PC Game News

A new trailer for "Star Wars: The Old Republic" has been released, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming MMORPG by BioWare.

"In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat."

Frogster has released new screenshots from the end of Beta event for "Runes of Magic," the upcoming MMORPG by Runewalker.

"The closed beta phase of Runes of Magic ended on December 10th with a bang. Hundreds of players fought against the conjured up darkness, but it was all in vain: the server went offline until the start of the open beta with the death of all player characters.

Controlled by the community managers Mike Kiefer and Jörg Koonen, the final event of several days duration started on Sunday with the first signs of imminence. In the following days constantly growing hordes of monsters brought mischief over the world of Taborea. Hundreds of adventurers formed battle groups to defend their game world.

In a long and final battle against the community manager’s evil twin avatars in the Ystra Highlands, the decision fell late Wednesday night in favor of the forces of darkness. "We are pleased how well the event was accepted by our community", Mike Kiefer resumed following the event. "The high attendance confirmed, that relying on special ingame events in the future is the way to go."

Even though the forces of evil were victorious for the time being, the chance for revenge is soon to come: The servers that went offline directly following the end of the event will be back online at the open beta start on Monday, December 15th. From Monday on all interested players are invited to participate in the final phase before the release in the first quarter of 2009."

       

Electronic Arts has released a new trailer for "The Sims 3," giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming latest installment in the popular simulation series.

"Featuring a brand new engine that has been in development for nearly three years, The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door. The initial feature-set unveiled includes the new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create A Sim, new realistic personalities and new unlimited customization. The Sims 3 will launch globally in 2009."

Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares have released new screenshots from "World of Battles," the upcoming MMORTS.

"In the medieval universe of World of Battles, nine races fight a terrible war for world domination. Choose your side, recruit, train and equip units in order to create a powerful army able to face opposing armies created by other players.

Take part in huge battles in order to establish yourself as a warlord and progress in the online World of Battles’ ® ranks. Players will be free to connect for quick play or to participate in one of the many official tournaments of World of Battles ®.

In the game, you will discover a unique system for customizing your units and soldiers. You’ll be able to personalize the appearance of each one of your soldiers with a very high level of detail. Before launching into your first battles, you’ll need to prepare your fighting troops, because if you don’t, your army will surely take a beating.

Once you’re ready to fight, gameplay switches to real time strategy mode. Take command of your armies and show everyone who’s the greatest warlord in the war-torn battlefields of World of Battles ®. You can also join friends to confront other clans in titanic guild wars in which tactics and teamwork will be essential to become the most powerful army of all.

World of Battles ® is free and accessible to all in order to allow everyone to share an intense online gaming experience. World of Battles ® has higher technical ambitions than other current free internet games and a significant development budget. The game will be supported through additional services and micro-transactions which will allow players to buy customizations for troops and units.

World of Battles ® is currently being developed by Frogwares studio. It will be available online for free in March 2009."

  

Viva Media and Kalypso Media have announced a publishing agreement to bring "Grand Ages: Rome" to North America.

"Viva Media CEO Carlo Voelker commented, "We are thrilled to be releasing an exciting game like Grand Ages: Rome. It’s incredibly deep and historically rich, but at the same time extremely user-friendly and fun to play." He went on to say, “It’s exciting to be working with Kalypso to bring this game to North America. It’s a brainchild of some of the industry’s top talent and has so much to offer in terms of graphics, storyline, and multiplayer functionality.” Kalypso Media MD Simon Hellwig adds that “It is a great pleasure for us to work with Viva. We expect that Viva Media will do a great job and we hope this cooperation will be beneficial for both companies. It is definitely time to know more about Kalypso and its products in America – and Grand Ages: Rome is the right product to present our games to American consumers.”

Grand Ages: Rome is a stunning strategy game based in Ancient Rome during the rise of Julius Caesar. As a member of a prominent noble family, players will be immersed in the intrigue and adventure of the rising Roman Empire, rubbing shoulders with some of the greatest historical figures of the era. Grand-scale city building and detailed combat scenarios unfold against a backdrop of breathtakingly detailed environments. Players can choose from historical campaign and freestyle game modes along with advanced online multiplayer controls."

