MERCENARIES 2 COMING TO THE XBOX 360?
UK site Computer and Video Games has reported that Pandemic will be bringing the sequel to Mercenaries to both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. While details are still a bit scarce, CVG has advised that they’ve been told by a reliable source that while Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has only been announced for the Playstation 3, it will indeed be appearing on Microsoft’s next-gen console as well.
"World in flames has so far only been announced for PlayStation 3, but although we can’t actually tell you why, we’ve got it on very good authority that it will be Xbox 360 bound, even if there’s a short PS3 exclusive period first. Pandemic haven’t even signed a publisher yet, but we can tell you that it won’t be LucasArts/Activision again." -Computer and Video Games
I’m hoping that this rumor turns out to be true as I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to pick up a Playstation 3 anytime soon and really don’t want to miss out on any of the explosive goodness that the Mercenaries name brings to mind.
Check out the Computer and Video Games article here and keep your fingers crossed for a multi-system release.
BLIZZARD BANS 59,000 WORLD OF WARCRAFT ACCOUNTS
On the official World of Warcraft forums, a Blizzard employee has announced that in an attempt to stem the rising tide of goldfarmers in World of Warcraft, they banned some 59,000 World of Warcraft accounts in June and removed some 22 million gold from the game.
"As part of our efforts to eliminate cheating from World of Warcraft, we recently banned approximately 59,000 World of Warcraft accounts in the month of June, and with that removed well over 22 million gold from the total economy across all realms. While we regret having to take such extreme action, these accounts were participating in activities that directly violated World of Warcraft’s Terms of Use, including the use of third-party programs to farm gold and items. Such behavior not only negatively impacts the economy of a realm, it diminishes the achievements of those who play legitimately. We will continue to aggressively monitor all World of Warcraft realms in order to protect the service and our players from the harmful effects of cheating." -Eyonix
More power to you Blizzard. While I’m sure these people are just coming back on other accounts, at least you’re trying to do something about the problem. I’m sure anyone who has ever had to deal with an annoying goldfarmer in game agrees with me on this one. Then again, most people who’ve had that experience probably feel Blizzard didn’t go far enough and should actually be doing something a little more dire to these people.
Check out the World of Warcraft forums announcement here in between ranting about Paladins and Shamans.
ROCKSTAR TABLE TENNIS DEMO NOW AVAILABLE
A demo for Rockstar’s surprise hit Table Tennis is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. Unlike previous demos that have appeared on Live, this one is a limited time demo, meaning that it will only work until the end of August – after that, if you want to play the game, you’re gonna have to go buy it. The demo weighs in at 526.81mb, so head on over to the Marketplace and get ready to experience for the first time the thrill of table tennis in your own home… yeah.
THE VIEWSONIC SAGA CONTINUES
Allow me to start this off by stating what should become the obvious – I will NEVER buy a Viewsonic product again. The customer service, or more accurately the lack thereof, I’ve experienced from this company over the last month while my monitor was in for repair has been pathetic at best. For the sake of your sanity, I would suggest you avoid them like the plague as well.
As I advised a few days back, my monitor was due to return from from warranty repair today. Well, the monitor was in fact returned, though to be more accurate, it returned in a box that wasn’t sealed on the bottom (I could find no sign of ANY tape holding the bottom of the box, nor could I find torn cardboard indicating it had been removed) and the monitor looked like someone had taken a hammer to the top of it. The case was cracked on one side, the LCD crooked, the top set of navigation buttons were caved in and the top seam of the case was apart. In other words, it was broken.
Time to call Viewsonic again. I call them and go through the whole story and am told that they’ll send me a pre-paid shipping label. What they don’t tell me is that that label will not include pick up service (which most companies offer for about $1 additional) – in other words, I’m going to have to drag this monitor down to my local UPS office. So I call again, explain that I’m not happy with the entire Viewsonic experience so far and ask to speak to a supervisor.
The clown I’m connected to has the nerve to advise me that they’re providing the shipping label as a courtesy and that they don’t even have to do that…
Before we continue, let me give you a little background on myself here… I’m the guy who always tries to see things from the other person’s perspective. I’ll usually tip at a restaurant even if service sucked, because maybe the person was just having an off-day. I’ll accept having to run through a maze of flaming hoops from many companies just to get something over and done with. I don’t get bothered by long waits or technical problems so long as you give me a reason why it’s happening. Hell, despite what everyone else told me I should so, I even would go so far as to ship a defective monitor that I had been told I’d get free shipping on back at my own expense when a company reneges. In other words, I’m the guy you’d probably want to deal with if you were having an off-day and worked customer service.
That said, I utterly lost it on the phone with this jackass.
After all has been said and done, to be told that they’re doing me a favor by picking up the return shipping on a poorly packaged and therefore damaged replacement monitor that I was sent because the previous product was defective was the final straw. I’ve gotten absolutely zero empathy from this company from day one and while I wouldn’t say I’ve been lied to by their customer service department, I also wouldn’t say they’ve been forthcoming about their policies either.
Some other highlights of my conversation with Captain Moron came when he told me that it wasn’t customer supports job to explain the return procedure to customers, that’s what the forms they mail to you are for and the discovery that for much of the conversation, he was looking at the wrong ticket number despite having asked me for the current ticket number at the very beginning of our conversation.
For this just joining our show already in progress, let me give you a breakdown of what’s happened…
- I made the mistake of buying a Viewsonic N3250W 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV/Monitor back in early-mid February of this year.
- After 4 – 4 1/2 months of using this thing, it died for no reason one day. (And I babied this thing like you would not believe – some friends of mine actually made fun of me for the care I gave this thing)
- I call Viewsonic and am told that the monitor will have to go in for service. They tell me it qualifies for their Advanced Replacement Plan and that they’ll fax me a form to fill out, I simply fax it back to them, they send out a replacement monitor and when it arrives I put the defective unit in it’s box and ship it back. All of this at their expense. At this point, I’m feeling pretty good about the whole deal.
- I get the forms and discover that they require a security hold in the price of the monitor to ensure that you’re not trying to rip them off. Since I don’t have some $1,000 that they can play with until the transaction is completed, I call them back. (I guess hat falls in line with the stated policy of not having to explain the return process to customers)
- Now I’m told that in this case, I’ll have to ship my monitor back to them first AND I’ll have to pay the costs of shipping the unit to them. How exactly the fact that I have to send the monitor back to them first eliminates their covering the return shipping costs boggles the mind, but I reluctantly agree and pay DHL to pick up the monitor and ship it to them.
- I’m told once they receive my monitor, I should have it or a replacement back within 14 business days. Again, I’m not particularly happy with the amount of time this is going to take, but what are you going to do.
- I make all the arrangements with DHL, they pick up the monitor and deliver it to Viewsonic on July 5th.
- I hear nothing for 14 business days.
- I call them back following the 14th business day to get an update on the situation and am told "Didn’t you get a tracking number?" – turns out my monitor has already been shipped out and is die to arrive on July 26th. Thanks for the heads up guys – I’ve been getting spam from you since the day you got my e-mail address, you’ve got it on file with my RMA #, but you couldn’t think to tell me it was on it’s way back.
- The monitor arrives. It arrives on it’s side because the bottom of the box apparently wasn’t sealed, and it’s damaged as I described above.
- I call customer service and am told that this time they’ll send me a free shipping label and that all I have to do is return the monitor to them and as soon as they get it, they’ll send out a replacement. I get a new RMA # for the second return.
- I get the shipping label via e-mail. In reading the instructions and I discover that it does not cover (or allow for) UPS picking up the package at your residence. You have to take the thing down to your local UPS office. Greeeeeat.
- I call back and explain the situation to customer service, who again apparently must be staring blankly forward at their screens like fish looking at their reflections. I ask to speak to a supervisor.
- I explain the situation to the supervisor (along with the fact that I’m not happy about having to take time out to drag this thing down to my local UPS office) and am asked for my RMA #. I provide the new one and continue the conversation.
- I get told that I was sent a prepaid return label as a courtesy and that they didn’t even have to do that.
- I lose it on the phone with this clown for awhile.
