Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Physics are also going to be a huge feature of Unreal Engine 3, especially as new technologies such as multi-core CPUs and dedicated physics processors emerge on the next-generation of consoles and PCs. The sheer amount of computing power will allow for far more interaction with the environment. To demonstrate this, Epic showed an Unreal Engine 3 demo in which boulders rolled down a hill. In Unreal Tournament 2003, the engine could calculate and display about 10 boulders rolling down a hill at a time. Unreal Tournament 2004 increased that number to about 20. Both of those combined are nowhere close to the number of physical objects that Unreal Engine 3 can handle at the same time. To illustrate this, an avalanche of more than 600 boulders rolled down the hill, each reacting realistically to collisions and each casting its own shadow.
IGNPC: We understand you've built on the existing engine from Age of Mythology. How much of the original engine remains? What were the key changes you needed to make?
Dave Pottinger: We started with the AOM engine, but it's been very, very heavily modified by now. We've done wholesale replacement on everything with the renderer, the animation system, the model system, pathing, movement, and the multiplayer systems (client and server). The renderer changes are the most sexy, of course. The Age 3 renderer is built to be cutting-edge and take advantage of the latest technology. But, since our games sell a bunch of copies, we also have to make the graphics gracefully degrade if you don't have an uber box under your desk. That's a tough challenge given the breadth of hardware out there right now. Age 3 easily has the largest compatibility spectrum of any game that we've ever done. I'd wager that we've probably spent as much time on those lower-end parts of the renderer as on the super high-end components.
Steam Updates06:34 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: Action(0 comments)
A variety of changes have tonight been released for Counter-Strike: Source, the Source SDK, and the Source Engine in general:
CS:S
Fixed an issue which was affecting player movement prediction
Stopped players on de_dust2 being able to hide inside of rocks
Added clipbrushes to de_train to prevent players from reaching certain areas
Enabled bots to navigate their way out of the carts in cs_compound
Source Engine (game server changes)
Added "stats" command to print the current cpu usage, players and net bandwidth in use
Fixed rcon responses to properly reflect request id's
Added rate-limiting to connectionless queries to prevent flooding (as in HL1, the rate-limiting is controlled via the cvars: sv_max_queries_sec, sv_max_queries_sec_global, and sv_max_queries_window)
Removed sv_allowlocalquery cvar
Source SDK
Added Snow and rain materials
Added qc_eyes.exe
Made various improvements and fixes to .FGD files
Fixed an issue in Vrad which was causing visible artifacts when lighting very large objects/areas
Fixed an issue in Studiomdl which was allowing bad $modelnames to be used
Physics Solutions For Xbox 2 Announced12:27 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Consoles: Xbox Next(10 comments)
Meqon (suppliers of physics for Duke Nukem Forever) and AGEIA (inventors of the new Physics Processing Unit) have both today announced physics packages that support the Xbox 2:
Meqon: Tracey Frankcom, Program Manager, Xbox Tools & Middleware, agrees, "As the power of games hardware increases, the complexity of games must keep pace. Providing developers with tools that take advantage of the multi-core architecture of the next-generation Xbox platform to facilitate the creation of ever more sophisticated environments and interactions will breathe life into the high-definition gaming experience. This will be crucial to the next generation of games titles. We are pleased to have Meqon's Game Dynamics software in development for the next generation Xbox platform."
AGEIA: "AGEIA's NovodeX Physics SDK is a powerful middleware engine for game developers who want to make the most of the multicore architecture of the next generation Xbox platform," said Tracey Frankcom, program manager, Xbox Tools and Middleware. "The real-time physics capabilities of NovodeX, combined with the high-definition graphics and audio of the Xbox, enable the creation of totally immersive environments and unbelievably lifelike character interactions."
Full press releases available via the comments.
Xbox 2 Keynote Speech12:21 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Consoles: Xbox Next(2 comments)
Major Nelson is now hosting a 17MB MP3 of J Allard's GDC keynote speech that focussed on the Xbox 2/Next/Xenon (delete as desired), with a video of the speech expected on Xbox.com later today.
Update: Pictures of the Next-Generation Xbox Guide can now be found here.
Update #2: A .zip containing hi-res Xbox Guide images is now available to download.
