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Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Delayed Until September

Dec 26, 2007 12:46pm CST tags: Ascaron, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Delay
The release of Ascaron Entertainment's multiplayer-oriented action-RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has been delayed until September 2008. In development for both PC and Xbox 360, the game was previously set to hit stores in the first quarter of 2008.

"An extension of the development process was necessary in order to ensure that we realize all the development plans and ship both PC and Xbox 360 versions with the best possible quality and stability," Ascaron wrote on the game's official site.

The company also noted its intent to deliver a playable demo to the gaming public before the game's release.

To learn more about the massive and Diablo-esque world of Sacred 2, check out Chris Remo's preview.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Preview

May 01, 2007 10:12am CST tags: Ascaron, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
Computer & Video Games has been updated with a preview of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, taking a look at Ascaron's upcoming action RPG.

Shack Preview: Sacred 2 (Xbox 360)

  Mar 27, 2007 2:28pm CST tags: Ascaron, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
With Ascaron Entertainment's action RPG sequel Sacred 2: Fallen Angel recently announced to be in the works for Xbox 360 as well as PC, I caught up with publishing director Heiko tom Felde to check out how the game is shaping up on the console.
Some graphical features claimed to be made possible by the system's triple core architecture will be unique to the Xbox 360 version of the game; among these is a fluid-based simulation of the motion of leaves kicked up from the ground, creating an attractive flurry of flora as the player's character traipses through forested areas.

"We are very lucky that we do not have to reduce the quality of the monsters and characters and the effects," said Heiko on Ascaron's first move into home console development. "Everything works."

Multiplayer is a key area of focus in the PC version of Sacred 2, so the team is targeting full Xbox Live online support as well as local options. Two players can play cooperatively on the same screen, while up to four can play via local system link or on Xbox Live. I was able to join Heiko's game to play cooperatively, and it appears to allow players to join a friend's game world at any time.

Late Night Consoling

Mar 08, 2007 10:00pm CST tags: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Ascaron, Games: Console, Steven Spielberg
With GDC still in full swing, it's another Late Night Consoling handled by yours truly, other Chris. But that's what I get, living in Indiana and all.

  • Spielberg working on Wii title

    [wii]

    Discussing the three game team-up of Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg with GameDaily BIZ, EA Los Angeles general manager Neil Young revealed two of the games are currently in development at EA LA and at least one of them is for the Wii. Furthermore, the Wii title is being produced by Westwood Studios co-founder Lou Castle, now vice president of creative development at EA LA.

    Young was more tight-lipped about the other title. Apart from naming Doug Church as producer, whose resume includes System Shock (PC), Thief (PC) and Deus Ex (PC), Young only added that the game is "what you'd expect, sort of, from a Steven Spielberg production . . . big stories shown through the eyes of a small group."

  • Ubisoft brings Jam Sessions to North America

    [ds]

    Over at Level Up, N'Gai Croal has an exclusive look at Plato and Ubisoft's upcoming Nintendo DS guitar game, Jam Sessions. Much like Harmonix's Guitar Hero series, Jam Sessions allows users to perform contemporary tunes. Unlike Guitar Hero however, Jam Sessions permits the player to dictate the speed of a song and also provides a Free Play mode for potential musicians to fool around in.

    Previously released as Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 in Japan, the North American version features several improvements over the original version, including reworked songs and the ability to save games. Jam Sessions will be available in June.

  • Upcoming Wii Channel allows Mii comparision, popularity contests.

    [wii]

    During his keynote address today, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto revealed the first details on a new Wii Channel that will allow users worldwide to compare Miis and rate them in what he called "popularity contests." No timeframe was offered as to when the Channel will be up for download from the Wii Ware section of the Wii Shop Channel.

  • Disney announces High School Musical games, confirms Wii microphone

    [ps2] [wii] [ds]

    Disney Interactive Studios announced a series of games for the PlayStation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS based off Disney Channel's popular High School Musical movie. The PS2 and Wii versions will be karaoke-based, the song list including all the original High School Musical tracks plus those of the upcoming sequel, along with other songs from Disney Channel artists. Details on the DS version remain a bit more scarce, the only available information indicating that players "dance and play along with the movie's songs and create their own dance videos."

