Archived News:
Blizzard
game studio in lull of uncertainty is a Seattle Times article (thanks HomeLAN
Fed) on the uncertain future faced by Blizzard in light of efforts by Vivendi
Universal to sell the games unit of which it is a part. They describe the recent
departure of some of the company's mainstays, quote Blizzard's president Mike
Morhaime as saying "we don't even know if we're part of the assets being
sold," and offer the following perspective on Blizzard's place in VUGames'
scheme of things: Blizzard is a key piece of Vivendi's video and computer
games business, which had sales last year of $750 million, about 11 percent of
Vivendi's 2002 revenue. Although Blizzard has released just one new title this
year — an expansion to "Warcraft III" — it accounts for 25 percent
of Vivendi Universal Games' worldwide revenue.
Vivendi Universal Games also includes Universal Interactive, Fox Interactive,
Sierra Entertainment and Knowledge Adventure.
Early on, Vivendi hoped to sell the entire games unit for $2 billion, but
analysts said the price has fallen to about $800 million. Even so, there haven't
been any offers, despite flirtations with game publisher Electronic Arts and
Microsoft.
The Command
& Conquer Generals Zero Hour Media Index on GameSpot (registration required) now offers a
second official trailer for Command & Conquer:
Generals Zero Hour, showing off the Chinese faction in the upcoming real-time
strategy expansion. Also, this Eidos
Interactive Downloads Page features a new trailer from Commandos
3: Destination Berlin, demonstrating the sniper class in the upcoming WW2 RTS
sequel. Finally, master creating has released a gameplay trailer showing off Restricted
Area, their upcoming action RPG. The trailer is a 19 MB download, available
on FileFront
and Gamer's
Hell.
- Beyond Good & Evil
Computer
and Video Games' Beyond Good & Evil Interview chats with Michel
Ancel at ECTS about the upcoming game that puts players in the unusual role
of an action reporter on the trail of government conspiracies and other
intrigues.
- Guild Wars
The Guild
Wars Q&A on Gamehelper talks with the folks at ArenaNet about Guild
Wars, their upcoming online fantasy RPG. They discuss the mechanics of
gameplay, the infrastructure, the practicality of offering an MMORPG with no
subscription fees, and more.
- Nitro Family
NoFrag's
Nitro Family Q&A is a conversation with Ki-Jong Kang of Delphi Eye
about this upcoming Serious-engine shooter, discussing combo moves, co-op
support, the unusual weaponry they're inventing, and more.
Eliminating any remaining shreds of doubt on the subject, Full
Spectrum Warrior confirmed for PC on GameSpot relates the confirmation
they've received from THQ that a PC version of Full Spectrum Warrior will follow
the Xbox version of this first-person shooter in the works at Pandemic Studios.
In addition to confirmation that the game, which is a scaled down version of a
simulation created for the U.S. Army, they also have posted a brief Q&A with
"the game's director," Wil Stahl, who discusses how the game
will differ on the two platforms.
Homeworld
2 Demo Coming Soon is the press release announcing the plan to release the
demo of Relic's now-gold space-based RTS sequel tomorrow. Here's the word: Vivendi
Universal Games (VU Games) announced today that, in conjunction with Relic
Entertainment, it will release a sneak-peak to Homeworld(r)2, the sequel to
1999's award-winning, space-based real-time strategy game, tomorrow.
The demo will include looks at both the single- and multi-player campaigns of
Homeworld 2, including the tutorial mission, two single-player missions, and two
multiplayer missions, which will be playable over both LAN and the GameSpy
network.
"We recognize that our community's support of Homeworld 2 is both
incredibly valuable and vital to the success of this game," said Chris
Mahnken, producer of Homeworld 2. "The community has been requesting a demo
of the game for many months now, and we are proud to be able to deliver it to
them."
The 141 MB Homeworld 2 demo will be released via the VU Games website tomorrow.
The company will also make the demo available to all press and community sites
that wish to host it.
Continuing the delay theme of the day, a story
on Gamer's Hell reports that they've been informed by Micröids that Syberia
II is no longer slated for release this fall, and that the new release date for
the adventure game sequel is now first quarter 2004. Word is this to allow
further time to polish the game.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield
Website (thanks Frans) has what's becoming the regularly scheduled
announcement of further delays to the release of the version 1.41 patch for the
tactical shooter. Working through the implementation of PunkBuster anti-cheating
support is the reason cited for the latest delay, and, perhaps with the
intention of preventing yet another delay announcement, no specific updated
release date for the patch is offered.
A
post on TheForumz.com has word from Radon Labs saying that "Schwarzenberg
is delayed for a bigger amount of time." Though it can't be determined from
the title, Schwarzenberg is a stealth action game set in World War II, and the
number of similar projects coming to market have made it impossible for them to
find a publisher to back this title at this time. Word is to expect further
details soon on a different "big project" Radon is undertaking using
the technology from Schwarzenberg.
- Kuma War
Action
Vault's Kuma War Q&A talks with Glenn Broderick of Kuma about their
upcoming episodic first-person shooter that will feature weekly updates
based on current events.
- Face of Mankind
The Face
of Mankind Q&A Part 2 on OGaming chats further with Thomas Seufert
of Duplex Systems about level design, game programming, community relations,
and more.
RPG Vault's
Horizons Journal #26 cuts right to the chase, as it features Artifact
Entertainment's creative director David Bowman answering this question:
"Why play Artifact Entertainment's online world?"
The official Commandos 3:
Destination Berlin Website has now launched in place of the teaser site that
preceded it (thanks Frans). The site offers game info, screenshots, and more, in
both English and Spanish.
This CoDFiles.com
Files Page (thanks Tiscali Games) is already collecting modifications for the
recently released demo of Call of Duty, Infinity Ward's upcoming first-person
shooter. There are mods the influence gameplay (such as a realism mod), weapons,
and simple sound replacements.
Playstation
3 Insider follows-up on their recently posted rumor, quoting Sony as saying
the rumor that NVIDIA would be producing graphics technology for the PS3
"ridiculous." Consoles
Vie for Online Players (thanks Mike Martinez). Microsoft
Wins OK for Xbox Wireless Adapter.
The Cyberathlete
Professional League Website now offers details on their 2004 season. Word is
registration will begin for their Summer 2004 Event on Monday, November 3, 2003
at 10:00 a.m. Central Time.
I mentioned that my ISP managed to choke off the flood of SoBig virus mails a
day or so after they began, but I am flooded with bounces from antivirus
software reacting to my e-mail appearing as the spoofed sender's address. Now a
third wave of related mails is appearing, these from those whose inboxes are now
filled... and people say the way e-mail is handled on the internet need an
update. Bah, I say... this is just perfect!
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