From Crackle: Next Time on The Jace Hall Show!

Jace Hall's next show is going to include an interview with Red Sox pitcher and MMO addict Curt Schilling along with an early look at Schilling's massively multiplayer game Copernicus. The actual show hits on Thursday. In the meantime hit the jump to listen to the catchy extended-version of the Jace Hall theme song. It has head-lopping and base capturing!

"Professional football has long sought to gloss over the often brutal realities that surround the game and its players," said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Home Entertainment. "Blitz: The League II embraces the most compelling storylines behind America's favorite sport and allows fans to experience them in a bold, interactive way."

The game is set to hit the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

CHICAGO, IL – July 8, 2008 - Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, announced today the development of Blitz: The League® II. Back for another season of heart-pumping, bone-crushing, no-holds-barred football action, Blitz: The League II strips the rules and regulations from traditional football to enhance the fun by bringing the pain. Complete with an all-new story mode penned by former ESPN “Playmakers” writer, Peter Egan, and the return of football legend, Lawrence Taylor, Blitz: The League II builds on the success of the previous release with new features and enhanced gameplay. Blitz: The League II is scheduled for release this fall for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system.

“Professional football has long sought to gloss over the often brutal realities that surround the game and its players,” said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Home Entertainment. “Blitz: The League II embraces the most compelling storylines behind America’s favorite sport and allows fans to experience them in a bold, interactive way.”

For additional information about Blitz: The League II visit www.blitzleague.com.

I can't talk about what I saw yet while playing through a chunk of the game last month, but the Bethesda folks took the time to throw together a massive fan-driven 25 question and answer post. In it they touch on everything from child killing and drug addiction to AI and dialog trees. Here's my favorite question. Hit the jump for one on the AI and two more screens. Make sure you check out the full post if you're interested in the game.

1) Which of the following, if any, will be featured in Fallout3; Romance, Sex, Homosexuality, Nudity, Prostitution, Slavery, Cannibalism, Children, Child killings, drugs, addictions? And of the things that won't be featured, can you explain why they won't be included in the game?

It touches on most of those. Slavery, children, drugs and addiction more than the others, as those factor for into the setting more. In regards to nudity and child killings, no, it features neither of those, as they don't really add to the flavor of the game (I'll get into children in the next question more). I think if you look at Fallout 1, and the footprint it has with the topics you ask about, Fallout 3 is pretty much the same, in that it features the types of things you mention at about the same rate, no more, no less. Drugs and drug addiction play a larger role perhaps, as it's a key gameplay device. I think the heart of this question is "has the harshness and maturity of the world of Fallout 3 been tempered from the earlier games?" and I can certainly say "No, it hasn't been."

10) How advanced will the AI of NPC's be this time around? Are they really going to have a life? Speaking to other NPC's in a logical manner, traveling and trading with/in faraway places, Submitting to the player rather than fighting if they know, or think, they're no match for him?

I wish I could answer with a number, like "it will be 17 advanced." AI is difficult to define, the NPCs certainly appear much smarter than our previous stuff, by a lot. Much of that is us giving them better data, massaging what they do so the player gets to see more of it. We added a lot of animations, so people in town are doing more. They "seem" to be interacting with the world in a more realistic manner, but that usually means going up to something and playing an animation. It can be something really simple, like we added "lean against wall". It's funny how something that small can give life to a person. They walk into a space, and just lean against the wall, arms folded. Like Oblivion, we use our Radiant AI system, so most of the NPCs eat, sleep, work, etc. I think we take it for granted now, but it's pretty great to have that level of control. We've also done a lot to the conversation system, which makes them seem a lot smarter, but again, that's better data, not a new system.

On the technical side we spent most of our time doing an all new pathfinding system. Morrowind/Oblivion use nodes for pathing and Fallout uses a navmesh. This is the difference between an NPC having a valid point to stand on (node) versus an area to stand in, or walk around (mesh). You can do much more sophisticated actor movement and behavior with a navmesh, and I think you'll see the results onscreen, especially when the bullets start flying. The actors do a great job of finding cover and using the space well, something we could never have done with pathnodes.