    More importantly, Disney's announcement of a karaoke-based title on the Wii inadvertently confirms recent rumors microphone peripheral for the platform. Expect to hear more details on both the game and the microphone as High School Musical's August release date draws near.

  • Sacred 2 Falls On Xbox 360

    [xbox360]

    Ascaron Entertainment's upcoming action RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is in development for Xbox 360 as well as the previously announced PC version, the company revealed to Shacknews today. The Xbox 360 version will support four player online co-op as well as two-player same-screen co-op and four-player system link co-op.

    Though the game is currently up and running on Xbox 360, publisher details have not yet been finalized. Expect impressions of the Xbox 360 edition from Shacknews soon, but in the mean time, check out our preview of the PC version.

  • Nintendo details Q2 releases

    [wii] [ds]

    Nintendo issued a list of their upcoming releases for the second quarter of 2007. On the Wii, the company will release platformer-RPG hybrid Super Paper Mario on April 9, followed by Mario Party 8 on May 29. The Wii rendition of Big Brain Academy hits June 11, with Pokemon Battle Revolution wrapping up the company's second quarter on June 25.

    For the DS, April 22 will see the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl. Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS Web Browser and Planet Puzzle League both ship June 4.

  • Mass Effect to release before E3

    [xbox360]

    In an interview with IGN, Bioware CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka suggested the company's Xbox 360 RPG Mass Effect will arrive in stores before E3 begins on July 11, 2007. "That event [E3] is in July, right?" he postured. "Well, Mass Effect won't appear at this year's E3."

  • Misc. Q&As/Features

    The Escapist chats up Electronic Arts co-founder Joe Ybarra, who talks about his view of EA as "a start-up type of experience" and calls certain business practices into question.

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]

Kirby's Adventure for the NES. "The first console adventure of the pink puffball who inhaled his way into our hearts." (submitted by RevRaven)

Shack Preview: Sacred 2

  Jan 31, 2007 3:06pm CST tags: Ascaron, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
Fans of click-heavy action RPGs have something new to look forward to in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, a follow up to 2004's Sacred from developer Ascaron Entertainment. I was recently able to check out an early build of the game courtesy of Ascaron to see how things are shaping up. Check out my impressions.
What I have seen of Sacred 2 is very attractive at the normal camera zoom level, and as demonstrated by the few released screenshots holds up quite well even when zoomed in up against the action. The game's lighting is well done and atmospheric, and touches like attractively rippling water help as well. There is a day/night cycle that players can set; while the team expects people to stay within a range of a 30-minute to two-hour day, it is possible to scale it all the way up to real time. Each self-contained area in the game has its own unique assets which are not reused elsewhere, down to pavement stones, statues, fountains, and so on. In an appreciated touch, Ascaron is foregoing motion captured animation and opting for hand-crafted keyframed animation for all models.

Sacred 2 Q&A

Jan 23, 2007 9:23am CST tags: Ascaron, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
There's a Sacred Q&A on Worthplaying, asking Ascaron's Hans Arno Wegner about this fantasy RPG sequel. Topics include unique features, character, customization, post release plans, multiplayer and more.

Tortuga: Two Treasures Demo

Jan 08, 2007 9:27am CST tags: Ascaron, Games: PC, Demo
A Tortuga: Two Treasures demo is now available, allowing you to try out Ascaron's swashbuckling action adventure game. The demo includes two levels. More info on Tortuga: Two Treasures can be found at the official website.

Sunday Evening New Release and ShackReviews

Aug 13, 2006 5:17pm CST tags: Namco, Valve, Capcom, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Ascaron, Games: PC, Monolith
Video games!

