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2005-02-24T21:27:00.000+13:00

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Gameplanet Launches Nintendo DS Home Page

2005-02-24T16:25:00.000+13:00

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Source: Gameplanet

Gameplanet has today launched a Nintendo DS site as the latest addition to its network, in time for the machine's local launch today.

DS.geek.nz will become the home of DS news, reviews, previews and features, while Gameplanet's Nintendo forums cover the DS and other platforms such as Game Boy, GameCube and Revolution, the next-generation home console expected to be unveiled in May.

As the machine's runaway success in North America has already shown, the dual screened handheld is expected to allow Nintendo to remain a commanding force in the hardware market as it uses DS to provide new forms of gameplay to compliment its Game Boy and home console product lines.

Look out for more content on DS.geek.nz shortly as we bring you the latest information from Nintendo and its third-part DS publishers.

Natural Selection 3.0 Trailer

2005-02-23T18:59:00.000+13:00

Natural Selection 3.0 Trailer

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Fileplanet Hi Res. Version Mirror #3

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Trailer for Natural Selection.

BATTLEFIELD 2

2005-02-23T18:27:00.000+13:00

The more we play Battlefield 2, the more familiar it seems. We had another chance to try our hand at the big-budget sequel on a recent visit to EA's Chertsey studios, and we're now even more convinced that Battlefield 2 is in fact Battlefield: Desert Combat with better graphics. If you're a fan of the popular Gulf War mod, this is great news; and if you've never played it before, you're in for a real treat. EA certainly has experience with big-license games, and although this isn't FIFA, the kits have certainly been updated to match the latest fixtures in the Middle East.

While it's too early to say whether Battlefield 2 might be too similar to previous games, the core gameplay of Battlefield 2 is identical to that of Battlefield 1942 and Desert Combat (BF: Vietnam being something of a tangent). Even new features such as the Commander mode, where one player from each team can view the battle from an overhead RTS perspective, don't fundamentally change the game.
Indeed, we've had a good crack at the Commander mode, and you're actually quite limited in how you can affect the battle. Sure, you can launch the occasional artillery round, but your most effective power is to issue orders to squad leaders. Knowing how cooperative online gamers tend to be, we can't help but think this is a feature only clan gamers will truly make the most of.

REAL PURDY
On the other hand though, there is one major difference: Battlefield 2 looks stunning. The custom graphics engine brings the game up to similar levels of detail as you see in offline shooters, which is extraordinary in a game of such scope. The new physics engine also makes for a far more interactive environment, though it does have to be a bit selective. Too many loose physics objects would bring your server to a standstill, while too many destructible items would allow players to lay waste to the carefully crafted levels. As it is, you can shoot through walls and blow up bridges, which is good enough for me.

SPANNERS AT THE READY
On top of this, the gameplay has been tweaked in a million places, tightening
up and balancing something that was already superb. So, you've got two new combat kits (spec ops and support), advanced weaponry such as heat-seeking missiles, a new sprint function and a new medal and rankings system.
What's more, a huge amount of effort has been put into encouraging teamplay and tactics, with a squad system, the aforementioned commander role and a small set of command options.

We were dubious at first as to the appeal of such a formal command structure, but after extended play, we're now totally convinced. For one, the fact that you can select your squad leader as a respawn point is a stroke of genius, and means that lone wolf players are at a serious disadvantage. On top of this, the communication functions in the game are excellent. Not only is voiceover IP built right into the engine, but the context-sensitive 'commo rose' - a radial pop-up command menu similar to Raven Shield - is set to improve team cooperation hugely.

But perhaps the biggest difference between Battlefield 2 and its predecessors lies in the new game environments. There are 12 of them in total, with three variations of each depending upon server settings - every map can shrink and grow to accommodate 16, 32 or 64 players. In previous incarnations, all the maps were pretty much of a kind. In 1942 they were mostly open, sparsely-treed affairs; in Vietnam they were typically dense jungle or swampland. Buildings were sparingly placed, with urban combat mostly avoided.

NOT LIKE THAT, LIKE THIS...
Battlefield 2 is a very different story. Not only are the new levels looking extremely tasty, the amount of variety has increased dramatically, with many new styles of play emerging. One of the Chinese levels is called Songhua Stalemate. It's a swampy, fog-shrouded affair with a foreshortened field of vision, which immediately determines the type of action you see. Vehicles are weighted towards small, fast vessels, encouraging swift infantry attacks over large-scale vehicular assaults, and sniping is out of the question.

Another map, Divided City, focuses on close-quarters urban combat within a heavily built-up area. There's a key hold-point in an exposed central square, and the importance of sniper cover and air support are immediately apparent.

Basically, the gameplay is going to be far broader - not to mention more tactical - than ever before, and this is where Battlefield 2 shows its strength. Desert Combat with better graphics it may be, but we all know this is exactly what the fans want. The resulting game, while not a revolution, can't fail to be great.

RTS Empire Earth 2

2005-02-23T18:19:00.000+13:00

Computer&VideoGames is the latest site to preview the RTS Empire Earth 2, from Mad Doc Software:

Empire Earth II is the sequel to the excellent 2001 empire-building RTS, and is promising to improve on the original in, oh, at least 17 new ways. As we said in last month's mag, EEII has14 civilisations (including British, German, American, Aztec and Greek), each with unique units, spanning over 12,000 years from 10,000BC to well into the future - hence my excitement at stumbling onto the mechs in the city. Each map is divided into territories that can be acquired through diplomacy or war, enabling you to expand your military, economic and/or Imperial empire.

"Why are you playing that?" asks our bewildered editor when he casually glances across at my monitor and catches me deftly managing my gold and tin supplies with a few taps of the mouse. I may blather on about my macho leanings towards shooters that allow you to dismember enemies with an overpowering amount of brutal weaponry, but as Woods has now discovered, I'm also perfectly happy ruling over virtual kingdoms - especially ones that allow you to blow the shit out of large futuristic robots.

Empire Earth II is the sequel to the excellent 2001 empire-building RTS, and is promising to improve on the original in, oh, at least 17 new ways. As we said in last month's mag, EEII has14 civilisations (including British, German, American, Aztec and Greek), each with unique units, spanning over 12,000 years from 10,000BC to well into the future - hence my excitement at stumbling onto the mechs in the city. Each map is divided into territories that can be acquired through diplomacy or war, enabling you to expand your military, economic and/or Imperial empire.

The most obvious improvements when playing the new Empire Earth are the short-cuts that enable you to get to grips with your world much quicker and with less faffy micro-management. The Citizen Manager gives you unfettered access to your units (of which there are more than 270 in the game), so you can easily group them and, for example, move all the townsfolk from wood-collection to gold-digging in seconds.

ZOOM IN
Also, a new picture-in-picture feature (shown in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen) enables you to bookmark any unit, object or location in your empire and switch instantly between them, like having numerous interactive close-circuit TV cameras. You can now easily keep tabs on large areas of territory and even issue orders without having to zoom frantically around the main map.

Other major additions are the improved 3D graphics, weather conditions that can hamper operations, improved diplomacy for forming alliances (to be broken later at your convenience), and 'non-cheating AI' - basically the computer doesn't automatically know where you are and what resources, armies or firepower you have.

Meanwhile, single-player mode is broken up into entertaining campaigns and skirmishes, with 'turning points' such as WWII's Operation Overlord and scenarios that include the soon-to-be-famous USA Cyborg Insurrection of 2058. Multiplayer is included too, with the usual Deathmatch and King of the Hill modes accompanied by Quickstart, which is great if you're impatient to get on with the action. There's also Sole Survivor, where you can make alliances with other players, knowing that you're eventually going to have to screw them over to win the game - if you're a fan of Risk, you'll love this mode.

SHIP-SHAPE
With a few months to release, there are still a few bugs to iron out in this early code, including the quirky ship movement, which unfortunately turned my Normandy landings into a new Pearl Harbour. However, developer Mad Doc appears to be crafting a complex, yet hugely playable strategy epic that as well as giving you access to classic civilisations such as the Aztecs, puts your despotic finger on the nuclear trigger. And it has robots - did I mention that?

Day of Defeat Source Closes in on Beta

2005-02-23T18:18:00.000+13:00

Valve meat popsicle Doug Lombardi sent over a note with news that the Day of Defeat: Source is approaching beta:

Day of Defeat: Source, Valve's World War II-themed multiplayer action game, is approaching beta and will be available early this spring via Steam. A team-based multiplayer game that cast players in the Axis vs. Allies battles of Western Europe circa 1944, Day of Defeat: Source leverages the power of the Source engine to introduce integrated physics simulation technology, all new audio, updated maps, enhanced effects and more. More information about Day of Defeat: Source will be released in the coming weeks.

Plus, a pair of snazzy screen shots:

(Click to Enlarge!)

PS3 console to be released in 2005

2005-02-23T18:12:00.000+13:00

As we know, they will make PS3 soon!

Japanese media reported on May 6th that the PS3 console is in development.

The goal is to make new processor technology, called "grid" about 200x faster than current console technology. This is almost achieving their original goal of making the PS3 1000(!) times faster than the PS2. This goal was publically set by Mr Okamoto, the Senior VP and Chief Technical Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, at the 2002 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California.

SEGA to publish NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005

2005-02-23T18:05:00.000+13:00

SEGA Europe is set to publish NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005 this summer on PC/Mac, full of new features and revisions - many of which were influenced by feedback from fans of last year's Eastside Hockey title.

NHL EHM 2005 will feature more than 15 playable leagues with 3,200 teams and 32,000 players and staff - each listed in detail with more than 50 attributes. Developer Sports Interactive has also revamped the scouting aspect of the game allowing for player comparisons, talent reports and points projections.

In analysing player performance, SI has also implemented a "much requested" Hot Or Not report feature, as well as a new 2D snapshot view which reveals player positioning second-by-second. With all these tools you'll be able to command your own legion of padded puck-peddlers, trading players, signing free agents, drafting new talent at training camps, and even firing head coaches to appease the board when results don't go your way.

SI's own head coach (well, managing director) Miles Jacobson said the 2005 edition owed a lot to the fans. "We have listened to what they have had to say, and have reacted accordingly," he said. "The new look of the game makes it a lot easier to browse around, and the new features help make it an even fuller Hockey management experience."

For more on NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005, head over to www.sigames.com where they're profiling the game bit by bit.

Rainbow Six: Lockdown

2005-02-23T17:56:00.001+13:00

For ages it seemed like Ubisoft was playing some elaborate practical joke on fans of the Tom Clancy games. On the one hand you had Splinter Cell, a game of such startling visual opulence its initial late 2002 arrival seemed to descend upon us a generation ahead of anything else, and on the other Ubi were busy chucking out Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six games so visually retarded they appeared to belong to the generation before. It probably says everything about how good Red Storm's efforts were in gameplay terms that even our inner graphics whore was forced to pipe down while we hugged them to our imaginary bosoms and cherished them for what they were. Beauty is often only pixel deep.

With the Ghost Recon series finally out of the fugly camp at last with last year's sequel getting the big thumbs up from us, that left only the Rainbow Six series due a butterfly-esque re-emergence. And so it has proved. It's like seeing all your badly dressed bouffant-haired best mates cropped, suited and booted for the first time. You always knew they had it in them, but finally witnessing it fills your heart with pride.

Paint a rainbow

Getting to grips with an almost fully-formed pre-release build was in the main a joy to behold and leaves us in no doubt that Ubisoft has one of spring's more exciting games on its hands. Not because it's doing necessarily anything magically different, you understand, but mainly because it's just a formula that works, that feels so right, and one that simply feels somewhat more satisfying than the typical first-person run and gun.

Unlike previous R6s, there appears to have been some real semblance of storyline attached to it. Even though Tom Clancy's name has been stapled to the series for seven years now (look! This bloke writes books! Buy our game based on his books!), it's hard to really recall there being an especially big effort in the past to engage gamers with anything other than some really quite forgettable pre-mission briefings and virtually no in-game character development. For gawd's sake, the only reason we knew that Ding Chavez was the lead character in any case was because of the timely hilarity of his surname. Undoubtedly conscience of this disparity, Red Storm now regularly reminds us who each character during load pauses, and loads up the game with much more in the way of scripted banter and so on.

The vastly improved game engine helps reinforce this as well, with each character fully recognisable facially and no longer a generic piece of cannon fodder with a name. Each sport their own identifiable uniform, talk to you in their own regional accent and appear to be far better animated than previously. All round it's a world of improvements, and one that extends to the general game world as well, with every element of the environment richly detailed. Crouch behind a car and wince as windows get shot out and individual bullet holes appear in the paintwork. It's hard not to be impressed - and this was the apparently inferior PS2 build.

Ding dong

Add to that a bunch of far superior cut-scenes that deliver a much greater sense of purpose than previously Spartan efforts of old and that's one area already that's a massive improvement. This time there's a sense that we're fighting against an organisation of mighty evil; in this case the Global Liberation Front, an organisation that blames the problems of the Third World on the developed nations. But they're not just pissed off and waving AKs around like bad boys, these bio-terrorists have a 100 per cent fatal and incurable bio chemical weapon at their disposal called Legion that effectively wipes out everyone in the vicinity. Fighting terrorism and rescuing hostages is one thing, but dealing with this lot is another. They want an end to all military occupation by First World nations, and the removal of all Third World debts. No compromises.

So, headed up by the Chavmeister himself, you go into one tense situation after another supported by - as ever - three elite soldiers all capable of looking after themselves. As before, you can tweak the arsenal at their disposal or take the recommended offerings and get going. The controls are modelled precisely on the previous versions with a few minor additions. So, for example, clicking your cursor on a destination will send your squad-mates scurrying forth to take up the best position of cover, or if you want to take the lead you can order them to hold, or hold down the command button and even mete out suppressing fire, with the ability to configure whether you want them to shoot in full auto, single shots or burst.

As ever, you'll be bursting through a lot of doors in Lockdown, and here there's a small tweak to the controls whereby you can order your squad-mates to approach them in a variety of ways. For example, as well as the ability to open doors normally, you can get them to kick them down (termed shotgun), as well as blast them open, not to mention lobbing frag or flash grenades after their grand entrance. But unlike before, whatever you decide has to be confirmed on your 'go code' by default, putting an end to those miscalculated attempts that you'd inevitably hastily command and be unable to backtrack on.

The path to greatness

In terms of the general character behaviour and AI, even at this unfinished stage everything works a treat. Not only do characters actually take care of themselves, never get in your way and can path-find better than probably any comparable game, they don't just sit there getting shot where you haven't given them a command and won't take commands if they're busy fighting for their lives at the time. We can only hope the enemy AI puts up less than a scripted fight than it normally does. Probably the one area R6 could improve is in the area of presenting more of an unpredictable challenge, and from the little we've seen so far this is still an area that hasn't been dealt with; it's still very much a case of learning the appearance of the baddies and working your way around based on that prior knowledge.

With the main single-player campaign shaping up very nicely, it's nice to know there are a bunch of other new modes that shore up the longevity, including a Silent Scope-inspired Sniper mode that has you acting as a sharpshooter tasked with taking out terrorists while protecting your squad-mates, who are busy running the gauntlet on the ground. Add to that a slick co-op mode that lets you play the campaign mode with a buddy, plus the usual online fun and thrills that tip this over the edge from being a might buy to a 'must buy' in our opinion. Even Halo 2, for all the hype of its online mastery, can't compete with the superb teamplay-based mode that allows you to tackle the full game together (the best way to play it if you can get adequately skilled players to enjoy it with you), as well as a plethora of other team-based and all-versus-all multiplayer; much like it was before in fact, with Team Rainbow versus Mercenaries Deathmatch, CTF (a.k.a Retrieval), the Xbox-only Assault (a.k.a. Conquest), Team Sharpshooter, and two platform specific modes: Team Rivalry (PS2 only) and Persistent Elite Creation Xbox-only). But more news on those when we get it.

On the downside, Red Storm seems determined to try and take the shine off the package with some more truly heinous Nu Metal dirge (a la The Warrior Within) making an unwelcome appearance in the soundtrack, not to mention some appalling voice acting that manages to pronounce Edinburgh "Edinbor-oh" like only tedious American tourists can. Someone kindly put these morons straight!

Throw away the key

But we jest (but with serious undertones). From our initial run through of three single-player levels, there's every reason to be excited about Lockdown. It's admittedly no gameplay revolution in terms of new ideas, (save for one new single-player mode) but it solidifies the huge potential of the previous versions, buffs it up and presents it as something far more in keeping with what we expected last time around. We look forward to getting to grips with the finished article in the coming weeks.

Rainbow Six: Lockdown is coming to the PS2 and Xbox on 25th March. Check back for a full review in the days leading up to release.

UEFA Champions League 2004-2005

2005-02-23T17:56:00.000+13:00

Order yours now from Simply Games.

There's nothing we can tell you about Champions League that you don't already know. But then, you know this. Anyone with half a brain will have mumbled over their pint, as soon as the game was announced by EA, "That'll be FIFA 2005 with half the teams taken out, then."

And you'd have been mostly right. But maybe the inevitability isn't so depressing after all.

Licensed EA products are good. There's no escaping it, and it's the reason the teetering giant of videogames publishing gets so many of them. FIFA is one of the biggest-selling games in the world: EA knows how to do this sort of thing. So, when it comes to making a game about the greatest cup competition on planet football, there really isn't that much of an alternative. If you want all the names, the strips, the stadiums and a thick veneer of professionalism cloying the whole thing like special sauce in the movies from t'internet that mother warned you about, then there's really only one place to look. And both the ref and his assistants agree that it isn't Codemasters.

EA already had Champions League waiting for release before the idea for the game itself was even conceived. Because it really is FIFA with loads of stuff taken out of it and a stultifying injection of UEFA branding. As you begin, the soaring, official music of the league washes out of the TV pulling on reminiscences of hundreds of children wobbling a huge piece of football-shaped cloth around on a football pitch, and a movie rolls focusing very blatantly on Henry and Beckham. We reckon that maybe, just maybe, the focus of the players will be different in different European countries. It's a radical concept.

Then the game. You already know what we're going to say. You're presented with choices of The Season, a quick match, a modes option which includes other league variations (which all amount to the same thing) and scenario football, Live play in the Xbox version, My Champions League (which lets you alter squads, tactics for separate players, music and so on), and a create-a-player section. Obviously, you bought UEFA Champions League because you want to play football in the UEFA Champions League. So you select The Season. Inevitably.

Before you start you're told that the difficulty setting you select will affect the bonus your manager receives should you crush Europe's finest and be crowned king of the continent. Big bonuses unlock big stuff. Onward.

Most of the teams from FIFA aren't included. Obviously. You get the choice of the English Premiership, France's Division 1, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, Spain's Primera, and... that's it. You could argue that it makes for a more streamlined experience, that all the teams you'd ever want to pick, all the important squads are included. But then, you could very easily counter with the fact that you can play UEFA with a copy of FIFA 2005, if you think about it. And still have the options of playing with all the other teams in FIFA's head-splitting pantheon of 350 sides. We'll leave the arguing for now.

You select you manager. You can create a new one if you feel like it, but this isn't necessary. Then scenarios are presented as gloss to the game itself, the first being "Winner Takes All", with a backdrop of a boardroom and a message from the club's owner to the manager. Objectives: "Win Match". Really? "Well, it's the last match of a long, hard season and it all comes down to this. Whichever team wins will takes the full Champions League qualifications places and for the future of this club, it needs to be us. I cannot stress how important is to our club to qualify for the Champions League. I wish the team luck."

It's a shame "our club" couldn't have been substituted with the name of the team. We mean, really.

So off you go. It's Arsenal against Newcastle. Instantly, the glitz that splattered FIFA like so much of the aforementioned gloop is flung at the screen. As you'd expect, UEFA looks amazing, and the commentary focuses on the manager's plight, the tension of the day. It's slick. The weather is summery, St James's Park packed to the gills. The game takes you there. And when the game begins, it's FIFA 2005. It's the same game, and this is no bad thing. Just to recap, FIFA isn't as good as Pro Evolution, but it's got all the right names. If you can imagine us saying this, we've got one finger on our nose and the other pointing directly at your face.

We could go on, but that really is pretty much it. You win the Champions League. That's the point. This is a slick, professional game made to allow those that dream of wearing a United number 9, flirting with Del Piero and dumping him with a quizzical expression in the midfield, then leasing a screaming shot from 30 yards to baffle the keeper, singe the net, reduce the Stadio Delle Alpi to chaos and take glory back to Manchester. It's a good game because FIFA is a good game, and EA produces licensed video game products better than anyone else in the world. But if you own FIFA you're buying it simply for the branding and the thrill of "being in" the Champions League, and your affair with it will be fleeting. As fleeting as the event itself, in reality.

UEFA Champions League is basically a story mode based on FIFA 2005. But then, you knew that already.

UK Charts: LucasArts knocks itself off the top

2005-02-23T17:55:00.000+13:00

Publisher LucasArts has debuted a second title in a row at number one in the UK, with PS2 and Xbox military action title Mercenaries taking the top spot and knocking Knights of the Old Republic 2 down to number two.

Mercenaries also topped the PlayStation 2 chart, knocking Sega's Sonic Mega Collection Plus from poll position in that ranking, but it couldn't unseat KOTOR2 from its place on top of the Xbox ranking.

Capitalising on the school mid-term break here in the UK, THQ's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie rose three places to number three, while former chart topper Sonic Mega Collection Plus dropped back a single place to number four.

In terms of other new releases, Namco's Ace Combat 5: Squadron Leader, published in the UK by Sony Computer Entertainment, was the highest ranked title aside from Mercenaries, coming in at number 12 in the all-formats chart.

Tecmo's Xbox Live enabled beat 'em up Dead or Alive Ultimate, published here by Microsoft, came in at number 19, managing a number three ranking in the Xbox chart, while Ubisoft's Settlers: Heritage of Kings (PC) came in at number 39, completing the line-up of new releases.

It was another poor week for Nintendo's GameCube, however, with top-ranked Cube title Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat failing to dent the top 40 ranking.

This Friday is a quiet one for UK retail, with Sega's Altered Beast and Konami's Suikoden IV (both PS2) joining Koei's Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends (PS2) and Nintendo's Mario Power Tennis (GC) in a slew of minor Japanese developed releases.

egamenews Temporary Website is up!

2005-02-23T08:09:00.000+13:00

Currently we are making a new enhanced website for egamenews. But, that will be done later in the month. Now, we have made a temporary website just to have more information on egamenews and to promote the website to our new users.

Visit it HERE

New nVidia Mobile Chip Doubles Performance

2005-02-22T18:23:00.000+13:00

Description

nVidia announced the GoForce 3D 4800, the Company's newest wireless media processor (WMP), which the company claims will give home consoles as well as handheld games devices a run for their money as far as visual quality in games is concerned. This new WMP integrates highly realistic 3D graphics, multi-megapixel still imaging, high-quality video capture and playback that rivals home console gaming systems, digital cameras and video camcorders.

To capture high quality photos, the GoForce 3D 4800 processor includes a JPEG hardware encoder capable of capturing images with up to 3 MegaPixel (2048 x 1536) resolution. The unique nVidia FotoPack technology automatically optimises JPEG compression to allow users to store up to three times more photos in the limited memory space on a mobile phone, allowing consumers to capture, store and share more pictures.

Current wireless platforms cannot deliver the multimedia performance users have come to expect from single purpose systems, said Glenn Schuster, general manager, nVidia wireless media processor business. Consumers want a portable multimedia device that lets them experience great gaming, superb imaging capabilities and lengthy talk time. With stunning 3D gaming performance, 3 Megapixel digital photos, TV-quality video capture, and nPower technology, the GoForce 3D 4800 WMP will offer in a single device a mobile experience that rivals any home entertainment device on the market. Imagine a full-fledged game console in your pocket that is also a phone.

The GoForce 3D 4800 media processor enables players to enjoy one of the most intense gaming experiences delivered on a mobile device by boosting 3D performance by 40 per cent over the previous generation of mobile processors. GoForce 3D 4800 WMP's ground-breaking pixel-shader architecture with support for up to six simultaneous textures enables the GoForce 3D 4800 WMP to deliver spectacular image quality for 3D applications.

