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Archived News:
There is a new preview of MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries on PC.IGN.com, looking ahead to the sci-fi 3D action game under construction at Cyberlore Studios and FASA Studios. The article draws a parellel with MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, describing the four mercenary factions, the dynamic campaign, the benefits of salvaging, the variety of 'Mechs and weapons on offer, the ability to command multiple 'Mechs, possibilities for multiplayer options, and more. Included are five new screenshots and the E3 movie trailer which sports a minute and a half of action-packed MPEG footage for the price of a 15.1 MB download.
RayLogic has released another updated beta demo of Dark Ore, their hybrid space construction and first-person shooter title in development, now available for download from 3D Gamers. There is a new full install (15.2 MB) and a small patch to upgrade previous versions of the demo (560 KB), and this release increases the time limit on the beta to an hour and decreases the difficulty. Word is this is the last update of the beta demo while they commence production of a final demo.
- O.R.B.
Strategy First has issued 11 new O.R.B. screenshots to the press, offering more galactic scenes in their upcoming space-based real-time strategy game.
- Nomads
The official Project Nomads site has been updated with eight new screenshots, along with word that this high-flying hybrid 3D game by Radon Labs has reached the alpha stage in its development (thanks Worthplaying).
- Medieval
The official Medieval: Total War site offers 18 new battle mode screenshots for visual inspection, showing more from this 3D strategy game being assembled at Creative Assembly.
- Neverwinter Nights
HomeLan Fed and XGR are the latest sites to post a pair of new, high-res screenshots of Neverwinter Nights, the 3D role-playing game that is nearing completion at BioWare.
- Action Games
Ten Action Games You Need To Know About on Cutting The Edge provides brief overviews of PainKiller, FireStarter, Iron Storm, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost, Purge, Chrome, The Y-Project, Chaser, Strident: The Shadow Front and Psychotoxic: The 4th Horseman for those unfamiliar with these upcoming action games, including some new screenshots for a few of these titles along the way.
- Paradise Cracked
GameSpyDaily has posted four new screenshots of Paradise Cracked, showing off this upcoming 3D tactical combat RPG by MiST land.
- Wind Warriors
Also on GameSpyDaily are four new screenshots of Echelon: Wind Warriors, the futuristic combat flyer expansion in the works at MADia, while Russian site Xaos serves up another seven new screenshots.
- Asheron's Call 2
There are seven new Asheron's Call 2 screenshots on the official site for this fantasy MMORPG sequel being created at Turbine Entertainment.
GameSpot PC Previews Age of Mythology Showcase Set
is the latest installment in their series of monthly looks ahead at Ensemble
Studios' upcoming RTS sequel with an incredibly detailed profile of the Set, one of the
game's three Egyptian gods. They offer a look at how Set fits in with the game's
depiction of the Egyptian culture, offers a description of Set's mythology from
designer Greg Street, benefits of worshipping Set, details about Egyptian units,
resources, structures, Set's powers, minor gods, and more. Included are 10 new screenshots.
There's a Sudden
Strike II Preview on LoadedInc offering impressions of the upcoming RTS
sequel in the works at Fireglow. The article describes the follow-up's
similarities to the original like the 2D graphics, and differences, like the addition
of a new Japanese faction, new aircraft abilities, the addition of trains,
improved AI, and a greater emphasis on the role of the sea. They also offer a
general outline of what the game will consist of, including missions, units,
balance, difficulty settings, and more. Included are some new screenshots.
There's a new Dragon
Empires Diary on the Codemasters Website written by Scott Cowie, senior level
designer on this upcoming MMORPG. The diary describes the exhausting schedule
the developers submitted themselves to in order to prepare a demonstration of
the game for E3. Additionally, there is a
chat log on the Codemasters Website recapping a recent IRC session with the
Dragon Empires team, albeit in a very stark and unedited format.
