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Archived News:
This Press Release announces The Orb and the Oracle as the title of
the upcoming Dungeon Lords release, though it is not clear if they
consider this the standalone Dungeon Lords expansion or the full Dungeon Lords
sequel that were both simultaneously announced late last year
( story). Word is to expect a release this winter with more gameplay
designed by D.W. Bradley and the always desirable co-op support: JoWooD
Productions and DreamCatcher Games, leading publishers of interactive
entertainment software around the world, today announced The Orb and the Oracle
will release in Winter 2008 for Windows® as the next installment in the
bestselling saga, Dungeon Lords.
“We have eagerly anticipated releasing a new installment in the Dungeon Lords
saga,” said Byron Gaum, Global Product Marketing Manager at DreamCatcher Games.
“We’re really excited to offer Dungeon Lords fans a new dose of the combat,
magic and incredible quests that this fantasy RPG is known for.”
Created by legendary RPG game author, D.W. Bradley, The Orb and the Oracle
boasts a massive fantasy world filled with incredible a ction and meticulously
detailed indoor and outdoor environments. Offering both single and multiplayer
co-op game modes, the game is sure to engage RPG fans for hours on end!
The game features an advanced and robust combat system coupled with devastating
magic spells for a variety of ways to vanquish your foes in real-time. Set to
the tone of an epic soundtrack, players should prepare themselves for an
unforgettable journey.
The Orb and the Oracle for Windows® will sell for an SRP of $39.99 USD. The
anticipated ESRB rating is T for Teen. For further information please visit our
website at www.dreamcatchergames.com.
Tiscali Games has
some skinny on what to expect from Crysis Warhead, based on a Czech
preview of Crytek's upcoming shooter. Among the details are that the game will
have more of a nonlinear "sandbox" feel, and that the campaign should last 8-10
hours. They conclude with a reminder that this month's issue of PC Gamer
magazine will offer more information on the project.
Limbo of the Lost devs respond to plagiarism charges on GameSpot (thanks
Mike Martinez and
Joystiq) has word from Majestic as the developer of Limbo of the Lost
finally responds to allegations that their adventure game contains elements
plagiarized from other games as well as Hollywood movies ( story).
Majestic says they were "shocked and mortified" to learn of these
allegations, saying the assets in question came from "sources external to the
development team," though arguably once these were incorporated into the game
those source were actually part of that development team. Here's their full
statement: In response to the shocking notification that some alleged
unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the
development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost, we (the
development team) have given our consent and full cooperation to both publishers
who are recalling all units from all territories immediately.
Please be assured that we do not condone in anyway the use of unauthorized
copyrighted materials and if we had been made aware earlier, we would of course
have ceased development of the product and rectified the issue prior to the
publication process.
To the best of our knowledge no one at Majestic, [European publisher] G2Games or
[North American publisher Tri Synergy, Inc.] knew about this infringement and
knowingly played any part in it.
We can only apologise to all regarding this issue, as a team we are shocked and
mortified regarding these events and we continue to work with said publishers in
order to rectify the issue.
Reuters reports that the acquisition of a 5.3% stake in Take-Two Interactive
by hedge fund SAC Capital. Take-Two has been the target of an aggressive
takeover attempt by Electronic Arts, but it not clear is this new development is
related to that, nor whether it will have any influence over the outcome of the
takeover bid.
SouthPeak Games announces Roogoo is now available for Windows, offering PC
gamers the puzzling gameplay already available to Xbox 360 owners:
MIDLOTHIAN, VA - June 25, 2008 - SouthPeak Games today announced that its
puzzle game Roogoo is now available for Windows PC. Roogoo, which was previously
released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment
system from Microsoft, features 45 levels as well as two-player split screen.
"Roogoo is a fun, family friendly puzzle game that is as addictive as it is
cute," said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. "Not only does the game get
progressively more challenging to play, but it also gets harder and harder to
put down."
Taking place in the fantasyland of Planet Roo, you star as one of the last
Roogoo’s still uncorrupted by the evil King Goo. King Goo can think of nothing
but power and uses his influence to make other Roogoos believe that greed is the
way of life. He starts to steal joyful meteors from the sky and uses their
powers to build bigger and more powerful cities. After a fair amount of
stealing, many of the kingdom’s once cute and innocent Roogoos have turned into
wicked Meemoos. It is your job to stop King Goo from collecting the remaining
meteors and to turn the Meemoos back into Roogoos before it’s too late.
In order to accomplish your quest and save Planet Roo, you must guide falling
meteors, in the form of different shape blocks, through rotating platforms. When
matched correctly, the blocks are allowed to reach their intended destination.
Each meteor you guide correctly gets you one step closer to your goal.
Roogoo is available now for $19.99 at retailers everywhere. It is rated E for
Everyone.
