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Archived News:
This Cenega
Publishing Webpage reveals a new release date for The Roots, the upcoming
role-playing game in the works at Tannhauser
Gate. The page now lists Q3 2005 as the release date where it formerly had
listed Q2. Thanks Frans.
Codemasters' Worms 4: Mayhem Product Page has a narrowed down release window
for Team 17's upcoming squirmy strategy sequel. May 2005 is now listed in place
of Spring 2005 as the game's release date. Thanks
Frans.
Empire Interactive announces June 14 as the U.S. release date for
FlatOut, BugBear's racing game:
SAN FRANCISCO – February 23, 2005 – Empire
Interactive, a U.K. computer games developer and publisher, today announced
that FlatOut? will ship to retail outlets in the U.S. on June 14, 2005.
Vivendi Universal Games, will distribute the title in the U.S. Available for
PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® videogame system from
Microsoft and the PC, FlatOut has already received critical acclaim from
leading game press and consumers in the U.K. and other European markets.
An over-the-top racing game, FlatOut features a unique all-encompassing
physics engine that is set to define a new standard in racing games. With
fully destructible driving environments, 40 deformable pieces on the cars
and more than 3,000 items to smash, FlatOut is sure to bring carnage to
unprecedented levels. Anything destroyed or altered stays a part of the race
– broken fences, free rolling tires, and even mangled parts of cars are left
scattered around the track, increasing the mayhem with every lap. Drivers
will even be thrown from crashing cars!
The
Command & Conquer: Generals Website (thanks
Frans) has news of plans for the release
of a new version 1.03 patch for the RTS game on February 28:
We are pleased to announce the upcoming release of
patch 1.03 for Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour on February 28, 2005. On
this day we will support the community with an expansive patch which will
dynamically change the balance of the game, as well as fix numerous
technical errors and cheats being experienced in previous months. For full
details on the changes and improvements being implemented by patch 1.03,
please visit back here on February 28th when we officially release it.
- X2: The Return
RPG Vault's X2:
The Return Q&A, Part 2 continues this discussion of Egosoft's upcoming
space combat expansion: "The idea for the game was originally born with X -
Beyond the Frontier several years ago now. Advances in technology have meant
that we are now closer than ever before to delivering the sort of game we
wanted to back then. Every new release has been a progression of that
original idea. In terms of where we stand now, we are currently finishing up
development on the final alpha versions before we move into the beta testing
stage, so it is a very exciting time. But even at this stage, as hinted at
before, significant changes still can and likely will be made. I can't
comment on when the game will go gold or ship - some of that will be
dependent on the publishers, as well as Egosoft of course."
- Obscure
Incomprehensible
Danger Haunts the Students of “Obscure” on GameZone is a Q&A with a
couple of the folks from Hydravision Studio about their upcoming horror
game: "Many of the monsters have a weak point: they hate light. So, players
have to find several light sources as many allies against them. For example,
you can break the windows to make the sunlight come in. Unfortunately, this
trick becomes useless when the night comes. You have to find other light
sources, such as torch lights, but as they produce far less light than the
sun does, they can only reduce the monsters' strength. Hopefully, the
Janitor's office is a real arsenal (Many thanks to Urban Legend!). Finally,
action is not located only in the high school – outside you will be able to
get heavier weapons, as you will be in a more dangerous place!"
- Act of War
The
Act of War: Direct Action Q&A talks with author Dale Brown about the
upcoming game based on his work: "The story I wrote came first, and then the
book and the game each branched out on their own simultaneous production
tracks. Gamers will find common scenes in the book, and readers will feel
very much at home with the game. They are two separate productions, with
separate creative talents involved, taking advantage of the different media
and different players' and readers' perspectives and experience."
A Thief: Deadly Shadows Editor is now available, allowing the chance to
create custom content for the latest installment in the stealthy action series.
A post on the TTLG
Forums hints at the effort that went into getting this release accomplished.
