Apogee Legacy Interview
Over at the 3D Realms website you can find the latest Apogee Legacy Q&A. This week Blake Stone creator Mike Maynard talks about his time working with Apogee.
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Prey Dev Diary
Over at the 3D Realms website you can find the latest Prey development diary. Nothing too specific, just a general update on what's going on including word that Prey will be at E3 in some form.
Read more »3D Realms Q&A
There's also a Q&A with Scott Miller on FiringSquad this morning, talking to the 3D Realms CEO about a variety of topics including the lenghty development period for Duke Nukem Forever, working with companies like Remedy and Human Head Studios, Duke movie plans, digital distribution and next-gen consoles.
Read more »Prey Dev Diary
The tenth Prey development diary has been posted over at the 3D Realms website. Project lead Chris Rhineheart talks about a variety of topics, including Hollywood animator Eric Weiss joining the team to finish up the game, Michael Greyeyes doing more voice work as Tommy, and items they are currently working on. There's also another build change log. Also included is a picture of one of the Human Head programmers visiting a certain website.
Read more »Late Night Consoling
Hey, no PS3 rumors today. It's a Christmas miracle!
- A few weeks ago, Microsoft briefly updated Xbox.com with notice of a free weekend of Xbox Live for all Xbox 360 owners. It was only up for a few hours before the company removed it from the Xbox Live calendar and firmly denied its existence. Well, now the Verizon-sponsored event is back, and this time it starts on March 31 instead of April 1, so it's probably legit this time. The promotion will last for the 72 hours comprising March 31, April 1, and April 2, Pacific Standard Time. Xbox.com has a calendar of events containing times when the Xbox Live team will be playing specific games. Ubisoft's Frag Dolls competitive gaming team will also be playing Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter on Sunday, in an event inexplicably called Frag Doll Friday. No, really. Visit the official site for more details, or check out Microsoft's press release.
Just Kidding About that April Fool's; Love, Microsoft
[xbox360] - Though the Crystal White model DS Lite was released in Japan last week, the Enamel Navy and Ice Blue versions were delayed due to production issues. Nintendo released those colors today, and by all accounts the "launch day" rush was even crazier than it was the first time around. Once again, the machine was sold out hours before shops opened their doors, and according to coverage on various sites, people standing in lines at some locations numbered in the thousands. We've got photos and descriptions from Kotaku, IGN, and GameSpot.
DS Lite Sells Out Launch Day (Again)
[ds] - Codemasters has officially announced a new game in its Micro Machines series. Micro Machines V4, the latest in the accessible racing franchise, will be heading to PS2, DS, PSP, and PC. Codemasters has regained the video game rights to the license after brief ownership by Infogrames. In the 90s, Codemasters released a string of Micro Machines titles. The first two in the "current" series were co-developed by Supersonic Software and are generally fondly remembered. Supersonic took a break from the series with 1998's Micro Machines V3 on the PlayStation, but the company is back in the developer's seat for V4. The press release promises the return of classic racing gameplay, powerups, and arenas in V4 along with new additions such as a significantly larger game world. Micro Machines V4 will ship this summer. - Press release.
Micro Machines Roll This Summer
[ps2] [ds] [psp] - IGN reported yesterday that Underworld director Len Wiseman helmed a TV spot for Nintendo Software Technology's upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters (DS). Today, IGN actually put the video up, so if you'd like to check that out, go right ahead. Metroid Prime Hunters is scheduled for release March 20.
Metroid Prime Hunters Ad Directed by Wiseman
[ds] - Crave Entertainment has announced a third entry in its World Championship Poker series (which has featured the suffix "Featuring Howard Lederer" since its second installment), entitled World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer "All In." Helpfully, Crave president and CEO Rob Dyer pointed out, "Our World Championship Poker franchise has quickly gained a reputation as the game for people who like to 'play' poker, rather than just watch it." The game includes poker stars such as Annie Duke, Grey Raymer, Amir Vahidi, Paul Darden, Robert Williamson III, and of course Howard Lederer. The Xbox 360 version of the game will feature Live support. World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer "All In" will ship for PS2, Xbox 360, and PSP. - Press release.
Crave Goes All In With WCP: All In
[ps2] [xbox360] [psp] - The latest development diary on Human Head's Prey (X360, PC) is up over at the 3D Realms site, written by Peter Johnson of Venom Games. Venom is handling Prey's Xbox 360 version. GameSpot has a video interview with Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who covers the games industry. Yeah, yeah, you guys hate analysts, but this is a good interview.
