DICE comes at us with an early look at their upcoming single and multiplayer shooter Bad Company 2, the latest installment in the acclaimed Battlefield series.
Next week’s Rock Band 2 and LEGO Rock Band content updates include six tracks by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, taken straight from the band's upcoming 48-song album, The Live Anthology. The album is comprised completely of live recordings and releases this Tuesday, the same day the DLC. If you like Heartland rock, give their tunes a whirl.
Rounding out the remainder of tracks for this update pop tunes by The Go-Go’s, P!nk, and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, who will also be making her Rock Band debut with this add-on. Their works are great for the aspiring vocalist in your group, so check 'em out.
Here are the nine songs that will be available for download. Songs marked in red will not be available in LEGO Rock Band:
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (Live)”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (Live)”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (Live)”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (Live)”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Live)”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (Live)”
The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”
Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent”
P!nk – “Who Knew”
The “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Anthology Pack 01” allows Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players bundle the Tom Petty content together for 800 Microsoft Points, or $9.99 USD / £4.99 UK / €7.99 EU from the PlayStation Store. If you'd rather not purchase the entire pack, single downloads go for the usual 160 MS Points, $1.99 / £.99 / €1.49 from the PlayStation Store, or 200 Nintendo Points. Xbox 360 and Wii owners get their content on November 24 while PlayStation 3 owners shall get theirs on Turkey Day, November 26. Gobble-gobble and such.
And for Rock Band Unplugged players, there’s… nothing! Sorry guys, no new stuff this time.
Secondhand smoke is even deadlier than firsthand inhalation -- everybody knows that. But you probably didn't know that according to Apple, second-hand smoke is also really bad for your computer.
Derek, a resident of Iowa, had trouble with his Macbook overheating. So he brought it into his local Apple store for some maintainence under the terms of his AppleCare Protection Plan. After a few days, Derek says the store "informed [him] that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to 'health risks of second hand smoke'."
Not only is this obivously silly, but nowhere in the warranty terms could Derek find any mention of a smoking environment voiding the product's warranty.
Taking matters into his own hands, he bought a compressed air canister and gave the insides of his machine a thourough cleaning. After getting rid of the "biohazard" inside, he brought his laptop back to a different Apple store for more work.
Derek isn't the only person to encounter such strange resistance from Apple. Ruth bought an iMac for her son and had similar troubles when she tried to get the computer serviced at an authorized repair center. In several emails, Ruth says that the service technicians refused to work on the computer "because it's contanimated." After further questioning, a representative stated that the workers were not actually technicians and could not work on the iMac because he had been contaminated, thus making it a "biohazard."
You know you have been playing too much Love Plus when...
Have you seen that video of the Japanese guy who spends much too time with his 'companionship' dolls? Well you can file this story under the same keywords: strange and sad.
Unfortunately the details are a bit short, as my Japanese reading skills are a little bit weak. But, according to the Boing Boing blog, the man -- who identifies himself online as SAL9000 -- has become quite enamoured with his virtual girlfriend in the DS game Love Plus, named Nene Anegaski. So, of course the rational thing to do when you love someone is get married right? Following his heart, SAL9000 is set to marry Nene Anegaski this coming Sunday.
The marriage will be celebrated with a trip to Guam (good thing Love Plus is on the DS and not a home console). SAL9000 plans to bring his DS around with him on his trip which he'll be documenting online on a few Japanese websites. He has apparently made use of an augmented reality tool which allows him to transpose the image of his virtual girlfriend onto scenes being recorded on his iPhone.
SAL9000 is actually not the first person to fall in love with a virtual girlfriend from Love Plus, which has been out since September now. In fact, the problem is not unheard of in Japan it seems. Here is an excerpt from one man's experiences with his virtual girlfriend:
Koh, what do you and Rinko do together?
Koh: OK, this is pretty embarrassing. The DS has a mic and a touchscreen, so... one time, she asked me to say "I love you" a hundred times into the mic. I was on the airplane when she asked me that, so I was like, no way. There was also this part where you have to hold her hand on the touchscreen. If you touch her hand with the stylus, you get to hold her hand. And then there's the part where you have to kiss her.
Did you do it?
Koh: No, no! The girl's face shows up on the screen, and you have to touch her lips to give her a kiss. That's pretty weird.... this is embarrassing. I'm sweating right now just talking about it.
Capcom released a new Dark Void video today, and through it we see some of the baddies our hero Will has to contend with. These creatures are called "The Watchers," and as the video shows, there were a crap-ton of them running around.
One scene in particular suggests that perhaps these robot bodies are not their native forms, and another shows something transforming into a human. Yeah, that's not creepy at all or anything. There's no commentary with this video, but plenty of crazy lookin' enemies. Perhaps it's better this way, after the developers insulted the entire realm of Western gaming in their last developer diary. Ironically, the robotic bad guys look a lot like the sentient Geth from Mass Effect.
Has your interest been piqued? Dark Void will be out in North America on January 19 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 -- January 22 for Europe. As for that upcoming film adaption starring Brad Pitt? We have no idea, and some of us are still hoping the movie news was an elaborate prank cooked up by someone's publicist spending too many hours with the company bong; video game movies make us cry inside.
On the PETA website, you'll find flash games that uses mostly cartoon violence to promote the group's messages. Well, a Danish group has taken that a step further with a more realistic-looking experience.
The 2002 non-government organization (NGO) Children Exposed to Violence at Home has seen a sudden traffic boost to their website since launching their "Hit the Bitch" flash game. In the game, you control a surly appendage with your mouse or webcam and slap around a young lady with it. It starts out with a woman (presumably your girlfriend) walking up to you saying that she had a wonderful evening and danced with numerous people. Obviously you, the man with threatening hand, will have to show her who's in charge.
As you rough her up, hip music plays in the background, and a meter at the top of the page rates your "Gangsta" level. Upon reaching 100 percent, the game ends and calls the player an idiot, before showing your girlfriend lying on the floor in tears.
The group's website has gotten so much traffic over this game that most links will just take you to a page with this notice:
Dear non-danish visitor,
Due to an extremely high amount of traffic "Hit the Bitch" has been limited to only allow users from Denmark.
