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Archived News:
A new trailer showing off the Sunwell Plateau from the upcoming version 2.4
World of Warcraft patch is now online. The clip can be found on
this in
development page along with information about the Fury of the Sunwell update
and a wallpaper for your decorating pleasure. The trailer is also mirrored on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront.com,
FileShack, Gamer's Hell,
and
MyGameTrailers.
JoWooD
Productions announces a second The Guild 2 add-on is in the works for release
this September, though the announcement of The Guild 2: Venezia also refers to
this as a standalone game: Liezen, Austria, March 18th 2008; Until now,
only the cities of Germany, England and other Nothern regions were part of the
successful The Guild series. JoWooD Productions is now working on the new Add-on
for The Guild 2 which will take the player to the most fascinating city of the
15th century: Venice. Built on more than hundred islands and popular for the
gondoliers with their famous songs Venice is still the pearl of the Adria.
“The Guild 2 – Venezia“ will show the fascinating ambience of Venice. Small
Sidestreets, Gondolieres and the mystical carnival promise many hours of game
fun. Live your life in The Guild 2 – Venezia like the medieval population did –
build up your family, earn money and enjoy the romance of Venice. Maybe you will
meet the famous Casanova.
Enjoy the fascinating history of Venice – the city which is to day as
fascinating as in the past. Release of the standalone Game will be End of
September 2008.
Shacknews quotes
Lionhead's Peter Molyneux from an upcoming Q&A where they asked about projects
he'd like to revisit. The game he names is Syndicate, and in a bit of even
better news to fans of the old school sci-fi action game, as, while no plans are
currently in place, he sounds pretty confident he will indeed have the
opportunity to do a Syndicate remake: "One day, I'm sure that opportunity is
going to come up and I'd love to do it." Update: This article originally
carelessly mixed up ownership of Lionhead and Bullfrog. Lionhead is owned by
Microsoft and Bullfrog is owned by EA. Apologies for any confusion this caused.
FilePlanet (registration required) is offering downloads of a pack of three professionally
designed maps for Portal (thanks Ant), which they are deeming a huge success:
"We can't speak for the quality of all the user maps out there, but FilePlanet
is proud to feature not just one fan made map but an entire map pack made by
none other than Daryl Brigner who just happens to be a developer with Bethesda!
Given an edge by already working in the industry, Daryl 'RenStike' has created
three professional level maps of increasing, and at times overwhelming,
difficulty that are good enough to stand side by side with the levels included
in the retail game!"
Savage 2: A Tortured Soul
version 1.34 is now available, simply adding a new splash screen teasing an
upcoming free content update for the action/strategy hybrid. The content update
is previewed on 1Up.
- BioWare
The BioWare Q&A on
Crispy Gamer talks with Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, attempting to
answer the age-old question, 'how many doctors does it take to make an RPG.'
- Lord of the Rings Online
Jeffrey
Steefel Q&A on Play.TM hears from the Turbine producer about life at
Turbine, the MMORPG genre, and, of course, Lord of the Rings Online.
- Wolverine Studios
The
Wolverine Studios Q&A on the GameShark chats with Gary Gorski of
independent developer Wolverine Studios (he's not just the president, he's
also the staff!), discussing the one-man company and its catalog of sports
games.
- Radar Group
Under
The Radar With Raphael van Lierop on Gamasutra discusses the formation
of the Radar Group, learning that it is not interfering with development of
Duke Nukem Forever, which is still on track for release when it's done.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
The
Crysis Weekly Update #8 is online, announcing the release of a version 1.21
hotfix to address the security hole that could cause server crashes as well as
the availability of version 1.4 of the game's redesigned server documentation.
The update is rounded out with a status report on their anti-cheating efforts, a
second Crysis outtake, and word they are collecting a list of issues from
version 1.2 ("things like server lags, server crashes, client disconnects,
random FSP drops and a few more"). The hotfix is mirrored on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FanGaming,
FileFront,
FileShack, Gamer's Hell,
Internode
Games Network, The
Patches Scrolls,
PixelRage, and
Strategy
Informer.
