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Commandos Goes FPS 07:51 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Action
(0 comments)
PC.IGN has an interview with Eidos's executive producer Michael Souto to learn more about Commandos Strike Force, which departs from the series traditional squad based action/strategy theme and goes into first person shooter mode:
IGNPC: Games like Savage and C&C; Renegade have tried to bridge the action and strategy genres before. Though they've been intriguing, they never really seemed to catch on. What is it about the game design or the Commandos brand that sets Strike Force apart?
Michael Souto: I think setting is key. WWII is important to the Commandos brand, although that's not to say that we couldn't take this gameplay elsewhere. This War however was the one that gripped the minds and souls of all involved, as there was a very clear distinction between good and evil. In Commandos Strike Force you really want to get into the thick of things because you know you have a job to do.
The problem with Renegades was that the game engine was really old, slow and buggy (even before it was released). The game itself was a lot of fun.
Children of the Nile Tools 07:48 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Simulation
(0 comments)
Tilted Mill sends word that it has released some modification tools for its recently released sim, Children of the Nile:
Tilted Mill Entertainment is pleased to announce additional support for "Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile" for those who like to create their own scenarios and those made by others. Players can visit a new homepage with several scenarios and links to scenarios hosted on other sites. The site will periodically highlight new content a couple of scenarios at a time, so check back every once in a while.
The site includes a list of instructions on how to modify or extract content in or out of "CotN" for a player's own personal use, as outlined in the EULA. Although "CotN" is by no means easy to modify, one might be surprised at what can be done.
WorthPlaying Goodies 07:32 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: General News
(0 comments)
Happy St. Patty's Day!
- 'Silent Hunter 3' - v1.1 Update Patch
- This update brings your retail game to v1.1 and addresses various
graphical problems, multiplayer issues, and the usual bugs fixes and
gameplay tweaks.
- Various Game Trailers
X³: REUNION Announced 04:24 pm
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: Space Strategy
(5 comments)
Born from the ashes of X�: THE RETURN, an expansion to the popular X�: THE THREAT, is X�: REUNION, the first multi-platform X space title:
X�: REUNION utilises a new generation game engine, developed to immerse the player into the most realistic, living universe, ever experienced. Extensive development has gone into the X� engine, making full use of DirectX 9 technology, to create dramatic visual effects and stunningly realistic starships. The economy model in X�: REUNION is more complex than any previous X game. Coupled with the massively enhanced A.L. (Artificial Life) system, X�: REUNION will present players with an ever changing, evolving universe; where a player's actions really can shape the future of the universe. Community involvement has been extensive, throughout the development process and the launch of X�: REUNION will see many innovative fan creations in the final retail game. X�: REUNION will also be the first chance for players to experience the thrills of deep space trading on a format other than PC, with the launch of a console version (TBA).
"X�: REUNION will see another huge leap in the evolution of space trading games" said Bernd Lehahn, CEO EGOSOFT. "The decision to bring X� forward, allows for many community ideas to be implemented. X� set a bench mark to be beaten. X�: REUNION will surpass this in every way possible."
Further info is available here, along with images.
Battlefield 2 Impressions 03:51 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Action
(2 comments)
Gamespot greased up an updated preview of DICE's Battlefield 2: As we've noted previously, Battlefield 2 will emphasize team play in a number of ways, including built-in support for voice-over-IP audio chat and the surprising addition of an actual headset in every box, along with in-game squads and a commander player. Squads seem extremely useful, since they appear on the game's minimap as easy-to-see green blips and as green chevrons when they're off in the distance. More importantly, squad leaders can act as mobile spawn points for their teammates, which helps downed players get back into the action much faster. This also means that a squad leader becomes strategically important; the squad leader can act as a forward spawn point, which can make capturing an enemy base easier. Of course, this gives every incentive for defenders to hunt down and eliminate the squad leader.
CliffyB Gets Ass Kicked at GDC 03:24 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Action
(5 comments)
Epic Games designer CliffyB updated CliffyB.com with some of his GDC 2005 highlights. Most of them involved being physically abused in one form or another. Check those out here.