However, domestic violence is a global problem, so please support the fight against it in your local country.
Thanks for your interest.
Kind regards Children exposed to Violence at Home
If you're interested in checking out the game or sharing it on Facebook, this particular URL still works. Anyone fluent in Danish can feel free to fill us in on the dialogue.
When they're not making disturbing flash games, Children Exposed to Violence at Home finds other ways of promoting domestic abuse awareness, mainly targeting children or teens, whom they hope will come forward more often about the abuse these young'uns witness.
Futuremark has released a minor update for Shattered Horizon that brings a couple change in-game and introduces Steam Guest Passes.
As of this week, Futuremark has been handing out Guest Passes to existing players, who can then invite friends to try the game for themselves. Alternatively, the game's community and Steam forums are filled with players giving out unused passes.
Other changes are as follows:
"ROLL LEFT" AND "ROLL RIGHT" CAN NOW BE ASSIGNED TO INDIVIDUAL KEYS. Fans of Descent, space-sims, and other six-degrees-of-freedom games now have more options to set up and play Shattered Horizon the way they want.
EACH GRENADE TYPE CAN BE ASSIGNED TO A QUICK SELECT KEY A quick-key for each grenade type makes it easier to select and fire the right one when under pressure
CHANGES TO THE COLOR OF THE EMP GRENADE EFFECT. The color of the EMP lightning effect on players has been changed from blue to white to better balance the effect on MMC players.
Always nice to know when developers are listening to their fanbase. A few bugs have also been eliminated, as you can see below in the complete patch notes:
NEW CONTROL OPTIONS - Each grenade type can now be assigned to a separate quick-select key. - "Roll left" and "Roll right" can now be assigned to individual keys. You can adjust the roll speed when rolling with keys. While you are rolling with keys the mouse is completely free to aim. - Both the mouse and the individual keys can be used to roll in-game, you don't have to choose between them so are free to use different roll methods depending on which you prefer for each situation. - Help screens and FPS-counter controls can now be bound to different keys in the controls menu. - Added mouse wheel support to controls.
GAME CHANGES - The color of the EMP lightning effect on players has been changed from blue to white. This change is to reduce confusion when MCC (yellow) players are EMPed. The EMP particle effect however is still blue and will be changed in a future update. - When typing a message using in-game chat, a history of all in-game chat messages will appear. The text will disappear automatically after a short time.
BUG FIXES - Firing the weapon in silent running mode now plays the correct muffled audio. - Fixed a rare bug that caused rendering to freeze while the game continued running. - Fixed an occasional issue that resulted in a player spawning into a level with too much speed. - Fixed an issue with shadows initializing incorrectly, which could cause aliased sharp edges. - Fixed a bug with in-game chat where lines of text could appear on top of each other. - Fixed a bug that allowed in-game chat to be used while in silent running mode.
Despite having everything going against it (the PC userbase's higher standards, dropping almost all the features of Modern Warfare, and carrying a higher price tag), Modern Warfare 2 has already outsold its predecessor on the platform, says Infinity Ward developer Robert Bowling.
Sales numbers have been disturbingly high overall, as you know, but many likely didn't expect the PC release to do so hot in light of the changes. Not so, says Bowling in the developer's forums -- while the platform accounted for a very low 3 % of total sales, it has outsold the previous game with "tremendous" first week numbers.
PC games are almost always outdone by their console counterparts, of course, but we didn't realize it was more than 30 times as much, which makes the notion of dedicated servers almost seem absurd, given what's happened here. However, games like the upcoming Battlefield: 1943, Bad Company 2, and Aliens vs. Predator will have them in place, so all hope is not yet lost.
Need for Speed SHIFT is getting even better next month with the free 'Team Racing pack', which includes a new mode and five new cars.
The mode, of course, is Team Racing. This new way to play pits two teams of six against each other in the online arena -- team tactics will be needed to get the advantage on your opponents.
As for the new cars, these are pretty legendary machines (all but the Supra are pictured):
1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427
1967 Shelby GT-500
1969 Dodge Charger R/T
1971 Dodge Challenger R/T
1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV
Launch date for the DLC is December 1 on Xbox 360 and December 10 on PlayStation 3 (December 3 for Europe). EA tells us it's set for PC December 3, "the same day as the Xbox 360 release", so, either the third or first, then.
If you've not tried the game yet, a demo is out for consoles and PC. It's not a traditional NFS title by any means, but just as great.
NCSoft, Sony, Turbine, Blizzard, Jagex named in lawsuit over multiplayer technology
New York-based holdings company Paltalk Holdings just can't stand seeing these damn MMO publishers making money off their technology. So they did the only sensible thing they could think of: sue the crap out of everyone.
If Paltalk sounds familiar, you may remember them from a 2006 case, in which the company faced off against Microsoft over multiplayer technology found in Halo games. That particular incident was settled out of court mid-trial. While Paltalk didn't exactly win, they didn't actually lose either. Now they're going after the MMO developers and publishers, having named Sony, NCSoft, Activision Blizzard, Turbine Studios, and Jagex Ltd. in this latest patent lawsuit.
So what's the issue this time? Paltalk is asserting that the multiplayer technology that allows players to interact in the same digital environments simultaneously is currently theirs, following their 2002 purchase of various related patents. Now these big shots are using that very same technology in their respective games, which Paltalk sees as an obvious violation.
The suit was filed in Marshall, Texas, where Paltalk's case against Microsoft was also being tried. As it turns out, most patent legal lawsuits start there because its courts are considered plaintiff-friendly.
A sequel to one of the arguably better RTS games of the last 5 years, Supreme Commander 2, has been officially announced to be arriving next Spring. Some new screenshots were released with today's release date announcement, showing off the new engine in action.
Supreme Commander 2 features future-humans and two alien races, for factions in the game. The three races don't like each other all that much. In fact, they are locked in an Infinite War. Which means that there probably be many more sequels for to this game.
Supreme Comander 2 is being made by Gas Powered Games, and published by Square Enix. The lead designer for the game is Vancouver-born industry veteran Chris Taylor. "The partnership with Square Enix has been a highlight of my career," Chris was quoted as saying. "I couldn’t be more proud of what the team has accomplished, as the game has continually exceeded all of my expectations throughout its development."
