Archived News:
A new "Enemies of the Imperium" trailer from Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II
shows off some, well, enemies of the Imperium in Relic's upcoming real-time
strategy sequel. The clip is located on
AtomicGamer and
MyGameTrailers. Also,
Eurogamer has details on preorder bonuses being offered at European
retailers, and
Amazon lists preorder bonuses, as well. These seem to vary by location in
the EU, but here's the Amazon listing: "Buy Warhammer: Dawn of War 2 and get a
code to unlock an exclusive digital bonus:
The Sternguard Wargear Set. The set includes the Armor of Vandea, a unique
chapter, mastercrafted grenades, and the "Unforgiving Truth" Bolter. Directions
to redeem the bonus content will be packaged with the game. The redemption code
will be e-mailed to you no more than ten days after the game releases. Offer
good while supplies last. Must be sold and shipped by Amazon.com to qualify."
Knight’s Blood is online as the
latest in Acclaim's subscription-free MMORPG offerings. What do you want for
nothing? A rubber biscuit? Well you don't get that, but you do get this: "Once
you have registered for Knight’s Blood you find yourself on the overview page of
your knight. Here you can find important information about your character and
also your personal link, with which you can convert knaves to knights online by
placing the link appropriately. You can invest your Gold in training for your
character to improve his/her attributes or you can buy better equipment. You can
directly challenge other knights to a duel, whereby your character abilities and
equipment play an important role. Your knight can also choose the good or evil
aspects of the missions they undertake as either a Knight of the Light or member
of the Horde of Darkness. Choose from hundreds of weapons, suits of armor,
shields, amulets and rings to improve your fighting abilities. Customize your
character avatar, and even your own individual coat of arms; there are billions
of possible combinations! As with other Acclaim titles, players can purchase
items and additional in-game currency using Acclaim Coins."
A second patch is now available for FIFA Manager 09, updating this sports
management sequel with new features, bug fixes, and a database update. The new
patch also includes all the content of the previous patch, and old saved games
will still work after applying the update. The patch can be found on
AtomicGamer and
Games On Net.
Steam's weekend deal is
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, as GSC Game World's irradiated
first-person shooter is now available for 75% off, which makes it $4.99.
Battlefront.com now offers a five-part video series from Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943,
1C Company's upcoming tactical wargame. Here's the lowdown:
"Watch as a US combat team under command by Lt. Col. Roger Waters is ordered to
defend against a German mechanized attack on Faid pass in February 14, 1943.
This original in-game footage from a recent beta version of the game shows the
setup phase as well as the first half of the assault as seen from the player's
perspective."
A new "create a sim" trailer from The Sims 3 shows your ability to create
characters and environments to your liking in the upcoming lifestyle simulation
in a clip that also highlights the tendency of the wee people
to dance in an oddly
familiar manner. The clip is available on
AtomicGamer and
MyGameTrailers.
A new Memento Mori trailer is now available from dtp's point-and-click
adventure due early next year. They say: "The video shows both ingame footage
and cut scenes from the upcoming mystery thriller adventure game, which boasts
no less than eight different endings. The video provides a glimpse of Memento
Mori’s thrilling atmosphere and entirely three-dimensional graphics." The clip
can be found on
AtomicGamer and
MyGameTrailers.
Steam News announces that
several EA games are now available to their North American customers, including
Spore (confirming recent speculation) as well as Spore
Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Mass
Effect, Need for Speed Undercover, and FIFA Manager 2009. They
also say in the coming weeks they will also be adding Mirror's Edge,
Red Alert 3, and Dead Space, though there is no indication at this
time as to whether they will expand the EA catalog on Steam to other
territories. Update: A post on the
Steam
Users' Forums by one of the moderators states the EA games on Steam will
have no third-party DRM (i.e., SecuROM). Thanks nin. We have asked Valve for
official word on this as well as whether there are plans to open this up outside
of North America. Steam has been listing third-party DRM on game pages lately,
and their page for Spore
does not mention SecuROM.