Epic Games, one of the world's leading developers of cutting-edge computer and video games and the pioneer of the award-winning Unreal� Engine, today announced that its Unreal Engine 3 technology and tools will be used in games developed by and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Earlier this year, Epic became an official licensed tool and middleware provider for the next generation Xbox� platform, and its partnership with Microsoft Game Studios further demonstrates its commitment to meet the challenges of developing for next generation hardware, and to deliver tools and technology that empower the development and publishing communities to efficiently deliver high quality, unique content.
In using Unreal Engine 3, the Microsoft Game Studios team will be able to truly exploit the unique hardware features of the next generation Xbox platform and harness the enormous power that its team has at its disposal.
"We only work with the best partners and utilize the best technologies, and Epic and the Unreal Engine 3 hit the mark on both those fronts," said Shane Kim, General Manager, Microsoft Game Studios. "Our teams are creating incredible games and content for the next generation Xbox platform, and by integrating Unreal Engine 3 into our development infrastructure we are able to really maximize our teams' performance and deliver the quality content and creativity that the market has come to expect from us."
Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games agrees, "We are hugely excited that Microsoft Game Studios have selected Unreal Engine 3 for its next generation Xbox platform games. It's an opportunity for us to show the industry the true capabilities of our tools and technologies and is a testament to the incredible amount of hard work by our teams here to deliver tools and technologies that are 100% tuned into the needs of next generation development. It further demonstrates our ability to deliver the most flexible, most productive tools and technology in the market today."
The new single-player level we were able to see and play seems to have a setup similar to the area in the E3 demo (which we were told featured some actual areas from the game), in that your character is part of an elite military force that's only called in when already-elite Army corps like Delta Force can't get the job done. The setup is fairly routine--you and three Delta troopers hit the gates of the installation and send you in to find a switch that opens the front gate. It's a simple enough task, and as the gate opens, your comrades will call you back down. However, once you've arrived, they seem to have disappeared, and only three small clouds of ash remain. This is one of the first tipoffs you'll receive about the game's supernatural aspects, which will come much more heavily into play later on. As executive producer Chris Miller explains, F.E.A.R.'s pacing will be marked by moments like these--instead of fighting continuous hordes of enemies, you'll instead often find yourself walking through brief lulls in the action before things get hairy, either with an intense firefight or a bizarre paranormal manifestation.
In a short but hugely impressive real-time demo, a room is almost completely demolished using a weapon that fires tennis-ball sized projectiles. In the first section of the demo, glass panels shatter realistically and fragile boxes full of objects suspended from the ceiling are smashed, leaving jagged corners hanging on ropes while the contents smash to the floor.
In another section, a tiled wall is destroyed realistically, with tiles breaking and popping off the wall when they're hit sufficiently hard, while further demonstrations of the engine's prowess include human shaped "rag doll" models in glass boxes, which react realistically to the environment around them being damaged, and most impressively of all, a completely interactive piece of cloth suspended between poles - which billows and stretches when it's shot, and can even be filled with balls like a hammock.
Cool and all, but just get the damn game finished eh?
Israeli Army Says No To Dungeons & Dragons09:20 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Role-Playing(12 comments)
There's an amusing story on Slashdot which says that the Israeli Army frowns on Dungeons & Dragons players, giving anyone who admits to playing it it a low security clearance. "These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality - elements which lower a person's security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions."
Xbox 2 Specs & Info Revealed By J Allard09:01 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Consoles: Xbox Next(26 comments)
Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect J Allard will tonight announce many details regarding the Xbox 2, as has been revealed by a leaked press release, the entirety of which is available to read below:
SAN FRANCISCO — March 9, 2005 — Today at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft Corp. announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox video game system platform, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect J Allard further outlined the company's vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an "HD Era" in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-definition.
"In the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor," Allard said. "New technology and emerging consumer forces will come together to enable the rock stars of game development to shake up the old establishment and redefine entertainment as we know it."
Building on 10 years of innovation with the DirectX API, the Microsoft Windows and Xbox platforms will enable ground-breaking game experiences in the HD Era. Illustrating what that means for gamers, Allard shared the first details about the next generation Xbox guide. Persistent across all games and media experiences, the guide is an entertainment gateway that instantly connects players to their games, their friends and their digital media.
Features of the guide include these:
Gamer Cards: Gamer Cards provide gamers with a quick look at key Xbox Live information. They let players instantly connect with people who have similar skills, interests and lifestyles.
Marketplace: Browseable by game, by genre, and in a number of other ways, the Marketplace will provide a one-stop shop for consumers to acquire episodic content, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins and new community created content.
