|
|
 |
Archived News:
Frogster Interactive announces they have signed a deal with The Bitmap Brothers
to bring remakes of their classics Speedball 2 and The Chaos Engine to PCs next
year: Berlin, 26.09.06: Frogster Interactive brings out the big classics:
The Berlin-based publisher has secured the worldwide PC-rights for über-games
Speedball 2 and The Chaos Engine from legendary British game makers The Bitmap
Brothers. The cult image of both games comes from the beginning of the computer
games era. Since then, a huge fan base has continually asked for re-releases. In
vain – until now! Frogster will release both titles in 2007 for PC; The Bitmap
Brothers will participate in the development process.
The futuristic sports game series Speedball was first released in 1988 on the
Amiga and was an instant triumph. Versions for almost every relevant system and
highly successful sequels followed. The series got many awards, amongst others
1989 “Game of the Year“ from The Golden Joysticks and “Best Original Game“ from
In-Din Arcade.
Action-shooter The Chaos Engine celebrated a similarly successful premičre in
1993. The Chaos Engine received numerous awards including the SEGA Award 1994
for “Best Action Game“ and the Power Play Award for “Multi-player Game of the
Year“.
Fans can register for a newsletter on the official site :
www.speedball2.de
As noted on the Epic Games Website
(thanks Frans),
Vogster Entertainment has licensed the Unreal Engine 3 for development of
Crimecraft, an MMORPG due in 2008 that will attempt to live up to the pressure
of being described as unique: Saddle Brook, NJ, 27 September, 2006 –
Vogster Entertainment, LLC, a fast-growing and ambitious developer of high
quality, iconoclastic video games, announced today that it has entered into a
licensing agreement with Epic Games, Inc. for use of Epic’s Unreal® Engine 3
technology in connection with the development of Vogster’s next-generation
massively multiplayer online Crimecraft game.
Arseniy Nazarenko, General Producer of Vogster’s Kiev production office said:
“Vogster has set upon an ambitious game-development course. We are preparing to
launch Crimecraft, our own unique and exciting MMO game, in 2008. Crimecraft is
going to shake the global video game industry with its innovative features and
characters actions. The Unreal Engine 3 is the most powerful game engine
available, and will play an instrumental role in the realization of our
development plans.”
“We are proud to have Vogster Entertainment choose Unreal ® Engine 3 for what
promises to be a truly engaging MMO game.” said Mark Rein, Vice President, Epic
Games, Inc. “We are confident that our technology will help Vogster
Entertainment develop an outstanding product, and we look forward to this
exciting new relationship. To work with such a talented group of developers in
exciting places like Kiev and Moscow is going to be a lot of fun for Epic.
“The formula is simple: the more successful your partners are, the more
successful you are, and vice versa. Vogster is proud to have Epic Games as a key
partner,” said Gary Mostovoy, VP and Executive Manager of Vogster.
This deal was only possible due to the continuous efforts of our legal counsel
Fred Fierst of Northampton, Massachusetts. Thanks, Fred!”
Bongfish announces STOKED RIDER: Alaska
Alien, the next installment in this independently developed snowboarding
series. The first screenshots
from the game are online, and word is: Equip your alien rider and drop him
at the highest peaks of tremendous mountains. Wherever you want. Explore a never
seen before terrain inspired by Alaska's impressive summits or match online with
your friends and players from around the globe. New equipment doesn't only look
good, it really makes you better. And you will get better yourself. Those times,
where you can start a run, grab a cup of coffee and the rider reaches the bottom
of the valley by himself, are over. Snowboard gaming is about the gamer. STOKED
RIDER: Alien Alaska will challenge YOU.
"So?", you ask, "Where and when can I get the game?". We're not telling you yet,
because until now we couldn't find a publisher for most regions (with notable
exceptions). And that has not got anything to do with the quality of STOKED
RIDER: Alaska Alien. We're getting great feedback from everyone. Cooperate
business just claims that snowboarding games don't sell. We say: Rubbish! Our
STOKED RIDER series was played by more than 600.000 players around the world
over the last six years! One thing is sure: there will be a simultaneous world
wide release via online distribution - and this will take place this winter
season. Bongfish is taking a next generation approach here too.
LucasArts and SOE announce chapter three of Star Wars Galaxies is live:
LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment today announced that Chapter 3:
Smugglers and Scoundrels is now available to Star Wars Galaxies subscribers.
Chapter 3: Smugglers and Scoundrels is the latest in a series of ongoing updates
for Star Wars Galaxies that are scheduled for release every six to eight weeks
as part of players’ regular subscription to the game.