- I get told that since it needs repair, he’ll have to open another RMA #… you know, exactly what they did 15 minutes earlier. Yup, he’s not even looking at the right ticket. He’s looking at the original ticket. He then tried to make it sound as if I gave him the wrong ticket number. (Usually I may even give someone like this the benefit of the doubt, but the fact the only number I had at the time was the new ticket number ensures I gave him the right one)
- I try to impress on this guy the reason why I just lost it on him and explain the above to him, including the constantly contradictory replies I’ve gotten from customer service and the fact that this is now going to be dragging into it’s second month. This is when I’m told it’s not Viewsonic’s policy to explain the return procedure over the phone – that’s what the one page, barely explains anything e-mail they send you is for. So… it’s policy not to communicate with your customers? That sounds about right weighed against the experience I’ve had with Viewsonic so far.
That’s where it stands right now. I’m sure this situation will only get worse as time goes on as I have absolutely NO faith in Viewsonic as a company anymore. If I could, I’d ask for my money back at this time and call it a day, but since I didn’t buy the monitor directly from the company that’s not an option. The worst part? not only am I now going to not have had this monitor for 2 months, but apparently my 1 year warranty continues to run during this period, so by the time it comes back, I’ll be into the 6th or 7th month of my warranty. Given the longevity of the product the first time around, I get the feeling that the question of how much longer the monitor has left is always going to be on my mind and be a constant worry – and soon it won’t even be under warranty.
My advice at this point if you’re in the market for a HDTV or monitor? AVOID VIEWSONIC LIKE THE PLAGUE. Bad products, horrid customer service, a horrid warranty program and a general poor attitude towards the customer do not equal a fun experience. I’ll be updating this story as news warrants. Please, feel free to post your own comments, suggestions or Viewsonic horror stories in the comments section via the below link. (The add a comment link will be to the right of the article after the link)
XBOX LIVE ARCADE WEDNESDAYS – GALAGA
Namco’s classic shooter Galaga makes it’s scheduled appearance on the Xbox 360 today. As promised by Microsoft, Galaga is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 points ($5). Here are the details;
Title: Galaga
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Genre: Action
Release Date: 7/26/06
Console: Xbox 360
Multiplayer: No
Xbox Live: Xbox Live Aware
HDTV Support: 720p
Full Game: 400 points ($5)
Demo?: YES
Description as per Xbox.com
“Galaga was released in the arcades in 1981 and became an instant classic. This exciting title soon became know for its innovative fighter combination system and the varied enemy attack patterns. Take control of a fighter space craft and shoot down the invading aliens. Watch out for the swooping motherships, which will try to steal your fighter! Rescue captured fighters to double your firepower!. Earn Perfect Bonuses as you battle your way through wave after wave in different challenging stages.” – Xbox.com Galaga game description
This is one I’ll definitely be picking up in the next day or two as Galaga is one of those games that never seems to get old. I could play this one all day.
SEGA-16 INTERVIEWS TOM KALINSKE
Sega-16 got a chance to sit down with ex-Sega of America president Tom Kalinske and for the first time get his reflections on the time he spent with the company.
The article really gives a good look at what was happening behind the scenes at Sega during the eras of the Genesis, Sega CD, 32X and Saturn consoles, including some insight into some of the issues between the U.S. and Japanese arms of the company as well as what was behind them.
"I think somewhere in the mid ‘90s – ’94 or ’95 – they built up a great deal of resentment, and I didn’t realize it at the time, until probably the latter part of 1995, when one of my colleagues in Japan, who I knew well and had a good relationship with, said to me something to the effect of “you don’t understand how browbeat and annoyed the Japanese executives here are because of your success. Every meeting we go into, Nakayama asks us why can’t you do things the way the Americans and Europeans did? Why aren’t you guys as successful as they are? We’ve been around longer.” I think the local executives didn’t appreciate that he’d take that tone with them. Apparently, he also beat them up over Sonic, which was never as successful in Japan as it was in the U.S. and Europe (to this day, that’s the case), and I think he was always throwing that in their faces too. So clearly, by late ’95 there was great resentment built up: jealously, resentment, and kind of a desire to get back at those Americans that Nakayama kept throwing in their faces." -Tom Kalinske
It’s definitely a good read for anyone who’s into video game history or was a die-hard Sega fan back in the day. You can check out the full interview here and when you finish, ask yourself if the Dreamcast might have fared better had Kalinske remained with Sega.
SONY SHIPS OVER 10,000 PS3 DEVELOPMENT KITS
Next Generation is reporting that they’ve been told by Sony that the company has shipped over 10,000 Playstation 3 development kits to companies worldwide, a new record for any Playstation console.
The comment was apparently made to assure gamers that third party development is still on track and of great importance following the recent departure of Mark DeLoura, SCEA’s Manager of Third Party Development.
"The best and brightest development teams are hard at work creating familiar franchises and original IP for the PS3 including – EA, Konami, Sega, Rockstar, Activison and our own internal studios just to name a few. To date we have shipped more than 10,000 development systems to 208 companies in 11 countries, the largest number ever for a PlayStation platform." -Ryan Bowling, SCEA Public Relations manager
Things have been somewhat quiet on the PS3 front recently, and all things considered, that’s probably a good thing for Sony. My guess is given the recent negative publicity Sony has been getting, they felt the need to make sure they quashed any rumors that DeLoura’s leaving the company to work for Ubisoft wasn’t indicative of any problems regarding the company’s relations with third party developers.
Click here to head over to the Next Generation article on both DeLoura’s exit and the number of dev kits shipped.
GEARS OF WAR FANSITE KIT NOW AVAILABLE
Epic Games has made a fansite kit for Gears of War available via the Gears of War official website. The kit weighs in at 100.6mb and mostly contains icons, screenshots and hi-res wallpapers and images. Nothing overly earthshaking. Click here for the fansite kit download page.
BIG GEARS OF WAR ANNOUNCEMENT COMING NEXT WEEK
ArsTechnica is reporting that Mark Rein, administrator of the official Gears of War forums has announced that there will be a BIG announcement regarding Gears coming sometime next week. While there’s tons of speculation going around regarding the announcement being that they’re releasing a demo of the game in the Xbox Live Marketplace, I’m putting my money down on it being a tentative release date.
A demo would be pretty fricken sweet though, wouldn’t it? Click here for the ArsTechnica article and here for the forum posting that inspired it.
THE OUTFIT: COLLATERAL DAMAGE MAP PACK NOW FREE
Major Nelson reported today that the Collateral Damage Map Pack for The Outfit is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for free. The pack was originally priced at 500 points ($6.25) but as was done with the Halo 2 premium maps, it has now been reduced to a free download. I’m sure there will be plenty of griping from the 6 people out there who bought it.
AMD TO BUY ATI FOR 5.4 BILLION DOLLARS
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today confirmed what has been floating around the ‘net as a rumor these past few weeks – namely that they are purchasing graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies.
“NEW YORK — July 24, 2006 —AMD (NYSE: AMD) and ATI (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT) today announced plans to join forces in a transaction valued at approximately $5.4 billion. The combination will create a processing powerhouse by bringing AMD’s technology leadership in microprocessors together with ATI’s strengths in graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics. The result: A new and more formidable company, determined to drive growth, innovation and choice for its customers, particularly in the commercial and mobile computing segments and in the rapidly-growing consumer electronics market. Combining technologies, people, and complementary strengths, AMD plans to deliver in 2007 customer-centric platforms for the benefit of customers who want to collaborate in the development of differentiated solutions..” -AMD Press release
The move, while certainly noteworthy, doesn’t really make all that much sense if you ask me. AMD is closely tied to Nvidia as far as chipsets go, and it seems adding Nvidia’s main competitor (and thus closing off that avenue of profit) along with picking up a large chunk of debt from ATI just spells trouble in the long-run. It’s almost as if sides are now being drawn… AMD/ATI on one side, Intel and Nvidia on the other.
Investors seem to be choosing sides already with AMD stock falling in trading today while Nvidia stocks saw over a 10 percent increase. The moves indicate just how risky a proposition this is for AMD and, needless to say, it could have dramatic short and long-term effects on the industry. Where it’s all going to wind up is anyone’s guess, but we’ll be following this story over the next few months (and longer) as things become more clear-cut.
Click here for the AMD press release, here for a Yahoo/Reuters report on the merger and here for a CNN Money article showing that investors are already preparing for closer partnership between Nvidia and Intel.
MAME32 V.107 UPDATE
Just a quick note here, according to the comments over at the MAME32 team’s site, v.107 of MAME32 is about 85% complete and should be released shortly. It would appear the slight delay is due to the team trying to get all the new video options just right.
DEAD OR ALIVE 4 DEMO NOW IN XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE
A demo of Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 4 is now available for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 680.76mb. Go and get your jiggle on. Giggity giggity.
