Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 11/8/09

2009/11/14

I Need to Free up Some Hard Drive Space

The hard drive I got nearly three years ago is a SATA II 80 GB. It's nowhere near top of the range, but I am planning on perhaps buying a new hard drive some time.

In the mean time, out of 80 GB, I only have about 6GB. You can imagine how slow the thing probably runs. Sometime I've got to make a backup, do a disk defrag, do some late spring cleaning on the thing, and uninstall some of the stuff on there.

Putting Modern Warfare 2 on took up about 11.5 GB or so, and in order to accommodate this I had to take off some games that nobody plays anymore, like Prototype. I don't know, I didn't really find it that fantastic. I kept all my save games and such though.

I also took of the Trine demo, and the Trails 2 demo as well. So, now to get rid of something else perhaps.

Got Modern Warfare 2 Yesterday

Well, I got the game; the game everyone has been waiting for; the most hyped game of the year. And it is pretty damn good.

I picked up Modern Warfare 2 yesterday (just the regular standard edition, since it's for PC- not much of a choice anyway), and I played it in the early hours of this morning and this afternoon. I must say it's been a while since I've actually looked forward to every time I fire a game up, and want to play it.

Sooner or later I guess I'll do one of my RRR articles on it, but I want to play it first. I don't agree with only playing a game for like a few hours on one day before publishing a review like some sites do. I guess they're under time constraints and such, but to me it's just a hobby, a passion- not a job.

I can tell you one thing though: everyone was saying that the PC install would take up 16 GB, but I needed only 11-12 GB. Don't know about anyone else.

2009/11/13

Possible NAG January Edition DVD Highlights: The Dark Mod

Well, I was on the NAG forums just now having a look around, because I wanted to see if a new thread was open for NAG DVD suggestions. Seeing as the website has a policy that you must post 20 posts in existing threads before being able to post new threads on your own, I'm still a junior member. It cuts down on the spamming, apparently, but it's damn irritating.

Well, I had a look at the thread, which is now closed unfortunately, but I saw that somebody managed to notice The Dark Mod, and requested it be put on the January Edition of the NAG DVD (which is available in December), and put a link to ModDB before I could say anything, which is cool. The guy said it reminded him of Thief. You don't say...

This doesn't mean it will definitely be on the DVD, but I'm hoping it does make it, seeing as I am not downloading it myself. It's too big, and I'm all ready struggling to get a hold of the Duke Nukem 3D Special Polymer Edition HRP which is large enough as it is.

Other good possibilities that were suggested were:

Metal Gear Solid Philanthropy (fan-made movie)
Left for Dead 2 demo

Musical Association with Video Games: What are you Thinking?

Friday the 13th

Do you remember that old word association game, that some people claim is used by psychologists and such on their patients? Well, when you listen to music, with a particular track, there’s usually some sort of thought that comes into your mind, and every time you listen to that track, that’s what pops in your head. Sometimes it’s easy, because the theme of the song pretty much does it all for you- it’s literal. But other times, there’s some inexplicable idea that revolves in your head when you listen to a song, maybe because it can be interpreted in many ways.

Well, I’ve just been thinking about it lately, and I have some examples of video games I think about when listening to some music tracks. I’ve been listening to Megadeth’s latest album, Endgame, since it came out back in September, and there’s a track on there by the same name, “Endgame”, and when I listen to it, I first think about Thief, particularly those Hammerites, and Cragscleft prison in Thief: The Dark Project. This is probably because of the theme of the song. "Endgame" deals with the infamous Guantanamo Bay Facility. As the song progresses however, I start to think about Wolfenstein 3D or Spear of Destiny, especially like a boss level at the end of an episode. Why I think it’s perfect in this sense, is because of the lyrics:

“This is the end of the road; this is the end of the line,
This is the end of your life; this is the end.”

Also, another track that makes me think of Wolf 3D is “To Live is to Die” by Metallica, especially part of the intro riff.

Another example: While listening to "The Unforgiven", by Metallica on their black album, it may be because of James Hetfield’s emphasis on the part of the song which makes me think of Duke Nukem 3D, when you kill those alien troopers and they scream.

"What I've felt,
What I've known..."

