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Military gets its own gaming network, the MOG

by Justin McElroy { Jul 3rd 2009 at 10:00AM }

Though you might think they'd welcome a break from shoot-'em-ups, members of the military are known to be a rich breeding ground for hardcore gamers. Now, just in time for Independence Day, they have their very own space in which to catch each other in the friendliest of fire: The Military Online Gaming program, a Global Gaming League-powered service that kicks off on the 4th with a Call of Duty: World at War tournament.

Though support will start with the 360, a rep from the group responsible, Pro vs. GI Joe, told Shacknews that our fighting men and women will soon be able to blast one another on PC and PS3 too.

Fallout 3 50 percent off on Steam

by Justin McElroy { Jul 2nd 2009 at 10:15PM }

You really have no excuse for not owning Fallout 3 at this point. Not only is it a really excellent game, it's packing tons of value with all the different DLC available. And let's not forget the indescribable pleasure of having Danny Kaye songs endlessly stuck in your head.

Now that the game's been slashed to $24.99 for the weekend on Steam, you have less than no excuse. It's like ... negative excuse, which we believe means you're legally obligated to buy a copy, even if you already own one.

Zipper dev diary reveals the three factions of MAG

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 30th 2009 at 10:00PM }

Out of all of humanity's social needs and desires, we all love the feeling of belonging the most. People just can't get along without the comfort and support that can be provided by bowling leagues, church groups, family circles or bloodthirsty para-military contractors.

The latest developer diary for Zipper Interactive's 256-man melee, MAG, reveals the three PMCs featured in the multi-multi-multiplayer shooter. You'll get to choose between the traditional military forces of Valor, the high-tech armada of Raven or the brutal, low-tech armies of S.V.E.R. (pronounced "sever"). Check out the three outfits in the video above, and let us know who you're thinking about enlisting with.

Review: The Conduit

by Justin McElroy { Jun 30th 2009 at 12:45PM }

The problem with reviewing High Voltage's The Conduit is that it's impossible to do in a vacuum. Depending on where you're coming from, you're going to have vastly different reactions to this game, so I'm going to do my best to talk to everyone.

Gallery: The Conduit

Continued →

Xbox Live Top 10: The Chief is back

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 30th 2009 at 11:00AM }

And the mighty Xbox Live tug-of-war continues this week as Major Nelson reports that Halo 3 has once again wrangled the top spot from Call of Duty: World at War. We'd like to say there were some other -- more interesting -- changes this week, but the rest of the list remains almost completely unchanged. The only other difference is that Fallout 3 replaced Prototype at ninth place, knocking the latter to tenth.

Don't worry, though, we've got a new Halo game and a new Call of Duty game on the way in just a few months. Then we can at least see different iterations of the same series occupying the top two slots. That's something to look forward to, right?

[Image: Pwn or Die]

PS3 Serious Sam HD could happen if consumers want it

by Majed Athab { Jun 29th 2009 at 5:15PM }

Speaking to G4, Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric said the company originally also wanted to do a PSN version of Serious Sam HD alongside the PC and XBLA releases, but cited time constraints as the major factor holding it back. "[We] couldn't get additional financing to support [the] extra development time needed," said Ribaric. "It was either to do PSN by the same date or forget about it."

Luckily, Croteam hasn't gone with the latter and hasn't completely ruled out releasing a PSN port sometime after the PC and XBLA versions. The Croteam CEO says he's heard from different offices in the industry that consumers are disenchanted with late ports; however, he's still interested in listening to what PS3 owners think. Is it worthwhile for Croteam to pursue? Would you wait for the PSN version? Send Croteam an e-mail or maybe start a petition online -- this might be one of the few times developers will actually listen.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood trailer shows off multiplayer modes

by David Hinkle { Jun 25th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Even back in the old west, cowboys knew how to throw together a solid multiplayer match. Evident in this trailer for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, the cattle rustlers and other denizens of the wild west partook in the staples of a multiplayer experience, including traditional survival and team-based combat modes. Back then, they didn't call it "multiplayer," though. To them, it was all a part of Manifest Destiny.

