Latest Articles (Page 3511)

Joining the illustrious ranks of Ubi Soft and Sega, Namco has announced its E3 line-up for 2002. Although Soul Calibur 2 and the rumoured Ridge Racer VI will be absent from the show floor, the good news is that a US version of Xenosaga will be on-hand (due for release in Q1 2003), flanked by PS2 versions of Tekken 4 (August) and Ninja Assault (TBA). Xbox owners will once again catch a glimpse of action / noir thriller Dead to Rights (TBA). Here's a proper rundown -

The ubiquitous World Wrestling Federation is no more, having lost a worldwide court battle to trade under the infamous WWF acronym. In light of the court's decision, the company has rebranded itself World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, a move which should allay the concerns of plaintiffs the World Wildlife Fund. The WWE unveiled its new-look logo on Monday Night RAW yesterday evening in the States. Tours, merchandise and branded products will all be altered to reflect the change, and this is likely to include the licensed wrestling videogames published by THQ. If you're a WWF, sorry, WWE fan, then liberal use of an indelible marker should bring your purchases into line with the new corporate image. Related Feature - WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It! review

Belgian developers Larian Studios have released a demo version of their promising looking role-playing game Divine Divinity, which we previewed last week. Due for release later in the summer, the oddly titled game should offer a nice half-way house between the all-out action of Diablo and the more plot-driven antics of Baldur's Gate. The good news for role-players looking for something to fill the void until Morrowind's European release is that the demo features the first 5% of the game, equating to an estimated ten hours of gameplay. Which is more than can be said for many of the full retail products we've seen recently. The bad news is that the download size is just over 400Mb, so unless you have a lot of time and bandwidth to spare you'll have to wait for it to appear on a magazine cover disc. The rotund of connectivity can grab the file from any of the following sites though -

Several years after it debuted on the PC, Revolution's point-and-click adventure Broken Sword has made its way onto the GameBoy Advance. And despite the limitations of the format, the result is a surprisingly faithful translation.

Not content with developing games based on The Great Escape, The Italian Job and Thunderbirds, SCi have this week picked up another retro license. This time it's the rights to develop and publish games based on three of Alistair MacLean's best loved novels - Where Eagles Dare, The Guns Of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra. All three novels were turned into classic movies during the 1960's, starring the likes of Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, Patrick McGoohan and Gregory Peck. So although the license is perhaps a little old fashioned these days and Alistair MacLean himself long dead, the virtually constant reshowing of the novels' movie adaptations on TV should give the games a boost. Details are sketchy at this early stage, but the first games are expected to emerge some time in 2004, and SCi are promising to "remain faithful to the original storyline in the books". No doubt we will hear more soon...

Championship Manager developers Sports Interactive today revealed that they have made a bid for some of ITV Digital's assets. Namely, the bankrupt broadcaster's infamous monkey mascot, seen in countless bizarre adverts over the last few months. Replicas of the monkey were also given away to new subscribers, many of whom are no doubt now sticking pins into the toys in the hopes of causing a slow and lingering death to the company's management as more and more of their channels get switched off each day. "Quick to spot the potential of the Monkey business, Sports Interactive was among the first to put in a bid for the rights to the Monkey character", according to a press release issued earlier this afternoon. "A successful bid would also result in Sports Interactive taking responsibility for liberating the thousands of Monkey cuddly toys currently imprisoned in a warehouse at an undisclosed address in battery farm style conditions." Sports Interactive director Miles "Monkey Lover" Jacobson claimed that "all of us at SI love the Monkey character", adding that "we would be delighted to see him associated with Sports Interactive and Championship Manager in the future". Note, some or all of the above may in fact be completely untrue. Related Feature - The Old Firm Flies South

Activision today confirmed that they will be publishing id Software's latest effort Doom III, which should come as no great surprise to anybody who hasn't been living under a boulder the size of a small third world country for the last few years. On a slightly more interesting note, the press release also reveals that the game will be debuting at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles later this month. To date all we have seen of the new Doom is video captures of dimly lit tech demos, but with any luck we should get a clearer impression of the game soon. "Doom III will change what people expect to see and experience in a PC game", id CEO Todd Hollenshead enthused. "We couldn't be more psyched about Doom III, and are thrilled to debut the title at E3 with Activision. Get ready to be terrified." Related Feature - Doom III screenshots

While the long overdue arrival of the GameCube in Europe is the big news this week, the industry has also recently witnessed the rebirth of the Xbox, following a dramatic £100 price cut just six weeks after its relatively disappointing debut. European Xbox PR supremo Paul Fox wouldn't tell us how many Xboxes the company has sold in Europe so far, saying that "we typically don't provide sales breakdowns on a regional basis", but industry estimates suggest that less than 200,000 units were shifted in the console's first month on sale.