Like the first game, you can expect to battle on ground, in the air, and in the sea. The sequel will feature enhanced customizable armies and deadlier, bigger, skull-crushing robots with giant laser cannons for arms. In the game, you actually play as the Supreme Commander -- a robot battlesuit from which you command your armies. Lose your commander and it's all over.
In this video, Mr. Taylor does a walk through of the game. With PC games it seems it is pretty rare that a company actually makes its release date -- but for Supreme Commander 2, it is looking like they'll actually be releasing in the Spring, just like they've been saying. Check it out:
Supreme Commander 2 will be available for the PC and the Xbox 360, this time around. Perhaps like the first game, the sequel will be one of the very few games with well implemented, specialized dual monitor support.
Comes with soundtrack CD, art book, vinyl LP and more
BioShock fans will be happy to hear that details concerning a new Special Edition of the second game have been unveiled today.
The kit will set you back a hundred clams if you live in the US (or $90 for the PC version), but it appears it will be worth it. Besides the game, you get a soundtrack CD, a 164 page art book showing concept drawings and such, three Rapture propaganda posters, and a vinyl LP featuring BioShock's orchestra music.
Sounds pretty good, though the vinyl LP might not impress everyone, as working record players have grown more rare than white buffaloes. Instead of the vinyl LP, maybe they should have thrown in some EVE hypos instead.
Once these Special Edition versions are sold out, they aren't coming back. So if you want to get one, pre-order it pronto. It will be released on the same day as the regular version of the game, on February 9th.
Bad decisions make for shame, says former employee
Makers of the forthcomingvigilante romp The Saboteur, Pandemic Studios, are shutting down, if you haven't heard. Following the news, an anonymous developer has posted on the NeoGAF forums, an occasional hangout for industry types, giving his thoughts on the decision.
Emotions have run high for many people since the announcement, for gamers, publishers and developers alike. Those familiar with Pandemic's work, for example, have said it's deserved on some level, as mismanagement has been abound at the company for years. The developer in question here, posting under the name Zeenbor, reveals this is indeed the case:
"The reason why the studio closed down has everything to do with the existing Pandemic management. From what we were told, Pandemic management was given free reign to do as they please. Time and time again, they dropped the ball with bad decisions (promoting/keeping people based on loyalty, no production accountability, misallocation of resources, poor milestone objectives, no mentoring, etc.). It's a true shame, as there was a lot of talent and passion at the studio."
One member responds later in the thread with, "Sad news dude. Although if I were you I don't know if I'd go around bad mouthing management no matter how true it is. The industry is pretty small and something like this could get back to you." Zeenbor's thoughts? "F*ck it":
"See, that's the problem with humanity. Everyone is looking out for themselves. I say f*ck it. The truth needs to be told.
Philosophy aside, I'd say the circumstances warrant the truth. A lot of misconceptions are going around and EA management is being ragged for something that isn't necessarily their fault."
He notes Pandemic was an expensive studio to maintain, and the last two games, Mercenaries 2 and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest weren't "up to snuff", as the community has attested to.
We wouldn't feel terribly bad either if it wasn't for The Saboteur, a game featuring a "street-tough Irish racing mechanic" out for revenge in Nazi-occupied Europe that looks to be full of flavour and awfully promising. "Zeenbor" says, continuing, it's definitely a shame:
"EA is totally sending Saboteur out to die. And it's a f*cking shame. It's easily Pandemic's best game yet. Of course, I am a bit biased having worked on the game for so long. If you were disappointed with Mercs 2 and LOTR (who wasn't?) and enjoyed previous Pandemic games, give Saboteur a shot."
NVIDIA teamed up the folks at Smooth Creations and a world-class case modder by the name of Richard “Darth Beavis” Surroz to build a hell of a gaming PC that is now for sale on eBay.
The idea came from NVIDIA employee, and former hardware editor guy, Paul Jastrzebski, who has had a friend of his recently diagnosed with a multiple myeloma -- a cancer of the blood. 100 percent of the proceeds of this sale will be going to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And as you can see from the pictures, this system is pretty bad ass.
The case goes without saying; as for the rest of it: you get the best CPU out right now, the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, watercooled, and dual GTX 295s are on graphics duty. Then you get 3D Vision (which we have a review of coming soon, by the way), and 12GB of Crucial Ballistix DDR3. Two 256GB SSD's in a Raid 0 setup will be storing the games, and two 1TB drives will take care of everything else. An Asus Rampage II Gene X58 motherboard gets the job done here.
So whatta-ya say? Want to place a bid? Right now the system is at $3,500 USD; NVIDIA probably hopes it sell for at least $10,000 USD.
If your parents, wife, or whomever is not convinced that you need this computer, just tell them it is for charity.
Major update improves matchmaking, online performance, achievements, more
Hit multiplayer shooter Section 8 saw its first major patch release last week if you missed it, bringing the game up to version 1.1 and including a ton of bug fixes, on top of matchmaking and online performance improvements.
The release notes are rather long, so below we've included just the "major" changes; see the rest at the source. Grab the patch through Games for Windows LIVE.
MAJOR
Automatch: several improvements to improve responsiveness and likelihood of finding a good match
Ranked Stats: fixed some issues with stats getting lost, new records now show at match end
Tank: Improved controls
Achievements: Fixed issues with not being awarded in certain situations
Projectiles: Improved behavior in high latency situations to be more reliable
AI: bots will now help defend human squadmates
Multiplayer: several improvements related to high latency situations
Reclaim the honour of Ferelden's fallen king this winter
Keeping to their word on the two-year plan for Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare will be releasing the first batch of post-launch DLC this holiday season for North Americans and Europeans. Titled "Return to Ostagar", it sees you heading to the site of the Grey Wardens' near-extinction by the darkspawn, a place thought lost to bloodshed and time, now covered in snow and infested by the enemy.
With rumours a survivor of the battle has escaped captivity and is seeking the help of the Grey Wardens, it is there you will exact your revenge, reclaim the honor of Ferelden's fallen King Cailan, discover his political secrets, and search for his powerful arms and armor.
"Return to Ostagar" will also provide a second opportunity to add the Mabari hound 'Dog' to your party.
