Warhammer Online Newsletter 21 - Elves, Chaos Marauders, Etc

Work is well underway on WAR’s final racial pairing – High Elf vs. Dark Elf – but we’re not quite ready to show them to you yet. The official unveiling of these armies will take place next month at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Until then, we offer you this brief introduction to the Elves with the hope that it gets you through the next 30 days. Enjoy! Tell me more about the High Elves >> Tell me more about the Dark Elves >> "Say what you will of us. Call us heathens because we deny your weak pretender-God. Call us savages because we strike at your homes. But know this – it is we who are closest to the Ruinous Powers. We most favored of the Gods shall raid your lands, revel in your suffering and destroy you. Despair! For all that remains for you is the taste of Northern steel and the end of your world. Such is the will of the Gods." - Hallbjörn, Norscan Marauder Read more about the Marauder >> Learn more about the Armies of WAR >> The great city of Altdorf is, in many ways, the heart of the Empire. The seat of the Emperor himself, Karl Franz, lies here in Altdorf within his grand, towering palace overlooking the vast city. Beyond the palace, the streets of Altdorf are lined with blocks of tall, aging row houses that have been built up and onto repeatedly with each passing generating. On the winding streets, merchants peddle their wares including various sundries, weaponry, “rat on a stick” snacks, apothecary leeches, and anything else that will fetch a price. The goal of the art design for the city was to relay the feeling of a living and thriving city, bustling with activity, while still showing a gritty and aging place as war and Chaos takes its toll. Some buildings are in disrepair. There are beggers and refuse in the streets. Sewers are rumored to be home to unspeakable things... Even with this decay, the city is still a grand sight to see. You can find yourself walking in narrow corridors of high row houses only to round the corner and enter the decorated plaza surrounding the Temple of Sigmar, one of the great landmarks within Altdorf. Altdorf also has a large dock district with many Empire war galleons and smaller, mercantile vessels making port. Another noteworthy landmark within Altdorf is the ever-burning Bright Wizard College. Huge gouts of flame and choking smoke billows from within this stone and metal citadel where wizards of the Empire learn their craft. The neighboring buildings have been reduced to ash and ruin by various, fiery experiments gone awry. Any visitor to Altdorf will have a memorable experience, as this key city is a glorious testament to the achievements of the Empire. Glory to Sigmar! The Age of Reckoning draws near and the armies of Order and Destruction are filling their ranks. More than 300,000 willing participants have registered so far, making this one of the largest ever beta tests for an MMORPG. However, we are always looking for new recruits so sharpen your sword, unleash your mutation, and prepare to meet your destiny on the battlefields of Warhammer Online. Sign up for the WAR Beta at: betacenter.eamythic.com WAR is coming! Are you ready? This month’s WAR Beta Journal comes courtesy of the Beta Forums and describes a heart pounding adventure for a new Oathbearer. I opened my eyes. Was it the cannon that woke me? I'm used tothem, but not even a weary Dwarf could sleep through the reverberating thunder of Helga firing, and the cheers that always follow. Even I, tired as I am, sit up and raise my arm, hollering out with the boys, "For Helga!" What a story that is, and I hope that when my day of peace comes, Dwarfs will celebrate the memory in such a fine way. Standing up, my fingers find their way to the reassuring presence of the spanner at my side, the last living memory of the Dwarf who gave it to me, before he bore his oath to a darker place. A finer Dwarf there never was. Read more about the Dwarf's adventure >> This month we travel to the Grand Principality of Reikland, the home to the sprawling city of Altdorf, capital of the Empire. Compared to their fellow countrymen in the north, the people of Reikland live a blessed existence. Lately however, a shadow has fallen over the province and the threat of invasion that once seemed so distant has now reached their borders. The warhost of the north has come, and it seems increasingly clear that no force in the Empire can stop it. Read More About the Reikland >> Painting the Bright Wizard College Click Image to Watch Podcast The artists working on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning have a reputation for being a bit talented. Now see the proof. With audio commentary by our own Paul Barnett, this time-lapse video shows an entire day’s worth of painting boiled down to five minutes, as concept artist, Jonathan Kirtz, creates a color concept of the Bright Wizard College. Work has begun on the Bright Wizard College in the game and it will soon be towering over the rooftops of Altdorf. Here is a sneak peak at the work-in-progress. Warhammer Online Podcasts are now available on iTunes! Subscribe today! Each newsletter, the Video of the Month brings you a fresh, new look at WAR in action! These videos are not highly polished marketing trailers, but clips of raw game footage showcasing many of the cool features of WAR. Click Image to Watch Video This month we present video from around the world of Warhammer Online, including a look at Empire and Chaos RvR Scenarios, monsters and Public Quests. The team is hard at work bringing more of this goodness to life and we'll have much more to share in the coming months. Enjoy! Bonus Video of the Month - Beta Bug Burns Cows During Beta we run into all kinds of little bugs, but we just had to share this one with you. The cows just wanted a nice bite of grass, but every time they took one, fiery death reigned down from above. Hope you like your burgers well done! Click on Image to Watch Join Creative Director, Paul Barnett, and his trusty video phone for a truly unique look at the making of WAR. This month, Paul watches his teammates inside the belly of a monkey, gazes upon a lake of fire, and entertains fans across the country. View the Video Blog >> The 2007 Road Show is in full swing and we are bringing WAR to a town near you! Visit our booth and be one of the first to play the NEW Dwarf and Greenskins starter zones, as well as Empire and Chaos zones. You’ll also get the chance to go head-to-head with other attendees in one of our new RvR Scenarios. Plus, meet members of the team and walk off with cool giveaways. Upcoming Events • July 25-29 – Comic Con San Diego • July 28, 2007 - Games Day Chicago • August 5, 2007 – Games Day Germany WAR Invades ChinaJoy Check out recent photos from the WAR booth at ChinaJoy. WAR is coming! Are you properly dressed? Now you can show the world that you are ready for WAR with these exclusive t-shirts and hats available only at the EA Mythic Store.