DRAGON’S LAIR HD UPDATE
Updating an earlier story, Digital Leisure replied to our inquiries about the newly released HD version of Dragon’s Lair. We had asked whether the widescreen modes were created by cropping the original artwork and whether Digital Leisure would be offering discounts for people who’ve bought earlier versions of Dragon’s Lair from them as they have in the past. Here’s the answer we got;
“Yes, though the widescreen version is in true HD dimensions it technically loses the most amount of information. There are three versions on the disc including the original, full screen and widescreen all in HD quality. Sorry, but there are no discounts on product for previous owners.” -Digital Leisure
Click here for our earlier story on the HD version of Dragon’s Lair and here for the Digital Leisure website. As I have with just about every version of the game ever released, I’ll most likely be picking up the HD version at some point, and when I do, I’ll post back on how much of an improvement over the original video it actually is. Until then, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that a HD version of Space Ace can’t be too far behind.
KAMEO AND PERFECT DARK ZERO $20 AT CIRCUIT CITY
DrkPhreakX sends word that this week’s Circuit City advertisement has both Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360 on sale for $20 each. The circular also lists the 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription card as being on sale for $39.99. The prices on all three items are also good for purchases made from Circuit City’s online site.
Click here for Circuit City’s online product page for Kameo, here for PDZ and here for the 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription card. Go get some.
XBOX LIVE GOLD 12 MONTH CARD $35.82 AT WALMART
Broli1 over at Gamer’s Lounge posted that Walmart.com currently has the Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscription card for $35.82. Click here for the product page and get ’em while they last.
MAME V.107 RELEASED
At long last the latest full version of MAME has been released to the public. Version 1.07 features the new video renderer, so users should be sure to read all the documentation, including the “newvideo.txt” file in the docs folder. The MAME Development team also suggests that those people who use a front-end to run the program may want to wait until their front-ends are optimized for the new video renderer before they upgrade to v1.07.
Now that v1.07 has been released, the MAME32 team should begin updating the Windows version of MAME once more, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that release as well and will post the appropriate links once more when it’s available.
Click here to head over to the MAME download page and here to see what’s new in v.107
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JULY 24TH – JULY 30TH
Things are looking up this week with the Civilization IV: Warlords expansion for PC and Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP. Here are some estimated release dates for the week;
- Atlantis Quest – PC – 7/25/06
- CivCity: Rome – PC – 7/25/06
- Nancy Drew: Danger by Design – PC – 7/25/06
- Painkiller: Hell Wars – XB – 7/25/06
- Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Warlords – PC – 7/25/06
- The Ant Bully – GBA – 7/25/06
- The Ant Bully – GC – 7/25/06
- The Ant Bully – PC – 7/25/06
- The Ant Bully – PS2 – 7/25/06
- Warpath – PC – 7/25/06
- Warpath – XB – 7/25/06
- World War II Combat: Iwo Jima – PC – 7/25/06
- B-Daman – GBA – 7/26/06
- Fuel – XB – 7/26/06
- Hot Wheels Compilation – GBA – 7/26/06
- Sprint Cars: The Road to Knoxville – PS2 – 7/26/06
- Summon Night: Swordcraft Story – GBA – 7/26/06
- Tekken: Dark Resurrection – PSP – 7/26/06
- Earache Extreme Metal Racing – PC – 7/27/06
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
GEARS OF WAR X05 FOOTAGE
Sure this footage is almost a year old now, but with all the hype we’re seeing regarding the combat portions of Gears of War, the survival horror aspects of the game seem to be falling out of public view.
As such, I found this clip from Microsoft’s X05 Gears of War presentation which does a nice job of showcasing not only the tension the game aims to create, but some of the horrors players can expect to face come Emergence Day.
Gears of War is scheduled to launch later this year exclusively on the Xbox 360 console – as if you didn’t know that already.
MICROSOFT CONFIRMS ZUNE PORTABLE MEDIA DEVICE
Gamasutra is reporting that Microsoft has finally confirmed their long rumored portable media device which should run as direct competition to Apple’s ipod;
“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune, Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.” -Chris Stephenson, Microsoft gm of marketing
So why am I telling you this? Because while the initial device seems to be just a mp3 player, Microsoft hinted that future devices in the Zune line could include the capability of playing games and will eventually feature the integration with Xbox Live that Microsoft showcased at E3. Check out the Gamaustra article here for more details. Just imagine – soon you’ll be able to take the blue screen of death with your wherever you go!
CARTOON NETWORK ANNOUNCES MMOG
Cartoon Network has announced they have teamed with Grigon Entertainment to bring a mmog based on their intellectual properties to the PC in 2008. According to the Cartoon Network press release, the game is scheduled to launch as a free download sometime in the spring of 2008 and will be supported by monthly subscription fees and microtransaction payments.
“Online games have been the most important driver of Cartoon Network New Media’s success over the last few years, with more than 84 million U.S. homes expected to have broadband Internet access by 2008, and Cartoon Network’s reach and creative vision, we’re excited to enter the fast-growing world of massively multiplayer online gaming. In Grigon Entertainment, we have found a partner who understands how to build a successful MMOG for the casual marketplace. With our characters and creative direction, along with Grigon’s experience and technical know-how, we think Cartoon Network’s MMOG will have great success and longevity.” – Paul Condolora, senior vp and gm, Cartoon Network New Media
Cartoon Network seems to be aiming this game at their younger viewers, so fans of Adult Swim expecting to be able to take down the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, hang with the crew of Sealab or head off on a raid to take down the mighty Brock Samson and steal some technology from the Venture Compound need not apply;
“Cartoon Network is an immersive experience for our fans, and this MMOG will allow our fans to interact with their favorite characters like never before. Not only will kids be able to play with their favorite characters like Mac and Bloo, Ben 10 and the Kids Next Door, but they will also be able to develop their own online gaming personalities and interact, virtually, with other players in a safe way.” –Jim Samples, Cartoon Network executive vp and gm
I don’t know about you, but I think half the pedophiles in the country just started drooling and have added spring 2008 to their “to do” lists. Hopefully Cartoon Network really knows what they’re getting into here.
PALADINS AND SHAMANS AND THE BURNING CRUSADE, OH MY!
Blizzard has announced that the upcoming expansion to World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, will add the Paladin class to the Horde and Shaman class to the Alliance. According to WorldofWarcraft.com, the additions of each class to their previously unavailable factions is explained in the story behind the expansion.
“In the upcoming expansion, players will finally be able to play classes that were previously unavailable to their faction. The blood elves have harnessed the power of the Light for their own needs, and the Horde recognizes the value of these renegade blood elf paladins. Meanwhile, the draenei have been granted the wisdom and strength of the elements, and a number of draenei now follow the path of the shaman.” – World of Warcraft official site
Naturally, the player base is up in arms over this and the official World of Warcraft forums are peppered with comments both for and against the addition of the classes. My advice? If you play, don’t look at the forums just like you don’t look at the chat channels any more. It’s better that way.
Check out The Burning Crusade official page here and the class combo page explanation here.
MAME V.106U13 RELEASED
The thirteenth and supposedly final 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.
According to the update notes, this version should be the last one before v.107 unless any serious problems are found during testing. While it would appear the code is finally stable again based on that statement, I’d still suggest sticking with v.106 proper until v.107 is released just to be on the safe side.
Because of the number of updates to v.106, the MAME dev team has added a mega-diff file that contains the information from v.106u1 through V.106u10 to make testing easier since each “U” update must be applied on top of the previous one. Click here to see what’s new in this update.
MAME V.106U13 RELEASED
The thirteenth and supposedly final 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.
According to the update notes, this version should be the last one before v.107 unless any serious problems are found during testing. While it would appear the code is finally stable again based on that statement, I’d still suggest sticking with v.106 proper until v.107 is released just to be on the safe side.
Because of the number of updates to v.106, the MAME dev team has added a mega-diff file that contains the information from v.106u1 through V.106u10 to make testing easier since each “U” update must be applied on top of the previous one. Click here to see what’s new in this update.
DIGITAL LEISURE RELEASES DRAGON’S LAIR IN HD
You read that right folks, 23 years after the game was first released, Digital Leisure has brought Cinematronic’s classic arcade game Dragon’s Lair kicking and screaming into the 21st century;
“For the first time ever you can experience the stunning visuals of Dragon’s Lair in full High Definition video! Using the most sophisticated film transfer technology, this smash hit arcade game can now be played in High Definition and fantastic 5.1 Surround Sound on your computer.” -Digital Leisure product description
The HD version of the game supports both standard and widescreen displays, though the widescreen pictures seem to indicate they cropped the photos to create the effect, no new animation was added.
