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Archived News:
The Black
Element Software discussion forum offers word on the completion of Alpha
Prime, their first-person shooter. Currently the Czech and Polish editions are
in production, and word is other language versions and demos will follow. Thanks
Frans and NoFrag.
The Might and Magic Website
(thanks Frans) offers details on an upcoming version 1.02 multiplayer patch for
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. The update outlines character changes, map
changes, optimizations, and more, including a new Capture the Flag game type,
which is described in detail.
A new European patch for Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is now available, updating every edition of Black Hole Games' miniatures-inspired real-time strategy
game to version 1.3. The patch is available on
3D Downloads, 3D
Gamers,
FileFront,
The Patches Scrolls,
VGPRO, and
Worthplaying.
MediaWise.org's 2006 Video Game Report Card is online, with their latest
crop of judgments about the game industry (thanks
ABC News).
The report offers a list of "M" rated games to be avoided by children (duh!), as
well as other trendy topics like game addiction and obesity. The report also
offers an outlook on what they refer to as a "hopeful collaboration that will
soon produce a ten year plan: Last year, we promised to bring people from
diverse backgrounds and interests together in order to discuss these issues.
This year, we convened the first National Summit on Video Games, Youth and
Public Policy, a two-day conference sponsored by the National Institute on Media
and Family and Iowa State University. For the first time ever, the Summit
gathered together academic scholars, public health officials, child health
advocates and representatives from the video game industry.
As a show of concern and dedication to addressing the challenges posed by video
games the Summit was a resounding success. One of the many positive outcomes of
the Summit was a pledge by the ESRB to put more funds into ratings education for
parents. We applaud this step not only as a show of good faith but as a
meaningful contribution to the effort to provide parents with the tools they
need to keep their kids healthy and safe.
Many of the participants were experts on the effects of media or video games.
After consideration of the research, participants signed an historic joint
statement that read: “Behavioral science research demonstrates that playing
violent video games can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior in
children and youth.”
In the coming weeks, the Summit participants will release a ten-year plan, which
will outline benchmarks and creative solutions addressing children’s access to
violent and sexually explicit video games. One component of the plan calls for
ongoing summits to continue this important dialogue.
- IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
A new IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 movie
offers another look at the upcoming alternate-history expansion for 1C's
World War II combat flight simulator. The download is available from
3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying.
- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
A new Command & Conquer
3: Tiberium Wars trailer shows off the next installment in the venerable RTS series,
available on 3D
Gamers, FileShack,
and Worthplaying.
- Warhammer Online
The
Warhammer Online Website now features a double feature of new movies
from Mythic Entertainment's upcoming miniatures-inspired MMORPG. In one
clip, Mark Davis show off the WAR atlas the game's three battlefronts in the
game, and the other offers the first look at Realm-versus-Realm combat from
their alpha testing.
- Supreme Commander
Also,
THQ.de offers another four tutorial movies for Supreme Commander, Gas
Powered Games' upcoming real-time strategy game, a testimony to the game's
complexity, their helpfulness, or both. Thanks Frans.
- Battlestations Midway
Battlestations Midway is on display
in a new movie from Mithis Games' upcoming World War II action/strategy
hybrid. The clip can be found on
3D Gamers,
FileFront, and
Worthplaying.
- Star Trek: Legacy
IGN's
Star Trek: Legacy Q&A chats up D.C. Fontana and Derek Chester about
Bethesda Softworks' upcoming Trekkie game: "At the beginning, in the
Enterprise era, the villain is just beginning to take shape. Their plans are
just coming to fruition, something that they have been planning for quite
some time. Once everything falls into place for our villain, they pull back
in order to further their agenda in solitude while gaining strength. Further
on in the timeline, the villain grows in power and becomes an even greater
threat to the Federation. This makes for an interesting fabric in which to
craft a story because we can weave back and forth through the many Canon
events seen in the multiple series in a way that not only makes sense, but
also creates greater intrigue and fits into the greater mythos of Trek."
- Scott Miller
The
Miller's Tale on Gamasutra.com talks with 3D Realms' Scott Miller, who
expresses, among other things,
reservations about working with Steam because it's owned by a
competitor: "I’d love to see Steam spin off as their own company. That would
be a smart move. That removes the conflict of interest issue and it would
give Steam focus as a separate company. Since they’re buried in Valve, if
Valve doesn’t do well for a game or two, Steam will get cut before their
internal game development. They have to consider Steam secondary. I don’t
know why they hang on to Steam as an internal thing. They’d probably rule
the game industry if they did. A truly independent company is going to come
along, and I know of a couple of start-ups. I think one of these companies
will emerge as the product leader and they should be able to take Steam’s
spot."