Dark Age of Camelot Update 02:22 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: MMOG
(0 comments)
Mythic updated the Camelot Herald with an outline of the proposed RvR missions which range from simple solo deals, to realm-wide participation and relic captures. Included, is news that they added the ability to "raze" towers, which they hope will open up battles a little more. In addition, they posted the 1.75 patch notes which includes the first round of Catacomb class nerfs. Enjoy warlocks while they last.
RPG Vault Bits 02:15 pm
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Role-Playing
(0 comments)
Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising First View
Perpetual Entertainment's newly announced online world featuring squad-based combat and quest-driven gameplay
The Matrix Online Media #4
Hand to hand combat in Monolith's impending persistent state title incorporates a number of cool strikes and moves. - Eight exclusive 1280x1024 screenshots
1.5 Million Subscribe To World of Warcraft 11:54 am
- Andrew Burnes
- MMOG: Role-Playing
(29 comments)
Blizzard joyfully announces that 1.5 million addicts worldwide are subscribing to World of Warcraft, with global peak concurrency topping 500,000:
Europe:
- Over 290,000 account creations and 180,000 peak concurrency in its first weekend.
- Over 500,000 active subscribers, and 230,000 peak concurrency to date.
Korea:
- The most successful 100-day launch of any MMORPG in Korean history since its commercial release on January 18, 2005.
- World of Warcraft is currently played in 75% of Korean Internet Game Rooms (IGRs), the primary venue for playing games in Korea. IGRs subscribe directly to MMORPGs and then players buy blocks of time from the IGRs for game time.
North America:
- Over 200,000 subscribers and 100,000 peak concurrency achieved in the game's first 24 hours.
- Current subscriber base of over 800,000 players.
Blizzard Entertainment is now focused on preparing the game for launch in additional regions in Asia and firming up service support in existing data centers. World of Warcraft is scheduled to launch in China in 2005, where excitement for the game has already reached a fevered pitch, as evidenced by the 100,000 applications for the limited open beta in just the first hour of signups on February 28, 2005. Launches in Taiwan and other regions are scheduled to follow closely thereafter.
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident Ships 11:51 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Games: Space Strategy
(13 comments)
The incredible & beautiful looking space strategy game, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, is now available at North American stores following a 2004 European release:
Vivendi Universal Games today announced that Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is now available at retailers nationwide. Developed by Mithis Entertainment and published by HD Interactive BV, Nexus - The Jupiter Incident is a real-time mission-based tactical space game featuring spectacular real-time battles with breathtaking motion picture quality. Players will focus on tactics and action as they control up to 10 battleships encountering aliens, unknown solar systems and other phenomena in the struggle to save Earth.
Since its European release the Nexus community has produced a number of mods with the games' tool kit. Gamers can visit NexusTheGame.com to get an updated and complete list of available mods. The full mod kit is provided with the game and contains the tools and documentation related to ship modelling: a Nexus model viewer, a couple of sample models from the game, and a doc file describing the modelling guidelines and the usage of the model viewer.
Gawp at the incredible visuals this title offers by checking out the official site and available demo.
TimeSplitters Future Perfect Goes Gold 11:34 am
- Andrew Burnes
- Consoles: General News
(1 comment)
EA's TimeSplitters Future Perfect has gone gold for all console platforms, and shall be on North American shop shelves next Tuesday:
Have you ever teamed up with a gun toting monkey to save the world? We thought not. Lucky for you, "TimeSplitters Future Perfect" has GONE GOLD for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, and beginning March 22nd, the game will be available at retail stores nationwide. If you're not into monkeys, you can always team up with your past and future selves to battle enemies from across time in this highly-anticipated action-filled shooter from EA Games.
Here's hoping it's better than the recent GoldenEye title...
Brothers in Arms PC Hits Stores 10:16 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Action
(22 comments)
More Ubisoft news today, as they send word that Gearbox's Brothers in Arms for the PC hit stores today: Today Ubisoft, one of the world's leading videogame publishers and acclaimed developer Gearbox Software, announced that Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is now available in retail stores for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment and PC at the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $49.99.
"Based on the true events of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 takes the video game medium to an entirely new level," said Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software. The game is meaningful and important not just as a piece of entertainment, but as a historical reference and a tribute to our greatest generation.