A clip is now available with Ubisoft showing off Far Cry 2 at the
DreamHack festival in Sweden (thanks Ant). Pop some corn and hit the john in
advance, as the narrated clip ruins about 20 minutes. The movie is available on
ActionTrip,
Gamer's Hell, and
Shacknews.
A new video developer's diary for Red Faction: Guerrilla offers a
narrated look at the upcoming third-person addition to the formerly first-person
shooter series. The clip includes loads of gameplay footage, and offers
discussion of things like the perspective switch, destructable environments, and
the game's new open-world approach. The clip is available on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
A teaser video from Blood Bowl offers a look at the upcoming board game
adaptation. Word is: "This video reveals the first action scenes in the highly
charged stadiums of Blood Bowl (from the Human, Chaos and Orc races) and even
some sneak-peek’s of some of the other impressive teams from previously unveiled
races (Humans, Dwarfs, Orcs and Lizardmen)." The clip is posted on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
Community Bonus Pack Page now offers
Community Bonus Pack 3- Volume 1 for Unreal Tournament 3, offering eight new
maps for the PC or PS3 editions of Epic's shooter sequel. Word is: "The bonus
pack features 8 new levels: 5 DM, 1 CTF, 1 VCTF & 1 WAR. Please see our
Content section for more info,
and go to our Download
section to get it.
X-bit labs has word on Asustek's plans to introduce PC controllers that seem
to be inspired by the motion-sensitive Wii Wiimote and Nunchuck controllers
(thanks Mike Martinez). They have photos of the device, called an Eee Stick, but
acknowledge that at this point it's not clear if this is intended as an
exclusive for Eee PCs or as a standalone peripheral.
Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
In
not getting too caught up in today's Blizzard splash page speculation, our
attempts to avoid Diablo 3 rumor-mongering today seemed to be going so
well, too. But now
DiabloII.Net foils that plan by reporting "confirmation from inside sources"
that Blizzard will announce Diablo 3 on Saturday at their WWI event in Paris,
France.
A playable demo for Death Track: Resurrection offers a test drive (and
shoot) of SkyFallen Entertainment's
motorsports/action game set in the near future when drivers will compete in
races highlighted by armed combat (I've had machine guns mounted on my car for
years in anticipation of this coming to pass). The 793 MB download is available
from AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer.
A playable demo for WALL-E offers a sample of the
just-released
video game tie-in with the new animated Pixar movie. The demo is a 219 MB
download, which can be found on
AtomicGamer,
FileShack,
Gamer's Hell,
Internode
Games Network, and
PixelRage.
The
American McGee's Grimm Q&A on 2404 talks with the expatriate American about
American McGee's Grimm, the fairy tale-inspired game in the works at Spicy
Horse. Topics include comparisons with Alice, the episodic format, feature fairy
tales, and the game's lack of peers: "There are no 'other games in the genre'.
Grimm defines a unique genre… maybe call it a 'transformation game'. I’ve heard
the designer of Katamari Damacy describe the core design philosophy of that game
as 'rolling'. Along those lines I’d describe the core design of Grimm as
'transforming'." The first episode in Grimm is slated for release on July 31 on
GameTap.
A new Theatre of War Strategy Guide is available that "walks players through
tactics such as the best methods of setting up units before battle,
concentrating fire and much more." The clip can be downloaded from
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell.
GamePolitics reports that the bill that will require video games sold in the
state of New York to have ratings labels passed by an overwhelming 61-1 margin,
with the lone dissenting vote coming from Thomas Duane, a senator representing
New York City. The bill will now be passed along to Governor David Paterson, and
if it is signed it will become law in 2010. That is if the bill survive legal
challenges, as elements representing the game industry are likely to sue and
challenge this legislation on constitutional grounds.
Forbes quotes Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli expressing the opinion that Europeans
tend to regard first-person shooters as "evil" (thanks Mike Martinez and
Computer
and Video Games). Here's a bit from the latest comparison between the tastes
of European and North American game players, which seems like the gaming
equivalent of rap's east coast/west coast rivalry, hopefully with fewer actual
shootings: Across the pond, consumers prefer racing and soccer games to
blockbuster action, adventure and first-person shooter games that are the staple
of the U.S. diet. Indeed, Europeans view such games as "evil," says Cevat Yerli,
chief executive of Crytek, a German game developer that specializes in
first-person shooters.
Guns and gore also don't sell as well in Europe because Europeans like short,
so-called casual games, rather than the long, epic tales that keep gamers
pounding on their consoles for hours at a stretch. Casual games also fit the
European lifestyle better: People can play these short games on trains and
subways on their way to work.
- Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition on
2404.
- Ship Simulator 2008 on
gameSlave.
- Sins of a Solar Empire on
gameSlave.
HBO is airing every George Carlin special this week (thanks Ant and
Digg). Last night a buddy and I sat for a while listening to a couple of
Carlin albums over some scotch. A very odd mix of happy and sad at the same
time. I'm sure George would have appreciated the happy part more than the
sadness.
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