Archived News:
Meridian4 and Hermitworks Entertainment
Corporation
announce that Space Trader – Merchant Marine has shipped and this trading
sim/FPS is now available at retail stores and on most online distribution
channels. Word is: "As a Trader, you will attempt to amass a fortune beyond your
wildest imagination, buying and selling commodities and taking up arms against
the oppressors or even accepting bounty missions, hunting down crime bosses and
their thugs." The announcement is accompanied by
a batch of new screenshots.
City Interactive announces Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual is
shipping to North American stores. This is the adventure/mystery game that was
revealed with the title Testament of Faith, which was
quickly changed to Testament of Sin. Here's the announcement, which does not
offer an explanation for the title change: White Plains, NY- Nov 14, 2008
City Interactive, a North American publisher of PC and console-based video
games, today announced the release of its latest adventure/mystery title -
Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual (formerly "Testament of Sin.") In
Chronicles of Mystery, players' detective skills will be pushed to their limits
as they travel the world in an attempt to unravel an ancient mystery and save a
fellow archaeologist before it's too late.
Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual is a classically-styled adventure
title from the team that created the well-received Art of Murder: FBI
Confidential. The story follows archaeologist Sylvie Leroux as she travels the
Mediterranean in search of her Uncle, a fellow archaeologist who was researching
a sinister mystery. In Chronicles of Sin: The Scorpio Ritual, players will visit
exotic and historic locales including the Vatican, Malta and Istanbul in their
quest to find Sylvie's uncle. Players will seek clues and solve puzzles as they
travel the game's lushly rendered 3D locations.
Big Download reports that the North American launch of Huxley is
delayed until the first half of next year. Webzen's subscription-free Unreal
3-engine MMOFPS was previously supposed to launch this year, but
word is the extra time is being used to work out localization issues.
A new Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 patch is available, to update the real-time
strategy sequel to version 1.04. This offers some multiplayer enhancements;
names in multiplayer lobbies are now alphabetized, and ladder and statistic
reporting has been improved. The new version is available via the in-game
updater, and manual patches are also available on the
Command & Conquer Website. The English patch is mirrored on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer, and Gamer's
Hell; and some or all of the international patches are mirrored on
AtomicGamer
and Gamer's Hell.
The first trailer from Kingdom Under Fire II is now available, offering some
gameplay from the upcoming action/RTS sequel. The clip is posted on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
The Fistful of Frags Website now
offers a new version 2.1 beta of this Half-Life 2 modification set in the
wild, wild west. Word is: "First of all, we have completely redone the
animations for Colt Navy, coachgun, Smith carbine and Henry rifle! There is also
some important modifications done to bow, there´s only one bow type which fires
any kind of arrow, and is also available a new arrow type. Fiery arrows aren´t
very western like but we ensure they are hilarious, fun and make possible some
new tactics too. Finally, the bug which prevented servers to be displayed in
Steam´s server browser is fixed."
Videogaming247 reports that Sports Interactive says all issues owners of
Football Manager 2009 have had with authentication have been cleared up.
They've already
apologized for the problems with authentication, which was an unfortunate
turn of events considering how they went out of their way to tout the
strengths of their new DRM solution.
- The Last Remnant on
IGN.
- Love on
Eurogamer.
- Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim on
IGN. New
developer diary.
- The Music of Blizzard Entertainment: Echoes of War on
Kotaku.
- Need for Speed Undercover on
Edge Online.
- Prince of Persia on
GameSpy.
The latest in the flood of movies from Need for Speed Undercover is the
introductory sequence from the street-racing sequel, which is expected to go on
sale next week. The clip is available on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell. Also,
this
press release ( Adobe Acrobat-format) announces a deal between Black Box and
D-BOX to include D-BOX Motion Code into
the Windows edition of Need for Speed Undercover (thanks Mike Martinez and
TheHDRoom): "D-BOX Motion Code
technology is proprietary software that powers a range of Motion systems
featuring high performance actuators designed to provide real-time response to
on-screen action." The
D-BOX Gaming Products Section outlines the elaborate chair peripherals that
take advantage of this motion technology.
Kalypso Media announces they have acquired worldwide rights to Tropico 3
from Take-Two Interactive, and they will release the third installment in this
PC strategy series in summer 2009. Tropico 3 will be based on the original
Tropico, and development is being handled by Bulgarian developer Haemimont Games
( Rising Kingdoms, Imperium Romanum, Grand Ages: Rome). They
hope to appeal to newcomers as well as fans of the series, promising
"state-of-the-art graphics, complex gameplay similar to the other titles in the
series and a comprehensive multiplayer mode." According to Kalypso Media's Simon
Hellwig: "The Tropico series is a great IP which we are excited to continue. The
game will be the biggest project Kalypso has realized so far in its short
history and we are focussing on achieving a worldwide PC hit with this brand.
The acquisition of Tropico along with other key licenses is fundamental to our
future growth."
The
Evochron Renegades Website now offers a new version 1.958 of Evochron
Renegades, StarWraith 3D Games' space trading and combat game. This improves
memory efficiency and specular effects along with a couple of tweaks and bug
fixes. As usual, the new version is a triple-threat: A full installer, a trial
version/demo, and a patch for older versions. There is also a corresponding
updated dedicated server.
Eurogamer
reports a delay to Hydrophobia, as Blade Interactive has thrown some cold
water on plans to have the submersive survival action/adventure flood store
shelves by the end of this year. The self-published game is now expected in
March 2009, but no reason for the setback is provided.
Eurogamer
has a developer update on Blue Mars, Avatar Reality's "massively
multiplayer virtual world" that is using Crytek's high-octane CryENGINE2 engine.
