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Archived News:
The Team Fortress 2 Blog
now points to a Classless Update
on the upcoming classless update for Team Fortress 2. This will not be a
hatless update, as they describe some new hats it will include, and also
outline plans for a new map called Arena Offblast: Arena Offblast is a
fast-paced, high-altitude community map set in a top secret missile silo wedged
into the top of a hollowed-out mountain. Open-air paths and narrow hallways
converge on a central control point located just under the silo’s blast doors.
This mountaintop arena also boasts a sheer cliff face encircling the
battleground, giving you the chance to help your opponents improve their
tactics. Specifically, anyone you blast over the side will get some time to
think about the various flaws in their “standing next to the edge of a cliff”
strategy as they plummet to an excruciating, non-respawnable death.
The profile of actor
Mark Sloan on
Casting Call Pro seems to indicate Hitman 5 is under development at
Rocksteady Studios, as he lists his motion capture work for the game on his
résumé. Thanks Garret.
Joystiq has a gameplay video from
Battleswarm: Field of Honor, the upcoming multiplayer action/strategy game
involving Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Meanwhile, beta testing of Battleswarm
is also now underway (thanks
Big Download). Word is:
SEATTLE, WA – August 10, 2009 – Reality Gap, Inc. announced that
Battleswarm™: Field of Honor™ launches in Beta today. Developed by Gameworld
Tech Co, LTD, Battleswarm simultaneously pits first-person shooters (FPS) vs.
real-time strategy (RTS) players in this genre-busting online PC game. Players
choose between team-based, first-person action, representing individual, elite
Human soldiers or acting as the supreme commander of an alien task force,
managing hundreds of alien bugs from a real-time strategy point of view. Slated
for commercial launch next month, players can now register to experience
Battleswarm for free at
http://www.battleswarm.net.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that team-based combat has
been pitted against real-time strategy in a balanced, live-action online game,”
said Michael A. Williams, CEO of Reality Gap, Inc. “Shooters must confront
swarms of alien opponents, but unlike most FPS games, they are playing against
aliens managed by a human intelligence looking to outwit and outmaneuver them.”
Battleswarm allows up to six players to take control of soldiers in team-based,
first- or third-person shooter mode, arming themselves from a huge arsenal of
high-tech weapons and armor. They compete in discrete missions versus up to four
Alien Commanders, who control hundreds of bug-like units in real-time strategy
mode. The Alien Commanders must build hives, breed units, and manage their
forces in missions to overwhelm the human opponents. Players can create guilds,
buy and sell items, and level up their characters.
The Making of World of Warcraft on Eurogamer is part one of an
extensively researched two-part article on the birth of Blizzard's MMORPG
juggernaut.
It's "mid-week madness" on
Steam, where word is: "For two days only, save 50% off
Call of Duty: World at War!
Offer ends Thursday August 13."
The
Chapter 12 patch notes for Star Wars Galaxies is now online. If you
were looking for info on Star Wars: The Old Republic, well, these aren't the
'droids you are looking for. Thanks
Massively.
Link of the Day:
2009 Perseid Meteor Shower – Double Peaks This Year! Bust out the telescope.
Thanks Mike Martinez.
MMORPG.com
reports that both Jeff Strain and David Reid have parted ways with NCsoft. In
the case of ArenaNet cofounder Jeff Strain, word is: "NCsoft West announces the
departure of Jeff Strain, President of Product Development, who has chosen to
leave NCsoft under amicable terms and NCsoft wishes him the best in his new
endeavor. This does not change our plans or negatively impact our upcoming
launch of Aion, and NCsoft remains very excited about the game’s launch on
September 22nd in the U.S. and September 25th in Europe. These changes do not
influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches." They go on
to call the departure of President of Publishing David Reid "an unrelated and
separate event," providing little in the way of detail, but saying "he will be
missed."
The promised playable demo for Darkest of Days is now available, offering
the chance to check out the upcoming history-altering shooter in the works at
8Monkey Labs. Darkest of Days is a first-person shooter where players travel
back in time to influence history by who lives and dies in key historical
battles. The 740 MB demo is available from
AtomicGamer,
ComputerGames.ro,
FanGaming,
FileFront,
Gamer's Hell, and
Strategy Informer.
Electronic Arts has filed new trademark registrations for
Wing
Commander,
Populous,
Theme
Park, and
Road
Rash. It's probably pretty obvious news like this comes way of
superannuation, and we wholeheartedly agree with their accompanying comment:
"I like the implications of this."