After you've checked out the trailer above, be sure to hit up the gallery below for some screens.

Gallery: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood multiplayer

Croteam seriously remaking Serious Sam for XBLA [update: It's coming to PC too]

by JC Fletcher { Jun 25th 2009 at 9:30AM }

The Xbox 360 is, of course, a great system for new first-person-shooters, but with XBLA re-releases of games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Duke Nukem 3D, it's also becoming the system of choice for classic FPS games. Now Croteam is working on an XBLA version of Serious Sam, called, unsurprisingly, Serious Sam HD.

Publisher Majesco told Eurogamer that the remake, which will "re-imagine The First Encounter," will be available on XBLA late this summer for 1,200 Microsoft Points. The new version will include four-player online co-op.

Though we look forward to blowing up stuff with abandon, we are a bit concerned that this news could mean that the "next Serious Sam FPS game" to which Croteam's CEO referred is actually the first one again.

Update: cdv Software Entertainment AG has confirmed to VideoGamer that the game will also be appearing on PC.

Gallery: Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD

Metareview: The Conduit (Wii)

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 24th 2009 at 1:31PM }

While you're patiently waiting for the end of the week so you can cash that paycheck and pick up High Voltage Software's The Conduit for your Nintendo Wii, why not take a gander at what the rest of the interweb had to say about the game? Considering the lack of correlation between Metacritic scores and the sales numbers of Wii games, though -- at least according to Peter Moore -- you probably shouldn't let these numbers get to you too much.

GamePro (70): "The Conduit is the closest you will get to recapturing the magic of Goldeneye ... To be blunt, The Conduit is a by the numbers shooter that offers a couple of thrills but ultimately doesn't make much of an impact ... anyone who loved Goldeneye will want to give a look as well if only to get a nice dose of nostalgia, but the rest of you shouldn't feel a need to abandon your favorite next-gen shooter for this one."
GamesRadar (80): "The Conduit is fun, controls well, and is, at times, quite beautiful ... Both humans and alien drones are animated with competent physics and personality that puts High Voltage Software's Quantum3 engine outside the realm of the "GameCube 1.5" criticisms ... The truth is you probably wouldn't bat an eye at The Conduit had it appeared on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 ... The solid, yet unremarkable single-player won't win any awards, but The Conduit still features the most finely honed online outings available on Wii."
IGN (86): "The Conduit is not a revolutionary first-person shooter, but it's a damned good one ... the title features the tightest, most comfortable control scheme of any console-based first-person shooter to date ... The Conduit features a robust list of modes and maps to play online and nearly 20 weapons to use as you rip through arenas blasting foes ... it's not revolutionary, but The Conduit is a great first-person shooter designed just for Wii owners."

Gallery: The Conduit

Second MAG dev diary talks framerate, inspiration for 256 players

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 24th 2009 at 11:00AM }

Are you excited for MAG? Zipper Interactive's PS3 follow-up to the SOCOM franchise will melt PS3s everywhere with its ambitious 256-player online multiplayer. In spite of the unprecedented number of players being tracked, Zipper's targeting a steady 30fps beat, even when all 256 players start converging on one point. The notion seems a bit staggering, and we have our doubts -- remember the framerate of 4-player N64 games?

Certainly, we want Zipper to deliver on all of its promises. The end of the dev diary makes us hungry for more, when the developers explain their vision: "In other first-person shooters, you might see big events, like helicopters going down, or explosions, and buildings on fire. Those things are all scripted; they're happening outside of the gameplay space. In MAG, it's the first first-person-shooter where all those things are happening around you as an effect of gameplay."

Gallery: MAG

Court filing reveals 2K Games was developing 'Duke Begins'

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 22nd 2009 at 11:15AM }

Did you seriously think he'd just roll over and die? He's Duke Nukem, guys. We're pretty sure he can't be killed by conventional weapons (such as bankruptcy).

