Archived News:
LucasArts Tweets
that we can expect to hear more about a new internal intellectual property they
are developing on September 10, which is when an interview on the topic will be
posted on Gametrailers. Here's the
mysterious word: "Our Prez just Finished an interview w/ @Gametrailers.
Discussed new internal LucasArts IP. Tune in Sept 10 to hear whats [sic] up!"
The new "slo-mo deathmatch" gameplay mode for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
is bound for the PC edition of Monolith's shooter sequel, we can now confirm.
When the Reborn DLC for F.E.A.R. 2 was announced, the
Windows edition of the game went unmentioned, but we were later able to
confirm it is PC bound as well (though this will be after the
DLC's console release on September 3). The upcoming slo-mo deathmatch mode is to
be part of a patch separate from the DLC, however, and we have only just been
able to verify that this patch is also coming to Windows. The catch is that
while the new gameplay mode requires the patch, it also requires the Reborn DLC,
so PC gamers interested in the new content and game mode can take comfort that
they are coming, though it is not clear just when.
The Call
of Duty: World at War Forums have a status report from Treyarch on the PC
edition of the third map pack for the World War II shooter sequel saying it will
be released with an upcoming version 1.6 patch (thanks
VG247). Here's word: As with the previous two Map Packs, Map Pack 3
will indeed be coming to the PC – the team is hard at work on it and I’ll let
you know when it’s in test.
As such, there will be a Patch 1.6 as well, which will address some additional
game issues. When I have details on what else will be included in the patch I
will be sure to post them.
We appreciate your patience as always, and look forward to its release as much
as you do!
There are
Todd Howard keynote highlights from QuakeCon 2009 on Big Download recapping
what the Bethesda Softworks executive director had to say at the show. Todd says
they are currently working on their "next big game," which they are not
discussing further, and that Bethesda is done making Fallout 3 DLC, though the
third-party DLC Fallout 3: New Vegas is expected next year. As for the Elder
Scrolls series, Howard says there are no current plans for Elder Scrolls 5, but
when asked about an Elder Scrolls MMOG he said "there's always a chance," though
they indicate this was said "in jest." Thanks
Kotaku. On a related note, though Big Download says the comment about the
Elder Scrolls MMOG was in jest, the Trademark sleuths at
superannuation have a list of domains that currently resolve to Bethesda's
name server at ns1.zenimax.com: elderscrollsmmo.com
elderscrollsmmo.net
elderscrollsmmog.com
elderscrollsmmog.net
elderscrollsonline.com
elderscrollsonline.net
theelderscrollsmmo.com
theelderscrollsmmo.net
theelderscrollsmmog.com
theelderscrollsmmog.net
theelderscrollsonline.net
A new Mythos Website is online,
offering a tease as well as a
closed beta test registration form for the MMOG that ceased beta
testing when developer Flagship Studios closed. This seems to
indicate that HanbitSoft's plans to reboot the hack-and-slash
MMORPG are taking shape, though no real details are provided. Thanks
Massively.
There's a new
Serious Sam HD "Exclusive Epic Trailer" on GameTrailers.com with a look
at the upcoming Serious Sam remake that will feature state-of-the-art
graphics. The clip highlights the complicated story behind the first person
shooter, which involves blowing up everything in sight as quickly as possible, a
fun reminder of just how over-the-top Serious Same gameplay is.
Gamecock acquisition goes south on Joystiq is a lengthy article endeavoring
to untangle the complicated story of the purchase of the Gamecock Media Group by
SouthPeak in October of last year. The aftermath of that
acquisition lead to ruthless negotiations over reduced payment to vendors, which
provoked layoffs at Cyan among other things. There are
explanations from Gamecock cofounder Mike Wilson (now of Devolver)
of how this and other post-acquisition events unfolded, refuting the perception
allegedly spread by SouthPeak that Gamecock's upper management just took the
money and ran: "We have all worked in this industry for a long time, and
continue to work in it, and it's hard enough to do the right thing in this
business when your competition is bigger and almost universally more cutthroat
in its practices, without someone taking your legs out in verbal conversations
behind closed doors." The article also
includes a full interview on the topic with Mike Wilson.
The Dead Wake Website now
offers a new version 0.9.8 demo for this community-developed zombie
horror/survival game, saying the full release is approaching. The new version
adds new weapons, new zombies, and a new map. The download is mirrored on
AtomicGamer and
Gamer's Hell.
