Slashdot Mirror

bmsleight writes "The Guardian has a brief biography of Sims creator Will Wright. Ready for the release of Sims 2 on the 17th September."

Dan Farina writes "The long awaited 'The Sims 2' has gone Gold, as seen on the latest posting on Maxis' The Sims 2 updates page. It appears that it will be on time after all, an unusual occurrence in this industry." I'm already having a strange obsessive twitching in my left leg. I think I might need to use up some vacation time in September.

Thanks to 1UP/OPM for its article discussing what they describe as the 'thugging' of the videogame industry, referencing games such as Def Jam Fight for NY and Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. The piece suggests: "Whether it was established franchises morphing into more streetwise versions of their former selves or new franchises emerging wearing their hip-hop influences on their sleeves, it was clear that the urban lifestyle is being embraced by developers and publishers alike." Marc Ecko argues "I think the problem is that the games industry is generationally nostalgic", and Steve Allison of Midway charges: "The guys bitching about this new trend are inching up on 35 years old, and they grew up on old-school gameplay. They're a very vocal bunch, but they're just not the market anymore."

Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its article discussing the quashing of rumors regarding media giant Viacom buying Electronic Arts, with Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone (also in the process of privately buying into Midway) saying: "We have looked at the obvious companies like Electronic Arts... but their price is so high, it would be dilutive to our earnings. We have ruled it out." Meanwhile, EA's annual financial report has been released, showing "net revenue for fiscal 2004 was $2,957.1 million, up 19.1 percent", and also confirming "an [in-progress] workforce reduction of approximately 117 personnel in development and administrative departments", following the closure/relocation of "the majority of our leased studio facility in Walnut Creek, California and our entire owned studio facility in Austin, Texas." The financials also note that rising online sales from casual gaming portal Pogo.com was "partially offset by a decrease in subscription net revenue from The Sims Online, Ultima Online, and Earth & Beyond subscription services."

Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its article discussing the quashing of rumors regarding media giant Viacom buying Electronic Arts, with Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone (also in the process of privately buying into Midway) saying: "We have looked at the obvious companies like Electronic Arts... but their price is so high, it would be dilutive to our earnings. We have ruled it out." Meanwhile, EA's annual financial report has been released, showing "net revenue for fiscal 2004 was $2,957.1 million, up 19.1 percent", and also confirming "an [in-progress] workforce reduction of approximately 117 personnel in development and administrative departments", following the closure/relocation of "the majority of our leased studio facility in Walnut Creek, California and our entire owned studio facility in Austin, Texas." The financials also note that rising online sales from casual gaming portal Pogo.com was "partially offset by a decrease in subscription net revenue from The Sims Online, Ultima Online, and Earth & Beyond subscription services."

victorvdl writes "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the World War II-themed FPS originally developed by 2015 Inc. is now available for Linux and is shipping right now from Tux Games. The incredible Ryan Gordon aka icculus did the porting. It's nice to see more Linux games being shipped - I'm definitely buying this one."

Thanks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for its interview with Sim City and The Sims creator Will Wright, ostensibly about forthcoming title The Sims 2 - however, Wright also notes that "a new version of 'SimCity' is in early planning stages", lamenting that "'SimCity' kind of worked itself into a corner... We were still appealing to this core 'SimCity' group. It had gotten a little complicated for people who had never played 'SimCity.'" He also espouses his new hobby, 'uncollecting', as he explains, after handing out "lapel pins commemorating the Soviet space program" to the interviewer: "I buy collections on eBay, and I disperse them out to people again. I have to be like an entropic force to collectors, otherwise all of this stuff will get sorted." Update: 05/24 20:10 GMT by S : Commenters note there's a transcript of the same interview with added detail, over at GameSpy.

KIEDIS writes "As the release date for The Sims follow-up approaches you can go download The Sims 2 Body Shop from the official website. This tool allows you to create your own Sims and custom content for the game, before it actually comes out. We still don't know the date of release for The Sims 2 but at least EA/Maxis is giving signs of it getting closer." EA is also hosting a Sims 2 Body Shop Showcase which shows off over 700 Sims. Update: 05/12 20:56 GMT by S : GameSpot are indicating The Sims 2 will debut on September 17th for PC, according to sources at E3.

KIEDIS writes "As the release date for The Sims follow-up approaches you can go download The Sims 2 Body Shop from the official website. This tool allows you to create your own Sims and custom content for the game, before it actually comes out. We still don't know the date of release for The Sims 2 but at least EA/Maxis is giving signs of it getting closer." EA is also hosting a Sims 2 Body Shop Showcase which shows off over 700 Sims. Update: 05/12 20:56 GMT by S : GameSpot are indicating The Sims 2 will debut on September 17th for PC, according to sources at E3.