* Supplies are limited so order now and start your WAR collection today! Visit the EA Mythic Store! * Offer valid for U.S. residents only Fan art submissions are coming in on a regular basis, and we thought we’d share this month’s favorites. Keep the artwork coming! Serinur the Witch Hunter By Justin Kimball Warrior By Louis Green Witch Elf By Rebecca Orr Warrior of Tzeentch By Jorge Del Poyo Witch Hunter Comic By Jorge Del Poyo Paul Shows His True Color By Josh Muir Visit the Fan Art Gallery >> Feeling creative? Send us your WAR-inspired art. We will choose the best entries and feature them in upcoming newsletters and on our website. Note to aspiring artists: Color submissions will usually get more love than ones done in pencil! Submit your artwork >> Have a knack for creative writing or a story you are dying to tell? We are looking to “publish” the best WAR-inspired fan fiction written by our readers. We will choose our favorites and feature them in upcoming newsletters and on our website. Submissions must be no longer than 2000 words. This Month’s Featured Stories Destruction Night upon a Hill off Yonder, Logan Ross Tainted, Aaron Frederick Order The Music of the Gods, Shaun Bennett What Hope Remains, Alluvian Est-Endrati The Legends and Lore section of the WAR Herald is only as good as the community can make it! Check out the stories from the Armies of Order and Destruction, and let us know how many mugs of ale each tale is worth. (Votes do not immediately display.) Think you can do better? Submit your own! Submit your WAR Story >> Welcome to the WAR Grab Bag, where our friendly neighborhood community team answers the most pressing, the most popular, and the most interesting questions from fans. Keep those questions coming, as we’re eager to hear what you have to say! Check out this month’s Grab Bag >> Send us your questions about the game >> "I sincerely hope that millions of folks from all over the world rise up and play WAR, forging a new world order of peace and love and… I’m sorry I’m tearing up, we should move on." Developer Profile >> "I’ve been a Warhammer fanatic for years, and so the very idea of playing in an MMO that reflects the world I’ve grown up with is excitement enough for me. Warhammer is the perfect setting for an MMO, it has just enough heroes that the concept isn’t foreign to the world, but the setting isn’t generated around a specific set of heroes that everyone wants to be. With so many races, people, places in the world, there is a ton of rich lore that will be perfect to take and expand upon, bringing the world to life for the players." Developer Profile >> NOW WITH MORE CHANCES TO WIN! WAR has entered into Beta and now is your chance to secure a spot in the test. Each month we'll randomly select 20 names from the newsletter subscriber database for entry into the Beta Test.* If you are a current Warhammer newsletter subscriber, then you're automatically entered into the drawing every month. If you are not yet a newsletter subscriber, visit betacenter.eamythic.com to register for the Beta and subscribe to the monthly newsletter. July Winners: D. Nucci/Europe S. Armistead/North America D. Ortiz/Europe E. Chambers/North America J. Diedrichsen/Europe P. Lim/North America F. Migliorini/Europe K. Reinholdt/North America I. Vilar/Europe M. Luc/North America E. Chabiron/Europe A. Franke/North America B. Kaltenecker/Europe K. O'Brien/North America G. Tetard/Europe J. Pavlek/North America H. Busch/South America S. Sutcliffe/Australia S. Koubarev/Russia D. Mackerill/Australia This month decorate your desktop with more images of WAR. Regular Wide Screen June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 Each month we’ll be shining the spotlight on WAR fan sites that exemplify what we consider to be the best in WAR community spirit. Ever wonder what happened to the folks you played with way back in the day in UO? How about that fun little guild you ran with in the early days of DAoC, but have since lost touch with? Head over to Guild Café; reconnect with old gaming friends from years back and make tons of new ones! www.guildcafe.com Is your WAR fan site doing something cool, informative, or fun? Let us know by sending an email to rduffek at ea dot com and you could be featured in the next community spotlight. Download the WAR Fan Site kit. What is going on in this picture? Send us your best caption and we’ll send the winner into the Closed Beta! Please keep your captions clean if you want them to be printed! Enter your Caption: Enter your Email Address: Last Month’s Contest Winner Winner: Hank idly began to question his decision to enter a pole-vaulting competition sponsored by Grok’s ManKabobs. Runners-Up: A pink-skin a'day keeps d'em docs away I dun no's whys bossa want da clothes on when cooked... maybes it's for the fiber. Fust ya Killzit, den ya ramz dis big stik up its butt and outz its head. Cook fur 10 minutz each side and datz how you roastz humans Cover A – Vogel in Forest Cover B – Vampiress Written by Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton Illustrated by Rahsan EkedalColors by Scott Vanden BoschLettered by Ed Dukeshire Warhammer: Forge of War, from BOOM! Studios, features exclusive new screens and artwork from Warhammer Online. And be sure to look for the special WAR Alternative Cover! For special sneak preview of Warhammer: Forge of War #3, click here. Visit www.boom-studios.com to order, or call 1-800-COMICS to find your nearest comic book shop! Visit the WAR booth for your chance to play the latest build of the game! 2007 Games Days Games Day – Chicago July 28, 2007 Games Day - Germany August 5, 2007 Games Day – Los Angeles August 11, 2007 Games Day - UK September 23, 2007 2007 Shows and Conventions (Attendance plans subject to change) ComicCon San Diego July 26 - 29, 2007 GenCon Indy August 16-19, 2007 Games Convention, Germany August 20 - 22, 2007 The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) August 24-26, 2007 The Elves! The New Lighting System! The Chaos Wastes! The Inevitable City! News from Leipzig! And so much more! * Beta test participation is subject to the signing of a beta test agreement. If you prefer to no longer receive the Warhammer MMO newsletter, please login to your account to edit your profile for this mailing list. Attn: Customer Support, EA Mythic, 4035 Ridge Top Road, Suite 800, Fairfax, VA 22030 U.S.A. 'Warhammer' ©/™ and/or ® GW Ltd; Newsletter © 2007 Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved. Legal Information

