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Archived News:
Though developer Obsidian already revealed the cancellation of the Aliens
RPG, publisher SEGA has finally broken their silence on the project, telling
TotalVideoGames.com the game is officially cancelled, saying, "At this
point, SEGA has no plans to move forward with the Aliens RPG." They go on to
provide their outlook on the property: The Aliens franchise offers us so much content to choose from that we feel it
important to take a step back and carefully consider the type of game we want to
release. We plan to continue working with the Aliens franchise and ask fans to
be patient and stay tuned for more information about what SEGA has coming out
for the Aliens series of games, starting with the upcoming Alien vs. Predator
game. We are very excited about and focused on Alien vs. Predator, which
promises gamers a fantastic single player game and an equally compelling
multiplayer experience. We are confident that it provides all the excitement and
fun that the Aliens and Predator fans are looking for.
Voodoo Extreme has release dates from THQ for the PC edition of Red
Faction: Guerrilla, saying the shooter sequel will be out in Europe on
September 11 and in North America on September 15, a delay beyond the August
release date revealed less than two months ago. They also have
some new DirectX 10 screenshots from the game, and the following system
specifications: Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP / Vista
• CPU: 2.0 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
• Memory: 1GB RAM / 15GB of Hard Drive space
• Video Card: 128MB 3D Video Card with Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia
GeForce 7600/ATI Radeon X1300)
Recommended:
• OS: Windows Vista for DirectX 10
• CPU: 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
• Memory: 2GB RAM / 15GB of Hard Drive space
• Video Card: 256MB 3D Video Card with Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia
GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD3850)
In the 60s Marshall McLuhan taught us "the medium is the message." In the 80s
Scott McNealy taught us "the network is the computer." Now the 20-year cycle
repeats, as Realtime Worlds' CEO David Jones teaches us that players can be the
content, according to an article on
Gamasutra
where Jones describes a lesson learned from Crackdown, where they found
players experiencing the game in different ways than the game's designers
intended, leading to the sandbox approach to their upcoming All Points
Bulletin. The content comment came in answer to a question about ABP
single-player play, "You’ll be able to play APB as a single-player game," says
Jones, "but it’s the other players that will be the content." Other comments
from Jones at the Develop conference include
APB will
have 100 players per server, car customisation “better than Forza” and
"Online is very much untapped". Also,
VG247 Livebloged Jones' Develop 2009 keynote.
The
David Perry Interview on Edge Online talks with the one-time Shiny boss
about Gaikai, the upcoming cloud gaming service. Topics include the numerous
projects he's juggling, the response they've seen to Gaikai announcements, how
cloud gaming is "hostage to broadband penetration," lag, server investments, how
publishers love the concept, and retailers do not, or as Perry says: "GameStop
already hate me."
The Trine Interview
on Shacknews talks with Joel Kinnunen of Frozenbyte about Trine,
their recently released action/platformer. A couple of topics of particular
interest are Joel's take on whether the PC version will get co-op support, as he
says it's still up in the air, but: "With Trine, it looks like the chances are
higher than they were with the Shadowgrounds games." They also touch on the
confusing price structure, or lack thereof, for the game across platforms and
territories: It sucks, but in all honesty I don't lose too much sleep
over the $20 price on PSN and the $30 price on Steam/online/retail. The game is
worth the higher price too, in my opinion, and I think people will have an
enjoyable experience--and you can play the demo and judge for yourself.
I'm a bit more irked by the 20 euro price on PSN (Europe) and the 30 euro price
on Steam/online/retail (and even higher in retail in some countries/retailers).
The currency rates are just mad right now, and I can sympathize with a lot of
European gamers who are angry at this discrepancy. But it's more or less out of
our hands because it's linked to the retail side of things.
A new Champions Online trailer shows what happens when heroes just don't
get along (see Spider-Man versus The Human Torch, Batman versus Superman, or Guy
Gardner versus everybody for suitable examples). A new clip showing off
player-versus-player combat in Cryptic's upcoming superhero game is now
available on AtomicGamer
and
GameTrailers. There's also a
Champions Online Interview on G4tv.com talking with Jack Emmert, who at one
point
touches on how they might create a Nemesis Online as villainous
counterpart should Champions Online prove successful enough, but this would
differ from the City of Villains they created out of City of Heroes:
"I think in City of Villains, we were asked to make the game in about a year,
and so we were kind of focused on 'We gotta get this done.' So, we just took the
template of City of Heroes and copied it. If I were to do it over again, I would
create a very different type of gameplay for villain worlds."
GameTrailers.com now offers a movie from Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Part 2,
the upcoming continuation of the movie-based superhero fighting game. The
trailer highlights new asses to kick and new locations to perform said kicking.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Link of the Day:
Post I.T. Shooter. Thanks
Joystiq.