KIEDIS writes "As the release date for The Sims follow-up approaches you can go download The Sims 2 Body Shop from the official website. This tool allows you to create your own Sims and custom content for the game, before it actually comes out. We still don't know the date of release for The Sims 2 but at least EA/Maxis is giving signs of it getting closer." EA is also hosting a Sims 2 Body Shop Showcase which shows off over 700 Sims. Update: 05/12 20:56 GMT by S : GameSpot are indicating The Sims 2 will debut on September 17th for PC, according to sources at E3.

An anonymous reader writes "The University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, thanks to a multi-million dollar gift from game industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, have started a game design track within the Interactive Media Division. 'The School's rich storytelling tradition and long-standing commitment to technological experimentation make it an ideal partner for EA,' said Don Mattrick of EA. The entire press release can be read from the department's weblog." Interestingly, this donation funds a Electronic Arts-branded degree: "...the EA Interactive Entertainment Program... a 3-year Master of Fine Arts degree program."

Zonk writes "The announcement came down yesterday that Electronic Arts' space-based massively multiplayer online game Earth and Beyond is to close this September. There is a detailed official FAQ page regarding the transition to 'Sunset', including dates, content additions, and information about billing. Commentary can be found via Terra Nova and over on Waterthread. Sigh... another one bites the dust."

Zonk writes "The announcement came down yesterday that Electronic Arts' space-based massively multiplayer online game Earth and Beyond is to close this September. There is a detailed official FAQ page regarding the transition to 'Sunset', including dates, content additions, and information about billing. Commentary can be found via Terra Nova and over on Waterthread. Sigh... another one bites the dust."

Zonk writes "The announcement came down yesterday that Electronic Arts' space-based massively multiplayer online game Earth and Beyond is to close this September. There is a detailed official FAQ page regarding the transition to 'Sunset', including dates, content additions, and information about billing. Commentary can be found via Terra Nova and over on Waterthread. Sigh... another one bites the dust."

Byrne Reese writes "Amidst all the crazy ideas in online video entertainment in the past year, there is a small company called Arena Unlimited that is taking an interesting approach to gaming economies. As near as I can tell, they're trying to open up a multitude of online gameplay services (e.g., opponent matching, free market item trading) to the masses (i.e., open source and independent PC game developers). (I shudder to think what would happen if one could actually introduce a legitimate and real free market economy into The Sims.) It's no Xbox Live, and their list of supported games is pretty small, but if they can do all that they say they may one day support, then sign me up."

Thanks to the Hollywood Reporter for its column discussing major videogames originally due to launch in time for Christmas 2003, but which didn't quite make it. In the course of discussing these titles, which include James Bond 007: Everything Or Nothing, the article notes: "Game publishers, in general, recognize that the Christmas rush... is a huge marketing problem. This past Christmas, they say, there were too many good games coming out at the same time and quite a few didn't sell well." A spokesperson for Microsoft elaborates on this: "My prediction is we'll be spreading out the releases and shipping some in early September and others in January and February of 2005... But we can only do that with really great games that can stand on their own." Is weak sales when launching outside the holiday season a genuine problem, or just a self-perpetuating myth?

Thanks to the Gaming-Age messageboard regulars for pointing to an EA webpage interviewing real-life traffic engineer Sam Schwartz, aka 'Gridlock Sam', and discussing "ways to alleviate traffic congestion in your own virtual metropolis" for Maxis/EA's PC game Sim City 4: Rush Hour. Schwartz notes some of the tricks gamers use to get round traffic congestion in-game: "I have read on the Sim City message boards, and seen screen shots of cities where mayors build roads at certain angles to avoid the creation of a traffic light", but goes on to suggest relevant real-world tactics, particularly noting players should "...use underground rail where [traffic] density is the greatest." However, 'Gridlock Sam' found unexpected social issues even in the virtual city: "One time I made the mistake of turning all my roads into streets thinking I was improving the level of service and therefore congestion would lessen. It did, but now I had Sims yelling at me because their once bucolic roads became bustling streets."

