|
|
 |
Archived News:
The
Crysis Weekly Update #6 offers word that the version 1.2 patch has been
given a final seal of approval, and they expect a worldwide release sometime in
the next few days. There is word that the new patch will offer improved
anti-cheating protection, and that they are prepping a guide on how to make best
use of the game's cheat prevention technology. There is also a mention of an
exploit that has been crashing Crysis servers they are working to address,
saying a hotfix patch will likely appear soon.
This Press
Release has word that Ziff Davis will be
filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the failure of "good faith
negotiations with certain of its subordinated unsecured noteholders," leading to
an agreement with an ad hoc group of noteholders to reorganize under Chapter 11
(thanks Neutronbeam and
PaidContent.org). Word is the owner of PC
Magazine, 1Up, and
ExtremeTech has filed a number of what
are called "customary 'first day' motions" to allow them to continue paying
employees and vendors while reorganizing.
Netamin announces Cal Ripken's Real
Baseball as the new title for the MMO sports game formerly known as Ultimate
Baseball Online (though the game is no more "real" now than it was before the
title switch). The hall-of-fame shortstop is the new spokesperson for the game,
which has been in beta testing for three years now. Word from Netamin's Andy
Wang is: "We are very excited to partner with Cal in an effort to make our
website and video game even better for baseball lovers across the globe. We
strive to make Real Baseball the most authentic baseball video game it can be,
and adding Cal to our team not only strengthens our brand, but connects us with
a baseball legend that will take our video game and community to the next
level."
This Sydney Morning Herald Article is about the arrival of the Game On
exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, where it will run
through mid-summer (or mid-winter in down-under terms). The article outlines
what they describe as the "race" that's underway to preserve the history of
video games, which is falling more and more on museums and libraries, rather
than individual enthusiasts. This includes the difficulties in maintaining aging
hardware, and the perceived importance of preserving such culturally significant artifacts
in their original form, rather than relying on emulators to play games on newer
systems.
A new beta 2.1 of the
Platinum Arts Sandbox is now available, offering an update to this
OpenSource game development platform described as "easy enough for kids to use
but also powerful enough for full game projects."
- Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
The
Command & Conquer Website offers a new single-player trailer from C&C 3:
Kane's Wrath in HD along with HD version of other recently released
(story) movies from the upcoming RTS expansion. The clip is
mirrored on
AtomicGamer and Gamer's Hell.
- X3: Terran Conflict
A new X3: Terran Conflict teaser
trailer offers a look at the upcoming continuation of Egosoft's X series of
space combat games. The clip is located on the
Egosoft
Website and mirrored on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer, and
Gamer's Hell.
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
A clip showing off The
Witcher: Enhanced Edition is online, giving a feel for just how enhanced
this updated version of CD Projekt RED's action/RPG will be. The 46 MB
trailer is on
FileFront
and Gamer's Hell.
- Sam & Max
A second Sam & Max 204 Chariots of the Dogs Trailer shows off the coming
episode in Telltale Games' comedic adventure series. The movie is posted on
the Sam &
Max Website and mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer.
- Arctic Stud Poker Run
A new Arctic Stud Poker Run trailer
offers a look at this unusual racing/combat/card game. The clip is on
FileFront and
Gamer's Hell.
- Champions Online
There's
a Q&A with Chris Lena on the Champions Online Official Site that's the
second installment in their "Meet the Team" series, introducing a producer
on Cryptic's upcoming superhero MMORPG, learning a bit about his life and
his work.
- Dead Space
The
Dead Space
Q&A on ActionTrip chats with Glen Schofield about the upcoming
survival/horror game, discussing the sci-fi setting, the lack of a HUD,
zero-G, interactivity, and more.
- Stargate Worlds
A
Glimpse into Cheyenne Mountain's New Sci-Fi MMO on Stratics Central
offers just that, in a conversation with Cheyenne Mountain's Dan Elggren and
Kevin Balentine about Stargate Worlds, discussing the player experience, PvE
versus PvP, team options, community support, and more.
- Jumpgate Evolution
The
Jumpgate Evolution Q&A on
Ten Ton Hammer converses with Hermann Peterscheck of Netdevil about the
upcoming return of Jumpgate's MMO space combat, focusing on combat and
controls.
The ATI Drivers & Software
now features the promised release of new version 8.3 Catalyst reference drivers
for ATI graphics cards.
These release notes outline the changes, the most significant of which, such
as quad Crossfire support, were detailed yesterday ( story). The
drivers also offer performance increases for several games, and clear up a
number of issues under Windows Vista.
TheSims3.com is online, offering a
preliminary home to the not-yet-announced next installment in the lifestyle
simulation series (thanks Tiscali Games). That unannounced part may be rectified soon
enough, as the teaser site says "More Information Coming Soon*!" The footnote
connected to that asterisk provides the date when this info can presumably be
expected: March 19, 2008.
38 Studios announces they have licensed the Unreal Engine 3 to power the client
end of their upcoming MMORPG, not long after announcing BigWorld Technology
middleware will be used on the server end ( story). Thus the body
of knowledge about the tech being used by Curt Schilling's development studio
continues to grow in the absence of details about the game itself. There is a
blurb in the announcement about the game, which will apparently be enough of an
"Online Entertainment Experience" that they've trademarked the term
OEE: Led with the artistic vision of Todd McFarlane and the enthralling
storytelling of R. A. Salvatore, 38 Studios is developing an original IP made up
of fantastical elements, settings, characters, creatures, rules, and
experiences. The IP will encompass multiple media forms including a massively
multiplayer online game that is currently scheduled for release in late 2010.
