Archived News:
The America's
Army Website now offers a new Mac client for this Unreal-engine shooter,
bringing the Apple version up to version 1.9. Mirrors of the download can be
found on 3D Gamers
and MacGameFiles.
The Star
Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy Designer Diary #1 on GameSpot kicks off a
series on the now Gold Star Wars shooter sequel even as it's winging its way
through space towards store shelves. Also, a new The
War of the Ring Diary #1 on RPG Vault is written by Liquid Entertainment's
Jack Davis who guides us through a day in the life of being a designer on War
of the Ring, their upcoming Tolkien-inspired RTS game.
- Gangland
Action
Vault's Gangland Q&A talks with Adam Gregersen and Benedict
Odemotland of MediaMobsters about their upcoming game which "will meld
elements of first-person shooter-style action with real-time tactics."
- Ultimate Arena
The Ultimate
Arena Q&A on GameShark chats with chief gaming officer Dennis
"Thresh" Fong about their play for cash service.
The Mythica E3 demo movie has been released, offering over four minutes of gameplay
footage from Microsoft's upcoming MMORPG. The download is available on the Mythica
Website along with more info about what's on display. A mirror can be found
on 3D Gamers.
After a quiet period, the Dark Ore
website has been revamped, and now offers 9/10/03 as the online release date for
Raylogic's space dog fighting game. Thanks Frans.
Part two of the
Edinburgh International Games Festival coverage on Loadedinc.com features
Peter Molyneux on Fable, Yannis Mallat on the animation in Prince of Persia:
Sands of Time, and more. Also, the Games
Convention '03 Impressions, Part One on Gamers With Jobs comes away from the
show in Leipzig with impressions of Far Cry, Full Spectrum Warrior, Deus Ex 2,
and more, with even more promised in part two. Finally, IGN has added more GC
2003 coverage, including a THQ
Booth Report, an Eidos
Booth Report, an Acclaim
Booth Report, and a Konami
Booth Report.
Eidos sends along news that Republic: The Revolution is shipping to stores in
North America tomorrow, a bit in advance of the recently revealed scheduled
in-store date of August 29 ( story). In other shipping related
news, the countdown to release on the official TRON
2.0 Website is now down to 5˝ hours, putting its release at midnight
tonight (which is also when Soul Calibur II is slated to become available).
The Haegemonia Website
now offers downloads of a new trailer showing off Haegemonia: The SOLON
Heritage, the upcoming expansion for Haegemonia, the space combat game
(thanks Tiscali Games). The movie is a 12.5 MB download, mirrored on 3D
Gamers, FileFront,
Gamer's
Hell, and Worthplaying.
Also, LionSource.com has posted
a couple of Black & White 2 movies from the Games Convention in
Leipzig. Their
presentation video shows the entire presentation of the game by Peter
Molyneux, while their
creatures video shows animations for the wolf, cow, lion, and ape from the
upcoming B&W sequel. Meanwhile, a trio of gameplay movies from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:
Oblivion Lost have debuted on Gamer's
Hell, showing off ragdoll physics, vehicle physics, and a map flyby. Also, a
couple of new "emote" videos from Wish are up on the Wish Vault. Finally, the Terminator 3: War of the Machines movie mentioned earlier has been mirrored on 3D Gamers, Boomtown (registration required),
Gamer's Hell,
IGN, and Worthplaying.
Homeworld
2 Goes Gold is the press release from Vivendi Universal Games announcing
that Homeworld 2 is gold, and that the space-based RTS sequel is expected to ship
to stores in North America on September 16. Here's the deal: Homeworld 2,
the sequel to one of 1999's highly acclaimed RTS games, returns players to the
helm of the most powerful space armada in the universe as they battle to keep
their home. The highly-anticipated follow up title includes multiplayer
competition for up to five other players, in addition to an engrossing single
player saga, and features startling space effects like dust gas clouds, wispy
nebulae, and ghostly derelict hulks of space ships rendered with spectacular
Hollywood-style special effects.
"Homeworld 2 takes our commitment to quality to the next level, by
including a number of visual improvements, as well as refinements to the
gameplay and user-interface," said Dan Irish, Executive Producer of
Homeworld 2. "We're excited to deliver the next chapter in the Homeworld
saga, and are looking forward to seeing the fans' reactions to our improvements
of the series."
