Archived News:
Infinium Labs ready
to haul HardOCP into court on GameSpot (thanks Frans) has word that Infinium Labs, creators
of the upcoming Phantom PC game-on-demand console system, is prepared to take
legal action against hardware website
[H]ardOCP unless what Infinium describes as a defamatory article is removed
from the website within the next 10 days: The potential suit stems from a
September 2003 HardOCP
article on Infinium and the Phantom, which singled out the company's
chairman and CEO, Timothy M. Roberts, for special attention. The article pointed
out that several companies on Roberts' resume had gone bankrupt, and it claimed
to have firsthand reports that the Infinium offices were a "ghost town" at the
time.
In a conference call to analysts and the press, Infinium president and COO Kevin
Bachus said the article was "false and defamatory," and it "painted a portrait
of a company intent on swindling the public...and that is unacceptable."
A preliminary SOLAR Campaigns
Website is now online (thanks
HomeLAN Fed)
revealing Brat Designs' next project following BREED. Here's a bit on the
Mercury II-engine game, which sounds a bit like a science fiction-themed
Battlefield 1942:
‘SOLAR’ is a tightly focused, near future, battlefield gaming
experience allowing both single player and multiplayer modes over vast terrains,
with up to 32 players in a game. Single player games use multiplayer maps with
the addition of advanced AI bots to simulate multiplayer gaming styles.
‘SOLAR’ has two warring factions, each with it’s own set of weapons and
vehicles, varying from trench mortars to long range bombardment cannons with
payloads of neurotoxins. Transportation in ‘SOLAR’ varies by faction, each with
a unique range of land, sea and air units, providing varied game play choices.
In addition to this are the Necro. An army of undead soldiers, re-animated by a
toxic brew created by fallout from decades of nuclear, chemical and biological
war. Mostly chaotic by nature, these troopers are a constant threat to both
sides, but can be a useful resource if brought under the influence of one
faction.
Interactive environments add another game play element to ‘SOLAR’. Buildings
crumble as they are hit by shells or are crashed into with vehicles; gun
emplacements can be manned to cut down the opposition in a hail of bullets;
trees and other incidental scenery can be cleared by a well placed grenade. All
this leads to a dynamic, ever changing battlefield.
The
Battlefield Vietnam Website now offers a new gameplay trailer from the
upcoming Vietnam War sequel to Battlefield 1942. The clip depicts the Tet
Offensive (though it looks more like the Tet Defensive here), and reminiscent of
a scene from Full Metal Jacket, is set to the strains of the Trashmen
performing Surfin' Bird. This movie is mirrored on
3D Gamers and
Filerush. Also following the Southeast Asia theme, a new clip from Men of
Valor (apparently no longer known as Men of Valor: Vietnam) is also available on
TeamXbox,
showing off 2015's own upcoming Vietnam War shooter, accompanying
a Q&A on the
topic. The clip shows off some in-game footage also set to music, though
this is Cremora, rather than actual Cream.
Evil Emerges
with Strategy First's Traps of Darkness is the press release announcing
plans for an action adventure game due this spring from publisher Strategy First
Inc. and developer Cinemax called Traps of Darkness. Here's a bit: "'Traps of
Darkness is a twist on the classic action-adventure game,' says Steve Milburn,
Director of Marketing for Strategy First Inc. 'Gamers have the chance to play
the role of evil and use their wits and skills to declare victory and eternal
doom for mankind.'
Driven to please a dark lord, the evil minions of Necromania scramble to collect
the keys necessary to free their dark master from his supernatural bonds and win
his favor forever. Each despicable servant possesses inherent magical powers to
aid them on their wicked quest to unleash a horrifying evil into the world and
doom mankind."
