Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 6/21/09

2009/06/27

Obsidian's Alien RPG Project is Dead

After a long silence on the subject, it's been revealed that this game will likely never be seen. Earlier this month, it was said that it was still in development, but the Alien RPG, rumoured to be called Alien: Crucible has been cancelled.

The other two Alien games, Alien vs Predator and Aliens: Colonial Marines, an FPS and tactical FPS respectively, are still scheduled for a 2010 release, with the former getting a lot of attention. It was showcased at E3 2009 recently.

I still think part of the reason why the Alien RPG was cancelled was because of other projects on Obsidian's plate, like Fallout: New Vegas, among others. It's a shame, since I would have looked forward to playing it, but it was basically just another vapourware title which was kept on the shelf, gathering dust for years.

Sources:

Obsidian's Aliens RPG Officially Nuked from Orbit
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/obsidians-aliens-rpg-officially-finished/1492/
http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showtopic=52620
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59150

Weekly Video Game Pictures& Videos Collection- Week 4, June 2009

Assassin's Creed: 1
BioShock 2: 1 - 2 - 3
Wolfenstein: 1
Fallout 3: 1 - 2
Modern Warfare 2: 1
Mass Effect 2: 1
Max Payne 3: 1
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood: 1
Battlefield 1943: 1

2009/06/26

Michael Jackson has Passed Away

I learned this morning that Michael Jackson, the king of pop, died yesterday. He was 50. The official cause of death still has to be determined, but some claim it was a heart attack. His family however, claims it was due to an overdose on Demerol.

Jackson led a life plagued with difficulties, including being diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin disease, as well as lupus. He underwent numerous surgeries on his face, and was rumoured to have suffered from anorexia nervosa. And not to mention the allegations of being a child-molester.

Michael is well known for having received the nickname of "Wacko Jacko" from cruel journalists.

Apart from all the jokes about Michael Jackson, the person, one can't deny that he was definitely an incredible performer, and such a big influence on music.

People are saying that a star from the 80s, an icon, has faded, once and for all.

ZeniMax Buys id Software= Bethidsda

This is the latest big news doing the rounds:

Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax, bought the legendary id Software, which was independent for eighteen years until recently, and responsible for some of the most ground-breaking games of all time. Think Wolfenstein 3D- the grandaddy of FPS titles, Doom, and Quake, and the successors in each of those series. Not to mention the idTech engines which have been used by many games.

John Romero, one of the co-founders of id Software, was initially appauled at the whole situation, calling it "disgusting", but later changing his tune and apologising for his earlier comments:

"ZENIMAX??????? Disgusting."

"Fallout 3 bought DOOM. Wow."

"I am positive about the Zenimax deal. My initial reaction was harsh. Sorry."

"I guess I was shocked and sad to see the id Software of old changed forever today. It's a new day and a new id."

This whole situation won't affect any of id's games in development, like Wolfenstein (by Raven), or Rage, or Doom 4. Part of the reason why id made the deal with ZeniMax was apparently so they could enlarge their studio, and develop more of their games internally, a concern of some of the publishers id has talked to. In the past, a few companies such as Grey Matter, Neversoft, Activision, Splash Damage, and Raven have handled the making of some id's games.

Some might scream "id sold out!", but others claim that it's a good situation as far as the fans are concerned, as more games might be developed, and might come out sooner too. Others think of the possibilties as far as Bethesda and id Software as a joint venture are concerned- not that it will happen, but still. Speaking of which, Fallout 3 is being credited as helping to seal the deal between the two companies.

Sources:

id's John Carmack Explains ZeniMax Acquisition, Discusses Future Plans
id Software Acquired by Bethesda Owner ZeniMax
Industry Responds to id Software Acquisition; Co-founder Romero Labels Deal 'Disgusting'
http://twitter.com/theromero/status/2320540931

2009/06/25

Apocalypse Then: Korean War Begins

On this day in history, the Korean War, technically one of the longest wars in history, started in 1950. Even though major hostilities stopped with the signing of an armistice, this conflict from the cold war era continues to this day.

Many refer to the war in the 1950s as the "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War", since it took place between World War 2 and the Vietnam War, which both garnered much more attention.

Combat flared up again in the 60s and 70s in what is known as the Second Korean War.

