Posts
All Comments
Do you remember Monopoly? That fun board game that we all played years ago which saw you moving round the board, passing go and not collecting $200? Arguing over this and that, and ending up in jail eventually, all the while seeing Mr. Monopoly smiling away – that top hat wearing dropkick.
EA Play announced that it’s working on Monopoly Streets, obviously based on the famous board game.
Chip Lange, EA’s Hasbro Division:
“We’re taking Hasbro’s No. 1 family game brand and masterfully striking the balance of offering the classic Monopoly play experience and adding a spectacular new visual treatment as we bring the classic board to life with players walking the streets of Monopoly.”
“Monopoly Streets will bring people together and connect families all over the world by offering online gameplay through their gaming consoles. We think this unique, combined offering will bring families together around the TV this holiday season for a classic family gaming tradition they’ll remember for years to come.”
Online rankings, leaderboards and downloadable content is said to be available soon for this title, which will release this year in “Fall”, for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. In addition to this, a DS Monopoly title will also come out. I’ve also read that the game will be available through digital distribution for PC. A browser-based game is also in the works too for EA’s Pogo.
----
Sources:
EA Play To Release "Dynamic, Living" Monopoly Title [IncGamers]
See the sites in EA's Monopoly Streets [Joystiq]
Now there’s evidence of this, as there have been copyright filings discovered that have made clear the developer of this revival: Starbreeze Studios, a Swedish company who worked on The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, and the sequel, Assault on Dark Athena. They now apparently have the rights to the IP. This was internally known as “Project RedLime” for some time. It’s not known what this Syndicate’s full title will be.
Electronic Arts will be the publisher. This took place last year in June. This and other rumours before it seem to confirm that the game has been in development for the last couple of years. There’s hope for an official word come E3 this year.
Syndicate [1993] and Syndicate Wars [1996]
Another title in development at the studio, based on the Bourne series of movies, starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, was cancelled earlier on this year.
The original Syndicate games, that started with Syndicate in 1993, Syndicate: American Revolt in 1995, and Syndicate Wars in 1996, were isometric strategy titles developed by Bullfrog Productions, headed by the legendary Peter Molyneux, who went on to form Lionhead Studios.
----
Source: Superannuation – The Escapist
EA released a bunch of new screenshots the other day. These above are just the previews. The full size ones are over on their website, medalofhonor.com.
As for my usual analysis, the pictures show off the usual bunch of undercover Tier One operatives [we should come up with some names for them], and the desert environments again. I hope this game has a change of scenery, and this is only the first mission or something, otherwise it’s probably going to get a little stale.
The screens, which feature night missions, remind me a little bit of the first mission from Allied Assault, “Lighting the Torch”.
----
Source: medalofhonor.com
I know I’m a bit late with this, but I was just busy working on one big editorial, or AAA original lately. I’ll give you a hint at what it’s about: St. Patrick.
Now, EA are going to bring out their second expansion for The Sims 3 this year, called Ambitions.
Players have long been dissatisfied about getting their Sims out of bed, had them shower, visit the bathroom, brush their teeth, and just make it down to the kitchen to have a breakfast on the run, before they had to dash outside and catch the car to work [or take their own car, in the Sims 3).
Ambitions will let you control your Sims at work too, and provides you with more career options, like firefighter, investigator, architect, ghost hunter, stylist, doctor, a tattoo artist, sculptor, or inventor.
Some say this has been done in The Sims 2 with Open for Business, but the scope of the idea will be taken much further in The Sims 3, to the point where you will be presented with challenges and such like you would at the Sim’s home. There was an interview on Gamespot recently where Grant Rodiek elaborated on the subject:
“The focus of Open for Business was creating and managing a retail establishment. The Sims 3 Ambitions is more about your sim's personal venture. Each career presents a unique experience.”
Scott Evans also had this to say about Ambitions, recently:
"The variety of careers to choose from is unmatched and we've never given players the opportunity to follow their Sims to work and affect their actions on the job."
Tired of riding bicycles around the neighbourhood while in your business suit and getting laughed at? Then another great thing that this expansion will provide is motorbikes!
The expansion pack, The Sims 3: Ambitions, should be out in June, a year after the release of the original Sims 3, and will be available on PC, Mac, iPhone and iPod touch.
By the way, if you’ve watched the trailer above, the song playing is called Saviour, by Rise Against.
----
Sources: Gamespot
Doesn’t that guy standing on the left remind you of how the guys used to stand in Allied Assault? Like he just sh!t his pants…
Medal of Honor, for most of the franchise, has involved a lot of espionage, secrecy, infiltration, and other covert operations, with the exception of a few moments in some games like Allied Assault (remember the horrors of the Normandy landings on Omaha Beach?). But this is set to change, as EA says that the “Big military” is going to play more of a role in this latest title.
“The Tier 1 Operator has really come into their own in this conflict and we're honoured to have had the access to the people we've had access to, and we're really focusing our character story, our narrative, on them and on the soldier, and the respect for the soldier, and honouring the soldier, and really going deep into that.”
“It's about that. It's about small-unit tactics; it's about small-unit methods and procedures, but we also have big army.”
“Big military, I should say, is also in the game. The two units – the two sides - the sledgehammer and the scalpel, cannot work independently of each other. They require each other and depend on each other, and we're showcasing both of those in Medal of Honor.”
-----
Source: [1] IncGamers
Crysis 2 was featured in Edge magazine recently, and details of the game have leaked on to the net. The game is reportedly going to feature five big memorable things that will stay with you long after you’ve featured the game.
We all know that the game will take place in New York city now, and that the player will have access to the Nanosuit 2. One of the things talked about is that this isn’t just the New York seen plenty of times in movies and other games. This is going to be Crytek’s own “unique New York”, set three years after the first Crysis, and thirteen years from now, making it 2023, I would guess.