A post to the Infogrames
Forums by Epic's Mark Rein (thanks POPE and Jean Paul Lebreton) gives a
status report on progress on the Unreal Tournament 2003 demo, saying that they
would provide an update on those forums when they think (emphasis Mark's)
they are about a week out from a release, but they were not yet that close.
Here's the deal: We understand you are anxious for the demo
We understand you are anxious for the demo but posting "where is the
demo" threads here won't make it appear any sooner. When we think we're
close to the demo (i.e. within 5-7 days) we'll let everyone know officially
through this forum. We're not there yet, we're still more than a week away. We
could be more than two weeks or even more than three weeks away. We're not
holding out on people, we're just not done with the game yet and although a lot
of the game is coming together very quickly we still have no 100% (or even 80%)
accurate way to predict exactly when that will be. I promise the development
team is working very, very hard to get an awesome, polished UT2003 in your
hands. The demo will be released when we think we've got all the major
functionality of the game complete so that the feedback from the demo can be
focused 100% on things we weren't already aware needed to be addressed.
New E3 coverage on Frictionless Insight includes previews of Monolith's No
One Lives Forever 2 and CCP's EVE:
the Second Genesis. There are impressions of HORIZONS:
Empires of Istaria on GameSpy, the U.S. Army's America's
Army on Games Domain, Wide Games' Prisoner
of War on GamesFirst, Gearbox' Counter-Strike:
Condition Zero on Action Vault, Ubi Soft Montreal's Splinter
Cell on Electric Playground, Brat Designs' Breed
on Brian Rubin`s Macular Degeneration, Ritual's Star
Trek: Elite Force II on Actiontrip, JoWood's Cold
Zero: the Last Stand on TotalVideoGames, there's general
coverage and photos on Gamegal, the E3awards.com
nominations are up. There is ShakyCam video of Digital Illusions' Battlefield
1942 on BF Nation, a big video
gallery on 3D Retreat, and another big gallery on 4Gamer.net
(thanks Blacklamb).
There's an
Asheron's Call 2 Q&A on RPGDot chatting with Judith Hoffman, executive
producer on the upcoming MMORPG sequel currently under construction at Turbine Entertainment.
Topics include the sequel's first-person PoV support, the customizable UI, plans
to include a tutorial, the absence of "true" NPCs, reputation,
classes, skill caps, the craft system, item, housing, the size of the game
world, monster AI, downtimes and pacing, item degradation, death penalties,
spawn points, and more. One of the included screenshots is new.
The GI Combat
Developer Diary Volume 3 GameSpy.com offers more thoughts from Erik Young,
producer on Freedom Games' upcoming World War II RTS game. Today's entry
concerns preparations to demonstrate the game at E3, as well as reflections on
showing off the game and the event itself, concluding with reflections on
holding to a production schedule, and word that the game is heading towards beta
status.
This Apolyton Civilization Chat Transcript
recaps a spontaneous chat session that took place yesterday with several of the
folks from Firaxis to discuss the latest iteration in this classic turn-based
strategy series. The chat was a marathon affair, reportedly lasting seven(!)
hours, so to assist those unwilling to slog through the nine pages (not counting
pop-ups) of the log, they have also posted a summary of new information that was
offered on their main page and a
thread on their forums discussing the "best parts."
- Raven Software
HomeLan Fed's
Raven Software Q&A chats with Kenn Hoekstra about the success of JK2
and SoF2 as well as future plans, though most of the forward-looking
questions get pretty vague answers.
- WW2 RTS
Nikolay
Baryshnikov Q&A on WW2RTS.com talking with the international sales director
for 1C about World War II RTS, their upcoming game with the terribly
self-explanatory title.
- AvP2
PlanetAvP Interviews Sarita Churchill
talking with the PR Manager at Vivendi Universal about Aliens versus
Predator II, naturally focusing on the promotions and public relations end
of things.
