PC Version of GTA IV Confirmed (Updated Again) [IGN]

M. Night Shyamalan is even making a live-action movie called "The Last Airbender" based on the series, to debut in July 2010. With Avatar interest at an all-time high, Nickelodeon seems to have decided the time was right to make an MMO that serves as a "prequel" to the TV series.

Regardless of how you feel about Nickelodeon cartoons, this is actually an immensely cool idea — when Nickelodeon re-airs episodes of Season 3 in the fall, fans tuning in will get episode-specific hints from the TV show about unlocking things in-game. Having a multiplayer online game that runs concurrent with a TV experience is a great way to encourage players to be more involved with both game and show, I think.

Full announcement follows the jump. By the way, which TV show would you most love to have a tie-in MMO going on with?

NICKELODEON UNVEILS NEW AVATAR MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GLOBAL GAME IN SEPTEMBER

Gaming Event Continues Momentum Following Highest-Rated Series Performance Ever, the Avatar Season Three Finale

NEW YORK–July 25, 2008–Fresh off of its highest-rated performance ever on TV, Nickelodeon will treat Avatar: The Last Airbender fans to a unique experience this September with a brand-new, multiplayer global online game. In the game, Avatar: Legends of the Arena, which will serve as a prequel story to the series, players can create their own Avatar character and test their skills against players from around the globe in several 3D online arenas. Each game level will introduce and unlock new content, challenges, custom character outfits and more on an ongoing basis. The global game will live on a dedicated website http://www.avatarlegends.com and the beta version of the game http://www.tinyurl.com/5j6j6j* will be unveiled at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 25.

“The launch of this multiplayer online game gives Avatar fans the opportunity to immerse themselves in the storylines during and beyond its tenure on-air,” said Jason Root, Senior Vice President of Nick.com. “This property has always had a deep online connection with its audience and the game offers a natural extension of the franchise to keep fans engaged with the property indefinitely.”

The global gaming event, which represents Nick.com’s (http://www.nick.com) first 3D multiplayer online role play game, will take place in 81 markets in ten languages, including: the United States; United Kingdom; Australia; New Zealand; India; Southeast Asia; Canada; Mexico; Argentina; Spain; Italy; France; Korea; Japan; Israel; Holland; Northern Belgium; Germany; Brazil; and Portugal. A total of 77 countries will launch the game on Sept. 15, with the remaining markets launching through the following months (non-domestic territories will vary).

Each 3D online arena within the game will host battles featuring up to four players at a time, but combat isn’t the only focus of the experience. Players will also be able to engage in role play, building their characters through training and arena duels. As players advance, they can upgrade their characters, unlock new bending moves, and acquire outfits and other exclusive equipment to make them the envy of others.

The animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, has inspired M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender”, a live-action epic adventure from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies which will debut in domestic theaters July 2010. Series’ creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will serve as executive producers on the film.

This fall, Nicktoons Network will serve as the on-air home for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and will feature a Sept. Avatar event and season three episodes of the series throughout Sept. and Oct. Additionally, Nicktoons will offer fans a chance to get in on the Avatar game, asking them to tune in on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. for episode-specific hints that will unlock exclusive content in Avatar: Legends of the Arena.

Available on DVD July 29, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3: Fire – Volume 4 features the kid hero’s return to the Fire Nation to prepare for a final confrontation with Firelord Ozai. Fans will also have a chance to get their game on with Avatar The Last Airbender:Into the Inferno, a new action adventure video game from THQ, in stores this fall.

Launched in February 2005 on Nickelodeon in the US, the epic story of Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the journey of Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), a 12-year-old boy torn between fulfilling his fate as the long-awaited Avatar and just wanting to be a regular kid. The Avatar season three finale, Sozin’s Comet, recently earned the series its highest ratings ever. The previous week’s season three new premiere episodes reached a total of 19 million total viewers (P2+). Avatar is a top ranked show on Nickelodeon's international channels, and is number one on Nick in Holland and Germany.

DiMartino and Konietzko serve as executive producers of Avatar: The Last Airbender. DiMartino is an award-winning filmmaker and has worked on the prime-time animated series King of the Hill, Family Guy and Mission Hill. Konietzko was a character designer for Family Guy, assistant director on Mission Hill and King of the Hill and a storyboard artist and art director for Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

It's safe to assume we'll be getting many little updates like this as Blizzard struggles to appease the fans who sit in their chairs hitting F5 all day long.

1. Nancy Drew: The Phantom Of Venice
2. Spore Creature Creator
3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
4. Diablo Battle Chest
5. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff
6. WoW: Battle Chest
7. World Of Warcraft
8. The Sims 2 Freetime
9. WoW: The Burning Crusade
10. Call of Duty 4

[courtesy of NPD]

In case you missed it, here's our liveblog of Square Enix's E3 presser. In it, I liveblogged: "kitase says they're currently running it on a pc, so they don't know the work load of getting it on the 360. they are putting priority on the PC version." Also, here's a link to a post on the Nvidia site about the PC version.

Update: We contacted Square Enix, and according to the company, "The game is being built using PC-based development tools, but that doesn’t mean it’s being created for the PC platform. Our current plans are to release FFXIII for the PS3 and Xbox 360 only. Sorry for the confusion!" So to recap, it's being created with PC-based dev tools, but with plans only for PS3/Xbox 360 console release.

Out of some 2000 online gamers surveyed, Parks said, 14 percent would be interested in playing more MMORPGs if they were free. According to Worlds in Motion, Parks Associates' Michael Cai said that the excess of 10 million players WoW's scored is a major exception that most publishers shouldn't expect to emulate using a subscription business model.

"Social, dormant, and leisure gamers all show significant interest in a free-to-play, microtransaction-based model," said the study.

