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Archived News:
There's a new Brotherhood/Squadmates movie from Brothers in Arms: Earned in
Blood, Gearbox Software's upcoming World War II shooter sequel, offering
gameplay footage along with thoughts on the topic from writer Mike Neuman and
military consultant John Antal. The movie is available on the
Brothers In Arms
Website and mirrored on
3D Gamers,
Boomtown, and
Worthplaying. Also, a new Fahrenheit movie shows off Quantic Dream's
now-gold adventure game also known as Indigo Prophecy. The download is available
on 3D Gamers,
GameSpot,
and Worthplaying.
Meanwhile, a new
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse movie is available (thanks Frans),
showing off some multiplayer mutant mayhem from a console version of the
upcoming superhero game. Finally,
Eidos
Interactive offers downloads of a couple of new "snippet" videos where Toby
Gard discusses Lara Croft's polygonal loveliness among other things.
The official The Matrix: Path
of Neo Website is online, the multilingual Flash homepage replaces the
teaser that previously kept its seat warm. Thanks
GameGossip.
MMOLands is a newly launched MMOG portal
offering access to multiple titles. They are currently offering a mini game and
an educational offering as well as testing of a new Endless Ages server, as they
are becoming the new home to Avaria Corporation's MMORPG. There is an
announcement in a pop-up from the front page explaining the transfer of
accounts, and changes to the system that will add free-to-play areas to the game
as well as a one-time fee for more complete access. After a short beta testing
period, the original Endless Ages server will shut down, and MMOLands will
become the sole hosts.
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
The
Star Wars
Battlefront II Q&A on ControllerFreaks.com talks with Shara Miller of
LucasArts about the Star Wars combat game: "Because most gamers aren’t as
well-adapted to flight as they are to ground combat, we wanted to
concentrate on making space missions easy to pick up and play. Second, we
wanted to keep the emphasis of the player’s heroism and ability to achieve
all the objectives themselves in space. We talked a lot about having special
commands in ships, but ultimately, we learned that it was much more valuable
to most players to give them easy ways to dodge oncoming missiles or double
back quickly on a target. So the design and engineering teams developed a
system whereby with one or two simple button taps, players could do barrel
rolls and Immelmans, in any direction. I think you’ll find it’s a pretty
good trade."
- Control Monger
onRPG.com's
Q&A with Control Monger's Clyde Bielss talks with the CEO of MindSurge
Entertainment about their upcoming online FPS: "The game as it is now is not
a MMOFPS, but only a Online Shooter. The Free Version of the game will not
have a ranking system, Chat room, Clan system or anything else you would
think a MMOFPS would have. You can think of the Free Version as a training
version, It will have most of the features the MMOFPS version will have so
you can learn to play but with none of the extra goodies the MMOFPS version
will have. The expanded MMOFPS version of the game, that we will finish
several months after the Free Version, will be a full MMOFPS and have
everything I mentioned above and more."
- Guild Wars
Sorrowful
Music on IGN discusses the music in Guild Wars: Sorrow's Furnace with
composer Jeremy Soule, while the new
Guild Wars
Fansite Friday #58 on Guildwars.dk answers several general questions
about the game. Thanks Guild
Wars Slovenija.
- EverQuest II- Desert of Flames on
IGN.
- Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers on
GameSpy.
- The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer on
GameSpot.
- Serious Sam II on
1UP.
- Titan Quest on
IGN.
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault on
IGN.
- Warhammer Online on
Warhammer Alliance.
The
3D Realms Website announces the free release of an add-on for Shadow Warrior
called Wanton Destruction, explaining that the product was not originally
released after being shelved by its distributor. The game was recently
discovered by Anthony Campiti, former president of Sunstorm, developers of the
add-on for the once controversial Build-engine game, and thoughts about the
project are offered from Anthony and 3D Realm's Charlie Wiederhold, who was also
at Sunstorm during the project's development.
The Dystopia Website now offers the
promised demo release of this "Cyberpunk Game for the Source Engine" (thanks
Hump). The download is 88 MB, and they have posted a
new player guide to help
folks get started.
Hey, look at that... it's the weekend!
Valve announces that Day of Defeat: Source will be released on September 26:
Day of Defeat: Source (DoD: Source), the latest version of the WWII
online action game from Valve®, will be made available to gamers everywhere on
September 26.