The updated game is available for the PC direct from Digital Leisure for $49.99. I’m not sure if Digital Leisure will be offering an upgrade discount for owners of previous Dragon’s Lair games as they’ve done in the past, but we have contacted them in regards to the matter. As soon as I know, you’ll know. For now, check out Digital Leisure’s website here and think back to those magical days long past.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
SAM & MAX: SEASON 1 FEATURED IN COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
GameSetWatch is reporting that Computer Gaming World’s July issue has a 9 page article on Telltale Games upcoming episodic graphic adventure game Sam & Max. The feature includes interviews with all the folks behind Sam & Max, including the duo’s creator Steve Purcell. I think I’ll be running out tomorrow and picking up a copy of the issue. Take that and put it on your current market realities folder, LucasArts!
Check out the GameSetWatch article here and dream of the day when graphic adventure games make their triumphant return to the industry.
HORIZONS CHANGES HANDS… AGAIN
While reading friday’s GU Comics strip, I discovered that Tulga Games has sold Horizons: Empire of Istaria to EI Interactive. If you recall, awhile back I mentioned that Tulga had announced an expansion for Horizons and that the game’s future seemed to be looking up.
Details are sketchy at best right now, but it appears those hopes for Horizons making a comeback have been dashed. Word is Tulga released all of their staff related to Horizons and that key team members, such as David Bowman, are no longer in the long-term picture for Horizons. Further, EI has not yet decided whether or not they will be hiring any of the now unemployed Horizons development team and while EI Interactive bought the rights to all work done on Horizons, including the upcoming expansion Settlements, EI is now reviewing whether or not they will pursue finishing said expansion. For those looking for more details on the Horizons situation, head over to mmorpg.com where they have an interview with Ed Andercheck of EI Interactive.
I don’t really know what to say here. From everything I had heard, Tulga was actually turning the corner on Horizons and the future of the game was looking up. Based on what I’ve seen of EI Interactive so far, I can’t say the future is that bright – and it saddens me. Here’s to hoping Horizons survives this challenge as well.
Click here for our earlier story on the Horizons expansion, here for the GU Comics strip, here for GU Comics discussion thread about what’s going on and here for the mmorpg.com interview.
JUST A LITTLE UPDATE ON THE STATE OF THE SITE
For those wondering what ever happened to the site redesign mentioned back in late June/early July, it’s currently on hold until my monitor returns from repair. The current monitor on my desk just feels entirely too cramped to do any serious work on.
In the meantime, if you want to see a rough approximation of what one of the skins of the site will look like, click here. It’s not final, but the main news on it does get updated along with this page, so if you prefer that design, feel free to use that link. When the changes go live, that page will simply advise you of the change and to reset your bookmark to the main site.
Click here and here for the earlier news on the monitor situation – here’s to hoping Viewsonic gets off their collective asses and get my monitor back to me soon. The timeframe they gave for when I should have it back runs out on monday.
XBOX LIVE ARCADE TEXAS HOLD’EM NOT FREE?
A few days back we reported on a Gamespot story that stated that the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade Texas Hold’Em title would be a free download. Well, it now seems either Gamespot’s source was mistaken or Microsoft is having second thoughts about giving something away for nothing. A recent posting on Gamerscore Blog states that the title may not be free of charge after all and that no definitive decisions on any details about the game have been made at this time.
“As Greg Canessa pointed out in an interview with Joystiq, Xbox Live Arcade’s upcoming Texas Hold ‘Em Poker will be coming soon, and he said something about it not being free. After talking to the product team to see what the story is, I’m told that specific details regarding the launch of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker have not yet been announced, and it’s too early to say anything yet. I’m told we should stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. “ -Gamerscore Blog
The interview that quote refers to can be found over at Joystiq. While Gamerscore Blog may be playing the pricing angle carefully, Canessa was much clearer in the interview, stating that the title would not be free – no ambiguity there.
“First of all, it won’t be free. We haven’t decided on what the final price will be, but it will not be free.” -Greg Canessa as per Joystiq
So there you have it, XBLA Texas Hold’Em will not be free, but no price has been decided on at this time. Click here for the original Gamespot story, here for the Gamerscore Blog posting, here for the full Joystiq interview and here to seek help for your gambling problem.
RUMOR MILL: PLAYSTATION 3 NOW IN PRODUCTION
Next Generation is carrying a story that Chinese newspaper “The Commercial Times” has reported that Asustek Computer (Asus) is currently producing Playstation 3 units and plans on delivering 200,000 of them to Sony later this month.
“The Commercial Times, a Chinese business paper, claims that manufacturer Asustek Computer is delivering as many as 200,000 machines to Sony this month, with more manufacturers coming online in August.
The paper said that Asustek had been given the task of pulling together components since early July, as Sony seeks to iron out any potential manufacturing problems, such as those that dogged the launch of Xbox 360 last year.
The reports are unconfirmed.“ – Next Generation
While 200,000 units certainly isn’t a large number, should this report turn out to be true, it at least shows that Sony has finalized the design of the PS3 and that they’ve apparently cleared many of the also rumored design problems.
MASS EFFECT E3 2006 DEMONSTRATION VIDEO
I saw this video on Kotaku awhile back, and I keep forgetting to put it up here. There’s a copy of Bioware’s E3 2006 Mass Effect demonstration video on YouTube – it’s definitely worth checking out.
I absolutely loved the first Knights of the Old Republic and can’t wait to see what bioware has in store for us with their own property. No release date has been set for Mass Effect at this time, but the word on the street is it should be hitting shelved in the 2nd quarter of 2007.
TOYS R US – ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD VIRTUAL GIFT
Tenwyn at the Gamer’s Lounge forums posted that he received an e-mail from Nintendo stating that Toys R Us will be offering a free downloadable Animal Crossing: Wild World item from July 23rd through July 30th.
As with other Nintendo handheld games, there’s also a bit of community building involved here as there are actually six different items available and players can swap, sell or simply give the items away. Those wanting to get more than one of the items may be forced to do a bit of wheeling and dealing. Here’s what you have to do to get yours as per the Nintendo Event site;
- Insert your Animal Crossing: Wild World Game Card into your Nintendo DS. Power up.
- Purchase Bottle Mail at Tom Nook’s Shop.
- Write a message and release your Bottle Mail into the river or at the beach. Save and end your game.
- Visit the specially marked Animal Crossing: Wild Word promotion in the video-game section of your nearest Toys ‘R Us July 23-30. At the main menu, tap Tag Mode.
- Watch and wait for something to arrive in your town!
- Restart your game and comb the beach for Bottle Mail containing a special rare item!
Check out the Nintendo Events detail page here for more details and start thinking of ways to convince five of your friends with Animal Crossing to go visit Toys R Us so they can score you some free swag. After all, what are friends for?
FREE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR CHROMEHOUNDS
Sega has released a new free downloadable content pack for Chromehounds on the Xbox 360. The content pack includes 2 light arms, 2 heavy arms, 1 assist part and 1 new color scheme. The pack can be downloaded via the Xbox Live Marketplace.
XBOX LIVE ARCADE WEDNESDAYS – CLONING CLYDE
As promised by Microsoft, NinjaBee’s Cloning Clyde is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 points ($10). I just finished playing part of the free demo, and it seems to be a mix of platform and puzzle elements somewhat along the lines of the old “Castle of Dr Brain” series. Here are the details;
Title: Cloning Clyde
Developer: NinjaBee
Publisher: NinjaBee
Genre: Action
Release Date: 7/19/06
Console: Xbox 360
Multiplayer: 1-4
Xbox Live Multiplayer: 1-4
HDTV Support: No Support
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Demo?: YESDescription as per Xbox.com
“Have you ever been cloned? Ever wonder what it would be like to be a chicken? A monkey? A frog? Well, wonder no more when you play Cloning Clyde, the zany side-scrolling platformer game on Xbox Live Arcade, new from NinjaBee.
Cloning Clyde is a 3-D side-scrolling adventure, featuring (of course!) multiplayer gameplay. Play split screen on a single console, or mutate online with your friends across the world via Xbox Live® Arcade.
