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Archived News:
Epic Games announces tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the release
of the Unreal Tournament demo, and to celebrate, they will be launching
another free weekend of Unreal Tournament 3 Black on Steam:
CARY, N.C. – September 16, 2009 – Epic Games, Inc. invites everyone to
check out Unreal Tournament 3 Black, the premier first-person shooter with more
official content and community mods than ever before, completely free of charge
starting tomorrow.
Thursday, September 17, marks the 10-year anniversary of the original Unreal
Tournament demo release, and to celebrate Epic will kick off a long weekend in
which anyone can log onto Valve’s Steam digital distribution service (www.steamgames.com),
download Unreal Tournament 3 Black and play the game through the weekend free of
charge. Preload for the Free Weekend begins today.
In addition, the original Unreal Tournament will be on sale for $1.99, and both
Unreal Tournament 3 Black and the Unreal Deal Pack will be available for 60% off
through September 27.
Unreal Tournament 3 Black comprises Unreal Tournament 3 together with the free
Titan Pack, a massive bonus pack with countless enhancements and new
environments, the Titan mutator, the Greed and Betrayal gametypes, the
Stealthbender vehicle, weapons, deployables, characters and more. Unreal
Tournament 3 Black also includes over 50 Steamworks Achievements.
In addition to a bunch of previews for Modern Warfare 2 in the Evening
Previews section, a boat load of ShakyCam movies from Infinity Ward's shooter
sequel are online, and as we well know by now, you can fit a lot of movies on a
boat. Gametrailers now offers the following MW2 multiplex:
Capture The Flag Gameplay,
Capture The Flag Gameplay 2,
Capture The Flag Gameplay 3,
Capture The Flag Gameplay 4,
Highrise Gameplay 1,
Highrise Gameplay 2,
Highrise Gameplay 3,
Highrise Gameplay 4,
Highrise Gameplay 5,
Afghan Gameplay Part I, and
Afghan Gameplay Part II. Also, there's a new
interview about the game on Joystiq where they chat with Infinity Ward's
Vince Zampella.
Majesco
Missteps Bring $5.2 Million Q3 Loss on Gamasutra reports Majesco's losses
for the quarter, in spite of a 19% increase in sales during that period. The
down results are based on poorer than expected performance of their Go Play line
and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Going forward they have
raised their guidance for the fiscal year, this time pinning their hopes on
Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum, a reality TV-based Wii fitness title.
Valve writers Marc Laidlaw and Erik Wolpaw conducted a panel at the GDC: Austin
about the Valve creative process. There are write ups on the proceedings on
Gamasutra
and
GameSpot. It's pretty interesting stuff, here's a bit from the GameSpot
article: "That's not the only unique thing about development at Valve. Laidlaw
said the company split its developers up into different teams for a period of
time and told them simply to work on dream projects. And while he said the
company's accountants still grumble about the exercise since they can't point to
ways in which it produced anything for the company, Laidlaw added that the
projects are still referred to regularly by the employees, whether as learning
tools for new hires or reminders of things that did and didn't work. "
A third video diary for Assassin's Creed II is now available on the
YouTube offering more
background from Ubisoft's upcoming action/stealth sequel. The clip includes
gameplay footage and developer narration which was taped in a setting quite
appropriate to the game. The main topic of the new diary is the wider variety of
missions the sequel will incorporate.
A new video from
Gates
of Andaron shows off Gameforge's recently launched subscription-free
MMORPG. The video is posted on the
YouTube. Word is:
"Gamers will get a peek into the battle that is waging in the kingdoms of
Valorian and Derion."
Subscription-free tackle football game
Quick Hit Football announces the addition of NFL legends to the game,
currently in beta testing. Word is: "This unprecedented team of Legends joins
Quick Hit Football’s 2009 Starters, Matt Cassel, Ray Lewis, Osi Umenyiora, Brian
Westbrook and Jason Witten in rounding out the most compelling free-to-play,
football roster ever created. Both Legends and Starters are featured players on
the iconic teams of Championship Coaches Bill Cowher, Brian Billick, Jimmy
Johnson, Dan Reeves and Tom Landry. However, unlike the Starters who only appear
in single player games, fans will have the chance to actually play with the
Legends on their teams. At least two of these famous players will be drafted
onto teams based on the fan’s play style."
While Mercenary Wars is not a
role-playing shooter, the upcoming military first-person shooter will have an
extensive character stats system, which is outlined in detail
in this
document. Here's an itty-bit with some of the implications of their
implementation: "Although a player must select just one of its characters to
start a battle with, they may switch between them during re-spawn time. If a
player's selected character specializes in SMGs and speed, they can switch to
their sniper specialist while re-spawning, thus allowing an added depth of
strategy and the ability to adapt to what is going on on the battlefield."