A new "story" trailer from Section 8 describes the narrative from
TimeGate Studios' upcoming sci-fi shooter, outlining how one becomes a member of
Section 8, and who they are locked in battle against. The clip includes
developers discussing the game accompanied by cinematics and some gameplay footage. The clip is posted on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and
Strategy
Informer.
A new trailer for Sacred 2: Ice & Blood is now available, showing off the
upcoming Sacred 2 expansion that does not feature hockey, in spite of what the
title suggests. Ice & Blood is due in Germany by the end of this month in spite
of the apparent closure of developer Ascaron. The new movie is
posted on
the Sacred 2 Website, where they also link to a streaming version on the
YouTube. The clip is
also mirrored on
AtomicGamer and
Strategy Informer.
John J Dick, the voice actor who plays the voice of Serious Sam, is
offering "cheap ass voice acting" for the bargain rate of one dollar per word,
in an effort to get out from under his current debts. Here's the deal:
Act quickly. I'm only willing to whore myself out at these discount rates
until I dig myself out of debt. This service is not only limited to game
designers, movie producers and content creators. I would also love to help you
set up a kick ass voicemail message, or maybe add some snappy dialogue to your
home movies. Hell, maybe even a tranquil subliminal message to play while you
sleep. Sky's the limit.
I also do copywriting, audio editing and Flash design. If you have an idea for a
project, I'd love to help you flesh it out. The only real limitation I have is
that I reserve the right to not 'do' the Serious Sam persona (use his name and
specific 'voice'). That doesn't mean that I won't do the Serious Sam voice in
some situations, your voicemail message or somesuch. It's just that Croteam and
the Serious Sam franchise have been very good to me. I'm not going to do
anything that would compromise my relationship with them.
THQ*ICE announces August 18 as the start date or North American open beta
testing of Dragonica Online,
their upcoming subscription-free MMORPG, a delay from the promised
June open beta. Here's the deal: Beginning August 18th at 2pm PDT, THQ*ICE
registrants will be able to participate in Dragonica Online’s exciting events
and giveaways including:
• Odellia Starter Pack: Players who create a character during the first
week of the Open Beta Test will receive a special starter pack for their journey
through Dragonica.
• Dragonica Online Loot Hunt: Play Dragonica Online and hunt monsters
to receive “Loot Drops” for a chance to win awesome in-game and real world
giveaways featuring exclusive Dragonica-themed items and premium prizes.
• Ongoing In-Game Events & Contests: Join the Dragonica Online
community and celebrate the launch of the Open Beta Test with even more events
and special contests!
“We are committed to delivering quality content to the Dragonica Online
community and wanted to celebrate the Open Beta Test by rewarding our members
with an opportunity to win exciting giveaways and prizes,” said Aaron Dean,
Marketing Manager for Dragonica Online. “The game has already received high
accolades from the gaming community and the Open Beta Test will allow thousands
more to enjoy its fast-paced, 3D side-scrolling action.”
Gamasutra
reports that Turbine has raised $6.6 million of series D funding, with the bad
new that this is about 12% of the $50 million in new investments they are
seeking. This info is contained in a new
SEC filing, which does not state how this money is earmarked.
Mad Catz to Create Modern Warfare 2 Game Accessories announces
branded controllers are in the works for Infinity Ward's military shooter
sequel. Probably mice too, as it says: "The agreement gives Mad Catz global
rights to a range of accessories for all current platforms of the title, which
is scheduled for worldwide release on November 10."
There's a three-part video interview with John Carmack on the YouTube where the
id Software Technical Director chats about various topics with Polish magazine
CD-Action (at least they didn't name it Floppy Disc Action), as noted on
Digital Foundry. Here's
part one,
here's part
two, and
here's part
three. The audio is rough, but audible, and there several points of interest
along the way, including a passing reference noted by
VG247 on the aborted title they were working on "before we rebooted into
Rage," though no real details on the cancelled project are offered. Another
comment that's getting a lot of play is
highlighted here, as he expresses an opinion about console release
schedules: "Whether Sony wants to jump the gun to prevent the same sort of 360
lag from happening to them again seems likely. As developers, we would really
like to see this generation stretch as long as possible. We'd like to see it be
quite a few more years before the next gen console comes out, but I suspect one
will end up shipping something earlier rather than later."
Deep Silver announces signing on as publisher for the Prison Break video
game that ties in with the television series of the same name (trivia: these
guys have been breaking out of prison longer than the castaways lived on
Gilligan's Island). Last we heard of this game was when Zootlfly
sued Brash over unpaid bills, but
this new announcement doesn't reference anything but the game. No release
date is offered, but word is: "The action adventure "Prison Break" has all the
markings of the award-winning TV series: a compelling story, distinct
characters, and fast-paced action. Using diverse climbing and stealth skills,
the protagonist Paxton explores numerous locations of the series, all brought to
life with great attention to detail."
