Archived News:
The Atari Beta Testing Website (thanks Shacknews)
has word that they are accepting applicants for closed testing of the upcoming
free MP add-on for Unreal 2: Also, the Unreal 2 Expanded Multi-Player
free expansion is up and taking requests for the closed beta. This multiplayer
mode is a class-based team game where players fight for control of artifacts and
energy using a deadly arsenal of weaponry, vehicles, and defenses. If you would
like to participate in this beta test, please register for an account in Atari's
beta testing system and request to be a part of this exciting project.
There's a new Medal
of Honor Allied Assault Breakthrough Info Page with details about the
upcoming expansion for EALA's World War II shooter, such as: "Set in the
European Theatre of Operations from 1943-1944, Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Breakthrough combines eleven single-player levels with nine new multiplayer
maps and includes new locations, new weapons, and new soldiers." The update
is accompanied by some new
screenshots. Thanks Frans and Lerxster.
The
Sims 2 Designer Diary #2 on GameSpot is written by Charles London, creative
director on the upcoming get a virtual life sequel, who discusses the challenges
that faced them when they "set out to make The Sims 2 the greatest game of
all time." Also, RPG
Vault's Restricted Area Peek of the Week #6 features Master Creating's Jan
Beuck, who unveils the first mission in the upcoming action RPG.
A new version 1.0b patch for the HydroRacers
mod for Battlefield 1942 is now available, coming right after the release of the
version 1.0a patch. The update addresses the steering issue that impacted
multiplayer games, while maintaining the proper responsiveness in single-player
play.
IndyCar
Series for PC goes gold on GameSpot has word that the PC version of IndyCar
Series, Codemasters' open wheeled racing game, is now gold. Word is the game was
completed ahead of schedule, will be racing into stores in mid September, well
in advance of the release date of November that they originally dialed in.
On the heels of today's announcement that three games from their prior agreement
have shipped, Encore
Expands its Co-Publishing Agreement with JoWooD Productions Software AG is
the press release announcing more overseas collaboration between JoWooD and
Encore. Here's a bit: Los Angeles, CA -
August 19, 2003 - Encore, a majority-owned subsidiary of
Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVR), today announced that it has expanded its
co-publishing agreement with JoWooD Productions Software AG, an Austrian game
publisher and developer. Under this new agreement, Encore will manage the sales,
distribution and marketing exclusively in North America for over a dozen new PC
games, a back catalog of an additional two dozen PC titles, and a handful of
console games. JoWooD is delivering the content for these games, which are
anticipated to begin shipping by the end of the year. Terms of the agreement
were not disclosed.
Silent Storm, Spellforce and Soldner, eagerly awaited games that have received
favorable previews from the press and consumers, are among those covered by this
agreement. Others include Against Rome and Railroad Pioneers.
This agreement follows one signed by JoWooD and Encore in March of this year, in
which AquaNox 2: Revelation, Cold Zero, Chaser, Neighbors from Hell and Wildlife
Park were the lead titles among nine covered in the contract. The first three
began shipping today; Neighbors from Hell is scheduled to ship next week and
Wildlife Park will follow in October.
The intro movie for Deus Ex: Invisible War has been released to mark the
occasion of the German GC2003. The nearly three minute cinematic movie sets up
the story for ION Storm's upcoming thinker-shooter sequel. The movie is a 30 MB
download, available from 3D
Gamers, Tiscali
Games (where there's also a DivX-format mini-me version), and Worthplaying.
Another ION Storm movie release has occurred at the show, as a higher resolution
version of the Thief 3 E3 (say that three times fast) trailer is now available,
with a bit more added to the cinematic trailer so it now runs for over a minute.
The 9-ish MB download can be found on 3D
Gamers and Worthplaying.
Finally, in other (albeit not gaming) movie news, The
Matrix Revolutions trailer is now available as an official QuickTime
dealie (thanks Tiscali Games).
The official Conflict:
Desert Storm II Website is online, offering a ( Flash-only) home to the
upcoming squad combat sequel once again set in the first Gulf War. Thanks Frans.
