I’ve just seen that a demo for the eagerly anticipated new Tomb Raider game has been made avaliable for download at FileShack. The 476Mb demo set in Bolivia could well be worth a try to see if they’ve managed to turn this franchise around.
I haven’t tried it myself yet but I’m looking forward to doing so, if I can tear myself away from Oblivion that is…
When the 1.10 patch was released, gamers found that the downloader stayed on even after they were done downloading the patch. It was found that the downloader was using their bandwidth to share the patch with others who were downloading the patch (thereby exhibiting BitTorrent-like functions.) Well after a storm was raised about that, Blizzard decided to update the downloader to allow you to optionally choose to enable this feature.
But many WOW players still weren’t happy. A poster called Glorinus argued: “The simple fact is, is that I NEVER agreed to be a patch mule for Blizzard and you never informed me of this fact when I signed up (nor have you updated the Terms Of Service)… You knowingly piggy-backed software onto my computer without my knowledge, thus it should be considered spyware.
Christopher Spence has filed a $5 million class action lawsuit (.pdf file) against Ubisoft for judiciously using the Starforce DRM in their games. Found this story at Kotaku. Here’s his complaint:
Starforce DRM can compromise Windows operating systems’ security. Any virtus or trojan can control a computer by and through the Stareforce DRM installeed on the computer, despite the security measures taken in newer versions of Windows.
Users receive no notice that removing Starforce DRM is necessary to prevent possible security compromises on their computer systems. Worse, removal of a Starforce Title does not always remove Starforce DRM software.
That wasn’t written very well, but it’s interesting nevertheless whether the case is heard, or thrown out. It is interesting that this is against Ubisoft and not Starforce, but if the case is won, I imagine it would have some repurcusions for Starforce if other publishers become wary of using their product. It’d also be interesting to see Starforce’s reponse on the matter.
Lots of demos for you to try this weekend, and the latest one is from the Rise of Nations people, with a demo to try out the Rise of Legends game. You’ll have to download 620MB and it comes with a campaign and skirmish mode, and be able to choose from one of three races. Info from the official site:
In Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends™ you lead vast fantasy armies into massive, strategic battles, raise your civilization from a tiny village to globe-spanning empire, and help guide a young inventor’s struggle to unravel his world’s ancient past and unite its people against an unimaginable threat!
From Bluesnews:
A single-player demo for GTI Racing is now available, offering the chance to test-drive the Xpand Rally-engine Volkswagen-specific racing game. Word is: “In the totally hot demo players will find single player mode, with possibility of racing against AI opponents in one of 5 modes on 3 different tracks. There are 3 pre-tuned cars available: Golf I (134 BHP), Golf V (200BHP) and New Beetle RSI (301(BHP)). Demo is available only in English and its size is 443MB.” The download (actually 423 MB) is available from 3D Gamers, Computer Games, FileFront, Gameguru Mania, VGPRO, and Worthplaying.
Here’s a fun Flash game in the Contra-style. It’s in Chinese, but you’ll figure it out.
Another demo, this one from Stardock letting you try out their space-based turn-based strategy game, Galactic Civilization 2: Dread Lords. The demo comes in at 130MB, and allows you to play as the human race, weapons unlocked, 3 year turn limit. It does not feature the campaign mode, no metaverse, and no tutorials. Although, with a game as complex as this, I think leaving out any tutorials is a mistake.
I have to hand it to Stardock, they truly know how to run a website about their game. It features a beginner’s guide, a wiki with tons and tons of information, constant updates, and the fact that there’s no copy protection means they know what it takes to move into the future of PC gaming.
Monolith and Sega have made available a demo for the first-person psychological thriller, Condemned: Criminal Origins. The demo weighs in at 455MB and offers the opening mission from the game. Here’s the info from the publisher on the game:
Developed by award-winning Monolith Productions for the Xbox® 360™ video game system from Microsoft, Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience a heightened level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice. Gamers will play as Agent Thomas, an investigator in the FBI’s Serial Crimes Unit (SCU), whose pursuit of relentless serial killers leads him through urban environments filled with sociopaths lurking on the periphery of humanity. Weapons and ammunition are scarce, leaving the player vulnerable to a gallery of mentally deranged criminals. Careful detective work and precision reflexes are a player’s primary means of survival.
