August 2002
| Saturday, August 31, 2002 |
Ubi Soft Releases 1.2 Upgrade For IL-2 Sturmovik
 Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 12:32 AM |
Category: General |
Ubi Soft Entertainment will release the version 1.2 upgrade for its multi-award winning World War II combat flight simulation title, IL-2 Sturmovik. The upgrade includes four new flyable aircraft including the Yak-9, Yak-9D, Bf-109-E-7/NZ and Ju-87B-2, and features 10 new single player missions and six new cooperative online missions for the IL-2 community. Version 1.2 will be available for download from the IL-2 Sturmovik website.
Shadowbane Community Compilation
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 8:29 PM |
Category: General |
Ubi Soft's War Herald program, The Aerynthian College of Heralds recruits talented writers and role-players from its fan base for publication of in-game fiction. The War Heralds report on major battles and other key events within the Shadowbane world, keeping the entire community involved in the game. The latest compilation of recent events inside the Shadowbane closed beta is entitled A Land in Flames, which also features several new Shadowbane screenshots. Here's an excerpt:The war between the Burning Legion, Vengeance Agenda, and the Nex / Covenant of Swords (COS) alliance raged across the land. Thus far neither side had gained a momentum-shifting advantage over the other, and each side continued to launch regular assaults in order to weaken the other by wearing them down. The Burning Legion's weakness was that it had too many cities to defend, but not enough manpower to hold them against multiple attacks by enemies that vastly outnumbered them. The weakness of Vengeance was that it was the heart of the VA rebellion and the sole repository of all the VA's worldly assets. The weakness of the Nex city was its remote location on the far northwestern peninsula, but that also served as its strength in matters of defense.
Rocked by multiple attacks on multiple fronts by a vast allied horde, the Burning Legion was facing its greatest challenge to the grip on power that it had enjoyed. More Links:
· Ubi Soft
· Official Shadowbane Website
Nexagon : The Pit Preview - Elited.net
Posted
by
Olivier
at 2:20 PM |
Category: General |
Elited has a preview of Nexagon: The Pit developed by Strategy First.This is a truly unique game from other real-time-strategy games I have seen. Although it is a pre-alpha version, the concept was unique and alive with creativity, animation and eye candy. Nexagon is a sporting event that is televised. Prisoners are the lucky participants who fight in a gladiator like combat. These prisoners are placed in a horde which are like army units. You, the gamer, will control your horde and your sanctum (base). The horde must protect their Nexus and destroy the Nexus of the other hordes. The prisoners can earn their freedom by winning matches. What you also get out of a win is the ability to hire new recruits and repair your sanctum with your earnings. Interested? Be sure to check out the rest of the preview.
Jedi Outcast Reviews
Posted
by
Olivier
at 2:14 PM |
Category: General |
There are two new Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast reviews up on the internet today. Here are the links:
Netjak's ReviewThe Star Wars fans are a finicky bunch, and I'm right there beside them. With an overabundance of SW related merchandise, one can easily drown in the murk of advertisement. With Jedi Outcast, I felt that we might have been lured to the Dark Side... XGR ReviewThat said, people have been waiting for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (JO) for quite a while. Actually, we have been waiting for a good (hey, I am not even going for great - which, given the license these games are dealing with, they should be) Star Wars title since Dark Forces: Jedi Knight (the expansion, Mysteries of the Sith, was ok but felt like it should have been part of the original game). Is JO all that it was cracked up to be? Has Raven Software broken the rash of horrible Lucas games? Basically, was the wait worth it? Yes, yes, and yes! Not only is Jedi Outcast a good Star Wars title, it might be the best one yet. Raven Software, known for their great work with the Quake III Engine, has continued their outstanding work by fusing together all the great things from Star Wars into a top rate First Person Shooter. More links:
Raven Software
LucasArts
Activision, Inc.
Mac SoF II Gone Gold!
Posted
by
Olivier
at 2:09 PM |
Category: General |
Mac gamers rejoice! The Macintosh version of the popular Raven Software's FPS, Soldier of Fortune II version has just gone gold and should hits stores in very September.
