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Archived News:
Duck and Cover
has vague confirmation from Brian Fargo of inXile Entertainment's plans to
follow-up on Wasteland, quoting the former Interplay CEO as saying: I am
indeed looking into bringing back the game that spawned the Fallout series. Stay
tuned....
The BlizzCon Website has word
that attendees of Blizzard's upcoming gaming gathering (August 3-4 in Anaheim,
CA) will be able to sample StarCraft II. Word is: "Visitors to BlizzCon 2007
will be treated to the first-ever public hands-on with StarCraft II. Demo
stations will be set up at the convention, and attendees can sample the new
units and gameplay elements for themselves in multiplayer battles. We’re excited
to offer this exclusive opportunity to our players, and look forward to seeing
you at BlizzCon." Unfortunately, those interested in taking part based on this
news will find the event is already sold out, but there are contests for tickets
running on
Blizzplanet and
StarcraftTwo,
and another set for this weekend on
SCLegacy.
GameTap announces a new episode is
now live in Myst Online: Uru Live, following through on promised regular
updates: Today GameTap announced “A New Light,” the newest episode in
“Myst Online: Uru Live.” Following GameTap’s popularized episodic format, this
brand new installment will pick up where last month’s “Scars” left off,
immersing players in another piece of the adventuresome, puzzle-focused
gameplay.
“The response to our new episodic model for ‘Myst Online: Uru Live’ has been
overwhelmingly positive,” said Ricardo Sanchez, vice president of content for
GameTap. “Fans of the franchise are able to plan their schedule around the
latest updates, while they continue to explore all of the game’s mysteries and
take advantage of the lively communities.”
In “A New Light,” power is shifting as new leaders begin to emerge, while those
from the past begin to fade. Amidst the chaos, the new Age Er'Cana is released
and explorers are asked to help feed the darkening lake. Meanwhile, new
information is revealed and there are more who begin to fear of a coming war.
Like all things Myst, mysteries abound and puzzles present themselves, so
players can always expect to be challenged and rewarded.
To keep up to date with the latest news and art assets for “Myst Online: Uru
Live” or to play the game for free visit
www.mystonline.com.
The Warhammer
Forums announce the release of the US edition of the new version 1.72 patch
for Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, bringing it in line with the European edition of
the Warhammer RTS game. The post includes the read me for the patch, which is
also available on
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and The Patches Scrolls.
A new Penny Arcade Adventures trailer shows off the Rain-Slick Precipice of
Darkness from the upcoming website-themed adventure game. The clip is available
on
3D Downloads and
FileFront.
- Engine Wars
Unreal
Engine 3 Vs CryEngine 2 on Next Generation looks at the battle for
middleware hearts and minds, offering quotes from Epic's Mark 'Purple' Rein
and Crytek's Harald Seeley on their rivalry: "I think we’re targeting
different markets. They are targeting wide, we are targeting deep. We’re
looking for the client who wants their product to stand out from the crowd.
Unfortunately, the more successful Unreal becomes, the more level that
playing field becomes, and easier it becomes to get lost in the crowd,
because what do you have that the next client doesn’t have? That’s why we
developed our own engine. We had to stand out from the competition."
- Richard Garriott
WarCry's
Richard Garriott Q&A, Part #2 offers what's actually the third part of
this serial conversation, offering two questions and two super-sized
responses: "Well in my case, I actually think that by dealing with these
more mature subjects, I believe it gives the game in general far more
meaning and people in general have stronger appreciation for it. So I
actually think that as a general rule, it actually has the double positive:
it's more interesting to me, it's more interesting to the players and
therefore it actually sells more copies. To some degree, when you push it at
least a little bit, it's a benefit to the game, the players and us as the
creators. But there's a fine line when you can push too far. There are
people who were working with me on that Ultima for example who would
absolutely tell you that I pushed too far. And there are probably people in
our marketing and sales who would say that I pushed too far. By the way, I
get that with a lot of our games, I have received internal commentary
especially - actually from the outside I've almost never been told I've
pushed too far - but from within the company I'm fairly commonly told I've
pushed too far."