Finally, If I listen to "Wherever I May Roam", like a posted about the other day, while listening to the intro, I think about Assassin's Creed, and as the song progresses I get images of Quake II, because parts of the song remind me of the Sonic Mayhem composed track that plays when you're in the factory levels, like the Processing Plant.

Megadeth's "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due", and Motörhead's "Assassin" also turn my thoughts to Assassin's Creed.

Weird, you say? Well, you do it too, you know.

2009/11/12

Another Direct2Drive Indie Game Sale- Volume 2: Seven Games for $24.95

Direct2Drive did this before not too long ago and now there’s a new sale on, and the bundle includes seven indie games, all for $24.95.

The game bundle includes Project Aftermath, Aquaria, I-Fluid, And Yet It Moves, Acceleration of Suguri, AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! and Crayon Physics Deluxe. The deal ends on November 16.

Best of Indie Bundle Volume 2

2009/11/11

Have you Heard of a mod Called Hypertension?

I have, but not a lot, I'll admit. I've often heard of ZBlood or Transfusion, projects which have tried to port Blood into the Doom and Quake engine, respectively. This one is also being created in a Doom based engine, but a highly tweaked form, called Hyper3dge, a variant of the EDGE engine derived from the Doom source code.

Well, I came across a news update on Planet Doom recently which talked about the Hypertension mod, and about an interview that took place on Diehard Gamefan with the team working on the project. It's been revealed that this mod will be available for PC, Mac, Linux, GP2X Whiz, and oddly enough, the Sega Dreamcast (which is why Diehard Gamefan became interested in the first place, being fans of the console, as are certain members of the team).

Since I am playing the original Blood right as we speak, I was naturally interested and decided to check it out.

It's a lot of reading to wade through, but there are some good bits, and I can't help but have the feeling that this isn't just your average mod. There will be stuff brought back from Blood, as well as the somewhat disappointing sequel, Blood II: The Chosen, as well as all new stuff too. So instead of just a straight port, there will be a fresh experience, created by having two playable characters (one of them being Caleb, our favourite sadistic maniac from the original), as well as a new story, bridging the original Blood games in an all-new take, including some new gameplay such as RPG elements. There's also some effort going into acting, cinematics, and the soundtrack too. The team seems to like blowing their own horn(s) when it comes to what they've been able to achieve with the mod, saying that even John Carmack would be impressed.

From looking at their blog, the mod seems to have been in development since last year, and all of a sudden there's this renewed interest in it, after a few trailers were released last month and this month. Supposedly the mod has been delayed.

Blood is an oft debated title, especially in modding circles, seeing as the source code for the game hasn't been released, even all these years later, while Shadow Warrior and especially Duke Nukem 3D have all gotten a lot of attention over the years with multiple source ports because the source codes for the game were released several years back. When you look at what has been accomplished with Duke 3D, with the HRP, Polymer, and Duke Plus, you just can't believe it's the same game. It's astounding.

Besides, I still haven't heard any mention of a third Blood game coming any time soon, so for the moment, Hypertension looks bloody good.

Apocalypse Then: Ten Years of Medal of Honor

Veterans Day

On this day in gaming, in 1999, Medal of Honor for the Playstation was released. Developed by DreamWorks Interactive (now EA Los Angeles) and published by Electronic Arts, it was the original title in a franchise that is hailed as one of the best World War II shooter series, and indeed one of the best First-person shooter series in the genre, often competing with other series like Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms. Indeed, some are under the impression that it is the “first ever World War II First Person Shooter”, or at least the one that springs to mind.

Now admittedly, I haven't played the original, even though I have been around Playstation consoles in the past, but I have seen it, read about it, and heard about it enough. I think I read reviews of Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor: Underground years ago, and no doubt it intrigued me a lot, and when Allied Assault was due to arrive on the PC, I was more than eager to have a go with it.

Also, the American spelling of "Honour" has also niggled me for years.

IGN (Imagine Games Network) ranked the game number 21 on their list of the "Top 25 Games of All Time" for the PlayStation, and Guinness World Records awarded the Medal of Honor series with a world record for "Best Selling First Person Shooter Series" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008.

