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Archived News:
AltPlauF4.com has the system specs for ARMA II (thanks Mike Martinez).:
Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP or Windows Vista
• Processor: Dual Core CPU (Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, Intel Core
2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 3200+ or faster)
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: GPU (Nvidia Geforce 7800 / ATI Radeon 1800 or faster)
with Shader Model 3 and 256 MB VRAM
• Hard Drive: 10 GB free HDD space
Recommended:
• OS: Windows XP or Windows Vista
• Processor: Quad Core CPU or fast Dual Core CPU (Intel Core 2.8
GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or faster)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Fast GPU (Nvidia Geforce 8800GT or ATI Radeon 4850 or
faster) with Shader Model 3 and 512 or more MB VRAM
• Hard Drive: 10 GB free HDD space
CompuExpert announces that Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War has landed at
North American stores, and the World War I aerial combat game is also available
via digital distribution: Lake Forest, CA - Jun 25, 2009 CompuExpert
announced today that PC flight- simulation Rise of Flight: The First Great Air
War, developed by Russian developer neoqb and published by 777 Studios, is now
available throughout North America at traditional retail outlets, as well as via
major online game retailers including GoGamer.com and Amazon.
Rise of Flight is the eagerly anticipated World War I PC flight-simulation title
from Moscow-based developer neoqb. The flight simulator, set in the Western
Front in 1917, was built on the newly developed Digital Nature engine. More than
125,000 square kilometers of the territory have been redrawn from 20th Century
maps. Rise of Flight allows virtual pilots to fly the famous Spad XIII and
deadly Fokker D.VII biplanes in exciting dogfight battles. Featuring advanced
physics, flight and damage models, Rise of Flight promises a realistic,
challenging and fun experience for simulation fans of all stripes and skill
levels. Rise of Flight also implements full 6 DOF TrackIR support and is
compatible with the TripleHead2Go multi-monitor system from Matrox.
Rise of Flight has already drawn praise from critics. IGN.com lauded the game's
art and customizability, saying "amazing graphics, with loads of options to
customize the experience for the best performance." World War I Air Combat said
Rise of Flight, "the most realistic WWI flight sim, in many ways the most
realistic flight sim yet released, is soon bound for the hands of eager virtual
pilots everywhere." Rise of Flight includes a Training Campaign and Single
Player missions so players can hone their aerial combat skills. Once they are
ready, flyers can embark on a Pilot Career that includes six stages from
lieutenant to colonel, and begin one of several campaigns with squadrons for the
French, British, German or American air forces. Throughout their careers,
players can win awards, commendations and promotions for successfully completing
their missions.
Mission types in Rise of Flight include fighter sweeps, bomber escort, bomber
interception, balloon attack and ground attack. If they wish, players can use
the powerful Mission Builder to create custom scenarios of their own and share
them with their friends.
Flight-sim enthusiasts can also play with their friends over the Internet and
wage their own virtual air wars against rival online squadrons. Even the
greatest of Aces in World War I had a wingman, and Rise of Flight multiplayer
action focuses on cooperative teamwork and completion of mission goals.
Whichever way you choose to play Rise of Flight, it will surely thrill and
excite any simulation fan.
Planned additions to the Rise of Flight experience in the coming months include
more flyable aircraft, scenery, objects and features. Hurry! Grab your goggles,
leather helmet and silk scarf. Enemy planes are approaching!
GamePolitics reports that Mortal Kombat film producer Lawrence
Kasanoff is suing Midway over the intellectual property rights to the fighting
game. According to Kasanoff's legal filing, he was instrumental in development
of the franchise over the past 16 years. Here's a bit: The Mortal Kombat
series, as it stands today, is far more a creation of Threshold and Kasanoff
than of Midway. Midway's creative input was almost entirely limited to the
videogames. On their own, the videogames provided only minimal back-story and
mythology, and only flat, "stock" characters... Kasanoff and Threshold were
responsible for virtually all of the creative input that went into turning the
videogame concept into a multimedia enterprise.
Big Download notes that today's announcement of Serious Sam
for XBLA reveals the involvement of Devolver Digital, which turns out to be a
new company from Mike Wilson and Harry Miller, who previously cofounded
publishers Gathering of Developers and GameCock. Their role in the new SS game
is a little nebulous, as they are not yet an official MSFT publisher, but going
forward they describe plans for a "production and publishing company based in
Austin, Texas, specializing in delivering top quality entertainment to gamers
worldwide at affordable prices by any and all means available."
id's John Carmack and ZeniMax CEO on The Acquisition on JoyStiq discusses
the ZeniMax acquisition of id Software.