No specific launch date is set for the new content, but we do know it will be selling for $5.00 USD on PSN and 400 points on PC and Xbox 360.
Tales of MonkeyIsland is coming to an end with the final episode, Rise of the Pirate God, coming December 8.But a big problem has come to light: the hero, Guybrush Threepwood, has disappeared.
It seems that the mightiest pirate to ever grace the Caribbean has vanished without a trace along with his wife Elaine Marley-Threepwood as a result of the events in The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood.The inhabitants suspect Guybrush’s nemesis LeChuck (who has been thrice defeated in ghost, zombie, and demon forms) may have something to do with the missing couple, but even he is nowhere to be found.The answer to these mysteries, including other lingering questions, shall be revealed in this last episode.Or maybe they haven’t checked the water yet since Guybrush does have an uncanny talent for holding his breath underwater -- as long as 10 minutes.
Telltale Games is honoring the seemingly doomed pirate by offering the current four episodes of Tales of Monkey Island for $8.95 each.Already bought an episode?You also have the option of upgrading to get the remaining chapters at a discount price.Either way, don’t miss out on the long-awaited continuation of the Monkey Island series.
Ever hear of the Midnight Riders? Think about the "Dark Carnival" campaign in Left 4 Dead 2 -- ring any bells?
For those who still haven't got a clue, the Midnight Riders are a fictitious rock group in Left 4 Dead 2, and players see posters for their concert all over the fairgrounds. In fact, if you hang around one of the safe houses long enough, Ellis (or "Ellie," as I call him) and Coach begin chatting about the group, with more references throughout the corresponding mission. Apparently the band was known for their kickass stage effects, including lasers and fireworks.
Seems Valve is planning to do something with the group too. A Midnight Riders website was discovered in these past couple days, though there's nothing on the page except artwork of the band members and a "Coming Soon" notice. Glancing at the page info, we see the site was last edited on November 17; seeing as how it was picked up by most media outlets today, it may have launched just yesterday.
There's nothing solid on the Midnight Riders project, so we've only got the teaser website to go on for now.
Capcom has announced today that the Ace Attorney series will be available via WiiWare in 2010. Phoenix Wright on the Wii? Win!
The former DS exclusives will be released one at a time, starting with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in January, when Wright defends his childhood friend Larry Butz and inadvertently gains courtroom fame. The second game, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE FOR ALL follows up in March, with TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS set for May. Wii owners can also pick up the Ace Attorney bonus episode in May from the DS version, for an additional 100 Wii Points.
Each game will go for 1,000 Wii Points, or $10.00 USD, which isn't at all steep considering you'll be playing one of the most beloved handheld franchises to date; due to unexpected popularity in the West, the entire series has sold over 3.7 million units worldwide. The touch screen features will likely be gone, unfortunately, unless Nintendo unveils a touch-sensitive television monitor peripheral between now and January 2010. Otherwise, you're getting the same product as seen on GBA, from visuals to sound, without any Wii-exclusive content.
Now if anyone knows who those two cosplayers are, please send the Miles Edgeworth my way.
Artificial Mind & Movement CEO discusses how the industry cheats the system
A panel at the Montreal International Game Summit revealed some interesting but unsurprising issues within the gaming industry. Seems publishers "cheat" the ESRB to get lower ratings.
In theory, a lower ESRB rating means the game will reach a wider audience. As such, publishers will make an effort to earn a lower rating, even when the game in question is clearly "Mature." To clarify, the ESRB states that games rated "Teen" are suitable for kids 13-years and up, while "Mature" games are for young adults above 17.
During the panel, Artifical Mind & Matter (A2M) CEO Remi Racine noted that in his experience, many publishers will actually intentionally deceive the North American ratings board:
“As a developer who has worked with a lot of different publishers, we’re aware of many that have tried to cheat the rating. They say to the ERSB that it’s a Teen rating rather than an Mature to try and sell more; you can do this just by sending them a video that doesn’t show the most violent stuff and then you’ll get the rating that you want rather than the rating you should get.
“We have to make sure that everyone behaves and that the ERSB is duly diligent. Maybe getting your game out at a certain rating will help that game, but it’s really not going to help the industry as a whole.
Racine believes that the industry isn't handling the ratings issue properly and more effort needs to be made. Still, it's not all on the publishers to educate concerned parents; rather, the responsibility falls on everyone involved in the process:
“Right now I don’t think the industry is doing enough to educate the audience. The ERSB is supposed to do it, but it feels like we just kind of expect these kind of industry or government bodies to do the job for us. As much as I don’t think it’s the place of EA or Activision to go off and try and inform parents on their own, a more active role needs to be taken by all participants to ensure our artists are free to express themselves and that content can be enjoyed responsibly.”
Eidos Montreal's Stephanie D'Astous agrees that parents do have a responsibilty to educate their children, but publishers also have a responsibility to those parents. Far Cry 2 creative director Clint Hocking noted that ratings aren't just about protecting kids, as developers want their games to reach the appropriate audience -- one capable of appreciating their work:
“We must empower and enable artists to say something meaningful with what they create ... on a corporate level the vast majority of our efforts should be allowing artists to say the things that are important for them to say, without fear.”
After the panel session, ESRB spokesperson Eliot Mizrachi clarified the board's position, stating that publishers have little to gain by hiding content; even if they do, the ESRB finds out sooner or later, and there will be hell to pay:
“ESRB takes full disclosure of content during the rating process extremely seriously, and companies that submit their games to ESRB know this very well. We regularly check games post-release to verify that submissions were complete, and it’s very likely that if a game contains undisclosed content that would have affected the rating assigned, we’ll find out about it. In such cases ESRB can actually impose fines up to $1 million as well as require corrective actions like re-labeling or even recalling product, both of which can obviously be very costly. There’s no incentive whatsoever for publishers to withhold content from ESRB in an effort to receive a lower rating, and those that would do so risk significant penalties.”
Whether or not companies are actively trying to cheat their way to lower game ratings, it's unlikely we'll get a forthcoming response from the ESRB. After all, they do need their dignity. The issue of appropriate game ratings is this decade's hot topic, and as the gaming industry continues to expand, it's hard to say when the controversy will die down.
