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Archived News:
LinuxGames relates an
exchange a reader of theirs had with id Software Technical Director John Carmack
over plans for Linux ports of future id games (thanks Ant). Linux Wolfenstein is
"unlikely," as it is being developed by Raven, and though id has been a longtime
supporter of Linux, there are "no firm plans" for Linux RAGE or DOOM 4,
"but it certainly isn't off the table." The reason for the uncertainty isn't
that his code is less portable, but that OpenGL support is becoming less
practical: Wolfenstein is pretty unlikely, since it was developed at
Raven, and published by Activision. There are no firm plans for linux ports of
the idTech 5 titles, but it certainly isn’t off the table. I don’t think it will
be very difficult to get them running on the binary nvidia drivers, but bringing
them up to functionality and acceptable performance on other OpenGL drivers
would probably be a more significant undertaking than we could afford.
Electronic Arts has confirmed growing suspicions that Dante's Inferno is
not heading to the PC, reports
Big Download. EA's statement on the topic is short and to the point: "When
Dante's Inferno was originally announced in December, we attached no platforms
to the project. When we came out with a first look for press in February we
announced 360/PS3 and then in April we announced PSP. We never announced a PC
SKU nor are there plans for any." On a related note, EA today announced a six
issue comic mini-series based on the game, with the first issue to debut at
Comic Con that will employ the talents of Diego Latorre and Christos Gage. Comic
Con will also feature the premiere of the trailer for the direct-to-DVD animated
feature that will be released at the same time as the game.
GamersGate
and Steam now offer the
snarky Pirate Bay free DLC preorder bonus Paradox Interactive
announced last week for East India Company, the upcoming
naval RTS game. The game us currently scheduled for release on July 28 (though
Steam says July 31).
- Aion on
IGN.UK.
- Alien Breed Evolution on
Eurogamer.
- Left 4 Dead 2 on
GameSpy.
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues on
IGN.
- Need for Speed SHIFT on
IGN.
- Singularity on
Hooked Gamers.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Republic Heroes on
IGN.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
MTV Multiplayer has word from Jeff Gardiner of Bethesda Softworks on new
weapons and a new perk to be added to Fallout 3 in the upcoming
Mothership Zeta DLC for the post-apocalyptic action/RPG. The
mission-specific perk is called Xenotech Expert. Word is: "It increases the
damage you do with alien weapons, including the Alien Blaster if the player had
found that in the wasteland." And here's what Jeff told them about new
weapons: Mothership Zeta is full of the most high tech weaponry in the
game. It includes a Shock Baton for melee fighters, multiple new firearms
including an Alien Atomizer, a pistol, and the Alien Disintegrator, a new rifle.
There's also a new grenade type, a Cryo Grenade, which freezes enemies for a
short period of time. On top of that there are new unique weapons, and a new
heavy weapon.
A Gabe Newell
Interview on Good Game is a video conversation with Valve's managing
director as well as John Cook and Jason Holtman. The conversation with Gabe has
him recounting the history of how Valve got started back at the very beginning
and also includes an interesting take on piracy representing under-served
customers and how copy-protection is a step in the wrong direction. A topic
highlighted by
Kotaku
is Gabe discussing the idea that there may be a way to develop games with the
community investment, rather than publisher funding. It seems the community does
this when buying games, but Gabe is talking more about up-front money and how it
may help with the creative end. He says: One of the areas that I am
personally super interested in right now is how we can do financing from the
community. So right now, what typically happens is you have this budget, it
needs to be huge, it has to be ten million to thirty million dollars; it has to
be all available at the beginning of the project. And then there's a huge amount
of risk associated with those dollars so all the game decisions have to be
incredibly conservative.
What I think would be much better would be if the community could finance the
games. In other words, ‘Hey, I really like this idea that you have and I'll be
an early investor in that.' In venture capital there's a concept that your best
investors are your customers, because they have 'secondary gain.' If you are
successful they not only want a return on their money, but they're incredibly
happy if you actually make a great game that they get to play. It would be
really great if we could evolve Steam in a way that made it possible so that a
developer could say, you know, 'if you want this game to start moving forward,
here's the sort of 'seed round',' were people can sort of opt-in and say 'I'll
pay thirty dollars and I own a piece of this game going forward.'
