting to use athleticism to get to areas that other people can't reach, hack your way past security systems, or, if in a clinch, fight your way out of trouble, but it is very challenging to design levels in such a way that this freedom can be enjoyed. It is very easy to make progress too simple or too hard when there are so many things to take into account.
Spoils of War Q&A; 09:14 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action / strategy
(0 comments)
HomeLAN have scooped an interview with East Coast Games on their real-time strategy and shooter title, Spoils of War: HomeLAN - Another critically acclaimed game, Savage, also combined first person shooter and real time strategy gameplay. How will Spoils of War differ from that game's approach?
Matt Andrews - The main point of difference with Spoils from any other game is an equal combination of the two genres; we stayed away from being one genre with some of another mixed in. We've accomplished this with our character structure in that the player has the ability to decide how they want to play the game - in FPS mode only, in RTS mode only, or by combining the two. We simply afford users the opportunity to play it their way and give them the options of how, without a lot of clutter and confusion. When a person plays Spoils of War they might find that the Battlefield Commander position is one they'd like to try because of the ability to control resources and manage AI's or they may be perfectly happy going off on their own and wreaking havoc as an overwhelming FPS. Others may enjoy RTS, but every once in a while wish they could drop down and help their fellow warrior(s) on the battlefield - we made sure that could happen and with equal capabilities as the other FPS characters. The transfer between RTS and FPS is done with the click of a button providing instant gratification that will allow for exceptional speed, strategic advantage and enjoyment.
Chaos Theory Music Q&A; 09:13 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action / strategy
(0 comments)
Computer&VideoGames; have slapped up an interview with Amon Tobin on scoring the Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory soundtrack: Does scoring for a videogame throw up any particular problems or challenges?
Amon Tobin: Creatively I had all the freedom in the world but technically it was very difficult. It's tough to design music that has to change at any moment from one level of stress to another, and still have any coherence. There is an element of accepting that it is a videogame and not a movie and that therefore not everything is going to work perfectly, but I'm pleased that my score is as complete as it could be given the complexity of the arrangements and the limitations of the consoles.
Resurrection of Evil Q&A; 09:08 am
- Jeff Tom
- games: action
(2 comments)
Computer&VideoGames; have slapped up an interview with id software on the Doom 3 expansion, Resurrection of Evil: The first section of Doom 3 was quite slow and deliberate in the way it built up the tension. Will the pacing in Resurrection of Evil be equally creepy, or are you going for a more action-oriented experience?
Tim Willits: It's shorter, it's about half as long as Doom 3. I think it's a lot more intense. There's more of a focus on action and when you add in the powers you acquire from the Hunters and the extra possibilities of the Gravity Gun, we're definitely talking about a much more action-packed experience. That's not to say there won't be quieter, more moody moments too, but we really wanted to try and make it as much fun as we possibly could.
Sony Ups PSP Production 04:26 am
- Andrew Burnes
- consoles: psp
(5 comments)
The PSP appears to be quite popular over in Japan, so Sony is increasing production of the handheld to meet demand, with Kutaragi now talking of mobile phone functions:
Sony Corp. will raise monthly production of its PlayStation Portable game player to 1 million units because of rising popularity of the handheld console, said Chief Operating Officer Ken Kutaragi.
Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, has shipped 800,000 units of the PSP in Japan since its Dec. 12 debut, Kutaragi said at a speech in Tokyo. He didn't say what the Tokyo-based company's current monthly output is. Sony on Jan. 5 said it had shipped 510,000 units as of Dec. 31.
A North American and European launch is still intended for March.
In-Game Advertiser Adds $10m To The Kitty 03:17 am
- Andrew Burnes
- games: general news
(2 comments)
ClickZNews reports that Massive, the company presently organising in-game advertising on a massive scale, has gained a further $10 million of funding:
New York-based Massive will expand its ad sales staff in its new Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. A London office is planned for mid-2005, which will service advertisers in the U.K., France, and Germany. Massive expects to add as many as 20 employees to the current 30 on staff, according to CEO Mitch Davis.
Massive's platform operates much like online ad-serving networks. The company dynamically delivers advertising into video games within its network, then measures results and reports results back to publishers. Ads are downloaded from the server in the background of game play to minimize effects on game play or performance.
Companies already signed up include Atari, Ubisoft and VUG.
No More WoW For North America 03:10 am
- Andrew Burnes
- mmog: role-playing
(15 comments)
Blizzard and VUG won't be producing any more copies of their smash-hit MMORPG until their current server and infrastructure problems are solved:
"We haven't requested that any retailers pull the games they already have off their shelves," Gil Shif, public relations representative, said. "We're just being careful not to release additional copies to be sold until we feel the game servers can support additional players."
Blizzard declined to comment on how long it would be until more copies of World of Warcraft would be shipped to retail stores.
In semi-related news, Okratas looks at the enforceability of EULAs, such as Blizzard's.
F.E.A.R. MP Impressions 01:35 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: action
(0 comments)
Some more F.E.A.R. multiplayer impressions coming your way, this time from GamersDepot:
Using a completely new gaming engine - built in-house - FEAR will catapult people into a single player experience that's nothing short of a Jon Woo action flick. Over-the-top action, horror and graphical prowess are what drive the development team into pushing the envelope with both single and multiplayer. Your role is as an operative with an elite team of counterterrorist's who are called into action to investigate a compound that's apparently been overtaken by terrorists - or so that's what they think. Translating this kind of action into a fun multiplayer experience takes an even-handedness and attention to detail and game balance.
Project Snowblind Preview 01:12 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: action
(0 comments)
The chaps at Gamesdomain took a look at Eidos' Project Snowblind:
The ravenous shooter fanatic has been left high and dry on occasion, but 2005 is looking promising indeed. The forthcoming Project Snowblind from Crystal Dynamics is a big, icy chunk of the looming shooter hailstorm. While inspiration from the Deus Ex series is readily apparent, the futuristic Snowblind is definitely its own distinct "thing," unique in both mechanics and setting. Snowblind aims to combine the dramatic, big battlefield drama of games like Call of Duty with the free-form combat and options of other shooters.
Unreal Championship 2 Diary 01:05 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- consoles: xbox
(1 comment)
TeamXbox smacked up a new edition of its Unreal Championship 2 diary series written by Epic's Mike Capps:
We've just hit content complete on the project, which is a huge milestone in development. (Good job, guys!) We structure our process around two targets: feature complete and content complete. Content complete means ALL the art is in there. It may not all be perfect, there may be some known bugs, etc., but all the animations, textures, maps, etc. are in the game and playable. Feature complete for us really means "feature locked", when all the features in the game are operational and playable. That's probably the most important milestone to me -- because it's when I can say, "Sorry, it'll have to wait for a sequel." without people thinking I just don't like their feature.
Game Reviews 12:15 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- games: general news
(0 comments)
In Other News... 12:03 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- in-house: in other news...
(65 comments)
Today's question is: Why do you think so many people turned on id after they released Doom 3? Was the game really that bad, or is it just fun to kick the man when they're down?
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