Archived News:
Acclaim announces a delay to the editions
of Spellborn International's MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn they are
publishing in North America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South
America. The game was to launch in North America on November 27,
the same day as the game's European launch, but the new plan calls
for closed beta testing in all those territories to begin on that day, to go
live at some point in January 2009: "When the European countries go live on
November 27, Acclaim will simultaneously start Close Beta testing in its
territories and then go live in January 2009. Both launches will have the exact
same product versions featuring identical Freemium models but with a different
release date to accommodate additional testing for a smooth official release.
Extensive testing of the game will ensure players receive the highest quality
gaming experience at launch."
Midway: What went wrong on Variety.com is an interesting analysis of the
perpetually troubled game producer, where interviewing some ex-employees throws
some blame at the decision to license the Unreal Engine 3 for the company's woes
(thanks
BeyondUnreal): "The mistake we made was, instead of just taking the
base Unreal 3 engine that 'Gears of War' was made on and building games off of
that, we let our tech and product development guys try to really modify the
engine to add all these diff things," one ex-employee told me. "It was a ton of
new technology which they just weren’t capable of doing. It put all the games
way behind schedule."
Even though Midway invested millions in building a common tech base for all its
studios, apparently they all had to adapt UE3 for each project, which meant they
couldn't share resources in a timely manner, so none of the promised benefits
materialized. Making the code work for PS3 was particularly hard, sources said,
and so games just weren't coming out. Look at the first half of 2007, when all
Midway shipped was "Lord of the Rings Online" for Turbine, or the first half of
this year, when all it shipped was "Unreal Tournament III" for Epic.
Variety.com reports that Electronic Arts has shut down Blueprint, observing
this means we may never know what it was: As Neil Young, who started
Blueprint mid-2007 and led it for around a year before leaving this spring to
head an iPhone gaming company, told me at GDC, Blueprint was intended to be a
new way to develop fresh properties across multiple media. In fact, it was
originally called Transmedia internally before adopting the name Blueprint.
In addition to its charter to work on new stuff, Blueprint also got ownership of
several existing projects at EA, most notably the three games being developed by
Steven Spielberg, which makes sense since Neil Young spearheaded that deal.
("Spore" was also under the Blueprint aegis for a short while) It was part of
the EA Games label, with Young reporting to label president Frank Gibeau.
It seems there were around a dozen people working on Blueprint and their mission
was to change the development process so that individuals or small teams could
work together from disparate locations without necessarily being employed at an
EA studio. "Using distributed people and leveraging technology in a significant
way would allow us to break the high-priced model of game development where
everybody is on sight, hired as a full-time regular employee," the former
Blueprint staffer told me.
Ubisoft announces that CSI: NY – The Game has shipped to store shelves,
offering the chance to solve crimes using forensics, just like in the CSI series
of television series. If you've ever dreamt of looking like Gary Sinise but were
not willing to take the required hammers to the face, this is your big chance:
"For the first time in the CSI video game series, CSI: NY – The Game will allow
you to play as actual characters from the hit TV show. The video game features a
brand-new graphic novel art style, interactive mini-games and interrogations, as
well as original cases crafted by writers from the "CSI: NY” television series.
Additionally, Golden Globe® winner Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes and the rest
of the show's primary cast have all contributed their voice and likeness to the
video game, adding to the authenticity of the interactive adaptation of CBS's
"CSI: NY” television series."
SEGA announces the release of Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009, saying the
sports management game is now available via
Steam and
Amazon for North Americans, following the release of the international
version titled Football Manager 2009 earlier this week.
Word is: "Soccer management fans rejoice! The next chapter in the Worldwide
Soccer Manager franchise is available today exclusively from Amazon.com or via
digital download via STEAM. Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 features a brand new
3D Match Engine – The famous Worldwide Soccer Manager™ match engine can now be
viewed in full 3D where you'll be able to view players from multiple camera
angles on the pitch and rewind or fast-forward to key plays. With this
customizable view you can also choose the information you would like to see
during the match, be it the latest scores or player performance stats for the
match. Fully updated for the new 2008/09 soccer season with all the latest
league, club and player data, Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 features over 5,000
playable clubs from over 50 countries, and around 350,000 players and staff from
around the world, drawn fresh from the famous Sports Interactive database."
Steam has word that
Call of Duty: World at War is now available on Valve's online service: " Call
of Duty: World at War, the latest release in the best-selling action game
franchise is now available to gamers around the world via Steam. This
installment of Call of Duty casts players in historical and fictional World War
II battles set in the Pacific and Eastern European regions. CoD: World at War
features both single and multiplayer gameplay modes."
