Archive - 2007

Bioware MMO Going to be KOTOR 3?

2007/10/23
Jerry Paxton
News

Gamespot is reporting that the rumor mill is a blaze with talk of Bioware’s next project being an MMO based in Knights of the Old Republic universe.

From the GameSpot article:
However, rumors of a KOTOR MMORPG petered out, thanks to BioWare’s successful attempts to keep virtually every detail about the game under wraps. Now though, they are back, thanks to Primotechnology’s claims–which are the first to directly cite a source with knowledge of BioWare Austin’s inner workings.

‘A source close to BioWare confirmed to us today that the studio’s upcoming untitled massively-multiplayer online RPG will be centered around the Star Wars universe, specifically that of Knights of the Old Republic, which the developer released in 2003,’ read the report. Primotechnology went on to point out the popularity of Star Wars: Galaxies–which was released in 2003 and drastically revised in 2005–is waning. ‘It’s estimated that the game now has fewer than 100,000 subscribers and less than 20,000 active players,’ said the site without sourcing the numbers.’

And now the best from HK-47:

Comcast Denies Intentionally Affecting Downloads/Uploads

2007/10/23
Jerry Paxton
News

MSNBC reports that Comcast is now denying that they intentionally manipulate certain web traffic.

Last Friday, however, the Shogun spoke and described Comcast’s admission to the contrary. A Comcast employee actually gave pretty clear statement confirming that Comcast had policies or processes in place to limit peer-to-peer file sharing, targeting the uploading computer. The Associated Press even conducted experiments to confirm the blockage.

Now Comcast is backpedaling. In a statement released Monday, Comcast stated, ‘Comcast does not block access to any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services like BitTorrent.’ Rather, Comcast states that they employ ‘bandwidth management technology’ which may slow peer-to-peer applications, but not block them (i.e., the system prioritizes bandwidth and may allocate more resources to a VOIP telephone call, to the detriment of a torrent download).

Return to the Shogun for more information as it developes.

Perpetual Dissolved, Star Trek Online Affected

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

The Escapist is reporting that Perpetual Entertainment is being dissolved after being acquired by a ‘major game company’ which is currently unnamed. Perpetual, who’s latest game Gods and Heroes was recently cancelled was also tasked with creating the far-off Star Trek MMO. It seems that the Star Trek MMO as well as at least ‘some’ of that team have been bought up by this new company as well. So it would seem the Star Trek MMO has been shook up but still in development.

Army of Two Delayed

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

1up is reporting that EA’s Army of Two has been delayed to sometime in early ’08. ‘Game quality is our top priority. Army of Two has potential to become a lasting EA franchise, so getting the first title right is essential,’ said President of the EA Games Label.

From Wikipedia:
Army of Two (AO2) is a co-op third-person shooter with a focus on cooperative and coordinated strategies. Players will join up with either the game’s built-in ‘Partner Artificial Intelligence’ (PAI) or other players ‘to fight through war, political turmoil and a conspiracy so vast it threatens the entire world.’ Story details are vague at the moment, but the game has been designed to necessitate teamwork; some missions may be close to impossible to complete without another player or cooperation with the PAI.

Supreme Commander Heading to Consoles

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

Joystiq is reporting that Gas Powered Games founder, Chris Taylor has revealed that PC RTS Supreme Commander will be heading to console systems. Which console systems specifically has not been revealed aside from the Xbox 360. Taylor echoes many developers sentiments in that the Xbox 360 is the easiest platform to port back and forth from the PC.

On the console control system, Taylor had this to say:
‘I use the football analogy. The first RTS game was the kick and then we had to take the ball a few more yards down the field every iteration. We’re getting closer and closer to that touchdown. We may be a few more iterations of the UI and interface before we get there.’