Click here to pre-order.
Cold Cathode Review - Techware Labs
Posted
by
Olivier
at 10:22 AM |
Category: Hardware |
Harry Lam is the newest member of the Techware Labs staff, and as a welcome present to you, he's published his first review, of BGMicro's Cold Cathode.With the increasing popularity of LAN parties, from the neighborhood get-together to the world-wide convention of Quake-Con, it's hard to stand out from the crowd, even with a sleek black case that used to do the trick. A Cold Cathode can really help to give a case a defining look that can definately draw some positive attention. The Cold Cathode is a perfect accent to any case, but especially those with windows. Click here to read on the full review.
A Little Taste Of Doom III?
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 12:05 AM |
Category: General |
If you are a classic Quake player who's interested in all the pretty graphics of the upcoming Doom III, then you might be interested in this source port called Tenabrae. To say the least, this looks amazing, and gives us just a taste of what we'll get to experience in Doom III when it hits our computer screens next year. Here's a description of the source port straight from the website.Tenebrae is a modification of the quake source that adds stencil shadows and per pixel lights to quake. Stencil shadows allow for realistic shadow effects on every object in the game world. Per pixel lighting allows you to have fine surface details correctly lit. These are essentially the same algorithms as used by the new Doom game. Thanks to Shadow Master for mentioning this on the NewDoom.com forums.
| Saturday, August 24, 2002 |
Street Hoops Hits Shelves
Posted
by
Olivier
at 9:30 PM |
Category: Console_PS2|x|Console_XBox |
Playground basketballers everywhere can now get their game on street-style with Activision, Inc.'s Street Hoops for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and Xbox video game system from Microsoft. The game features a slammin' soundtrack, authentic apparel, notorious courts like NYC's The Cage and Rucker Park, and a roster of playground legends including 1/2 Man 1/2 Amazing, Headache, Hot Sauce and more, as featured in the AND 1 Mix Tape Series.
Street Hoops is currently available at retail outlets nationwide at a suggested retail price of $49.99 and is rated "T" by the ESRB.
Activision O2 Sports Athletes Bring Home Medals
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 3:02 PM |
Category: General |
Fourteen Activision O2 action sports athletes won 17 medals at this year's X Games VIII. Highlights included the first-ever "no-handed 900" (two and one half rotations while airborne) performed by Mat Hoffman, Tony Hawk's 15th medal, the most ever awarded to any athlete in X Games' history, and Moto X superstar Tommy Clowers' death defying 34 foot jump in the Step Up competition. Additionally, six other Activision O2 athletes placed in the top eight across various categories. Winners included:Gold Medalists:
Tommy Clowers in Moto X Step Up
Tony Hawk with Andy Macdonald in Skateboard Vert Doubles
Silver Medalists:
Carey Hart in Moto X Big Air
Kenny Bartram in Moto X Freestyle
Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek in Skateboard Vert Doubles
Bob Burnquist in Skakeboard Vert
Mat Hoffman in Bike Stunt Vert
Darin Shapiro in Men's Wakeboarding
Dallas Friday in Women's Wakeboarding
Bronze Medalists:
Tony Hawk for Skateboard Vert Best Tricks
Rune Glifberg with Mike Crum in Skakeboard Vert Doubles
Rune Glifberg in Skateboard Vert
Chad Kagy in Bike Stunt Park
Simon Tabron in Bike Stunt Vert
Shaun Murray in Men's Wakeboarding For more information on X Games VIII or to view competition highlights, you can visit EXPN.com.
| Wednesday, August 21, 2002 |
Dead To Rights Ships !
Posted
by
Olivier
at 7:11 PM |
Category: General |
The hottest young celebrities from film, music and television gathered in Los Angeles last night to celebrate the U.S. release of Namco Hometek Inc.'s highly anticipated Dead to Rights exclusively for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft.
Dead to Rights combines Hong Kong action-movie special effects with the intense drama of crime thrillers and classic film noir style to create a new "Action Noir" game genre.
