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Archived News:
Telltale Games now offers The Mole,
the Mob, and the Meatball, the third installment in their Episodic Sam & Max
series. The episode is available for standalone purchase, as part of the
six-episode season one set, or as a free playable trial/demo version. The trial
version is also available from
Gamer's Hell and
GameSpot. Word is: “The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball” takes Sam &
Max deep into a subversive toy-racketeering operation to look for an undercover
mole who has suddenly gone silent. Before they can crack the case, the
anthropomorphic crime-fighting duo will need to prove their worth to Don Ted E.
Bear by becoming members of the Toy Mafia. Episode 3 screenshots, trailers, and
a “try before you buy” demo can be found at
www.telltalegames.com/samandmax/meatball.
The 9Dragons
Open Beta Announcement has word that testing of Acclaim's upcoming MMORPG is
underway: Beverly Hills, CA (February 7, 2007) – Acclaim Games announces
the start of Open Beta testing for 9Dragons, a FREE martial arts Massively
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) featuring 9 ancient Chinese clans,
their 9 lost heroes, and 9 heroes yet to be found. With a successful Closed Beta
period just completed, 9Dragons is now available to the entire Western gaming
audience for Open Beta, with an unlimited number of players actively testing
online for final bug fixes to prepare the game for official release.
Players have the option of joining one of 6 starter clans: Shaolin, Wu-Tang Clan
and The League of Beggars which are loyal to The Imperial Emperor of China,
while The Brotherhood of Thieves, Heavenly Demon, and Sacred Flower Clan (for
women only), are opposed to his rule. Three special advanced clans, which will
be fully controlled by players in respect to leadership and alignment, will be
added to the game as the story progresses. Since each free account allows up to
3 character slots, it’s easy to create multiple characters, join different
clans, and experience new gaming experiences based on each clan’s different Kung
Fu style and unique philosophy.
To ensure that Western gamers would be able to relate to a storyline based in
Ming Dynasty China, the game lore and story elements of 9Dragons have been
completely adapted and remastered by best-selling author and Hollywood
screenwriter Steven-Elliot Altman.
Also, effective immediately, Acclaim will begin providing service for 9Dragons
in Europe on a dedicated European server in addition to their North American
territories. Game developer Indy21 has signed over the European rights to
Acclaim after European service was abruptly halted last week, leaving thousands
of players suddenly stranded without game access. ”Acclaim had such success
marketing the original English version they developed that we felt they would be
the best partner to take over for Europe,” said Yongnam Jin, head of
international business for Indy21, the 9Dragons developer.
Techland sends along the "Warhound Company Line," a feature list for their
twice-announced action shooter, which is due by the end of this year:
Warhound is a non-linear first person perspective action shooter set in
modern times. You take the role of an elite mercenary who will not hesitate to
undertake even impossible tasks... for the right price. Governments, businessmen
and various organizations hire you for hazardous missions around the globe. Feel
the incredible freedom in choosing missions, weapons, developing skills and
using varied tactics on the battlefield. Take care of your training and
finances, keeping an eye on your connections in the mercenaries business, at the
same time. Compete with other mercenaries and prove that you’re the best in the
trade. Collect wealth, equipment and weapons, work on your reputation and strive
for the title of the best mercenary in the world. Become the Warhound – a real
dog of war.
Main features:
- Face the most fierce and dangerous criminal groups in the world. Help stricken
governments, free kidnapped VIPs, eliminate dictators and drug kingpins. Stand
up to a global threat and prevent the largest terrorist attack in history.
- Take up missions in exotic locations around the world: Korea, Africa, Balkans,
South America, East Asia, isles of the Pacific... Marvel at the realistic,
dynamic world and true-to-life sceneries.
- Choose how you want to develop your character in one of the available fields.
Your choices are a direct factor for the selection of missions you’ll be offered
and make more paths available during the action.
- Use interactive environment elements to your advantage – move or destroy any
object you deem necessary. Use the landscape to your advantage.
- Climb the career ladder of an elite mercenary. Gain access to the most
requiring employers and the most rewarding contracts.
- Take care of your finances. Buy weapons, ammunition, vehicles and equipment.
Pay for transportation into and out of the mission area once the task is
completed. Plan your missions and buy intelligence data. Sell weapons and
precious items taken from the battlefield.
- Come back to missions you’ve completed before. Thanks to the random factor,
every operation will be different every time you play.
