Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 6/7/09

2009/06/13

Apocalypse Then: Activision Merged with Infocom

On this day, in 1986, Activision merged with Infocom.

Infocom was started in 1979, and was responsible for the Zork and Planetfall series.

2009/06/12

Apocalypse Then: Obsidian Entertainment Founded

On this day, in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment was founded.

Obsidian was born out of the demise of Black Isle Studios, the team responsible for the original Fallout games, Fallout and Fallout 2, as well as the Baldur's Gate series.

Current projects in development at Obsidian include Aliens: Crucible (on hold), Alpha Protocol, as well as Fallout: New Vegas.

2009/06/11

Apocalypse Then: Descent 3

Developers: Outrage Entertainment
Publisher: Interplay Productions
Engine: Fusion
Platforms: Mac OS, Linux, Microsoft Windows
Release date: June 11, 1999
Genre: First-person shooter

On this day in gaming, in 1999, Descent 3 was released.

It is the third game in the series, and has an expansion pack called Descent 3: Mercenary. The two can be bought together as a bundle.

Other expansions, both official and fan-made, were scrapped due to poor game sales and ownership rights.

The game used the Fusion engine, which was considered among the most sophisticated of its day, and allowed for more open environments, unlike its two predecessors.

You can pick up Descent 3 here if you want to play a classic.

Video Game Character Lookalikes: Paxton Fettel From F.E.A.R.

Paxton Fettel from F.E.A.R.

Nicholas Cage

Note the similar hairline and facial expressions (or lack thereof).

Duke Nukem Not Dead

Duke Nukem Forever may be in limbo, but there are reportedly three Duke Nukem games headed to the iPhone.

And don't forget Duke Nukem Trilogy.

Doesn't look as though we'll get a sequel for the PC though....

Source:

shacknews

Game Sequels Aplenty: 3s Everywhere

There's an interesting trend I picked up on lately. Three series are getting new games in their franchises. And they all end with "3".

Firstly, Max Payne 3 will be released this year, and word has it that he's now bald, fat, and addicted to painkillers. And he now resides in South America instead of New York.

Battlefield 3 is in development, with Battlefield 1943: Pacific still to come this year.

Staying with the all out warfare theme, America's Army 3 is arriving this month.

Fallout 3: Point Lookout will be released this month as well.

And not even waiting for the second game to come out, Assassin's Creed III is all ready in development too. Wonder who the assassin is and where the game will take place this time?

Sources:

New Max Payne 3 Art Hits Alongside Rumored Details

EA: Battlefield 3 'Looking Very Good'

America's Army 3 Arriving June 17

Fallout 3: Point Lookout on June 23

Work has Already Begun on Assassin's Creed III

2009/06/10

Borderlands Arriving in October

Gearbox's Borderlands is scheduled for an October release this year.

Pre-order Borderlands:

For PC
For Xbox 360
For PS3

Source:

Shacknews

Bill Killed: David Carradine Dies

Star of Kill Bill and Kill Bill Vol. 2, David Carradine, died a few days ago. I read about it, and was a little shocked, but only really decided to post about it after I heard about the details of his death.

Apparently some thing it may have been a suicide, other say it was murder, and some claim it was an accident.

Carradine was found in a closet, naked, with his hands tied behind his head, and a shoelace around his neck and genitals. This is apparently known as autoerotic asphyxiation, and it's supposed to enhance sexual euphoria, and officials say that he died because of it - by accident.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carradine

NO-L4D2: The Twenty Five Thousand Zombie March

24 616 Members as of June 10, 2009

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott is a group of individuals who have pledged to boycott Valve's upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2 on November 17th, 2009. We have assembled a manifesto outlining the basic concensus of many members of our community. (Note: this manifesto is a new version, which we have recently posted to keep our manifesto in line with the middle ground of our members. This is the correct group for the boycott)

WE RECOGNIZE:

-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.

-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release. -Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:

-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.

-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.

-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming. -The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.

-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:

-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.

-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.

-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we - the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott - promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.

Source:

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/L4D2boycott

2009/06/09

Amazon Father's Day Xbox 360 Game Sale

Father's Day Xbox 360 Game Sale

Shipping is free on orders of $25 and more.

Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise - $19.97
Scene It? Box Office Smash Bundle - $29.97
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - $17.97
Lips - $36.97
You're in the Movies - $14.97
Scene It? Box Office Smash (Game Only) - $19.97
Fable II - $29.99
Gears of War 2 - $47.97
Halo Wars - $41.99
Call of Duty: World at War - $41.97
Guitar Hero Metallica - $39.97
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition- $41.97
007 Quantum of Solace - $19.97
NBA 2K9 - $29.99
Bioshock - $19.97
Grand Theft Auto IV - $27.97
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - $27.97
MLB Front Office Manager - $17.97
WWE Smackdown vs. RAW - $36.99
WWE Legends of Wrestling - $39.97
Wheelman - $29.97
Tom Clancy's HAWX - $34.97
Brother's in Arms: Hells Highway - $14.97
Prince of Persia - $39.99
Shaun White Snowboarding - $13.97
Tom Clancy's End War - $24.97

Other Deals

Xbox 360:

Xbox 360 Wireless Controller- $34.97 - save $15.00 + Free Shipping
Black Controller- White Controller

Xbox 360 120 GB Hard Drive- $139.49

PS3:

Resistance 2 Collector's Edition- $59.99
Resistance Fall of Man Sale- $19.99

It's Left 4 Dead vs Call of Duty: World at War, and Valve is Feeling the Heat From the Torches and Pitchforks

A second map pack is coming out for CoD:WaW, and will contain another zombie map.