Nintendo has released a number of photographs taken at last night's GameCube launch spectacle in Oxford Street, London.

According to Nintendo's UK PR, early reports suggest that 10,000 GameCubes were sold in the console's first two hours on sale in the United Kingdom, and that 80 percent of the first day stock has been sold. Large numbers of gamers are said to have queued for up to three hours last night outside HMV in Oxford Street to get their hands on the Cube, but midnight openings elsewhere were less crowded. Nintendo shipped 500,000 GameCubes to Europe, according to the company, and plans to reinforce that with a further half million in the unspecified "launch period". Despite rampant pre-ordering, claims of tiny allocations and rumours of a complete sell-out, many gamers were able to pick up their Cubes quite happily this morning. Related Feature - Europe is finally Cubed

Reuters is reporting that Nintendo will unveil its online strategy at E3 later this month. The press conference is scheduled for 21st May, the news agency's source told them. Speculation about Nintendo's plans has been rife ever since the console was originally announced. In a forthcoming sales brochure, leaked recently, it emerged that the company plans to release a 56k modem adapter, but the same document was devoid of information on broadband peripherals. Related Feature - Cube goodies leaked

Nintendo has purchased Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios, the company announced yesterday. The Austin, Texas based developer cost the Japanese gaming giant one million dollars, the price of the remaining 55 million shares in the company, in which Nintendo previously held a 21.4 percent stake. Previous owner, Jeff Spangenberg, now plans to pursue other business interests. Metroid Prime is due out later this year, and is being overseen by Nintendo's creative genius Shigeru Miyamoto.

It's Friday, 3rd May 2002, and you all know what that means. Nintendo GameCube launches in Europe today, completing the worldwide rollout of the company's latest console. Here in the United Kingdom, the first console was picked up by 19-year-old Sarah Dodd, from Clapham. Sarah's 16 hours in the queue were generously rewarded with a free console and a handful of games. "I came with a friend and I feel a little bad that I was number one and he was number two," she told the BBC. "But I will let him play some of my games." The BBC puts UK pre-orders alone at some 50,000 units. Related Feature - Europe Cubed

Xbox sales are soaring down under, one of our Australian readers tells us. After cutting the price of the console from AU$649 (roughly £237 / €385) to AU$399 (£146 / €237) on Friday, the console has been rocketing off the shelves. "This is because the Aussie dollar is still down the toilet compared to the strong pound, from the Asian crisis a couple of years back," Geoff writes. "One of the Queen's quids gets you AU$2.73 at today's rate." Australian Toys R Us merchandise director John Redenbach claimed sales of the Xbox on Friday and Saturday were 2.5 times the entire launch week. 25 percent of sales were consoles reserved at the new price. Other retailers, including Electronics Boutique, are said to be delighted with the price drop's effect. "It was almost like launch all over again," EB marketing director Steve Wilson told AustralianIT, adding that the chain did about 60-70 percent of the sales it did at launch. Microsoft will learn next week whether these strong sales trends have continued. Nintendo's GameCube has yet to launch in Australia, but has already been slashed to AU$329 (£120 / €195) and is expected to fly off the shelves in a similar manner. Related Feature - Xbox reduced to 299 Euros

Take 2 have announced that British developers Firefly are working on a follow-up to their popular castle building sim Stronghold. Subtitled Crusader, it moves the action from Europe to the Middle East, giving you the chance to work on your tan, build an impregnable desert fortress and lay siege to the locals. The game will feature four campaigns to keep you occupied, putting you in the boots of either Richard Lionheart or Saladin as they battle it out in medieval Syria and Palestine. New units such as mounted archers, assassins and teutonic knights are available, along with a wider range of siege weapons, which will hopefully play a bigger part in the game this time round. Naturally the castles themselves have also received an overhaul, with new Arabian inspired architecture to construct, oases to defend and lots of sand. While we weren't the world's biggest fans of the original Stronghold, it was an interesting concept, and if Firefly can get the AI up to scratch and tweak the gameplay a little, they could be on to a winner. Expect more news soon, with a summer release currently on the cards. Related Feature - Stronghold Crusader screenshots