Red Alert Universe now offers downloads of new hotfix patches for the
various language editions of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which will
close off an exploit and update the real-time strategy sequel to version 1.12.
The new version is also available automatically from within the game, and here's
the explanation of what it is for: We have a hot-fix, Comrade! Assault
Destroyers ruining your day? Jump online and update to our latest hot-fix Patch
1.12. If you have trouble updating online, please use one of our direct download
links below.
This patch is a single hot-fix addressing a balance exploit error with the
Allied Assault Destroyer.
The IMDB listing for Batman:
Arkham Asylum lists several characters from Batman lore who have not been
officially announced as part of the upcoming superhero game. The site lists
voice actors for characters Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, The Penguin, Ra's al Ghul, and
more. Thanks
Kotaku.
A
JobSeeker message on Gamasutra puts out the help wanted that could well be
for a new installment in the Heroes of Might and Magic series, according
to some sleuthing by
Xbox360Achievements.org. The job posting outlines a lead designer position
at Ubisoft Shanghai: "for an experienced and talented Lead Game Designer to
develop a brand new title for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac." The post on
Big Download about this indicates this posting originally also had a reference to "Heroes of MM" that has since been removed.
IndustryGamers reports that Lou Castle is the new CEO of
InstantAction, the portal for
numerous original web-based games launched by GarageGames. This is accompanied
by news that InstantAction will be leaving its Eugene Oregon-based headquarters
to open offices in two different locations, one in Portland, and the other in
Las Vegas, where Castle is located (Sin City was also the home to Westwood
Studios, cofounded by Castle).
A Dragon Age Origins Collector's Edition is now listed on
GameStop, carrying a $64.99 price tag for the Windows edition. The SKU
carries several bonuses to put the C in CE, and these include a tin case, a
bonus DVD, a cloth map, three pieces of exclusive in-game Dragon Age Origins
content, additional (presumably non-exclusive) in-game Dragon Age Origins
content, as well as an exclusive unlockable in-game item for Mass Effect 2.
GameStop is also offering a preorder bonus of still two more in-game items, and
they also offer street-date guaranteed shipping so mail order customers will get
the game on October 20, when it will show up in stores. Thanks
Destructoid.
The QUAKE LIVE Website
announces that QUAKE LIVE was patched yesterday with fixes and new
features, the first update to the online shooter since they recently announced
plans to make Tuesday their scheduled maintenance day. In brief: "Included in
today's update is a streamlined account registration and plug-in installation
process, dozens of long lost awards, competition features, and spectator /
shoutcaster additions." Thanks
ClanBase.
GamerZines has a comment from Dr. Greg Zeschuk suggesting Mass Effect
could extend beyond a trilogy, excerpted from an interview with the BioWare VP
from the latest issue of
360Zine,
their Adobe Acrobat-format magazine. "We've said Mass Effect is supposed to be a
trilogy," he tells them, before going on to reveal: "so you're going to see at
least a third Mass Effect, and even more if everything goes well." Thanks Mike Martinez.
Word on Steam News is
that a new automatic update is now available for Counter-Strike 1.6, the
Half-Life modification edition of the multiplayer shooter that stays at
version 1.6 no matter how often it is patched. Here's the skinny on the new
version: Updates to Counter-Strike 1.6 have been released. The updates
will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific
changes include:
Half-Life Engine
• Added -sys_ticrate command line option to allowed forced override of ticrate
• Prevent more cases of server redirection
Counter-Strike/Condition Zero
• Added -nobots option to allow forced override of bots on servers
Publisher Phantom EFX and independent
developer 8monkey Labs announce
September 8 as the release date for
Darkest Of Days for
both Windows and Xbox 360. This upcoming first-person shooter involves changing
the course of human history by travelling through time saving key individuals
from death on several historical battlefields.
The full press release
has full details on the game, and here is a portion: In Darkest of Days,
you take on the role of Alexander Morris, an unlucky foot soldier who gets
transferred to General Custer’s regiment days before the Battle of Little
Bighorn. Moments before his inevitable demise, a futuristic time agent warps in
to save Morris and transports him to the future where he is told that time
travel is now a reality. However, an unknown faction is attempting to re-write
history for their own benefit. Your job is to stop them, and you’ll fight your
way through eras spanning thousands of years to do it.
Key features of Darkest of Days include:
• Brand New Engine: The dedicated team at 8monkey Labs has
created an all-new, groundbreaking game engine known as Marmoset. The Marmoset
Engine not only breaks from the all-too present Unreal engine FPS clones
flooding the market, but also allows for some amazing graphical capabilities.
You’ll fight through epic battles filled with literally hundreds of NPCs on the
screen at the same time, all with an advanced AI and all without a hint of
graphical slowdown and all set against wide-open environments that are lushly
detailed and dynamically lighted.
