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Archived News:
SQUARE ENIX reveals a third-person shooter called Front Mission Evolved
as one of their E3 showings. The
Front Mission Evolved Website
is live with some screenshots, and here's word on the game: FRONT MISSION
EVOLVED(TM)
Developer: Double Helix Games(TM)
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platforms: PLAYSTATION 3/Xbox 360/Windows PC
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
ESRB: Not Yet Rated
Ship Date: TBA
From the creative minds of Square Enix and Double Helix Games, FRONT MISSION
EVOLVED brings the classic FRONT MISSION(R) franchise into an action-packed
third-person shooter that gives players full control of a massive humanoid war
machine--the wanzer. Players will battle through intense combat situations as
they explore an immersive world in both the single player campaign and online
multiplayer.
Electronic
Arts Makes Big Play for Online Services on WSJ.com reveals plans for a
web-based version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online. As is their way, the
USATODAY.com is more concise about how this will work, quoting producer Mike
Taramykin saying: "Whether you have ten minutes on your PC in the office, or
hours on your Mac at home, this is a golf game that makes time for you."
The Cult of Rapture
has word that October 30 is the international release date for BioShock 2
on all platforms: Are you ready to start counting down the days until
BioShock 2 hits store shelves? You can start now! BioShock 2 will be arriving on
October 30th internationally and November 3rd in North America for the Xbox
360®, PLAYSTATION® 3 system, and PC.
GameTrailers.com has the E3 trailer for Dragon Age: Origins, offering a
cinematic look at the RPG in the works at BioWare. Though it doesn't include any
gameplay, the clip does conclude with an October 20 release date for the game
that's been described as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate.
DICE confirms plans for a fourth map for Battlefield 1943, and outlines the
unusual way it will be unlocked, as only three maps will be available when the World
War II shooter launches. Word is the Coral Sea map will be unlocked on each
platform after the world has racked up 43 million kills on their respective
platforms (presumably the PC is not mentioned because that version is not due
for release until September. There's a
Battlefield: 1943 Coral Sea Trailer on GameTrailers.com and here's the deal: Stockholm, Sweden – May 29,
2009 – DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that
Battlefield 1943™ will kick off a worldwide community challenge that, when
achieved, will reward players by unlocking a fourth map called Coral Sea. The
WWII Coral Sea map will be unlocked when the multiplayer community achieves 43M
kills on Xbox Live and the same number on PlayStation®Network. When it ships
this summer, Battlefield 1943 will include three maps (Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal,
and Wake Island) plus this fourth bonus map, all for $15.
Coral Sea is designed to showcase the intense battle in the skies, offering an
all-new Air superiority game mode. The legendary WWII action this map provides
will have players dog fighting in this airplanes-only map, proving once again
DICE delivers on a first class online vehicle warfare experience better than
anyone else! Players will be able to track the progress of their respective
console communities at
www.battlefield.com/1943.
Activision announces the unusual unlockable content in Transformers: Revenge
of the Fallen: Our incredibly close partnership with Hasbro has
allowed us to incorporate some amazing Transformers unlockables that fans will
love. For the Xbox 360/PS3/PC versions of the game, players have the ability to
unlock the following:
§ Six FULL episodes of the original Transformers animated television series
§ Slideshows of original Hasbro comic art, propaganda-style comic covers and
Luxoflux game concept art
§ Generation 1 skins of Ironhide, Starscream and Long Haul, who are all playable
characters in the single-player and multiplayer modes
§ All in-game cinematic videos for replay
§ One EXCLUSIVE standalone CG cinematic movie that cannot be seen anywhere else
All content is unlockable by completing various challenges throughout the
game.
For the bargain hunter, Impulse
is offering sales on the following titles, Europa: Universalis Rome Gold,
ObjectDock Plus, System Mechanic Pro, Lightweight Ninja, The Corporate Machine,
and Sword of the Stars Ultimate. On Steam we see
The Bone-Breaking Racing Pack
for 85% off, Assassin's
Creed, Splinter Cell, Double Agent 50% off,
FLOCK! Now with Steam
Achievements - Save 50% this weekend,
All MumboJumbo Casual Games
50% off This Weekend, and
Freedom Force - Now on Steam - Save 10% for one week.
Steam News announces the
automatic availability of a new patch for Team Fortress 2, with some
tweaks and fixes and the addition of Sniper/Spy milestone achievements "as an
additional way players can get the new unlockables."