They also mentioned in the interview, destruction and scarring of the environment. Could this be like Red Faction or F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin?
Nanosuit 2 will naturally see some upgrades, like X-ray vision, Tactical mode, and bullet deflection. X-ray vision sounds good, and come to mention it so does Tactical mode, seeing as they claim it enhances your hearing in the game so you hear even the slightest of sounds. And it also improves your HUD capabilities.
In any case, there seems to be a lot of “unique” being thrown around. Some claim that New York isn’t entirely original, seeing as some games like Max Payne took place in the city, as well as Turning Point, but not a hell of a lot others.
The game is expected to release by the end of the year, somewhere in Q4, 2010, likely December, hopefully in time for Christmas.
----
Sources: Edge
I was glad to see that as usual, the news has all ready spread to forums, including NAG, so it’s likely we’ll see both games on the “queue” soon, and eventually on the DVD and on our harddrives. I haven’t played Tiberian Sun for years, but all of a sudden I really want to, for some reason. It would almost certainly have to go on the NAG or PC Format DVD seeing as the file sizes are pretty large.
Now all we need is for Red Alert 2 to be free of charge on day as well. That game is nearly ten years old, and that seems to be a trend among developers. After ten years or so, they become freeware, unless they’re really big sellers that keep funding the studio.
So that means that C&C 3 and Red Alert 3 are way off from being gratis.
On a related note, Command& Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight should be out next month.
----
Source: commandandconquer.com/
So we’ve all known for some time that Medal of Honor will be essentially two different games. The singleplayer will be handled by EALA (EA Los Angeles), and the multiplayer will be done by DICE, the traditional Battlefield guys.
But it’s now been revealed that the two separate parts of the game will use different engines. The singleplayer will use the Unreal Engine 3, and the multiplayer will use the Frostbite engine, also used in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. You could argue that this is due to familiarity, but keep in mind that Mirror’s Edge, developed by DICE, used Unreal Engine 3.
Okay, so some say it stole the idea of taking place in the Middle East from Modern Warfare, but this may be the game that Modern Warfare 2 should have been. It’s either this, or Bad Company 2. One of them has to be. Unless the new Call of Duty makes its presence known this year, and it probably will, as history dictates.
----
Source: That Videogame Blog - Big Download
EA says that The Sims 3 was the best selling PC game, retail wise, of 2009, but of course it had about five months more to do it in. The Sims 3 was released in June last year, while MW2 was in November. If it had been different, well, it might have been different.
EA even goes on to claim that The Sims 3 is one of the best selling PC games ever, and that the expansion, World Adventures, is one of the best selling expansions of 2009. And The Sims 3 is also part of another achievement: the sixth year that a Sims title has been a top best selling game. I guess that some of the other years would have been 2000 and 2004 when the prequels were released, respectively.
A lot of blowing-your-own-horn there.
And here I was thinking that nobody really played the game anymore. I do from time to time.
----
Source: Big Download
Okay, so it’s true that the series is finally leaving World War II, and moving in to new, or rather, modern territory. The title is just being called Medal of Honor - there doesn’t seem to be any subtitle or anything, seeing as this will be a reboot of the series. So don’t confuse it with the original Medal of Honor, released ten years ago, in 1999. And yes, it is Honor without the “u”, since it’s American.
Medal of Honor will take place in Afghanistan, no doubt during the Second Gulf War which has been going on for the last several years, and which the recently released Modern Warfare 2 only touched upon briefly in the beginning of the singleplayer campaign. In the game you will take on the role of a Tier One Operator, one of the most elite Special Ops units there is, ordered around directly by the NCA (National Command Authority, AKA Mr President, and the Secretary of Defence. EALA says they are working alongside these troops to create a realistic, believable gaming experience.
From the Official Press Release:
“When we first set out to reinvent Medal of Honor, we wanted to stay true to its roots of authenticity and respect for the soldier but bring it into today’s war. The Tier 1 Operator is the most disciplined, deliberate and prepared warrior on the battlefield. He is a living, breathing, precision instrument of war.” said Greg Goodrich, Executive Producer, Medal of Honor. “We are honored to have the rare opportunity to work closely with these men to create a game that shares their experience.”
“EA has always been an advocate for telling the soldiers’ story. The new Medal of Honor follows that tradition. We felt it was important to tell the story of today’s war and today’s elite soldiers via today’s most relevant medium – videogames,” said Sean Decker, VP and General Manager of EALA. “We are so proud to bring together two powerhouse development teams to make this game a reality; EA Los Angeles and EA DICE. Medal of Honor promises to be an unforgettable entry in the modern shooter genre.”
The singleplayer is being developed by EA Los Angeles, and the multiplayer is being taken care of by DICE, the Battlefield guys. So, this should be one hell of a game, hopefully. Medal of Honor has always been known for its great SP campaigns, well perhaps not in the last few years, and it seems there will be no tacked on multiplayer in this one. Having separate developers on a game is nothing new, but of this calibre is quite impressive.
Medal of Honor will be released in 2010 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
----
New Medal of Honor Revealed, Delivers Modern Afghanistan Warfare and DICE Multiplayer
http://www.medalofhonor.com/en_US/news/2009/12/press-release
Africa Day (holiday)
We all remember that little snot-nosed brat, Ashton Kutcher, don't we? The one from That 70's Show? It seems as though to get some media attention he's issued a challenge to CNN on Twitter, and it's all about who can garner 1 000 000 followers.
It’s been nearly ten years, and I’m surprised that they haven’t done a true sequel to System Shock 2. Yes, we had BioShock in 2007, and BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams is due to be out sometime, with BioShock 3 planned as well, but that is obviously a spin-off series, which consists of spiritual successors.