The Dawn Of War II
Website announces the conclusion of beta testing for the upcoming " There
is Only War" patch for Relic's Warhammer 40K RTS sequel. Word is the test
has been successful, though they also indicate the patch will include bug fixes
and balance updates that weren't tested, for some reason: The beta has
been successful due to the overwhelming amount of community feedback and
support. We have received hundreds of balance suggestions, numerous bug reports,
and countless suggestions to undoubtedly make Dawn of War II a stronger, deeper,
and more balanced game.
The full release of ‘There is Only War’ will be out soon. In addition to the new
content and balance updates included with the beta, the full release of ‘There
is Only War’ is coming with even more bug fixes and balance updates.
The week four update (conceptually, not real-time) update is now live on
After the Impact, the high concept
web home to RAGE, id Software's upcoming shooter. Even more of the image
on the site is interactive for your zooming and magnifying pleasure.
Paradox
Interactive Announces a week-long 50% off sale on digital distribution of
all their titles this week, in celebration of the completion of their
first-decade in the business.
GamersGate
already has their sale prices up, and presumably other sites will follow
shortly. Update: The sale is now on
Steam
as well.
Command and Conquer Files has information about Command and Conquer 4
and screenshot scans of the coming RTS sequel from the new issue of French
gaming magazine PC Jeux. The information includes a few gameplay details and
word that the FMV cut scenes "won't consist of much asinine babbling" in front
of blue screens. As said, the shots are scans from the magazine, but APOC
tweeted this, so
any copyright questions can be directed at him.
Dyack- ‘Dominance of gameplay will recede’ on Develop reflect comments in a
Develop keynote address by Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack, who feels a
shift in games from being dominated by technology and gameplay towards a more
narrative focus is underway. He makes an analogy to the early days of cinema,
where movies had little narrative focus, depicting scenes like putting out fires
and feeding babies that gave way to a more story-oriented approach. Our initial tendency
is to disagree, as this seems to ignore the interactive aspect of games that's
not present in movies (idiots talking to the screen aside), but Denis seems to
think the correlation is there, saying, "if you want to follow the history of
film – if videogames follow that similar history, the dominance of gameplay will
start to recede."
Develop has word that the ultimate price tag for Activision's acquisition of
Bizarre Creations could rise to above $107 million if certain performance
milestones are reached. Apparently the deal began with a $67.4 million cash
payment, but that
another $40 million in bonuses could be on the way, depending on the success
of Blur.
Gameplayer - Do or Die for id Software.
Well there is no doubt that it is time to deliver. We need to see id Tech
5 in full swing. We need to see genuine gameplay footage of the still in
development RAGE and the announced but secretive Doom 4. We need to hear of
other developers jumping at the chance to get in on its exciting new
middleware. We need hope. And you get bet your original sealed box copy of
Doom that new owner Zenimax will expect to see results, and see ‘em soon.
Because with new stable-mate kicking goals with Elder Scrolls IV and Fallout
3, id are at serious risk of running a distant second at its new home, and
furthermore, of watching a whole generation of gamers come and go without
ever knowing the true awesomeness of id.
Gamasutra - Why The Keyboard Is PC Gaming's Secret Weapon. Thanks Ant
and
Slashdot.
In the name of saving your fingers a stretch, the same button for jump
can also be used to climb ladders, run across walls, and cling to ledges.
The confines of the controller dictate how the game plays, on a fundamental
level, and it's producing some wonderfully inventive ways of interacting
with your games. The opposite, however, is true of the PC. With over 100
keys to choose from (back of the box quotation right there), the
possibilities are near endless, if you start to think of shift and control
functions altering the purpose of keys. It means that, when the developers
start to make their game, they don't have to worry about the limitations of
the interface, knowing that, if all else fails, they can always assign the
compass to K, even if that's a bit of a stretch to all but the pianists. The
keyboard is the friend of ambition, and ArmA 2 is the testament to that, in
all its surrealist, broken glory.
I guess the commemorations of the Apollo 11 mission will come to a head today,
as this is the day they landed on the moon. A giant leap for mankind indeed.
R.I.P.:
'Angela's Ashes' author McCourt dies in NYC at 78.
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