This news came in response to last month's Take-Two court filing against Duke Nukem Forever developer Apogee Software, which attempted to recoup loans the publisher had distributed to Apogee -- loans which would have ostensibly been repaid by DNF royalties. Apogee's attorneys responded Friday with a shocking revelation -- in exchange for their support, Apogee gave Take-Two the rights to simultaneously develop another Duke Nukem game. Take-Two tasked 2K Games with said development under the working title Duke Begins.

Apogee's defense states that 2K "halted or otherwise canceled all development work by the third-party game developer on the Duke Begins game in April 2009," an action Apogee sees as Take-Two's attempt at, "pressuring Apogee to sell the Duke Nukem franchise rights to Take-Two for less than their true value." With the cat officially out of the bag, we expect to hear more about the Duke's origin story (like, if it's still being developed) in the near future.

Activision: Singularity demo is 'absolutely critical'

by David Hinkle { Jun 17th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Singularity producer Kekoa Lee-Creel recently spoke with Develop about the upcoming FPS, and while the majority of the interview is comprised of details we mostly knew, one tidbit of info will come as a delight to those anxiously awaiting Raven Software's flux-fest: it seems there will be a demo for the game prior to its release. Activision views the demo release as "absolutely critical" to the game's success, as Lee-Creel believes there is no better way to convey how good a game feels than to let folks get their hands on it.

Well, we'd have to agree with that, but mostly because we like getting free stuff. You guys don't want to see us at a grocery store on free sample day, we assure you.

Gallery: Singularity

The Conduit delayed in Europe, Australia [update]

by JC Fletcher { Jun 17th 2009 at 11:00AM }

[Update: Sega has confirmed that the US release date remains June 23.]

Sega has announced that the European release of The Conduit has been delayed from its original June 26 date to July 10. According to CVG, unspecified issues with the game's multi-language European localization are responsible for the holdup.

VOOKS has also confirmed a delay for the Australian release of High Voltage's FPS. Once given a June 25 release date, the game has been pushed back to July 16. Neither Sega nor VOOKS offered any reason for this version's delay, and the Australian release shouldn't be affected by the same localization problems. At this point, your best shot at playing The Conduit next week remains the "living in North America" strategy, or the slightly less drastic "importing from North America" strategy.

Gallery: The Conduit

Original Left 4 Dead won't be (left for dead, that is)

by Justin McElroy { Jun 12th 2009 at 12:15PM }

Much like the zombies on which it is centered, Left 4 Dead will continue to shamble on even after its premature death. Valve's Gabe Newell told Kotaku that, despite the upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2, support will continue for the original, including "tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4x4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months." Newell continued: "We also agree with our customers that there needs to be an interoperability plan for players of L4D1 and L4D2, as multiplayer games are driven by the cohesiveness of their community."

Perhaps more notable than the continued support is the fact that numbering the series makes their names indistinguishable from that of Star Wars droids.

Report: Battlefield 3, Criterion-developed Need for Speed underway

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 10th 2009 at 4:15PM }

During a William Blair Growth Stock Conference presentation, EA's COO (John Pleasants, FYI) noted the existence of two unannounced titles -- neither of them particularly surprising if you've been keeping up on your spurious internet rumors. The first, Battlefield 3, is said to be in good shape and, even better, in good hands over at developer DICE. Unfortunately, it appears fans of frenzied first-person shootery will have to wait until the next fiscal year before returning to the field.

According to G4TV's Patrick Klepek, the second title is yet another Need for Speed game, this one developed by the team behind Burnout. Pleasants allegedly praised the team for being "online-centric and notably high-quality game developers that we have out at Criterion." There's little else to go on at the moment, but we're certainly intrigued by the collision of those two racing franchises. There will be collisions, right?

Source -- Need for Speed
Source -- Battlefield 3