XBOX 360 PREY DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

The long awaited Xbox 360 version of the Prey demo is now available in the Xbox 360, so make some room on your schedule and go get it. The download weighs in at a whopping 1.17gig, so hopefully the 360’s new download manager feature will make it a bit more painless than previous downloads.

WHY CONGRESS HAS NO BUSINESS GETTING INVOLVED

It looks like it’s going to be a slow news day, so I thought I’d repost a video I posted earlier in my blog as it illustrates exactly why Congress has no business getting involved in video game ratings.

You should probably tune out after this comment; “Seriously though, the House of Representatives is filled with insane jackasses.” – the skit goes downhill after that, and to tell the truth, that sentence sums it all up, doesn’t it?

Gotta love the Daily Show.

Editors note: The video that was originally shown here has been taken down by YouTube.

FINAL FANTASY XII TO HIT STORES ON HALLOWEEN

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII will go on sale in the Unites States on October 31st 2006 with a regular edition priced at $49.99 and an Gamestop/EB Games exclusive collector’s edition for $59.99.

” a limited run of the FINAL FANTASY XII Collector’s Edition will be available exclusively at GameStop and EB Games stores, as well as through the e-commerce sites GameStop.com and EBgames.com. Housed within special packaging, the bonus DVD offers Japanese and American promotional trailers, in-depth developer interviews, an art gallery and featurettes focusing on highlights of the FINAL FANTASY franchise.” -Square Enix press release

Check out the full press release here and ask yourself which you want more, bags of free candy or Final Fantasy XII.

XBOX 360 CALL OF DUTY 2 INVASION PACK NOW AVAILABLE

As we reported on Tuesday, Activision has released a new multiplayer map pack for use with the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 2. The pack, dubbed the “Invasion Pack”, contains 5 new multiplayer maps and is available via the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 points ($10).

MAME V.106U9 RELEASED

The Ninth beta update to MAME v.106 has been released to the public. If you like to keep up with the absolute latest version of MAME, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. As with the previous “U” releases to v.106, there are still a lot of changes going on with the MAME source code, so I’ll continue advising that unless you have feel the need to test the recent changes, stick with V.106 proper to be safe. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

PLAYSTATION 3 GAMES TO COST MORE THAN $60?

You know, even I’m getting sick of reporting negative news about the Playstation 3. While surfing over at Kotaku, I came across a link to this article from NexTechNews in which SCE President Kaz Hirai talked game prices with the folks over at PSM.

Now I’m not sure if this is from the same issue interview and issue of PSM that we mentioned in a story below, but this time around the question was whether or not Playstation 3 games would follow the same pricing scheme as Xbox 360 games. The answer Hirai gave was a bit disturbing to say the least;

“Generally Speaking, over the past twelve years or so, there has been a consumer expectation that disc-based games are maybe $59 on the high end to $39 on the low end. So, what I can say now is, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say “PS3 Games now $99.99.” I don’t think consumers expect software pricing to suddenly double. So, the quick answer is that we want to make it as affordable as possible, knowing that there is a set consumer expectation for what software has cost for the past twelve years. That’s kind of the best answer I can give you. So, if it becomes a bit higher than $59, don’t ding me, but, again, I don’t expect it to be $100.“ – Kaz Hirai

Now maybe I’m taking this the wrong way because of all the insane things Sony executives have said recently, but to me that answer just screams “Yes, our games are going to be priced higher than $59.99”.

More importantly, ask yourself if I essentially pawned a days worth of news off on you by just reading the current issue of PSM Magazine. (-ed: I didn’t, but even I’d wonder with 3 stories referencing them in one day)

Check out the NexTechNews article here for more details and the August issue of PSM for the full interview. (-ed: also for the record, I’m not getting advertising bucks by pushing the print editions of PSM either, so get that thought right out of your suspicious little minds right now! =) )

PSM REPORTS ON SONY CONTROLLER TECH

In a recent podcast, PSM’s Randy Nelson took a look at Warhawk using a Sony system and a controller with tilt technology. The kicker here is that the game was the first Warhawk for the original Playstation and the controller was a third party controller made by Pelican that was available for the PS1 back in 1999.

One thing that is very interesting to note is that not only does the Pelican controller incorporate tilt sensing, but it also used vibration motors. Guess it really isn’t that hard to mix the two technologies, eh Sony? Looks like the hunch most had about the lack of vibration in the Playstation 3 controllers being more due to the legal issues with Immersion rather than any technological hurdle get another round of ammunition for their argument.

Anyway, below you’ll find the aforementioned video, so check it out for yourself and be amazed at the revolutionary new 7 year old technology Sony is bringing us in the PS3.

KAZ HIRAI SLAMS MICROSOFT

QJ.Net is reporting that in a recent interview with Playstation Magazine, Sony’s Kaz Hirai slammed Microsoft for “copying” everything Sony does – which is kind of surprising given the direction Sony has taken with the Playstation 3 and the features it incorporates;

“Every time we go down a path, we look behind and they’re right there – we just can’t shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own, but they seem to be going down the path of everything we do. If you look at their strategy in other business areas as well, they tend to do that.” -Kaz Hirai

I don’t know about you, but that quote kind of cracks me up given how Sony is aping Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, Nintendo‘s controller designs and the like and more. To be fair though, as PSM showed us all recently, the technology being used by the Playstation 3 controller is nothing new for Sony.

Hirai apparently followed those comments with a dig about the external Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive and the confusion it could generate for consumers;

“And the other thing is, you take a look at, for example, the fact that we incorporate the Blu-ray drive from day one. You’re not going to be asking me, ‘So, talk to me about this Blu-ray add-on that you have. Does it work for games? Is it just for movies?’ That’s exactly the kind of pitfall you fall into if you launch something that’s too early, too premature…” -Kaz Hirai

At least on that end, depending on how you look at it, Hirai has a valid point. While I and many people I know prefer the idea of deciding if we want to pay the added expense of a HD-DVD drive with the 360, there are very few questions regarding how Sony can use the Blu-ray player. I’m sure there are people out there who prefer the idea of having everything built in from day one… I’m just saying I haven’t met many of them yet.

You can check out the QJ.Net story here for more details and the “current” issue of PSM for the full story.

EVERQUEST PROGRESSION SERVERS NOW OPEN

Just in case you missed the memo, as of yesterday the 2 new classic EverQuest “Progression” servers have gone live. I can tell you from first hand experience that the servers are currently PACKED and it’s a bit difficult getting things done at the moment due to the overcrowding.

How bad was it? To give you an idea, at times while I was playing on “The Sleeper” last night, there were 169 people in North Ro, 229 in the East Commonlands, 135 in East Freeport and a whopping 512 people in the Greater Faydark. Basically, it was a mad dash for all the newbie mobs you could find. I’m not saying don’t play, I’m just saying that if you do, be ready for the lag and effects of crowding in the lowbie areas.

I will say this for the progressive servers… since I’ve been out of the game so long, I certainly did have quite a few flashbacks to my early EQ days. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I even fell for one of the classic “type /EX for this feature” trick. Just as I hit enter it dawned on me what I was doing… that laugh alone was worth the price of admission for the night. I’ll also say I was a bit surprised at how many of the models in the game have been redone since I last played (a month or two after the launch of Lost Dungeons of Norrath – and even by then I played somewhat rarely.)

Check out the official EverQuest website here for more details as well as individual timelines for each of the new servers that I assume will update as those servers unlock content.

MICROSOFT MAY SHUT DOWN BOOTLEG COPIES OF WINDOWS

ArsTechinica has a report on the rumor going around that Microsoft may be expanding their Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program to lock out pirated copies of their Windows XP operating system.

