Latest Articles (Page 3083)

As with so many games, people and situations, Grabbed By The Ghoulies reminds us of an episode of The Simpsons. It's the one that starts off at "Bi-Mon Sci-Fi Con", with Mark Hammill knocking cardboard cutouts over with a plastic lightsabre and a Star Wars take on Guys and Dolls ("Luke be a Jedi toniiiiight!"). Anyway, the specific bit we're on about is when the camera pans to a totally abandoned booth with two guys sat behind a table waiting to sign autographs. These men are Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. But nobody cares, much to the exasperation of a suited PR man who exclaims, "Folks! Folks! These men have actually been in outer space!", his voice rising an octave with each syllable, at which point a nearby huddle glances in his direction and makes a collective "meh" noise.

As a number of you have spotted over the Easter weekend, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge will feature Xbox Live support for up to 16 players, with a range of game modes which sound new but probably aren't. Dogfight and Team Dogfight obviously aren't fooling anyone, and Flag Heist sounds familiar too, but as for Wild Chicken, Keep Away and Team Keep Away, we're not so certain. However, even if they aren't anything new, the idea of proper online aerial combat is still very enticing - as is the promise of downloadable maps and planes post-release.

High-flying fans of Crimson Skies will be pleased to learn of new content available for the game over Xbox Live - a new plane and multiplayer map to be precise.

With its simple controls and flight model, swashbuckling storyline, beautiful graphics and fanciful aircraft designs, Crimson Skies could have been tailor made for the Xbox. It wasn't, but the sequel is being. Yes, Microsoft have this week confirmed that Crimson Skies : High Road To Revenge is headed exclusively to the big black box. Once again you will take on the role of dashing air pirate Nathan Zachary, he of the tall tales and many lives, as you romp your way through an alternative 1930s America. Ten different planes will become available to your anti-hero throughout the course of the game, along with a range of bizarre weaponry such as napalm missiles, magnetic grapples and the intriguing sounding "sandstorm cannon". As always there will be bonus points for pulling off flamboyant stunts and all manner of aerial insanity as you work your way through the game's missions, and you will be able to use your surroundings to full effect, triggering landslides and destroying bridges to catch out your enemies and taking dangerous shortcuts to escape pursuers. Related Feature - Crimson Skies Xbox screenshots

Plug yourself in to Crimson Skies on Xbox Live today and you'll discover a hangar-full of new content ready to wing its way towards you. Microsoft has released three new planes (the Vampire, Firebrand and Hellhound), two new maps (canyon/cave-based Badlands and the night-time ruins-hopping Lost Plateau) and two new gametypes unto the masses this week, and the best bit is that it's all free.

Oddworld Inhabitant's next title, provisionally titled 'Stranger' has been signed up by Electronic Arts and has been set a worldwide release date of 2005 for both PS2 and Xbox.

Xbox exclusive Oddworld Stranger is now known as Oddworld Stranger's Wrath, Electronic Arts advised this week, claiming that the revised title "better reflects the spirit of the game".

Last week the Discovery Channel in the US ran a documentary called X-Factor: Inside Microsoft's Xbox, which delved into the workings of a few companies developing for the black box. Amongst them was Oddworld Inhabitants, whose upcoming Oddworld game on Xbox came under close scrutiny.

Electronic Arts has revealed that Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is coming to Xbox 360 as well as PC next year.

Reports emerged last night that Oddworld Inhabitants' long-awaited sequel to Munch's Oddysee, known as 'Stranger' has 'gone alpha' and that an announcement on the game's publisher is set to be revealed in the next two weeks.

Californian developer Oddworld Inhabitants is seeking a new publisher for its next Xbox game in the Oddworld universe, tentatively titled Stranger, as Microsoft no longer has any involvement with the title.

Electronic Arts has confirmed that Oddworld Inhabitants next title, Oddworld Stranger, which is picked up the rights to last month, will debut on PS2 and Xbox next spring.

Oddworld: Munch's "it can only be done on Xbox!" Oddysee was an under appreciated platformer in our view, so we were happy to read from multiple sources this week that the next title in the series is underway at developer Oddworld Inhabitants.

Shop for games now with Simply Games.

Film magazine Variety reports that the producers of the forthcoming Spy-Hunter film have bought up the rights to develop another of Midway Games' properties - Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

LucasArts' Totally Games-developed dogfight-'em-up Secret Weapons Over Normandy recently went gold, and should be out on multiple formats next Friday, November 28th. In the meantime, LucasArts has released a 160MB demo of the game to try and convince people it's not all about polishing propellers and admiring dials. Indeed, the missions in the demo should give some idea that it's not, with tutorials focusing on just the Orientation and Bombing side of the pilot's Hawker Hurricane before players are led through the first mission of the Dunkirk campaign. You can check the demo out for yourselves here and here amongst other places.