An embedded hardware MPEG-4 codec allows OEMs using the GoForce 3D 4800 WMP to add high-quality camcorder-like video capability never before available in a wireless handset. The high-powered codec captures VGA resolution MPEG-4 video at up to 30 frames per second (fps). Moreover, it allows users to playback VGA resolution video, such as television programmes or movies stored on an SD card, at rates up to 30 fps, turning their mobile phone into a convenient video entertainment device. The new media processor even supports real-time, full-duplex, two-way video conferencing at CIF (352 x 288) resolution at 30 fps.

Long battery life is a key yardstick of handset quality. Using proprietary nVidia nPower technology, the GoForce 3D 4800 processor consumes half the power across all media applications compared to software solutions running on application processors alone.

Phones based on the nVidia GoForce 3D 4800 WMP are expected to be released by the end of 2005.

Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich demo

2005-02-22T17:33:00.000+13:00

Irrational Games has released a demo of its forthcoming third-person superhero action game Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich. The demo is available from a number of mirrors including the likes of FileFront (full list here) and consists of a single-player level called "The Voice of Doom" and two multiplayer modes.

The Voice of Doom sees the player using Tombstone, Green Genie, Blackjack and El Diablo to prevent Fortissimo, "the master of music and mayhem", and his Nazi pals from burning priceless cultural heirlooms.

There's a new multiplayer mode, meanwhile, in Tag (one of seven in the full game) and one sample map, with a Rumble Room skirmish mode thrown in "giving the demo nearly unlimited replayability", while gamers also get to take a look at the upgraded hero editor.

You can read more about Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich in our preview and interview.

Click here to read and post comments on this news item. (Currently 3

Konami working on another Suikoden?

2005-02-22T17:32:00.000+13:00

Konami has refused to comment on reports suggesting that a fifth Suikoden game is in development.

The reports came about after veteran voice actor Makoto Terada mentioned in his online diary that he'd "recorded voices for a game named Suikoden" recently. Konami's most recent Suikoden title has been out on PS2 in Japan and the US for a while, with a European release set for 25th February, so it seems unlikely that Terada-san is referring to Suikoden IV.

That, at least, seems to be in the inference. A Konami of Europe representative today insisted the company had no comment to make, so it seems that even if it is true - which, given the series' cult following, is perfectly plausible - it may be a while before we hear anything concrete.

EA's own Godfather

2005-02-22T17:30:00.000+13:00

David De Martini is no stranger to big names and big franchises - the last game he served as executive producer on was Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, and he's formerly worked with other licensed brands and celeb-studded games including NASCAR, NCAA and Knockout Kings. Taking on The Godfather, however, involves working with one of cinema's most enduring classics - and some of its greatest legends, in the form of actors Marlon Brando, James Caan and Robert Duvall, and director Francis Ford Coppola.

Sitting only a few minutes drive away from the Little Italy district of New York, we asked De Martini about working with one of the most closely guarded properties in the business, some of the most talented actors in the world, and how The Godfather fits in with EA's largely family-friendly image.

Eurogamer: You're working quite closely with the original creators of the film - how receptive have they been to the changes that you're making to the content?

David De Martini: Let me just be specific there - we're working very closely with Viacom and Paramount. They're the owners of the property, and they obviously treat it with much care, as we do. They've been incredible partners. From the very beginning - obviously, since they haven't put out a game in the thirty years - they've moved very cautiously with regard to the gaming space and this property.

I think, as we were able to get to some very core, specific creative concepts, we were able to have a real meeting of the minds with regards to how the property would be treated - and as long as we stay within the boundaries of how we had agreed the property would be treated, we have quite a bit of leeway with regards to moving the game forward.

Francis Ford Coppola, who obviously was the director of the film, we've met with him on one occasion and we shared with him what our vision was for the game, and where we were going to go. He wasn't choosing to participate in the project, and isn't choosing to participate in the project, but he did invite us up to the Coppola winery where he has his own private library, which he opens to the public.

He's got a lot of materials from the original Godfather production, and all three of the Godfather productions - so a lot of sketch designs for the sets, for the costumes, a lot of notes that he's taken in the original screenplay as well as in the book, as well as some original ideas that he wanted in and cross-outs that he wanted out. I think he invited us up there to take a look around, and we sent like four or five people for a week - so maybe we overstayed our welcome! But it was such a rich experience to go up there and see it, that it was well worth the time.

Eurogamer: Do you think that the current gaming demographic are aware of The Godfather? Will they have sat through the whole three hours?

David De Martini: You know, the interesting thing is - it almost doesn't matter. Strange answer, but I'll tell you why - they'll have heard of it. This became very clear to us, because we do a lot of tours where we go out and listen to the media and to focus groups - we call them "listen and learn" tours with the media, with regards to trends and things like that.

So I did one, and I was in the Scandinavian countries, and we had like fifteen or eighteen journalists - they're a little bit younger there, so some were seventeen and eighteen years old. We were talking about gaming trends and stuff like that, and they were saying 'well, you know, GoldenEye on N64 was one of the greatest games ever'. I kind of pressed them on it, and I asked how many of them had an N64. No hands go up. 'So how many of you have really played GoldenEye on N64?' Half of them raise their hands, and the other half meekly keep their hands down.

It doesn't matter if they experienced it themselves, when something has a reputation like this. I think The Godfather is another one of those properties where it'll be better if they experience it themselves, but if the first time they experience it is with the videogame, knowing that it's a property to be reckoned with, that'll be good fun.

Eurogamer: So you think people will discover the universe through the videogames?

David De Martini: And then I think they'll be going back to the film, and saying 'oh, that was really cool as a videogame, I gotta go check out what these stories are about' - because there are very few people who haven't seen any scenes from the Godfather. I mean, typically it's on US television so frequently that you catch glimpses of it, and you kind of get immediately mesmerised by it - but it's a longer experience, it's two hours and 45 minutes of film. You kinda have to buy a big bag of popcorn and buy into it, and say "I'm going to sit through this whole film."

They're memorable films though, and you kind of look at that and say, there are about five or six sequences that I can see how they would easily translate into gaming - but how do you do it for 20 hours in a videogame? I think that's part of the reason that Paramount allowed us to move forward with our project, and part of the reason why we moved to the central concept that you create yourself as a person within this world, and then you cut your own path.

So what we're doing is we're not so much delivering The Godfather The Movie as a game, we're delivering The Godfather universe, and we're allowing you to play in that sandbox.

Eurogamer: Releasing an M-Rated game is a bit of a departure for EA as a whole - is that indicative of a change in thinking within the company about mature products in general?

David De Martini: I think it's an opportunity that arose, and hopefully it'll be too good to miss. The game is obviously not rated yet, but it deals with mature subject matter - the movies were rated R in the USA and whatever that translates to in the UK, 18 Plus or whatever. The interesting thing about the films, though, is that they're not violent all the time. It's not Scarface. When they're violent, they're very violent - I mean not gross violent, I mean just kind of.... You know, the knife going into Luca's hand, every time I see it I just go 'oh, god!' It still hurts! And, you know, the whole choking and stuff like that...

But their world wasn't just about violence, and I think we're going to be true to that story, in that you need to be a balanced player to move most optimally through our gaming experience. It wasn't the Sonny path that got him anything but killed. Tom's path was too slow and he never moved up the family ranks. It's that balanced path that is the ideal way to move through the family - and much like in that era, 1945 to 55, if it was bad for business, the family and the other families were very much against it.

So, for the most part I don't think that these people were so tremendously moral that they were trying to make 'I'll kill you or not kill you' kind of decisions by saying 'well, I don't think I'll do that' - if killing you is bad for business, then it wasn't done. If keeping you alive and bleeding money out of you for a period of time was good for business, then that's the path that was taken.

The game will follow that path of, quote unquote, morality. If you're being gratuitously violent against innocent people, your own family and the other families will turn against you way before the police systems do.

Eurogamer: The Godfather is very much about the family aspects, as a film - from an emotional side as much as anything else. How have you brought that into the game?

David De Martini: It's one of our core creative centres for the product, trying to create an emotional experience that matches that of the film. Now, I mean, of all the goals, that's an incredibly lofty goal. We're talking about videogames. But between that goal, and living world - and I'm not talking about what many people who have sat in my chair and said 'oh, we're going to create a living world here, it'll be life as we know it!' meant... I'm not even going to begin to go down that path and say that we're going to do that.

But we're going to make more strides and focus more attention on creating a living world - a world where you feel the consequences of your decision, so before you just press the button and pull the trigger, you have to think about whether there are ramifications to pulling this trigger. Are there going to be consequences to me pulling this trigger?

And then also, the other big thing that's frequently missing is that these worlds have no memory. We all have a memory, unless we got hit in the head and have amnesia, and it's just frustrating as a game creator that you walk down the street, you might beat up a character, you walk two feet that way, come back this way and here that same character comes walking right towards you again. There's no living to that world - that kind of stuff can't happen.

I'm not saying we won't have our own flaws with regards to our direction down that path, but we're going to move farther down the path than anybody else has.

Eurogamer: Have you actually taken the step of modelling New York of that era for the game environments?

David De Martini: Not the entire geographic space, but we've accurately modelled the space that we're intending to put within the game space. We've got kind of a scaled version of New York - there are fewer blocks. The game is not so much about gross amounts of territory, where we're trying to create miles and miles and miles of territory.

Our ratio is probably 10 to 20 per cent driving, to 80 to 90 per cent on foot, and we're trying to create a world that's so interesting that I'd rather walk through it than drive through it quickly. That's one of our core tenets.

We're focusing the gameplay objectives more on that kind of moment-to-moment on-foot gameplay than on a whole bunch of stealing of cars and driving around. Few people know that in that era, 1945, there was still gas rationing that was going on - and a lot of the reason why there wasn't so much traffic in the streets is because you were on the tail end of World War II, and there still wasn't gasoline readily available to everybody. There was still an element of rationing, and gas was a commodity that was disseminated - effectively stolen, and kept on the family compounds.

Eurogamer: The key concept, then, is about gaining power and money; is there a financial element?

David De Martini: Respect, I'd say. Respect, monetary currency, and then also gaining physical territory on the map. The core premise is that you create yourself as an Italian American in 1945; you go out into your territory, you earn respect based on your day-to-day interaction with the characters within your game space. You add to the family's wealth, you add to the family's territory which they control, and then you move through the ranks of the family until you ultimately become the Godfather.

The ultimate aim for the hardest core gamer is... I think the term is 'tutti de tutti cappi', which is the Godfather of all Godfathers. There were five families in New York outside of the Corleone family, and the ultimate gaming objective is to take over the entire map - all the businesses, all the other family compounds - until you become the Godfather of all Godfathers.

The shorter term objective for fans of the fiction or the more casual gamer would be to become the Godfather of their own family, to become the Godfather of the Corleone family.

Eurogamer: Are the other families the only rivals you face in the game, or are there other criminal and law enforcement elements?

David De Martini: No other criminal elements, although they existed at the time - there was a small Chinese mafia, as well as Irish mafia. Phil is the expert on this...

Philip Campbell: We have all the families, we have all the stars, we have the actors signed - dead or alive - for those roles. We have all the traders, we have all the key players on the enemy side. Then we have thugs - there's a lot of street crime, that sort of stuff.

We don't necessarily go into all the different ethnic groups - we're not making Gangs of New York, this is a different phase. We're concentrating mostly on the Italian experience - Italian neighbourhoods, the ebb and flow of taking over Italian neighbourhoods like Little Italy.

David De Martini: But then, also there were other levels of corruption. You had the police, you had the FBI, you had the judicial branch... And that era was kind of a free floating era, and a lot of times people were kind of enterprising, and whether it was the police that were out for themselves or the gangsters.... I think there are a couple of memorable quotes along the lines of, 'I don't know who the crooks are, the police or the mafia'. I think they had their own objectives.

Philip Campbell: We didn't want the police to just be this generic force that just went to five stars, you know. It's not that kind of game. We wanted them to have a personality, want to have them crack down - like when Michael left for Sicily, and the police chief was killed, we wanted to make sure that the police cracked down.

So you'll find that they just raid through an area - you'll get some warning, you'll hear rumours on the street, but they're just as living as everything else. To us, living world is not just the buildings and the change in the buildings, it's the people.

You can read more about The Godfather in our first impressions and our interview with the game's creative team. You can also find new screenshots and trailers elsewhere on the website today.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - Sith Lords

2005-02-22T17:28:00.000+13:00

Five years after the events from the award winning Knights of the Old Republic, the Sith Lords have hunted the Jedi to the edge of extinction and are on the verge of crushing the Old Republic. The Republic no longer has the strength to protect its worlds. Sith Assassins are hunting the one they believe to be the last of the Jedi, the one who holds the fate of the galaxy - you. Yes, you are the last known Jedi left and it is up to you to decide a future for yourself and the Jedi order. Bringing a new chapter to the Star Wars series, this sequel to the blockbuster RPG again delves into the saga's founding lore that was explored in the original.

If you've played KOTOR (and you really should!), then this KOTOR2 offers much of the same in terms of gameplay, plus a little more. /Ed.note - If you haven't played the original won't necessarily feel lost here but the new story does build on events and characters from the previous game/. You will still be selecting gender and class, and you will have the option to assign all your attribute/skill points and select your feats, or you can use recommended numbers. Since you start out as a Jedi, you will have different class selections at the beginning of the game, but you won't even need to select Force powers, because you earn your early powers through play. The skills system is also much improved, whereas there was really no need to develop a range of skills in KOTOR, the player is now rewarded for developing skills in that they open new dialogue options in conversation with.

There are several new planets in the game - Peragus Station (A mining faculty), Telos (Carth's homeworld), Nar Shadda (Once was a place of luxury but turns into a criminal haven), Korriban (Sith home world), Onderon/Dxun (Jungle like planet), Dantoine (Remains of the Jedi academy) ,some of them were seen or mentioned in the original game. In addition to the quests that are pertinent to the story line, there are still numerous side quests on each world to keep you occupied and gaining experience.

And what is a Star Wars game without Force Powers? All of the powers that fans of the original loved (and used extensively) are still there. Some new powers have been added as well, mostly on the Dark Side. New powers include the malevolent Force Crush, a crueler version of Force Choke that lifts an enemy off the ground as it painfully crushes and contorts his body. Force Scream damages and stuns all enemies in a radius around you, and Force Sight shows you another character's Force alignment and allows you to see through walls. The abilities are class-specific, although you have the freedom to assign the points in whatever way you want. The constraint is that abilities foreign to your character's class "cost" double.

Like its predecessor, The Sith Lords uses a mix of real-time and turn-based combat. Basically, the combat will play out in real-time, but you can pause ([space] key) at any time to give orders to your party members about what they should do next. Although you start the game as a Jedi, it's a while before you receive a lightsaber. They are somewhat scarce in the game, probably because they can be made very powerful indeed. As with the original KOTOR, double-bladed lightsabers work as double weapons and are similar to fighting with a weapon in each hand. Therefore, the double-bladed lightsaber is most effective if you have few, but very powerful lightsaber upgrades because it makes the most of them. You can learn up to several Jedi Lightsaber Forms. These are fighting techniques whose effectiveness depends upon the tactical situation. Each form shines in certain conditions, but also has weaknesses. Learning the characteristics of the Lightsaber Forms, and switching between them as the combat situation changes, can allow a Jedi to prevail in what would otherwise be a fatal encounter.

In spite of how great the game is, there are many, many bugs. Sadly, they do affect your enjoyment of a game. I never had the problems with movement and combat A.I. in the first KOTOR that I had with this one. It's the same engine, and it reuses a lot of the same material. How could this have gotten screwed up? Heh, hard to say. Ask developers. I hope they will fix all these bugs as soon as possible.

Despite some unsightly bugs, if you're an RPG or Star Wars fan, you should not miss out on this game. The role playing and combat are just plain fun. And there is almost limitless replay value for playing the different alignments. So, if you are excited in going through another KOTOR adventure, you will be very pleased.

related links: homepage, walktrough, cheats, trainer +7

System requirements:
Minimum: Pentium III or Athlon class 1 GHz or faster CPU, 256MB RAM, at least 32MB OpenGL 1.4 compatible AGP or PCX 3D Graphics card with Hardware T&L, DirectX 9.0c compatible Audio Device, 4x Speed CD-ROM drive
Recommended: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP class 1.6 GHz or faster CPU, 512MB RAM, 128MB 3D Graphics card with Hardware Vertex and Pixel Shader (VS/PS) Capability, DirectX 9.0c compatible Audio Device, 16x Speed CD-ROM drive
* Gamepads and joysticks are not supported

The Godfather : The Game

2005-02-22T17:27:00.000+13:00

This is no ordinary game launch.

For a start, we're in a bar in New York's Little Italy district. That's pretty different, in itself, but it's not what makes this unique. What's unique is that James Caan and Robert Duvall are chatting about videogames on a small stage about four feet in front of me. I could, in fact, shuffle forward, reach out, and tap Colonel Kilgore himself on the leg, although cosy atmosphere notwithstanding, I'm sure that security would materialise out of nowhere to drag me away should I attempt such a thing.

Nonetheless, it's an unusual spectacle; one compounded by the somewhat reverential silence a few moments earlier when a short recording of the late, great Marlon Brando was played. He was talking about videogames too; about how in games, "the audience is doing the acting". Brando, Duvall and Caan? All talking about games? Yes, this is definitely out of the ordinary.

The reason we're all here is because Hollywood - Paramount Pictures, to be precise - has decided to open the locked box which contains one of its most precious possessions. Electronic Arts describes it as "an opportunity"; many suspect that the games industry's own corporate equivalent of the Corleone family opened their pocketbooks and made the film company an offer they couldn't refuse, but either way, Francis Ford Coppola's classic movie trilogy The Godfather is on its way to videogames platforms.

In general, making a movie-licensed game is a relatively straightforward task. It comes with its own special pitfalls, of course, but the source material is laid out for you, art assets and actors are available and, best of all, you have a ready-made market in terms of fans of the film. Only very rare movie titles - The Chronicles of Riddick springs to mind - break out past formulaic retellings of the events of the film. Production values are higher, but the overall thinking hasn't changed that much since the days when Ocean seemed to be pumping out six Arnie or Sly movie tie-ins a week.

The Godfather is different. It has to be different, for so many reasons. For a start, it's thirty years old. Some of the actors are dead, others are older, many are far more famous and in demand than they were at the time that the movie appeared. None of them are under contract any more, of course. Videogames barely even existed when The Godfather first appeared. Consoles had yet to be imagined; home PCs were the territory of science fiction.

That's why it's amazing to see James Caan and Robert Duvall on stage in New York, and Marlon Brando's disembodied voice revealing a surprising understanding of the videogames medium as it echoes around the room in Little Italy. Sonny, Tom and Vito himself have all come back to record new material for The Godfather for the first time in three decades, fleshing out storylines which Coppola considered but ultimately dropped, adding a new backstory and new perspectives to one of the most loved cinema classics of all time. Before even considering how the game itself turns out, that's an astonishing prospect. You can understand Riddick being able to flesh out the backstory of the film, since it was created in close collaboration with the film's creators and alongside the Hollywood production. Returning to The Godfather and being able to do the same thing is incredible, even if it's an immensely daunting creative challenge.

It's a challenge that had to be overcome, though, and it's reassuring to note that EA seems to understand that - understand why The Godfather is so tricky. Put simply, it's not a movie that translates easily into a videogame. It's light on action, heavy on dialogue and emotion. There is little gunplay or driving, and a lot of manipulation and character development. Creating a third-person shoot 'em up based on the film would be a travesty; even building a 1950's Grand Theft Auto clone would be an outrageous abuse. To make The Godfather work as a game, you need to invent new ways of playing games - and to be brutally honest, I had major questions in my mind regarding EA's ability to do just that, and I doubt that I was the only film fan, game fan or even journalist who shuddered a little at the worst-case prospect of what the company might do to Mario Puzo's epic creation.

It would be dishonest to say that all of my misgivings have been dispelled. This isn't just a franchise that needs to be treated with kid gloves, it's one that needs an injection of pure genius to make it work in interactive form - and the few scant minutes of in-game footage which I've seen, promising though they may have been, weren't enough to judge whether that genius has touched this game. However, perhaps even more than seeing Caan, Duvall and Brando return to their roles, talking to the team at EA has shown that the developers understand what they need to do - and that they're determined to get it right.

You can read our extensive interviews with both the creative team and the project's executive producer on the site today. They talk about the need to create a world where there are consequences for your actions; a model of New York in the 1950s where people remember you and your deeds, where killing your adversaries isn't always the right decision - and sometimes it's drastically the wrong decision - and where respect and fear are more powerful currencies than bullets and fists, even if the two sometimes go hand in hand.

How that translates into an actual videogame is a little sketchier. I was shown footage of a number of encounters where your options ranged from intimidation to negotiation to outright physical violence, and even within that there were further options - dish out too little and you won't get what you want, dish out too much and you could end up killing someone, or frightening even a coward into fighting back. These encounters seem to form a fairly major part of the game, which sees you joining the Corleone family as a new recruit and gradually attempting to work your way to the top by extending your influence, respect and business across New York City.

What's not clear, though, is to what extent that progress is free-form - moving around the city, keeping businesses and lieutenants in line, expanding your territory and so on - and to what extent it's scripted. The game weaves and bobs in and around the Godfather storyline, so you'll interact with characters from the film and get to see - or even participate in - key events from the movie. Beyond that, a vast amount of new material has been created for the game, and the hints are that you'll be able to interact with much of it in a freeform, open ended way (with the possibility of even defeating the other families of New York and becoming the Godfather of the whole city, not just of the Corleone family), but just how that'll work hasn't yet been revealed.

What's certain is that in terms of atmosphere, the team at EA Redwood Shores have the right idea. Manhattan is just as you'd imagine it in the 1945-55 era; the streets are populated, steam rises from gratings in the roads, old black cars glide by occasionally as you walk down the pavements. In the background, Nino Rota's classic score trills. Envisaging walking down that street with the respect of the Corleone name on my shoulders isn't difficult, and frankly, I want to believe. Even if my lingering doubts about the difficulty of turning The Godfather into a game haven't been entirely assuaged, the team have done enough to make me hope fervently that the game we see towards the end of this year lives up to this promise.

Back in that bar in Little Italy, we're getting some insight into why it's EA that's got The Godfather in its hands, rather than any other company in the industry. Caan and Duvall have just been asked why they decided to work on the game, given how busy they must both be. While Caan answers more reasonably, Duvall, with an impish grin, reaches his hand out and rubs his fingers together in the globally recognised sign for "lots of money". The audience laughs; on stage with the acting legends, EA corporate communications boss Jeff Brown laughs with them. Having deep pockets has lots of advantages, and sometimes one of those advantages is being able to afford to do things right.

The Godfather Preview

2005-02-22T17:26:00.000+13:00

EuroGamer has posted its impressions of The Godfather game, based on a press "junket" at a bar in New York's Little Italy district. Here's a taster:

The Godfather is different. It has to be different, for so many reasons. For a start, it's thirty years old. Some of the actors are dead, others are older, many are far more famous and in demand than they were at the time that the movie appeared. None of them are under contract any more, of course. Videogames barely even existed when The Godfather first appeared. Consoles had yet to be imagined; home PCs were the territory of science fiction.

They also have conducted an interview with both the creative team and the project's executive producer. They talk about the need to create a world where there are consequences for your actions; a model of New York in the 1950s where people remember you and your deeds, where killing your adversaries isn't always the right decision - and sometimes it's drastically the wrong decision - and where respect and fear are more powerful currencies than bullets and fists, even if the two sometimes go hand in hand. Here's a bit:

Eurogamer: Is the game, then, going to be much more action-focused than the film was?

Hunter Smith: We look at it, and think about it in terms of, whether you're talking to somebody or shooting or driving or just moving through the world, you're always feeling very fluid and action-oriented in your controller. However, you're conscious about the consequences and the effects of what you're doing in each one-on-one interaction, and how that's affecting your growing reputation through the course of the game, because your ultimate goal is to become a Don.

Philip Campbell: People are going to step into this, I think, with the same preconceptions - you know, they're going to go in with their guns blazing. We call it the Jimmy Cagney, 'Top of the World Ma!'. They're probably going to go out in flames, and then they'll start realising that often in our game it's going to be about not killing someone - until you've extracted the secrets that they hold. It's about getting them to break, getting them to give you what they have - because if you just kill them, you're not going to get anywhere. You can kill them at the end of that, you know - we're not putting any bar on that - but it's like juggling. It's dealing with people to earn their respect, or realising that you're never going to get that respect.