- Use the multiplayer mode to go head to head against up to 32 players. Use
modern equipment, vehicles and skills in standard and custom game modes.
- Based on the 4th edition of the ChromeEngine, supporting the latest DirectX10
and Pixel Shader 4.0 graphics, allowing for impressive, wide-open areas,
photorealistic graphics and life-like physics simulation (fire, water, smoke,
wind, etc.)
Platforms: PC DVD, Xbox 360
Date: Q4 07
NVIDIA's Vista
Quality Assurance Page offers a place where owners of NVIDIA graphics cards
can find the latest Vista drivers for their video cards and report bugs and
other problems. Word is: "We are working diligently to make sure we achieve and
maintain the level of driver quality and reliability that NVIDIA is known for.
Over the coming weeks NVIDIA and our partners, along with the industry, will
continue to update Windows Vista drivers to ensure maximum performance on 3D
applications and add feature support."
The Arena Wars Reloaded Website now
replaces the Arena Wars Website, heralding the upcoming RTS remake. Currently
there's just a "coming soon" stub image (thanks
Gamer's Hell). On a related note, there
are three new
Arena Wars Reloaded screenshots on GameCaptain.de.
A new Battllefield 2142:
Northern Strike Website is live, with further information and media for the
upcoming Battlefield 2142 expansion. Among the info are details on unlocks,
awards, vehicles, and more (thanks CJ). Also, the third
TrackaMania:
United Webisode shows off more of the rubber-burning action from the
upcoming installment in Nadeo's building and racing game.
Lack of maturity, sloppy reporting, and giving too much exposure to a certain
Miami attorney? Guilty, guilty, and guilty as charged. Closeness to the
industry? Naaaah!
- Doug Lowenstein
Doug
Lowenstein's Parting Shots on GameDaily BIZ reports from the DICE Summit
on the sayonara the outgoing president of the ESA offered to the industry:
"Lowenstein then focused his gaze on the audience, asking how many were
members of the Video Game Voters Network. When few raised their hands, he
responded, 'That's pathetic!' He laid out in plain terms, 'We can't win the
war without an army and you're the army.' He also had a few choice words for
the media, calling them out for lack of maturity, sloppy reporting, and
giving too much exposure to a certain Miami attorney. Lowenstein mentioned
how other mediums have deep, thoughtful reservoirs of criticism and how the
'closeness' between press and the industry makes him 'uncomfortable.'
- Supreme Commander
The
Supreme Commander Q&A on GameSpot talks with Bradley Rebh of Gas Powered
Games about their coming RTS game: "Logistics is a very important aspect of
war. It doesn't matter if you have more firepower than your opponent. If
your units aren't deployed properly, you're toast. Transports quickly and
efficiently move your land units where they'll be the most effective. Map
conditions play a very large factor in the usefulness of transports.
Distance, water, and impassable terrain may force the use of transports to
make a land invasion viable. Smaller maps make transports less critical
since units can react quickly on their own. Even on small maps, though,
transports can be used to drop forces where your opponent will least expect
them."
- Bethesda
Shacknews'
Bethesda Softworks Q&A talks with Pete Hines about The Elder Scrolls,
consoles, and more: "This time around we did Oblivion and again we designed
a game that's really going to push some limits and would do the things we
thought next-gen consoles might be able to do. When 360 dev kits were
available, we did it on them because it was available. It's not really going
to run on a Wii for example, but if it could we would put it there. Our
philosophy is to make a game and make it available to as many people as
possible. We're not looking to limit who can play a game. We want to make
something that's fun and we want as many people as possible to play it."
- Silverfall
RPG
Vault's Silverfall Q&A - Part 2 continues to converse with Jehane
Steiner about Monte Cristo's coming action/RPG: "In Silverfall, you control
only your character; we've stayed very close to the traditional hack and
slash in that way. We didn't want to slow down the rhythm of combat, and
having the player pause the game to give orders to his companions would have
done this. The companions are completely managed by the AI, but the player
can assign them different behaviors through dialogue. There are no combos,
but numerous different attacks and spells are available that the player can
activate with a simple right-click on the opponent once he has, of course,
learned the appropriate skill."
