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Archived News:
2K Secures Dungeon Siege has word that the publisher has acquired rights to
the Dungeon Siege series, revealing along the way some new details on the
upcoming Broken World expansion for Gas Powered Games' RPG sequel ( story) as
well as plans to bring the series to the PSP: Under the new agreement the
first title will be an expansion pack to Dungeon Siege II in the form of Broken
World. Picking up directly where Dungeon Siege II left off, Dungeon Siege II:
Broken World features a new campaign, a new playable race, further items to
discover and a brand new multi-class character system.
In addition 2K Games and Gas Powered Games will be bringing the franchise to the
consoles for the first time, in the shape of Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony for
the PSP. Currently in development at SuperVillain Studios, Throne of Agony has
been developed from the ground up for Sony's handheld format and features
all-new playable characters, an original non-linear single-player campaign and
support for Ad-Hoc co-op and competitive multiplayer modes.
Lionhead announces Black & White 2: Battle of The Gods, an expansion for their
god-game sequel that sounds like it is already complete from its March 2006
release date (though the release also mentions a TBA/early spring ETA following
the March bit). The first screenshots from the project can be found on
3D Gamers, and
here's the announcement: BLACK & WHITE 2 EXPANDS WITH BATTLE OF THE GODS
The war between the Aztecs and the allies was over. The Aztecs, crazed with
dreams of ruling the planet, had come up against the steely resolve of the
stronger, cleverer Greeks. And, most importantly of all, they'd come up against
the Greek god.
The graves of the Aztec army covered the lands, but one band of survivors would
not accept the defeat, the death of their nation. Over many months they built
Totems. Shrines to the thousands of slain Aztec warriors. Then, slowly, they
started pulling the bodies from the ground. They dragged them to the Totems and
sacrificed them, chanting mindlessly to the skies. For a long time nothing
happened. The survivors dug and pulled and dragged and hundreds of bodies went
into the Totems. Yet nothing happened. As every believer knows, sacrifices must
be living to bring forth a response.
Then the incredible happened. As more bodies piled into the Totems, without
warning the sky split with a flash. The accumulated dead had been enough and a
god had been summoned. Born of an army of the slain, this was no ordinary god.
This was a god never seen before. For the first time in this world there was a
god of the Undead. And the ground began to shake. This Aztec deity was raising
an entire corpse army. Death was coming to the world on a massive scale.
Lionhead Studios is delighted to announce that work is now underway on Battle of
The Gods an expansion disk for Black & White 2 which will be published in March
2006.
You’ve conquered Eden and its tribes but in Battle of The Gods you return to
Eden to find an even more powerful foe – a rival god who is determined to
convert your subjects and become the ruler of Eden.
Battle of The Gods will features a brand new creature, two new lands and four
new miracles. There will also be six new challenges and other new content.
Now it’s god versus god and only one can reign supreme.
Battle of the Gods, the expansion disk for Black & White 2 is being developed by
Lionhead Studios and will be published early Spring. Exact release date and
price details will be announced later.
The
EA Forums (thanks Ant and
Voodoo Extreme)
have word that the possibility of another patch for Need for Speed: Most Wanted
has gotten the thumbs-down from the brass at EA: Final result - there
will not be another patch for Most Wanted.
Longer version - While I'm sure very few of you are surprised by this, there was
a good deal of internal debate surrounding this patch and whether to proceed.
While there was never a question of whether there should be support for the
community, the issues were a matter of time and resources. Both of which were
not available.
The positive however, is that all the information collected on this issue won't
be tossed aside and will be used for any future releases.
So with that, I can only add that I'm sorry I couldn't do more.
The Elder
Scrolls has another "Countdown to Oblivion" trailer, and the "six days to
go" title following yesterday's "one week to go" trailer tells our inner
Sherlock Holmes to reserve this spot in tomorrow's update for some reason.
Savage 2: A
Tortured Soul to Feature Native Linux Client Support at Launch has word on
plans to support the launch of S2 Games' upcoming RTS/FPS sequel with a native
Linux client upon launch: ROHNERT PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March
15, 2006--Independent Game Developer S2 Games announced today that it will be
supporting the Linux® community by offering Native Linux Client support at
launch for its upcoming triple-A title, Savage 2: A Tortured Soul. Savage 2 is
the much anticipated sequel to Savage: The Battle for Newerth and will be
available in Fall of 2006 as a digital download from the S2 Website.