For those unaware of what WGA is, Microsoft recently made the software a mandatory download for anyone seeking Windows XP updates, and the product simply checks that the user has a legal copy of Windows installed. In the event the user does not have a legal copy of Windows, the program simply asked them to purchase Windows and would restrict the downloading of some non-critical updates. Of course, after release it was also revealed that WGA also reports back to Microsoft periodically with it’s findings and updates how the software displays the piracy warnings.

It seems the rumor is now that Microsoft plans on changing the warning from just a nagging reminder to buy a legal copy of the operating system along with a few download restrictions, to a potential full shutdown of the operating system within 30 days of the first notice if the user does not comply.

While I fully understand Microsoft moving to protect their interests, I have to wonder how many cases of mistaken shutdowns this could cause. Despite whatever text Microsoft may throw into the EULA, I’m quite sure the lawsuits would be flying should people lose access to their PC’s due to an error on Microsoft’s part.

Check out ArsTechnica’s report on the WGA rumors here and ask yourself if Microsoft is watching you right now…

WORLD OF WARCRAFT PAID TRANSFER SERVICE LIVE

Blizzard has announced that their long anticipated Paid Character Transfer Service for World of Warcraft is now active. In short, those players wishing to move their characters from one server to another can now do so at a coast of $25 per character.

Currently, the service is only available on the most crowded servers, and transfers are limited to servers with lower populations, but the program should expand the number of eligible servers once the initial transfers are completed;

“The initial launch of the Paid Character Transfer service will only allow transfers between a limited set of realms. You can now transfer characters off of these realms:

• Altar of Storms
• Argent Dawn
• Demon Soul
• Illidan
• Warsong

We’ll gradually scale up the list of realms to accommodate more players as quickly as possible. To start transferring your characters, just log in to the account-management section and click the Paid Character Transfer button. Good luck in your continued adventures in Azeroth, and have fun on your new realm!” -World of Warcraft Official Website

A full FAQ on the service can be found at this link. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that making your customers pay $25 because your servers are overcrowded is a bit much.

PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 3 STYLE PACK DETAILED

Computer and Video Games is reporting that the next car pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 is coming soon and will be adding 12 more cars to the game. As with the Speed Pack, CVG is stating that the 12 cars in the pack will be available for 400 marketplace points ($5) as a group, or that each car can be purchased separately for 60 marketplace points ($.75).

The report lists the following cars as being included in the Style Pack;

• 365 GTB4 (“Daytona”)
• BMW M3 CSL
• BMW M6
• BMW MINI COOPER S
• BMW Z8
• Chrysler Firepower Concept
• Ferrari 430 Challenge
• Gumpert Apollo Coupe 4.2 V8
• Mercedes CLK DTM AMG
• Pagani Zonda F
• RUF R.K. Spyder
• Vanwall GPR V12

No date was given for the release of the pack, but we’ll naturally keep tabs on this one and let you know as soon as that changes. Check out the full CVG report here and hope that they’ll increase the number of garages in the game this time as well.

UBISOFT REDESIGNING RED STEEL CONTROLS

The Game Feed is reporting that following criticism of their E3 build of upcoming Nintendo Wii title Red Steel, Ubisoft is taking the game’s controls and heading back to the drawing board… or at least the tweaking table;

“Ubisoft has recently told the French press that there will be significant changes to the gameplay of their Wii launch title before the game hits store shelves later this year. Although specific examples of the improvements have not been announced, Ubisoft briefly commented on the difficulty of refining the sword-fighting of Red Steel.” -The Game Feed

Those who watched any E3 footage of the game may have noticed the difficulty with both the aiming and swordplay aspects of the title, and it seems Ubisoft isn’t deaf to the complaints those problems have generated.

We’ll keep you updated on any new information regarding the changes being made to the game as it develops. Until then, check out The Game Feed’s article here and keep building up your arm muscles in anticipation of all the swinging you’ll be doing when the Wii is released later this year.

MODDER ADDS MULTIPLAYER MODE TO OBLIVION

I just read over at Joystiq that an enterprising modder known only as “the FERRET” has created a mod named MultiTES4 for the PC version of The Elder Scrolls IV that will allow for a (currently) very limited multiplayer experience;

“The current version (being only an alpha) is pretty limited in it’s capabilities. It supports only 2 people running around Cyrodiil. The other players in the game are represented as NPCs to each individual on their computer. The NPC will move and travel to match the players that are connected to the server.” -the FERRET

While there certainly aren’t a ton of features at this time, the mod has only been in the works for about a month and a half and has been a one man job, so the progress so far is still pretty impressive. As per the FAQ on the front page of the MultiTES4 homepage, the FERRET will shortly be adding a few people to the team in order to allow the mod to continue growing.

This is one I think every PC Oblivion owner should keep an eye on, as it could easily add a whole new dimension to the game once completed. Check out the MultiTES4 homepage here and marvel at the dedication of the PC community.

SONY CEO STRINGER DEFENDS PS3 PRICING

Because it just wouldn’t be a complete week without some executive at Sony attempting to justify the pricing of the Playstation 3, Forbes.com is reporting that Sony CEO Howard Stringer stated that while the higher price point is certainly a risk, but that it’s one he feels will pay off in the long run;

“Obviously, it’s a higher-risk strategy–as all new inventions are–but if the PS3 lives up to its total potential, then I don’t think anyone will be worried about Nintendo or Xbox’s cheaper price.” -Howard Stringer

Unlike his fellow Sony executives, Stringer refrained from redefining what the Playstation 3 is supposed to be and simply focuses on the PS3’s competition;

“Do you go for a cheaper transitional [product], or do you take a chance on future-proof, higher technology which will keep you going for many, many years?” -Howard Stringer

While I certainly wouldn’t call the Playstation 3 future proof, especially not until the HD format wars are over, it is somewhat refreshing to hear a report of someone at Sony not talking like they’ve been hitting the happy juice a little too hard. Maybe they should let Stringer talk to the press exclusively from now on. Check out the Forbes.com article here and feel all business like.

MAME V.106U8 RELEASED

The Eighth beta update to MAME v.106 has been released to the public. If you like to keep up with the absolute latest version of MAME, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. As with the previous “U” releases to v.106, there are still a lot of changes going on with the MAME source code, so I’ll continue advising that unless you have feel the need to test the recent changes, stick with V.106 proper to be safe. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

CALL OF DUTY 2 INVASION PACK COMING THURSDAY

Team Xbox is reporting that sources inside Activision have advised them that the next map pack for the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 2 will be made available in the Xbox Live Marketplace this thursday at a cost of 800 points ($10) and will include 5 new multiplayer maps.

Check out the Team Xbox scoop here and ask yourself if five maps is really worth ten dollars.

XBOX LIVE DOWNTIME ANNOUNCED – 6/27/06

Major Nelson is reporting that Xbox Live will be down today for routine maintenance starting at approximately 5am EST and running through 9am EST. The Major stresses that the downtime is only for routine maintenance and no new features will be debuting. The full text of the Major’s message is as follows;

“On Tuesday June 27th from 0200-0600 PT Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available.

Click this link to find out what time the maintenance will begin in your time zone

This is for maintenance, there are no new features that will appear when the service comes back online. This is all for server maintenance…nothing more, nothing less. “ -Major Nelson

Don’t believe me? Fine, check out the posting at Major Nelson’s blog here. Harumph.

ALONE IN THE DARK SITE LIVE

Many people may credit Resident Evil as being the first survival horror game, but those of us who were PC gamers back in the day know better as we got the first true taste of the genre with Infogrames 1992 release Alone in the Dark.

