Slashdot Mirror

AhabTheArab writes "IGN is reporting that Half Life 2 has gone gold. After months of speculation and delays, it is finally true this time."

syberanarchy writes "Gamespot reports that Halo 2 has already been leaked to the internet via French newsgroups and P2P networks, almost a month before release! Any chance this bombshell move could force MS/Bungie to push up the release date?" See also gamesindustry.biz and The Register.

Thanks to Gamespot for the quick blurb about City of Heroes players honoring Christopher Reeve, who passed away recently. The Superhero Massive Game has been awash in showings of respect. Screens and commentary can be found on CoH Warcry for the past several days.

The Big N's media event went off well, and people have finally had a chance to experience the playability and feel of the DS system. Penny Arcade has commentary from Gabe and Tycho, and Gamespot gives it a look as well. Quoth Tycho: "The final analysis: I am overjoyed that Nintendo isn't completely nuts, which was my fear initially. This is a pretty cool little machine. But the opening salvo is a little soft in the genres I prize most, and there's no stand-out title that forces my hand on the system."

Angelspit writes "GameSpot reveals that Ubisoft China and TQ Digital Entertainment will team up to develop a massively multiplayer game based on the Might and Magic universe. The game would originally be released in China in 2005, but a worldwide release is also considered. Alain Corre, managing director at Ubisoft, described their plans: "The approach on this product is to blend Asian gameplay elements and a western franchise with high recognition in the Asian territories." Ubisoft is also working on a new Heroes of Might and Magic game, but the title has not been officially announced."

SamusFan writes "Nintendo Gamer Summit is currently underway in Seattle, where Nintendo is showing off its lineup of DS launch games as well as its big holiday releases on GameCube."

Starsmore writes: "Gamespot has a retrospective on the 1999 cult classic System Shock 2, which normally isn't that big of a deal on it's own, although it's a nice read for those interested in some of the stories behind the production of System Shock 2. The biggest draw is that tucked at the end of the article (and shown below for those that don't want to RTFA), is this: 'But why even look back at System Shock 2 at this point? Because Irrational has been, and it plans to make a related announcement this Friday (tomorrow). The studio has decided that it wishes to further what it started in System Shock 2--to work on games that promote "emergent" gameplay--open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players. You'll see what we mean tomorrow. Be sure to come back then.' " Could this possibly mean a sequel to the System Shock franchise? Update: 10/09 22:30 EDT by C : As many of you suspected, Irrational is in the process of developing BioShock , a "spiritual successor" to the System Shock games. Here's hoping they can distill much of what made games like System Shock and Thief so successful, yet succeed at their aim of building a game with truly emergent gameplay.

Starsmore writes: "Gamespot has a retrospective on the 1999 cult classic System Shock 2, which normally isn't that big of a deal on it's own, although it's a nice read for those interested in some of the stories behind the production of System Shock 2. The biggest draw is that tucked at the end of the article (and shown below for those that don't want to RTFA), is this: 'But why even look back at System Shock 2 at this point? Because Irrational has been, and it plans to make a related announcement this Friday (tomorrow). The studio has decided that it wishes to further what it started in System Shock 2--to work on games that promote "emergent" gameplay--open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players. You'll see what we mean tomorrow. Be sure to come back then.' " Could this possibly mean a sequel to the System Shock franchise? Update: 10/09 22:30 EDT by C : As many of you suspected, Irrational is in the process of developing BioShock , a "spiritual successor" to the System Shock games. Here's hoping they can distill much of what made games like System Shock and Thief so successful, yet succeed at their aim of building a game with truly emergent gameplay.

Starsmore writes: "Gamespot has a retrospective on the 1999 cult classic System Shock 2, which normally isn't that big of a deal on it's own, although it's a nice read for those interested in some of the stories behind the production of System Shock 2. The biggest draw is that tucked at the end of the article (and shown below for those that don't want to RTFA), is this: 'But why even look back at System Shock 2 at this point? Because Irrational has been, and it plans to make a related announcement this Friday (tomorrow). The studio has decided that it wishes to further what it started in System Shock 2--to work on games that promote "emergent" gameplay--open-ended exploration that offers many choices and combinations of options to players. You'll see what we mean tomorrow. Be sure to come back then.' " Could this possibly mean a sequel to the System Shock franchise? Update: 10/09 22:30 EDT by C : As many of you suspected, Irrational is in the process of developing BioShock , a "spiritual successor" to the System Shock games. Here's hoping they can distill much of what made games like System Shock and Thief so successful, yet succeed at their aim of building a game with truly emergent gameplay.

aWalrus writes "The long wait for Half Life 2 and bundled games through Valve's online distribution system, Steam, ends today. Steam news reports that Half life 2 packages will be available at 11 am PST. With HL2 still trapped in publisher approval limbo, these packages don't have the game yet (available upon products' release), but they do have Counter Strike:Source. This could be a good bargaining chip for Valve and a boost to Steam distribution."