"Day of Defeat has quietly been one of the most played online action games for
the past three years," said Gabe Newell, president and founder of Valve. "Day of
Defeat: Source represents a major leap forward in both graphics and gameplay,
and pushes the Source engine harder than any other Source project. "
DoD: Source takes the classic teamplay of DoD and expands the experience with
Source, the engine technology Valve created for Half-Life® 2 and it's next
generation of games. With this technology, DoD: Source offers state of the art
graphics with optimized versions of popular maps and all new player, weapon and
world models, plus support for HDR lighting.
DoD: Source leverages the power of the Source engine by introducing advanced
sound technology to provide a more immersive soundscape and integrated physics
simulation technology for ragdolls and physically simulated objects throughout
each map.
Available via Steam for just $19.95 and in the Counter-Strike: Source retail
package, DoD: Source is a rebuild from the ground up of Day of Defeat on the
Source engine.
DoD: Source will be available for pre-load and pre-order next week. Those who
purchased the Half-Life 2 Silver or Gold Steam offers will receive a request to
pre-load the game at this time and will receive access to play the moment the
game is made available.
For more information, visit
www.steampowered.com
Game Factory Interactive and MiST land South announce cancellation of African
Alliance, reducing -- though not eliminating -- potential confusion over the
multiple "Alliance" games undergoing concurrent development at multiple MiST
land locations ( story). Development continues apace on Jagged
Alliance 3D, and presumably on the similarly titled Jagged Alliance 3, though we
have not heard much about that project in a while, and it is not mentioned in
the plans included with this announcement. Here's word: We have to
inform that GFI company and
MiST land South agreed to
close down the development of African Alliance. The ground for this decision was
a desire of the team to concentrate on qualitative development of the other
titles.
All resources involved in
African Alliance
have been relocated to Jagged Alliance 3D project. The change in the company
priorities is also supported by the idea of focusing on other projects of this
studio - Warfare and 4th Battalion.
Finally, about the projects that are in development tightly on schedule. At the
end of this year gamers will move to the heart of Middle-East conflict in
WarFare. And the beginning of the next year will be blessed by Jagged Alliance
3D release.
New patches are now available for Earth 2160, updating Reality Pump's RTS sequel
to version 1.35. Word is: "The Gold Update 1.3.5 simplifies missions in the Easy
mode and fixes the following bugs - crashing in LC Mission 7, AI locking up in
the Multiplayer mode 'Uncle Sam', UCS allies blocking player units and some
behavioural oddities in the infantry and the ED Transporters." There are
separate patches for the
English,
German/German Gold,
and Polish editions
of the game.
A patch for the demo/trial edition of War World is now available, updating the
mecha-based shooter to version 1.06. The new version adds Team Deathmatch, new
demo levels, customizable performance and gameplay enhancements, bug fixes, and
more. A new full installer for the trial is also now available, which allows 60
minutes of free play before a purchase is required. The download is available on
the War World Downloads Page.
The change log
outlines what's new.
The Bet on Soldier Website
(thanks Frans) announces plans for the release of a multiplayer demo next week
for Kylotonn's gambling-themed first-person shooter. The update, which is
written in German, outlines plans for a demo with two gameplay modes, with and
without exo-skeletons, on the same Cargo Bay map found in the single-player BoS
demo ( story). The update also mentions that a patch will be
released at about the same time for the German retail edition of the game.
RPG Vault's Hero's
Journey Peek #6 offers a look at the Ugrek Boneshard Clan in Simultronics'
upcoming MMORPG written by designer Steph Shaver and artist Mike Doscher. Also,
RPG Vault's
Horizons: Empire of Istaria Peek #3 wastes no time in shifting into high
gear by offering a third look this week from Tulga Games' David Bowman at
upcoming changes to their MMORPG, discussing the return of live events to the
mix.
The Games Convention trailer from Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is now
available, showing off the upcoming Source-engine action game under construction
in Arkane Studios. The movie is available on
the Ubisoft FTP server
and mirrored on 3D
Gamers,
FileFront, Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's Hell, and
Worthplaying.
Also, there's a new Heroes Of The Pacific movie on the
Codemasters Website (registration required) showing off some ships from the World War II aerial
combat game, the clip is mirrored on
3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying. Also, a new Condemned: Criminal Origins movie shows off the
upcoming horror/thriller in the works at Monolith Productions, the clip can be
found on 3D Gamers,
FileFront, Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's Hell, and
Worthplaying.