The
ARMA II Website has word a beta version 1.01 patch is available to
address problems with the new German version of the military
shooter sequel: "Public beta of 1.01 is out now for the German version of ARMA
2! This is beta patch but we will ensure that final patch 1.01 (to be released
early next week) will install smoothly over this beta patch. Please visit the
Game Updates page to download the patch and read more information about it
(in German language)."
PushButton Labs reveals itself to the
world, founded by Jeff Tunnell and Rick Overman, veterans of Dynamix and
GarageGames. Word is: Former GarageGames, Dynamix Co-Founders Announce New
Web and Game Company
Eugene, OR – May 28th, 2009 – PushButton Labs, LLC today officially announced
its formation. The company was founded by veteran independent game makers Jeff
Tunnell and Rick Overman, respected twenty five year veterans of the computer
game industry, with the intent to create exciting new web and game
properties.
“The mission behind PushButton Labs is refreshingly simple,” said Jeff Tunnell,
Co-Managing Partner of PushButton Labs. “Make great products with people that we
want to work with, and
have fun doing it.”
Successful creation of game companies such as Dynamix and GarageGames have
consistently put the team at PushButton Labs on the bleeding edge of industry
wide cultural and technology movements. PushButton Labs looks to strike success
a third time by building upon the experiences gained from the previous
development of numerous award-winning and commercially successful game
franchises such as The Incredible Machine, Starsiege: Tribes, Trophy Bass, and
3D Ultra Pinball.
Beginning official operations in early 2009, PushButton Labs has already begun
work on an eclectic and interconnected range of products including an Open
Source Content Management System, Game Portal, an Open Source Flash Game Engine,
and two new game properties.
Recently in headlines for their contributions to the gaming portal
InstantAction, the Indie-friendly Torque Game Engine and the XBLA arcade
top-seller Marble Blast Ultra, the company is setting goals to create new web
and game properties targeted at emerging consumer markets. The company has
secured significant grass-roots investment through private sources. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
“We are seeing more variety and connectivity in both games as well as the types
of people who are playing those games.” said Rick Overman, Co-Managing Partner
of PushButton Labs. “Our development strategy will let us explore many promising
opportunities and properties.” PushButton Labs anticipates exciting further
announcements in the coming weeks.
The Aion Website
has details on the contents of the Aion Limited Collector's Edition for
the upcoming Western release of this MMORPG. Included are a number of exclusive
in-game items, a 6.5" hand-painted statue, 30 days of gameplay, and more.
GameTrailers.com has a new cinematic trailer for The Saboteur,
Pandemic's upcoming World War II action/stealth game. The moody clip ends
confirming the game's previously announced fall/winter 2009
release date.
There's a new E3 trailer for
Call of
Juarez: Bound In Blood on GameTrailers.com that's titled Fire Your Guns.
Lest there be any doubt, the clip includes quite a bit of gunplay. The clip
concludes with a July 3 release date, which looks like the European counterpart
to the game's June 30 North American release date.
A new Mafia
II Trailer on GameTrailers.com shows off more NSFW cinematics from the
upcoming life of crime sequel. The lesson seems to be not to cross the mob, but
hopefully you knew that already.
The
East India Company Developer Diary Movie #2 on GameSpot offers
another narrated look at the upcoming seafaring strategy game, showing off a bit
of real time gameplay along the way.
The Star Wars: The
Old Republic Website discusses the effort that's been put into creating the
Republic Trooper class in the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG. They describe how they
are adding player appeal to a character that's typically cannon fodder in the
movies, including the spiffy toys Troopers will employ.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Infogrames' and Atari's latest earnings report ( Adobe Acrobat) is online, showing
widening net losses (thanks
IncGamers). The report also includes several release dates, including a word
of an "indicative expected release" of Star Trek Online by the end of
this fiscal year, which for them ends March 31, 2010 and a fiscal first quarter
release date for Ghostbusters: The Video Game that goes along with the
game's June release date, except in Europe, where PlayStation
exclusivity pushes the release of other versions back to Autumn 2009.
MCV has
release the dates for Batman: Arkham Asylum, saying Eidos tells them the
superhero game will be released on August 25 in North America and on August 28
in Europe. Earlier this month we learned the game was delayed
from its planned June 23 release, but this indicates it is on track for the
subsequently announced "late summer" release date for the game.