Left 4 Dead on the other hand, is getting a sequel called Left 4 Dead 2 all ready, which has enraged fans of Valve. Apparently there's a boycott over at Steam where over 10 000 (I've also read it was as much as 16 000) fans have pledged not to buy the product when it's released.

If you were wondering- no, Modern Warfare 2 will not contain any Zombie mini-games, seeing as it's not being developed by Treyarch, like CoD:WaW was.

I still wonder if the whole Zombie thing from CoD:WaW will continue on as a separate game, seeing as it's so popular. People don't seem to care about the regular CoD:WaW multiplayer. They're still killing the undead.

Sources:

yougamers
gamenewshq.com 1- 2- 3
totalvideogames
fudzilla

2009/06/08

The Godfather Movies had a Trilogy; Games Might not

After the disappointing sales of The Godfather II, the question of whether there will be a sequel seems to have mixed answers. There are apparently "no plans" for a sequel.

I only ever played Godfather, and I wasn't that impressed with it.

The Godfather III movie was the least popular anyway. The first two were great, though.

Sources:

Bluesnews
Kotaku

Games Coming Out in June 2009- Week 2

Well the major release this week is undoubtedly Prototype.

Below is a list of all games coming out this week. The multi-platform ones are at the top, and the console exclusive ones are below that. The links all lead directly to the Amazon page where you can pick them up.

Prototype: PC- Xbox 360- PS3
Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings: PS2- Wii- Nintendo DS- PSP
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: Xbox 360- PS3- PS2- Wii- PSP
Virtua Tennis 2009: PS3- Xbox 360- Wii

Wii

EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis
Go Play Circus Star
Go Play Lumberjacks
MySims Racing - DS
Pool Hall Pro
Vertigo
Wii MotionPus

Nintendo DS

Dreamer Series: Teacher
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
LEGO Battles
Miami Law
Petz Fashion: Dogz & Catz
Puzzle City
The Legendary Starfy

PSP

Class of Heroes
Rock Band Unplugged

Sources:

shacknews

Brushing up on Metal Gear History

I spent some time today going through all of the Metal Gear Retrospectives on GameTrailers. They've been around for about a year or so, but I hadn't gone through all of them until today. The last one is probably the best, as it pieces together the whole time line from the games in the main series. There are six in total, and that means about two hours of entertainment!

It was very interesting, seeing as I haven't played most of the series. Now I want to!

I suppose I did it after I learned that Metal Gear: Rising is coming to the PC- the first game in the series to do so in eight or so years. I wish they'd port Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to the PC, and perhaps some of the others too, but that likely won't happen.

Resources:

GameTrailers- Metal Gear Retrospective

2009/06/07

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Coming to the PC

This is news. I'm not a huge fan of MGS, but I do like PC gaming, and lately it's been said that Metal Gear Solid: Rising will arrive on the PC as well as Xbox 360, instead of just being a Sony exclusive and being on PS3.

I think it's the best way to go in the recession we're currently in. You can't let Sony have all the fun, and the rest beg for scraps. You'll make more sales anyway if you cater to multiple consoles. It just makes sense.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising, also called MGS 5, will feature Raiden, who I originally thought was a woman, instead of Solid Snake (or Old Snake). The series' former tagline, "Tactical Espionage Action" or TEA, has been replaced by "Lightning Bolt Action" or LBA, to fit the new protagonist, Raiden; the word Raiden is Japanese for "Thunder and Lighting". Raiden is also the name of a character in the Mortal Kombat series.

Perhaps I'll get into MGS again now that it's coming to PC. The last time MGS ever made it to the PC, officially anyway, was when they made a port of Metal Gear Solid 2, which was ages ago. The last time I played a MGS game, was when I picked up Metal Gear Solid (1) for the PC- also a port.

Sources& Resources:

bluesnews
Rock,Paper,Shotgun
Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Rendition: Guantanamo Cancelled

I just read about a game a few days ago based on the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, infamously known for housing suspected terrorists. It was called Rendition: Guantanamo, and I instantly knew that it was a bad idea, and lo and behold, a few days later I read that it's been cancelled.

If the media went crazy about Six Days in Fallujah, whose publisher, Konami, jumped ship, then you can't expect anything less, I suppose.

America will continue to flip out about these titles for years. The war on terror hasn't officially ended, as far as I know. The troops still need to be taken out of the Middle East.

Maybe devs should wait another few decades first, like they did with WW II. They didn't have much choice then though, seeing as video gaming didn't really exist back in the 1940s...

Sources& Resources:

Bluesnews
Kotaku
Guantanamo Bay detention camp