NovaLogic announces plans for
Joint Operations:
Combined Arms, a bundle that packages the first-person shooter Joint
Operations: Typhoon Rising with its expansion Joint Operations: Escalation. At
this point the release date for the double-jointed collection is "coming soon."
Three gameplay movies are now available from Chameleon, showing off the upcoming
third-person shooter from Illusion Softworks Slovakia. The movies can be found
on
Tiscali Games.
Also, as noted on
Myst Worlds, parts
one and two of the "making of" Myst V documentary from the limited edition
version of the upcoming final installment in the adventure/puzzle series are now
available for download from their
movies section (thanks
Frans). Meanwhile, a new The Movies movie offers the '70s Guy' trailer, so get
out your mood ring and your leisure suit, the clip is available on
FileFront,
Gamer's Hell,
and
Worthplaying.
Finally,
this FTP
directory offers two movie clips from Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission Las
Vegum, the upcoming third-person platformer under construction at Etranges
Libellules (thanks
Frans).
Contesting the Not-So-Virtual World of Politics (registration required) is a timely bit of
weekend reading (thanks Mike Martinez) with a
Violent
games bill having passed the California Legislature awaiting the
Governorator's thumbs-up or down, as it discusses the growing political buzz
surrounding games and how they are sold:
Video gamers aren't supposed to
care about serious stuff like politics. According to stereotype, gamers are
supposed to be apathetic, socially challenged slackers who live off their
parents and don't care about much beyond where the next bag of Cheetos is coming
from.
That image will likely be tested in the coming months as politicians ramp up
efforts to regulate video games. Microsoft's introduction of the new Xbox 360
console will surely be the most-hyped video game story of the fall, but the
drive in Washington to bring the industry under federal oversight will certainly
have farther-reaching ramifications both for the industry and for gamers
themselves.
Leading the charge is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York.
After Internet hackers uncovered a hidden sex scene in the computer code for
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that the game's makers had never intended the
public to see, Senator Clinton called for the Federal Trade Commission to
investigate. She said she was planning to introduce legislation to make it a
federal crime for retailers to sell or rent video games rated "mature" to people
under 18. She repeated her call for such legislation last month.
And the drive to regulate game sales is not just at the federal level. In July,
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois signed a state law restricting the sale of
video games to minors. (The bill is being challenged in court by the
industry.)
Rune Portal now offers
downloads of a new patch for Rune: Halls of Valhalla, updating the expansion for
Human Head's third-person game of kicking axe and taking names to version 1.08.
Though this is an unsupported, unofficial patch, it is created with the
assistance and endorsement of Human Head. The
RuneGame.com Forums
have patch notes and more details, and feedback on all this can be sent to
Laurie "the DeepMinded".
Something the recent hurricane Katrina-related disasters has brought into focus
for us is how ill-prepared we were to deal with even the smallest disruption in
the normal flow of support and services around here. Realizing there is some sort
of middle-ground between full-out survivalism and complete apathy, I have picked
us up some freeze-dried food and similar essentials to make us a bit-more
temporarily self-reliant should the need arise. Hopefully it will never be
necessary... besides, it could also come in handy should we ever decide to scale
Mount Everest.
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