Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 8/30/09

2009/09/05

PS3 Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Has Sold Out

I just read that the PS3 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition has sold out.

So, if you have an Xbox 360 , then you've still got a chance to get a hold of those night visions goggles. If not, then tough. At least you had a chance, unlike PC gamers. They didn't get the Hardened Edition or the Prestige Edition.

This Week's Video Game Releases and Deals on Direct2Drive

New Releases

Section 8

F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Raven Squad

Foreign Legion

Champions Online

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim Gold Edition

Deals

Dragon Age Origins Deluxe Edition is now available for

Get $5 OFF Crysis Maximum Edition for PC at D2D now through Sunday

Price Drop! Nation Red is now $9.95

2009/09/03

Classic Games Resurrected Hubs Updated

After a string of technical issues, I am finally able to continue publishing hubs over at HubPages.com.

I took the opportunity to update my CGR hubs. There's been some new info added, and mainly new touches to the photo capsules, with thumbnails instead of the pictures being under one another, which makes it look tidier.

These are the hubs that have been updated or edited in some way:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Blood-Game
http://hubpages.com/hub/Doom
http://hubpages.com/hub/Classic-Games-Resurrected--Doom-2 (Fixed broken link in resources capsule, still seeking replacement)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Duke-Nukem-3D
http://hubpages.com/hub/Rise-of-the-Triad (new info on ROTT reboot and updated ROTT Franchise capsule)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Shadow-Warrior
http://hubpages.com/hub/System-Shock-2
http://hubpages.com/hub/Thief-The-Dark-Project
http://hubpages.com/hub/Wolfenstein-3D (Updated Wolfenstein Franchise capsule)

For all of these hubs and more, check here.

I haven't worked on any new articles of this type for a while- one reason being the aforementioned technical issues, as well as working on other projects. I should have some new RRR articles up some time as well. RRR is my series of Recent Release Reviews. I've been playing Wolfenstein lately, so I might have a review up about that game soon, hopefully. I've got other unfinished reviews sitting on my hard-drive that I should put up as well.

I'm also thinking of branching off on CGR articles, since it takes a lot of work and research to do these types of articles, and not every classic game has received the attention as far as modernizing or customizing goes, sadly.

Yesterday I did publish a new article on my other profile, though.

2009/09/02

Rise of the Triad sale at GoG.com

Speaking of Rise of the Triad, you might be interested to know that GoG.com, or Good Old Games, has a sale over there now which gives you 10% on Rise of the Triad: Dark War, which usually goes for $5.99. It also comes with some additional levels and the game's soundtrack. The deal ends on Sunday.

GoG says that the deal is on due to the news of a ROTT reboot by Apogee, revealed by Scott Miller last month, which may or may not be out in the next ten years, if DNF is anything to go by.

Sources& Resources:

Rise of the Triad now on sale at GoG.com
Hidden Gem of the Week: Rise of the Triad
http://www.gog.com/en/editorial/hidden_gem_of_the_week_rise_of_the_triad/
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/rise_of_the_triad__dark_war

Tom Hall’s Birthday Today

Today, in 1964, Tom Hall psychotically screamed into the world. He turns 45 today.

To me Tom Hall was really just a name on a screen until Rise of the Triad, or more specifically, the ROTT Goodies pack, which came out in 2005 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Rise of the Triad: Dark War. It was only then I witnessed the truly evil genius behind the game.

Tom Hall is not just a name after all though, because he is one of the original four horsemen, along with John Carmack, John Romero, and Adrian Carmack, who worked at Softdisk, and went onto form id Software, which was bought by ZeniMax Media this year after 17 years of independence.

Tom Hall was the creative director at id and worked on games like Commander Keen, which he claims is quite similar to his childhood, Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Doom. Tom left id after some design disputes over Doom with John Carmack. Tom wrote much if not all of the Doom bible, the original design document, which reveals a lot of features that didn’t make it into Doom. He did design several levels in Doom and Doom II however, referred to as the "Tom Hall levels", although they were modified by John Romero and Sandy Petersen.