LucasArts has released another bounteous package of downloadable content via Xbox Live, adding another new plane, another new mission and two new camouflage schemes to an already bulging game. This is actually the fourth batch of items released for the game - which still kept Kristan going for days before he even got round to the added extras.

Almost exactly a year ago to the day that Totally Games and LucasArts announced they were to work together on a new World War II flight game, details of the game have finally been divulged.

LucasArts' Secret Weapons Over Normandy, developed by Larry Holland's Totally Games, has gone gold and should be swooping onto PS2, Xbox and PC shelves as of November 28th according to UK distributor Activision's latest release schedule.

LucasArts are teaming up with TIE Fighter developers Totally Games to create a new World War II flight combat game for the PC and next generation consoles. Inspired by their classic Battle Of Britain and its follow-up Secret Weapons Of The Luftwaffe, which put you in control of a range of bizarre experimental planes designed by the Germans at the tail end of the war, the new game will feature a story-driven single player campaign following the fortunes of an elite squadron of pilots who are drafted in to carry out dangerous missions. Expect the focus to be on fun rather than overly realistic flight controls. "[Totally Games boss] Lawrence Holland single-handedly defined the fun, accessible flight action genre", according to LucasArts president Simon Jeffery. "Adding the sophisticated storytelling style Holland developed for the award-winning X-wing series, this new game promises exhilarating gameplay with a rip-roaring story of adventure and intrigue. The legions of fans who have been clamoring for a new game in the vein of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe should be very happy with this announcement." Related Feature - LucasArts grabs Wrath

Those cheeky Sega people. Not content with slipping our potentially beloved Panzer Dragoon Orta beyond the festive season, European distributor Infogrames has confirmed that House of the Dead 3 will also appear sometime in 2003 and not during 2002 as had been anticipated. As with Panzer Dragoon, Sega wants more time to polish the games. Related Feature - House of the Dead 3 screenshots

First, a declaration of interest. Final Fantasy VII is the most important game I ever played. Not the best game - far from it - and not even the best game in the series, but to me personally, the most important. It was the game which showed a young technology journalist embarking on a move into political writing that there was more to videogames than just shooting my friends in the face for a bit of competitive stress release; which opened up the my mind to the concept of interactive storytelling; which made me buy my first videogame console and changed the path of my career to the point where, around ten years later, videogames are my life. Thanks, Final Fantasy VII - were it not for you, I coulda' been somebody. Still, the point is, FFVII was an important videogame to me, and that might colour my perception of today's topic at hand - I just thought you should know.

With just a day to go before the PlayStation 3 launches in North America, GamesIndustry.biz took a tour of retail outlets to find out how things are shaping up on the ground.

The Dutch dance act behind the current UK number one music single, a remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" used in Nike's FIFA World Cup adverts, has signed a contract with Microsoft to produce a sixteen-piece soundtrack for futuristic racer Quantum Redshift. Junkie XL - whose drug-related moniker was shortened for the Elvis remix upon instructions from The King's estate - will produce the exclusive tracks in time for the game's release before the end of 2002. Related Feature - Quantum Redshift screenshots

Apart from RalliSport Challenge and Project Gotham Racing, Xbox fans can also start looking forward to Quantum Redshift, Microsoft's newly announced racer set 100 years in the future and boasting speeds in excess of 650mph.

Microsoft and Day 1 Studios are now aiming to ship the Xbox Live exclusive MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf in the US by the end of 2004, it emerged late last week. The very end. Although it may take a little longer to arrive in PAL territories, importers should be able to hook you up with the much-improved online mech sequel from December 28th onwards.

MechAssault is to be strafed with a second salvo of downloadable content, including a much lusted-after Capture The Flag mode, bringing it into line with virtually every other sci-fi game in existence (and all their friends). Although CTF is hardly new, MechAssault is the sort of game whose varied units and map designs could make it an invaluable addition - and our love of the ickle Corvus could finally be rewarded.

According to reports, MechAssault players from Europe and the US will soon be able to battle players from Japan, instead of being limited to battles hosted in their respective regions. Other enhancements reportedly due in the next few days include clearer connection status icons, and a new 'kick' feature to eject troublesome players from the game. Like Americans who accuse us of playing croquet, for goodness sake.

"A trailer for MechAssault 2" could be one of two things. It could be a pesky wooden cart on two wheels with a number plate tied halfarsedly onto the back and brake lights that don't really work, loaded to bursting with rusty bathtubs and lengths of pipe and tethered to the hulking frame of a giant robotic exoskeleton.

A listing on the recruitment page for developer Day 1 Studios has revealed that the company is currently hiring staff to work on what'd described as "a properly funded and scheduled Xbox 2 project."