Archived News:
A minor change to the XIII Website
(thanks Frans) hints that Ubi Soft's upcoming cel-shaded Unreal-engine shooter
may be suffering a slight delay, as the listed release date has been changed
from September 2003 to now read Fall 2003.
GameSpyDaily has a report
up that Temple of Elemental Evil has gone gold, and that Troika's 3rd edition
D&D game based on the Greyhawk module is off for duplication. Word is the
game will be available on September 23, and to celebrate the occasion, they are
planning a GameSpy Arcade chat with
Troika's Tim Cain tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. EDT to discuss the game.
The Camelot Herald
(thanks Shacknews)
is now accepting sign-ups from those interested in beta testing the upcoming
Trials of Atlantis expansion pack for Dark Age of Camelot, Mythic's popular
MMORPG. Included in the questionnaire is: "What is the craziest thing you
would do to get into beta?"
This Warcraft III
Maps Page offers downloads of a bonus map for the RTS expansion called Ice
Forge. The 127 KB map is recommended for one-on-one or two-on-two play, and here
is the description the page carries: "In the frozen tundra, dark powers and
magical weapons were forged upon the cold, perilous lands of Ice Forge." Thanks
Frans.
The Star
Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy Designer Diary #2 on GameSpot offers thoughts
from both animator Jarrod Showers and level designer Justin Negrete about Jedi
Academy their now-gold Star Wars shooter sequel. The Middle-Earth
Online Website has a new team letter/diary entry from the producers of Middle-Earth
Online, Turbine's upcoming Tolkien-themed MMORPG (thanks Frans). The letter
outlines the goals they set for the project at its outset, and goes on to
describe how they are satisfying these goals. On that same subject, there is
also another Middle-Earth
Online Diary, in which programmer K80 goes into: "Adding New Features:
a few rambling thoughts on private encounters." There is also a new Greyhawk
The Temple of Elemental Evil Journal #6 on RPG Vault with a timely entry
about The Temple of Elemental Evil, Troika's now-gold RPG: "What's
it like when your game approaches completion? Troika's Sean Craig takes us
through the final stages."
The ATI Technologies Drivers
Page (thanks Krisz) now offers downloads of new version 3.7. They have
an extensive list of issues that the new driver addresses, along with the
recommendation that the new drivers should only be used by those experiencing
one of these problems.
A new version 0.1c patch for Galactic
Conquest is now available, updating the Star Wars-themed Battlefield 1942
modification (thanks Ant). The new version adds some new features, addresses
some bugs, and provides compatibility with the new version 1.45 of BF1942.
The Medal
of Honor Allied Assault Website (thanks Frans) has news that the Medal of
Honor Allied Assault Breakthrough add-on is gold. Word on availability is the WW2 shooter expansion will be storming store shelves on September 22. Here's a bit on
gameplay: "As U.S. Army Sergeant John Baker, players join the battle at
Kasserine Pass in North Africa, race to capture Messina in Sicily, and finally
repel the German army at the historic battle of Monte Battaglia in the heart of
Italy. Armed with a new arsenal of weapons, players will fight alone and with
squad mates as they rush to stop the Axis powers. The multiplayer game has been
enhanced with the addition of Liberation Mode. In this mode, defeated players
must be rescued by surviving teammates to continue the fight. In addition,
players can drive tanks, and minesweepers can defuse mines. Players can also
choose from American, British, Italian, and German skins in all multiplayer
modes."
The IL-2 Sturmovik Website now offers
downloads of a new version 1.1 (final) patch for the Forgotten Battles add-on
for the World War II flight sim. The new version is available as either a 17 MB
patch to update version 1.1b or as a 44 MB patch to update version 1.0. The
update includes AI and gameplay tweaks, flight model tuning, bug fixes, and
more.
The
Gigex streaming download service is now offering a 122 MB demo version of Space
Colony, allowing the chance to sample Firefly Studios' upcoming management game
that puts the player in control of a colony full of space cadets. Word is:
"The Space Colony demo allows players to play through three missions and
meet six of the 20 wacky space cadets. The Space Colony demo will also be
available on CD at GameStop and Electronic Boutique stores nationwide starting
in September."
