Archived News:
BeyondUnreal has posted a change list
for an unreleased beta of Patch 2 for Unreal Tournament III. The extensive list
includes changes affecting gameplay, the UI, networking, server administration,
maps, and AI. Bugs will be fix, balance issues will be addressed and more in
this update, which will also raise the players allowed variable to a maximum of
64.
Computer
and Video Games offers what they are calling an exclusive movie showing off
Conflict: Denied Ops, Pivotal Games' upcoming co-op shooter once known by the
title Crossfire. The clip runs about 80 seconds, offering a mix of live action
and gameplay footage, concluding with an affirmation that the game is still due
next month. Interestingly, the lip-synching on the dialog in the live action
footage is inferior to what is seen in many current game engines.
The
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Website offers a new cinematic trailer
for Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, the upcoming C&C3 expansion. The new
clip, dated ten days ago for some reason, is available in high definition as a
17.2 MB download, which is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro, and
Gamer's Hell.
Sumthing Digital
announces they will be
releasing the soundtrack from Crysis worldwide on January 29 as both a CD and a
digital download, saying: "The CRYSIS Original Soundtrack features over an
hour of original orchestral music written and conducted by award-winning film,
television and video game composer Inon Zur and performed by the Northwest
Sinfonia Orchestra." There's no word on whether you'll need up upgrade your CD
player in order to play it.
- Anarchy Online: Shadowlands
The
Anarchy Online:
Shadowlands Q&A on IncGamers chats up Craig Morrison of Funcom about
their science-fiction MMORPG. They discuss various aspects of the game, but
it's not clear when the conversation took place, as at one point Craig says
he does not think AO will ever go the free-to-play route, in spite of
yesterday's announcement that free-to-play is one of the game's new
subscription models (story).
- Angels Online
RPG
Vault's Angels Online Interview - Part 1 kicks off a conversation with
Joyce Zhou and Daniel Wang about Angels Online,
UserJoy's free-to-play "cute, anime-styled 2D MMORPG set against a backdrop
of the fight between Angels and Devils."
Bond 22 Is "Quantum Of
Solace" (thanks Ant). An interesting choice, considering Casino Royale
is probably the movie in the Bond series most faithful to the book upon which
it's based. While Quantum of Solace is one of Ian Fleming's few remaining
unused titles, those who have read For Your Eyes Only (a collection of
Quantum of Solace and four other short stories) can tell you this Bond story
is unique in that it features no action at all, and is not even a spy yarn, it
is about a story of domestic non-bliss related to Bond by a fellow guest at a
dinner party.
The Far Cry 2 Developers Blog
features a video of Far Cry 2 Creative Director Clint Hocking addressing some
rumors they've caught wind of about
Far Cry 2, Ubisoft's upcoming sequel to Crytek's first-person shooter
(thanks Gamer's Hell). In answer to reports that some of the game's enemies and possibly
even its protagonist would have some sort of mutation they unequivocally state
the game will contain no mutants whatsoever. Also concerned over reports that
Far Cry 2 will be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, they clarify that the game will be
released simultaneously for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
The Adventure Company announces February 5, 2008 as the release date for
The
Experiment, the recently revealed ( story) North American
edition of Lexis Numérique's adventure game known as Experience 112 in Europe.
Here is the description of the game that accompanies the announcement:
Begin your innovative shared adventure in what appears to be a deserted
old ship, grounded ashore on a beautiful Pacific island. You mysteriously find
yourself in the ship’s operations room faced with a highly advanced panel of
controls, surveillance monitors, and a wide array of sophisticated technology.
As you watch the monitors for other signs of life, you discover a woman. Unable
to find a way to communicate with her directly, you realize that you are her
only hope. She needs your help.
The problem is, you too are being held prisoner by an unseen captor. Soon you
come to realize that the only way to escape is to help one another. But… who are
you? Who is she? Why do you control both your fates? Is escape from this
floating prison your only goal, or is there a more cryptic scheme?
Valve announces S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be digitally distributed
exclusively via Steam worldwide, with the digital release of GSC Game World's
first-person shooter prequel to coincide with its appearance on retail shelves.
The announcement concludes saying S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is currently slated
for release later this year, so we've asked GSC Game World if this means the
game will miss its announced Q1 2008 release date ( story), but
have not yet received a reply. Valve has put up a
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky Product Section on the Steam Website that features
some new screenshots.
French site JeuXpo.com
reports they've seen indications that Grand Theft Auto IV is going
to appear for PCs in Europe this October (thanks Gamer's Hell). The story is said to be
based on retail plans, but there is no source offered, and even game release
information from identified retailers is not always accurate, so we'll just have
to file this under hopeful rumor for the time being.
The German-language Settlers Homepage
reveals plans for Empire of the East, an upcoming expansion for The Settlers:
Rise Of An Empire, the latest installment in Blue Byte's series of strategy
management games (thanks Gamer's Hell). The expansion is slated for release in March
2008 (in German-speaking territories, at least), and will offer a new territory
(India), a new character, new buildings, a new geologist profession, new items,
and more.
Koei Forums
point the way to a Japanese Warriors
Orochi Webpage that shows that PC and PSP editions of
Warriors Orochi are in the works.
Gamer's Hell contacted Koei and learned this Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors hybrid is
indeed coming to both platforms this March, and that the game will be released
at that time in North America as well as Japan.