Created by Gearbox Software, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 puts you in the boots of a 101st Airborne squad leader in the most authentic WWII shooter ever, earning endorsements from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation and the Patton Museum. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is based on the true story of the famous paratroopers who led the D-Day invasion and will immerse gamers in the gritty, uncensored and emotionally-charged side of war. Players of all skill levels can battle their way through twenty epic single player chapters or go online and challenge their friends with ten competitive and innovative multiplayer missions.
Anyone pick this up yet?
World of WarCraft Server Transfers 09:26 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: MMOG
(1 comment)
The WoW Vault is reporting that Blizzard is now offering limited character transfers for toons on high population servers in World of Warcraft. Here's the poop:
We are happy to announce the next step in our continued efforts to improve the stability and performance of our realms. Players with characters on high-population realms will now have the option of transferring their characters to a low-population realm. Dispersing the population across all the available realms will reduce lag and queues and improve the overall play experience for our players.
Character transfers are optional for players with characters on eligible realms. Each high-population realm selected for character transfers will have one designated realm to which characters can move. The first character transfer will be offered for the Arthas realm to the Nathrezim realm. Click here to see what other realms are currently scheduled for character transfers. For more information, please read the character transfer F.A.Q. located here.
2005-2006 Ubisoft Release Schedule 09:10 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: General News
(21 comments)
In case you were wondering:
Q1 FY05-06
LuminesTM - PSP
Bomberman DSTM - Nintendo DS
Bomberman HardballTM - Playstation�2
Star Wars�: Revenge of the SithTM Nintendo DS
Star Wars�: Revenge of the SithTM - GameBoy advance
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six LockdownTM - Playstation�2
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six LockdownTM - Xbox�
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six LockdownTM - GameCube
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six LockdownTM - PC
Q2 FY05-06
Lunar Genesis - Nintendo DS
AA Rise of a Soldier - Xbox�
AA Rise of a Soldier - Playstation�2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 2 mission pack - Xbox�
Far Cry Instincts - current console
World War II Squadron (working title) - Xbox�
The Settlers� Heritage of KingsTM add on - PC
Prince of Persia Warrior WithinTM - PSP
187 Ride or Die - Xbox�
187 Ride or Die - Playstation�2
187 Ride or Die - PC
187 Ride or Die - GameCube
Myst� V : End of Ages - PC/Mac
Q3 FY05-06
Alexandra Ledermann 6 - PC
And1 - Playstation�2
And1 - Xbox�
New chapter of Brothers In Arms - PC
New chapter of Brothers In Arms - Playstation�2
New chapter of Brothers In Arms - Xbox�
Far Cry add on - PC
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 3 - GameCube
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 3 - PC
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 3 - Playstation�2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 3 - Xbox�
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon� 3 - next generation consoles
Peter Jackson's King Kong - GameBoy advance
Peter Jackson's King Kong - PC
Peter Jackson's King Kong - Playstation�2
Peter Jackson's King Kong - PSPTM
Peter Jackson's King Kong - Xbox�
Peter Jackson's King Kong - Nintendo DS
Peter Jackson's King Kong - GameCube
Peter Jackson's King Kong - next generation consoles
Prince of Persia 3 - GameBoy advance
Prince of Persia 3 - GameCube
Prince of Persia 3 - PC
Prince of Persia 3 - Playstation�2
Prince of Persia 3 - Xbox�
Prince of Persia Warrior Within - Nintendo DS
The Settlers� mission pack - PC
Q4 FY05-06
Silent Hunter 4 - PC
Heroes of Might & Magic� 5 - PC
Splinter Cell 4 - PC
Splinter Cell 4 - Playstation�2
Splinter Cell 4 - Xbox�
Splinter Cell 4 - GameCube
Splinter Cell 4 - next generation consoles
Splinter Cell - PSP
Killing Day (working title) - next generation consoles
Product with Might & Magic brand - PC
Title to be confirmed - Xbox�
Title to be confirmed - Playstation�2
Quite a few little surprises if you look at the list. Expansion packs for FarCry and Brothers in Arms, Heroes of Might & Magic 5, Splinter Cell 4, Prince of Persia 3 (yeah, I know), etc.
