Busy Gamer News

It's not Halo 2, but fans of the original Xbox shooter are taking solace in an amusing Flash-based puzzle game. Inspired by a famous 'Net video portraying airborne Halo vehicles, Warthog Launch is a bit like the classic cannon game, only it's single player. You control placement of your Warthog and grenades and then launch your vehicle at hovering enemies. Don't visit halo.bungie.org/misc/warthog_launch.html during work hours if you value your productivity. You've been warned...

Forget the Sin City rumors. Rockstar finally revealed the setting for the fifth entry in its GTA series: a city from the original that's a blenderization of San Francisco and L.A. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is due Oct. 19 for PS2. Nothing else is really known, so let the speculation begin...

If you thought Manhunt put the PS2 headset to good use by filling your head with the Director's voice, Konami's Lifeline goes a step further. True to its name, your voice is your only input as you speak to a character named Rio that you can't control, only observe and influence. That's right, you're her lifeline and through your coaching you help her to survive and solve a mystery. Word is the game is frustrating at times but also fun and quite fulfilling. And makes better use of the SOCOM headset than SOCOM...

On the heels of the good news that Fable will be released sometime this year comes the pricetag for such a ship date: all multiplayer features have been cut. Since most RPG fans savor the single-player game most of all, and Lionhead promises that this sacrifice will make for better fine-tuning, this may actually be good news as well...

Sims Online knock-off There has a dark side. The U.S. Army plans to use the newly launched online gaming environment as a customizable training simulator that can be outfitted with real-world locations. While subscribers to the online service explore virtual ruins and build hoverboards, military personnel will pick up realistic weapons and practice deadly missions. The Army funding a first-person shooter makes sense, but a massively multiplayer universe? Let's hope that Bravo unit never logs into the wrong server...

LucasArts has cancelled the somewhat anticipated Sam & Max: Freelance Police, a planned 3D makeover of a popular early '90s point-and-click PC adventure game. First the sequel to Full Throttle was quietly canned, now this. It seems that LucasArts' standards have become impossibly high -- at least for non-Star Wars titles. There's the inevitable protest over at adventuregamers.com. Hm, maybe that preview disc will become a collector's item...

Remember when LucasArts asked fans for Xbox downloadable content ideas for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic? Now they've delivered, although it appears the release simply provides parity with the PC edition. The 1545-block update on Xbox Live adds a new location, Yavin Station, where you can buy high-end weapons and gear plus new crystals that make your lightsaber beam either powder blue or orange. There are no new missions of note, though you can beat the eccentric Yavin shopkeeper at Pazaak to get a discount...

Namco is working up a full-on sequel to Jack Slate's escapades in Dead to Rights II: Hell to Pay, expected in the fall for PS2 and Xbox. The game, which also contains prequel elements, will feature an entirely new engine with improvements to the original's Achilles heel -- hand-to-hand fighting -- as well as a vastly superior lock-on system, 360-degree aiming during dives, melee weapons, smarter enemies and even an arcade mode where you play for high scores by using your coolest moves. No word on whether the stripper mini-game is getting an overhaul -- perhaps it could support the DDR pad...

Fans of the new videogame-themed sitcom Game Over airing on UPN can download a tie-in game that follows the Lara Croft-esque mom character, Raquel Smashenburn, on her Alien Monkey quest. The game is not a cheap Flash-based foible; it uses the Quake III engine. Best of all, it's free. Get it at FilePlanet.com...

[See related Rant]

If all goes well, The Chronicles of Riddick for Xbox won't be just another cheap movie tie-in. The game diverges from the sequel by exploring Pitch Black's throwaway line about dark action star Riddick's great escape from the most secure prison ever. Though first person, the game doesn't offer much in the way of shooting since guns are DNA coded to prevent unauthorized use. Expect to lean on your fists, knives and stealth, at least in early levels...

Bored with the new Unreal II Expanded Multiplayer (XMP) mode already? A bonus pack containing the 10 best community maps and seven fun new mutators is available. Download it from u2xmp.com...

Think the only thing wrong with Battlefield 1942 is that it's not set in the Star Wars universe? Good news: The much anticipated Galactic Conquest mod is now available in 0.2 alpha form. Don't expect a fully baked game, but it should be enough to whet your appetite. Who needs a Galaxies subscription when you can get full-blown multiplayer Star Wars battles for free? Oh yeah, no Jedis. Details at www.galactic-conquest.net...

If you've memorized all of the multiplayer maps in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 for Xbox, there are three new ones available. Log on to Xbox Live and get the Carnival, Garage and Meat Packing Plant levels, all based on maps from the PC game Raven Shield but optimized for console play. If you haven't already, you'll also get the previously released patch. Lock and load...

