• David Bowie on Games
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: Blues Posted By: Jason

David Bowie Talks is the title of an interview on GameSpot with the illustrious performer about his involvement with Omikron: The Nomad Soul, the upcoming 3D action/adventure game by Quantic Dreams and Eidos Interactive. Here's a bit about Bowie's actual presence in the game:

GameSpot News: A character in the game is modeled after you in more than the physical sense. Were you critical of this character? Is it revealing in any way, or was being motion captured the digital equivalent of watching a tape of one of your performances?

David Bowie: Which character do you mean? - the omnipotent digital super-being, or the scruffy hallucinating singer? The motion-captured dance sequences were actually designed and performed by Edouard Lock, a longtime friend and collaborator. So what we have here are dance steps designed for me and performed by my digital counterpart - stranger still.

• Revenant Hits Stores
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

Eidos Interactive has announced the availability of Cinematix Studios' Revenant for PC CD-ROM. This innovative role-playing game combines a fully functional combat system with adventure elements and a deep storyline.

Revenant is a dark fantasy role-playing game that immerses gamers in a visually stunning and challenging environment. With breathtaking 65,000 color graphics, fully animated 3D characters, true light sourcing and coloring in Direct 3D, Revenant is by far the most vibrant and detailed role-playing game to date.

Revenant also offers unparalleled features beyond what typically defines the genre. The game features a built-in level editor allowing gamers to create their own scenarios, using the same tiles and graphics used to put together the final game. Players can place treasures, monsters, traps, lighting effects and more on the map. The whole scripting language that the game was built with is available to create branching conversations, and ``mini-cut-scenes.''

The multiplayer capabilities include six custom designed deathmatch levels for play on EidosGames.com.

• Counter-strike Q&A
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

The Oxygen Tank has a quick interview with Minh Le, project leader of the Counter-Strike mod for Half-Life. It doesn't really provide a whole lot of new info, as Minh Lee really didn't seem to be all that interested in talking about Counter-Strike... which made for a kind of funny/ kind of rude interview.

Is there a plan on how many beta releases there will be before the final version?
I never understood why this was so important to know? What difference does it make. It's like knowing when the last day of your life will be. If you knew that, would you behave any different? To answer your question, "No, there is no plan on how many beta releases I'll make.."
Will you be adding any more weapons/items or are you satisfied with the ones currently included in the mod?
I tend to come up with new ideas on my own. If I feel something will be neat to have in CS, I'll add it.

If you play Half-life online and haven't tried this mod out, then I highly recommend it. Counter-strike and Action Half-life have been about all I've played in the last few months.  They really add a new dimension to the game. Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday. I got busy in the office and just couldn't make it.  Jason  

• John Carmack Interview
  Time: 10:15 EDT/15:15 GMT Source: Blues Posted By: Jason

incitegames interviews John Carmack talking with the id Software lead programmer about progress on Quake III Arena.  Here is a brief excerpt from the piece, which is itself an excerpt from a larger interview that will run in the upcoming November print issue of incite PC Gaming.

incite: What was the most difficult thing for you in making Quake III?

Carmack: This is the first game ever where at the end of the project I haven't actually been the lynchpin of getting it done. The holdup right now is getting our single-player experience and the computer-controlled bots working. I wish I had laid more groundwork for [that]. I was delegating. You hear over and over -- the leader shouldn't be micromanaging all these things. Delegation didn't work out so great this time....

As you may already know, the beta test of Asheron's Call has drawn to a close.  Commemorating this affair, Turbine and Microsoft "destroyed" the online world of Dereth with an apocalypse of Biblical proportions!  Firingsquad has just posted an excusive chronology of the event from Microsoft, along with some tasty screenshots of the killer comets and such.

• No Massive Online Trek
  Time: 10:00 EDT/15:00 GMT Source: Well Rounded News  Posted By: Jason

There's a follow-up on Well Rounded Entertainment that debunks their scoop from yesterday about the Star Trek game, which turns out to not be "massively multiplayer," as they suggested. There are details there on what the game will be about...