Most "hardcore" MMO players are actually opposed to the microtransaction-driven model because of concerns about game balance, and some developers have said it can be an extra challenge to balance a complex MMORPG when some users will pay for items and others won't. But games aimed at more casual players may not be possessed of the same level of complexity, or may feature different types of game mechanics, thus lessening the concern.

Parks: More Free Games Needed To Grow MMORPG Market [Worlds in Motion]

We sat down with DC Comics executive creator Jim Lee earlier today to talk about the SOE-developed, DC-branded game. Lee told me that he was the one who had approached SOE after catching wind of the project, an effort which had experienced multiple starts and stops.

As a fairly serious EverQuest player — Lee played Paladin, for the record — the artist turned exec knew his stuff. He dropped MMO-isms (LFG, instances, the grind) like it was his natural language, and with a working knowledge of the DC universe, fans of the genre and the brand should feel confident that it's creatively in good hands.

Players will be given the option of creating a good or evil character in DCUO, each with a possible dozen unique characteristics, such as power type (ice, fire, mental, sonic), power source (ring, elemental), and movement type (flying, speed). Given Lee's background as a serious MMO player, I had to ask what he was planning on playing in DC Universe Online when it shipped.

"I haven't decided," he said. "I'll probably have one public character and one private character — a villain."

I asked Jim if he was partial to any particular DC mainstays, if he'd lobbied for the inclusion of anyone in particular.

"I kind of have to be impartial," he said, noting that it was more important to ensure that DC's classic characters and classic designs were integrated accurately into the massive multiplayer world.

Sadly, that doesn't include some of the more off-kilter characters, non-humanoids like Krypto the Super Dog, Bat-Mite or various multi-limbed things from the Green Lantern Corps. They may appear in the game in some form, but if you're looking to create a super monkey that can ally with the Superman family or even Gorilla Grodd, you might have to wait for the expansion.

One surprise that Lee mentioned is that alter-egos will play a role in the game. You may have to spend some time as a lowly photographer, for example, one who walks among the regular citizens, preserving your secret identity. "We have to have it be meaningful," Lee said of superhero alter-egos. This aspect of the gameplay, Lee hinted, may address the dreaded "grind", something he says players won't spend much time worrying about.

As far as the look of the game, for which Lee is largely responsible, we learned that some characters that we've already seen are undergoing visual refinements. "The Joker is one character I wanted to tweak," he said, noting that the Heath Ledger/Christopher Nolan take on the Joker from The Dark Knight may have been part of the catalyst for the change. Part of the reason for the change, however, was that the current model of the Joker simply didn't fit with the rest of the game's non-playable DC heroes and villains.

We'll be going hands-on with the game soon and will report our impressions of DC Universe Online later this week.

The Season Two Collector's DVD comes with all five PC games from the series, plus "hours" of region-free video with special features, developer commentary, a Christmas video short feature, promo trailers, concept art, desktop wallpapers and a MP3 soundtrack sampler.

Additionally, if you already bought the Sam & Max Season Two downloadable set, Telltalle will give you the Collector's DVD for shipping and handling costs only. It's $34.95 for the rest of ya, and should ship in August, the company says.

Full announcement follows the jump.

Telltale announces Sam & Max Season Two Collector's DVD

Special package featuring five complete games, hours of video bonuses, and original cover art by Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell available for order now at www.telltalegames.com

SAN RAFAEL, CA, July 23, 2008 – Interactive entertainment pioneer Telltale, Inc. is announcing that the Collector's DVD for the acclaimed game series Sam & Max Season Two is available for ordering today. Telltale has given the second season of "gaming's first sitcom" the premium boxed-set treatment that has become common for television favorites, with behind-the-scenes extras and loads of special features. Telltale is also introducing new merchandise today to celebrate the release, including a signed commemorative print, a 2-CD Season Two soundtrack, and several special bundle offers.

Sam & Max Season Two has garnered critical acclaim from numerous sources, including two Editor's Choice awards from PC Gamer and positive reviews from mainstream press ranging from the New York Times to Playboy. The series is based on comic book characters created by Eisner award-winning cartoonist Steve Purcell, who has been publishing stories starring the offbeat dog and "rabbity-thing" crime-fighting duo for over twenty years. Purcell contributed an original painting inspired by the games' events to serve as the cover for this unique DVD release.

In addition to all five games from the award-winning episodic series, which play on a PC with a DVD-ROM drive, the Season Two Collector's DVD contains hours of region-free video viewable on a PC or in any standard DVD player. Special features on the disc include game footage reels with audio commentary from the development team, the 20-minute holiday video feature "Sam & Max Nearly Save Christmas," outtakes and promotional trailers, concept art, desktop wallpapers, and an MP3 soundtrack sampler. Samples of the video content can be viewed at http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax.

Customers who already bought the downloadable Sam & Max Season Two set from Telltale can get the Collector's DVD for just the cost of shipping and handling. For new customers, the Season Two Collector's DVD sells for $34.95 and comes with free downloadable copies of the games. The DVD is expected to start shipping in August. More details are available here: http://www.telltalegames.com/store/samandmax-season2-disc

To celebrate the arrival of the Season Two DVD, Telltale's store has been stocked with new Sam & Max merchandise and great value bundles. The following new items are now available for preorder:

* The complete Sam & Max Season Two soundtrack, a 2-CD set featuring nearly three hours of jazz music from the games and another Steve Purcell original on the cover, retailing for $19.99
* A limited edition case file stuffed with "evidence" from each Season Two episode, priced at $5.99
* A poster print based on the Season Two DVD cover art, available unsigned for $14.99 or signed for $19.99

Additional Sam & Max merchandise currently in Telltale's store includes the 20th Anniversary Edition of Purcell's complete comic collection, Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway, available in paperback and limited edition hardcover versions, and the Sam & Max Freelance Police animated series 3-DVD box set. All of these items and more can be found in Telltale's online store (http://www.telltalegames.com/store).