They point out that along the way, the id Technical Director and former
co-owner indicates one thing that's changing in the future is that they will be
bringing all development back in-house: "As we look back at the things with the
external teams working on it, we've had some hits and some misses with that. It
hasn't had the same record that our internally developed titles have, and what
all of the publishers expressed to us when we were shopping future titles around
was: it was going to be so much more valuable for everyone if we did develop
them internally, and that was why we had already started the process of staffing
up and working on the Doom 4 project and the idea was that eventually, we were
going to wind up with three teams."
A new "Six Chambers Multiplayer" movie from Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
offers yet another look at Techland's upcoming wild west shooter prequel. The
clip is available on Gamer's
Hell.
Dawn Of War II
Website now offers a new Battle Report movie showing off the upcoming There
is Only War content update for the Real-Time Strategy sequel. The clip is
narrated by Relic’s Multiplayer Designer Josh Long and Game Balance Designer
Stefan Haines and shows off the game's new replay UI to recreate a 24 minute
battle waged on the new Tyrannoformed 2p map, Leviathan Hive.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Steam News has word on a
new automatic patch that's now available for Team Fortress 2 to update
the multiplayer shooter. The update fixes a bunch of bugs, stops
cl_flipviewmodels from working while connected (no more fancy gun switching,
Tex!), and reverts the Force-A-Nature and airblast knockback to once again work
on disguised Spies. The new version also has a couple of changes for the Linux
dedicated server, and the patch notes also include a pair of balance changes
from the last patch that were not noted at the time (The Ambassador no longer
penetrates buildings and the movement speed penalty on The Razorback has been
removed).
A playable demo is now available for Trine, Frozenbyte's upcoming
fantasy-themed action/platformer, so if you're not tryin' Trine, then you're not
trying. The demo features the ability to play the tutorial and the game's
first-level as any of Trine's three playable characters. The 461 MB download can
be found on AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FileFront, and Gamer's
Hell. Those sites are reporting a July 3 release date for Trine, which is
presumably in Europe, as SouthPeak Interactive announced today it has signed on
as the
game's North American publisher, setting the game's release as the more
general "Summer 2009." Here's a bit of the game's description: In Trine™,
players work together to create and use objects to solve challenging
physics-based puzzles and defeat dangerous enemies. Set in a kingdom on the
verge of chaos, a warrior, a wizard, and a thief are bound by a powerful
artifact known as "the Trine". Together, they must battle the forces of space,
energy, and motion to put an end to the reign of the dark sorcerer that rules
the kingdom.
Featuring three-player cooperative play, each character has specific talents to
invent new solutions to puzzles and original ways to defeat enemies. The Wizard
can use magic to create objects and new paths, the Thief can use her agility and
accuracy to quickly deal with enemies, and the Warrior unleashes pure
destruction everywhere he travels.
Aspyr Media and 1C Company announce Men of War: Red Tide, a standalone
expansion for Men of War, the World War II real-time strategy sequel. Red Tide
will not require Men of War to play, and the add-on is scheduled for release in
North America this fall both at retail and via digital distribution:
Austin, Texas- June 25, 2009 - Aspyr Media has partnered with the leading
Eastern and Central European publisher 1C Company to publish Men of War: Red
Tide in North America. The stand-alone expansion to the critical hit RTS Men of
War, Men of War: Red Tide introduces a new story driven campaign based on the
writings of Soviet scribe Alexander Zorich and dozens of new or upgraded units
and weapons. Men of War: Red Tide will not require the original Men of War to
play.
Men of War: Red Tide is a stunning mixture of RTS and a third-person action that
introduces a new fighting force known for its brutal efficiency during the
height of World War II. Played out across more than 20 missions, Men of War: Red
Tide has players take command of the feared "Black Coats," the nickname given to
Soviet Marines, an elite combat group specializing in engagements near the
shoreline. The player has direct control of new game units including the Black
Coats, new tanks, self-propelled guns, armored trains, landing craft, artillery
and new enemy emplaced weapons to capture and use. New air support options
include new fighters, bombers, hydroplanes; cruisers, destroyers and gun boats
which provide naval fire support.
Fighting during the Black Sea Campaigns of WWII, history buffs and WWII
aficionados will recognize theaters of battle such as Odessa, Sevastopol,
Theodosia, Eltingen, Nikolaev and Constanta.
Men of War: Red Tide will be available at North American retail outlets and for
digital download this fall.
