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Archived News:
MTV Multiplayer has details on a interface changes in the works for World of
Warcraft with the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion and beyond. Designer
Jeffrey Kaplan runs through the changes, which are pet and mount tabs, a
currency user interface, an all-in-one inventory, a threat warning system,
coordinates for the in-game maps, and quest improvements.
`Star Trek Online' is ready to beam up is an AP article about Star Trek
Online, offering some thoughts on the MMORPG from Cryptic's Jack Emmert. A more
complete unveiling of the game is planned for this weekend's Star Trek
Convention in Vegas, and those interested in the proceedings, the
Star Trek Online Website has
details on the web simulcast scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm Eastern
Time.
The
Mike Capps Interview on MundoRare is a video talking with the Epic Games president about
Gears of War 2 and related topics. An interesting moment comes when he complains
that PC reviews of the first Gears of War game are BS (thanks
Voodoo Extreme), since the version offered enhancements over the console
versions, but received lower review scores, saying flat-out he doesn't understand
it.
Tom's
Hardware highlights a tidbit from their
John Carmack
Interview that once again illustrates the new cross-platform approach of id
Software (thanks
Edge Online) in the no-holds-barred style we've grown to expect from id's
Technical Director: "We still think the PC is a market worth supporting, but
we’re not making decision around the PC. It’s probably more of the junior
partner in the cross-platform strategy, although obviously, our day-to-day
development is predominately on the PC."
A new behind-the-scenes movie from Legendary is now available, with another look
at Spark Unlimited's upcoming first-person shooter inspired by the myth of
Pandora's box. The clip features narration by several of the developers along
with gameplay footage introducing the Griffin and how this large enemy creature
is "gonna break the expectations of the player" and the two different varieties
of werewolf in the game. You can find the movie on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
A new Saints Row 2 movie introduces The Brotherhood, one of the three gang
factions in the upcoming open-world action sequel. The Brotherhood has an
affection for crime, monster trucks, and mullets. The clip is on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
The press release announcing Divinity 2 –
Ego Draconis has now hit the tubes, as the schedule for rolling out
information on Larian's action/RPG sequel seems a bit discombobulated, which may
explain the August 87th date on the announcement. Word is the game's release is planned
for second quarter of next year, and it looks like "Divine" is being
dropped from the title: Hamburg, Germany, August 87th 2008 –
Hamburg-based dtp entertainment, one of the leading German game publishers, and
developer Larian Studios today announce the action-RPG Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis
for the PC and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from
Microsoft®. The sequel to 2002’s award-winning Divine Divinity™ will be released
in the second quarter of 2009.
In Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis, players find themselves once again in Rivellon, a
timeless world full of awe and magic, shattered and frightened by the
apocalyptic wars of the past. No one knows why so many people had to give their
lives. Everything seems to be over, but the peace was deceptive, for the demon
has returned and the horror once again runs its course.
Players begin as a Dragon Slayer, hunters whom travel the countryside determined
to rid their lands of Dragons. As the story of Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis
unfolds, the player will discover new abilities and possibilities as they evolve
into a legendary Dragon Lord. In addition, the player character’s abilities can
be steadily improved over the course of the game and specialised in specific
areas. The further a player quests in the world of Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis,
the more exciting the gaming experience becomes.
Over the course of the game, players will be able to find many items which have
special game-play functions; some can be combined with others to advance further
in the game. Additionally, players can use a large variety of weapons in their
struggle against a seemingly inevitable fate. An extremely varied and demanding
quest structure guarantees hours of fun and a high replay value.
The world of Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis is filled with humans and fantasy
creatures, each having special combat abilities. Players will need to use every
skill, potion and hidden trick to their strategic advantage to reclaim the lands
of Rivellon.
Meridian 4 announces that
Tank Universal
is gold and the indie armored combat game is to be available for online purchase
and download on August 21: Montreal, Quebec, Canada – August 8, 2008 –
Meridian4 (http://www.meridian4.com) and
Dialogue Design are pleased to announce that their highly-anticipated Indie
title; Tank Universal has gone Gold and will be officially released for digital
download on August 21st.