Can you free yourselves from the myriad sinister traps and mutations that await you? Get Cloning today and find out!” – Xbox.com Cloning Clyde game description
While it’s certainly an interesting title, I think I’ll be skipping this one as 800 points seems just a bit too extreme for a “quick pick-me up” title. For that $10, I could go to my local game shop or Gamefly and pick up a used “A-list” title for the same price.
DOES THE DS-LITE HAVE A CRACK PROBLEM?
It seems there’s a crack in the armor of Nintendo’s handheld juggernaut. Reports are coming in from all over the web that the hinges on the DS-Lite are prone to cracking. The story began with a few posts over at MaxConsole and quickly spread to other sites as they picked up the news and started hearing about their own readers crack problems.
In a poll over at Kotaku, nearly 14 percent of the respondents that owned a DS-Lite reported some type of crack around the hinges. Nintendo has not officially commented on the crack epidemic it’s latest handheld is facing at this time, but I somehow doubt they’re going to give it the same loving attention they recently gave a man who claimed his dog ate his DS-Lite.
Now I haven’t played with a DS-Lite yet, so I don’t know how sturdy the plastic it’s made out of is, but if it’s anything like the hinges on the GBA:SP or the fatty DS, I’d have to assume there’s something more to it… like people “snapping” the screen open, pressing down on it/over-extending it or the like. Why? Because if my GBA:SP can still be intact despite the things that have happened to it, I can’t see the crack just forming from normal wear and tear.
Click here for the MaxConsole forum post, here for the Kotaku DS-Lite crack poll and here just because I can’t come up with something witty to write here despite the billions of possibilities the term crack allows for.
ATI CHOSEN TO MAKE XBOX 360 HD DVD DECODER
Not much of a surprise here as they also make the Xbox 360 graphic chip, but ATI has announced that Microsoft has chosen them to make the decoder for the upcoming HD-DVD add on drive for the Xbox 360.
“ATI Technologies (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced that Microsoft Corp. has chosen ATI’s H.264 decoder for the Xbox 360™ HD DVD player, bringing users sharper, more true-to-life visuals and smoother playback of high-definition content. HD DVDs encoded using one of three approved codecs deliver up to six times the resolution of traditional DVDs all on a single disc. Built on ATI’s Avivo™ technology, the decoder used for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player brings to bear ATI’s considerable multimedia know-how to ensure gamers, home theatre buffs, and casual viewers alike get a more perfect picture from the H.264 format” -ATI press release
As expected, the Xbox 360 GPU will handle much of the workload in rendering the video, thus eliminating many of the components used in a stand-alone HD-DVD player, which should help to keep the costs of the 360 HD-DVD add on reasonable.
“To enable the smoothest H.264 video playback possible, the ATI decoder technology makes use of the Xbox 360’s graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate video processing. The unified shader design of the GPU enables high-end processing techniques such as comb filtering and automatic gain control to ensure that video artifacts such as blockiness or color bands don’t disrupt playback.” -ATI press release
The Xbox 360 HD-DVD external drive is expected to hit shelves later this fall at an as of yet undetermined price. Check out the full ATI press release here and then remember that while HD-DVD may be nice to look at, until the HD format wars are decided, it’s a bit too soon to start replacing your entire DVD collection.
MICROSOFT PLANS 50 XBLA GAMES BY END OF YEAR
ComputerandVideoGames is reporting that in a recent interview with Microsoft‘s Major Nelson, Xbox Live Arcade group manager Greg Canessa stated that Microsoft plans on having 50 Xbox Live Arcade titles available by the end of the year.
Canessa also confirmed earlier statements by Microsoft that Live Arcade games will be debuting on the service on wednesdays only and added that they expect to announce more release dates for upcoming games before the Pac-Man is released on August 9th. Canessa reiterated that as of right now, Microsoft is not guaranteeing a new title every wednesday past August 9th.
“there may be a week that we skip and then a week where we release two titles” – Greg Canessa
Here’s to hoping we see more weeks of multiple releases than we do weeks with no new releases. Either way, it’s nice to see XBLA start getting the attention it deserves. Check out the ComputerAndVideoGames article here and start loading up on quarters!
MAME V.106U12 RELEASED
The twelfth and possibly final 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.
According to the update notes, this version contains a new windows.txt file listing the locations of all the options in the code, as well as an updated -listxml command for multiple displays and input controls. As with the previous “U” releases for 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.
Finally, because of the number of updates to v.106, the MAME dev team has added a mega-diff file that contains the information from v.106u1 through V.106u10 to make testing easier as normally each upgrade must be applied to the previous one. Click here to see what’s new in this update.
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JULY 17TH – JULY 23RD
Another slow week for gamers other than the release of NCAA Football ’07. Here are some estimated release dates for the week;
- Magic Match – PC – 7/18/06
- Pet Vet 3D: Animal Hospital – PC – 7/18/06
- Blade Dancer – PSP – 7/19/06
- Miami Vice – PSP – 7/19/06
- Monster House – DS – 7/19/06
- Monster House – GBA – 7/19/06
- Monster House – GC – 7/19/06
- Monster House – PS2 – 7/19/06
- NCAA Football ’07 – 360 – 7/19/06
- NCAA Football ’07 – PS2 – 7/19/06
- NCAA Football ’07 – PSP – 7/19/06
- NCAA Football ’07 – XB – 7/19/06
- Stacked – PSP – 7/19/06
- Super Dragon Ball Z – PS2 – 7/19/06
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth – PSP – 7/19/06
- Atlantis Quest – PC – 7/21/06
- Flight Deck 4 – PC – 7/21/06
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
XBOX 360 TO BE BUNDLED WITH PGR3?
Gamespot’s rumor mill is carrying a story that Microsoft is planning on releasing a new $399 Xbox 360 bundle this fall to compete against the launches of the Wii and Playstation 3.
The story makes it very clear that the rumor started on the forums of another gaming site and that it’s source is dubious at best, so take the following with a grain of salt. According to the rumor, the price of the premium 360 package would remain unchanged, but the system would now come bundled with Project Gotham Racing 3, a 3 month Xbox Live Gold subscription and 1250 marketplace points.
While the source is unproven, I’ve got to agree with Gamespot’s position that it’s at least possible. Let’s look at it from Microsoft’s possible point of view;
- Project Gotham Racing 3
- PGR 3is a game that showcases the 360’s power quite nicely, it’s a Microsoft Games title and has 2 pay content packs in the marketplace that are highly desirable. While it’s probably one of the best selling 360 titles now, come October when Forza Motorsport 2 launches, it’s going to see a serious decline in sales. On the flip side, you could also argue that PGR3 being provided free of charge could hurt Forza 2 sales, so I do see the potential hole in this side of the argument.
- 3 Months free Xbox Live Gold
- The 360 already comes with a free month of Live Gold, so it’s not too far of a stretch to see MS raising the bar to 3 months – especially given the recent attach numbers Live has seen with the 360. While new adopters may not use Live enough in that first month, by the third they’ve probably picked up a few more titles and have expanded their friends lists to a point where there’s usually someone around to play with. Think of it this way – hook ’em now, so they pay later.
- 1250 Marketplace Points
- Want to get new users to get into the habit of using the marketplace for purchases? Why not give them a ton of points to play with. It’s another case of getting them used to the idea of paying for content before they actually have to face shelling out money for it.
So there you have it, while it may not be true, it at least could make some sense. I guess we’ll know the real deal later this fall when Microsoft’s competition finally makes it to market.
Click here to head over to Gamespot’s rumor control to see their take on it or here to see the post that started the rumor. You could click here too, but it wouldn’t have anything to do with this story.
IGN PROFILES THE SOLDIERS OF GEARS OF WAR
You’ve read the backstory, you’ve seen the trailers, now get to know the soldiers of Delta Squad. IGN has posted a look at the soldiers of Delta Squad, the team players will be joining as Marcus Fenix when Gears of War is released sometime this fall. Here’s what the IGN article has to say about each COG soldier.
“Marcus Fenix
Son of the famed military scientist Adam Fenix, Marcus established a reputation as a brilliant soldier during the Pendulum Wars, earning numerous field promotions and decorations. He was on a fast track to an outstanding military career until the war with the Locust Horde.
When the Horde breached Jacinto Plateau’s defenses, Marcus defied orders to save his father, who was under siege at East Barricade Academy. He was too late. Marcus was charged with dereliction of duty and was sentenced to 40 years in Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary.
Four years into his sentence, the Horde overtook the penitentiary but Marcus was rescued by his best friend Dominic Santiago, so that he could rejoin the fight against the unstoppable Locust Horde.