This year North Korea pulled out of the armistice and is now threatening nuclear war against the United States.

There have been only a few video games that have featured the Korean War, the most recent one called Korea: Forgotten Conflict.

Others include:

Mig Alley
Sabre Ace: Conflict Over Korea
Twin Calibre: 688 Attack Sub + Chuck Yeager's Air Combat
Conflict: Korea the First Year 1950-1951
Chuck Yeager's Air Combat
MacArthur's War: Battles for Korea
M*A*S*H

Maybe it's about time we had a good game based on the Korean War?

2009/06/24

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Save Over 20% on Verbatim 320 GB USB 2.0 / Firewire Portable Hard Drive

Save Instantly on Adobe Photoshop Elements 7

HP Laptop and Desktop Best Deals

Amazon-Exclusive Toshiba Laptops Starting Under $650

Hitachi 1 TB SATA Internal Hard Drive for $79.99

$50 Rebate on HP DV2 12.1-Inch Laptop

New Low Prices on Select Sony Laptops

Save on Targus Checkpoint-Friendly Laptop Bags

Get Geared Up with Belkin Laptop Accessories

Canon Laser Printers at Serious Savings

Instant Savings on Belkin PC Accessories

Command& Conquer 4 on the Way?

A survey was conducted asking people about what they would like to see as far as the C&C series goes, which has led to speculation that Command& Conquer 4 is under development. It likely won't be out any time soon though if it is, seeing as C&C 3 was only out in 2007, and Red Alert 3 in 2008 with an expansion, Uprising, this year.

Apparently this C&C will be the last one.

I visited the site myself, but it states that the "survey has been closed, please close your browser".

Why close my browser when I can just close the tab?

I'm surprised it didn't say "this page will self-destruct in ten seconds".

Sources:

C&C 4 in development?

Command & Conquer 4 Official Survey Conducted

C&C Survey

2009/06/23

The End for Duke Nukem, or is it Only Just the Beginning?

Lately there's been a resurgence of news regarding Duke Nukem Forever and the whole 3DR-T2 situation. The latest is that 3DR has filed a countersuit against Take-Two.

Apparently another Duke Nukem game was in development at 2K Games until this year when all of a sudden the project was either halted or cancelled. This game was to be titled Duke Begins- a working title, and was scheduled for a 2010 release. This was the game reportedly involved in the publishing deal between T2 and 3DR back in 2007 for $ 2 500 000.

3DR now believes that there's some sort of conspiracy, or another bully tactic, conducted by Take-Two and 2K Games to pressure 3DR to sell the Duke Nukem IP (Intellectual Property).

Some people report that 3DR might still be working on Duke Nukem Forever, even though the DNF team is gone.

So, that's TWO Duke Nukem games we might never see. Three strikes and you're out...

Sources:

3D Realms Countersuit Reveals Continuing Duke Nukem Forever Work, New Duke Game
http://www.shacknews.com/docs/press/20090518_dnf_3dr_.x

Shia LaBeouf Hates the Wii, Gamers go WAA!

It's been reported quite a bit lately that in an interview with Big Download, Shia LaBeouf, the unfunny, ham-acting little brat, claimed to like the PS3 and Xbox 360, but hates the Wii. Several video game journos have cried over the whole thing and made sarcastic comments, slamming Shia's movies, like Transformers and Indiana Jones, in retaliation.

In other news, Mr. President, Barry Obama, says that videogames are unhealthy and will lead to kids getting fat. Peter Moore from the EA Sports division of Electronic Arts has challenged Mr. President to a Wii fitness duel.

Sources:

Shia LaBeouf Totally Hates The Wii
Obama: "Step away from the video games," kids
Peter Moore Challenges Obama to a Fitness-Off
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SXNAtwYMBw

2009/06/22

Carnival of Video Game Bloggers, June 2009 edition

The latest carnival is up at prosody, and here's a bit of self-promotion that I'm chuffed about: my posts that I submitted were among some of the best!

"In the meantime, let’s crack on with some awesome posts, including some fantastic reads from Eric Gargiulo and Apocalypso – thanks to everyone who contributed for another varied and fascinating Carnival."