- Auto Assault
The
Auto Assault Q&A on WarCry
chats with Adam Maxwell, former faction lead designer on NetDevil's MMORPG:
"I would most definitely do it all over again. Good things happened during
that project that I wouldn't give up for anything. I'm damned proud of Auto
Assault and the work that went into it. I joke sometimes that bits of my
soul are floating around in that game... but the truth is I only joke
because I know how much of a dork I sound like, when I say it. I really do
feel that way. I love that world. I love my mutants and the stories Zirp and
I were able to tell with them. I wish we could have done more, to be
honest."
- Sword of the New World
The
Sword of the New World: Granado
Espada Q&A on Multiplayer Online Games Directory talks with Phil Maurer
(the African explorer, hurray, hurray, hurray!) about the upcoming MMORPG:
"At this time you will be able to select gender, as well as a costume for
each of your characters, with every class having loads of unique looks
available to choose from right from the start. Currently in other versions
of this game there is no character customization at all. You cannot change
hair or facial features at this time, though it is possible these things
could be added in future patches. It is also important to understand that
this game supports hundreds vs. hundreds of player PvP battles, and when you
put in the fact that each player has 3 characters on the screen, excessive
amounts of customization features could possibly place a huge overhead on
the system. All that being said, with the huge amount of costumes available,
the odds of any 2 families looking identical will be extremely low."
- Manifesto Games
GameShark's
Manifesto Games Q&A talks with Greg Costikyan about
Manifesto Games and their
different approach to game publishing: "As budgets in the mainstream
industry continue to skyrocket, publishers are more and more conservative
about what they will fund--to the point that, today, virtually nothing gets
published unless it's number four in a series, or based on a strong movie
license, or slots easily into a marketing category the publishers know how
to sell. That's a particular shame because since its inception, the games
have been a vibrant popular artform, with highly innovative games spawning
whole new genres practically every year--but the conventional market can no
longer sustain that kind of innovation. We believe that the game industry
desperately needs what independent music and film provide for their own
fields: a place where people can experiment with offbeat and creative
product, find an audience, even if a smaller one than in the mainstream--and
eventually reinvigorate the mainstream through their creative efforts.
Manifesto's whole raison d'etre is to foster the growth of independent
gaming."
Intel wants fair and balanced online gaming reports that Intel is showing
off a research project that may lead to technology to fight things like cheating
in online games and click fraud via the PC's hardware: SANTA CLARA,
Calif.--There's always one guy who seems a little too good at mowing down
players in a Quake 3 session. Intel thinks future PC gamers might be interested
in technology that helps level the playing field.
The company showed off a research project into "anti-cheat technology" during
its Research@Intel Day at Intel headquarters. The idea is that Intel and the PC
gaming industry would build technology into gaming rigs that could detect when
common cheats--such as "aimbots" that handle targeting while the player just
holds down the trigger--are used in an online gaming session, said Travis
Schluessler, a researcher at Intel.
Cheats such as aimbots or "wall hacks" that expose players lying in wait send
data to online gaming servers in unnatural patterns that could be detected by
other PCs connected to the same server, Schluessler said. PCs equipped with this
technology would notify a server that someone in the game is using a cheat, and
then the game administrator could set a policy of kicking the cheat offline or
some high-tech method of saying "nyeh, nyeh, cheater cheater," shaming the
cheater and warning other gamers not to enter into sessions with that particular
player.
Intel is still working out the details; don't expect to find this in a high-end
gaming PC anytime soon. This also being Intel, there's more practical
business-related implications for the technology as well, such as click-fraud
detection. But with the amount of money that serious PC gamers spend on their
rigs and software, there could be a market among those who don't want to see
their investments ruined by cheaters.
