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The Shooter Roundup
The most promising shooters from now until Christmas, in one handy article!

Playboy: The Interview
We talk to the woman behind Playboy: The Mansion about gameplay and porn.

- Misc. Interview Action
- Hardware & Tech Nuggets
- Game Reviews
- In Other News...
- F.E.A.R. Interview
- Feargus Urquhart Q&A;
- Doom 3 Trent Reznor Sound Pack
- Hump Day WPG
- Peter Molyneux Interview
- Top 10 US PC Games
 
top_header_reviews
Dragonshard 08.10.2004
A comprehensive look at the new world of the Dungeons & Dragons RTS.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Update 08.06.2004
We take a look at the single player portion of Relic's upcoming sci-fi RTS.

Neverwinter Nights 2 First Details 08.06.2004
We talk to Obsidian Entertainment and BioWare about the upcoming RPG sequel.

Thursday , August 12, 2004
Misc. Interview Action 01:41 am - Apache - games: general news
Posted together, these magically become interesting. Don't ask me how:

Hardware & Tech Nuggets 01:31 am - Apache - hardware: general news (0 comments)

Game Reviews 12:50 am - Apache - games: general news (0 comments)

I started including X-Play reviews today because that Adam Sessler is so sassy.

In Other News... 12:03 am - Apache - in-house: in other news... (1 comment)
Well that Counter-Strike: Source Lan party in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia was a smashing sucess yesterday. Thanks to all who attended! Next stop on the tour is Tarija, Boliva. I hear CS is quite the rave down there. Okay, maybe not.

Since that new Aliens vs Predator movie is kicking off tomorrow, today's question is Who wins, Alien or Predator? Well, it's kind of game related since they made so many games out it (cough).

Oh yeah, we took down that Trent Reznor Doom 3 sound pack link. Even though Gamespot got it from Trent, id wasn't too jazzed with them posting it, hence the nukage.

The forums seem to be acting up, but they should be fixed soon.
 
 

Wednesday, August 11, 2004
F.E.A.R. Interview 07:54 pm - Apache - games: action (4 comments)
Gamers Depot interviewed a few of the cats at Monolith about its upcoming first person shooter - F.E.A.R. Here's a taste about the new engine tech which powers it:
GD: Tell us about the game's graphics/physics engine—what are some of the more dramatic and eye-catching features, and what can you tell us about how the game engine was developed?

Lith: (John O'Rorke, Engine Architect) - The technology behind the rendering and physics was developed by examining what type of game we really wanted to make and figuring out what would be necessary to accomplish that. We wanted to recreate an action movie experience and critical to achieving this goal is a feeling of a dynamic and reactive environment. Therefore we set out to allow lighting that could change with the environment, allow for realistic physics on objects to make the destruction more believable, and to allow lots of complex effects to be on screen at once. To this end we created an entirely new physics system built upon technology from Havok and a renderer built around the concepts of materials, shaders, and meshes. The advantages of the new physics are mainly that objects now behave like you would expect them to; boxes float on water, enemies get thrown around like stuntmen in combat, and supports for shelves can be destroyed causing their contents to topple. The primary advantage of the new renderer is that since it only uses meshes, shaders, and materials, it is incredibly simple to extend without having to touch the renderer code. New techniques for rendering can be added through the shaders, which are simple text files, allowing for effects such as screen distortions or blurring, and new effects such as particle systems can be added through meshes. These resources all play nice together as well, which, for example, would allow us to build upon those systems to create particles that cause screen distortions and so on. This gives us the flexibility to create effects that pull people into the action movie spectacle.

Feargus Urquhart Q&A; 07:49 pm - Apache - games: role-playing (0 comments)
Gamespot posted an interview with Feargus "FU" Urquhart about his new job at Obsidian Entertainment on Neverwinter Nights 2, Knights of the Old Republic II, his thoughts on Bethesda getting the Fallout III rights and more. Here's a lick:

GS: You mentioned NWN2 will have "a massive single-player campaign." How massive are we talking?

FU: We haven't really set on how "massive" the single player campaign is going to be, but it will definitely keep people busy for a while. If I had to pick a goal at this point, I would say that the campaign should take between 40 and 60 hours: 40 hours if the player is just trying to crush their way though it, more than 60 if they are stopping to smell the flowers. We have a lot of experience here at Obsidian at making rich single player RPGs, and we are going to apply every ounce of that to NWN2.