• Spec Ops II Demo
  Time: 10:00 EDT/15:00 GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

The Spec Ops files page on SpecForce.net has the playable demo of Spec Ops II, Zombie's upcoming sequel to their tactical first-person shooter. The demo was posted as an exclusive, but the site is so bogged down getting through to the page (much less downloading the 35 MB demo) is very difficult, so hopefully they will authorize some mirrors soon.

• Asheron's Call Beta Ends with Death
  Time: 20:54 EDT/00:54 GMT Source: Various Sites Posted By: Dennis

  Cities in Asheron's Call have been hit by meteors and some even have volcanoes! We have screenshots and information on this test by Microsoft, including the date and place of the "big" fight on Sunday, the last day of testing.

  ActiveWindows will continue to keep you updated.

  You can read our review of Asheron's Call here.

   
• September's Top Games
  Time: 09:00 EDT/14:00 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

  PCDATA has released their list of top selling games for the month of September.  Here is the full list of titles:

1.Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Electronic Arts
2.Roller Coaster Tycoon - Hasbro Interactive
3.Rainbow Six Gold Edition - Red Storm Entertainment
4.Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear - Red Storm Entertainment
5.Madden NFL 2000 - Electronic Arts
6.Starcraft - Havas Interactive
7.Age Of Empires II: Age of Kings - Microsoft
8.Need For Speed 3 - Electronic Arts
9.Monopoly Game - Hasbro Interactive
10.Sim City 3000 - Electronic Arts
11.Half-Life - Havas Interactive
12.Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2 - Activision
13.NHL Hockey 2000 - Electronic Arts
14.Scrabble - Hasbro Interactive
15.Myst: Masterpiece Edition - Mattel Media
16.Frogger - Hasbro Interactive
17.Flight Simulator - Microsoft
18.NFL Fever - Microsoft
19.Deer Hunter II 3D - GT Interactive
20.Diablo - Havas Interactive

• Online Star Trek?
  Time: 09:00 EDT/14:00 GMT Source: Well Rounded News  Posted By: Jason

Get ready to add another massively multiplayer game to the mix, but this one will have Vulcans and Romulans, rather than elves and dragons. Activision, in a conference call with analysts, today announced plans to release Star Trek: Q Continuum, an online game that will take advantage of the company's Star Trek license. The game is due in the company's next fiscal year, meaning it won't hit store shelves for at least six months. (Activision today released its earnings report for the second fiscal quarter of 2000.)

Activision estimates there are at least 500,000 gaming enthusiasts who are also Star Trek fans. It hopes to capture a substantial percentage of those using a subscription-themed model, like the one found in EverQuest and Ultima Online.

• Asheron's Call Beta Ends with METEORS
  Time: 15:15 EDT/20:15 GMT Source: ICQ Posted By: Dennis

  We've received unconfirmed reports that Microsoft is going to be ending the AC beta by ruining the worlds. Shoushi, which is one of the AC cities, is supposed to become a crator. These reports are still unconfirmed, but we are almost sure that MS will be ending the world by October 24th 11:59 P.M.

  The worlds will be up and running by November 11th for the public release of Asheron's Call.

  ActiveWindows will continue to keep you up to date. You can read our AC review at the link below or by clicking the headline for this news release.

   

• Asheron's Call Review
  Time: 15:13 EDT/20:13 GMT Source: ActiveWindows Posted By: Dennis

  Our Asheron's Call review is done! Its everything we promised except the user comments which will be added later. Download the beta now at our review as the beta ends on October 24th at 11:59 P.M. They're going to be going out with a bang (read above).

   

• Spec Ops II Screenshots
  Time: 09:30 EDT/14:30 GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

  There are three new shots from Spec Ops II, Zombie's imminent tactical shooter on TeleFragged.  The game is now gold and expected to be on store shelves on November 11th. 