In terms of the NPCs traveling around, many travel around town, and some travel the wasteland. There are a few caravans in the game that go from town to town trading. Radiant AI handles something like that really well.

Lastly, as far as submitting to a more powerful foe, yes they do that, in that they run away. If they're overmatched, they holster their weapon, flee and try to hide. While this sounds cool on paper, it's often not fun at all, and we've ended up really dialing that back, because it gets really annoying really fast, to have people run away all the time. The main faction that still acts like this are the Raiders, the others don't do it so much.

[via Go Nintendo]

Diablo III (PC) [IGN via videogaming247]

It's the same cutesy world, complete with fruit harvesting, mining, socializing, and building, only now you'll be able to share your creations and play games with up to seven friends online. You can even email or IM things you build to other players so they can use them in their own MySims town. Creating a community based around player-created content might just be exactly what MySims PC needs to succeed where the Wii version failed.

MYSIMS BRINGS ALL THE FUN FROM THE HIT WII GAME, ALONG WITH NEW FEATURES, TO PC PLAYERS WORLDWIDE IN OCTOBER

Play And Share Online With Your Friends And Meet New MySims Characters On Your PC!

Guildford, UK — July 7, 2008 — The Sims™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Label, today announced the first details for MySims™, made for the PC, coming to stores in October, 2008. MySims first launched on the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ in Autumn, 2007 and has been a worldwide hit embraced by players everywhere. Now the game makes its way to the PC with new online features and new characters.

In MySims you can create original characters, build a town, grow a community and discover a world of your own. Start by personalising the appearance of your MySims from head to toe and go on to unlock cool new items as you befriend and build relationships with your neighbours. Make your creations unique when you design your own homes, shops, restaurants and more in this fun, open-ended game. All that you need is a little creativity and some help from the locals!

Now on the PC with new online features and characters! Have fun with friends safely in a shared online game space and discover surprises and wonders in your newly created town with the MySims you love and a new cast of characters! Now in MySims, made for the PC, you can find all the fun of the first game plus new online features and all-new characters to spark your creativity. Safely chat, interact and play games like Tag and Hide-and-Seek with your online buddies. Construct buildings and create objects to use cooperatively with up to seven friends that are online with you. Like trading cards, share your creations with your friends in-game, as well as outside the game via email or instant message so that others can enjoy them in their own MySims town. The choice to play online is yours, so you can decide to play as a single-player or expand your experience by playing with friends in an online neighborhood.

“MySims, made for the PC, opens up the world of MySims for you to explore, play and share with up to seven other friends that are online with you,” said Rod Humble, Head of Studio for The Sims Label. “For the first time, you can express the creativity of MySims with others in a collaborative way, as you create and live in a shared town with your friends online. With MySims, made for the PC, it’s a whole new world of interaction with personalised creations, buildings and towns to share, along with furniture and other tailored creations that you and your friends can trade. Players who enjoyed MySims on the Wii and Nintendo DS will view this as a great way to connect with friends in an online PC game and those new to MySims will find this a fresh and exciting game.”

In October - it’s time to get your MySims out on the town!

Update: Polarbit is publishing the game. Still no idea if this video really shows it off though.

[via Zapages @ NeoGAF]

Mega Man 9 [Go Nintendo]

I went to its wiki page (does that make me a hypocrite?), which says the game will be set in the countryside and the story involves a murder mystery. Weather replaces the moon as an event trigger. Also, no more shooting yourself in the head to get your magic on; the Evoker has been replaced by cards, which you destroy to unleash whoopass.

Persona 4 Web site [Atlus]

Rather than masquerade a single video as an entire post, here are some highlights of what's available from other sites in the way of movies and screens:

• Above is the new trailer for Lego Batman. We picked it up from Gamers Hell. It's got Poison Ivy building some evil-looking plant mini-kits, and Bruce Wayne kicking ass with a briefcase.