We've approached Flagship for comment and they've yet to explain their status to us. Then, a posting appeared on Hellgate's official forums from Namco-Bandai's senior director of business development, Zack Karlsson, stating:

Hello Hellgaters,

I know everyone is looking for an announcement, and we'd love to make one — but right now, many things are in flux and we don't have all the information yet. As soon as we do, we'll post here on the forums, on the website, and anywhere else we can find you.

The posting continued:

In the short term, please do not worry. The game is up, the servers are not going away in the short term and any major changes to status will be communicated in advance.

I'd like to ask for your patience as we try to figure it all out and chart a new course. We value your community, your commitment, and your passion for Hellgate and we will make sure that any solution that we architect will support all of you as best as we are able.

Thanks again. We hope to have a real announcement shortly.

Add in the fact that there's now a Hellgate page on Namco-Bandai's official site, it certainly looks like it would like to help out — if they can. HanbitSoft, Flagship's Korean partner/owner, recently claimed Flagship rejected its attempts to buy Hellgate out, and that the game is actually collateral on a loan made to the studio by Comerica. Namco-Bandai most likely had to do some wrangling (and maybe still has to do some) to set this up.

As for Mythos, HanbitSoft itself claims the right to that. We've contacted Namco-Bandai for comment, continue to check in with Flagship, and will update with anything we receive.

[via Videogaming247]

Along with the live events, Book 14 introduces a series of quest lines involving holding the forces of Angmar at bay, which when completed a certain number of times on each server unlock special server-wide content, similar to World of Warcraft's AQ events. Prove your server is the best and be absolutely flooded by assholes who just want to see the new content they weren't around to help unlock. I say thee woot. Hit the jump for full details.

TURBINE uNVEILs BOOK 14: Ring-forge of eregion FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™

2007 PC MMO Game of the Year* Introduces Sixth Content Update for Subscribers

WESTWOOD, MA – July 23, 2008 - Turbine, Inc. announced the details of the sixth content update for subscribers to The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. Book 14: Ring-forge of Eregion delivers the climax to the epic story from Volume I of The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO). The story takes center stage in Book 14 with several new storytelling mechanics combined with live in-world events that allow players to work together to be part of the rise and fall of Amarthiel at the Ring-forges of Eregion! This will unlock the prelude quests that will lead players to the Mines of Moria™, the first expansion pack to the 2007 PC MMO Game of the Year* scheduled to be released this fall. Book 14: Ring-forge of Eregion is now available to subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online in North America and Europe.

“The Lord of the Rings Online is one of the only MMOs to successfully integrate story into game play,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “With Book 14 we continue to create new ways for players to experience the epic story in Middle-earth from the dramatic moments unfolding throughout the story to the new adventure instances that require players to work together across their server to unlock new content and advance the story. The live events planned in Book 14 will provide incredibly dynamic adventures for our players and set the tone for our journey this fall into the Mines of Moria.”

NEW FEATURES:

Ø The Finale of the Epic Story – As the epic story of Volume I reaches its climax, Book 14 will take LOTRO’s unique storytelling to a new level. The story continues as Laerdan leaves for Mirobel, the Ring-forges of Hollin, to reforge the ring Narchuil. Players will set out after him and engage in an epic battle with Amarthiel’s minions that ultimately reveals the true enemy. The story will use several new storytelling mechanics and feature a series of live events hosted by Turbine’s Game Masters who will be playing the role of Amarthiel.

Ø New Battlefield Adventure Instances – Book 14 introduces a new style of gameplay for LOTRO through a series of 6-player experiences calling on the heroes of Middle-earth to hold the line against the invading forces of Angmar. Players across each world must complete a series of chained quests a certain number of times in order to unlock additional content for the entire server.

Ø New Animation Technology – LOTRO continues to improve the award-winning experience for players with major improvements to player animations and the introduction of new emotes for Monster Players.

The game will be set on a terraformed Mars, 50 years after the events of the original Red Faction game. Now the Earth Defense Force folks are in control and have turned bad. Players will take on the roll of a man caught up in the struggle against the EDF. The game will play out in third-person perspective and the entire world will be destructible.

You can, I was told, bring down an entire three-story building piece by piece. The multi-platform game's open world will also allow you to steal vehicles, swipe weapons even recruit other people to join your band of guerrillas.

While I didn't have a chance to play around with the single player campaign, Volition did give me time, lots and lots of time, to play matches of multiplayer.

Chief among the things that Guerrilla adds to the Red Faction franchise is the fully destructible environment. This time around players get both weapons and special power backpacks as they shoot it out with each other. These packs give players different abilities they can use as they rampage through the stark Martian landscape. Some packs let you thruster hop around the map, other's give you a temporary shield or the ability to charge things and inflict massive amounts of melee damage. That last one, a Rhino Pack, was by far my favorite one to use, allowing me to charge right through a building's wall and take down people camped out inside... with a sledgehammer. That's right, you can run around smashing people with a two-handed sledgehammer. Great fun!

The game will feature five to six modes total including anarchy, team anarchy, capture the flag, bagman and siege. In that last mode, one team tries to defend a structure while the other team tries to dismantle it. In all of the modes teams can repair damaged buildings with a rifle that shoots out what appears to be a cross between flames and plasma.

From what I played through, it looks like the physics are pretty dead on. For instance, you can take out a few stabilizing beams on a very tall building and then watch the whole thing slowly buckle and eventually cave in on itself. Volition told me that the stress system in the game calculates by the second where the stress in a building is and how it should crumble depending on the weight. As buildings topple, debris showers down around you. Nice touch.

The game will support 20 to 25 multiplayer maps, all unique to multiplayer and Volition is toying around with the idea of allowing a third, unnamed, force to be unlockable for multiplayer. Unfortunately, the game won't support co-op multiplayer.

