Archived News:
Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford updated
his .plan with a little pre-order sales pitch for Gearbox' upcoming
Half-Life add-on Opposing Force. Here's a chunk of the update that talks of the
cool in store displays they've got: Gearbox is within days (hours?) of
"Release Candidate 1" for Half-Life: Opposing Force. But, that's not
the cool news. The cool news is that Brian's been working with the Sierra
marketing and art dudes on a Corporal Adrian Shephard stand-up/cut-out display
for the stores.
It's planned to have an animated Pipe Wrench that he brandishes... The whole
thing is supposed to run off of solar power. It sounds very cool.
I'm going to try to get a dozen of them or so to set up in the hallway to
disturb the neighbors in the building (we're going to need their office space
soon). If you're a vendor who's going to get one for your OpFor sales display,
don't promise it out to your cousin, I'll buy the damn thing from ya!
As promised earlier ( story)
The Adrenaline Vault's
Descent III Mercenary Interview is now online, getting the dope on this
upcoming add-on for Outrage Entertainment's Descent III straight from project
leader Christopher Pfeiffer. Here is a bit from the proceedings that gives a
feel for what's afoot here: Will there be any additional weapons,
enemies or multiplayer options added?
There will be a new ship for the single-player
campaign. The ship is the Mercenary's Black Pyro. It offers new weapon
loadouts and has unique physics. The Black Pyro will also be available in
multiplayer games. As for robots and enemies, we have around 10 or so new
ones. Each level has at least one new and unique robot that has been tailored
for it. The new robots have greatly enhanced AI and further our goal of having
highly characteristic life forms for the players to battle against.
As for multiplayer, the new B-side multiplayer levels offer gamers a new
perspective on online gaming. As an example, one of the B-side levels is
actually a pinball table. The multiplayer mayhem is exceptionally fun within
the confines of this completely twisted level. The other B-side level themes
are being kept secret for the release. These levels are refreshing and very
fun to play.
PlanetBattlezone has posted nine
new BattleZone II screenshots, showing off the upcoming sequel to Pandemic
Studios' strategy title in 1280x1024 resolution in 32-bit color on a TNT2-Ultra.
The Nocturne Home has an updated
release version of the Chicago Theater level Nocturne demo that has appeared in
an earlier form from a magazine CD. Word from Smitty at
Terminal Reality is "It reflects what people will see in the final release
version and has the 3Dfx support included. No patch required. (until they update
their drivers of course)." The new demo is a whopping 120 MB.
Microsoft & Turbine's online RPG is entering open beta. Here's the word sent
along by Microsoft: Microsoft announced today that a free, downloadable
version of Asheron's Call is now available for play in the U.S. and abroad on
the MSN Gaming Zone at http://www.zone.com/.
Playable for a ten day period, the open trial gives gamers full access to the
epic virtual world of Asheron's Call. Participants will be able to interact with
thousands of other players and explore the 500 square mile isle of Dereth before
the game is commercially released in November. Asheron's Call is an epic,
massively multiplayer, role-playing game developed by Turbine Entertainment.
For those who would prefer to forego the download, the Asheron's Call beta is
currently available on the demo disc in the November issue of Computer Games
magazine (look for the issue with Asheron's Call on the cover). The magazine is
available at major bookstores including Barnes & Noble and Borders, large
supermarkets, Wal-Mart, CompUSA, Fry's and other stores where magazines are
sold.
There's a new 360 degree panoramic screenshot on Sierra's
SWAT 3 page. The shots are in QuickTime
VR format. Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers.
Another name maker release to report today, as the Game Name Builder Official Homepage
has a new version 1.63 of this extended name editor. Among the new features in
this release is support for Unreal Tournament and non-Battle.Net StarCraft
servers.
GameFan has
posted an AVI from ASC Games' Unreal engine title Werewolf: The Apocalypse -
Heart of Gaia, showing off the "shadow monster". It's a very small
file (under a meg), but still high quality.