This Week's New Releases

PS2

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix | Tue. | PS2)

Xbox/X360

Ninety-Nine Nights (Q? / Phantagram | Tue. | X360)
Xyanide (Playlogic | Tue. | Xbox)

Portable

Deep Labyrinth (Interactive Brains | Tue. | NDS)
Freedom Wings (Natsume | Tue. | NDS)
Konductra (oeFun | Tue. | NDS)
Payout Poker and Casino (Namco Bandai | Tue. | PSP; also PS2, Xbox, PC in 2006)

PC

DarkStar One (Ascaron | Mon. | PC)
F.E.A.R. Combat (Monolith Productions | Thu. | PC)
Jaws Unleashed (Appaloosa Int. | Tue. | PC, also PS2, Xbox in May '06)
Pacific Storm (Leska | Mon. | PC)
Victoria - Revolutions (Paradox | Thu. | PC)

Multi

Backyard Baseball 2007 (Humongous | Tue. | PS2, PC; also GBA in Jun. '06; GCN this month)
World Racing 2 (Synetic | Tue. | Xbox, PC)

Featured ShackReviews:

I played half an hour or so of Ubisoft's Far Cry Instincts (Xbox) this week and a mission of Backbone's Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (NDS) on the plane, that was about it.

Call of Juarez Screenshots

Jul 27, 2006 8:48am CST tags: Ascaron, Screenshots, Call of Juarez
Ascaron just can't stop releasing Call of Juarez screenshots. We have six more. Techland's shooter is currently scheduled for a September release.

Update: if you're up for some guesswork, a German language demo of the game is now available. Comes with two singleplayer missions. Thanks Blues News.

El Matador Screenshots

Jul 17, 2006 9:51am CST tags: Ascaron, Screenshots, El Matador
Ascaron has released a few El Matador screenshots, showing a couple of different locations from this third person shooter. There are brief impressions of a preview build at Strategy Informer

Free Sacred Addon

Oct 19, 2004 6:56pm CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
A Sacred PLUS addon has been released for free, and you grab the US version from FileShack. The 130mb download adds all kinds of new content to the Ascaron Entertainment RPG, and is required to play the game online. International versions can be found here.

Port Royale 2 Q&A

Sep 15, 2004 5:15pm CST tags: Ascaron, Games: PC
A Port Royale 2 Q&A has been posted at GameZone. International product manager Alan Wild of Ascaron Entertainment answers questions about the naval strategy game sequel set in the 17th century.

Port Royale 2 Preview

Jul 12, 2004 5:38pm CST tags: Ascaron, Games: PC
There's a new Port Royale 2 preview on GameSpot, offering hands-on impressions of this buccaneer strategy game sequel being developed at Ascaron. New screenshots are included as well.

Sacred Patches

Apr 27, 2004 9:46am CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
The official Sacred website is now offering 1.66 patches for the UK, US, Australian and French versions of the recently released Ascaron Entertainment RPG. The new patches offers a Mystdale Castle Hotfix and several server side communication tweaks.

New Sacred Patch

Apr 15, 2004 2:24pm CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
The Sacred website is now offering 1.6 patches for the Australian, US and UK versions of the Ascaron Entertainment RPG. A changelog can be found here. Thanks Blues News.

Sacred Preview

Feb 21, 2004 11:00am CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
Over at GameSpy you can find a preview of Sacred, the fantasy RPG from Ascaron. You can find a demo of this game on FileShack.

Sacred Screenshots

Feb 09, 2004 1:15pm CST tags: Ascaron, Screenshots, RPG News
Thirteen new Sacred screenshots have been posted on GenGamers. Sacred is the new fantasy RPG from Ascaron Entertainment (Patrician, Port Royale).

Sacred Media

Feb 01, 2004 1:46pm CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News, Trailer, Screenshots
Over at GenGamers you can find several new screenshots and a gameplay movie fom Sacred, the role-playing / adventure game from Ascaron Entertainment. 1UP.com has a preview of this game.

Sacred Q&A

Jan 22, 2004 10:45am CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
RPG Dot's Sacred Q&A is online, asking designer Michael Bhatty about this action RPG. Questions are about the game's unique elements, the storyline, quests, multiplayer support, use of horses, attack combos and a few other things. There are also some gameplay movies from this game on the Ascaron website.

Sacred Q&A

Jun 11, 2003 8:53am CST tags: Ascaron, RPG News
Part 2 of RPG Vault's Sacred Q&A is now online. Ascaron's Alan Wild and Michael Bhatty answer more questions about this fantasy role playing game. Opponents, NPCs, features of the game engine, the interface, music and sound, history of the development company and a few other topics are discussed this time.