The series has had a rough go of it since that first release, but Atari is hoping to turn that around with the first next-gen offering of the series. They took another step towards that goal recently when they brought the Alone in the Dark official website online. Give it a check out here and keep telling yourself that Atari won’t screw this one up.

HALO 3 ASSAULT RIFLE NEWS

If you’re like me, you mourned the loss of your trusty Assault Rifle in Halo 2. If you’re also like me, you jumped for joy when you saw the E3 Halo 3 announcement and saw Master Chief come walking out of the distance carrying a version of the classic rifle in his hands.

In last weeks Bungie Weekly Update, resident content monkey Frankie let us have just a few more details about the return of the Assault Rifle’s triumphant return to the Halo universe;

“I am finally starting to love the Assault Rifle (the one from the trailer) in MP. It’s good stuff, although weapon balancing and tradeoffs may change its subtle variances between now and launch. And it could even be removed. Who knows? That’s the normal course of development, finding what works and what doesn’t. Right now, it works great.” -Frankie

Here’s to hoping they don’t change it too much from it’s original form. Check out the Bungie Weekly Update here for all your Halo 3 needs.

GEARS OF WAR PREVIEW AT PLANET XBOX 360

The kind folks over at Planet Xbox 360 have put together everything they know so far about Gears of War into one easy to swallow package for you. The article contains a wealth of information and is a perfect introduction to the game for the person who’s hasn’t been following Gears religiously over the last year.

For those of you who are as consumed with desire over Gears as I am, there’s still some new information to be had here, such as this little snippet about the weapons available to you in the game;

“Speaking of weapons, Epic has cooked up quite an exotic list for your destructing pleasure. During a few missions you’ll be able to use the Hammer of Dawn. This is a remote laser strike that is as easy as point and click. The next item on the list is the Torque Bow. This is a crossbow styled weapon that when shot will detonate in anything the arrow has plunged into. Are you tired of the rudimentary grenade throwing found in most games? The Bolo Grenades should answer that. These are sticky grenades on a sling that you twirl above your head until you have your perfect arc. Last but not least, the weapon that Epic says defines the Gears of War brand is the Lancer Rifle. This visceral beast is an assault rifle with a chainsaw as its bayonet. This allows you to shred through your opponents when they get too close.” -Planet Xbox 360

Definitely stop by Planet Xbox 360 and check the article out. Once you have, you can join me in packing for that inevitable midnight wait outside EB.

GEARS OF WAR LEVEL DESIGN

While we’re on the subject of Gamerscore Blog, they’ve got a link up to a video at The Ten Show that goes behind the scenes with Epic Games and takes a look at the process of how level designers weave their magic.

Even if you’re not into learning about game design, it’s still worth a look as you’ll get an early peek at one of the multiplayer levels in Gears of War. Stop off at The Ten Show to watch the video.

MICROSOFT SHOOTS DOWN 360 PRICE DROP RUMOR

Microsoft’s in house blog, Gamerscore Blog, posted a reply from John Porcaro to the recent holiday price drop rumors. For those who were thinking of holding off picking up a 360 in anticipation of a drop later this year, the news was not good;

“As you’re all aware, there have been rumors of a price drop for the Xbox 360 coming along later this year.   The official word from folks in the know is that there are currently no plans for a price drop this fall. “ -John Porcaro

Now while he did specify that there were currently no plans for a price drop, I’d probably also guess that it’s a safe bet things will stay that way for the foreseeable future. Simply put, unless Sony somehow magically drops the price of the PS3 or the Wii puts up unheard of sales numbers, Microsoft has no need to drop the price of the 360.

Porcaro’s advice for those sitting on the proverbial 360 fence?;

“Pick one up on the way home from work, and tell your S.O. that you got a killer deal that you just couldn’t pass up.   C’mon.  You know you want to…” -John Porcaro

Check out the full text of the Gamerscore Blog entry here and then figure out a good story to tell about how you got that 360 for free, but had car trouble…

TECHINCIAL DIFFICULTIES UPDATE #2

In the ongoing saga of the defective computer monitor, today saw my impression of Viewsonic’s customer service take a serious nose-dive. Looks like I now have to ship the monitor back to them at my expense and wait a bit longer for a replacement as I didn’t have $1,200 or so that they could put a hold on until they got their defective model back.

While I certainly understand the need to have collateral when they’re sending out a replacement before getting the defective unit back, it certainly doesn’t explain how my sending the monitor back to them first disqualifies me from free shipping.

SONY TO OPEN 2ND OLD SCHOOL EVERQUEST SERVER

It’s the server so nice, they’re doing it twice. Due to an apparent massive interest in their “old school” EverQuest servers, Sony Online Entertainment has decided to make a second “progression” server available to players. The new server, named The Sleeper, is currently taking name reservations and is expected to open along with The Combine on June 28th.

Check out our previous article on the progression servers for more information here.

THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JUNE 26TH – JULY 2ND

A few leftovers that apparently didn’t make it to retail last week in with this weeks titles, but still nothing to get overly excited about;

• AMF Extreme Bowling 2006 – XBX – 6/27/06
• NFL Head Coach – PC – 6/27/06
• Empire Earth II: Platinum Edition – PC – 6/27/06
• Hard Truck Apocalypse – PC – 6/27/06
• IHRA Sportsman Edition – XB -6/27/06
• Kitty Luv – PC – 6/27/06
• Night Watch – PC – 6/27/06
• Sudoku Gridmaster – DS – 6/27/06
• Titan Quest – PC – 6/27/06
• Crusty Demons: Freestyle Moto-X – XBX – 6/28/06
• Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi: The Genie & the Amp – DS – 6/28/06
• Micro Machines V4 – PS2 – 6/28/06
• Micro Machines V4 – PSP – 6/28/06
• MTX: Mototrax – PSP – 6/28/06
• Over G Fighters – 360 – 6/28/06
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans’ Chest – DS – 6/28/06
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans’ Chest – GBA – 6/28/06
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans’ Chest – PSP – 6/28/06
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Legend of Jack Sparrow – PC – 6/28/06
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Legend of Jack Sparrow – PS2 – 6/28/06
• Ruff Trigger: The Vanocore Conspiracy – PS2 – 6/28/06
• World Tour Soccer 06 – PSP – 6/28/06
• Juiced: Eliminator – PSP – 6/29/06

Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.

SAINTS ROW DEMO COMING AUGUST 1ST

The official website for Saints Row has announced that a demo of the game will be appearing in the Xbox Live Marketplace on August 1st, 2006 and will also be appearing in an upcoming issue of the Official Xbox Magazine for those who don’t have access to Live.

Saints Row is currently slated to release exclusively for the Xbox 360 on August 29th, 2006 and is currently rated M for Mature by the ESRB for the following content ;

Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content & Use of Drugs & Alcohol.

You can just hear the parents groups salivating over this one, can’t you?

KINGS QUEST III REMADE BY INFAMOUS ADVENTURES

The good folks at Infamous Adventures have completely remade Roberta Willams classic graphic adventure game King’s Quest III.

“Infamous Adventures is proud to present a Remake of Roberta William’s classic 1986 hit, King’s Quest III. Remade in VGA color to match later Sierra releases, and using the AGS engine by Chris Jones, IA promises to make an enjoyable 1:1 remake of King’s Quest III. In the tradition of recent remakes, King’s Quest I and II+ by Tierra/AGDI, Infamous Adventures hopes to create a new classic of the Beloved Series.” -Infamous Adventures website

In addition to a completely updated graphics, Infamous Adventures has also completely redone the soundtrack to the game, and according to a note on the site, a full voice pack will be available for the game shortly as well.