Finally, Volition said that Microsoft came to them back in May or so to talk to them about someone using the Xbox 360's recently unveiled avatar system.

"We are talking with Microsoft about their Mii thing, about maybe allowing you to link up with each other in that and then go into the game."

Games for Windows - Live multiplayer features are free, effective today, Microsoft announced at today's GameFest 2008 conference in Seattle.

The move to free means that achievements, enhanced "truskill" matchmaking, cross-platform play with the Xbox 360, voice and text chat, friends lists, are all now free to Windows gamers. This change to free is for all Games for Windows LIVE titles, past and future.

Microsoft also announced plans to introduce Games for Windows - Live marketplace this fall, which will include free and paid downloadable game content, demos, trailers and "more." Finally, the company said they are working to streamline the interface for the PC and reduce technical requirements for developers. Too little, too late? Too early to tell, I say.

In other news from GameFest, DirectX 11 was unveiled.

The company calls DirectX 11 a "big step forward for gaming, adding features onto existing DirectX 10".

Key components of DirectX 11, will include:

o Full support (including all DX11 hardware features) on Windows Vista as well as future versions of Windows
o Compatibility with DirectX 10 and 10.1 hardware, as well as support for new DirectX 11 hardware
o New compute shader technology that lays the groundwork for the GPU to be used for more than just 3D graphics, so that developers can take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor
o Multi-threaded resource handling that will allow games to better take advantage of multi-core machines
o Support for tessellation, which blurs the line between super high quality pre-rendered scenes and scenes rendered in real-time, allowing game developers to refine models to be smoother and more attractive when seen up close

“Our new partnership with GameTap allows both a brand new audience and fans alike to enjoy our titles and franchise games online,” said Adrienne Lauer, National Sales Director, Market Development for THQ, “Digital distribution is a great way to extend the reach of our properties and GameTap is an ideal outlet for this effort.”

See? GameTap knows what it's doing. The editorial content always seemed unnecessary to me anyway. More games is good! Hit the jump for the full PR.

GAMETAP SIGNS PARTNERSHIP WITH THQ

New deal includes top titles and franchises like Company of Heroes

ATLANTA – July 22, 2008 – GameTap, the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., announced today a long-term partnership with THQ Inc. that includes worldwide subscription play and digital download rights for a wide selection of the publisher’s games for Windows PC. Additionally under the new agreement, some THQ games will also be made available for free play on GameTap’s ad-supported website www.gametap.com.

“We are excited to be adding THQ’s roster of top content to GameTap,” said Ricardo Sanchez, vice president of content and creative director for GameTap. “With this new deal, subscribers and website visitors will enjoy great games from THQ, including Company of Heroes and Red Faction.”

As part of the new agreement, GameTap will now feature titles from the THQ and ValuSoft catalogues, including critically acclaimed games such as Company of Heroes®, Warhammer® 40K, Red Faction®, Supreme Commander®, Titan Quest™, Saints Row™ 2, PuzzleQuest and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

“Our new partnership with GameTap allows both a brand new audience and fans alike to enjoy our titles and franchise games online,” said Adrienne Lauer, National Sales Director, Market Development for THQ, “Digital distribution is a great way to extend the reach of our properties and GameTap is an ideal outlet for this effort.”

Our demo began with an introduction to the Gray Wardens, better known as the Good Guys, and their epic struggle against the Blight. The Blight are a the blue and green skinned orc lookalikes that you, your party and the Gray Wardens will battle throughout. They're of a varied species, some standing ten feet tall with sprouted horns, others more human like, with an unfortunate similarity to the Koopa from the Super Mario Bros. movie.

At first glance, the game is pure BioWare. Dragon Age: Origins has the dialogue tree interface the company is well-known for, with Mass Effect style camera angles paired with more isometric, full party view angles for keeping an eye on the action.

The game also has the BioWare patented "pause and play" method of controlling your party members actions with a turn-based/real-time combat engine. The whole thing looks familiar enough to feel like a medieval fantasy skin applied to a BioWare's Greatest RPG Hits release. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that, despite the dandy artistic style and modern-day graphics engine, it could feel like familiar territory.

Dragon Age's twisting plot line, full of choices decided by your unvoiced dialogue tree choices, came into play early in our demo. Wandering around the king's courtyard, we came across a caged man, one who promised us a key in exchange for feeding him. Instead of opting to find food for the poor caged soul or ignoring him, our "hero" decided to go with another choice — kill the prisoner and take his bartering tool.

BioWare reps showed off some of the game's scope, as we watched a massive Blight versus Human battle going down just outside the castle wall. This kicked off a brief mission in which we were instructed to light a tower beacon, gathering up disposable party members along the way. These "red shirts" weren't important to the story, but, as we saw later, you'll come across playable teammates that do affect the plot.

Our BioWare rep switched the action to a separate scene, showing off the skills of a higher level elven mage, one gifted with elemental powers. She casted fire and ice spells — each with spectacular effects — which showed off the "pause and play" technique a bit further. Dragon Age can pull off some impressive visuals, something one might not appreciate if the visual din weren't something that could be stopped and controlled.

After dispatching some of the lower-level Blight, our rep kicked off what amounted to a boss fight with a giant blue-skinned demon. The ogre, twice the size of the Gray Warden and his party members, was hurling chunks of the floor, picking up the less fortunate and bashing them to death as the four-person hero squad attacked. It was more action oriented than what we've come to expect from the RPG experts and, after whittling down the ogre's health bar, ended with a sword through the skull cinematic attack. Oh, it was epic.

Our all-too-brief look at Dragon Age: Origins, part of a BioWare-built franchise that will be supported with downloadable content in the future, left us surprisingly interested. It looks to have a respectable blend of story, action and solid design, a satisfying return to form for the developer. We'll be keeping an eye on it.