He then went off to join Apogee (later 3D Realms). There he was able to release his creative genius on the world with Rise of the Triad. He also had things to do with other projects at 3D Realms, like Duke Nukem 3D. While working on Prey, which was later cancelled and released ten years later, in 2006, he left 3D Realms.

Tom Hall joined up again with John Romero and co-founded Ion Storm. Since then he’s gone on to Monkeystone Games, Midway, and nowadays he is at KingIsle Entertainment.

Facts about Tom Hall:

He is the creator of the Dopefish, which has appeared in games like the Commander Keen series, Quake, and many others.
Tom Hall may be psychotic.
Tom Hall has a hell of an imagination, and this is evidenced by his usual roles in the creative department at the various companies he's worked at.
Unlike John Romero, Tom Hall has never been known for having great hair.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Sources & Resources:

TOMTOMTOM.com
Tom Hall on Twitter
Tom Hall wiki
Tom Hall wikia
Tom Hall on MobyGames
Dopefish.com

2009/09/01

Video Game Deals on Direct2Drive

FEAR 2: Project Origin- 10% off

$5 off the AaaaAAaaa! pre-order

Tom Clancy's HAWX is now $29.95

Dawn of War II is now $39.95

World War II: The 70th Anniversary

It’s been seventy years since the beginning of World War II. Today, September 1st, back in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, which is generally taken as being the beginning of the Nazi attempt to take over Europe.

Many video games have featured World War II as a back-story, whether based on real-life events, or entirely fictional. We’ve had many successful series, like Wolfenstein, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942& 3, and Brothers in Arms but to mention a few- and these are only a few of the most popular FPS games. There are also numerous strategy titles like Commandos, Sudden Strike and Company of Heroes too.

I read in two places that there are nearly 200 games based in WW II (183 when the article was published on 1up.com).

These are some of my favourites of all time:

Wolfenstein 3D
Spear of Destiny
ROTT
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Call of Duty
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Call of Duty 2
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Call of Duty: World at War
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway
Wolfenstein
Commandos
Commandos 2
Commandos 3

I hope sometime in the future to do more features on World War II video games.

Thank you to all the brave men and women who fought or contributed in some way during World War II.

Apocalypse Then: Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Developers: Point of View, Inc. (Saturn), Avalanche Software (PlayStation), Williams Entertainment (N64)
Publishers: Midway, Williams Entertainment
Series: Mortal Kombat
Engine: Updated UMK 3
Platforms: Nintendo 64, PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Game.com
Release date: September 1, 1996
Genres: Fighting

On this day in gaming, in 1996, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was released.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy combines practically everything from Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, hence the name "Trilogy".

Back in the 90s, I was obsessed with this game. I picked it up at a reasonable price at a local secondhand shop.

My favourite character was Sub-Zero, of which there were two, the masked (older, who is now Noob Saibot), and the unmasked (younger). In fact, this is the first out of two games in the series, the other being Armageddon, to feature all the ninjas, except this game just had them as palette swaps with different moves.

I was unable to play this game on Microsoft Windows XP for years, until I discovered a patch on a fansite, totalmortalkombat.com that makes this possible. Replaying the game while listening to Megadeth, especially Countdown to Extinction, was like going back in time.

Out of all the classic MK games I've ever played, I maintain that this is one of, if not the best, even though there are others who feel differently, particularly those who got one of the console versions.

You can pick up Mortal Kombat Trilogy here if you want to play a classic.

2009/08/31

Apocalypse Then- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

Developers: Bethesda Softworks
Publishers: Bethesda Softworks
Series: The Elder Scrolls
Engine: XnGine
Platforms: MS-DOS
Release dates: 31 August, 1996
Genres: RPG

On this day in gaming, in 1996, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was released.

Daggerfall is the second game in the Elder Scrolls series, and is often considered by some to be the best in the franchise. The game, interestingly, has the largest game world, although most of it was randomly generated. The game also has six different endings.

The game was released as freewar e this year by Bethesda, the game's developers.