"I don't know who started this conspiracy; but I know who will end it."
Assassin's Creed II hit shelves just yesterday, and today we've got the launch trailer for you all. With all the competition out there this month, you may be debating which game to spend your hard-earned cash on.
Well, like any other publisher out to make some money of their own, Ubisoft released a tantalizing launch trailer, hoping that Ezio's rich accented voice and the game's general shininess will catch your attention. In this video, we again see Ezio's father at the gallows, while the poor (not literally) young man is left brimming with hatred. While he initially sets out on the assassin's path for revenge, he soon discovers that he is a part of something much bigger.
Are you that guy who isn't playing Modern Warfare 2?
Although it might not have been the best week to launch any new game, what with Modern Warfare 2 out and everything, Codemasters put out a PC demo for their tactical FPS Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising today.
This long-name game puts you in the shoes of a grunt in an artic island named Skira, which is based on the actual island called Kiska. Guess what? Those pesky Russians are up to their old video game tricks and starting another war. It'd be nice to see the US start a video game war sometime but I guess that would be too "unrealistic."
The game features many weapons (modelled after realistic modern arms) and vehicles. On the downside, some folks have said the game's A.I. falls short of expectations. If you'd like to give the demo a whirl, you can get it here.
You'll need to be at least this tall to play this game:
Operating system: Windows XP SP2 or later
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c
Graphics card: Nvidia 7600GT 256mb or ATI X1800XL 256mb
Breaking video game and movie sales records, Activision rolling in (even more) dough
Well, Activision and Infinity Ward certainly have even more reason to celebrate now. Five days after its release, Modern Warfare 2 has now made $550 million in sales, breaking all previous first-to-five day entertainment industry box office records.
You can bet Bobby Kotick is pleased. The CEO of Activision Blizzard happily issued this statement:
“In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon. The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather engage in other forms of media.”
Activision also released some revenue figures from other entertainment record-breakers (books, movies, video games) for comparison. The numbers are certainly impressive, but it looks like Modern Warfare 2 does indeed come out on top, showing Batman, Harry Potter, and Niko Bellic who's boss.
The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)
The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)
Microsoft contributed a few fun facts of their own, adding to all this Modern Warfare 2 posturing. It's not totally unwarranted; the game broke Xbox LIVE user activity records as well.
More than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone.
More than 2.2 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in one day on November 10. A new one-day record for Xbox LIVE.
More than 11 million Achievements were unlocked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day.
Despite all this, Activision noted that they are not yet ready to breathe easy given these shifty economic times. We're not sure why given those mind-numbing figures, but we're business people.
Asus has teamed up with Nvidia to bring a notebook with 3D Vision to market. It will be arriving next month, at your local hardware store. This 3D display notebook looks like it will be the first of many.
THe G51J features a 120 Hz display that is capable of showing 3D images when wearing Nvidia's 3D glasses. It is the same technology found on Nvidia's desktop 3D Vision system (which we will be reviewing quite soon). Powering the 3D hardware will be a GTX 260m and a Core i7 processor. Further specifications are not available at this time. This unit is reported to be going to market with a $1,700 USD price-tag.
Major update adds new functionality, tons of tweaks, bug fixes, and more
EA Play's massively successful The Sims 3 hasn't seen an update since the summer, so if anything's been bothering you since then, today's patch is likely to fix it.
It's a major one: version 1.5/1.6 adds some new tools to the Build/Buy mode, brings a huge amount of tweaks and fixes, some minor new functionality, and more.
It's important to note some users are experiencing problems as a result of the patch, including corruption of their file, inability to save and more. For the save issue, EA recommends for now to use the 'Save As...' function to create a new save game with the current data. Erring on the side of caution, you could wait until a newer version of the patch is out. Update: a newer patch has since been released, numbered 1.7/2.2 and fixing the save game incompatibility issue.
Anyhow, the release notes are far too big to post here, but check the source. The patch should be available via the EA Download Manager, but if you're paranoid like us and didn't install it, grab it via the alternate source below.
Konami releases today its second patch for the soccer fan favourite Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, following its launch earlier this month.
The list of changes is awfully small, but should make a big difference for many players. See the list with notes below, and grab the patch at the source.
Fixed the problem of edit data reverting to default once the download content is implemented in-game.
In view of the current issues, we have temporarily stopped users playing the game on PC's with different CPU manufacturers from being matched in Quick Match.
Please be made aware that sometimes, during installation, the process may appear to have stalled with the window status shown as "not responding" for a few minutes. However, we would like to ask you to wait for the installation to resume rather than to retry or abort as the installation is in progress even when the above symptoms occur. We would like to thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
A few months ago, Funcom axed a good 20 percent of its staff and delayed their upcoming modern fantasy MMO Secret World. Some cried, some laughed; in the end we assumed all would turn out well. Unfortunately, that may not be the case.
The Age of Conan publisher is reporting a nasty Q3, with revenues dropping by 68.5 percent since last year and now sitting at $5.7 million -- barely more than their Q3 2008 profits of $3.3 mil. Total losses for the year-on-year period have hit $9.6 million.
Funcom blames all this on the decline of Anarchy Online and Age of Conan being released around the same time last year. Year-to-date figures actually show that revenue may have declined from $31.3 to $20 million.
The publisher's reports had also hinted at five upcoming free-to-play online games, supported by microtransactions; they've got some pretty vague labels too: ‘Tactics Game’, ‘Sci-Fi Game’, ‘Extreme Sports Game’, ‘Licensed Brand Game’ and 'Database Game’. We're still hoping Secret World.
Up until now, we've seen plenty of Command & Conquer 4 screenshots, but never any gameplay footage. So today, EA finally released the debut gameplay trailer, featuring plenty of crazy units you've likely been hearing about these past few months.
Set for release on March 15, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight centers are a climactic moment in the ongoing conflict between GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod, as hinted in the announcement trailer. The two warring factions may need to cease their violent squabbling, as humanity teeters on the edge of extinction, with only six years left to prevent their own demise. Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty good reason to stop a war...
Left 4 Dead 2 may have ruined the first game for you with all its improvements, but how about "downgrading" to an NES version?
