Archived News:
A new Wings of Honour demo is now available, offering a sampling of CITY
Interactive's World War I flying combat game. The demo features a pair of
tutorial missions using Snoopy's plane of choice, the legendary Sopwith Camel.
The demo is a 292 MB download, available on 3D Gamers.
Update: The demo was posted as the result of a
"miscommunication," and has been pulled. The official demo is expected
in a few weeks.
The LucasArts Website (thanks ToTheGame)
has word that Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is gold, and the
Force-wielding shooter sequel is due in stores on September 17. They are
promising a free gift with preorders.
The NVIDIA Driver Page
now offers downloads of new version 45.23 Detonator reference drivers for NVIDIA
accelerators. The update includes performance and compatibility fixes, as
detailed in the
release notes.
EA Creates New Development Studio in Montreal
(thanks Frans) has word that Electronic Arts is searching for the site for a new
studio they will open in the great white north. Here's a bit: "'I'm excited
about building a team that will create the next great game franchise for EA,'
said General Manager Alain Tascan. 'We are now composing a team from people who
submit resumes submitted to a special Montreal site on jobs.ea.com.
The staff will grow quickly as we identify projects and begin development.'"
A new movie showing off gameplay from The Sims 2 is now available. The clip is a
14 MB download, showing off over a minute of gameplay. The movie can be found on
3D Gamers and Happy Puppy
(registration required).
The first couple of previews of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne are now
online. Both GameSpot
and GameSpy
offer thoughts on Remedy's upcoming third-person shooter sequel based on a visit
to the offices of publisher Rockstar. Each discusses the story and gameplay,
describing the classic 'framed cop on the run' scenario that gives the game its
subtitle. Here's a bit from GameSpot on the inclusion of the love interest that
was not present in the original, not that there are many shooter games where
such a plot device actually can be found: In other words, Max Payne 2
will be, as you might have heard, a love story--or as Rockstar describes it, a
"film noir love story." His main love interest will be the beautiful
and mysterious Mona Sachs, a murder suspect who had previously had a few run-ins
with the law--and with Max himself--before the events in the sequel. Remedy
apparently felt that a love interest was a key element that was missing from the
original game, which introduced several key characters, but quickly killed most
of them off in a way that was practically wasteful.
Funcom sends news that the release of Anarchy Online: Shadowlands, the expanded
version of their MMORPG, is going to be delayed for a couple of weeks. Here's
the deal: Oslo, Norway, August 13th, 2003 - Funcom announced today that
the release date of Anarchy Online: Shadowlands has been pushed back from August
26th to September 9th.
"With Shadowlands, we are literally adding a whole new dimension to our
game," explained Funcom CEO, Trond Aas. "The scope of the project is
huge, and we have found that we need a couple of more weeks of testing and
balancing before launching the expansion."
While fans will have to wait another two weeks for the expansion, Trond Aas is
certain it will be worth the wait. "I'm convinced everyone will see the
sense in our decision. The extra wait will be long forgotten once they start
exploring the marvelous world of Shadowlands."
A bunch of new BREED clips are up on IGN,
showing off more of BRAT Designs' upcoming shooter. Also, The
MediaMobsters Website now features a new movie showing off gameplay from
GANGLAND, MediaMobsters' upcoming game that "offers a unique blend of
RTS/RPG/SIM." The movie is about a 97 MB or 21 MB download, both of which
are mirrored on 3D Gamers.
- Call of Duty
The Michael Giacchino
Q&A on IGN has a conversation with the Medal of Honor music composer
who recently signed on to score Call of Duty, and there's another Q&A
with Michael on Music 4 Games.
- Silent Storm
HomeLAN Fed's Silent Storm
Q&A talks with Dmitry Zakharov of Nival Interactive about Silent Storm,
their upcoming squad-level turn-based strategy game (with the inevitable
"RPG elements") set in World War II.
- MMOGs
Warcry's
Monte Singman Q&A talks with the CEO of Zona
about MMOGs and what goes on behind the scenes to bring such games to the
public.
- XGameStation
HomeLAN Fed's XGameStation
Q&A chats with Andre' LaMothe, CEO of the Nurve Network to learn
more about their planned console system that they say will support
developing games as well as playing them.
A new patch is now available for the UK version of Enigma: Rising Tide
that they say has "fixed a few bugs and added quite a bit to bring the UK
english [sic] version up to the same level as the soon to be released North
American Version." The patch is a 99 MB download, which can be found on 3D Gamers
and Computer Games Online.
Also, new updates are now available for Battlecruiser Millennium on this
page and Battlecruiser Millennium Gold Edition on this
page.
GarageGames announces that registration is underway for the Indie Games Conference 2003,
to be held in Eugene, Oregon on October 10-12, 2003.
There's a
Galleon Q&A on Computer and Video Games talking with Confounding
Factor's Toby Gard about Galleon, who offers assurances that
the oft-delayed title will eventually make its way onto store shelves, as well
as his take on the new Tomb Raider game. The Full
Spectrum Warrior Q&A on Computer and Video Games talks with William
Henry Stahl about Pandemic's upcoming third-person shooter that was designed as
a training simulator for the US Army. Thanks Frans.
CPL Europe has agreed to postpone their
ESX tourney to November 12-16 so as to not harm the WCG, as both tournaments had
previously been scheduled for the same dates, preventing Europe's top players
from getting to attend both.
The Mythica FAQ has been updated with
further questions and their corresponding answers about Microsoft Game Studios'
upcoming MMORPG. Thanks Frans.
GameShark
has a position they are looking to fill for a "content specialist" in
the San Diego area, or with a willingness to relocate there.
When the Brain Grabs a Tune and Won't Let Go
(registration required) (thanks Mike Martinez) has a quote that really resonates with me: "This
summer, a community board in Brooklyn has called for a limit on the playing of
the 'Mr. Softee' jingle by ice-cream trucks — a jingle that can be unbearably
memorable for those subjected to it for extended periods." MrsBlue can
attest to the fact that when we were in Brooklyn, the numerous times the
self-confessed flaccid ice cream man passed our home cause me to go around
whistling his insipid theme song. In connection with writing this I was
considering trying to find a link to the tune somewhere on the internet, but I
realized that would just be passing along the "infection." Hell, it's
been a few years since I've heard it and just writing this has got it running
through my head (argh!).
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