Neverwinter Nights Forums have word that a new version 1.21 of
Neverwinter Nights 2 is now available for your role-playing pleasure. The
patch notes are semi-complete, listing a "majority of fixes and features" in the
new version, though in a considerate move, "All spoilers for Storm of Zehir have
been removed from this list." Thanks
Neverwinter Nights 2 Vault.
There are interviews with Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes on both
Joystiq and
PlayStation Universe, discussing the return of the acrobatic regent. The
conversations discuss other games, and interestingly, Guitar Hero comes up more
than once in the Joystiq Q&A: "In many ways, we actually consider Prince of
Persia to be a rhythm game in its platforming sequence, because when it works
well, you get into the same sort of Zen-like state when you're platforming that
you have in Guitar Hero. The world just shuts down and it just washes over you;
you're completely lost in the experience. You're not picking out things like, "I
have to press 'A' to do this," or "I have to press 'B' to do that" – just like
you're not thinking, "I have to use this finger to hit the green key." Anyone
who's played Guitar Hero for a couple of weeks ... they're not even thinking
anymore about what their fingers are doing."
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Eidos Interactive announces the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld, saying
the latest installment in the action/platformer series is now available in North
American stores for Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. The game is
expected in Europe on Friday, the PlayStation 2 edition is to follow early
next year, and for those seeking a sample, a playable demo is also
available. While the game won't let you go to hell in a handbasket, word is
it will let you visit the underworld on a motorbike: "Tomb Raider:
Underworld(TM) seamlessly blends exploration, grand scale puzzle solving and
combat, taking players on an archeological journey to the ancient nether worlds
of the Mediterranean, Thailand, Mexico, the Arctic Sea and more. As fearless
adventurer Lara Croft, gamers uncover proof of the existence of the Norse
underworld and the mythical Hammer of Thor, and embark on a perilous journey
towards a forgotten power that, if unleashed, could lay waste to all of
civilization. Lara's latest adventure introduces scores of new capabilities and
state-of-the-art gear, including an active sonar map, multi-purpose grapple and
an all-terrain motorbike. With fresh moves that are more intuitive and realistic
than ever before, players must master these in order to navigate through
treacherous environments and defeat a range of hostile enemies."
A new patch is now available for Crysis Wars, offering the
promised new version 1.2 of the multiplayer portion of Crysis Warhead,
Crytek's first-person shooter follow-up. The patch is on the
EA FTP server,
where they also have the
patch notes for the new version, outlining balance changes, bug fixes, and
the addition of nanosuit shortcut keys. Downloads of the patch can also be found
on AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and The Patches
Scrolls.
EA and Black
Box announce that Need for Speed Undercover is now racing onto North
American store shelves, and the latest installment in this street-racing series
is now available for Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, and
PSP, while the game's release in Europe is scheduled for Friday. Word is: "Need
for Speed Undercover is an action-packed game whose story of pursuit and
betrayal takes players back to the series’ roots with break-neck cop chases,
spectacular highway battles and an expansive open-world."
The Sins of a Solar
Empire Website has word that the version 1.1 patch for Ironclad's space
strategy game planned for release today has been pushed back until
tomorrow. Word is Stardock and Ironclad are taking some extra time to line up
additional servers: "We've had to make a slight reschedule of the version 1.1
update for Sins to Wednesday (November 19th). We're using this extra time to
setup some additional download servers so that everyone's update is fast. We
apologize for the delay but feel the extra time will be well worth it."
GOG.com, the online home of good
old games,
announces the addition of part of Epic's Unreal series to their DRM-free
marketplace. They start things off offering
Unreal
Gold and the
Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition, and they will eventually be
adding Unreal II: The Awakening Special Edition, and Unreal Tournament
2004 Editor's Choice Edition.
Gamereactor has a few
pieces of concept art from Deus Ex 3, the upcoming action/RPG prequel in the
works at Eidos Montreal. There's an interior shot, and exterior shot, and a
third shot with a close-up of either the player character or the 21st century
Marlboro man. They also offer a brief plot synopsis: "The game takes place in
the year 2027 and the main character Adam Jensen is a security guard at a
biotech company called Sarif. One day the offices are stormed by men in black
and almost everyone is killed... almost. Jensen survives and makes it his
business to find out what has been going on." Thanks
Kotaku.
GamesIndustry.biz has word that Crytek is planning a subsidiary in South
Korea to help their expansion into Asian markets. The new office in Seoul will
focus on their engine licensing business, and will include a dedicated engine
support team. They quote managing director of Crytek Faruk Yerli saying:
"Establishing an office in Seoul was the logical step to expand our business in
Korea as well as giving our engine licensees in this region the best possible
support, through direct access to a dedicated local team."