Misc. Q&As/Features
Misc. Media/Previews
PS2
Game Informer goes hands on with Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2). Screenshots: Okami (PS2).Xbox/X360
GameSpot checks out the multiplayer from Ubisoft Romania's Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (X360, also Xbox, PC). IGN checks out the 360 version of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI (X360, also PS2, PC).GameCube
Movies: Baten Kaitos (GCN).Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]
Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Super Nintendo. "I thought this game brought contra into 16-bit beautifully, and is tied with Super C as my favorite Contra games. Hard--but a lot of fun." (submitted by machrider16)Apogee Legacy Interview
The latest Apogee Legacy Q&A is up at the 3D Realms website this afternoon. This week programmer Lindsay Whipp talks about his shareware days. Whipp was responsible for the 1994 title Mystic Towers.
Read more »Prey Dev Diary
The eight Prey development diary is now available over at the 3D Realms website. Project lead Chris Rhinehart tackles a variety of topics this time including music, rape, new voice work and a changelog from a recent build sent to 3D REalms.
Read more »Apogee Legacy Interview
There's a new Apogee Legacy Q&A on the 3D Realms website, this time asking Ken Silverman of Build Engine fame about his contributions to 3D Realms projects.
Read more »Prey Dev Diary
The 3D Realms website has been updated with the seventh Prey weekly update, in which project lead Chris Rhinehart answers reader submitted questions. These questions are about things like music, vehicles, the dynamic difficulty system, the SpiritWalk feature and PC/Xbox 360 differences.
Read more »Apogee Legacy Interview Q&A
A new Apogee Legacy Q&A has been posted on the 3D Realms website, this time talking to John Passfield about his shareware past. Passfield worked on the game Halloween Harry / Alien Carnage, and is currently Creative Director at Pandemic Studios Australia.
Read more »Prey Dev Diary
The sixth Prey development diary is now up at the 3D Realms website. This week, Human Head's Chris Rhinehart talks about the two-day motion capturing session for the game.
Read more »Prey Video Footage
2K Games sends along three high-definition Prey gameplay movies, allowing you to see Human Head's sci-fi shooter in action. The first movie shows a minute of frantic multiplayer action, while this singleplayer movie shows off the spirit walking feature and the other shows Tommy blowing up a few bad guys.
Meanwhile, over at the 3D Realms website you can find the latest development diary. In this week's installment Chris Rhinehart talks about feedback from 3D Realms, adding more portal puzzles and tweaking combat among other things.
Alice and Max on Their Way to the Big Screen
The movie adaptation versions of Rogue's American McGee's Alice and Remedy's Max Payne have seemingly been in development hell for years now. Both projects have always seemed like ones destined for the theatres; Max Payne because of its very film noir-inspired atmosphere and characters, and Alice simply because American McGee always makes such a big deal about cross-pollinating his games into as many different forms of entertainment as possible. Collision Entertainment producer Scott Faye, of last year's Slasher flick Venom, is heading up both projects. Faye spoke to Yahoo! Games' Hollywood Byte regarding the status of the films. Alice seems to be further along, with a completed screenplay, Sarah Michelle Gellar attached in the lead role, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake director Marcus Nispel directing. The film is a Universal Pictures project with a budget of $40 to $50 million, and it may start filming this summer for a release next year.
Faye said that in Hollywood marketing terminology, Alice is a multi-quadrant film, which means it can theoretically open in any quarter of the year. He added that Nispel, who has a very clear visual idea of what Alice will be on screen, wanted to do the film for a price. This decision wasn't based on the financial upside of making a movie for a more modest budget, but because the director likes to challenge himself creatively and because he believes he can do great things without a bloated budget.If Alice is farther along, Max Payne seems to be the project for which Faye has more passion. The acquisition of the project stemmed from a lucky accident back at E3 1998, when Faye saw a cardboard cutout of the game's titular protagonist and sought out 3D Realms' Scott Miller to learn more about the game and eventually propose a film deal. He compares the game to Clint Eastwood's 1976 Civil War-era picture The Outlaw Josie Wales, whose Confederate main character launches a personal crusade against the Union after his innocent family is killed. Faye wants his film to convey that kind of brutal but sympathetic more ambiguity that defines Max Payne's character in Remedy's original game. The project recently had an unnamed screenwriter attached (IMDb says it's The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, but the film's page hasn't been updated since last June) and should have a script by May. A director has not yet been found. The budget could be anywhere from $10 to $100 million, but more likely somewhere in the middle. Faye hopes to start shooting at the end of this year or the beginning of next, for a possible release late next year. Read more »
Prey Q&A
There's a Prey Q&A over at Total Video Games, asking Human Head's Tim Gerritsen about the game. Questions are about the relationship with 3D Realms and resurrection of the project, DOOM 3 engine modifications, unique features, weapons, level design and multiplayer modes.
Read more »Apogee Legacy Interview #5
Forgot to mention this one yesterday but over at the 3D Realms website you can find the latest Apogee Legacy Q&A. This week's Q&A is with Frank Maddin, who worked on Crystal Caves, Monster Bash and Shadow Warrior.
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