•  Delta Force 2 Gold
  Time: 09:30 EDT/14:30 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

NovaLogic Wednesday announced that the hotly anticipated "Delta Force 2" has mastered and will arrive in retail stores throughout North America by Nov. 4. The follow-up to 1998's ground-breaking action game based on the U.S. Army's elite counter-terrorist and hostage rescue team, "Delta Force 2" features greatly enhanced graphics, improved control and large-scale multi-player action with built-in, push-to-talk voice communication.

• New Unreal Tournament Demo
  Time: 09:30 EDT/14:30 GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

There is a new version of the Unreal Tournament Demo. Its build 3.48.  The full demo weighs in at a whopping 53 mb but you can patch the old demo with a 8.9 mb download. Here is the rundown from Jack Porter :

This version will be the last demo version avaiable before UT appears on store shelves.   This version is NOT network compatible with previous versions, so we encourage everyone to upgrade.  It doesn't contain any new content - only performance improvements and bug fixes.   ngWorldStats will also be reset for this demo release.

• Download links are available here.  More mirror sites will be added soon!
• There is a list of changes since the last demo.
• Be sure to check out the list of Known Issues as well.

• Microsoft Announces Asheron's Call Pre-Order Programs
  Time: 14:51 EDT/19:51 GMT Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron

  In anticipation of the launch of Asheron's Call in early November, Microsoft today announced exclusive pre-order programs with Electronic Boutique and Babbages/Software Etc.

  By pre-ordering Asheron's Call at store locations, or online at EB World (http://www.ebworld.com/ ) or Gamestop (http://www.gamestop.com/), gamers will receive an additional month of free Asheron's Call play ($9.95 value), plus either a Player's Guide (for pre-orders from Electronic Boutique) or an Adventure's Log (for pre-orders from Babbages/Software Etc.). Combine this offer with the one month of free play already available when initially subscribing to Asheron's Call, and gamers receive two free months of adventuring in the isle of Dereth when placing a pre-order.

  Additionally, Electronic Boutique is offering a $10 mail-in rebate for all pre-orders completed at their store locations. This Electronic Boutique exclusive is an excellent value for in-store purchases, providing gamers with a combined savings of nearly twenty dollars.

  Microsoft encourages gamers to place their pre-orders early, as all offers are based on limited quantities.

   
• EA Ships Jane's USAF
  Time: 11:00 EDT/16:00 GMT Source: AGN3D Posted By: Jason

  Electronic Arts announced that it has shipped Jane's USAF, featuring eight of the hottest jets of the United States Air Force. Players can fly historical missions over Vietnam and the Middle East, or futuristic missions over Germany, and defend home soil over Nellis Air Force Base and the Las Vegas Strip.

  Published by Electronic Arts' Jane's Combat Simulations brand and developed by Pixel Multimedia Inc. in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jane's USAF allows players to fly the F-15C, F-15E or A-10 Warthog "in the mud" and destroy enemy ground targets. Relive great historic air battles over Vietnam in the F-4E or the F-105. Fly the powerful F-16C Falcon and take out enemy MIGS. Finally, push the envelope while flying the menacing F-117 Stealth Fighter and ultra-modern F-22 over Las Vegas.

  A next-generation 3-D terrain engine allows for high resolution and high frame rate terrain rendering on all kinds of PCs. Detailed "real-world" terrain is created with real satellite data with true elevation and coloring. Spectacular special effects like night flight, stunning lighting, multiple explosion types and full 3-D virtual cockpits crank up the combat intensity.

  Jane's Combat.net  allows players to fly with as many as seven human foes or allies for free online. Jane's Combat.net features a "Kill-and-Compare" area where Combat.net posts players' combat statistics every time they go online, allowing players to challenge other pilots based on their expertise with specific weapons or tactics. Every kill, every loss, every medal won, every injury incurred, every hour in every aircraft in every battle is all logged automatically. This feature allows players to trace their career development, learn from mistakes and earn their place at the top of the pyramid.