LucasArts' Jedi Knight back catalog is now available via digital
distribution as promised. You can get the
Jedi Knight Bundle from Direct2Drive or individual sales of the three games
it contains:
Dark Forces,
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and
Jedi Knight II : Jedi Outcast. There is also a larger
Jedi Knight Collection on
Steam, and individual sales of the five games it contains,
Dark Forces,
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II,
Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the
Sith, Jedi Knight: Jedi
Academy, and Jedi Knight
II: Jedi Outcast. May the Force be with you.
A Flash-based online version of the Spore creature creator is now
online at Spore2D.com so you try your hand
at evolving your own creatures, celebrating the coming of
Spore Hero for the Wii and Spore Hero
Arena for the DS. When complete, you can save our creation, email it, and play
in an online creature trainer.
Subscription-free MMORPG CABAL Online
announces the launch of "Siena The Queen," the second part of the latest CABAL
expansion: "Free to download, the expansion offers users the most challenging
experience yet, with the update seeing the introduction of two new dungeons,
improvements to the guild system, the addition of a series of new craftable
stat-increasing items and much, much more."
The 3000AD Website announces the availability of two new patches to update
All Aspect Warfare and Angle Of Attack to version 1.00.35, said to "bring some
significant improvements over the retail version." Owners of the Steam
editions can get their update automatically, and other users can use the "check
for updates" button within the game. The All Aspect Warfare patch is also
available from
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and
Gamer's Hell, and
here's the change log. The Angle of Attack patch is also available on
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, and
Gamer's Hell, and
here's the change log for that.
Another new trailer for Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim is online to
promote the imminent release of 1C:Ino-Co's fantasy-themed RTS sequel. The clip,
available on the YouTube,
is titled "Destruction and Mayhem," as it features both. Word is: "Immerse
yourself in the shadowy depths of Majesty 2’s darker side in this latest trailer
from Paradox Interactive. The 'Destruction and Mayhem' trailer (recorded during
one of the many lunch time sessions in the Paradox dungeon) reveals powerful
dragons, diabolic demons, and hideous Beast Masters wreaking total havoc in the
Land of Ardania."
'Soft Focus on MCV is
an interview with Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot on a variety of topics (thanks
Computer and Video Games). At one point the number of games delayed until
the beginning of next year is brought up, as he is asked if this is to wait for
a better economic climate. Guillemot doesn't actually address the question
that's asked, but he does express the opinion that he expects publishers will be
pushing back some of the delayed games further to avoid the crowd: "Well, now we
have a situation where there are a lot of good games due for release in the
first half of next year, but I think some publishers will move again. The first
quarter of 2010 is looking pretty crazy. So I expect some movement from the
other players – some of those delayed games will be moved again."
Battlefront.com announces
Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict, the next Strategic Command
strategy wargame, described as the "biggest and baddest game yet" in the series.
This is a standalone game, currently in beta testing, and here's a bit from the
feature list: Command the forces of 6 major and 58 different minor
nations. 20 different unique unit types are portrayed and modeled with up to 30
different characteristics and stats. To add historical flavor and replayability,
over 200 different in-game events are now depicted as well as over 50 different
decision events that guarantee a unique experience each time the game is played.
• Would you as the British Government so desperately need Destroyers against
German U-Boats that you would give several naval bases to the USA?
Coul • d Franco be convinced to join the Axis if enough monetary and
territorial concessions were offered?
• Would you as the Allies work to support and finance a coup in Yugoslavia to
break its inclusion within the Axis Tripartite Pact? Would it be worth the
effort and cost?
• How should Japan react to the crippling US embargo depriving it of its much
needed resources to carry on her war with China?
And much, much more...
Pop some corn, as no fewer than five new trailers are now available from
Borderlands, showing off more of Gearbox Software's upcoming RP/shooter.
Here are the various clips: Arid Hills on
GameTrailers, GameVideos,
and
IGN; Mad Criticals on
GameTrailers, GameVideos,
and
IGN; Menus on
GameTrailers, GameVideos,
and
IGN; Punching Skaggs on
GameTrailers, GameVideos,
and
IGN; and Split Screen on
GameTrailers, GameVideos,
and
IGN.
The Boston Globe has details on a patent infringement lawsuit over use of
data sharing features in several MMORPGs, targeted at SOE over EverQuest,
Activision Blizzard over World of Warcraft, NCsoft over Guild
Wars, Jagex over Runescape, and the main focus of the article
(because they are local to Boston), Turbine (already involved in a
legal tussle with Atari over Dungeons & Dragons Online) and
Lord of the Rings Online. A New York company named Paltalk Holdings filed
a complaint in the US District Court in Marshall, Texas, a popular locale for
patent lawsuits as it's considered plaintiff-friendly, and Paltalk already has
scored an out-of-court settlement in that venue over these same patents from a
little outfit called Microsoft.