Majesco's 'BloodRayne'
Goes Hollywood as Boll KG Acquires Film Rights to Popular Video Game Franchise
is the press release announcing that the vampire-themed console action game
that's due to make its PC debut shortly is destined for the big screen as well.
Word is: "Vierte Boll Kino Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG (Boll KG), the
production company responsible for several film adaptations of video games
including Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead, has purchased the theatrical
film and merchandise rights for the game. Executive producer and director Dr.
Uwe Boll, expects to begin filming BloodRayne sometime in 2004 and estimates a
budget in the $30 million range. Shawn Williamson (White Noise, Alone in the
Dark) of Brightlight Pictures is set to produce."
The America's Army Website has a
brief mention that version 2.0 of Uncle Sam's Unreal-engine first-person shooter
is due "soon." There aren't any details, but they have posted some
version 2.0 screenshots in their
gallery. Thanks Frans.
- PlanetSide: Core Combat
The PlanetSide:
Core Combat Q&A on Gamers With Jobs talks with Dallas Dickinson,
producer on Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming expansion for their MMOFPS.
They go into detail on some new vehicles, as well as the expectation that
this expansion will spur a major influx of new players.
- Homeplanet Add-on
HomeLAN
Fed's Homeplanet Multiplayer Add-On Q&A chats with 3Map Games' Mike
Zubik about recently announced plans for a multiplayer add-on for their
space combat game, as well as what they know about plans to release the game
itself in the North American market.
- Temple Of Elemental Evil
Worthplaying's
Temple Of Elemental Evil Q&A chats with Tim Cain of Troika Games
about Temple Of Elemental Evil, the upcoming RPG based on the Greyhawk
D&D campaigns.
The Call of Duty Movies
on IGN is a series of nine new QuickTime-format gameplay movies showing
off Infinity Ward's upcoming World War II shooter. The movies range from simple
demonstrations of things like crouching and leaning up to snippets of combat.
PS2 price cut
coming soon on Eurogamer.net reports "Ł129.99 is set to be the new PlayStation
2 price within the next three to four weeks" in Europe, quoting some of
those blabbermouth "sources." The sources also tell them Halo 2
has slipped to April 2004, but this is backed up by a Microsoft release
schedule. Also, here's the entirety of one of the shortest press releases we can
recall: "Mesquite, TX - Sept. 3, 2003 - id Software(tm) and Activision,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) have confirmed that Vicarious Visions is developing DOOM
3(tm) for Xbox®, the console version of id Software's highly-anticipated
blockbuster title headed to the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft."
Also, Gloomy
outlook for game console sales (thanks Mike Martinez) reports: " Sales
of video game consoles are expected to slump until a new crop of machines is
introduced in a few years, according to an industry analyst." Also, Ubi
Soft sends along the following about XIII: "PlayStation®2 and
Xbox(tm) fans can get an exclusive sneak peak at exciting single-player and
multi-players levels along with a full length soundtrack produced by San
Francisco-based label Future Primitive Sound. The purchase of this two-disc will
be applied to the full product when it becomes available. Nintendo GameCube and
PC fans can receive the enhanced CD soundtrack by pre-ordering." Finally: Nokia's
N-Gage Gets Second Look (thanks Mike Martinez) on the launch of the N-Gage
portable game machine.
The World Cyber Games sends word that their 2004 finals will be held in San
Francisco, CA. This will be the first time the finals will be held outside of
Korea, where the competition originated.
The attacks from the spiders are becoming bolder. Last night I got tangled in a
head-high web stretched across the bathroom doorway, and as I disentangled
myself I saw the foiled arachnid scurrying up to the ceiling... you could sense
his disappointment. I wonder if this taste for people has to do with the
generation of crawlers that were born in this house, since we tend to let them
go with a warning when we find them. Well, at least we don't have a lot of
mosquitoes in the house.
We won't have many mosquitoes living outside soon if the temperature drop
continues here. The calendar page had barely settled on September when the cold
snap began, and since the New York autumn typically lasts the same couple of
weeks that spring does, the heavy rain we've been getting should be turning into
snowfall soon.
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