Sony has patched SOCOM II online to prevent cheaters and griefers from taking advantage of various multiplayer exploits. The update reduces accuracy on the M60E3, eliminates wall jump boosts, better enforces the limit on mines, removes spots where a sniper could pass through a map border, and more. Wait, wouldn't a console game patch require that pricey Final Fantasy XI hard drive? Nope, you save it to your memory card...

Can't wait a week to get your hands on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow? You can get a taste of it now with the single-player PC demo, which offers up the infamous train mission. Download it now from Fileshack.com or your favorite download spot. It's only 119MB...

Wait, put down that credit card! Nintendo just revealed it's expanding its discount-priced Player's Choice series April 29 to include Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Wario World, both falling to $29.99. Also, Metroid Prime will be priced to move at $19.99 along with F-Zero GX. Kind of silly to reveal a price cut more than a month out, but the timing seems right and it's too early for an April Fool's joke...

If you liked the first two Ratchet and Clank games, prepare to be blown away. If early reports prove true, Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal will add online multiplayer tournaments to an already compelling single-player game. But wait, there's more: team-based vehicle combat where one player drives and the other guns. There will be split-screen action and maybe even cooperative play...

Bummed that EA canceled its online multiplayer RPG Earth & Beyond? The folks at NetDevil feel your pain and they're offering up a free 30-day fix of their massively multiplayer space sim, JumpGate, if you send them your game disc. (Normally, you'd only get 10 days to try before you buy.) Details at NetDevil.com...

There's no press release yet, but GameSpyDaily.com is reporting that the long-rumored Xbox price drop is official. Expect the cost of an Xbox to fall to $149 sometime in April. It's possible someone in Xbox PR got an itchy trigger finger since Sony stole Microsoft's thunder on a major price cut just prior to E3 in 2002...

Remember when UbiSoft canceled the multiplayer aspect of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst? They promised to take the online content and offer it up as a series of free downloads, and the first one is out now. You can explore the D'ni cavern, enjoy a few additional game features and even try on some new designer outfits. Alas, there's not much that wasn't in the online beta. Get it from Fileshack.com or your favorite download source...

Dodging speculation about Xbox 2 at the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft instead announced its new XNA Development Platform. Dev tools, boy howdy! So, what does this mean to gamers? Well, the Big M claims it has the recipe for fixin' what's wrong with game development. According to execs, games would get better if companies spent less time on code basics and more on things like design, story, art and sound. If you believe the hype, fewer good games will get canceled or rushed out -- at least by those developers who favor Windows and Xbox....

A naughty little freezing bug plagued Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, at least for multiplayer games on Xbox Live. It occurred if you got stuck on the Optimatch screen for more than 10 seconds -- typically how long it takes to display latency data. Reports suggest UbiSoft quickly patched the problem; log in to Xbox Live to download the apparent fix. If you still get the cold treatment, simply favor Quick Match, network games or offline play. Important tip: If an Xbox has the patch, network games will not connect to those who lack it...

If you've purchased the pre-order for the massively multiplayer superhero game City of Heroes (or do so quickly), you'll get a chance to join the open beta test. Register now at Cityofheroes.com and you should get your invite no later than April 7. As an added gimmick, pre-order boxes contain special "prestige powers" that vary by retailer, though they all look like different visual effects for the same capability: a super speed boost. No word yet on the monthly fee for this game...

Effective March 30, the long-rumored Xbox price drop to $149.99 is official. Microsoft also announced it's cutting top holiday releases Counter-strike, Crimson Skies and Project Gotham Racing 2 to $29.99. In addition, Grabbed By the Ghoulies, Voodoo Vince and Xbox Music Mixer join the $19.99 club...

Nokia is staying in the game with a new version of its poorly selling gaming taco. The successor to the N-Gage won't require you to remove the battery to change the game or engage in side-talkin'. No word on pricing, a release date or when some system-selling games might appear...

Microsoft's Xbox game studios seem to be in disarray in the wake of Ed Fries' departure. After a winter of poorly performing A-list titles, they're greatly narrowing their focus to, well, um, mostly just Halo 2, MechAssault 2 and Fable. First comes the news that RalliSport Challenge 2 will be the last title in the XSN sports lineup, at least for the foreseeable future. Either Microsoft is giving up on sports or it's opening the door on that long-rumored deal with category leader Electronic Arts. Next, they booted the promising platformer Psychonauts and the next Oddworld Inhabitants title. Perhaps they're moving on to Xbox 2 development and leaving the table scraps of Xbox to the third parties...