“Every time I play Tank Universal, it brings back memories of Tron; the MCP,
LightCycles and the Battle Tanks,” said Steve Milburn, Marketing Director at
Meridian4. “I can’t stop playing this game and now that it has been tweaked,
it’s ready to be released to the masses. So while you wait for more news about
TR2N, get a feel for this great, addictive, Indie game of epic tank battles;
Tank Universal!”
Tank Universal will be available on August 21st on most digital online channels
including Steam, D2D, Impulse, GamersGate and many more. For more information
visit www.meridian4.com or any of the
digital sites listed.
A new version 1.888b of
Evochron Renegades is now available, updating this space combat simulation
to include "a player requested verification check for station license
purchases." As always, the download is a triple threat, as it serves as a patch
for older versions and as a trial version which can also be updated to the full
game.
This press release offers details on Godfather II, the upcoming
videogame sequel set in the crime-filled world of Mario Puzo's Corleone family.
The announcement has word on gameplay and plans to debut a new trailer from the
game next week along with the release date, which is February 2009 for PC, Xbox
360, and PS3. Here's a portion on gameplay: Set in a stunning open-world
environment, The Godfather II expands on the popular gameplay mechanics of the
first game and doubles down on the series’ signature BlackHand control scheme,
which now features even more visceral hand-to-hand brutality at your fingertips,
introducing a new combo system, pressure tactics and executions. In The
Godfather II, players will fight alongside their hand-picked crew, who have
their own skills and expertise. Each family member specializes in a specific
field such as demolitions, arson, engineering, first-aid and more. As The Don
you control the family, sending some of your men on missions while heading off
into action with others. The combination of strategic organized crime gameplay
and brutal BlackHand action sets The Godfather II apart from other open-world
games.
“In the 1960’s, a mafia Don was only as strong as his family,” said Hunter
Smith, Executive Producer of The Godfather II. “We found the hierarchical
culture of organized crime intriguing. Running an organized crime family in a
world defined by family loyalty is something that we felt could introduce a new
strategic element to the genre. That is what the Don’s View is all about --
laying out a strategy to pick off the competition one by one. The Don’s View is
so unique, it could fundamentally change the rules of open-world games by
blending action and strategy to create something entirely new.”
A recent
Producer Note on the Star Wars Galaxies forums indicates that vehicular
combat is soon to be added to Star Wars Galaxies (thanks
Eurogamer)
when they introduce "The Battle of Echo Base" in an upcoming update, hopefully
giving the chance for your tauntaun to freeze before you reach the first marker.
The update also outlines details for the upcoming Star Wars Galaxies Trading
Card Game, which suggests the occasionally maligned MMORPG is still going
strong, though there is also a note that they are preparing to announce how they
will address player complaints about low-population servers.
A new Call of Duty: World at War trailer shows off some cooperative
multiplayer play from the next installment in the military shooter series under
construction at Treyarch. The clip offers almost five minutes of in-game co-op
footage from each of two players' point-of-view that we're guessing is from a
console edition of the game (based on how the two screens are captioned "console
1" and "console 2"), and some of Kiefer Sutherland's voice acting. The trailer
is posted on
ActionTrip,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
The Savage 2: A Tortured Soul
Website announces the release of the new version 1.5.4 patch for S2
Games' action/strategy sequel.
The Change Log outlines
what's changed in the new version; mostly balance changes along with
some bug fixes, summarized like this on the website: "The patch includes new
features, balance, & improvements including the decreased cost of the game
$19.99 and Collectors Edition to $4.99." The notes also mention the inclusion of
a new Rune Builder, which is described like this: "You can now create your own
rune tailored exactly how you would like it. You can access this feature from
our website (account admin) and via the game client."
