Archived News:
Positech games now offers the release of
Kudos 2 along with a playable demo for their turn-based life simulation
game. Word is: "Kudos 2 is unlike any strategy or casual game you have played
before. The game has a totally original style, and uses artwork by legendary
comic artist Jamie McKelvie. Every game of Kudos is unique. Did you become a
high-flying corporate lawyer who cruises to the office each morning in a luxury
car, but has no social life, or do you become a popular, trendy and much loved
guitar-player, who works as a waitress to pay the bills? Will you have the money
to splash out on a burglar alarm, or rely on your martial arts (or your faithful
pet dog) to protect you from crime?" The playable demo is
on this page and mirrored
on AtomicGamer and
Gamer's Hell.
The Fallout 3
Interview on Shacknews talks with Pete Hines of Bethesda Softworks about
their coming RPG sequel, covering a variety of topics specifically about the PC
edition. Along the way Pete offers his take on the censorship story, saying, "It
is seriously the biggest non-issue in the history of video games. It got way
more attention than it merits." He also promised the game will have mild DRM:
"Pretty similar to what we did for Oblivion, which was--we basically don't do
any--we do the mildest form possible. I actually don't know if I even want to
get into what it is that we exactly do, but we try to be really noninvasive when
it comes to that stuff." He says they aren't quite done with development, but,
"We're right to the end of it."
The Interview with id's Tim
Willits and Todd Hollenshead on 1Up talks with two of id Software's
co-owners about Rage, their upcoming first-person action game. Topics
include the switch to EA as a publisher, the state of Rage and Wolfenstein
development, the Tech5 engine, difficulties with outsourced development, and a
changed perspective on the possibility of distributing Rage digitally: "We
haven't quite worked through our electronic-distribution. John Carmack [id
co-founder] made a comment about the media size, which unfortunately wasn't
exactly correct because we haven't crossed that bridge yet. He said it was going
to be too large to download, and I was thinking to myself, "You know, uhhhhh,
people can do lots of things." So I want to correct that and say that...."
The
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Interview on Gaming Nexus talks with Mario Kroll of
cdv Software about Ascaron's RPG sequel, discussing specifics about the game,
whether they feel this is a "chilly" climate for RPGs, the participation of
metal band Blind Guardian in the project, and more.
The 14th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition
is underway, and the games are
available for download either for Windows or Macintosh. Those interested in
voting should register and check out the game
information and voting page.
A playable demo for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is no available, offering
the chance to kick around the latest installment in this sports sim series a day
earlier than promised ( story). The demo allows for five minute
exhibition matches (including multiplayer) using a choice of playing as
Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or the Italian and French
national teams. The approximately 1 GB download can be found on
4players.de, AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FanGaming,
FileFront, and
Gamer's Hell.
An updated version of the playable demo for King’s Bounty: The Legend is
now available to supersede the recent sample ( story) of Katauri
Interactive's adventure game remake. The new demo offers: "New character
classes: Demons, Orcs, Cyclops" and improved texts and translations, and it is
said to work better on video cards below the recommended system requirements.
The 682 MB download is available on
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
Gamer's Hell, and
Strategy Informer.
Hothead Games announces episode 2 of Penny Arcade Adventures is gold, and
the Windows, Mac, and Linux editions are slated for online release this fall on
Playgreenhouse.com, while the Xbox
360 version will be released via LIVE (the PlayStation Network edition will
follow "shortly thereafter"). Word is: "The madcap Penny Arcade experience
continues in Episode Two where gamers return to the deranged 1920s universe of
New Arcadia and rejoin Gabe and Tycho of the Startling Developments Detective
Agency to visit crazy new areas, combat bigger and badder enemies, solve even
more wacky puzzles and get ever closer to unraveling the mystery in the sinister
heart of New Arcadia." A new trailer for Episode 2 is also now available on
FileFront.
VideoGamer.com
has quotes from Lionhead's Peter Molyneux on the possibility that a PC edition
of Fable 2 may be announced eventually, though he stresses "There's no
announcement either positive or negative on a PC version just yet." What he is
willing to say is: "If you recall we didn't release a PC version of Fable
immediately. I don't think we even announced it immediately." This is quite
true, as Fable: The Lost Chapters for PC was not announced
( story) until after the Xbox edition shipped. His elaboration
suggests that he's being coy about this, rather than uncertain, as this is what
he says about these comments: "But these are the sorts of things as you can
imagine I get into an enormous amount of trouble for. I have to be very
careful!"
dtp entertainment announces Otherland, a futuristic MMORPG planned for
release in 2010 based on the novels of fantasy author Tad Williams. The game is
under development in Singapore by RealU, and the announcement quotes RealU CEO
Andrew Carter on what they are doing to enhance the Unreal Engine 3: "To push it
over the top our developers have also made countless additions to ensure
outstanding graphics quality over huge environments. At the same time our
artists and engineers are exploring the boundaries of Unreal Engine 3 to create
fresh new visual styles for the game. At Real U we are developing completely new
architecture that allows us to build a groundbreaking MMO game with Unreal
Engine 3 at its core." This set of
high-resolution screenshots show off some of their work, and here's a bit on
Otherland gameplay: "MMO fans can also expect a fascinating gameplay
experience. Based on the globally successful novels, the Otherland gameplay is
distinguished by a unique narrative structure. Rather than retelling the story,
players will experience their own individual stories within the Otherland
universe and will encounter many of the familiar characters from the books. The
game world will change dynamically around them during the course of the game."