Thanks to the Gaming-Age messageboard regulars for pointing to an EA webpage interviewing real-life traffic engineer Sam Schwartz, aka 'Gridlock Sam', and discussing "ways to alleviate traffic congestion in your own virtual metropolis" for Maxis/EA's PC game Sim City 4: Rush Hour. Schwartz notes some of the tricks gamers use to get round traffic congestion in-game: "I have read on the Sim City message boards, and seen screen shots of cities where mayors build roads at certain angles to avoid the creation of a traffic light", but goes on to suggest relevant real-world tactics, particularly noting players should "...use underground rail where [traffic] density is the greatest." However, 'Gridlock Sam' found unexpected social issues even in the virtual city: "One time I made the mistake of turning all my roads into streets thinking I was improving the level of service and therefore congestion would lessen. It did, but now I had Sims yelling at me because their once bucolic roads became bustling streets."

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting the press release revealing Warner Bros has created a new videogame division, headed by Monolith co-founder Jason Hall, which "will focus on the creation, development, production and distribution of games that will be marketed to consumers under the Warner Bros. Games brand." This represents a change of attitude for Warner Bros, who previously licensed titles such as Harry Potter and The Matrix for external game development, and GameSpot provides some background for the move, noting that new WBIE boss Jason Hall "...was CEO of Monolith Productions, developer of Tron 2.0 and No One Lives Forever 2... There were previous ties between the two companies, since Monolith is currently developing the Matrix MMORPG, The Matrix Online." Update: 01/15 04:22 GMT by S : Game Informer has an interview with Jason Hall about his new position, in which he hints on "...some interesting developments throughout the course of this year... things like the Harry Potter titles."

Thanks to Reuters for their story indicating that the UK videogame software market swelled to a new high of 1.26 billion UKP (2.29 billion USD) in 2003. The piece points out the increasing success of publisher Electronic Arts, "which notched up five of the top 10 selling titles, and the top four overall", and the original ELSPA press release notes that soccer title "FIFA 2004 was the overall [sales] winner." However, Gamesindustry.biz weighs in by revealing that "total [console hardware] units sold over the crucial Christmas period were down by over 10 per cent year on year", and pointing out that "the overall picture clearly indicates that hardware sales have peaked a year earlier than some analysts predicted - meaning the next two Christmases will be even more challenging for retailers, with discounted software likely to be rife as they battle for market share." The dominance of the PlayStation 2 at UK retail is supreme, though, as: "Over the crucial last four weeks, the PS2 outsold the Xbox by 2.69 to one, and the sixty-pounds-cheaper Cube by 4.81 to one."

Thanks to GameSpot for their interview with Maxis/EA's Will Wright regarding The Sims 2, the March 2004-due sequel to the multi-million selling people-prodding simulation. Wright talks about the difficulties in creating a follow-up ("Especially with a successful [game] like The Sims, you have to balance your fear of not dropping the ball with the danger of being overly conservative"), and discusses some of the evolutions due to debut in the sequel, primary among them "camera freedom... something that we've resisted for a long time and feels like probably the biggest stretch... but... some huge benefits", as well as "the idea that The Sims smoothly age and have different concerns and motivations and needs at different age ranges. It becomes more of an epic, almost Michener-like multigenerational thing...the story that you're playing through."

Thanks to InsertCredit for their article covering a recent game-related lecture at an Entertainment Law and Business conference. One of the more interesting discussions covered is how game companies should develop their games. A representative from Electronic Arts indicated they do "...most of their work in-house these days. This increases consistency, but he admits that this method can put something of a damper on creativity. So they've got what they call EAPs (Electronic Arts Properties), wherein they work with/invest in games made by other companies, and then distribute them as their own." On the other hand, an Activision executive claims that "...developers prefer to be left to their own devices, counter-culture individuals that they are. So Activision prefers to purchase them entirely, allowing them to exist undisturbed. He says that in this way, they can develop the games they want to develop, and not have to deal with any of the bureaucracy." But which approach really creates the best games?

Thanks to 1UP for their article covering Japanese Xbox boss Yoshihiro Maruyama's comments regarding yesterday's significant Xbox price drop in Japan. Maruyama explained that the price cut wasn't a reaction to Sony's Japanese PS2 price drop: "This discount was in the works for the end-of-year shopping season before SCE's announcement. The timing was on our own terms, and we aren't simply following the leader here." He also tried to explain why the Japanese videogame market is shrinking, suggesting: "You see companies in the U.S. using a multiplatform strategy, developing games for several consoles at once, with Electronic Arts leading the way. However, Japan concentrates all its development on the top platform alone, so it's easy to run into dead ends."

