Hardware News

Serious Sam II Preview

June 30, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Finally tonight, the GamesDomain has fired-up their take on the Croteam's upcoming Action-packed first person shooter, Serious Sam II. Here's a bit on the spiffy weapons:

Of course, the weapon cache is a mix of traditional and cartoony: You have a requisite shotgun and plasma rifle, but those are supplemented by a host of unusual equipment. There's a cannon that unleashes a siren and blasts of steam when it's fully charged up; a bomb-carrying parrot that launch like homing missiles at enemies (watch out -- if it doesn't find a close target, it may come back at you); and the super-destructive serious bomb, which destroys everything on the screen when used. Some locations also have mounted turrets you can use.

Half-Life 2: Aftermath Interview

June 30, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has Valve Software's Robin Walker in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion pack, Aftermath. They cover the storyline, returning characters and more! Here's a blurb:

GS: After the cryptic ending of Half-Life 2, we have to ask: Will we learn more about Gordon Freeman in Aftermath? The Combine? The G-Man? Can you promise that at least one big secret will be revealed?
RW: We will be doing what we usually do in these games, which is answering some old questions while raising new ones. Dr. Kleiner will be on hand with some informed opinions, as well as a bit of speculation.
Other mysteries will be introduced for the purpose of gradual revelation. We believe that theorizing about the meaning behind the clues in the Half-Life 2 universe, and the motivations of the characters within it, is one of the fun things about being a Half-Life 2 fan.

Star Wars Galaxies Q&A

June 30, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GamerGod has fired-up an interview with Lucas Arts' Julio Torres regarding the future of their massively multiplayer online RPG, Star Wars Galaxies. Here's a nugget:

Jeff - Keeping that in mind, will we ever see the main characters of the movies be more involved in the game? For example, Vader leading a strike against Rebels, Han and Chewie landing the Falcon to help out a band of rebels, etc?
SWG Julio - We are currently exploring that option. We agree that this would enhance the Star Wars experience in Galaxies.

Bet on Soldier Impressions

June 30, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at GameSpy have slapped up a quick look at Kylotonn's upcoming first person shooter, Bet on Soldier. Here's a little something on the game's multiplayer:

In many ways, multiplayer games will be a lot like standard "King of the Hill"-style matches from other shooters. Instead of simply having to capture the most territory, however, teams will ultimately be competing to acquire a certain amount of cash -- cash being awarded to a team whenever one of its players scores a kill, with higher sums garnered for sophisticated techniques (like headshots). The point of capturing the territories is to gain control of "ticket machines" within them, which allow team leaders to nominate members of their own teams to do battle with a champion chosen by the opposition, in a bout similar to a boss encounter in the single-player game. The battles themselves will take place in isolated sections of the multiplayer maps, and other players can view the proceedings without interfering. Big bucks will be awarded to the winner's team, making these one-on-one bouts quite instrumental in achieving victory.

Black & White 2 Preview

June 30, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The ActionTrip has whipped up a preview on Lionhead Studios' upcoming "god game", Black & White 2. Here's a bit on playing good vs evil:

Choosing to play as either a god of peace or god of war does of course affect the gameplay drastically. Being on the side of peace will put before you some challenges completely different from those you will experience if you decide to join the "dark side." Maybe you are one of those highly enthusiastic individuals who feel that all worldly possessions must be shared (Uhh, I think they are called Communists. -Ed.), so you're always ready to persuade others to satisfy your need by giving you things willingly. Most of the time however, they are not willing to comply and as a result, you are unable to grasp the outrageous selfishness of those who do not happen to share the same views as you. That's when your true nature surfaces and you become forceful. You will be able to do all sorts of terrible things both to your citizens and to other nations, ranging from "shocking" to "unspeakable." If you used to torture insects and small animals when you were a kid, you will be glad to know that the game allows you to vent out all your pent-up aggression and let it out on your creature and your citizens. You can beat your poor creature and make your citizens work extra hours and, if you are sadistic enough, you can even make them work at the mass production of sneakers with hours on end for a lousy pay, with an evil smirk on your invisible face. (All we actually know about you is that you're a child molester and a capitalist pig. We've read it on the palm of your omnipresent, all-knowing hand, which once again makes its appearance in the game.) (So by your description, it's a rhinestone-gloved hand? Just come straight out and call me Michel Jackson, why don't you! -Ed.)

Star Wars: Empire at War Q&A

June 29, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The Gamer's Hell has caught up with LucasArts' Dave Silverstein for a quick Q&A regarding their upcoming strategy title, Star Wars: Empire at War. They cover everything from missions to hero units. Snip:

7) The games progressive RTS interface will not see players relying on the more traditional resource management approach, but rather it will have them evolving through the securing of planetary trade routes. Would you elaborate on this for us?
Well weve done away with the tedious droids chopping down lumber approach we used in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. That is not to say weve done away with resource management; in fact, Empire at War offers a ton of gameplay depth to explore in many different ways.
In a typical game session, you will need to manage your income and expenditures of galactic credits as you expand throughout the galaxy. These credits are provided mainly through planets under your control. On a more basic level, the more planets you own, the more income you will get to use to purchase new things like X-wings or Star Destroyers.
If youre really into economic gain, we have that covered too! Each planet provides different levels of income and has certain advantages or disadvantages depending on which side youre playing. Trade routes might modify the amount of income, too. There are also other ways to get credits in the game that can really make a difference in how you expand the influence and control of the Empire or Rebel Alliance throughout the galaxy.

Serious Sam 2 Dev Diary

June 29, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Also over at GameSpy this evening is a developer diary written by the Croteam's Roman Ribaric, as he takes a look at the editor used for their upcoming action-packed first person shooter, Serious Sam 2. Here's a chunk:

Simultaneously developing a game along with its engine and editor is indeed as hard as it sounds, but it is also very rewarding. When you develop a general-purpose engine, you have to think about it having a clean and open design. It means that the engine must be able to run all kinds of games, not only games that you are developing in conjunction with the engine. Also, it has to be able to adopt, with ease, all the new technologies that will be added to it. This is also true of the editor. It is of crucial importance for game engines to be developed along with top-quality games. The engine could never get the necessary sharpness and refinement if it weren't tested on a real-world project. Proof of excellence can be assigned to an engine only when it is able to run a AAA title.

