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The first season of the award-winning Red vs. Blue -- an episodic adult sitcom set in the Blood Gulch map of Halo -- can now be had on DVD. The disc even includes audio commentary and the ever-popular RvB public service announcements. Ditch your many megs of downloads and order it at http://www.redvsblue.com/...
'Tis the season: Gamers eager to break the media stereotype of antisocial deviants have joined a campaign by Internet gaming comic Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik (aka Gabe) and Jerry Holkins (Tycho) to collect toys for Seattle Children's Hospital and its patients. So far, they've been so successful that they had to get a bigger truck to deliver the booty. Details at http://www.penny-arcade.com/childsplay.php3...
Complete all standard and challenge missions in LucasArts' Secret Weapons Over Normandy to unlock two anachronistic fighter craft: an X-Wing and TIE Fighter ported over from the Star Wars universe. There are 36 missions in all, so get cracking. PC players with an eye for hacking can get them with a simple edit of GAMEGLOBALS.XML, packed inside the GAME.ZIP file...
How do you take a stealth game and make it multiplayer? In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, one or more gamers play as Sam Fisher-style spies with the standard Splinter Cell third-person view. Meanwhile, mercenaries hunt them from a first-person POV, a la Ghost Recon. Spies must accomplish mission goals and carry no guns though they can kill with stealth moves and use sticky shockers to incapacitate foes. Mercs have the guns but no gadgets and a more limited field of view, which evens the playing field. The game is due in March 2004...
If you enjoy your multiplayer shooters with classes, vehicles and strategy, you're in luck. A new Expanded Multiplayer (XMP) demo of a new Unreal II gaming mode is available at http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4182. Play as a ranger (who acts as sniper and medic), a tech (master of equipment and vehicles) or a gunner (a grunt, but one with a flamethrower and grenade launcher!). If you like XMP mode, you can buy the previously released Unreal II and wait for the free patch or simply pick up Unreal II Special Edition in late December...
Gamers with the PC edition of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can fix a number of problems ranging from display glitches to crashing bugs with the v1.01 patch available now at http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4193...
Think you can do better than the level designers at UbiSoft? Download the level editing tools for the cel-shaded shooter XIII at http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4200. Hey, you might actually improve the game...
This whole "Kill All of The Haitians" thing in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is really idiotic. I mean, do these "Haitian activists" really believe Take 2 Interactive and Rockstar Games are inciting people to genocide? Do they not realize that while they may have won a very small victory, they've actually been gristle for the wheels of commerce?
It all comes down to an unimaginative word choice. Someone at Rockstar North decided to name a gang of cold-blooded Haitian killers "The Haitians." The gamer's character, a mobbed up scumbag voiced by Goodfellas star Ray Liotta himself, has to take them out before they get him. So the natural name for this mission is, in fact, Kill All of The Haitians. Not all Haitians, mind you, just a small gang of them in a fictional setting that's eerily reminiscent of '80s Miami in the Al Pacino Scarface remake.
First of all, these games always resort to stereotypes and shorthand. Vice City is largely derived from Scarface, so much so that Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone ought to be getting a cut of the proceeds.
There really isn't much room for depth in a mindless shoot-'em-up (notable exception: Half-Life), which is why the pedestrians walking the street don't have anything really interesting to say. They're just there to end up under the tires of your most-recently jacked vehicle during a particularly adrenaline-laced chase from the cops or a rival gang. It's not like they have family and friends, dreams and aspirations. They're not walking to the grocery store to get some food for their cats. They're delivering silly dialogue that's not really missed when it disappears (which it actually does for some players of the Xbox version).
Second, The Haitians is just the name of a FICTIONAL GANG. If the designer had called the gang the Pink Flamingos or the Pelican Bastards, environmentalists would no doubt be picketing Vice City right now.
Third, much like South Park, the GTA games are designed to offend everybody. They offend me on a regular basis. But they're so much fun (and so obviously fictional), I shrug it off and keep playing.
Finally, all of this picketing just helps the people you're trying to hurt. If you really want to hurt the makers of videogames you don't like, you should ignore them. They thrive on this type of publicity. And look at the timing: Vice City's been out for more than a year on the PS2 and nearly a year on the PC and this protest thing takes off right between Thanksgiving and Christmas -- the busiest buying season for videogames.
Very suspicious. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the leader of these "Haitian activists" is getting a payoff from the folks at Take 2 and Rockstar. Or at least a really nice plasma TV for the holidays.
And if not, well, call 'em up. I bet they'd be willing to talk.
-=Gamewatcher
LucasArts released more planes and an add-on mission for the Xbox version of Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Adding to previous downloads, you can now get the fast and furious Imperial Japanese Ki-61 and a new camouflage paint job for the Betty Bomber. There's even a new single-player mission for the Ki-61 called Last Chance! Download them via Xbox Live...
Owners of NBA Inside Drive 2004 with Xbox Live can download the first roster update. This adds a few players who were mysteriously missing from the original game including the Lakers' Bryon Russell and Raja Bell of the Jazz. The roster is a month behind, so it doesn't reflect the Dec. 1 Bulls/Raptors trades...
Does the Phantom console actually exist? If so, will it suffer from the same committee-style business planning as the N-Gage? Those questions may be answered soon: Infinium Labs starts accepting orders for the system Monday, December 15, at http://www.phantom.net/. For those who haven't heard of the elusive Phantom, it's a console-style gaming device that takes the Xbox online model one step further. It requires a broadband network connection so the user can purchase and download games via the Internet. Can this business model succeed? Time will tell...