Hunter Smith: You know, if you think about most shooters, it's about shooting that opponent before it shoots you - but there's no value you're getting out other than mowing them down and getting to the next set of NPCs to shoot at you. In our world, they're alive - they have roles and they do things. So you're trying to control this world, control this territory, have the businesses out there running money in to you. You want them to stay alive - you want to get power and figure out how you can take over more of the world than the opposing families.

Bone PC Game Announced

2005-02-22T17:25:00.001+13:00

Developer Telltale Games (former members of LucasArts who helped to create Sam&Max, Grim Fandango) has revealed plans to release a new PC game based on the recently completed and acclaimed comic book series Bone. (thanks Computer Game Magazine) Telltale's official web site has posted up a page about their Bone game but at the moment there is little info:

Lost in the desert and dying of thirst, the Bone cousins are separated by an angry swarm of locusts. Now Fone Bone, armed only with a mysterious map and his well-loved copy of Moby Dick, searches a strange valley to try and find his lost relatives. Along the way he will come face to face with its unusual denizens and begin to be drawn into the greater intrigues that surround the valley.

Telltale Games brings you all the humor, charm and mystery of Jeff Smith's acclaimed comic book series Bone. Fans of the comic and adventure gamers alike will find a new home in the valley, as they explore familiar locations and interact with its residents in this character driven adventure.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Interview

2005-02-22T17:25:00.000+13:00

Computer Games Magazine has posted an interview (in unusual article format) with id Software's Matt Hooper and Marty Stratton talking about Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, the upcoming expansion pack to 2004's first person shooter. Here's an excerpt:

Hooper says that, in terms of gameplay, Resurrection of Evil is perhaps a little more intense than its predecessor, which had equal amounts of action, and slow but scary horror themes. Part of the reason for this is that the expansion will be much shorter. However, this doesn't mean that there isn't a lot to do and see. Fans of Doom II will be happy to note the return of the powerful double barrel shotgun. In fact, Hooper tells us that you find the weapon while checking out the office of Sarge, one of the more memorable characters in Doom 3. Another new item is the grabber, which makes better use of the physics system. While this item may sound similar to Half-Life 2's gravity gun, the grabber will be able to do some different things, including deflecting projectiles like rockets. It will even be able to throw around some of the smaller creatures.

Half-Life 2 Expansion Confirmed!

2005-02-22T17:21:00.000+13:00

In the latest issue of PC Gamer (UK) magazine, Valve Software revealed some details about the upcoming addon for Half-Life 2. It seems that Alyx Vance will be a playable character instead of being a NPC. A new weapon, Alyx Gun, will be introduced in the game - it is a combination of pistol, SMG and sniper rifle. The dog will be there too, but, like in the original game, only as a NPC. (thanks HL2World & Mark Bowlen)

America's Army Version 2.3: Firefight Released!

2005-02-22T17:20:00.000+13:00

America's Army version 2.3 code name Firefight was released today. This contains two new maps, Urban Assault and Woodland Assault. The new patch also comes with a new tournament mode for tournaments and possibly match play!

THE LINK(s): http://esports.ampednews.com/?page=downloads&id=3482 Patch

Thats right, this new patch supposedly stops a lot of exploits that hackers use all the time. The list below is what is said to be fixed:

1. The 'Rapid-fire 203 round' exploit
2. The 'CPU Speed' exploit
3. The 'Name Change' exploit
4. The 'HONOR Hack'
5. The 'Unofficial Honor Gaining Server' exploit
...and many more.

However, I was able to talk to a couple people who got the leaked version of this patch, and they were on a server with an infamous hacker. He was able to change his name with breeze, so it seems that the exploit is not, in fact fixed. Either that or it is a hack not an exploit.

- Woodland Outpost:

Enemy forces have established a remote woodland outpost
from which to launch reconnaissance patrols and
conduct ambushes. This guerrilla outpost rests in a valley
surrounded by rocky woodland terrain. The enemy command
tent is centrally located within the camp. A squad
from the 75th Ranger Regiment must perform reconnaissance
of the area in order to identify the location of the
guerrilla command tent. Once identified, they must then
assault the command post to prep and destroy the enemy
weapons depot.

- Urban Assault:

A coalition convoy was raided and the cargo was stolen.
It has been confirmed that the insurgents and the cargo
are based in a residential area of the city. Due to the
dense urban nature of the area it will be necessary to
do a house by house assault on foot. A squad from the
172nd Sep. Infantry BDE must conduct an assault to take
and hold objectives cargo ALPHA and BRAVO. Once
objectives are captured wait for arrival of friendly
reinforcements to transport cargo.

Some Screen shots of The New Maps:

Urban Assault

Woodland Outpost

Hopefully this next patch will end all the recent old school long time players from leaving. It has released a couple cool, old school type maps. So far, so good.

Map Breakdown: de_cpl_mill

2005-02-22T17:19:00.000+13:00

de_cpl_mill is not widely used as it should be. It is a fairly even map (a bit CT stacked) but still has the room for some nice strategies. There are some nice awping spots and places for people to show off their rifle skills. In this article I hope to show you some spots to camp, some nade tricks and where to look if rushing or stuck in a bad situation.

BOMBSITE 1 (BOMBSITE A)

The bombsites in this map are numbered, so if I refer to something as Bombsite A, I mean 1, and Bombsite B is 2. This picture is an overview of Bombsite 1. Notice the array of boxes in this bombsite. Boosts onto these boxes can catch the rushing terrorists off guard. Also, if you play 2 people in this site, you can have 1 boosted onto a box and one on the ground. When the T's are all looking up to get the boosted CT, the one on the ground can easily peek out and should be able to pick up a few kills.

Leading into Bombsite 1 is Storage Area 1. When the terrorists are delaying you can usually find them in one of the storage areas. I would highly recommend NOT rushing this as a CT, as it is basically suicide.

To get from Storage Area 1 to Bombsite 1, you have 2 options. The first is commonly referred to as "Kitty" which can be easily justified by the screenshots.

The other entrance can be from middle. Now, most teams probably wont like sending 5 kitty, and will try a split. Sewers is tricky getting out of and I havent seen many people use it, they mainly go for middle. A split can be lethal but beware: middle is AWP heaven. I would also recommend smoking the top of middle to prevent awpers and rotaters from getting you quickly. This requires a bit of practice to accomodate for the ramp.

This is a really cool spam spot. If spammed properly, you can hit people waiting in Storage Area 1.
Editor's Note (Josh 'inshead' Stringer): I would not recommend peforming this spam many times, if at all. It has many weaknesses such as making noise, telling the T's where you are exactly. This would also let your defense down if any T got by and into "kitty".

BOMBSITE 2 (BOMBSIE B)

Bombsite 2 is pretty hard to take as Terrorists. However, once you have control of it, it's pretty easy to keep control of. It also has many boxes and the site will need to be cleared. Again, you'll start in Storage Area 2. Storage Area 2, along with Storage Area 1, has easy access to middle if you'd like to rotate over to the other site. But as I said, crossing middle is quite hard without a few smokes down.

When you are entering Bombsite 2, there are a few places to watch out for. You can almost always expect a person to be sitting right beside the ladder, or on the other side of the catwalk.
Editor's Note: This is generally where a teams AWPer will be placed with a rotater in mid. If you are able to pick this player off, you will be very well on your way to taking over Bombsite 2, as long as you watch for rotations for Bombsite 1.

Sometime you will see people sitting through this fence here. Bullets go through easily, but nades have to be thrown perfectly so that they go through the open space. I would always leave 1 person here as he can take out, or atleast hurt a few of the rotaters from A.

This is site 2. The long alleyway would be a good place for an awper if he wishes to catch a few of the rotaters. One thing I like doing in a 1v1 is finding the right spot to plant, then going into the sewers from squeaky. Once I hear the CT to start defusing I spam through the door, and if I get lucky enough I can kill they guy! =)

As you can see, the sewers lead to each bombsite. My team doesnt use them that much, but when we do, we usually use them as a flank or a distract. DO NOT send your whole team down here or you will easily lose the round. If anyone wants an example of this (demo) just ask me and I'll show you.

X-Men - Legends on N-Gage

2005-02-22T16:22:00.000+13:00

The role-playing genre is tough to conquer. It's so easy to take the simple, turn-based or real-time formula and screw it up. If they play too slowly, real-time RPGs run the risk of boring the player. If the gameplay is too quick, they could be labeled as a generic hack-n-slash with RPG elements.

It is for those reasons that most console RPGs fail to captivate an audience outside of the most hardcore players. It is also for those reasons that I, a once diehard RPG player, have lost interest in the genre over the past three years.

In the midst of all the repetition and disappointment is a game that provides neither. It's a game that proves you can take well-known license and create a game that people will actually love. And it has restored my interest in a genre that was beginning to be consumed by a few great developers - Namco, Working Designs and Nippon Ichi – while everyone else turned to other genres (on the consoles, the PC market is a whole other story).

What is this marvelous game I speak of? X-Men Legends. Even more surprising: I'm talking about the N-Gage version.

Played from the classic, isometric view, X-Men Legends should be a breath of fresh air for most console players. While some of the elements have been found in PC RPGs for years, most of what X-Men Legends has to offer is new (or at least newer) to the console market.

Battles are fought in real-time, giving the player the kind of freedom that's found in an action/RPG. There are turn-based elements though. Menu selection plays a big part of the game. Everything from health and energy items ("energy" constitutes your mutant powers) to special attacks and character selection is done through a menu. The game freezes when you open one of the menus, all of which look like this:

By pressing up, down, left or right, the desired option will be selected. This might seem tedious at first. Certainly it's not something you're used to doing if turn-based RPGs take up the majority of your time. But it will become easier over time, and eventually feels like a natural, seamless motion. You'll start to wish that other action-oriented RPGs used this setup.

The gameplay is a tad slower than an action/RPG, but it's still pretty quick. I'm tempted to call it a cross between the Genesis version of X-Men that Sega designed and the classic (but long forgotten) Final Fight series. You'll use your fists to beat up bad guys most of the time, but when your energy is full it can be used to unleash a powerful mutant attack. X-Men can have up to four of these attacks, each of which must be selected from the abilities menu before it can be used. Only one can be selected at a time, but you can change them very quickly.

Wolverine can slash his foes multiple times. Iceman can dish out a burst of ice. Cyclops opens his deadly eyes to unleash a blast his enemies won't soon forget. Those are just a few of the abilities that are at your disposal.

As you can tell by the screens, this game lets you control more than just a few of your favorite X-Men. Several of 'em haven't even appeared in the movie yet! X-Men Legends has no connection to the films, though I still can't help but think of the movies whenever I play an X-Men game. It's a shame we may never see X3…

Four X-Men are able to battle simultaneously, but since you only have two hands (and one brain), only one can be controlled by you. The rest must be controlled by the computer, which at times is excellent at keeping them safe. At times the computer-controlled mutants will save your life. Other times they'll make it worse. If a comrade falls unconscious, you can't switch to him/her and take control. They can only be controlled while conscious. It's vital that all your teammates are functional at all times. This is one of the greatest strategic elements of the game. I'd want to keep my teammates alive just so I could get equal game time with each X-Men, but in Legends, you really have to utilize each one's strengths.

Musically and graphically X-Men Legends is surprising, but not shocking. I was surprised and extremely pleased that the developers were able to make the game play so closely to the console versions. Most of the characters look like detailed, fully-rendered sprites (as opposed to 3D models loaded with polygons), but the game is still pretty darn good looking. You're not going to be too amazed if you've played Mario 64 DS or any imports for the PSP. But considering that N-Gage was the first out the door, and considering how long ago it made its debut, X-Men Legends deserves no visual complaints.

The Moment of Silence

2005-02-22T16:20:00.000+13:00

The Adventure Company is known for releasing “adventure” games (hence the name The Adventure Company). What I’m referring to are point-and-click style games similar to the ultra popular Myst series. The goal in most of the games released by The Adventure Company is to figure out the mystery involved in the game by solving a series of puzzles in the game. The interface in the games is similar to each other; you simply point and click on an item or person to interact with them. The newest title, The Moment of Silence, looks to continue the tradition of challenging and engaging adventure games released by The Adventure Company.

The Moment of Silence revolves around Peter Wright, an advertising executive working on a government campaign for the Freedom of Speech. One sleepless night Peter witnesses SWAT teams storm into his neighbor’s apartment and take the husband of the family captive. It’s up to Peter (you/the player) to find out why the SWAT team took the man and what other mysteries surround his capture. The preview copy of the game had me talking to the wife and son of the captured man to find out why he was taken away. The wife doesn’t understand why he was arrested and Peter comforts the wife by reassuring her that he will find out what happened to her husband. The son is just as confused and doesn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt his father.

The plot thickens when I called the police department to find out what happened. The police have no records of any activity in the area and claim the last incident they have on file for Peter’s address was some time ago. So why was the man arrested/captured? What could he have done that been so dangerous or upsetting? Why doesn’t the police have any records of the incident happening, especially when the SWAT team damaged the door during the arrest? Why did it have to happen to Peter, what type of connection does he have to all of these events?

In case you couldn’t tell, all of these questions are why the game is called an adventure game. The controls of this game were very easy to pick up and play, since the game is controlled with a user-friendly point and click system. The same layout of previous point-and-click games is used in The Moment of Silence. During the game all I had to do was move the mouse around the screen until the cursor changed, which indicated that I was able to interact with the item. The interaction would usually be specific to the event, item or character you’re dealing with. For example, when I moved the move to a person I could then click on the person to speak with them. When I moved the mouse to an item I could click on the item to either exam it or pick up the item. If I were able to keep an item my inventory would automatically include the item. Simply moving the mouse cursor near the bottom of the screen would access the inventory screen. Anyone that has played Myst, or at least has some comfort using a mouse, shouldn’t have a problem playing this game.

The graphics in the preview copy were commendable. The detail of the buildings and surrounding were well done with some nice attention to detail. I noticed some reflections of the characters and other objects on the ground and on some of the walls. The character models were adequate but didn’t have the same polish and detail as the rest of the graphics. The voice acting in the game was decent as well but left me a little puzzled. The game is set in New York City in 2044, but it seems some of the characters have a British accent. The voice acting of the main character Peter worked well and wasn’t over the top. The dialogue in the game was well written with only a few repetitive statements (which were usually triggered by a mistake I would make). The one area with the voice acting and the graphics that could use some work was the lip-synching. The lip movements of the characters in the game never seemed to match what the actors were delivering.

It seems that The Moment of Silence is shaping up to be a solid title when it’s released later this month. The interesting story line, good graphics and easy controls are more than enough to please fans of the point-and-click genre. However, the point-and-click genre is not for everyone because some people feel as if they’re removed from the game. In fact, during parts of the game I was unable to move Peter to different areas for no particular reason except that the area wasn’t part of the game. These “blocked off” areas were clearly visible but still off limits during the game. But this is something that point-and-click adventure fans can surely overlook since the mystery and adventures are what keep them coming back.

Website Changed

2005-02-20T11:04:00.000+13:00

Currently egamenews is trying to expand abit more to the advance level. From seeing the website has been visited by lots of people from around the world.

Later in the month, we will try to get a domain hosting. This will include on Game reviews from Pc to Xbox, Movies reviews, Music reviews, Lastest hardware reviews, Console reviews and reviews on Gamers. We also will do webhosting, we will make clan websites for new breed clans and old clans for Counter-Strike and soon for different games too.

Hope to see you guys soon.

Microsoft recalls Xbox power cords

2005-02-18T19:17:00.000+13:00

Microsoft is recalling power cords on 14.1 million Xbox consoles worldwide, following reports of injuries due to defective electrical components.

The company announced the recall on Thursday, saying it is aimed at protecting the consoles from electrical-component failures that can pose a fire hazard. So far, such failures have been reported in 30 consoles, causing minor injuries or property damage, Microsoft said. Seven customers reported burns to their hands. In the rest of the cases, the defect caused smoke damage or minor damage to a carpet or entertainment center.

In Europe, consoles made before January 13, 2004, will need replacement cords, the company said. In all other areas, the recall covers consoles manufactured before October 23, 2003.

Orders for replacement cords can be placed at the Xbox Web site. New cords will take up to four weeks to arrive. Until the new cord comes, customers should turn off consoles when not in use, the company said.

Power-cord problems have dogged other device makers in the past. Last year, for example, Dell recalled 4.4 million defective power adapters sold with notebooks between 1998 and 2002.

"This is a preventative step we're choosing to take despite the rarity of these incidents," Robbie Bach, senior vice president at Microsoft’s entertainment division, said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience but believe offering consumers a free replacement is the responsible thing to do."

Pursuit Force chasing PSP

2005-02-18T19:16:00.000+13:00

SCEE revs up a new driving-action hybrid for Sony's forthcoming portable; no US release plans revealed yet. First screens inside.

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Screenshot Index »

European gamers got another PSP title to park in their game garage today. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced it will publish Pursuit Force, an action game that blends driving and action elements. The title will be developed by Bigbig Studios, a Britain-based studio founded in 2001 by several former Codemasters designers who worked on the Colin McRae and TOCA racing series.

According to SCEE, Pursuit Force "follows the misadventures of a rookie police officer tracking down five criminal gangs across an entire fictional state in America." The game will feature 30 missions set in nearly 250 square miles of in-game terrain, including city streets, freeways, and off-road areas. Players will be able to drive a number of undisclosed vehicles and engage in car chases of up to 150mph. Gameplay will consist of driving as well as "intense combat with gang members whilst hanging onto moving vehicles."

Currently, Pursuit Force is set for a fall 2005 release in the UK. No North American release plans were announced, but GameSpot will have more details on the game as they become available.

Closure rumors surround Troika

2005-02-18T19:15:00.000+13:00

As speculation mounts that the indie RPG developer will soon close its doors, co-CEO Leonard Boyarsky says an announcement on the company's status is imminent.

Since the start of the year, rumors have circulated that Troika Games, the independent developer behind The Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire: Bloodlines - The Masquerade, is in trouble.

The speculation began to reach critical mass at the end of January, when a post on the industry-savvy Quarter to Three forums mentioned the studio had been shuttered for good. At the time, Troika cofounder and co-CEO Leonard Boyarsky denied the reports...sort of. "We are basically perusing some options ... [and] after the beginning of February, we'll be making a statement," he said.

However, with late February fast approaching, there still has been no announcement from Troika. The silence has heightened speculation regarding the indie shop's status, which was further fueled this week by reports from No Mutants Allowed, one of the first sites to break news of trouble at Interplay last year.

On Tuesday, NMA posted an e-mail reportedly leaked by a Troika worker advertising a liquidation sale of the developer's office equipment. "After seven exciting years, and three published games, Troika Games is closing its doors forever! EVERYTHING MUST GO," it read, followed by a list of office equipment. While the rabid Fallout fans who run NMA felt a certain amount of schadenfreude at Interplay's woes, they were much more sympathetic to the troubles of Troika, which was cofounded by Black Isle Studios alumnus Tim Cain. "Ouch! I really hope that this isn't true," said the site administrator known as "Odin."

But while the liquidation-sale post was widely branded as fake, another that surfaced today could not be as easily dismissed. Responding to the liquidation-sale thread, a poster going by the handle "Mandrew" outlined the internal strife at Troika. "The reality is that for the past several months Troika has been on a skeleton crew," said Mandrew. "The real layoffs happened in two waves at the start and end of November, and a lot of people have already moved on." Mandrew then listed a number of companies where ex-Troika developers had found work, including Activision, Day One Studios, Mythic Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment, Point of View, Seven Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Swingin' Ape, Turtle Rock, and Treyarch.

When one poster questioned Mandrew's veracity, another identified him as Andrew Meggs, lead programmer for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, the role-playing-game/first-person-shooter hybrid Troika released last year. While irritated, Mandrew did not deny he was Meggs. "I would have answered the question myself," he wrote in a subsequent post. "Posting someone else's real-life info without permission is pretty much universally considered a rude thing to do."

As for Troika's situation following the lackluster popular and critical reception of Bloodlines, Meggs said, "There's a huge amount I could say about things that went both right and wrong, on both Vampire's development and Troika's business." He concluded, "But if you were me, would you post any of that to this forum?"

When presented with the Mandrew posts, Boyarsky did not deny their authenticity. "We wish that [post] hadn't gotten out," he told GameSpot. "We're not ready to talk about it now. I'll answer questions at another time." As to when exactly that time will be, Boyarsky would only say, "We're working on a post [to be sent out] by the end of February." So until company officials say otherwise, Troika is officially open for business.

Investor snapshot: Game stocks slide

2005-02-18T19:14:00.000+13:00

Ubisoft basks in the glow of buyout rumors, while EA, its potential buyer, sees shares sink.

The share price of almost all game industry concerns eased lower Thursday, mirroring the Dow, which itself closed down. Only Ubisoft shares (traded on the Paris Stock Exchange) saw significant gains, climbing .61 euros (80 cents) to 33.10 euros ($43.26). But apparently, news that Electronic Arts (ERTS) is examining an Ubisoft buyout has been less lucrative for EA--its shares dropped $1.27 to close at $63.61.

Shares in Take-Two Interactive were down 89 cents today, finishing the day at $36.86. THQ Inc. (THQI) was also down, closing 59 cents lower at $27.14. Retailer Electronics Boutique (ELBO) saw its share prices fall 52 cents to $37.10 at the closing bell. Jamdat Mobile shares dropped, by 52 cents, to $19.43. Shares in Atari (ATAR), Activision (ATVI), Konami (KNM), and Midway (MWY), also dipped. Nintendo finished flat on the Japanese exchange.

A few game companies' shares ended higher, but just by pennies, including Eidos (EIDSY), GameStop Corp. (GME), and Vivendi Universal (V).

The Dow closed 80.62 points lower at 10,754.26, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 26.09 points to finish at 2,061.34 on Thursday. The S&P 500 Index was also down by 9.59 points to 1,200.75. According to Marketwatch, at least one strategist attributed the US declines to renewed concerns about the volatile political situation in the Middle East.

EA on Ubisoft buyout: "All options open"

2005-02-18T19:13:00.001+13:00

Today's message from Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jenson reinforces option to buy as he tells analysts that "EA is wide open to acquisitions."

Earlier today in New York City, at the Smith Barney Citigroup Leisure Day conference, Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jenson opened the event with a presentation on the long-term vision of the company and then followed that with a question-and-answer session with Smith Barney analysts.

While much of the conversation addressed general EA strategy, Jenson spent a few moments on the oft-discussed subject of acquisitions, specifically the current situation with Ubisoft. While many observers see a takeover as likely, EA is professing a methodical, if not plodding, strategy, overtly insisting that it seeks nothing more than a good return on its investment. At the same time, the company has made gestures and taken steps that leave the door open for acquisition of additional shares, and it has made moves that include seeking a seat on the company's board of directors, for example.

Today, in response to an analyst's question on where growth opportunities lie, from EA's perspective, Jenson said, "We are wide open, as we have been in the past, to acquisitions."

Jenson then reminded attendees of some of the company's more significant purchases. "This past year we made two [acquisitions], one with Digital Illusions in Sweden and the award-winning Battlefield franchise, which we think will be a big deal in terms of next-generation product. The second one [is] Criterion Games, with the award-winning Burnout series and a promising IP called Black...along with the technology that RenderWare brings to the table for Electronic Arts. We will continue to do that, continue to look for opportunities."

Moving the conversation toward Ubisoft, Jenson said, "There was a block of shares that was on the market [and] we thought it was important that we own them. And so we negotiated and were successful in reaching an agreement to acquire roughly 19, 20 percent of Ubisoft. From there, it's about keeping all of our options open. And…that's about as far as I will go."

But Jenson made it clear that one of those options might be an attempt to acquire Ubisoft, telling the audience of analysts that not only is the company "open" to acquisitions, but "we think they will continue to be a part of our growth story."

Sega announces first next-gen game

2005-02-18T19:13:00.000+13:00

The horror-survival thriller Condemned is the Japanese publisher's first game officially confirmed for next-generation consoles; PC version also in development.

The handful of officially announced next-generation games grew by one today, when Sega unveiled its forthcoming game, Condemned. Described as "a suspense-filled, first-person psychological thriller," the game is the first from the Japanese publisher to be released solely for next-gen consoles and the PC. However, Sega did not name any specific consoles for the game, nor did it divulge its release date.