Cargo, contraband and criminals are the lifeblood of any good smuggler, and with
Chapter 3: Smugglers and Scoundrels, players have even more ways of plying their
trade. The new Smuggling System introduced in Chapter 3 is packed with new
content, skills and rewards for every aspiring Han Solo in the galaxy.
The Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Website
(thanks Frans) is online as a teaser for IO Interactive's upcoming action game.
The site has screenshots and a couple of wallppapers. Also, the X06 movie from
the game can be found on
3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying.
Lighthouse Interactive announces the release of a new patch for Sword of the
Stars, updating the German, French, and Spanish editions of Kerberos
Productions' 4X space game to version 1.1.1. The patch offers gameplay
improvements and addresses several networking and compatibility issues. Thanks
Frans.
- Stranglehold
The X06 movie for Stranglehold shows off more of the upcoming action game
based on John Woo's Hard Boiled. The clip is available in a normal size
and a very high resolution version, available on
3D Downloads, 3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying.
- Rainbow Six Vegas
The
Rainbow Six
Website proves that what goes on in Vegas doesn't always stay there, as
it shows off action from Rainbow Six: Vegas.
- Splinter Cell: Double Agent
The Splinter Cell: Double
Agent movie X06 movie is now available on
this FTP server,
and there is also a high definition version on
3D Gamers.
- Assassin's Creed
Another X06 movie shows off Assassin's
Creed, the clip from the stealthy action game is on
this FTP directory.
- There Is Only War
A
new There Is Only War movie shows off combat from team fifty seven's upcoming
pessimistically titled action/strategy game. The download is available on
3D Downloads, 3D Gamers,
and Worthplaying.
- Sam & Max
A new Sam & Max: Episode 1 - Culture Shock movie
shows off the kickoff installment in Telltale's imminent episodic Sam & Max
series. The clip is available on
3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying.
- StarWraith 3D Games
Stargamer.net's
StarWraith 3D Games Q&A talks with the developer about space games and
their upcoming Arvoch Conflict: "A major gameplay change is how Arvoch
Conflict lets you manage your experience by putting you in direct control of
virtually every event and mission situation in the game. If you feel you
need more support from friendly ships in a particular mission, you can add
some and even place those ships where you want. If you think a mission isn't
challenging enough, you can add in more hostile reinforcements or select
more powerful enemy ships. If you feel a planet is too far away for a
surface attack, you can move the entire planet closer, select faster ships
for your squadron, or choose a closer starting position. And these options
are available in the campaign itself, not just a custom mission. It's a very
flexible feature that puts you in control of the gameplay and its events."
- Space Empires
Stargamer.net's
Q&A with Aaron Hall talks with the Malfador Machinations designer about
the 4X genre and the next installment in the Space Empires series: "The
complete rewrite of the graphics engine was the biggest and most difficult
task. Second to that has been the incorporation of fields in the data files
that allow you to specify formulas to compute item values. This allows for
tremendous modding potential, but the flip side is the slowness of executing
the formulas, and having the game not "know" what the values mean."
'You Only Live Twice' actor dead. "You only live twice. Once when you're
born. And once when you look death in the face."
Another R.I.P.:
'Tokyo
Rose' dies at 90.
EIDOS Interactive announces the availability of Just Cause, as Avalanche
Studios' action game is in stores for PC, Xbox360, Xbox, and PS2: The
wait is finally over and the citizens of San Esperito await your opening move in
the quest for liberation. The time for revolution is now and yes – it is
televised! Download our final trailer and brand new screenshots for the highly
anticipated Just Cause.
Set in an incredibly detailed, tropical island nation spanning over 250,000
acres, Just Cause is the ultimate free-roaming action game. You play Rico
Rodriguez, a specialist in regime change tasked with overthrowing the corrupt
government by a top secret US agency.
Bursting with intense air, land and sea stunts, Just Cause brings you never
before seen extremes allowing you to do crazy stunts like pulling a parachute
while traveling at top speed on your motorcycle, jumping from planes to
helicopters to boats, or driving off a cliff just to set yourself up for a
stylish freefall.
Action-packed with over 300 missions, Just Cause players will enjoy endless
hours of gameplay. With 89 air, sea and land vehicles at your disposal, you have
the freedom to free roam and explore the massive world of San Esperito or tackle
your assignments however you want: playing the island’s factions against one
another, inciting a rebellion among the masses and building alliances with rebel
forces and drug cartels.
Fight for a Just Cause today on the Xbox360, Xbox, PS2 and PC!
