Archived News:
This press release on Gamer's Hell announces Velvet Assassin is gold, and
that Replay Studios' World War II action/stealth game is to ship to stores for
Windows and Xbox 360 on April 30. Here's word on the game, which is loosely
based on a true story: Velvet Assassin brings players into the world of
Violette Summer, a British secret agent behind enemy lines in multiple hot-spots
during World War II. Players are introduced to a bed-ridden Violette as she
slips in and out of fevered dreams, reliving her most poignant missions through
her memories. With no outside support, Violette must sneak her way into heavily
guarded Nazi strongholds, assassinate high-level targets and even deliver
cyanide to fellow operatives caught in the field. Using true-to-life weapons and
tactics, Violette is one of the few people standing between the Nazi war machine
and total domination. Velvet Assassin asks players to focus on the reality
behind these clandestine acts, with no technological marvels, no special
weapons, just your wits and the equipment on hand.
Shacknews has word
that TimeGate and Paramount have settled the recently announced
lawsuit TimeGate filed against Paramount for infringing on its "Section 8"
trademark that has been the subject of two lawsuits now, and may yet someday be
a videogame. The report indicates the suit was settled without prejudice, so it
can be reopened again in the future should TimeGate feel its property is being
infringed upon.
A new update for Company of Heroes is now automatically available via
Steam to bring the World
War II RTS game to version 2.502. The patch fixes a couple of crashes, address a couple of
WorldBuilder issues, and implements a delay in switching an MG between windows.
Steam News has word on a
new automatic update for Zeno Clash, the just-release action/fighting
game. The patch fixes problems unlocking challenges and slightly reduces
difficulty in all challenges.
Steam News announces a
new update is automatically available for Counter-Strike to bring the
teamplay shooter to version 1.6. The update fixes a sound bug and a crash caused
by the spectator UI.
The Damnation
Website now features a new diary movie from this vertically oriented
steampunk-themed shooter. The clip offers: "in-depth developer commentary from
producer Richard Gilbert and technical art director Carl Schell detailing the
daredevil stunts players can execute to traverse the vertigo-inducing levels on
offer in Damnation." The movie is mirrored on
AtomicGamer,
Gamer's Hell, and
IncGamers.
A new movie from Hearts of Iron III offers more from the upcoming World
War II strategy sequel. The clip is features soundtrack music and gameplay
footage, though that's just a lot of interface manipulation in a game of this
sort. Word is: "The new video footage showcases The United States, from sea to
shinning sea. The epic scale of Heart of Iron 3 is revealed in these shots of
the United States. Should the war ever reach the coasts of the United States,
the Hearts of Iron 3 map is ready to provide an environment for the war to
progress on. The video also demonstrates some of the new production features
available in Hearts of Iron 3 including the capability to build up the National
Guard and mobilize them for war and the ability to build cheaper but less
effective ships." The clip is available on the
YouTube and mirrored on
AtomicGamer and
Gamer's Hell.
NCsoft and Steam have
partnered up to offer
NCsoft's collection of
MMOGs via Valve's digital delivery service. Now available via Steam are
City of Heroes Architect
Edition, Guild Wars
Nightfall, Guild Wars
Factions, Guild Wars
Trilogy, Guild Wars Game
of the Year Edition,
Lineage, and Lineage II:
The Chaotic Throne. For the time being there are some sales underway, as
well, with a 10% discount on the Guild Wars Game of the Year Edition or
the Guild Wars Trilogy and a 50% discount on Lineage II.
There's
a
Mafia II interview on Rock, Paper, Shotgun that puts Alex Cox under the hot
lights to sweat some answers out of him about 2K Czech's upcoming life-of-crime
sequel. They discuss the appeal of the original game, the direction of the
sequel, their early entry into the world of open-world games, why they don't
have more sandbox-style play, technological advances, working on an
English-language game set in America as a Czech developer, cut-scenes, voice
acting, authenticity, and more.
Square Enix Eidos announces plans to release a single-player
demo a week from tomorrow for Battlestations: Pacific, the World War II
action/strategy sequel. The demo will be released on April 30 on both the Games
For Windows LIVE and Xbox LIVE marketplaces, and here's the outline of what it
will offer: "Players will experience one war through two epic sagas, enabling
gamers to be a part of history or to dramatically alter it. The full game
features an historically accurate US campaign alongside an historically possible
Japanese campaign, spanning a total of 28 missions, five new multiplayer modes
that can be played with up to eight players and over 100 air, sea and undersea
units." The full game is currently expected for Windows and Xbox 360 on May 12
in North America and May 15 in Europe. There's
a
preview of the demo on GameSpot.
A playable demo for Elven Legacy is now available, offering the chance to
try your hand at this recently released fantasy-themed strategy game from 1C:
Ino-CO. The demo, which can be found on the
Elven Legacy Website,
includes the tutorial along with one campaign mission. Downloads of the demo can
also be found on
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro, and
Gamer's Hell.
SimBin Studios announce
plans to release a free game on May 26 in cooperation with Volvo to promote the
new Volvo S60 coupe concept from the
struggling Swedish automaker (thanks
Gamer's Hell). An
official product section for
the game is live with screenshots, and here's a bit on the game: "As in all
games developed by SimBin this game will deliver a great experience in sound and
detail with a fun and challenging game as a cherry on the cake. The game comes
with three difficulty levels to appeal to a broad audience, from new comer to
the experienced gamer."
Gamigo announces the official launch of
Pirate Galaxy, the
subscription-free space-based MMOG that can be played in your browser. Word is:
In Pirate Galaxy, you walk in the shoes of elite pilots fighting against
the terrifying Mantis. They have conquered countless planets - even whole star
systems - to mine the valuable Cryonite. Complete missions, enhance your
spaceships and join with other players' teams or fleets to confront the Mantis
menace.