- 9Dragons
WarCry's
9Dragons Q&A talks with Steven-Elliot Altman about Acclaim's upcoming
MMORPG: "When we restarted Acclaim back in the fall of 2005, we decided to
go with the free to play model for all of our games. This includes 9Dragons,
but also 2Moons, BOTS!! and DANCE! Online. It is free to play because we
have advertisers paying to place ads inside the game without any player
delay or disruption. We also have virtual items sold for Acclaim Coins
purchased by our players on our website. The combination of these two
revenue models allow us to offer the free model profitably and therefore
allow our player to fully enjoy their playing experiences."
- Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn
The
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn Q&A on FiringSquad discusses the MMORPG
update with producer Aaron Cohen: "We began with a small team of four
exploring prototypes, re-drawing art and playing with UI functionality. It
began to take shape. Pretty soon, we had momentum, went in to full
pre-production with a team of about 20, then full production with a team of
about 40, and now we’re getting tantalizing close to finishing. Along the
way, we teamed up with EA Mythic, who provided lots of technology and
expertise, which sped things along quite nicely. And here we are!"
- Steel Beasts
The
Escapist's Steel Beasts Q&A, Part 2 discusses the gaming and real-world
applications of the Steel Beasts tank simulation: "The consequences for us
were that two years after releasing the original Steel Beasts game, we came
to the conclusion that we could no longer meet these potentially diverging
interests in good compromise. At the same time, we saw a strong interest in
the military market to see our software adopted in a training and
educational role. We entered a number of customization contracts which lead
to an ever growing complexity of the software. At the same time, our
die-hard fans wanted to test out the new engine that we had developed, by
then. So we made the decision to release what we had as the "Personal
Edition," but not to market it as a game, simply because we felt that its
necessary complexity was detrimental to its entertainment qualities. We
would like to use the achievements in a new game version, but I think that
we would need to streamline both the user interface as well as some of the
tactical complexity to make it a game with an appeal to more than a very
narrow audience."
- Mark Rein
Mark
Rein talks Games and Vista on FiringSquad is an article-format Q&A with
the Epic veep on a number of topics, including Gears of War, the PS3, and
Windows Vista.
The DICE Summit Keynote address by Sony Pictures Digital boss Yair Landau
included word on Sony Online Entertainment's plans for an espionage-themed
MMORPG expected by the end of this year.
GamesIndustry.biz has quotes from Landau and SOE president John Smedley
about the game, saying Landau joked about the working title: "It's code-named
Vista because we pushed it back about a year." About the game itself, they quote
Smedley as saying: "It's not really just an espionage game. It's a combination
of espionage... Think 24 meets Alias meets Counterstrike," with Landau being
quoted as saying: "You don't get to just play Bond, but you get to play yourself
in this environment," and that the game will offer "a multiplayer environment in
an espionage world, with both cooperative, team-oriented objectives and PVP."
Stardock announces the availability of Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar,
the turn-based strategy expansion that was not expected for another week or so,
suggesting a disruption in the very fabric of the space/time continuum. Here's
the news: Stardock announced today that it has unleashed Galactic
Civilizations II: Dark Avatar, the highly anticipated expansion for the 2006
turn-based strategy game of the year, one week ahead of the initial release date
of February 14. The expansion became available via TotalGaming.net yesterday for
fans who pre-ordered, as announced during an online chat with the development
team. Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar, which adds a plethora of new
features to further extend and enhance the gameplay for would-be galactic
conquerors, can be purchased via TotalGaming.net for just $29.95 or three TGN
tokens for greater value. For more information, visit
http://www.galciv2.com and
http://www.totalgaming.net.
Neverwinter Nights 2 Forums now offer the release of a new hotfix to bring
the D&D RPG sequel to version 1.04.870 (thanks
NWN2 Vault). In the new version copying and pasting waypoints will no longer
crash the toolset and helmets will no longer improperly show up as feathered
hats in the toolset. Obsidian also offers assurance that additional issues
mentioned by users will be addressed in future patches.
The Divine Website reveals
development of an upcoming third-person space combat game from Packom
Interactive due for release this fall (thanks The Patches Scrolls). The
downloads page offers
concept art, screenshots, and a teaser movie trailer, while the
design page offers a
description: Overview:
Packom Interactive is set to bring gamers to a new level of old-school space
combat with The Divine. With stunning graphics, a compelling storyline and, most
importantly, solid gameplay, The Divine provides fans of the genre with an epic
experience that raises the standard of what independent games can be.
Storyline:
The battlefield of space is lit brightly with the fires of war for the Colonial
Federation. Between attacks from the Confederation and their mutual enemy The
Fleet, Lieutenant Zeke Auris is just a man trying to stay alive. Drafted into
the war, his only goal is to see the day the battles are done. But fate has a
different idea in store for Zeke when he stumbles upon one of the greatest
mysteries that may lead to mankind's peace... or destruction.