Finally, the EA Sports
Website now offers three new clips from the hockey game in low- and
lower-resolution (thanks Frans).
The overhauled Deep Shadows
Website now features
an updated Precursors
product section offering information and
new screenshots
for the upcoming follow-up to Boiling Point. Also, a new
Civilization IV Teaser Website is
online with five new screenshots and some character portraits in the
gallery. Thanks Frans.
- Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
A new publisher distributed
Dark Messiah of
Might and Magic Q&A on Worthplaying looks at Arkane Studios' upcoming
action installment in the M&M series: "We already had some expertise with
first person in our previous game (Arx Fatalis), so the challenge was more
about how to bring something new to the experience. We decided to tackle the
combat system: create a first person melee experience that just felt right.
There have been attempts in the past, but we think nothing as convincing.
This was a great opportunity and a great challenge. A tremendous challenge
in fact."
- NFS: Most Wanted
There's a
Need for Speed: Most Wanted Q&A on the official website talking with
actress/model Josie Maran about her participation in the upcoming racing
sequel, while this
Need for Speed: Most Wanted Q&A on the official website talks with
Michael Mann, line producer on the project: "The EA driving team is always
striving to find ways to innovate and provide fresh game play experiences --
even for such a firmly-established brand like Need for Speed. While Need for
Speed™ Underground 2 was about secret races in the dead of night, in Need
for Speed Most Wanted we are exposing that night-time sub culture to an
environment where stakes are heightened, and opportunities for bragging
rights enter a new dimension - the more extreme side of illicit racing."
Microsoft: ‘We’ve been
killing PC gaming’ on MCV is an article outlining Microsoft's stated
commitment to the PC as a gaming platform, spearheaded by "a bespoke retail
concept, offering Xbox 360 and Games for Windows titles, plus a cross-compatible
range of peripherals, integrating the gaming experience." The plan springs forth
after an admitted failure to properly support this end of the business:
The firm has outlined to MCV details of an 18-month drive to establish
Games For Windows as a platform with the credibility of PlayStation and Xbox,
ahead of the launch of the Vista operating system.
“It’s our biggest ever investment in Windows gaming,” said product manager Kelly
Stanmore. “The Windows business is down 10 per cent year-on-year and we’ve lost
shelves of space. We’re killing off that community without the retail
support.”
Seeming comfortable that the game will not make it's release date of this past
July, RHEM 2 Moves to
October on IGN offers the obvious announcement that the adventure/puzzle
sequel from Got Game Entertainment is delayed. The article offers a new release
date of October 15, but no explanation for the setback is provided.
NCsoft Reveals City of
Villains Collector's Edition Retail Package describes some City of Villains
pre-order goodies, including a DVD edition of the game instead of multiple CDs,
a map, figurines, and two 14-day free trial codes to be had for the upcoming
MMORPG. Also,
Activision Confirm Limited Edition Ultimate Spider-Man announces plans for a
version of the superhero game that will be signed by some of the folks involved,
including Stan "The Man" Lee himself that will also include some extra swag.
Finally, on a related note,
They're Special:
The Rise Of Game Limited Editions on Gamecloud gets opinions from some
developers on the increasing frequency of limited and collector's editions of
games.
Video game heroines strip for Playboy - again has word of plans for more
polygonal perversion in the form of nude or semi-nude spreads featuring game
figures, including Carla from Indigo Prophecy, a cheerleader from Blitz: The
League, as well as characters from God of War, 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Playboy:
The Mansion – Private Party, Darkwatch, and Hellgate: London.
A new version 1.01 of the Tremulous
modification for Quake III Arena is now available. Word is: "Barring any major
show stoppers, this will probably be the last release of Tremulous that requires
Quake 3. After a short break I'll dive into knocking out a preliminary
standalone version, so that we can determine the amount of work involved."
The
PlanetBlackAndWhite Black & White FAQ has been updated to version 1.1 with
many bits of tid about Lionhead's upcoming god game sequel. Thanks Frans.
A World at War Website is now
online, dedicated to this upcoming World War III modification for Half-Life 2.
Oops. Got waylaid on my way to making my round-up post last night. And on with the
show...
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