Gamer and programmer Eric Ruth is making a name for himself and his company Pixel Force with his own take on Left 4 Dead. He recently posted the first gameplay video, featuring the first mission from the "No Mercy" campaign. Ruth has promised to include all four campaigns in their entirety for the final game, though the video shows his progress as of November 15. The full game will be released on January 4, 2010, for free download.
Here are some details from the creator:
This game play footage gives you an idea of what the project looks like in action and how it plays. As you can see, it's a standard top-down 4 directional action/shooter. Remade in the NES retro style, the resolution is at 256 x 240 and features 16 colors and a 4 sound channel soundtrack.
Has Valve heard about this? Not yet, but Ruth is pretty sure they'll find his reimagining of their hit zombie shooter as entertaining as his followers. Anyway, check out the video below; it actually looks pretty fun!
Case-maker (and mouse and PSU maker) NZXT revised their mid-range gamer case, the Tempest, today. The new version is called the Tempest EVO. We are guessing that EVO is short for evolution.
The old Tempest was a relatively popular gamer case that strove to deliver great air circulation for a case around the $100 mark. Neoseeker reviewed the case back in June.
Three areas where the Tempest recieved an upgrade has been in the cooling department, the expandability department, and the cable management department. The Tempest EVO supports dual 120mm intake fans, dual 140mm top exhaust fans, and a side and a rear 120mm. The case has been expanded a bit to better bit the massive video cards of the current generation and PSUs, in addition to fitting up to 8 HDs. Pre-drilled strategically located holes help for the cable management.
This case will be selling for $99.99. Here is the product page. Unfortunately, as of yet, there isn't that much in the way of photos of this new case. Not that it looks vastly different than the regular Tempest though.
If you are building a new PC these days, most people should be fine with 6GB. But hey,everybody could use more memory right?
Kingston has introduced a new 12GB memory kit. It is 6 2GB modules. So, you'll be able to run your X58 in three channel mode if you like.
The memory is rated to fly at 1600 MHz with 9-9-9-27 timings. They feature the recognizable blue HyperX heat sinks, at run at a reasonable 1.65V. Best of all, the kit will be selling for around $400 USD -- which is pretty good for 12GB (only Corsair has a 12GB kit for about this price).
"System builders and heavy-users who deploy 12GB of Kingston HyperX triple-channel memory will find performance increases in such tasks as video encoding, processing large photo files, graphical rendering and extreme PC games,” said Marc Bernier of Kingston Technology. "The 12GB memory kit helps increase overall system performance in 64-bit operating systems."
Improved HQ video playback, increased support for ATI video converter, and bug fixes included
Hot on the heels of NVIDIA, ATI has just released its 9.11 set of video card drivers today for HD2000 series cards and newer, running under Windows XP, Windows Vista or 7.
Also like NVIDIA, ATI has improved high quality video streaming in light of Adobe's latest flash release, as well as improved support for their video converter tool, on top of a ton of resolved issues. If you care to see the difference in streaming, look no further:
Your highlights are below; grab the full release notes and the drivers at the source. Of course, uninstall the old set and clean them out with Driver Sweeper before installing the new.
New Features
GPU Acceleration of H.264 video content using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta
This release of ATI Catalyst™ supports the new Hardware Acceleration features of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta for video encoded in the H.264 format.
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta introduces hardware-based H.264 video decoding to deliver smooth video playback, reduced system resource utilization, and to help preserve battery life.
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta is expected to be available for download from Adobe Labs (labs.adobe.com) before the end of the year. This feature is supported on the ATI Radeon™ HD 5800, ATI Radeon™ HD 5700 and ATI Radeon HD™ 4000 Series of products.
High Quality downscaling for Video Transcoding MSE
This release of ATI Catalyst™ includes an enhancement for the ATI Video converter for users Transcoding high quality interlaced content (1920×1080i @60i videos) down to small resolution progressive content (320×240 @30p – iPod videos as an example), by maintaining high visual quality when down-scaling by a significant amount and converting interlaced video content to progressive.
Highlights of the Linux ATI Catalyst™ 9.11 release include:
New Features
Support for new Linux operating systems
This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems:
Smoother HD playback, DirectCompute support, and more SLI and multi-GPU support inside
NVIDIA has today released its 195.55 set of drivers for select laptop and desktop GPUs (to see if yours is supported, see below, or the 'Supported Products' tab at the source for the full list).
As of 11AM PST at least, 32-bit versions of Windows XP don't get to take advantage of this update, so it could be time to consider switching to Windows 7.
Highlights of the highlights include smoother playback of HD videos, DirectCompute support for 7 users, and added SLI/multi-GPU support. The list is below (note some items apply only to Windows Vista and 7); hit the source for the full release notes, where of course you can also grab the drivers.
As always, uninstall the old set first and use a program like Driver Sweeper to clean 'em out before installing the new set.
RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS :
This driver supports the following NVIDIA GPUs (there are some exceptions – please refer to the Products Supported tab):
GeForce 8M, 9M, 100M, and 200M-series notebook GPUs.
Quadro NVS-series notebook GPUs (only those that support DirectX 10 or higher).
Quadro FX-series notebook GPUs (only those that support DirectX 10 or higher).
New in this release:
Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.
Adds support for DirectCompute with Windows 7.
Adds support for OpenGL 3.2.
Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language).
Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.
Bug fixes, improved server browsing, voice chat, and 3D Vision support noted
Been plugging away at Gearbox's co-op shooter RPG? Well, little buddy, things got a little better as of late last evening, when the developer released the first patch for the game, fixing up numerous bugs and improving several features and functions, including server support, voice chat, and 3D Vision.
Note of course digital versions of the PC title must be patched through the outlet you purchased from -- those updates should be available shortly.
Check the release notes below, and grab the patch at the source.
Update 1.0.1 Notes:
Characters that have lost skill points will have the lost points refunded
Clients will no longer lose proficiency progress upon leaving a co-op game
Item cards now display the intended five lines of detail text
Lilith's Phase strike and melee attacks from Phase Walk now function as intended
Voicechat: users can now control volume and individually mute players
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused CL4P-TP to stop progressing during the introduction
Server browser population times have been improved
Server information should now always display the correct plot mission
Benchmarking feature now works as intended
Nvidia 3D Vision visuals now render shadows correctly (requires minimum 195.28 drivers, available from nVidia)
EA cost cuts result in closure of The Saboteur developer
Ever since the current generation of consoles, it is fair to say Pandemic Studios have been dragging their feet in terms of bringing successive games to the table: both Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest were pegged as mediocre titles.