Unlike most games, Mythos has been running with our testing community for almost its whole life. I really feel like we’ve all done this together. And despite this bump in the road, I think we’ve succeeded wildly. This is undoubtedly the best game community I’ve ever seen. This is the best game development team in the world, in both Seattle and San Francisco. The things we’ve learned here, and with you all, will be with us forever."

The game's official site calls the suspension a "hiatus," but offers no date as to when private beta or further development will resume.

We recently spoke to Flagship Studios, who told us at the time that despite some rough patches after Hellgate: London launched, the studio was fully staffed and dividing its time between maintaining Hellgate and testing Mythos.

But in his statement, Schaefer said:

"PC gaming is changing, and I believe we’ve had a sneak preview with Mythos. With any luck, this will not be a long hiatus, and Mythos will be back. But even if it’s not, and even if we all move on, we’ve taken a lot of important steps forward. Game development is in many ways a continuum, and we all build on what came before. I know neither [lead designer Travis Baldree], the great Mythos dev team, nor myself are planning on doing anything but make games into the future. So no matter what, we’ll pick up where we left off, and you’ll be hearing from us shortly. We may not be the best business people on the planet, but we know how to make games."

We've contacted Flagship for further details and will update as we receive them.

Max Schaefer's Thank You [Via Gamasutra]

The main difference between Rise of the Argonauts and your standard action RPG is how you kill your enemies. As the devs on hand at the E3 2008 demo for the game pointed out, a spear through the chest isn't just going to take off a few hitpoints. Not many creatures mythological or not are going to survive that sort of thing, so they won't in this game either. Enemies will do their best to block your attacks, but a sword in the gut is a sword in the gut. They'll take slashes and show damage, but when it looks like you are landing a killing blow you WILL be landing a killing blow.

This sort of realism also applies to you, unfortunately. When fighting with a shield, you your blocking is limited to enemies attacking you on the side you hold your shield. There isn't any of this holding down the block button and becoming impervious to all attacks nonsense. You have to position yourself, and if enemies get behind you I'd highly suggest you get the hell out of the way.

Rise of the Argonauts also has a decision tree dialog system, much like that found in Mass Effect and similar titles. The whole game revolves around gaining favor with four different gods - Ares, Hermes, Apollo, and Athena - and the mechanic even extends to the dialog choices you make. Early on in the game you encounter the enchantress Medea, who offers you her services. Depending on which decision you make - trust her, be wary, etc. - you gain favor with one of the four gods your choices represent. The choice also effects whether Medea is locked up in your hold during the journey or free to wander the ship, so the replay value from the dialog tree alone should be immense.

Each of the four gods also represents one of Jason's weapons. Ares is the massive mace, Apollo the shield, Athena the spear, and Hermes the sword. Gaining their favor allows you to invest in new powers and attacks pertaining to each weapon, so if you favor the sword and board you might want to lean towards Apollo and Hermes, while spear fans can tailor their choices towards Athena. No one should put points into Ares. If Hercules: The Legendary Adventures taught me anything, it's that Ares is a dick.

The demo ended with Jason and two companions taking on Medusa, who in Rise of the Argonauts is a gigantic woman with vicious eels for hair, taking up an entire ruin. First you take out the eels coming in from the sides, and then...and then they stop the demo. What is it with the teases this year?

When I first heard about Rise of the Argonauts I was convinced it was a way to capitalize on the success of God of War, but after seeing it in action I know that this is something altogether different. With a different take on the action RPG genre and a story steeped in Greek mythology, Rise of the Argonauts is definitely a title I will be picking up.

I got to wander around the shattered landscape, poking at rubble, shooting at people, and trying on clothes. I got my first hands-on taste of the VaultTech Assisted Targeting system, which allows you to pause the action, choose where your bullets are heading on your target's body, and then plays through in slow motion - and there is nothing sweeter than a slow-motion exploding head. It was all very exciting, but as I took a moment to gaze about the room I realized that the most exciting thing about Fallout 3 is what everyone else was doing.

While we all started at the point in the story where we were exiting the Vault we grew up in for the first time, within 15 minutes each of the groups at the six kiosks they had put up in their booth were in completely different places doing completely different things. Some had made a beeline for a nearby settlement, some had found a ruined school building nearby and were involved in combat with some seedy B&D enthusiasts, while others spent a good 10 minutes trying to see if the ruined playground equipment was working from a physics point of view (it wasn't, and yeah...that was me).

Like Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series - especially Oblivion - Fallout 3 is a game that melds itself to the gameplay style of the player, offering something for people who want to explore, kill, or try on different clothing. By the time my 30 minutes was up I was wearing Mad Max-style bondage armor and a baseball cap, while others didn't even bother going into their inventory at all, the barbarians.

The variety is really something to keep in mind when the game comes out and the reviews start pouring in, as the Fallout 3 the reviewers play could potentially be a totally different game than the one you play. The foundation that Bethesda has laid down for you is excellent, but as with any open-world game the experience is ultimately what you make of it.

In this second assignment for Beyond Good & Evil you'll need to complete the Slaughterhouse section of the game. Make sure you don't play past that point because I'd like us all to be on the same page, so to speak. After playing through the chunk, try to think up some interesting questions and discussion topics. I will have a list of my own, but I'm hoping we can all ask each other interesting things to discuss.

The game is available for the Xbox (not backwards compatible) PS2, Gamecube and the PC via Steam and Gametap.

We'll be meeting on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. Just come to the site and look for the Game Club Beyond Good & Evil Discussion post. Again sorry for the delay in putting this out to you all.

Hit the jump for the Game Club rules.

The Game Club is going to be conducted via the Internets, meaning, sadly, we won't all be meeting in Fahey's living room over coffee and crumpets to discuss the latest Game Club game. Instead, we will be meeting both on Kotaku and in a giant chat room.