Juiced Review

June 29, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Sticking with reviews, GameSpy has slapped up some impressions on Juice Games' recently released racing title, Juiced. Walking away with a final score of 3/5 stars, this one may be worth a look. Snip:

Like so many racing games these days, Juiced tries to cash in on the hip street racing/tuner car scene, but hits some design potholes. On the one hand, you trick out your cars with fancy decals and neon lighting and battle crews of street racers, trying to earn respect (one of the game's chief forms of currency, alongside cold, hard cash). That's all well and good, but the street tracks in Juiced are all closed-off circuits, not open roads taken over by the racers. Some races take place at purpose-built venues with giant grandstands ... as if it were a Formula 1 race. It's great that Juiced doesn't honor the illegal activities of a lot of real street racers, but at the same time, the game lacks any sense of danger, edginess, or style. The presence of a few characters with dubious accents and affected attitudes doesn't do much to create a vibrant underground racing scene.

Fantastic 4 Review

June 29, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has thrown together a short review on Activision's movie-based Action title, Fantastic 4. Here's a nugget on the different powers each hero has:

Each hero can perform six upgradeable combos and three upgradeable cosmic powers, along with the usual assortment of punches, kicks, and grappling maneuvers. The combo techniques look and act like your everyday string of physical attacks. They're pretty straightforward and lack a little pizzazz, yet they're effective and easy to pull off. Cosmic powers form the backbone of your arsenal, and like the combos, each of these abilities is very effective and easy to use. Cosmic powers exploit each of the character's unique abilities, so they let The Human Torch throw fire balls and raise walls of fire, where Sue Storm can raise shields, project energy waves, and turn invisible.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Q&A

June 29, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Computer and Video Games.com has kicked up an interview with Mathieu Girard, the producer behind Ubisoft's upcoming tactical shooter, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Here's some juice:

Can you please explain to us the main differences between the first opus of Ghost Recon and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter?
Girard: Actually, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter has a lot in common with the features that the fans loved in the first opus, the features from a tactical shooter. We have however improved and increased these tactical features, taking advantage of the technology that the soldiers of the future will use. The other big difference is of course the visual quality which will benefit from the latest next-gen PC rendering and effect. Finally, multiplayer expands towards new modes which also take advantage of our new tactical layer and near-future context.

First PCMark05 Review

June 28, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

The good'ol chaps over at 3DVelocity have written a review on our new benchmark, PCMark05. Did they like it? Here's a teaser for you:

For anyone trying to get every ounce of performance out of every component in their PC, PCMark05 is an invaluable piece of software.
The ability to run custom tests within the Advanced and Professional versions allows the user to test exactly how any changes affect their PCs performance; an invaluable tool for any overclocker.

To read the full review, head over to 3DVelocity!

Futuremark Releases PCMark®05

June 28, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

Futuremark Releases PCMark®05

Third Generation PC Gauge Defines the New Performance Standard

Saratoga, California USA June 28, 2005  With today's launch of PCMark05, Futuremark furthers its leading position as the benchmark software provider of choice for the PC industry, IT managers, IT media and consumers. PCMark05 is a totally new product and features the most advanced workloads, including HD video transcoding, digital music encoding, advanced threading and trace-based hard disk performance tests.
PCMark05 enables truly objective performance comparisons between the latest PC platforms and architectures and supports all the latest technologies. PCMark05 features tests with advanced threading which enable accurate benchmarking of the latest PCs with multi-core and hyper-threaded CPUs.
As with all Futuremark products, PCMark05 was produced in close cooperation with Futuremark's Benchmark Development Program (BDP). Companies participating in PCMark BDP during PCMark05 development were: AMD, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA.
PCMark05 supports the complete benchmark cycle starting from benchmarking a PC, viewing the resulting benchmark details, comparing the results to those of others and finally providing means for analyzing how to improve the PC's performance. PCMark05 produces highly reliable and detailed benchmarking results with a simple, intuitive user interface. An integrated Online ResultBrowser allows instant results comparison against more than 12 million benchmark results in Futuremark's ever increasing performance database.
PCMark05 features tools for both system and component level benchmarking. System level benchmarking produces a measure of the PC's overall performance. It is a single number that is easily comparable to that of other PCs. However, advanced users and professional testers may want to further explore the performance of individual components such as the CPU, the memory, the graphics subsystem, and the hard disk. Component level benchmarking helps them to isolate the performance of individual components, exposing their strengths and weaknesses. PCMark05 even includes the ability to create custom benchmarks by putting together tests tailored to specific needs.

Key User Benefits of PCMark05:

Easy to Use: Easy to use for both novice users, benchmarking professionals, industry vendors and press labs;
Complete Benchmarking Cycle: Benchmark a PC, view the resulting benchmark details, compare the results to those of others, and finally analyze how to improve the PC's performance;
System and Component Performance: Expose both overall system performance as well as isolate performance of individual PC components;
Integrated Online ResultBrowser: Instantly compare results to the world's largest database of performance data with global validation.

PCMark05 Test Suites:

System Test Suite: Extensive collection of application-based tests that are relevant in typical home use of a PC; tasks include hard disk drive access, video encoding, audio compression, 2D user interface tasks, 2D graphics memory access, web page rendering, file decryption and encryption, memory access and text editing.
CPU Test Suite: Includes tests that isolate the performance of the CPU; tasks include file compression and decompression, file encryption and decryption, audio compression and decompression and image decompression;
Memory Performance Testing: Tests measure the performance of the memory subsystem; these tasks include reading, writing and copying access to data blocks in the L1 cache, L2 cache, and main memory as well as latency tests;
Graphics Test Suite: Tests measure both 2D and 3D graphics performance of the PC. 2D tasks measure moving and transparent 2D dialog performance, graphics memory performance and video playback performance. 3D tasks exercise pixel shader, vertex shader, fill rate and polygon throughput capabilities for the graphics subsystem;
Hard Disk Drive Test Suite: Uses disk activity traces from real-life tasks; these tests isolate the performance of the hard disk drive. Disk activities measured include Windows® XP startup, application loading, file writing, virus scanning and general disk usage.

Pricing and Availability
PCMark05 is immediately available in three versions. For private home usage there are two versions: PCMark05 Basic, a freeware version with limited functionality and PCMark05 Advanced ($19.95) with extended functionality. For professional and business usage, PCMark05 Professional ($199.95) provides full functionality and additional features enabling test automation. The software are available from http://www.futuremark.com/products/pcmark05/.

Note to Editors
For your free evaluation copy of PCMark05, please email mailto:marketing@futuremark.com?subject=PCMark05Eval and tell us the publication that you represent.

About Futuremark® Corporation
Futuremark® Corporation is the leading provider of performance analysis software and services for PCs and smartphones. Futuremark® is known around the world for its benchmark products, including the 3DMark® and PCMark® Series and SPMark (with more than 30 million copies distributed worldwide) and value-added services powered by a database of over 12 million real life benchmarking results. Futuremark® maintains offices in Saratoga, California and Helsinki, Finland. For more information, please visit http://www.futuremark.com.
© 2005 Futuremark® Corporation. 3DMark®, PCMark® and SPMark trademarks and logos, Futuremark® character names and distinctive likenesses, are the exclusive property of Futuremark Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective companies.

