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Archived News:
Though the game has not been officially declared gold, the Call of Duty 2 video
interview on
FileFront offers a release date for the World War II shooter sequel straight
from the mouth of Infinity Ward's Grant Collier (thanks
IWNation), who says: Call of Duty
2 for the Windows platform will be coming out October 25th, and will be a launch
title for the Xbox 360.
EA Settles Class Action on
Overtime (thanks Frans) announces that EA has settled the class action suit
about overtime compensation ( story), pending the approval of the
Court. Here are the terms: Under the terms of the settlement, the claims
of the alleged class will be dismissed, and EA will make a total payment of
$15.6 million to cover all claims by the class members, plaintiffs' attorney
fees, any incentive payments to the named plaintiffs and all administrative
costs of the settlement. Any portion of the settlement fund that is unclaimed by
class members will go to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a national nonprofit
organization that awards college scholarships to minority students, with a
preference toward students interested in studying interactive
entertainment.
The Glider Website now
features downloads of a pair of demos from Glider: Collect'n Kill, the science
fiction aerial combat game that's now gold in Germany. The two different demos
cover your choice of the English or German edition of the demo, each of which is
an approximately 115 MB download. The sample versions of the game feature
single-player and multiplayer action on one map, featuring two gliders and all
the game's weaponry. Thanks Frans.
Valve announces that Rag Doll Kung Fu can now be preloaded via Steam:
Rag Doll Kung Fu, a wild new experience from designer Mark Healey, is
available now for pre-load. This adventure features a wide collection of single
and multiplayer games, plus outlandish cut scenes inspired by classic Kung Fu
cinema. To pre-load your copy, please visit
www.steampowered.com
A Blitzkrieg: Mission Kursk demo is now available, offering the chance to sample
the Mission Kursk add-on for Blitzkrieg, Nival Interactive's World War II RTS
game. Like the expansion itself, the demo has a prerequisite, as it requires
original Blitzkrieg or the Burning Horizon or Rolling Thunder expansions. The
download is available on
this German CDV Software Page. Thanks Frans.
F.E.A.R.
Designer Diary #2 on GameSpot is actually the third installment in this
series, offering a discussion from the Monolith staff of the music and audio in
their upcoming horror-themed first-person shooter. Also, a new
Star Trek Online Developer
Blog on the Perpetual Entertainment Website offers further thoughts on the
upcoming MMORPG, describing how the development team has expanded, some major
design issues that they've ironed out, progress on the client engine, and more.
Thanks Frans.
A new F.E.A.R. trailer shows off some multiplayer action from Monolith's
upcoming first-person shooter along with interview footage talking with Rob
Loftus about the game. The 15 MB clip is available on
3D Gamers and
FileFront. Also, a new Conflict: Global Terror developer interview movie offers another look
at the imminent installment in the Conflict series (already available in Europe)
with a 107 MB movie that offers eight minutes of gameplay footage accompanied by
interviews with several of the developers at Pivotal Games. The download can be
found on 3D Gamers,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and Worthplaying.
- S.M.E.R.S.H.
RPG
Vault's S.M.E.R.S.H. Q&A talks with Sergey Igrushkin of Game Forge
Interactive about the upcoming tactical action/RPG about the old school
Soviet counter espionage organization: "However, this game idea came with
its own very specific complexities. First of all, it's very difficult to
reproduce the atmosphere of the WWII times, as we can use only descriptions
and eye witness accounts. And this brought the problem of researching the
historical facts. We found that sometimes, materials about the same occasion
can be extremely contradictory. But we've tried to arrange the truth in as
straightforward a manner as possible in the gameworld."
- Music
RPG
Vault's The Chronicles of Spellborn Music Q&A talks with composer Jesper
Kyd about his work on the soundtrack for The Chronicles of Spellborn,
Khaeon's upcoming MMORPG.
The Eclipse Website now offers a new
version 1.01 of the Eclipse third-person modification for Half-Life 2, fixing
some bugs. Additionally, word is: "Celtech has also released video previously
only seen at Eclipse's public exhibition at the Guildhall last June. This video
covers a brief tutorial on playing the game and looks back at the development
process that created Eclipse. Two versions of this video are also available in
our download section."
The fall leaf-watching season is indeed turning out to be disappointing after a
summer with little rain in this area. The leaves don't seem to be turning colors
until after they drop off the trees, so we have trees that are still mostly
green, and a growing blanket of yellow leaves on the ground.