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Fury - Life is What Happens While You Are Level Grinding

Or "While you're trying to get your orc shaman to 70, your girlfriend is banging the pizza guy. Oh and buy our new game."

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NES WTF?

I have no pithy remarks. I am speechless.

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The Top 10 Mario Games

At least until the next 10 or so.

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100 C64 Games in 10 Minutes

Hello, my freakin' childhood.
Click "full article" for error-filled list of games.



1. Last Ninja 2 (0:00)
2. IK+ (0:07)
3. Maniac Mansion (0:13)
4. Pirates! (0:19)
5. Zak McKracken (0:25)
6. Vendetta (0:31)
7. Turrican 2 (0:37)
8. Archon: The Light and the Dark (0:43)
9. Bubble Bobble (0:49)
10. Summer Games 2 (0:55)
11. Ultima IV (1:01)
12. Bruce Lee (1:07)
13. Last Ninja (1:13)
14. Project Firestart (1:19)
15. Turrican (1:25)
16. Wasteland (1:31)
17. Defender of the Crown (1:37)
18. Asterix (1:43)
19. Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (1:49)
20. M.U.L.E (1:55)
21. Microprose Soccer (2:01)
22. Leaderboard Golf (2:07)
23. Hyper Sports (2:13)
24. Winter Games (2:19)
25. Creatures 2: Torture Trouble (2:25)
26. Impossible Mission (2:31)
27. Samurai Warrior - The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo (2:37)
28. Great Giana Sisters (2:43)
29. Armalyte (2:49)
30. California Games (2:55)
31. Boulder Dash (3:01)
32. Dominator (3:07)
33. Wizard of Wor (3:13)
34. Montezuma's Revenge (3:19)
35. Katakis (3:25)
36. Mayhem in Monsterland (3:31)
37. Stunt Car Racer (3:37)
38. H.E.R.O. - Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation (3:43)
39. Pitstop II (3:49)
40. Skate or Die! (3:55)
41. Space Taxi (4:01)
42. World Games (4:07)
43. Batman - The Caped Crusader (4:13)
44. Donald Ducks Playground (4:19)
45. Rainbow Islands (4:25)
46. Green Beret (4:31)
47. Tusker (4:37)
48. Shadow of the Beast (4:43)
49. International Karate (4:49)
50. Midnight Resistance (4:55)
51. Paradroid (5:01)
52. Gauntlet (5:07)
53. Airborne Ranger (5:13)
54. Blue Max (5:19)
55. Count Duckula (5:25)
56. Grand Prix Circuit (5:31)
57. Racing Destruction Set (5:37)
58. Wizball (5:43)
59. Buggy Boy (5:49)
60. Arnie (5:55)
61. Lode Runner (6:01)
62. Spy vs Spy (6:07)
63. Stormlord (6:13)
64. Fiendish Freddys Big Top O Fun (6:19)
65. Jumpman (6:25)
66. Zynaps (6:31)
67. Kung Fu Master (6:37)
68. MYTH: History in the Making (6:43)
69. Power Drift (6:49)
70. Rick Dangerous (6:55)
71. Super Pipeline (7:01)
72. Barbarian - The Ultimate Warrior (7:07)
73. Frankie goes to Hollywood (7:13)
74. Ghosts 'n Goblins (7:19)
75. Lazy Jones (7:25)
76. Way of the Exploding Fist (7:31)
77. Raid on Bungeling Bay (7:37)
78. Decathlon (7:43)
79. Manic Miner (7:49)
80. Gremlins 2 (7:55)
81. Nebulus (8:01)
82. Shoot-Em-Up Construction Kit (8:07)
83. Law of the West (8:13)
84. Spy Hunter (8:19)
85. Turbo Outrun (8:25)
86. Aztec Challenge (8:31)
87. Goonies (8:37)
88. Krakout (8:43)
89. Platoon (8:49)
90. Ghostbusters (8:55)
91. Addams Family (9:01)
92. Forbidden Forest (9:07)
93. Salamander (9:13)
94. Target Renegade (9:19)
95. Commando (9:25)
96. BC 2 - Grogs Revenge (9:31)
97. Netherworld (9:37)
98. Kikstart II (9:43)
99. Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh (9:49)
100. Flimbo's Quest (9:55)

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Corning Claims Fiber-Optic Breakthrough

In what can only be good news for broadband consumers, the next iterative leap forward in bandwidth tech has been made by Corning, working with Verizon. [Article]

Corning researchers say their newest breakthrough - optical fiber that can bend without significant signal loss - will greatly accelerate the expansion of fiber optic connections directly into homes, especially those of the nation's 25 million high-rise dwellers.