Futuremark Contact:
Futuremark Corporation
Phone: +1-408-517-0131
Mr. Tero Sarkkinen
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Email: tero@futuremark.com

Agency Contact:
TechWire International
Phone: +1-831-429-6288
Leo Pot
Email: information@ezwire.com

PCM05 PR Launch

June 28, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

PCM05 Launch DL

June 28, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

Guild Wars Interview

June 28, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The folks over at GameCloud have sat down with ArenaNet's Gaile Gray for a quick Q&A regarding the current state and future of their hit Online RPG, Guild Wars. Here's a taste:

Gamecloud - What can you tell us at the moment about plans to bring new content into the game, either via a free download or for a paid expansion pack?
ArenaNet - Our live content team has been working on exciting new game elements since before the game launched. Later this summer we will stream the Sorrows Furnace expansion to all players for no charge. This free live content will contain two large explorable areas, with new quests, new monsters and new items to discover. We will also be introducing some cool new technology into the game, such as a global Observer Mode, which will allow players throughout the world to watch key guild and tournament battles as they are being played. And of course we will continue to refine and add new game mechanics, such as PvP rewards, which will allow players who primarily enjoy PvP to build characters and obtain new skills and items.
In the first half of 2006 we plan to release Guild Wars Chapter 2, which will include even more cool stuff. All chapters are 100% optional and players won't be required to purchase any chapter to play the game.

Ghost Recon 3 Gets Named

June 28, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Ubisoft has announced the official title for the latest installment in their Tom Clancys Ghost Recon series. Entitled Advanced Warfighter, this tactical shooter is set to hit stores Holiday 2005. Anyways, here's a blurb from the press release (thanks Blue's News):

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA June 27, 2005 Today Ubisoft, one of the worlds largest videogame publishers, announced that Tom Clancys Ghost Recon® 3 (working title), the next installment in the smash-hit squad-based action franchise, will officially be known as Tom Clancys Ghost Recon® Advanced Warfighter. Scheduled to ship for Holiday 2005, Tom Clancys Ghost Recon® Advanced Warfighter focuses on the deployment of the Soldier of the Future the warfighter, in military parlance, into the chaos of urban warfare.

Fable: The Lost Chapters Preview

June 28, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has posted some impressions on the PC version of Lionhead Studios' Action-RPG, Fable: The Lost Chapters, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's something to chew on:

Fable also doesn't suffer much from getting ported from a console. The character model textures could use another pass, but buildings, foliage, and other objects look fine. Light bloom isn't nearly as strong as the Xbox version, which may be good or bad, depending on your tastes. I prefer it to be more subtle than it was on the Xbox, but your mileage may vary. Facial animation and cutscene walking animations are still a little a little rough around the edges, but I got used to it soon enough. Whatever your tastes, the game looks good, runs quite well, and loads quickly. This build clocks in at 2.65GBs across four CDs, so it doesn't look like anything is getting heavily compressed, like we saw when GTA: Vice City was ported over, for example--from a packed DVD to two CDs. My only complaint would be that the night cycle looked particularly dark.

Star Wars: Battlefront II Dev Diary

June 28, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy has posted a developer diary written by Pandemic Studios' Phillip Hong regarding the teamwork behind their upcoming multiplayer shooter, Star Wars: Battlefront II. Here's a nugget:

With all this new content and so many platforms and localizations, you can see how you need a team of producers to manage the logistics, prioritize the key tasks, and coordinate the team effort to deliver a final, polished game. As producers, we're responsible for all of this to come together, yet we're not the ones physically creating art assets, writing code, or balancing gameplay -- like an artist, programmer, or designer. So how do we do our job? The answer is as cheesy as it is true: TEAMWORK.

Star Wars: Empire at War Q&A

June 28, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Starting off the week, GameSpot has tossed up an interview with Petroglyph's Joe Bostic regarding their upcoming strategy title, Star Wars: Empire at War. They cover everything from E3 to the game's multiplayer. Here's a clipping:

GS: We saw Darth Vader in action, and it was undeniably cool to see the Dark Lord of the Sith on the battlefield. What other major characters can we expect to see in the game? How do you balance Vader and other hero characters so they don't overwhelm the game? And do you create the missions so that if any of them die, you automatically lose, or are there fallback options?
JB: Darth Vader makes quite an impression. The Dark Side of the Force is powerful on the battlefield. He is not alone, but other than him and Obi-Wan Kenobi, we're still not ready to divulge just who else will be out there. All heroes are powerful in their own way, but not so powerful that the battle necessarily revolves around them. The wise player will use them in conjunction with traditional combat units in order to achieve victory, although there are missions where the hero can single-handedly battle the enemy. Heroes are difficult to kill. More often than not, when the hero is about to "die," he escapes to recuperate and fight another day. Star Wars heroes have an uncanny ability to survive difficult situations, and Empire at War remains faithful to that characteristic.

Civilization IV Impressions

June 27, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Keeping this slow news day kickin', GameSpot has thrown up some impressions on Firaxis Games' upcoming strategy title, Civilization IV. Here's a bit on the religious system:

The religious system is also undergoing a lot of tweaking. Religion is a new feature in Civ IV, and it will play a significant role in the game, as you can use religion to try to pacify your neighbors and enemies. However, Firaxis' gameplay testing indicated that players found religion to be too vague a concept, so the designers have been tweaking it recently. He showed us an example of religion in action by zooming in on a city so we could see a tiny Christian monastery.
Smith said you could build the monastery after you research the theology advancement. With a monastery, you can churn out missionary units that can proselytize in other civilizations. However, before you can do that, you must have an open-borders agreement with the civilization in question. One change that we noticed had to do with what happens if you convert a rival city to your religion. At E3, we were told if you convert a city to your religion through the use of a missionary, you gain line-of-sight advantages in that city, letting you see what's going on in and around the city. However, that has been removed in the latest version of the game, as it was apparently too much of an advantage, although Smith said it could come back, depending on what further testing determines.

New WarCraft III Bonus Map

June 26, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Blizzard Entertainment has released a new bonus map for their hit strategy title, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne. Entitled The Deathrose, this puppy is ment for 2v2 or FFA play. Click here to get downloading!