Dominic Santiago
Dom is a vocal, colorful and yet practical soldier. He’s loyal to a fault, especially with his friends, and has no patience for those that think of themselves first.
Dominic has always believed in his country and his leaders, but his faith has been slipping in the face of this endless war. Dom lost his wife in the Emergence Day cataclysm. For him, the fight against the Horde is deeply personal.
By testifying in Marcus’ defense, Dom prevented an execution, but was forced to accept the heavy judgment the military tribunal handed down to his childhood friend. Never forgetting, Dom seized his first opportunity to save Marcus’ life, and convinced Lieutenant Minh Young Kim to enlist Marcus into his squad.
Minh Young Kim
Lieutenant Kim is a proud, dedicated and ambitious soldier, a by-the-books believer in all things COG. To Kim, the Coalition of Organized Governments is humanity’s only hope for survival and feels that it is an honor and privilege to serve as a Gear.
Kim moved quickly through the ranks, but after a run of bad luck he was left leading the misfits of Delta Squad. Feeling undervalued and overlooked, Kim has something to prove.
Only the strength of Dom’s faith — and the scarcity of experienced soldiers – convinced Kim to consider bringing former prisoner Fenix into his squad.
Augustus Cole
Cole, aka “The Cole Train”, is an adrenaline junkie and former professional thrashball player. He craves action, and prefers to take the most direct path to the Locust Horde in any situation. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up for in raw energy.
Along with his child-like enthusiasm and charm, Cole is supremely confident in his own abilities to overcome anything, regardless of the odds—and he hasn’t been proven wrong yet.
Cole and Damon Baird have served together for years, and he treats Baird as he would an older brother with a younger brother’s license to torment.
Damon Baird
Despite being a reluctant and cynical soldier, Baird excels at the military life. Baird is perfectly capable of being a successful officer, but has never been promoted due to his poor attitude, short temper and his unwillingness to take on any responsibility.
Baird’s greatest strength is his intelligence. He not only fights the Locust, but he studies and observes them as well. He’s the closest the COG have to an expert, and when Baird tells his comrades to be quiet and listen, they know it is in their best interest to do exactly that.
Baird’s only motivation is self preservation. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get through the war alive — even march along side a troublemaker like Fenix.” – IGN
For more information, including new screenshots of each soldier profiled, check out the full IGN article here while you continue your preparations for Emergence Day.
IGN PROFILES THE SOLDIERS OF GEARS OF WAR
You’ve read the backstory, you’ve seen the trailers, now get to know the soldiers of Delta Squad. IGN has posted a look at the soldiers of Delta Squad, the team players will be joining as Marcus Fenix when Gears of War is released sometime this fall. Here’s what the IGN article has to say about each COG soldier.
“Marcus Fenix
Son of the famed military scientist Adam Fenix, Marcus established a reputation as a brilliant soldier during the Pendulum Wars, earning numerous field promotions and decorations. He was on a fast track to an outstanding military career until the war with the Locust Horde.
When the Horde breached Jacinto Plateau’s defenses, Marcus defied orders to save his father, who was under siege at East Barricade Academy. He was too late. Marcus was charged with dereliction of duty and was sentenced to 40 years in Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary.
Four years into his sentence, the Horde overtook the penitentiary but Marcus was rescued by his best friend Dominic Santiago, so that he could rejoin the fight against the unstoppable Locust Horde.
Dominic Santiago
Dom is a vocal, colorful and yet practical soldier. He’s loyal to a fault, especially with his friends, and has no patience for those that think of themselves first.
Dominic has always believed in his country and his leaders, but his faith has been slipping in the face of this endless war. Dom lost his wife in the Emergence Day cataclysm. For him, the fight against the Horde is deeply personal.
By testifying in Marcus’ defense, Dom prevented an execution, but was forced to accept the heavy judgment the military tribunal handed down to his childhood friend. Never forgetting, Dom seized his first opportunity to save Marcus’ life, and convinced Lieutenant Minh Young Kim to enlist Marcus into his squad.
Minh Young Kim
Lieutenant Kim is a proud, dedicated and ambitious soldier, a by-the-books believer in all things COG. To Kim, the Coalition of Organized Governments is humanity’s only hope for survival and feels that it is an honor and privilege to serve as a Gear.
Kim moved quickly through the ranks, but after a run of bad luck he was left leading the misfits of Delta Squad. Feeling undervalued and overlooked, Kim has something to prove.
Only the strength of Dom’s faith — and the scarcity of experienced soldiers – convinced Kim to consider bringing former prisoner Fenix into his squad.
Augustus Cole
Cole, aka “The Cole Train”, is an adrenaline junkie and former professional thrashball player. He craves action, and prefers to take the most direct path to the Locust Horde in any situation. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up for in raw energy.
Along with his child-like enthusiasm and charm, Cole is supremely confident in his own abilities to overcome anything, regardless of the odds—and he hasn’t been proven wrong yet.
Cole and Damon Baird have served together for years, and he treats Baird as he would an older brother with a younger brother’s license to torment.
Damon Baird
Despite being a reluctant and cynical soldier, Baird excels at the military life. Baird is perfectly capable of being a successful officer, but has never been promoted due to his poor attitude, short temper and his unwillingness to take on any responsibility.
Baird’s greatest strength is his intelligence. He not only fights the Locust, but he studies and observes them as well. He’s the closest the COG have to an expert, and when Baird tells his comrades to be quiet and listen, they know it is in their best interest to do exactly that.
Baird’s only motivation is self preservation. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get through the war alive — even march along side a troublemaker like Fenix.” – IGN
For more information, including new screenshots of each soldier profiled, check out the full IGN article here while you continue your preparations for Emergence Day.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED FOR XBOX 360 & PS3
Ok, so I’m a little late reporting this one, sue me. Chad Myers of Two Steps Back pointed this Gamespot article out the other day in his forums, and I kept forgetting to post it here.
In a recent EA press briefing, Valve’s Gabe Newell gave some details on what players can expect from the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and then dropped the bombshell that the game will be launching simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.
According to Newell, the 360 and PS3 versions will also include all the previous content for Half-Life 2 (the original game and Episode 1) as well as all the new features being found in the PC version of Episode 2. What are those new features, you ask? Well, according to the Gamespot article, it looks like Team Fortress 2 is returning to Half-Life along with a big update to the Half-Life 2 source engine.
Other games of note discussed during the press briefing were Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lord of the Rings: The White Council, Madden 360 & Wii, the 6 confirmed Wii titles, NBA Live ’07 and Need for Speed: Carbon.
Check out all the details from Gamespot here while wondering just how many other stories I may not have told you about just yet. While you’re at it, why not check out Two Steps Back and discover the magic that is Sandwich Tuesdays. Tell ’em I sent ya.
BRAD WARDELL TALKS GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II: DARK AVATAR
Stardock founder Brad Wardell took some time out to talk to Firing Squad about the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II, Dark Avatar.
The interview itself covers a wide range of subjects ranging from Stardock’s now famous stance on copy protection, the unexpected huge mainstream success of Galactic Civilizations II, Playing the expansion campaign from the side of “the bad guys”, the digital only distribution plan for Dark Avatar and Stardock’s upcoming mmog. Wardell managed to sum up all of what Dark Avatar will be about in one paragraph;
“One of our big goals for this expansion pack is to do things a bit differently than one usually sees with expansion packs. It’s not about adding some new units and the like; it’s about really taking the gameplay to the next level. We want to introduce enough new gameplay concepts that will greatly extend the game’s lifespan for players. To put it another way, I didn’t want to have to wait for a sequel or something to get this stuff in; some of the features are really exciting. Being able to design your opponents, for instance, seems so obvious in hindsight that there was no way we were going to wait until some future sequel to do that; it’s too compelling. Hopefully gamers will feel the same way.” -Brad Wardell, President & CEO, Stardock
As for when we can all expect to get our grubby hands on Dark Avatar, Wardell stated that Stardock hopes to have Dark Avatar ready by this holiday season, and that his task of coding the AI will begin once he’s finished working on v1.3 of the GalCiv2. I, for one, can hardly wait.
Check out the full text of the interview here and our previous coverage of Dark Avatar here. While you’re at it, you better start working on your Drengin snarl of contempt – it’s looking kind of weak.
GAME MOVIE RUMORS ABOUND!