Micro-transactions: Breaking down barriers of small-ticket online commerce, micro-transactions will allow developers and the gaming community to charge as little as they like for content they create and publish on Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of their buddies.
Custom playlists: This feature eliminates the need for developers to support custom music in games. The guide instantly connects players to their music so they can listen to their own tracks while playing all their favorite next-generation Xbox games.
Typifying the HD Era game experience, the guide requires hardware designed with software in mind. System-level features of the guide such as custom playlists, the Xbox Live Friends list and voice chat are enabled at the chip level, liberating developers to focus on creating games, not developing for technical certification requirements (TCRs).
To support consumer demands for the HD Era, the next-generation Xbox is designed around key principles that let developers maximize real performance, using concepts they are already familiar with.
The next-generation Xbox hardware design principles include the following:
A well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance
A multicore processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp. that provides developer "headroom" and flexibility for the HD Era
A custom-designed graphics processor co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc. designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications
In addition, familiar software technologies such as DirectX, PIX, XACT and the recently announced XNA Studio — an integrated team-based development environment tailored for game production — complement the new hardware to help game developers unlock increasingly powerful and complex silicon.
The HD Era gaming platform will strike an elegant balance of hardware, software and services to power the new experiences consumers demand. Games and entertainment features such as the next-generation Xbox guide represent a shift toward more immersive and integrated consumer experiences. This shift will be further illustrated by a significant leap to high-definition graphics, where character movements and expressions are intensely vibrant and nearly indiscernible from real life; by multichannel, positional audio fidelity so clear and precise that players will be able to hear the faintest enemy footsteps sneaking up behind them; by richer online communications; and by an abundance of on-demand content for game consoles.
The Bear touched, rubbed and blew the crowd away, as he got to grips with the new handheld whilst sharing his sofa with four stunning female Nintendo fans.
The Bear was heard excitedly growling that: "This new machine is UNTOLD!!!"
(Click to Enlarge & Expand Gallery!)
Well, Nintendo's certainly full of surprises...
Dreamfall Preview07:19 am
- Jeff Tom
- Games: Adventure(2 comments)
More from the guys at GameSpot as they've also shot out a preview of the Dreamfall, the sequel to the Longest Journey, an adventure game from Funcom as well as a video developer interview. Check it:
Norwegian studio Funcom created what many adventure game fans consider to be a classic in The Longest Journey back in 2000. But the successor to that acclaimed game won't be the traditional point-and-click adventure game its forebear was. The developer is purposely attempting to make a game that's different than most others on the market. Designer Ragnar Tornquist explained that he finds it difficult to classify Dreamfall: The Longest Journey within any standard game genre, and that frankly, this doesn't bother him one bit. In fact, the designer likens the game, which will combine elements of adventure games, stealth games, and third-person combat, less to a traditional adventure game and more to a page-turning "thriller" novel, especially since the game will emphasize its multilayered story and characters.
Since the premise of the game is that you're a mercenary, you must purchase your own weapons, armor, and ammunition; you can't pick up weapons or ammo from fallen enemies. You can also hire up to four computer-controlled mercenaries as backup. However, you'll also have to pay to outfit them with weapons and equipment. This will allow you some tactical flexibility, though, as you can arm and outfit them in a variety of ways. You can give one mercenary a heavy shield, which can deflect incoming rounds, while you give another a heavy two-handed weapon for support. One tactic in the game is called "turtling." Basically, one mercenary with a heavy shield will provide shelter for another mercenary, who will provide fire support. This is essentially an updated version of the old Roman Legion testudo formation (as seen in Rome: Total War), but on a much smaller scale. Of course, the enemy will be able to use shields against you, too. One way to defeat a shield is by tossing a grenade at it...at which point physics will take care of the rest. Bet on Soldier will actually make use of the Novodex physics engine, the same one that's being incorporated into the Unreal Engine 3.
GS: Give us an overview of the gameplay in Boiling Point. We know that the game will primarily be a first-person shooter, but since the story behind the game is also about investigating the disappearance of the main character's sister, what other elements can we expect--character dialogues, quests, racing?
PW: The game is really part shooter and part role-playing game. As a character, you start off with neutral relationships with all of the game's factions including the CIA, local guerrillas, bandits, the Realia government, native cultures, and, of course, the mafia. All of your actions in the world, including your success or failure in a given mission, affect your relationship with each faction. There are very deep character dialogue trees--you can interact with every character in the game to learn more about the locales and the interaction between factions.