And on top of this, the game’s story was created by Steven Spielberg, who also directed Saving Private Ryan, one the best war movies of all time, which came out a year earlier. The Medal of Honor series is often considered to be related to this film, as Spielberg is associated with both, and his name crops up in the credits for more than one of the games in the franchise. Of course another name which has become synonymous with Medal of Honor is Dale Dye, a retired USMC Captain, who served in the Vietnam War, who has been in the movie and video game business for the last twenty something years, and has worked on numerous high-profile war and action films, and not to mention MoH, where he served as the game's military advisor, and has maintained this position on most other MoH titles.

In Medal of Honor, the player takes on the role of Lieutenant James Steven Patterson (or Jimmy Patterson for short), an American soldier and OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA) operative during World War II , and this has become a theme somewhat, at least initially, with the first few titles, with Manon Batiste being with the French resistance, and Lieutenant Mike Powell in Allied Assault also being an OSS operative. Stealth, intelligence gathering, fighting behind enemy lines, sabotage, infiltration and such played a role in these games, but this style of play was abandoned in later sequels.

Lately, as of the last year or more, there have been rumours and even official talk of a new Medal of Honor title, and the last time I read about this was indeed on the eve of the series’ tenth anniversary. There are reportedly plans, although much of this could be speculation, that this title will take place in a more modern setting, such as its contemporary series, Call of Duty, which received its latest incarnation just this week: Modern Warfare 2.

It’s said that the MoH series will drop its long-lasting World War II theme and follow in Infinity Ward’s footsteps. To this day, we have yet to see any real evidence of this. No screenshots, concept art; not much at all.

Medal of Honor titles:

Medal of Honor (Lt. Jimmy Patterson) - (PlayStation) - 1999
Medal of Honor: Underground (Manon Batiste) - (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance) - 2000
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (Lt. Mike Powell) - (Linux, Windows, Mac OS) - 2002
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - Spearhead (Sgt. Jack Barnes) - (Linux, Windows, Mac OS)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - Breakthrough (Sgt. John Baker) - (Linux, Windows, Mac OS)
Medal of Honor: Frontline (Lt. Jimmy Patterson) - (Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube) - 2002
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (Cpl/Sgt. Joseph Griffin) - (Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube) - 2003
Medal of Honor: Infiltrator (Cpl. Jake Murphy) - (Game Boy Advance) - 2003
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (Pvt/Pfc/Lcpl/Cpl/Sgt. Tommy Conlin) - (Windows) - 2004
Medal of Honor: European Assault (Lt. William Holt) - (Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube) - 2005
Medal of Honor: Heroes (Lt. Jimmy Patterson, Lt. William Holt, Sgt. John Baker) - (PlayStation Portable) - 2006
Medal of Honor: Vanguard (Cpl/Sgt. Frank Keegan) - (PlayStation 2, Wii) - 2007
Medal of Honor: Airborne (Pfc/Cpl. Boyd Travers) - (Windows, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Mobile) - 2007
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Lt. John Berg) - (PlayStation Portable, Wii) – 2007
Latest Medal of Honor title (TBA)

2009/11/10

Video Game Character Lookalikes: Duke Nukem

So, last night on Carte Blanche, I spotted a new Duke Nukem lookalike that the world has likely never seen or heard of.

His name is...

...Mike Bolhuis

Okay, so it's a Duke Nukem who's aged a bit, perhaps in his forties or so. Still, the flat top hairstyle is quite similar.

Come Get Some: Just Installed Duke Nukem 3D Again

Well, I've been playing all the other major build games this year: Shadow Warrior, Blood, and Redneck Rampage. So, I suddenly got the urge to put Duke Nukem 3D back on. This is the first time ever that I've had all of the big four on my hard drive. I've got so many old games on my PC it just isn't funny. They take up a lot of space, especially when you've got source ports and HRPs for most of them.

I had to get out one of my backup DVDs and get all of my outdated DN3D stuff out. I download the latest EDuke32 (with Polymer) and Duke Plus, as well as some other stuff, but the latest HRP pack and addons is another story.

I've got data to spare, but I can't blow it all on that stuff.

Rumblings: A Minesweeping Adventure Game?