The company is utilizing a combination of Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 toolset and
BigWorld’s server-side technologies to meet its requirements for achieving an
unparalleled OEE™, the premier Online Entertainment Experience.
This post on the Introversion Forums (thanks Gamer's Hell) puts out the call for
beta testers for Multiwinia, the upcoming multiplayer game based on
Darwinia: We will start the process soon with a small number (around 50)
of testers running a non-playable "Hardware Test" build. This build will pit 4
AI players against each other and will report back to us with frame rates,
hardware stats, problems etc. During this phase we're looking at hardware
compatability problems, frame rate issues etc. After this we'll start rolling
out playable versions for the testers to break, gradually adding applicants to
the test group in batches of 50 or more.
The Chronicles of
Spellborn Website has word of another delay, saying Spellborn
International's MMORPG is now due in the second quarter of this year (thanks
Gamer's Hell). The last official release date for the game was Q1 2007
( story), a horse that obviously long ago left the barn, as word
in late 2006 ( story) was "Depending on the feedback during the
last closed beta phase we will reveal final dates for open beta and release,"
which is basically the same thing they are saying more than a year later:
We have recently started the final tests for The Chronicles of Spellborn.
Beginning of last week, a new phase within the internal beta phases has been
initiated with a brand new version of the game. Up to now these tests have
performed very satisfactory, so that they can be expanded pretty soon to larger
participants groups like enlisted community members. Server stress tests have
been successfully completed by our team in Autumn already.
Thus we expect a release of The Chronicles of Spellborn in the second quarter of
2008. Based on the test results of the next weeks and the upcoming series of
Closed Beta tests, we will announce the beginning of the Open Beta and then
specific release dates for each territory.
To conclude, I’d like to remind you to make sure the email address you used to
register on our website is working and not full, for, who knows, there might a
nice little email coming your way.
As announced
here, Crime City
is a real-time strategy game where the player controls police patrols to chase
down and capture criminals to take the namesake crime out of the city. The game
is now available, as is a playable demo, a 45 MB download that's mirrored on
Gamer's Hell and
PixelRage.
A new demo for Auto Cross Racing is now available on the
KJM Software Website, offering the chance to test drive this rally racing
game, and it's self-described "touchy" controls. A write-up on
Game Tunnel gives a
feel for the game, and the demo is mirrored on
Gamer's Hell and
PixelRage.
This Company
Fact Sheet reveals the formation of WhiteMoon Dreams, a new independent
development studio focused on console games. The company has a strong gaming
pedigree: It is co-founded by Scott Campbell, designer on the original Fallout,
and Jay Koottarappallil, who once worked at Looking Glass Studios.
Develop Magazine reports WhiteMoon Dreams already has a console publishing
deal with an unnamed Japanese company.
The RelicNews
Forums have news that new patches is now available for Company of Heroes,
updating the various localized editions of the Word War II RTS game to version
2.202. Here's the description of the sole change offered: "Increased version for
CoH Gold Edition Release. Unlock both products with one key!" The multiple
downloads are mirrored on
Gamer's Hell,
The Patches Scrolls, and
PixelRage.
The SimCity Societies Website
offers a third patch for SimCity Societies, updating the sociable urban planning
game to version 1.02.119. Word is: "With this update, we are adding performance
improvements, a variety of user interface enhancements, and the UFO Attack!"
Hopefully Jeff Goldblum is available to infect the alien computers with a virus.
Downloads of the patch are mirrored on
ActionTrip,
FileFront,
FileShack, Gamer's Hell,
The Patches
Scrolls,
PixelRage, and
Strategy Informer.
A new Heavy Duty trailer is available, showing off some third-person aerial
combat from the upcoming science-fiction action game. The clip is available on
the Akella Videos Page,
and mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer.
The Three
Most Important Moments In Gaming on MTV News gets Sid Meier's thoughts on
that topic. I haven't given much thought to what my own such list would be, but
I don't think it jibes at all with his, which consist of the IBM PC, Sim City,
and Nintendo's Official Seal of Quality.
- Valve
Rock,
Paper, Shotgun Interviews Valve’s Chet Faliszek talking with the Valve
writer with a focus on Left 4 Dead, the upcoming multiplayer zombie shooter.
The conversation also covers working with Turtle Rock, playing Team Fortress
2, Alyx's potty mouth, other games, and more.
- Red Alert
The
mysterious origins of Red Alert on PC Gamer hears from Petroglyph's Adam
Isgreen and Frank Klepacki about developing the original Red Alert game when
they were at Westwood. Thanks
Voodoo Extreme.
- State of the RPG
The
State of the RPG on Gameplayer offers a roundtable discussion with
developers like Lionhead, Square Enix, Bethesda, and Mistwalker about
role-playing games, calling 2008 "the year Xbox takes control of the RPG."
The article concludes with links to some related Q&As.
"March madness" is almost upon us, the annual event where it takes extra effort
for me to ignore college basketball than the remainder of the year. There are
certainly enough folks who feel otherwise, though, so for you, enjoy your
madness.
|
Twitter 