LEGO and Star Wars - it's probably not the first combination most gamers would think of. Why go for LEGO Star Wars?
Jonathon Smith: Because we wanted to do something no one had ever seen before. And while there have been LEGO games, and Star Wars games, there's never been a LEGO Star Wars game. And now there is! From LEGO, we get freedom, playfulness and accessibility. From Star Wars, we get epic action, cool characters and great locations. Put together, we have a game world full of possibilities, which was just so fun to work in.
"The reaction to Gran Turismo 4 from retailers across PAL territories has exceeded even our high expectations," said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "This Day One number reflects the popularity and broad appeal of the series - not only with seasoned GT buyers but with driving fans, motoring enthusiasts and casual gamers alike. We expect Gran Turismo 4 to become the "must-have" title for anyone who owns a PlayStation 2 or anyone thinking about purchasing one."
Lawmakers looked impassive, even bored - After the decapitation, dismemberment and multiple shootings, though, looks of shock and disgust swept the committee room.
"What I saw there had no redeeming social qualities," Del. Michael D. Smigiel (R-Cecil) told the Judiciary Committee. "I would say it's pornographic."
To say Sony relies on gaming is an understatement. In the last three business years the game unit has been its biggest driver of operating income and one of its top revenue sources, aside from the struggling electronics segment.
"When you consider that Mr. Kutaragi can now concentrate his manpower just on games, it's positive for the game business," said Yuta Sakurai, a senior analyst for Nomura Securities.
"He's going to have to keep a balance with the rest of Sony going forward. Since he's lost responsibility for semiconductors he won't be able to sacrifice the rest of Sony for PlayStation in terms of both money and people," said Deutsche Securities analyst Takashi Oya.
Sega Purchases Creative Assembly04:18 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: General News(3 comments)
Along with yesterday's announcement of the console-only Spartan: Total Warrior, Sega also revealed that they have purchased the developer, Creative Assembly, who are also responsible for the Total War franchise:
The deal sees SEGA acquiring a company at the very pinnacle of games development - a unique group of talent who are second to none with an outstanding global reputation. The style and genre of The Creative Assembly's games perfectly complements SEGA's own long term strategic vision and SEGA will empower the team to continue on their existing development path whilst also expanding their resources for the future. SEGA will not only be releasing Spartan: Total Warrior this year, but will also be supporting The Creative Assembly to develop the Total War strategy series, as well as exploring ambitious new ventures.
Naoya Tsurumi - CEO: SEGA Of America & SEGA Europe commented "This news is direct evidence of SEGA delivering it's strategic objective of strengthening our emphasis in the western market. As our first developer acquisition in the West since we became a publisher it clearly demonstrates that we have set our sights on working with the very best talent in the industry".
Sonic: Total War coming soon?
Update: MCV reports that Sega paid $30 million for the studio.
In Other News...12:54 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- In-House: In Other News...(3 comments)
Brothers in Arms PC gone golden; a dedicated physics processing chip announced (we can tag another four or five years of Duke Nukem Forever development on because of this I'm sure); Xbox 2 specs revealed -- oh my! Rather than a normal QoTD, here are some of the highlights of yesterday's news:
The PhysX chip is a gadget they'll smack on a video card (or something) whose sole purpose is to speed up the physics calculations in games, so instead of seeing maybe 5 or 10 objects in a scene that you can manipulate, there's really no (practical) limit. Just think of more stuff to blow up, kick around and interact with. There are a lot of unanswered questions like How much will it cost? Will hardware vendors actually use it? Console or PC? Time will tell.
Brothers in Arms went gold for the PC (and PS2) which hits stores March 17th. Brothers in Arms is as good -- if not better -- as Call of Duty, so I'm looking forward to picking this up very much to say the least. Best World War 2 game evah?
Xbox 2 specs surfaced over at Gamespy where they spill the beans about some of the features included in Microsoft's next-gen console. Triple 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores, next-generation ATI graphics CPU that's better than anything currently on the market today for the PC, an optical drive (hard drive optional) and an improved Xbox Live service. The real question is: How much will all this goodness cost? How bad of a hit is Microsoft taking per unit bringing it to market? Will games run like $70 so they can break even? For that matter, will Sony and Nintendo be able to keep up?
As a footnote (sorry to be the fun police) the @VE3D email and stuff still isn't working, so make sure to use @VoodooExtreme.com if you have a burning desire to send us news (or steamy man-love letters).