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood Preview

June 25, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has posted some impressions on Gearbox Software's upcoming first person shooter, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. Here's the scoop on the improved enemy AI:

Earned in Blood is an apt title for this sequel, as Gearbox president Randy Pitchford told us up front that this will be a tougher game than the original. Basically, Gearbox held back in the first game in terms of enemy artificial intelligence, because it was afraid that having players learn a whole new way of playing first-person shooters would be tough enough without having to worry about a cutthroat opponent. As a result, the Germans in Road to Hill 30 were a fairly docile lot and didn't really exhibit maneuver tactics, at least not on the scale of what you did to them. That translated into a puzzlelike experience at times, as you essentially had to suppress an enemy position and figure out how to flank it over and over again. In Earned in Blood, the training wheels come off, and you'll definitely earn your victories in this game. The German AI is a lot more intelligent than before, and it will constantly try to shift positions to prevent from being flanked. It will also spot opportunities, like an unguarded flank on your side, and move to exploit them. "It puts a new layer of pressure and intensity on the player," Pitchford said.

Battlefield 2 Review

June 25, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at Boomtown have thrown up their take on Digital Illusions' recently released multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2. Here's a bit on the new commander feature:

The commander is also a new thing in the game. As commander you have access to an overview map of the battlefield wherefrom you are able to control everything. You can give orders to the various squads, choose where to fire artillery strikes on the battlefield, drop supply crates, place UAV-drones and scan the entire map for enemies. To form a general view of the ever-evolving battle is the key word here and again this is one of the features that make Battlefield 2 much more than just an old wine in new bottles.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A

June 25, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Games.net has posted a quick interview with Bethesda Softworks' Todd Howard regarding their much anticipated RPG, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Topics range from physics to the game's AI. Snip:

Games.Net: The Radiant A.I. system looks awesome. How will it affect gameplay? For instance, it's one thing to hear that all the NPCs have real lives, jobs, and goals. Does that ever impact upon the player, or does it just make for a more realistic town environment? Will you ever bump into characters in unusual places, as they go on adventures of their own? How will the A.I. system affect combat? Will wounded enemies exhibit emotions, run away, etc?
Todd Howard: It's all of that. When you first play the game, it's really just for show. It makes the world believable and entertaining, and I think that's important. But as you play, you start to figure out what you can do with these NPCs, and how you can influence their behavior, and when doing a quest, it really comes into play. A simple "get the diamond from that guy... quest can be done in hundreds of ways now. Is he sleeping? When is he home? Does he take the diamond to work with him? Does he like me? Can he sell it? Should I kill him? Pick his pocket? Steal his food and see if he sells the diamond to eat? That's just some off the top of my head.

Serious Sam II Preview

June 25, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Also over at GameSpy this evening is a preview on the Croteam's upcoming action-packed first person shooter, Serious Sam II. Here's a bit on the weapons at your disposal:

Sam's arsenal is similarly inspired. You can expect the usual array of chainguns, a rocket launcher, grenade launcher and sniper rifle, but it's the more unique weapons that we're guessing will inspire the most excitement. A saw blade weapon shoots out spinning metal wheels of death, and can be rotated vertically to turn it into a potent melee weapon. There's the "Klodovik" bird, which is a parrot-looking thing that carries a bomb and drops it on the nearest enemy ... or you, if you're not careful.The cannonball launcher returns, but this time it's got a pressure gauge and a red siren that hoots and flashes with the cannon is charged and ready to blow. There's also a bomb weapon, which wasn't actually working in the build we were shown, and yet looks so cool that we can't wait to see it in action (kinda like that kung fu Yakuza midget from the Simpsons .... when it goes off, you just know it's going to be cool).

Titan Quest Preview

June 25, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Kicking things off, GameSpy has tossed up a preview on Iron Lore's upcoming Action-RPG, Titan Quest. Here's a bit on the visual differences based on item values:

Iron Lore is also a big believer in visual rewards. RPGs are traditionally a statistic intensive genre, a legacy, no doubt, of its Dungeons & Dragons roots. While Titan Quest does have a standard statistics system, the team is working really hard at scaling the visual look of everything in the universe so that players can tell at a glance the relative worth and power of everything. In the case of their own abilities, players can select as many basic skills as their earned skill points allow. Should they choose to specialize in something, however, flame spells for example, their visual representations will be upgraded commensurate with the damage they do. Adding splash damage to a fireball, for example, will actually cause a beautiful ring of flame to spread out from the point of impact. Add more damage potential to a fireball, and it'll get bigger and brighter.

Guild Wars PvP Rewards?

June 24, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

ArenaNet has announced plans to add a PvP Rewards System for their hit Online RPG, Guild Wars. Expected in the next major content update, this feature should help both the hardcore and casual gamer unlock items, runes and skills through good old PvP. w00t!

Call of Duty 2 Q&A

June 24, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

TotalVideoGames.com has sat down with Infinity Ward's Vince Zampella for a short Q&A regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Call of Duty 2. They look at the game's AI, weather effects and more! Here's a clipping:

One element the team has worked on has been to present a more open battlefield/play area and combined with improved AI conveys even more realism such as the Battle Chatter System. Can you explain exactly what major elements of the AI have been improved and what a more open-ended design will bring to the overall experience?
Call of Duty 2: Click for screenshotsCall of Duty 2s squad-based gameplay takes everything that was great in the first game and goes much deeper and is much more advanced. Because the level objectives are non-linear with multiple pathways, the AI engine has been designed so squadmates can realistically work with you no matter what path you chose and call out enemies with the Battle Chatter system. We are going to throw a lot of enemies at you in intense gameplay moments. You will be glad you can depend on your squad to literally cover your blind spots without you having to tell them.
On the flip side, you will hear your enemies call out your squads position and make counter moves depending on which path you take and which objectives you go after first in any given level. Enemies lay down cover fire for each other to maneuver themselves into a position to destroy you. They are fast, aggressive, take cover, seek out machine gun positions and shower you with grenades which is everything you will basically try to do to them.

Civilization IV Preview

June 24, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has fired-up a preview on Firaxis' upcoming strategy title, Civilization IV, after getting some hands-on time with the latest build. Here's a bit on the interface improvements:

Gamers who've had to struggle with the complications of the interface are also in for a treat. The actual game map now reveals which terrain tiles are being worked and shows off a number of civic improvements. Little pop-up windows and small suggestions about how to improve the area around each city will definitely help new players get started quickly. Those players who do choose to dive down into the detail of city view will find that information is much clearer there as well. Each city improvement will list the specific bonus it imparts to a city's coffers, contentment and culture. No more guessing or thumbing through the civilopedia to find out just how much those temples are helping you.