A
post to the Sony Station Forums announces that Matrix Online will go
dark on July 31, ending the run for this ambitious MMORPG that tied-in to the
Matrix series of sci-fi movies (thanks Patrik). There is a FAQ about this that
basically answers "no" to the inevitable questions about whether it will be
possible for fans to set up servers to keep the game going, and they also
outline how existing subscriptions will be handled after players take their blue pills: As of June 1, 2009
any currently entitled active player with an account in billing will not be
billed again. For players who have previously purchased prepaid subscription
time via a multi-month subscription service, SOE game time card or other retail
game time card that extends the service period past June 1, 2009, SOE will
refund these accounts for the unused time and where indicated will mail refund
checks to the current billing address on the account. Please be sure to update
your email and physical address in your Station Account as this will be critical
to the refund process.
A preliminary BRINK Website is now
online offering the brief teaser trailer that premiered on SpikeTV for
this upcoming collaboration between Bethesda Softworks and Splash Damage. The
cinematic does not give away much about what the game is about, though a sci-fi
theme is apparent. The clip concludes with a Spring 2010 release date, and for
platforms it lists Games for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
MCV
has news that Phil Harrison has left his post as president of Atari to assume a
new role as "non-executive director" of the Group. Details on this are scant at
this point, as Atari's brief statement on the topic just indicates this somehow
relates to Namco Bandai getting set to assume Atari's European distribution
operations: Because of a shift of business operations to the US, Phil
Harrison will move from the role of President to that of non-executive Director
of the Group. As all Board members, he will continue to assist, support and
guide the Company's strategy.
Paradox Interactive announces Europa Universalis: Rome GOLD, which
bundles Europa Universalis: Rome with its Vae Victis expansion for a double-dose
of historical strategy gaming. The GOLD bundle is due in July, and here's word
on the expanded game: "With new features previously only available through the
digital download only expansion pack, the road to success is much more difficult
to traverse. Now Governments hold sway over the actions that can be taken.
Senates and tribal council's will order players to conduct Missions they see fit
to test players abilities to achieve their goals. Players can also gear their
nations to their ultimate goals with the enactment of beneficial Laws. While AI
controlled opponents behave with more vigour and purpose, as they set about
surviving the turmoil of these times."
GameTrailers.com has an E3 trailer for Mass Effect 2 that may not
answer all the storyline questions about BioWare's upcoming RPG sequel, but does
offer a couple of glimpses of gameplay. It's starting to sound more and more
like Shepard is about as dead as Snake Pliskin.
The Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Website now offers the E3 video from the military shooter that's due this
fall. The included footage looks like it's pre-rendered, but using the game
engine.
GameTrailers.com offers a new Supreme Commander 2 E3 trailer with a
cinematic view of Gas Powered Games' upcoming real-time strategy sequel. The
video has no gameplay, but it does have giant robots.
GameTrailers.com also has the E3 trailer for Need For Speed SHIFT,
featuring gameplay footage from the upcoming hard-driving racing sequel. We're
not sure if alcohol was involved, but the clip features some of the worst
driving we can recall this side of the New York State Thruway.
RPG Vault -
Jeff Vogel's View From the Bottom #12. On "addiction-based game design."
And, in return, players get little rewards. Statistics go up. Experience
bars fill. You push a lever and a reward pellet comes out. There is the
feeling that something has been accomplished, a sensation that is amazingly
addictive. In EverQuest, when I gained a level or got a really good item,
the feeling of achievement was palpable. For me, it was an actual, physical
sensation. I kept playing because it gave me the satisfaction of achieving
something, even when, of course, I wasn't. And this is what I mean by
addiction-based game design.
Ars Technica - The digital closet: online gaming struggles with gay voices.
Thanks Mike Martinez.
In some ways it's unfair to take the world of gaming to task for its
immature handling of gay and lesbian issues. After all, it's hard to find a
game that takes any kind of relationship seriously. This is an art form that
knows how to show two people killing each other nearly perfectly, but seems
to turn into a bunch of fifth-graders when dealing with a kiss, much less
when that kiss is between two men or two women. It's clear that something
has to give, although companies only seem to pay attention after receiving
the wrong kind of attention for their policies.
With the fairly steady rain here lately, my patching of bald spots on the lawn
is succeeding, as more fledgling grass sprouts every day. Unfortunately, this is
helping illustrate the uphill battle I'm fighting, as the doggies, Hudson the
wonder dog in particular, manage to burn a few new spots with pee every day. Oh
well, as I have said, it's not like I imagine I could cultivate a golf course
out there anyway.
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