TheMasquerade.org
has posted an edited chat log from the recent IRC chat with Nihilistic, the
developers of Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. There's a ton of info in
here about the game, and its Nod engine, so if you're at all curious about the
game, I'd suggest checking it out.
The first installment to the three-part TRIBES Extreme on-line comic has gone
live over at PC.IGN, featuring
the thrilling exploits of Rudder and Talitha. The next part will be released
by GameSpot, with the final version being
contained exclusively on the TRIBES Extreme CD.
GameSpot UK
has posted another one of their screenshot heavy previews, this time with more
screenshots from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation than is probably legal in
some states. There's 93 shots in total: 50
from the PC version, and 43
from the Playstation version, including some screenshots of Lara at the young age
of 16, as she appears in the game's training level.
RPOV has posted an
interview with Shiny's Dave Perry, talking to the Earthworm Jim co-creator about
his upcoming game of toddler carnage, Messiah. As interviews of this type go,
it's very good, with a lot of gameplay specific questions, and not much in the
way of background-information filler.
IMG Magazine
has posted an article chronicling the author's trip to MacSoft's headquarters.
MacSoft, in case you weren't aware, are the fine people behind the ports of
Age of Empires and Rainbow Six amongst others. There's also a Quicktime movie
of tour footage for those of you wanting the full multimedia experience.
Hot on the heels of his .plan update debunking the NiN rumor, id's Todd Hollenshead
has conducted a brief interview with World
Gamer's Front, discussing his background and what it's like to work at id
(thanks Dan Gibson).
id's Todd Hollenshead updated his
.plan, debunking the reports that have been flying around regarding possible
Nine Inch Nails music in Quake III: Arena. Here's the cold, hard, truth: To
put this rumor quickly to rest, we don't have any tracks from Nine Inch Nails
in the current Q3A soundtrack. Trent spent most of his time this year completing
his latest album (you can still call them that, right?), and is now preparing
for touring, if he's not already doing it.
As far as what is really in the soundtrack, I'm going to wait until it's finalized
to go into details, but we have some great music from names many people will
recognize.
3DGaming.Net's MDK 2 Preview
is online, looking ahead at BioWare's upcoming sequel to MDK, Shiny's nutty
third and first-person shooter. The preview is supplemented with answers from
BioWare's Greg Zeschuk, and additionally, the
entirety of their Q&A with Greg is posted separately here. Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers. MDK, of course, stands for Marlene Dietrich's Keister.
Kokak's Doom Page has a new alpha
version 1.18b gl(0.01) of ZDoomGL, an OpenGL compatible version of ZDoom.
ZDoom supports the shareware Doom, and the registered Doom & Doom II. The
page warns that "ZDoomGL is at an early stage of development, so a lot of
bugs may occur." Thanks, yet again, to the tireless Frans.
Slashdot Interviews John Carmack
is the end result of the questions they solicited the other day ( story)
for the id Software lead programmer. Thanks BlackWind. This is a great
interview, with detailed answers to the great reader-submitted questions. Here's
John's answer to a question about attempts to create a metaverse,
something he's discussed in the past: Making Snow Crash into a reality
feels like a sort of moral imperative to a lot of programmers, but the efforts
that have been made so far leave a lot to be desired.
It is almost painful for me to watch some of the VRML initiatives. It just seems
so obviously the wrong way to do something. All of this debating, committee
forming, and spec writing, and in the end, there isn't anything to show for it.
Make something really cool first, and worry about the spec after you are sure
it's worth it!
I do think it is finally the right time for this to start happening for real.
While a lot of people could envision the possibilities after seeing DOOM or
Quake, it is really only now that we have general purpose hardware acceleration
that things are actually flexible enough to be used as a creative medium without
constantly being conscious of the technical limitations.
Two weeks ago, I pitched a proposal to develop some technology along these lines
to the rest of the company. I may wind up working on some things like that in
parallel with the next game project.
Here's an update on the status of someone whose name has appeared here often enough:
Scott Herrington sends along word that he's left his position as PR/Marketing
director for Shiny Entertainment to motor over to Turbine Entertainment
Software, the developers of Asheron's Call, the upcoming multiplayer online RPG.