The
Natural Selection 2 Website has a first peek at the New Frontiersman,
the marine forces in the upcoming action/strategy sequel. They offer details on
the class and how it has evolved since the first Natural Selection, along with a
couple of pieces of concept art in a variety of sizes if you want a new
wallpaper.
Got Game Entertainment announces
Wine Tycoon, an
upcoming strategy management game that combines the two popular casual pastimes of
tycoon gaming and drinking. Word is: "Create the vineyard of your dreams in 10
of the most important wine regions of France. Commanding operations from your
very own French chateau, build your winery, plant and tend your vines through
all four seasons of the year, and hire staff to harvest and process your grapes.
Produce 50 French wines such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Pinot Gris and Champagne
from more than 40 different grape varietals, all in the ultimate goal of
becoming a wealthy wine baron!"
Merscom now offers Empire Builder: Ancient Egypt, a city building
game developed by Iguana Entertainment. The game can be played for free for an
hour if you want to sample it, and here's a bit on the game: "Become Egypt’s
greatest architect as you raise this ancient empire from the sands. In Empire
Builder: Ancient Egypt, players meet a series of powerful pharaohs that want
their help building empire along the lush Nile River. Over thirty fun and
challenging levels of play, players won’t just construct cities, but some of the
world’s most famous monuments!"
All Aspect
Warfare Developer Blog #17.
Derek Smart's extensive rant on the current state of the game review
processes. I tried to find a pull quote to give a sense, but while
impassioned, it's not exactly focused like a laser beam.
- AMD Athlon II X4 620 CPU on
Guru3D,
Overclockers Club,
TechSpot,
TweakTown, and
PC Games Hardware.
- AMD Athlon II X4 620 and 630 CPUs on
HEXUS.net,
HotHardware, PC
Perspective,
TechwareLabs, and
X-bit labs.
- AMD Vision & ATI Eyefinity on
Rage3D.com.
- AMD vs. Intel: Integrated Platforms on
X-bit labs.
- Apple iPod nano 5th Gen 8GB Media Player on
TrustedReviews.
- Arctic Cooling ARCTIC MX-3 Thermal Compound on
DragonSteelMods.
- Biostar TA785GE 128 M Motherboard on
Hardware Secrets.
- Cooler Master CM Storm Sentinel Advance Laser Gaming Mouse on
Benchmark Reviews,
Big Bruin,
and
ThinkComputers.org.
- Corsair P128 vs. Three Intel SSDs on
X-bit labs.
- GELID Solutions GC-2 and GC-Extreme Thermal Compound on
Futurelooks.
- Genius Look 313 Multifunctional 5-in-1 Web Camera on
OverclockersHQ.com.
- Gigabyte 4890 OC Graphics Card on
Bjorn3D.com.
- Gigabyte HD 4850 SilentCell 1GB PCI-Express GV-R485SL-1GI Graphics
Card on
Testseek Labs.
- Intel I5-750 Socket 1156 Lynnfield CPU on
TWEAKNEWS.
- JVC Everio GZ-HM400 Camcorder on
Digital Trends.
- Lenovo ThinkPad T400s Multi-Touch Notebook on
HotHardware.
- LG HXF1 Portable Theatre on
t-break.
- Logitech Harmony 900 Remote Control on
Digital Trends.
- Luxa2 LM100-Mini Home Theater PC on
TweakTown.
- Microsoft Zune HD Media Player on
TechReviewSource.com.
- Microsoft Zune HD vs. Apple iPod Touch on
Digital Trends.
- Mionix Alioth 400 Mousepad on
Top Review
Shop.
- OCZ Summit 120GB SSD on
Hardware Canucks.
- OCZ Vertex TURBO 120GB Solid State Drive on
Overclock3D.Net.
- OtterBox Impact Series Sleeve For The iPhone 3GS on
Legit Reviews.
- RaidSonic Icy Box IB-MP305A-B Network Multimedia HD Player on
TweakTown.
- Roccat Apuri Thingie on
XSReviews.co.uk.
- Rosewill Xtreme 850W PSU on
PureOC.
- SanDisk Extreme III 30MB-sec 8GB SDHC Card on
I4U News.
- SilverStone Sugo SG05 Case on
MetkuMods.
- Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX1 Digital Camera on
Digital Trends.
- SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition Starcraft II Mouse Pads on
PCShopTalk
Forum.
- Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler on
Hardware Secrets.
- Thermolab Bada CPU Cooler on
Hardware Bistro.
- Topower Tiger 1200W PSU on
RBMODS.
- Zalman VF2000 LED Hybrid Cooler on
X-bit labs.
I need to make a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles today, which I'm not
looking forward to. Over time the DMV had shed its reputation for inefficiency
and indifference, but over the past few years they seem to have returned to
form, at least where we are. Hopefully the experience will only be slightly
frustrating, rather than overwhelmingly so.
R.I.P.:
Fred Cusick always a Bruin.
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