...

Corning's researchers figured out a way to keep the light going as it turns corners - lots and lots of corners. We can't go too deep into the technical details - the company exhibits CIA-levels of paranoia about its inventions. But essentially Corning's technology infuses the cladding that surrounds the fiber's narrow core with microscopic guardrails called nanostructures. They help keep the light from seeping out of the fiber, even when it is wound around a pencil - treatment that normally would render it completely useless.

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Baby Finds Wii Hilarious

It's a slow news day. Was yesterday too. While I can get away with not updating one day, I don't think I should do so twice a week. So here's a baby laughing at a wii. If you think this is rather inane or banal, blame the post-E3 refractory period. Nobody's doing jack that is interesting enough to call to attention, and work is kicking my ass too hard for once for me to come up with worthwhile original content.

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Best PC Games of E3 2007

According to Gametrailers anyway. Makes for a good rundown of what's on the way to watch for.

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ATI/NVidia: No Vista Support for Laptops

Huh. Well then, I guess I'm that much more pleased I wiped off vista and installed XP on my laptop. [Source]

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SouCalibur IV Confirmed for 360 and PS3

Well, I guess that spares me having to buy a Wii, then... I can just wait for ppMcBiggs to talk himself into buying a 360 and go play it at his house.

Swords will be honed and weapons optimized as NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., recently announced Soulcalibur IV, the newest installment to the world renowned weapon-based fighting series, for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Delivering new gameplay modes, characters and enhanced features with unprecedented 3D modeling and animation, Soulcalibur IV will be the definitive fighting game experience. The unrelenting pursuit of two legendary swords continues when Soulcalibur IV is released in 2008.

“Soulcalibur has been a cornerstone franchise for NAMCO BANDAI Games and this latest edition will build upon its legacy of groundbreaking fighting experiences,” said Makoto Iwai, Executive Vice President and COO, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “With Soulcalibur IV, long-time fans and newcomers to the franchise will be amazed by its visual beauty and intense, pulse pounding weapon combat.”

Developed by Project Soul, the legendary team behind Soul Blade and Soulcalibur I-III, Soulcalibur IV will re-introduce classic warriors from the series as well as introduce new characters that will bring new conflict and intrigue. Fully realizing the processing power of the PLAYSTATION 3 system and Xbox 360, Soulcalibur IV promises to propel the fighting genre into the next-gen era. With visually realistic environments, interactive stages, enhanced AI, and a new battle system, Soulcalibur IV will be at the top of everyone’s wish list.

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Off Topic Friday #4 - Harry Potter Book Disguises

Can't help wanting to read the last Harry Potter book, but too embarrassed to be seen reading a kid's book in public? Check these babies out. I especially like "A Man's Guide to Penis Reduction Surgery: When it's just too big."

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StarCraft 2 - Soul Hunter Removed and Thor Details

StarCraft 2 is probably going to be a game with one of the most heavily scrutinized dev cycles ever. Here's the latest from Blizzard -

The Soul Hunter has been the first victim in the balancing and polishing stage of Starcraft II. According to Cavez (Dustin Browder) the Soul Hunter has been removed from the game and won't be showcased at BlizzCon. Other units could suffer the same fate, while new units might be created. This game is still in development and as such will get intensive testing to make sure each unit is enjoyable and balanced.

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Gang Kidnaps MMO Top Player For His Account

Pulled this one off Xinhua via Bluesnews -

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Police arrested a gang on Tuesday that kidnapped the top scorer of online game GunBound in order to force him to transfer his gaming account to them.

The player, whose identity has been kept secret, was the owner of the account with the highest score in the online game GunBound, developed and maintained by South Korea's Softnyx, and distributed in Brazil by OnGame.

According to the police, the group, the self-titled "La Firma," allegedly threatened video game players and tried to force them to transfer their accounts with their scores to the gang members.

Investigations showed they attempted to transfer GunBound's top scorer's account 23 times. After failing to succeed they lured the victim by setting him up on a date with a girl in Guarulhos, in Sao Paulo's metropolitan region.

Tamires Rodrigues Vieira, 19, met the game champion in an online chat room and arranged the date, which she did not attend. Instead, another member of the scheme showed up and, with a handgun, obligated the victim to go to an Internet cafe to transfer his points to the gang. They then released the score for sale on a website for 15,000 reals (about 8,000 U.S. dollars).

Police arrested Vieira, along with other suspects Anderson Faquini, 19; Alexsander Kaiser Pereira, 27; and Igor da Silva Carvalho, 27. Police also seized a digital camera, a mobile phone,a laptop and other computer devices.

OnGame stated that GunBound is one of the most popular online games in some Asian countries, and which was released in 2004 in Brazil, where it has 2.7 million registered users. Although the company forbids the trade of personal accounts, police have uncovered a black market selling scores for up to 5,000 reals (about 2,700 dollars).

So. Careful about meeting those 19 year old hotties, all you Level 70s out there. *snort*

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky Video - Story and Settings Interview

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Make Windows XP Outlast Vista

Vista sucks and we all know it. So here's some tips on how to get XP to last you the next seven or so years until Microsoft is ready to try this rot again, or maybe have had a few service packs to make Vista less boned.

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Compilations of NES Game Endings

Because it's a slow news day this morning, and I'm too lazy to generate original content lately!

