• Interstate '82 Review
  Time: 19:27 EDT/00:27 GMT News Source: GameSpot Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  ActiveWindows announced the release of Interstate '82 if you've been visiting us, but here's part of a review of it from GameSpot:

  Interstate '82 is the sequel to Activision's MechWarrior-in-a-muscle-car game, Interstate '76. It takes place in 1982. Groove Champion, the hero of the original game, is missing, and it's up to his sister Skye and his old partner Taurus to find out what happened. Taurus has since traded in his vigilante lifestyle and his Afro for a more modern Miami Vice look. The rest of the cast shows off most early-to-mid-'80s fashion statements, from Mohawks to silk scarves. However, Interstate '82 simply doesn't stand up to the original because of its simplified gameplay, weak single-player opponents, and unreliable multiplayer mode.
  
  The best feature in Interstate '82 is its story. The story is told through prerendered cutscenes and occasional mid-mission CB radio chatter. The voice work is really quite excellent throughout the game, from the villain that sounds like he's doing an impression of someone doing an impression of Christopher Walken to the hilarious overdubbed swear-substitutes, which give the entire game a B-movie-on-cable feel from beginning to end. In addition to the outstanding voice acting, the game also has some pretty good music, including three Devo tracks. The rest of the soundtrack is typical '80s new wave and fits pretty well.

   

• Wheel of Time Review
  Time: 19:24 EDT/00:24 GMT News Source: GameSpot Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  When Wheel of Time was first announced, gamers and Robert Jordan fans had reason to be both excited and apprehensive. On the one hand, it would bring to life one of the most detailed and fascinating fantasy worlds ever conceived. Wheel of Time promised a mix of first-person action, role-playing, adventure, and strategy, which is a combination few games have ever effectively managed. On the other hand, because the Wheel of Time novels are so deep, so intricate, and so well-loved by legions of devoted Jordan fans, the game seemed destined to disappoint. But in the end, the game's creators GT Interactive and Legend Entertainment succeeded through a combination of great storytelling, spectacular graphics, and uniquely complex first-person action.
  Set before the first book in the series, Wheel of Time follows the turbulent adventures of Elayna, an Aes Sedai. Her sect holds a mystical seal, which is one of several seals used to jail the exceptionally evil Dark One in an ethereal prison. After the seal is stolen, Elayna must set out on a quest to recover the seal, thus setting in motion the events of the game.

   

• Omikron 2 Confirmed
  Time: 18:59 EDT/23:59 GMT News Source: FGN/Blue's News Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  FGNOnline has confirmed with French developer Quantic Dream that they are in the early stages of design on Omikron 2, the sequel to this year's Omikron: The Nomad Soul. They say that they're looking to get musician David Bowie back for a second time, in addition to other artists.

   

• Final Fantasy VIII
  Time: 18:59 EDT/23:59 GMT News Source: GameSpot UK Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  No one can possibly have missed the hype leading up to Final Fantasy VIII. There are billboards all over the place depicting the main character, his japanimated features in tight close-up, frozen with fear and adrenaline. It's a stunning image, not the least for its unusual approach to selling a game. Not since Lara Croft has a game relied so heavily on a personality to capture the punters' hearts, and absolutely no one has emphasised a character's basic humanity over other - er, less noble charms.
  
  Fans of the Final Fantasy series already know what to expect. There will be a hero with a troubled past and a series of companions who usually come bundled in groups of three or four. You'll start off using weapons and physical attacks, and gradually turn to magical ones as the game gets harder and the foes get tougher. Your characters will evolve as they gain experience, and eventually someone somewhere will experience an actual transformation of some sort. There will be a romantic sub-plot and more character development than all other roleplaying games have managed in total. The fantasy storyline will take a step towards pure sci-fi at some point, and there will be a space theme close to the end. And who could forget the hilarious post-battle dances, accompanied by their signature tune? It's a cocktail that's remained practically unchanged since Squaresoft's first attempts, and to addicts it's all as welcome as a Fast Show catchphrase.