Numerous studies have shown that developers and other workers putting in 12-hour days routinely make more mistakes as the midnight oil burns, said Francois Dominic Laramee, a freelance game developer and author. That means any extra productivity is eaten up by hits to product quality.
"If your company is in crunch mode, drunken zombies may be checking your code right now," he said.
More about alcoholic half-dead developers can be found on CNET.
Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell — the man who produced the minimalist but memorable game "Pong" — and "Donkey Kong" creator Shigeru Miyamoto were among those honored Tuesday with a star on the inaugural Walk of Game section on the floor of a downtown shopping and entertainment center.
"Thank you very much for this honor. It's always fun to be walked on wherever you can be," Bushnell quipped.
The tourism industry is expected to see a +200% influx of visitors thanks to this incredible landmark.
IGN: The first Incredible Hulk title did some great things as comic book videogames go. It tapped into the Hulk's strength by showing him damaging streets, using interactive objects in the environment, and more. The engine was robust and it satisfied some hardcore gamers and apparently a good number of casual players as well, but there was room to work, room to improve. How is this game different and better than the first?
Vlad Ceraldi: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the full-monty Hulk experience. We have let it all hang out. The first title approached smash everything but Ultimate Destruction will blow gamers away with "I can't believe I just did that" moments. The scale and sense of freedom of this game is much greater than any other comic book videogame to date. If you felt that locomotion in other games was great as you swing from place to place like a monkey in tights, you are in for a big surprise -- nothing can stop the Hulk! You can barrel down the street sending buses and traffic into oblivion, run up buildings leaving a swath of destruction in your wake and leap over buildings as you bound across the city linking super jumps together. We re-wrote our game engine to make sure that the player has the freedom to lose control -- where the world is your weapon and you can choose how, when and where to play.
The former studio head of Deus Ex-developer Ion Storm told GameSpot today that the staff of Austin, Texas-based Junction Point Studios is already hard at work. The company has started preliminary development on a "fantasy" title created by Spector, who worked at Dungeons and Dragons creator TSR in the 1980s. Although Spector said the title was rapidly evolving, he did not give any indication about what specific subgenre the game would fall under or what platforms it would be released for.
Hopefully without corporate pressure to create something 'mass market,' we'll see a return to form for Spector.
Total War Console Spin-Off Announced11:10 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Consoles: General News(1 comment)
Creative Assembly's Total War series is making its first foray into the console world with a spin-off known as Spartan: Total Warrior, which places the action on the battlefield, rather than above it:
While CA's Total War games emphasized the player as commander (the General), Spartan: Total Warrior puts the player in control of a heroic warrior. Spartan: Total Warrior will engulf the player into the midst of titanic clashes between mighty armies, blending mythical beasts and legendary monsters into the fray. Brutal combat meets epic warfare on the battlefields of the ancient world as you fight for your life, your freedom and your honor.
Screens and a trailer can be found on Worthplaying.
Traffic Drugs RTS Style With Snow11:06 pm
- Andrew Burnes - Games: Real-Time Strategy(1 comment)
2K Games has announced plans to release a real-time strategy game about the creation and distribution of illegal drugs in the 1970's and 80's, which will be developed by the team behind Tropico 2: Pirate Cove:
"The fictional underground world Frog City has created for Snow is the perfect setting for a real time strategy game," said Christoph Hartmann, Senior Vice President of Publishing for 2K Games.
"Snow will challenge players to oversee every aspect of the drug trade, all of which require calculated thinking in order to make your business prosper while at the same time keeping it safe from the authorities and other rival kingpins. This will surely make for an intense, paranoid and most importantly, strategic gaming experience."
The new expansion features the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk. There are 100 new missions for players of all types on this Wookiee homeworld. Most revolve around the Wookiees' fight for freedom from their Imperial and Trandoshan predators. The Empire is worried that the Alliance is gaining a foothold on the planet and willing to fight to prevent the population from going over to the Rebels. They've also backed a number of Trandoshan slavers who capture and sell Wookiees to buyers throughout the galaxy. Wealthy Rodians have also set up safari stations across the planet to serve as base camps for their own hunts.
Whether the games are single player or multiplayer, all Xenon titles tie into a new gamer profile feature. Think of it as a universal profile for each gamer that uses the system; the gamer profiles are the player's single identity across all Xenon games. Similar to how a single Windows XP machine can be set up for multiple users, each Xenon system will house profiles for every gamer it serves. This feature is fantastic for households with multiple gamers, since each player's settings can be saved in his or her profile and selected when the system boots.