Volume 1-Metal Gear Robocop Battletoads Blaster Master and Megaman 1.


Volume 2-

TMNT 1, Mega man 2, Lifeforce, Castlevania 1, Zelda II

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Swashbucklers Video

What is this? Beats me... some kind of... cowboy... pirate... rpg... arena fighting... nautical... adventure beat-em-up? Well, whatever it is, it's for both PS2 and PC, and my curiosity is piqued.

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Cops: German Man Will Not Be Cited For Chucking His Computer Out Window

"We've all been there," says uncharacteristically understanding police officer. Roffull.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who startled his neighbours when he hurled his computer out of the window in the middle of the night, was let off for disturbing the peace by police who sympathised with his technical frustrations.
Police in the northern city of Hanover said they would not press charges after responding to calls made by residents in an apartment block who were woken by a loud crash in the early hours of Saturday.
Officers found the street and pavement covered in electronic parts and discovered who the culprit was.
Asked what had driven him to the night-time outburst, the 51-year-old man said he had simply got annoyed with his computer.
"Who hasn't felt like doing that?" said a police spokesman. While escaping any official sanction the man was made to clear up the debris.

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I Am Murloc

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Iranians Debut Anti-US PC Game

From over at GamePolitics.com, an Iranian dev house calling itself "The Union of Islamic Student Societies" has published a FPS called "Rescue the Nuke Scientist" (which I am guessing loses something in translation), amid much fanfare, which apparently focuses on some sort of Iranian special-ops mission to rescue a pair husband and wife nuclear scientists, who were taken by US forces while they were making pilgrimage to Iraq, and moved into Israel. The enemy AIs are apparently American and Israeli soldiers.

Mohammad Taqi Fakhrian, a leader of the student group, was in what passes for full game hype mode in Tehran these days: "This is our defense against the enemy’s cultural onslaught. We tried to promote the idea of defense, sacrifice and martyrdom in this game."

Fakhrian said the student group would market the game initially in Iran and other Islamic nations. He told the AP, however, that the group has plans to bring Rescue the Nuke Scientist the Western nations.

Ali Reza Masaeli, who leads the student group, said it took three years to create. The development team was based in Isfahan, a central Iranian city that houses a nuclear site. Said Masaeli: "It is an entirely Iranian product in response to the US cyber war against Iran."

Huh. Political hullaballoo aside, I wonder if it's any good.

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Transformers Battlefield 1942 Mod

This looks kinda neat. Hope they don't get the same "Cease and Desist" treatment the guys doing the GI Joe BF1942 mod did.

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Intel raises Core 2 bus speeds, lowers price

Hah! I knew it! I told you so! Remember when AMD cut prices, I said Intel was going to follow? Well, they are, according to Techreport. Good news, good news.

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Top Ten Boobies in Gaming

Yeah, it's old, but it's new to me!

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E3 PC Roundup

Gametrailers, what would I do without you? Probably be forced to come up with more original content, that's what. Anyway, here's what I found that interested me most...

World in Conflict


Unreal 3 details from a producer


Starcraft 2 combat unit interview


S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky


Gears of War PC, with overlaying interview with Cliffy Blez.. bliz.. CliffyB.


F.E.A.R. - Perseus Mandate. I especially like the part where he throws a grenade then snipes it in midair in bullet time.


Crysis - AKA "I hope you have a 500 dollar video card"


Legendary: The Box

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Blizzard a Little Tight Lipped at E3

I hadn't heard much via the usual hype machines about Starcraft 2 or other blizzard titles, and when I read this article on C|Net I smacked my forehead and said "Duh! Blizzcon coming!" This year's E3, for all its "newly refined" subdued and boothbabe-deprived revision is still a big console circle-jerk... and as much as I enjoy some console games, I've always been grumpy about how "E3 season" has historically caused PC gaming news and such to fall to the wayside while every big-time mediawhore outlet out there (is that success envy? You be the judge) worships at the altars of Nintendo, Microsoft's xbox division, and Sony.

But I digress. What was going to be the bit of most interest to me at E3 this year, Blizzard's talk of Starcraft 2 and future Warcraft plans, was apparently a little on the quiet side. As I said, understandable once one remembers how soon it is to Blizzcon. But there were some tidbits revealed in the above article-

For you World of Warcraft fans, you can look forward to built-in voice chat, guild banks, and the new 10-man Zul'aman instance dungeon. Expect voice chat and guild banks first, and it sounded like Blizzard was set to provide more details of those features at its own show. It did tell us that the voice chat will automatically lower the game volume when someone starts talking, and that it will also indicate the current speaker in your group with an icon over his or her character's head.

...

Finally, in keeping with our interest in forthcoming games, DirectX 10, and Games for Windows Live, we found out that Starcraft 2 does not currently have any DirectX 10 content. Those longer shaders and optimized pathways could find themselves added to content as development continues, but citing timeliness and, again, accessibility, Blizzard's development team isn't too focused on pushing Starcraft 2's graphics into the so-called "next-gen. Also, as you'd imagine, it will be sticking with Blizzard's own Battle.net player matching software, so don't expect a major push toward Games for Windows Live on this title, either.

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Off Topic Friday #3 - It's a FAAAAAKE!

Senator Vreenak gets edited like crazy.

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Guitar Hero 3 Developer Interview

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WoW 2.1.3 Known Issues

Seems tuesday's patch screwed up a few things, particularly with some hunter abilities.