Here's what Scott had to say about the move, which was based on a desire to get
into the production side of things: "I had a great time at Shiny and left
there with nothing but good feelings, but production is where I felt the most
comfortable and useful, and this opportunity was something that was too good to
pass up."
SeemsLikeSalvation, a Nine
Inch Nails news site, has posted a report from "a source inside id Software"
claiming that Trent Reznor has contributed three tracks for the Quake III: Area
soundtrack. Word of this was also hinted at in this month's edition of PC Accelerator,
although neither report is 100% official yet, so don't be too disappointed if
it doesn't pan out (thanks everyone who sent that in, Tom Cornille being the
first of many).
There are eight
new Descent III Mercenary Screenshots on The Adrenaline Vault offering the
first screenshots of this upcoming add-on for Outrage Entertainment's flying
shooter. Word from the adrenaline junkies is to expect an upcoming interview
with Descent III Mercenary project lead Christopher Pfeiffer with some details
on this project.
PC.IGN.com's Splinter Interview
(splinterview?) talks about Splinter, a just-announced flying shooter in the
works from Stromlo. The Q&A is with the game's producer Tony Shiff "to
see if Splinter will get under our skin" (you gotta love that). Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers. The game is due in the Asia-Pacific territory by spring 2000 under a
co-publishing agreement with EA, and word is "EA Europe and North America
are similarly considering publishing the title in their respective territories."
The following answer gives their take on how the game will appeal to veteran
Quake and Unreal players, as well as newbies: As for new people, the game
is easily acceptable. You can get into the gameplay and understand what you're
supposed to be doing relatively quickly, and yet at the same time there's an
element of adventure to unfold. It's not a case of playing the first five
minutes and you've got the entire game down. You have to play through the whole
thing and new things happen all the time. That's important to new gamers.
In terms of appealing to experienced gamers however, Splinter has a really good
engine, it's got some really original content, and I think the people who are
into those kinds of games will appreciate something different in the
flying-shooter category.
The Adrenaline Vault
previews Interstate '82 looking ahead at the driving and shooting game
that's going to cut its hair and get some shoulder pads, as it moves from the
70s inspired I'76 to the new wave 80s. Here's a bit from the hands-on preview
that gives a feel for how the plot in this mad maxian series is going to unfold
six years later: The heart of the game is its action, but what a story!
As with so many sequels, lead designer Zack Norman's script is as much a
spirited facsimile of the original as a continuation. With an unapologetically
oddball plot strung across more than 40 minutes of first class full motion
video, and missions set up in game-engine cinematics, this title pushes the
narrative standard. Groove Champion, the original’s protagonist and the
spiritual core of the series, finds himself knee-deep in Creepers and a
government conspiracy moments into the opening movie. Before momentarily
disappearing from the plot's radar, he manages to send a distress call to his
sister, Skye, a mowhawked biker hottie who adopts the auto-vigilante selfhood of
her dead sister, Jade, and becomes the new Vixen. She enlists the reluctant help
of Groove’s one-time partner, Taurus, an African-American, jerri-curled car
warrior with a bitchin’ wardrobe who is haunted by visions of a dying Jade.
His flashbacks give the proceedings an emotional resonance sorely missing in
this genre, but there is little time for tears as Taurus, Skye and, yes, Skeeter
rip through wave after wave of pernicious enemies that make the denizens of the
Mad Max movies seem like Polyannas.
An article titled TalonSoft's Winter Lineup
on GameSpot talks of the crop of upcoming TalonSoft titles, and offers three
new screenshots from Codename Eagle and three more new shots of Hidden &
Dangerous: Devil's Bridge. Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers.
There are five
new Revenant screenshots on The Adrenaline Vault giving more of a look ahead
at this upcoming Diablo-style action game from Eidos Interactive. Word is the
game is close to going gold.
Voodoo Extreme has a new screenshot
up from Giants, PlanetMoon Studios' upcoming third-person action-fest, along
with an update from PlanetMoon's Tim Williams discussing the art of balancing
gameplay in a game where there are three distinctive character classes.