Thanks to Gamespot for a breakdown of the official DS Launch Title lineup. The selection includes lots of big names, including The Sims, Madden, Mario, Metroid, Pokemon, and Spider Man 2. The system will also feature a remake of Final Fantasy III (jp), one of the most outstanding games ever to be released for the famicom system.Update: 10/07 20:57 GMT by Z : Gamesindustry.biz has a story on this as well, adding details and stating that there will be a DS Zelda title as well!

jshriverWVU writes "Seems the next-gen Arcade hardware for Namco is going to be running Linux and using video hardware from NVidia. The first game to use the system will be CounterStrike Neo, a version of the popular game currently only available in Japanese arcades. The official press release is also available."

jshriverWVU writes "Seems the next-gen Arcade hardware for Namco is going to be running Linux and using video hardware from NVidia. The first game to use the system will be CounterStrike Neo, a version of the popular game currently only available in Japanese arcades. The official press release is also available."

Thanks to the numerous readers who alerted us to the Gamespot article mentioning that the PSP may be delayed until next year. This analysis comes from games industry analysts and is the result of Sony's game title weakness and battery issues. David Jenkins at Gamasutra has additional analysis as well.

JimLynch writes "There's a playable demo of Tribes Vengeance available (single and multiplayer)." Gamespot recently took another look at the Vengeance Multiplayer experience, and Tycho has thoughts on playing the demo over at Penny Arcade.

OneHungLo writes "Gamespot has posted an article showing the final design of the Nintendo DS packaging. The package design confirms that a "Metroid Prime: Hunters" demo cart is included, and the "Pictochat" software is embedded into the DS."

CamelToes writes "Sam and Max 2 is not dead! According to a Gamespot article, the team that was working on bringing the new Sam n' Max adventure game 'has formed a new studio called Telltale Games. The San Rafael-based developer will concentrate on re-energizing the adventure game market.' Amazing what an on-line petition will do these days."

Early in September, some of the luminaries of the mobile gaming and mmog industries got together for the Austin Game Conference, an event organized by the Austin Game Initiative. Running concurrently with the Game Conference was the Women's Game Conference, a get-together focused on women in gaming. Over the past two weeks there have been a number of good reflections and observations put forth on the experience of both conferences. Show Director Chris Sherman sat down for an interview with Gamespot. Gamedevnet has a wrap-up of the whole event, as does the Guardian. TerraNova has observations on The BigWorld Middlewear suite, and a mmog specific wrap-up. For those interested in wireless, IBM has an article about mobile gaming. There are discussions of the Women's Gaming Conference as well, from MemoryCard's parting thoughts and the Guardian's one day overview.

On the heels of the first debate, many thanks to the anonymous reader who alerted us to these political games. CNet has an article up about a Vietnam game where you can ride with Kerry on the swift boat. Another more well known game covers the actual presidential race this year. Called "The Political Machine", it allows you to manage political campaigns on the road to office. For silliness, you can't beat Bush vs. Kerry Boxing.

mausmalone writes "Katamari Damacy is completely sold out at most game retailers." The relatively unknown game is completely out of stock because retailers base their orders on preorders...which they didn't allow for this title.

2bluemike writes "Porn stars and wanna-be's rejoice, Rockstar has released a second trailer for GTA: San Andreas." The official site has also been updated with new info on the gameworld.

Thanks to Gamespot for the notification. Sony has confirmed that the PStwo will not feature a hard drive bay. "...consumers who want and use the hard disc drive are typically the more 'hard core' gamers, ... we feel that a majority of those HDD interested consumers already have their PlayStation 2 units."

erax0r writes "Gamespot reports that HL2 could be delayed yet again. "Court filings show VU Games has the right to sit on finished Half-Life 2 code for up to six months. Could it be deja vu all over again?"

An anonymous reader writes "The next Xbox may use Virtual PC for backwards compatibility for original Xbox games. According to reports from Geek.com's Apple insider section the reason for the delay of Virtual PC 7 is because Microsoft has given it exclusively to the Xbox team. The reason hinted at: Xbox will include an IBM PowerPC 970, and current Xbox game developers are shipped G5 PowerMac."