Portal Review

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
Reviews

Portal is set sometime in the Half-Life universe at the Aperture Laboratories’ Testing Facility. It seems that the company has developed a technology for creating portals between two points from a gun-style interface. Testing the unit falls on your shoulders. Administering the test is the GLaDOS Artificial Intelligence unit. This AI has a very dry wit and is one of the central areas of fun in the game. Testing takes place over 19 levels of varying degree of challenge. If you can make it to the end of your testing the GLaDOS AI has promised you a party and cake. Is all as it appears, however?

Using the portal gun is easy enough, simply press the left mouse button to fire the ‘blue’ portal or the right mouse button to fire the ‘orange’ portal. The colors are there simply to help you determine which you have already deployed as the portals are 2-way lanes of travel. Throughout the levels you will find various obstacles in the way of your goal and you will have to be creative in overcoming them. Solving the puzzles takes a bit of patience and lateral thinking but they are not so difficult as to promote brain hemorrhages.

Sound design is adequate however the score is great. It really sets the mood of potential danger around every corner wrapped in sardonic corporate culture wit. Partially due to this score, you really expect to see some sort of bad guy run around the corner at any moment with the intent of killing you. This game makes you play it paranoid. The voice acting of the GLaDOS AI is just incredible. Delivered with a dead-pan style, actress Ellen McLain shines doing this voice-over work.

Graphics are built using the Source engine and are very crisp and clean, doing a marvelous job of creating the sterile testing environment as well as the seedier sides of Aperture Laboratories.

So what is really going on at Aperture Laboratories? You will just have to find out. Portal is bundled with the Valve Orange Box as well as a solo product on Steam.

From YouTube:

Mass Effect GOLD!

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

Announced today: Mass Effect has gone gold! The game is set to go retail on November 20th. If you pre-order the game you get a special pre-order DVD with a short documentary on the game as well as a demo of Blue Dragon and some videos of Halo Wars, Halo 3, and Lost Odyssey.

Also announced were the contents of the collector’s edition.

  • Book entitled ‘Galactic Codex Essentials’
  • Book entitled ‘A Future Imagined’
  • Bonus DVD

SanDisk to Unveil Video Service / TakeTV

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

MSNBC reports that SanDisk, one of the more successful manufacturers of USB flash drives, announced Monday a new service and product to further bridge the gap between the PC and television.

The Service – FanFare is a video service offering premium television shows for $1.99 per download. The site is in beta right now and the catalogue is small, but if the product (see below) is successful, count on it expanding rapidly.

The Product – TakeTV Video Player is a combination of gadgets including a USB harddrive, remote control, and television adaptor. Simply load any content (currently supports multiple formats including mpeg, DivX, and xVid), onto the USB harddrive, plug it in to the cradle, connect the cradle to the television (s-video, composite, & analog) and watch your content on the big screen. For those who do not have a Home Theatre PC, this is a very exciting product. The editors of GamingShogun are attempting to obtain a demo and hope to post a review shortly.

TakeTV is currently available in a $99.99 4gb model, and a $149.99 8GB model.

[edit – TakeTV is scheduled to be relased 11/06/2007]

Activision Announces Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Weekend and Demo

2007/10/22
Jerry Paxton
News

Activision has announced a Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock weekend and game demo release beginning Friday, November 2nd.

From the press release:
‘…fans 13 years old or older will be able to participate in a number of exciting activities online including a 72-hour Play & Win Sweepstakes where every hour winning axe shredders who register and play are awarded with special prize packages, such as a limited edition guitar faceplate signed by Slash, as they battle in a multiplayer showdown against the developers of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, as well as an exclusive Xbox LIVE leaderboard tournament to crown the top Guitar Hero player.’

AICN E For All Day 2 Coverage

2007/10/21
Jerry Paxton
News

AICN has posted their coverage of day two at the E For All gaming expo in Los Angeles, CA. It seems fairly apparent to most attendees that the crowds were not anything like those of E3, but that is okay. Hopefully next year the expo will have garnered enough media coverage to increase it’s numbers.

If all goes as planned we should have a couple folks there next year to bring the best of the expo to you as it happens.

From the expo: