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Archived News:
Our inquiries earlier about whether Duke Nukem Forever might be making its way
onto consoles as well as PCs met with telling silence, but apparently no one
told 3D Realms president Scott Miller that this is being kept mum for now, as
MCV quotes Scott confirming they are hoping to expand beyond the PC, saying:
"We plan to have a multi-platform release if possible."
Fireglow Games announces plans for a commercial add-on for Sudden Strike 3: Arms
for Victory, as well as the first in a series of free content updates for their
World War II strategy sequel. The commercial add-on is planned for release in
April 2008, and will center around the Ardennes Offensive, popularly known as
the Battle of the Bulge. Word on content is: "Two campaigns playable for Germans
and Allies will be included, plus a campaign playable for the German and Soviet
sides. Multiplayer maps and new features will also be included." The free
content add-on does not carry a release date, but word is it will offer two
multiplayer maps and a solo mission, kicking off a series of such free releases.
A new patch for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is now available, modernizing the
military shooter to version 1.4. Improved modification support and a new free
holiday map are included in the new version. Downloads of the patch can be found
on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer, AusGamers,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
GameSpot (registration required), The
Patches Scrolls, and
PixelRage.
NVIDIA now offers new version 169.21 WHQL-certified ForceWare reference drivers
for GeForce accelerators (thanks mtnlover). There is a new driver for
Windows XP,
Windows XP Media Center Edition and
Windows XP x64,
Server 2003 x64. The new drivers add support for GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GPU
and the usual "numerous game and application compatibility fixes."
The official Jumpgate
Evolution Website is online as a virtual home to NetDevil's upcoming space
combat revival. The site offers information, images, some in-game footage, and
sign-ups to express your interest in participating in their upcoming beta test.
The promised teaser video from Duke Nukem Forever is now available, just about
an hour earlier than the noon CST release predicted yesterday
( story). The blurb promising the trailer was updated by George
Broussard at some point to temper expectations a bit, saying: "This is a teaser.
It's not a full blown trailer like the 2001 trailer (but something like that is
coming). I tried to be clear about that in the message board post, so just bear
in mind that it's a teaser :)" The clip includes gameplay footage, Jon St. John
returning as the voice of Duke, and the music of game composers Jeremy Soule and
Julian Soule. It runs around a minute and ten seconds and is available in five
variants, covering 720p and 480p resolutions in either QuickTime or Windows Media Player
formats as well as one in iPhone format. I tried to get an answer to whether the
480p and 720p formats indicate plans for console editions, but there are no such
formal announcements being made (which sounds more like a confirmation than a
denial). As could be predicted, the 3D Realms
Website is fairly hosed at the moment, but the trailer downloads have
premiered on FileShack, and
mirrors of one or more of the clips can be found
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront,
GamesFire, Gamer's Hell,
PixelRage, and
Primotech. An accompanying blurb on
Shacknews quotes
George Broussard as saying that their release date is still "when it's done,"
but "you can expect more frequent media releases and we're not changing engines
again and we have considerable work behind us." He also does not confirm nor
deny plans for console editions, but his answer seems to hint that they will
happen. Shack also has a
history of development of this game, offering a timeline of a project that's
taken longer than NASA took to put a man on the moon.
This
story announces a new partnership between MTV Networks and Hollywood
producer Jerry "Boom Boom" Bruckheimer to create video games. As described in
the official press release, this is a way of telling you you've been
super-served: "Gaming is a focal point of MTV Networks' overall vertical
entertainment strategy of super-serving its core audiences with engaging
experiences across multiple platforms," and in a fascinating sign of the times,
the release also includes credits for the lawyers and agents involved in
brokering the deal. As for the gaming implications, the announcement mentions
new game concepts and IPs, innovation, and even dares to toss in the phrase "unique
games," but specifics are not provided at this point, and no target platforms
are mentioned. Here's a bit: NEW YORK, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV Games,
a division of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks, today announced an exclusive deal with
internationally renowned motion picture and television producer Jerry
Bruckheimer to develop and create new and original video games, marking his
first official foray into the gaming world. As part of this landmark agreement,
Bruckheimer will build a game incubation studio with MTV Games, where a team of
experienced video game experts, artists and storytellers will seek out and
deliver new game concepts and intellectual property.