I hope to dump the on-going discussion the group of people is having into the Kotaku post so those who couldn't make it in or who arrive late can still participate with one another.

Once in the room, I'll moderate the chat. The idea here is that we don't want a few dozen people all trying to talk about the game at the same time. So, I hope we can get someone to ask an intelligent question and then take turns discussing it. Remember this is a work in progress so we'll make tweaks to the mechanics of how this works as we proceed.

A cardinal rule will be that there will be no off-topic talking, no trolling, no flame wars, no fan-boyism in the chat or the person will be kicked out. We're all intelligent people, I don't see why we can't act like we are when gathered together online.

In general the idea is for people to discuss the current video game in a thoughtful and meaningful way. Why we won't totally disallow discussion of things like graphics and play mechanics, those particular topics should really be brought up in a way that addresses the deeper meaning and ideas presented in the game.

Each week I'll do a post outlining the Game Club's assignment. Please, no playing ahead. This could taint your views of what's currently going on in the section we hope to discuss.

Hopefully, this mostly makes sense. Ask your questions here about how this will work and I'll try to answer them.

Also after the jump, from Deviant Art, a cartoon on why Gordon Freeman doesn't talk. (If you're guessing the punchline right now, you're right.)

One Bored Super Soldier and Why Gordon Doesn't Talk [Deviant Art, thanks reader d p]

Team Fortress 2 Sentry [Lair of the Legomancer, via Shift Gamer, thanks reader Mohammed]

"The PC version of GTA IV has not even been announced for release and is still in development so is not about to be released on a website."

The entire conversation is very long and almost takes on the scope of a 419 baiter thread. But they do provide screenshots (granted, those can be faked too.)

Basically, these two guys concoct a detailed tech support problem with a free demo of Grand Theft Auto IV, and see if Take 2 will bite. Of course, they do, but only to a point. After getting that little nugget above — which they're convinced was copypasted from some higher-up's response to befuddled tech support — they get another tech who is less fun and a little more circumspect about their claims.

While the last message does say, "We are unsure when the PC version of the game will be released," that does not mean, "We are sure it will be coming out, just not when." I am likewise unsure of when I'll win the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes.

ComputerandVideoGames.net reported rumors back in April that a PC GTA IV was due out in October, citing European retailers. That didn't bring a denial from Rockstar UK, just "no comment." So unless and until Rockstar wants to lay the rumor smash, this remains rumor only. I wouldn't get my hopes up, but you never know.
How We Pranked Rockstar [Blog, thanks reader Matt]

Looooong trailer for the subject matter (and being entirely a pre-render.) But it's out Nov. 8, on PC, the next-gens, PS2 and DS. And I suppose then, or before, we'll get the story of why she went and blew up her own manor.

Tomb Raider: Underworld E3 Exclusive Trailer [Gametrailers]

While the demo was cut short by Iga's entrance, two bits of news to come to light. Pyramid Head will indeed be playing a part in the game, and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is coming to PC, as did Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4 before it. What will Pyramid Head do in the game? Not sure, but I'm ruling out the hokey pokey.

3:55 PM, the LA Convention Center. Everyone is tired, and you can see the media room starting to slow down — people wander by with exhausted expressions on their faces, looking at their watches and lighting up when they realize there's not much left in the day. Even Crecente has passed the point of being totally with it, pausing in the middle of sentences to stare off into space. I shuffle off to check out Atari's E3 offerings, and am met with a surprisingly cheerful staff who point me in the direction of caffeine. I am not caffeinated enough to face a spiel on Deer Hunter Tournament, so I'm sat down to await a demonstration of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. I hear something about transport options from the person enthusiastically imbibing what the Deer Hunter guy is saying — 'Oh cool, so you're planning on having like, ATVs and stuff?' — and am glad I'm parked in front of The Witcher instead of one screen over. More impressions and details after the jump:

So, The Witcher isn't new, but the whole presentation focused on the improvements made to the game. After apologizing for already having given the presentation five times in a row, Tomasz Gop enthusiastically explained what the 'expanded edition' really expanded upon (and kept coming back to 'fan suggestions'). The expanded edition features over 5,000 lines of totally rewritten and rerecorded script, as well as a whole new German script created from scratch (was it that bad?). In addition to the script itself, a slew of new dialogue animations were added to make characters look less like wooden blocks and more like dynamic people. Monsters and NPCs are still based on the same character models, but have gotten randomly generated clothes and colors to shake things up a bit. Further, the inventory system has been improved and makes for easier storage and sorting; there is also an easier system for collecting loot after battles. Importantly, load times have been significantly reduced. Another nice feature is the ability to play with any combination of the available subtitles and voice tracks; we watched a scene with a Polish voiceover and Chinese subtitles.

The boxed edition will feature two new adventures, the adventure editor, the official soundtrack CD, a CD of music inspired by The Witcher, a game guide, "The Witcher" short story by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, a map of the Witcher world, and a 'making of' DVD. Already bought the game? Don't want to shell out again? Never fear — everything will be available for download if you purchased the original version. The enhanced version is expected out in September of this year.

I was then shunted over to take a look at the PSP and DS versions of N+. The handheld versions will feature 350 levels and 150 coop and versus multiplayer levels. Players will be able to create their own 'playlist' of levels, as well as get lots of unlockables. The level editor will enable people to design and share their own levels — the download and upload process is fully integrated, and by utilizing a 'purgatory server,' the DS friend's code hell will be bypassed (this was a point that was mentioned very excitedly). N+ will be coming to PSPs and DSs next month

From one DS game on to another — I thankfully didn't have far to go to look at What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver, and by this point was wondering exactly how these Atari people were remaining so chipper and upbeat. This is a reasonably detailed cooking simulator (unsurprisingly); I didn't spend too much time with the actual gameplay, but the guy demonstrating did allow me to try my hand after he scorched some prawns. It's ... a cooking game. A detailed cooking game with really complicated recipes.

