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[ Current Week: January 3rd - January 10th ]
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THQ announces 2000 Lineup
THQ
announced its product lineup for the year 2000. The company says that they plan on releasing several titles this year for the PC including Evil Dead,
Summoner, Felony Pursuit, MTV Sports: Skateboarding and WWF Online. Most of these titles are scheduled for release later the second half of this year.You can expect
THQ to reveal more details in the months ahead, as we get closer to this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in March.
- Seth Gecko
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Amen: The Awakening Cancelled
Cavedog
has announced that their first person shooter, Amen: The Awakening, has been cancelled. No reasons were given
for the cancellation, but Cavedog did comment that they wanted to focus their efforts towards their Total Annihilation
franchise and their Boneyards online service.
- Seth Gecko
Eidos creates Sports Division
Eidos Interactive
has bolstered its interest in sports gaming with the creation of a new sports division and the
appointment of a new manager, Richard Thompson, to head up the department.
- Seth Gecko
Optical Mouse for Lefties Coming
Microsoft
today introduced the IntelliMouse Optical, an ambidextrous five-button optical pointing device. Sporting the silver detailing, signature red
taillight and glowing underside of the IntelliMouse Explorer, IntelliMouse Optical features a smaller
design Microsoft claims is comfortable for both left and right-handed mouse users.
IntelliEye technology replaces the mouse ball with an optical sensor and digital signal processor. The
sensor captures surface snapshots at a rate of 1,500 images per second, and the DSP translates
changes between the images into on-screen movements. The absence of moving parts eliminates the
need for mouse pads and cleaning. IntelliMouse Optical is scheduled to be available in April 2000 for an
estimated retail price of $55.
- Seth Gecko
Noble Armada Delayed
Holistic Design has confirmed that their upcoming title, Fading Suns: Noble Armada, has
been delayed. Originally scheduled for a First Quarter 2000 release, the game is undergoing a
major overhaul and will not make it's initial release date. It will now be released sometime
during the summer.
- Seth Gecko
Ultima Online: Renaissance Announced
Origin
has announced plans to release an updated version of Ultima Online, entitled Ultima Online: Renaissance.
Scheduled for release in mid-March, Renaissance will include new retail wrapping and updated features.
Current subscribers will not need to purchase a new CD to receive the updated features; rather, all of
these and a few additional updates will be made available for downloaded to existing customers over the
coming months.
Renaissance will include such new features as an expanded world map with new opportunities for housing,
a geographic separation of gaming preferences to eliminate non-consensual combat,
group adventuring, improved monster AI and a massive expansion of the Counselor, Companion, and Elder and Seer programs.
- Seth Gecko
[ Upcoming Reviews ]
[ Today's Reviews/Previews ]
Clusterball Site Launched
Daydream Software has launched a website for
Clusterball,
an Internet-based sports game for up to eight participants. The object is to guide a ship to grab balls on themed courses and then glide through
massive rings.
The website provides everything to get started, including basic rules, descriptions of equipment, detailed
schematics of the ships, and even a downloadable version of the game. A group of 200 test pilots will be
selected from the new site to test the game. A database has also been constructed to establish an
individual relationship with each consumer. People can register, communicate with others and view the
ratings ladder on the website.
- Seth Gecko
Shadow Watch is Gold
Red Storm
has confirmed that their upcoming tactical strategy title,
Shadow Watch, has gone gold. That's the good news, the bad news
is that Shadow Watch isn't scheduled to hit store shelves until March
2000.
"Dreams of an international space station have often been destroyed
by the red tape of politics. After failed attempts by Russia and the
U.S., a multi-national consortium of science agencies concluded that
a space station could be built efficiently with the group effort of
member nations. However, they needed a multinational, neutral
organization with space experience and a drive to finish the work on
its own. They selected a corporation. They selected you."
"You will lead a crack team of operatives to uncover a nefarious plot
to stop humanity’s advancement to the stars. As chief of the
corporation’s security team, you will track and interrogate contacts in
exotic locales like Rio de Janeiro and Hong Kong. How you question
them will change the plot, so ask carefully. When you have the
answers you need, launch covert missions using your team to rescue
hostages, plant surveillance devices, raze buildings, and assault
enemy strongholds. This isn’t a battle to save the world; it’s a battle
to save every world."
- Seth Gecko
[ Upcoming Reviews ]
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Review - Planescape: Torment (c) Interplay - Pseudo Nim [ Go! ]
Sid Meier's Dinosaur Diary
Firaxis' official site for Sid Meier's Dinosaurs has been updated with
a new installment in Sid's Dino Diaries.