DAoC: Darkness Rising Interview

June 24, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The RPGVault has posted an interview with Walter Yarbrough, the Producer behind Mythic Entertainment's upcoming Dark Age of Camelot expansion pack, Darkness Rising. They cover everything from instances to beta plans. Here's some juice:

Jonric: What are your main goals for Darkness Rising? What significant new features are adding, and how will they benefit the players?
Walter Yarbrough: Darkness Rising will introduce several new systems that will add to the player's ability to customize and tweak their characters. First and foremost, with the introduction of player mounts, our players will finally be able to charge into battle. By earning a class-specific champion weapon, our players will be able to increase their combat power, and visually showcase their achievements to everyone around them. And finally, by earning Champion Levels, our players will be able to earn sub-classing abilities that will enable them to add some custom abilities to their arsenal.

Battlefront II Interview

June 24, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The Gamer's Hell has kicked up an interview with LucasArts' Corrine Wong regarding their upcoming multiplayer shooter, Battlefront II. Here's a bit on how the Force will be handled:

5. You plan to unleash the Force and make Jedi powers available to players. How do you plan to resolve the tricky issue of allowing players to feel the awesome power of the Force without overpowering them?
Ah, good question. First of all, the Jedi class is not always available to the player. In single-player mode, the player needs to earn the right to play as a Jedi by completing certain objectives. In multiplayer mode, the host determines the parameters at which you can be a Jedi. Secondly, the ability to yield a lightsaber and use your cool Force powers comes with a time limit. The nice thing is that your time limit can be extended if you effectively use your Jedi. However, if you choose to kill your buddies and allies or get hit by an enemy one too many times, your time is shortened. So use your Jedi wisely - and be good to your fellow teammates!

City of Villains Interview

June 23, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has sat down with Cryptic Studios Jack Emmert for quick Q&A regarding their upcoming stand-alone City of Heroes expansion pack, City of Villains. They chat about everything from E3 to the different missions. Here's a blurb:

GS: What can you tell us about the missions in City of Villains and how they'll differ from those of City of Heroes? How different will the gameplay and objectives be? Will missions be kept as accessible and (optionally) as minimally time-consuming as those in City of Heroes could be?
JE: We've added new mission types into City of Villains as well as upgrades to existing City of Heroes missions. For instance, some missions now have security cameras that villains will need to sneak past, or risk detection and capture. We're also focusing much more on mission customization at launch so that a number of stories will stand out for their unique gameplay and/or art.
Most importantly, we're keeping to our original intent: A player should be able to log on, play for an hour, log out, and feel like he or she accomplished something. We're not trying to create quests that last for hours and hours and require mind-numbing expanses to travel; we want City of Villains to let you be the bad guy as quickly as possible!

The Future of World of WarCraft

June 23, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Blizzard Entertainment's Shane Dabiri has posted an article on the official World of WarCraft forums, taking a look at the current state of the hit MMORPG and their future plans. Here's a taste:

We are committed to delivering the highest quality online experience for our players. Some of our upcoming plans have already been mentioned on our community site. For example, in our next major update, we will be releasing Blackwing Lair, a 40-person raid dungeon, where you will be able to battle against the epic dragon Nefarian and his minions. We are also working on a 20-person dungeon called ZulGurub, and the mysterious lands of AhnQiraj in Silithus. Outside of dungeons, we want to continue adding new world events, such as a carnival that will take place in Mulgore and Elwynn forest.
Of course, on top of all this, each content update will also bring new quests, items, professions recipes, and continued class improvements. Some have asked about an expansion and what it might hold. I wanted to let players know that it is in the works, and well release details as soon as we can.

Battlefield 2 Review

June 23, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The FiringSquad is the latest website to slap up a review on Digital Illusions' recently released multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2. Here's a bit on the weapons:

In previous Battlefield titles, the class of infantry spawned dictated not only the special equipment available to the player, like satchel charges, mines, or a rocket launcher, but also the effectiveness of his primary weapon. Battlefield 2 evens out the main weapons significantly - the superiority of the M16 over the M4 or MP5 is noticeable, but not dominant. In fact, the only default weapons that don't fall into the assault rifle or SMG category are shotguns and sniper rifles. The shotguns are absolutely deadly at close quarters but their utility beyond 30 feet is questionable at best since the hit pattern becomes quite random, while the sniper rifle is balanced by its relatively low damage potential. The pump-action shotgun of the Chinese engineer seems to have far and away the best single-hit damage, though this is balanced out by a tepid rate of fire.

Unreal Tournament 2007 Q&A

June 23, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Gamecloud has sat down with Epic Games' Jeff Morris for a quick chat regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Unreal Tournament 2007. Topics range from new gameplay modes to mod support. Snip:

Gamecloud - Can you give us any hints about any new weapons and/or vehicles that might be introduced in the new game?
Jeff Morris - Weve got a number of ideas that were prototyping, for both hand held and vehicle mounted weapons. UT has a potent tradition of innovation when it comes to weapons and UT2007 wont be any different. Expect most favorites to return, some with minor and not so minor tweaks, as well as a few brand new ones.
UT2007 is planning on tripling the number of vehicles that shipping the in original UT2004. The classic Onslaught vehicles are all returning with new functionality and tweaks. An example of those types of tweaks is the booster we added to the Scorpion. Useful for feeding enemies into the front mounted anti-personnel blades, it can now be used to ram enemy vehicles. If you eject while the booster is engaged, youll eject into the air as the vehicle detonates on impact with the force of a redeemer. There are going to be 9 brand new vehicles added as well, drawn from the sinister Necris assassin guild. Some of the wildest weapon ideas are going to show up on this new teams rides.

Hellgate: London Preview

June 22, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Finally tonight, GameSpot has whipped up a quick preview on Flagship Studios' upcoming First Person RPG, Hellgate: London. Here's a bit on the game's setting:

One of the reasons London was chosen for the setting is because the city has such an intriguing history to it, as it's been home to some of history's greatest calamities, such as the Great Fire of London, the plague, and the Blitz. It's also got great architecture, which helps make the buildings in the game look good. But most importantly, there's the Underground, which consists of far more than the world-famous Tube. There are ancient Roman aqueducts, old bomb shelters, and Victorian ballrooms. Most interesting, though, are the disused and abandoned Tube stations. Apparently, to keep people out of them, the British government actually pays people to guard them. The game plays on this real-world anecdote by postulating that those guards may be there to guard against something else. In the game, the demonic gateway originates underground. We got to see some of this subway action during the demonstration, as the game showed us some of the underground levels, all of which are randomly generated.

