|
|
 |
Archived News:
MyCrysis
announces that Crysis Wars Trial Keys are now available and the free
summer trial for the multiplayer Crysis game is now underway. They offer
illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to get started, and say the trial
will continue through into next Friday.
Composer Hans Zimmer game for Call of Duty has word that the Academy Award
and Grammy winning composer will score Modern Warfare 2 (hanks
IGN). Also,
Ari Pulkkinen's Website offers sales
of the Trine soundtrack for download in high-quality MP3 (224 kbps) and
lossless FLAC formats. The news page
also offers downloads of the main theme for free.
A new YouTube vs. Blur
Mashup on the YouTube doesn't actually feature any gameplay from Bizarre
Creations' upcoming racing game, but it does juxtapose scads of viral internet
video with a techno beat comparing the scenes with the game's power-ups. You'll
come for the ass fireworks but stay for the taserings.
The runaway train of DLC for RailWorks continues, as the
Stanier Jubilee Steam
Locomotive RailWorks Add-on is now available on
Steam. The add-on for the
transportation simulation includes the Stanier Jubilee 4-6-0 Steam Locomotive in
two liveries, additional rolling stock, three scenarios and two free roams.
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling
tweets about
this image, and promises new multiplayer
Modern Warfare 2 footage on Tuesday, saying: "You're looking at a raw
unedited capture of MP footage. Good news. We're releasing it that way! Bad
news? Not till Tuesday."
A running tally of this week's bargains:
Bill would give
president emergency control of Internet (thanks
Slashdot) describes legislation currently being drafted "which still appears
to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks
during a so-called cybersecurity emergency." The article is based on getting to
see a preliminary copy of the Senate bill, and the scope of this is pretty
dramatic, but we'll try to summarize in a couple of excerpts the gist without
ganking the whole article, which should be read in its entirety: The
Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C.,
about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama
acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond
to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would
be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains
empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder
why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted
to instruct the private sector what to do.
[…]
Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits
the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary
for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage
in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those
companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government.
("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet,
telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)
"The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits,"
EFF's Tien says. "It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they
had originally to the more ambiguous (version)...The designation of what is a
critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific
process. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's
where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go
along with it."
The Paul Sams
Interview on IncGamers chats with the Blizzard COO at BlizzCon. Paul
outlines just what a COO does, the changes as Blizzard has expanded over the
years, their surprise at the success of "the phenomenon that is World of
Warcraft" (which they projected to sell one million copies), and the incredible
growth the success of their MMORPG has provoked. Other topics include World
of Warcraft in China, and more.
Tom
Hall on Wolfenstein 3D on IncGamers talks with the designer about the old
days at id when Wolfenstein 3-D was created. He describes how
the game was spurred by a conversation The Romero had with Looking Glass Studios
about texture mapping, outlines the inspiration for some of the game's oddball features, gives Scott
Miller his due for innovating the game's shareware model, and more.
Bloomberg.com has a report from a couple of days ago spotted by
Wired
revealing the US Congress is pressing the FCC to make recommendations about the
possibility of a single rating system to cover the appropriateness for children
of content on television, video games, and wireless telephones. The report is
based on comments by two unnamed FCC officials, saying: "The report to Congress
won’t make any recommendations about what steps the government or industry
should take, the officials said. They said that in the report, the FCC will
state that it intends to start the inquiry, which could be an initial step
toward rulemaking. The inquiry also may ask whether devices should be able to
accommodate more than one rating system." The report cites lawmaker concerns
that child-inappropriate content is now readily available on mobile phones and
computers, which makes it difficult for parents to monitor what their children
view. The article also describes industry concerns, with major broadcasters
saying this raises first amendment issues, the ESA saying the FCC has no
jurisdiction over video games, and wireless consortium CTIA saying the mobile
industry has worked voluntarily to meet parents' demands. The article quotes
Senator Jay Rockefeller (WV-D), Commerce Committee chairman, saying constituents
are "horrified" by some programming.
The Sith
Warrior preview on the Star Wars: The Old Republic Website has more
on this recently revealed class for BioWare's upcoming Star Wars
MMORPG. They offer info, screenshots, info, and three short clips showing the
power of the dark side of the Force. Also, the fourteenth issue of the
Threat of Peace
Webcomic continues the game's graphic novel back story.
The
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - The Last Stand DLC Exclusive First Look on
GameSpy has details on The Last Stand, the recently
revealed upcoming free DLC release for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
focusing on co-op play in Relic's RTS sequel. They offer
a video, screenshots,
and hands-on impressions, here's a bit: Enter the free new downloadable
Dawn of War II game mode, The Last Stand. It's completely cooperative, with your
opponents controlled by an A.I. who wants one thing: you, dead. Your team
consists of three player-controlled heroes -- players can choose from the Space
Marine, the Ork, and the Eldar -- whose sole task is to fight against wave after
wave of increasingly difficult enemy forces. With little downtime between waves,
players have to do their damnedest to keep their multiplier up, so as to ensure
a high score and earn experience to level their characters. And to get a higher
multiplier players have to control various map points, defeat sequential waves
with no casualties, or kill all the enemies in a wave within a preset amount of
time.
That probably sounds like a lot, but in practice The Last Stand amounts to
killing everything you see. And even if you die or don't hold the control
points, your team can up your score simply by surviving. After all, since score
and experience are the main reason you're playing, you never really lose, but
instead just gain levels and win new pieces of gear to use in subsequent
battles. So even in defeat you're rewarded. The result (if you have teammates
you get along with) is a desire to jump right back into the fight again and
again in order to level your character, equip new items, and get just a little
bit further than before.
Paradox
Interactive tweets plans to release a playable demo for Majesty 2 - The
Fantasy Kingdom Sim on September 15, saying the release will be at Noon
Eastern Time, or 9:00 am P(D)T. No other details are provided, as even that much is
tough to fit into a 140 character limit.