There's also a source port for the game, originally meant for MS-DOS, called DaggerXL which will eventually allow people to play the game on modern systems.

You can pick up The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall for free here if you want to play a classic. Otherwise you can also try Arena (also free), Morrowind, or Oblivion.

Video Games Coming Out Soon: 8/30 - 9/5

Well, I'm playing Wolfenstein at the moment (it came out last week), and liking it a lot. Can't really see anything here that I would want, so it looks like there'll be no pick of the week this time.

Mini Ninjas is mentioned a lot, and is one of the multi-platform releases this week along with Guitar Hero 5.

As usual, links go through to the game's pages at Amazon.com or other relevant site. And the ones without links I couldn't find, or aren't available.

PC

Champions Online
Mini Ninjas
Section 8

PlayStation 2

Cabela's Outdoor Adventure
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Bundle with Van Halen Offer

PlayStation 3

Cabela's Outdoor Adventure
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Bundle with Van Halen Offer
Mini Ninjas
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander's Challenge
Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection
NBA 2K10: Draft Combine

Xbox 360

Cabela's Outdoor Adventure
Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Bundle with Van Halen Offer
Guitar Hero 5
Mini Ninjas
Section 8
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander's Challenge
Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection

Wii

Cabela's Outdoor Adventure
Cruise Ship Vacation Games
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Bundle with Van Halen Offer
Mini Ninjas
Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Nintendo DS

Mini Ninjas
7 Wonders II

PSP

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
Fate/Unlimited Codes

Sources:

Shacknews
Kotaku

Halo 3: ODST has Been Leaked

People always shake their heads when they see yet another PC title leaked and pirated, and go on about how PC gaming is dying, and PC gamers are scum. Well, this time it's a major Xbox 360 title, and so I get to do the honours.

Halo 3: ODST has been leaked, and Microsoft is investigating it at this time.

So remember: Buy it, don't even try it. Piracy is illegal, and you are a criminal if you partake in the activity. And yes, you probably will go to hell as well.

Rather pre-order the game here. Tsk, tsk.

2009/08/30

Loads of Xbox 360 Deals at Amazon

Video Game Trade-In of the Day! Trade in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (Xbox 360) for a $29.00 Amazon Gift Card

Buy an Xbox 360 Arcade at $199 and get a free game!

Take your Xbox 360 online! Save $27 on the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter

Accessorize your new Xbox 360; up to 44% off on Xbox 360 controllers!

Celebrate the Xbox 360 Price Cut in style with 360’s best games! Platinum Hits are buy 2 get 1 free!

Buy an Xbox 360 Pro at $249 and choose 1 game free! Pick from Halo 3, Fable 2, or Halo Wars

Buy an Xbox 360 Elite at $299 and get a Digital 12+1 Month Xbox LIVE Subscription free!

Xbox 360 Price Cut is here! Great deals on $299 Elite, $249 Pro and $199 Arcade

DaggerXL- a Daggerfall Source Port in the Works

I came across something interesting for a change yesterday on TTLG.com, and that was something called DaggerXL.

DaggerXL is a source port for Daggerfall, the second game in The Elder Scrolls series, which was made freeware recently by Bethesda. DaggerXL was started recently, like in July this year or so, soon after the freeware release.

I got Daggerfall off of a NAG cover DVD recently, and tried to get it working with DosBox. I installed it, but couldn’t manage to get it to work. I usually don’t like messing around with DosBox, it must be said. It’s a good idea, don’t get me wrong, but as the DB team themselves say, if you can find a source port, then rather use that, as using DosBox doesn’t always provide the best experience. Besides, a source port will naturally look and run a lot nicer on our modern systems, and I was convinced that it would only be a matter of time before someone undertook this as a project.

So, I am quite interested in this source port then, and word has it that work is speeding along quite nicely. I’d like to get a hold of a version sometime soon, as I hear that Daggerfall is arguably the best in the series of TES games, and I, like a lot of people, haven’t played it…yet. Hell, there are some people who haven't played Morrowind or Oblivion. I'm glad I'm not one of those weirdos.