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unveils plans for Kart Attack, the working title for an upcoming racing game for
PC, Xbox LIVE Arcade, and PlayStation Network (thanks
Joystiq). There are a bunch of screenshots showing off unusually realistic
graphics for such a game, and here's word: Kart Attack is a brand new
racing game destined for Xbox Live Arcade, the Playstation Network and Games for
Windows - Live. This revolutionary title includes stunning next generation
graphics surpassing those found in many AAA titles, and a driving model which is
both easy to get to grips with and fun to play. Whether you're challenging
opponents online, trying to beat the stunningly intelligent AI characters or
improving your own times at one of our exclusive themed circuits, you're sure to
have fantastic fun with the gaming sensation which is Kart Attack.
A post on the
3000AD Discussion Board by Derek Smart announces that Battlecruiser
Millennium Gold and the original Universal Combat will be released for free over the internet at some point soon, as the rights to both sci-fi games are
about to lapse: Dreamcatcher's five year rights to Battlecruiser
Millennium Gold and the original Universal Combat expires on 12-18-07. I
do not intend to renew those rights.
In keeping with my tradition, both games will be released for free on the
Internet at some point in the near future.
WarCry Network has a follow-up from
Kohnke Communications to questions about a statement in their legal filings
against Perpetual Entertainment suggesting one of their duties is to influence
review scores ( story). Kohnke says the word "reviews" was a typo
that was meant to read "previews," echoing the point we made about the game in
question (Gods & Heroes) never having actually been reviewed.
A new patch is now available for Medal of Honor: Airborne, updating the latest
installment in the World War II shooter series to version 1.2 (thanks
Voodoo Extreme). The whopping 1.3 GB download adds a pair of new maps. The
patch can be found on
FanGaming,
FilePlanet (registration required), Gamer's
Hell, and
PixelRage.
New beta version 169.25 ForceWare reference drivers for NVIDIA GeForce
accelerators running under Windows Vista are now available (thanks
FiringSquad).
There are
Windows Vista 64-bit and
Windows Vista
32-bit drivers, highlighted by support for NVIDIA 3-way SLI Technology and
the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GPU.
- Conflict Denied Ops on
IGN.
- Fireteam Reloaded on
IGN.
- Stargate Worlds on
RPG Vault.
- WorldShift on
IGN.
Okay, so I was wrong. It is pretty nasty out there. I did hear a forecast that
called for temperatures in the mid-40s tomorrow, so we'll see how this all plays
out.
Ubisoft announces Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms, a completely web-based
persistent-state strategy game slated to launch in spring '08 in an unusual
extension of the HoMM series. The Heroes
of Might and Magic Kingdoms Website is live, accepting sign-ups for an
upcoming beta test, and apparently beta keys can be found "hidden" within a
newly released Heroes of Might and Magic Complete Edition. The site also offers
a teaser movie and a tutorial movie, and a key fact not included in the official
announcement; that the game allows you to "play for free as long as you want,"
though this does not rule out the possibility that the game will include some
sort of premium play that can be purchased. Here's word: LONDON, UK –13th
December, 2007 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game
publishers, announced that Heroes of Might and Magic® Kingdoms , a new Web-based
game in the critically-acclaimed Heroes of Might and Magic series is being
developed for a Spring 2008 worldwide launch.
Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms is a strategy game set in a persistent
version of the heroic-fantasy world of Heroes of Might and Magic. Thousands of
players will be able to rule their virtual kingdoms, lead gigantic armies
against each other, master the trades or create legendary heroes. The game
requires no download or installation, only an Internet connection. In addition,
players can play at their own pace; from 10 minutes to multiple-hour sessions.
“This is a new type of game for Ubisoft, one that allows you to jump into a rich
and complex universe just with your Web browser,” said Serge Hascoët, Chief
Creative Officer. “Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms will open a wide door to
the Might and Magic universe, allowing players to immerse themselves within it
unlike ever before.”
An exclusive key for the beta test is hidden in the Heroes of Might and Magic
Complete Edition that releases today, you can also register on
www.hommkingdoms.com.
Auran Developments announces it has retained a Voluntary Administrator and
closed its doors, the unfortunate outcome of a recent flurry of news
surrounding the Australian developer that began with rumors of staff cuts
( story) which were subsequently confirmed ( story)
followed by the announcement of a new free business model for Fury, accompanied
by indications that further bad news was coming ( story). Here's
word from Auran's Tony Hilliam announcing the closure (though as previously
stated a small team will continue to support Fury, their PvP MMOG) and
confirming that the free Chosen update for Fury is still going live tomorrow:
Auran: the facts
The Directors of Auran Developments, the company that employs all the Auran
staff, have today called in a Voluntary Administrator (like Chapter 11 in the
US). All the staff were dismissed today. Despite earlier reports, staff will be
paid for all their work to date, their annual leave entitlements, redundancy
payments and long service leave.
Whilst this is the end of Auran Developments, it is far from the end of FURY and
Trainz.
Trainz is the world’s leading rail simulator and has a community of more than
250,000 registered users around the world. It is published in dozens of
countries and there are many products in the market today. The bulk of the
Trainz team will continue to work on current projects and these projects will be
released next year.
With Fury, we built up a team to make a world beating game and sadly we have not
reached our goals – yet. Our performance to date has meant we could no longer
fund the 70 strong dev team. However, FURY: Age of the Chosen will be launched
as planned Friday 8pm GMT. We have put together a small but committed team to
continue developing FURY on an ongoing basis. This core team, as we announced
last week, are a passionate group of people committed to making FURY a success.
We will be releasing bug fixes, content and feature updates on a regular basis
and in fact they will be more frequent with our new agile team.
I believe that once people hear about F:AotC and the new Free to Play business
model, we’ll start building up the player numbers and revenues that will make
the game successful.
GamePro highlights a
tidbit from the lawsuit ( story) filed by
Kohnke Communications versus Perpetual
Entertainment over breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, and fraud (thanks
Mike Martinez). On the heels of accusations (which have been denied) that a GameSpot
editor was fired over a lukewarm review ( story) comes word in
Kohnke's legal documents that one of the services the PR company provided
Perpetual was to secure favorable reviews: Kohnke's public relations
campaign was successful in creating pre-release 'buzz' around Gods & Heroes, and
in convincing reviewers to write positive reviews about the game."
It's
not clear, however, what form this "convincing" took, perhaps it refers to
efforts at influencing future coverage, as Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising was
cancelled before the conclusion of beta testing ( story) and was
never formally reviewed.
The Lineage II: The
Chaotic Throne Website announces the launch of 1st Throne - The Kamael, the
new content update for the MMOG sequel. The post outlines three different
methods for updating to the new version, and there's a launch day
Q&A on the update on
TenTonHammer.
These
Universe at War Patch Notes on the Petroglyph Forums describe the contents
of the "Day One Patch" for Universe at War: Earth Assault. Word is the patch is
only for the retail CD and DVD editions of the RTS game, and not for digitally
downloaded purchases. The 20 MB download is available on
ActionTrip,
FileFront, The
Patches Scrolls, and
PixelRage.
We're getting a bit of light hail this morning, as the storms that have rocked
the Midwest head our way. Things are fine for now, and the forecast calls for
mild temperatures tomorrow, so it seems we're going to get a de-fanged version
of this nasty bit of weather.
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