National Geographic getting into video games reports the formation of a
spin-off of the nonprofit National Geographic Society called National Geographic
Ventures that will create PC, console, and handheld video games based on
National Geographic's nature-themed television shows and its distinctive
yellow-bordered magazine. Their first title is Herod's Lost Tomb, a
hidden objects game that's already available for Windows and iPhone. NatGeo
stresses that they are offering "entertainment with substance," but that these
are games, not teaching materials. Word is: "Other upcoming titles include 'Rain
Forests' and 'Greencity,' slated for next year from National Geographic, as well
as 'National Geographic: Africa,' available next month from Sony."
Following recent reports that Brash Entertainment is closing,
Variety is reporting the publisher is being sued by 7 Studios and Zootfly,
two independent developers who are seeking money they claim they are owed for
projects they were creating for Brash. US developer 7 Studios says it is due
$468,000 for work on 9, a tie-in with an upcoming animated film being
produced by Tim Burton and an additional $113,000 for the Wii and DS mini-game
collection Six Flags Fun Park. For their part, Slovenian studio Zootfly
says Brash owes them $748,000 for work on Prison Break, the tie-in for
the Fox television series that may be " dunzo."
This week's MMOG-mania continues, as the Mines of Moria expansion for
The Lord of the Rings Online is now live.
The Mines of Moria
Release Notes on The Lord of the Rings Online Forums outline the changes in
the new version, offering links to the
downloadable updater and the ( Adobe Acrobat-format)
user
manual. The game's
official forums have word that some folks may be having trouble logging in,
and they are asking for patience: "Mines of Moria is now live and all servers
are open, but we are experiencing issues with our login servers. If you are
seeing your server as closed or down, or getting an error message, please be
patient and wait for the launcher to update. Our engineering staff is actively
looking into the issue. Thanks for your patience!"
EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
launches today, expanding SOE's MMORPG sequel. The
EverQuest II Website
has a launch trailer for the expansion, and there is a
post
on the game's forums with tips for those having problems with their
activation codes. Here's a bit on the add-on: "In an age long passed, a band of
extraordinary heroes embarked on a journey to free Norrath from the clutches of
a shrouded threat. Their quest would take them to the far reaches of the globe,
delving deep into the most dangerous dungeons and undertaking many daunting
trials. This was the Shadow Odyssey, and the heroes were known as the
Ethernauts. In their time, this epic quest came to an end, and Norrath was
saved. But now, history is repeating itself. It is time for a new generation of
Ethernauts to retrace the steps of their honored predecessors through the
ruined, unforgiving and twisting regions of Norrath to rid the world of the
invading scourge and destroy the renewed evil of the Shadowmen."
Square
Building U.S. Development Studio in LA on Gamasutra is an article from
yesterday that should have been mentioned here at the time. The Gama-gang
spotted a post on the
career section of Square's Website revealing plans for a new El Segundo
studio: "Square Enix is building a studio from the ground up. We are making an
action-oriented original IP game here in sunny Los Angeles. We are looking for
motivated master programmers to lay the foundation for a solid development
team." The listings make it sound like a console game, but with the
Supreme Commander 2 deal, they are clearly broadening their
horizons in multiple ways. There's further evidence of this on
GamesIndustry.biz, where they quote Square Enix president and CEO John
Yamamoto saying they are taking an "aggressive approach to expansion in North
America and Europe, and we are not ruling out additional partnerships or the
possibility of acquisitions, should they fit into our growth model," but that
RPGs will remain their main focus.
As noted in last night's
anticipatory announcement on Steam, today is the release date for Left 4
Dead, and according to the
gold announcement from a few days ago, the game should unlock
on Steam in a matter of 60 seconds: "Those who pre-order the game via Steam
save 10% off the regular price and may pre-load the game so they are able to
play at 12:01 am EST on November 18, 2008 when the game is made available."
MacNN has a release date for the MacOS edition of LEGO Indiana Jones, saying
the think different edition of the brixilated Indy homage will whip into stores
on November 28. Word is: "The game is expected to cost $40, and run on Intel
Macs with a 1.8GHz CPU, a 128MB graphics card, and Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later."
Thanks Ant.
The problem I mentioned with my antivirus software seems to be all cleared up, a
thank you to link machine Ant for alerting me to the fact that a patch was now
available that did the trick. The software is the new Norton antivirus, which I
was using to see if its new non-bloated version lived up to their claims of a
lighter footprint. I'd been very pleased with it right until the point when it
started crapping out on me, but that is sort of a deal-killer, so hopefully I
won't have a recurrence.
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