A post to the
3D Realms Forums (thanks BicycleRepairMan) by 3DR's Joe Siegler confirms the
obvious: That the December release date for Duke Nukem Forever that recently
appeared on the Amazon website ( story) is indeed bogus. Contact
The Inquirer for legal
advice about who to sue. Word is: This issue is covered there. Nothing's
new. If there was a new development along these lines, you wouldn't have to
"find out" about it from an article at "The Inquirer" or at Amazon's UK
site.
id Software and
Activision, Inc. Confirm Wolfenstein for the Xbox 360 Video Game and
Entertainment System is a press release that confirms that the Castle
Wolfenstein sequel revealed yesterday ( story) is indeed headed to
the PC as well as the next edition of Microsoft's console system: id
Software(TM) and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI - News) confirmed at Microsoft's
X05 event in Amsterdam that the newest installment in the legendary Wolfenstein®
series is being developed for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment
system from Microsoft and PC. The companies also confirmed that Activision, Inc.
will be the worldwide licensed distributor of Wolfenstein, currently in
development by Raven Software and executive produced by id Software.
id Software's newest chapter in the legendary Wolfenstein series delivers
players deep behind the enemy lines of a war-torn Germany, where Nazi
experiments with technology and the supernatural threaten to turn the tide of
World War II. Utilizing a revolutionary new graphics technology targeted
specifically at next generation hardware, the new Wolfenstein experience will
draw players into a world of unmatched exploration, action, and
espionage.
The Movies Website
(thanks Frans) has word that Lionhead's cinema simulation is gold. The
announcement doesn't offer a specific release date, but the game is clearly to
hit its latest target window of fall of this year.
Matrix Games announces that PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition is now
available for download, with the boxed edition of this sports sim sequel to
arrive at retail later in the week: Staten Island, NY, October 5th, 2005
- Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) is
delighted to announce that its exciting new sports simulation, PureSim Baseball
2005 Gold Edition (www.puresim.com), is now
available for sale through the Matrix Games Online Store. The digital download
version is available immediately for $29.99 with a $39.99 boxed game to follow
later this week.
PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition is the ultimate baseball fan’s toy, with
support for both casual and hardcore baseball fans and the ability to play out
any season in baseball history.
David Heath, Director of Operations for Matrix Games, said, “We are proud to be
able to enter the sports games market with a title of such excellent quality.
PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition is the best all around baseball game we’ve
played and has not yet received the attention it deserves. We are aiming high
with this release and hope that baseball fans around the world will give this
fun, powerful and flexible game a try.”
PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition allows you to choose how much you want to do.
You can play out each at bat in every game or focus on the financial or
statistical aspects. Creating a league can be as easy as a simple three step
wizard and allows fictional or real players from any season since 1871 with
PureSim’s integrated support for the free Lahman 2004 MLB player database.
Career play allows you to keep going for as many seasons as you like.
Multiplayer support is included, run an entire league with other players!
Shaun Sullivan, Designer and Developer of PureSim Baseball, stated, “I’m very
excited about this release and all that it brings to the table in terms of major
new features and improvements as well as a great new manual. I believe both
current owners and curious new gamers will find a lot to like here.”
PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition also allows detailed statistical analysis,
allowing multiple replays for checking lineup combinations, a full almanac
system and metrics, full player editor support and unattended simulation
features. Every pitch is tracked, with reports such as Runs Created 27 (RC/27),
Relative Batting Average, Pitching Runs, Park Factors, Defensive Independent
Percentage, and more. Add-in support allows the creation of mods that plug
directly into the game.
For previous customers, the new 2005 Gold Edition includes a number of exciting
new features, including improved multiplayer support, adjustable ratings scales,
a sandbox mode that also allows import of entire teams (pit the ’27 Yanks
against the ’04 Red Sox!), performance improvements, non-US English Windows
support and many more improvements and fixes, over sixty in total!
A free upgrade to the Gold Edition is also available for qualified customers who
recently purchased PureSim Baseball 2005. For more information and instructions
on the upgrade, please visit the PureSim Baseball forum on the Matrix Games
site.
PureSim Baseball 2005 Gold Edition is the game that every baseball fan should
have.
Law & Order
Criminal Intent goes gold on Adventure Gamers announces that the latest game
based on the crime and punishment TV series is complete, and headed into stores.
Word is the game is to be available on October 18.