   

• The Longest Journey Demo
  Time: 18:48 EDT/23:48 GMT News Source: 3DFiles.Com Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  The Longest Journey provides a huge 3D setting consisting of more than 150 locations, over 60 speaking characters and hundreds of puzzles. The best estimate is that it would take 50 to 60 hours for gamers to make it from beginning to end. I am thrilled to report there is no time pressure involved. "We want people to enjoy the experience without feeling like they're being herded from place to place without time to take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery," Tornquist says. The result is a living, breathing environment in which the player can wander around without feeling any pressure. At the same time, they will want to move the story ahead to see what's around the corner.
  

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Update
  Time: 18:16 EDT/23:16 GMT News Source: Blue's News Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Nihilistic's Rob Huebner updated his .plan with a giant update regarding their upcoming 3D RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. It's a giant update (you can check out the full one here while our CGI is out), but here's a big chunk:
  
  So what have we all been up to lately? Glad you asked. First off, we did a lot of work "under the hood" so to speak in moving all our engine code and effects from Glide (which was used for all the earlier screenshots and demos like E3) to Direct3D (which is our primary API out of the box). So you may have noticed that the latest round of screenshots sent out by Activision were higher resolution than in the past and also (I THINK) used 32-bit rendering (although when you ship them as JPG its hard to really differentiate due to the compression loss). The end result of all the is screenshots that look pretty much exactly like they did in the past, but with the added advantage that they work on lots of different cards now. So expect to see a wide variety of hardware in future screenshots and higher resolutions, etc. 
  
  Beyond that, Ingar's been doing a lot of work on the in-game cinematic camera system. This is really tricky stuff, getting cool camera angles from arbitrarily placed actors having a conversation. But when its all working, the results are really cool. Together with the lip-syncing of the characters that Jake is adding more of each day, the characters really seem to be lifelike. Still quite a few modes to be added, but even with the stuff working now its really immersive. Yves is plugging away at all the hard stuff - implementing tons of disciplines and AI modes needed to make the game not only pretty but also fun. Also still working on a few editor features here and there to improve the lighting in the worlds, most notably to get the staticly-placed objects to cast nice shadows into the world so they seem more solidly part of the surrounding geometry.

   
• Id Software Interested in your Video Card?
  Time: 17:46 EDT/22:46 GMT News Source: 3DNews.Net Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Uhoh, looks like a stink just came up. Apparently some people just realized on LinuxQuake. that whenever you fireup Quake3 it sends to the id master server what video card you are using and of course they can tell what version of Q3 you are running as well. Obviously along with that info they can also determine your IP address which in turn gives away your geographical location. I'm pretty sure this has been mentioned before by id but there is no mention of this anywhere in the documentation which is certainly a bad thing and probably the best possible way to get a lot of people pissed off.
  
  My 2 cents, It's not like they are pulling a Blizzard and getting your email info and stuff like that. It's simply what brand video card you are using. This does however 'open the gates' for other information to be sent and full disclosure by id Software that they were collecting this data would have been the best idea I believe. Here is a quick one from John Carmack:
  
  "...video card data is sent independent of support requests and would be impossible to link to some user's email address, so it's useless for support purposes."

   
• SimTheme Park Review...
  Time: 17:46 EDT/22:46 GMT News Source: GameSpot Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  GameSpot has posted their SimTheme Park Review...  Here's a quote:

  SimTheme Park is an amusement park management game that is part of Maxis' Sim series in name only. Known as Theme Park World both in Europe and in the game's many intro movies, it is actually the sequel to Bullfrog's Theme Park, a detail-oriented business simulator that happened to be set in an amusement park. SimTheme Park is just as much a business simulator as Theme Park was, but it removes many of the unnecessary minute tasks from the formula and adds some elements that make the amusement park setting much more important to the game.

  As a reminder, you can read our own review of SimTheme park here.

   
• MSN Internet Gaming Zone Down....
  Time: 17:46 EDT/22:46 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  MSN Internet Gaming Zone has been experiencing some problems so any games you are playing there may not play or will be real slow. We'll keep you updated. This problem has been going on for almost 24 hours.