When World of Warcraft updated to the latest 1.10 patch, it had problems, so Blizzard took the servers down and subscribers to the game couldn’t access the game for over a day. What happens when you have millions of people forced to face reality? It isn’t pretty, it seems. Probably shouldn’t enlighten them about Oblivion, no? Daily Gaming Net has more on this phenomenon.
“My doctoral thesis is due next week and I haven’t really gotten around to starting it because there’s always the urge to log in and see what the guild is up to,” graduate student John Reynolds told DGN. “But I really got a good start today in the library and I might put a dent in the thing if the servers aren’t back up later tonight. God I hope they come back up soon.”
“I have to say it was a pleasant surprise. Usually Tuesday mornings are the one time during the week when Justin can get away from the computer long enough for a little quality time,” one Warcraft housewife told DGN in an e-mail interview. “But today we got to go for a half hour, and later in the day he even had time to go pick up the kids from school and eat dinner with the rest of the family at the dinner table.”
World of Warcraft - Ruining life one day at a time.™
Sony Online Entertainment sent me word that they’ve overhauled the combat system in Matrix Online in hopes of attracting new players and pleasing current ones. After lackluster sales, it seems they decided they needed to enhance parts of the game that was getting the most criticism; the combat. From their marketing pitch:
Combat Revision 2.0 is designed to take THE MATRIX ONLINE combat experience to a next level of excitement. The modified player-interface allows players to feel more “in the moment” by making it easier to focus on the fight itself. Players can see who is going to take damage and whether a special attack succeeds or fails without having to look away from the on-screen action . These are just a few of the new features and gameplay enhancements that players will see beginning in late March.
These new combat features go live just in time for the first anniversary of THE MATRIX ONLINE! In honor of the occasion, we are introducing some exciting new game adventures wrapped around our “Piece of Blue Sky” in-game concert. As part of the special in-game celebration, all current, active players who attend the concert event can get a great anniversary gift in-game: Special concert T-shirts and baseball caps—the first time baseball-cap style objects have been offered! So, get ready for intrigue, excitement, and mayhem – the world of The Matrix is in your hands! Jack in.
Arcaplay is a fun site to find quality Flash games to play free.
It looks like the free release of the MMORPG, Shadowbane, was a precursor to the development team being closed up and disbanded. Clearly making a former subscription-based game go free was an indication of troubled times, but this happened sooner than many thought. This was posted by a developer:
I wasn’t going to post this initially but I figure the word is already out (I’ve already seen it on a few webzines as well as a multitude of forums). Yes, the rumor is true: I am looking for a new job. No, I did not get fired. Nor am I the only one looking for a job. We were recently informed that as of mid-May 2006, the doors of Wolfpack Studios will be closing. Ubisoft, our parent company, will be refocusing their efforts on the console market with the new fiscal year, what with the new systems coming to market such as the X-box 360, PS3, and the Nintendo GO! (or so the rumors call it lately). This is not an unheard of practice; many game publishing companies tend to put a majority of their efforts into development of games for new systems. It is best to strike when the iron is hot, as the saying goes.
What does this mean for Shadowbane? Truth be told, I really don’t know. I wish I did because I don’t only work on the game, I play it too. Once I do know something and can officially state as much, I’ll let you all know.
Here’s something in the not-too-surprising category. Bill Harris from former Gone Gold fame pointed to a story on Kotaku, about how game publishers pay top dollars for “spotlights” on the front page of two prominent gaming websites. Those gaming websites were alluded to being Gamespot and IGN (Gamespy). This goes alongside with many rumors in the past of these game publishers paying for favorable game reviews.
Some people had asked why I didn’t put a Preview section on foogaming and write previews of games. One of the primary reasons was that the only way you can write up a preview is to use material given to you by the publishers. This is akin to copy and pasting a press release, it can be misleading, not give the whole picture, or even be entirely inaccurate. Too many big-name publishers rely on deceiving marketing tactics to manipulate the sales of their products that it makes previews a worthless idea these days. The above just furthers my resolve on the matter.
Blizzard today has released the 1.10 patch for World of Warcraft introducing a host of new game features. Among those are a new weather system for many of the areas of the game and more areas promised over time. There are also suppose to be some new high level armor sets and epic items. Also, players that have it the level 60 level cap will now earn gold instead of wasted experience in order to encourage questing past the level cap. In addition, there will be a new final destination flight path system that lets you pick your final destination so you don’t have to make multiple stops and new flight paths are being added as well. The priest class will have a talent tree redesign and many other classes will get fixes too. To get the full 1.10 patch notes, click over to Gamespot.
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