   

• Software Piracy and games
  Time: 11:00 EDT/16:00 GMT Source: AGN3D Posted By: Jason

Saw something on AGN3d news about an article that GameGirlz is running this week.  It is talking about the software piracy scene from the point of view of the creators/designers and from the point of view of the gamers that use this illegal software.  Check it out, It was a pretty good read. 

• Microsoft Allegiance Announced
  Time: 15:04 EDT/20:04 GMT Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron

  Allegiance, the upcoming multiplayer space-combat game from the minds of Microsoft Research, combines the challenges of tactical squadron-based combat, intense one-on-one space dogfights, and amazing graphical and sound effects into a space-action experience like nothing you've seen before.

  All taking place on the MSN Gaming Zone, you can elect to get into the action immediately in death-match style arenas, or pledge Allegiance to one of the diverse Civilization Alliances and join a squadron. And when you play on the Allegiance Zone, you'll be able to engage hundreds of players in death-match style arenas, compete in tournaments, and access exclusive additional civilizations!

  Allegiance is scheduled for a Spring 2000 release.

   
• Starfleet Command Review
  Time: 09:36 EDT/14:36 GMT Source: E-Mail Posted By: Byron

  IPlayGames has posted a review of Interplay's Starfleet Command.

  I was eager and started up a new campaign and I got my ass kicked so hard on the first mission I didn’t know my head from my tail (so to speak). Quickly backing off I decided to go through the training sequences instead. They go through such elementary subjects as setting the ships speed and heading to dropping off mines and sending out probes. Extremely helpful if you, like me, are a beginner in the realm of strategy.

   

• No More Q3Test
  Time: 08:40 EDT/13:40 GMT Source: Blues News Posted By: Jason

  Along with his latest worklog, John Carmack announces that there will not be another release of Q3Test with bots, as had been planned. The next release with bots will be the full demo, to be released sometime after testing of the full game begins (for which there is no specific timeframe). Here's the deal:

  The next release will be the full "demo" release for quake 3. It will include bots and a new, simple level that is suitable for complete beginners to play, as well as the existing q3test maps.

  The timing just didn't work out right for another test before we complete the game.

  We plan on releasing the demo after code freeze, when the entire game is in final testing, which will give us a few days time to fix any last minute problems that show up before golden master.

  No, I don't have an actual date when that will be.

   

• Everquest Breaks Records
  Time: 08:40 EDT/13:40 GMT Source: AGN Posted By: Jason

  989 Studios, a Sony Computer Entertainment Group Company, announced today that its top-selling online PC title EverQuest has broken all subscription-based online gaming sales records. In only six months, EverQuest has sold more games than any other online role-playing game ever released, with 225,000 units sold and an active subscriber base of more than 150,000 players.

  During peak periods, EverQuest adventurers and dragon slayers can form alliances with up to 37,000 other players simultaneously. The active global EverQuest subscriber base is comprised of players from various countries throughout the "real" world, including the U.S., England, Canada, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, France and New Zealand.

The Asheron's Call public beta is getting all the attention, but another massively multiplayer RPG is in testing and looking for players. Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict, developed by Mythic Entertainment, is offering free play through all of October. The 3-D accelerated game allows you to switch between first and third person views and offers more than 200 spells. Mythic's previous games include ID4, Godzilla and Aliens Online. You can log on to Spellbinder at the Centropolis Gaming Center

 

• Doom 2 turns 5
  Time: 10:15 EDT/15:15  GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

Saw on Blues that yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the release of Doom 2.   Ahh, super-shotgun... Hard to believe that it's five years old.  Not much news right now. I'll check back later.  