HomeLAN Fed has a
report up saying that AquaNox 2: Revelation, Cold Zero, and Chaser are all now
shipping to stores in the U.S., offering three different takes on the shooter
genre (all three are being published in the U.S. by JoWooD). Also, Novus
Ordum is now available, though the only distribution for PaGTech's
conspiracy game is online, where the full version is available for purchase, or
the demo can be freely downloaded. Finally, Pendulo
Studios and Tri Synergy send word
that Runaway: A Road Adventure, their adventure game, is scheduled to appear in
North American retail outlets as of today.
Majesco sends word that the ( Flash-only) Black9 Website has relaunched, dedicated to this upcoming science fiction
RPG in the works at Taldren. It doesn't seem like much has changed between the
launch and the relaunch, so perhaps they are just inviting folks to stop on by.
This Neverwinter Nights
Patches and Updates Page now offers downloads of new version 1.31 patches
for the English editions of Neverwinter Nights and the Shadows of Undrentide
expansion (thanks Maximus). The
accompanying version 1.31 dedicated server programs for all platforms are also
available.
The Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Raven
Shield Website now has the release notes for the upcoming version 1.4.1
patch for the Tom Clancy shooter (thanks Frans). Word is the update will
incorporate the previously promised PunkBuster support, a cosmetic firing toggle
animation switch, and fixes for a couple of bugs, including the memory leak.
There's no mention of when to expect the patch, which was originally promised
for today ( story), but word on the Raven
Shield Platoon is that the patch has actually been delayed a week, and is
now due next Tuesday (August 26).
The Massive Assault Website
now offers downloads of a new trailer from Wargaming.net's upcoming turn-based
strategy game of global domination. The movie is available in higher (55 MB) and
lower (19 MB) resolution formats, and mirrors are available at 3D
Gamers, FileFront ( hi-res
and low-res),
and Gamer's
Hell. Also CITY interactive has released a new trailer from Wings of Honour
showing off a Sopwith Camel and three of the five detailed terrain maps in this
game formerly known as Aces of World War I. Here
is the direct link to the AVI-format clip, which is also mirrored on 3D
Gamers. Finally, the Middle Earth Online movie released the other day on IGN
is now in wider distribution (now in theaters near you!), and can now be found
mirrored on 3D Gamers,
FileFront,
and Gamer's
Hell.
The Chariots of War
Website (thanks Frans) now offers downloads of the English beta map pack 1
for Chariots of War, Slitherine Software's RTS game set in historical Asia
Minor. The beta map pack does not include a full installer, but can be used with
any version of the game. The download is just under 6 MB.
Sponsors
seek street cred at QuakeCon on CNN Money talks with the sponsors of the
gaming extravaganza about what's in it for them in supporting the show.
Likewise, the
QuakeCon 2003 "Review" on Legit Reviews.com takes a look at the
various hardware offerings on display.
Sony
Adds Game, New Hardware to PS2 Offerings (thanks Peter Binazeski) and Sony
Computer Entertainment America Announces New PlayStation(R)2 Pricing Structure.
This Hothouse
Creations Press Release (thanks Frans) has word that: "Hothouse has
signed a second development deal with international publisher Konami to produce
an as yet un-named game for PlayStation 2, PC and X-Box."
The Lords of the Realm Sweepstakes
offers a grand prize that will place the winner's likeness in the upcoming Lords
of the Realm III, though rather than be an actual lord, the winner will be
featured as a vassal.
Yesterday the instability of the computer I've been working on finally pushed me
back to troubleshooting my real work PC, as I could not stand to lose any more
productivity to the crashes the emergency box was subject to. The problem with
my real Win2K workstation is a memory leak I was experiencing with FrontPage, a
problem that persisted even after uninstalling and reinstalling the whole Office
suite. As it turns out, I have not actually determined the cause of the problem,
just a workaround, which is simply to save my work in a different subdirectory.
I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this (there always seems to be), but
it certainly defies the easy explanation that there was something corrupt in the
directory structure where I was previously saving things, since it's working
fine now, and I'm using the exact same directory as before, simply copied to a
new location. Anyway, I'm quite ecstatic at being able to work on my proper work
machine, and I'm guessing my newly learned habit of saving my work after every
keystroke might even come in handy one of these days.
Today might see some experimentation begin with some ads that are probably more
obtrusive than what we're used to here. This is not a step that is taken
lightly, but is essential to the ongoing survival of this site, and I can only
hope that you will consider this a fair trade-off. As always, feedback on this
is welcome.
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