Battlefield 2 Review

June 22, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Another Battlefield 2 review has popped up over at the GamesDomain this evening, taking a look at Digital Illusions' recently released multiplayer shooter. Walking away with a perfect score of 10/10, this one sounds like a real keeper! Snip:

A new scoring system rates players on teamwork instead of the number of kills, which does a great job of driving the gameplay. Your points are based on the class you're playing, which is a slightly reworked set of the usual suspects. The onscreen information is customized for the distinct abilities of your class. For instance, the support class, who carries extra ammo, sees a bar over teammates that indicates how much ammo they have left. Medics see a health bar, along with icons on the minimap that point out fallen teammates, who can be revived with shock paddles. Battlefield 2 makes every effort to let you play your class to its fullest.

New Far Cry Patch

June 22, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Crytek Studios has released a new patch (v1.32) for their hit first person shooter, Far Cry. Fixing a bunch of bugs, you can grab this 20mb bad boy from one of the following mirrors:

Rock on!

The Matrix Online Q&A

June 22, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Gamecloud has fired-up another interview regarding the sale of the popular MMORPG, The Matrix Online. This time they chat with Sony Online's Chris Kramer, touching on the transition gamers will see and their future plans. Here's a blurb:

Gamecloud - How will the transition from Monolith from Sony Online take place and how long do you believe that transition will take?
Chris Kramer - The transition will take a few weeks, but will be mostly invisible to MXO subscribers. At a certain point, MXO players will be asked to sign up for a free Station ID (avoid the rush by signing up now: http://www.station.sony.com/en/) as well as to re-enter their billing information through the game. SOE has very stringent privacy policies that prevent our company from sharing sensitive user data for the protection of our subscribers.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked Review

June 22, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has tossed up some impressions on Frontier Developments' recently released RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 expansion pack, Soaked!. Here's something to nibble on:

Water parks are one of the last vestiges of park bound entertainment that had managed to escape the eyes of Chris Sawyer and Frontier up until now. The implementation of water parks is pretty good here. Pool complexes make up the basis for a water park section. One or more entrances (called locker rooms) can be placed around the edges of the pool complex and will allow peeps to come in and out whenever they wish. These locker rooms also house the pool cleaning agent, which your repairmen will have to refill from time to time. Honestly though, it takes a long damn time for the pool to get dirty, even when setting the inspection time to never. Along with that, a lot of the park guests didn't really seem to care how dirty the pool was. They just kept on frolicking in water the game itself describes as "disgusting."

pcm05 coming soon

June 21, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

PCMark05 - Coming Soon!

June 21, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

We are pleased to announce we will soon release our next generation application-based benchmark - PCMark®05. PCMark05 is Futuremark's third installment of the popular PCMark series, and its a premium tool for measuring overall PC performance.
We are also announcing our new naming scheme for PCMark05 and all our future products.

Basic: Freeware version with limited functionality
Advanced: For Home use only with with extended functionality
Professional: For Business use with full functionality and additional features

The naming scheme is new, but its the same great products!

Special Free Upgrade: Users who have ordered PCMark04 Pro within 30 days before launch will receive PCMark05 Advanced for free! Hurry up, there's still some time left..
Keep your eyes open for more details and the release of PCMark05!

Microsoft Windows Game Advisor 3.0 Launches

June 21, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

Microsoft Windows Game Advisor 3.0 Launches

Brand New Game Advisor uses Futuremark Technology to offer enhanced features Users can now post reviews and check out comments from gamers

Looking for exciting Windows titles that are a perfect match for you and your computer? Futuremark is proud to announce that the Microsoft Windows Game Advisor 3.0 is now available at http://www.windowsgaming.com. Taking the guesswork out of choosing new Windows computer games, the Game Advisor is a powerful Web-based tool that sorts through a variety of genres and age-group choices to present the best matches for gamers of all levels, and with one click, determines if a game will run on the user's computer.
The Windows Game Advisor 3.0 offers several new features designed to make choosing a game simple and fun. By popular demand, the Game Advisor now lets users review and rate their favorite games and search reviews and comments from fellow gamers, creating a valuable community of reliable gaming knowledge. For additional suggestions, the Game Advisor now recommends game titles based on your search history.
Users can search by 10 different genres, five different age ranges, ESRB* ratings and more than 300 titles from 57 game publishers to find games. With so many titles, there's definitely something for everyone users have viewed millions of games since launch. Users can even create personal accounts to keep track of their favorite games and receive updates on new game content.
Powered by Futuremark technology, the Game Advisor works by scanning the user's PC hardware configuration and estimating performance capabilities based on Futuremark's PC performance database, which includes more than 12 million records of 3DMark® and PCMark® benchmark results. The results are compared to the gaming performance requirements of more than 300 game titles. Futuremark's technology takes the hassle out of determining system requirements, making it easy to find great games for Windows.
"Being the leading provider of performance analysis tools and services, we are delighted to see the continued and ever increasing success of the Windows Game Advisor. As today's launch of Version 3.0 shows, our technology is able to accommodate greatly increased features and functionality," said Tero Sarkkinen, executive vice president of Futuremark.
The Game Advisor makes it simple to find a game to play and check it out in depth or buy a gift for others. It'll test whether the game will run on your Windows PC and give you recommendations to get your PC "game ready" if needed. You can even see how your computer rates against all other Game Advisor users' PCs, or how your computer stacks up to several new computers from OEM partners, including Dell, HP and Alienware.
"For the millions of people who already play games on their Windows PCs and the millions that are just joining the ranks, the Game Advisor is just the tool to ensure a great gaming experience," said Lisa Sikora, group product manager of Microsoft's Windows Gaming. "The Game Advisor has been an amazingly popular feature on our Windowsgaming.com website and thanks to Futuremark, we look forward to offering enhanced features, such as the opportunity for users to post reviews and read other player's comments."

In order to use this unique service, please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/games/gameadvisor/default.asp

Note to Editors
To download high-resolution screenshots of the Windows Game Advisor, go to http://www.futuremark.com/pressroom/pictures/?gameadvisor3 or contact us via email marketing@futuremark.com?subject=Request_GameAdvisor_Screenshots

About Games for Windows
Games for Windows are built to harness the powerful technology of Windows to provide gamers with the most innovative games possible. Games for Windows utilize the performance and stability of Windows to bring seriously fun gaming to everyone. Reliability, compatibility and the freedom of customization empower gamers to create their own gaming destiny. More information is available at http://www.windowsgaming.com.

About Futuremark® Corporation
Futuremark® Corporation is the leading provider of performance analysis software and services for PCs and smartphones. Futuremark® is known around the world for its benchmark products, including the 3DMark® and PCMark® Series and SPMark (with more than 30 million copies distributed worldwide) and value-added services powered by a database of over 12 million real life benchmarking results. Futuremark® maintains offices in Saratoga, California and Helsinki, Finland. For more information, please visit http://www.futuremark.com.

