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September 15th, 2008, 21:13 Posted By: Shrygue
via Engadget
As you may recall, Bill Gates himself mentioned a little ways back that Windows 7 could possibly be arriving as soon as next year, which prompted some quick backtracking on Microsoft's part, but that earlier-than-expected date has now cropped up yet again, this time supposedly in Microsoft's internal calendar.
According to InternetNews.com, that calendar pegs the planned release date as June 3rd, 2009, which is a good deal sooner than the "early 2010" date we've been hearing all along, and quite a significant cut into Vista's planned three-year lifespan. What's more, the site also says that Microsoft will take advantage of its Professional Developer's Conference on October 27th to launch the first public beta of Windows 7, although that doesn't quite match up with earlier word that it'd only be revealing some "in-depth technical information" about the OS.
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September 15th, 2008, 20:35 Posted By: wraggster
Mini-Geek and many others tipped news that Blizzard has announced the release date for Wrath of the Lich King , World of Warcraft's second expansion. It will be in stores on November 13th in the US and Europe. They've also released details about the contents of the Collector's Edition. Wrath will be preceded by a large content patch, which will expand the talent trees and include many of the gameplay changes set for the expansion (including the consolidation of spell damage and healing into 'spellpower,' achievements, and a new profession). The patch was installed on the public test realm yesterday, and the current patch notes are available.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/15/1643257
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September 15th, 2008, 19:43 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
The recommended specs for the upcoming PC version of GTA IV have been revealed... although slightly prematurely, it seems.
The specs, now removed from the Games for Windows site (but are still here) show that the game will chew up a fairly hefty chunk of your hard drive, but other than that they're nothing out of the ordinary.
Here's the list: - OS: Windows XP SP2
- Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
- RAM: 2GB
- Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
- Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
- Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
Update: A batch of new shots appeared online. Hit this link for more.
PC screenshots here
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September 15th, 2008, 19:36 Posted By: Shrygue
via Games Industry
EA has defended its use of SecuROM DRM in Spore, saying that it "has not changed" its basic copy protection policy, following a backlash by internet users on Amazon.
Earlier this month, consumers expressed their anger at the limitations imposed on them by the mandatory installation of SecuRom, which allows EA to limit the installation of each copy of Spore to a maximum number of three times. Mariam Sughayer of EA's corporate communications, told Gamasutra that the current DRM system is merely an extension of what they've always done.
"EA has not changed our basic DRM copy protection system... We simply changed the copy protection method from using the physical media, which requires authentication every time you play the game by requiring a disc in the drive, to one which uses a one-time online authentication," she said.
Three installations is more than enough for EA's customers who mostly only ever install their games once, according to the publisher's research, while combating piracy. Sughayer claimed that during the activations of the Spore Creature Creator, 77 per cent only ever activated it on one machine and 23 per cent activated it on more than one, of which only 1 per cent attempted to activate it on more than three computers.
Frustration at EA's anti-piracy policy risked further inflammation upon the confirmation that each copy of the game can only have a single account attached to it, meaning only one person can play the game at any given time.
"There is one Spore registration/account per game/serial code so... you cannot make multiple accounts at this time," commented an EA representative on Spore's forum. "I have sent your guys' feedback to the game team though since I can understand the desire to share a game on a system that you entire family uses."
This follows news that in the period between September 1-11, Spore had been illegally downloaded 171,402 times, according to Big Champagne, a peer-to-peer research firm, and reported by Forbes.
"The numbers are extraordinary," said Big Champagne's chief executive, Eric Garland. "This is a very high level of torrent activity even for an immensely popular game title."
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September 14th, 2008, 22:14 Posted By: wraggster
This is getting tons of notice over on Battleforums, which quotes the ubiquitous Anonymous Source (he does get around), this one "from inside Blizzard," as saying that StarCraft 2's development will be "largely postponed" until Diablo III is ready to go.
Mr. (or Mrs.) Source says StarCraft 2's dev team is comprised of "a minuscule amount of people" compared to the current Diablo III team. Pretty clear which baby was gonna get its milk first all along, I'd figure. Blizzard hasn't said anything officially about the rumor. Sounds like a good rumor, doesn't really defy reasonable expectations. While it doesn't exactly fix a release date for you, it does let StarCraft players know not to hold their breath waiting.
http://kotaku.com/5049624/diablo-iii...e-starcraft-2s
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September 14th, 2008, 22:08 Posted By: wraggster
Our friends at eastasiasoft were so kind to let us know more details about the upcoming PlayStation3™ PSN release of their shoot 'em up with the hard to pronounce name Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer.