A couple of ShakyCam clips from Modern Warfare 2 are
available on the YouTube one showing
solo play and the other
showing two screens in
co-op gameplay. Both clips are pretty shaky low quality affairs, with the
silhouettes of the attendees adding a Mystery Science Theater effect. Thanks
GameVideos.
The Aion Website now offers downloads of the game client for this
MMORPG in advance of the open beta testing of the game, scheduled to
commence September 6. They have also added the ability to get the client via
torrent, and include a note hinting this is one of those semi-open versions of
an open beta: "As added extra spice, FilePlanet will--in addition to
distributing the client--be giving away a load of open beta keys starting on
Tuesday, September 1, 2009. Get on the starting line if you do not have an
eligible Aion account already! Eligible accounts include any previous closed
beta participants and those who have preordered or prepurchased Aion."
Steam News announces a
new version of the Steam client is now available. Here's word: A Steam
client update is now available. To apply the update, click the File menu inside
of Steam and then select "Check for Steam Client Updates...". The specific
changes include:
Steam Client
• Added contact email account verification by request and on new account
creation
• Improved account security with verified contact email to prevent phishing
• Added mod support for Killing Floor
• Fixed memory leak
• Added 'officers-only chat' mode to group chats
Bruce On Games outlines all
the legal threats he has received over his articles critical of Evony,
the web-based game noteworthy for flooding the internet with ads with images of
sexy women enticing you to try the game (some of which have appeared on this
site). On a related note,
GameSetWatch points out the article on the Guardian titled
Has Evony become the most despised game on the web now likewise includes a
note saying "This article is the subject of a legal complaint from Evony LLC."
Bruce Everiss, a self-described "veteran games industry marketer" has written
articles over time titled
Don’t play
Evony,
More about Evony, and
Is Evony
malware? questioning the game's marketing methods, drawing possible
connections between its ownership and gold-farming, leveling plagiarism
accusations, and questioning the safety of installing the game's client. This
has brought threats of a lawsuit from an Australian solicitor, apparently
justified because his column could be read in Australia through the series of
tubes that is the internet. This puts a considerable burden on Bruce, who would
have to travel down under to defend himself, and Australian law apparently
particularly favors the accusers in defamation cases. Bruce is probably not going
to be able to afford a legal defense, but is hoping to benefit from the
Streisand effect,
"where an attempt at censorship backfires because the resultant publicity brings
the story to an even bigger audience." And look at that, we just posted an
article about the whole mess. Sing with us Babs: "People... people who need
people..."
The UK DiRT 2 Website now
offers a new "world tour" trailer from Codemasters' upcoming rally racing
sequel, "revealing the nine international locations that will play host to over
100 exhilarating events" in Colin McRae DiRT 2, as well as more Scars on
Broadway. The clip is mirrored on
ActionTrip.
Fragland.net - Pirates at Bay.
If the industry gets their will, you can expect entire households getting
cut off because the 15 year old son was found illegally downloading some
game on the internet. Or because dad had downloaded a copied porn movie or
mom some CD she couldn’t find in the local music shop. If governments would
allow such practices, where would it stop? This would be a fundamental
violation of our right to privacy as whatever you would do on the internet,
it would be tracked by “Big Brother”, at first in service of the
entertainment industry and probably later on in service of anyone with any
interest in doing so.
Advocate.com - Are Video
Games Getting Gayer? Thanks
GamePolitics.
The medium should make even more strides this fall when Grand Theft Auto:
The Ballad of Gay Tony is released for the Xbox 360. Although no one outside
the offices of developer Rockstar North knows how much gay content will make
it into the game -- only the titular Tony is a given at this point -- Edison
believes it will be groundbreaking nonetheless.
GameCritics.com - How video games perpetuate the commodity model of sex.
This design approach is extremely simplistic and perpetuates the
commodity model of sex—the player wants sex, they go through certain
motions, and they are "rewarded" with what they wanted (like a vending
machine). Furthermore, when sex is included in a game, it is generally
framed as the end result—the reward—of romance, rather than one aspect of an
ongoing relationship/partnership. For example, one gamer commented that the
romance in Mass Effect seemed like the romantic interest was really saying,
"Keep talking to me and eventually we'll have sex". The relationship is not
the goal; the goal is the tasteful PG-13 sex scene. The NPC's thoughts and
desires aren't relevant; what matters is the tactics you use to get what you
want. This is a boring mechanic in games and dangerously dehumanizing
behavior in real life.
Sessler's Soapbox- Game Reviews Need Reference.
On this week's Soapbox, Adam responds directly to you, the readers.
Apparently many of you were unhappy with the references made to other games
in the Shadow Complex and Batman: Arkham Asylum reviews. Well The Sess took
it upon himself to explain to you why it's important to include those
references when talking about any form of art, including games. So put on
your thinking caps, this Soapbox will test your noodle.
The dogs and I were walking the trail yesterday when we met a woman with an
Italian Greyhound, which if you are unfamiliar, looks like a miniaturized
version of a real Greyhound, weighing in at less than 15 lbs. This guy had big
ambitions, however, as he was a humper, and when Hudson the wonder dog made it
clear to him he was going to suffer a harsh fate if he tried to mount her, he
proceeded to clamp onto the Gunnar-man, who doesn't have enough malice in his
heart to conjure such a threat. The funny part is that while this little guy's
private parts were no where near their intended target, his spindly forelegs
were perfectly situated to clasp around Gunnar's haunches, so no matter what our Poodle did, the other dog remained attached as firmly as a tick. Quite a sight to see,
but Gunnar wasn't as amused as we were, and seemed quite relieved when we
extricated him from this situation.
|
Twitter 