K2 Networks announces the release of War Rock, their online first-person
shooter: IRVINE, Calif. – (February 8, 2007) – K2 Network, Inc. (www.k2network.net),
an online game publisher, today announced that its online first-person shooter
PC title, War Rock, is now available as a commercial download from
www.warrock.net. Designed to appeal to new
recruits as well as veterans of online FPS games, War Rock is available via K2
Network’s Free2Play™ model, as well as a premium edition which is available at
retail for $29.99. War Rock is rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software
Rating board (ESRB).
“Gamers now have the opportunity to experience the intensity of modern day
warfare through the online battlegrounds of War Rock,” commented Producer Matt
Norton, “We look forward to building the War Rock community with tournaments and
new content that will make War Rock one of the premier gaming destinations
online”.
War Rock is an online, military, tactical, first-person-shooter featuring state
of the art weapons, team or solo based play and unbelievable missions and maps.
With five different character classes to master, gamers can play individually or
in a team. Players can participate in three modes of gameplay including Close
Quarters Combat, Urban Ops and Battlegroup. War Rock will be available to play
via K2 Network’s Free2Play™ model. Players will also have the choice of signing
up for one of War Rock’s premium bronze, silver or gold online subscription
packages ($5.95, $9.95 and $14.95 respectively). All premium accounts include
priority login, extra Dinar (in-game currency), new maps and weapons, a fifth
weapon slot, exciting new battle modes and extended online stats that will
enhance the War Rock experience. For more information on the specific packages,
visit www.warrock.net.
The boxed edition of War Rock, published by Elephant Entertainment LLC, now
available at retail outlets throughout North America and the UK, (and shortly
thereafter in localized versions throughout Europe) includes a manual,
full-color map book and limited edition War Rock dog tags. For the first two
months of play, gamers will be given Gold Premium membership which includes an
unlockable fifth weapon slot, a unique weapon, access to new maps and game play
modes, weaponry, armor and new in-game items. Players will also have access to
an unprecedented level of community support with full clan membership,
tournament system access and priority login and customer support.
War Rock was created by South Korean developer Dream Execution Technology Co.,
Ltd., a development studio that focuses on game engine and online game
development
Matrix Games announces
that Battlefront is now available from the
Matrix Games Online
Store. Here's word on the now-completed World War II turn-based strategy
game: Staten Island, NY, February 8th, 2007 - Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com)
and Strategic Studies Group (www.ssg.com.au)
are excited to announce the release of Battlefront. Battlefront is a turn-based
World War II operational strategy game which features the power of
battalion-level combat in some of this period's most bloody and intense
conflicts.
Based on the design philosophy of SSG’s previous award winning release, the
Decisive Battles series, Battlefront presents newcomers and Decisive Battles
fans alike with an entirely new system specifically designed for battalion-level
combat. Players will have the opportunity to take part in historic battles like
Saipan, Market Garden, Novorossisk, and Gazala and relive tough real-world
combat decisions involving command and control, sighting, and supply. The scale
of Battlefront has been tweaked to perfection so that players will have
realistic control over their forces while at the same time making a telling
difference in the strategic picture.
For veteran players of the Decisive Battles series who already have a good idea
as to what to expect, they will be pleased by the multiple new features for in
depth combat and battle management. To that end, Battlefront has innovative
provisions for direct and indirect fire, air strikes, and special,
historically-accurate combat modes (such as Japanese Banzai attacks).
Paradox Interactive has word that Heart of Empire: Rome is cancelled (thanks
GameCaptain). The last news we heard
about the Roman empire strategy game was a delay to Q1 of this year
( story), but now the project has been cancelled outright: New
York, USA (February 1, 2007) - Paradox Interactive confirmed today the official
cancellation of “Heart of Empire: Rome”. The strategy title was to be published
in Q1 2007 in North America by Paradox Interactive.
“Rome is a very popular era and there is still much ground that can be covered
for this time period as far as computer games are concerned, said Fredrik
Wester, Executive Vice President for Paradox Interactive. “It’s unfortunate that
this title will not be released, but we look forward to reveal new projects and
new releases for 2007 and 2008”.
Paradox planned 2007 portfolio includes such titles as the award wining and
recently released Europa Universalis III, along with the soon to be released
Frontline: Fields of Thunder.