BlueMoon writes "Gamespot has an interview with Dean Lester (Microsoft Windows Graphics and Gaming general manager) where he explains that the Xbox 2 peripherals will all work on PC too. So it looks like the Xbox 2 will probably use the 'normal' USB standard."

RabidMoose writes "Gamespot has an article up talking about a recent interview with Microsofts's Dean Lester about the future of PC gaming (as well as Xbox 2 tidbits). Basically, they're in contact with the big hardare producers about transitioning to a system of tagging pre-made computers with "levels". He provided a hypothetical example that a PC with a "level 5" designation might have a medium processor speed, amount of RAM, and mid-range video card, while a "level 7" PC might have a faster processor, more RAM, and a higher-end video card."

Karl the Pagan writes "Following on the heels of a previous Steam-related story, Vivendi Universal may block Half-Life 2 distribution via Steam. Additional motions can be filed until November 18th, but since Sierra/VU have final QA approval on the HL2 gold is it possible they could delay the game until after the court decides on these motions?"

Dreadlord writes "After years of rumors, leaks, and delays, Neowin reports that the release candidate for Half-Life 2 has been sent to VU Games for approval. Valve's director of marketing confirmed the story to GameSpot yesterday. "Yes, the release candidate went to VUG yesterday," he said. First words on the submission came from Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, "The RC went to VU yesterday," read Newell's one-line post on the hl2fallout.com forums."

Bagels writes "Square Enix is finally answering the prayers of thousands of FF7 fans with a side-story PS2 game called "Dirge of Cereberus: Final Fantasy VII." Not much is known yet - the game focuses on the character Vincent, it's set one year after the upcoming movie, Advent Children, and it's early in development as of now - but this is sure to be a hot topic amongst fans and critics of the series alike."

thryllkill writes "According to Gamespot the CELL processor, assumed to be the main processor for the Playstation3, is near completion. The short (and light) article also says that the chip will be used in IBM computers and Toshiba electronic devices. The CELL processor is significant because it is touted to utilize grid technology over broadband connections to make the graphics capabilities of the new Playstation many times greater than the competition."

An anonymous reader writes "It seems that Relic's Dawn of War has gone gold, and is due out on September 20th. Published by THQ, Dawn of War is a Real-time Strategy game based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's gotten a few previews so far - but why trust them when you can grab the demo? Unfortunately, a quick jog through Google didn't turn up any torrents."

nz17 writes "Looks like Infinium Labs, 'maker' of the Phantom game console, can't manage its debt. According to GameSpot, the company's recently filed Securities and Exchange Commission papers show that Infinium currently owes $4 million as a capital deficiency, but requires an estimated additional $68 million to continue work until the end of 2006. However, Infinium remains chipper in the face of oppression, as it estimates its first year of sales will garner $35 million in revenue. Will the Phantom console launch on the projected date of November 18th, 2004, or will the system live up to its name?"

nz17 writes "Looks like Infinium Labs, 'maker' of the Phantom game console, can't manage its debt. According to GameSpot, the company's recently filed Securities and Exchange Commission papers show that Infinium currently owes $4 million as a capital deficiency, but requires an estimated additional $68 million to continue work until the end of 2006. However, Infinium remains chipper in the face of oppression, as it estimates its first year of sales will garner $35 million in revenue. Will the Phantom console launch on the projected date of November 18th, 2004, or will the system live up to its name?"

securitas writes "The New York Times Television reporter William S. Kowinski writes about questions of the Star Trek franchise's viability due to overexposure, audience fatigue and creative exhaustion. Star Trek actor and director LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) is in favor of a hiatus, and is quoted as saying, 'Star Trek's just not special enough, not anymore.... They need to shut the whole thing down, wait five years, create an interest, an excitement, a hunger for it again.' Also quoted are Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and executive producer Rick Berman. The article is particularly salient given the recent announcement of Star Trek Online, a massively multiplayer online game scheduled to launch in 2007. Remember that Activision sued Viacom over the Star Trek franchise last year, ending the license despite a 10-year licensing agreement that originally expired in 2008. So the question is: Should Star Trek die?"