Steam News announces a
hotfix is automatically available for the Steam edition of ARMA II,
Bohemia Interactive's military shooter sequel. Here's what the update does:
"Fixed an objective impossible to complete in the campaign mission Badlands."
C&C4 - The Big Questions Answered on Tiberium Universe has thoughts on
Command & Conquer 4 from Mike "BigMike" Glosecki, executive producer on the
RTS sequel (not to mention role model/bad ass). He discuss the controversy over
the game's move online, saying this was "so that we could better support the
community with a live team much like MMOs." He also addresses concerns that
Tiberium itself is being phased out of the C&C universe: The last thing I
wanted to talk about was Tiberium itself. I know a lot of you are wondering why
you haven’t seen that much of it in the screenshots that we've released to date.
Rest assured that Tiberium is in the world as it would really be hard to make a
Tiberium universe game without everyone’s favorite green proton lattice. If you
view our announcement trailer you can actually see how much Tiberium has
devastated Manchester in 2062 by filling in the country side and even consuming
many of the buildings in the city itself. The screens that we have released show
some of the areas in the world that have been terra-formed through GDI's
alliance with Kane (OMG!) which is why you don't see a lot of Tiberium in them.
In our future screenshots, you will see some of the areas that are still being
ravaged by Tiberium and have not been fully reclaimed.
There's a RAGE
QuakeCon Interview video on GameSpot where id's Tim Willits and Matt Hooper
introduce their new IP. Tim calls the gameplay in RAGE "open but
directed," and describes what that means. There's also a
RAGE
video interview on GameTrailers.com where Tim "Tom" Willits
discusses how id has expanded its horizons for their new shooter, adding
vehicular combat and racing to the mix. He also discusses the power of their
Tech 5 engine in creating more varied environments, including open vistas and
landscapes, saying "no more will you find, you know, the same space station
levels over and over again." The game's various factions are also discussed, as
Tim describes how the players success will involve interacting with the
population of their post-apocalyptic world. He also says they can "see the light
at the end of the tunnel" of development, offering a new variant on their
classic "when it's done" release date, saying RAGE will be available, "when it's
fun, and when it's over the top." There's also an interview clip about
QuakeCon 2009 that hears briefly from Pete Hines, Todd Hollenshead, and
Marty Stratton. Other QuakeCon clips on GT include
an Overview,
the BYOC Area,
the Exhibit Area,
Gamer Interviews,
gamers, and the
GT500 Unveiling.
The Eve of
Destruction Website now features a new version 1.50 of the Eve of
Destruction modification for Battlefield 1942 (if we recall the
original numbering scheme for the Vietnam War mod, this means it is 150%
complete). The new version adds loads of new content, and the site has videos,
screenshots, and information on all that's been added. Thanks Ant and
Planet
Battlefield.
Digital Foundry - Media Manipulation: the "Bullshot" phenomenon.
The usual process is to capture an in-game scene then internally
re-render it at a higher resolution, then scale down. It's still a
game-engine shot, and it's usually supplied at the game's actual resolution,
but it looks more natural, less artificial and blocky: good for making your
games look decent in the press of the era, and with a change of camera
perspective, and some additional effects, the game visuals themselves can be
blown up large for full-page artwork, packshots and marketing use. To this
day, the basic principles have not really changed much at all, we just get
to see more interesting variations of the technique at work. The real
difference these days is in the fact that seemingly everyone is perfectly
happy to release screenshots and sometimes even complete video trailers,
that sometimes feature very little actual gameplay.
GameTopius - Why "Casual" and "Hardcore" are already obsolete.
The underlying problem in this whole labeling issue is that you simply
cannot lump people into such strict groups and expect that everyone will
figure out who belongs on what side. No matter what we do, labels will never
go away, so should we not at least try to find something that is much
broader so that we, or at least marketing, won’t be constantly insulting
their demographics?
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.
As QuakeCon rolls along, we notice it was 13 years ago this week that the Dallas
gaming scene went wild, as it was August 12, 1996 when we learned that much of
the original Prey team and Levelord had quit en masse from 3D Realms to form
Hipnotic Interactive, which became Ritual Entertainment, while Tom Hall rejoined
John Romero at Dream Design, which became ION Storm.
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