2 Game to movie rumors have been making the rounds this week, so I figured we’d just add to the growing pile of speculation. The first rumor concerns the casting of Master Chief in the upcoming Halo film.
According to the rumor mill, Denzel Washington met with Peter Jackson to discuss taking the lead in the film. After much ‘net travel, Denzel put the rumor to rest by stating that he met with Jackson to discuss Jackson handling the special effects for a film Washington plans on directing. In other words, nope no Denzel for Halo. Personally, I’m pulling for Steve Downes to get the role – at least as far as MC’s voice goes. From what I’ve read of the supposedly leaked script to the movie, it’s not like we ever get to see Master Chief’s face anyway.
The second rumor is that Tim Burton has expressed interest in making a film based on Grim Fandango. This one apparently got it’s start on a site called The Movie Center where they patched together several different quotes from Burton to form an interview, and one of those quotes indicated that he was interested in making Grim Fandango into a movie. While most of the comments have now been tracked back to their original sources, no one has been able to verify where the Grim Fandango comments came from. File this one under probably fake for now.
Check out a good summary Gamespot put together here and think about who you’d like to see play Master Chief in the Halo movie. Got a good one? why not post it in the comments for this article – even if it’s a horrible idea, we won’t laugh at you… much.
ELECTRONIC ARTS CONFIRMS 6 WII TITLES
A report on Kotaku states that at a press gathering yesterday, Electronic Arts confirmed they have 6 titles in development for the Nintendo Wii. In the course of the meeting, EA advised that while working on Madden for the Wii, the teams found the controls so intriguing that they felt the need to incorporate it into many other trademark EA franchises.
“Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA’s most popular franchises. Creatively, the game play possibilities are staggering and endless” -John Schappert, Senior VP & GM, EA
While none of these titles has yet been confirmed for launch, the titles EA officially announced today were as follows;
- Madden NFL ’07
- Need for Speed
- Harry Potter
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour
- The Godfather
- SSX
Not many surprises there, though I’ll be interested to see how they convert The Godfather to use the Wii’s controls. Of the bunch, I think the one I’m most excited to see is SSX – I mean, they couldn’t do any worse than SSX: On Tour, could they? Check out the Kotaku article here and picture yourself beating some wiseguy down with your wiimote blackjack.
FREE XBOX LIVE ARCADE TEXAS HOLD’EM GAME DATED
Gamespot is reporting that the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade Texas Hold’Em game will be released via the marketplace on August 23rd at no cost to Xbox Live subscribers.
“Gamers won’t be able to play for money, but that shouldn’t bother too many because the game itself is free, making it the second free game for the Xbox 360 after Hexic HD (available gratis on the optional 20GB hard drive). Card sharks will be able to play standard games, tournaments, and various scenarios, as well as create their own poker variants for up to eight players.” -Gamespot
I may not be a fan of Texas Hold’Em, but I sure am a fan of free stuff. My guess is Microsoft will use Texas Hold’Em as a way to popularize the upcoming Xbox Vision camera, as the game was used to demonstrate the face mapping features of the camera at E3. Check out the Gamespot story here as you do the “I’m getting something for nothing” dance!
THE VILE LAIR NOW AVAILABLE FOR OBLIVION
As announced earlier, Bethesda has released the latest Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion content pack for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game. The pack, entitled The Vile Lair, is designed for characters on the darker end of the spectrum, most specifically those who choose to be infected by vampirism. As per the content descriptor;
“This underwater hideout provides your infamous character with safe haven. Those willingly inflicted (or shall we say graced?) with vampirism will find a means to feed, and if necessary, a means to cure their infliction. Hire evil minions, pray to the dark god Sithis, and a host of other functions await.
Features:
- A multilevel lair for murderous players to find refuge
- The Font of Renewal, where a player may purge himself of Vampirism
- The Shrine of Sithis where the infamous player may heal and be cured of disease
- A Dark Minion, who the player may employ to find gold in a most unseemly manner
- A ‘cattle pen’ for vampires to dine
- An indoor garden of venomous plants, including the notorious Chokeberry to feed to your enemy
- Various furnishing upgrades, including a study room and storage area ” – Official Elder Scrolls Download Store
The pack is available in the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 150 points ($1.87) for Xbox 360 users and on PC via the Oblivion Download Store at a cost of $1.89. For more information on the pack and it’s story, head on over to the Oblivion Download Store and watch as the total cost of experiencing Oblivion continues to rise.
XBOX 360 BATTLE FOR MIDDLE EARTH II DEMO NOW AVAILABLE
A demo for Electronic Arts fantasy RTS Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 848.84mb, so be sure to have something you can play offline while you wait.
MOMMY LOVES YOU MORE THAN ME
Kotaku reports that Nintendo has announced that 2 new models of the ever so sleek and shiny DS-Lite will be made available in Japan.
The first of the 2 new models will be the Final Fantasy III branded DS-Lite. This model will be released on August 24th and should retail for 22,780 Yen (appx $199). The unit will come bundled with a copy of the remake of Squaresoft’s classic game Final Fantasy III which releases on the same day.
The second model will be colored Jet Black, exactly as the european DS-Lite is. This model will go on sale on September 2nd at a cost of 16,800 Yen ($146). As this is just another new color DS-Lite, the contents of the box will remain unchanged from other regular edition DS-Lites.
Nintendo currently has no plans to bring either model to the United States. While I’m sure we’ll eventually be seeing the black DS-Lite, my guess if that if you want the FF3 branded model, you’d best get to your favorite importer real soon – with the demand the DS-Lite has drawn in Japan, I can’t see that model lasting all that long on the open market.
Check out the FF3 edition DS-Lite article at Kotaku here and the Jet-Black DS-Lite article here. I guess now we all know how Jan Brady felt, don’t we? Japan, Japan, Japan – all I ever hear is Japan. *sniffle*
XBOX 360 DEMO OF NCAA FOOTBALL ‘07 NOW AVAILABLE
A demo for Electronic Arts upcoming title NCAA Football 2007 is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at a whopping 1.05gb, so plan your day accordingly.
FIVE XBOX LIVE ARCADE TITLES DATED
Gamespot is reporting that at their San Francisco “Summer of Xbox Live Arcade” party, Microsoft announced the release date and prices of 5 upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles. As per Microsoft, starting today and running through August 9th, they will be releasing one new XBLA title every wednesday. Here’s what the schedule looks like;
July 12 – Frogger, 400 points ($5)
July 19 – Cloning Clyde, 800 points ($10)
July 26 – Galaga, 400 points ($5)
August 2 – Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting, 800 points ($10)
August 9 – Pac-Man, 400 points ($5)
I’ve got to say that while I’m glad MS is finally getting around to at least releasing something for the Live Arcade, I’m still pretty disappointed in their efforts so far. I’ve said it before, and I’m going to say it again, with the slow summer period upon us and the overall lack of Xbox 360 titles, Microsoft really should be making a concerted effort to get as much Live Arcade content out there as they can. While I’m at it, am I the only one who thinks they really should have kicked off the launched with Pac-Man instead of Frogger?
So what comes after August 9th? While Microsoft wouldn’t confirm anything past the 9th, they did state that from now on Wednesday would be the day of the week that any new XBLA content will appear.
Click here to see the Gamespot article for all the juicy details and consider yourself lucky you don’t have to hear me griping about how “5 Games does not a Summer of Live Arcade make.”
RESIDENT EVIL COMING TO THE WII?
While worshipping at the gaming shrine that is Kotaku today, I came across this little rumor; it seems the latest issue of the UK Official Nintendo Magazine ended with a little bit of a teaser – a simple note stating that they got a scoop on an upcoming Wii title, but got the information too late to make the current issue. They do give a hint though in the form of a picture next to the teaser which appears to be a silhouette of Leon Kennedy. Pretty slim, but worth noting at the very least. Here’s to hoping it’s true.
Check out the Kotaku article here and then start preparing for the inevitable by picking up The Zombie Survival Guide.
MORE OBLIVION CONTENT COMING JULY 13TH
The official Elder Scrolls download store has named, dated and described the next content add-on for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The Vile Lair seems to be geared towards the darker end of the spectrum, most specifically those who choose to be infected by vampirism. As per the content descriptor;
“This underwater hideout provides your infamous character with safe haven. Those willingly inflicted (or shall we say graced?) with vampirism will find a means to feed, and if necessary, a means to cure their infliction. Hire evil minions, pray to the dark god Sithis, and a host of other functions await.