© 2005 Futuremark® Corporation. 3DMark®, PCMark® and SPMark trademarks and logos, Futuremark® character names and distinctive likenesses, are the exclusive property of Futuremark Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective companies.

*ESRB, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, is a system that helps parents and other consumers choose the games that are right for their families. ESRB ratings have two parts: rating symbols that suggest what age group the game is best for, and content descriptors that indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.

Futuremark Contact:
Futuremark Corporation
Phone: +1-408-517-0131
Mr. Tero Sarkkinen
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Email: tero@futuremark.com

Agency Contact:
TechWire International
Phone: +1-831-429-6288
Leo Pot
Email: information@ezwire.com

Symbian Joins Futuremark's Smartphone Benchmark Development Program

June 21, 2005 - Nicklas Renqvist

Symbian Joins Futuremark's Smartphone Benchmark Development Program

Largest smartphone operating system provider also licenses Futuremark source code

Saratoga, CA and Symbian Partner Event, Tokyo, Japan June 20th, 2005  Futuremark® Corporation, a leading provider of performance-analysis software and services, announced today that Symbian is joining its handheld benchmark development program. In addition, Symbian is licensing source codes for Futuremark's current SPMark04 product and two forthcoming handheld benchmark products.
"Symbian's stamp of approval of Futuremark's Smartphone Benchmark Development is evident in its joining the program," said Tero Sarkkinen, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Futuremark. "Having the world's largest smartphone operating system provider working with us as we define and implement industry standard performance gauges testifies just how important it is for the whole Symbian ecosystem to have unbiased high-quality benchmarks," Sarkkinen added.
Symbian develops Symbian OS, the market-leading open mobile operating system for advanced mobile phones (also known as smartphones), that is licensed to the world's leading handset manufacturers. . Futuremark Corporation has created industry's first publicly available Symbian OS platform performance test suite, SPMark04. It measures the performance and power efficiency of Symbian OS-based smartphones, and includes OpenGL ES API 3D game scenes, image processing, as well as native Symbian OS applications such as address book and calendar. In addition, Futuremark is currently working on next generation OpenGL ES and mobile Java performance benchmarks.
"As Symbian enters the mass market with Symbian OS smartphones, we are committed to delivering the best possible platform to our customers, who in turn can offer the best possible mobile phone user experience," said Mike Whittingham, director, strategic programs, Symbian Ltd. "Futuremark's products will help Symbian and the Symbian ecosystem delivers the best in class products by offering a standard metric to measure Symbian OS phone performance from which we will all learn." Whittingham added.

About Symbian Ltd
Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses Symbian OS, the global open industry standard operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones.
Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset manufacturers. The following Symbian OS licensees have Symbian OS-based mobile phones in production and / or in development: Arima, BenQ, Fujitsu for NTT DoCoMo FOMA, LG, Lenovo, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Sendo, Sharp, Siemens, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. In the first quarter of 2005, more than 6.75m Symbian OS-based mobile phones were sold worldwide, taking the installed base of Symbian OS phones to more than 32 million.
Symbian has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom with offices in the United States, Europe, Israel and Asia (Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo).
For further information about Symbian please see www.symbian.com or email press@symbian.com.

About Futuremark® Corporation
Futuremark® Corporation is the leading provider of performance analysis software and services for PCs and smartphones. Futuremark® is known around the world for its benchmark products, including the 3DMark® and PCMark® Series and SPMark (with more than 30 million copies distributed worldwide) and value-added services powered by a database of over 12 million real life benchmarking results. Futuremark® maintains offices in Saratoga, California and Helsinki, Finland. For more information, please visit http://www.futuremark.com.

© 2005 Futuremark® Corporation. 3DMark®, PCMark® and SPMark trademarks and logos, Futuremark® character names and distinctive likenesses, are the exclusive property of Futuremark Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective companies.

Futuremark Contact:
Futuremark Corporation
Phone: +1-408-517-0131
Mr. Tero Sarkkinen
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Email: tero@futuremark.com

Agency Contact:
TechWire International
Phone: +1-831-429-6288
Leo Pot
Email: information@ezwire.com

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A

June 21, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Telefragged has Bethesda Softworks' Todd Howard in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming RPG, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. They look at the marksmanship skill, the AI system and more! Here's a taste:

Finger: Marksmanship was fun to use in Morrowind, but in a lot of ways it was also a big hassle. With Oblivion, will Bethesda be overhauling the system to make it easier to use while keeping it comparable in damage to melee attacks or spellcasting?
Todd Howard: Marksmanship was one of many things we completely overhauled. The way bows and arrows work now is much, much more realistic than anything we've done before. Our goal was to provide a combat system where you could play and finish the game using only that weapon (or magic) if that's what you wanted to do. It's much less geared toward melee combat and is more balanced to allow players to play the game however they want.

Supreme Commander Announced

June 21, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

First revealed last week, the folks over at THQ and Gas Powered Games have now officially announced their new stategy title, Supreme Commander. Here's a nugget from the press release:

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- THQ Inc. (Nasdaq: THQI - News) today announced that it has entered into a worldwide publishing agreement with Gas Powered Games, founded by game design visionary, Chris Taylor. The two companies will work together on the Windows PC Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game Supreme Commander. With Supreme Commander, Taylor, an early pioneer in the RTS category, will mark his return to a genre that he helped popularize.

Battlefield 2 Reviews

June 21, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

With Battlefield 2 now hitting stores, PC.IGN, GameSpy and GameSpot have all fire-up reviews on Digital Illusions' much anticipated multiplayer shooter. So is the game worth your hard earned cash? Break out those reading glasses and find out!

New SWAT 4 Patch Released

June 21, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Irrational Games has released a new patch (v1.1) for their tactical first person shooter, SWAT 4. Included are multiplayer versions of three singleplayer maps, mod tools and more! Hit one of the following mirrors for the goods!

The Matrix Online Interview

June 21, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameCloud has caught up with WB Interactive's Jason Hall for a quick chat regarding the recent sale of The Matrix Online to Sony Online. Here's a clipping:

Gamecloud - First, The Matrix Online was officially launched less than three months ago. Why was the decision made to move its continuing development to Sony Online and why was it done so soon after its launch?
Jason Hall - WBIE wanted this acquisition to be beneficial for our paying subscribers, and we are convinced that our work with Sony will deliver on that promise through a combination of our content and their enthusiastic experiences in the growing game. Like any expanding business, we are always looking for new opportunities to explore with getting our creative game content to the most consumers possible. Our partnership on The Matrix Online with SOE is beneficial to us in not only allowing us to combine our strengths and work closely together, but also in helping grow our overall relationship. More gamers will now be exposed to The Matrix Online, and SOE will continue running The Matrix Online at the high level players have enjoyed the game.