   
• The BIG Game....
  Time: 17:29 EDT/22:29 GMT News Source: Allied Command Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Over the weekend, there was a stress test of Allegiance to test the servers, but because of its instability most testers did NOT make the big game.
  

• News Brief:
  Quake III has gone Gold - Confirmed
  Time: 14:39 EDT/19:39 GMT News Source: Activision Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Lots of email has come in regarding the Quake III gold announcement and its out! Here's the official announcement:

  November 23, 1999 - Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision today announced that Quake III Arena has gone gold.  Developed by id Software, Quake III Arena is the third installment of one of the most popular computer game franchises of all time and is designed to be the final word in online multiplayer mayhem. The title, which was sent into manufacturing today, is expected to hit retail shelves on Dec. 12, 1999 at a suggested price on $49.99.

   
• Asheron's Call off to a Good Start in US Release
  Time: 13:19 EDT/18:19 GMT News Source: Microsoft Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  REDMOND, Wash. - Nov. 24, 1999 - Microsoft Corp. today announced that "Asheron's Call," a massively multiplayer online game, is off to a strong start now that it has reached its full U.S. retail release. Highly anticipated by computer game fans and acclaimed in previews by the games press, "Asheron's Call" immerses thousands of players in a dynamic virtual world rich with adventure, magic and mystery.
  
  Playable exclusively on the MSNT Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com/), "Asheron's Call" has already become the No. 1 game on the Zone. "There are over a hundred games available for play on the Zone, and 'Asheron's Call' broke all previous game records in little over a week," said Adam Waalkes, product unit manager for the MSN Gaming Zone. "More people play 'Asheron's Call' during peak times than any other game the Zone has ever offered."

   
• Quake III to Dreamcast?
  Time: 11:19 EDT/16:19 GMT News Source: GameSpot Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  GameSpot News has learned from a source close to Activision that Quake III Arena is being built for Sega's Dreamcast console. The game is being planned for a late summer release and will use the Dreamcast Network for online play. Currently, spokespeople for Activision and Sega cannot confirm the reports.
  
  Although there's been no indication of this yet, there's a possibility that Quake III Arena players using the Dreamcast will be able to compete against players using the PC.
  
  We'll have further reports on the Dreamcast version of Quake III Arena in the near future.

   
• 1999 Video and Computer Game Report 
  Time: 11:10 EDT/16:10 GMT News Source: Blue's News Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  The Video and Computer Game Report for 1999 is out. Check it out here. 

   
• New Flash Intro on the Allegiance Homepage 
  Time: 11:02 EDT/16:02 GMT News Source: Allied Command Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Microsoft has updated the Allegiance Homepage with an awesome flash site. Check it out here!

   
• Allegiance Developers Die in their OWN Game 
  Time: 10:57 EDT/15:57 GMT News Source: MSN Gaming Zone Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  So there they were - the Allegiance Dev Team - starting in their own sector, trying to get their technology built as quickly as possible. The odds were stacked rather highly against them. Five full teams wanted nothing else than to locate the lone Allegiance Dev team - and pummel them into the ground. The Allegiance Dev Team knew they had to get their technology tree going as quickly as possible but suddenly the call was out. An enemy scout had found their location and broadcasted the news for all to see.

  For an hour the Allegiance Dev Team struggled to survive and eventually dominate - but the constant stream of enemy ships into their home sector kept them primarily on the defensive. Allegiance Dev Team member Darth_Grimm was able to fly his way into enemy sectors and sufficiently pick off a number of enemy craft. Darth_Grimm was the only surviving member of the Allegiance Dev Team at the end of the game and we salute him - but the writing was on the wall. When the cruiser showed up, the Allegiance Dev Team took it on and destroyed it but when three of the cruisers showed up en-masse - it was over.

  You can read more about the Developers defeat here.

  Just a reminder... ActiveWindows reminded you of that game last Friday, hope you had a chance to make it, if you're on the beta...