Features:
- A multilevel lair for murderous players to find refuge
- The Font of Renewal, where a player may purge himself of Vampirism
- The Shrine of Sithis where the infamous player may heal and be cured of disease
- A Dark Minion, who the player may employ to find gold in a most unseemly manner
- A ‘cattle pen’ for vampires to dine
- An indoor garden of venomous plants, including the notorious Chokeberry to feed to your enemy
- Various furnishing upgrades, including a study room and storage area ” – Official Elder Scrolls Download Store
The content is scheduled to be released for the PC version of Oblivion on July 13th at a cost of $1.89. No information on price/release date for the 360 version of this content pack was available. For more information on the pack and it’s story, head on over to the Oblivion Download Store and give in to your darker side.
PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 3 STYLE PACK RELEASED
The latest add-on pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 points ($5). The PGR3 Style Pack adds new achievements, 3 new game modes and the following 12 cars to the game;
BMW M6 (2006)
BMW Z8 (2001)
BMW M3 CSL (2003)
BMW MINI COOPER S (2005)
Gumpert Apollo Coupe 4.2 V8 (2005)
2005 Chrysler Firepower Concept
Ferrari 365 GTB4 “Daytona” (1968)
Ferrari F430 Challenge (2006)
Mercedes CLK DTM AMG (C209)
Pagani Zonda F (2005)
RUF R.K. Spyder 3.8 (2006)
Vanwall GPR V12 (2006)
For those who don’t wish to purchase the full pack, individual cars can be purchased for 60 points each ($.75) and the RUF R.K. Spyder can be downloaded for free. In addition to the new cars, the Style Pack also adds achievements for the “missing” 200 achievement points as well as several new game modes;
“The new pack also features Photo Mode Integration, allowing you to upload your best moments online. The pack also includes exciting new mini-games such as “Free Roam Points,” “Team Free Roam Points,” and “Cat and Mouse.” -Xbox.com
Check out the official announcement here and then get to racing. Go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, gooooooo.
Story Updated 11:55pm 7/11/06 – Despite what the description from Microsoft for the Style Pack may say, you do not need the pack to play the 3 new game modes. Apparently those modes are unlocked via an automatic update or can be accessed once you download the free RUF R.K. Spyder.
MAME V.106U11 RELEASED
The eleventh 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.
According to the dev team, they are approaching the end of v.106’s testing cycle, and believe they should be putting v.107 out soon after the next update release (v.106u12). As with the previous “U” releases for 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.
Finally, because of the number of updates to v.106, the MAME dev team has added a mega-diff file that contains the information from v.106u1 through V.106u10 to make testing easier as normally each upgrade must be applied to the previous one. Click here to see what’s new in this update.
SILICON KNIGHTS CONSIDERING SEQUEL TO ETERNAL DARKNESS?
1up.com is reporting that in a recent talk with Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights, Dyack confirmed that the company “absolutely, yes” has plans for a sequel to their hit Gamecube title Eternal Darkness;
“When creating an original game we start by conceptualizing an entire universe. Once the universe is conceptualized we then tell a story within that world,” he says. “Although this is just one story we had in mind for the Eternal Darkness universe, there are even more manipulations, great ancients, and numerous other stories to tell…” -Denis Dyack, Silicon Knights
Before you get too excited, word is they won’t begin work on any Eternal Darkness sequel until they finish the Too Human trilogy of games for the Xbox 360. Based on reports from those who saw Too Human it in action at E3, if some serious improvements aren’t made to the title, I’d question if Silicon Knights would even still be around by then.
Check out the 1up.com story here and hope that if Too Human becomes a train wreck that Silicon Knights is smart enough to get off after the first stop.
LIONHEAD STUDIOS TALKS FABLE 2
Lionhead Studios has parted the veil of secrecy surrounding Fable 2 and posted a detail filled update on how the game is progressing via their community page, the Lionhead Times. According to the article, there are currently more than 70 people working on the title and at present, the game is on schedule with regular builds being delivered to Microsoft as needed.
The story has been fleshed out, motion capture for the in game animations has begun and the programming team is working hard on bringing it all together? What more could you ask? Well, how about a look at just where Fable 2 will be taking players;
“As you’re probably aware Fable 2 is set roughly 500 years after the original Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters ended. This allows for some vital changes in the world of Albion, the characters and setting, but also to build further upon the heritage and back story. Eventually you get a story that is not only longer than the story from the original game but also one that’s a little bit more mature! No, we’re not going down the route of GTA (violence-grandeur) but with the current plan some people might be shocked by what we have in stock for Fable 2 players. Story-wise this is a slightly different approach but you’ll like it, it has some rather cool twists to it. And I’m not talking about someone who rescues you at first and then betrays you, we’ve seen that a zillion times before, including in the original game.” -Sam Vantilburgh, Lionhead Studios
I’m taking the progression of the game and the silence from Peter Molyneaux as a good sign and am keeping my fingers crossed that this makes up for the whole fiasco with the original Fable. While I’m doing that, why not check out the Lionhead Times at this link.
IF THESE GAMES ARE READY, WHY AREN’T THEY ON LIVE?
Gamerscore Blog, Microsoft’s in-house employee blog posted a story about their upcoming “Summer of Xbox Live Arcade” party in San Francisco. According to the article, in addition to the festivities, playable versions of several unreleased Xbox Live Arcade titles such as Frogger and Pac-Man will be available to attendees during the event.
Far from me to complain, but if these games are done, shouldn’t they be up in the Live Marketplace? It seems to me that Microsoft is missing a crucial slow summer period in which a good stream of Live Arcade titles could make up for the lack of retail releases. Further, rather than concentrating on the parties and such, how about an update to the Wireless Weekend or MU Monday contest winners list?
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the games are going to drop onto Live, because if they don’t it’s probably a good sign that Microsoft really has no clue what the hell they’re doing with the Live Arcade.
Check out the Gamerscore Blog story here and ask yourself what kind of a “Summer of Xbox Live Arcade” it’ll be if Microsoft doesn’t get off their asses and get some fresh content up.
NINTENDO SHOOTS DOWN EARLY LAUNCH RUMOR
Nintendo Revolution is reporting that Nintendo has responded to CNN Money’s article about a possible early launch for the Wii with a resounding “not true”. According to Nintendo Revolution, in an talk with financial site Bloomberg.com a Nintendo rep put the brakes on the racing hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere;
“There’s no change in our plan to release the console in the last quarter of this year. We are planning an announcement in September and it may be causing some confusion” -Nintendo rep as per Bloomberg.com by way of Nintendo Revolution
Just as that bit of crushing news was revealed, Kotaku brought hope back in the form of a new rumor, citing a tip from an insider at a development team working on Wii games, Kotaku reported that the insider stated that their deadlines for completion have been vastly moved up.
“The source tells us that Alpha, Beta and Final times for the game just got vastly reduced and the common belief among the team is that the Wii will in fact be hitting this October.” -Brian Crecente, Editor – Kotaku
Check out our earlier story on the CNN Money article here, the Nintendo Revolution’s article here and Kotaku’s recent rumor report here. Put it all together, and that’s one big bag of snakes – too bad they aren’t on a plane.
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JULY 10TH – JULY 16TH
It’s looking a bit livelier this week for Xbox 360 owners with the releases of Prey (PC & 360) and Chromehounds, but beyond that, it looks to be a slow week at retail. Here are some estimated release dates for the week;
- First Battalion – PC – 7/11/06
- Outlaw Chopper – PC – 7/11/06
- Pet Vet 3D: Animal Hospital – PC – 7/11/06
- Prey – 360 – 7/11/06
- Prey – PC – 7/11/06
- Prey: Limited Collector’s Edition – 360 – 7/11/06
- Prey: Limited Collector’s Edition – PC – 7/11/06
- Chromehounds – 360 – 7/12/06
- Ultimate Board Game Collection -PS2 – 7/12/06
- Magic Match – PC – 7/13/06
- Big Oil: Build an Oil Empire – PC – 7/15/06
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
NES 1990 WORLD CHAMP CART NOW A STEAL AT $15,000!
Earlier today, we reported on a recent Ebay auction for a gold colored 1990 NES World Championships cartridge that someone put up with a starting bid of $20,000. Well, since it didn’t sell at the original price, it’s been relisted at the amazing bargain price of only $15,000 – and it’s a “buy it now” auction, which means you won’t even have to worry about being outbid!
At prices this low, you could easily buy two if they were available! Click here for the updated auction page and ask yourself what it is exactly that this guy is smoking.
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