TeamAbuses's Q3Tourney guide
has been updated with even more tips on how to stay on top of the frag heap in
Q3Test's designated tournament map, although it does warn: "Do not make the
mistake in thinking that strategy wins on this map, it doesn't. If your opponent
has great aim and can dodge reasonably well, it is going to be a one tough match
no matter how good the strategy."
An update to Team Ego's Messiah FAQ
adds new info on the decision not to use bump-mapping in this upcoming
third-person action title from Shiny entertainment, as well as more about the
game's optional support for the 16:9 screen ratio, and an explanation of why the
demo, originally expected to be released about now, is now expected in early
November. Thanks Frans
at 3D Action Gamers.
GameStone Interviews
Sergey Zabaryansky, talking with the project leader on the Vital Engine
about the project, and Venom, the upcoming first-person shooter based on the
engine.
The Reactive Software page has
version 1.1 of their server-side competition mod for Kingpin: Life of Crime, Xatrix'
first-person shooter that uses the Quake II engine to create a world where you
do bad things to bad people. The new release adds a HUD clock, countdown starts,
and a Message of the Day.
The
GTIS Driver Downloads page has patches for the various non-US and Canadian
versions of Driver. Thanks CuTThroaT JaKe.
The Adrenaline Vault News
is reporting that Eidos has extended its publishing deal with Squaresoft to
include Final Fantasy VIII on the PC throughout Europe and Australia, so expect
one of loonyboi's (and many other folks') favorite console offerings to come to
the PC down the road. There's a copy of the press release on this, along with
about 30 FF8 screenshots on BigKid games news & reviews,
though I imagine the shots are from the PlayStation version.
InsideMacGames' Sneak Preview
of Rainbow Six looks ahead at the upcoming Mac version of Red Storm
Entertainment's first-person shooter of tactical anti-terrorist action.
A post on TiberiumSun.com gives some
interesting news on what info is passed along to Westwood when registering
Tiberian Sun online. Apparently in addition to sending the serial number of your
C&C Windows 95 edition (it's not clear if this is just a Win95 thing), it
also sends your network adaptor's MAC address.
The LxDoom Homepage has a new
version 1.4.0 of this Linux port of the Doom source code, now a GPL
release, reflecting the source code's new status. Thanks Frans
at 3D Action Gamers.
The Name Maker Studio homepage has a new
version G2 4.00 of this editor to create fun and colored names for games that
support them. The new release adds the ability to edit your name in a fully
WYSIWYG environment.
In referring to a review I called the Gigabyte GA-660 Plus a motherboard
yesterday ( story),
when it is , in fact, a video card based on the TNT2A. sorry about causing any
confusion. Also, that Last
Revelation Training Level Unveiled on The Adrenaline Vault mentioned
yesterday is back online. If you looked for it after our
story on it was posted it may have been missing, since it turns out that it
was posted a bit early. Finally, a post on BetaNews
says that Win2K shipping in February 2000 does not actually represent a delay,
as that has been planned for some time.
As always, the daily dose comes hard and fast. Thanks, as usual, to Frans
at 3D Action Gamers.
- Microsoft's Motocross Madness 2
site is now online...
- Fortress2.com is
offering hosting for TeamFortress2-oriented sites...
- An update to the Refraction
website adds workarounds for a couple of minor glitches with the
recently released Codename Eagle demo. Thanks 3DFiles.
- Urban Chaos at MeccaWorld
has a new pair of gameplay movies from this upcoming action game, as both
small and a large version....
- NWGN Forums
is an unofficial messageboard for the now-deposed members of the TEN online
service, which shut down yesterday...
- A thread titled This party is
over on the Nachos BBS gives the sad news that as a result of attempts
at cracking their server, this long-time cornerstone of the CTF community
(in particular LMCTF), is closing down. Thanks Grey...
A bunch of readers wrote in about my mini-review (or as one referred to it, a
"MiniMe" review) of the EverGlide mousepad yesterday ( story)
either asking, or telling about the new Microsoft mouse with the optical guts.