A new StarCraft
II Battle Report is online, offering Blizzard Entertainment's first official
shoutcast for StarCraft II, showing off a multiplayer match using an
alpha version of the RTS sequel, while highlighting new e-sports oriented
features for match spectators and commentators. Thanks
StarCraftWire.Net.
A new trailer is now available for TrackMania, celebrating the fifth
anniversary of Nadeo's racing franchise. Word is: "This anniversary video is
also the occasion to celebrate the tens of thousands of players who continue to
use their exceptional creativity to offer unbelievable additional content and
new experiences to the massive TrackMania fan community." The movie is available
on the TrackMania
Website and it is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
MyGameTrailers.
GamesIndustry.biz has quotes from CEO Richard Wilson of UK trade association
Tiga expressing regrets over the demise of Free Radical Design, the developer
that's now in administration. He offers congratulations over their
past successes and sympathies for those now unemployed, while using the occasion
to pitch for tax breaks for the UK game industry, saying: "A tax break for games
production and a larger supply of skilled workers may not have saved Free
Radical Design. Nonetheless, this policy approach would strengthen the UK video
games sector. The Secretary of State for BERR must take action." On a related
note,
Kotaku has some concept art from TimeSplitters 4, pitching for work
for artist Nick Carver.
Deep Silver announces Line Rider Freestyle, a continuation of the
creative track design game to be released for Windows, Wii, and DS next year.
The retail version of the internet phenomenon will include a titular freestyle
mode, as well as a story mode that involves solving puzzles: "In Story mode, the
main character needs to solve 40 puzzles in eight chapters, hitting certain
targets on the way. In Freestyle mode, on the other hand, 'Line Rider' artists
are absolutely free to create their own exciting tracks. A completely new set of
tools is available for this. The self-designed challenges may then be presented
on the official 'Line Rider' website."
EA Releases Details on Previously Announced Reduction of Facilities and Work
Force has a follow up on the announcement from Electronic Arts
that it would be cutting its workforce with word that these cuts will be more
extensive than previously indicated. EA now announces 10% of its workforce,
approximately 1,000 people, will be losing their jobs between now and March 31,
2009, almost double the 6% cut they had previously planned. Word is the
restructuring will result in annual cost savings of approximately $120 million
and restructuring charges of approximately $55-65 million over the next several
quarters. The story also confirms recent reports about Need for
Speed developer Black Box: "The restructuring also calls for consolidation
or closure of at least nine studio and publishing locations. Among the
facilities to be consolidated is the Black Box Studio facility in Vancouver,
British Columbia. The Black Box development teams and associated game franchises
will move to the nearby EA studio location in Burnaby, British Columbia. EA is
implementing a plan to narrow its product portfolio to focus on hit games with
higher margin opportunities. The company remains committed to taking creative
risks, investing in new games, leading the industry in the growing mobile and
online businesses, and delivering high-quality games to consumers." According to
Bloomberg.com: "Electronic Arts climbed 73 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $17.49
at 10:31 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The shares
fell 71 percent this year before today."
Another new homebrew patch is now available for Vampire: The Masquerade -
Bloodlines, updating the Source-engine action/RPG from closed developer
Troika to version 5.9. The download is available on this unofficial project's
official home,
The Patches Scrolls. Complete details on the fixes and tweaks in the new
version are in the
change notes.
Steam now offers three titles new to their digital distributions service.
They have added Europa
Universalis: Rome - Gold Edition, which bundles the real-time strategy game
with its Vae Victis expansion, the complete
Strong Bad's Cool Game for
Attractive People, and in honor of the coming of winter,
Penguins Arena: Sedna's World
is now available. Here's a bit from
the announcement for Penguins Arena, and its unusual mix of
shooting, flightless birds, and the supernatural: "Penguins Arena is a thrilling
and innovative First Penguin Shooter with very short rounds and where the magic
of reincarnation, combined with the supernatural ability to return to the game
as a ghost, ensures that your character has every chance to change your tribe's
fate." There is also a
new Q&A about the game on GarageGames.