According to their latest press release announcement from earlier this week, the game is targeted to hit the PlayStation™ Network in North America in October 2008, with other territories expected to follow shortly after.
No matter if you have already enjoyed the PC version or are new to the game, you will probably be pleased to hear that SideQuest Studios (the developer of this game) have added plenty of new features to the PlayStation3™ port, including:
Visual improvements including y-scrolling, new background animations, newly added effects and more
Contains new enemies, including newly crafted standard foes and larger sub boss battles
Additional boss battle and berserker mode background music (seven brand new tracks in total!)
New sound effects added for an enhanced gaming experience
Rebalanced game play with an easier default difficulty
Rebalanced high score system, including new victory screens
DUALSHOCK®3 and optional SIXAXIS™ support
Trophies support
Visual improvements can been seen on their latest PS3™ screenshots. Below is a small excerpt only, you can find lots more on their official website.
Make sure to fill up your PSN wallet as Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer will surely be a pleasant addition to your game collection.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html
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September 14th, 2008, 22:00 Posted By: wraggster
Gamasutra sat down with Jonathan Blow, creator of the successful independent game Braid. He talks about going through the three-year-plus development cycle as a one-man team, and how his concept of the game changed as he worked on it. He also discusses what he feels is the difference between "natural rewards" and "artificial rewards."
"... for the most part, when you're playing Tetris, you're enjoying it because you enjoy fitting the blocks together. Whereas when you play World of Warcraft — and what I'm about to say is a generalization, since different players enjoy different things, obviously — a lot of the appeal of playing World of Warcraft is not in the core gameplay mechanic, because it's boring, a lot of the time. ... I think what keeps them in there is, at first, the level ding, because it's very addictive to get that. 'Okay, I've got more gold. Whatever.' And eventually, they've made this huge time investment and they've got a character there and they know what that level ding feels like and the next one is pretty far off, but they can get there! And it's not any better, because this is like number 67. It's got to be better than 66!"
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/13/1723229
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September 14th, 2008, 21:58 Posted By: wraggster
The heavy Amazon.com protest of Spore's DRM appears to have caught the attention of executives at EA. IGN reports that DRM for the upcoming C&C: Red Alert 3 will be scaled back. Unlike previous Command and Conquer games, the CD will not be required in the drive to play. The online authentication will be done just once (rather than periodic phone calls home), and up to five installations will be allowed, as opposed to three for Spore. While I still think five installations is too few (I've probably re-installed Command and Conquer: Generals 20 times over the years for various reasons), EA says they will have staff standing by to grant more installations as necessary on a case by case basis. So, while this still isn't optimal, at least we are getting a compromise. Hopefully, if the piracy rate for the game is low, perhaps EA will get comfortable enough to ship with even less DRM in the future
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/14/1510217
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September 13th, 2008, 10:06 Posted By: wraggster
The latest Spore controversy comes courtesy of some false information printed in the game's manual. The Consumerist reports that despite the game's manual stating purchasers "may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," they only have one. An EA forum rep stated that the information was a "misprint and will be corrected in future printings of the manual."
Spore has been lambasted in Amazon.com's user review section for its "draconian DRM" measures. There's no clear indication whether Spore was originally meant to allow for more than one account -- did DRM measures put the kibosh on that plan?
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/12/de...ount-per-copy/
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September 13th, 2008, 09:49 Posted By: wraggster
I used to be an avid PC gamer. However, I have only bought 1 game in the last 18 months because I am sick and tired of the problems caused by the various intrusive, and sometimes damaging DRM schemes game publishers insist on forcing upon their customers. Once burned, twice shy! The EA announcement that upcoming releases will include SecuROM, along with verification requirements and major restrictions on installations left me wondering which recently released or upcoming games (particularly major titles) are being released without DRM? Are there any? How has DRM affected your game purchasing? Will EA be negatively affected by their DRM decision?"