MadMinute Games (thanks Frans) has
the announcement of Take Command: 2nd Manassas, their second Civil War strategy
game, due for release in December 2005 (preorders are now being accepted). The
Yahoo Store
has a product sheet with details and a pack of screenshots for download, which
can be found online on
3D Gamers. Word is: Following up their award winning Take Command:
Civil War Bull Run, MadMinute explores this pivotal battle of the Civil War in
1862. An exciting new feature of TC2M will be carryover in scenarios or
connected battles. New carryover scenarios will start with the men that survived
the previous day's battle. So your command decisions will not just affect today,
they will affect tomorrow as well and maybe even the day after that. TC2M will
also include 2 other crucial battles of the 2nd Manassas Campaign: Cedar
Mountain and Chantilly.
A new Earth 2160 Website is online as
a home to Reality Pump's RTS sequel, offering preorders for the game, saying it
to be available 11/08/05. There is a bonus for those who pre-order, a "DVD with
eight additional maps and a retail version of EARTH 2150."
WB hatches dual species on Variety.com (thanks
Gamecloud)
explains plans for Species X, an unusual upcoming movie tie-in with
Condemned: Criminal Origins: WB Interactive Entertainment will
simultaneously develop videogame "The Condemned: Criminal Origins" based on the
concept. It is an unusual occurrence, since movies and vidgames usually
cross-pollinate when one is a hit and the other is little more than an
adaptation.
"Species X," which will be produced by Basil IwanykBasil Iwanyk and David Goyer,
was hatched by Jason Hall and Nathan Hendrickson. Hall is an established gamer
who runs WBIE, the only vidgame publisher owned by a film studio.
Hall wanted to try something different. "We wanted to come up with something
specifically designed to use multiple mediums to tell stories that had some
continuity and connective thread," he said.
"One medium usually handicaps the other, because if you hadn't thought of the
movie when you did the game, you'd limit creative expression or completely
depart from the game, and risk losing your core game audience. ...We wanted to
create a universe that, like a 'Star Wars,' was big enough where different
stories could exist."
Exec hopes to introduce the concept with the vidgame, followed by a movie that
will come out at the same time as a sequel game that expands the universe.
It's a shift for WB Interactive, which has previously made games based on
existing studio properties. Its first self-funded title, "The Matrix Online,"
did poorly and was recently sold to Sony Online Entertainment.
- Football Manager 2006
Prodigious
Gaming's Football Manager 2006 Q&A discusses the next installment in
this sport management sim series with Miles Jacobson of Sports Interactive:
"On a development level, they leave us to get on with it. We are fortunate
to have a fantastic producer at Sega, and he and his team trust us to do
what we need to do, and only tend to get involved when we ask them to (such
as the tutorial) and there's a large test team there too, to compliment our
own. With marketing and PR, we work closely together to ensure that everyone
is happy. We probably have a lot more creative freedom than most, as well as
lots of input in other areas, so we're pretty happy."
- Indie Games
Gamecloud's
IndieGamesCon 2005 Q&A talks with Jay Moore of Garage Games about this
weekend's IndieGamesCon: "We
were having beers after the Game Developers Conference in 2002 and realized
that GDC no longer offered the kind of connection with other developers that
would birth new ventures and new games. We wanted to create an event that
was about the independent game movement and gave everyone a way to build the
kinds of relationships and collaboration that happened in the early years at
what was then call CGDC."
This
nZone Website (thanks Thomas) offers downloads of new beta NVIDIA ForceWare
reference drivers for WinXP/2K or WinXP 64-bit. The drivers specifically mention
fixes for Black & White 2, but other changes are included as well.
The Calaris Studios Website
now offers downloads of a new movie for Wolfschanze 1944 showing off a little
motorbike action in the upcoming World War II shooter. The 29 MB download is
also available on 3D
Gamers.
The NoctemWare Website now
offers downloads of Quake 3 Arena CE for Windows CE version 4.2. Word is: "Sure,
the game still runs at like 5 FPS, but at least we know how to make it faster
for future builds. Expect continuing development on this port. In the meantime,
enjoy the 1.0 release!" Thanks Mike Martinez.
Gamecloud's Plan
of Attack 4.0 Q&A is a conversation with the team behind the
Plan of Attack strategic
modification for Half-Life 2 about the upcoming version 4.0 of their mod, due
for release today.
Many of the ATI R520 articles are listed as previews:
The dogs got into another skunk last night... I think this is the busy season
for the little stinkers, at least in our yard. Speaking of little stinkers, it
was Gunnar who bore the brunt of this attack, for the second time in a row. This
is unfortunate, because Hudson the wonder dog is not only better at this, with a
masterful technique that ends up with a majority of the spray in her mouth, but
it seems that Gunnar's poodle hair is far more absorbent than Hudson's coarse
terrier coat, and he is far more difficult to de-stench.
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