Introducing new video game star Jack Slate, Dead To Rights takes place in Grant City, USA -- the hardest place on Earth. Slate is a good cop in a bad town, forced to be a fugitive after being framed for murder while investigating the mysterious death of his father.
Doom III is X!
Posted
by
Olivier
at 7:01 PM |
Category: General |
For those, just like me who dosen't have a PC and only a little black box console, like the XBox, and are awaiting the so-much-anticipated-title-of-the-decade, Id Software's upcoming baby, Doom III, should be happy to hear that the game will make it's appearance on the gaming console too.
As we don't know yet if the PC and the XBox versions will be exactly the same, we sure know that the Microsoft box will be the first and only console on the market to feature the title.
Activision Announces Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 4:44 PM |
Category: Console_GameBoyAdvance|x|Console_PS2|x|Console_XBox |
Activision's Mat Hoffman's Pro Bmx 2 tailwhips onto North American retail shelves. Here's the announcement from Activision:The top athletes in BMX biking will soon be treating gamers to their own brand of riding with the release of Activision, Inc.'s highly anticipated Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. The game launch coincides with Mat Hoffman's historic performance at this year's 2002 ESPN Summer X-Games, where he pulled off the first-ever "no-handed 900°" (two and one half rotations while airborne). The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 have been rated "T" (Teen - with Blood, Mild Lyrics, Violence) by the ESRB and both carry a suggested retail price of $49.99. The Game Boy Advance version has been rated "E" (Everyone) and has a suggested retail price of $34.99. Head to Activision's Mat Hoffman games site for more details.
Return To Castle Wolfenstein To Go Live
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 11:39 AM |
Category: General |
Activision and id Software have announced that the upcoming XBox port of Return To Castle Wolfenstein will be fully playable on Microsoft's XBox Live service."By fusing the award-winning gameplay in Return to Castle Wolfenstein with new multiplayer modes, communication abilities, and technology, we're delivering the definitive team warfare experience for Xbox," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. Playing RTCW with the XBox Live communicator should bring a new dimension to the game, being able to call for medics or yell out orders right through the headset will certainly add a new twist to this great game. Also, this news means that future Activision XBox games, such as the upcoming Doom III could possibly find their way on XBox Live as well.
More From AGB Games
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 11:26 AM |
Category: General |
AGB Games sent us more word on their engine. They have updated their Quake demo with better textures and in game characters. The engine has now been tweaked to give twice the rendering clarity. While the Quake demo is still just for showing off the engine, it appears that they could easily make a port of Quake on the Game Boy Advance. Check out their Quake site to see it for yourself.
MonkeyReview's Gore Impressions
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 10:35 PM |
Category: General |
MonkeyReview has posted their review of Gore. Want to know if the game's worth your hard earned $19.99? Here's a good summation:Playing Gore is something I find hard to put into words. My expectations may have been somewhat out there after seeing some nice screenshots, but were lowered dramatically once I got into the game. I felt like I was playing a boondocks version of Unreal with emphasis on trailer trash. There are however, some noticeable good features that I will get to later. Be sure to check out the rest of the review.
William Scarboro, RIP
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 10:05 PM |
Category: General |
Former 3D Realms programmer William Scarboro recently died of a severe asthma attack. William worked on Apogee's Rise of the Triad as well as 3D Realms' long abandoned project, Prey.
Related links:
· William's Obituary
· Comments from Randy Pitchford
· Comments from Scott Miller
· Comments from Jim Dose
· Comments from Joe Siegler
· Archived Official Prey Site
· Official Prey FAQ
· Rise of the Triad: Where Are They Now? (Outdated)
AGB Games Updates
Posted
by
Christian 'Fraust' Wilson
at 12:04 PM |
Category: General |
Our friends over at AGB Games sends word on new advances in their work for the in development 3D engine for handheld platforms. Most specifically, the the 3D character animation system has had the most advances and they speak a bit about it here.