Rest assured, this is definitely on the agenda as the next rodent to get into the BlueLabs for
testing. It shouldn't take that long to get a hold of one to get that going, so
I'll even risk my superstition about predicting such things and say it will
actually be soon (daring, huh?).
Link of the Day: TurdWear.
No, different than the kind my little brother used to wear. Thanks STELTH.
Story of the Day: Wheel Falls Off Airliner, Hits Car In Chicago
Thanks Tom McMullen.
Bonus Story: Caffeine
Causes Changes In Brain Cells on PlanetRx. Thanks Portax. Hey,
PlanetRX??...Nah.
Image of the Day: A "portion" of a Duke Nukem Forever
screenshot on the 3D Realms Bulletin Board. Warning, it's just a joke,
Dopefish acting as Dr. Evil responding to requests for a shot from the upcoming print
PC Gamer.
PC.IGN has posted an interview
with Dynamix' Scott Rudi, talking to the designer about their upcoming Starsiege
TRIBES special edition, TRIBES Extreme (thanks Hastur). It's an interesting
interview, and he talks quite a bit about the single player component, which
is in the game. Here's a bit on the new AI: First off, I'll have to say
that no AI created with today's technology can be as smart or as effective as
a human player. Sure, computer AI can do a lot of things faster and more accurately
than a person, but overall the human brain is just plain incredible. That's
why I love multiplayer games.
That being said, the chores that the AI will be asked to perform aren't really
all that difficult. I expect that the AI will be more effective at things like
repairing damaged stations or defending your base than human players. Mostly
because of the AI can focus on these things and cover the fundamentals - something
that frequently falls apart in a multiplayer game - how many times have you
been in a game and asked, "Enemies in the base? Who in the heck is covering
the roof?"
GameFan has
posted eight new screenshots from ASC Games' upcoming Unreal engine title, Werewolf:
The Apocalypse - Heart of Gaia. There's even two shots of the main character
in the game in human form (the first, to the best of my knowledge).
An update to John
Carmack's .plan has the latest version of the id software lead programmer's
worklog detailing the latest programming changes to Quake III Arena. It's all
Greek to me, but it may make sense to some of you.
FGNOnline has posted
several quotes from an interview that's set to be published in Games Business
magazine, which features id Software's Graeme Devine talking about how feedback
from Q3Test is impacting the full version of the game (thanks Shane McAllen).
Here's a brief excerpt: He added, "We have listened to their concerns
on network play, for example. We've addressed their issues and we're trying
to balance a hell of a lot more; trying to give players the gameplay that they
want. We try and listen to the new consumers and the old faithful consumers
as well."
Devine said, "It’s always an issue trying to reconcile the two camps.
The new camp wants instant death. They want to get the railgun and shoot someone
who has just appeared on the map and never played before and kill him right
away. The old school camp wants health and armour to begin with, and then they
want even more. They want their machine gun to be super powerful. In one camp
they are dying fast and in the other camp they are dying too slow. So the balance
is half way between."
AVault
has posted details on Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation's training level, complete
with screenshots (thanks Frans). The training
level, which has become somewhat of a staple in the series, features a sixteen
year old Lara (complete with pig-tails), and in addition to training new players,
features a race with another character, and sets up an important plot point
as well. Update: due to embargo issues, the story has been pulled by AVault. Expect it to return soon.
The Rogue Spear Database
has posted an interview with Greg Stelmack, talking to the programmer about
his duties on Rogue Spear, and what users can expect from the forthcoming patch.
The European version of the Darkstone 1.0.3 patch has been released by Delphine
Software (thanks VE). This patch is identical
to the North American version that was already released.
E-tailer Checkout.com
has posted an interview with Dave Walls, the creative director and designer
of Hasbro's Unreal engine title of foam carnage (or lack thereof) Nerf Arena
Blast. According to the interview, the game is set for a November release.