Doom 3 Trent Reznor Sound Pack 04:44 pm - Apache - games: action (28 comments)
Gamespot posted a sound pack for Doom 3 which replaces the current game sounds (players, monsters, weapons, etc) with the original sounds that Trent Reznor made. It comes in at a bit over 8 megs. Here's the juice:

Were you dissapointed by the lackluster sounds of Doom 3? Do you want your pistol not to sound like a Nerf air gun? Wish the enemies made sounds that could actually scare someone? Long for the far superior sounds by Trent Reznor? Well look no further, for here they are! This mod changes the sounds for the imp, the pinky, the zombie, the fat zombie, the zombie commando, the hell knight, the pistol, the shotgun, the machine gun, the chaingun, the player,that's it!
Go Trent!

Update - At the request of id we have taken the link down.

Hump Day WPG 04:37 pm - Apache - games: general news (0 comments)
Today's assortment of screens & movies:

Peter Molyneux Interview 04:24 pm - Apache - consoles: xbox (1 comment)
Computer & Video Games dished out an interview with Peter Molyneux about Big Blue Box's soon-to-be released Xbox exclusive RPG - Fable:

So could you give us some examples of what other groundbreaking gameplay and technology that Fable employs?

Molyneux: Well, the most incredible thing about Fable is the fact that there are lots of examples where people play the game in a certain way and things happen that were never designed to happen.

Yesterday one of the players was playing around and he managed to get married and he decided that he'd take his wife out on an adventure with him. And this adventure involved breaking into people's houses and taking their stuff. It's not a quest in the game, it's just something he decided to do.

She was saying things like "I should be back home now" and she was getting a bit nervous. Then he got involved in a fight with some guards and he dived behind his wife for cover and she took the blows for him and died.

Top 10 US PC Games 04:00 pm - Apache - games: action (3 comments)
The NPD Group released the latest top 10 best selling PC games list ending the week of July 31st (Doom 3 will be on next week's list). Here's how it all went down:

1) The Sims Deluxe - Electronic Arts $20
2) Rise Of Nations - Microsoft $35
3) MS Flight Simulator 2004: Century Of Flight - Microsoft $31
4) MS Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection - Microsoft $30
5) Halo: Combat Evolved - Microsoft $31
6) The Sims Mega Deluxe - Electronic Arts $36
7) MS Age Of Mythology - Microsoft $32
8) The Sims: Superstar Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts $22
9) Call Of Duty - Activision $36
10) Far Cry - Ubisoft $38

Steam Update; CS: Source Beta Underway 03:45 pm - Apache - games: action (0 comments)
Valve updated the Steam website with news that the beta for Counter-Strike: Source is now underway in Valve's Cyber Café Program. They patched up Counter-Strike via Steam also. Here's the poop:

The first phase of the Counter-Strike: Source beta has begun at all cyber cafés that subscribe to the Valve Cyber Café Program. Click here to find an Official Valve Cyber Café in your area.

In preparation for the next phase of the beta, we have made the Source Dedicated Server (SRCDS) available via the Dedicated Server Update Tool.

In addition, an update for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike has been released. Steam will update itself automatically when you restart.

Check out the changes here.

Guild Wars Impressions 03:40 pm - Apache - games: mmog (0 comments)
GW Online smacked up some updated impressions of the Guild Wars Alpha today with the highlight being the Coastal Guilds PvP areas. They also go over some strategies as well. Here's a taste of the PvE (player vs environment):

All of this is going on while you attempt to kill the opposing Guild Lord, and defned yor own. Sometimes it's better to send a small group after him, and hope you can get by unnoticed. The problem is, there is a handful of NPCs defending their respective bases, and you are playing against the clock as well. If you take to long too get in to their castle, and take down the NPCs, they may discover you, trap you inside, and it will be an easy massacre. NPC priests will try to heal the Guild Lord, and archers will peck away at your health from hard to reach towers. They can also kill your thief before you are able to pick open the lever to their gate, meaning you have to wait for it re-spawn before you make another run. Meanwhile, who knows if they are also mid-way to your castle ready to make a run on your Guild Lord! Oh the drama!

Doom 3 Sound Designer Interview 03:30 pm - Apache - games: action (0 comments)
Music 4 Games interviewed Ed Lima, Doom 3 sound designer and soundtrack composer for id's recently released smash hit first person shooter. The interview, as you might imagine, centers on those topics.

On a semi-related note, Tweaker (Chris Vrenna & Clint Walsh's band) will be playing at QuakeCon this weekend. They are the cats who performed the Doom 3 theme song.