The green men are nearly extinct, stop this madness.
CPU - Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three.
GPU - Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease.
System Memory - Xenon will have 256 MB of system RAM. Keep in mind that this number should not be equated to typical PC RAM. The Xbox has 64 MB of system RAM and is a very capable machine.
Many little green men died bringing us this information. :(
This singeplayer demo features several tutorials, a Free Nations
Union campaign mission, Frontal Assault and Field of Glory scenarios, as
well as a Micronesia world war map.
The update fine-tunes the multiplayer mode with an improved overall
stability and performance, as well as fixed CTD bugs and some graphical
improvements.
Editor Prosecuted For Warez Crimes; Faces 6 Years02:59 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: General News(54 comments)
It has been revealed that Seth Kleinberg, Executive Editor of Game-Over.net, was arrested last April's as part of Operation Fastlink, "an aggressive enforcement action undertaken against organizations involved in illegal intellectual property piracy over the Internet," due to his involvement in the warez scene. In a letter sent to his contacts, Kleinberg yesterday made these comments regarding his indiscretions:
I am sure you are aware of last April's "Operation Fastlink." Unfortunately, I made some bad choices, and was involved in the warez scene. I am accepting responsibility for what I did, and pleading guilty tomorrow in the United States District Court in Connecticut.
I am very sorry for what I have done, and after I serve my sentence, I hope I will be able to continue my career in the game industry, and move on with my life. This last year has been incredibly hard for me emotionally, facing the consequences of my bad choices, and I am hopeful for your support, but I'll understand if you want nothing to do with me.
If publishers and developers can't trust the ones who are meant to love gaming the most, who can they trust?
Update: A Seattle Post-Intelligencer story reveals that Kleinberg was actively cracking the copy protection of software, and faces 5-6 years in prison for his crimes.
Brothers In Arms Goes Gold12:39 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: Action(5 comments)
The PC & PS2 versions of Gearbox Software's Brothers In Arms have gone gold, and will be on North American shop shelves a week Thursday.
I'm so excited about that movie, I'll tell you why. Number one, it's my first rated-R movie and it's a very unapologetic rated-R movie. Not only that, but the monsters are real, they're not CGI. They're made by Stan Winston who did Jurassic Park and Predator and all that. So the monster's got weight and when they're in a scene they're like Aliens!
Dwayne spoils a large part of the story, "without ruining it for everyone," so beware of checking out the full article.
Imagine you have been trained to handle the "unknown" - armed with the latest in high tech weaponry - and you have been called in to handle a crisis. You find out a paramilitary force has infiltrated a multi billion dollar aerospace compound taking hostages, but issuing no demands. The government has responded by sending in its best special operations teams only to have them obliterated. You have been given full executive authority to end the crisis by ANY means necessary. You go in expecting the unknown- but are completely unprepared for what you'll experience... F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon!
Domination Demo10:23 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Turned-Based Strategy(2 comments)
Wargaming.net released a 280 meg demo for its upcoming turn-based strategy game -- Domination, which includes a couple scenarios, a single player mission, some tutorials and more. Snag a copy from:
SWAT 4 demo gave a preview to the mission editor. What are the expectations this will have for replayability of the title? How should it compare to more traditional tools like a map editor or modifiable code?
Even though SWAT 4 will have both a map editor and highly moddable content, we wanted to give people who aren't that mod savvy the chance to create their own scenarios. All the missions in SWAT 4 have high replay value since the AI spawning and general behaviors vary so much from one playthrough to the next. We wanted to take that to the next level by giving people the ability to add even more variety by choosing what types of enemies, hostages, weapons, etc. The whole system creates a game that has near limitless replayability.
GDC 2005 Keynote09:15 am
- Jeff Tom
- Games: General News(1 comment)
The weblog Wonderland have posted up a transcript of the 2005 GDC keynote from Ralph Koster as he analyzes the theory of fun in games. Thanks Slashdot. Check it:
Which brings us to games. What a cultural artifact they are. What a lot of them there are. Look "game" up in the dictionary, and it sounds frivolous .. there's lots of lofty academic stuff about it. But we need to dig into games and find out what they are. Games are nicely distilled patterns. Like the iconified smiling face. Games are the cartoon version of real world sophisticated problems. Snakes and ladders? It's Euclidian geometry! It's a Cartesian space. It has wormholes, for pete's sake. Who here teaches physics? Superstring theory? Play a game! Games are distillation of cognitive schemata. That's. What. They. Are. They are prefab chunks - you can run through and practice without actually having to do it. Games are fundamentally forms of cognitive training. I'm using cognitive in the sense of how we know what we know. Some data we just learn as databanks: rote leaning multiplication tables for instance. There is a big difference between learning tables and understanding how numbers work.