The 322 MB download is available on
FilePlanet (registration required), and mirrored on
3D Gamers and
Worthplaying.
A
Dungeon Siege II Designer Diary #1on GameSpot is written by Gas Powered
Games designer Kevin Lambert, who discusses how combat is evolving in the
upcoming RPG sequel. Word on development is they: "are
fast approaching our gameplay-complete deadline at the end of the month."
A playable demo for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is now available,
originally released on the cover disk from the German PC Games magazine
(thanks Tiscali Games).
The whopping 558 MB download is available on
3D Gamers,
ActionTrip,
AusGamers (Australia),
Boomtown (registration required),
ComputerGames.Ro,
Filerush (torrent),
FileFront, FileShack
(registration required),
Fragland.net,
Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's Hell,
GameSpot DLX (registration required),
JustGamers, and
Worthplaying.
Eidos
insiders confirm News Corp deal is imminent on GamesIndustry.biz (thanks
Frans) has the latest word on rumors that
the game industry giant is about to be acquired:
Sources at UK publisher Eidos have confirmed that
the company is about to be sold to Rupert Murdoch's media empire News
Corporation, with the deal expected to be announced within the coming week.
"We're just really glad the News Corp thing is out in the open now," a
source at the company told GamesIndustry.biz in the wake of our report
yesterday which linked News Corp to the Eidos sale.
"Keep an eye on it over the next week," he continued. "It could happen on
Thursday, it could happen on Monday - we're not sure, but there's light at
the end of the tunnel now."
A new Rainbow Six
Portal is online, dedicated to every Rainbow Six game, including Lockdown,
the next installment in the tactical shooter series. Also, a new
NeverEnd Website (thanks
Frans) offers a French-language home to
Mayhem Studios' upcoming RPG, including some new screenshots. On a related note,
GBase has word (in German) that the game is likely to be complete next
month. Finally, a new official Empire
Earth II Website is online, dedicated to the upcoming RTS sequel in the
works at Mad Doc Software.
Batter up! EA announces opening day for the latest installment in the MVP Baseball series:
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – February
22, 2005 – Opening Day has come early as Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS)
announced today that MVP Baseball™ 2005 has shipped to retailers nationwide
and is available in stores under the EA SPORTS™ brand. Last year, MVP
Baseball 2004 was the #1 selling baseball video game with more than one
million copies sold.
Featuring the EA SPORTS™ Hitter’s Eye, MVP Baseball
2005 gives players unprecedented control of their at-bat including the power
to read the pitch and the ability to move in the batter’s box. An all-new
visual indicator allows hitters to pick up the pitch the moment it leaves
the pitcher’s hand. In addition, players can use the Pitch/Swing Analysis
to review the timing and location of their swings and adjust accordingly.
An all-new Owner Mode enables players to control all
aspects of an organization including concession stand prices, promotional
days, hiring and firing coaches as well as building their field of dreams.
In Create Ballpark, players can customize their stadium by selecting a
ballpark name, location, field dimensions and much more.
The addition of 30 Single-A minor league teams (90
minor leagues teams overall), three new mini-games, an improved Dynasty
Mode™ and all-new unlockable legends, stadiums and uniforms, makes MVP
Baseball 2005 the most innovative and authentic baseball simulation ever
created.
This
BattleBorne Press Release (thanks
GameGossip) reveals
plans for 6GUN, "a third person modern tactical-action game being designed for
the Sony(R) (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation2 and Microsoft(R) (Nasdaq:MSFT) Xbox and PC
platforms." The announcement offers
some PS2 screenshots,
and here's a bit on the game:
6GUN is a third person, tactical-action, modern
combat game. In 6GUN you are the leader of an assault team in the highly
classified GUNSLINGER program operated by the Special Operations Command
(SOCOM). When diplomacy fails, and the US government needs a "deniable"
military solution to its problems abroad, they call on the GUNSLINGERS.
