Archived News:
A new movie that is thought to be from Beyond Good & Evil 2 is now
available, fuelling speculation about the upcoming action/adventure sequel. The
clip showed up on French site Eversonic,
and a mirror is also now available on
Kotaku.
Here are a few more tidbits for your bargain-hunting pleasure this week.
Steam announces a sale on
Universe at War: Earth
Assault, offering Petroglyph's sci-fi RTS game for 75% off for the weekend.
Also, there's a 75% off sale on Mount & Blade this weekend, with the indie RPG
on
Direct2Drive available for $7.50 and on
Direct2Drive UK for £6.50. Finally, Mezmer Games announces a sale on
Stalin vs. Martians,
offering the arcade RTS game for $7.99 tomorrow and Sunday in honor of Russia's
Victory Day, celebrating the May 9, 1945 conclusion of combat with Germany in
World War II. In case you missed the post, a number of other weekend promotions
were reported here yesterday.
GameBizBlog cites some figures provided by analyst Wanda
Meloni saying the games industry has seen nearly 8,500 layoffs since July
2008, with 75% of these in North America. The math on this is that just under
12% of the developers in the US are out of work as a result of these cuts. They
use this to illustrate their contention that game development is not
recession-proof, as some have suggested, furthering their case by pointing out
that at least 13 development studios have closed during that period. They end with some
optimism over the creativity many are demonstrating in finding new business
models and new publishing platforms.
A new movie from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen offers a look at the
upcoming game based on the Megan Fox movie sequel which will apparently also
include some robots. The clip starts as a link that transforms into a movie when
clicked, available on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer, and
FileFront.
The FUEL Website now features a new
trailer showcasing some of the racing modes in Codemasters' upcoming on- and
off-road open-world racing game. FUEL is slated for release on consoles at the
end of this month, with the Games for Windows edition "to follow." Mirrors of
the clip can be found on
ActionTrip and
AtomicGamer.
A new clip from Hearts of Iron 3 called "protecting the workers'
revolution" is now available showing off both kinds of gameplay (pointing *and*
clicking) from the upcoming World War II strategy sequel, focusing on the
vastness of the Soviet Union. The movie is posted on
AtomicGamer and
Gamer's Hell.
The full cinematic introduction for PROTOTYPE is now online, setting the stage
for Radical Entertainment's upcoming open-world, science-fiction action game.
The CGI clip is posted on
AtomicGamer.
Dallas, TX-based Gearbox Software announces they are gearing up for a Summer
2009 edition of their Contractors Of Gearbox Software (COGS) program, which is a
paid game development internship that can lead to a career in the industry.
This page outlines the program,
and lists a number of COGS participants who have become professional developers
since the program began in 2004. Applications are due by May 20,
and the program begins on June 15.
GameSpy reports
The Sims 3 is gold, and EA Maxis' wee people sequel is due in North
America for Windows and MacOS on June 2. There is also a
The Sims 3
preview on MCV discussing the game and the planned marketing campaign to
support it that sets the game's European release date as June 5.
Star Wars: The Old
Republic Website has the reveal of the trooper class in the upcoming Star
Wars MMORPG. They point the way some
wallpapers and a
Trooper Class Preview on
the website that refers to the Troopers origins as "ordinary men" (aren't they
all clones?). On this topic,
The Old Republic Q&A on GameSpot discusses the Trooper class with Daniel
Erickson. On a final related note,
The sixth issue
of Threat of Peace is now online with more fictional back story from the
Star Wars universe.
Steam News announces that
12 Steam achievements have been added to Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap's
just released tower defense strategy game. New Achievements include "Home Lawn
Security," "Immortal," "Ask Me About Mustache Mode," and more.
Tramell Isaac's Blog now
offers what the artist purports to be previously unreleased screenshots of
Duke Nukem Forever, saying he worked on the first-person shooter sequel for
two years and nine months before it was revealed that 3D Realms is
apparently closing. There's little reason to doubt the veracity of Isaac's
claim, as he is a long-time industry veteran whose credits include the first two
Fallout games. The shots certainly look legitimate as well, showing off
environments and a character, all with a high degree of polish. Thanks
I.C.E. Update: There's some alleged DNF concept art featuring
monsters and bewbies on Layne's
Concept Art. Thanks Morris.
2K Games announces details about multiplayer support in BioShock 2,
saying they've recruited Digital Extremes to assist with multiplayer support in
the underwater shooter. Here's what to expect: Windsor, UK, May 8,
2009/... 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
(NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it has signed a partnership with Digital
Extremes to develop the multiplayer experience for BioShock® 2. Under this
partnership, Digital Extremes is working closely with the creative team at 2K
Marin to develop a new and substantial element that enhances the lore and
fiction of the BioShock universe.
“The fans asked for a multiplayer experience and we answered,” said Christoph
Hartmann, president of 2K. “With Digital Extremes delivering a multiplayer
experience for BioShock 2 that features all of the things that make BioShock
unique, we’re holding ourselves to a high standard so that we can deliver the
depth and variety that fans of the BioShock universe demand.”
