Archived News:
The Depths of Peril
Demo Page now offers a demo for the Mac edition of Soldak Entertainment's
action RPG. As with the PC demo, word is: "In the Depths of Peril demo, you can
play all 4 characters, explore the first part of the world, play through part of
the storyline, experience a lot of the dynamic world with consequences, and get
a taste for the covenant gameplay and it's only around 70MB."
15 Minutes of Red Alert 3 Fame
on Rock, Paper, Shotgun offers a 15-minute clip demonstrating gameplay from
Red Alert 3, accompanied by laconic narration from Chris Cory, executive
producer on the upcoming RTS sequel. Meanwhile,
Red Alert 3 Features Woman Who Could Easily Kill You on Kotaku is a live
clip highlighting the participation of American Gladiator Gina Carano as one of
the game's characters. Thanks Mike Martinez.
A new "First Wave" trailer from World in Conflict: Soviet Assault shows
off the upcoming expansion for Massive Entertainment's real-time strategy game.
The clip starts on a peaceful night in Norway that gradually becomes more and
more violent once the paratroopers, armor, and infantry arrive. The clip is
located on AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
An Interview with Funcom About
Recent Player Bans on Ten Ton Hammer asks the Funcom community manager some
questions about recent bans in Age of Conan based on the belief that some users
were using exploits to gain advantages in the MMORPG, learning what is being
done about the possibility that some accounts have been penalized erroneously:
Sometimes accounts suspended were legitimate accounts but we do our best
to avoid this. Suspicious behavior might cause a temporary suspension until we
have verified that it was a false alarm. We have our own team going through data
to analyze whether it was legitimate or not. Every case is analyzed and accounts
will be re-opened if we happen to verify that actions were legitimate. On this
specific incident, players should do as instructed in the mail we sent out to
those who got affected. They should e-mail
account-status@ageofconan.com
and our staff will process their case. We have no intention of keeping players
from playing the game. So it is in our best interest to make sure that people
get back in the game if everything was legitimate.
Valve Steps Up, Defends
PC Gaming on IGN is an extensive article based on an interview with Valve
honcho Gabe Newell, focusing on the state of PC gaming. Valve remains
steadfastly positive about the platform, with Newell again pointing out that
digital distribution and MMOG subscription fees are not accurately reflected in
NPD statistics. The article concludes with an interesting perspective on the PC
Gaming Alliance: So when will people start to take notice of what's
happening with PC gaming? Might it have anything to do with the PC Gaming
Alliance? "We're still waiting to see concretely what's going to come out of the
Gaming Alliance," said Newell. "We really believe in shipping products as one of
the best ways to move stuff forward. I think Wrath of the Lich King [the
upcoming World of Warcraft expansion] shipping will have a larger impact moving
the PC forward as a gaming platform than companies sending representative
together to all agree that PC gaming should be doing better."
Mark Rein
On Unreal Engine 3, The State Of Epic on Gamasutra is a Q&A with the Epic
veep on the topic of the Unreal Engine 3. The conversation mostly focuses on
third-party console games using the engine.
The
Battlefield Heroes website has word that DICE is seeking two Community
Representatives for Battlefield Heroes, one who is fluent in German and one who
is fluent in French.
The Battlefield Franchise Website now offers the final version of the patch
for Battlefield 2142 to update the futuristic military shooter to version
1.50. The update adds the two new community maps, Wake Island 2142 and Operation
Shingle, new no vehicles and Conquest Assault game modes, widescreen monitor
support(!), bug fixes, and more.
Three playable demos are now available for Dracula Origin, offering the
chance to see how much Frogwares' recently released adventure game sucks
(presumably in that good sort of way). Word is: "In the demo, you will be drawn
into the first pages of an enthralling story, unwind the first knots of an evil
plan and immerse yourself in the disquieting and bewitching atmosphere
surrounding the Prince of Darkness in this great adventure game." The English
demo can be found on the Dracula
Origin Website, mirrored on
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
Internode
Games Network, and
Strategy Informer. There is also a German demo on
the game's German website, which is
mirrored on AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell. Finally, a French edition of the demo is on the
Dracula Origin French Website,
mirrored on Gamer's Hell.
The Lowdown on Patch 2.0 and 2.1 on the Hellgate: London Website (thanks
The Patches Scrolls) has extensive details on an upcoming content patch for Flagship's
action/RPG as well as an update that will follow that one that will enable
ranked PvP gameplay. Meanwhile,
this post
announces a new Patch version 1.3c is live on the game's Test Center.
A set of
Microsoft Flight Simulator Bonus Acceleration Racing Missions are now
available, offering multiplayer missions for Flight Simulator X: Acceleration.
Word is: "If you like air racing in Acceleration, you’ll love these new
multiplayer races. If you’ve never tried air racing, there’s no better time to
start!" The missions require the Acceleration add-on. Thanks The Patches Scrolls.
Ubi: Beyond Good & Evil 2 More Casual on Next Generation has some outlook on
the recently unveiled Beyond Good & Evil sequel from Ubisoft chief exec
Yves Guillemot: “We saw with Beyond Good & Evil that so many customers
were extremely happy with the game,” said Guillemot. “We had a different
audience at that time. We had more core gamers than casual gamers than we have
today.
"We think the game was probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at
that time. We’re going to make it more accessible and make sure that it’s really
done for the new generation that’s come into videogames.”
Well, I guess these are allergies I've been suffering these past few days, I
took Zyrtec, an OTC antihistamine, which cleared up my scratchy nose and throat,
as well as my itchy eyes (I hadn't really noticed that, but that was another
obvious allergy symptom). The bad news is this knocked me out for a while and
made me good and light-headed after I regained consciousness; it seems I missed
the drowsiness warnings on the label. In a strange twist, this medicine
currently has an ad campaign bragging that their product acts so quickly it's
like getting "time in a bottle" compared to their competition, but I think if
you have to spend that extra time in a stupor, it's probably a net loss.
By the way. have you seen that TV commercial? It has the oddest approach to
avoiding licensing fees I've ever noticed. It starts out saying: "You know that
song Time in a Bottle?" But they never actually play the song. I wonder
if this is a harbinger of a new trend... you could even do this with celebrities
by having someone say: "Do you know that actress Angelina Jolie?", without her
actually appearing or endorsing the product.
|
Twitter 