In order to facilitate the use of a Linux Client at launch, the S2 Games team is
working diligently to convert their DirectX® K2 engine, a next-gen game engine
built from the ground up specifically for Savage 2, to that of Linux's OpenGL
system. The conversion is a necessity as the high-end renderer (DirectX) in the
new engine is a Microsoft® product and does not work with Linux. With help from
the Linux community and two of Savage's top enthusiasts -- Uttar and WhiteDwarf
-- S2 is converting the DirectX renderer, one of the more impressive aspects of
the game engine, as the effort will enable Linux gamers to utilize their Linux
Client when playing the game.
- SiN Episodes
The
SiN Episodes: Emergence Q&A on TotalVideoGames discusses the upcoming
shooter sequel with Ritual's Levelord: "Ritual sees player feedback as one
of the most essential benefits to this new model. We will be closely
listening to our audience and using their feedback to design future
episodes. This applies to the story, the characters, the gameplay, weapons,
and even advances in technology. All that said, we are currently in
pre-design for the next episode. Other than the ramp-up time needed to start
this first episode, we have probably experienced what will be a normal
episode development cycle. We estimate 6-8 months of production for each
episode. We may produce multiple episodes at the same time, some spinning
off into varying directions, but we are not sure when this will happen. We
are near the end of the first episode now, and we are starting to pre-design
the second."
- UFO: Extraterrestrials
The
UFO:
Extraterrestrials Q&A on StrategyCore.co.uk talks with Chaos Concept
about their upcoming UFO game: "I can’t reveal too much now because things
like this are a matter of research in the game, but generally UFOs use a
special fuel substance. A very important thing is that aliens have a lack of
this substance because at the time of alien invasion on Earth, humans fired
a nuclear warhead and succeeded to shoot down the alien supply ship that
carried the fuel substance for the alien invasion battleships. The lack of
this alien fuel fortunately prevents the aliens' giant mothership from
moving from Earth and attacking peoples on the planet Esperanza. Whether the
CAF will be able to prevent the alien mothership and alien invasion
battleships and battlecruisers from getting to the planet Esperanza depends
on the player’s ability and tactical thinking. Good luck!"
- Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
The
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends Q&A on GameSpot talks with Big Huge
Games' Paul Stephanouk about their upcoming RTS game: "Finally, talking
about aliens-as-gods without acknowledging Stargate SG-1 would be like
having a game with orcs and elves and overlooking Tolkien as an influence.
Our premise and their premise are different, but both are von Däniken
mythologies and Stargate is a wildly popular show, so how can it not be an
influence? It's no secret that several members of the Big Huge Games team,
included myself, are huge fans of both the movie and the TV series. I'd also
like to give some credit to the late-1970's TV show Project U.F.O.. Does
anybody else still remember it? I loved it and can still recite part of the
opening."
- Scratches
“Scratches”
Designer and Programmer Agustin Cordes Warns Us We Are Not Alone on GameZone
is a Q&A about Nucleosys' adventure game with designer Agustín "Agust"
Cordes: "No, the story is linear, meaning the important events will be
always the same. It's very detailed and complex, so it would've been very
risky to go with a too open-ended gameplay. There are many clues and small
details scattered around and you simply have to bump into all of them to
understand the plot. The focus of the game is to solve the mystery
surrounding the Blackwood family, the previous inhabitants of the house, so
there wasn't need to diversify the plot. What the game does is allow you to
freely explore the place and let you solve many problems in any order you
wish. It’s very, very non-linear in that aspect."
- Giant Bite
The
Giant Bite Q&A on Gametown is a bilingual English and Italian
conversation with Hamilton Chu of Giant Bite to learn more about this
recently unveiled developer: "Well, we do definitely have a lot of
experience in the FPS area. However, more importantly, we have a lot of
experience in creating highly polished games with world-class production
values. This is what Giant Bite is focused on creating. Whether our first
game will have FPS elements, you’ll have to wait and see."
New patches are now available for the retail and downloadable editions of
Wintersport Pro 2006,
updating the International and German variants of the Olympics homage to version
1.03. Details are in the
patch notes, and the patches are available on the
Cyanide FTP Server
and mirrored on 3D
Gamers and
Worthplaying.
The TV listings had tonight's South Park episode as "Trapped in the Closet,"
which is apparently the episode behind Isaac Hayes' departure from the show, but
instead they showed "Chef's Chocolate Balls." At first I thought the scheduled
listing was to be deliberately provocative, but even if it was a coincidence, I
can't think of why they would switch it. Weird...