While light on ship-date details, the announcement did offer some central information. It will be developed by Monolith Productions, developer of Tron 2.0: Killer App and the forthcoming The Matrix Online, which Sega is copublishing. It will follow Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent in the Serial Crimes Unit (SCU), which is a team of G-men dedicated to tracking down serial killers, Clarice Starling-style. While playing as Thomas, gamers must navigate "urban environments filled with deadly sociopaths who lurk on the periphery of humanity."

Unsurprisingly, Sega and Monolith are quite excited about their new project. "Monolith's goal with Condemned is to combine a disturbing atmosphere with realistic physics, devious AI, and a sophisticated combat system," said Samantha Ryan, the developer's CEO. Scott A. Steinberg, Sega of America's vice president of entertainment marketing, concurred. "The atmospheric tension and cinematic qualities of Condemned offer consumers the rich experience of a psychological thriller, something that has not been accomplished on previous hardware platforms," he said.

GameSpot will have all the latest information on Condemned as it becomes available

Suffering sequel confirmed

2005-02-18T19:12:00.000+13:00

Ties That Bind to reprise 2004's prison-based horror shooter; this time Torque will fight his way through inner-city Baltimore.

Midway has officially confirmed plans to release The Suffering: Ties That Bind, the sequel to last year's horror action game The Suffering, for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC this fall. Details emerged regarding the new title last month, when its official Web site was launched.

In the original game, players assumed the role of Torque, who was imprisoned for the murder of his wife and kids. Ties That Bind sets the burly ex-con loose on the streets of inner-city Baltimore so he can exact revenge on Blackmore, the man he believes is actually responsible for his family's deaths.

Ties That Bind is being developed by Seattle-based Surreal Software, maker of the original game. According to Surreal president Alan Patmore, the sequel's storyline is even darker than that of its predecessor. However, it will also feature the same moral focus as the original, where gamers' choices alter the course of gameplay. Torque's insanity mode, which transforms him into a powerful monster, also returns.

For more on the game, including its new trailer (also viewable below), see GameSpot's previous coverage.

Brothers in Arms enters release candidate phase

2005-02-18T19:07:00.000+13:00

Gearbox's ultra-realistic World War II shooter is on the verge of going gold for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.

A brief message on a Web site belied the approach of one of 2005's most anticipated games. In a short post uploaded this afternoon, Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford casually told the world that Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 "is essentially finished."

According to Pitchford's post, the WWII-inspired, first-person shooter has been in the release-candidate phase "since as early as January" for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. However, the game is still not quite ready to be submitted to its publisher, Ubisoft, for approval--the last step before a game goes gold and is sent to the factory for duplication. The news means that the game will almost certainly make its previously announced March 1 ship date.

"The team has been working on the release engineering and details required for a solid, major launch of a AAA game like Brothers in Arms," said Pitchford. "I would expect a wide press release soon that confirms the release to manufacturing of the gold master for each platform and the final shelf date of the game." (Emphasis in the original.)

From - Gamespot

GGL Launches AmeriCups

2005-02-18T19:06:00.000+13:00

Ever since GGL's alliance was formed with European-based Clanbase, the community has been waiting to see how the gaming scene would change because of it. GGL, with their history of big cash prizes and ambitious undertakings, doesn't look to be dissapointing.

With the launch of The AmeriCups first season, the GGL is heading into uncharted territory, taking leagues like CAL and the newly-formed CEVO head-on. Gone will be days of entirely ladder-based competition, the GGL looks to be ready to take their next step - a completely league-based, schedule-driven season, which featues tons of games and tons of money.

It wouldn't be the GGL if it weren't slightly different, though, so they're throwing a big twist on the current league system that we all know and *cough* love. This will be a two-tier league, featuring the upper division, The AmeriCups, and the lower division, the OpenCups. Anyone is free to apply, but in order to gain entry to the upper echelon, you must be up to par. If the GGL doesn't deem you to be up to snuff, then it's to the OpenCups with you! Prove yourself there, and you'll be able to earn your shot at the AmeriCups.

Within the AmeriCups, you're not just playing for respect and bragging rights, as is often the case with CAL-Invite these days, you're aiming at your shot at some pretty big money, and a trip to a Live LAN Finals for five of the games. This will be no ordinary LAN event, either, as it will take place in association with the EuroCup XI Leagues Finals (ClanBase's top event). The winners from each will face off in one massive intercontinental challenge!

Over $50,000 (US) will be given away in this first season, $10k for Counter-Strike (1.6) alone.
The breakdown goes like this:

AmeriCups with LAN Finals
$10,000 Counter-Strike 1.6 5v5
$6,000 Call of Duty S&D 5v5
$4,000 WarCraft III:TFT 1v1
$5,000 UT2004 TDM 4v4
$5,000 Quake III 2v2

AmeriCups with Online Finals
$4,000 Age of Conquerors 1v1
$4,000 Age of Mythology 1v1
$4,000 Quake III 1v1
$4,000 StarCraft 1v1
$4,000 UT2004 1v1

More information can be found HERE.

GO Playoff Decider Predictions

2005-02-18T19:03:00.000+13:00

Introduction

As announced last week, the GamingOrb league has been cut short, and the playoffs are just about ready to start. Three teams from each group have been given a chance to go all the way, while two teams from each group will fight over the last two spots. The teams that have already secured a spot in the playoffs are Lessthanthree, Area 51 and Rebirth from Group A, as well as Knife, Bacon Men and Ownage from Group B.

In addition two these six teams, another two teams will be eligible for play once the playoff decider matches have been played. Plan-B will be contending against Lucky in Group A, while Call us Chickens are going up against El'pheer in Group B. The playoff decider matches will follow the same rules as the normal GO matches, with the exception that ties are -- for obvious reasons -- not permitted. The map will be NS_origin and both matches will be played this Thursday. Regular playoffs will start next week.

Group A qualifier - plan-B (10-1-3) vs. Lucky (9-0-1)

Plan-B came in fourth in Group B, while Lucky took the fifth spot. In the vote for who should get to play against Plan-B in the playoff decider match, Lucky won by a landslide, with all the votes going for them, bar one vote for Viel.

Clan	Pld.	Pts.	Won.	Los.	Dra.	For.	Aga.	Tot.

plan-B.RadicaL	14	33	10	1	3	21	5	14
Lucky	10	28	9	0	1	17	1	16

Plan-B have had a strong season so far, especially with their tie against Lessthanthree early on in the season, and their more recent win against Area 51. Plan-B's only loss was at the hands of Rebirth, and they're well worthy of this playoff spot, both with their skill and their strong record. Lucky have also had a strong season, brushing away all their opponents except Lessthanthree, who they only managed to tie in a very entertaining match on NS_hera. Lucky only joined pretty late in the season, though, which is probably why they weren't able to capture a playoff spot without having to qualify.

That being said, Plan-B have been having some problems lately, and I haven't seen them practice for quite a while, and it's unsure if they're active enough to have a chance against Lucky, who are arguably one of the top three teams in Europe right now. Not to mention the fact that they're playing on Lucky's favourite map -- look out for those Jetpacks and Sensory Chambers in Double -- NS_origin. I think Lucky has this one, but Plan-B certainly have the skill to give them a good fight.

Group B qualifier - Call us Chickens (9-2-2) vs. El'pheer (9-2-2)

Call us Chickens took the fourth spot in Group B, while El'pheer grabbed the fifth spot on the league table. Although the voting process was slightly more interesting in Group B, as opposed to in Group A, El'pheer still won by a solid margin, getting 10 votes, while Config got 4.

Clan	Pld.	Pts.	Won.	Los.	Dra.	For.	Aga.	Tot.

Call us Chickens	13	29	9	2	2	18	6	12
El'pheer	13	29	9	2	2	18	6	12

Call us Chickens have had a strong season so far, although they haven't been able to match the other top clans in Group B. They managed to grab strong ties against Bacon Men and FastSwitch, but failed against Knife and Ownage, losing both matches. El'pheer's situation resembles Call us Chickens', but El'pheer had an easier schedule, and didn't have to play all the other top teams in the group.

Call us Chickens' roster was drastically diminished a few weeks ago, when a bunch of their players decided to leave to create a new clan, and they seem to be struggling with activity as a result. El'pheer on the other hand, seem to have a pretty stable roster, even though they too have some activity problems and are rarely seen practicing. El'pheer are going to have to settle with being the underdogs for this match, but in light of CuC's recent roster problems, they should have good chances to win if they play their best. As mentioned, however, they are the underdogs, and CuC still have skilled players. Most likely a CuC win, but it should be close, and definitely a match worth watching on HLTV.

The New Face of SK Gaming

2005-02-18T18:53:00.000+13:00

SK Gaming has merged with The Titans.

When six of the world's most famous and talented Counter-Strike players left the SK Gaming organization to remake Ninja in Pyjamas, the world was stunned. These players left at the height of their career and from an organization with the financial and sponsor backing like no other. Many people would argue that there is no better time to go out, than to go out on top. With countless CPL titles and the respect of thousands of gamers across the world, these six players left enormous shoes to be filled.

SK Gaming announced today that their new CS team will be what used to be The Titans. The Titans, though not SK.swe, have been known through out the gaming community as one of the top teams in the world. They finished in the 6th spot at this past summer's CPL, they finish 2nd behind 3D at WCG last year, and they won ESWC in France last year.

Jonas 'Calc' Gundersen

Simon 'eGENE' Kullenberg

Richard 'Drally' Halgaard

Jonas 'whiMp' Svendsen

Mike 'spx' Lutzhoeft

This is a very strong and talented team that will do its best to fill the void left from what is now NiP. But must be known that this team is not SK.swe and will never be. They are a totally different team, different roster and different play styles and must be viewed as such. In fact, any team directly compared to the former SK.swe would pale in comparison. The Titans will continue to perform on a world class level if not better due to the increased availability of resources from the SK Gaming organization. Look for the new SK Gaming team to try and make a quick name for themselves under their new organization.

THQ returns to war with Winter Assault

2005-02-15T18:58:00.000+13:00

The critically acclaimed, Relic Entertainment-developed strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is set to expand later this year.

Publisher THQ and developer Relic Entertainment have announced a new expansion pack for its popular 2004 strategy game, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. The expansion, titled Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault, will add an all-new playable race to the original game's set of four, called the Imperial Guard. Both the original game and its expansion are based on hobby company Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game universe, where space marines wearing power armor do battle with hordes of orks and eldar in a grim and violent far-flung future torn by war.

Relic general manager Ron Moravek states, "The response to Dawn of War has been overwhelming. Combining the enthusiasm we're seeing from the fans with the ability to draw from the seemingly endless, rich content from the Warhammer 40,000 universe made the decision to create an expansion easy. We look forward to building on the Dawn of War franchise with even more visceral combat action throughout both the single and multi-player experiences."

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault is scheduled for release in fall of 2005. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates on Winter Assault. For more information on the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, consult our previous coverage, including our full review of the game.

Guild Wars engaging April 28

2005-02-15T18:57:00.001+13:00

ArenaNet cements date for its anticipated online game; final three Beta Weekend Events dated.

ArenaNet today announced the official release date of Guild Wars for the PC. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game will hit retail stores April 28. The game, set to launch simultaneously in Europe and North America, is being developed by ArenaNet and will be published by its parent company, NCsoft.

Guild Wars creates a Tolkien-esque world populated with courageous heroes and fantastical beasts. Armed with swords and sorcery, players will undertake challenging quests alone, with other players, or with computer-controlled allies. The game also features player-versus-player combat for global prestige in its many arenas.

Using an elaborate skills system, Guild Wars focuses on strategy rather than countless hours of slaying kobolds. The game challenges players of all levels to wisely choose skill sets based on specific situations, in addition to letting them creatively combine skills with teammates for devastating effects and counteracting opponents' strategies by casting defensive magic or silencing enemy spellcasters.

ArenaNet also announced the final three dates for its Beta Weekend Events, which have been running since October to facilitate the catching of bugs and to help balance gameplay. The next event will begin February 18, and it will let users explore the kingdom of Ascalon before The Searing from the Charr. To access the event, gamers need only preorder Guild Wars or win one of many keys distributed by gaming enthusiast sites. Those who have already preordered the game have access to all the events. The final two events are scheduled for the weekend of March 18 and April 15.

The title is the first release from ArenaNet, a development studio comprising ex-Blizzard employees who worked on WarCraft, Diablo, and the Battle.net gaming network.

Guild Wars will ship in two formats: a standard version and a deluxe edition. Included in the deluxe version will be the game's soundtrack, a cloth map of the Guild Wars world, a Logitech headset, three months of voice-over-Internet-protocol application Teamspeak, and a Guild Wars art book. Preorders of both editions will include access to the game April 27, as well as exclusive items from certain retailers such as EBgames.com.

Guild Wars and its deluxe edition will retail for $49.99 and $89.99, respectively, and there will be no subscription fee for Guild Wars. Both editions are rated "T" for Teen. For more information on Guild Wars, explore GameSpot's previous coverage.

Neo-Matrix game named, detailed

2005-02-15T18:57:00.000+13:00

Atari uploads details on new title set in The Matrix universe; game lets players take control of "The Chosen One" himself.

Atari today made an official announcement regarding the next installment of games based on the Matrix franchise. Dubbed The Matrix: Path of Neo, the game is set in the universe of The Matrix trilogy. Path of Neo will jack into PCs, PlayStation 2s, and Xboxes this coming holiday season. The title is being developed by Shiny Entertainment, the studio behind 2003's Enter the Matrix.

While the existence of an upcoming Matrix title has been known for a while, the name and details of the project were revealed only today. In The Matrix: Path of Neo, gamers will play as Neo, the sci-fi savior set to free humans from their prisons of virtual reality as created by an invading alien species. The game will feature gameplay based on scenes from The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Animatrix collection of anime shorts.

The Wachowski brothers, creators of the Matrix films, will be heavily involved in the game. According to Atari, "The path the player takes to resolve each scenario and the resulting consequences will be scripted and directed by the Wachowski Brothers." The game will also feature the likenesses of the actors portrayed in the films, as Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, and more will be included, as well as footage from all four films of the franchise.

The game is being developed even though its predecessor was little more than a virus on critic's lists. Released in 2003, Enter the Matrix received mediocre reviews. Despite the critical drubbing, it has sold nearly 6 million units worldwide and featured an original plotline that took place alongside the events of Reloaded.

While The Matrix: Path of Neo won't be released for close to nine months, Matrix-mad gamers will be able to jack into their favorite artificial reality much sooner. The Matrix Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that's being published by Sega and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, hits PCs March 22.

Project: Snowblind golden

2005-02-15T18:56:00.000+13:00

Eidos' near-future squad shooter has invaded the factory; due for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on February 23.

The game formerly known as Deus Ex: Clan Wars has gone gold. Today, Eidos Interactive announced that its sci-fi squad shooter Project: Snowblind has stormed the factory. Rated "T" for Teen, the game will is scheduled for release on the Xbox, and PlayStation 2 on February 23 for $49.99. Today's announcement did not mention the PC version, also scheduled for a February 23 ship date, which will retail for $39.99.

Originally conceived as a spin off to the Deus Ex series, Project: Snowblind is set in similarly futuristic setting. Players assume the role of 2nd Lt. Nathan Frost, a solider in the Liberty Coalition, an international army. Bearing an array of high-tech weapons and cybernetic enhancements, Frost and several comrades are dropped into Hong Kong to help quell a rogue army from threatening the world with a weapon of mass destruction. When the mission goes wrong, they find themselves trapped behind enemy lines--and have to fight their way out.

For more details on Project: Snowblind and its various modes of gameplay, peruse GameSpot's coverage, including our recent multiplayer hands-on and level design preview.

Matrix Online launching March 22

2005-02-15T18:55:00.000+13:00

Long-in-development MMORPG gets a new launch date, two months after its previous one.

After missing its previously announced January 18 launch, the Matrix Online now has a new release date. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game is now set to go online on March 22 in North America. It was scheduled for a simultaneous launch in Europe, where it will now launch in April.

Developed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's now-in-house studio, Monolith Productions, the Matrix Online is set in the titular artificial reality of The Matrix films. Players will create a character that belongs to one of three factions: Zion, the Machines, and the Merovingian. Each faction will be spotlighted in nine trailers for the game, three of which launched today on its official Web site (one is viewable below). The game will feature many characters from the films, and it will also feature the voices and likenesses of Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Monica Bellucci (Persephone), Mary Alice (the Oracle), Lambert Wilson (the Merovingian), Harold Perrineau Jr. (Link), Harry Lennix (Lock), Nona Gaye (Zee), and Collin Chou (Seraph).

The Matrix Online is rated "T" for Teen, and it will retail for $49.99, with a subsequent monthly subscription fee of $14.99. Gamers who preorder the game will also get access to the game three days ahead of the general public, and their in-game characters will receive an advanced-level "hyper jump" ability.

The Matrix Online

2005-02-15T18:50:00.000+13:00

Exclusive Trailer

Watch the first of one of three exclusive trailers for The Matrix Online, to be followed by more in the weeks to come.

Go into a massively multiplayer game and you'll usually find one or more of the following: a persistent online world, the ability to create a character you'll develop over time after successfully enduring battles and quests, other like-minded players to join you in your adventures, or elves. In The Matrix Online from Monolith, you'll find all but one of these (and we'll let you guess which one). In the game, which is based on The Matrix motion pictures, you won't play as a virtual computer character. Instead, you'll play as a real live person...who is playing as a virtual computer character. That's right. You'll take the role of a person recently awakened from the embryonic tanks of "the Machines" (the killer robots with whom the humans struck an uneasy truce in the third and final motion picture) who stays jacked into a virtual world where martial arts, small-arms fire, computer programs, and leather pants are all commonplace. The game is currently in a beta test state, and we're pleased to announce that the leather pants work great.

The Matrix Online will bring your character to a state of higher consciousness. Fashion consciousness.

For the moment, you start out a new game by creating a character and customizing his or her five attributes (belief, perception, reason, focus, and vitality, which currently govern your character's abilities to use special powers, fight in hand-to-hand combat, hack programs, perform stealth activities, and survive battles, respectively) with a character trait that boosts one attribute and penalizes another. You then choose your character's appearance, male or female, from a pool of appropriately "dark" and "edgy" choices, which include sunglasses, knit caps, overcoats, and the aforementioned leather pants.

This is followed by an introductory cinematic sequence in which you're "fished" out of the clutches of the Machines by the character Link (played by movie actor Harold Perrineau Jr., who portrayed the character in the movies). The sequence involves a few fancy computer screens on which Link fiddles with his ship's online interface before he spots your character wandering around a city that resembles a modern Earth city from the 1990s. Once you're fished out, you're given the option to run through a series of tutorials that cover the basics of early gameplay, which involve combat, quests, and your inventory. When you take your first step into the Matrix, you'll even be greeted by a lengthy, and cryptic, speech from Morpheus, played by none other than actor Laurence Fishburne.

There are three primary ways to battle, and you'll need to be skilled with at least one of them to survive a virtual world infested with computer exiles, machine agents, and other enemies. The first and most well known is hand-to-hand combat, which you initiate by getting close to your enemies (and which you can actually use to disarm them if they try to pull guns on you). Hand-to-hand combat includes four basic attack types: quick, power, grab, and block. However, you can also learn advanced combat techniques in schools of martial arts like kung fu and karate, as well as learn some dirtier tricks like good old-fashioned head-butts.

Punch, kick, block! It's all in the mind.

Different attack types have different qualities (quick attacks can "daze" opponents to set them up for advanced attacks, for instance), but your success in the round-based battles depends on random results that are affected by your character's skill levels. With each round of combat, each time you or your enemy attacks, the game generates a number for each of you. Whoever draws the higher number successfully attacks (or defends). As you may have seen from previous videos released from the game, the hand-to-hand battles involve plenty of punching, kicking, backflipping, and other flamboyant fisticuffs you'd expect from a game based on The Matrix.

The second way to battle is by packing and employing heat. You can carry pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, and assault rifles--among other weapons--to blast your enemies either from a distance (using "free-fire mode," which lets you fire without engaging a specific enemy in combat) or up close (using a quick/power/grab/block system that resembles hand-to-hand combat). As of the time of this writing, hand-to-hand fighting styles and guns seem about even in power (this isn't real life after all...just a simulated version that the Machines want you to believe is real), though at this time, free fire seems to let you get the drop on enemies from a distance, thus putting you at an early advantage.

The third way to battle is with computer programs, which make heavy use of the "reason" attribute. Hacking not only lets you craft items, but also lets you battle with computer programs that barrage your enemies with data. This is represented onscreen by a variety of flashy special effects that involve the trailing number streams so commonly associated with the movie logo, as well as other brightly colored particle effects that recall the motion picture Tron (though in a good way). Hackers are a bit like the game's equivalent of sorcerers. They waggle their fingers to produce elaborate, otherworldly effects that can blast their enemies into oblivion. However, they can also craft clothing with hidden slots to hide extra ability enhancements. (And, yes, this even includes the much-sought-after leather pants.)

Once you've figured out the basics of combat, you can head off to the vast, foreboding city in which all characters "live." Here you either fight random battles with enemies that appear on certain streets (which is similar to the groups of thugs found in NCsoft's 2004 game City of Heroes), or you engage in quests. You'll have no shortage of quests to start out with, since you can use your characters' links to their "operator" to get an ongoing set of missions, which can include such objectives as talking to specific characters, picking up and delivering items, escorting VIPs to safety, or assassinating key targets. All quests are handled in a three-part log that gives you a description of the quest and lets you know which objectives you have and haven't finished. Quests also place the location of your next objective on the game's mini-map, in addition to placing a floating cursor off in the distance that counts down how far you are from your target (again, similar to City of Heroes).

Hackers do it by the numbers. Or letters. Or whatever those things are.

In addition to the basics, there's more to exploring this virtual-construct world than just kung fu and experience points. There is also item and clothing crafting, along with nightclubs and other venues that serve as player meeting spots where you can chat with other players about such pressing topics as how passé leopard-print cowboy hats are. All the game's activities take place in a huge, four-part city that resembles an amalgam of such famous world cities as Hong Kong, New York City, and Tokyo (remember, this is a reality that the Machines guessed would be believable based on what they learned from humans). The world is filled with towering skyscrapers, and occasionally it rains. The world of The Matrix Online is bleak, stark, and grim, which perhaps stands to reason, considering the cataclysmic events of the third motion picture.

The Matrix Online is clearly attempting to distinguish itself through its setting, decor, and unusual combat models. The game has been in a beta state for some months and will be released later this year. For now, be sure to watch our exclusive new trailer (linked above).

Point + Click :: Competitive Role Playing

2005-02-15T18:45:00.000+13:00

Namron has grown a bit since the last time we saw him. Now he's a PvP machine

by Paul Toms
Ampednews.com

You know, I’m a news-browsing kind of fellow. Every morning, right when I wake up, I turn my computer on and do a daily round up of a long list of video gaming websites, sports websites, and general news websites, clicking through them to make sure that I am keeping myself completely up-to-date on the important happenings in my life. For the most part, every day is full of meaningful news, but it’s very rare that I’ll come across something that really strikes me as odd or significant.

As usual, however, Schroet Kommando gave me yet another reason to give them Point + Click space, even after the moneymakers of their clan split to play under the name Ninjas in Pyjamas almost two months ago. Amidst random news posts about FIFA 2005, WC3L, Painkiller, and random European LAN tournaments, I happened upon a news post that hit home. For the first time in my experience as a gamer, SK was deciding to take a step onto my turf, with a new game for their clan that they planned on moving into the competitive gaming scene. Finally, they were going to be playing a game that I thought I may actually be able to be successful with.

Schroet Kommando is starting up a World of Warcraft squad. Too bad for me, I think it’s a silly idea.

Consider the proposal. Here we have Schroet Kommando, an internationally renowned gaming squad, saying that they’re planning on trying to bring competitive gaming to a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (which I will heretofore be referring to as a MMORPG, simply because repeating that genre is thoroughly annoying). Keep in mind, please, that World of Warcraft is a game that is played on an extremely large amount of servers across the United States, and is a game in which a character that is started on one server cannot ever play on another server.