We have completed the implementation of our 3D character animation system for Nintendo Gameboy Advance. This system allows us to display many real-time animating 3D like characters simultaneously. Using this technique we eliminate the large memory overheads of storing many frames of sprite animation, whilst allowing the game characters a much larger range of movement. Whilst the character animation system closely approximates 3D humanoid based characters, it can also be used to represent more complex and highly detailed characters, objects and animals. The advantage that we have using our proprietary system (rather than a full blown 3D modeled character) is that we can have many more on display at any given time. We have a number of videos and screen shots showing a more complex mix of indoor and outdoor test environments as well as test characters. Check out their racing page here for more information.
AGB Games would also like to announce that they are now being represented by Representing Entertainers & Developers (R.E.D). R.E.D. will help AGB Games greatly including finding publishers for their work.
| Thursday, August 15, 2002 |
Medieval: Total War Goes Gold
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 4:07 PM |
Category: General |
Activision and The Creative Assembly announce today that Medieval: Total War, the sequel to the award-winning Shogun: Total War, has gone gold and is on its way to manufacturing. The highly anticipated PC strategy game challenges players to vie for control of Europe through epic battles of conquest that span more than 400 years of savage medieval combat. More info on the the Total War website.
| Wednesday, August 14, 2002 |
Doom III
Posted
by
Jason 'FACE.UK' Sloan
at 12:57 AM |
Category: General |
Todd Hollenshead has updated his .plan with news on the upcoming Quakecon 2002. In it he says this:And, of course, there will be DOOM III. And not just a little bit of DOOM III, but the whole E3 theater with a brand-spanking-new-never-before-publicly-shown presentation. You might think of it as being an extended play version of the "Best of Show" E3 presentation. Sorry, no cameras, so you'll have to come and see it in person. So if you want to see this then you had better get down to Quakecon 2002.
AvP 2 Expansion Pack Interview
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 7:54 AM |
Category: General |
Elited has interviewed Paul Pawlicki, associate producer at Fox Interactive, who is currently working on the expansion pack for AvP2, Primal Hunt. Here's a bit:Finally we asked about the gameplay and if it would be changed any at all. Paul stated, "The gameplay is still very familiar. It's fast paced kill or be killed action. This time though we have upped the difficulty from the start. There isn't much time to catch your breath. You'll be facing death from the very first moments of the game." You'll remember we reviewed Aliens vs. Predator 2 back in the beginning of the year. I know I'm looking forward to playing the expansion pack. Be sure to check out the rest of the interview.
DOOM II For the GBA Announced
Posted
by
William 'Phoebus' Mull
at 1:22 PM |
Category: General |
Activision has just announced that following the great success of the original DOOM for GBA, DOOM II is being ported over to the Game Boy Advance as well. Here's the Press Release:The ultimate battle is in the palm of gamers' hands with the development of id Software's DOOM II for the Game Boy Advance. Published by Activision, Inc., the game is a joint development effort by id Software and Torus Games, and follows the epic saga of one marine against the demon hordes of hell with non-stop action, terrifying enemies, fluid graphics, and outstanding multiplayer carnage.
"DOOM II is a gaming icon and a must-play for any game fan," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. "Whether you prefer taking on the hell-scum alone, cooperatively with a friend, or going head-to-head in deathmatch, DOOM II is the perfect handheld action-fest."
DOOM II takes the terror planet side as the entire forces of the netherworld have overrun Earth. As the lone survivor of a doomed mission, players must make use of an awesome array of deadly weapons and descend into the stygian depths of Hell itself to rid Earth of the invading demon horde.
Like the original PC game, players must blast their way through over 30 levels filled with 17 unique and deadly enemies. To help push back the scourge, players will have access to nine different weapons including the legendary chainsaw, double barrel shotgun and BFG. Additionally, DOOM II supports co-operative play so gamers can team-up to rid the world of hellspawn, or go head-to-head with up to four other players in classic Deathmatch mode where it's every marine for himself. Related Links:
· Activision, Inc.
· id Software
· Nintendo
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