Strategy First and KDV Games have announced that "Perimeter II: New Earth" has gone gold and is scheduled to be released in North America on January 20th.

"Set in a future universe where Earth is dying, civilization is in a race against time to discover a new home planet and colonize it for suitable living conditions. In both single and multiplayer environments, you explore New Earth and battle against opposing forces, choosing either the Exodus or the Harkback, all in an attempt to acquire energy and claim the new home planet. Perimeter 2’s gameplay involves strategic terraforming to acquire resources, projecting an impenetrable perimeter force shield to protect from attack, and transforming combat units through manipulative nanomorph technology.

"We are excited about Perimeter II and its fresh approach to RTS Gaming. The franchise has a history of innovative game play that stands out on the PC platform,” said Strategy First Business Development Manager, Emanuel Wall.

"We at KDV Games are very excited to bring Perimeter 2 to North America. This game is filled with original and experimental game play ideas and is sure to shake up the RTS genre. We hope that both strategy fans and novice players will find something they like in P2,” said Helen Khudenko, Producer at KDV Games

"Perimeter 2" is a project for fans of the RTS genre. The revolutionary concept of terra-forming, along with new elements and fresh ideas, is sure to provide a unique gaming experience.

For more information on Perimeter 2: New Earth and to preorder your copy now, please visit: https://www.strategyfirst.com/en/games/Perimeter2/"

Simutronics and BioWare have announced that "Star Wars: The Old Republic" is being developed on the Simultronics HeroEngine.

"The unique collaborative design platform of the HeroEngine allows for development in real-time, enabling teams in different geographic locales to build the world and play the game live on the server simultaneously. Updates and changes to the game environment are instantaneous, negating the need for nightly builds and code crunching, which significantly reduces the notoriously long MMOG development cycle.

“The team at BioWare is creating an incredible experience, and we’re honored that they’ve selected our tool to help them build this epic world,” said David Whatley, Simutronics’ Chief Executive Office and HeroEngine Chief Designer. “We’ve invested years of experience and our passion for virtual world entertainment into developing HeroEngine, and we’re confident that fans and online gaming enthusiasts alike will be happy with the finished product.”

“Our goal was to partner with a platform developer that knows online gaming and virtual world development, and the team at Simutronics has an excellent track record in that respect,” said Gordon Walton, Co-Studio Director at BioWare. “Their HeroEngine was specifically created for building MMOGs and it allows for a great amount of flexibility in the way our entire team collaborates.”

For more HeroEngine information, visit www.heroengine.com

For more information on Star Wars: The Old Republic, visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com"

Well, Ubisoft hasn’t released a press release but it should be noted that "Prince of Persia" has been shipped for the PC and is now available.

"Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption."

Prince of Persia is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB.

The list of new PC game releases, DVD releases, and movies opening the week of December 8th, 2008.

PC Games:

• Prince of Persia

Movies Opening This Week:

• Delgo
• Doubt (limited)
• Grand Torino (limited LA/NY)
• Nothing Like the Holidays
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• The Reader (limited LA/NY/SF)
• Wendy and Lucy (limited)
• What Doesn’t Kill You (limited LA/NY)

DVD Releases:  

• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
• Changing Tracks
• Deadwood: The Complete Series
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story [Blu-ray]
• Dumb and Dumber [Blu-ray]
• ESPN: 199 Lives
• Horton Hears a Who
• Horton Hears a Who!
• Jet Li’s Fearless [Blu-ray]
• Long Way Round 
• Lost – The Complete Fourth Season
• McLeod’s Daughters: The Complete Seventh Season
• Peter and the Wolf 
• Rape of Europa Collector’s Edition
• Super Troopers [Blu-ray]
• Swingtown – The First Season
• Teenage Angst
• The Dark Knight
• The Man Who Came Back
• The Mask [Blu-ray]
• The Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Series Collector’s Edition
• The Wire: The Complete Series

Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, has announced an agreement to fully acquire Cryptic Studios, known primarily for their "City of Heroes/Villains" MMORPG.