Topware Interactive announces Campus, a lifestyle simulation set in the world of
higher education due for release in North America in September. Presumably the
PC is one of the game's unnamed target platforms, here's word: Las Vegas,
June 20th 2007 – Topware Interactive is pleased to announce that the well
detailed and innovative lifestyle simulation game Campus will be coming to North
America on 9/4 An adventure and action based lifestyle simulation that will
truly captivate the fans of this genre. Set in an international college
environment where you can transfer from one country to the the next - Campus is
a game that will captivate everyone from the novice to the most avid gamers.
Adds more gameplay components than other games in the genre such as quests,
mini-games, puzzles, and adventures. Having sites all over the world gives
Campus a well rounded, international, and virtually endless gaming experience
for the user. Social interaction engine is state of the art and developed solely
for Campus and not and add-on to an existing game. First week of September back
to school launch date makes this a must have title and will ship initially with
a funny back to school guide
So pack your car, say goodbye to the family, and register for the most fun
filled simulation gaming experience to date.
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Infinity
Ward’s Joel Emslie and Michael Boon discuss bringing war to the present in
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on GameZone discusses the next installment
in IW's military shooter series: "We thought about that one a lot, actually.
The signature of CoD has always been huge battles between two evenly matched
sides, which is something that really isn’t there now. It’s no fun picking
on the little guy. Also, the team was interested in being tasteful in not
mirroring a current situation, and we really didn’t want to weigh in on the
politics of the war. We wanted to go for 'Tank-on-Tank', not
'Tank-on-peasants-with-rocks'."
- Blacksite: Area 51
The
Blacksite
Q&A on Eurogamer talks with Harvey Smith about the upcoming sequel to
Area 51: "I didn't work on the first game. Some of the same people are
working on this that worked on the first one, but I did come in and I said,
"Look, I'm not going to tell you how to do this, this or this part of your
job, but I'm a game designer and a writer and a creative director and here's
the direction we're going. We're angry about politics. Here's the
atmospheric vibe that I like in games. Here's the moodiness, the
small-town." And I've downplayed all the comedy and anything like that, and
I've added a bunch of people from the Deus Ex team."
- EverQuest II
The
EverQuest II Q&A on EQII Stratics talks with designer Elizabeth Sigmund
about the MMORPG sequel: "I really try to go out of my way to identify with
the NPC to do them justice and give them a 'voice'. For example, when making
the mender in Neriak I went around and just starting fixing things for
people. Ellery's computer had been acting a little wonky, so I fixed it by
giving his computer a fresh start, formatting the hard drive, installing a
shiny new copy of Vista, I mean its better than XP, right? But for some
reason he really didn't appreciate it… Based on that experience I made the
mender in Neriak believe his life is futile."
- Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising
Part
three of the video interview series on Ten Ton Hammer talks with Stieg
Hedlund about Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, Perpetual Entertainment's upcoming
MMORPG.
- Those who preorder the boxed edition of
GODS
Lands of Infinity Special Edition will receive an autographed photo the
game's heroine supermodel Kyla Cole…
- Matrix Games
announces they will be distributing AGEOD’s American Civil War – The Blue
and the Gray…
- MESS version 0.116 is now available.
Thanks Ant…
-
Real economy thrives in virtual world. Thanks Mike Martinez…
-
Steam is accepting preorders of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, offering
a 10% discount for the next week or so…
- Planet Rome.Ro
offers some midi tunes Bobby Prince created that were not used in DOOM
(thanks Ant and
Doomworld). He warns that while some are interesting, there's a reason
they were not used in the game…
Today is the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the
longest day of the year, and of course, the first day of summer. We've already
taken advantage of the spring for several cookouts, including last night, though
my attempt to create a homemade marinade didn't work out (I think I misread the
recipe and ended up with this odd stew of garlic and herbs). Luckily our friend
Mr. Stubbs, purveyor of our favorite store-bought barbeque sauce, also makes a
fine bottled marinade, and this saved the day. I still do need to get a new
grill after ruining the inside of the lid on ours (or at least a new lid), as
trying to roast potatoes with no lid left them a little, well, crunchy.
In addition to my marinade glitch, I had some sort of HTML mishap hast night,
and lost a bunch of links of the evening, sorry about that.
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