The Far Cry 2
Developers Blog now offers the minimum and recommended system specifications
for playing Far Cry 2, the shooter sequel in the works at Ubisoft: Minimum
requirements
CPU: Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz, Pentium D 2.66 Ghz, AMD Athlon 64 3500+ or better
RAM: 1 GB
Video card: NVidia 6800 or ATI X1650 or better
Shader Model 3 required
256 Mb of graphic memory
Media reader: DVD-ROM
Hard drive space: ~12 Gig or HD space. (tbd)
Recommended
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Family, AMD 64 X2 5200+, AMD Phenom or better
RAM: 2 GB
Video card: NVidia 8600 GTS or better, ATI X1900 or better
512 Mb of graphic memory
Sound: 5.1 sound card recommended
Supported Video cards:
NVidia 6800, NVidia 7000 series, 8000 series, 9000 series, 200 series. 8800M and
8700M supported for laptops. ATI X1650 – 1950 series , HD2000 series , HD3000
series , HD4000 series .
The Larian Studios Website officially
announces Divine Divinity 2: Ego Draconis (thanks Gamer's Hell), though they already
revealed the name of the Divine Divinity sequel in teasing it would be unveiled
at the Leipzig Games
Convention ( story), which begins August 20. They point the way to
Computer
and Video Games where there are some screenshots and a video along with some
brief thoughts on the project, and to
an article about the RPG sequel on Tom's Games that's far more extensive,
but is in French. They also offer
to let folks try out the game, but this requires being in the vicinity of
Oudenaarde (Belgium). Update: A
Divine Divinity 2 teaser website is now live, and wile there's nothing much
there right now, it points the way to the
Larian Studios forums, which have a
new Divinity 2 section.
Euro Truck Simulator Goes Gold has word that development on SCS Software's
transportation simulation is complete, and the game should start trucking into
UK stores on August 29. Here's a bit: This game not only appeals to lorry
enthusiasts but also to anyone who loves to drive and enjoys the scenery along
the way. The aim of the game is to grow your business by earning money to buy
new lorries and unlocking new routes to countries throughout mainland Europe.
You can achieve this by taking on jobs to collect and deliver cargo within a
given time limit. The economical challenge lies in planning your routes
including petrol stops in the given time frame, budgeting for payments for
refuelling as well as damages to the lorry, cargo and any traffic
offences.
NVIDIA sends along word on that Unreal Tournament 3 PhysX pack (if you saw the
now-removed story) that makes it clear it is still due next week. Here's word on
the content: Warmonger--full free game! Destroy walls, floors, and whole
buildings top open up new paths or close existing ones. Destructive power is
more than eye candy here--it's a tactical weapon in this ground-breaking action
game.
Unreal Tournament 3 PhysX Mod Pack--includes three maps with amazing effects
that fundamentally change the gameplay (requires commerical version of Unreal
Tournament 3)
A sneak peek at the upcoming Nurien social networking service, based on the
Unreal Engine 3
A sneak peek at the upcoming game Metal Knight Zero
All new NVIDIA "The Great Kulu" tech demo that showcases the use of PhysX soft
bodies in a real game play environment
All new NVIDIA "Fluid" tech demo--a simulation of realistic fluid effects with a
variety of liquids
In conjunction with the release of the GeForce Experience Pack, we will also be
releasing new WHQL-certified drivers that enable PhysX acceleration for all
GeForce 8, 9, and GTX 200 Series GPUs. This new driver also adds support for
PhysX-accelerated features in the commercially available game, Ghost Recon
Advanced Warfighter 2.
An Examination of Outsourcing: The Developer Angle on Gamasutra is an
enlightening article on the extent to which certain developers make use of
outsourcing to help create their games, a practice that is controversial among
developers, as some feel this costs western jobs. This looks at the topic from
the developer's perspective, talking with folks from three companies that make
use of outsourced development: Bungie cofounder Alex Seropian (now of Wideload Games), Kuju Entertainment president Jonathan Newth, and
Shiraz Akmal of THQ's XDG group that manages that company's outsourcing efforts.
An upcoming part two will look at this from the perspective of the developers
doing this outsourced work.
Okay, basically no progress was made on outstanding issues after the server move
yesterday, apologies for things lagging in that regard. I'm also now aware that
the server is not properly emailing responses to folks trying to register
for the forums, so that's been added to the todo list.
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