To guarantee a copy of Homeworld 2 on release day, gamers can reserve a copy
through their local retail store or online site. Customers who reserve a copy at
Best Buy, GameStop, Amazon.com, Musicland and CompUSA will receive a bonus
Homeworld 2 CD with never before seen concept art, trailer, poster, and much
more, while supplies last.
DreamCatcher sends word that Enigma: Rising Tide, Tesseraction's marine battle simulation,
has shipped in North America. Here's their accompanying description of the game:
Enigma: Rising Tide is a groundbreaking game that melds cinematic pacing with
immersive graphics, to produce the world's first alternate history, naval
warfare simulation. Controlling the battle at sea ultimately leads to a victory
in any war, and Enigma: Rising Tide allows gamers to do just that. Battling as
one of three factions (US, German or the League of Free Nations) players must
control a naval fleet of destroyers, submarines, battleships or cruisers. Each
commander must deploy suitable weapons to tackle an ever-evolving enemy, from
deploying deck guns and torpedoes to launching hedgehogs, and depth charges."
It turns out that all that glitters is not gold, as Strategy first sends along a
clarification that today's announcement that Chrome has gone gold ( story)
does not apply to the North American version of Techland's shooter: "Many
of you may have received a News Item from Techland stating that their FPS game,
CHROME has gone gold. Strategy First is the North American publisher of this
game and we have not Gone Gold with this title yet so please disregard the news
item." A further update on GameSpot
says the North American release of the game is planned for late October.
On the heels of announcing that Chrome is gold (below), Polish developer and
publisher Techland (Another War) announces plans for Weird
War (thanks Frans), described as "a classic RPG with loads of action
and is set during the Second World War." Word is the official website will
be online within a few days, and in the meantime, they've posted the first few
screenshots. Here's a bit more: "The game combines an atmosphere of
adventure like that found in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with a unique
brand of humor made popular by the "Allo, Allo" Television series,
creating a refreshing and lighthearted perspective of World War II. Weird War -
The Unknown Episode of World War II, is similar to classic RPGs such as Baldur's
Gate, Arcanum and Planescape Torment. This familiar style will allow RPG fans to
feel right at home, allowing them to enjoy an original storyline in a classic
gaming environment." Also, a new project is in the works at Russian
developer Fireglow (Sudden Strike), as Gamesweb
has word (thanks Tiscali Games) in German (here's a Babel Fish
translation) of plans for Cold War Conflict, an RTS game set during the chilly
cold war, offering the ability to play as either Soviet or Western forces.
Indications are that this game will be released during November of this year.
Techland has announced that Chrome, their upcoming shooter, has gone gold
(thanks Frans). Here's the extent of the announcement, which does not provide
hints as to when the game is expected: Techland, Polish game developer
and publisher, announced today that the worldwide version of Chrome goes gold.
Chrome is a tactical FPP shooter taking place in distant future. Colonization of
a newly discovered planetary system is the background for the game. Chrome
offers photorealistic graphics depicting vast, forested terrain and unique
playability based on the implant system, vehicles, and freedom of the player
during the missions. To find out more about Chrome, please visit www.chromethegame.com
or the Techland exhibitions at GC Games Convention in Leipzig/Germany between 21
and 24 of August 2003 or at the upcoming ECTS in London.
Update:
Strategy First sends word that this announcement does not apply to the North
American edition of the game ( story).
The E3 movie showing off Knights of the Temple (A.K.A. Templar) is now
available, offering a glimpse at gameplay in Starbreeze Studios' medieval
action/adventure that places players in the role of a knight on a quest to the
holy Land. The movie is a 35 MB download, which can be found on 3D
Gamers. Also, 4Players.de
(thanks Tiscali Games) is offering downloads of a Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
movie showing off the Xbox terminator game. Update: More termination
comes on Tiscali
Games where there's a Terminator: War of Machines clip from the upcoming PC
Terminator game.
The Age of
Mythology: The Titans Diary Volume 1 on GameSpy.com
is written by Rob Fermier, lead designer on Ensemble Studios' upcoming RTS
expansion. The topics at hand in the introductory entry are "tweaks to the
game's user interface, improvements to game recording, and powerful new tools
for map makers, mod makers, and scenario editors." Also, there's a
Darkfall Developer Diary on Darkfall Warcry where Henning Ledvigsen, art
director on Razorwax' upcoming MMORPG, describes the unique architecture of the
characters in the game.