Matrix Games now
features a new patch for Commander: Europe at War, updating the World War II
strategy game to version 1.06, offering changes, bug fixes, and even performance
improvements: "This 1.06 update comes with a large number of improvements,
ranging from a 30% increase in frame rates and reduced loading and selection
times to scores of balance tweaks and changes. The update also includes some map
changes like the addition of Belfast as a city on the map, new rules like
garrison units can no longer be transported by sea, convoys redirecting to
Canada if London falls and much more!" The 5.3 MB download is available on
this page.
Lighthouse Interactive and dtp Entertainment announce that Overclocked: A
History of Violence is gold, and expected in US stores at the end of this month,
and a month later in the UK and Scandinavia: Toronto, Canada – March 19,
2008 – Leading computer software Publishers Lighthouse Interactive and dtp
Entertainment are proud to announce that Overclocked: A History of Violence,
their psychological thriller Adventure game for the PC, has gone gold. Created
by award-winning developer House of Tales Entertainment, this highly anticipated
Adventure game on PC DVD-ROM will begin shipping to major retail stores across
Canada and the U.S. on March 31, 2008 and is scheduled to release on May 2, 2008
in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia terrirories.
Overclocked explores an archetypical, yet actual condition of mankind: violence.
Players will become engrossed in a world where memories and illusions; dreams
and reality; perpetrators and victims… collide. Overclocked: A History of
Violence is Windows® Vista™ compatible.
To find out more about ‘Overclocked: A History of Violence’ and to keep up with
the latest news on the game, visit
www.lighthouse-interactive.com.
GAME SUMMARY
Set against the backdrop of a catastrophic thunderstorm raging over New York
City, step into the world of Overclocked as former army psychiatrist, David
McNamara. You are called to the Staten Island Forensic Hospital in New York City
to consult on a case that requires your expertise in forensic psychiatry. Tasked
with exploring the minds of five young men and women who were found scared,
screaming, and without memory, you make alarming discoveries as you begin to
cautiously probe the psyches of your young patients. Throughout the game, you
will play as five other characters in this chilling interactive psycho thriller.
FEATURES
• Experience Overclocked from various perspectives as you
play as six different characters throughout the game
• Explore 45 diverse locations with densely animated
pre-rendered settings
• Innovative storytelling techniques create a unique
gameplay experience
• Meet and interact with a cast of intriguing characters,
each with their own distinct personalities
• Characters come to life with fluid movements and
realistic facial expressions created with EMotion™ FX 2 technology
• Cinematic cut-scenes designed using advanced camera
techniques pioneered by feature films
• Exceptional visuals enhanced by shadow and shader
effects, real-time atmospheric particle effects (rain, snow, lightening), and
dynamic lighting
• Unique icon-based dialogue system
GWJ Conference Call Episode
76 on Gamers With Jobs promises hints about plans for a Sins of a Solar
Empire expansion as part of their conversation with Ironclads' Blair Fraser
about the PC RTS game. I can't access the podcast myself, but maybe you can, and
if not, we can take comfort in knowing an expansion is in the works. On a
semi-related note, the
Sins of a Solar Empire Website has news on upcoming two patches, saying
their current plan is for a version 1.04 patch, which "will contain some
balancing updates based on player feedback, more computer AI updates, and other
game play tweaking." This will be followed by a version 1.1 patch described like
this: This will be a more significant update providing a considerable
overhaul of the multiplayer system with more features and updated networking
code to make it more robust under a whole series of circumstances. I can't go
into too much detail but it's pretty cool stuff. v1.1 will also include new
graphical options including one with very high resolution textures.
This press release offers further details on The Sims 3, the next
installment in the life simulation (thanks
FiringSquad). Some screenshots from the project are on
Strategy Informer, and the announcement includes info on the game's new
seamless open world that ends your Sims' days as shut-ins, a new create-a-sim
system, unique personalities for each sim, and "unlimited" customization
options.
As noted in
this press release, Linspire and Basilisk Games now offer Eschalon: Book I
for Linux (Freespire 2.0, Linspire 6.0, Ubuntu 7.04 & 7.10 (32 bit)) on
CNR.com (thanks Gamer's Hell). Here's a reminder of what this RPG is all about:
"Eschalon: Book I is a classic role-playing game experience that will take users
across massive outdoor environments and deep into sprawling dungeons as they
seek to uncover the mystery of who -- or what -- they are."