The ongoing DRM controversy was stirred by the recent launch of Spore. We discussed the public outcry from Amazon's reviews (which were subsequently taken down and then re-posted). EA's response to the outcry was to say that only one percent of accounts tried to activate the game more than three times, which is the limit without help from their customer service. Meanwhile, their efforts to find a "balance" between preventing piracy and not hampering legal users may not have been as successful as they hoped. According to Forbes, a P2P research firm found that illegal copies of Spore had been downloaded over 170,000 times already. So, is it time to create a whitelist for game publishers and developers?
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/13/0027220
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September 13th, 2008, 09:38 Posted By: wraggster
Aw yeah, it's an $89 laptop, son! And it's new! Menq International's EasyPC E760 was reportedly spotted in Berlin at IFA 2008, and one particular camera-wielding individual even gave it the showcase treatment on video (after the break). This el cheapo was seen sporting a 7-inch 480 x 272 resolution display (ouch!), a Samsung ARM processor (what a workhorse!) and Windows CE behind the scenes. In that case, we'll just pick up a pocket-sized WinCE device and save ourselves the hassle -- thanks anyway, though.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/12/m...c-e760-laptop/
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September 12th, 2008, 19:51 Posted By: Shrygue
via Joystiq
We suspected it might be a gag, (that's why we put it in the headline) but we went ahead and treated this "anti-Spore blog" as the real thing. We were victims of Poe's Law and that's something that we're going to have to live with.
So why aren't we angrier about getting hoodwinked? Well, the way that the blog's creator revealed it was just ... transcendent. Check out the second from last paragraph in this post and see if you don't agree.
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September 12th, 2008, 01:26 Posted By: wraggster
Those of you riddled with angst over the fate of Age of Empires had best prepare for an antithetical application of ... Unangst! That's Kevin Unangst, Games for Windows director over at Microsoft. In a brief message posted on the Gamerscore Blog, Unangst has assured point-and-conquer fans that the closure of developer Ensemble Studios doesn't necessarily spell doom for the renowned PC franchise.
"I want to reassure you that Microsoft will still own the Age of Empires intellectual property," he said. "As a company, we're very excited about the future potential for Age of Empires, and as a PC gamer I'm looking forward to what that future holds."
Of course, not everybody is buying into this somewhat formless placation, with one commenter diplomatically venturing, "Go to hell you Microsoft pigs!" Nurse, we're going to need some oinkment for that burn.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/mi...ge-of-empires/
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September 11th, 2008, 20:59 Posted By: Shrygue
via Gizmodo US
While we're going to get the first glimpse of the geek bits under Windows 7's multitouchable hood in October, it looks like we won't get hands on with the first beta until December. Some select special people already have super early builds, but Microsoft queen bee Mary Jo Foley says that Beta 1 won't see the light of snowy day until at least the week before Christmas, according to people in the know.
On the upside, it looks like the hold-up is to deliver a mostly feature complete beta, so we'll have a pretty good idea of what Windows 7 will taste like. Especially if that means they're planning on delivering the final in late 2009, as Bill mentioned at All Things D, since that's not an especially long beta period. Hopefully they'll still make that 15-second boot time.
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September 11th, 2008, 19:22 Posted By: wraggster
Shacknews reports that Ensemble Studios, developer of the Age of Empires series, will be shut down by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) as soon as the upcoming Halo Wars title is complete. Microsoft execs said parts the team would continue to work with MGS. Halo Wars is scheduled for early 2009, and Eurogamer took a look at the Halo-styled RTS game last month.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl...8/09/10/180237
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September 11th, 2008, 19:19 Posted By: wraggster
With Warhammer Online just around the corner, Zonk wrote up a guide which compares it to the current top dog of the MMO market, World of Warcraft. He highlights the fact that despite the appearance of "War" in both names, Warhammer is much more focused on the struggle between factions, in gameplay and artistic style. Warhammer's open beta started on Sunday, doing well in the US but stumbling in Europe. The full version launches on Sept. 18th, but people who pre-order the game will be able to access live servers up to four days before, thanks to Mythic's head-start program. Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs recently launched a blog to answer questions about the game.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/10/1737213
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September 10th, 2008, 20:20 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
A religious nutter has launched an anti-Spore website to let Electronic Arts know that its "biggest attack on Christian values to date will not be tolerated."
Antispore.com condemns Spore's teaching of the very un-Christian theory of evolution, which it says is an attempt on the games industry's part to "invade our homes and poison the minds of our children."