However, the 'special feature' that was apparently most exciting was the inclusion of lots of real Jamie Oliver recipes, the ability to create shopping lists based on those recipes, and using the DS as an ultra-portable cookbook/list maker. Now, I like to cook, but I'm not sure I'd pop my DS on the counter — sounds like a recipe for electronic disaster when DS meets boiling liquid or something. Still, the fact that the game comes with a book's worth of (actual) recipes is kind of cool. It will be out in December in time for a Christmas '08 release.

Finally, I headed over to look at the second expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2, Storm of Zehir. The first feature noted was the expanded party editor, now featuring full party customization of up to four party members. There has also been several new classes added, though the only one mentioned in any depth was the "swashbuckler." The party conversation system was demonstrated, with answers and questions being based on intelligence, sills, class and so on. A new, detailed overland map has been added that is a walking map — no more zooming from place to place. The maps are completely moddable, and also feature traps and other surprises that players can interact with via skills.

A mercantile aspect has been added, and trading and quests can help improve your merchant empire in the world — as well as make an impact elsewhere. New monsters will be popping up (the ones I saw looked very nice, even though the game hasn't been entirely 'cleaned up' yet and looked a bit dank in places). The message I was left with was "Lots of new stuff! New races, classes, feats, spells, enemies ... did I forget anything? Yeah, lots of new stuff!". The expansion is due out in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Installing Free Realms will be simple enough that even the most clueless parent can do it. Prospective players will go to the web page, sign up for an account, and begin to customize their character while the client downloads directly from the game's site. Once completed, players will be able to launch the game directly from a MySpace-like profile page, complete with lists of their online friends and news about the latest game updates.

Perhaps the most parent and child friendly thing about Free Realms? Despite the high level of polish, the game will run smoothly on a GeForce 3. I am pretty sure my toaster comes stock with a GeForce 3. Even the crappiest laptop equipped with onboard graphics will be able to run the game...a definite plus.

At its heart, Free Realms is really a community games portal with a colorful candy shell. It isn't all about leveling, though you can certainly fight monsters solo or with up to three friends to your heart's content. You can also participate in a wide variety of 2D and 3D mini-games, or play the built-in collectible card game. I was shown a factory you could wander into where a fairy asks you to help construct mining belts, launching a Diner Dash-type 2D mini-game. Nifty!

They've got an API in place that will allow them to add mini-games into the game quickly - in fact, when first logging into the game you are presented with a pop-up window that shows friend status and new mini-games added, allowing you to click to either join your pals or check out the new content right away.

I'd feel a bit silly calling a family MMO experience one of the games of the show if not for the fact that so many of my fellow writers seem to agree with me. Every time I mention the game to other press folks who've seen it their eyes light up with excitement. Several have said that they would play the game themselves despite the obvious kiddie/family target audience. When you show jaded members of the gaming press a kid's game that sparks this much interest, you're on to something special.

I leave you with a feature list, directly from the official E3 fact sheet.

Features:
Experience a vibrant new world that's an exciting mix of real-world and fantasy.
Be a wizard one day, and a warrior the next, without having to make a new character.
Join your friends in the game and adventure with them, wherever they are, no matter how long they have been playing.
When you’re ready for some excitement, head out to the wilderness and battle challenging enemies like giant spiders and forest trolls in fast-paced, strategic battlegrounds.
Cooperate with or compete against other players in battle!
Explore, quest, and collect items that you can wear, use or display.
Play a wide variety of mini-games to craft armor, weapons, potions, clothes, furniture, and many other items.
Grab a root beer at the inn and hang out with your friends while a rock band plays on the stage.
Interact with humorous, unique characters, become their friends and receive emails from them!
Raise a dog or cat and teach it to be the kind of pet you want—shy, brave, or funny.
Decorate your own house and grow a variety of plants and flowers.
Send links, share images and videos, and chat with friends from your own, personal, customizable social networking page!

Oh, and well done, Age of Conan. You're the only game on here not made by Maxis or Blizzard.

1. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff
2. Diablo Battle Chest
3. Spore Creature Creator
4. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
5. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
6. World Of Warcraft
7. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
8. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade
9. The Sims 2 FreeTime
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest

Dallas, TX - July 14, 2008 – Apogee Software is back to re-establish itself as an innovative leader in interactive entertainment. Apogee is reviving some of its legacy catalogue of 30+ releases as well as publishing all-new properties in collaboration with diverse creators and developers.

Apogee is bringing the King of Action himself, Duke Nukem™, to the handheld console market with three new missions, together called the Duke Nukem Trilogy™. Apogee Software is producing the Trilogy under an exclusive license agreement with 3D Realms and MachineWorks Northwest LLC. The Trilogy is comprised of three episodes: Critical Mass™, Chain Reaction™, and Proving Grounds™.

“This marks a new beginning for a famous publisher with a history of market-making innovation,” said Terry Nagy, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Apogee. “I can't think of a better character than Duke or a better franchise than the Trilogy to usher in a new era for Apogee.”

Apogee pioneered the shareware game revolution in 1987 by inventing the concept of game demos, distributed online, which advertised the remaining episodes in a series. Before this time, game demos and episodic releases were unheard of. These concepts created by Apogee have become mainstream today.

“It's funny how what's old is new again in this industry,” remarked Apogee co-founder, Scott Miller. “Many of the things Apogee pioneered are back in style, so it only makes sense to bring back Apogee and its properties with a visionary team that will once again create innovation for gamers around the world.”

Plunder Gets Some Booty! [Capcom]

The coming week will be completely dominated by E3 coverage. Come to think of it, the previous week was completely dominated by pre-E3 coverage. After the jump we've compiled a scene-setter of sorts, aggregating together all the lineups announced, so you know some of what to look for in the coming onslaught of copy.