Day of Defeat: Source News

June 20, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Valve Software has updated the Steam website with some news on Source engine-powered port of Day of Defeat. Here's what they had to say:

The initial plan following the launch of Half-Life 2 was to get a near direct port of the existing Day of Defeat up and running and release it to the community. After this release, the plan was to take the approach of iterating on the art and gameplay of Day of Defeat through the end of the year. We finished this porting work a few months ago, released this version to a small group of beta testers, and then took stock of where we were. We didn't feel like the game was good enough from a visual perspective to release.
We decided to rework all of the content of Day of Defeat: Source before the full public release, hoping that people would be happier waiting for the product to ship while we gave DoD the attention it deserved. We hope our assumptions turn out to be accurate.

Be sure to check out the spiffy new screenshot!

Battlefield 2 Interview

June 19, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has fired-up an interview with Benjamin Smith, the Assistant Producer behind Digital Illusions' upcoming multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2. They cover eveything from level design to Battlefield TV. Here's a blurb:

GS: Finally, crazy moments happen all the time in Battlefield games. What's your favorite moment so far during Battlefield 2's development?
BS: Honestly, my favorite moment is a little embarrassing. I was piloting a helicopter quite poorly and decided to bail out. I opened my chute and was just about to touch down when my teammate ran under me, heading for an antiair defense station. Well, I landed on top of him, squishing him and gaining a team kill. I knew that the commander's supply crate could crush players, but I had no idea that another player could until I got firsthand experience. It was hilarious! It also goes to show just how cool our physics system is.

Supreme Commander Revealed

June 18, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

ShackNews has word that the latest PC Gamer reveals a new strategy title from Chris Taylor's Gas Powered Games. Entitled Supreme Commander, the game is being hyped as the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation. Anyways, click here to learn more!

Battlefield 2 Preview

June 18, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

1Up.com has slapped up a new preview on Digital Illusions' upcoming multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2. This one takes a look at the different vehicles in the game. Here's a bit on the tanks:

Tanks: Tanks are pretty self-explanatory, but it's important keep in mind that they are definitely not invincible on the modern battlefield. Threats come from all directions and as the highest profile target out there you can assume everyone is gunning for you. Very seldom will a tank get taken out in one shot, but they can get pecked to death fairly quickly. Knowing when to abandon the shell before it goes up is the mark of a good tanker. Another key, and this goes for all the turreted vehicles, is learning to watch the small icon that shows which way your gun is facing relative to the front of the base. This becomes a critical combat skill to master because you need to use the cockpit view for the crosshairs to target your weapons. Without the perspective of the chase camera it's easy to get disoriented driving while rotating this way and that in a fight.

World of WarCraft Q&A

June 18, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

World of War.net has kicked up an interview with Blizzard Entertainment regarding their hugely successful MMORPG, World of WarCraft. They look at everything from class-based quests to new professions. Snip:

Worldofwar.Net: Blizzard has received some criticism about the speed of new content arriving on the servers. Will we see more regular content, especially content that actually affects the game world and not just other instances/battlegrounds?
Blizzard: In the few months following the launch of the game, we focused most of our resources on improving realm stability. Once we were able to provide a stable play experience, we turned our focus to content. Since that time, weve provided 3 major content patches in the last 4 months, and we will do our best to continue patching in new content at this rate moving forward.
In addition, we have a dedicated team of developers whose job it is to implement world events into the game. A good example is the Darkmoon Faire, a traveling carnival that appears every so often in Mulgore and Elwynn Forest, thats coming up in the next patch. We will also continue to hold in-game Holiday events, like the Feast of Winter Veil, Noblegarden, and Childrens Day.

Heaven vs. Hell Trailer

June 18, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The peeps over at PC.IGN have posted a new trailer showing off TKO Software's upcoming strategy title, Heaven vs Hell. You can find this puppy in both WMP and Quicktime format right here. So what are you waiting for? Get downloading!

Guild Wars Review

June 18, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The Gamer's Hell has fired-up their take on ArenaNet's hit Online RPG, Guild Wars. With a final score of 9.4/10, the game continues getting great feedback. Anyways, here's a bit on the PvP system:

Guild Wars also has specially designated PvP (Peer Versus Peer) servers that are designed solely for the purpose of destroying other humans. Your character will start off at the maximum Level 20, and from there you can customize his or her battle style and appearance. This is fun for new players because they can finally control a powerful character, and the more advanced users can bring items over from their role-playing characters to give them an extra edge. The purpose of these servers is to find the greatest human players from all over the world and have them enter the coveted Hall of Heroes. In order to earn this title, you must join up with teammates, either members of your guild or random partners, and defeat your opponents from several predestined locations. The battles usually last only a matter of minutes, so you can expect the fighting to be fast paced and intense. Another game type has a set time limit, and the team to destroy the most computer-controlled creatures is deemed the winner. Either way, the PvP servers offer considerable action for any gamer who doesnt prefer to spend hours and hours building up their chosen character.

The Movies Preview

June 17, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at Computer and Video Games.com have slapped up some quick impressions on Lionhead Studios' upcoming sim title, The Movies. Here's a bit on the interface:

The first thing that strikes you is the game's almost complete lack of on-screen icons. "We've taken them away and replaced them with little bubbles that appear when you hover your mouse over something," explains Lionhead's founder and head Peter Molyneux.
"We call them intelligent Tool Tips. In most games, you end up playing the whole game in the menu because that's where all of the information is. These Tool Tip bubbles mean you can play the game in the real gaming world, as they give you all of the information you need in the main part of the screen."
To prove his point, Molyneux hovers his mouse above a wannabe actor queuing outside a Stage School in a pre-built movie studio. Within a second, two bubbles sprout from the man, describing his strengths and weaknesses, as well as details about his temperament and appearance.

Battlefield 2 Preview; Part 3

June 17, 2005 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy has posted the third part of their preview on the maps in Digital Illusions' upcoming multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2. Here's a clipping:

Kubra Dam
This map was featured prominently in early released screenshots of Battlefield 2, for obvious reasons: it really shows off the level of detail and immense scope of the game. The Kubra Dam is a strategic site located in the Saudi desert, but the project is still under construction, giving the central part of this map a kind of "Death Star Under Construction" look to it. The enormous pipelines and towering cranes will dwarf your little soldier. Even set at 32 players, this is a gigantic map.