Once again, I’m absolutely in awe of those people who don’t feel the adventure game market is dead and are actively doing something to keep the interest in the genre alive. Huge kudos to the folks at IA and join me in wishing them the best of luck on their current project “Quest for Infamy” which appears to be mix of an RPG and graphic adventure game in which you get to play as the bad guy for once.

Head on over to Infamous Adventures website to check them out and download the Kings Quest III remake at this link.

MAME V.106U7 RELEASED

The seventh beta update to MAME v.106 has been released to the public. If you like to keep up with the absolute latest version of MAME, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. There are still a lot of changes to the code going on, this time centering on DirectDraw support and how it’s handled, so as I’ll continue advising that unless you have feel the need to test the recent changes, stick with V.106 proper to be safe. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

LUCASARTS PREFERS SPEED OVER QUALITY

In an interview with UK site MCV, LucasArts president Jim Ward stated that the current industry practice of taking time to make sure a game is done right rather than just released on time is damaging the industry.

“There’s an attitude in this industry that says in order to make a great game, it takes whatever time it takes and it takes whatever money it takes, and that that’s okay. Well it’s not okay – it’s wrong. It’s not okay in other entertainment businesses. In other businesses it’s big trouble.” -Jim Ward

Yeah, ok… let’s not forget this is the guy who oversees the release of horrid, rushed Star Wars game after Star Wars game because, at least in his case, he has an audience that will buy his product regardless of whether it’s good or not. The rest of the industry doesn’t quite have that luxury.

Ward went on to single out Electronic Arts as a prime perpetrator of these delaying tactics and irresponsible business practices;

“When you have EA failing to bring Superman out with the movie, that’s inexcusable. Moving games like Medal of Honor and Godfather out of the fourth quarter -– that’s the old way of thinking and you can’t do that any more.” -Jim Ward

So what he’s saying here is that he’d rather have a game that sucks, but is on time and under budget than one that gamers love… and then he wonders why LucasArts has lost both the respect and buying dollars of non Star Wars addicted gamers over the years.

Next time you’re in a store and are trying to decide what game to spend your hard earned money on, when you see a LucasArts title, just tell yourself this … “it may suck, but at least it came out on time – and within budget. I’m sure that will give me some measure of satisfaction as it sits on my shelf never being played.” – I’m sure you’ll do the right thing… for the sake of the industry. (What about the children?!)

Seriously, what is with the executives in the gaming industry lately? Do they just not think before opening their mouths anymore? The full text of the interview can be read in the June 15th edition of MCV and you can check out the snippet from the article online here.

WII TO SUPPORT MICROTRANSACTIONS

Nintendo specific site The Wiire is reporting that in an interview included in the latest Game Informer magazine, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime spoke a bit about what Nintendo’s plans are for the WiiConnect24 service.

For those who need a refresher, WiiConnect24 is the Wii’s continuous wireless connection system that allows the console to update itself on it’s own as well as at the users command.

While preparing to kick butt and make games, Fils-Aime spoke about using the system the same way Microsoft has used the Live Marketplace, namely for microtransactions.

“All of that is possible with what it is we are trying to do. If our licensee partners want to go in that direction, it’s certainly possible in our system” -Reggie Fils-Aime

I think most users already expected this, given that Nintendo plans on selling games for the Virtual Console, but this certainly shows that it’s not just emulated games that could get the treatment. GIven the success that the Live Marketplace and developers have seen with microtransactions, this should help to make the Wii more attractive to third parties as well.

On the subject of third party support, Fils-Aime also stated that unlike the Gamecube, the Wii is seeing a great deal of interest from third parties;

“…with the stellar third-party support we’re getting, really, right at launch, that’s another major difference from what we did with GameCube.” -Reggie Fils-Aime

Check out the rest of the report over at The Wiire and in Game Informer for the full text of the interview.

TECHNICAL UPDATE

Well, the site should be getting back to it’s normal update schedule now that things have been moved around to deal with the problems. For those wondering about the situation with the N3250w, I spoke with Viewsonic this morning, and the individual I spoke with at their customer support center advised me that as the monitor is still under warranty, they will replace it free of charge.

I’ve already gotten the forms I need to fill out for my warranty claim, and have been told once they are faxed back to Viewsonic, a replacement monitor will be sent out in one to two days. Once I receive that monitor, I simply put the old one in the box supplied and send it back to them with a prepaid mailing label they will include with the monitor.

While I’m not pleased with the situation regarding the monitors reliability, I so far have nothing but high praise for their customer service – hopefully, that opinion will last as I go through the warranty claim process.

I can just see it now… the replacement arrives with more dead pixels than live ones… Still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the replacement will get here fast, as going from a 32″ widescreen LCD to a 17″ standard CRT is a bit of a shock.

WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

If you’re wondering about the sudden slow down in updates, it’s due to technical difficulties currently affecting my computer system… to be specific, after only 4 months in service, it appears the Viewsonic N3250W 32″ LCD widescreen monitor I use has given up the ghost.

Needless to say, much of the evenings update time was instead spent shouting WTF?! and cursing LCD technology. Hopefully there will be at least some good news coming my way should Viewsonic’s customer service department be open tomorrow. Regardless, when the sun is actually up and I figure out a better way to situate the old Dell 17″ monitor I’m typing this on, the update process should be getting back to normal.

To those of you who actually make it a point to choose this site to get your daily dose of gaming news, I apologize for any delays.

JUST WHERE ARE ALL THOSE LIVE ARCADE GAMES ANYWAY?

I’m sure we’ve all noticed that there’s been a distinct lack of new Xbox Live Arcade games since launch. Sure we’ve gotten a few new independent games, but what happened to all those classic arcade games we were told were coming? Next Generation took the time to ask Microsoft’s Peter Moore just that question during a recent interview. Here’s what Peter had to say;

“Here’s what happened – people didn’t believe that Arcade was going to fly. So we went round a year and a half ago as we were doing the final plans for launching 360, and told our publishing friends that here’s what we think is really cool idea, where you could make games for hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of tens of millions, and at very low risk, but people didn’t believe it. And we released it and it blew the doors down. Now all of a sudden we’re in this phase where Sega, Namco, Konami, Midway… they want some of that. But we do have an important quality bar in place – we could probably throw 300 games up there quickly, and we are trying to get the independent guys going as well. It’s almost going to be like Pop Idol, where someone will pop out suddenly – Geometry Wars is a great example. But I love this forum, whether it’s profitable or not, this platform for indie developers, for four or five guys to put $100,000 into it, and we’ll publish it and see what happens.” -Peter Moore

While I’m sure the intitial hesitation was due to the relatively lackluster showing of the Live Arcade on the original Xbox, and I’m certainly glad that Microsoft is making sure everything that comes to Live Arcade is high quality, I still can’t help but wonder what the delay really is. You would think right now would be the perfect time of year to hit the Live Arcade with a bunch of new releases, as we’re entering that slow summer period and people are clamoring for just about any title they can get their hands on. No matter how you look at it, people want to see more games on XBLA, and I’m not talking about those overpriced, free on the PC game translations.

While I’m griping, can someone please call Capcom for me and ask them to kindly release Black Tiger for the Live Arcade? The lack of love that title gets from them is astounding. Anyway, check out the Next Generation article here and ask yourself if any day now Moore is going to tell us that no one cares about the Live Arcade too?