securitas writes "The New York Times Television reporter William S. Kowinski writes about questions of the Star Trek franchise's viability due to overexposure, audience fatigue and creative exhaustion. Star Trek actor and director LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) is in favor of a hiatus, and is quoted as saying, 'Star Trek's just not special enough, not anymore.... They need to shut the whole thing down, wait five years, create an interest, an excitement, a hunger for it again.' Also quoted are Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and executive producer Rick Berman. The article is particularly salient given the recent announcement of Star Trek Online, a massively multiplayer online game scheduled to launch in 2007. Remember that Activision sued Viacom over the Star Trek franchise last year, ending the license despite a 10-year licensing agreement that originally expired in 2008. So the question is: Should Star Trek die?"

sm4kxd writes "Gamespot is reporting that the Nintendo DS will use "built-in wireless 802.11b networking capabilities to offer voice-over-IP chat--in effect, allowing gamers to use the DS to make free phone calls at wireless network hotspots." There's also mention of a headset, so you won't look ridiculous while doing so." The article doesn't have much more information, but the "in effect" seems important; this may only allow unit-to-unit conversations, not VoIP calls to the regular telephone network.

Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing more evidence that Viacom may be considering a takeover of publisher Midway, following Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone's increasing financial stake in the company. Redstone noted in an SEC document: "The management of Viacom Inc. has... considered the possibility of participating more extensively in the electronic games business... Midway could be considered as a potential licensee of Viacom intellectual property, or as an acquisition candidate." It's noted that: "Regardless of whether Viacom buys Midway, the filing clears the way with regulators for Midway to compete for Viacom licenses." In any case, with Warner Bros also making in-roads into the game market, it seems some larger media conglomerates are considering getting back into the games industry.

Joe Barr writes "IT Manager's Journal is running a story this morning by Robin Miller and Matt Moen on Infinium Labs, the controversial game console maker. The long promised console finally appears to be a reality, but there are serious questions about Infinium's longterm viability in the game console market. ITMJ, like Slashdot, is part of OSTG."

Thanks to GameSpot for its interview with the creators of the 'Decisive Battles' TV show, as they discuss the "new History Channel series [that] re-creates some of the most pivotal battles of the ancient world, including Cannae, Thermopylae, and Marathon.. [using the engine from] upcoming real-time strategy game Rome: Total War." We've previously discussed this endeavor, but the interview explains specifics ("We'd... build the battles in the same way as we do for all the 'historical battles' in the game - but then use a few cheat codes when we play them out in order to be able to choreograph the exact movements of the troops for that particular battle"), as well as plans ("Future episodes will include the battles of Thermopylae, Adrianople, Chalon, Carrhae, Pharsalus, Spartacus and the Slave Revolt of 73 BC, Cynoscephalae, Kadesh, Teutoberg Forest, and Watling Street.")

Thanks to LucasArts for its press release indicating a significant restructuring of the company's internal development teams. It's explained that "31 people from the development studio were laid off as the company will be concentrating on fewer titles", and GameSpot has further details, noting "the publisher has farmed out development on its as-yet-untitled Episode III game to [recent Indiana Jones developers] The Collective", and "an informed industry source said the team attached to the early stages of development on Knights of the Old Republic 3 was let go in yesterday's layoff." We previously reported on earlier layoffs at LucasArts in April.

Thanks to GameSpot for its news that Japanese arcade/pachinko giant Aruze has announced a Linux-based arcade game system for Japanese release this year. Apparently: "Aruze plans to release twenty games for the AP-3 by the end of March 2005, and aims to persuade third party publishers to develop games for the board as well", and furthermore: "The company expects the adoption of Linux to cut development costs for software developers... Aruze also cited the system's high versatility and consistent updates as other factors in its decision." It's also pointed out: "Taito announced in June a similar PC-based arcade board named Type-X. In contrast to Aruze's AP-3, however, Taito's board uses a special edition of Microsoft Windows XP."

Thanks to GameSpot for its news that Japanese arcade/pachinko giant Aruze has announced a Linux-based arcade game system for Japanese release this year. Apparently: "Aruze plans to release twenty games for the AP-3 by the end of March 2005, and aims to persuade third party publishers to develop games for the board as well", and furthermore: "The company expects the adoption of Linux to cut development costs for software developers... Aruze also cited the system's high versatility and consistent updates as other factors in its decision." It's also pointed out: "Taito announced in June a similar PC-based arcade board named Type-X. In contrast to Aruze's AP-3, however, Taito's board uses a special edition of Microsoft Windows XP."