And so, from the very get go, the logistics of this proposal simply do not support a move by SK to start a division for this game. Competitive gaming is an industry that lives and dies by the server. Throughout a given season, in any game, many matches will take place on many different servers which are all geared up to take on the heavy load of two teams, spectators, and other media. Most importantly, all of these servers are open, meaning that players can jump from server to server and think nothing of it. In doing so, they assure that any one player will be able to play any other player, which would allow for a determination of who really is the “best” player of any one game.

The frame of World of Warcraft simply won’t allow this. So what will happen? Schroet Kommando, at the very best, will become known as the best Horde guild on their American server, named Kil’Jaeden (after a character in Warcraft lore, but we won’t go into that). Furthermore, the collection of certain sets of armor or certain weapons for each person’s character to use will inevitably result in major discrepancies between players. For example, a level 40 character that has average armor and weapons, who may be a better player with regards to skill, may not win in a fight against another level 40 character that is geared out with all of the proper equipment.

Even more than all of that, it becomes a pain for all players who have already started characters, because there is sure to be a large amount of players who have already devoted numerous days towards developing their characters on another server.

And what does that amount to? A big ol’ bundle of nothing. All of the sudden, SK will be competing over a medium that will never amount to them really being able to establish their gaming supremacy over much more than one half of one of Blizzard’s 80+ servers in America.

Impressive? Not in the least.

To be fair – as I always strive to be – the fun factor of this entire adventure for SK could potentially be through the roof. With the establishment of the new Battlegrounds system (which you can find both here and here), players from both the Alliance and the Horde side will be able to duke it out on a daily basis for bragging rights, honor, and – most importantly – some incredibly “phat loot.”

But will it ever make it to the level of true competitive gaming, as many of us see it? The chances are slimmer than slim. Unfortunately for many World of Warcraft players that are itching for more, the current server situation would make it virtually impossible for any kinds of world rankings to be established, or for any sort of ladder to be created, without the commitment of every gaming team to one specific server – a very improbable notion.

But will it succeed? Almost certainly. Whether players have already started a character on the SK server, or even if they start a new character simply to be a part of this team, I’m almost positive that the Schroet Kommando guild will have more than its fair share of members.

And what about me? Well, it seems unlikely, but something tells me it sure would be nice to have that Schroet Kommando tag right below my character name…

Paul Toms, a full time student at Boston University, is a weekly columnist for Amped News. Questions and comments about this, or any other, Point + Click can be sent to ptoms at ampednews.com.

SK and the CSCL Finals Update

2005-02-12T15:07:00.000+13:00

This weekend the CSCL Finals will be played. Unfortunately not all 4 participants are playing from the lan location which is called LanFact. MYM will play from their home and team9 from an internet cafe. Only SK Gaming Germany and Team64.AMD are playing from the LanFact. The first game is against mYm from Denmark.

Match postponed to Saturday 12 CET

Lets wish all the team good luck.

Sennheiser and SK-Gaming in 2005

2005-02-12T15:06:00.000+13:00

Over the past couple of months Sennheiser Communications has been one of the important main sponsors behind SK Gaming. For a successfull year 2005 both sides have been working on a big project over the past few weeks: Equipping every single player of SK Gaming with new state-of-the-art headphones or headsets from Sennheiser and Sennheiser Communications to match all their needs.

Today we are happy to say that this project is completed and we would like to thank Sennheiser Communications aswell as their mother company Sennheiser a lot for the time, effort and of course products they have invested into this.

Ingamesound is as you all know a vital part of gaming whether it is for the athmosphere as in FIFA 2005 or an important part of the game like in Painkiller where hearing your opponent can decide if you win or lose. Click on read more to see all the fantastic products the various teams received to improve their skills and pleasure.

WarCraft III

We start with the WarCraft III team. The players of this squad which is partly residing in Korea at the moment for the WEG has been equipped either with the Sennheiser HD 650 or the Sennheiser HD 595. These two models are open headphones, that allow the players to stay 100% focused on the game but still get something of the atmosphere around. It is the perfect solution for a game where sound is a vital but not a deciding factor. The phones are very comfortable to wear which is important since the matches sometimes can last very long.

Statement from SK|Heman:
As you know, for WC3 it is always most important to know whats going on, but when we play a two on two match, we also have to hear what our partner says. Therefore the HD series is pretty much the best choice we could possibly have, as it has the perfect sound and is an open headphone.
To be honest, now I enjoy listening to music on my PC while practising lots more!

Counter-Strike Germany

For a team game like Counter-Strike communication is a key factor to success but hearing your enemy ingame is also vital. The perfect solution for this is the Sennheiser PC 155 USB. It is one of the most popular headsets on the gaming market and with it Sennheiser Communications aims directly at gamers. The new International and the German Counter-Strike team use this set and make the immediate switch when the next generation comes out.

Painkiller

Painkiller, the newest and fastest game to be played since the days of Quakeworld. There is no game where sound plays a more vital role than here and this means the only thing the player has to hear during the game is the game. To gurantee this the team will be using the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. This professional headphone which primary aims for DJ and professional musicians is 100% closed and won't let any disturbing noises from the outside into the ears. It is perfect to be used at high noise environments such as a big CPL World Tour stop.

FIFA 2005

For a sports game like FIFA 2005 sounds is not a vital part gamewise. You don't need to hear who kicked the ball but without the sound something big is missing: the athmosphere. The sound of a stadium with the fans and the sound of the game is an important factor the make the game enjoyable. As a perfect solution we found the Sennheiser PMX 60. This lightweight headphone comes from the Streetwear series of Sennheiser . Don't take size for quality as the PMX 60 is a real featherweight compared to all the other headphones above. It is the technique inside and there you will find just 100% high quality, as in every product from Sennheiser.

You might think thats it now, but wrong. Sennheiser equipped parts of our players with 3 more products. The players within SK Gaming that travel a lot during the year received the Sennheiser PXC 250, the Sennheiser PX 200 and the Sennheiser MX 500. The PXC 250 is a lightweight headset with NoiseGard(tm) active noise compensation that has an outstanding isolation. It is ideal for the use within an airplane because you won't hear the turbine anymore. Just pure sound. For enjoying their music or anything else at the ground the players can switch to the PX200 and the MX 500. This headphones are very comfortable and have a superb sound. They will fit everywhere and you won't want to miss them after you tried them once.

In the end, the whole SK Gaming team would like to thank Sennheiser Communications and Sennheiser again for being such a reliable and trustworthy partner. May this be a successfull year for us.

Interview with Razerguy

2005-02-12T15:05:00.000+13:00

With Razer supporting SK with their quality gamer mice I decided it was a good time to conduct an interview with the man in charge, Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, about how his company started and why he got into the eSports bussiness. He voices his opinion about the eSport scene but he also gives us some world exclusive news about upcoming Razer products.

Why did you decide to aim your products at the gamers ?

We looked at the demand that games was having on video and audio cards, processors and monitor size and resolution and then looked at how the mouse and keyboard hadn’t changed much in 30 years. We was a place where our technology could make an impact. We were right.

eLated|mw- : Will Razer make more mouses in different sizes ?

We are working on a several new concept mice. One for release at E3 and two other unique body styles by the end of this year.

The interview is very long and contains a lot of interesting information about Razer, SK, eSports and even has tips on how to obtain a sponsorship.

A Legend Retires

2005-02-12T15:03:00.000+13:00

Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson has decided to retire from Warcraft. The 20-year-old Swede has been one of the best players in the world, but lately he has lost motivation. Now he has decided to call it quits.

"All the things got more and more pointless in the game. After you have achieved some big things, it is hard to get the motivation back. I really felt that it was over when I left the Korean team FrienZ, but I thought I might get the motivation back. It never came back for real," says Fredrik.

SK's European Undead player is currently in Korea where he participates in the World eSports Games. WEG was supposed to be one last shot for MaDFroG, a last attempt to see if he could find any kind of motivation to continue playing. Though even before the tournament, he realised it was a wrong choice.

"I couldn't see any fun at all in playing, and the last week before leaving I wanted to withdraw. But I felt it was too late, and WEG had spent a lot of money on me," Fredrik explains.

MaDFroG's match against the Chinese player Magicyang will be the last in his active career. Though he hasn't practiced for it, and he expects to lose. "I have no feelings whatsoever to win. It has been really bad for me here, I have been homesick since day one. I am missing my girlfriend like crazy, and it just feels totally wrong to be here when I don't feel like playing."

Some people may wonder if MaDFroG having a girlfriend may be part of the reason why he is retiring - that he has found something other than gaming. Fredrik admits that is part of it. "It is pretty much like that. Also, I feel like I need to move on with my life. Warcraft 3 took too much time."

Several players have announced their retirements lately. Swain quit, but he later made a comeback, Star.WeRRa announced that he would leave and now MaDFroG, all in their early twenties. "I think you lose the power of playing eight hours a day when you get older than 19, I never had a problem with playing a lot before. But I guess we get too old for putting so much energy into a game," MaDFroG thinks.

MaDFroG believes that he will miss his friends in the gaming scene, but right now he wants to get away from all of that. "I don't think I will follow the scene, not right now at least. I need some time to get on with my life, I just want to be away from the computer. So I don't think I will play any games for a long time."

Then how will Fredrik spend the first period of his retirement? "I will spend lots and lots of time with my girlfriend, just taking it easy. I don't feel like doing something else right now, and I don't feel like I need to work either, so I am going to take some time off from most of those things."

MaDFroG has been in SK Gaming for several years, and he will be sorely missed by all his teammates and of course by his fans. "Overall it has been really cool being in SK. I would like to thank the whole SK for a great time, and also I want to thank my fans who never stopped believing in me."

Fredrik brings a lot of good memories with him into his retirement, the best of them when he won the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. He doesn't at all regret choosing pro gaming as his field. "Gaming has given me many good moments and I have so many good memories that will never go away. I would never change that for anything."

SK Gaming is very sad to see Fredrik leave, but wishes him the best of luck for his future, whatever it may bring.

This guy was a legend in Warcraft 3 Gaming over the past years. Lots of people have admired him and have started playing warcraft 3 competetively because of him. Good luck in the real world.

No PainKiller This Month

2005-02-09T20:12:00.000+13:00

The blizzard in Istanbul has made it impossible for the first CPL World Tour event to take place. According to CPL president Angel Munoz, a truck with the tournament machines and Scott Valencia on board was involved in one of the "700 car accidents" in Istanbul, which resulted in the destruction of the computers and a minor injury to Mr Valencia.

The only PK event that will take place in Istanbul will be a $20,000 qualifier to the Spanish World Tour stop, which leaves everyone disappointed one way or another. The Istanbul World Tour stop has been rescheduled to March 25-27 and the Barcelona stop to April 29-May 1. The only positive aspect of this is that hopefully, the demo recording bug in the new PainKiller patch will be fixed and PKTV will be ready by late March.

NoA|Siege WEG Journal - Day 3

2005-02-09T20:09:00.001+13:00

Team NoA is participating at the World e-Sports Games, which is taking place in Korea. NoA was one of the eight teams to be invited to the eight week long event. Siege, the manager of NoA will be bringing you a daily journal.

Day 3:

Remember that massive headache I mentioned, yeah well, there’s not a whole lot more to say today. Today was basically a repeat of yesterday, from team leader meeting to working out, basketball and the follow up practice sessions it was pretty much the same as Day 2 – except after my morning jog I found myself in bed well into the evening.

UPDATE: The score bots will be live in #gotfrag - also, the interview will be up tomorrow to give us a chance to check for translation errors.

Please click Read More for the rest of the Journal!

After being woken up for a final team leader meeting in the evening, I was asked by d0b0 of www.esai.cn (a Chinese e-Sports website) for an interview. This wasn’t a typical interview as he asked the questions in Chinese who a translator then talked to another translator in Korean who then translated it into English, etc. Interestingly enough it was done completely by audio recording so, it should be a good read… I hope nothing was lost in translation.

The sign outside of NoA's section of the house

Time to try and get some sleep in; we have a double header tomorrow, so it will be a pretty long day. Expect more pictures tomorrow such as Day 1 as we head back to the Coex Mall and recording studio. Also I was informed there will be live score bots in #weg on irc.gamesurge.net!

Don't forget to visit http://teamnoa.net for more WEG updates!

GGL Speaks to czm

2005-02-09T20:09:00.000+13:00

The Global Gaming League has interviewed Paul czm Nelson, the captain of the US team for the ESWC, Q3 TDM legend and Player of 2004. As usual, czm gives very good and interesting answers:

A player's skill on a map is mostly a matter of how much and how well they've practiced it, which is mostly a matter of how popular it is on the servers they frequent. When a game first comes out, players develop their skills to suit the maps that they play. After a game has been out for awhile and players have already developed personal styles, a newly introduced map will favor those players whose style it suits. This effect is temporary because eventually, other players' styles will adapt. The answer is that both factors play a role, but any natural predispositions are ultimately dominated by how much a map is practiced by a given group of players.

Last year, Paul was the runner up at QLAN2, took the American Q3 team to second place at the ESWC and won QuakeCon. If anyone deserved the Player of 2004 title, it was him. If you are interested in what he has to say and if the fact that he programmed a computer game gets you curious, head on here to read the interview.

Rescheduled CPL World Tour Dates

2005-02-09T20:08:00.000+13:00

Due to the postponement of the first World Tour Stop, the CPL announced the new dates for the $50,000 Stop in Istanbul, Turkey and the $50,000 Stop in Barcelona, Spain.

The first Stop of the World Tour will take place in Istanbul, Turkey commencing with a Cultural Event on Thursday, March 24, 2005 followed by the official Painkiller tournament from Friday, March 25 to Sunday, March 27, 2005.

The second Stop of the World Tour in Barcelona, Spain has been rescheduled. A Cultural Event will take place Thursday, April 28, 2005 followed by the official Painkiller tournament from Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 1, 2005.

The CPL would like to express its gratitude to its Strategic Partner in Spain for making this change on a short notice, and therefore preserving the integrity of the World Tour.

Furthermore, the ground team at Istanbul, has been managing communications with the hotel, venue, airlines and gamers, and have done a great job.

Microchip unveiled as the new giant in world of computers

2005-02-09T20:06:00.000+13:00

A microchip so powerful that it could turn mobile phones into pocket-sized desktop computers was unveiled yesterday by Sony, Toshiba and IBM.

Ten times faster than its rivals, the new Cell microprocessor is being billed as the world's first "super computer on a chip".


	The new chip will be used in the new Sony Playstation 3

A single Cell processor packs such a powerful punch that only three years ago it would have been rated as one of the top 500 super computers in the world.

The chips, which are initially intended for the lucrative computer games market, will appear in the new Sony Playstation 3 games console due out next year.

They are also expected to be used in new high definition televisions from Sony and Toshiba and be added to home and office computers soon after.

Yesterday's announcement was one of the most eagerly anticipated in the electronics industry for years.

The Cell is expected seriously to challenge the dominance of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, the world's leading producers of computer processors.

The three electronic giants, which have been working on the Cell technology at a laboratory in Austin, Texas, for three years, say it will bridge the gap between the cinema and video games - allowing graphics and special effects designed for the cinema to be inserted directly into computer games.

Details of the chip were released at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.

Klaus Gottschalk, a senior IT architect at IBM, said the new chip was between 10 and 20 times faster than the best processors available today. He predicted that it would be widely used in electronics around the home.

"It is a super computer on a chip," he said. "In the beginning it will be targeted at the consumer electronics market - for game consoles and home computers."

But it would soon start to appear in personal computers, he said.

"If it was embedded in a mobile phone, it would run everything that you have today on a personal computer," he added.

The chip's specifications have astonished computer experts. The size of a postage stamp, it contains 10 separate processing units, compared to the normal one. That allows the Cell to carry out 10 tasks simultaneously - copying the "grid" system of super computers. It runs at 4 GHz - twice the speed of the Pentium 4 processor.

When put inside powerful computer servers, the Cell consortium expects it to be capable of handling 16 trillion "floating point operations", or calculations, every second.

Ken Kutaragi, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said: "A new chapter in computer science is about to begin."

Unreal Engine 3.0

2005-02-09T20:04:00.000+13:00

A quote from the UnrealTechnology.com website about the Unreal Engine 3.0:

Unreal Engine 3 is a complete game development framework for next-generation consoles and DirectX9-equipped PC's, providing the vast array of core technologies, content creation tools, and support infrastructure required by top game developers.

Every aspect of the Unreal Engine has been designed with ease of content creation and programming in mind, with the goal of putting as much power as possible in the hands of artists to develop assets in a visual environment with minimal programmer assistance; and to give programmers a highly modular and extensible framework for building, testing, and shipping games in a wide range of genres.

List of explained subjects:

There are also lots of screenshots on the page which shows both the graphics that UE3.0 is capable of creating and some of the tools that comes with the engine.

The Article: Unreal Engine 3 @ UnrealTechnology.com

A movie displaying some of the features of UE3.0 hosted by The GamersAlliance.com

source: TheGamersAlliance.com

Changes in 3D

2005-02-04T23:50:00.000+13:00

after over two years with Team 3D, I am saddened to announce that Ognian “steel” Gueorguiev, better known as Ogo within the family is going to be transitioning from a full time player in Team 3D to a project manager. Ogo was the first player in the world to win both a CPL and WCG championship, CPL Winter 2002 with 3D and WCG in 2001 with LnD. Although not on the roster at the recent WCG where Team 3D took home the gold, Ogo was none the less a huge part of our success and it is that success that we look to build off in the coming months. Ogo now attends school full time where he is studying photography and will be traveling with the team to various tournaments and reporting on Team3D.net.

To fill this void we are also very excited to introduce Charlie “cbz” Pyo to Team 3D. Charlie recently played for TSG and United 5 and has truly emerged as a world class player. He brings a great deal of skill, experience, and personality and is going to be a great addition to the team. Sal “Volcano” Garozzo played alongside Charlie with TSG at ESWC 2004 where they placed fourth and has been best friends with Kyle “Ksharp” Miller, a founding member of Team 3D, for over three years.

Additionally, Chris “bootman” Boutte is going to be coaching Team 3D and will work with the players to develop strategies, analyze opponents, and coach during tournaments. Chris is best known for his playbooks that fans have come to love and victims have come to dread.

We look forward to playing with Charlie and utilizing Chris and wish Ogo the best of luck with his personal endeavors. In March Team 3D: Counter-Strike will be competing in the CPL’s second World Tour stop in Spain.

Interview with Kyle "Ksharp" Miller about 3D new changes and others. Click here

CAL league standings

2005-02-03T13:02:00.000+13:00

As NS teams throughout the states are going into week 4 of this CAL season, there have been some very outstanding matches. This has been a remarkable season for spectators and loyal fans of these teams, but most frustrating times for the teams themselves as almost half of the matches played have been reported ties.

Frustrating or not, this just goes to show the matched talent that comes with these teams and will only make for even better finals this upcoming season.

Here are the current standings for the top 3 teams in each division:

Omega division

Team unaware with an outstanding 3 wins, 0 losses
Flawed eXistence with 2 wins and 1 tie
Fusion with 2 wins and 1 tie
Slimes with 2 wins and 1 tie
...with other teams not trailing too far behind for the 2nd rank!

Delta division

Exigent with 2 wins and 1 tie
Terror with 2 wins and 1 tie
Crayon with 2 wins and 1 tie

Good luck to these three teams within the Delta division fighting a fierce battle for 1st place going into week 4.

As always, good luck to all the teams within the NS CAL League Community!

Team UK beat Abba to Number One

2005-02-02T13:39:00.000+13:00

On Sunday evening the final of the Clanbase Nations Cup took place between the UK and Sweden. Team UK gained their place in the final after some convincing wins over Poland, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Hungry and Russia, only struggling against France.

Sweden managed to field an all-star line up of fisker, SpawN, Bullen, dsn and vilden, from clans such as NiP, Eye and Begrip. Team UK played what had become a standard line up of AdY, ZaG, Kardy, duck and Shaq.

Team UK regarded as the underdogs in the final managed to pull off a win vs the strong Swedish side. An excellent Terrorist half of 13 – 2 put Sweden under an early pressure. Some impressive play by Sweden including a 4 vs 1 win by fisker saw that the final would go right down to the last round. However a push by AdY and a good spot by ZaG in the final round secured the victory for the UK.

Congratulations to Team UK.

EVGA, NVIDIA and ESEA Team Up for Tsunami Relief

2005-01-31T14:41:00.000+13:00

eVGA.com

As another way to help out the tsunami victims in Southeast Asia, ESEA is auctioning off an EVGA NVIDIA 6800 Ultra PCI-E graphics card.

100% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. On top of that, EVGA will match the total amount the card was sold for and donate that as well. The card is signed by the President and CEO of NVIDIA, Jen-Hsun Huang, and the winning bidder will also recieve $100 worth of lessons from ESEA from the instructor of your choice. Want to have a top of the line graphics card, improve your game by learning from the best, and help those less fortunate? Place your bid today!

New Counter-Strike Instructor: Mike Connolly

2005-01-31T14:36:00.000+13:00

Connolly

Mike Connolly is best known to most for his time with Meepins where he rose through the ranks of CAL to become a key member of that online wrecking crew that is Meepins. To ESEA FEL players he's best known for consistantly bringing in big numbers (see right). He's also played with a number of old school CAL-i level clans including ]r3z[. Recently he was handpicked to become the new united5 player but shortly after accepting the invitation he declined it and returned to his home with Meepins. Mike will be offering lessons here at ESEA as an instructor, playing on the servers and uploading pov demos for all you meepins fans so expect to see him around.

Counter Strike - Prodigy Overview

2005-01-31T14:34:00.000+13:00

E-Sports Entertainment Association's Moses from the professional American team, TEC, has reviewed every nook and cranny of the Counter-Strike: Source port of the infamous de_prodigy. Additionally, helpful screenshots have been coupled with the writeups of each area as a compliment of sorts.

You either love it or you hate it. Prodigy has been around for ages, but that didn't stop CAL and CPL from taking it out of the map rotation due to unbalanced sides. However, with Source being the way it is you might find that it is more balanced. This might very well be one of the better competitions maps ported for Source.

This is certainly a refreshing change to read from the perspective of an experienced player.

MSI K8N Diamond Motherboard Review

2005-01-31T14:32:00.000+13:00

X-bit Labs has a review for the MSI K8N Diamond (NVIDIA nForce4 SLI) motherboard and here is a quote from the article:

A gift from Micro-Star International to all extreme gamers, this new Socket 939 mainboard is ready to amaze you with its support of SLI, integrated Sound Blaster Live!, two Gigabit Ethernet controllers, six Serial ATA II ports and more!

Have a check on that motherboard review.

Point + Click :: Discrimination in Gaming

2005-01-29T23:06:00.000+13:00

The following piece contains adult language that may not be suitable for the easily offended. Please read on at your own precaution.

Having committed a good chunk of the last five years of my life to the advancement of video gaming in America, I have seen all kinds of advancements. I’ve seen technological advancements from developers, business advancements from producers and publishers, and behavioral advancements from the players and managers.

While the first two advancements are rather self explanatory, the third – behavioral advancements – is no doubt an ambiguous term. When I say that I have seen such advancements, I mean that I have seen a large increase in the level of professionalism among the players from all competitive games. And, if you think about it, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

More and more, players are picking up games like Counter-Strike, Painkiller, or Warcraft III with the distinct purpose of trying to make it to the next level. On the other end of hours of dedication and practice is a potential sponsorship, cash purse, and even – in the most drastic of cases – a worldwide following. But to make it to the top level, you have to have much more than gaming skills; in fact, the ability to interact with others may be just as important as the ability to play at the highest skill level.

Having established that, I find it inexplicably unfortunate that there is still a solid majority of our community that finds it acceptable to use racial slurs in every day games. Let me clarify:

Nigger does not mean “noobie.” It does not mean “idiot.” It does not mean “loser.” Nigger is a derogatory word that hearkens back to a time when an entire race of people was forced to work and live under inhuman conditions because of the color of their skin. And every time that you use this word, you indirectly extend that racism into our modern day. You extend that racism into our games, our rooms, and our lives.

Stop.

“It’s just part of the game,” one player said, “When I say it, that doesn’t mean that I’m racist. It’s just a term.” Other gamers, though they may not use the words themselves, sacrifice their own feelings in order to play a good game. When I asked a friend of mine his thoughts on the matter, he responded, “What else are you going to do? You have the choice to quit a good game or deal with the word nigger. Personally, I’m going to just keep playing and forget about it.”

