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Archived News:
Techland sends along the brief announcement, or perhaps pre-announcement, that
work is underway on a follow-up to Chrome, their science fiction first-person
shooter: Techland has announced the release of its new product - Chrome:
SpecForce.
The game will be a futuristic tactical shooter with a plot connected to already
known Chrome. Game development has been underway for some time now, but all that
is known so far is that the game will be using a modernized Chrome
Engine.
DreamCatcher
announces the North American availability of SuperPower 2, the strategy
sequel that helps you get in touch with your inner megalomaniac. Here's a bit:
In SuperPower 2 regular citizens are given Presidential powers as they
seek world domination, but in order to be successful, players will need
intelligence, political-savvy and a touch of shrewdness. Digital dictators will
build up their own countries and increase influence in the broader world while
competing against a sophisticated A.I. They will also have to master economic
sanctions, political alliances, and military actions to wage battles. The
craftiest gamers are able to fine-tune each country’s performance, from creating
or breaking treaties, to making strategic decisions in particular military
conflicts.
SuperPower 2 is developed by Canadian studio, GolemLabs, whose original
SuperPower sold more than 200,000 units. The game has an ESRB rating of ‘T’ for
Teen in North America and “3+ PEGI” in Europe. This title will begin shipping to
European retailers on October 27th.
Ubisoft announces plans for a King Kong game "on all platforms" (Commodore 64
owners rejoice), set for release next holiday season along with the Peter
Jackson monster movie remake upon which it will be based: SAN FRANCISCO –
October 12, 2004 – Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest interactive video game
publishers, and Universal Studios Consumer Products Group today announced plans
to release an interactive game based on Universal Pictures’ upcoming motion
picture adventure, King Kong. The game will be available worldwide on all
platforms at the beginning of the holiday season in conjunction with the
December 14, 2005 theatrical release of the movie.
Triple Academy Award® winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of
the King) brings his sweeping cinematic vision to the iconic story of the
gigantic ape-monster captured in the wild and brought to civilization where he
meets his tragic fate. Jackson assumes directing, producing and co-screenwriting
duties and surrounds himself with a list of superlative filmmaking and acting
talents.
Working very closely with Peter Jackson and Wingnut Films, Ubisoft’s prized
Beyond Good & Evil development team and award-winning Montreal studio - some of
the interactive game industry’s most creative designers - are creating a game in
their Montpellier studio in the South of France that will reflect the visual
interpretation, character dynamics and dramatic narrative of Jackson's epic
film.
Serge Hascoet, Executive Director, Worldwide Content Strategy for Ubisoft
stated: “Through this creative association, Ubisoft shows its growing dedication
to bringing intense emotions inspired by the movie industry to interactive
games. In the King Kong game, players will be able to experience all the power,
drama and emotion of the film thanks to the interactive possibilities provided
by the game.”
“I’m really enjoying the collaboration with these artists, and all the creative
possibilities we’re discovering,” said Peter Jackson. “By working closely with
the development team, Ubisoft is enabling me to help shape the kind of gaming
experience that I will be proud to associate with this new version of King Kong,
a story that began my life-long love of film.”
Atari's Betatests.net is now accepting sign-ups from those interested in
beta testing Act of War: Direct Action, Eugen System's "near-future military
strategy experience." Word is: "Act of War™: Direct Action takes you through a
frightening and believable reality filled with suspense, international intrigue
and geopolitical military conflict, wrapped in a top-quality strategy gaming
experience." Thanks Frans.
The promised third single-player demo for Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell is now
available, offering a sample of People Can Fly's first-person shooter, updated
through the latest version of the game engine. The updated demo is a 181 MB
download, available on
3D Downloads,
3D Gamers,
ActionTrip,
Boomtown (registration required),
FileFront,
Filerush (torrent),
FileShack (registration required), Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's
Hell,
GameSpot DLX (registration required),
JustGamers,
Worthplaying.
Here's the deal: "The demo features the latest version of the PAIN Engine and
with it, the latest enhancements from the 1.35 update. In the popular 'Military
Base' level, players will enjoy effects such as heat and haze distortion, light
blooms, per pixel specular mapping, new shader effects and tweaks for the latest
video cards. All in all, a mere taste of what the PAIN Engine will offer in the
expansion pack, Painkiller: Battle out of Hell."
Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines, as a playable demo for GTR is now
available, offering the chance to test-drive the upcoming racing simulator from
SimBin. The 215 MB download is available on
this pop-up page
on the official GTR Website and mirrored
on 3D Gamers,
4Players.de,
Boomtown (registration required),
FileFront,
Filerush
(torrent), Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's Hell, and
Worthplaying. Here's the official description: GTR’s official demo
provides the opportunity to try both the pick-up-and-play Arcade Mode as well as
Semi-Pro Mode for the more experienced user. Now everybody can improve their
skills at the world-famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Lister’s Storm
supercar (GT class) and Morgan’s unique Aero 8 (NGT class).
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) in GTR is groundbreaking in the racing genre –
your opponents will attempt to pass and re-pass you, pressure you into making
mistakes and even make mistakes themselves. In the demo you are able to race
against up to 19 AI opponents with no time limits.
The news section on the Flash-y
Quicksilver Website reveals development of War Dogs, described as a "high
concept genre-breaking platoon-based tactical action game," in which players
control up to 30 soldiers at a time. The game is built upon the
framework of Full Spectrum Leader, and described features include innovative
AI, solo and multiplayer support, PC and console support, and "more action than
ever before outside of a shooter." Thanks
GameGossip
and Frans.
EA Kicks Off FIFA Soccer
2005 (thanks Frans) announces the release of the latest installment in the
soccer/football series. The game is available for the PC, Xbox, PS2, GameCube,
and GBA, with word that a mobile phone version is also now in the works.
A comment on a story on
Game Matters on original games (thanks
GameGossip and
HomeLAN Fed) has a
quote from 3DRealms' Scott Miller that indicates they've got another game in the
works other than Duke Nukem Forever. Here's the whole deal for now: Id is
now working on an original project, and although we're known for Duke, we also
helped bring Max Payne to the market, and we're currently working on an
unannounced original game, too.
The
LucasArts KOTOR II Page (thanks Frans), now offers a new gameplay movie from
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, showing off another
planet from the upcoming sci-fi) RPG sequel. The new clip, a 2 MB
download, shows off the planet Korriban, and the accompanying description outlines
this world's role in the Star Wars universe. Also, the final cinematic trailer
for Restricted Area is now available, promoting Master Creating's upcoming
role-playing game. The 10 MB download debuts on
Gamer's Hell.
A demo/trial version of Wildfire is now available, offering the chance to check
out Cat Daddy's and Global Star's fire-fighting strategy game (that has nothing, as far as we know, with the Michael Martin
Murphey ballad). The trial version includes the full game, which can be
played freely for an hour before continued play will require the online purchase
of a license key. The 231 MB download is available on
3D Gamers,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
GameSpot DLX
(registration required), and Worthplaying.
Come on, sing along with me: "She comes down from Yellow Mountain... On a dark,
flat land she rides..."
- Bioshock
The
BioShock Q&A on IGN
talks with Irrational's Ken Levine about their just-announced role-playing
game: "BioShock has absolutely no relation to the System Shock series in
terms of the intellectual property, characters, settings etc. However, it is
inspired by the open-ended design principles pioneered by Looking Glass.
Irrational is dedicated to maintaining that tradition. BioShock is also
being created by the majority of the team who created System Shock 2 and
many of the games which helped inspire it."
- Troika
The
Troika
Q&A Part One on GameBanshee talks with Leonard Boyarsky about their yet
untitled upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG: "We’re very early in the dev cycle
for the new game, and right now we’re just working on the engine basics that
we’d need for any RPG we’d make with this engine, whether it be a
traditional Fallout style RPG or a more action oriented title. We have a few
ideas for the name, but until we secure the rights to it we can’t reveal
what it is."
- Children of the Nile on
IGN.
- EverQuest II on
IGN.
The Unreal
Tournament Website has the Make Something Unreal Contest Phase 4 Finalists
in the category of Assault Maps. Also:
Video
Gamers Step Into Spotlight and
World gaming triumph
for UK team, each on the World
Cyber Games championships (thanks Mike Martinez).
Game Design Blogs Part I is a blog that offers an outline of some other
blogs dedicated to game design and development that may serve as useful
resources for others with game development aspirations.
The Futrix Studios Jobs Page
outlines several job openings at this newly formed developer to contribute to
their upcoming first-person shooter. Futrix is now the home of former Ritual
designer Thearrel "Kiltron" McKinney.
Today's theme is consoles.
I have myself a bit of a tummy-ache this morning. I guess working through
it makes up for at least one of the times in my childhood when I made one of
these up in order to get out of going to school.
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