This installment focuses on the decision to make the game real time or turn based. There's also some new artwork to gaze at.
- Seth Gecko
Crusaders of Might & Magic FAQ
3DO has posted their
support FAQ for Crusaders of Might and Magic,
sporting an array of tips and solutions for problems you might be experiencing with their recently released third-person action adventure.
- Seth Gecko
Gamer's Choice Award: Planescape Torment
We've handed out our first Gamer's Choice Award of the year 2000 and it goes to Interplay's exciting RPG, Planescape: Torment.
Here's a little blurb from our review of Planescape Torment:
"Planescape: Torment is set (perhaps, unexpectedly) in the Planescape realm of the Advanced Dungeons and
Dragons universe. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Planescape is the realm of AD&D which is centered more
around the mind aspect rather than the hack-and-slash aspect. To clarify, Planescape’s reality are the Outer and
the Inner Planes of Existence; each plane has its own laws, ethos, laws, rules and ideologies. Since this is less of
an existential realm and more of a spiritual one, for the lack of a better expression, most of the characters you
see are built through the collective consciousness of the mortals of the more physical planes – so you’ll encounter
lots of the good, the evil, the in-betweens and the undefinables. What differs the Planescape realm from the more
traditional ones are the themes dealt with – the realm is based around the "Belief is power" concept – and that
which you believe in shapes that which you do. Philosophical approaches to problems at hand, nature and
interaction of good and evil and a good amount of other material, that is colloquially referred to as "deep stuff."
Be sure to check out the rest of this great Planescape: Torment review, including a few dozen screenshots. Enjoy!
Review
Planescape: Torment (c) Interplay
- Seth Gecko
Third World Cancelled
Redline Games'
squad-based tactical RPG, Third World has been cancelled due to a
lack of funding. The company had searched for a publisher for the game since it was dropped by
Activision back in April. After a long and fruitless search for a publisher to finance the project, Redline Games
decided to cancel it and move on to other things.
Third World was to be a feature rich RPG strategy followed a similar vein popularized by games like
Incubation and X-COM. In the game players control a group of mercenaries, guide them through various
mission types, train them nurture them and teach them spiritual and mental abilities.
- Seth Gecko
[ Upcoming Reviews ]
[ Today's Reviews/Previews ]
Review - Earthworm Jim 3D (c) Interplay - Drexel Spivey [ Go! ]
A.R.S.E.N.A.L. Addon Announced
Tactical Soft
announced that they are in the midst of creating an addon for their real-time strategy game,
A.R.S.E.N.A.L. The addon, A.R.S.E.N.A.L Extended Power, will add 38 different units to the mix: 14 ground
units, 10 ships, 9 aircraft and 5 fixed batteries, according to the company. Other new features in the
works include secret weapons, bigger maps, new weapon and structure upgrades, negotiation cards and
the ability to create your own persona.
- Seth Gecko
GO Review: Earthworm Jim 3D
I hope everybody had a great Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. Now that's it over though, it's back to business. The
first review in the year 2000 is for Interplay's upcoming title, Earthworm Jim 3D which will be available later this month. Here's
a little blurb of our review of Earthworm Jim 3D:
"Earthworm Jim’s latest adventure is a mixed bag. It’s made the leap to 3D and still manages to stay true to the
cartoon style gameplay we’ve become accustomed too in previous Earthworm Jim titles. The audio remains clever
and witty, the gameplay imaginative and creative, but the graphics are bland and uninspiring. There’s a lot of fun
to be had in a game like this, but it all gets ruined by the horrendous camera angles."
Be sure to check out the rest of our Earthworm Jim 3D review, including a dozen screenshots. Enjoy!
Review
Earthworm Jim 3D (c) Interplay
- Seth Gecko
Horse & Musket goes Gold
Shrapnel Games
announced today that Horse & Musket: Great Battles of the Eighteenth Century has gone gold.
Horse & Musket is the follow-up title to the popular war game, Dragoon. Designed by David R. Erickson, Horse
and Musket will be available for mail order shipments starting in late January 2000.
According to Shrapnel Games, Horse and Musket will include more than twenty scenarios covering many of
the great battles of the Eighteenth Century. Nationalities included are Prussia, Russia, England,
France, Sweden, Austria, Saxony, and colonial America. The game will also reportedly feature a full scenario
editor, PBEM functionality, Internet play, improved AI over its predecessor, new interface and terrain and unit
graphics.
- Seth Gecko
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