So let me see if I can get this straight. Not only do some people sacrifice their own personal morals and/or beliefs for a game, but some people still find it okay to use racial slurs in a gaming environment simply because “it’s part of the game?” Somehow, because we’re in the virtual reality that is the world of Counter-Strike or Painkiller, we are somehow now able to accept racist, sexist, or homophobic slurs?

I don’t think so. Not at all.

And this is what we have to eliminate for our field to move forward. This is what we, as an entire community, must now take aim at and destroy if we want video gaming to be taken seriously. Let me ask you something – if you screamed at someone calling them a faggot on the soccer field, would there be serious consequences? Absolutely. However, in this – our virtual world – we are somehow able to eliminate those consequences and throw ourselves completely backwards to a time that most morally sound humans are absolutely disgusted by.

And don’t try to feed me the ideas that this kind of behavior cannot be changed, because it can. Ask the player to stop. If that doesn’t work, ask an administrator to remove the player. If that isn’t able to be done, ask your fellow gamers to take a stand for a cause that is worth much more than one round of a game, and ask them to leave the current game that you are playing so that this player may be left out of a competition.

And I realize that my previous solutions may not be the easiest things in the world to do. But no one ever said that making such an adjustment to our community would be easy. In fact, the largest changes are always the hardest ones. But they’re also the most defining of any time period or group of people.

So if you see this kind of nonsense, try to stop it. Let everyone around you know that behavior like that shouldn’t be accepted. At the risk of being pushed out by those other gamers, stand up for a cause that deserves to be stood up for. And if you say these kinds of things? Do your best to quit. Think about what you’re actually saying. Think about what words like that mean. Then maybe you’ll see exactly the problem that you may be creating.

The civilized world acknowledged the foul of discrimination long ago. Now it’s time for our virtual world to do the same.

Paul Toms, a full time student at Boston University, is a weekly columnist for Amped News. Questions and comments about this, or any other, Point + Click can be sent to ptoms at ampednews.com.

Half Life 2 CPU Performance

2005-01-27T19:46:00.000+13:00

It's now been two months since Half Life 2's release and much to everyone's surprise, the game was far from a GPU hog. The more powerful your graphics card, the better everything looked and the smoother everything ran, but even people with GeForce4 MXs are able to enjoy Valve's long awaited masterpiece.

Immediately upon its release we looked closely at the impacts of GPUs on Half Life 2 performance in Parts I and II of our Half Life 2 coverage. Part I focused on the performance of High End DirectX 9 class GPUs, while Part II focused on mid-range GPUs as well as the previous generation of DirectX 8 class GPUs.

The one area we had not covered up to this point was the impact of CPUs on Half Life 2 performance. In a 3D game, the CPU is responsible mainly for the physics of the environment as well as the artificial intelligence of the NPC elements of the game. There is also a good deal of graphics driver overhead that taxes the CPU, and thus with more complicated games we get higher dependencies on fast CPUs.

Half Life 2 was an intriguing case in itself simply because the game boasted the most sophisticated physics engines that had been seen in a game to date. Elements of the game such as the gravity gun would prove to be extremely taxing on your CPU. In fact, we found that even the fastest $500+ video cards can still be CPU bound in Half Life 2 at normally GPU limited resolutions.

Although much delayed, today we are able to bring you the third and final part of our Half Life 2 coverage focusing entirely on CPU performance as it relates to graphics performance in Half Life 2. After all, a $500 graphics card is worthless if it is bound by a slow CPU.

All of the tests in this article use the same test beds and testing methodology as our first two Half Life 2 articles. You can download all of the demos used in this article here.

We apologize for the delay in the publication of this article, but as often the case, we get busy and things such as this article get postponed and postponed. Rather than shelve it, we decided to publish it - better late than never. Now on to the benchmarks.

While you can argue that AMD's performance advantages in the other tests aren't noticeable on a price-for-price basis, you can't argue with the results here. At the $280 - $290 price point, AMD's Athlon 64 3500+ delivers about 15% more performance than Intel's Pentium 4 550.

AMD vs. Intel Performance

At this point it's not too big of a surprise that AMD is the stronger performer when it comes to gaming performance. It's actually at the point where even insiders at Intel will admit and recognize that Intel is no longer the king of gaming performance as they once were long ago. But how bad is it under Half Life 2? Let's take a look at our five custom demos to find out.

We used the current king of Half Life 2 performance for all of our CPU tests - the ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition running at 1280 x 1024, to give a good balance between CPU and GPU limitations while providing realistic performance figures. Note that all of the Intel CPUs tested here are LGA-775 and all of the AMD CPUs are Socket-939.

First we have at_canals_08, generally a good GPU test, meaning that its CPU dependency is minimized. The benchmark includes a decent number of NPCs and firefights but is severely offset by things like water and flashlight usage, both of which are more GPU intensive elements of the benchmark.

The margin is even greater at the low end, AMD's Athlon 64 3000+ is 23% faster than Intel's similarly priced Pentium 4 520.

At the high end the advantage is equally in AMD's favor, with the Athlon 64 4000+ holding a 22% advantage over Intel's fastest Pentium 4.

Conclusion? Don't look any further than AMD for the best gaming CPU, and Half Life 2 further cements AMD's reputation as the gamer's CPU.

More info Here

Counter-Strike: Source Update

2005-01-27T19:39:00.000+13:00

This week a few of us at Valve have been playtesting the upcoming

Counter-Strike: Source map, cs_compound. The map is still on track for a February release.

If you are involved in building a Mod or Half-Life 2: Deathmatch maps, be sure to check out the updated SDK (available in your Steam games list). About a week ago it was updated to include source files for six Half-Life 2 maps, a new interface for adding bots to mods, and more.

We'll have some news soon on the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map contest winners, and also on the winners of the Half-Life 2 Gold "VALVE HQ TRIP GIVEAWAY". Stay tuned.

The CPL Announces the World's Largest Computer Game Competition

2005-01-26T23:47:00.000+13:00

CPL World Tour Establishes First Year-Long Sports Season for Competitive Video Gaming

Dallas, Texas - January 24, 2005 - The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) announced the launch of the CPL World Tour, the first-ever, year-long, competitive tour for the growing sport of video game competitions.

The CPL, which has produced 35 national and international live gaming events since 1997, is the owner and principal operator of the World Tour.

The head sponsor of the tour is Intel, the world's largest chip maker and a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communication products. In addition to their top sponsorship and local activities at all ten stops, Intel will provide the microprocessors inside every gaming PC used during the entire CPL World Tour.

Other tour sponsors include: NVIDIA (the world's leader in graphics and digital media processors) and CompUSA (the nation's largest computer superstore retailer).

Boasting the largest competitive purse, a Million-Dollar pool for a single computer game, the World Tour will debut in Istanbul, Turkey on February 10, 2005. Following are confirmed stops in Spain, Brazil, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, China and Chile. A $500,000 Grand Final is planned for late November 2005.

The landmark CPL World Tour represents:

The largest, first-ever, year-long competitive tour spotlighting the growing new sport of video game competitions. In addition to the primary game of the tour: Painkiller; event-specific competitions will be added to the stops based on local appeal.
The establishment of a February-to-November, sports season, complete with a unified, competitive points system and the crowning of year-end champions.
Massive, multi-platform marketing commitments, utilizing both internal and external resources in support of the competitors and the new tour. Marketing platforms will include various television, radio, print, online, and event marketing initiatives.

The World Tour also includes:

Free cultural journey at each stop, to enhance the competitors' awareness and appreciation of each host country and promote solidarity between the competitors.

Extensive amateur and grassroots competitions and workshops designed to develop and spotlight the next generation of sports stars.

Lifestyle and entertainment elements at each stop featuring exhibitions, live music, concerts and more.

Scott Valencia, who joined CPL after overseeing the gaming division of CompUSA for several years, was appointed Operations Director of the World Tour. Scott will oversee tour marketing, business development and operations.

CPL President, Angel Munoz will be responsible for press and competitor relations for the tour.

"Our plan is to work with the competitors, sponsors and industry to bring real structure and consistency; provide better context and meaning to the sport and create the definitive world tour while growing the sport and its stars," said Angel Munoz.

PR Newswire Link
Associated Press Link

New Release Date For Dungeon Lords

2005-01-26T23:17:00.000+13:00

According to a press release DreamCatcher Games has announced a new release date for Dungeon Lords. The combat RPG will ship worldwide on April 20th for the PC.

Gamers have much to look forward to in the coming months as DreamCatcher releases never-before seen gameplay footage, screenshots and a new trailer, offering an up-close look at a truly unique role-playing experience. Official single and multiplayer demos will also be available around launch.

Dungeon Lords blends the depth of an epic Fantasy RPG with the flexibility of an FPS-style control system. Gamers journey through a land of ancient castles and dungeon lairs to engage in real-time tactical combat with a variety of deadly foes. It’s not just about the battles though, as magic spells and hundreds of powerful weapons and artifacts play a huge role in the game.

Check out the official Dungeon Lords site for more info.

Star Wars: Republic Commando Screenshots

2005-01-26T23:16:00.000+13:00

The German site Game7 has some new screenshots posted up for Star Wars: Republic Commando. The game is a tatical shooter, so you'll be playing in first person and will play as a member of an elite Republic Special Operations unit (4 man squad). Star Wars: Republic Commando is set during the Clone Wars, between Attack of the Clones and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode III. The game is scheduled to be released in March 2005 on both Xbox and PC. Check out the screenshots and also visit the official site for more info on the game.

Need for Speed Underground DS

2005-01-26T23:09:00.000+13:00

January 25, 2005 - When the Nintendo DS was creeping up on its November 21, 2004 launch date, Electronic Arts was one of the first companies to stand by the system and announce a handful of titles, both for the system's debut as well as its future library. One of the games the company revealed it was developing was a dual-screen version of its Need for Speed Underground series, though the company didn't reveal, at least at the time, what would be unique to this edition of the franchise. Need for Speed Underground DS is slowly approaching its expected Spring 2005 release date, and now EA's ready to take the tarp off this promising racer.

For the Nintendo DS version of the series, Electronic Arts has recruited the skills of Pocketeers, the development studio previously responsible for the two Need for Speed Underground titles for the Game Boy Advance. The team has already proven itself with, at the very least, amazing 3D graphic engines on hardware that was never meant to pull 3D off...at all. With the Nintendo DS hardware, however, Pocketeers has a lot more capabilities under the hood to work with, so we're expecting some impressive things out of the visuals that Need for Speed Underground DS will push. The early screenshots offered up by Electronic Arts already show sharper car models and texture work on the environments, but we'll have to wait and see the game in motion before we make a final assessment on the team's grasp of the DS' capabilities.

As for utilizing the other components of the Nintendo DS system, Need for Speed Underground will utilize both screens for multiple features. During races, the lower-screen will, not surprisingly, be used for track maps. Its touch-sensitive feature will also come into play when players need to kick in their car's nitrous for a massive boost of speed. But Need for Speed Underground has always been about personal expression and customization, and the Nintendo DS' touch-screen will come into play here to put custom decals on their rides. The development team has incorporated a paint program that enables decal artists to create whatever their minds can conceive for true vehicular personality. Anything you can draw with the stylus can be slapped on specific locations of your car's exterior.

Of course, wireless play is obviously a huge draw for the Nintendo DS version of Need for Speed Underground. Though Electronic Arts hasn't confirmed the feature yet, we're expecting that the game will require a copy of the game for each player that wants to enter the race; it certainly would be killer to have Game Share mode a la Ridge Racer DS for single cartridge multiplayer, the game looks far too complex to make this feature a reality this early in the Nintendo DS' life. Fingers crossed, though.

Electronic Arts is expected to make an official announcement regarding Need for Speed Underground DS later this week. In the meantime, have a look at some exclusive screenshots by hitting the media links below.

CPL Spain ditches Source for 1.6, event details released

2005-01-26T15:16:00.000+13:00

When the CPL first announced that they will be officially moving to Counter-Strike: Source for their 2005 events, it was met by much disappointment from many of its fans. The CPL was to hold one final Counter-Strike 1.6 tournament at its first World Tour stop in Instanbul, Turkey before making the transition to Source in Spain.

Today, the Cyberathlete Professional League have officially announced that Counter-Strike 1.6 will in fact be the version being played at the CPL's second World Tour stop in Spain. This decision should bring much joy to many CS fans out there, however, it is unsure what the CPL plans for Counter-Strike at the rest of their World Tour stops. The prize money has yet to be announced for the tournament.

Along with Counter-Strike 1.6, there will be a 16-team invite only female CS competition as well. Of course along with the Counter-Strike tournaments, the feature game for the World Tour, Painkiller, will have a $50,000 128-man competition.

The CPL's second World Tour stop in Spain will be held from March 20-23, 2005 in Spain. Event venue is still undecided.

ESL Interviews

2005-01-24T22:10:00.000+13:00

With the ESL UK CSCL qualifier now in the quarter finals and the UK CS cup into the last 16, things are certainly starting to spice up with the possibility of some cracking semi and quarter final clashes. I took some time out to interview a few of the remaining sides left in either competition. The interviewees were, Sean “madSpunK” Loke of Lastchance, Kenny “VenoM” Andrew of Forsaken and Robert “b0sh” Spalton of Landed.cs. The interviews can be found in the links below and are around ten or so questions long:

ForsakeN look to have their sites firmly set on the #1 spot, but with Lastchance taking a rather modest approach and landed hard at work, who will prevail?

Point + Click :: Breaking Through

2005-01-24T21:51:00.000+13:00

Warcraft III finally seems to be making the jump into the American gaming spotlight.

by Paul Toms
Ampednews.com

Before I go into this week’s Point + Click, I’m going to take a moment to recognize a handful of American gamers that have taken their sport to another level:

Boo, Wizard, Hunter, Raz, Sabre, eTched, Pillage, Tazz, Shock, Ghostridah, Shortround, Seaweed.

Recognize any of those names? Probably not. And, in doing so, you’re failing to recognize the names of the American-born Warcraft III players, a breed of gamers that is now pushing its game into the same spotlight that Counter-Strike has been hogging for years.

In the world of American professional video gaming, Warcraft III has always seemed like the odd man out. Whether it has been because of its absence from large scale events or from the apparent lack of prize money distributed to this game if it did make it to a large gaming event, there has been no question from many gaming spectators that Warcraft III was definitely one of the smallest contenders for the professional gaming spotlight.

And who can be surprised? In an American community that is so strongly dominated by First-Person Shooter fanatics, it is to be expected that Warcraft III – a member of the Real-Time Strategy genre – would garner the least amount of attention, and thus, the least amount of prize money dedicated to its players.

To this point in the history of Warcraft III, we have only seen it played at two large-scale LAN gaming tournaments. The Cyber X Games at CES 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 2004 World Cyber Games in San Francisco, California. Not exactly a very reputable track record, by any means. Although both of these tournaments were run through to completion, only one tournament paid out the prize money which it had promised to its gamers, as the World Cyber Games handed out $45,000 to the top three players in their tournament, 4K.Grubby, SK|Zacard, and 4K.ToD. The Cyber X Games, on the other hand, were unable to pay out any prize money to the players, which was a promised $25,000 to the top five players of their tournament.

As of November of 2004, it seemed like we American gamers may have seen all that there was to see, as far as domestic Warcraft went. Even in the Warcraft III Champions’ League (WC3L), recognized as the top league for European and American players, there were few – if any – players that were performing at the highest levels of competition. Furthermore, no American-based clans had qualified for the WC3L although a few players were scattered about in other international clans.

The future for American Warcraft looked bleak. And then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, everything changed.

For starters, the CPL made it known that Summer CPL 2005 would feature the first ever CPL Warcraft III tournament, a 32-man affair that would feature a total of $20,000 being given to its best players. Then, in the qualification for the seventh season of the WC3L, two American teams, the Good Game League (now United 5) and Revolution Sports Gaming, beat out a pool of 32 teams worldwide and took two of the twelve spots allocated for competing teams.

Finally, and probably most importantly, CAL introduced their own Warcraft III league, which will consist of only one on one matches, a move that will open up a huge door for those American gamers that – to this point – have been unable to participate in any league other than Warcraft’s built in ladder, provided by the Blizzard service, Battle.net. By providing this new medium for competition, CAL is strongly fueling the growth of organized Warcraft competitions in America, which will inevitably uncover new American gamers that have yet to be discovered by the already established clans. In short, there is little-to-no downside to this move by CAL, for either the players or the organization itself.

And so that brings us to where we are now. It’s January and the outlook is wonderful; within the next six months we will see the completion of the current WC3L season, the current CAL season, and the CPL Warcraft III tournament. Also, at the same time as the CPL Warcraft III tournament, we’ll be able to watch overseas as the ESWC carries on a Warcraft III tournament of its own, with a prize purse of $25,000 – a $5,000 increase over that of the CPL.

To this point, the cards have fallen beautifully for the fans of Warcraft III in America. But now, the gamers, not the gaming organizations, have to take the reins and prove to everyone – gamers, organizers, and sponsors alike – that they are for real and that their game is here to stay. Only then will the game of competitive Warcraft III be fully established in America.

Dust2 Breakdown

2005-01-24T21:47:00.000+13:00

After a week hiatus I have brought back the source map series. But, I am going to do something a little different this week and from now on. Everyone has played dust2 a lot, probably more then they have every wanted to, so there is no need for me to really compare the changes between 1.6 and Source. Instead, I am going to do a regular breakdown of the source map showing new flashes/nades, jumps, etc. that could not be done previously. I appreciate the emails and messages asking me to bring the series back, so without further ado, the de_dust2 breakdown.

Bombsite A

This is one spot that can be used for cat. In the new Source version, there is a stack of baskets in the back corner of the A site. If a player jumps up on them as shown above, they can hide behind the corner of the wall. Its a good idea to only play this spot once or twice, otherwise the other team will catch onto it. Also if two people stack here, they can then have one person out in the open in the site and bait them. This way if the entire team comes up long A, they see the one guy out in the open, then the two guys stacked can take out 2-3 people. This is a good save round strat.

This set of pictures shows a new jump in source. This is a one man jump that will allow players to jump up on top of the boxes. Look at the top left picture in the set, a player needs to jump onto the corner of the bottom left box. Then you jump onto the top set of boxes. The jump might take a few tries but map sure you are hitting the keys in this order: crouch, jump+crouch. This spot will allow a player to watch long A or to watch cat.

These screen shots show the window that a player can jump onto. This can be done as a one man jump, as you can see the slightly higher mound of dirt below the window. This isn't that useful of a spot, kind of in the open, but if a smoke is thrown at the a platform, it can cover this player pretty well.

This is a good flash spot for cat. If a flash is thrown on top of the box at the corner it will flash the entire catwalk. The great thing about this flash is that there is a slight lip on the wall and prevents the person who threw the flash to the flashed.

Long A

This is a cool two man boost spot for long A. A player can be boosted onto the top of the door and his feet can't be seen from inside the long A tunnel. This is a great save round spot assuming the Terrorists do not Rush long A.

This is a great smoke/flash spot for long A. I would recommend throwing at least two flashes like this anytime Terrorists go long A. What you must do, as shown in the screen shot on the left, is throw the smoke/flash over the long A wall. If it is a smoke it will land at long A disrupting the view from the platform. The great thing about this smoke is it that the smoke will be fully deployed by the time rushing Terrorist get near the pit. Now, if flashes are thrown over this wall, it will prevent an CTs from pushing up at long A because it will keep them blind. Make sure the flashes are spaced one or two seconds apart.

Middle

This is what the redesigned middle looks like through the scope of an AWP. Personally, I hate how they redesigned the middle. Its too open and noob friendly. In fact, this basically what they have done to CS since the middle of 1.6, making it noob friendly.

Its much easier to throw flashes over the middle wall now. This is great for whichever CT is spotting mid. This way they can slow down a cat or middle rush. On the flip side of this, it is also much easier for Ts to flash over the wall, keeping the middle man blind, and rush cat. Either way, flashes over the middle wall are a must now.

This is a really cool new jump for source. Its possible now to jump on the box below cat, then jump from the box onto cat. The above series of four pictures shows the sequence. Once the jump can be executed flawlessly, it will cut off about 3 seconds if done instead of running from middle to that spot on catwalk.

First off, I hate this tree. I really do. It is constantly blocking my nades, view, and bullets. You can shoot through trees in Source, buts what is bad, is that when you come around the corner and try to through a smoke into mid, the tree is constantly blocking it. They are evil and should be removed just like the barrels.

Bombsite B

Flashes over the bombsite wall are a little trickier in Source. Flashes have to be thrown a little higher than before otherwise they will just bounce back and flash the player in the face. They can also bounce off the jagged edges on the top of the wall.

The opening of the door has also been shifted to the other side. Before, it was possible to pick the opening of the tunnel from outside the site, now it isn't. This makes it much easier for Terrorist to sneak into B if no one is playing inside the site. Also, all the spam spots that used to be in 1.6 are now gone. The only place people can spam now is the doors.

There are only about 3-4 places to play B now. Either up close by the car, back in the site on the B platform, or on the ground in the back of the site. Either way, it is almost required that if the 1 CT plays be that they have an AWP. Otherwise they get run over by the entering Ts.

World e-Sports Games

2005-01-24T21:42:00.000+13:00

While much of the WEG staff is in Korea, Ben "Nikonsama" Song is stuck in America taking care of things from his end. He is doing a good job of things too. Ben moderates the Gamesurge channel for #WEG while most staff are taking care of other things. He is the person to talk with if you need any information that you can't find on their freshly updated site.

World e-Sports Games is an event that will be looked back on as a major stepping stone for e-Sports. This is not only a place where players will be going to stay for up to a week, but a place where entire teams and players will be living for close to a year competing against each other in seasons. This is truely a high point for e-Sports right now and will really be an event worth following by any fan of e-Sports. I will let Ben explain a little more on how WEG is ran.

Amped: First off, introduce yourself as well as a little information on World e-Sports Games.

Nikonsama: First, I would like to thank Amped for giving me this interview. My name is Ben Song and I am currently helping out with moderating the gamesurge irc chan (#WEG) due to the fact that most staff are in Korea and news updates for those out of Asia. WEG, The World e-Sports Games, is an invite only tournament, consisting of the games Warcraft 3 and Counter-Strike 1.6, with top teams from all over the world. The whole tournament will consist of 4 seasons of game play per year and each season will run for 8 weeks. The first season is to start on January 30, 2005 and ends on March 20, 2005. The eight invited teams for this season were: FLUX (Korea), MaveN Crew (Korea), wNv (China), ABIT-STRIKE (China), Four Kings (UK), Gamer Company (USA), Mousesports (Germany), and Team NoA (International) along with Warcraft 3 Players from 4K, SK, [64AMD], and many others.

Amped: Can you explain a little of how WEG will work?

Nikonsama: Well, as I mentioned earlier, it will consist of 4 different seasons of an 8 week long duration and this season all games will be played in Korea and the Finals will be held in China on March 19 - March 20. From Season 2 on, qualifiers will be held to see who will be the top team from their continent to play in WEG 2005.

Amped: Boasting almost $150,000 in total prize money, what types of sponsors have jumped on board for this event to help provide such large cash prizes?

Nikonsama: WEG 2005 has received lots of sponsorships and some of them include: Ongamenet (www.ongamenet.com) , iStarZone (www.istarzone.co.kr) and many others.

http://kor.worldesportsgames.com/weg2004/weg2004_sponsors.php to see complete list of sponsors !

Amped: What went into deciding which international teams to invite?

Nikonsama: Well this first season, many factors were considered in the "choosing" of teams for this competition. eams were decided by many factors, those including personal/team skills and their accomplishments as a team. Many wonder why teams such as NiP and EYE weren't able for invitation. EYE and other teams are still in their studies preventing them from being away in a foreign country for a long period of time. NiP said that due to their recent reform, they wouldn't be able to join this year's competition. All factors were taken into detail and thought.

World e-Sports Games 2004

Amped: Teams such as NoA, GamerCo, mousesports, and 4Kings are among the list of Counter-Strike teams attending as well as some of the world's greatest Warcraft 3 players. How will these teams and players be going about their lives during their long stay in Korea?

Nikonsama: Well along with their game play, they will be staying at a "Players' Village" which was newly built just for this event. They will be experiencing the new boundaries of e-Sports scene and also the exotic culture of Asia.

Amped: WEG is looking to be a huge international event. What will be done to provide spectators not attending the event live coverage?