   
• GameWire's Asheron's Call Review 
  Time: 10:40 EDT/15:40 GMT News Source: ACVault/GameWire Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  GameWire posted their AC Review, its pretty good here's a few paragraphs:

  Well, if you've been living in a bomb shelter for the last five years, don't worry. We beat Saddam. If you're not one of the needlessly paranoid however, you've probably heard of Everquest. Eversmack, as many like to call it, has taken the gaming world by storm. Started by a company called 989 Studios, this game has become perhaps the biggest online gaming phenomenon since Starcraft.
  
  So that you can become a good little Well Educated Gamer (TM), We're gonna give a brief run-down of the history behind this game. In the beginning there were MUDs. Multi-User Dungeons they were called, and they were played over telnet on hokey little 486s and Macs. Completely text based, they relied on the player's imagination to flesh the world out, as all it provided were endless lines of "You hit the Flying Goblin for 5 damage" or "You travel West. You come to torture room. You are assailed by the scent of thousands of years of blood, death, and fear. There is a bunny here." But still, it was a way to interact with people outside of sex chat, and it garnered quite a following. Gamers played it, and saw that it was good.

   
• Asheron's Call Patch Released
  Time: 10:30 EDT/15:30 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  We posted this on the front page yesterday:

  Microsoft has released the first patch for Asheron's Call - here are a few of the fixes:

  CHANGES TO MONSTERS

  • Monsters now have more pronounced "soft spots" in their armor. Choosing the height of your missile and melee attacks will have a more pronounced effect on the damage you do.
  • Monsters now also have clearer "soft spots" in their magical resistances. Mages must choose spells more carefully; using a spell to which a monster has natural resistance can reduce its effectiveness by half or more! Mages who choose proper spellcasting tactics will do as much damage as they ever did.
  • Lugians, Armordilloes, and Gromnies are somewhat faster and better defended.
  • Lugians and some Monougas fit better through doorways.
  • The locations of many monsters have been tweaked to improve game balance.
  • Vats and braziers are now ethereal, so they cannot be used as safe "perches" for picking off monsters.
  • On the landscape, monsters will now be able to open doors.
  • Gromnies will no longer defend their brethren.
  • Shadow creatures and Olthoi have better defenses.
  • Many Monougas will navigate better around pits.
  • Banderling Captains and Tumerok Warriors were not casting spells; this now works as intended.
  • Ice golems no longer take double damage from fire.

  CHANGES TO MAGIC

  • Portal spells are now harder to learn, and the spread in difficulty across portal spreads is also greater. (This restores portal magic as a goal to which mages aspire.)
  • The ranges of Harm and Drain spells have been reduced, as the ranges made these attack spells more powerful than anything a War Mage could cast. Beneficial Heal, Regenerate and Enchantment spells retain their high range. The duration of enchantment now increases substantially with the level of its spell.
  • Vendors no longer hold on to the magic scrolls they buy, and will only sell their standard supplies of them.
  • Minor tweaks: Health-to-Stamina Self II had the wrong scarab, and the Range for Exhaustion Other I was too short. Both will be fixed.
  • Health-to-Stamina Other spells did not display their range when examined. They will now.

  You can read up on the full list of fixes/balancing issues right here.

   
• New Quake III Demo Soon
  Time: 10:21 EDT/15:21 GMT News Source: 3DNews.Net Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  I guess today's Quake III day or something... Here's a post from 3dNews.Net regarding a new QuakeIII Demo:

  Well with the announcement of Quake3 going gold the big question is where is the official Q3Demo release? Here is word from our man Graeme. A little known fact about Graeme is that he collects hubcaps from any Chevrolet car built in the 70's. The man is truely an enigma.

  I’m working on updating the full demo today. We’ll bash on it a bit and get it out there over the next few days. Once it’s out there I’ll be updating the cdkey authorize server to the final version. Unfortunately this is not compatible with the demo test, so you’ll need to upgrade to either the full version of Q3A (woo hoo!) or download the new demo.