Among the problems that have been identified include quite a few graphic bugs, such as the shoulder armor being significantly smaller on Orc Males, Male Night Elf Off-Hand Weapons not properly aligned with the hand, Dwarven Female off-hand equipped items becoming universally over-sized, and male Blood Elf's legs clipping into all chairs in the game.

Of course, there are more nefarious bugs such as some major city guards ignoring both Feign Death and Vanish along with pets getting lost. Another issue that most hunters may find annoying is the fact that if their pets have more then 12 skills, they won't be able to access the second page of the spellbook.

Whups.

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Quake Wars - Enemy Territory Trailer

Looks like Quake's going somewhat UT, somewhat BF. Can't hardly fault them.

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ALL ONLINE DATA LOST AFTER INTERNET CRASHES

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Heh heh... Onion...

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Burnout Paradise (X360, PS3) Interview/Footage

Smash. Crash. Like.

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Unreal Tournament 3 Trailer

The Awesome, distilled it is.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Sequel, F.E.A.R. Expansion, Gears of War for XP & Vista

It's a busy day for PC FPS news. Details on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sequel, called Clear Sky. F.E.A.R.'s got another expansion coming out, called Perseus Mandate, and Microsoft has confirmed the PC version of the ultra-popular 360 shooter Gears of War will be for both XP and Vista, as well as having much PC-exclusive content. Booyah!

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Gametrailers' Most Anticipated of E3 07

A bit console heavy for my taste, but hey, I guess that's the state of the industry.
Starcraft 2 is WAY higher than number 10 though, I'm sorry.

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Mainstream Media Discovers Griefers

Point your clickers over at gamepolitics for this latest bit of "well DUH!" hilarity. Hey kids, isn't it sad and yet funny when the folks try to figure out our racket?

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AMD CPU Prices Cut

Our prices are... in-SAAAAANE!

Ok, maybe not. But prices coming down is always a good thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Intel doesn't follow suit soon.

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WoW Patch 2.1.3

Tuesday's here, so here's another WoW patch.

World of Warcraft Client Patch 2.1.3

General

* Read in-game mail will now be kept for thirty days instead of three.
* The Warlock spell Incinerate has had the performance of its graphical spell effect improved.
* The "Show Launcher" option has changed so that it now defaults to "On". Players will now see the launcher when running WoW by default.

User Interface

* Improved the performance of conditional macros, slightly increasing the framerate.
* Fixed a crash triggered by many unit frame AddOns.

Bug Fixes

* Fixed an issue with the movement of Archimonde's Doomfire.
* Fixed the wand missile art on most Shadow based wands to show the correct graphical effect.
* Infinity Blades will now despawn properly when the encounter with Kael'thas resets after a wipe.
* Gan'arg Underlings and Felhound Defenders are now properly classified as demons.

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China Censors WoW Skeletons

Who can tell what in the nine hells is going on with those crazy maoists these days. Apparently as part of some drive to "purify the internet" of anything that might affect "national cultural information security" or undermine his attempt to promote a "harmonious society." Downright insanely Orwellian, man.

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New Version of Ad-Aware Out

Lavasoft has launched Ad-Aware 2007 (with a free version, naturally). For those out there who don't have any adware prevention software, let me give you a tip.

You need all three of these:
Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D
SpywareBlaster

Keep them updated and scan your system at least once a month, preferably more. Unless you don't care about things like spyware and degraded system performance.

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Rock Band Screenshots

For 360. Right over here.

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PS3 Price Drops 100 Bucks

Despite denials that any price cuts were in the works, Sony has dropped the price of the PS3 from 600 to 500 bucks.

You want my opinion? Much too little far too late. This contest has already been won by the wii.

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Top 10 MMORPG Busts

This one's from over at The Game Musketeers. I can't find any faults with the ones they have chosen, except perhaps Dawn or Horizons should also have been included.

I'd also like to take this time to reinvite any who didn't see it the first time around to check out "The Game Producers," AKA Whamadoodles Online.

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Gears of War Coming to PC

Yep. Kotaku has the scoop.

A gameplay montage video of Epic Games' Gears Of War—specifically listed as PC footage—found its way to the internet earlier today, confirming the long-running rumors of a PC port of the million-selling Xbox 360 third-person shooter. That video was quickly pulled, with copies of the clip making their way to YouTube, Google Video and the other usual suspects.

The clip showed some of the PC port's visual improvements and additional content, including new boss fights and new maps. In addition, achievements for the PC version made an appearance, indicating that the game will take advantage of Games For Windows Live service.

Gears of War for the PC was one of Microsoft's worst-kept secrets, with Epic staffer Mark Rein admitting that a Windows port was coming "eventually." That "eventually" looks like it might happening, I'm guessing, next Tuesday night, when Microsoft's E3 press conference goes down.

Let's all hope that Rein stands behind his commitment to keep supporting Windows XP users and that this doesn't become one of those Windows Vista exclusives. Oh, and let's also hope that Xbox 360 owners will see these PC-only additions offered as downloadable content in the near future.

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Soul Calibur Legends Screenshots

Hot and fresh, right over here.

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Gnome Corpses Advertise Gold Farmers in WoW

Oh man. You gotta give them marks for ingenuity.

Get a load of this:

Blizzard's on the way to cleaning it all up on multiple servers, but you have to laugh at the creative way these guys got around the new spam filters.

Full Story Here

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City of Heroes/Villains: Issue 10 Trailer

Awesome.

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Rock Band Info

Kotaku put up a whole bunch of info on the upcoming Harmonix instrument ensemble game, Rock Band.