Didja know: Burton Roberts, hoodwinked into missing out on the final four in Fox's Survivor: Pearl Islands, is the chief marketer for Infinium Labs, maker of the soon-to-be-released Phantom gaming console. Makes you wonder if the $1 million prize was part of the company's business plan...
Fans of the original action RPG were disappointed in Deus Ex: Invisible War, which seemed a dumbed-down sequel designed for mainstream console players. The folks at Ion Storm listened and have dished up a patch for PC players that improves mouse control, boosts damage for pistol headshots and the stun prod, improves AI for non-hostile NPCs, reworks displays and button controls and provides an option to make the game run faster at high resolutions. Get the fix at http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4239. Xbox gamers, don't hold your breath...
Want to get XIII for free? Microsoft and UbiSoft are promoting a XIII Days to Xmas sweepstakes. To enter, simply play any Xbox Live-enabled games online for 13 hours total between now and the end of Christmas day. Make sure you've opted to receive communications from Microsoft in the dashboard. Fifty winners will be picked in January; details at Xbox.com...
Microsoft released two popular PC maps for the Xbox edition of Counter-Strike. Office features counter-terrorists extracting hostages from an office building while Inferno has terrorists taking out some important gas pipelines. Get them on Xbox Live now...
Fans of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge can download a new dogfighting plane, the lightly armored and machine gun-equipped Fury, from Xbox Live. There's also a new Caverns multiplayer map replete with twisty tunnel to navigate, bases to defend and anti-aircraft guns that acrophobic players can ditch the high life to man...
Some fans of SNK's 2D fighting games are annoyed that the recent U.S. PS2 port of King of Fighters 2000 & 2001 leaves out blood and a significant amount of jiggle. Actually, the games replicate the U.S. arcade ROMs but diehards are convinced the Japanese code is embedded somewhere that a well-aimed Gameshark could access. Time will tell. If blood and bounce are more important to you than supporting the franchise, give this one a pass for now...
Milking the franchise: In the third Outlaw series mini-title sold exclusively by Blockbuster Video, Outlaw Golf: 9 More Holes of X-mas provides more nasty antics by fan favorites Summer and Ice Trey at 480p. Even at $5, the stocking stuffer is a poor substitute for Outlaw Golf 2, the full Xbox Live-enabled sequel that's never materialized...
'Tis the season... to patch all of your favorite PC games! Recent updates include Beyond Good & Evil (v1.01), Command & Conquer Generals (v1.7), Halo (v1.031), Medal of Honor: Breakthrough (v2.40b), Neverwinter Nights (v1.61), Rainbow Six: Raven Shield (v1.51), Unreal 2 (XMP Add-on) and Warcraft 3 (v1.13b). There are even new drivers for ATI and nVidia graphics cards. Some games auto-update. For others you can find the fixes on download sites such as Fileshack.com...
Grand Theft, er, Author? Mark Gallagher, a Scottish developer and computer consultant, is suing Rockstar North for the equivalent of $2.5 million on the claim that their Grand Theft Auto series borrows liberally from his own gang-based game Crime Inc. Apparently Gallagher actually interviewed in 1993 for a job at Rockstar's forebear, DMA Design, where he demo'd his game. He didn't get the job. In 1997, DMA Design published a top-down free-form mission-based crime game called Grand Theft Auto, although the series didn't become a phenomenon until 3D graphics were introduced in 2001...
Did you get an HDTV this holiday? Be sure to pick up some games that support the higher resolution modes; there's a helpful list at http://www.hdtvarcade.com/.
Here's a quick guide:
How do you build on perfection? Sony's well-regarded Dual Shock controllers are getting an upgrade in the form of built-in wireless and a right-positioned trigger. (Hm, this can't be good news for lefties.) The Dual Shock 3 is expected to debut with the PlayStation 3, currently slated to ship sometime in 2005...
Nintendo revealed its plans for a future console include backward compatibility with the current generation of GameCube games. However, the big N is sticking to its belief that graphics are mostly maxed out and need only minor improvement. Expect full specs to be unveiled at E3 in the spring...
The characters of the Dead or Alive series will once again leave the fighting arena, although this time not for a beach volleyball dating sim. Tecmo revealed that Dead or Alive Code: Cronus -- previously assumed to be Dead or Alive 4 -- will be something else, most likely an action or role-playing game (perhaps both). Since DOA4 won't appear in 2004, you can expect it to be a 2005 console launch title. For now, the network-enabled and graphics-enhanced rehash Dead or Alive Online will have to tide over fighting fans...
How do you top the best-selling game of all time? The Sims 2, due in March, will be fully 3D and feature much finer camera controls. You can zoom way in for a detailed look at your creations and their purchases. There's even a Sim's eye view for the ultimate walkthrough of your virtual living spaces. Also, Sims age and their wants and needs shift as their tastes turn to light rock and smooth jazz. If only they could call in sick for you after a hard night of playing at make-believe work and chores. Don't get any ideas, you'll need that job to pay for a PC capable of handling the game's more powerful graphics engine...
A few more details join our rough sketch of Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP). Not only will it sport games and graphics to rival the GameBoy Advance, the PSP will support video and MP3 audio via Sony's proprietary Memory Stick technology. GPRS wireless modem play, messaging and GPS software are also being considered. Sony's marketing machine is already billing it as the "Walkman of the next century." A November 2004 global launch is likely...
This page contains all entries posted to Busy Gamer News in December 2003. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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