Eidos
Announces ShellShock Nam '67 is the press release of an upcoming PC/Xbox/PS2
game in the ever-more-popular setting of the Vietnam War, due for release in
June of this year. In a related note, there's
a hands-on preview of the game on Computer And Video Games (thanks Frans)
describing their impressions of gameplay that includes cut-scenes of
real war footage. The article is accompanied by the first screenshots from the
game, while the newly opened the official website offers
downloads of a gameplay trailer, which is mirrored on
3D Gamers,
Filerush,
Gamer's
Hell, and
Worthplaying. Here's a bit from the announcement, heralding "the true horrors of the Vietnam War for the first time in a video
game," making it sound like they are seeking to embrace the controversial
aspects of the war: ShellShock: Nam '67 focuses on one man's experience of
the most controversial war of modern times. Gamers take on the role of a rookie
soldier on his first tour of duty as he experiences the fear, chaos and
atrocities of the Vietnam War. From the napalm bombardments of civilian villages
and the gruesome VC (Viet Cong) boobytraps, to the permanent threat of invisible
foes and deadly ambushes, Shellshock: Nam '67 dares to go where no other war
game has gone.
Powered by Guerrilla's ground-breaking technology, ShellShock: Nam '67 delivers
a graphically harrowing depiction of the terror of combat. Players must fight
their way through a variety of missions ranging from large-scale battlefield
encounters with the North Vietnamese Army to stealth-based missions such as
assassinating a VC General. As gamers progress from a "grunt" to Special Forces
carrying out classified missions, they will have to rely on the same skills and
tactics employed in the battlefields of Vietnam in order to survive. The tour
will take gamers from the lush wetlands of the South to the mountain borders of
the North featuring diverse locations including dense jungles, rural Vietnamese
villages and claustrophobic tunnel systems.
- DRIV3R
The DRIV3R
Website has the first of what are promised as weekly updates about the
upcoming wheelman sequel that are to appear each Thursday. Included is a new
3D virtual car and a gameplay trailer called "Boy from the City." Both can
be found under updates, though conjuring up the 3D car is an unintentional
mini puzzle game unto itself.
- Hollow
The
Hollow Website
now offers new screenshots from this upcoming first-person shooter as well
as a new gameplay trailer offering an impressive nine minutes of in-game
footage. The clip can be found mirrored on
3D Gamers,
Gamer's Hell,
and Worthplaying.
- Siberia II
Microïds'
Syberia II Trailers Page now offers downloads of a new Siberia II
trailer in your choice of high quality QuickTime or Windows Media Player editions
or as a low quality QuickTime clip.
- I of the Dragon
A new
The I of the Dragon
trailer is online in various sizes, showing off The I of the Dragon, Primal
Software's upcoming dragon-centric RPG.
- Lagsters
The Lagsters
Website offers a new gameplay movie showing off the action from Lagster,
Boolat's upcoming racing game.
- The Egyptian Prophecy
A trailer for The Egyptian Prophecy:
The Fate of Ramses is available,
offering a sample of this upcoming 3D adventure game. The 3.5 MB download can be
found on 3D Gamers
and Worthplaying.
The
Matrox Graphics Certified Drivers Page (thanks Frans) offers downloads of
new version 5.92.006 drivers for a number of their video cards running under
several different flavors of Windows.
Icculus.Org
now offers a patch to update the Linux version of the Unreal Tournament 2004
Demo, with a fix for the ping field as well as hooks to make use of an external
text-to-speech processor. The download is mirrored on
3D Gamers,
Adrenaline Vault,
FileFan, and FileFront..
A "final" version of the demo for Conan: The Dark Axe is now available, offering
another chance to sample a couple of levels in Cauldron's action game set in the
Hyborean Age. The demo is a 121 MB download, available on
3D Gamers,
Computer Games Online,
FileFront, FileShack
(registration required), Gamer's Hell,
and Worthplaying.
Funcom announces Dreamfall as the official
title of the project previously only referred to as the upcoming sequel to The
Longest Journey. There are not many new details about the project, except word
that the game is being funded in part with assistance of the
Norsk Filmfond, which normally
subsidizes film-oriented projects. Also, the folks behind
Poacher, an upcoming illegal
hunting game that pits the player against game wardens as well as game,
announce their hunt for a publisher for the project.
After a small delay, the promised patch for SpellForce: Order of the Dawn is now
available, updating Phenomic's strategy/RPG to version 1.10. The patch is
available on the official
website, with the 27 MB download mirrored on
3D Gamers,
Adrenaline
Vault,
FileFan, FileFront,
FileShack (registration required),
Gamer's
Hell, and
Worthplaying.
