Archived News:
The
Scott Faye interview on Kotaku talks with the producer of the Max Payne
movie about his plans to follow that project with a screen adaptation of Duke
Nukem. This is presumably a different movie than the Duke movie project
announced in 2001 ( story), though Faye is said to have been
working on the Max Payne movie for ten years now, so who knows. Besides, that is
still short compared with the development time spent on, well, never mind. Faye
is still working on the Alice movie, and is also said to be working with Scott
Miller’s Radar Group on a number of new cross-media franchises that are being
designed from the ground up as games and films in addition to the new Duke
movie. The Q&A does make it clear that this is a development deal that does not
yet have studio backing: "With the two new games coming out based on Duke Nukem,
I'm working at establishing a Duke film scenario that will compel a studio to
finance a feature version. Certainly, there's a large audience that knows and
loves this character."
IGN reports that Warner Bros. and Monolith have regained the rights to the
F.E.A.R. name, and have changed the title of Project Origin to
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. This F.E.A.R. sequel previously could not use
that title, as the F.E.A.R. name (but not the story) remained in the control of
publisher Sierra. This puts an end to potential confusion caused by the F.E.A.R.
sequel carrying a different title. WBIE and Monolith were able to secure the
naming rights after the Activision Blizzard merger put the future of the Sierra
brand in doubt. The article promises more details are coming soon and includes a
video interview discussing the name change. They also nail down the release date
for the game, which is February 10, 2009 for all platforms. Thanks Gamer's Hell.
Ubisoft officially confirms the October 21 North American release date for
Far Cry 2 revealed on Friday ( story). The announcement
includes news of an exclusive deal with GameStop that will get preorder
customers an exclusive limited edition of the game at no additional cost. The
Limited Edition will offer a fold-out map, exclusive packaging, and "6 Bonus
Missions with about 3 bonus hours of explosive gameplay."
GSC Game World announces September 15 as the new North American release date for
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, after the shooter prequel was delayed from its
planned September 5 release ( story), reportedly due to the
absence of CD keys in the package. GSC also says "The digital download release
date has not yet been determined," but Valve made
an
announcement on Friday ( story) likewise saying the Steam
edition of Clear Sky is due on September 15.
The
Jeffrey Steefel interview on the Lord of the Rings Online Vault talks with
the executive producer on The Lord of the Rings Online about the upcoming
Mines of Moria expansion for the MMORPG. The conversation is formatted
into an article that previews what to expect from the add-on. Also, there's a
new Mines of Moria movie that shows off The Flaming Deeps, a new region that
will be added in the expansion. The movie can be found on
FileFront and Gamer's
Hell.
GameSetWatch has further details on what's being called "The Warhead PC,"
saying this machine designed specifically for Crysis Warhead will be
officially announced next week and the PC itself should be available when Crysis
Warhead ships on September 16. The system is built around an Intel E7300 CPU and
an NVIDIA 9800GT graphics card, and it was designed by Crytek with the goal of
being able to run their upcoming shooter sequel at 30 FPS while costing no more
than $700 USD. After the box was designed, it was used to benchmark the
game, and they made sure to optimize any areas where performance lagged. As to
why this is all going on, they quote Crysis franchise producer Bernd Diemer
saying: "EA’s not getting into the hardware business, and Crytek isn’t either.
The biggest thing for us is convenience. We want to make PC gaming convenient." Thanks Mike Martinez and
Kotaku.
We received a statement from LucasArts regarding the possibility of a PC edition
of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed referenced in the story below. While
they cannot be certain what it was the Pixelux Entertainment COO said on the
topic, they are unequivocal in their denial that a PC port is in the works: "I
can tell you definitively that there is no PC version of Star Wars: The Force
Unleashed planned."
A PC edition of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may be in the works,
according to an overt implication at NVIDIA's recent
NVISION 08 Conference as reported by
Rock, Paper, Shotgun. During a presentation by
Pixelux Entertainment,
who created the physics in the just-released Star Wars console game, the
company's COO Vik Sohal had this to say: "…Just been released last week on the
internet, the Force Unleashed demo on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. We have a PC
version as well."