The game virtual world (think Second Life on Mars)
was originally to enter beta testing later this year, but this new
report says the beta test will begin in January, 2009, and it is expected to run
around three months. They also announce a full launch is expected in April,
2009.
Kotaku has a follow-up to news from earlier this week that
Ubisoft has acquired Massive Entertainment, quoting Ubisoft
President and CEO Yves Guillemot saying Massive will play a key role in
Ubisoft's MMO strategy, though their first efforts will be less, well, massive,
referencing "light" MMO games that are popular in Asia. Interestingly, Yves
conflates Massive's RTS experience with MMO development: "We just bought it from
them since those guys have Blizzard so they didn't need that studio as much as
we do, and those guys are extremely strong in RTS (real-time strategy), so they
are going to help us also get closer to the MMO space. Our goal there is to go
first with light MMOs...that have been extremely popular in China but are also
coming in the U.S. and Europe and are generating lots of good revenue, so our
goal is first to start with light MMOs, and then in the future also come with
RPG and RTS, also in the MMO space."
Nymh of EU Drek'thar first to level 80 on WoW Insider has a bit on someone
who managed to hit the level cap in the new World of Warcraft expansion
while most players were still getting the shrink-wrap off their copies. There's
no word on whether Blizzard has dispatched a party of youngsters armed with the
Sword of a Thousand Truths to take her down. Thanks nin. On a semi-related note,
there's a Video interview with
Mike Morhaime on Ten Ton Hammer talking with the Blizzard CEO during the
Wrath of the Lich King launch event in Manhattan, discussing the growth of
their MMORPG and the state of the games industry.
Issue #19 of the Age of
Conan Newsletter announces the Ymmir's Pass update is now live in Funcom's
barbaric MMORPG, and game clients will automatically update when players log in.
Word is: "Ymir's Pass is an entirely new Cimmerian outdoor region. Not only will
you explore a vast new area of land, you will also have the opportunity to
explore a dramatic storyline by completing a series of new and exciting quests.
As you gain levels and unravel the mysteries of Ymir's Pass, you will also get
access to a new dungeon - The Amphitheater." The newsletter also includes a
guide to the new content, reflections on the new update from designer Joel
Bylos, and a
letter from game director Craig Morrison on the future of the game, "DirectX
10, more dungeons, item revamps - it's all there!"
Variety.com reports that Brash Entertainment is shutting down operations,
just a week after reports of layoffs for this publisher of movie game
tie-ins. The report indicates the company lost $400 million in investments
when co-founder Thomas Tull left the board, and the company simply ran out of
money. The story also indicates that several games are left in limbo by this
news, including Saw and Superman tie-ins.
Steam is now offering
pre-purchase of Tomb Raider:
Underworld through Valve's online service, and those who take advantage of
this will receive a free copy of
Tomb Raider: Legend to
play in the meantime. This is not a buy-before-you-try deal for the next
installment in the Tomb Raider series, however, as a playable
demo is available. Word is: "For those who pre-purchase and already own Tomb
Raider: Legend on Steam, you'll be able to give your free copy to a friend." In
other Steam/Valve news, the
Valve Complete Pack is now on sale (thanks jimnms), offering the
entire Valve catalog (including Left 4 Dead) for $99.99, which is close to 60% off the cost of buying
all those games individually. Update: GT points out Tomb Raider:
Legend is also free via
GameTap.
Candella Systems Ltd and Eipix Entertainment announce that Pyroblazer is
now available, as the science fiction racing game can now be purchased via
digital distributor
Direct2Drive (they also say it's on
Direct2Drive UK, but we can't find it there). Word is: "Set amidst the
awe-inspiring locations of New Apeiron, players get the opportunity to race
through a multitude of environments using a wide selection of anti-gravity craft
known as Blazers. As the players fight their way through the championship,
improved Blazers with better speed, handling and superior firepower become
available. Players also have the ability to pick up weapon and ammo upgrades
during the race, further enhancing their ability to land the killer blow. "
Today is the launch day for Football Manager 2009, the latest installment
in this long running football (of the soccer variety) simulation, and
this forum post
has details on how to properly authenticate the game (thanks Quboid). As noted
in that post, the first patch for the game is also available, which brings it to
version 9.1.0 (Build 26064). Patch notes for the new version can be found on
the Sports
Interactive Community Forums, and the patch itself can be downloaded from
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and The Patches Scrolls.
GameRanger, known for its support for
the Macintosh platform, has launched a service for Windows users to ease the
process of playing multiplayer games online.
The announcement quotes GameRanger prez Scott Kevill explaining why this is
necessary: "Many PC gamers end up avoiding multiplayer because of connection
issues or because they simply don't enjoy playing faceless strangers as much as
playing with people they know. It's about time something was done about it."
Here's where the free GameRanger service fits in: GameRanger achieves
these goals by safely eliminating connection problems with routers, NAT and
firewalls, and when coupled with full lobby support for over 500 games, allows
you to easily play with the people you want in private or public games.
Community and social networking features include profiles, friends lists,
instant messaging, in-game voice communication, and competitive ladders/
rankings/ratings for the more adventurous.
Join up and tell your friends to start playing online with classics like Dungeon
Keeper 2, Master of Orion II, Sacrifice and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri through
to recent games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Civilization IV:
Colonization, Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath and Dawn of War:
Soulstorm.
Frans continues his stellar work on the techie stuff here. Today we unveil a
separate mobile version of the site in response to requests from PDA users,
which can be accessed via pda.bluesnews.com.
This presents the news in a flat format similar to the HTML version of the site,
for phones that can handle more than the card-based WAP standard. Whether you
are a road warrior or a palm pilot (stop that or you'll go blind!), hopefully
one or both of these will work for you.
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