Archived News:
On this anniversary of the release of Qtest in 1996, the
QUAKE LIVE Website is now accepting all
comers into the open beta of QUAKE LIVE, the free web-based version of
Quake III Arena. Word is: "Welcome to QUAKE LIVE! Everyone on the development
team and at id Software would like to thank you for stopping by and giving this
very exciting new project of ours a shot. We look forward to hearing from you,
playing in matches with you, and most of all hope you and your friends have a
great time with the game."
This Paradox Plaza beta signups page
is where to register your interest in beta testing Hearts of Iron III,
the World War II strategy sequel due for release later this year. Word is:
Hearts of Iron III is now approaching the critical Beta stage of
development. The last few months have seen the team stabilizing the foundations
of the AI, tightening up the rules and mechanics of the game, along with
implementing new artwork and interface features.
Johan Andersson, Lead Developer on Hearts of Iron III, specifies what they are
looking for in Beta Testers: “We require keen, enthusiastic gamers who are
willing to give up a few hours a week to play a Beta version of the game and
provide feedback to us on what they think. We want people to play it and tell us
what they see. We want them to try and break the game in order for us to fix it
and to test out our new advanced AI system to make the computer opponent
better.”
Paradox Interactive is also looking for a small number of historical researchers
to assist the development team in improving the databases.
Hothead Games announces they
will be bringing The Maw to the PC and Braid to the Macintosh: VANCOUVER,
British Columbia - Feb. 24, 2009 - Hothead Games revealed today its plans for a
one-of-a-kind model of collaboration with other top-notch independent
developers. This unique collaborative effort marries indie studios' creative
game designs with Hothead Games' multi-platform development and digital
distribution expertise to bring award-winning titles to new gaming platforms.
Among the first to join in this effort is Jonathan Blow, whose 2008 launch of
Braid via Xbox LIVE® Arcade amazed gamers with its innovative game play and
distinctive art style. Hothead Games is partnering with Blow to bring his
ground-breaking game to the Mac® platform and has secured exclusive digital
publishing rights to that version.
Further, Hothead Games has forged a new fellowship with The Maw developer
Twisted Pixel. Launched last month on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, Hothead will deliver
The Maw to the Windows® platform, integrating special features to make the
crowd-pleaser compatible with multiple as-of-yet-unannounced digital
distribution platforms and services.
"We focus on finding new distribution opportunities so that they can focus on
what they do best: developing their next great game," said Hothead Games COO
Joel DeYoung. "These two titles represent only the tip of the iceberg. We're
committed to working with indies and helping them be successful, so look for
lots more announcements to come."
GamePolitics reports the bill to amend Utah's truth in advertising law to
criminalize the sale of violent games to minors has passed a vote in committee
and is one step closer to becoming law.
Joystiq has an interview with Thompson about the legislation, concluding
with a gloat indicating that Jack has convinced himself that the games
industry has been persecuting him, rather than vice versa: "I think it's great
that we're living in a country where a lawyer who's been targeted by the [video
game] industry can come back around and get these suckers. As Mark Twain said,
'Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated'."
The Kivi's
Underworld patches page now has a new beta version 1.002 patch for Kivi's
Underworld if you are interested in the latest changes to Soldak
Entertainment's casual, hack-and-slash game before the release of the next
official patch.
John Carmack Talks Possible Wii Development, iPhone, ‘Doom 4,’ More on MTV
Multiplayer is a Q&A with the id Software technical director about the
aforementioned topics. As indicated, the conversation covers topics like console
and mobile development, and here's word on their PC projects: "I would expect
'Wolfenstein' is going to have a big push. A lot of that is out of our hands
between Activision and Raven working on that. For 'Doom 4,' the current plan is
that, just like we did with 'Rage,' we are going to take it quite a ways
internally on our own nickel before we take it out to a publisher. Because we
have a lot more leverage that way. Publishers don’t have to be nervous about
taking something early on in development and it works out better for us
business-wise. But we are expecting to ink a publisher deal for 'Doom 4' this
year. And then the media build-up should start then."
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Steam News announces a
new Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II patch is now automatically available
via Steam. Here's the problem it addresses: "Improved memory heap management
to reduce 'out-of-memory' crashes that were plaguing certain systems, including
32-Bit Vista on High and Ultra settings. Often reported as 'error 183 failed to
create to create dump'."
Valve announces Steam will present THE LAST REMNANT in North America
and Europe on April 9: "Beginning April 9, THE LAST REMNANT will be available
for purchase via Steam, which makes PC games available online to more than 15
million users worldwide. An action RPG from the makers of the FINAL FANTASY®
series, THE LAST REMANT [sic] will be the first Square Enix game to utilize
Steamworks and be distributed via Steam. Square Enix will continue to add to its
roster of games on Steam, providing users with instant access - after purchase,
they can download the game immediately and start playing. Pricing will be
announced at a later date."
The
DMS Forums announce that the beta testing of Men of War on
FilePlanet is now
open to anyone with a registered FilePlanet account, rather than just paid
subscribers, though word is participants must be 18 years of age or older. They
say: "By having a free account at FilePlanet.com, users can then download the
beta and get unrivalled access to the World War II real-time tactical title.
Once players have downloaded the beta, they can then challenge others online in
the game’s varied selection of multiplayer matches."
Puzzle Quest Galactrix is now available via digital distribution on
Gamersgate, offering its "signature Match-3, turn based battles in an
insanely addictive and masterful hybrid of RPG and Puzzle genres." The game is
also now available in North and South American retail stores for Windows and DS,
and probably at other digital distributors, if not now, soon. If you are
curious, a playable demo is also available.
X-Universe
News says to expect a MacOS edition of X3: Terran Conflict in April
of this year thanks to new port technology from Virtual Programming. They also
announce that a new MacOS port of X3: Reunion will follow about 3-4 weeks
later, and they say: "This re-port should please many Mac X gamers who have
openly voiced their disappointment in the previous port of X3: Reunion, produced
using Cider technology." Thanks Gamer's Hell.
The
Champions Online Forums have word on a Cryptic Studios "Meet & Greet" this
Saturday (February 28) in San Francisco for folks visiting
WonderCon 2009 who would like to rub
elbows with the developers of both Star Trek Online and Champions
Online. Speaking of which, there's a new installment of
Ask Cryptic on the Champions
Online Official Site answering fan-submitted questions about the superhero
MMORPG, covering topics such as defensive powers, why they are holding off on
shapeshifting, grouping options (Avengers assemble!), healing powers, signature
heroes and villains from the tabletop Champions series, and more.
There's an article on
3D
Performance with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin on FiringSquad (thanks Ant)
and an article on
F.E.A.R. 2 Gameplay Performance and IQ on [H] Enthusiast (thanks
Voodoo Extreme), each to help you evaluate whether or not you should
f.e.a.r. running Monolith's shooter sequel on your system.
I've gotten mail from folks trying to send email to the BlueTower of some wonky
behavior on our mail server's end, including bounced and delayed messages, so if
you have experienced such inconveniences, our apologies. On that same topic,
I'll welcome recommendations for a mail provider, my main criteria are that they
be secure and reliable, and not ruthlessly filter mail and blacklist domains on
the sender's end with no user configuration options, as is the case with Network
Solutions.
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