On another note, James Newton, the man who runs the show, is looking for someone else to host the carnival for next month, due to other obligations.

Apocalypse Then: Deus Ex

Developer: Ion Storm Inc.
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Designers: Warren Spector, Harvey Smith
Engine: Unreal Engine
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation 2
Release date: June 22, 2000
Genres: Action RPG

On this day in gaming, in 2000, Deus Ex was released. It has won many awards and is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time.

After the first version for PC was released, A Mac one was quick to follow, and after that a PS2 version titled Deus Ex: The Conspiracy came out in 2002.

A sequel came out in 2003, Deus Ex: Invisible War, for both PC and Xbox, which was met with mixed reactions, with some branding it Deus Ex Lite, citing that it had been given the same treatment as Thief Deadly Shadows by Ion Storm.

Eidos Montreal is currently developing a prequel, Deus Ex 3, scheduled for a 2010 release.

A Deus Ex film was talked about years ago, but seems to have either been cancelled or stuck in development hell.

You can pick up Deus Ex here if you want to play a classic. Otherwise you can also try Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition.

Check here for more.

Uwe Boll's Birthday Today

Jeff Hitchcock cc-by-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uwe_Boll_Dungeon_Siege.jpg

Uwe Boll was born on this day in 1965, in Wermelskirchen, Germany. He turns 44 today.

Uwe Boll is an independent film director, producer and screenwriter of films often adapted from video games. They tend to be rubbish, too.

He is often ridiculed as the worst director of all time, although his earlier films, or those not based on video games, were received better than those of the last decade or so.

Some have gone as far as to suggest that Uwe Boll is the Antichrist, and several thousand people have started a petition to get Boll out of the movie business.

In April 2008, The Guardian ran an article claiming Boll had promised to retire if an online petition at PetitionOnline.com, "Stop Dr. Uwe Boll", asking him to do so received 1,000,000 signatures.

As of June 22, 2009, there are 336381 signatures. Sign Here! Happy Birthday Uwe!

Boll still holds out for a pro-Boll petition. There are two that I know of, "Long Live Uwe Boll", and "Pro-Uwe Boll petition". They have 6826 and 74 Signatures respectively.

He is also known for challenging his critics to boxing matches, the series known as Raging Boll, a play on a film starring Robert DeNiro, called Raging Bull, which is ironically a good film.

Filmography

Director

The Storm (2009)
Darfur (2009)
Stoic (2009)
Far Cry (2008)
1968 Tunnel Rats (2008)
BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007)
Postal (2007)
Seed (2007)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)
BloodRayne (2005)
Alone in the Dark (2005)
House of the Dead (2003)
Heart of America (2002)
Blackwoods (2002)
Sanctimony (2000) (TV)
Amoklauf (1994)
Barschel - Mord in Genf? (1993)
German Fried Movie (1991)

Producer Only

Alone in the Dark II (2008) (producer)
They Wait (2007) (executive producer)
Angels Don't Sleep Here (2001)
Fíaskó (2000)

Uwe Boll was also interested in making a Metal Gear Solid movie, but was tricked by someone claiming to work for Konami. When Konami learned of this, they claimed they would never make a film with him.

The only movie I recall seeing of Uwe's was In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Such a great cast, and yet the movie tanked. It was one of his worst commercial failures.

2009/06/21

Games Coming Out in June 2009- Week 4

June 21- Father's Day (holiday)

ArmA II (Steam)- PC
Fallout 3: Point Lookout- PC - Xbox 360
Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404)- PC
Dawn of Discovery (Anno: Create a New World)- Wii - NDS
Overlord II- PC - PS3 - Xbox 360
Overlord Minions- NDS
Overlord Dark Legend- Wii
Spore Galactic Adventures- PC
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- PC - PS2 - PS3 - Xbox 360 - Wii - PSP
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- Autobots Version - Decepticons Version
Fight Night Round 4- PS3 - Xbox 360
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires- PS3 - Xbox 360
Little League 2009 World Series Baseball- Wii - NDS
Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil- Wii - + 2 Zapper Guns Bundle
The Conduit- Wii
Classic Word Games- NDS
My Healthy Cooking Coach- NDS
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor- NDS
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite- PSP

Source:

The Video Game Release List of 6/21 - 6/27