[…]
Executives from both MTV Games and Bruckheimer's gaming studio will work
together on all phases of development -- from concept to platform -- as well as
on the production, distribution deals and marketing elements, with the potential
that some of the game concepts could migrate to other entertainment media
including film and TV. Jeff Yapp, Executive Vice President, Programming
Enterprises and Bob Picunko, Vice President Electronic Games & Interactive
Products will oversee the relationship for MTV Games.
MTV Networks will support this venture across all its broadcast and digital
platforms including CMT, MTV, Spike and VH1. Gaming is a focal point of MTV
Networks' overall vertical entertainment strategy of super-serving its core
audiences with engaging experiences across multiple platforms. In August of
2007, the company announced that it will invest more than $500 million over the
next two years in the development and distribution of its Interactive
Entertainment and Video Game business.
As announced in
this press release, the Dead Wake
Website is live as a preliminary home to this upcoming survival/horror game
in the works at indie Finnish developer
Polycount Productions. The
site currently offers a prerelease demo that features "a couple of minutes of
gameplay," user forums, and sign-ups for notification about future news. The
site also features a countdown timer ticking off until the game's full
release, currently approximately 42 days off. The announcement sheds light on
community involvement in the game's development: "Dead Wake game is developed in
an open manner: the players contribute towards to the game design process. In
fact, a contest was arranged to even pick a name for the game. Gamers are
encouraged to give feedback throughout the game development process."
Warren Spector
may only work on three more games ever on Eurogamer excerpts a quote from
their interview
with the famed designer where they seem to feel his comments on retirement
are significant. What Spector says is: "What it means, in an ideal world, I may
work on five more games in my entire life. More likely probably three given how
long they take." How long they take is a reference to the two to five year
development cycle modern games involve, so what the 52 year old is saying is
that he may hang 'em up sometime between the ages of, say, 60 to 75 (stop the
presses). A separate comment he makes along the way is revealing, as he
expresses worries about how Deus Ex 3 will turn out with a sidelong swipe at
Invisible War, and he also states he does not intend to play, much less make, any more
games that take 20 or more hours to complete.
Massgate.net now offers
downloads of the promised Countyside map, just a little later than originally
planned ( story). Along with the new map, Massive is now serving
up a patch to bring the Map Editor to version 1.1, a new update 5 WiC
Broadcast Tool, a new version 2 of the WiC Mod Kit, as well as a link to the
version 1.005 dedicated server, though this last link is actually broken (thanks
Gamer's Hell). Working downloads of the
new dedicated server can be found on
AusGamers,
Big Pond, and
Internode
Games Network.
- Fury
WarCry
Network's Fury Q&A hears from Tony Hilliam and Adam Carpenter about
Fury, Auran's MMOG, and efforts at turning the company around following a
shakeup that included laying off most of the staff (story).
They discuss efforts at improving and supporting the game, explaining the
layoffs mean it is no longer operating at a loss.
- NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate
The
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate Q&A on Sorcerer's Place
attempts to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the upcoming Adventure
Pack for the D&D RPG sequel by chatting with Alan Miranda, Luke Scull, and
Kevin Smith from developer Ossian Studios.
MrsBlue and I were shedding our coats and such last night after returning
from picking her up at the train station when we heard an odd noise from the
living room. Upon investigating, we found Hudson the wonder dog licking at a
bowl of M&Ms I had indiscriminately left on the coffee table. She's usually
pretty good about avoiding such temptations, but as we've discovered on a couple
of previous occasions, our Airedale has a weakness for chocolate, which is
scary, since chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Luckily the amount of cocoa in an
M&M is low enough that she could probably stomach a couple (not that I'm eager
to test this), but even more luckily, a dog trying to discreetly pluck peanut M&Ms from a small bowl with a mouthful of giant fangs is
trying to pull off a tough
trick (picture Winona Ryder in that Aliens movie trying to pick up a shot glass
wearing boxing gloves), so she could only manage to lick some candy coating before
being caught in the act. So in the end, she didn't make herself sick, all she
did was manage to ruin a bowl of M&Ms… oh, who am I kidding? I ate them.
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