Steam News announces a new
version of Left 4 Dead will be automatically applied to the zombie
shooter the next time you start Steam. As described below, the new version
fixes an exploit, and offers improved support for modifications: Client
Removed an infinite ammo exploit for molotovs
Add-on Campaign Support
• Players download third party campaigns as single .VPK file
• Players can manage and select add-on maps and campaigns via game UI
• Added matchmaking support and download/update prompt for add-on campaigns
• Custom campaign support in Leader boards
• If not already registered, left4dead.exe registers .VPK extension to allow
automatic install of add-ons
• Servers and the steam API have been extended to allow servers to send up a
list of keys for matchmaking up to 1200 bytes in size
Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools
• Fixed missing fgd error
• Added vpk.exe command line tool for extracting, creating, and appending .VPK
files
• Removed info_versus (not used)
• Added info_gamemode which fires outputs for Coop, Versus or Survival
depending on what game mode the map is loaded in
• Updated tutorial_standards example map, repackaged as 'Dead Line' campaign
example add-on
• Sample content now includes source files for official maps
Ubisoft announces that Dawn of Discovery is now available in North
American stores, almost a week earlier than the expected release of the
real-time strategy game known as Anno 1404 in Europe. Here's the
announcement, which states the game was somehow "specifically designed for the
Wii system, the Nintendo DS hand-held system and PC: SAN FRANCISCO – June
25, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announced that Dawn of Discovery(TM), a real-time
strategy and simulation game specifically designed for the Wii(TM) system, the
Nintendo DS(TM) hand-held system and PC, is now available in stores. Dawn of
Discovery gives gamers the opportunity to explore new civilizations and build
their own empire like never before, through the immersive action of the Wii
Remote(TM) and the Nintendo DS stylus.
Game features include:
Build and sustain your own expansive empire
• Explore the beautifully detailed world and discover new places to create your
civilization
• Set up trade posts in the spice mines of the Orient and explore new trade
routes to keep your nation growing
• Learn from other nearby cultures to expand your horizons and master the
challenges of establishing a prosperous society
Developed specifically for Wii, Nintendo DS and PC audiences
• Unique art style and clever integration of the Wii Remote and Nintendo DS
stylus makes building your empire more fun and interactive than ever before
• All-new scalable 3-D engine ensures unmatched visuals, optimized for all PCs –
from high-end to low-end desktops
• Seamless user interface delivers multiple gameplay modes and faster player
rewards for both long or short play sessions
Exclusive multiplayer modes across platforms
• Build your civilization and make history along with a friend in the 2-player
co-op mode for Wii
• Integration with Ubi.com allows PC players to track achievements, climb
leaderboards and challenge others online
Accessible for everyone from beginners to pros
• Intelligent help system offers contextual hints for any situation
• In-game encyclopedia includes illustrated tutorial filled with tips and
strategies for building your civilization
Following news of plans for Serious Sam on XBLA, cdv
announces plans for Serious Sam HD, a high-definition remake of Croteam's
madcap first-person shooter, planned for release for Windows this autumn. Here
is a batch of
screenshots from the game, and here's the announcement: PC Classic
Serious Sam HD to be Released by cdv this Autumn
cdv Software Entertainment AG is working with Croteam and Devolver Digital to
bring Serious Sam HD for PC to retail and digital download in all worldwide
territories excluding Russia.
Originally released in 2001, Serious Sam won numerous accolades including Game
of the Year on Gamespot and Editor's Choice on IGN. Developed on Croteam's
proprietary Serious Engine 3; Serious Sam HD stays true to the source material,
as our hero takes on Lord Mental's forces across a variety of battlegrounds set
in various ancient civilisations. The gameplay remains as intense as ever and
the humour intact, all this in glorious high definition!
Roman Ribaric, CEO of Croteam said "We have been really excited to see Sam being
recreated in stunning high definition and to have the opportunity to truly
update our hero. The fans of Sam have never gone away and have been lobbying us
hard to do this, so we are really excited to be able to confirm that Sam will be
back as big, bold and bad as he ever was and we are really stoked about
introducing Sam to new gamers as well as his loyal fans."
Arne Peters, COO of cdv Software Entertainment AG commented, "cdv are very
excited to be involved in bringing Serious Sam HD to market. The game has an
outstanding heritage and is still talked about today in reverential terms.
Therefore, this HD version of a classic can only be great news for PC gamers
everywhere."