Today, 200 Pandemic employees based in Los Angeles were laid off, sparking fearful rumours of the developer closing. Unfortunately, these rumours have been confirmed via an internal memo from Electronic Arts.
Instead of obliterating the developer entirely, EA have literally gutted what they call the "core IP team" and moved them into EA's Los Angeles studio, letting go a number of employees including the CEO, studio president and vice president of the development team. Though this seems like a tragic end, EA have spoken out, saying the franchises Pandemic created will still live on, and the decision to wipe out the developer was to restructure the company's costs following its Q2 financial report.
Pandemic was established back in 1998, and though not a very well known developer, Electronic Arts took interest in the company with the release of Mercenaries and the Star Wars Battlefront series'; critics assumed with the aid of such a massive publisher, the developer would continue to pump out outstanding titles for gaming platforms. Though Pandemic itself does not exist anymore, as mentioned earlier, EA will be continuing the team's work, with The Saboteur still scheduled for release December 8.
When the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 was revealed to omit some typical features seen in FPS PC games, the backlash from the community was nothing short of tremendous; some went as far as boycotting the game in their protest. The shooter may have garnered very impressive sales amidst the controversy but the success shouldn't get to Activision and Infinity Ward's heads just yet: with no more than a week gone by since the game's release, more direct signs of defiance have appeared in the form of hacks and modifications.
A hacker on the Guru3D forums has posted a modification to enable access to the developer console for MW2. This enables players to change and activate internal features such as kicking players, change field of view, use a third-person camera, lean over walls, and alter some of the more delicate settings within the game. It's worth noting among the console commands are some Xbox Live-related strings present as well. Shouldn't take much effort to figure out why those are there.
Another hacker at TeknoGods has posted their own mod to allow internet and LAN play. Those who wish to make use of this item as well -- as enable the dev console -- break terms and rules set by Infinity Ward and run the risk of getting banned outright from Steam thanks to the Valve Anti-Cheat system. It's rather interesting to see players who want access to such staple features are treading on unstable ground in this case.
As nefarious as these modifications may seem, the hacker who enabled the developer console expressed his intent "to convince IW to release an official patch to enable console support" once they see how many use it. Unfortunately, every attempt on Infinity Ward's forums have resulted in the threads getting deleted but efforts continue to persevere. We'll wait and see how Activision and Infinity Ward officially respond to the whole situation and the olive branch extended to them.
A new job posting from Electronic Arts reveals the upcoming sequel to survival horror title Dead Space will have online multiplayer, or at least that is the plan at this stage.
The ad is for the position of Senior Online Level Designer and describes "extremely fun, satisfying and polished" online multiplayer levels. Co-op isn't mentioned, so we can assume that's out of the picture (thankfully).
With that in mind, the first thought that comes to you is probably human vs. human TPS gameplay a la Lost Planet, but we can't really imagine that for the likes of Dead Space, so here's hoping for a more Left 4 Dead / Killing Floor-style setup, with a few (or many) Necromorphs going up against one human player.
Single-player fans should rest easy: the ad reassures the game will still have the story-driven mode intact. For both modes, "gameplay comes first."
First update for Epic's development kit fixes imperative issues
The first update for Epic Games' toolset Unreal Development Kit (UDK) has been released today, addressing "the most common installation issues and significant application problems" for budding and professional game developers.
This marks phase two of the beta; expect many more updates in the future, particularly as we roll closer to a "final" edition.
Release notes are below; further details can be had at Unreal Developer Network. Grab the update via the alternate source at bottom.
Shader compiler no longer crashes when the log is not writable.
Game/editor will run without having to first check for existing script files.
Windows XP: Emissive lights causing purple lighting have been fixed.
Windows 7: Added new SpeedTree binaries to address OS-specific issue.
Added check to confirm GPU meets minimum requirements.
Implemented fix for some SpeedTree trees causing crashes.
Added fix for invalid characters being allowed in journal files causing database corruption.
Incorporated fix for making a game in non-English and then running it on another non-English machine.
Installer
If a prerequisite fails to install, the install will still continue and warn at the end.
Enhanced the check for a valid install path.
If the installer is skipped, the EULA comes up once.
Fixed CZE install not finding the EULA.
Fixed problem if temp install folders were deleted between install and uninstall.
Fixed problem if maps were named in non-ASCII characters.
Upon completing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, many gamers likely wondered, "Why couldn't I play as Ghost?" Don't bother hiding it: you're in love with the man.
Anyway, it seems Infinity Ward took his popularity into account. Ghost, also known as Sergeant Riley (swoon), already has his own spin-off comic on the way, detailing his adventures prior to the events of Modern Warfare 2; looks like a video game isn't totally out of the question.
Craig Fairbrass, Ghost's voice actor, hinted as much during the game's UK launch event when he spoke to "Inside Xbox," Microsoft's very own digital magazine on Xbox LIVE:
“I did in the last game a voice for a character called Gaz and in this game I’m now voicing a guy called Ghost, who now just got a spin-off comic of his own and they’re talking about another little game to go with it so, I’m quite excited about it. It’s grown and grown and grown.”
By "they" we assume he means Infinity Ward. You can check out the entire "episode" below and hear Fairbrass for yourself.
An FPS without voice chat? Perish the thought! Nexon's insanely popular free-to-play shooter Combat Arms will soon be better in on that.
Nexon announced today that they've formed a partnership with community services provider Vivox to introduce free voice chat to Combat Arms. Talk about a much needed update. I'm sure the game's 3 million or so registered users would appreciate this upcoming addition.
Players have apparently been asking Nexon for voice chat, as VP of marketing Min Kim notes:
"Our players have been asking for this feature and now they’ve got it. And with Vivox as our partner, they’re getting the very best in-game voice chat service possible without paying a dime. Having voice available allows for an even more immersive combat experience."
Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox, notes that the game is "a blast" voice chat, and soon players will be have the in-game voice service at their disposal.
Fan update squashes a ton of bugs, restores more content
If you're a fan of Troika's action horror RPG extravangza Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines, we have another treat for you today. Fan group and host The Patches Scrolls have released yet another update for the game which includes the usual load of bug fixes on top of some delectable restored content.
As before, make sure you're on at least Troika v1.2 before applying, and if you're on a previous fan patch, use one of the incremental upgrades. Patching will default all options; don't continue a game in progress after updating if you don't wish to risk strange behaviour.
Your release notes are below; version 6.6 can be had through the alternate source at bottom. Please enjoy.
Translated Japanese and Russian text, thanks to szhinji and Lenuska.
Added Masquerade redemption for Gary's photo and fixed weapon info.
Gave humanity for Dominating Milligan and fixed tutorial key and xp.
Made Misti refill and fixed prophet and pinball dude not animating.
Fixed fire not triggering at junkyard and basic poster quests mixup.
Restored original flicker-less decals to Dane, netcafe and warrens.
Fixed some dialogue issues of Imalia, LaCroix, Isaac, Jack and Phil.
Adjusted a too strong history and removed many possible text loops.
Locked outer Tawni door and corrected bad Giovanni invitation names.
Corrected clipping problems for Venture Tower lamp and cop glasses.
Fixed frenzy for all clans and eye colours, thanks to Zer0Morph2000.
Prevented Heather from appearing in Hallowbrook if you ignored her.
Restored dialogue tutorial popups and removed Ventrue's rat feeding.
Added the frenzy animation to common NPC models, thanks to DDLullu.
Fixed Voerman emails not appearing and Copper suddenly having money.
Restored Isaac's gift for the warrens in basic being Toreador only.
Used white SWAT skin at Venture Tower and Nines skin at solo ending.
Placed alternative Cal skin into diner and rookie cops on the Dane.
Restored Lu Fang, Therese and hustler to Lotus Blossom and Vesuvius.
Used new Ming skin in Empire hotel and hustler and girl in Asphole.
Restored headless security corpse and severed head to warrens level.
Placed two scrubs into Grout's mansion and bartender in Last Round.
Added raver and female models into Glaze and missing VW bus to pier.
Placed alternative Chang in temple and fixed Luckee Star fireplace.
Used alternative stripper skins at Sin Bin, Vesuvius and Giovanni's.
Restored over two hundred scenery props and over forty sign decals.
Added breakable tomb stone, gas tank, board and phones to warehouse.
Fixed and added breakable air compressor and board into Ash sewers.
Lead designer Daniel Kading discussing Aurelia and other details
As the weekend was upon us, Relic released a new Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising video. In it, lead designer Daniel Kading gives gamers a detailed preview of what to expect with the upcoming expansion.
In Chaos Rising, you'll be facing off against the forces of Chaos, eternal arch nemesis to the proud and zealous Space Marines. There's a little background on the scarred world of Aurelia, new gameplay advancements like gear and a higher level cap, and beautiful new settings that Relic hopes will blow gamers away -- including the Space Hulk and the planet's ice-encased surface.
Keep an eye out for this shiny expansion in March 2010.
The latest Command & Conquer 4 Tiberian Twilight images are rather frosty. These new screens show off a little multiplayer in the Arctic map, no doubt crawling with Mastadons 'n' Orcas -- those dirty GDI (or Nod, depending on whatever floats your boat).
It's certainly more scenic than the previously revealed Junk Town, which doesn't sound or look like a very nice place. So who cares if we blow the crap out of everything? Well, the Arctic is a great deal nicer looking, but we're not sure if anyone is going to notice during actual play.
Pre-order Command & Conquer 4 yet? The incentives still apply, just be wary of the shady details. Certain pre-order bonuses only work with specific outlets, and for once, GameStop won't have everything.
As noted with the release of the first patch, space shooter Shattered Horizon is getting some DLC, and as of this week, you can beta test the first batch.
The 'Moonrise' content, as it called, will add four new levels to the game, and will be free to all players. The new locations are set around the shattered Moon, "taking the fight deeper into space and showing a new side to the conflict."
A release date has not been set; developer Futuremark Games will determine this based on the outcome of the beta. No specific date for the beta launch is announced either -- we'll update with a response from the studio. In the meantime, try loading up the game and seeing if 'Moonrise' is available.
One of the PC's staple game series back in the 90's was Mechwarrior, deemed as one of the best franchises about giant heavily-armed robots destroying each other to smithereens. With a reboot of series in development, fans of Mechwarrior will want to brush the dust off their old discs in anticipation but eventually realize they won't have anybody else to frag.
Worse yet is the fact that it's been nearly a decade since the last game was released and everyone may have forgotten about it or just plain don't know what Mechwarrior is. What's a giant battle mech to do? Enter MekTek, who has just earned the rights to reintroduce Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance to the world as a free download.
The initial announcement for re-release was made back in early July 2009, but MekTek recently noted they will be meeting with the current owners of the Mechwarrior property sometime around Thanksgiving to finalize a release period. In the meantime, we think it's in everyone's best interest to know that MekTek will also be including every single Mechwarrior 4 expansion alongside the main game. This includes Black Knight, Mercenaries, and the Inner Sphere 'Mech Pak, all of which are set to outfit you with every single mech, campaign, map, and weapon right from the start.
If you think you're going to need a beefy rig to run this amount of content, you should refer to the following specs for the game back when it was released in 2000:
300 Mhz CPU
64MB RAM
16MB Video Card
650MB Hard Drive space available
56.6kbps modem
In other words, everybody is going to be able to run this. Except for the modem requirement, though. We hear there's this thing called "broadband" you can use instead.
With such a highly-acclaimed game set to be delivered in its entirety once more for free, there's really no reason to miss out. And for those who are willing to go the extra mile, Mechwarrior 4 also supports a peripheral you young whippersnappers take for granted nowadays: joysticks. Giant robots aren't controlled with keyboards and mice so go get yourself something to get the full Mechwarrior experience. Aside from that, the only things you'd be missing out on are DOS prompts and quad-speed CD-ROM drives.
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