The Neverwinter Nights
Patches and Updates Page (thanks
Maximus) has a second beta version of the 1.62 patch for NWN and its
expansions for your testing pleasure.
- Sin 2
HomeLAN
Fed's SiN 2 Q&A tracks down Ritual's Steve Hessel and the Levelord about
the original Sin, the game's enduring appeal, and the recent revelation that
they created a demo to shop around the possibility of a Sin sequel.
- Perimeter
Worthplaying's
Perimeter Q&A talks with Codemasters' Michael Rowland about progress on
Perimeter, K-D LAB's upcoming science-fiction game.
- Ostrich Runner
The
Adrenaline Vault's Ostrich Runner Q&A talks with Grigor Grigoryan of
Russian developer Geleos about Ostrich Runner, their upcoming cartoon-style
racing game.
- Dev Faves
A
new
feature on GameSpy collects a bunch of developers and ask them what
games they are currently playing instead of working on their upcoming games
(someone needs to get ParadoX a 486).
A new Freedom Force vs.
The Third Reich Developer Diary on IGN offers the latest on development of
the upcoming World War II-themed superhero game sequel from Irrational Games
designer Dorian Hart. Also,
Gamasutra's
Postmortem for Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb ((registration required) thanks
HomeLAN Fed) offers
thoughts on what went right and wrong during the development of the Collective's
Indiana Jones game.
The official Nexus: the Jupiter Incident
Website is now online, dedicated to Mithis Games' upcoming real-time
tactical space game formerly known as both Imperium Galactica 3 and (later)
Galaxy Andromeda. The site offers game info, a gallery, a forum, and word they
bought into one of those funny deals and named a star at astronomical
coordinates 09h42m12.437s after their game (alert the guys at NASA). Also, the
official Zoo Tycoon
2 Product Page (thanks Frans) is now online, offering a few new screenshots
from the just-announced zoo management sequel.
Do video games breed violence on Globetechnology (thanks Mike Martinez)
examines the topic of games and violence, citing four studies published in the
Journal of Adolescence, though it looks like most of the research is based on
surveys, rather than experimentation, with the article paying passing reference
in its conclusion to other "risk factors," that don't inspire the same
sensational response, such as "poverty, drugs (and), gang membership..."
Inspired by the recent cancellations of both Mythica and URU Live,
Flood of games, too few players cause change in online realm (thanks [In
Praise of Ammo]LadyCatra & [In Praise of Ammo]Stormalong) is a Boston Globe
article with reflections on what may be an overestimation of the demand for more
online games.
A new alpha version 1.8.0 build 068 of the
Kquery server
browser is now available. The new version overhauls UT/gamespy packet rebuilding
routines, adds extra multi-threaded safety routines, improves UT2k4 demo
support, and updates mirc integration to provide query port and not gameport
information.
A new version of DC Extended is now
available, offering an updated version of this mod that allows single-player
play in the Desert Combat
modification for Battlefield 1942.
The
Third Reich Q&A on Boomtown is a conversation with the team behind
The Third Reich, the World War II
modification for Unreal Tournament, discussing plans for an upcoming UT2004
version of the project.
The Gearbox Software
Website now has details on the level designer openings they are looking to
fill that were mentioned here last week.
Hey, did I manage to jinx the weatherman? I just commented recently on how
surprisingly accurate weather reports have become in recent years, and now a
predicted snow storm seems to have ignored our area entirely. I doubt that this
is actually a cause-and-effect between my comment on the outcome, but on the off
chance, I guess I should make some sort of comment about how war, illness and
poverty may never be eliminated in case that makes them all disappear too. The
obvious explanation is simple coincidence, though my pet paranoid theory is that
they are using alien technology to predict the weather, and a couple of comments
like mine about their newfound accuracy made them realize they need to punt the
occasional prediction to keep suspicions at bay.
What's that? Crazy you say? I can't hear you... my tinfoil hat is covering my
ears!
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