• Some more screens from Tomb Raider: Underworld. (Also Gamers Hell)

• Also the World Exclusive Debut Trailer for Blitz: The League II. It's at Gametrailers, because everything over there is a world exclusive.

[via Go Nintendo]

“Raven Squad combines two extremely popular genres into a single robust experience where either gameplay mode could stand on its own merits,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “Atomic Motion is creating something that’s visually compelling and building new boundaries in what a military title can accomplish. Fans of both RTS and FPS games are going to love it, as will anyone who enjoys intense, action titles.”

I don't know. I generally have to be in the mood for one genre or the other. I'll have to see how things pan out as Raven Squad gets closer to its planned fall release.

RAVEN SQUAD TO BREAK THE RTS MOLD ON XBOX 360 AND WINDOWS PC THIS FALL




Real-Time Strategy Melded with First-Person Shooter to Create Completely Unique Gaming Experience

MIDLOTHIAN, VA – July 03, 2008 – SouthPeak Games today announced that it will distribute Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and Windows PC this fall. Published by Evolved Games, Raven Squad is set in the near future. The game is a unique blending of real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres.

Developed by Atomic Motion, Raven Squad puts players in control of two groups of mercenary squads who crash land behind enemy lines in the Amazonian jungles. It will require tactical planning and a liberal amount of brute force to escape to safety. Each of the eight squad members possesses distinctive skills and weaponry that the player will have to use wisely to progress through the game’s story driven objectives. Raven Squad sets itself apart by allowing players to switch freely between real-time strategy and first-person shooter gameplay. Only by mastering both of these modes of play, and becoming adept at switching between the two, will players make it out of the jungle alive.

“Raven Squad combines two extremely popular genres into a single robust experience where either gameplay mode could stand on its own merits,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “Atomic Motion is creating something that’s visually compelling and building new boundaries in what a military title can accomplish. Fans of both RTS and FPS games are going to love it, as will anyone who enjoys intense, action titles.”

To find out more about Raven Squad please visit www.southpeakgames.com.

Either there were no games worth Yahtzee reviewing this week, or recent developments in the gaming webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del have frustrated him as much as they've frustrated me and he decided he needed to vent. Yahtzee hides behind the view of making fun of all webcomics in a generic fashion until he gets to the bit about a whacky webcomic shifting gears to do a story on the female character having a miscarriage. This is exactly what happened in Tim Buckley's Ctrl+Alt+Del, a comic I've long been a fan of but can suddenly not stomach.

While the hardcore fans have been defending him and calling him brave and such, the more...I suppose softcore fans like myself have just stared at the comics wondering why the hell he would do such a thing. Very special episodes were great for TV sitcoms in the 80's, but suddenly tossing a dead baby into your whacky webcomic just isn't quite the same.

Zero Punctuation [The Escapist]

[via Lava Level]

Starbucks closing hundreds of stores [KING5, thanks Ryan!]

Three men's and three women's events are included in the game. The uneven bars, parallel bars, and the rings use the two analog sticks to mimic arm movement, with button combinations used to stick the landing. The vault uses a combination of button-mashing running and analog sticks to control the landing. Finally we have the balance beam and the floor exercises, both of which require timed button presses, the latter sounding a bit like a dance rhythm game. Like I said, not an authentic experience, but possibly novel enough to get me to give it a go.

As revealed at the end of the trailer, Double D Dodgeball is coming to Xbox Live July 30th.

PS3 Bluetooth Headset [GamePro]

[via IGN]

Not that we were expecting the Crysis series to be turned on its head, but Crysis Warhead looks perhaps a bit too familiar. Maybe we're reading a bit too much into this action packed teaser trailer for the EA published shooter and, no, it's not a proper sequel and maybe Crytek has already spoiled us with the gorgeous original, but I can't shake the feeling of deja vu.

Crysis Warhead HD [GameTrailers]