Amazon.com and
Gamestop.com are both now listing an August 25, 2008 release date for
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (thanks
Shacknews), suggesting
another delay to Pandemic's open-world action sequel that was last projected for
release this quarter ( story). As noted in the GTA4 story above,
retailers are not always accurate about these things (that said, the game's last
delay was indeed revealed by retail listings), but this new date appears for all
platforms on both sites (with the exception of
Amazon.com's PC-DVD listing, which lists an April 8 release in what may be
an oversight), so it seems likely that this is based on new information they've
received about the game's scheduling.
This Russian-language product
section offers one bit of English, revealing Tarr Chronicles: Sign of Pride
as the title of an upcoming follow-up to Tarr Chronicles, the space combat game.
Developer Quazar Studio's
Russian Website for the game is also live, but Gamer's Hell dug up some English
skinny, learning that the game is a prequel, set about 100 years prior to the events
in Tarr Chronicles. English websites and further information are expected soon.
It looks like the project's release date is first quarter of this year.
Shacknews reports that
Kohnke Communication has dropped it lawsuit against Perpetual Entertainment that
alleged breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, and fraud, among other things
( story). This follows shortly after Perpetual called the legal
action "vague, uncertain, ambiguous and unintelligible" ( story).
Part of the settlement of this suit is an agreement to not discuss details about
this, so we'll likely hear no more about the allegations contained within the PR
firm's lawsuit against the former Star Trek Online developer that one of their
roles in promoting the now-canceled Gods & Heroes was "convincing reviewers to
write positive reviews" ( story), a statement they later said was
a typo ( story), which, if they are to be believed, was apparently
meant to read 'convincing previewers to write positive previews.'
In other legal wranglings,
Shacknews also reports that "multiple Unreal Engine 3 licensees have been
served with subpoenas" related to Silicon Knight's lawsuit over Epic's support
for the game engine ( story). This is apparently an effort at
digging into details of the contacts involved, which is normally confidential
information, and it's possible that this could lead to this info becoming public.
They have a quote from Epic's Mark Rein about this: "I'm leaving the litigation
to the lawyers but, if this is the case, I'd like to apologize to any of our
licensees who Silicon Knights have inconvenienced. We know that, like us, they
just want to make great games."
Lighthouse Interactive and Vertex4 announce the North American edition of
SunAge is gold, and the science
fiction real-time strategy game is due in North American stores by the end of
this month: Toronto, Canada – January 24, 2008 – Leading publisher
Lighthouse Interactive and developer Vertex4 today announced that the highly
anticipated North American version of their dynamic sci-fi real-time strategy
game SunAge has gone gold and will begin shipping to major retail stores across
Canada and the US on January 28, 2008. A bilingual French/English version will
be released in Canada for Francophone fans. SunAge is an energetic RTS game that
offers a unique experience, bringing modern innovation to the isometric style of
real-time strategy. This PC CD-ROM game is Windows® Vista™ compatible. Erik
Schreuder, CEO of Lighthouse Interactive said, “We are proud to bring SunAge to
RTS fans across North America. This version includes upgrades and enhancements
that were not included in the European releases. SunAge brings a mature and
refreshing new take on the RTS genre and introduces some great new features that
will appeal to many strategy fans. We’re thrilled to see that SunAge lives up to
its promise.”
“SunAge has been a labor of love. The forums have been very active with a lot of
positive feedback from fans in the UK, Scandinavia, Benelux and Italy, who have
been playing the game since its European release in November 2007. We’re excited
to finally bring SunAge to fellow RTS fans in Canada and the US,” said Roman
Pfneudl, CEO of Vertex4. “The game has become so much more than I anticipated
and we think SunAge has a lot to offer gamers who love to play real-time
strategy games as much as we do. We look forward to hearing their feedback and
will continue to support the game.”
SunAge is the modern day answer for RTS fans who want the best possible overview
on their troops, while trying to outsmart opponents in frantic battles where
strategy and tactics are more important than ever. If you are a core real-time
strategy gamer, SunAge is for you!
Paradox Interactive announces Mount & Blade is heading to stores this year,
after being on sale on
GamersGate for some time now, which apparently has been a beta all along.
They say: "After several years in BETA, the game is close to completion and
scheduled for a worldwide release during Q2, 2008." Here's a bit more:
Mount&Blade is a single-player, third- or first-person
action/role-playing game with a focus on medieval combat. Developed by the
Turkish development house TaleWorlds Entertainment, the BETA version of the game
has received acclaim worldwide by gamers impressed by everything from the
realistic horseback combat to the sandbox gameplay. The latter enables players
to roam the map freely in a medieval world that offers options ranging from
hunting down bandits, trading for profit in the game's deep economical system
and becoming a commander and taking part in the wars ultimately becoming a great
lord of the realm.
The
Paradox Interactive Forums has word on a new patch for Europa Universalis 3:
Napoleon's Ambition, updating the RTS expansion to version 2.2. The update
is available automatically from within the game, while a manual patch for the
Gamer's Gate edition of the game is on
The Patches
Scrolls.
Matrix Games offers a
patch for John Tiller’s Battleground Civil War to bring the historical wargame
to version 1.01. Word is: "The update fixes an issue where a few Bull Run and
Antietam scenarios were not showing up in the scenario selection window." The
patch is available on
this downloads
page.
Zoonami is hiring. They are
located in Cambridge, UK "working on a 2D game with a novel visual style."
Thanks Gamer's Hell.
Is it just me, or does synchronizing one's computer clock online using the
internet time function under Windows XP no longer work at all? I mentioned
having trouble with this some time ago, but that was solved by finding a new
time server with which to synch. This time, however, I have not been able to find
any way to get this to work, and of course, it is vitally important that my clock
be accurate to the split-second with atomic clock accuracy because…
because… Well, okay, it's not that important, but it's still bugging me.
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