I like weekends because news is usually slow, and a lot of sites out there take Saturday or Sunday off, or else just a bunch of uninteresting things. Big Download however had something that raised an eyebrow of mine just the other day, when they posted about a rumour of an adventure game based on the Minesweeper game that comes with Windows, in the games section of your start menu, along with all the other more card-oriented games, like Solitaire.

It seems a bit far-fetched to say the least, but G4TV says that Revolution Software, the British lads behind classics like Beneath a Steel Sky, and the Broken Sword series are actually developing the title. The game will reportedly have characters and a story, telling you all about why there are mines all over the place.

I don't know about Minesweeper, but I certainly spent more than a few hours in total on Hearts. Microsoft Hearts is actually a version of Hearts called Black Lady, or Black Maria, by the way.

As for this Minesweeper game, it's supposedly by a studio with a reputation for producing good games, and I can just imagine the scene: it's like a war game which places you in control of a minesweeper, kind of like the sapper from Commandos, and you have to go through minefields...and sweep for mines...and disarm them...or get blown up. That should be fun. It sounds weird, but perhaps possible. But I doubt it would ever really be a major title.

People really are scavenging around for video game ideas nowadays. But then again, it is just a rumour.

Classic Games Resurrected: Redneck Rampage Published

Well, I got to it today, and published the article I wrote about yesterday. I know I said that I would have it done by the end of the week, but I thought, why not publish it and have it up now? I can always come back and add to it later. I feel guilty when they're saved unpublished.

So, as usual, there are some pictures, lots of info, and some links to sites of interest- the ones that are still active to this day.

Classic Games Resurrected: Redneck Rampage

2009/11/09

Classic Games Resurrected: Redneck Rampage Coming Soon

Okay, so I've bought some airtime and a data bundle. I reckon either today or tomorrow, I'll start working on building the latest in my Classic Games Resurrected series, Redneck Rampage. It should be up and finished by the end of the week, hopefully.

I got through Redneck Rampage and Suckin' Grits on Route 66, but I've yet to play Redneck Rampage Rides Again, but when I do, I'll just update the hub with the info, although I've all ready got some stuff about it on there.

I've kind of gone back to playing Blood lately, and like I said the other day, I'll soon update the Blood hub with some other stuff. I'll likely update a few of my hubs some time in the future.

New Stalker: Call of Pripyat DirectX 11 Screenshots

There are a whole batch of new (22) screenshots of Stalker: Call of Pripyat, showing off some DirectX 11 visuals at maximum detail. They certainly do look pretty.

Time to upgrade I guess.

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http://www.pcgameshardware.com

Video Game-Inspired Fan-Fiction Novels Coming Your Way

It seems as though video game-inspired fan-fiction novels are all the rage at the moment. There are three coming out by the end of the year that I’ve read about: Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance, Splinter Cell: Endgame, and the one I’ve heard most about, The Elder Scrolls: The Infernal City.

The first to hit will be The Elder Scrolls: The Infernal City, written by by Greg Keyes, which will be published by Del Rey on the 24th of November. There were recently hints in the novel’s blurb that alluded to a fifth Elder Scrolls game, and this blurb was subsequently taken down, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure that Bethesda would never drop one of their most successful franchises. There’s and excerpt from The Infernal City available online right now at randomhouse.com. It’s not bad, I guess. I had a read of it today.

The second one, following close behind, is Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance, written by Oliver Bowden, which will be published by Penguin on 26th November, just after the game’s release, which is scheduled for the 20th. It’s funny because there was initially a trilogy of books planned for the Assassin’s Creed series, including The Invisible Imam, but they were cancelled. There’s a description of the novel, Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance, on Amazon.

The third one I’ve read about is to be published by Berkley, and indeed based on another Ubisoft game- Splinter Cell: Endgame (not to be confused with EndWar, another Tom Clancy title, or Megadeth’s latest album, Endgame). This one is going to be released in December, and is based on the Splinter Cell series. In addition to this, there will be a novel based on HAWX, predictably called Tom Clancy's HAWX. They are both written by a "David Michaels" which is said to be a pseudonym used by many different authors.

When's the last time that Tom Clancy wrote a novel, anyway? It's just become a brand name.

The only novel that doesn’t have a tie-in title to speak of is the Elder Scrolls novel, it seems.

