Studio had originally said they were done with games.
After Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath failed to hook gamers in spite of its critical acclaim (we gave it an 8.0), Oddworld Inhabitants basically said “see ya” to the videogames industry, instead deciding to focus on developing TV and film properties. Well, they lied. Mostly.
GamesIndustry.biz spoke to Oddworld co-founder Lorne Lanning recently, who confirmed the company is developing a new property titled Citizen Siege, envisioned as both a game and CG film. “Oddworld has had the chance to create original property that was designed as a film and as a game experience simultaneously. So the two influence one another as they grow. This is an idea that’s being talked about by media companies, but for the most part isn’t really happening yet,” says Lanning.
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Preston Thorne of Epic Games slips out some information
Apparently, the Xbox 360 has reached its limits with Gears of Wars, hardware limits that is. Gears of War is a third-person tactical action game developed by Epic Games and using the 3.0 Unreal Engine.
In an interview gave to Siliconera, Epic Games manager, Preston Thorne declared that through this game, his company has pushed the Xbox to the
limits. Joystiq gaming news website consider that there is some truth in this statement as, according to them, Epic was the one that convinced Microsoft to upgrade Xbox 360’s RAM to 512. Epic is still supporting their statement according to which Gears of War would not be able to run on 256 MB of RAM. Preston was also asked if the PlayStation 3 will be able to handle the game, but presumably he dodged the question, but still implied that the answer was no.
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Free play for sci-fi MMO extended into 2008.
Funcom’s sweet deal — unlimited playtime in Anarchy Online, completely free of charge — just got a little bit sweeter. Not only has the offer been extended until January 2008, it now includes the PvP-centric Notum Wars expansion pack.
“The free offer has been an amazing success and a chance to show massive amounts of players how good this game actually is,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. To date, nearly one million players have taken Funcom up on their almost-too-good-to-be-true offer, and while Aas expects the chance to smite fellow Anarchists to draw in even more new players, that’s not the only reason Funcom is including Notum Wars in the deal. “…we gain invaluable large-scale data on innovative business and distribution models, enabling us to shape the future of our other games better informed,” said Aas.
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Hollywood graveyard hosts Epic’s third-person shooter.
There are dead people everywhere, but it doesn’t smell. We’re at a graveyard in the middle of Hollywood, the ghost of Biggie Smalls is burping out of speakers and a couple hundred people are resting their drinks on tombstones — they are here for Gears of War. The game is finished, and last night, at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA, Microsoft and Epic danced on the graves of strangers.
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Steam, competition for retailers
Valve just announced that the first person RPG Dark Messiah was released today. The game just shipped today to US outlets
and the retail price for the regular version is around US$ 50.
The Collector’s Edition will set you back some US$ 60 but I bet gamers who have been waiting for this game won’t mind coughing up that kind of money. If you are too lazy to go out and purchase the game, or you just don’t want to stay in line at the cash register, know that the game will also be available via Steam digital distribution system.
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FallOut Boy would totally compliment greek mythology.
Aspiring Billboard musicians: landing yourself on the soundtrack for God of War 2 probably isn’t the big break you were looking for — but hey, it’s a start. Sony, in conjunction with EmoSpa…MySpace, is hosting a virtual battle of the bands in order to award one lucky artist the chance to reign alongside Kratos.
Interested parties should head on over to MySpace page for the contest, where you can begin uploading. The top 50 songs in the first round will be narrowed to 10 by the developmers, before voting commences.
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An unannounced Wii game in-the-works, too.
Expect the usual PR pizzazz in the coming weeks, but in an overview of Ubisoft financials during the first half of fiscal 2006-2007, the company both confirmed that Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2’s coming in the fiscal fourth quarter — which means it’s coming sometime before next March — and Assassin’s Creed moves into fiscal 2007-2008, which means it’ll likely arrive next fall.
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DemonWare technology to be used in another game
The fourth installment in the Splinter Cell series, Double Agent, will be featuring DemonWare technology for its multiplayer mode. DemonWare will power the online features of the game.
Arnaud Carrette, Ubisoft Producer for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent declared that his company
needed the best technology to match their “groundbreaking multiplayer gameplay in the Splinter Cell seriesâ€. He added that by Using DemonWare, Sam Fisher fans will be able to get the best online experience possible.
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Beta testing scheduled for December
The release of the fantasy/Sci-fi computer game from S2 Games, Savage 2, has been postponed. The games’ developers affirmed that they need more time in order to polish the game and make some final adjustments. Is that how you say it when you
didn’t get anything done?
Savage 2: A Tortured Soul was due to come out sometime in late 2006, but S2 Games decided to postpone its release until March 2007. This news comes after pre-orders have been placed for the game.
Players who can’t wait to try out the game can sign-up for beta testing this winter, as the beta testing lists will be opened sometime in mid-December.
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They aimed for 1080p, but it didn’t work out.
The number of PlayStation 3 releases supporting 1080p HDTV resolutions will undoubtably increase as the hardware matures, but for launch games, limited development time is an issue. Insomniac Games publicly stated they were aiming to include the option for 1080p in Resistance: Fall of Man, but as Sony’s Gamer’s Day kicks off in San Francisco, company president Ted Price confirms isn’t not happening in his IGN blog.
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