Million Dollar RYL Launch 08:49 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: MMOG
(23 comments)
PlanetWide Games announced that its massively multiplayer RYL: Path of the Emperor game went gold today, and announced plans of a $1,000,000 multiplayer tournament:
Planetwide Games announced today, St. Patrick's Day 2005, that RYL: Path of the Emperor will be the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game to offer a $1,000,000 Grand Prize to the winner of a Player vs. Player Skill-Based Tournament. Players who purchase the pre-order RYL: Path of the Emperor video game either online or in retail stores such as EB Games and Gamestop will be qualified to participate in the tournament in which one player will win the $1,000,000 Grand Prize.
The RYL qualifying tournament will start July 1, 2005 and will end April 30, 2006, culminating in a Final Tournament event to be broadcast live and to take place in conjunction with the E3 Video Game Expo in May 2006.
$1,000,000.00? Wow! Not bad for a new company and game I've never even heard of before. I have to admit I'm seeing warning lights go off in my head. That, or I started drinking too early.
Is Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory The Best Game Evah? 07:56 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Consoles: Xbox
(25 comments)
Ubisoft issued a press release regarding advanced review scores for Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory on the Xbox, where a number of magazines drool all over the latest iteration of Tom Clancy's popular tactical action series:
"Buy it, play it, treasure it. It's a rare genuine classic and the game the Xbox was built for," writes Official Xbox Magazine's Ryan McCaffrey in his review. He adds, "Topping Riddick and Halo 2 by a mile, this level of visual details shouldn't be possible on an Xbox."
"Our development teams have put their heart and soul into this game, putting in countless hours towards one ultimate objective: to create the best possible game on the Xbox�, pushing the limits of their imaginations and of the machine itself," said Ubisoft's President and CEO, Yves Guillemot. "We're thrilled that the reporters at Official Xbox Magazine and other publications have recognized the incredible creativity and tremendous efforts that have been poured into this game over the past 3 years."
Click on the comments for the full PR.The game ships on March 31st.
Understanding the Cell CPU 07:44 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- hardware: General News
(2 comments)
Anandtech has a great "put your ass in the know" article up today called Understanding the Cell Microprocessor which explains how this exciting new technology that will be featured first in the PlayStation 3 will work: Cell's architecture is similar to the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and upcoming PC microprocessors in that it is heavily multithreaded. The next Xbox will execute between 3 and 6 threads simultaneously, while desktop PC microprocessors will execute between 2 - 4. The problem is that while Xbox 2/360/Next and the PC will be using multiple general purpose cores, Cell relies on more specialized hardware to achieve its peak performance. Cell's SPEs being Altivec/VMX derived is a benefit, which should mean that the ISA is more familiar to developers working on any POWER based architecture, but the approach to development on Cell vs. development on the PC will literally be on opposite ends of the spectrum, with the new Xbox somewhere in between.
Hardware & Tech Nuggets 07:03 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- hardware: General News
(0 comments)
Gothic II English Demo 06:01 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: Role-Playing
(7 comments)
3D Gamers posted the English Demo of Gothic II, giving you a chance to sample Piranha Bytes' 3rd person perspective role playing game. "This demo contains the intro movie to set the sequel's premise as an seamless follow-up to the original game's ending, along with the first playable chapter." It comes in at a chubby 381 megs.
Game Reviews 05:55 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- Games: General News
(0 comments)
In Other News... 05:42 am
- Robert 'Apache' Howarth
- In-House: In Other News...
(35 comments)
Thanks for all the messages, emails and posts about Billy passing on (thanks Ranger55 for the link) the past few days. It's hard to answer all of the letters personally, so I thought I'd take a moment and thank everyone here. I've always been pretty bad about answering emails and crap, but I'll try and do better in that regard. That, or make a mailbag section or something. Perhaps both.
I picked up Act of War yesterday and played it for a few hours. All I have to say is wow! It's like an old style C&C; game, but with today's bells and whistles in 3D graphics. The cutscenes are pretty good too; the story is by New York Times best-seller Dale Brown, who apparantly is releasing an Act of War novel on 5/31. Act of War could be the next big thing as far as RTS games are concerned.
Anyways... Happy St. Patties Day! The Irish blood in me is burning for some frosty adult beverages, so beer with us if our posts start making little or no sense as the day unfolds.
Today's question is: Do you plan on picking up Act of War? If you already have, what are your impressions of the game?
Just an FYI - The comments display are acting up again, so if you see a post that you would think would have comments on it but show 0, chances are it actually does...
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