Xbox 360 Ushers in
Exclusive New Worlds of Entertainment for Most-Anticipated Franchises Ever at
X06 is the very lengthy press release offering a series of announcements
from Microsoft from the X06 extravaganza. The announcement includes word on a
new
Microsoft/Peter Jackson game studio, development of an Xbox 360-exclusive
RTS from Ensemble Studios called Halo Wars,
episodic GTA4 content on Xbox Live soon after the game's release, the Xbox-360
console exclusivity of the follow-up to Splinter Cell Double Agent, the planned
Windows and Xbox 360-exclusive release of BioShock, the announcement of PGR4,
the
release of DOOM on Xbox Live Arcade, and more, including word on the release
of the add-on HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 this November: Arriving at
retailers in North America, the U.K., France and Germany in mid-November 2006,
the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will retail for $199.99 in North America (estimated
retail price)* and euro 199.99/129.99 pounds Sterling (estimated retail price)*
in the U.K., France and Germany. The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the
Universal Pictures' blockbuster film Peter Jackson's "King Kong" on HD DVD (for
a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.
Eidos Interactive announced Crossfire, described as a two-player co-op
first-person shooter in the works at Pivotal Games planned for release next
year. The Crossfire Website is
online with a ginormous Flash "coming soon" teaser along with logos for PC,
Xbox 360, and Xbox Live. Here's the announcement: When the government
wants to leave no trace, these are the men they call on to finish the job.
Eidos will pin you down in hostile territory with Crossfire – the immersive new
game where you become a member of an elite team of two deniable agents hired by
the government to finish the job and disappear before they are ever identified.
This innovative new two-player co-op FPS allows you to seamlessly switch between
the two members of the team – taking out targets and destroying everything in
their path in fully destructible environments. Become one with our two covert
field operatives – experts in weapons and military tactics – and lay down cover
fire, explore different paths, create distractions, or pin down the enemy in a
deadly crossfire.
Offering the ultimate in next-gen gaming experiences, Crossfire hits shelves in
North America in 2007.
Marvel
Entertainment and Cryptic Studios Unveil 'Marvel Universe Online' announces
development of a Marvel Comics themed MMORPG, though the developer turns out to
be superhero MMORPG veterans Cryptic Studios, once target of a Marvel Lawsuit
over City of Heroes ( story), rather than Sigil as 1Up once
speculated ( story). The game doesn't yet carry a release date,
but it will appear for both Windows Vista and Xbox 360 and support
cross-platform play (as 1Up also speculated): NEW YORK--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Today Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL - News) announced further
details around its eagerly awaited project based on the Marvel universe of Super
Heroes. Marvel Entertainment confirmed that Cryptic Studios has been named the
developer of "Marvel Universe Online," the highly anticipated massively
multiplayer online (MMO) video game exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows Vista and
to be published by Microsoft Game Studios.
"The huge Marvel fan base has been eagerly awaiting new information on our
massive multiplayer online game," said David Maisel, Executive Vice President,
Office of the Chief Executive, Marvel Entertainment. We are proud to have a
premiere developer such as Cryptic Studios who has had such incredible success
in the online gaming world developing this game. Marvel, Microsoft and Cryptic
are committed to creating the definitive interactive Marvel universe experience
via this massive multiplayer online game."
"The vision behind the alliance of Microsoft Game Studios, Cryptic Studios and
Marvel is to expand the MMO genre and create an epic gaming experience
exclusively for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers to experience together
online," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios.
"Cryptic Studios is widely respected for their established track record of
innovation and understanding of the MMO space, and they are a perfect fit for
the creation of the best possible experience in 'Marvel Universe Online.'"
Cryptic Studios brings a history of excellence in MMO design and best-of-breed
community support to the development of "Marvel Universe Online." "Marvel
Universe Online" will unite gamers in a cross-platform experience, allowing for
Xbox 360 and Windows Vista users to play alongside one another.
Marvel's repertoire of Super Heroes have evolved from the pages of comic books
to become driving forces in entertainment, from the silver screen to television
shows and best-selling video games, including "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "The
Hulk" franchises. As part of an MMO gaming experience, "Marvel Universe Online"
players will be able to interact simultaneously in a truly unique atmosphere
featuring all their favorite Marvel characters, creatures and villains.
This Shrapnel Games Press
Release announces Air Assault Task Force, a war game due for release by the
end of this year from ProSIM using the ATF engine: Long discussed on the
Shrapnel Games blog, Shrapnel Games and ProSIM Company are pleased to make the
official announcement that Air Assault Task Force is now in the works and is
slated for release near year's end. Air Assault Task Force will be available for
Windows and will include an extensive, 100+ page paper manual.
With its roots based in the ATF engine series of titles (Raging Tiger, The Star
and the Crescent, The Falklands War: 1982, and of course ATF), Air Assault Task
Force is a brand new engine that represents the next level of command-time
simulations from ProSIM Company. As such it boasts an impressive array of
features that will be pleasing to both veterans of the ATF series and newcomers.