The European
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Website has an update on the problematic
launch of European open beta testing of Mythic's upcoming MMORPG
( story). Word is European WAR server operator G.O.A. has been
hard at work on the underlying hardware and software issues, and to prevent
registrations from overwhelming their capacity, things will be handled differently
when they go back online today: "As a result, we will launch a new code
validation page today at 16:00 CET. This new page will feature a delay between
the input and the validation of the key. You will now receive a confirmation
email within a few minutes of entering your key. On a related topic; if you
created a war-europe account yesterday and have a validation email for this,
these changes will allow you to follow that link and validate your account."
The NeoGAF Forums
have a scan promoting the upcoming 200th print issue of PC Zone indicating the
magazine will offer details on Deus Ex 3, saying "The conspiracy is
revealed…" The corner of the page says the issue will go on sale on October
9. Thanks
Videogaming247.
Stardock Interview
Part 1 on Shacknews talks with Brad Wardell, focusing on the recent Gamer's
Bill of Rights proposed by the Stardock CEO and Chris Taylor of Gas Powered
Games ( story). They dig for more details about the proposal, and
in light of recent indications that is not getting widespread support in the
industry ( story), they inquire if this was just a publicity
stunt: "Well certainly it's a publicity stunt. The idea is to get the word out
there. Because at the end of the day, the only ones that are gonna really make
this happen are the gamers themselves, if they start to make purchasing
decisions based on those who would adhere to some kind of standard."
Dominions
3: The Awakening Website now offers a new patch to update the 64-bit Linux
edition of Illwinter Game Design's fantasy-themed strategy sequel to version
3.20b. The new version addresses a network bug that turned up in penguin-powered
edition of the recent version 3.20 patch ( story), but the bug
does not impact the Windows or Mac editions of the game.
EA's Spore Prototypes Page
now offers 11 more playable prototype systems "exploring countless design
directions in gameplay, simulation and user interface" created as part of the
process of designing Spore, the just-released life simulation. As they
explain: "Usually these prototypes are never seen by the public, but we thought
some of the more intrepid players out there might enjoy playing around with a
few of our early Spore prototypes. Keep in mind these are not tested, supported
or even easily explained." Thanks
Computer
and Video Games.
Why EA Should Exchange
my -Digital copy- of Crysis for a Physical Retail Copy on Crymod Modding Portal
is a lengthy forum thread outlining a frustrating exchange one user had with EA
customer support over trying to update a copy of Crysis downloaded from the EA
store to work under 64-bit Vista. Workarounds have been devised for this
problem, which apparently cannot be applied to the download version due to DRM
issues. This customer makes the case for exchanging their digital rights for a
physical copy, but meets with a series of canned responses that for the most
part fail to address the issue at hand. Thanks Ant and
Digg.
Who plays, how much, and why? Debunking the stereotypical gamer profile on Wiley
InterScience offers an extensive analysis of demographic data of MMOG
players based on anonymous EverQuest II data supplied by SOE, as outlined on
Raph Koster's Website. The study offers some results described as
counterintuitive, as summarized in some questions they raise: "Why, for example,
are older female players playing at the highest rates? Why are older players
playing more when younger people are thought to have more free time? Why are
these gamers physically healthier than nongamers? Why do minorities play at
lower rates? Why do so many players not practice religion? Did game play cause
the mental health outcomes or vice versa?" Thanks
Terra Nova and
Massively.
This Battlefront.com Videos Page has a new video with around six minutes of
footage from the upcoming Marines module for Combat Mission Shock
Force. Here's the accompanying blurb: "This video shows some in-game action
(turn-based replay) from a US Marines infantry assault against a Syrian held
town. The Marines encounter some Syrian tanks - and deal with them swiftly. Both
action and command phases are shown, showcasing - among other things - the use
of the new "action spot highlight" feature during the Command Phase."
If the local GameStop is any indication, this obscure Spore project you may have
heard about might enjoy a little success. The store opens about 11:00 am, and we
stopped by shortly after noon, and were told it had already long sold out.
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