Risen is the latest game to run afoul of Australia's content rating
system, as Piranha Bytes upcoming RPG has been refused classification, and
cannot be sold in Australia. Details are found on
Refused-Classification.com and
R18+
(thanks
GamePolitics). Word is: "During the course of the game, players can interact
with prostitutes (referred to as 'whores' in the game) at a local brothel.
Players can trigger a lengthy dialogue to engage in their services; sexual
activity is strongly implied, but never depicted on screen. Many of the
characters in the game smoke a fictional drug called 'brugleweed.' The 'wood
reefer' plant is described as having a mild relaxing effect on users, and can be
bought, sold, and used by players. Some profanity (e.g., “f*ck” and “sh*t”) can
be heard in the dialogue." There's no word yet on whether the game's content
will be altered to meet the censors' approval.
FileFront
offers downloads of a new map pack for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II.
This is described in a post on the
Dawn Of War II Website
that also points the way for tips on creating maps for the RTS sequel:
With the recent release of our Dawn of War II World Builder, a flurry of
map creation has been going on in the community. In addition to brand new maps,
several long time fans of the game have recreated their favorite maps from the
original Dawn of War game, and Sturmtruppen has been contacting map makers to
include them in a map pack for DOW II. The map pack currently contains
twenty-seven maps from various authors and is available for download from
FileFront, and playing on them is a very simple process of running the installer
and then firing up the game. Thanks very much for all your work Sturm, and to
all of the map makers involved.
Relic Designer Sacha Narine was checking out the map pack on the weekend and
posted some tips for map makers in the thread that everyone might benefit from.
If you’re going to try your hand at map making, give them a read! He’s logged
more than a few hours in the World Builder.
Gamasutra
reports on "significant layoffs" at GRIN, corroborating with "reliable sources"
reports that first surfaced in a
Swedish-language report (apparently unnoticed at the time) from June that
followed earlier reports of layoffs at the Swedish developer.
According to that report, GRIN's Barcelona and Gothenburg offices have been
closed, and its main Stockholm office may also be in jeopardy. Word is: "Sources
indicated to Gamasutra that employees have apparently been told not to show up
for work, and the company may be undergoing some kind of closing or bankruptcy
procedure."
FIFA 10 is now due for release on October 20 in North America, a slight
delay from its planned October 2 release reports
GameSpot. This goes
unexplained, and it is not clear at this time whether the release of the
football/soccer sequel is delayed in other territories as well.
There's an
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising interview on Boomtown chatting
with designer Tim Browne about the upcoming military shooter in the works at
Codemasters. They discuss what will set the game apart from other shooters,
realism and authenticity, vehicles, missions, the sandbox environment, the
campaign, capabilities of your squad mates, and more. Also, a new "hardcore
mode" developer diary movie is now available on
the game's
official website. Word is: Where: "Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising's
Executive Producer Sion Lenton, Chief Games Designer Tim Browne and Chief Level
Designer James Nicholls explain how 'Hardcore Mode' has been developed with fan
feedback to deliver the ultimate challenge in the authentic sandbox shooter."
The clip is mirrored on
ActionTrip and
Gamer's Hell. Also,
there's a new hands-on preview of the game on
IGN.
The cinematic introduction from Aion is now posted on
G4tv.com,
setting the stage for NCsoft's upcoming MMORPG, and there's another story
cinematic on
GameTrailers.com. After listening to the voice-overs on these clips, we're
finally ready to admit this game's title is actually pronounced eye-on.
Gamasutra - Natural Universes And Deus Ex- Invisible War.
This design ingenuity remains as fabulous today as it did six years ago.
Returning to it now, however, feels strange. It's not the inexcusably small
size of the levels, I'm sure of it. I was fine with that back in the day, so
why wouldn't I be now? And it's not the slightly suspect voice acting,
either. Deus Ex's was terrible, and I can still lose myself for days in that
original title. Indeed, my problem with Invisible War now seems to be
something less tangible. It seems to lack a certain spirit, the sort of
charisma that overflows from every inch of the first, milestone release.
It pains me to say it, but there's just no atmosphere in Invisible War.
In a bit of timing, today's forecast calls for the first 100 degree temperatures
in these parts, coinciding with my gable fan downtime. Hopefully I'll be able to
avoid spontaneous combustion along the way.
R.I.P.:
JFK's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at 88. Thanks Mike Martinez.
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