Many fans of Command & Conquer games including myself view Petroglyph as Westwood Studios reincarnated, since the bulk of your employees came from Westwood after they closed. What's your reaction to that?
Mike Legg: That is a very nice notion, since Westwood was very important to us and a huge part of our lives. I was part of Westwood for 17 years and had a fantastic experience working there. Westwood co-founders Louis Castle and Brett Sperry are still very dear friends to me. I was very fortunate to befriend and work with most of the Petroglyph team at Westwood. There, we were a very close group and worked together through thick and thin. Since our team enjoyed working together for so many years at Westwood, it is a natural evolution for ex-Westwoodians to come and join Petroglyph. 22 members of our current staff used to work at Westwood, and most were involved in the Command & Conquer series. Our 5 teammates that had not worked with us previously are absolutely awesome people and also incredible assets to our team and culture - it's definitely good to have some new faces mixed in with the group. Petroglyph has a lot of the old Westwood spirit, but has also become a very unique company and culture in its own.
The good news for all our current City of Heroes players is that everyone who signed up for a European City of Heroes account in the month following launch (that's 4 February to 4 March, 2005, date fans) and has been subscribed to the game for at least six months when the Beta starts will be guaranteed a place in the City of Villains European Beta.
If you haven't yet joined the fight to save Paragon City from the forces of evil, though, don't despair. Everyone who signs up for a City of Heroes account during the second month after launch (5 March - 31 March, 2005) and has been subscribed for at least six months when the Beta starts will be given priority when the remaining places are assigned.
Namco Scores Warhammer License07:43 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Real-Time Strategy(4 comments)
The poop from CGM is that Namco has secured the rights from Games Workshop to develop future titles based on the Warhammer series. In related news, they interview Namco about their intentions of breaking in on the PC games market.
Update: The Official Xbox Magazine has awarded Chaos Theory a near-perfect 9.9, eclipsing the 9.7 granted to Halo 2 - I guess Chaos Theory is now the bestest game everTM.
One of the main features of this release is the greatly enhanced Bot Support. Finally, players are able to enjoy a decent game of offline practise against AI-driven opponents. Bots will take orders and immediately comply, unlike human players who tend to go their own way most of the time. Another big advantage that bots bring is their fearlessness and they will follow any command, even if it means running into certain death (true to the Russian fighting spirit). Giving orders is simple and intuitive, and you can be sure that the bots will follow your command to the letter.
AEGIA's Physics Processing Unit Excites02:22 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: General News(26 comments)
AEGIA has today announced the PhysX chip, a Physics Processing Unit allowing for complex hardware-based physics calculations and rendering, which is expected to revolutionise gaming as Graphics Processing Units did in the 90's:
By performing advanced physics simulations in real time, the PPU can respond to gamer actions as well as environments contributing to pervasive interactive reality. By introducing dramatic amounts of physics, games can now react uniquely to each input, adding a tremendous variety of game play. Physics will offer a host of advanced features including universal collision detection, rigid-body dynamics, soft-body dynamics, fluid dynamics, smart particle systems, clothing simulation, soft-body deformation with tearing, and brittle fracturing for destruction of objects in gaming environments.
The likes of Epic Games, Sega and Ubisoft are already on board with this new technology, and here's a quote from Tim Sweeney:
We've been using the NovodeX Physics SDK with the Unreal Engine 3 for the past year and it has added some awesome effects. It's going to be exciting to see what NovodeX can do once the PhysX chip hits the market.
More on this can be found in the comments.
Sammy Studios U.S. Becomes High Moon Studios01:19 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: General News(1 comment)
Sammy Corporation has made a hasty retreat from the North American gaming market, enabling a private investment group led by John Rowe, president and chief operating officer of Sammy Studios to buy the U.S. development house and reform it as High Moon Studios. High Moon continues to work on a number of titles, including Darkwatch, the zombie-themed Wild West action shooter.