For any questions about other Paradox titles, please contact
pr@paradoxplaza.com
505 Games announces additional content that will be present in the European
edition of ArmA: Armed Assault when Bohemia Interactive's military shooter is
released on the continent on February 16: Milton Keynes, UK – February 8th
2007: Publisher 505 Games is today delighted to announce that the forthcoming
military combat simulator ArmA: Armed Assault will be supported during its
February launch period by additional content and features.
February 16th marks the launch of the world’s most accurate videogame combat
simulation in the UK and the rest of Europe(1). ArmA: Armed Assault has already
been dazzling UK reviewers pre-launch, for instance scoring a massive 84 per
cent and being awarded a Silver ‘Recommended’ medal of honour in the March issue
of Future Publishing’s PC Zone magazine.
ArmA: Armed Assault will feature additional content not present in the German
and Eastern European versions already on sale. This exclusive content includes a
raft of new weapons, two new aircraft and two motorbikes, as well as an
exclusive new open-ended mission. 505 Games is also pleased to announce that
SecuROM copy protection has been perfectly implemented and integrated into ArmA,
with zero slow down or adverse performance effects.
To further bolster the appeal and playability of this unique war simulation, the
game’s developer - Bohemia Interactive - will release a new game patch for the
German and Eastern European versions before the end of February. The patch
ensures an internationally unified playing environment for all users.
ArmA: Armed Assault releases on PC-DVD on February 16th, from publisher 505
Games.
The id Software Website now offers a
new version 1.4 beta patch for QUAKE 4, introducing several fixes and new
features, including Q4TV (thanks
Gamersnation.co.uk). Here's word: The Quake 4 1.4 Beta patch is now
available for download. This update includes a host of features such as: refined
hitboxes, optimized sound and network code, configurable fps caps, weapon
balancing, server direct autodownloading, and addonpak fixes, to name only a
few. We are especially excited to introduce our new spectator support to Quake 4
- Q4TV. The majority of our additions have been included thanks to direct
community feedback. Your continued feedback on this beta will be greatly
appreciated.
We hope everyone enjoys the new content, features and fixes! For a more complete
list of changes, please see the README.
The 1.4 beta update affects pure server and protocol consistency. Therefore,
players who update to 1.4 beta from ANY previous version will only be able to
connect and play against other 1.4 beta users. Save games and demos created on
any previous version of the game will not be compatible with the 1.4 beta
update.
GFI announces that Officers is gold. Word is the World War II RTS game has
been bug-fixed and approved for distribution in Russia, though they are not stating an exact
release date at this point. Word is: In the near future you will be able
to take part in scaled battles on Normandy coast, attack the fascists, who
occupied fraternal France and strike them straight. This opportunity will be
availiable in a several weeks when the military strategy game will go on sale in
Russia.
- The Stargate Worlds
The
Stargate Worlds Q&A on The Game Musketeers talks with Dan Elggren about
the upcoming Stargate MMORPG: "There’s so much back story in the Stargate
universe that there is never time to get bored with what you are working on.
In some ways, it’s like creating an MMORPG based on history because we’ve
got more than a decade of Stargate to work with. Learning that history has
been a great experience. I think we also were pleasantly surprised by the
passion of the many fans of the Stargate series. The fans are knowledgeable
and they have expectations that we have set as a goal for Stargate Worlds."
- Battlefront
The
Battlefront Q&A on Armchair General Magazine discusses the newly
released World War II turn-based strategy game with Gregor Whiley: "I think
it’s pretty much a given that wargame players are more interested in
outcomes rather than just appearance. We use the design items you mention
because we think they work best for the games that we are doing. Hexes give
both the player and the AI an unambiguous idea of where the can maneuver
their units. Turn based games allow meaningful email games and are popular
with players. We could do combat calculations with a dice of any
denomination, or using complicated, hidden equations. The six-sided dice
gives the human player a clear and instantly comprehensible picture of the
likely outcomes of his combat decisions. We see no point in shrouding this
in mystery, quite the opposite, we want the player to know what happened and
why."
- Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45: Collector’s Edition on
Armchair General.
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes on
Gamepyre.
First Impressions.
I messed with the spacing between stories yesterday. I'll probably just switch
at back to how it was, but if I experiment with other variations on this, feel
free to offer feedback.
* "Just borrow some from the school nurse. I know she has like five
sticks in her drawer."
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