It says: "Yesterday I found out about a new game called Spore when my son asked me to buy it for him. It looked innocent enough at first and has E for Everyone ESRB rating. But don't be mislead, apparently 'everyone' means everyone they want to teach evolution to.
"This entire game is propaganda aimed directly at our children to teach them evolution instead of creationism, or 'intelligent design' if you go for stupid PC terms.
"The object of the game is to evolve from a 'spore' into demon-like intelligent space creatures that violently take over the galaxy," continues the site.
The site goes on to attack EA and it's 8,500 employees, "not a single one with enough Jesus to stand up and say what they are doing is wrong," it says.
"I used to like Will Wright," continues Anti-Spore.com. "He created Sim City, a fantastic game that celebrated the earth that God created for us and allowed you to use all your God given abilities to make an ideal society. But if you ever felt like you had too much power, God would come in with a tornado or an earthquake and put you back in place.
"You would think that as a member of the Episcopal Church, a smart man like Will Wright would not be capable of creating Spore. However, we must be reminded that the Episcopal Church is the only church in america that ordains homosexuals on a regular basis.
"It makes sense that a perverted church would cause a man to make the creations he has in this game. It just may be that evolution is not the only thing to fear this game teaching your children.
"[EA's] billions in revenue and all the advertising in the world are no match for the power of God."
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September 10th, 2008, 20:17 Posted By: Shrygue
via Gizmodo US
If you rock Ubuntu, you've probably got your engines already revved for the more immediately imminent Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release next month. But that's not stopping Canonical—Ubuntu's main developer—from jibber-jabbering about Jaunty Jackalope, the next major Ubuntu release, which is due in April. Ubuntu 9.04's code name stems from its focus on zip-zoominess, with a goal of making "booting or resuming Ubuntu blindingly quick" and a "blurring of web services and desktop applications." So it'll be a fast hybrid, just like an, uh, real jackalope.
While it's not entirely certain how Jaunty will float on the cloud, Bits notes that Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth says they're after "weblications." Either way, it's surely not coincidental that Jaunty's two major goals—a light, snappy OS with serious web app/cloud computing integration—converge to accelerate the death of the traditional Microsoft-dominated desktop. We'll know how well it succeeds in just a few months.
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September 10th, 2008, 19:49 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
EA has said the PC version of Red Alert 3 will use a "more lenient" version of SecuROM in order to curb piracy and make fans happy at the same time.
The game will only need to be authenticated online once after installation, according to a developer post on the official forums, and can be reinstalled up to five times. EA support can be contacted if further installations are needed. Red Alert 3 will also run without a CD.
These procedures apparently did nothing to stop Spore from being pirated successfully before the official release. The real effect of the installation limit, critics argue, is on game trade-in shops such as Gamestation and GAME.
This also effectively renders legitimate copies of RA3 useless at some point down the line, whether reinstalling to save hard drive space or through upgrading hardware or combating viruses, since EA support for that title may have been shut down at that point given past precedents.
"Do you ask for Sony's permission to use your PS3 when you turn it on for the 50th time? Do you ask for Honda's permission to turn on your motor in your car after 100,000 miles? No. You purchased these systems, and they are now yours to do with as you wish," writes one particularly angry member of that official forum.
There's also growing concern about the third-party SecuROM software, which users are forced to install, and which lingers even after the game is removed.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is due for release in October.
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September 9th, 2008, 19:08 Posted By: wraggster
A few weeks ago, we discussed Stardock CEO Brad Wardell's "Gamer's Bill of Rights," a proposal for removing some of the PC gaming industry's more obnoxious characteristics, such as annoying DRM and no-return policies. Shacknews sat down with Wardell for a lengthy interview in which he discussed his reasons for starting the project, how it's being received by game companies, and how he wants the gaming community to help. Quoting:
"I've already gotten calls from Microsoft, from Take 2, and other publishers who are interested in moving forward on this. Obviously the first step is we have to really define these items. And I've had other developers and publishers who have come back and said, 'No, because it's not flexible enough.' For example, what happens if someone wants to do a policy where there's CD copy protection, but after the first month [consumers] can download a patch that gets rid of it. So obviously that's a perfectly good solution too, but our thing eliminates the ability to do that."
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/09/0053229
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