XBOX 360 GHOST RECON ADVANCED WARFIGHTER CHAPTER 2 NOW AVAILABLE

A huge expansion pack for the Xbox 360 version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1200 points ($15). The pack, billed as the largest expansion pack ever offered for a game via the marketplace, adds a host of new multiplayer features. new weapons and graphical enhancements;

“One of the most popular multiplayer games on Xbox Live® has gotten even more intense with the release of a huge new package of downloadable content for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™. GRAW Chapter 2 introduces new maps, new game types, new camouflage, and new weapons—all part of this exciting package, now available in Xbox Live Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft Points.” -Xbox Live Marketplace

Check out the full details of what’s been added here.

SONY PLEASED WITH THEIR E3 PERFORMANCE

In an interview with TheStreet.com, Jack Tretton, co-chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America showed that Sony’s recent insanity isn’t just restricted to Europe and Japan. When asked about the poor perception of Sony’s E3 presentation, Tretton stated that Sony was very pleased with their performance and that they accomplished everything they set out to do at the show;

“If we were trying to do a PR blitz on our announcements, we would have perceived it a little bit differently. But we really saw this as an opportunity to announce some very important details to the trade. And I think if you ask the trade, meaning the retail constituency and the third parties, they came away pretty pleased with how everything went.” -Jack Tretton

When pressed on the fact that the general public came away with an apparently different opinion than Sony, Tretton stated that Sony is now in the process of trying to explain to consumers why the system is right for them;

“We are in the process of reaching out to the consumers to try to explain what our platform’s all about and why they’re going to want one between that May and November time frame. But I think six months out of any platform launch, it’s a little bit early in terms of being able to roll out all the details.” -Jack Tretton

On the price difference between the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360;

“Well, I guess if price is the only consideration, then we’ve won the war, because we’ve got a $129 PlayStation 2 that outsells the Xbox 360 today.

If you look at the cost of the components and more importantly, the value to consumers, you have everything in the box at $399 on the Xbox 360; and it still falls well short of what the PlayStation 3 offers at $499. “ -Jack Tretton

On Microsoft’s early lead in units sold;

“It ultimately came down to the system and what consumers preferred. At the end of the day, what you do in the first year, and whether you do 6 or 10 million units does not determine whether you’re successful or not. We’re looking to sell 100 million-plus worldwide. We’re looking to sell 50 million plus in North America.” – Jack Tretton

On Microsoft’s ability to compete financially with Sony;

“There’s no question they have a higher pain tolerance. I think most companies, if they’d lost the billions that Microsoft has lost on the Xbox, would question whether or not they belong in the business. Obviously, they have a different standard of success.” -Jack Tretton

And finally, on the impact of Grand Theft Auto IV releasing simultaneously on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3;

“There’s no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don’t think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto.

If you look at our first-party library and the franchises that we’ve brought to market over the course of PlayStation 2, we have a very formidable first-party library of exclusive software that will help define us. ” – Jack Tretton

Well you certainly wouldn’t expect him to have anything negative to say about his own company, would you? Still, regarding the comments about public perception of the PS3, you have to wonder just what exactly they’re putting in the coffee over at Sony. Check out the full TheStreet.com interview here and judge for yourself.

WII DEVELOPMENT KITS FOR UNDER $1,800?

We’re reporting that Kotaku found a post at Wiivolution.com that says someone over at Codename Revolution is reporting that based on an article at N-Sider.com, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated that Wii development kits would be sold to developers for as low as $1,732;

“Nintendo President Satoru Iwata along with the Board of Directors answered many questions at a corporate management policy briefing held last week which revealed that the price of the Wii development kits would now cost as low as $1,732. Iwata expects to increase funding for research and development to prepare for launch.” -Wiivolution.com

If Nintendo can pull off a development kit for that low of a price, it’s sure to attract legions of independent developers to the system. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on what safeguards Nintendo puts in place to prevent shoddy games from making it onto the system as well as preventing the market from being glutted with said product. That said, it’s definitely still a move that could pay off with huge dividends for Nintendo.

Yes, it’s a lot of links, but here they are; Get the Kotaku article here, the Wiivolution article here, the Codename Revolution article here and the N-Sider article here. If your fingers haven’t cramped up from all that clicking, feel free to click on the comment link below and tell us what you think!

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II EXPANSION Q&A

Gamespot took the time to talk with Brad Wardell of Stardock about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II and what players can expect to see in Dark Avatar. According to Wardell, the campaign mode revolves around the splintering of the evil Drengin Empire into 2 factions. One wants to conquer the galaxy as usual, while the other wishes to exterminate all other life.

Wardell stated that while the campaign mode is relatively short and mainly serves to get players comfortable with the game, he reiterated that at least one race will be wiped out in the campaign and as a result will not be returning for future games in the series. He also touched on several new features that will be introduced including worlds that can only be settled by specific races as well as the addition of resource generating tiles, such as asteroid fields, near planets;

We wanted to give players some additional things to consider when conquering a star system or planet. Right now, it’s all about how good the planet is. In Dark Avatar, we want players to also consider what resources might be near that planet. Asteroid fields will let players construct bases on them, which can provide resources to the closest colonized planet. Some asteroids will be special and hence be another thing that players will fight over. -Brad Wardell

Finally, Wardell also stated that due to the costs involved in getting a retail product onto shelves, Dark Avatar will only be available via digital distribution. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m just not a fan of downloaded content – I like to have something I paid for be a physical object I can hold – which is also one of my complaints about Xbox Live Arcade. Sure, you own it and can re-download it whenever you want, but what happens if the company goes out of business or stops supporting the product? Hopefully an option to burn the download to disc will be made available as well. You can check out the full Gamespot Q&A session on Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar here.

GAMESPOT RAINS ON MY SOUL

Gamespot has cast some doubt on the GameDaily report that Soul Calibur IV is now in production. According to Gamespot, they feel that there may have been some errors in translation as far as the comments regarding Soul Calibur IV went;

” Because it’s a paraphrased response in an almost certainly translated interview, it’s impossible to parse words here and see if there might have been some misunderstanding on either Uchiyama’s part or the writer’s. In any case, it just says that a new Soul Calibur was taking up the development team’s time when the Bandai-Namco merger was finalized. Uchiyama doesn’t appear to mention Soul Calibur IV by name, so the new game could be a PSP version of an existing Soul Calibur game, or maybe even a project that was already known about.

The Bandai-Namco merger was finalized in September. Soul Calibur III was released in October, so there’s even a slight chance Uchiyama was referring to that game as the incomplete Soul Calibur project in question. However, that seems unlikely, given how close to completion the game already was. ” – Gamespot

It certainly would be a bit of a downer if it turned out just to be an error in translation. Hopefully Namco Bandai will give some type of official word either way in the coming days in response to the story. You can check out the Gamespot article here and the original GameDaily story here.

XBOX 360 HOLIDAY PRICE CUT RUMORS ARE BACK

UK game site Britbox is reporting that a source close to Microsoft has told them that the company is working on redesigning the hardware for the Xbox 360 in hopes of lowering the price in time for the holiday season and the launches of both the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. As per their source;

“A new version of the Xbox 360 would be cheaper to manufacture and debut about a year after launch.

“If they hit their targets, the Microsoft would be able to cut the costs of its console in the autumn of 2006. Microsoft would have the option of slashing the price of its console, just as rivals come out with their first consoles.

“That would put a lot of pressure on Sony and Nintendo.”-Britbox unnamed source

I’m not sure what to make of this one. While I’m sure Microsoft is working hard on lowering the production costs of the 360, the wording of the quote above strikes me as odd. It almost sounds as if it was said much longer ago than this week – you’ll note how it doesn’t talk about “this holiday”, but rather “a year after launch” and “in the autumn of 2006” rather than this fall. It just strikes me as odd. While the price drop certainly would be welcome to many people still on the fence about the 360, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it. Check out the BritBox article here.