According to this
story on ZDNet, Microsoft's long-awaited (and apparently appropriately titled) operating system Windows 2000,
their formal successor to both Windows 9x and NT, has been delayed, yet again
to Febuary of 2000. This comes, oddly enough, in the wake of their announcement
that they are readying their "final" beta version of the OS for release.
A new full client install (3.0) of The
Heretic Fortress, a class-based mod for Heretic II, has been released, and
is available for download on its official
site. It's a big download, at almost 17 MB, but it contains everything you
need to get up and running. A server update to fix some lingering bugs is promised
next week.
Raven's Jake Simpson updated his
.plan with an update on their Quake III: Arena title, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force,
including word that the level design is almost complete (which is not to be
taken to mean the game is finished - they still have to fill up those levels),
some kind words for Epic, and even a request for feedback about weapons in FPS
titles (for the record, loonygames is no more than three weeks away from relaunch,
Jake): We've started working on getting all the weapons into Voyager
now. There was a very interesting conversation here regarding the type of weapons
in an FPS game, their genre and game play effects. I have some definite views
on all this, but I'm more interested in hearing what you, - the game playing
public, - think about some of the weapons you've seen.
So I'm asking that if
you have a moment, drop me a line with your favorite weapon you've seen in a
FPS, (or a 3rd Person for that matter) game. Don't just say "I liked this
one, cos the others sucked" or "This weapon rocked" without giving
some reasons for why you liked what you did, or disliked what you didn't. If
I get enough replies on this, I was thinking of knocking up a little article
for LoonyBoi, or something like that - assuming LoonyBoi's pages ever return
that is:) They still have my article on Fighters for the PC which I'm waiting
to see put up:))
NGNetwork has
posted an interview with Shiny frontman Dave Perry, talking about their close-to-completion
action title Messiah (which, to quote a colleague, looks, "dialed").
Here's an excerpt where he mentioned a just-added feature to the game: We
just added protection bots, like the ones in R-TYPE that protect your ship.
They are pretty lethal and so after testing we might have to take them out,
but they are a cool feature.
Eidos
Interactive has posted a new movie from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.
This new movie is a combination of cut-scene and in-game footage, and is over
two minutes long. It's available in a large (39 MB) or small (14 MB) download,
although both have the same footage. Thanks Frans, who has the larger of the
two movies ZIPed and mirrored at 3DGamers.
Well-Rounded
Games has posted an interview with Toby Ragaini, Turbine's lead designer
on Asheron's Call (a massively multiplayer RPG). The interview deals with several
gameplay issues, including dealing with player killers, "heritage"
groups, and the possibility of free or retail add-ons.
This week's screenshot
is now up on the Official Pandemic
Studios Battlezone II Site. As the caption states: "the Scions charge
in fast and furious." Thanks PlanetBattlezone.
BZ2 is Pandemic's upcoming sequel to Battlezone, their cult-hit first-person
strategy game.
The Adrenaline Vault
previews Tachyon: The Fringe, an upcoming space sim from Novalogic
that puts you in the role of Jake Logan, space mercenary, whose voice is depicted by
cult-favorite actor Bruce Campbell. Here's a bit from the hands-on preview on
how that all comes together: Dropped into the middle of this conflict is
Jake Logan, your standard loner and mercenary-for-hire. As the game begins, he's
doing small-time security work out of a starbase orbiting Jupiter. He's not a
soldier, nor does he take orders from anyone other than himself. His motivation
is profit, and as such he's always on the lookout for jobs that will bring on
the excitement and large amounts of cash. Over the course of the story, Logan's
pursuit of these goals will put him smack into the middle of the growing
GalSpan/Bora conflict, and he'll be forced to make a choice as to which side to
support. The personal tale of Jake Logan and the epic battle between the mighty
corporation and the Fringe-dwellers will be told through both in-game scripted
events and cutscenes, most of which are rendered in the flight engine in order
to ensure continuity. Of particular notice is that voice-over work for the
protagonist is being done by none other than Bruce Campbell, cult hero and
veteran of the Evil Dead movies and various episodes of Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys. In the build that I played, there were several instances
in which Logan's words were used to advance the story or generate atmosphere,
and I was decently impressed with the way in which Campbell's voice fit the
image of the grizzled spacer.