The Battlestorm Continues! Infogrames Expands Arcade-Style Battle Lineup is the press release announcing three new budget-priced arcade action games in the "Operation" series by Infogrames that was initiated with Operation Blockade. Projected are Operation Tiger Hunt, a tank shooter by Digital Fusion, Operation Steel Tide, a submarine shooter by ScreamingGames, and Operation War in the Pacific, a 360° shooter by Running Dog Software.
There is a brief but hands-on preview of Celtic Kings: Rage of War on PC.IGN.com, based on checking out this isometric real-time strategy game by Haemimont Games at E3 and taking home a press build for some additional play time. The article describes the game's setting, the four factions (two of them playable), units and heroes, the scope of the maps and armies, and more. A gallery of 17 new screenshots is included.
Nintendo to focus on games rather than consoles
(thanks Scott) is a report on The USA Today reports: "Nintendo plans to
expand its share of the video game market by focusing on making better games
rather than on building increasingly powerful game players, its new president
said Thursday." Ferrago.co.uk's
Matthew Hopwood Q&A and B-F Total Gaming Network's
AGB Games Q&A each talk with the lead programmer from AGB Games about
progress on the WFR Engine which might just be putting Quake in the palm of your
hand on the GBA. There's a Commandos
2: Men of Courage Trailer on the Eidos Interactive Website. There's a
Hands-on Enclave preview on GameSpot based on getting to play with a complete
build of Starbreeze Studios' third-person action game that includes over 30 new
screenshots. There's a
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter preview on The Electric Playground.
Console Reviews
The GODZ Website now offers a
new version 115 of the GODZ modification for Unreal Tournament. The new release
offers a new map and several tweaks to gameplay including improved animation
code, a basic deathmatch mode, a deathmatch HUD, along with several bug fixes.
The QuakeCon 2002 Website has been
updated with a new (in spite of being dated a few days ago) press release
announcing that this summer's event will feature a Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Team Tournament with $60,000 in cash prizes and a QUAKE III Arena Championship
with $40,000 in cash on the line.
The Asheron's Call 2
FAQ has been updated with several new entries concerning the upcoming MMORPG
sequel.
Bungie has posted a few new job openings as they look to add a 3D
environment artist, a lead
animator, and a mission
designer.
Seriously! is offering downloads of
a new help file for the Serious editing utility for Serious Sam map designers. In
addition to new info, the update also offers full integration with the Serious
editor.
I came humorously close to running out of gas yesterday in the exact same spot
as I did last time. As this mini-drama played out I considered the questionable
trade-off between suffering through such an event and the potential joys of
getting to illustrate here what a dope I can be for having this happen again.
Well I managed to avoid succumbing to my fuel crisis, but this still must have
been a glimpse into my future, as this morning I found that Hudson the wonder
dog had left me a present in the kitchen in the form of a prodigiously giant
poo, quite reminiscent of the morning I nearly drowned in a puddle of piddle
(she could nap in a blizzard, but hates rain so much she managed to forego this necessary
bodily function during her trips outside all day to stay drier). This leaves me trying to figure out if
my life is becoming Groundhog Day, where I will start experiencing the same
events over and over. I can only hope not... just like big hands mean big
gloves, big dog=big poo, and next time should I manage to find it with my foot
rather than with my eyes (like I did with the piddle puddle), I may never be
heard from again until some archeologist finds my remains inside a giant
fossilized turd.
R.I.P.: Dee Dee Ramone Found Dead in L.A.
Thanks Joseph Wilwayco. I guess there's no irony that the author of Chinese
Rock would O.D., but sad nonetheless.
Play Time: Create
your own South Park Character (Flash required). Thanks David Hoffman.
Link of the Day: Stockflight's
The Story of Big Payback. Thanks Scott C. Warren.
Image of the Day: New
Hubble shots on Space News. Thanks Chris Johnson.
Follow-up: The new custom 404 Not Found
page on 404lab. Fixed hours after yesterday's observation that one didn't
exist. Now that's power!
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