Multiplayer in BioShock 2 provides a rich prequel experience that expands the
origins of the BioShock fiction. Set during the fall of Rapture, players assume
the role of a Plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions, a premier provider of
Plasmids and Tonics in the underwater city of Rapture that was first explored in
the original BioShock. Players will need to use all the elements of the BioShock
toolset to survive as the full depth of the BioShock experience is refined and
transformed into a unique multiplayer experience that can only be found in
Rapture.
Key features:
• Evolution of the genetically enhanced shooter – Earn experience points during
gameplay to earn access to new Weapons, Plasmids and Tonics that can be used to
create hundreds of different combinations, allowing players to develop a unique
character that caters to their playing style.
• Extend the Rapture fiction – Players will step into the shoes of Rapture
citizens and learn more about the fall of Rapture as they progress through the
experience.
• See Rapture before the fall – Experience Rapture before it was reclaimed by
the ocean and engage in combat over iconic environments in locations such as
Kashmir Restaurant and Mercury Suites, all of which have been reworked from the
ground up to deliver a fast-paced multiplayer experience.
• FPS veterans add their touch to the multiplayer experience – Digital Extremes
brings more than 10 years of first person shooter experience including
development of award-winning entries in the Unreal® and Unreal Tournament®
franchise.
The Two Worlds Website now
offers new patches to update Reality Pump's role-playing game to version 1.7.0b,
which includes the promised Curse of Souls add-on that includes four new maps
with 8-player co-op support and 38 quests. Downloads of the patch to update
version 1.6.0 are mirrored on
AtomicGamer and
The Patches Scrolls;
while the patch to update any prior version is mirrored on
AtomicGamer and
The Patches Scrolls.
Steam News announces a
new global gameplay stats view in Valve's online service: Global gameplay
stats are now available for games that have Steam Achievements, showing what
percentage of players have unlocked each achievement within a game. Now you can
rest assured that you are not alone: 93.8% of players are also struggling to
achieve 'Untouchables' in Left
4 Dead.
Sign in to the Steam
Community to compare your achievements against how the rest of the world is
doing.
Check out the full list of games that have Steam Achievements here.
GameTap
announces that Infernal has been selected from their catalog of games to
spend a week in the free area, being manhandled by non-subscribers for the good
of the team. Here's their description in case you need a reminder of what this
infernal game is about: "For fallen angel Ryan Lennox, the struggle between
Heaven and Hell is about to get a lot less abstract. After an attempt on his
life by former angelic allies, Lennox turns to the only shelter he can find: the
forces of Satan. With his combat skills, Lennox is a useful pawn, and Heaven's
up to no good (seriously!)."
The Need for Speed Shift Interview on Kikizo goes around the track a couple
of times with Jesse Abney to learn more of plans for the next installment in the
Need for Speed series of racing games. They discuss the side-trip the series
recently took into fast and furiousness, the new game engine, rumors that Shift
was once planned as a new GTR game, the numerous upcoming NFS projects, and
more.
The
Star Trek D-A-C Interview on Kikizo chats with Ben Hoyt, Senior Producer for
Paramount Digital Entertainment, about the new Star Trek game, discussing which
part of the Trek continuity is represented in the game, the possibility of a DLC
release, and more.
Variety has word that John Singleton is set to direct a Wheelman movie for
Paramount that will star Vin Diesel, whose digital form is the star of the
Wheelman video game. A film to follow the game was mentioned when
Wheelman was announced, back when Midway was still owned by
Paramount Pictures owner Sumner Redstone. Word is: "Diesel will play an expert
driver who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past."
GamesIndustry.biz - Console Gamers Aren't PC Gamers. By Byron
Atkinson-Jones (Introversion).
The key thing here is that the control scheme appears to work for us - up
till this point nobody but the developers have had a chance to play with it.
Since the controls tend to be put into place rather early on, the developer
gets quickly acclimatised to his chosen control scheme and it's easy to
become convinced that what we have now is actually a very good system and
therefore best left alone. This introverted approach to playtesting also
backfired for us with Darwinia+ - just before we entered into the Code
Complete phase of the project our account manager at Microsoft expressed
some concerns over the control scheme we had in place. Our problem was one
of coherence between Darwinia and Multiwinia and also the fact that our
control scheme made use of context sensitivity which meant that controls had
meanings based on the current action.
- Summer Athletics 2009 is
planned for this summer, with a Wii edition that uses that balance board
dealie…
The buzz on the Star Trek movie is so strong and the trailers look so good
MrsBlue is saying she may actually come with me to see it, which is high praise,
as she hates going to the movies. I think it doesn't hurt that she thinks the new
(err, old?) Kirk is cute.
Happy birthday to my brother, as today WalterEgo turns, well, hmm. At this point
I think I'm going to start claiming he is my *older* brother... I may have to
lie about his age, too.
|
Twitter 