AAA Update: Weird Arial Font Anomaly and 700 posts

It was funny for a while, but then I became quite worried. For the past few months I've been using and experimenting with different fonts on AAA. My Arial font became messed up for some reason or other. And this not only happened on the blog, but also on every website I visited, and even on my desktop. I got kind of worried, thinking it might be some sort of virus or something.

Anyway, the other day, I went in to my fonts folder in Windows and all I did was try to copy and paste the font, thinking that it would correct the problem. I found I couldn't copy it though, so I exited out of that folder, and what do you know, something clicked and my Arial font is back to normal. I prefer using this as my standard font to some of the others, as Times New Roman is too small at its average size. I also once heard that people who use Times New Roman are unoriginal, and don't know how to change the font.

On another note, AAA has now reached, and exceeded 700 posts, whether it's about updates to the blog, news, reviews or other things I've published, or just plain old random magic.

2009/11/08

Video Games Coming Out in November 2009- 11/8 - 11/14: Modern Warfare 2

Eidos Montréal Open House Next Week

I read this at the ttlg forums recently. A person named René posted that there would be an open house at Eidos Montréal on Sunday November 15 for the afternoon, and that everybody is able to attend (open house). Why should this appeal to people? Because you can “ask questions” about Deus Ex 3 and Thi4f, and possibly get to see some stuff related to those games, as well as more, like prize draws.

Of course, the love-starved guys over at ttlg were more interested in hitting on this person, René (which may or may not be a woman, seeing as the last time I checked, René is a unisex name).

Of course someone was able to overcome their hormones and request that anybody who does attend should take a camera and get some shots, seeing as there could be some classified stuff about the aforementioned titles, because you’ll apparently be able to “view workstations related to art, animation and design”. So, I’ll definitely check back to see if anything else is posted there or elsewhere.

There’s a Facebook page with all the details and such, but you have to have a Facebook account, and be logged in, to see it.

So if you can’t be bothered, here are the details:

Date: Sunday, 15 November 2009
Time: 11:00 - 18:00
Location: 400 de Maisonneuve West, 6th floor, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Direct2Drive is not Selling Modern Warfare 2

It was revealed recently that Modern Warfare 2 is another awful Steamworks title, and Direct2Drive has stood up and said that Modern Warfare 2 will not be available for download at its online store. Other digital distribution outlets like Impulse and GamersGate have followed suit, and also won’t sell the game. It looks like Steam will be the only one that will have the game for sale.

D2D said it will make up for not selling the game by having another $5 off sale, this time on Activision titles, which includes Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2’s prequel, as well as almost Call of Duty title. I've just checked their catalogue, and even though Modern Warfare 2 appears on it, it isn't for sale.

Jeez, all these announcements about Modern Warfare 2 lately. You’d think that the game is going to bomb, but there is no way in hell that it will. It’s almost like Infinity Ward, and Activision know that the game is going to be “one of the best selling games of all time”, and so they can get away with whatever they want, and people will still buy it, boycotts and petitions, or not.

At least Direct2Drive seems to have had enough of all the controversy surrounding the title, and has the b@lls to stand up to the man. I admire that. Now I wish the game would just be released so I don’t have to read this in my news feeds all the time. That’s doesn’t mean that people will stop whining about it though. I think those who play the singleplayer campaign will be relatively satisfied, where as the multiplayer peeps will be forever pi$$ed.

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http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25944
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/11/06/non-steam-digital-deliverers-uninterested-selling-mw2

Duke Nukem Manhattan Project Possibly Coming to XBLA

This is being speculated as being the announcement that Scott Miller hinted to on his Facebook page, and George Broussard on Shacknews.

It was found on one Rebecca Heineman's, nickname burgerbecky, LinkedIn Profile page, as well as some archived forum, by Gamerbytes, and was also covered on duke4.net.

Duke Nukem Manhattan Project wasn't a bad game. I've played it a few times over the years, but not for a while now.

It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but it would be a pity if it is, seeing as everyone’s hopes were raised, thinking that it could be something to do with Duke Nukem Forever. All Scott Miller has said apparently, is that the announcement was Duke-related, but didn’t say any further.

I guess soon we’ll find out what the announcement is for sure and probably from Shacknews. 3DR seems to like hanging out there.