Friday January 12, 2001 - Got some news? Send it here!

Wolfenstein Preview - Posted by Ckaoz

If you haven't heard there is a remake coming soon of Wolfenstein 3D and ITT has dished out a great preview to bring you up to date on this future remake of an old classic. Here is a bit:

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) is being developed by Gray Matter Studios and published by Activision. They are using the Quake 3 engine developed by ID. ID still holds the rights to the Wolfenstein name and is overseeing production as well. This is great news for me because -- to be blunt -- while ID creates topnotch engines they have never created a compelling single player story.

Bugsy Lovin' - Posted by Ckaoz

High End Gamer's own ho-cake Bugsy has popped up another edition to add to our Firearm's guide with some interesting tips and screenshots to boot. Check the mofo here!

Tomb Raider Editor Soon - Posted by Ckaoz

I noticed over at Avault that Eidos is planning to release the editor for the Tomb Raider game tomorrow which will include all TR games as wel as there textures and Lara animations, head here to get it!

Thursday January 11th, 2001

Mafia Preview - Posted by Bugsy

For those sad few that have not heard of the upcoming game Mafia here is a glimpse. Mafia is a first person shooter. The game is based in the 20-30s era. The player plays a Mobster with no holds bars. The graphics are great because of all the details that are put into the game. For example, all the building have been created be hand and there is over 12 miles of city and boonies to drive in, or walk. The game has some mutiplayer features but they are not yet well defined. The main focus is on single player. This game is expected to be a benchmark for future games. Some people feel this game is ahead of its time. I find it strange for people to say that because the game has not even been released yet. However, after reading the plot and viewing the screen shots I can ascertain how people built lots of hype around this new game. I have high hopes for this game. Mafia is not out yet and release date is not set. The game looks great check it out here.

Jumpgate Preview - Posted by Ckaoz

I am almost thinking I might have to jump on this bandwagon and dish out a preview of this game! But where is the stinkin time? Anyway Action Vault has been nice enough to put out a very detailed preview of this soon to be released space sim, here is a bit:

As one might imagine from the title, Jumpgate involves instantaneous travel between various sectors of space. This ability significantly accelerates the rate at which general business is conducted, and opens up new avenues of communication. It also means that players can engage in myriad activities. Combat, trading, squad formations plus missions such as mining, scouting, transport and patrols are among the opportunities available as ways to increase personal assets. Currently, Jumpgate is in a closed beta phase as NetDevil prepares it for eventual release. Being fortunate enough to participate in this stage, we were able to take an early look at multiple facets of the game.

ATI and Intel Bedbuddies - Posted by Ckaoz

Looks like ATI and Intel are "monopolizing" (pun intented) on the opportunity for integrating their chipsets, maybe even providing CPU and Video together.Here is a blurb from the info at MSNBC:

Under the arrangement, ATI, the world's No. 1 supplier of graphics chips, and Intel Corp., the world's largest maker of microprocessors, are each granted rights to certain patents owned by the other company. Markham, Ontario-based ATI has also negotiated the right to build integrated chip sets for Intel microprocessor platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. That exchange of patents -- which also settles pending litigation between the two companies -- will allow ATI to develop core logic chip sets incorporating its 3D graphics technology.

Quantum and Nvidia pair up - Posted by Ckaoz

Officially announced today Nvidia pair up with Quantum 3D to provide the VSA-100 chips for their AAlchemy line of products, as well as producing some low end GeForce goodness. Here is a snipet from the deal:

Quantum3D, Inc.™ today announced it has a relationship with NVIDIA® Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) in which NVIDIA will supply graphics chips to Quantum3D for the company's 3dfx®-based graphics subsystems - currently employed in Visual Simulation and Training (VST), Embedded Graphics Subsystems (EGS) and Out-of-Home Entertainment (OHE) Visual Computing Systems. Under the relationship, NVIDIA has committed to work closely with Quantum3D to supply Quantum3D with 3dfx graphics chips (when acquired from 3dfx) that are incorporated in the company's existing VST and OHE focused product lines. In addition, the companies have separately agreed to work together on next generation products that will incorporate NVIDIA graphics technologies into Quantum3D value-added solutions for VST and EGS applications.

Sharky Puts Out

Sharky has dished out an awesome preview of Microsoft's new X-Box, which Billy plans to topple the Playstation king! While you are there you can head on over there to check out the latest CPU prices they have pimped out! Here is a blurb from the preview:

While the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was not the first Xbox announcement, in many ways it was the most significant. Bill Gates formally announced Microsoft's entry into the console market last March in his keynote address at the Game Developer's Conference, and there was a flashy Xbox booth at E3 2000, but it wasn't until this week at CES that the public got a chance to see the final look of the system and of course its all-important gamepad.

SiN and Sacrifice Part 2?

I've noticed over at Avault that we might get second doses of the great games SiN and Sacrifice. Head over to Avault to get some inside scoop and put you in the know!

Wednesday January 9th, 2001 - Got some news? Send it here!

Ritual Splits - Posted by Ckaoz

It comes as quite a surprise to the gaming community, but it looks like the guys responsible fro numerous games such as SiN and FAKK 2, have split up into two different companies. Also along with the official word XGR has posted up a little interview with the man Levelord. Check it out here!