A new "Road to Independence" trailer from Empire Total War shows off some
gameplay set during the American Revolution in Creative Assembly's upcoming
real-time strategy game. The clip is available on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
MyGameTrailers.com.
A second video developer diary for Stormrise is now available, profiling
the upcoming multiplatform real-time strategy game with a look at the history of
the warring factions in the game along with profiles of heroes and other
units. The movie can be found on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell.
The Sims 3 Producer
Interview on 1Up chats with Grant Rodiek about the next iteration of The
Sims series. They risk opening old wounds by referencing The Sims Online in
asking about multiplayer support: "The Sims 3 is still an offline, single-player
experience. However, we've devoted a great deal of effort into our online
community so that players can share content with friends, socialize within the
community, and access an abundance of features they've come to expect from their
favorite websites. In that regard, The Sims is a very social experience. The
concepts of community and sharing are at the core of any Sims game."
- Call of Duty: World at War on
FiringSquad.
- Grand Theft Auto IV on
Out of Eight.
- The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Complete Edition on
GameZone.
- World War II General Commander: Operation Watch on the Rhine on
Armchair General.
The GeForce GTX 295 articles are all "previews."
- Aerocool Hi-Tech 7 Pro on
Pro-Clockers.
- Affordable PSU Roundup on
The Tech Report.
- ASUS P5Q Deluxe Motherboard on
iXBT Labs.
- Boogie Bug Dub Style M Custom Case on
ThinkComputers.org.
- CoolIT's Domino Advanced Liquid Cooling on
DragonSteelMods and
TweakTown.
- Creative Gigaworks T3 Speakers on
VR-Zone.
- ECS GF9300T-A Black Series Motherboard on
Virtual-Hideout.
- Foxconn Blood Rage Motherboard on
VR-Zone.com.
- iGo everywhereMAX Notebook Adapter on
Test Freaks.
- Ikonik Zaria A20 Case on
Techware
Labs.
- Jetway NC92 Series Mini-ITX Motherboard on
Modders-Inc.
- Kingwin EZ-Dock HDD Dock on
OCIA.net.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 192 versus Core 216 Graphics Card
Comparison on
Elite Bastards.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Graphics Card on
bit-tech.net, Bjorn3d,
FiringSquad,
Guru3D,
Hardware Canucks,
HEXUS.net,
Overclockers Club,
PCGH, and PC
Perspective.
- NZXT Avatar Mouse on
XSReviews.co.uk.
- Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic ST-6026 Graphics Card on
Benchmark Reviews,
Big Bruin, and
HEXUS.net.
- Sharp LC32GP3 32" LCD HDTV on
Gaming Nexus.
- Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 Digital Camera on
Digital Trends.
- Thermaltake Xpressar Phase Change Cooler on
TweakTown.
- Thermolab BARAM Heatsink on
FrostyTech.com.
- Verbatim 3.5” External HDD eSATA & USB Combo Drive 500GB on
InsideHW.
- Western Digital VelociRaptor Raid 0 Hard Drive on
Bjorn3d.com.
I've mentioned in the past Hudson the wonder dog's utter hatred of the mail, as
she treats the letters coming through the slot in the door like she would vermin
emerging from a hole, which is to say with extreme violence. We put a sign over
the slot a long time ago, and have collected our mail from the doorstep ever
since. Of course as luck would have it we didn't notice the sign falling off
until the substitute mailman showed up and illustrated the problem for us by
putting the mail through the door. The thing is, in piecing together the shreds
of mail that remained (did I mention she seems like she never even had her
recent surgery?), we noticed a significant majority of one letter missing, as
all that's left is a portion of the postmark. As strange as it may seem, we've
come to the conclusion that the missing parts were actually eaten, leaving us to
wonder if we've lost other letters in toto before and just not realized it.
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