• Compelling Storyline: Darkest of Days is a compelling,
action-packed first-person shooter to be sure, but it’s not just mindless
run-and-gun, blow ‘em up gameplay. You’ll have to not only think about how to
approach certain key battles and situations, but you’ll also have to take care
when fighting – certain key people that were never meant to die will be marked
with a special blue aura. If you kill them, you’ll face dire consequences…
• Wreak Havoc with Future Weapons in Antiquity: Something
nearly every gamer that’s ever played a shooter based in the past has always
wanted is the ability to bring a futuristic weapon back through history and kick
some major butt. How differently would Custer’s last stand have turned out if
the General was equipped with an M-16 assault rifle? You’ll be able to answer
questions like this in Darkest of Days. While not every battle and situation
will allow you to wield weapons from the future, there will be plenty of
opportunities for you to unleash futuristic fury on your unsuspecting
foes.
superannuation is
at it again, digging up news of
a
Trademark registration by a Newport Beach-based company named Roxy Friday
for Pinball Construction Set, though it's not clear how or if this
relates to the
original Pinball Construction Set from back in the day.
They point out
this mysterious Roxy Friday has also
filed
a Trademark registration for Platform Racing, though once again, it is
unclear if or how this may relate to the web-based
Platform Racing.
The Miner Wars Website looks as
if it's been online for a while, but it now offers
the official
announcement of Miner Wars, a subterranean first-person shooter to be
released this autumn for Windows and Xbox 360. The game looks like it is
inspired by the Descent series, and they offer some screenshots and a pair of
high-definition trailers showing off gameplay, which is described like so:
"Miner Wars is a 6DOF underground and space shooter played in a fully
destructible environment and is a combination of single player story game and
MMO." Here's a bit more: As a player, you operate an advanced mining ship
in an open world asteroid belt area. You dig kilometers of tunnels, harvest the
ore, travel the solar system, fight your enemies and discover mysterious alien
secrets.
Game play is led by an epic story and is a combination of a single/multi-player
game, cooperative, or you against everyone.
The story will introduce you to many types of missions: rescue, exploration,
revenge, base defense, theft, transportation, stealth, search and destroy, pure
harvesting, racing or just flying around and destroying everything you
see.
GamesIndustry.biz quotes GfK Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch predicting
that digital downloads via Steam, Direct2Drive, Metaboli, and similar services
will generate over $1 billion (with a "B") in sales by the end of this year.
This supports a general sentiment that PC gaming is underreported in sales
charts, and to that end, Dorian says they are eager to present such data, but will need a wider group of publishers to provide digital sales
figures to be accurate. He uses the Football Manager series as an
example: "Sega has been asking us, 'when can we include our Football Manager
sales in our charts?' We'd like to include them, but I can't just include one
publisher's sales, I need a balanced approach for doing that."
This press
release (peculiarly written in the first-person) announces October 9 as the
release date for CITIES XL, the urban planning game from Monte Cristo
that's currently undergoing beta testing ( IncGamers
is the latest site offering beta keys). Update: A subsequent announcement tells us this date
does not apply to the US, where the game's release schedule is yet to be
determined.
Get ready to revisit the SCUMM Bar, as LucasArts has released
The Secret of Monkey
Island: Special Edition for Windows via
Steam and
Direct2Drive and for Xbox 360 via the LIVE
Xbox LIVE
Marketplace. Here's word on the adventure game remake: Back by popular
demand, The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition faithfully re-imagines the
internationally-acclaimed classic game (originally released in 1990) for
original and new audiences alike. The development team at LucasArts is bringing
the game into the modern era with an all new re-imagined contemporary art style,
a re-mastered musical score, full voiceover, and an in-depth hint system to help
players through the game’s side-splitting puzzles. Purists will also delight in
the ability to seamlessly switch between the updated hand-drawn re-imagining and
the original classic version.
The game's twisty plot leads our naive hero on a hilarious, swash-buckling
search for the fabled secret of Monkey Island. Tales of pirate wealth lure him
to the port of Mêlée with high hopes, no money, and insatiable curiosity. If
clever enough, he will win the confidence of Mêlée's pirates and find himself
blown by the winds of fate toward the terrifying and legendary Monkey Island --
an adventure that would chill the bones of even the most bloodthirsty
buccaneer.
The week two update is now available on
After the Impact, the official website for RAGE, id Software's racy
upcoming post-apocalyptic shooter. The site continues its hidden object
scavenger hunt designed to build our interest in the game and our hatred of
Flash.
CNET News has
word from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates that the NATAL motion sensing technology
MS demonstrated at E3 will find its way to Windows in the future,
as well (thanks Mike Martinez). Someone will have to remind Bill that Microsoft is firmly
committed to Windows gaming, as he seems to think this is all about office
productivity (we're trying to picture printing via arm gestures). Word is:
Speaking about all of the technology Microsoft has cooking in its labs,
Gates said: "I'd say a cool example of that, that you'll see... in a little over
a year, is this (depth) camera thing." Gates said it was not just for games,
"but for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows
PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication."