The GUNSLINGER record of successful missions was recently shattered with a
failed operation, and political pressures have relegated them to the second
string of Special Operations while better known groups are assigned the best
missions. GUNSLINGER Assault Team 2 is assigned a new leader (the player)
and given equipment and personnel recovery missions in South America. In the
course of the mission in the jungles of South America, the GUNSLINGERS
discover surprisingly detailed information about Typhoon Class Ballistic
Missile Submarines and the Soviet Northern Fleet in the possession of an
international arms trafficker. Soon after, a Typhoon in the port of Primorsk
for disarmament is attacked and boarded. A SOCOM operation to retake the sub
ends in the detonation of a nuclear device and loss of an entire SEAL team,
leaving the world in shock, and SOCOM in chaos.
- Star Wars Republic Commando
A new Star Wars Republic Commando Movie on
GameSpy
shows off still more of the upcoming Force-powered shooter. The 79 MB movie
is mirrored on 3D
Gamers.
- F.E.A.R.
A new F.E.A.R. movie shows off some of the frantic multiplayer action in
Monolith's upcoming shooter. The clip comes in two resolutions, available on
GameSpot and
mirrored 3D Gamers,
Gamer's Hell,
Primotech, and
Worthplaying.
- Cold Fear
An Environments in Motion clip from Darkworks' upcoming horror game can
be streamed or downloaded from the
Cold Fear
Videos Page. There's a higher-rez version on the
U.S. Cold Fear Age Site, though you'll need your fake ID at the door.
Mirrors can be found on
3D Gamers and
Worthplaying.
- Dungeon Lords
A new 10 MB clip shows off more of Heuristic Parks' upcoming fantasy-themed
RPG. The movie is available on
3D Gamers,
Fragland.net,
and Worthplaying.
- Empire Earth II
A new Empire Earth diary movie on
this Sierra
Entertainment Downloads Page offers part two of the discussion of the
game from Rex Bradford.
- Obscure
A new Obscure movie looks to gain some recognition for Hydrovision's horror
game, the 11 MB download is up on
3D Gamers and
Worthplaying.
- Neverend
A 39 MB high-resolution clip from the upcoming fantasy/RPG from Mayhem
Studios is on 3D
Gamers and
Worthplaying.
- Star Wars Galaxies
The
Star Wars Galaxies Q&A on Star Wars Galaxies Vault talks with Gordon
Walton about future upgrades to their namesake MMORPG: "Rather than lay out
our entire org chart, I will say that Combat Upgrade has the largest
internal team structure, and some of the other teams, particularly Live,
Infrastructure and GUI are regularly taking on tasks to help the Combat
Upgrade team out. After keeping the Live service up and running well, Combat
Upgrade is our highest priority."
- Seed
The
Seed Q&A on Experience Gaming talks with Lars Kroll Kristensen and Alex
K. of Runestone Game Development about Seed, their upcoming MMORPG: "Seed is
a lot of things, but I'd say Seed is about social games, cool stories and
achievements. Social games because much of the gameplay evolve around
politics and what comes of it - networking, slandering, charm offensives,
information warfare and so on. Cool stories because we've put a great deal
of effort into making stories personal, surprising and deeply anchored in
the backstory. And because participating in a story does change the game
world. Finally achievements, because it's all about having a plan and going
through with it. Enough people working together are eventually going to
decide the outcome of the storylines."
- Boiling Point
The
Boiling Point Q&A on Boomtown discusses Deep Shadows' upcoming shooter
with Sergey Zabaryansky: "Players are able to improve their relationship
with an enemy should they choose, so they are not limited to just
befriending one faction. However, the whole system is dynamic: If players do
things a faction likes (because it represents their way of thinking) their
relationship will increase. As an example; maybe you are doing a job for the
CIA that the mafia doesn’t like but at the same time the Officials like your
actions and your relationship with them is improved as well. Every action
you take forces a reaction in your relations to some factions. You will
always have to pay the price for your actions within the world."