Nikonsama: For those who are not able to witness this event in live, VOD (Video-on-demand) will be supplied and for those demo lovers, demos will be released, but with about a weeks delay.

Amped: WEG chose to stick with Counter-Strike 1.6 while other large events such as CPL are moving on the Counter-Strike: Source. Why did the WEG decide to stay with 1.6? Could the format possibly change during the middle of the season?

Nikonsama: Well during the first season, Counter-Strike 1.6 will be the official version of the game while Season 2 MAY be source. It all depends on how everything goes this season.

Amped: Could you possibly comment your personal thoughts on the split between 1.6 and Source in the community? If possible give a comment on the view from WEG.

Nikonsama: Well personally, I've only played CS:Source about 2-3 times, not enough to say I actually enjoyed it and at the same time not enough to say it sucks. I have been playing Counter-Strike since 1.5 and 1.6 kinda stuck to me. Yeah, CS:Source is more realistic and maybe a lot more different, but hey change can't kill. :) Many of the WEG staff also think the same while others are more interested in Source than in 1.6. We all have our own different opinions, likes, and dislikes.

Amped: In the future will the WEG be planning larger seasons? Not just longer but with more teams and players possibly invited?

Nikonsama: Well as of now, the seasons will probably be the same length, but it is probable that the maximum number of teams increases from 8 to more.

Amped: Also does the WEG plan to ever host the event outside of Asia? Possibly in the US?

Nikonsama: Although as this current time we are not sure of future events outside of Asia, the 4 seasons to take place during this tournament will take place in South Korea and China.

Amped: Can you give some more details on the player's village you mentioned earlier?

Nikonsama: Well I myself would not be able to describe in detail how the village is, but it is large enough for all the players of WarCraft 3 and Counter-Strike to live in comfortably and enjoy the Asian culture, as mentioned earlier.

Amped: In Korea e-Sports is as much a part of the culture as is the NBA in America. Can you give any specifics on how the event will be covered in the hometown? I read that it will be aired on TV stations and broadcasted among other nations. Also, can you explain some details behind what VOD (Video-On-Demand) is and will provide?

Nikonsama: Well in South Korea, the largest e-Sports TV channel, Ongamenet will be providing live coverage of all matches. This channel broadcasts different games 24/7, both played by Pro's and Amateurs. Such games as Starcraft, Warcraft, and Counter-Strike are followed by many Koreans through this channel. As for the VOD, we do not provide the service, but a host does

Amped: Anything else you would like to add?

Nikonsama: I would just like to say thank you to all our sponsors for this tournament, CAN and alex for their great work and support your favorite teams in #WEG @ irc.gamesurge.net

I would also like to thank inshead for giving us this interview :)

Train Coming?

2005-01-24T21:40:00.000+13:00

In one of the recent Steam updates, a number of additional files have been added to the Counter-Strike: Source GCF that hint that de_train may be in the works. The keen eyes of the members 1337 and F0dderMAN from the Steampowered boards have noted a few de_train props.

I just went and updated an old outdated server that has never seen custom content, low and behold....

/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_prodigy/traintrack001a.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/acunit1.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/de_train_doorhandle_01.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/de_train_floodlights_01.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/de_train_ibeams_01.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/de_train_windowframe_01.vmt
/usr/local/source/cstrike/materials/models/props/de_train/train_gutterandpipes.vmt

Though no official word has been given by Valve about a release for de_train, it certainly seems as though they are working on it for a future update. Thanks go out to the CS-Nation member Fugly for bringing this to our attention.

Alternate Attax Manager Interviewed

2005-01-24T21:37:00.000+13:00

Once again Amped eSports continues their line of interviews with mangers from professional gaming organizations. This time, Michael "Yoshi" Timm of Alternate Attax, a German team, is in the hotseat.

AmpedNews: What things do you feel are needed in place before your players can expect to make a long-term career out of gaming and how do you feel you can help to bring that change?

I think a long time carrer in terms of living of eSport is still a long way down the road. At the time eSports gets so interesting for everybody, than more and more money will come to eSports and then you can thing of "gaming for a living", but this is gonna be a lot of work for all of us over here. As long as there are to many bad thoughts about violence in games and some other prejudices over gaming in general, I think our main goal should be to inform the public about what we are doing, and that there is nothing wrong with the guys within the eSport community.

Click here to read yet another well rounded interview conducted by Amped.

Interview with Gabe Newell

2005-01-24T21:35:00.000+13:00

A Spanish Half-Life fan site, Half Rules, has recently conducted an interview with Valve's Gabe Newell. The interview runs the gamut from the future of the Half-Life series to the new ATI levels.

What can you tell us about the ATI maps? From what we know, it sounds like a pack of VERY detailed maps that'll take full advantage of our video card, could you give us more info on that?

I'm working on a presentation on these maps describing what we were trying to accomplish (sort of a "Making of ..." piece). This should answer your questions.

Though Gabe remains fairly tight lipped about many things, the interview is still worth a read, and may answer a few questions you had about what Valve is planning.

Source VAC

2005-01-20T18:15:00.000+13:00

Last week, Paul "Solarcurve" Drew wrote about some basic things that were missing from CS:Source and it was essentially a plea to request some very basic things in order to help progress Counter-Strike Source. Glaring its absence was any mention of an anti-cheat system. This item is no simple fix and it requires a collaborative efforts...

Written by: Paul Drew - SolarCurve

Last week I wrote about some basic things that were missing from CS:Source and it was essentially a plea to request some very basic things in order to help progress Counter-Strike Source. I am sure that some of you noticed a glaring omission from that letter in missing items. This item is no simple fix and it requires an entire collaborative effort to achieve its needs.

The problem is simply cheaters. Cheaters have plagued this community for far too long and there was a certain time in our history in which we didn’t have as much to fear from them and there was some integrity to be found in the scene. When we were in doubt, we could check it out.

The time of peace in our community was during the brief reign of Punk Buster. There was tremendous power granted to server operators and the community at large. There was at last integrity to be found in matches, pubs, and scrims. If you suspected someone, you could simply take a Punk Buster screenshot at any time and see exactly what the player saw. This was an extremely powerful tool that was the instrument of many cheaters downfall. Locked cvars from it took its strength much further eliminating speculation about people using illegal values.

This product brought out the fiercest code we had seen in cheaters to try and circumvent the system and continue to proliferate their cheats. This was simply a challenge to the Punk Buster team who in turn was ready to rise to it. The biggest stumbling block in that defense effort was the game maker itself. Punk Buster could only do so much without access to the inner workings of the engine to detect, block and prevent cheats from being used. Once the Punk Buster team was stopped and unable to do more they simply gave up the ghost and moved to other games which they could do things as needed. (See Call of Duty as an example).

So here we sit years later in the same situation and the same stupid and elaborate cheats are prevalent in today’s scene. I had at first thought with the release of source that things would be different this time around. I had hoped Valve had nailed the cheat issue as they had been mentioning bringing to an end. Then without much delay myg0t started in and cheaters started appearing. These were more than just good players being called cheaters. These were blatant speed cheaters, teleporters, etc.

I don’t typically fall into the whole “That guy is cheating” paranoia, which I see so often from someone whose ego was just crushed because they got killed. I tend to be more reserved in my accusations and evaluations. What I do see quite often is much more sinister and harder to detect. Quick toggles are the devil and lead to stacked sites and undetectable advantage to any team and player. I also see way too much of the stupid cheats that are meant to be blatant and obvious.

While I am not a programmer and I don’t really have a solution, I can only hope that Valve can at least somehow consider our request and enable the bare minimum of cheat protection and afford us a little more integrity when we are playing. We need and deserve some sense of stability and even ground when in matches. Allowing any forms of cheats to go on hurts legitimate players as well because they are then accused of cheating, which in turn becomes a vicious cycle and ego’s come out.

As a side point it would be quite nice to get some basic fixes into the HLTV so that spectating matches would be more viable. Currently in its current form its abysmal and forces me to watch my team scrim by typing /kill at the start of every round. We lose countless scrimmage opponents because the other team leaves the server refusing to let us “ghost” them. We have never ghosted from a 6th player or from each other when dead. We yell at each other for ghosting to prepare for CPL.

Another badly needed point is the force chase camera and fade to black. We desperately need this back in the new version so that we can have some integrity to remove ghosting and accusations of ghosting. I believe right now that this is a problem that ‘should’ in my eyes be quickly fixed, especially since its partially in and was in the previous version.

So while these points are slightly off topic it does go back to providing integrity and allowing people to not feel cheated. In the example above the other team will frequently get mad and leave the server after 3 or 4 rounds of getting pummeled and call us ‘lame’, ‘OGL’, and ‘Ghosters”, etc. If the HLTV that is now built into Source functioned better this whole issue would quite easily be resolved.

So what’s my point beyond complaining? I wanted to bring forth into the public light just how important VAC and Anti Cheat is to the game and community at large. I am asking for Valve to please consider bumping this up in precedence and secure the product we all specifically paid for to play. We deserve this and it’s not too much to ask for.

I also think that the best thing for the community would be for a 3rd party such as United Admins / Z Project / HLGuard / Cheating Death / Punk Buster or whoever to create an anti cheat plug-in and tools as mentioned above. I would also like to request a cvar locking mechanism to enforce league rules and variables to remove debate and allow everyone to focus on the game. To me, that’s all the “Pro-Mode” we need.

As I said before I am not developer, but I would hope that enough people are concerned like me who can do something about the game and community to help provide stability as we move forward. Thanks for listening to my rants and spending your time reading Amped. Have a great game and day, Take care.

Through the Eyes of compLexity: A Manager's Tale

2005-01-20T18:09:00.000+13:00

- compLexity
http://www.complexityclan.com/

AmpedNews: Could you please introduce yourself and tell us what exactly you do for your team?

My name is Jason "coL.1" Lake. I'm owner and manager of The compLexity Syndicate. I handle all the business for the Syndicate.

AmpedNews: Why do you manage your team?

Because I'm a big believer in the mantra: "if you want something done right, do it yourself."

Jason "coL.1" Lake

AmpedNews: What does an average day look like for you as a manager of a professional gaming team?

I run coL from my lawfirm whenever I have a free moment. At night I make sure the staff is handling the daily business of the site, and watch my team scrim for a few hours. Late night usually consists of keeping in contact with E-Sports "power players" to make sure I'm always in tune with what's going on.

AmpedNews: Recently we have witnessed the split in the Counter-Strike community with Counter-Strike 1.6 and CS: Source. As of right now The CPL will be holding CS: Source tournaments, while ESWC will remain CS 1.6. No one knows if both of these events will work closer together so we don't see a split in the community, but if things remain as is what event will your team be attending and why?

We will be attending CPL. All due respect to ESWC, but the CPL has always been and probably always will be the king of the mountain.

AmpedNews: If a split takes place, will the oceans be the main factor for attending either event, or do you believe it will be a little more complex than that?

Unfortunately I'm afraid the oceans may define the split. However, never underestimate the pull a powerful sponsor has over a team. Intel and AMD might not like their teams supporting 1.6 when their profit margins depend on pushing CS:S.

AmpedNews: How do you personally feel the dynamics of the eSports environment have changed since you took over the reign of management?

I think the sport has come a LONG ways in the past 1 1/2 years. The money is increasing, the exposure is increasing, and the professionalism is slowly coming along.

AmpedNews: What will be different in 2005 for your team and for esports in general?

Nothing will change for coL as far as our outlook. We will keep working hard and pushing the organization forward. I think we'll spend 1/2 of 2005 fighting over 1.6 to CS:S, but after that the sport will once again be advanced in leaps and bounds.

AmpedNews: Do you think gamers can be looked at as "athletes"? If so, why?

Absolutely. The word has grown over the past decade to include many non-traditional sports (X-Games, etc). There is no reason pro gamers can't be considered athletes.

AmpedNews: What advice would you give to a new manager of an eSports team looking for company backing? Could you tell us a little about the process of trying to find, build a relationship with, and maintain sponsorships?

Get a website and build your hit count. Without a large hit count most companies won't spend money on your organization.

Basically, as an owner, you must look at it from the sponsor's view. Ask yourself, "If I was a sponsor, WHY would I spend my limited advertising budget on this organization?" Also, once you've got a good sponsor, take care of the relationship daily. Make sure you make THEM famous, or you've done them a disservice.

By: AmpedNews

Summer Event Tournament Updates

2005-01-20T18:06:00.000+13:00

The CPL announced the current registration status of the five tournaments being hosted at the Extreme Summer Championships which take place Wednesday, July 6 to Sunday, July 10, 2005 at the lavish Gaylord Texan Resort, in Grapevine, Texas.

$50,000 Painkiller USA World Tour Stop
128 total spots
16 reserved for qualifiers
112 confirmed
5 waiting list
This tournament is full!

$100,000 Counter-Strike Tournament
128 total spots
16 reserved for qualifiers
18 teams confirmed
70 teams not yet confirmed

$30,000 Day of Defeat Tournament
64 total spots
9 teams confirmed
37 teams not yet confirmed

$20,000 WarCraft III
64 total spots
33 confirmed
31 spots available

$10,000 Halo 2 Xbox Tournament
16 total spots
3 teams confirmed
13 teams not yet confirmed

Competitor registration (including BYOC) is $100 for all five days of the event.

To register visit www.thecpl.com/register/

Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

2005-01-20T17:51:00.000+13:00

Command the legendary heroes and armies of Middle-earth™ in a real-time, open world.

Experience Middle-earth like never before in The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™, the first The Lord of the Rings game that puts you in command of a real-time, open world. Control the legendary heroes, massive armies, and epic campaigns of Middle-earth in over 25 missions based on all three films of The Lord of the Rings™ trilogy. From waging all-out combat among the vast forces of good and evil to controlling your favorite heroes and characters to managing the troops and resources of your side, the fate of a living, breathing Middle-earth is in your hands.

Key Features

Fight the epic, sweeping battles from the Academy Award-winning The Lord of the Rings™ fi lm trilogy from a whole new perspective—as commander of hundreds of soldiers and creatures.

Control massive armies and interactive battlefields across the vast world of Middle-earth.

Lead the forces of good or evil by controlling one of four unique groups, from the Riders of Rohan to the forces of Sauron, each with its own playing style, resource management, and base-building techniques.

Take command of strategic territories across a highly detailed, 3D map of Middle-earth and turn the tide in the battle to control The One Ring.

Watch your armies come to life as they express emotion—from anger to fear to triumph—when reacting to events and their surroundings.

Make smarter and faster decisions in the heat of battle with an all-new intuitive, streamlined interface that gives you contextual control of your forces and structures.

Challenge fellow rulers online in massive multiplayer battles.

By: Ea Games.

World of Warcraft wracked by problems

2005-01-19T16:57:00.000+13:00

Server and stability issues dogged Blizzard's critically lauded MMORPG over the holiday weekend, generating player and press backlash.

Chances are if you were a PC gamer who was lucky enough to have both a copy of World of Warcraft and Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you probably planned on spending a good chunk of the weekend playing the massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Unfortunately, chances are you encountered some serious problems while doing so.

According to some reports, as many as 20 of the 88 servers running World of Warcraft were down over the weekend. These outages followed a scheduled systemwide, daylong outage on Thursday, during which time developer-publisher Blizzard was supposedly upgrading its server system. However, the changes simply caused even more widespread problems. "The servers were outright broken the evenings of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday," grumbled one upset player to GameSpot editors. As a result of the downed servers, many gamers were kicked off the servers or forced to endure waits of more than one hour...if they could log on at all. Finally, on Sunday, all the servers were again brought down for "emergency service."

Yesterday, Blizzard apologized at length on the official World of Warcraft forums before implementing a stopgap fix. "As a temporary solution, we have placed lower population restrictions on the affected realms; this results in queues when the population reaches a certain number. This is a short-term solution and, while undesirable, is in place to keep the realms more stable while we work on the main cause of the issues." While they increased server stability, the population caps caused long waits, further angering already furious gamers.

Today, Blizzard announced on the front page of the official World of Warcraft Web site that "due to the extended nature of the server issues, we will be providing a free 48-hour extension of play time." However, this offer did little to assuage the wrath of angry players.

Besides the bilious comments that littered the game's forums, the backlash extended into the gaming press as well. An editor for Penny Arcade announced that he was rescinding the 2004 Game of the Year award the popular game site bestowed on World of Warcraft. This occurred despite a previously close relationship between Penny Arcade and Blizzard, which saw several of the site's signature comic strips appear in the game guide.

As of Tuesday afternoon, players trying to log on to World of Warcraft were still experiencing significant delays. GameSpot editors who attempted to log on at 4:30pm PST were informed that more than 500 players were waiting in line ahead of them.

By:Gamespot

EA pitching The Sims to TV

2005-01-19T16:53:00.000+13:00

Uberpopular life simulator may soon be seen on a different small screen: the boob tube.

The Sims is about to get a little more into The Real World. Electronic Arts has reportedly been pitching the idea of a reality television show based on the life simulator to several television production companies. While no plans have yet been given the green light, EA does have a few ideas on what a Sims television show would be like.

Jan Bolz, vice president of marketing and sales for EA Europe, told Reuters: "One idea could be that you're controlling a family, telling them when to go to the kitchen and when to go to the bedroom, and with this mechanism you have gamers all over the world 'playing the show.'"

The Sims is the most popular PC franchise to date and has been wildly successful in targeting a crowd other game publishers have failed to attract: women. Sixty percent of the 36 million The Sims players are female.

NPD: $9.9 billion worth of console games sold in 2004

2005-01-19T16:49:00.000+13:00

Industry standard's annual tally for console software and hardware sales sees a less than 1 percent decline compared with 2003. San Andreas declared the year's top game.

Retail sales of video games tallied just over $9.9 billion in 2004, according to figures released today by industry research firm the NPD Group. That figure, which includes all portable and console hardware, software, and accessories, represents a decline of less than 1 percent when compared with $10 billion in 2003. While dollar sales were down, overall, unit sales were up 4 percent, said the research group.

"Sales remained strong, thanks in large part to the console software, portable game software, and portable game hardware categories, which saw dollar sales percentage increases of 7 percent, 11 percent, and 10 percent, respectively," an NPD statement said.

The biggest trend of note was that portable software sales broke the $1 billion mark for the first time ever, thanks to the introduction of the Nintendo DS. Total software sales "also continued to set new records, with sales exceeding $6.2 billion, an increase of 8 percent in overall sales when compared with $5.8 billion in 2003," NPD said.

For 2004, the research company said, console software, portable game software, and portable game hardware experienced unit sales increases of 8 percent, 13 percent, and 9 percent, respectively.

There were few surprises as to which titles were the top-selling console games for the year. The currently PS2-only Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas led the pack with more than 5.1 million copies sold, followed by the Xbox-exclusive Halo 2 at more than 4.2 million units sold. However, Microsoft's shooter sequel had a halo effect on its predecessor--despite being 3 years old, the original Halo was 2004's ninth best-selling title, shipping in excess of 1.1 million units.

The last year of ESPN and EA's NFL game rivalry saw the latter win by more than a two-to-one margin, with the PS2 Madden NFL 2005 football scoring more than 3.2 million units sold and the PS2 ESPN NFL 2K5 racking up more than 1.5 million copies sold. Interestingly, though, the Xbox Madden NFL 2005 did not break the top 10 best-selling games, while the Xbox ESPN NFL 2K5 did, at more than 1.0 million units.

The top 10 console games of 2004, according to NPD, are listed below. Sales figures are approximate:

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) - 5.1 million
2. Halo 2 (Xbox) - 4.2 million
3. Madden NFL 2005 (PS2) - 3.2 million
4. ESPN NFL 2K5 (PS2) - 1.5 million
5. Need for Speed Underground 2 (PS2) - 1.4 million
6. Pokémon FireRed (with adapter) (GBA) - 1.2 million
7. NBA Live 2005 (PS2) - 1.2 million
8. Spider-Man 2 (PS2) - 1.1 million
9. Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox) - 1.1 million
10. ESPN NFL 2K5 (Xbox)- 1.0 million

However, NPD numbers did not include figures for PC game sales, which were boosted by the release of such high-profile titles as Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and World of Warcraft. NPD will release those figures later in the week. They also did not include game sales in the mobile market, or revenues from online gaming charges such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games subscription charges.

By Staff -- GameSpot

Electronic Arts, ESPN ink exclusive 15-year deal

2005-01-19T16:47:00.000+13:00

[Update] ESPN brand and programming to surface in EA sports titles on all platforms; Sega Sports and Visual Concepts thrown for a loss, again.

Electronic Arts broke the calm of a national holiday today by announcing a licensing deal of epic proportions. For the next 15 years, EA will be the sole licensee of the ESPN brand in the area of sports games, which will include console, handheld, PC, and wireless games.

In a statement released today, the world's largest game publisher said, "The relationship will include established EA Sports franchises--which will be enhanced by ESPN telecast, print, and online content--as well as new sports games to be published by EA based on ESPN media properties."

When asked to elaborate, Gibeau declined to go into specifics, but did say, "I think you can start to think about some of the core technology capabilities that are going to come online in the next few years with portability, wireless...you can think about the live feeds that can start to come in from ESPN inside of the games." For example, "being able to set rosters based on that night's rosters, brought to you by ESPN."

Gibeau seemed intent on dispelling chatter that the ESPN deal means a hasty split with ABC color commentator John Madden. "If you think about the deal, it's not an inevitability that he goes away...I'm not sure where those stories are coming from," Gibeau said. "I think the simple fact is we've had a long-term, great relationship with John Madden. And he's in our games next year."

The agreement announced today is for 15 years, "with an option to terminate after 10 years under certain conditions," the statement said. The agreement gives the publisher "exclusive first rights" to all ESPN content for simulation sports games.

Elaborating on that first-right option, Gibeau said, "With regards to the first right of refusal, all it means is that if ESPN has a program that we're not interested in making a video game about, they have the opportunity to be able to go and figure out how to produce it, without our participation." However, Gibeau added, "The likelihood of that occurring is very low."

Team 3D, United 5, & ESEA Tsunami Relief Event

2005-01-18T21:03:00.000+13:00

On Saturday and Sunday, January 22nd and 23rd, United 5, Team 3D, and E-Sports Entertainment are joining forces to help raise money for the tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. Members from both teams will be conducting lessons through http://www.esportsea.com and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross.

Expect gaming lessons from the CS, CoD, PK, and WC3 members from both teams as well as managing tips from Craig “Torbull” Levine. Hours for each of the instructors will be posted in their availability in the coming days. If you were looking to see how you could help those in need or were thinking about ever getting a lesson to hone your video game skills, this is the perfect opportunity!

Xfire has contributed $200 to the charity drive, and has purchased a set of lessons from Team 3D. We will be raffling these lessons off to Xfire members on Saturday, January 22rd!

NoA Manager Interview

2005-01-18T20:59:00.000+13:00

Amped eSports continues their series of interviews with managers of top professional gaming teams. For this session, the manager of the CPL Winter 2004 victor, Team NoA, Gary "Siege" Sanchez, is in the spotlight.

AmpedNews: Recently we have witnessed the split in the Counter-Strike community with Counter-Strike 1.6 and CS: Source. As of right now The CPL will be holding CS: Source tournaments, while ESWC will remain CS 1.6. No one knows if both of these events will work closer together so we don't see a split in the community, but if things remain as is what event will your team be attending and why?

We will most likely be attending ESWC for CS 1.6, unfortunately CS: Source — although it has the word "CS" in its name, is not comparable to Counter-Strike as we know it. It's a completely new game — that has been completed and still has too many issues in it to be used on a professional competitive level. The decision to use CS: Source in the upcoming Summer CPL before a season of CAL has even been completed seems pretty negligent in what the competitive community deserves.

Click here to read this fine interview.

Interview with NiP|HeatoN

2005-01-18T20:49:00.000+13:00

Daniel Tander aka. Vivastar Time. 01:49 Date 18 January 2005

I really don’t think I even have to introduce my next target to appear in my big profiling interviews. I could actually write a book on his accomplishments alone. He is one of the biggest names in E-sports and of course also one of the best players that has ever lived. And now recently they also made big news when they went back to their legendary team name Ninjas in Pyjamas. So without further a do I present to you, Emil “HeatoN Christensen

Press "Read more / Comment" to read an interview that you never will forget.

Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello, my name is Emil Christensen AKA HeatoN, I am 20years old, live in Stockholm, Sweden, and plays counter-strike in Ninjas in Pyjamas.

When did you first come in contact with Counter-Strike?
I think it was about 4 or 5 years ago, my friend showed it for me at an internet café and I really liked camping on the roof on assault with the "super-sniper"
So I downloaded it when I got home and played it a little bit then & then, and started to like it more and more.

When did you decide to start playing Counter-Strike seriously?
Well when I played in Nostradamus I got a brand new computer, and I started to get a lot better, and I knew there where a lot of tournaments coming up so then I started to play real serious.

What has your career looked like so far?
Well for the first couple of years I played in some semi-elite clans like Online, HIFI etc and about 3 years ago I got a chance to play with the best (NiP) and from then on I have always played on the highest level and started out by winning CPL Holland, and won 8 more CPLs until now and a lot of other tournaments Like the WCG etc.

Do your parents follow your results and accomplishments and to they support your gaming life?
Sure, they are really proud of me and what I have done so far and I have a lot to thank them for, for supporting me so much, in the beginning they where really negative about it cause it effected the grades / My ice hockey training etc, but when they finally understood how big it was and how much I liked it, they started to support me as much as they could.

What do you think is the most important ingredients in making a successful Counter-Strike team, name three things?
Talent, Motivation and that u fit together as persons.

Features of the new Counter-Strike:Source Bot.

2005-01-18T19:55:00.000+13:00

More Realistic Human Reactions

The CS Bots now have an enhanced "attention" system that takes into account gunfire, cover, distance, motion, and posture when determining whether a bot "notices" another player. For instance, previous versions of the bots would always notice an enemy if they had a clear line of sight to them and they were in their field of view, even if that enemy was crouched and hidden half behind a crate hundreds of yards away. The CS Bots notice moving players much more often than stationary players, and the chance of noticing players in their field of view drops further the more cover the enemy is behind and the farther away they are, among other factors. This brings yet another level of strategy to the bot game, making stealth and positioning much more valuable.

The CS Bot now has two states of attentiveness: normal and "alert." If the bot has been attacked or has seen an enemy recently, it becomes "alert" which increases its chances of noticing future enemy activity, further enhancing the value of stealth tactics.

If a CS Bot is attacked by an enemy it cannot see and didn’t expect, it will "panic" in a much more humanlike manner than did earlier versions. Panicking bots look around wildly for their attacker and often retreat to cover while doing so.

Improved Tactics

The CS Bots understand the flow and timing of Counter-Strike much better. Not only can they "rush" more effectively, but they also know approximately where to expect the initial encounter with the enemy team allowing them to take up defensive positions appropriately and throw grenades at the right place and time. CS Bots are much more attentive to noises made by the enemy, as well as important events such as friendly casualties. Additionally, the bots use stealth more often, such as sneaking into a bombsite to defuse the planted bomb. They are also smarter about prioritizing enemies when confronted with several possible targets at once. Also, when low on cash, they will now save their money instead of squandering it on extra ammo and grenades.

Improved Navigation

CS Bots are more adept at navigating narrow ledges and other tricky areas. In addition, they will shoot out breakable objects such as windows before they actually reach them, which can save precious seconds when rushing the enemy.

Snipers

Bots are now aware of enemy snipers, and will warn their teammates accordingly. Also, they realize that standing still in a sniper’s line of fire is a bad idea, and will often retreat behind cover while dodging when presented with an enemy sniper. The actual aiming and sniping behavior of the bots has been made more humanlike as well.

Grenades

The CS Bots are far more proficient at grenade throwing than they have been before, and throw their grenades in more tactically intelligent places. The bots attempt to retreat from incoming HE and Flashbang grenades as well. If a bot is blinded by a Flashbang grenade, it behaves in a more believably human manner, typically retreating and sometimes firing blindly while doing so.

Other Features

In addition to the normal bot_quota system, the host can set bot_quota_mode to "fill." This changes the bot_quota into a minimum number of players required for the server. As human players join, bots will leave. For instance, in fill mode if the bot_quota is 10, the server will have 5 bots on each team. When a human player joins the CT team, a bot will leave. If 10 humans have joined, all the bots will be gone, and yet more humans can still join. Only when the number of players drops below the bot_quota threshold will bots begin to re-join the game.
Players can turn off the bot’s "auto following" behavior to prevent bots from deciding to follow players on their own.
Bots no longer fall from ledges and cliffs when in combat
Bots buy equipment and weapons more quickly (for those who prefer no freeze time)

The Counter-Strike: Source Bots were developed in conjunction with Turtle Rock Studios.

CPL Sponsorship & Cs: Source

2005-01-18T01:54:00.000+13:00

by Andrew "m0j0" MacKenzie

Make no mistake, Counter-Strike is at a crossroads in its life. On the one hand, CS 1.6 has a huge following and an active competitive community. On the other, CS: Source is vying to be the migration path for that same community and to be the standard for team-based FPS competitions to come. A great many opinions have been written on this subject, some by our own staff at GotFrag (including Bootman's rant and Alchemist's observations). What I would like to do in this article is to step away from the game mechanics itself and address some of the issues around why we are in such a position and why CS: Source is going to prevail as the competition standard for years to come.

What is a pro gamer? That may seem obvious... anyone who earns a living playing games, right? I would like to draw a bit of a distinction in that definition. Let's say that a pro gamer is someone under contract, or someone whose primary income is from gaming. I also assert that a true "pro" gamer makes his living on more than just prize money. There is an element of sponsorship here (or benefactor, in the case of coL). Win or lose, pro gamers don't pay their own expenses to compete and typically don't buy their own equipment. By the above definition, there are really not that many "pro" gamers around today. In CS, the number is probably less than 100 (and possibly much less than that).

So, if sponsors are the key to professional gaming, what do they expect in return for forking over thousands of dollars in prize money and expenses/salaries for gamers? They expect to sell their products or services. Simple. Despite what might have been written about this subject, when Coke advertises its products at a baseball game they are in fact trying to get baseball fans to buy Coke. Who would be watching a baseball game besides baseball fans? Whom they are not necessarily trying to sell directly to are the actual baseball stars themselves. But when they sponsor a baseball star to promote their product, they are counting on the popularity and fame of that player to make their product more desirable to the fans of that player. Even when the product being advertised isn't necessarily one that can be "consumed" directly (e.g. financial services), sponsorships are still designed to build brand awareness which in the long run sells more product.

The CPL is also counting on the players being professional. What do I mean by that? I mentioned above that I would leave the game mechanics out of this discussion. I will (mostly) honor that by saying that, while I agree that CS: Source is quite a bit different from CS 1.6 (especially in the “feel” of the game, which can be directly attributable to the different engine), it is certainly not so far removed as to be compared with Urban Terror. Essentially, it is the same game (rules, semantics, objectives, etc.) it just “feels” different. So what the CPL is counting on is that the professionals at the highest level of the sport are true “pro gamers” and that they are able to adapt from one game to the other.

Am I saying that CS 1.6 is dead? Am I saying that no one should play it and everyone should move to CS: Source? No. I am not. What I am attempting to explain is how CS: Source will become the professional, team-based FPS game as we move forward. I agree with Alchemist that future big-ticket LANs running a CS 1.6 tournament are unlikely (ESWC notwithstanding, as they lumped their decision to use 1.6 into the same discussion as their protest against the CPL "stealing" their dates, the decision seems far from final). If your desire is to make money playing CS, then it seems likely you'll want to play the "pro" game. If what you really want to do is play CS for your own enjoyment and you have tried CS: Source and don't like it, why bother with Source? There are plenty of games that are played merely for the enjoyment of the game, such as TFC, RTCW, Ravenshield, and BF1942/DC. These are all games that have active, passionate communities, but do not have any significant LAN money at stake, thus eliminating the notion of purely pro teams. Games and communities can survive for years without the direct influence of the original developer. Following the pro game should be totally up to you and your team. I have sought only to explain the reasoning at work and the differences between a hobby and a pro sport.

Point + Click :: Sweet Redemption

2005-01-18T01:21:00.000+13:00

Friday, January 14, 2004

by Paul Toms

Complexity: Redemption is a gaming film that is going to turn a whole lot of heads.

Ampednews.com

Up until yesterday afternoon, I had planned for this week’s Point + Click to be on the introduction of Warcraft III into the American professional gaming scene. After far too long, the CPL and CAL have finally decided to introduce Warcraft III into their gaming repertoire, and it’s excited me more than any professional gaming news that I have heard in a long time.

But, as things in my life are wont to do, everything changed right when I fired up the newest Complexity Syndicate film, Complexity: Redemption, a documentary on Winter CPL 2004.

Now before I continue, let me make things clear – I’ve never been a huge fan of anything that the Complexity Syndicate has put out. In fact, I have found myself often bored by the product that they put out. However, at the suggestion of friends and many other fans on the net, I figured I’d give them another shot by checking out Redemption, and I’m sure as hell glad that I did.

From the very beginning of the movie, I felt immersed in the spectator’s position at this winter’s CPL, which is a position that I was unfortunately unable to fill at the event, due to final exams and the general wrapping up of my third semester at Boston U. But I digress. What struck me so much about this movie was not the camera angles, not the action shots, not any of that. Instead, it was the pure, raw, uncut manner in which a LAN tournament was portrayed.

Let’s be honest, tournaments like the CPL, ESWC, WCG, and many others, though glamorous in their presentation, are pure hell to play through, cover, and even watch. Gamers come from around the world only to fit four or five to a room and to play computer games for upwards of twelve hours a day. After Complexity’s loss to NoA in the lower bracket, Tyler “coL|Storm” Wood was caught up with and explained that he had eaten nothing but “those little Nutri-Grain bars,” and that “he didn’t even know what time it [was].”

And this is what every team goes through. They run on caffeine and snack foods. And what’s worse – the further you make it, the further you fall from the healthy human routine. For a squad like Team NoA, who went on to win the entire tournament after coming out of the lower bracket, they had to play twice as many matches as the teams in the upper brackets just to make it to the number one spot at the end. If Complexity was so burnt out after their run, it’s hard to imagine the mental and physical health of the winning team by the time that the tournament was over.

Complexity: Redemption finally showed all of that. It’s not just hot matches with nerve-wracking finishes that make these gaming teams so impressive. It’s their complete disregard for their health (and sometimes sanity) just so that they may have the chance to come home with a lot more than a cash prize. There’s more pride involved in these tournaments than any outsider could possibly understand, and this film did a great job of showing it.

For those who have watched it, how many times could you hear Jason Lake, the most scrutinized man in the professional gaming scene, telling his team how proud he was of them? How many times, even after they lost, did Lake put a positive spin on what they had just done? The amount of time and effort that he – and, apparently, his family – had immersed into this team finally paid off for him at this CPL, where Complexity came out ranked fifth after a #27 seed to begin with. I’d say that’s one hell of a finish.

So, to Team Complexity, congratulations on getting your act together and putting on one hell of a show. You sure made a lot of people second guess their initial doubts and critiques.

To Complexity Syndicate, GWFilms, and Daniel Frome, the makers of this film, thank you. You just released a documentary that had many non-gamers around my house enthralled. I absolutely believe that this film will make many doubters think twice about their concerns with our drastically improving community.

And, finally, to Jason Lake – keep doing what you’re doing. It’s paying off, as you can certainly see from the outcome this winter. If I had to take a guess, I’d say the critics may quickly be changing their opinions if you can keep up the pace. And hell, I may as well say it – if you’re reading this, shoot me an email. I’d love to talk.

Check back next week for my thoughts on Warcraft III in the US pro gaming scene. Maybe I really will write about it this time.

Paul Toms, a full time student at Boston University, is a weekly columnist for Amped News. Questions and comments about this, or any other, Point + Click can be sent to ptoms at ampednews.com.

Natural Selection News

2005-01-18T01:16:00.000+13:00

News

[ January 16th, 2005 ] :: Pre-purchase NS2? (Flayra)
We're not announcing that we're doing this, but it's something I'm thinking about.

The idea here is to raise seed money for development. There are investors and publishers that are interested in NS2, but because we're still in the early stage of development, they would take a large percentage of the company or profits.

Getting funded by the community means a greater chance of us deciding when we ship (instead of a publisher doing so), and also means we would keep more of the profits and retain control over our company, enabling us to make better games in the future.

We will still probably need help from investors and a publisher, but the idea is to wait as long as possible before doing so. The more of the game we have done when we talk to them, the less risky it is for them, and the better deal we'll ultimately get.

Notes:
- Assume NS2 would have cutting edge single-player and multi-player play in large-scale diverse environments.
- We couldn't guarantee that the game would ever come out. There is always risk associated with creating software and games, but hopefully we've shown you with NS that when we put our mind to creating something, we'll do whatever it takes to ship it.
- Assume that pre-purchasing the game now would cost you $25, and that the game would cost around $55 or $60 when it was released.
- Assume you would receive the game in electronic download format (ie, no box), though there's a possibility we would send out physical copies (we would probably have to raise the price to $30 or so or limit it to United States and Canada in this case).
- Assume it would have the following system requirements (this is a prediction, not definite):
* 2.0 GHz Processor
* 256MB RAM
* DirectX 7 capable graphics card (128mb)
* Windows 2000/XP/ME/98
* Mouse
* Keyboard
* 56k+ Internet Connection

So, if you had the ability to use Paypal or a credit card to pre-purchase NS2 now (for around $25) would you do so? Please e-mail me your thoughts, or respond in this poll.

Natural Selection : Early Season trading

2005-01-18T01:09:00.000+13:00

NS Stocks: Early Season Trading

Monday, January 10, 2005

Introduction: CAL-ns preseason started on Tuesday of this week after a nearly one month off season. Thirteen teams are scheduled so far with more to start soon. The new Natural Selection website went up this week with many new features, but without the announcement we were all waiting for, the release of beta6. These are only a few of the issues touched on in the second installment of the Natural Selection stock market.

Sun has risen, u5 adds Gosu

2005-01-18T01:06:00.000+13:00

Just yesterday it was announced that the infamous Sunman from such teams as zEx, TSG, and United 5 has left the team to pursue a career with the 5th placing North American team CompLexity. This was news that shocked the entire world and not even his own teammates saw it coming.

But with every player loss, there is a player gained and United 5 has just announced that that player will be none other than Brian "Gosu" Longhofer.

Gosu had played for team GSX for quite sometime as local friends until he finally decided to enter the big leagues and joined long-time friends, TEC. His first LAN as an official TEC member was at the ESWC USA Qualifier. He didn't see much playing time, but many think they may have had a much better showing with him playing for wick3d. After that he was locked in as a starter for Everlan and Summer CPL 2004.

Right before CPL Winter 2004, due to missing a few practices, Gosu was replaced for the CPL roster by the old leader Gouki, who had gone inactive. After he was informed of this he left the team and became a hot free agent.

Although Gosu lacks experience on an international level, he is always able to put up big numbers. I was able to grab United 5's co-leader cbz to answer some questions about this hot new pickup.

United 5 has just announced of ex-TEC player Gosu joining the lineup after this surprise player movement of Sunman. What everyone wants to know is, why Gosu?

As everyone knows gosu is a solid player and from all the people we talked with seemed to have an incredible drive to succeed and was one of the biggest things we were looking for. He was coming in with the same goals as we do and after talking with his father it sealed the deal. Rodney you're the man.

All of United 5 is local to Chicago with yourself and hare living together, da_bears moving in, and derosa living a few minutes away. How will Gosu living in Texas affect your practice?

Gosu will be coming up here A.S.A.P. to practice with us on lan to prepare for the first CPL World Tour stop in Turkey. I think once we get a foundation of strats and teamwork preparing for Turkey things will fall into place a lot easier even if he is in Texas.

Neither Gosu or Derosa have any real experience playing against international teams on a top level. Do you guys feel confident now having two players that are kind of trailing behind you in experience?

We feel just as confident with these two guys as we do with sunman and dominator. If we didn't, they would not be on the team. We expect great things from both in and out of game.

One of the main reasons Gosu left TEC was because of a lack of dedication factor. Now that he is moving to Chicago do you guys plan to have a strict practice schedule to get him into the swing of things?

I think it will be a snowball effect with Brian. Once he sees how hard we work at things he will keep up and do his best to do the same if not put in more time.... OR ELSE!!!! 8<

As many know, Sunman was a very crucial player for both TSG and United 5. Being the player that has played with him the longest, do you feel United 5 can reach that same level of success with the addition of Gosu

Well any dummy can tell you that they are not easy shoes to fill but I know we will work through it together and continue to compete with the top teams in the world.

Right now you have yourself and hare being the main tactic callers in-game. How do you feel about the other three, are you expecting them to put up pretty big numbers to even things out?

After putting in serious work I expect everyone to keep putting up big numbers and everyone will play with the mentality that they HAVE to carry this team. Just because hare and I will be calling strats doesn't give us an excuse to not put up big numbers as well!

A big thanks to cbz for the interview and good luck to team United 5 next month at the first CPL World Tour stop in Turkey!

3Dv's Professional League

2005-01-18T01:02:00.000+13:00

3Dv's Professional League

Friday, January 14, 2005

You probably ask yourselves ‘what is this 3Dv League I’ve never heard of’, well, I understand you. Israeli gaming rarely reaches the eyes and ears abroad, but we’re here to change that. So let me explain about the League and the teams participating.

3Dv is a professional Israeli gaming company lead by Nitzan “Timmy” Dickshtein- a young man determined to change the sad world the Israeli gamers live in. The goal of 3Dv is to allow exposure outside Israel and make this small (yet solid and united) community more professional. I must say he’s doing a good job so far, because the clan that wins will get the chance to participate at ESWC which will take place in France. For Israel it’s big. Sending a five men team abroad was never done before.

One of the things that make this league so unique is 3Dv’s anti cheating policy. The servers used for the league are not running any anti cheating program. There’s simply no need for one. ‘Why’ you ask? Let me explain. If a judge suspects something is wrong, he can check the player’s personal computer with a one minute warning. Every player participating in th league must sign a contract saying that if he’s caught cheating, he’ll pay a fine of (almost) 200$ (1000 Shekels). So who would take that risk? This policy will prevent incidents like the one with ESL from happening. Also, every team must have a manager to handle the administrative aspects of the team. CAL-l declared the same policy a couple of months later.These innovations will sure make the league much more organized and vocational. There is also a medium league with prize money, but I will focus more on the upper league right now.

Anyway, the first season of the league is starting and at the end of it will be declared the winner team that will fly to France and compete in the ESWC.

Written By Alex Weinberg

News for saturday, january 15th, 2005

2005-01-17T23:45:00.000+13:00

Torbull Interview

DchozN @ 12:28 am pst - esports - 58 comments - hot topic

Amped eSports features their latest interview with Craig Levine (aka Torbull) from Team 3D as another fine addition to their "Through the Eyes of: A Manager's Tale" series.

AmpedNews: Do you think gamers can be looked at as "athletes"? If so, why?

Absolutely. We compete against other top players in our discipline and strive to be the best. The term athlete doesn't have to be associated with physical activities. Formula 1 and NASCAR are perfect examples of how drivers (athletes) use reflexes and hand eye coordination to race their cars (technology) against the best in the world. How is gaming much different?

A simple click here will lead you to even more goodness.

Update USA World Tour Stop - PK Full

2005-01-17T23:44:00.000+13:00

Update USA World Tour Stop - PK Full

Press Center | Sunday, January 16, 2005

The CPL announced that all 112 available spots for the $50,000 Painkiller USA World Tour Stop taking place Wednesday, July 6 to Sunday, July 10, 2005 at The Gaylord Texan Resort, have been reserved.

The CPL has closed confirmed registrations for the Painkiller tournament, but opened 5 waiting-list spots. An additional 16 spots are being held for qualifiers that may take place in various countries.

View the list of gamers that are confirmed for the $50,000 USA World Tour Stop at: thecpl.com/register/?page=viewtourn&eventid=9&tournid=47

BBC Publishes Article On World Tour

2005-01-17T23:10:00.000+13:00

BBC Publishes Article On World Tour

Press Center | Friday, January 14, 2005

The BBC News (World Edition) published today an article about the Cyberathlete® World Tour. Here's a quote:

Two UK gamers are about to embark on a world tour as part of the most lucrative-ever global games tournament...offering $1m in total prize money. The cash will be handed out over 10 separate competitions in a continent-hopping contest organised by the Cyberathlete Professional League.

Read the BBC article at news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4155611.stm

Team 3D Week in Review Returns

2005-01-01T21:37:00.000+13:00

Team 3D has chosen our very own DchozN and his talented video editing skills to revitalize their "Week in Review" feature, which delivers a video summary of Team 3D's CAL-invite matches each week. This week, DchozN covers Team 3D vs. Weekend Warriors and East Coast Offensive. Go ahead and take a gander, it is well worth the download.

Future "Week in Review" movies will be available in the media section of the Team 3D website every Sunday.

Team 3D - Week In Review Season 13 Week 1 Mirrors:

Team 3D
GotFrag? (Free Registration Required)

Gaming News update

E-Games Forum

Gameplanet Launches Nintendo DS Home Page

Natural Selection 3.0 Trailer

BATTLEFIELD 2

RTS Empire Earth 2

Day of Defeat Source Closes in on Beta

PS3 console to be released in 2005

SEGA to publish NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005

Rainbow Six: Lockdown

Paint a rainbow

Ding dong

The path to greatness

Throw away the key

UEFA Champions League 2004-2005

UK Charts: LucasArts knocks itself off the top

egamenews Temporary Website is up!

New nVidia Mobile Chip Doubles Performance

Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich demo

Konami working on another Suikoden?

EA's own Godfather

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - Sith Lords

The Godfather : The Game

The Godfather Preview

Bone PC Game Announced

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Interview

Half-Life 2 Expansion Confirmed!

America's Army Version 2.3: Firefight Released!

Map Breakdown: de_cpl_mill

X-Men - Legends on N-Gage

The Moment of Silence

Website Changed

Microsoft recalls Xbox power cords

Pursuit Force chasing PSP

SCEE revs up a new driving-action hybrid for Sony's forthcoming portable; no US release plans revealed yet. First screens inside.

Closure rumors surround Troika

As speculation mounts that the indie RPG developer will soon close its doors, co-CEO Leonard Boyarsky says an announcement on the company's status is imminent.

Investor snapshot: Game stocks slide

Ubisoft basks in the glow of buyout rumors, while EA, its potential buyer, sees shares sink.

EA on Ubisoft buyout: "All options open"

Today's message from Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jenson reinforces option to buy as he tells analysts that "EA is wide open to acquisitions."

Sega announces first next-gen game

The horror-survival thriller Condemned is the Japanese publisher's first game officially confirmed for next-generation consoles; PC version also in development.

Suffering sequel confirmed

Ties That Bind to reprise 2004's prison-based horror shooter; this time Torque will fight his way through inner-city Baltimore.

Brothers in Arms enters release candidate phase

Gearbox's ultra-realistic World War II shooter is on the verge of going gold for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.

GGL Launches AmeriCups

GO Playoff Decider Predictions

The New Face of SK Gaming

THQ returns to war with Winter Assault

The critically acclaimed, Relic Entertainment-developed strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is set to expand later this year.

Guild Wars engaging April 28

ArenaNet cements date for its anticipated online game; final three Beta Weekend Events dated.

Neo-Matrix game named, detailed

Atari uploads details on new title set in The Matrix universe; game lets players take control of "The Chosen One" himself.

Project: Snowblind golden

Eidos' near-future squad shooter has invaded the factory; due for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on February 23.

Matrix Online launching March 22

Long-in-development MMORPG gets a new launch date, two months after its previous one.

The Matrix Online

Point + Click :: Competitive Role Playing

SK and the CSCL Finals *Update*

Sennheiser and SK-Gaming in 2005

Interview with Razerguy

A Legend Retires

No PainKiller This Month

NoA|Siege WEG Journal - Day 3

GGL Speaks to czm

Rescheduled CPL World Tour Dates

Microchip unveiled as the new giant in world of computers

Unreal Engine 3.0

Changes in 3D

CAL league standings

Team UK beat Abba to Number One

EVGA, NVIDIA and ESEA Team Up for Tsunami Relief

New Counter-Strike Instructor: Mike Connolly

Counter Strike - Prodigy Overview

MSI K8N Diamond Motherboard Review

Point + Click :: Discrimination in Gaming

SK and the CSCL Finals Update