The Spiderweb Software
Website announces they've added a pair of new Blades of Avernum scenarios
are now available for download from their
Blades of
Avernum Untried page. The scenarios are called Adrift and Tales From the
Tabard Inn, and each is available for both Windows and Macintosh. Thanks Gamer's Hell.
The Building & Co Patches
Page offers the first patch for the French edition of Creative Patterns' architecture simulation
(thanks Gamer's Hell). There is no word on what the 17 MB update to this Mike Brady
simulator does.
The Hajas M0D1F1C4T10N5 Page now
features downloads of a new version 2.0 of the Frontlines modification (or
M0D1F1C4T10N) for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (thanks Gamer's Hell). Word is: "Come
with nice new features like Hajas Invert Sides & Hajas Server Spam and also a
brand new 2 in 1 gametype called Commander, which can be transformed into a VIP
gametype with a single flag. The new gametype will be great for clan matches in
the future, with a lot more flexible tactics available to use then [sic] in
Search & Destroy."
This press
release announces Secondhand Lands,
an offbeat-looking MMORPG set in a fairy tale-inspired world centered around a
conflict between followers of the big bad wolf and little red riding hood. An
opportunity to participate in testing the game is available to those with Ashen
Empires accounts.
Pandemic's Josh Resnick on EA Life, Wii Development and Industry Consolidation
hears from the Pandemic Studios president, who discusses console competition,
Wii development, and his abiding affection for the EA overlords.
- Antec P180 Case on
Hi-Tech Reviews.
- ASUS GeForce EN9800GX2 Graphics Card on
t-break.
- Asus Striker II Extreme 790i DDR3 Motherboard on
Elite Bastards,
Overclock3D.Net,
and
TechSpot.
- ASUS Striker II vs. XFX 780iSLI Motherboard Comparison on
Boot Daily.
- BFG GeForce 9800 GX2 1024MB Graphics Card on
Guru3D.
- Denon AH-C751 Earphones on
TrustedReviews.
- DFI LanParty UT ICFX3200-T2R-G Intel LGA775 Motherboard on
ThinkComputers.org.
- EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard on
Hardware Secrets.
- Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook S6410 Laptop on
BIOS.
- Glacial Tech Igloo 5750 CPU Cooler on
3dGameMan.
- Kingston SD-2GB-U SD Flash RAM on
ASE Labs.
- Logitech G51 Speaker System on
Digital Trends.
- Logitech Z Cinema Surround Sound Speakers on
Overclockers Club.
- Noctua NT-H1 Heatsink Compound on
ProClockers.
- NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card on
MVKTech and
nV News.
- NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Cards in Quad SLI on
TweakTown.
- NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Chipset on
bit-tech.net, Guru3D, and
The Tech Report.
- OCZ Technology PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4GB DDR2 RAM Kit on
Big Bruin.
- Razer Mako 2.1 Speaker System on
XSReviews.co.uk.
- Rosewill RX81-MP-SC eSATA HDD Enclosure on
TweakTown.
- Samsung 2493HM 24" LCD Monitor on
Overclockers Online.
- Samsung SyncMaster 2243BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor on
Tweaknews.net.
- Sunbeamtech UFO Acrylic Cube Case on
Hardware Logic.
- Tagan BZ 900W PSU on
Phoronix.
- Thermaltake iXoft Notebook Cooling Pad on
OCIA.net.
- XFX 9800GX2 Graphics Card on
bit-tech.net, Bjorn3d,
I4U,
Legit Reviews,
Neoseeker,
Overclockers
Club, and PC Perspective.
- Zonet ZNS8021 USB 2.0 Leather SATA Enclosure on
DragonSteelMods.
- Zotac GeForce 9800 GX2 Video Card on
HEXUS.net and
techPowerUp.
We're getting another downpour today, and after our last experience I am afraid
to look at what this may be doing in our leaky basement. What's worse, we've
tried to contact our plumber, a very experienced and trustworthy fellow, and he
seems to have retired, so we may be attempting to address our wetness woes while
simultaneously evaluating a new plumber.
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