Novalogic have suspended work on their dark action-adventure game Necrocide : The Dead Must Die, which was expected to appear on shelves later this year. Featuring fanciful undead creatures designed by famous fantasy artist Brom and settings ranging from Louisiana to Turkey, the game was looking quite promising at one stage. According to a statement sent to us by UK PR bod Chris Clarke, Novalogic "have decided to pull Necrocide from our current development schedule .. after recently reaching a world-wide agreement for a hugely exciting multi-format project". Exactly what this new project is remains a mystery at this stage, but an announcement is due at E3 later this month. Related Feature - Necrocide : The Plot Must Die

Some say Wave Race: Blue Storm was the best of the Japanese launch titles. If you spent a large sum of money on importing the Cube and its three major releases, you will certainly feel that way. The N64 version of Wave Race, chaperoned through development by Shigeru Miyamoto, whose name is so synonymous with high quality releases that even our word processor recognises it, was heralded as a breakthrough in aquatic visuals and the first truly impressive jet-ski game.

IGN has obtained photographs - believed to be genuine - of a leaked point-of-sale GameCube pamphlet highlighting a number of previously unheard of software titles, and updating gamers on the status of others. Images include a couple of fairly ambiguous pictures of Link, sporting a stern look, in the colourful new Zelda game, confirmation of 1080: White Storm, originally thought to have been cancelled, and a previously unannounced game, Wario World. Also from the pamphlet, IGN has learned that Star Wars Bounty Hunter will appear on the GameCube as well as the PlayStation 2 (Xbox confirmation is pending), along with Star Wars Clone Wars, and that the new Memory Card 251 will be coloured black. Or at least, the pamphlet seems to indicate as much. Although it all certainly looks genuine, we expect to have this news officially confirmed by Nintendo during E3 later this month. Related Feature - Europe Cubed

Eidos has announced this morning that Hitman 2: Silent Assassin will be released on Xbox and PlayStation 2, as well as PC CD-Rom, in autumn of this year. The announcement flies in the face of a recent rumour, which suggested that developer Io Interactive was to part company with its publisher to focus on a new, unnamed project for Electronic Arts. Trusted sources within Eidos have already denounced the rumour. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the successor to the relatively popular Hitman: Codename 47, which suffered at the hands of critics when it was released on the PC last year. Silent Assassin, which we have played, is expected to capitalise on the game's niche success by improving the overall formula, and we like the idea of using music composed and performed by the Budapest Symphonic Orchestra to heighten the atmosphere. After all, most assassins like classical music. Related Feature - PlayStation 2 and Xbox screenshots

As the train of E3 publicity pulls away from the station, a number of publishers and developers are chasing along behind it waving documents and DPKs. One such company is Sega of America, who yesterday evening announced their official line-up for the annual trade show. On the GameCube front, failing to reveal any major surprises, the company named Super Monkey Ball 2, Phantasy Star Online Episodes I and II, and Beach Spikers, which, as a beach volleyball simulation, has the potential to include many, many digital breasts. At least we know our readers, eh? Xbox fans will be pleased to hear that Sega GT 2002, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Crazy Taxi 3 High Roller, House of the Dead III and ToeJam & Earl III: All Funked Up are all scheduled to appear. PlayStation 2 owners will be blessed with appearances by F355 Challenge (believed to be an update rather than a port of the Dreamcast version of the game), Gungrave (a 3D shooter by Red Entertainment featuring comic designs), Sega Bass Fishing Duel (rod unconfirmed), and the one everybody is raving about, Shinobi (a revamp of the classic ninja action game). Elsewhere in the line-up, the company will debut a number of sports titles geared towards the American market, including Sega Sports NFL 2K3, Sega Sports NBA 2K3 and Sega Sports NHL 2K3. These games will appear on all three major platforms. Strangely, no handheld games are being touted ahead of the show, but Sega usually manages to surprise people at E3. Perhaps those Phantasy Star handheld games will be lurking behind closed doors. Or perhaps they won't. It's only a few weeks until we can find out. Related Feature - Super Monkey Ball 2 in development

