Archived News:
Today is the day S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky should be appearing in North American
stores after a brief snag that caused a delay of a couple of weeks
( story). Likewise,
this press release
announces that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is available for online purchase
and download from
Direct2Drive. Also, as promised ( story), GSC Game World's
first-person shooter prequel is also now available for purchase and download
from Steam.
Gamasutra
confirms a report from last month ( story) that Infinity Ward is
developing the next Call of Duty title, slated for release next year.
This was revealed during an analyst day at Activision Blizzard, but no other
details about the game were revealed.
Ubisoft announces the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of Brothers
in Arms: Hell's Highway are gold, and will ship to stores in North America
on September 23, but offer no indication about when the Windows edition of the
World War II shooter sequel will be released. They have issued a new "Brutality
of War" trailer, which conveys visuals of dispair and dismemberment sure to
brighten your day. The clip is posted on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
Twilight of the GPU- an epic interview with Tim Sweeney on Ars Technica
talks with the Epic Games CEO and chief architect about the future of graphics
programming. Tim predicts the next generation will see the death of the API,
saying, "I expect that in the next generation we'll write 100 percent of our
rendering code in a real programming language—not DirectX, not OpenGL, but a
language like C++ or CUDA." He also discusses the demise of the discrete GPU,
though this is less dire: "So I think you'll see some degree of fixed-function
hardware in everybody's architectures for the foreseeable future, and it doesn't
matter. And as long as the hardware is sufficiently programmable, we're fine
with that." He also makes interesting comments about DirectX, saying DX9 "was
the last graphics API that really mattered" and that "DirectX 10 takes DirectX 9
and adds some weird fixed-function components on top of it, which fit in a very
particular place in the pipeline, and are hard to use."
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Interview on VideoGamer.com talks with
Mythic's Paul Barnett about their fantasy-themed MMORPG that's about to launch.
A couple of the topics the conversation touches upon are how
console Warhammer
Online would be "a different game" and his opinion that
WAR Online is a
"better game at launch than WoW was."
A new Need for Speed Undercover trailer combines live action footage with
the first look at gameplay from the next installment in the hard-driving series.
The live action is an interview with one of the game characters shot in a cinéma
vérité style reminiscent of 1980s TV commercials. The clip can be found on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's
Hell, and
PlayStation Universe.
- Battlefield Heroes on
the Official Website. Customizations, Points and Missions.
- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning on
IGN.
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on
The MMO Gamer.
Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
- Steam News has
word on a new Steam client that's now automatically available…
Telltale Games now offers
Strong Badia the Free, episode 2 of Strong Bad's Cool Game for
Attractive People. The new installment is available as a standalone
purchase, or as part of a subscription for the full game series based on the
webcomic. There is also a playable demo for episode 2, which is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront.com,
Gamer's Hell, and
Games On Net.
The story earlier today about EA walking away from Take-Two negotiations
( story) mentions the soon-to-expire contracts of many key
Take-Two employees as one of EA's problems with making a deal. Now
GamesIndustry.biz follows up on this by quoting frequently quoted industry
analyst Michael Pachter saying that he foresees a bidding war for Sam and Dan
Houser, as the contracts for both of Rockstar's rock star brothers expire in
February 2009. He goes on to speculate that losing the Brothers Houser would
severely harm the Grand Theft Auto franchise, perhaps to a
similar extent that the departure of the core Medal of Honor development
team harmed that series.
Ars Technica reports a new consumer-oriented coalition called the Digital
Entertainment Content Ecosystem that will eventually unveil plans to allow
consumers freedom to play digital content they've purchased on any playback
device. The details on how this will all work are scant for now, so the most
interesting aspect of the story at this point is probably the absence of Apple
from the group, which may be a significant hurdle to its success. The article
also offers speculation by Ars that
this all will require new DECE-enabled devices. One of the organizations that's
signed on for this is Best Buy, and in a related note,
Best Buy
to buy Napster for $121 million reports the retailer is set to purchase the
music download service, and take another stab at the digital music distribution
market. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Jane Jensen's Blog has a status
report on Gray Matter, the upcoming adventure game from the designer of
the Gabriel Knight series. She gives the reason for the game's most recent delay
( story) as a change in developers, saying the game is now in the
hands of Wizarbox, described by her as "a very tight, experienced team." She
says the reworking of the game's infrastructure by the new team left them unable
to show off or discuss Gray matter at the Leipzig Games Convention, adding: "But
the good news is, it IS going to happen and happen well. As soon as we can show
you a build, we will." She concludes by promising more frequent updates on the
state of the game, and serving up some concept art from Wizarbox.