NeoCode writes "Gamespot is reporting that Warner Bros has bought the developer Monolith Productions. Monolith, in the past, has produced games like Tron 2.0, No One Lives Forever 1 and 2, Aliens vs. Predator 2 and Blood 1 and 2. Currently, Monolith is working on The Matrix Online (aka MxO), the WB-produced, Sega-published MMORPG which is undergoing Beta testing right now." We've previously reported on current WB game boss Jason Hall, who was formerly the CEO and co-founder of Monolith.

NeoCode writes "Gamespot is reporting that Warner Bros has bought the developer Monolith Productions. Monolith, in the past, has produced games like Tron 2.0, No One Lives Forever 1 and 2, Aliens vs. Predator 2 and Blood 1 and 2. Currently, Monolith is working on The Matrix Online (aka MxO), the WB-produced, Sega-published MMORPG which is undergoing Beta testing right now." We've previously reported on current WB game boss Jason Hall, who was formerly the CEO and co-founder of Monolith.

Thanks to GameSpot for its interview with Obsidian Entertainment's Feargus Urquhart, as the ex-Black Isle founder talks about the formation of the Star Wars: KOTOR II developers ("I must have been at least an OK boss, or it was just Interplay almost going out of business, but of the 36 people working here at Obsidian, 18 of them are from Black Isle"), regarding updates to BioWare's engine for the 2006-due Neverwinter Nights 2 ("We are going over almost every inch of the engine to add new features and refine things that are going to stay the same. From a graphics standpoint, we are updating most of the graphics engine to support new graphical features like normal mapping"), and discusses the fate of the Fallout 3 license ("I think the team at Bethesda has their work cut out for them. This is mostly because there is almost nothing that they can do that will make the Fallout fans happy.")

Thanks to GameSpot for its news story reporting that Sony is intending to use the PlayStation 2's CPU chip in a flat-screen TV that will be released in Japan this fall. According to the story: "Sony plans to take advantage of the PS2 chip's CG capabilities to create a high-quality graphical user interface (GUI) for the flat-screen TV [apparently similar to the PSX's DVR menu in style], which will allow smooth and easy control in navigating the TV's menu." There's no indication of any game-like functions for the TV, but: "The release of the new flat-screen TV can also be considered as the prelude to Sony's next-generation electronic products, some of which are expected to operate using the PS3's Cell chip when they are released in 2006."

Thanks to GameSpot for its interview with Double Fine founder and Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer, following the game's split with Microsoft and subsequent re-signing with Majesco. Schafer, best known for "work on Day of The Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango" at LucasArts, discusses originality ("One of the good things about the state of the games industry right now is that it's incredibly easy to be original. I mean, if you released a game these days that didn't have any army guys in it people would freak out. 'Omg. Where did they get the idea to not use army guys? Are they taking drugs?'"), shaping Psychonauts' story ("I still write most of the dialog. I had some help this time around from Erik Wolpaw from Old Man Murray."), and the state of the game ("We've got a few levels at beta right now, some others at alpha, others somewhere in between, and a new level that we're doing now. We're looking at an early- to mid-2005 release.")

Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing Atlus' announcement of a stylus-utilizing touchscreen surgery game for the Nintendo DS handheld. According to the article about Caduceus: Surgical Operation: "The player steps into the role of a talented young surgeon who must operate on different maladies in each of the game's stages... Actions such as cutting the patient or getting rid of an unidentified parasite are done with the [Nintendo DS] stylus. In addition, while operating, the player must cheer on the patient using the device's voice recognition." There's also a couple of screenshots of the forthcoming Life & Death-eque game, featuring the "Hurted Heart" mission, on the Japanese-language NTT site.

Daetrin writes "GameSpot has reported an announcement by Sony that the PlayStation 3 will use Blu-Ray technology, a next-generation optical disc format which 'can hold 25GB on a single layer and 50GB on the dual-layer discs', as many people have been speculating. What Sony hasn't said for sure is whether the PS3 will be backwards compatible with DVD movies and PS2 games. However, they indicated that they will reveal more details about the PlayStation 3 at a premiere in Japan on March 31st next year. (And, if nothing else, there will certainly be plenty of rumors before then.)"

Daetrin writes "GameSpot has reported an announcement by Sony that the PlayStation 3 will use Blu-Ray technology, a next-generation optical disc format which 'can hold 25GB on a single layer and 50GB on the dual-layer discs', as many people have been speculating. What Sony hasn't said for sure is whether the PS3 will be backwards compatible with DVD movies and PS2 games. However, they indicated that they will reveal more details about the PlayStation 3 at a premiere in Japan on March 31st next year. (And, if nothing else, there will certainly be plenty of rumors before then.)"