"The transaction encompasses all of Cryptic’s proprietary IP, tools, technology and work-in-progress and integrates all members of the leadership team and employees into Infogrames. This acquisition is a critical step in the implementation of Atari’s strategy to become a leading online game developer and publisher.

Cryptic is currently developing three unique MMO franchises, planned for release over the next three years on PC and next-generation consoles, including Champions Online to be released in 2009 and Star Trek Online to be released in 2010. A third game currently in development will be announced in the near future.

Established in 2000 and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, USA, Cryptic has a proven track record of delivering successful MMO franchises (City of Heroes and City of Villains sold to NCSoft) generating over USD 100 million in lifetime revenues and up to 180,000 peak subscribers.

Cryptic is led by a highly experienced management team who shares Atari’s vision in online gaming and who has committed to stay with the group. Cryptic employs approximately 150 professionals, comprising leading industry creative, technical and operation experts with a proven track record in delivering on-time, on-budget titles. Cryptic’s revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 amounted to USD 17 million.

Atari will benefit from Cryptic’s powerful proprietary engine, scalable content development tools and online server architecture to deliver very high productivity-per-employee and industry-leading client/server performance and create unique, high quality MMO games on 18 to 24-month cycles. Atari will also gain a proven set of high-quality MMO game operating tools for sophisticated customer service and account management.

David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, said: “The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organisation, with a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category. Cryptic’s success is founded on leading-edge technology and the vision of a seasoned executive management team. I am impressed with the tools and technology that Cryptic has developed to make MMOs less expensive to build. Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic’s toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century.”

“We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team.” said John Needham, Chief Executive Officer of Cryptic Studios, “With our game development and online platform technology skills, we’re very excited about the opportunities that this unique combination with Atari creates. I am committed to helping Atari grow into a leading online game company and look forward to being part of the team.”"

Activision has released new details on the upcoming "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," the upcoming action adventure game by Raven and Amaze.

"From the award-winning studio Raven Software, the video game enlists players to experience the tormented origins of Wolverine, from his escape of the Weapon X facility to the jungles of Africa and beyond. The game is currently in development for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Windows® PC, Wii(TM) home video game system, Nintendo DS(TM), PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and is not yet rated by the ESRB.

"We have an amazing team with Raven Studios at the helm, creating what will undoubtedly be the quintessential, true-to-character Wolverine video game experience that fans have been craving," said Rob Kostich, vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine amps up the action by bringing to life Wolverine’s wholly unique skills such as his brute strength, regenerative mutant abilities, and indestructible adamantium claws and skeleton in an immersive experience that is fitting to one of the most enduring and popular characters of all time."

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an epic action-adventure featuring a true-to-character Wolverine gameplay experience that takes gamers through and beyond the movie’s storyline. Set in a variety of vivid real-world locales, the title challenges players to hone their animal instinct as they uncover hidden dangers, hunt and destroy enemies, and take on seemingly insurmountable situations while discovering the truth about Wolverine’s tragic past. With razor-sharp adamantium claws unsheathed, the future X-Man enacts lightning-quick combat, evasive maneuvers, in-depth combo attacks, and an array of brutal finishing moves. Wolverine doesn’t just deliver massive damage, either — he also takes it, thanks to his mutant regenerative power that heals him in real time right before the player’s eyes.

The title is in development by Raven Studios and Amaze Entertainment."

Lighthouse Interactive has released new screenshots from "East India Company," the upcoming strategy game by Nitro Games.

"These screenshots do not only give players a glimpse of both night-time and day-time views, but also of the gameplay at both strategic and tactical levels. Let us not say more, see for yourselves!

Manage, Rule, and Fight! East India Company is scheduled for release across Europe in Q1 2009."

Shrapnel Games has released a "War Plan Pacific" demo, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming strategy game by KE Studios.