GEARS OF WAR DESIGN TEAM BLOGS

Yup, more Gears news, because once you get me going about it, I just can’t stop. The official Gears of War website has been updated with a set of links to the personal blogs of several members of the design team. I’ll be looking over all those sites in the coming days to see if I can find any more juicy tidbits about just what we can expect come Emergence Day. Check it out here.

CLIFFYB’S NEXT PROJECT? LOOKS LIKE IT’S GEARS OF WAR 2

You didn’t think a week was going to go by without me having something to report on Gears of War, now did you? Videogamesblogger is reporting that in a Yahoo News chat session, when asked what his next project for Epic would be once Gears of War is completed, CliffyB responded “Gears of War 2, I’d imagine.”

While certainly not a revolutionary bit of news, as I’m sure we all realize that if Gears of War does as well as it’s expected to it would inevitably get a sequel, it does make a point that whatever is going to happen in Gears won’t be limited to just the first game. CliffyB mentioned in his podcast interview with OXM that Gears of War would start dark and only get darker, and this could be an indication that the entire story arc may take more than one game to complete. Check out the Videogameblogger report here and be sure to get your copy of Gears of War reserved asap. You can also check out our write up of that OXM podcast interview here.

THE SOUL STILL BURNS: SOUL CALIBUR IV CONFIRMED

GameDaily recently scored an exclusive interview with Namco Bandai Chief Producer Daisuke Uchiyama. In the course of the interview, Uchiyama let slip that Soul Calibur IV is already in production. GameDaily also added some speculation that the title may go direct to home consoles and may be the rumored Xbox 360 Soul Calibur game that was hinted at back when Soul Calibur III was released exclusively on the Playstation 2. It should be noted that Uchiyama did not give any further details regarding the general release window for the game or what consoles it would be appearing on.

As one of my all time favorite games, and certainly my all time favorite fighting game series, I for one could not be more stoked. Find out more by heading over to GameDaily at this link.

ELECTRONIC ARTS TO ACQUIRE MYTHIC ENTERTAINMENT

Electronic Arts announced tuesday that they have reached a tentative agreement to acquire Mythic Entertainment, makers of Dark Age of Camelot as well as the upcoming Warhammer Online, for an undisclosed sum. Fans of both DAoC and Warhammer can breathe a slight sigh of relief as the press release indicated there would be no cutbacks in Mythic’s development team;

” Upon completion of the acquisition, Mark Jacobs, the President, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Mythic, will become Vice President, General Manager of EA Mythic. Rob Denton, the Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Mythic will assume the role of Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of EA Mythic. Mythic’s 175-person development team will remain in Fairfax, Virginia.” – EA Press Release

While I’m sure this will mean an added big push for Warhammer Online when it’s released, I have to wonder if this bodes well for Dark Age of Camelot and it’s chances for long term survival. You can check out the full press release here.

XBOX 360 NCAA FOOTBALL ‘07 – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I just got this one in the mail today from Gamefly and felt the need to post here with some first impressions. The game is miles ahead of last year’s extremely disappointing Madden NFL ’06 for the Xbox 360 and finally offers 360 users a bit of football fun.

The game has the same feel as the original Xbox version of Madden ’06, but without the “Quarterback Vision” passing cone feature – in other words, it’s fast, somewhat arcade-like and completely playable. If you liked Madden on the “current gen” consoles, then you’re certainly going to like NCAA Football ’07.

While I’m still waiting for Microsoft to add ESPN NFL2K5 to the backwards compatibility list, there’s now at least one game out there that will let you experience football on the 360 and not cause you to walk away in disgust. Here’s to hoping that Madden ’07 will make the jump in quality as well when it hits the 360 next month.

For a more detailed review of the game, why not click here and find out what Gamespot had to say about NCAA Football ’07 on the 360?

IMMERSION SHOWS OFF TOUCHSENSE VIBRATION SYSTEM

If you remember, back at E3, Sony stated that the Playstation 3 would not feature vibration technology as it interfered with the new motion sensing system they added to the PS3 controller. Most inside the industry scoffed at the idea and hinted that it most likely had more to do with the current litigation between Sony and Immersion, the current holder of the patent for variable speed, motor vibration.

Shortly after E3, Immersion went on the record as saying they felt that it was possible to mix the 2 technologies and that they would be willing to work with Sony on implementing both vibration and motion sensing in the PS3 controller if Sony would drop their appeal of the judgement in the case. It appears Sony never took Immersion up on that offer.

It’s been a busy week for Immersion. They first demonstrated a new vibration technology behind closed doors for the staff of Gamepro magazine (as reported by Gametrailers.com) and have now announced that they have in fact, completed the mix of vibration and motion sensing in one controller and are beginning the process of shopping it around to prospective customers.

“The new TouchSense technology is compatible with motion control and tilt sensing that allow players to control certain game actions by moving or tilting a handheld controller. Because the speed at which a user moves the controller is much slower than the frequencies generated by TouchSense technology, the two signals can be differentiated using filtering and other techniques. Immersion also offers engineering services to implement the technology within a particular console system.” – Immersion Corporation

As Microsoft bought a stake in Immersion as part of their patent infringement settlement with the company, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see a new Xbox 360 controller with TouchSense should the motion sensing features of both the Wii and Playstation 3 catch on with gamers.

You can check out the Immersion TouchSense press release here, the GameTrailers.com article here and our posting about Immersions earlier offer to Sony here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II UPDATED

Stardock has released v1.2 of Galactic Civilizations II, and the update is a big one feature wise. As per the official Gal Civ 2 website;

“Owners of Galactic Civilizations II can now get the latest update to the award-winning strategy game.

Galactic Civilizations II v1.2 has a TON of new features, enhancements, tweaks and fixes based on player feedback.

There are hundreds of changes to the new version, some of the highlights include:

• A myriad of user interface enhancements. Basically we listened to what users wanted improved in the game’s UI and made dozens of updates to the various screens to make managing your intersellar empire and fleet much easier.
• A new combat system. Previously the combat system overwhelmingly favored the attacker to the point that there was little reason to focus on defenses on a ship.  The new system has ships attacking at the same time.
• Updated Computer AI.  The AI has been further enhanced to provide not just a challenge at higher levels but to play more intelligently at all levels.  As a reminder, at difficulty levels lower than “tough” (AI set to “intelligent”) the computer players are actually penalized in resources.
• A Modding User interface.  Players can now create their own mods more easily and users can easily select between them.
• Stardock also has provided a very detailed example mod that includes an alternative game interface, an alternative set of aliens to play against, an alternative tech tree, and more.  Total conversion mods should be very easy to do with the new system.

On top of those changes include hundreds of minor tweaks. To get an idea of the scope, THIS LIST is only a partial list of changes we made to the game from v1.11 to v1.2.

Galactic Civilizations II should be at most retail outlets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.  You can also purchase it directly on-line from here and download the game immediately while waiting for your box (or you can select download only). 