Dragon Age Preview 03:25 pm - Apache - games: role-playing (0 comments)
GameBanshee conjured up a preview of Dragon Age, BioWare's next big role playing game for the PC. Here's a slash off the top:

Recently, BioWare has been busy with a completely new project: Dragon Age. Dragon Age "is a spiritual successor to all of BioWare's past role-playing games," and will most likely redefine CRPGs once again. The game, unlike other BioWare games, will be an intellectual property owned by BioWare. The official FAQ lists a host of new and interesting features, not the least of which is a background dependent storyline. Character generation plays an integral part of the overall storyline.

Sid Meier's Pirates! Diary 03:08 pm - Apache - games: action / adventure (0 comments)
GameSpot greased up a new edition of its Sid Meier's Pirates! developer's diary series where today Firaxis Sound Engineer Mark "Cromerzone" Cromer chats about 3D audio:

Naturally, we decided the game should have pirate music that reflects the setting of the Caribbean in the mid 1600s. As part of my research I attended the Maryland Renaissance Festival during its "Pirates Weekend." There were plenty of street musicians, and there were two stages that played music continuously throughout the entire weekend. I spoke to a musician from one of the featured sea chantey bands who told me that chantey songs were originally work songs and, as such, were long and boring. To make them more appealing, he said that they "spice the songs up by converting them into drinking songs." There were also many craftsmen selling instruments from various periods, including a gentleman by the name of Gene Jaeger. He graciously gave me a bowed psaltery and a crash course in how to play it. The psaltery is a biblical instrument similar to a zither; it has strings attached to pegs on a sounding board that are plucked. During the Renaissance period the sounding board became a sounding box and they played it with a bow.

The Red Star Impressions 12:58 pm - Apache - games: action (0 comments)
Eurogamer shared its impressions of The Red Star after checking out the comic inspired third person shoot'em up. Here's a snip:

It's not the most inventive game we've played this year, then, but at this stage it's blending favourable ideas in an absorbing manner. It's easy to pick up, responsive, nicely thought out, and unashamed of its simple arcade ideology, which is, as the makers of Viewtiful Joe or Ikaruga might tell you, sometimes the best way to be. If there's anything negative to say, perhaps it's that we fear for its sustainability, and - ironically, given that we knew virtually nothing about the game other than its comic plot before we picked it up this week - that the presentation of the storytelling is a bit scattershot. On the whole though, The Red Star is gleaming. We just hope the rest of the game manages to shine.

Kuma\War Mission Briefing #6 12:28 pm - Jonric - games: action (0 comments)
Among the current generation of tactical military action games, it's certainly possible to put forward a case that Kuma\War is the most unusual and innovative. The title's underlying episodic concept takes up the intriguing challenge of putting gamers into real-life conflict situations. For example, one charges you with taking out brothers Uday and Qusay Hussein, who are holed up in the Iraqi town of Mosul. In another, you must penetrate the US embassy in Tehran to free 53 hostages held by Iranian radicals. As for updating our intel, we present the team's thoughts on the latest mission in this feature.

On June 24, 2004, Mosul is rocked by a series of car and truck bombs that leave more than 100 people dead and 300 wounded. It is part of a country-wide assault on the Iraqi government by insurgents loyal to al Qaeda associate Abu Musab al Zarqawi. The Iraqi National Guard receives word that the terrorists have taken over the Sheik Fatih station, and as they attempt to recapture it, they are repulsed by gunfire coming from a mosque across the street. So, they call in the Strykers.

Evil Genius Preview 10:54 am - Jeff Tom - games: simulation (1 comment)
ActionTrip have slapped up a preview of Evil Genius, where you play what else but an Evil Genius. Neat concept. Here's a quickie:

The real fun in Evil Genius comes from the fact that you'll be constructing your empire through a Sims-like building interface. This interface will allow you to not only devise fiendish underground layers (including armories , control and torture rooms [I hope] and so on), but also place a myriad of traps and security devices to keep the pesky secret agents from entering your compound. Let me put it this way - if Cate Archer ever came to your evil island, she'd have a boatload of poisonous gas traps, touch sensors, confusing pop-up traps and other ambushes to deal with. You don't want Cate in your lair - period.