New players will appreciate the intuitive UI using a "select-unit, select-order"
control scheme. While common to your typical real-time clickfest, in the past
the ATF games used a "select-order, select-unit" paradigm, that while more in
tune with the simulation aspect, was slightly troublesome for some users. Now
any level of gamer can jump into Air Assault Task Force and instantly feel at
ease.
Also helping are the brand new graphics. Using the latest in DirectX the playing
fields still retain all the realism that ProSIM is known for, but make
information analysis much cleaner than previously. Players will instantly be
able to assess the situation, and when combined with the simple change of how
units are ordered, it creates a simulation whose learning curve gently slopes,
instead of suddenly spiking.
Aspyr announces that ParaWorld is shipping, and SEK's alternate-prehistoric RTS
game is due in North American stores this week. A demo of the game is available
( story), and here's word: Austin, TX, September 27, 2006 –
Aspyr Media, Inc., today announced that the North American version of the highly
anticipated RTS game ParaWorld has shipped and is hitting store shelves this
week. Set in a parallel, prehistoric world, ParaWorld is an RTS game that
features a rich single-player campaign with a compelling storyline, as well as
well-balanced, deep multiplayer gameplay.
ParaWorld isn’t just another RTS game. It takes the real-time strategy genre and
evolves it with its groundbreaking unit management systems – the Army Controller
and Army Builder. But even better than the game’s awe-inspiring graphics and
intuitive controls are the title's three unique warring factions and their
ferocious arsenal of massive, weapon-wielding dinosaurs and other armed
prehistoric beasts. Players go into battle armed with devastating weapons as
they command powerful fighting dinosaurs and control up to 50 units through 16
dangerous prehistoric scenarios located in five climatic zones.
Some of the game’s unique features that shouldn’t be missed are:
• Revolutionary Controls – The Army Controller is a
non-obtrusive onscreen interface that allows players to view all of their units
at a glance and have general awareness of each unit’s health, danger, activity
and level-up capabilities. Using the Army Controller, players can select several
units consecutively in just seconds, even if they are spread across the map, by
simply marking the unit icons in the Army Controller.
• Factions and Heroes - Gamers get to know and play three
different tribes -- the Norsemen, Dustriders and Dragon Clan. Each tribe is
based on a different ancient culture and each sports its own unique play style,
units, architecture, skills, and controllable beasts. Players are able to
combine one of nine heroes, each with the ability to add new units or buildings
or bonus effects into the gameplay to allow for a variety of gameplay options.
• Army Builder - In multiplayer mode, players can adapt the
game to their preferences through the Army Builder, which lets them purchase
units and resources ahead of a game to create a deck. Depending on a players
preferred strategy (short matches or long epic battles) or expectations of their
opponents, the player can build and save (and even exchange) these decks.
Visit
www.aspyr.com/product/info/17 for more information.
WorldofWar.Net relates plans for European closed beta testing of World of
Warcraft: The Burning Crusade: Hello! We would like to give you some
insight into our invitation process for the upcoming closed Beta of The Burning
Crusade.
We are inviting players from all different playing areas. And we feel we have a
pretty fair distribution, so as to make sure that when T.B.C. comes out we will
have had beta testing of all the many, different aspects of our exciting, first
World of Warcraft expansion.
To maximise the testing process we intend to introduce players into the test in
multiple waves. People who aren't in at the beginning of the test could very
well be invited in a subsequent phase.
Testers will be contacted in due time. For those who do receive invites, we will
not be asking you for your password or account name, so don't be fooled by any
scams.
And last but not least, we'll be providing more information to everyone
soon!
The Drakensang: The Dark
Eye Q&A on Gameguru Mania talks with Bernd Beyreuther of Radon Labs about
their upcoming RPG. Here he discusses the comparison with Baldur's Gate:
"It's a very apt comparison. One big difference: Drakensang is based in the
world of The Dark Eye, Germany's most popular role-playing system. What the
games have in common is the design as a classic party-based RPG, without
irritating button mashing, but with tactical, pausable combat, including a
skill-based dynamic dialogue system, unique characters and an epic story as a
primary element. The setting is a classic low fantasy world with elves, dwarfs,
orcs - definitely no spaceships and time travel here - that has an almost
historical and very deep medieval feel."
I may not make it to the theater to see it, but I have to admit that I am
looking forward to seeing the Jackass sequel. I had never seen the show
when I saw the first movie, which I found painfully funny. I guess this is not
really something to be proud of, but what can you do. Oddly, when I was younger
I had much better taste in movies, generally opting for things that leaned
towards art, and though I still enjoy fine cinema, over the years I
have become quite fond of flicks with loads of action, explosions, and
jackasses.
|
Twitter 