The update is available through Stardock Central or as a stand-alone download.  Players will need their serial #s to register the game before playing.“– Galactic Civilizations 2 website

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

NHL SIGNS DEAL WITH EA & 2K SPORTS

Gamespot is reporting that the NHL has signed non-exclusive, multi-year licensing deals with both Electronic Arts and 2K Sports, eliminating the possibility of a repeat of the battles for exclusivity seen with both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

It had been reported late last year that EA had scooped up the exclusive player name rights from the NHLPA, but that the NHL refused to license their end of the game unless 2K Sports was cut in on the NHLPA deal. For those unaware of how the system works, the NHL holds the licensing rights to the teams, logos, arenas and uniforms while the NHLPA holds the rights to the players themselves. The NHL released the following statement following the signing of the current licensing deals;

“NHL fans and consumers want more choices and extending our relationships with EA Sports and 2K Sports offers them the ability to choose the quality games they want to play,” -Brian Jennings, NHL Senior VP of Consumer Product Marketing

I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me, not because I love hockey, but because someone finally stood up for the fans. Apparently the NHL gets it and doesn’t want to see the loss of any momentum they’ve gained with fans following the labor issues of the previous season. We’ve all seen what the exclusivity agreements in both football and baseball have wrought so far, and it hasn’t been pretty. Simply put, when you’ve got to beat the other guy, you try harder. Take that away, and you wind up with lackluster, sloppy titles. Kudos to the NHL for a job well done.

Check out the Gamespot article here and rejoice that at least one sport will remain competitive in the gaming arena for years to come.

MAME V.106U6 RELEASED

The sixth intermediate version of MAME v.106 has now been released to the public. If you like to use the interim updates, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. There are still a lot of changes to the code going on, so as I’ve advised frequently during this time of transition for MAME, unless you have feel the need to test the recent changes to the source code, I’d suggest that you stick with V.106 proper to be safe. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

AOL GAMES FATHER’S DAY SPECIAL

In honor of Father’s Day, AOL Games ran a short feature on 7 game designers and the games they play with their children. Included in the feature are such prominent names as Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and Will Wright. It’s not exactly the most in depth look into the home life of game developers, but it’s always nice to see a pro-gaming article that refers to families playing games together.

EIDOS SELLS CORE DESIGN’S ASSETS

Shedding some more light on the reasons behind the cancellation of the Core Design version of Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary Edition, Gamespot has reported that Eidos Interactive has reached an agreement to sell Core Design‘s assets, including it’s staff contracts and physical assets property to UK developer Rebellion. It should be noted that Eidos will retain all the rights to both the Core Design name as well as all their intellectual property.

THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JUNE 19TH – 25TH

Well, we’re still in the post E3 slump, so there’s nothing to get overly excited about releasing this week. Here’s what you can expect to find hitting the shelves this week;

• Cossacks II: Battle for Europe – PC – 6/20/06
• NFL Head Coach – PC – 6/20/06
• Break ‘Em All – DS – 6/21/06
• Legend of Heroes 2: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch – PSP – 6/21/06
• Moto GP 4 – PS2 – 6/21/06
• NFL Head Coach – PS2 – 6/21/06
• NFL Head Coach – XB – 6/21/06
• Over G Fighters – 360 – 6/21/06
• Tomb Raider: Legend – PSP – 6/21/06
• AMF Extreme Bowling 2006 – XB – 6/23/06
• IHRA Sportsman Edition – XB -6/23/06
• Sudoku-Mania – DS – 6/24/06

TOMB RAIDER 10TH ANNIVERSARY GAME CONFIRMED

Awhile back we reported that there was rumor floating around for some time now that Eidos has been working on a 10th anniversary version of Tomb Raider that would basically be a re-make of both the original Tomb Raider as well as Tomb Raider II.

Eidos confirmed the existence of the game last friday, but added a slight twist to the story. It seems the game was being designed for the PSP by Core Design, the original developers of the series, but following an internal review, their version of the game was cancelled and the reigns were handed over to current Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics. While no release date was provided by Eidos, they did confirm that the game will be appearing on the PSP, PS2 and PC.

PIMP YOUR ONLINE GAMERCARD

As you may have noticed, the image of my Xbox Live Gamercard on this page has changed to something a bit more customized than the one I had been using via mygamercard.net. That’s because there’s a new site, XboxLC, that has taken the design of the card a bit further. Using their system, you can customize colors as well as the image you display for your gamer picture. Of course, it only works for internet use and will not change the actual appearance of your Xbox Live Gamercard. Definitely worth checking out though. Click here to head on over and sign up for your custom Gamercard image.

SONY DENIES FURTHER PS3 DOWNGRADES

There have been a lot of rumors of late that Sony is going to wind up further downgrading the specs on the Playstation 3 for a variety of reasons ranging from not being able to fit all the components into the form-factor and low yields on the Cell Processor at 3.2ghz to overheating issues. While all of these are certainly believable as they sound like production problems and are certainly within the realm of possibility, Sony spokesman Jonathan Fargher categorically denied the rumors of any PS3 downgrades while speaking with EuroGamer;

“Developers have been working with PS3 dev kits for anywhere between eight and 12 months, and to suggest that we’d now take the decision to downgrade the hardware at such a late stage, is, well, ridiculous. Worse still is the suggestion that we couldn’t fit all the technical components into a plastic box. Granted, whilst all products are not perfect, we do have over 40 years of experience making consumer electronics equipment, and therefore, extensive experience in making things fit – PSone and Slimline PS2 being just two examples of that.” -Jonathan Fargher

While I’ve been quick to dismiss a lot of the Sony rumors in the past because they’ve been so ridiculous, I’m still not quite ready to fully let this one go, and I’ll tell you why. Most of the problems, as I stated earlier, sound like production issues, which would certainly explain the low available launch numbers Sony has claimed for the PS3. They’re also all things that could still be corrected without significant downgrades.

If you look back to the Xbox 360 launch, there were stories of units overheating to such an extent that they would actually melt the form-factor cases they were in while running. While the 360 still runs hot, it certainly doesn’t run that hot anymore. That’s why while I’m willing to believe that Sony has no plans to downgrade the PS3 at the moment, and keep in mind that could change if the problems persist, I don’t believe that development is going as smoothly as they claim, just because history has shown us that it never does.

Check out the Eurogamer article at this link and hope that the Sony public relations team gets a really long vacation once the system launches… or at least that Kutaragi can keep his mouth shut for a week or so.

CHANGE IS COMING

This site’s layout hasn’t changed much in the seven years it’s been active, and while there’s a certain level of comfort in the familiar, if this site is to grow it’s got to put on a new face. As such, I’m currently working on a few redesigns which should class the joint up a bit. No worries though, the site will continue to be updated as normal while this work is going on, and there should be no downtime when it occurs.

I’m not going to give any kind of an ETA on the change at this time, as it really depends more on my schedule and the coding of a few features I’d like the site to have. Just giving you all some advanced warning if you hit the link and things look a bit different. It’s not you, it’s the site.

EARTH TO KUTARAGI: JUST SHUT UP ALREADY

In his latest attempts to remove any shred of sanity the Sony public relations department has left, SCE President Ken Kutaragi took the company line that the Playstation 3 is a computer one step further. GamerNode is reporting that in another interview with Japanese newspaper Nikkei BP Kutaragi expanded his thoughts on the subject and raised the spectre of required upgrades;

“As the PlayStation 3 is a computer, we might even offer it on a built-to-order basis, customized to the needs of each and every user,” the hardware components have been designed in a modularized format with this possibility in mind.”– Ken “Nutty as a Snickers Bar” Kutaragi

Now don’t get me wrong, but even after you consider the fact that most people who would be interested in the Playstation 3 have a computer already, there are still other major flaws in this line of thinking. The most glaring one is the fact that most people who play consoles will tell you that the one feature consoles have that PC’s can never beat is that a game console never requires you to upgrade it to play the latest releases. Needless to say, the idea of a fully upgradeable Playstation 3 is going to rankle a few, even if Kutaragi is just talking out of his ass. Hopefully all this talk is just to bolster Sony’s claim that the PS3 is really a computer, thereby allowing them to avoid paying certain entertainment taxes in Europe.