Alexander the Game Announced 10:52 am - Jeff Tom - games: real-time strategy (0 comments)
Ubisoft have announced a game based off Oliver Stone's upcoming film, Alexander. Here's the scoop, hit the comments for the full pr:

Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, in cooperation with Intermedia Films and Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 3 Produktions KG (IMF3) today announced Alexander , a real-time strategy video game based on the upcoming motion picture Alexander , the highly anticipated biopic based on the life and conquests of Alexander the Great from Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone . The game will be available for the PC day-and-date with the US theatrical release November 2004, with the European release to follow. Warner Bros. will distribute the picture in North America and select international territories. The official movie trailer may be viewed by visiting http://www.alexanderthemovie.com.

WoW Beta Update 10:43 am - Jeff Tom - games: mmog (0 comments)
WorldofWar.net sends word Blizzard have updated the status of the World of Warcraft Europe beta test. Here's a whiff:

The first wave of authentication keys for the European Closed Beta Test will be sent out to beta testers by email as soon as the selection process is completed. With these keys, testers will be able to create their accounts for the Beta Test using a Web interface that will be hosted on the official European World of Warcraft Beta Test Web sites.

Kohan II: Kings of War Q&A; 09:50 am - Jeff Tom - games: real-time strategy (0 comments)
RPGVault have slapped up part two of Kohan II: Kings of War, checking out the RTS. Here's a snippet:

Jonric: What enemies will we face in the single-player game? How did you choose them, and are willing to tell us about one or two of particular interest?

Steve Hemmesch: The single-player campaign has you go up against every combination of Race and Faction that can occur in multiplayer games as well as many special boss heroes and monsters. The enemies were chosen based on different things, like the mission biome (arctic maps have the Jotun, giant ice elementals), story progress (at one point you need to defeat Gauri that have been subverted by the evil Ceyah), or difficulty level (things like Dragons and Shadow Lords appear late in the campaign).

2004 FPS Round Up 01:30 am - Apache - games: action (18 comments)
PC.IGN shot up a round up of the first person shooters that are planned on being released on the PC for the 2nd half of the year. Included, of course, is Half-Life 2:

Why It's Awesome: Hmm, lemme think. Around 36 hours of deliciously beautiful single-player, and Half-Life: Source and Counter-Strike: Source are reportedly going to ship in the box. That's a helluva lot of tasty gaming. The bits and pieces we've seen the game have been uniformly yummy, and although it's been delayed about a year, no one is doing HL2's facial expression system or lip syncing. Extremely high-poly character models, High Dynamic Range lighting, dynamic AI, stunning object interaction with complex physics (gravity gun!)…it's a long list, and we doubt the actual gameplay will disappoint.

Cryptic Studios Interview 01:19 am - Apache - games: mmog (0 comments)
Gamesdomain cracked out a interview with Cryptic Studios about its massively multiplayer role playing game - City of Heroes and what players can expect in future patches (aside from the getting to know you crap). Here's a clip:

GD: Do you have a target date for the next update?

JE: September -- but when in September is up to QA (the quality assurance department). And in our next update we'll have basically character re-specialization. Players will be able to go into a long, epic mission, and at the culmination, they have to save the nuclear reactor from destruction. Should they succeed, they'll find the radiation emission has mutated them, and they get to rebuild their character from scratch again. So they can choose powers that maybe they wanted but didn't choose before, and get rid of powers they didn't want.

GeForce 6600 Info 01:04 am - Apache - hardware: nvidia (9 comments)
Overclockers.au got a hold of the marketing PDF slideshow for the GeForce 6600 which is to be shown off at QuakeCon later this week. Overall, as the product number indicates it's a souped down version of the 6800, but they have confirmed that you can SLI them. Fantastic!

Hardware & Tech Nuggets 12:44 am - Apache - hardware: general news (0 comments)

Game Reviews 12:21 am - Apache - games: general news (0 comments)

In Other News... 12:01 am - Apache - in-house: in other news... (30 comments)
Yesterday was kind of slow, but today things should be a bit more interesting, it is hump day after all, and that has to count for something. Oh yeah, Counter-Strike: Source beta test goes live for cyber cafés (aka LAN centers); check here for world-wide listings. If you think there are no places that have it near ya, you might be suprised. They even have a place in f'n Mongolia that are hosting it. Yes, MONGOLIA, home of Atila the Hun. For all of our Mongolian readers, make sure to check out Counter-Strike: Source at:

Hurh/Cybergame (phone - 97699792130)
Baga Toiruu
Ulaanbaatar
976
I'm there, baby - standing room only!

Today's question is Outside of the United States, which countries have the best game developers?
 
 


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