Apparently one of the tracks, The Ramones' "Rock-a-way Beach" has been "leaked."

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DX10 Is A Crock

Caught this over at bluesnews... Anandtech's done a little writeup on DX10.

[It] looks at DirectX 10 performance with a critical eye. While first taking care to remind us of the technical benefits of the new DirectX, they point out that: "Many of the features currently implemented in DirectX 10 could also be done using DirectX 9. Additionally, those features that are truly DX10 only either don't add much beyond what we would get other wise, or require quite a bit of processing power to handle." The article then goes on to detail just how much horsepower they are talking about and the performance hit this entails by comparing DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 performance in a variety of games, while also providing insights into which video cards handle the load best.

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Top 10 Worst Video Games Based On Movies

My opinion? They got Numbers 2 and 1 switched around.

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Supreme Commander Expansion Screenshots

Just a taste of what's coming in Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. Go See. Boats with legs??

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Overlord Gameplay

Just a little followup to the review, here's some footage from the game.

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The Life of a Goomba.

Yeah, think about how these poor bastards feel.

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Auto Assault Screeches To A Halt

According to the official site, NCSoft is throwing in the towel on their post-apocalyptic car-wars MMO. Really, we all saw this coming. At least, I saw it coming back when I beta tested the game, and they took an interesting and innovative game and with each successive patch drained more and more of the fun out of it, and injected more and more treadmill and convolution.

Important Notice — 07/02/07

NOTICE: Today NCsoft is announcing that it will be closing down service for Auto Assault at the end of the summer. The service will close at midnight on August 31, 2007. As of today, any player currently in the service with an active billed account will not be billed again. If players have previously purchased time via multi-month billing or time cards that extends their service past July 31, NCsoft will reconcile these accounts appropriately. There will be more announcements coming soon regarding the shut down of Auto Assault and its impact on current accounts. Please check back at www.autoassault.com for more information.

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Dead Or Alive Coming to PC

Another one from Kotaku today-

Team Ninja's 3D fighter series Dead or Alive is making the jiggly jump from consoles to PCs in the form of Dead or Alive Online scheduled to hit sometime between now and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. DOA Online won't simply be a port of an existing console or arcade release, instead it will be a "completely new game featuring the characteristics of a PC online game" which most likely means it's six different flavors of rotten garbage.

DOA Online will be distributed within China, Hong Kong, and Macao by Shanda, an online entertainment company that specializes in massively multiplayer online and casual games. Development will be handled by the internal Tecmo team LieVo Studio. Virtual panties will be exposed by Kasumi, Tina, Helena, Lei Fang, Christie, Hitomi and Ayane. All involved are thrilled to take part in this profitable venture.

While gameplay details are totally nonexistent, I predict this will turn into a casual, yet (e)xtremely sexy, series of beach-themed games in which great gusts of wind wreak havoc with inappropriately sized and ill-thought outfits.

I'm not sure I share that author's pessimism, I frankly have enjoyed every DOA game thus far released, and am curious to see how this version shakes out.

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Call Of Duty 4 Multiplayer Footage

Heh, this footage also shows that those paper thin walls we so take for granted won't necessarily be stopping all the bullets anymore!

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WoW Affair Ends in Jail

I picked up this lovely little fairy tale over at Kotaku (link to article)...

A 31-year-old Australian university student is being held in lieu of $2.35 million bail in North Carolina after allegedly flying there to pick up her 17-year-old World of Warcraft boyfriend and fly him back to Adelaide with her, Pitt County Sheriff's officials said.

In my opinion, the kid is 17... he knew what the hell he was getting into. I mean, what the hell kind of magical earthshaking metamorphosis is going to happen to this guy in the next year that is going to change him from a vulnerable and innocent, naive and pure child today, to a responsible (and legal) adult then? Pfah.

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Review: Overlord

Overlord has been the subject of much anticipation and wonder since being shown off at E3, with many (myself included) hoping for a spiritual successor to the Dungeon Keeper franchise.

Well, it turns out that Overlord is very different from Dungeon Keeper. It's hard, but in order to fairly judge this game one has to separate one's self from the disappointment upon realizing "hey, this isn't dungeon keeper!" because it isn't, but you shouldn't really hold that against it, because what is?

Overlord is what I'd classify as a "tactical adventure game." It flirts with being an RPG but never quite really crosses over. There are not really stats to juggle nor complex plots nor deep conversations or anything else we've come to associate with RPGs. I say "tactical" adventure game because the gameplay falls somewhere above "point and shoot" but somewhere below "strategic." In a game like dungeon keeper, your view is strategic in that you're concerned with controlling multiple activities in multiple places all at once across the entire theatre, like a general. But in Overlord you're more like a squad captain or some such equivalent, focused entirely on your own immediate surroundings and situations, giving commands to underlings in your immediate vicinity, and that is the extent of your immediate influence. But at least you get a cool lair.

Graphics
The graphics here are top notch, though for people with not quite the most recent systems they can be scaled back quite a bit. Even at the lowest detail and rendering levels, the game looks pretty good and plays well on a 3 or so year old system (provided it was pretty kickass 3 years ago). With all the bells and whistles turned on, the game is a work of art indeed. The game sports a variety of locations each with their own stylized ambiance, indigenous peoples, etc. The modeling is all marvelously done. From dank dungeons to sunny farmland, from cobwebbed crypts to snowy mountains, from murky swamps to mystical forest, you can tell the art department of this game was really out to earn their pay.