Gates said it is an example where the project started in Microsoft research but
is now being commercialized by both the Xbox and Windows units. "Both the Xbox
guys and the Windows guys latched onto that and now even since they latched onto
it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete,
and is pretty exciting."
Using your body to control devices makes a lot of sense, Gates said. "I think
the value is as great for if you're in the home, as you want to manage your
movies, music, home system type stuff, it's very cool there," he said. "And I
think there's incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a
Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on
there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the
years to say, why shouldn't that be in most office environments."
BrightFalls.net has a
follow-up to Remedy Entertainment's Markus Maki's recent no
comment on the status of a PC edition of Alan Wake. Markus
specifically said: "Unfortunately all I can say at this point is that we're
focusing all our efforts on the 360 version and will be making comments in
regards to the PC at a later in time." Reading between the lines suggests that
this decision rests in the hands of the publisher, and the statement they
received indicates that Microsoft is indeed the decider when it comes to
bringing the psychological thriller to Windows: Thank you for your
continued interest in Alan Wake. It is accurate that we are currently working
exclusively on the Xbox360 version of Alan Wake. PC plans are currently open,
and therefore it’s safe to say that at least a simultaneous launch with the Xbox
version will not happen at this late stage. Remedy has a deep heritage in PC
gaming and would love to see a PC version available to its PC followers,
ultimately however this decision lies with our publisher.
A "Serious Tweet" writing contest for Serious Sam HD is underway, as
Croteam, Devolver Digital, cdv Software Entertainment AG, and Majesco
Entertainment (and probably others as well) offer the chance to supply one of
the one-liners uttered by Sam "Serious" Stone in Serious Sam HD (can't they just
rent Army of Darkness?). The announcement is accompanied by
three new screenshots, and here's word on the contest: So how does a
budding video game writer enter a finely crafted line for a chance to hear it in
Serious Sam HD? Gamers can log on to Twitter and send a brilliant tweet quip to
@devolverdigital between July 15 and July 30. Croteam will choose the winning
line and Devolver Digital will announce it to all followers of
www.twitter.com/devolverdigital
and www.twitter.com/majesco in
early August.
"I never get any thanks for the wonderfully poetic and emotionally layered lines
I write for Sam 'Serious' Stone," said an overworked and underpaid writer at
Croteam "So guess what? Let someone else take a crack at it and see how hard it
is. These witty remarks don't write themselves you know."
In addition to having the winning line appear in Serious Sam HD, the winner's
name will be immortalized in the credits of the game and forever become a part
of Serious Sam lore.
PC Games Hardware has a set of screenshots comparing the visuals in the
Windows edition of FIFA 10 to its console counterparts. The shots contrast the
apparent superiority of the sports sequel's upgraded console graphics with the
PC, which uses the same engine as the PC edition of FIFA 09, though no effort
seems to have been spent on finding similar scenes for a more direct comparison.
Kotaku - The Thinning Video Game Fall Of 2009.
Maybe the publishers are just less in it for just the hardcore than they
used to be. Nintendo leads the trend, outbalancing Mario and Zelda with
Style Savvy DS for girls, a new Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon for kids and Wii
Fit Plus for, no pun intended, a bigger audience than they might ever reach
with any games targeted for the hardcore gamer. Take Two has a game based on
the circus. Sega's got a Sonic kart-racer. And money will be made. The
holiday rush was often too much for the kind of gamers who want to
experience the big brand blockbusters from the big-name studios. Not enough
money. Not enough time. So maybe this slight calming, this change from a
mouthful of cotton candy to a mouthful of Gummi Bears is slightly healthier.
GameSpy -
Disastvertising: The Worst in Gaming PR.
The Internet makes promotion easier than ever: Throw up a blurred
screenshot from a helicopter passing over the developer's headquarters and a
hundred blogs go into full CSI-mode. Content-starved sites suck up
announcements like a nymphomaniac vacuum cleaner, so companies have to
invent brand-new ways to screw up their PR strategies. And they do! Here
we've gathered seven videogame advertising stunts which make that Aqua Teen
Hunger Force bomb scare thing look like a good idea.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
I don't know, I expected more effort from the squirrels after I bought the
birdfeeder designed to thwart them, as I've seen video of them going to
extraordinary lengths to break into feeders... I guess there are enough
alternative food sources that it is not worth their trouble. The neat thing is
the feeder is also helping keep things fair for the smaller birds, as we have a
heavy crow population in this area, and the same mechanism that closes the
feeder when squirrels climb on also gets triggered by the weight of more than
one crow, so the big guys have to take turns, and cannot dominate the proceedings the
way they would with an ordinary feeder.
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