There's an Atari
Editors' Day recap on GameSpy.com, home to their ongoing coverage of
an extravaganza showing off Atari's upcoming games. There's a huge batch of
screenshots, including Unreal
Tournament 2004, Temple
of Elemental Evil, and Neverwinter
Nights: Hordes of the Underdark as well as new previews, including Unreal
Tournament 2004, Neverwinter
Nights- Hordes of the Underdark, and Shadow
Ops: Red Mercury. Also, GameSpot's coverage of the proceedings is equally
vast, with previews online of Terminator
3: War of the Machines, Temple
of Elemental Evil, Neverwinter
Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, Horizons,
Gothic II,
Dungeons
& Dragons Online Update, Civilization
III: Conquests, Unreal
Tournament 2004, as well as a bunch of screenshots.
- Commandos 3
HomeLAN
Fed's Commandos III Q&A chats with Ignacio Pérez of Pyro Studios
about the upcoming Commandos game that once again puts players in control of
a squad doing battle in World War II. They discuss the new game's storyline,
setting, weapons, and more.
- Peter Molyneux
There's a
Peter Molyneux interview on eXtreme-Players.de catching up with the
Lionhead head at GC 2003. The brief article format Q&A offers brief
responses to questions about Black & White 2.
- Exyst
HomeLAN
Fed's Exyst Q&A talks with "Duncan" of Antartica, a new
company at work on an MMORPG called Exyst, discussing the absence of a main
storyline in the game, and how things will develop as a result, though a
good number of questions meet with "no comment"-style answers.
- C&C Generals Zero Hour
The Chris
Rubyor Q&A on CNC UNLEASHED is a quick five question Q&A about
the upcoming Zero Hour expansion for Command & Conquer Generals.
- Vietnam War
There's a
Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Trail Q&A on Wirtualna Polska talking with
John Fuhrman of E-Pie Entertainment about this "fixed-position FPS that
takes place in war-time Vietnam, back in the 1960s" that puts the player
in the role of an isolated special forces operative.
GameSpy's Ultima X
Odyssey Preview offers more first-hand impressions of the upcoming MMORPG
based on attending the recent press unveiling. Here's a bit outlining the
gameplay they are creating, contrasting UXO with UO: Gone are bold
notions about "online social experiments" or "virtual
economies" -- they've got Ultima Online for that. In their place is
a concept for an action-oriented experience where individual players -- or small
groups of players -- can embark on quests where they can genuinely be the hero
and make a difference. This is more like Diablo than Ultima Online,
but with more depth, character development, and immersion than you'd ever find
in a Diablo game.
The horse is way out of the barn on this one, but CITY interactive sends word
that the recent Wings of Honour demo was not intended for public release, but
was a press only demo. Word is: "The official 'Wings of Honour' demo will
be prepared and offered for wide gamer’s fraternity within two weeks from this
moment. We will inform the public when the demo will be available for download.
We also would like to apologize for that embrassing [sic] situation and we do
believe our future cooperation with all worldwide gamer's press will develop in
succesful [sic] way and good mood."
There's a Jungle Warfare
Q&A on Jolt.co.uk discussing this UT2003 mod that's a finalist in the
Make Something Unreal contest. Additionally they have posted Galactic
Conquest 0.2 details with what's expected in the upcoming version of this
Star Wars-themed mod for BF1942. There's also a
HydoRacers music video showing off this BF1942 mod.
The ION Storm Jobs Page has word
that they are "currently seeking an experienced 3rd person programmer for a
3-6 month contract assignment to work on the highly anticipated Thief 3 title."
The TTLG
Forums has a thread up discussing the implications of this news. Update:
Blue notes (in the third-person) that the "3rd person programmer" has
been pulled or filled, as its no longer online.
Man, it's been a while since I had a coffee misadventure, but this morning I
managed to knock over the Melitta cone full of ground coffee and then, I guess a
bit addled after scooping what I could back into the cone, I forget to pour out
the hot water that was warming the carafe out before starting to pour the
boiling water into the cone to boot, creating a little flood as the brewed
coffee spilled over the edge. Along the way I had to grind a bit more coffee to
make up for what was lost, and then lost the spillage further confusing the
coffee to water ratio.
The coffee came out tasting pretty crappy... but that's good news, 'cause if
it was the best I'd ever brewed, I'd never be able (or want) to recreate the
recipe.
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