Sound
The sound effects are well suited and free of bugs. Ambient sounds are well-placed for appropriate atmosphere. The voice acting is top shelf and the dialogue sounds natural. The denizens of the game like to talk about evil. The topic will come up a lot, as I'm sure you'll imagine, and it all gets a little comical. The goblin-y voices of your minions are particularly well executed, as it allows you to realize largely what is going on with your minions even if you don't happen to be watching them at the time. Audible squeals of "Treasure!", "That's mine!", "Ouch!", and others help your situational awareness while simultaneously being amusing. Especially when one of your minions who has just been squashed to death is resurrected, and his first words upon being pulled back to his feet are "Dat was FUN!! Heeheeheehee!"

Control
I was playing on the PC version, and the game was obviously designed with the XBox controller in mind. Once or twice I found myself fuming and swearing (something to the effect of "The mouse is not an effing analog stick, stop trying to make me use it like one!"). The Camera controls are workable enough, and the movement controls are straightforward even if they aren't very conducive to precisions movement. But hey, you're an Overlord right? Who needs to tiptoe inches when you can stomp around noisily and without care? Targeting is a little rudimentary and hit or miss, but by and large the simplicity of the control and command paradigm used by the game makes up for it. To command your minions is largely just a matter of facing the general direction of stuff you want done/killed/captured/retrieved/whatever, and holding down the mouse button. Direct mass minion movement control is accomplished by what is called "sweeping," and while not 100% suited for mouse control, it gets the job done well enough I suppose. Most of the control issues, I am guessing, go away in the XBox version of the game, since they stem from trying to get a keyboard and mouse to behave like a console controller.

Gameplay
I have one beef with this game, and that is that the main character, for all the times he's called "Overlord" with all the hullabaloo entailed, convincing you you're some grand evil mastermind, you really are more of a "freelance underlord." The only reason you're not called "underlord" is technically there's nobody over you, so you get the promotion by attrition. In fact, that is exactly how the game starts... the impish "minions" yank you out of a coffin in the basement of a destroyed evil fortress, and the most senior among them informs you that you are the "new overlord" because a party of heroes just came through, trashed the place, and annihilated the previous overlord.

After a brief tutorial, you're sent on your way into the countryside to start reclaiming things you'll need to rebuild your shattered "Lair-O-Evil," and generally causing mayhem. To an extent. Early in the game, your power and influence is still fledgling and your position one that is rather vulnerable, so you can't just start traipsing about destroying all life and putting the entire civilized world to the torch right out of the gate... first you have to insinuate yourself surreptitiously to the local village by... ughh... helping them with a little halfling problem they're having. So the first few mission type quest things you get will have you grumbling "I got pulled out of a crypt and decked out in terror-inducing armor for THIS?" as you rescue and defend like a hero. To put it in words I think I read somewhere else, "I bet Sauron never had to retrieve a lady's lost baggage."

But you're not Sauron, at least not yet, so for the first level or two you're stuck running errands and fighting the good fight while you grow your power and secretly imagine all the terrible things you're going to do once you are strong enough to not have to put up with this crap anymore. Before too long you're strong enough to attack and subjugate that first village, and hold its terrorized populace under your sway, and for good measure even snag 10 of their maidens and carry them off to your evil tower to be forced into servitude... which pretty much amounts to standing around in the throne room in midriff-bearing tunics and shorts.

Which brings us to exactly what constitutes "evil" in this game. Assumedly to retain a nice, family friendly "Teen" rating from the ESRB, the violence in the game is mild, often slapstick, and the extent of "evil" permitted is basically hooliganism. You can beat the snot out of people (who stand back up when you're not around), kick in doors, pillage, burn, (bloodlessly) slaughter livestock and rob graves, but you won't be doing anything you read about in a Stephen King novel or watched in a late night gorefest horror movie. We're talking strictly "Saturday-morning-cartoon" level evil here, IE, what most of us discerning adults would merely label "being a real jerk."

Your relative impotence in the world of evil is further underlined by your discovery that the 7 "heroes" who brought about your predecessor's demise have somehow become corrupted and each has brought his own homeland to some degree of ruin or strife by each becoming an embodiment of one of the seven deadly sins. Melvin Underbelly, halfling hero suddenly grows to be a 15-foot sphere of flesh and blubber, eating everything in sight (gluttony). Oberon the elf hero, is suddenly too lazy (sloth) to repulse an invading dwarf army led by an extremely gold-crazy dwarf hero (avarice), so instead he goes to sleep and his dreams and nightmares magically take form to defend, and then ruin the forest, largely demolishing the elven population. And so on.

The sight of an elven forest strangled and decimated by nightmare creatures, with ghosts and bones and ruins everywhere, kind of makes you feel a little bit impotent with just your merry band of hobgoblin minions and propensity for setting things on fire. "Now, there is a guy who knows about evil," your helmeted misanthrope is probably thinking. As time goes on, you also discover there's another, more "mastermind" like evil out there that is putting your little free-agent enterprise of evil to shame. But all the while you're getting better and stronger, and commanding more of those little minion critters, so who knows... some day... some day... you might be a contender, or even an actual Overlord.

The Final Word
The Good - Graphics, sound, voice acting, immersion, simplicity.
The Bad - PC controls, limited scope of "evil"
The verdict - B- to B+, depending on how much your knickers get in a knot over this "not actually all that evil" evil business. I'm sure they could have made an M-rated version that could have gotten an A even with the PC controls emulating a console pad. And that's the word from Bandit Camp...

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