Jumpgate Q&A - Posted by Ckaoz

GA-Sim has dished up an interview with the boys of Netdevil about their upcoming space sim Jumpgate. There is also a nice preview of the game here.And trust me, this games is gonna be a buttload of fun!! Here is a niblet:

4. As of right now, players can control fighters and transports. Are there any plans to introduce other classes of craft, such as capital ships or carriers, and if so, can you go into more detail?

We will definitely introduce more ships into the game. As a matter of fact we just added a new building to the game – the Naval yard. It is here where new ships will be build. How quickly (or slowly) these ships will appear depends on the players. They need to provide the Naval Yard with materials. As for carriers and capital ships, this was always a consideration. It might be a while until they appear but we are planning on introducing them. This will not be an easy task in terms of programming, since we really want those ships to be special. Just having a real big ship flying around is one thing. Having a ship that is commandeered by several players simultaneously – like having a captain, navigator, gunners, etc. - is a little more difficult to accomplish.

Fat Pipe Tweakin' - Posted by Ckaoz

For those of you with a nice little DSL connection such as myself, the guys over at tuplay have come out with a new edition of their DSL tweak guide which offers information not only in relation to software setup, but to make sure your inside wiring is done correctly as well!

Can you say NOLF? - Posted by Ckaoz

I am happy to announce that I have posted up High End Gamer's latest review which happens to be for one of the biggest hits of the year No One Lives Forever! Check it out here!!! Screenshots soon to follow!

Tuesday January 8th, 2001

Best CPU Price This Week - Posted by Bugsy

The Pentium 4 1.4Ghz seems to be the best-priced high end CPU this week. The reason is the 1.4Ghz is cheaper than the 1.5Ghz and the 1.4Ghz can be overclocked to a 1.6Ghz. The 1.5 is much more expensive ($1039.00). If you need to make a CPU purchase this week and want to save a few hundred dollars then I recommend the 1.4Ghz P4. ($727.00) To get more information on pricing and how to overclock go here.

OzRune Launched - Posted by Ckaoz

Word from CFGN reached me that OzRune.com has been launched. The site looks to be dedicated towards the romping hack/slash limb flying game Rune which uses the Unreal Tournement Engine.

The site will be maintained by a dedicated OzRune team with a large focus on map editing, the mulitplayer aspects of the game and the upcoming OzRune League and competitions. To check out this site go to www.ozrune.com. Sections of the site are still are constructions as we are in the process of adding some league and editorial scripts. However we feel fully justified at launching this site as is with the current loads of content that we have already build up under there.

CFGN Review Goodies - Posted by Ckaoz

Thanks goes out to Chris Meder for letting me know CFGN has released two great reviews. One looks back with a bit of nostalgia at the id badboy Wolfenstein 3D. The other review looks at some of the hottest mods out on the market from the somewhat popular Counter-Strike (cough), to the mod Firearms which seems to be catching on fast :).

Quake III Server Patch - Posted by Ckaoz

The ho cakes over at id have whipped up a server side patch today. It may even increse FPS by 20. HOW DO THEY DO IT!! Here's what is fixes:

- Fixes and Additions

- Fixed James model bug

- CD Key read correctly when starting from Q3A vs TA shortcuts

- Handicap exploit fixed

- Bot routing bug fixed

- Potential 20 FPS increase for some clients :-)

- Sensitivity is back how it was

X-Com Delays - Posted by Ckaoz

From a game series that has captured my imagination since I first tried its demo in teh early 90's, comes the latest crop from the X-Com series, X-Com Alliance. It looks to be a very intriguing game as it is a FPS instead of the strategy game of old. The only problem with it is the consant delays. Word is out it has been delayed again as a key member of the team has quit. The project is now set for Quarter 3 of 2001.

B&W in February - Posted by Ckaoz

According to Lion Games their official announcement is that Black & White is "still" scheduled to release in late Feb. Hmm something tells me that isn't so reassuring.

Action Trip Goodness - Posted by Ckaoz

The boys over at AT have scooped up an awesome interview with Daniel Vavra of Talonsoft, who happens to be lead designer of Mafia (which I am looking forward to). Here is the poop:

Action Trip: This is going to be a third person shoot-em-up driving simulation. Will the game mix in any other kind of genre? Do you personally enjoy, playing adventure games? And are you going to insert some sort of 'classic adventure' puzzle-solving?

Yes, I like some of classic old school adventures like Revolution's LURE OF THE TEMPTRESS. But what I hate, is when the puzzles are too tough and if designers are lengthening playability by making them like this. I think, that's the reason, why normal people don't like adventures, it's not very entertaining to run over the same location for two days finding some hidden key, or making something absolutely illogical. So, we will not have puzzles like that, but we will have some adventure elements, like using of objects and lot of dialogues. But all the actions are strictly logical and simple. Everything is based around real life.

Monday January 7th, 2001

Ckaoz Lovin' - Posted by Ckaoz

Well the weeken is over, I have scanned with what little time I have had and scoured for some really beefy news ( as there seems to be a steady rise in the amount of it lately ) but not much peeked it enough to post here for the time being. I am still working on another review which I'll admit has been postponed a bit because of my recent acceptance into the Jumpgate beta. If I am able to I should be able to add some juicy tidbits of the beta here. Anyways. Keep posted here for more goodies!