Features
• Superb 3D graphics
• Real-time space- and ground-based combat
• Straightforward and intuitive controls
• Exciting story and atmospheric music
• Huge game universe with dozens of planets and star systems
• Battle in conquest mode and conquer the galaxy!
• Face-off against other players and clans
• Play online and be part of a global community
• Free to play - no installation fees, no subscription fees!
Dejobaan Games announces AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard
for Gravity is now in the alpha stage and is undergoing closed testing. They
celebrate the news with new screenshots and a video on the
game's official website. Word is
testing of the base-jumping game is going to open up to the public within the
month, and the release of the game is currently planned for the third quarter of
this year. The announcement also includes the game's system requirements of
Windows XP/Vista; a 1.5GHz processor; 1GB RAM; a 128 MB 3D graphics card; and
DirectX 9.0c.
Tørnquist On The Secret World on Rock, Paper, Shotgun hears from Funcom's
Ragnar Tørnquist about The Secret World, the conspiratorial MMORPG
currently under construction at the Norwegian developer. Topics include the
original plan for a finite four-year story in Anarchy Online, why that plan
changed, lessons learned from other MMOGs and how The Secret World will alter the
traditional MMO formula, creating the game world, how progression works in a
game with no classes, balance for players who don't play religiously, open world
mechanics, the plan for an endgame and beyond, and more.
The
BioWare interview on Crispy Gamer is an interesting in-depth conversation
with Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the medicine men behind BioWare. The interview
focuses on storytelling in games, discussing the importance of evoking emotion,
how to properly deliver the story in a game, creating dramatic tension, art,
Michelangelo (really!), and more.
Battlefront.com now offers a new patch for Strategic Command WW2 Pacific
Theater to update the World War II strategy game to version 1.02. Word is
the patch includes "dozens of improvements, fixes and enhancements to both the
game engine as well as the editor - many based on feedback from the fan
community forums and email." They also warn this patch is solely for the
Battlefront.com English language version of the game and that older save games
are not compatible with the new version. The patch also includes one of those
optional browser toolbars, so be sure to opt out of that unless you are in the
small group of folks who likes such things.
Merscom and National Geographic Games celebrate Earth Day with the release of
Plan It Green, a casual city construction game with a focus on environmental
issues. Here are some
screenshots of the game, which can be purchased via digital distribution from
Amazon.com (and presumably other e-tailers), and here's a bit on the game:
As the Mayor of Greenville, players have the opportunity to create a
green city in Plan It Green. As mayor of your hometown, you have vowed to bring
about a new green future by changing the ways of the past. You are working with
close supporters to restore Greenville to its former glory and beauty. Watch as
Greenville transforms before your eyes as you build eco-homes, apply green
upgrades and bring new clean jobs and industry to your hometown! Plan It Green
is the first game that leverages the resources of National Geographic, an
organization that was green when green wasn't cool.
The
Demigod: Day 6 Status Report is an update from yesterday with the latest on
the launch of Gas Powered Games' new action/strategy offering. The update once
again explains their stance on DRM, dismisses the idea that piracy will cause
them to change their stance on DRM, and expresses their love for the community.
The update, by Stardock's Brad Wardell, also goes into plans to address some
nagging issues with an interim patch (which will probably be released today) as
well as an on-the-fly shift to a more client/server-oriented multiplayer setup:
For those who can’t connect (you know who you are) the solution will be
the UDP proxy servers. They spent a lot of time today getting them up and
starting to test them to see how they work. Unfortunately, it’s not something
that can be done overnight. The team says later in the week they hope to have it
ready.
But what that will do is alter Demigod from a peer-to-peer game to a
quasi-client-server game that maintains the peer-to-peer performance. If there
are any IT people reading this, feel free to explain to lay people the
significance of being able to do this in a couple of days without having to
change the game client.
Batman: Arkham Asylum Q&A: Writer Paul Dini on Arkham, Batman, and More on
GameSpot is an interview about the upcoming Batman game with long-time
Batman writer. They discuss his previous game development experience, the way
Arkham is depicted, his affection for the characters, and more.
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Q&A - Characters, Story, and Shoot-Outs on
GameSpot discusses the western shooter follow-up with Techland product
manager Pawel Kopinski. Word is they are almost done: "We're currently in the
final stretch. Part of the team is working on optimizing our code and polishing
the game [until it] shines. This is the time when those tiny details can be
improved even more to satisfy our artists' obsession with quality. We're also
balancing multiplayer as much as possible, but we fully expect to continue this
process following the release. This time, much more emphasis has been put on the
multiplayer side of Call of Juarez to exploit the potential of the setting.
After all, intense shootouts at medium to close range feel great with
19th-century weapons. Modern high-tech weapons seem like a serious case of
overkill [in these situations]. All the time we have left until release will be
spent perfecting players' experience of the wildest West ever created."
- Youth
Radio - Legacy Of Change: Gaming After Columbine. Thanks Ant and
Boing Boing.
Dr. Sternheimer, like Davison, says that because a game is “interactive
it seems like logically that it could cause some kind of casual effect.” She
notes that the decline in the rate of violence “is most notable in youth,
especially juveniles.” While the data and the perceived connection don’t
agree, the perception remains “compelling because it’s really easy for us to
understand.” The professor points to Dave Cullen’s recent book on Columbine
that paints a picture of Klebold and Harris as “not just everyday kids who
played video games, and just kind of became crazy from too many video games.
These were seriously disturbed individuals. We make a really big mistake
when we overlook issues like that.”
|
Twitter 