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their editorial asking whether independent videogame developers can make it in the increasingly cut-throat games business. The article comes after the recent closure of respected UK developers Mucky Foot ('Startopia'), the latest in a long line of recent developer failures, and the author asks: "What's going wrong? Some of these casualties have been victims of mismanagement or poor quality control, but many were properly managed, fiscally sensible and extremely talented companies." The editorial continues: "Companies like EA, Microsoft and Sony don't really need [smaller developers] any more, as large publishers increasingly focus on internal development and suck much of the best talent into themselves. Smaller publishers aren't in a position to take risks on the kind of innovative games that small developers do best." Is the situation really as bleak as this implies?

Thanks to Video-Fenky for their translation of an interview with Hisao Oguchi, the new boss of Sega. In it, Oguchi argues that less "grandiose games" are the way to rejuvenate the games market, referencing titles such as The Sims, Animal Crossing and Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin as good models for doing this, and saying: "Developers can't force their game worlds and huge stories on users. We can't have people balk at sitting in front of the TV and playing games because it's too tiring. All games are made to be fun for the people playing them, so in the next generation especially, making content that doesn't feel tiring to gamers will be very important."

Thanks to Tokyopia.com for their in-depth impressions of Konami's Winning Eleven 7 for PS2, the latest in the highly acclaimed soccer game series. The reviewer is disappointed that "..while the summer has been filled with a flurry of high-profile transfers, none are actually in the game. So David Beckham still plays for Manchester United", but loves the "different and fresh dynamic" which still has many rating it higher than its main rival, EA's FIFA series. Japanese gamers seem to like Winning Eleven, too - the latest software sales figures, courtesy GamePro, show that it sold a massive 600,000 in its first week, three times as many as a still-impressive debut for Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles.

An anonymous reader writes "An article over at Curmudgeon Gamer collects together and discusses the revenue reported over the past eight quarters for five game companies: Electronic Arts, Take Two Interactive, Activision, THQ, and Midway. Using graphs and some discussion, it reveals some interesting points and trends in the market. You can see how important Grand Theft Auto has been to Take Two, just how big EA really is compared to Activision, and whether the Xbox or GameCube is generating more revenue for these game companies." This is a very interesting attempt at collating and comparing revenue data for some of the bigger multi-platform game publishers.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an overview of the Ludologica book series, offering critical, academia-heavy videogame analysis on a number of seminal titles, from "highlighting the political and ideological messages" behind Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2, to the "video game becoming a living organism" in Bruce Shelley's Age Of Empires. Unfortunately, these books are only confirmed in Italian-language form thus far, but further volumes will deal with Myst, Silent Hill, Doom, and Gran Turismo (?), as well as a in-the-planning-stages special to mark the 15th anniversary of Sim City.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the new Battlefield: Pirates total conversion mod for the enormously popular Battlefield 1942 PC multiplayer action game, imbuing the Second World War title with a much more sea-dog friendly ambience. This fan-made modification bills itself as "the mod with big ships, big guns, and big hats", and as the screenshots show, allows you to man galleons, fire fortress cannon from the shore, and even duel close-in with cutlass and flintlock. And according to the pirate-y rumor section, ingenious use of the Captain's pet is encouraged - "..a certain class o' pirate has been boastin about how they've been able to tame wild parrots, teachin em to fly around looking for enemy ships and reporting back to their master."

mrleemrlee writes "Marvel Entertainment has sent a cease-and-desist letter to The Skindex, which houses skins for customizing computer games such as The Sims and Freedom Force. The Webmaster has responded by pulling the website's content and publishing a copy of the letter. This is interesting in that such skinning has been going on for a decade, at least since Doom. Only now has Marvel decided to protect its IP; what might it have in store? Do other sites have anything to worry about?" Are user-created game skins of their characters good publicity for companies like Marvel, or an unacceptable copyright violation?

News for nerds writes "Eidos, maker of Tomb Raider, said it doesn't plan to make games for Xbox Live because Microsoft controls the system and manages subscriptions itself, leaving no incentive for a publisher to collaborate. Sony's approach is to sell just the equipment needed to connect to other's services, such as those run by game makers. Electronics Arts, which makes titles such as 2002 FIFA World Cup and NHL 2003 for the Xbox console, is also reluctant to join Microsoft's system, while supporting GameCube."

tassii writes "MacCentral reports that Coderus' MacDX provides PC game developers with a way of moving that DirectX code to the Mac without having to rewrite it from scratch. Coderus claims that most code which uses DirectX can simply be recompiled and linked to the MacDX libraries. Maybe I can finally play the full Command and Conquer series."