The Official World
of Warcraft Website now has a Wrath of the Lich King In Stores 11.13.08
splash screen, confirming the November 13 release date for Blizzard's MMORPG
expansion reported earlier ( story). Thanks nin.
A playable English demo is now available for King's Bounty: The Legend offering
a sample of this adventure game remake from Katauri Interactive. Word is: "The
demo includes the first city in the game, all three character types, multiple
quests and dozens of spells." The demo is accompanied by the announcement that
the game will be released in the US next week on September 23. The demo can be
downloaded from
ComputerGames.ro,
FanGaming, and
Gamer's Hell.
SCi suffers £99 million loss in "difficult" year has word that SCi
Entertainment's fiscal year closed on June 30, and the company reported losses
of GBP 99.1 million for the year, compared to a 2007 loss of £13.3 million. The
year saw SCi close developer Pivotal Games and cancel a number of
projects, and the announcement quotes SCi CEO Phil Rogers saying: "The 2008
results reflect a year in which we took decisive action to transform our
business." The report also states that SCi released 10 titles under the Eidos
brand for the year, selling a total of 7.1 million units, offering some
specifics: 1.4 million copies Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, 1 million for
Tomb Raider Anniversary, and a half-million copies of Conflict: Denied
Ops. In other SCi news from their
end-of-year reporting,
MCV
reports the company's board is recommending renaming the company to Eidos PLC,
also quoting Rogers: "The Board feels that it would be beneficial to align the
name of the listed Company to the strong product brand that Eidos represents in
order to benefit from a single identity and clearer outward and internal
communication." The name change will be officially proposed at the company's
annual shareholder meeting on December 2.
This press
release announces the day of reckoning is near for
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning,
as Mythic's new fantasy-themed MMORPG is shipping to stores tomorrow in
preparation of its full launch on Thursday. Those who preordered the Collector's
edition should have access already ( story), while those who have
preordered the standard edition of the Warhammer MMOG will be able to join in
tomorrow to begin building their characters. EA says they've taken more
preorders for WAR than any other game in the company's 26-year history, and that
they've sole more than 1.5 million units to retailers, and the release quotes
Mark Jacobs saying: "This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we
prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched
MMORPG in North America and Europe."
EA
and Take-Two shares drop reports that stock values for both EA and Take-Two
have dipped upon the news that the two companies have broken off negotiations
( story). Also,
Inability to retain Rockstar talent may have halted Take-Two acquisition
probes for reasons the deal died, saying that expiring contracts were the big
sticking point, quoting analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company saying: "The
main question mark is the status of Rockstar’s key talent, with their contract
due to expire in February 2009." He also says personality conflicts and appearances are other factors: "We think EA's decision to walk was motivated by
some combination of the following: a desire to appear fiscally responsible after
several years of capital misallocation, concern about EA’s ability to retain the
development talent at Rockstar, personality conflicts between the management
teams of the two companies, and scepticism about Take-Two's multi-year release
lineup."
World of Warcraft database Wowhead now
carries a full screen for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King saying "In
stores 11.13.08." There does not seem to be any accompanying announcement nor
any further details anywhere. Thanks Pathogen.
Electronic
Arts Terminates Discussions with Take-Two has word that the long-running
courtship is over for EA and Take-Two, as Electronic Arts has walked away from
their takeover negotiations. A specific reason is not named, but the
stumbling block all along has been a failure to come to agreement over an
appropriate stock price, and the article outlines the public history of these
discussions. The possibility that negotiations could reopen is also mentioned.
Take-Two
Interactive Software, Inc. Comments on EA Announcement has a brief statement
quoting Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two indicating they are
still looking for a suitable suitor: "We remain focused on creating value for
our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its
conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly
rejected by our stockholders. As part of that commitment, we remain actively
engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process
to consider strategic alternatives."
Comic Book
Resources has the announcement that comic book writer Geoff Johns has been
signed to write DC Universe Online, the upcoming PC and PlayStation 3 superhero
MMORPG. Johns joins executive director Jim Lee on the project as another comic
book professional on the project. The announcement offers a quote from Lee:
"This really shows the level of commitment everyone on this project has to
capturing the DC Universe in an authentic, compelling way."
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on
IncGamers. On Phased Zones.
I mentioned a tooth was bothering me recently, but the pain went away not long
after. I have a dentist appointment today to see what it is, and I'm hoping it's
nothing. That's not to say I'm not 99% sure I need a root canal, I just figure
it can't hurt to hope for the best (Well, I suppose the best would be for him to
drill into it and find a diamond, but you know what I mean).
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