A reminder that the chat session with Nihilistic mentioned yesterday ( story)
to talk about Vampire: The Masquerade--The Redemption, their upcoming third-person
action/RPG, will take place today at 3:00 PM EDT/Noon PDT. Details on how to
join are on this page.
The first demo release of Blast Chamber
for Quake II is now available (If I hear that damn T2 midi on another website,
I'm going to pull my soundcard). The demo has full CTF play, limited DM and Teamplay,
and four DM/Teamplay maps. Also included is everything required to make your own
Blast Chamber maps. In Blast Chamber players search the level for a BlastKey,
which activates the Blast Detonator, which counts down from ten before
unleashing a nuclear explosion, killing anyone not in a "Blast Chamber."
A few of these: Gameguides.com's
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver guide is online (thanks Voodoo Extreme),
the inevitable (if a bit late) PlanetAvP
offers walkthroughs for all three of the game's classes, Gamecenter's
Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun strategy guide is up (thanks Frans),
and GameProWorld's
Age of Empires II Map Guide offers map-specific strategies.
Cyberathlete Professional League has announced that the first 100 attendees to arrive at the FRAG3 will receive a free EverGlide mousepad (coincidentally, more on these in today's Out of the Blue). Also, Aus3D interviews FragZone 2000's Phoenix and Assassin about FragZone 2000, an upcoming big gaming fest down under.
Delta-Force2.com is
holding a giveaway with a copy of F22 Lightning 3 as the prize.
I made a bad typo yesterday in the story
about the signed Doom II box I originally typed Doom III (a reflexive side
effect of typing Quake III Arena so often, for a long time I had the reverse
problem from Quake II that caused me to repeatedly type Quake II Arena). Sorry
to anyone who got their hopes raised at the idea that this was a new sequel in
the works, and thanks to all who wrote in pointing out the error.
Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers:
- Gamesiege
interviews Alex Saint John talking about the former MS evangelist and
boot columnist's current project, Wild Tangent,
an upcoming technology that's supposed to revolutionize both gaming and the
web...
- The Loki's Missions page has
word of the featured treatment this Quake II mod team gets in the cover mount
CD with the November issue of PC Gamer Europe, which highlights their two
single-player missions Escape
for Quake II and The Xeno Project
for Half-Life...
- To settle any possible doubts, a post to Smitty's News
confirms yesterday's report that Nocturne is gold (story).
Thanks Gone Gold...
- Cached.Net has interviews up on the
main page with a couple of famed European players, IV Griff and Hakeem,
about their attendance at the FRAG 3, Q3Test, and more...
Been a while since this space has seen a mini-review, so here goes: As has been
noted here before, one of the things I take most seriously about my action
gaming is the care and feeding of my mouse, having gone on at length in the past
about such things as the PMS mouse pad, the wheel doohickey, and the joys of
USB. I was therefore very curious when word of EverGlide's mousepads first
started popping up a while back, since the description makes them sound like
they've got a lot going for them. I finally got a hold of one, and have been
using it for the last several weeks, and I have to say, it's easily my favorite
mouse pad. Made from what seems to be a similar material to those plastic
knife-friendly cutting boards, the surface provides a good grip for the mouse,
and the construction prevents it from many of the downsides associated with our
former-favorite PMS (3M's Precise Mousing Surface) such as curling, slippage,
and wear. I'll expand on this write-up and add it to our Mouse Resources
department, but for now let this suffice as an editor's choice award (or
whatever the Blue's News equivalent is) for the EverGlide
mousepad, a great product for gamers.
Link of the Day: Riskable's Page
which has details on his totally badass-sounding car computer. Thanks
[A3D]V'alien.
Story of the Day: Dwindling supply spurs import of sperm.
Thanks Julian Owens.
Bonus Story: Maine Gets Taste of Y2K Glitch.
Horseless carriages? Thanks Scott March.
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