You know, the sad part is that I was originally interested in the Playstation 3. I wasn’t sure if I’d buy one due to the price, but they at least had my attention. Now, every time Kutaragi opens his mouth I find my desire to own a PS3 diminished just a bit more. You can check out the GamerNode article here.

The Sony Playstation 3 – It’s a Blu-Ray player, it’s a personal computer and it’s a home entertainment center. Too bad it isn’t a game console, I really like those.

MEHRUNE’S RAZOR ADD-ON NOW AVAILABLE FOR OBLIVION

Bethesda has announced that the latest content add-on for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now available for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The content can be obtained via the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 250 points ($3.13) for Xbox 360 users and via the Elder Scrolls Download Store at a cost of $2.99 for the PC. As per the content description;

“The lost Ayleid City Varsa Baalim has been unearthed by a rogue Telvanni arch-mage, in pursuit of a fearsome Daedric Artifact, Mehrunes Razor, which he believes will give him the power he needs to topple the Imperial reign – but what horrors lie in wait beneath the Valus mountains; and can you overcome them to claim Mehrunes Razor as your own?

Features:

• A fully-featured quest takes you deep into the fringes of the Niben.
  
• Earn the fearsome Mehrunes Razor, with the ability to kill foes instantly.
  
• 17 new magic items to discover!
  
• Conquer the largest dungeon in all Cyrodiil.
  
• Thwart a plot to overthrow Imperial rule in Tamriel.
  
• 12 new books, notes, and journals to help you unravel the mystery.
  
• Hidden treasures await! “ – Official Elder Scrolls IV Download Store

Unlike previous expansions, this one will require the most recent patch in order to be used, so be sure to download the patch before you pick up the pack just to make sure everything goes smoothly. Personally, I’ll hold off on this one until the reviews are in – too many of the Oblivion add-ons have been disappointments to just buy it sight unseen.

PC users can pick up the content pack here while Xbox 360 users can obtain the download via Xbox Live.

EVERQUEST TO OPEN OLD SCHOOL SERVER

DrkphreakX sends word to us that on June 28th, Sony Online Entertainment plans on opening a “progression” server for their classic EverQuest mmog. This server, named Combine after the long lost empire, will attempt to bring back the feel of the “old” EverQuest by initially limiting the game to the the “core” EverQuest game and only opening up the plethora of expansion packs that came afterward as time goes on. I don’t know about you folks, but as an old-school EverQuest player who couldn’t stand what the game became, I’m definitely intrigued by the idea. My only question now would be if they plan on rolling back the world to it’s original state so that I could once again take a Shadow Knight into Cazic to quest for a suit of Darkforge Armor. Those were the days…

DrkphreakX, You’re my boy, Blue! (No, I couldn’t resist making an Old School joke, ok?) Check out this post over in the official EverQuest forums for more details on the Combine server and the rules for early sign up and name reservation. I may just see you there.

DESTROYED BEAUTY: AN INSIDE LOOK AT GEARS OF WAR

While out hunting for more Gears of War news last night, I came across this booklet in BeyondUnreal‘s Gears of War section. Epic apparently sent out this full color booklet to give people (or the press) a look at the story behind Gears as well as a brief look at the history of Sera some time ago. While you may already be familiar with the story, the art alone makes it worth a look. Better late than never, I always say. Check it out here.

OXM PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH CLIFFYB

The Official Xbox Magazine had a chance to talk with Gears of War’s CliffyB on a recent podcast about Gears, E3 and everything in between. As usual, CliffyB makes for one hell of an interview subject, and doesn’t dance around the subject when talking about the industry or Gears itself. Here’s a small sampling of what the 30 minute interview touched on.

• On E3
  • The Gears team was very happy with the reception the game got at E3, so much so that they had to remind themselves that there’s still a long way to go, and it’s nowhere near time to start celebrating.
  • The tension between Microsoft and Epic over the chainsaw bayonet was played up a bit for the MTV special. While there were some issues involving the decision to put the chainsaw in the demo, it wasn’t nearly as tense as it was made out to be.
  • Despite the great reception Gears got, the team is still working hard to make the game just right. As CliffyB put it;
    • “The difference between good and great are all those small touches.” – Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski
• On taking cover in Gears
  • There’s a huge emphasis in the game on making you feel the “weight” and realism of the game. They use Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter as an example of this. In GRAW, when you come up against a wall, you simply lean up on it for the most part. In Gears they want that feeling of momentum – it’s not supposed to be this delicate little maneuver, but rather express the feeling that you are in a battle for your life, and anything that is going to save you is good, no matter how painful it may be. Since he’s so quotable, here’s CliffyB’s thoughts on the matter;
    • “If I’m being shot at, I’m gonna dive into that fucking wall, man. I’m gonna hit that wall like a ton of bricks. I don’t care if I blow out my clavicle doing it” -Cliffy B
• Grenades
  • Grenades are going to be somewhat rare in the game, and will come both in the explosive and smoke variants.
  • At first, grenades were not in mutiplayer, but have now been added.
• The idea behind Gears of War
  • CliffyB wanted to do something akin to Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers, but didn’t want to go anywhere near the WWII era, as he feels it’s been done to death.
  • The game initially was essentially “Quake Wars”, and featured large open battlefields with massive vehicles, etc.
  • The Locust were originally invaders from space, not an underground race.
  • The Locust originally had a different name that was changed due to legal issues. CliffyB would not go into further details on that end.
  • It’s designed to feature close quarter battles that bring the violence to a personal level.
• On the chainsaw bayonet
  • The idea goes back to a game he wanted to create back in 1998 called Overfiend. This game was the reason he moved from California to the Epic offices in North Carolina, and the loss of the title almost caused him to leave Epic.
• On where his career has taken him
  • I’ll let CliffyB take this one without any further comment from me.
    • “I want to create IP. I think one of my strengths is to create games that feel good, are fun and solid, but also, you know, a decent, interesting, fascinating universe that could potentially transfer well to other mediums…like Underoos.” -CliffyB
• On the plot of Gears of War
  • In discussing the plot and how games tend to try and give you a happy ending, he states that Gears will “start dark and just get darker.”
  • The game will not be totally grim though. They’ve hired Lester Speight, better known as “Terrible” Terry Tate, Office Linebacker to play the part of one of Marcus Fenix’s squad mates. Let me tell you, this game just sounds better and better to me all the time.
  • In summing up the game, CliffyB jokingly took a page from Peter Molyneaux‘s book and gave us some hype;
    • “I tell you, this game is going to do everything for you, It’s going to wash your car, it’s gonna make coffee, give you a hand job, it’ll fulfill all your dreams.” he then added, “Can you tell I’m nervous as shit about this?”

The wait until Emergence Day just feels longer and longer with each passing day, but the more I hear about how much effort is being put into making Gears something special, the more that wait seems worthwhile. you can check out the full (NSFW) OXM podcast here, the Gears of War official website here, and CliffyB’s personal website here. Now get moving!

UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004 COMMUNITY MAP PACK 3 RELEASED

The Unreal Community Map Pack Team has released their final set of maps for Epic’s Unreal Tournament 2004. The pack, titled Community Bonus Pack 3, includes 4 Deathmatch maps, 1 Capture the Flag map and 1 Assault map. As always the pack is provided free of charge, the trick currently is finding it online at an unburdened server. According to this post over at Beyond Unreal, right now they are the only ones hosting the map pack, so start your search there.