The PlayStation 2 version of Super Monkey Ball has fallen off the bottom of Infogrames' release radar, and nobody at the company seems to know anything about it. US and Japanese releases have still yet to take place, and the game will not appear at E3 this year according to Sega officials. The GameCube version of the game is due out in Europe tomorrow alongside the console itself. Although not originally developed by Nintendo, the quirky simian concept drives precisely the sort of game you might expect the Japanese developer to produce, and with the console at a convention-defying price in this country from day one, sales may well pick up. As for the PlayStation 2 version of the game, we'll keep you posted. Earlier this morning Infogrames refused to speculate on whether or not the game had been canned. Related Feature - Super Monkey Ball 2 in development

One of Nintendo's GameCube launch promotions here in the UK involves seven-foot Perspex cubes showcasing a variety of contemporary artists, from the peculiar (contortionists, magicians) and the healthy (aerobics instructors and Tai Chi experts), to young musicians (Soil) and young offenders (Asher D). This week, for the first time, photographs emerged of the Clear Cubes campaign in action, outside HMV in Covent Garden, London. The first photograph is taken from some way away, and seems a mite innocuous, but the band in the second photograph is believed to be Soil, originally expected to take their turn in the Cube this afternoon. Oddly named pop group allSTARS will be appearing at noon tomorrow in the same Cube, and midnight openings are planned at HMV stores in London's Oxford Street, Glasgow and Birmingham. Virgin were heavily involved in the promotion of Microsoft's rival Xbox, opening a number of Megastores in the United Kingdom at the stroke midnight, 13th March. HMV may have banked on receiving greater returns from GameCube affiliation, but if the store plans to carry the console at £129.99 - and it would be an incredible blow to its relationship with Nintendo if it were to ignore the suggested retail price - it may make as little as £4 / €6.45 per unit sold. Related Feature - Nintendo fills the Cube

Having sampled first hand the simian delights of GameCube launch title Super Monkey Ball, your humble correspondent was pleased, but not altogether surprised to read that development of a sequel is now underway at developer Amusement Vision. GameSpot reports that the four characters who made up the cast of the original game - an enhanced version of the Monkey Ball arcade game - will return for the sequel, and that a number of extra modes have been added in addition to the main game mode, one of which is said to be a story mode spread across ten themed worlds. Other additions are said to include six new party games; monkey boat race, shot, dogfight, tennis, baseball and soccer (of which screenshots have already emerged), and returnees monkey race, target, billiards, bowling and golf will also receive updates. For instance, monkey target - a Pilotwings derivative - will be expanded to include formation flying, and monkey golf will receive a complete going over, with a new course of 18 holes. The report concludes with the news that the (presumably Japanese) release date is set for later this year on GameCube. More information is expected from American publisher Sega at E3 later this month.

Acclaim Entertainment has forged a new development studio in the crucible of harsh market conditions. Acclaim Studios Manchester, which was officially unveiled early on Wednesday morning, consists of 70 former employees of Software Creations, including former CEO, Paul Hibbard, who takes up the position of General Manager at the new company, reporting directly to John Ma, Acclaim's Executive Vice President of Product Development. Software Creations is responsible for a multitude of titles stretching back to 8-bit systems. Some of its more memorable titles include 16-bit oddities Equinox and Plok. Last year the developer completed work, along with co-developer EA Sports, on the GameCube version of FIFA Soccer 2002 Major League Soccer, released to critical acclaim in the States last Christmas. It was not however involved in the porting of the game to the PlayStation 2. Acclaim has positioned the studio strategically, with Rod Cousens, President and Chief Operating Officer at Acclaim International, commenting that the addition of Acclaim Studios Manchester "broadens our global development capabilities". It has not been revealed whether any employees were laid off in the transition from Software Creations, nor which projects the new company will now start work on, but "certain proprietary assets" have also been rescued from the ashes of the former developer by Acclaim. Representatives of Acclaim were not available for comment at the time of writing, but then again it is 10pm.