"Taste a slice of what to expect in the game by commanding either the Imperial Japanese forces as they rampage across the Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, or begin the journey to Japan as the Allies and experience the fight from August 1942 through November 1942. Unlike the full game, the demo is limited to single player only, and lacks the ability to save.

The full version of War Plan Pacific is slated to ship within a week. Available only for Windows, War Plan Pacific is a turn-based grand strategic game of the epic conflict between Imperial Japan and the Western Allies during the Second World War. Players can command the historical forces of Japan, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands in three different scenarios providing historical and alternate set-ups, playable against either the AI or a live opponent via the Internet.

Inspired in part by the classic Avalon Hill board game on the subject, Victory in the Pacific, War Plan Pacific has a comfortable tabletop feel while embracing the digital experience. And just like that classic title, War Plan Pacific was designed from the ground up to be playable in a single session. Average play time is under three hours. And yes, that’s from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.

While the game plays fast don’t confuse playability with a lack of historical gameplay. John Hawkins, developer of War Plan Pacific, has simply distilled down the Pacific conflict into its more important aspects, creating a game that holds true to reality while not becoming mired with details. Players will find that they can pursue historical strategies in their bid for victory, or branch off and set their own course.

Turns are one month long, and units represent individual ships of light cruiser size or larger, amphibious and transport groups, and air groups. War Plan Pacific emphasizes air and naval combat, abstracting land combat. Combat is handled via a battleboard, and much like the game at large, provides players with many interesting decisions while never weighing them down.

But enough talk! See for yourself what War Plan Pacific has to offer by downloading the demo right now from Shrapnel Games. Just follow this link and download away!"

The 111MB demo can be downloaded from The Official Site, AtomicGamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, or Worthplaying.

The Intel Games website has posted two new missions for "Fary Cry 2," adding on to the popular game by Ubisoft Montreal. The Far Cry 2 forums also offer ways to unlock additional missions. From those discussions, you can apparently unlock the extra missions without actually downloading anything.

"These bonus missions extend Far Cry 2’s game play by a whole 3 gripping hours. They bristle with extraordinarily coolness, and make the most of Far Cry 2’s signature graphical excellence and real-world physics modelling. Intel collaborated with developers Ubisoft Montreal, to ensure that both missions bring out the best in Far Cry 2’s unique hyper-real depiction of war-ravaged Africa. Make no mistake: this is the stuff your Intel® Core™2 Extreme was made for.

Mission 1: the Morrocan

This mission sends you into the most heavily guarded region of the Leboa-Sako territory. Hiding out at the old Legion fort is a Moroccan who might be able to help you locate the Jackal. Your objective is to locate him and find out what he knows.

Mission 2: the American

Your predecessor has tracked down the American informant to the Dogon village in the rocky northern ranges. Your objective: follow his trail and find out what the informant told him.
How to get these missions

These bonus missions are two of six in total that you can unlock and play. When you complete the first six, you will be able to play a seventh bonus mission.

However, the two missions brought to you by Intel Game On can only be unlocked by downloading and running the exclusive Intel Game On program below. Simply run FarCry2IntelMissions.exe from your PC to get access to the first mission: ‘The Morrocan’. Completing that mission unlocks the second mission: ‘The American’."

Battlefront.com has released a "Strategic Command: WWII Pacific Theater" demo, giving players a chance to try out the latest installment in the strategy series by Fury Software. The game has also been released to purchase online.

This demo includes TWO playable campaigns:

• 1941 Operation Z is the main theatre campaign that starts on December 7, 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor followed by landings and advancement in South East Asia including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies. The demo campaign is limited to 6 months of game time.
• 1945 Operation Detachment was the United States capture of the island of Iwo Jima from Japan, producing some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War II. This mini-campaign is included IN FULL without turn restrictions in the demo!

Multiplayer modes are disabled in the demo but the campaigns are playable against the AI as either side.

The 148MB demo can be downloaded from The Official Site, AtomicGamer, or Worthplaying.