For more information about cdv Software Entertainment AG please visit
www.cdv.de
Mythic Entertainment announces that The Land of the Dead is now live in
Warhammer Online, completing the roll-out of the Call to Arms live
expansion for the fantasy-themed MMORPG. With the 24-hour early access reward
concluded, the new content is now available to all. Here's how it's described:
"‘The Land of the Dead’ opens the treacherous deserts of Nehekhara to players
with the addition of a new RvR-gated zone filled with dozens of new Public
Quests™, instanced lairs, and a massive new dungeon to plunder in search of the
Casket of Souls." There's also a
Land of the Dead Launch Interview on MMORPG.COM, and the
Warhammer Herald describes how this marks the launch of the Realm Resource
Handicap system. Finally, the
Warhammer Herald has a lengthy new Executive Producer's Letter - Part 3 from
Jeff Hickman that follows up on news of Mark Jacobs' departure
with an outline of their plans for the game going forward. Here's a
bit: We are committed to Warhammer, Ultima Online, and Dark Age of
Camelot, and have solid plans for each game. I look forward to discussing our
plans for of all of these games with you in the near future. This month, as
promised, I’d like to start by sharing some more details from our plans for
Warhammer’s continued development over the upcoming months.
Over the past few weeks, we've reached out to many individuals and guilds to
share their thoughts, and we’ve been digging down into all of the feedback we
have received. As I stated last week, these discussions led us to five key goals
which will act as our compass in the months ahead. Our five key goals for
Warhammer are:
1. Addressing concerns related to crowd control and area-of-effect abilities.
2. Continuing to improve client and server stability and performance.
3. Strengthening and improving the Tier 4 experience.
4. Improving server population distribution, both in terms of overall population
and Realm balance.
5. Improving itemization and the overall distribution of “carrots” (fun rewards)
throughout the game.
We're still working out the specifics, and as always the details are subject to
change, but we'll share several examples of what we're planning and will
continue to do so as more details for upcoming features come together in the
coming weeks. There's a lot to cover, so let's get started!
Though it's not yet reflected on
the ARMA II Website, the promised playable demo for the
military shooter sequel from Bohemia Interactive Studios is now available.
This forum post
(thanks I Love Slippery Jim) lists download locations for the demo, and offers a
tip to install
the latest DirectX 9 Redistributable for those encountering a "Demo failed
to launch, X3DAudio1_6.dll was not found" error. Here's word on the demo: The
fictional post-Soviet state of Chernarus provides the location for all the
action in ArmA II and gamers will have the opportunity to explore its highland
area in the demo version, along with the small Chernarussian island of Utes.
More specifically, the ‘boot camp’ missions are all available which act as
tutorials for the game’s many disciplines including helicopter flight, unit
command and base construction. In addition, the full single player mission
‘Trial By Fire’ from the main campaign and the multiplayer map ‘Mini Warfare’,
allowing ArmA fans the chance to trial three multiplayer modes, are included in
the demo. A selection of over 20 vehicles, over 25 weapons and various soldier
and civilian models will be included, although these represent only a fraction
of those available in the retail version.
“Distilling ArmA II’s gameplay into a trial sized package has been a bit of a
challenge because there is just so much in there that we want to show off,”
commented Mark Allen, European Communications Manager for 505 Games. “In the end
we’ve decided to be pretty generous, there are five types of rocket launcher in
there for starters!”
As noted on the
Battlefield Heroes Forums,
Battlefield
Heroes is now out of closed beta testing, and open beta testing of the
cartoony military shooter is now underway with no key required and the NDA
lifted (thanks RoTide). The website also offers a new gameplay trailer promoting
the game. BF Heroes plays in a browser, and IE or Firefox is required.
The new Mytheon Website
now offers the first trailer and some new screenshots from Mytheon, the
multiplayer action/strategy game under development at Petroglyph for release in
Q1 2010. Here's how the clip is described: "The action-packed trailer is pure
in-game footage and showcases the unique and fascinating Greek mythology styled
environment while giving players their first glimpse at some of the
larger-than-life mythological creatures and gods in the game, including the
mighty Poseidon. Players will get a glimpse inside the immersive mythological
world with dynamic 3D renderings and lush fantasy settings such as Hades. The
trailer also explores one of the game's key gameplay elements, its 'power
stones', which can be used to summon loyal minions, inflict destructive and
devastating spells, battle colossal monsters and more."
The Cult of
Rapture offers several pieces of BioShock 2 concept art showing the
evolution of the look of the prototype Big Daddy, including one shot with the
near-final look of the original Big Daddy, which is the playable character in
the upcoming shooter follow-up. Word is: "The logic behind this concept art went
beyond different designs and suit combinations. The artists had to imagine what
the very first Big Daddy would have on him -- this Big Daddy had to feel like he
was a rough draft or a work-in-progress, an amalgam of Big Daddies to come. The
first Big Daddy was a test case, and in making the perfect prototype, 2K Marin
drafted many, many prototypes themselves."