   
• Quake 3 Gold or Not?
  Time: 10:21 EDT/15:21 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Activision's PR Department is saying that its NOT gold but ID is saying it is. Basically, that means that its gold but their probably getting launch stuff ready so the PR dept doesn't acknowledge it.

  If it is publicly announced, we'll keep you updated. When it will arrive in stores is still a mystery, Babbages says December 10th, EBWorld says December 2nd. Most likely, this week Activision will release a press release explaining when it will be released so people can go preorder it on one of the most busiest shopping days of the year in the US.

  You can preorder Quake III Elite Edition, with the Limited time Tin-Box from Babbages here. They have an interesting contest going.. Check out that site for more information.

   

• Site News
  Time: 10:12 EDT/15:12 GMT News Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday, I had some problems installing some software but we're all back up! We'll make up for it today!

  Thanks for visiting ActiveWindows!

• Stomped releases AC.Stomped
  Time: 17:48 EDT/22:48 GMT News Source: E-mail Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Stomped has released their new Asheron's Call website! One of the best I've seen, however don't forget Codename Asheron which is at http://www.activewin.com/asheron/.

   

• Activision Releases Star Trek: Hidden Evil
  Time: 15:30 EDT/20:30 GMT News Source: Activision Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Santa Monica, CA - November 22, 1999 -- Gamers who have always wanted to join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise(tm) will finally get their chance when Activision releases their action/adventure odyssey Star Trek(r): Hidden Evil the week of November 22, 1999 to more than 15,000 retail outlets nationwide.   Set nine months after the full-length feature film Star Trek: Insurrection(tm), the game features story driven missions that draw casual and experience players into a fasted-paced tale of combat, stealth and exploration.

  For more information read the press release here.

   

• Activision Releases Interstate '82 This Week
  Time: 15:28 EDT/20:28 GMT News Source: Activision Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Santa Monica, CA - November 22, 1999 - It's open season on America'shighways and byways when Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq:  ATVI) ships Interstate '82 the week of November 22 to retail outlets nationwide.  The sequel to the best-selling combat-action game, Interstate '76, takes gamers on a high-flying rampage across America in the 1980s, complete with armed exotic sports cars, vivid 3-D environments and a hot soundtrack featuring never before released DEVO songs.

  For more information read the press release here.

   

• Imperium Galactica II Announced
  Time: 15:24 EDT/20:24 GMT News Source: GT Interactive Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  GT Interactive sends word that Imperium Galactica II is out with an 11 MB movie. Wonderful flash site! Imperium Galactica II will be released sometime in February 2000.

   

• Quake 3 - Gold
  Time: 09:12 EDT/14:12 GMT News Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron Hinson

  According to sCary's Shuga Shack Quake 3 has finally gone gold. He made a post to say that Kenneth Scott, an id skin artist in his debut .plan update. You can also still pick up the deal for buying Quake3 for $33.95 through the Shack. Finally here is the plan update:

  11-21-1999
  We're Gold!
  I love you sweetpeach. :)

• Tomb Raider 4 - Gold
  Time: 14:00 EDT/19:00 GMT News Source: Blues Posted By: Jason

AVault is reporting that Eidos Interactive has announced that Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation has gone gold, and will be in stores this Wednesday. The Last Revelation is the fourth game in the Tomb Raider series.

• Top Selling Games
  Time: 14:00 EDT/19:00 GMT News Source: AGN3D Posted By: Jason

The new PCData Top 10 shows that Age of Empires II: Age of Kings is on the top as the best seller. Here is the full list:

1. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
2. Deer Hunter III
3. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon
4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
5. Cabela's Big Game Hunter III
6. Delta Force 2
7. Microsoft Flight Simulator
8. Asheron's Call
9. Harley Davidson: Race Across America
10. Microsoft Flight Simulator Pro

• Release Candidate 2 in Quake 3 Reached
  Time: 17:32 EDT/22:32 GMT News Source: Blue's News/Windows 98 Central Posted By: Dennis Gregory

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