Activision and Lionhead officially announce the upcoming Stunts & Effects add-on
for The Movies ( story), revealing Spring 2006 to be the release
date for the explosive expansion: Santa Monica, CA – March 15, 2006 –
Suited up and ready for action, Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Lionhead®
Studios today announced The Movies™: Stunts & Effects, the expansion pack to the
9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards’ “Simulation Game of the Year.”
Building on The Movies’ critically acclaimed gameplay, The Movies: Stunts &
Effects ups the ante on movie production with the addition of stuntmen to the
lot, a movie-making toolset, a diverse selection of dangerous stunts, astounding
visual effects, impressive new sets and a number of brand-new techniques and
technologies that can be used when making a movie. Currently in development at
Lionhead Studios, The Movies Stunts & Effects will be released Spring 2006 and
has not yet been rated by the ESRB.
The Movies: Stunts & Effects allows players to hone their movie making skills
with features that can turn an ordinary script into an extraordinary
blockbuster. In addition to stunts and effects, the game introduces new
backdrops, costumes and props, as well as upgrades to the Advanced Movie Making
mode that lets players take control of even more movie features. Players are
further immersed into the Hollywood lifestyle as they train and manage stuntmen,
as well as compete for industry awards and achievements by uploading their
movies to www.themoviesgame.com for
the entire world to see.
The online community for The Movies continues to grow with new movies being
posted daily. The website,
www.themoviesgame.com, has attracted more than three million unique users,
has received more than 300 million hits*, and currently features more than
60,000 user-created movies, available online for anyone to view.
The Movies for Windows® PC is available now for a suggested retail price of
$39.99 and is rated “T” (Teen with blood and gore, crude humor, mild language,
sexual themes, use of alcohol and tobacco, and violence) by the ESRB.
*These statistics apply to
www.themoviesgame.com/community
More information on The Movies can be found at
www.themoviesgame.com.
The Galactic
Civilizations II: Dread Lords Website (thanks Frans) offers plans for an
upcoming patch to update the space strategy game to version 1.1. The extensive
list has details on what's planned for the patch, though the list is said to be by
no means be comprehensive.
This Egosoft
Downloads Page now features another pair of new patches for X³: Reunion,
updating the space simulation to version 1.4. There is an update for version 1.3
and one for any prior version of the game.
This news update
outlines the new features and bug-fixes in the patch. Thanks Frans.
This Neverend Downloads
Page (thanks YiYas) offers downloads of a
new patch for the German edition of Neverend, updating Mayhem Studios' RPG and
adding a free add-on called Neverend Reinforcement. Details on the update, in
German, can be found on the
Frogster Interactive Website.
This Paradox Interactive
Patches Page has a new patch for Victoria, updating the English edition of
the game to version 1.04 (thanks Frans). The
Paradox
Interactive Forums offer change notes outlining what's new.
DTP has word on another delay to the German release of Tony Tough 2 (thanks
Frans). Word is the "release of the upcoming adventure hit slips to Q3 2006 for
the German speaking territories," and "Prograph is working deeply now on
finishing Tony Tough 2 for the end of summer 2006," and "dtp/ANACONDA will
announce the accurate release date as soon as it is fixed." So the release is
now some combination of summer and fall and TBD.
A new Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends movie is now available, showing off more
of Big Huge Games' upcoming big huge RTS game. The short clip is in very high
resolution, available on
3D Gamers and
GameSpot.
- ÜberSoldier
The
ÜberSoldier Q&A on Gaming Nexus talks with designer Maxim Volkov about
their upcoming World War II first-person shooter: "We’ve used the X-Tend engine previously developed by our programmers for Kreed. After the release of Kreed we began the development of its add-on -- Kreed: The Battle For Savitar, while at the same modifying the engine for East Front (which became ÜberSoldier.) The engine itself has been altered and upgraded so much that it’s just the name that’s left from the original technology. Thanks to the engine's very stable core, we were able to devote more time to the creation of various special effects and gameplay improvements that positively affected the whole project."
- Age of Empires III
There's
an
Ensemble Studios Q&A on working-title talking Bruce Shelley about Age of
Empires III: "We put a lot of effort into the physics and graphic effects of
‘Age 3’, but that was not done at the expense of game play and game play
innovation. We believe strongly that games must be different at both the
high level (new topic, new look) and game play level (innovation). You can’t
successfully sell the same game twice. People want new experiences. RTS has
now caught up with other genres in technology and will probably keep pace in
that area. Future RTS games have to innovate in game play, however, to
continue being successful."
- Nival
Gamecloud's
Kevin Bachus Q&A is an article-format conversation with the CEO of
Nival's just-announced US offices.
Beware the Ides of March!!!!
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