Thursday 24 August 2006
As we predicted, with admittedly little room for uncertainty, PC strategy Command & Conquer 3's scheduled August fan-service announcement was indeed the comeback of goateed supervillain Kane. Check the movies tab above for his triumphant reappearance - which, though brief, features possibly the hammiest display of pressing a button in recorded history.
Bull in sheep's clothing
Rockstar's upcoming "thug in a snooty school" simulation Bully has found itself the latest target of self-righteous parents' groups and opportunistic politicians determined to blame videogames for all the world's evils. Apparently, pretend swirlies and dodgeball are now as bad for our youth as virtual murder and muggings.
So imagine the mess we're going to have to clean up when the game's oppressors' heads explode after seeing our new screens and the latest trailer -
Crysis, the none-more-gorgeous PC sci-fi shooter from Far Cry creator Crytek, will be throwing you into epic multiplayer battles in its Power Struggle match - a Battlefield-threatening, 32-player mash-up that could span 10 hours of blasting action as you duke it out on foot, in tanks and across the skies.
After Far Cry's disappointingly buggy multiplayer mess, Crysis is aiming to offer a far more engaging online option. Casual killers can opt for the game's Tactical Deathmatch, Tactical Team
Wednesday 23 August 2006
Massively multiplayer PC RPG workhorse Ultima Online (currently in its ninth year, so possibly older than the newest generation of gamers) is to be given a sweeping overhaul next year in the Kingdom Reborn expansion. Most obvious is a graphical upgrade: while UO won't be moving out of its old school, isometric 3D look, soft lighting and smoothed visuals will make it less eye-searingly retro.
Developer EA also promises "many, many more suprises in store" for players,
Wii three
Wii news, big and small: our British sister site has three interesting reports up. The first concerns 128 Marios, a game Nintendo mentioned (and even showed a demo of) that was originally in the works for the GameCube. Yeah, we weren't exactly expecting it to come out, at this point. But it turns out that 128 Marios, did, in fact, provide the underpinnings for Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. You can check the UK story to find out more, but be careful - it says that Galaxy is
Just in time to cement hero Rico Rodriguez as this year's most unconventional CIA agent in a game, we've got new media for Just Cause's winning combination of tropical scenery and huge explosions. Check out these 360 stills of a stealthy infiltration, Rodriguez-style.
As if gatecrashing a gentleman's club in the crater of a dormant volcano isn't high adventure enough, Just Cause will let you do it by throwing Rodriguez out of a perfectly good plane and paragliding in. Of course, you could
We've got another exclusive first look at one of the cars in next-gen racer Test Drive Unlimited - Saturn's aggressive new two-seater, the Sky. The 177-horsepower coupe made its debut as a concept car at the 2005 North American International Auto Show and was whisked into production shortly thereafter for the 2007 model year. Better still, the Sky is among the first vehicles your character can buy in the story mode of Test Drive Unlimited, in your choice of colors (we liked Midnight Blue and
The Sims 2: Pets is the newest addition to the Sims family, but it isn't just an irresistible add-on to your Sims' mansion. Just like in real life, these four-legged friends promise to add unpredictable entertainment to your Sims universe.
These new Sims 2: Pets images show the amount of customization and variety you'll find in Pets. Your furry friends will come in a wide range of both dog and cat breeds, in addition to chatty birds, not-so-chatty fish and cuddly Guinea Pigs. And just like
Here's a sobering thought: two in five World of Warcraft players is clinically addicted to the game. Believe it? You shouldn't. Recently, Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, a psychologist who specializes in computer addiction, alleged that 40% of WoW players were addicted in the proper clinical definition of the term. Hearing suggestions for cigarette-style warning labels on games and actual drug prescriptions for players as possible remedies to the problem sounded more than a little extreme to anybody
Major changes are on the cards for Counter-Strike: Source, with plans to enhance the radar readout on the player's screen and tweaks to the online shooter's cash-based weapon selection system in the works. Additionally, some of the lesser-played maps will get a graphical facelift, as Valve plans to add in High Dynamic Range lighting to increase their appeal.
Counter-Strike's beautifully balanced and straightforward gameplay is exactly what makes it the most played shooter ever created. The