- Cossacks II
GameGossip's
Cossacks II: The Napoleonic Wars Q&A discusses the strategy sequel with
CDV's Mario Kroll: "The new game engine allows a significant improvement of
visual detail of troops and terrain. We have significantly increased the
number of troops you can now have on the battlefield—literally thousands of
soldiers on one screen at the same time—all duking it out with muskets,
bayonets light and heavy cavalry, and a wide range of artillery that
includes howitzers, cannons, and even rocket artillery. Cannons fire balls
in realistic trajectories and muskets puff smoke as volleys are shot;
watching a thundering rush of highly disciplined cavalry in action is a
thing of beauty to behold."
- Bone
Adventure Gamers'
Q&A with Graham Annable of Telltale discusses Bone, their just-announced
comic book tie-in: "The gameplay will be centered around strengthening the
storyline and characters of the game. There will be a healthy balance of
classic adventure game puzzles and mini games that will continuously
progress both the characters and story. It won’t be a departure from the
classical LucasArts style adventures so much, as hopefully a natural
progression of them."
- The Matrix Online
Another
Question of the Week on The Matrix Online Vault discusses apparel in
Monolith's upcoming Matrix MMOPRG.
- And Then There Were None
The And Then There
Were None Q&A on Computer Games Magazine talks with Scott Nixon of AWE
games about their upcoming Agatha Christie-inspired mystery game: "Even
people who have not read And Then There Were None will be familiar with the
storyline, as it has been (to be delicate) ‘borrowed from’ countless times
since then. It begins with a group of individuals, all summoned to a remote
and uncharted island under false pretenses. Once they arrive, they come to
discover that they do not know each other, they do not know their host, and
said host is in absentia. Furthermore, they are stuck together on the island
for at least the weekend. The plot thickens as a mysterious disembodied
voice accuses each of them of past crimes, and, one by one, they begin to
die off in apparent retribution for their sins. The object of the game is to
figure out the identity of the host (who is known only by his/her given name
‘U.N. Owen’) and stop the murders (if possible)."
- Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
The
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim Q&A on FileFront talks with producer Yoshinori
Sasaki about Konami's upcoming RPG sequel: "The PS2 version has been
significantly enhanced over the original PC version of Ys: The Ark of
Napishtim. We added CG movies, full voice over for all the characters in the
world that Adol interacts with, added new game mechanics, stages and created
a new cheat mode for players to discover. All of the characters also were
rendered in 3D adding a lot more animation to the PS2 version. The original
animated cut-scenes have been redone in CG and a new opening CG movie was
created to flesh out the beginning of the story a bit more."
- Offset Software
The Offset Software
Q&A on Computer Games Magazine talks with Sam McGrath, formerly of S2
Games about Offset Software, his new start-up developer: "Things actually
feel a little bit like they did when I originally started out as S2. There's
the excitement of doing something new, the challenge of working out the core
technology, and a little bit of intimidation thinking about how much work is
going to involved in the long run. The team is very small at the moment.
Essentially, it's just me working on the engine technology, and the Stringer
brothers (Travis and Trevor) working out all the details of the art
pipeline, as well as designing the concepts for the world of "Project Epic"
(I should remind everyone that this is just our code name, and the actual
game title hasn't been revealed yet.)."
- Killer Women
Killer Women: Valerie Massey on Killer Betties is their newest profile,
talking with the community coordinator for Auto Assault, NetDevil's upcoming
MMORPG.
Got Game Entertainment and Merscom announce plans to bring
Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition
to North America on March 28, 2005. Here's a bit on the isometric RPG, which is
already available in Europe under the title of Kult: Heretic Kingdoms: "Set in
the world of the Heretic Kingdoms, a world where God is dead and religion
heresy, you are cast as the young female Inquisitor, assigned to stamp out the
last remnants of religion. On instructions to destroy a relic which the
Inquisition considers a significant threat, you are drawn into a battle between
two warring secret societies – a conspiracy of mages whose goal is true power,
and a shadowy cult seeking resurrection of the Dead God."