Kotaku's crack staff on the scene will be Brian Crecente, Michael McWhertor, Brian Ashcraft, Mike Fahey, Leigh Alexander, and Adam Barenblat. They're going to be very busy.

Console Roundups:
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo

Developer/Publisher Lineups

2K Games
• BioShock
• Borderlands
• NBA 2K9
• NHL 2K9
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization

Capcom:
• Street Fighter IV
• Resident Evil 5
• Dark Void
• Bionic Commando
• Mega Man 9
• MotoGP '08
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
• Bionic Commando Rearmed
• Flock (XBLA, PSN)
• New games from Capcom Interactive

D3Publisher
• Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers
• NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
• BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE The Game
• NARUTO: Path of the Ninja 2
• Bangai-O Spirits
• Shaun the Sheep

Electronic Arts
• Dead Space
• FaceBreaker
• Hasbro Family Game Night
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Madden NFL 09
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
• Mirror’s Edge
• iPhone/iPod Touch Games from EA Mobile
• The Sims 2 Apartment Pets
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for the PSP
• Zubo
• MySims (PC)
• MySims Kingdom (Wii, DS)
• Spore
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
• Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
• Crysis Warhead
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• SimCity Creator (Wii)
• NBA Live 09
• NCAA® Football 09
• Skate It
• Rock Band™ 2
• Left 4 Dead

Majesco
• Major Minor's Majestic March
• Cooking Mama World Kitchen
• Our House
• Zoo Hospital
• AWAY Shuffle Dungeon
• Wonder World Amusement Park
• Babysitting Mania
• Marker Man Adventures

Marvelous and XSEED
• Avalon Code (DS)
• Rune Factory: Frontier (Wii)
• Little King's Story (Wii)
• Valhalla Knights 2 (PSP)
• Populous (DS)
• KORG DS-10 (DS)
• Retro Game Challenge

Midway
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
• Wheelman
• TNA iMPACT!
• Blitz the League II
• This is Vegas
• Unreal Tournament 3
• Game Party 2
• Touchmaster 2
• Mechanic Master
• MidwayArcade.com

Southpeak
• Big Bang Mini
• Brave: A Warriors Tale
• Brave: Shaman’s Challenge
• Igor The Game (Windows PC, Wii & Nintendo DS – September 2008)
• Monster Madness: Grave Danger
• Ninjatown
• Raven Squad
• X-Blades

Square Enix
• The Last Remnant
• Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes
• Chrono Trigger
• Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen
• Final Fantasy IV (DS)
• Star Ocean: First Departure
• Star Ocean: Second Evolution
• Infinite Undiscovery
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope
• Exit DS
• The Legend of Kage 2

Tecmo:
• Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff (DS)
• Robocalypse (DS)
• Spray (Wii)

Note that this weapon is not being fired by remote control. It's recognizing moving objects and firing on them automatically. The distraction test is a pretty good measure of its abilities.

Of course, having the laptop that operates it right next to it probably would not do well in a real firefight. Maybe it'd be a good burglar-blaster, but then, forget your keys, step in the door, and you're taking a paintbath in the living room.

Latest Video [paintballsentry.com]

The release will add eight new multiplayer maps, more than 70 online quests, plus a new town where characters can train themselves in gladiator combat. GamersHell has eight screenshots, one is above.

The full press release from SouthPeak is after the jump.

Southpeak Games to Re-Release Coveted Role-Playing Game in Ultimate PC Package: Two Worlds: Epic Edition

LONDON – United Kingdom - July 11th, 2008 – SouthPeak Games today announced its open-world role-playing hit game will get a new release on PC with the upcoming Two Worlds: Epic Edition. The expanded game will be available in August 2008.

"Two Worlds has seen unprecedented popularity, not only upon its original release, but in the months since it has gained even more fans," said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. "Epic Edition collects everything available for the world of Antaloor into one package so those who have yet to explore its rich and vibrant lands can now do so in its entirety."

Two Worlds: Epic Edition will contain the original game and the add-ons "Tainted Blood" and "Curse of Souls", putting the massive world of Antaloor and countless hours of adventuring into one tremendous package. The original Two Worlds gave players a huge world and hundreds of adventures to undertake. The expanded content of Epic Edition adds over 70 online quests, eight new multiplayer maps, an innovative player-versus-player challenge where opponents battle to control magical orbs within a variety of arenas, and introduces the town of Tharnburg where players can train their warriors in various skills and challenge other players to combat in the Gladiator District's huge arena.

Two Worlds: Epic Edition is rated PEGI 16+. For more information about Two Worlds or SouthPeak Games, please visit www.2-worlds.com or www.southpeakgames.eu.

Two Worlds: Epic Edition Announced and Screens [GamersHell]

I ran this by my Dad, also a Joe Bob fan, and he agreed this had to go up pronto: "The commenters will put up their own Chuck Norris facts too," Dad said. "Like: Chuck Norris finished The Bourne Conspiracy."

Zing!

OK, part two. This all looked a little too complex for me to think it was simply a well done movie. And lo and freaking behold, I think I'm right. As this video went around this week, Ripten found that there is indeed a Super Chuck Norris Bros. demo for the PC. And goddamn if I don't feel like buying a copy of Windows just to play this sucker. Ripten vouches that the download is virus free. Someone grab it and tell me what I'm missing.

Play Super Chuck Norris Bros. [Ripten]
Super Chuck Norris Bros Demo [ctfdoh.googlepages.com]

"ParticleMan simulates gravitational attraction between particles in a cloud. This system was used to study such gravitational dynamics as orbits, nebula formation, star formation and particle streams from sources like pulsars and black holes," says the official site.

ParticleMan has the following elemen