Continuing the story, Worthplaying spoke to Rowe regarding the changes:
WP: How many projects are current in development at high Moon Studios? How many current, next-gen? Any plans to start a PC, Nintendo DS or PSP lineup?
JR: We are looking at all platforms right now and will not rule any out. We'd love to take Darkwatch to PSP, and PC has always interested us. Whether or not that would make sense for us remains to be determined. Historically, our competency has been in console games.
Red Ninja's story was written by Shunsuke Sato, the director and writer of the obscure, excellent action film Shura yukihime (Princess Blade) and one of the scenario designers for the last two Tekken games (if the IMDB can be believed). This is one of the better stories I've ever found in a video game, with a voice cast that's more than capable of lending it the emotional resonance it demands. Red Ninja would make a good feature-length anime, and that's saying something.
Vote ninja!
Darwinia Q&A;01:11 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: Real-Time Strategy(6 comments)
Rebell.at had a natter with Introversion Software's Chris Delay, regarding Darwinia, their unique real-time strategy game that was released last Friday in the U.K.:
Rebell.at: Darwinia is surely one of the most unconventional games I have seen over the last few years, and that is absolutely one reason why I so much enjoy playing it. Why have you decided to walk such uncommon ways? Isn't there a much higher risc of economical failure?
Chris Delay: Yeah but it takes so long to make a game - over 2 years - we'd be bored out of our minds if we decided to make a cute platform game or something. We have to take on projects that interest us on a creative level.
We also feel that the games industry is getting very stagnant because of that exact line of reasoning…big games companies don't want to try unusual ideas for fear of failure, which is why most games look the same.
Bill Roper Q&A;12:55 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Action / Roleplaying(0 comments)
Former Blizzard boss and now Flagship Studios Captain Bill Roper is over at Computer Games Magazine chatting about the very little he can disclose about its upcoming unnamed project:
Computer Games - What can you tell us about the graphical features that will be used for Flagship's first game? Is the game engine an in-house creation or has Flagship opted to license an existing game graphics engine?
Bill Roper - After looking into the various engines that we could have licensed, and then discussed what it would take to change them to support what we need our game to do, it actually made the most sense to create our own 3D engine. We have some very specific demands from our graphics that are somewhat unique, and the time and effort it would have taken to retrofit an existing engine was comparable to creating our own. Fortunately, we have a great team of programmers who were really excited to take on the challenge.
Computer Games - The Godfather is perhaps the most famous organized crime drama film ever made. How much pressure is there on EA to make the game as memorable as the film? Will Paramount/Viacom maintain some level of creative control?
Hunter Smith - First of all, we have tremendous respect for the film and all the talented people who were a part of the classic film. As the developers of the game, we are huge fans of The Godfather and we don't want to let anyone down, including ourselves. In fact, it's running on screen in our offices 24x7. That said, we've gathered an all-star team of developers and a game design that will let gamers put themselves into the action of the Godfather and into a living, breathing 1945-1955 world of consequences, respect, and power. We are working hand in hand with Paramount/Viacom on this property. Our vision and goals for this game are ambitious because not only does the property demand it, but because we believe it is a property that offers both EA and our partners at Paramount the chance to stretch the full compliment of the many talents can bring to bear on the interactive medium.
PC.IGN's Top 10 of 200512:27 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: General News(0 comments)
The guys at PC.IGN each gave up their picks for their 10-top most anticipated games of 2005. Two out of three selected Battlefield 2, with the only dissenting vote going towards Splinter Cell 3.
Up to this point, Unreal has been strictly first-person fare, so the biggest and most obvious addition to The Liandri Conflict is the option of a third-person perspective. Capps says this feature initially grew out of some Asian territories' dislike for first-person-only console games; ironically, UC2 isn't currently slated to ship in Asia. Regardless, the new perspective has allowed the designers to implement a melee combat feature that will radically change the feel of the gameplay. At any time during a match, you'll be able to switch from your guns to your default melee weapon and perform light and heavy attacks that deal substantial damage to your opponent. The melee attacks will have to be used strategically, since skilled ranged players will still be able to pick you off from a distance.
I believe Gamesdomain actually reviewed the Xbox version of BoA.
In Other News...12:04 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- In-House: In Other News...(0 comments)
Actual GDC coverage should begin today; the VE3D.com domain should start resolving as your ISPs update, which means email will once again start to flow back into the in-box of love. Woot? Today's question:
What massively multiplayer game has the worst in-game support? Which is the best?
