December 2002
| Monday, December 23, 2002 |
Joe Strummer Of The Clash Dies
 Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 10:49 AM |
Category: General |
This is off the computer gaming track, but it bears mentioning that Joe Strummer, one of the pioneers of punk, and leader of legendary band The Clash, has died at the age of 50. This is very unfortunate. I was a big fan of The Clash back in the early 80s.Members of the Clash were believed to be considering a one-off reunion in 2003, as part of their induction ceremony at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in the US.
Strummer had long resisted reforming the band, and was said to be annoyed that the defunct group's songs overshadowed his work with new band The Mescaleros, which had more of a world music slant.
In recent years, apart from The Mescaleros, Strummer played with The Pogues and featured in several films, including Alex Cox's Walker and Straight To Hell, and Jim Jarmusch's 1989 Mystery Train. There's no word as yet about the cause of death. More info can be found on the BBC News site and elsewhere.
| Friday, December 20, 2002 |
Marvel's The Invincible Iron Man
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 2:57 PM |
Category: General |
Activision announces that they have shipped Marvel's The Invincible Iron Man for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Here's the info from their press release:For the very first time, handheld gamers can take on the role of the world's toughest human fighting machine in Marvel's The Invincible Iron Man for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance from Activision, Inc. As the crime fighting Super Hero, players experience the amazing powers of Marvel Comics' Iron Man as they track down and recover his stolen battlesuit technology from archenemies Blizzard and Crimson Dynamo. You can pick up Marvel's The Invincible Iron Man from retail outlets nationwide for around $29.99.
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 2:51 PM |
Category: Console_PS2|x|Console_XBox|x|Developers_Corporate|x|PC_Action |
Activision was kind enough to send us some all-new screenshots from the upcoming sequel to the award winning Return to Castle Wolfenstein (see our RtCW review here), Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. We've posted one for our latest Featured Shot, so have a look. Here's the info from the Return to Castle Wolfenstein site:Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a unique stand-alone game in the Wolfenstein universe. An all-new installment to the 2001 blockbuster PC hit Return to Caste Wolfenstein, Enemy Territory takes place before the battle of Castle Wolfenstein. Featuring a brand-new single player campaign and intense new multiplayer action, Enemy Territory will have both Wolfenstein fans and new players alike storming the beaches. We'll post a few more new screenshots in the next few days, so stay tuned.
Rise of the Triad Source Code Released
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 10:57 AM |
Category: Developers_Corporate|x|PC_Action |
The source code for Apogee's classic, innovative & fun "Wolfenstein II Engine" game, with all those crazy rocket launchers, Rise of the Triad, was just released by 3DRealms, how about that! In case you're wondering, What's the point?, the release is dedicated to William Scarboro, the ROTT programmer who passed away from a massive asthma attack last summer.Today we're doing something I bet most everyone out there thought we'd never do. No, it's not Duke Nukem Forever, but something some folks on the net have been asking us to do for ages. Today we're releasing the source code to Rise of the Triad! The source is being released under the GPL license, and we still retain copyright on the game (plus we still sell Rise of the Triad), but folks have been asking for something like this for a long time, and here it is.
We are dedicating the release of the Rise of the Triad Source code to our late friend and Rise of the Triad programmer William Scarboro, who died tragically back in early August of 2002. I'm sure if he were still with us, William would be happy to see this out there, and see what folks might do with the code.
In the archive are some thoughts about Rise of the Triad by Tom Hall (the game's producer), and Scott Miller (Apogee/3DR CEO/Founder). You can download the roughly 4MB zip from either Fileplanet or the 3D Realms FTP.
| Thursday, December 19, 2002 |
Pro Race Driver
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 1:31 PM |
Category: Console_PS2|x|Console_XBox|x|PC_Driving_Flying|x|PC_Simulation|x|PC_Sports |
Codemasters' highly anticipated Pro Race Driver is looking better than ever, as evinced by some newly-released screenshots, including our newest Featured Shot. Codemasters supplies this compelling description of the game:Pro Race Driver is the next evolution of the 1999 smash-hit Touring Car Challenge. At its core, Pro Race Driver remains an intense, realistic racing game, but it will introduce an innovative new feature to the racing series – a narrative character-based storyline. Players assume the role of aspiring test driver Ryan McKane, looking to prove himself in the world of racing. Through manager and pit chief guidance, racing drama and experience, players guide Ryan to victory as World Champion in what will be the ultimate drive of his life. The racing experience has never been so real with more than 40 amazingly detailed cars, all with accurate handling and physics, real damage and more than 30 real tracks. Fellow Americans (and Canadian & British cohorts) can view the english language site for the PC version of the game here. There's also a Spanish language version of the site here.
Sammy Studios Announces Additions To U.S. Internal Development Teams
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 1:12 PM |
Category: General |
First of all, I'd like to express our sincere apologies for our recent slow news output over the last month or so. We're still here, we're still getting sent news, press releases and exclusive content from the top computer game publishers and developers all over the world. Also, we're still working on what we like to think are some of the best, unvarnished game reviews you'll find anywhere on the Net, as we have them. When we publish game reviews, they're games we like to play, and we tell you exactly what we think, both good and bad. We'll endeavour to post news updates more consistently from now on, and we appreciate your continued support. Without further adieu...
Sammy Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sammy Corporation of Tokyo, announces that Paul O’Connor and Max Elliott have joined the company’s first US-born franchises:Sammy Studios Inc., a developer, publisher and global distributor of interactive entertainment content, today announced the addition of two key people to its internal development teams. Paul O’Connor joins the company as lead designer, coming from Electronic Arts Canada where he served as game designer on original EA properties and an upcoming title in the Need for Speed series. Max Elliott comes to Sammy Studios as lead programmer from Presto Studios, Inc., where as technical director he developed technologies for the company’s PC and Xbox games, including MYST 3 Exile and the Xbox Live launch title Whacked!. Paul and Max will join internal teams that have been in place since spring 2002 to create Sammy Studios’ first US-developed original franchises. For more information, you can visit sammystudios.com.
| Saturday, December 7, 2002 |
Japanese Xbox Controller S In The US?
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 2:47 PM |
Category: General |
I hadn't heard anything about this, but I was doing some Christmas shopping and saw something out of place. At my local EB Games store, a Limted Edition Japanese Controller S. I found a I needed another Controller S anyway, and at a slick price of $24.99, I picked it up. At a lower price, you really can't go wrong and it's a great addition to your collection of controllers.
As a note, this is not just a Controller S with different colored jewel and buttons, it is a full blown Japanese controller. The start and select buttons are slighter raised, the trigger buttons don't have as much spring reenforcing, and the cord is a few inches shorter.
New Quake Screenshots From Pocketeers
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 2:36 PM |
Category: General |
Pocketeers, the people behind the 3D engine for the Game Boy Advance have released new screenshots of their technology running Quake. You can find a whole slew of new Quake screenshots here. They also have videos of the game in action in their videos section.
Pocketeers also have updated their technology with higher resolutions, faster rendering speed, added per polygon/surface mip-mapping, added special effects system for glow effects, and increased environment complexity.
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