Anonymous Coward writes "Wowie! The folks at Electronic Arts look to be working hard on the next installment of SimCity! Although there's no official, dedicated release date, they plan on demoing it at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Gamers.com has an article, as does GameSpot, and both seem to have a number of screenshots. Interesting: there now seems to be a nighttime mode, and perhaps there's some weather effects? The note from MaxisJoseph claims there will be a personal angle to every high-level action taken; will there be a chance for dynamic screenshots of our cities during, say, lightning storms, blizzards or sandstorms? And will they ask Koch or Guiliani for endorsements?" I know I'm not the only one who wants to play the Sims in the SimTower in the SimCity on SimEarth with the pesky SimAnts in the balcony garden.

inherent writes: "Recently, representatives of three fansites covering Westwood's upcoming release, Earth and Beyond Online had the opportunity to interview Doug Chiang, Art Director for the Star Wars prequels, and the designer of the spacecraft models in Earth and Beyond Online. Chiang speaks on topics like the differences between film and digital animation, advice for upcoming digital artists, and the now infamous Jar Jar Binks. The interview transcript is available at Earth and Beyond Portal"

Lukenary writes: "Mythic Entertainment, creator of the excellent MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot, is being sued by BlackSnow Interactive, owner and maintainer of CamelotExchange - an online auction site for the exchange of in-game items, money, and characters/accounts. This could be a landmark case: if you spend (typically) weeks of playing time to garner 1,000 gold in-game, do you have the right to auction off that gold for real money? Mythic has not yet had an official response to the suit, but you can read BSI's press release at the CamelotExchange site above. Personally, I find it interesting that BSI is going after DAoC, calling Mythic a "software giant," while ignoring the more established compettion in EverQuest producer Sony, Asheron's Call producer Microsoft, and Ultima Online producer Electronic Arts. Mythic's only product at this time is Dark Age of Camelot, which was released last October."

fonixmunkee writes: "Ack, looks like EA is stopping the very cool, ground-breaking game 'Majestic.' The article is here. I got hooked on this from the very start, and in turn got a bunch of friends into it. It's cool to be out for a fancy dinner and have the game calling you threatening your life. Oh well, I'm sure a new spinoff will rise up."

Robert writes: "If you didn't like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Electronic Arts has released the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault demo (133 megs) which is another game that uses id Software's state of the art quake 3 engine. MoH: AA is more realistic in nature than RtCW, and even has Steven Spielberg listed in the game's credits as it draws heavily from the movie "Saving Private Ryan.""

Our friends at Salon have an article "The Return of Lord British" about what Richard Garriot has been up to in the last year since he's left Origin. It is mostly about Lineage (a mmporpg ^? ), but it touches on EA mismanagement (new tagline "We create write-offs").

Our friends at Salon have an article "The Return of Lord British" about what Richard Garriot has been up to in the last year since he's left Origin. It is mostly about Lineage (a mmporpg ^? ), but it touches on EA mismanagement (new tagline "We create write-offs").

webword writes "Westwood Studios has announced that Emperor: Battle for Dune has gone gold and will ship June 12 in North America. The game looks great. Get the screenshots, original music tracks, movies (MPG format), and desktop theme. I'm not a Dune fanatic, but I have to say that this game looks damn good. (I couldn't find any news on a Linux port. Argh!)"

webword writes "Westwood Studios has announced that Emperor: Battle for Dune has gone gold and will ship June 12 in North America. The game looks great. Get the screenshots, original music tracks, movies (MPG format), and desktop theme. I'm not a Dune fanatic, but I have to say that this game looks damn good. (I couldn't find any news on a Linux port. Argh!)"

webword writes "Westwood Studios has announced that Emperor: Battle for Dune has gone gold and will ship June 12 in North America. The game looks great. Get the screenshots, original music tracks, movies (MPG format), and desktop theme. I'm not a Dune fanatic, but I have to say that this game looks damn good. (I couldn't find any news on a Linux port. Argh!)"

webword writes "Westwood Studios has announced that Emperor: Battle for Dune has gone gold and will ship June 12 in North America. The game looks great. Get the screenshots, original music tracks, movies (MPG format), and desktop theme. I'm not a Dune fanatic, but I have to say that this game looks damn good. (I couldn't find any news on a Linux port. Argh!)"

webword writes "Westwood Studios has announced that Emperor: Battle for Dune has gone gold and will ship June 12 in North America. The game looks great. Get the screenshots, original music tracks, movies (MPG format), and desktop theme. I'm not a Dune fanatic, but I have to say that this game looks damn good. (I couldn't find any news on a Linux port. Argh!)"