Gaming News Archives

Details surface on the Collector's Edition of Assassin's Creed, which will feature a Penny-Arcade Assassin's Creed comic, a mini-strategy guide, a bonus disc, and a 12 inch figure of the game's main character, Altair. Check it out:

Apparently, this is big news for some gamers, although, personally, I have issues with grown men owning dolls. I'm sorry, I mean figures of video game characters. Somehow, the semantics of it make it perfectly acceptable.

We just got official word from Activision that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare single player demo for the PC will be out later this week. They also send word of the game's official system specs:

“Recommended Specs”

CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommended
RAM: 1GB for XP; 2GB for Vista is recommended
Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

“Required (min) Specs”

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.4 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon(TM) 64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or better supported
RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
Video card (generic): NVIDIA(R) Geforce(TM) 6600 or better or ATI(R) Radeon(R) 9800Pro or better

The recommended specs are easier on the hardware than Crysis, but still pretty steep.

I am not quite sure how this classifies as news at all, but the title seems catchy enough so I'll give it a go. VE3D is showing an image of what is apparently a giant pad of graph paper etched with numbers and god knows what else in the office of Epic's Tim Sweeney.

They claim this is Unreal Engine 4 code. Why they claim this? Do they name their source? Is it credible?

You have to realize, this is the Internet. Rules of conventional journalism do not apply. Hell, you're reading my news, that's proof enough right there.

In Tim Sweeney's rather unassuming office, there's a table with a giant pad of graph paper etched with numbers and arcane scribbling. Some assumed it to be the formula for cold fusion. Others imagined it might be ways to alter the time/space continuum. Later, it was revealed to be code for the Unreal Engine 4...

More screenshots from Mass Effect and this game is goddamn awesome. I have to believe it is awesome because it's the only holiday release I am truly looking forward to. Yes, I know Crysis is coming out as well. The Orange Box is already out so that doesn't count.

click to view full gallery

TVG is reporting that the latest Wii update offers a variety of Internet friendly features, in addition to support for USB keyboards. Obviously, after this update it may be a 'wii' bit easier to write e-mails and such. What's more, a brand new ‘Send to a Friend’ option was added as well, allowing users to straightforwardly send links to their friends.

"We believe this new version of the Internet Channel is even more engaging and delightful for the users around the world than its predecessor," says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera, in a slightly sickly tone.

"Nintendo has always brought a new perspective, fresh ideas and unwavering enthusiasm to our partnership. And today, our combined efforts have given users more reasons to be excited."

On a related note, Logitech also announced its Wii friendly USB keyboard - check it out. Apparently, Logitech's Classic Keyboard 200 should be available in Europe and the US come November (mind you, no price has been revealed thus far).

Thanks, Next-Gen.biz.

MenDAKE writes "Seems some info about the upcoming Battlefield 3 may have been leaked. These are just rumors and the features actually look to me more like a downgrade from BF2, but it's interesting nonetheless."

Ah for the love of Gods (and Heroes). I saw this game at the E3 2006 and it looked extremely promising. It looks, however, like Perpetual's Gods and Heroes may never get released.

In light of the increasing strain put on developers of MMOG titles (not to mention the insane increase in expected production values), Perpetual seems to be going nowhere with this one.

Following last month's announcement of delays and downsizing at the company, Warcry Network reveals that Perpetual has put development of their mythologically-themed MMOG on "indefinite hold," while shifting all their resources towards Star Trek Online.

The news was confirmed by PE President and Executive Producer Chris McKibbin.

The Perpetual team is faced with a unique challenge of simultaneously developing both Gods & Heroes and Star Trek Online in addition to growing our Online Game Platform business. After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold.

Moving forward, we're shifting our collective focus, resources and development efforts to Perpetual's Platform Services division and Star Trek Online, thereby ensuring that the game lives up to the high level of expectation set by the dedicated Star Trek fan base.

Suffice it to say, this is one step away from outright cancellation, only confirming the fact that entry level investments needed for a good/commercially viable MMOG have become downright unattainable for 95 percent of dev studios.

The official Space Siege web site is online, offering preorders, as well as info, screenshots, a trailer, forums and other stuff related to the upcoming RTS project from Gas Powered Games.

For additional information, check out this preview.

According to a live blog from Japanese gaming magazine Gemaga, Nintendo of Japan eagerly reveals three new projects currently in development: Fire Emblem on (Nintendo DS), Wii Music and Super Mario Stadium Baseball for the Wii. The announcements were made as part of a Japanese media-only event overseas.

As reminder to all Wii owners, Nintendo is preparing to launch the Wii Ware during March 2008. In a nutshell, it's going to be similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled further details, as well as the first games coming to Wii Ware - the new version of Dr. Mario, Star Soldier R and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Little King and The Promised Land. Coupled with these titles, Nintendo Wii Ware will also feature games like Joysound [karaoke] (Hudson Soft) and Bomberman, in addtion to Mojipittan from Namco Bandai.

Most of these games are scheduled to arrive in March, while others still don't have a release date set.

Nintendo of America is also preparing their own media event soon, so we're bound to hear more about these new Wii Ware games.

Today is Wednesday October 10, and if you're a gamer that means just one thing. You're likely hating the fact it's daylight now. No wait, The Orange Box is out. Speaking of which, read our review of Team Fortress 2 here. I know I didn't score it, but everything I've said back then, still holds.

Valve, a leading entertainment and technology studio, is pleased to announce the availability of The Orange Box for PC on Steam.

The Orange Box features three top-rated new games by Valve: Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the second installment in the Half-Life 2 episodic trilogy; Team Fortress 2, the sequel to the game that put class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map; and Portal, the game that blends puzzles, first person action, and adventure gaming to produce an experience like no other.

To bring gamers up to date with the Half-Life 2 universe, The Orange Box also includes Half-Life 2, the best-selling and highest-rated action game series of all time, and the episodic debut Half-Life 2: Episode One-together, more than 30 hours of award-winning gameplay. Purchasers of the PC version of The Orange Box who already own Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One can conveniently "gift" them to a friend from within Steam.

The Orange Box is now shipping to retailers and will be available for a suggested retail price of $49.95 on the PC and $59.95 on the Xbox 360 console system. Contact your local stores for details.

So the Orange Box is out today. Due to my rather customary display of deficiency in the IQ department, there was some mix-up and I've only just started downloading Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode Two -- bravo, Twoei! So, reviews coming as soon as I freaking can.

I've also only figured out the connection yesterday -- the black box which is used to store information on airplane crashes is actually orange. Now, as you may recall, the original plan for Valve's Half-Life 2 pack was to release the Orange Box and Black Box editions.

I was trying to figure out what this tells me and short of accusing everyone of being terrorists (a rather popular pastime of mine), I can't really see any other connection.

Tell you what, I wouldn't want to be on that UPS plane carrying all those Orange Box copies to Amazon stores overseas. Talk about bad flight karma.