Ubi Soft has unveiled its line-up for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, taking place in Los Angeles later this month. Two recently announced Tom Clancy games, Raven Shield and Splinter Cell, will take centre stage along with Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc, the anticipated sequel to the excellent Rayman 2. Speaking of Rayman, his creator Michel Ancel will be revealing his latest top-secret game at the show for the first time. Amongst the other games on display will be graphic novel inspired first person shooter XIII and a handful of licensed games, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Sum of All Fears (another Clancy game) and, ahem, Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Potion Commotion. Perhaps of most interest is the company's focus on online gaming, through console and PC. The company's massively multiplayer project Shadowbane will feature, along with the console version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and a smattering of others.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is the most popular pre-order for the GameCube in the United Kingdom, publisher Activision is reporting. The heavily trademarked title (take a look at the press release if you don't believe us) is already the top-selling third party game in the US. To mark the achievement, Activision will be exhibiting full-size Star Wars replica figures including Darth Vader, Boba Fett, C-3PO and R2D2 outside HMV's Oxford Street, London store in time for the Thursday midnight launch celebrations. Related Feature - Rogue Leader preview

Football, it's a funny old game. Every once in a while, a developer takes this bizarre adage to heart, and produces a football game which ejects tradition and focuses on the fun bits. Unlike their hawckey and fwootbwall counterparts though, these loosely bound footy blitz games are often shunned by real football supporters. Thankfully, either Sega did no market research, or it just plain didn't care, because here I am with a copy of Sega Soccer Slam, developed by Visual Concepts in conjunction with Black Box Games, and it's really rather rocking.

Before Maxis spawned The Sims, the best-selling PC game of all time, and descended into a sordid existence of releasing an endless stream of expansion packs, they were best known for the classic city management game SimCity. Now they're returning to those roots with SimCity 4, featuring an all-new graphics engine and a wider scope. Instead of simply running a single city, you will now find yourself part of a larger region with multiple cities that can work together or in competition as they are linked by transport networks and grow towards each other. Maxis have also taken a voyeuristic leaf from their budding Sims franchise, allowing you to introduce a little Sim into your city and then watch them as they go about their day-to-day business, giving you hints as to what's wrong with your urban masterplan, or simply providing a vicarious thrill. "We have really lifted up the hood and made amazing improvements to the underlying simulation to give the player the most responsive, personal and satisfying SimCity yet", Maxis manager Lucy Bradshaw is quoted as saying. If the game lives up to this billing it should be huge - the SimCity series has already shifted several million units worldwide over the last decade, and giving it a more personal touch for all the legions of Sims fans out there could help it to reach an even wider audience. Either way we should know more soon, as the game is due to debut at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles next month. Related Feature - Sim Best Seller

The NES had Super Mario Bros. The SNES had Super Mario World. The N64 had Super Mario 64. Traditionally Mario sells the console and then Nintendo drip-feeds gamers with offerings from its other major franchises, but this time Mario's late to the party. So late in fact, he hasn't even turned up in Japan yet. Nintendo's diminutive console needs something to sell it, and the closest thing to a Mario game we have for now is Luigi's Mansion, brainchild of legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Is it enough? The premise is extremely simple. By way of a peculiar stroke of luck, Luigi has won a mansion in a competition he never even entered, and agrees to meet his brother Mario there for a celebration. Unfortunately, after wandering aimlessly through a spooky forest, our hero discovers that his mansion prize is little more than an elaborate trap, and headstrong Mario has already fallen victim. Teaming up with local oddball Professor E. Gadd, Luigi vows to rid the mansion of its ghostly inhabitants and rescue his brother. The game is a bold departure from previous Mario Brothers titles. Unlike his bouncy brother, Luigi doesn't jump, bop people on the head or throw fireballs. He doesn't fly, and he doesn't collect stars. Well, only once. Luigi's spooky adversaries are almost infallible, susceptible to nothing but the quirky Prof's modified vacuum cleaner, the Poltergust 3000. Using the pressure-sensitive left and right shoulder buttons to blow and suck at the desired rate, Luigi can gobble up ghosties and bag the Boos, before returning to the Prof's lab to turn them into portraits for the gallery.

Microsoft plans to cut the price of Xbox in Japan, product manager David Hufford has revealed in an interview with Xen Gamers. Hufford, who also revealed a number of details relating to the Xbox Live service in a recent interview, says "it's just a matter of when it happens."