• C&C:Renegade
  Time: 18:00 EDT/23:00  GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

• Tribes Patch out !
  Time: 18:00 EDT/23:00 GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

• Evil Dead Games coming to PC
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: Well-Rounded  Posted By: Jason

• Delayed Tribes Patch
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

• INCOMING!! Flight Sims
  Time: 10:45 EDT/15:45 GMT Source: FiringSquad  Posted By: Jason

• Asheron's Call Preview
  Time: 12:55 EDT/17:55 GMT Source: FiringSquad Posted By: Jason

• Slave Zero screenshots
  Time: 12:55 EDT/17:55 GMT Source: Blues  Posted By: Jason

• Trickstyle - Gold?
  Time: 12:55 EDT/17:55 GMT Source: AGN  Posted By: Jason

• Carmack's .plan
  Time: 11:10 EDT/16:10 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  Yep, another .plan update by The Man (no, not Don Knotts), but by id's John Carmack -- another one of his Quake3 worklogs. Pretty small one (hey now), so here's the whole thing:

  * fixed steady snapshot test
  * fixed incorrect 0 ping if past client messages
  * fixed loser-disconnecting-at-tourney-intermission sorting problem
  * general purpose flood protection, limiting all user commands to one a second by stalling the client, so the commands don't actually get dropped, but are delayed as needed
  * replace headnode overflow with lastCluster
  * fixed bad extrapolation on unpausing
  * fixed player twitch on unpausing
  * print client names on loading screen

   

• FreeSpace 2 MP3
  Time: 11:09 EDT/16:09 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  I noticed over at Freespace2.com that they have posted another MP3 from FreeSpace 2. This MP3 is the eighth release, entitled "Numbers Chapter I". This is the first part of a three part release. Hit this page for all of the MP3s (released so far).

   

• Vampire and V2
  Time: 11:08 EDT/16:08 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  Just scanning through Nihilistic's Vampire board and noticed a post by Robert Huebner, Lead Programmer of Vampire, regarding how well a Voodoo2 will run their upcoming game, The Vampire: The Masquerade. Check it:

  If your only 3D accelerator is a Voodoo2, then you will only be able to run the editor in software mode, which won't be efficient for editing large levels on an average machine. The reason is Voodoo2 cards typically can only run in full-screen mode, but the editor uses OpenGL to render several desktop windows in 3D simultaneously. The editor also works best if run at higher resolutions like 1024x768 or higher which the Voodoo2 cannot support without SLI. So even if/when 3DFX improves their GL driver so it can run QERadiant better, the Voodoo2 will still not be a good choice.
  
  Voodoo2 will run the game fine, however. We consider that our "typical" benchmark card at the moment.

  There have been quite a few posts to this thread on various video cards, and how they should/will run Vampire, and in particular, the editor for Vampire.

   

• AvP Editor
  Time: 11:07 EDT/16:07 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  AvPNews posted mention of a profile editor (59Kb) for Fox Interactive's Aliens vs. Predator. Here's a few of the features that this editor lets you do:

  - set which levels have been beaten
  - set which difficulty the levels have been beaten on
  - set which cheats are active

   

• ngWorldStats Bug
  Time: 11:06 EDT/16:06 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  Planet Unreal posted news from NetGamesUSA's Craig Sparks, regarding the current status of ngWorldStats for Unreal Tournament. Here's the scoop:

  Just wanted to let your readers know that we have found a minor but important bug in the ranking algorithm for ngWorldStats for Unreal Tournament (http://ut.ngWorldStats.com/) and that it will be fixed before Saturday when the weekly totals reset.
  
  Also, at that time we will be publishing the details of the ranking system, launching a web forum, and taking community feedback on likes and dislikes of the ranking algorithm. We are very open to players thoughts on the subject and look forward to their feedback in order to make the system the best it can be when the retail version ships.

   

• Nocturne NOT Gold
  Time: 11:05 EDT/16:05 GMT Source: Voodoo Extreme Posted By: Garrett

  Contrary to their post yesterday, FGN is now reporting that Terminal Reality/GOD's third-person horror/adventure game, Nocturne, has not gone gold, at least not yet. Here's the actual blurb:

  Jeff Smith from developer Terminal Reality contacted FGN Online to say "I work in house here so I can tell you for sure we have not gone gold."
  
  The news need be of no worry to fans. Smith assures us that the title is due to go gold October 15. This means the horro-adventure title will still comfortably make its Halloween release date.