- City of Heroes
The
City of Heroes Issue 8 Q&A on Computer Games Online discusses the
changes in the new issue of NCsoft's superhero MMORPG, which launched today:
"Issue 8 gives a lot of the bells and whistles that Villains enjoy over to
Heroes. Heroes get a random mission pool similar to the newspapers in the
form of the Police Band missions, as well as their own version of the Mayhem
Missions, called Safeguard Missions. We did a lot in this issue to bring
parity in terms of features to both sides."
I started to grow more worried about the Gunnar-man's condition when I noticed
him drinking what seemed like a quart of water today, and then the vet called,
confirming there's cause for alarm. His urine was normal, if diluted (from all
the water he's drinking), but his white blood cell count is elevated, so he
indeed has a systemic infection. She called in a prescription for an antibiotic to the local
pharmacy, so his treatment began with dinner tonight, and over the next few
days we'll find out if this course of antibiotics is doing the trick, or if this is going to require a diagnosis from Dr. House. Obviously this has us terribly
worried about our little friend, so we'll just have to hope this takes a turn
for the better quickly.
CDV and 10tacle Studios offer a multiplayer demo for War Front: Turning Point,
allowing a sample of Digital Reality's alternate-history World War II real-time
strategy game. The demo features a tutorial, a one-on-one map, a three-on-three
map, offering support for skirmish gameplay. The download (which is different
sizes depending on the way the demo is compressed) is available on
3D Downloads, 3D
Gamers,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gameguru Mania,
Gamer's
Hell,
gameSlave,
Internode
Games Network,
Strategy Informer,
VGPRO, and
Worthplaying.
Aspyr's new Prey Product Section
is live (thanks Frans), heralding plans for a Macintosh edition of Human Head's
DOOM 3-engine shooter. At this point the site offers no details other than a
January 2007 release date.
A new RTL Winter Games 2007 Website
is live as a home to the upcoming not the Olympics® game. The site is infused
with a heavy dose of Flash, so you may want to shush your browser before
schussing on over there. Additionally, there are new screenshots from the game
on 3D Gamers.
Shrapnel's
Weird Worlds Downloads Page now offers a new patch for Weird Worlds: Return
to Infinite Space, updating Digital Eel's wacky space game to version 1.2. The
update adds enhancements like new missile trails, a new Urluquai capital ship,
and a new main quest featuring a brand new race.
GamersInfo.net's Q&A
with Goran Milisavljevic discusses Genesis Rising: The Universal Crusade,
Metamorf Studios' upcoming science fiction RTS game: "We are glad you like it.
This is the main aspect of the story. Humans have created machines that self
reproduce and grow just like any other life form, and the distinction between
human creations and humans grows faint. They are playing god, and they
themselves want to become gods as the ultimate goal. The birth of a ship from
the mothership is one of the organic aspects, and some people love it while
others find the whole concept disgusting. Both reactions make us happy."
zerOnet offers a small
modification for DOOM 3 engine games that can significantly reduce the network
usage in DOOM 3 (and the expansion), QUAKE 4, and Prey by an average of 50%.
Word is: "The new snapshot sizes range from 10% to 90% of their original size
without changing any of the original code's reading/writing data, all the bit
sizes are the same and no functions have been swapped with smaller versions (eg
'WriteShort' instead of 'WriteLong')."
The Crytek modding portal lists a new job
opening at Crytek (thanks Frans), who are looking to hire a Junior Animation
Designer for their German studios. Also,
Junction Point Studios, the
Austin, TX-based developer headed by Warren Spector, now lists openings for an
AI Programmer,
an Animator, a
Character Artist,
and a Concept
Artist.
We didn't hear back from the Vet yesterday about the Gunnar-man's test results,
but with no further incidents I began to suspect he doesn't actually have a
bladder infection. Then he had another accident this morning, so that theory is
in play again. I don't want him to be sick, but if he's not, we're going to have
to figure out what could have undone all his house training so quickly.
R.I.P.:
X-Men illustrator dies in Superman pajamas and
Allen Carr dies from
lung cancer.
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