Courthouse News Service reports that a group of 100,000 Final Fantasy XI
customers have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Square Enix of
America over fees and penalties (thanks
Edge). Word is: Named plaintiff Esther Leong of San Francisco says
that Washington-based Square Enix lied about or concealed its monthly fees,
penalties for late payments, interest, restrictions, and other things that
should have been fully disclosed at points of purchase.
The class seeks damages of more than $5 million, alleging unfair business
practices, false advertising, and unjust enrichment.
Despite the owner change, EA is still publishing Rage (to be sung
in your best Billy Corgan voice). This is the report on
GamesIndustry.biz, where they say EA will still publish id Software's
Rage, in spite of id's acquisition by ZeniMax Media, owner of rival
publisher Bethesda Softworks. EA's statement on the topic is pretty terse: "EA's
agreement with id Software for Rage remains unchanged."
The Command & Conquer Website announces the release of a new patch for
Red Alert 3 to update the RTS sequel to version 1.11 with what they say "may
just be our 'biggest' patch yet."
This
forum thread includes the complete patch notes, and here is an abstract:
"This patch for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 fixes several exploits and
critical bugs, improves balance with an array of specific fine tuning changes to
each faction, adds two free maps from Red Alert 3: Uprising, and more." The
easiest way to get the new version is through the game's automatic update
function, but if you want to roll your own,
that page also offers manual downloads of the dozen separate patches for the
different localized editions of Red Alert 3. Those manual patches can also be
found mirrored on The
Patches Scrolls.
Web filters to censor video games reports the Australian government is
considering web-filtering sites that sell games that do not meet its local MA15+
rating as well as sites that host Flash games that violate this
standard (thanks Akkinokage). This is a step backward for gamers who have held
out hope that the AU would add an R18+ rating to allow the sale of adult games
to adults. The story adds a related note that Minister Stephen Conroy and the
Australian Government have been nominated for
The
Internet Industry Awards 2009. Here's a bit presenting various viewpoints on
this: Senator Conroy's spokesman said the filter would cover "computer
games such as web-based flash games and downloadable games, if a complaint is
received and the content is determined by ACMA to be Refused Classification".
All games that exceed MA15+ are deemed to be RC.
The filtering could also block "the importation of physical copies of computer
games sold over the internet which have been classified RC", the spokesman said.
Ron Curry, chief executive of the IEAA, said the move highlighted the
"unacceptable situation" of not having an R18+ classification for video games.
The industry has been fighting for changes to classification laws for years.
"It's through the introduction of an R18+ classification that adults will have
access to age appropriate material and parents will have the full tool kit to
understand the suitability of content for their children," he said.
Mark Newton, an ISP engineer and internet filtering critic, said the move to
extend the filtering to computer games would place a cloud over online-only
games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, which aren't classified in
Australia due to their online nature.
A new Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures walkthrough movie highlights the
just-launched Update 5 for Funcom's MMORPG. The clip includes
commentary from game director Craig Morrison and shows off areas in the new
Tarantia Commons as well as a boss fight. The clip can be found on
GameStar.de and
IncGamers.
Turbine Addresses Tough DDO
Unlimited Questions on Ten Ton Hammer is an interview about Dungeons &
Dragons Online Eberron Unlimited, though they don't answer all the questions
they "address," like what new class will be introduced. They do cover a
number of topics, including concerns raised by hardcore DDO players about the
impact of the addition of subscription-free play.
CNET -
Point-of-sale video game activations won't work. Thanks Mike Martinez.
Benefit denial just doesn't make much sense. I understand that retailers
are trying to find ways to limit the amount of lost sales, but using a video
game activation system will only make it worse on the industry. And since
there are so many issues with the plan, I don't see how it can work.
Seattlepi.com - Videogame Review Ethical Guidelines.
The relationship between videogame publishers and enthusiast media need
to be properly maintained and both sides need to play by the rules and
respect each other in order to deliver the best possible coverage to the
news consumer.
So far so good on my new "squirrel-proof" birdfeeder, as the squirrels seem to
have resigned themselves to ground-feeding the spillage caused by the birdies. A
couple of people, including my dad, have pointed out that the birds don't
actually need feeding in the summer, which I honestly hadn't considered, but it
makes sense that some folks take their feeders in this time of year, especially
now that we've gone through 25 pounds of seed in a couple of weeks.
R.I.P.: Veteran a part
of "Band of Brothers" (thanks RudyBob). Darrell "Shifty" Powers.
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