Disney Interactive Studios has released a playable demo for the PC edition of
Pure, the 4x4 off-road stunt racing game created by Black Rock Studio. The
demo includes the Mount Garda track in Italy, as well as a tutorial. The
whopping 1.9 GB download is posted on
AtomicGamer,
FanGaming,
Gamer's Hell, and
Strategy
Informer.
EA Announces That Dead Space Has Gone Gold, saying the Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3 editions will ship in North America on October 14, and the PC
edition to follow on October 20. They say those who purchase a console edition
within two weeks of release will be entitled to download a free suit that adds
inventory slots and style to your character. They also mention the 1000 copy
"ultra limited edition" for the Xbox 360. Here's the description of the
game: "The bold and often bloody Dead Space promises to deliver the ultimate in
psychological terror and gruesome cinematic action. Set in the cold blackness of
deep space, the atmosphere in Dead Space is soaked with a feeling of tension,
dread and sheer terror. In Dead Space, players step into the role of mining
engineer Isaac Clarke, an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the
communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It’s not long before
Isaac awakes to a living nightmare filled with vicious genetic mutations inside
a dead, claustrophobic silence. Now Isaac is cut off, trapped, and engaged in a
desperate fight for survival."
De-Frag.com has a post about demo
plans for Left 4 Dead after speaking with Valve's Chet Faliszek, who
repeats Gabe Newell's comments from a few weeks ago ( story) that
the demo for the multiplayer zombie shooter will probably include part of the
Hospital level. They also learn the demo is expected "shortly before release" of
the game, which is currently expected in the third week in November
( story). Thanks
Eurogamer.
Blizzard wins
Warcraft bot payout reports $6 million is the damages award MDY Industries
must pay Blizzard after losing a US court case over the World of Warcraft
"Glider" software ( story). Word is: "The damages award could be
delayed if Blizzard appeals against the judgement which threw out its claim to
double or triple the cash settlement." Word is the case will return to court in
January 2009 to settle "remaining issues" in the legal conflict over the
software that automates functions in the MMORPG. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Matrix Games is now serving up a new patch for Larry Bond’s Harpoon –
Commander’s Edition bringing the naval warfare game to version 2008.044,
which is presumably based on a date rather than having been preceded by
2000-some-odd other patches. Word is: "The update includes some new
functionality for Battleset Builders so databases can be embedded in user
BattleSets. In addition, there are tons of updated air and sea units, nearly
twenty fixes to reported issues, sound and graphic files have been reconfigured
to allow for easy modding, and shell Caribbean, South Atlantic, South African,
and Middle Eastern BattleSet have been included so a wide variety of new
scenarios can be crafted with these new units over the next few releases!" The
271 MB download is posted on
this page.
NEWS.com.au has a story about the Australian OFLC's refusal to classify
Silent Hill: Homecoming, meaning the just-released survival/horror sequel cannot
be sold down under ( story). They say game retailers in Australia
are advising customers to "wait out" the ban in hopes an edited version is
released. They also report, "Staff at EB Games and Game stores said customers
who had pre-ordered the game would be refunded if the title remained banned."
The article also discusses the possibility of the addition of an adults-only
R18+ rating, expressing hopes that this will possibly be redressed at a meeting
in November. On a related note,
IGN has details
on what exactly the OFLC found so objectionable about the game, which apparently
involves gore and power tools.
Mythologically
Speaking: Q&A with Rise of the Argonauts' Andrew Rubino on GameZone is a Q&A
with Liquid Entertainment's Andrew Rubino about Liquid's upcoming
mythology-themed action/RPG. They cover a variety of topics, including combat:
"Our goal was to deliver an action experience better than anything you’ve seen
in an RPG before, so you can expect combat that is fast-paced and lethal.
Enemies don’t have a million hit points; a single strike will visibly cripple an
enemy or maybe even kill him. Your foes won’t just run up and let you beat on
them, though. Jason can try to quickly dodge around enemies so his attacks slip
past their shields, or he can just break through their shields with a series of
powerful blows. As a weapons master, Jason has a variety of moves with his
sword, mace, and spear, which the player can switch to at any time, even in the
middle of combos." Also a new video shows off the island of Kythra from the
game, offering developer narration on the topic. The clip is available on
AtomicGamer and
FileFront.
Okay, we were hard at work on our new server for much of yesterday, and by we, I
mean Frans, and the tireless one has worked out a couple of things that we
expect to implement at some point today. After being in a difficulty situation
with limited ability to access the old server, the new server has us acting a
little like kids in a candy story. I am Cornholio!
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