Matrix Games now features downloads of
a patch (direct link) for Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great, bringing the
historical strategy game to version 1.01. Here's how the game's first patch is
described: "The 1.01 Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great patch fixes a problem
with the AI exposing their rear flank when attacking and repaired a small bug
that caused a menu hang in certain machines. Additionally a spelling error was
found and fixed. The small scope of this patch parallels the overall lack of
bugs or post-release problems."
Matrix Games also now offers
a new patch (direct link) for Flashpoint Germany, updating the Cold War
strategy game to version 1.01. Word is: "This new update adds new features such
as global doctrine changes, improved combat resolution and additional artillery
animations. In addition, virtually all reported issues from the original release
version have been addressed, including a unit inspector problem that could
restore losses, a few interface glitches, fog of war corrections and a unit icon
mis-categorization."
A new version 1.2 of ETF, the Eternal Team Fortress modification for
Enemy Territory is now available on the ETF
Website. The new version address several bugs present in version 1.1. They
also note that the installer available on some mirrors is corrupted, and offer
the details required to ensure you get the proper release.
The Natural Selection Website
now offers a new trailer showing off the upcoming version 3.0 of this popular
Half-Life modification.
The
Obsidian Entertainment Help Wanted Section now describes an opening they
seek to fill for a scriptwriting intern. The internship will run for about a
year, relocation costs are not covered, and there are no guarantees of a
long-term position at the end of the year.
I took Gunnar to run the doggie trail for the first time yesterday...
he's a bit small for the Labs and such that make up the doggie population around
here (not to mention a pair of magnificent Scottish Deerhounds that look
suitable for riding), but with his puppy inoculations complete, it was
definitely time to meet the pack nonetheless. One of this local pack is actually
a relation; Roy, another male black Standard Poodle, is Gunnar's nephew. This is
not a coincidence; his owner recommended Gunnar's breeder, and as it turns out
Gunnar's father is Roy's Grandfather. Anyway, as genetics would have it, Roy and
Gunnar are cut from very similar cloth... they are each budding little alpha
males. Adult dogs tend to be very nice to puppies, instinctively sensing their
vulnerability, but older alpha males do not like the existence of challengers.
With Roy at basically double Gunnar's age and weight (eight months and 50 lbs
compared with four months and 25 lbs), this was a situation that didn't bode
well for the little guy, and sure enough Roy didn't like the look in Gunnar's
eye or something, and started getting terribly aggressive to demonstrate who was
the actual boss. With Roy's owner helplessly yelling at him as if to demonstrate
that Roy had become boss of their house long ago, it looked like things might
get out of hand, and I decided to move in to remove the pup from the scene.
Before I could act, however, this all became too much for Hudson the wonder dog,
and she acted first. Now we have never seen this side of our sweet little
beastie before, but there's an old saying about Airedale Terriers... they don't
start fights, but they usually finish them. Her maternal instincts all fired up,
she jumped in between the warring poodles (well, one was warring, mine was
wisely retreating), and for the first time I got a glimpse of her wolf within,
as she was suddenly Hudson the war dog. Within seconds Roy was hiding behind his
owner, literally crying in that high-pitched doggie whine that said for the
moment he had completely forgotten about his quest to be top dog and was far
more focused on self-preservation. It was unclear at the time if she actually
bit him, because it didn't look as if it came to that, we just think she scared
the crap out of him (and if you saw her in action, you would understand why).
Gunnar was able to enjoy the rest of the walk in relative peace, and Roy's
owners agreed that he was the one to blame for the situation, so they were
actually glad that Hudson went off on him, hoping she could teach him a lesson
in doggie etiquette he so sorely needed.
Yakey yak!
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