Original Archive Date: September 2004
 Sony announces PSTwo, size reduced, pants ruined.
Posted Tuesday, September 21, 2004 by Mr. Rei
Smaller, Slimmer and Network-Ready PlayStation 2 Hits Market Worldwide in November
TOKYO, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today its plans for the global release of a new, redesigned PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system (SCPH-70000 CB) in time for the year-end peak-selling season. The new model will be in stores on November 3 in Japan, and by November 1 in Europe and North America.
---
Full Post
It's fun, it's magical, it's fucking boring, it's Star Ocean!
Posted Sunday, September 19, 2004 by Mr. Rei
For various reasons, this review is being posted as a news update... Meh.
___
Come for the concept, stay for the gameplay, RUN when anyone starts talking...RUN!!
Sometimes you gotta give a little to get a little, folks. Sometimes you need to take a bullet for the team. Square Enix believes this concept. Square Enix has gone and given gamers something of a compromise. They want you to watch a movie with bathroom breaks called 'interactive portions' where you, you know.. Fight shit. You want to play a game that's deep and involving, and the story is told at your pace and you can know as much or as little as you want. Last time we had this argument was with a 'little' (heh.) game known as Xenosaga, and Square Enix won out. Xenosaga had 40 hours of talking. Xenosaga made you sit through so much dialogue and backstory that by the time you actually got to PLAY the game, it was already time to return it to Blockbuster, and you were fucking HAPPY. ---
Full Post
 EGN2004: The Best and the Worst
Posted Tuesday, September 14, 2004 by Mr. Crick
Worst Game of EGN 2004:
Diosoft, Pirates of the XXI Century
Diosoft are a foreign company. Russian, I believe – although I did ask and was met with a blank look from their interpreter. Who didn’t really do much interpreting. I saw what I was shown what I really, really hope was a very early alpha of the game…
The graphics were cutting edge as of about 2001, and the game sound was pretty poor. The voices were pretty amusing on the other hand, because of the extremely bad accents used. Worse than “cockney voice dubbed onto slim female Japanese female” bad. I’d like to think they were just placeholders…
---
Full Post
 Monday Morning Developer - September 13th
Posted Sunday, September 12, 2004 by Mr. GBob
Great Moments in Monday Morning Quarterbacking. In 1853, a customer is disgusted by the limp, flavorless, under-cooked french fries served at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs. He complains loudly enough that the chef becomes enraged. The chef, to show his contempt, decides he’ll teach the customer a lesson. He overcooks the potatoes in grease until they’re burnt. He coats them in salt and throws them in front of the customer. The customer eats them, and discovers that he really likes them this way. Thus the Potato Chip is born. As we sit watching football, eating chips, let us praise the Monday Morning Quarterback who angered the chef so. In that spirit, I put on the apron of the Monday Morning Developer, and hope that designers out there burn our games into true tasty goodness.
In this edition we look at Trippin’ tribbles pushed back into the myst.
---
Full Post
 SHADOWBANE: THRONE OF OBLIVION™ ANNOUNCED
Posted Thursday, September 9, 2004 by Mr. Ray
Extensive Expansion Pack Introduces New Vampire Race for Online Role-Playing Game
SAN FRANCISCO – September 9, 2004 – Ubisoft, one of the world’s top game publishers, announced today the Shadowbane: Throne of Oblivion™ expansion pack will be available at a manufacturer’s retail price of $19.99 on November 30. The expansion for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Shadowbane® will feature an entirely new realm and rulership system that allows players to seize and vie for control of sections of the game world.
---
Full Post
Korean MMO's Scare Me - EGN2004: Part 2
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by Mr. Crick
And so, to part 2.
HIP Games
CounterTerrorist – Special Forces – Fire For Effect
The game, as the name suggests, is about leading CT forces against nasty evil terrorists. It’s a 3rd person shoot, with two characters who you control at various points in the game – one specialised in stealth and the other in heavy weapons. You change between them between some missions... ---
Full Post
Look ma, Game Developers (EGN 2004 – Part 1)
Posted Monday, September 6, 2004 by Mr. Crick
The “European Games Network” is certainly impressive for the first year of a new exhibition. As well as the huge trade show – bigger than any of the three ECTS shows I’ve been to – the was the even larger “Game Stars Live”, open to the public but unfortunately not somewhere I had much time to look – EGN itself occupied me for most of the day.
EGN 2004 was everything ECTS was not – big, busy and fill of developers. I’ll start off in this instalment by talking about the games shown by Dreamcatcher and Cenega, two slightly smaller publishers who eagerly demonstrated their games. This isn’t always good. ---
Full Post
Monday Morning Quarterback Labor Day Edition
Posted Sunday, September 5, 2004 by Mr. GBob
Great Moments in Monday Morning Quarterbacking. In 221 BC the emperor of China, Shih Huang-Ti, reorganizes the justice system of his nation on the advice of Li Ssu. Under the system of laws, even the most minor of offenses would be treated as harshly as serious crimes. The reasoning was perfect in it’s simplicity. If all laws were enforced equally, then the people would not choose to selectively ignore the laws they found inconvenient. The flaw in this plan became evident within a few years. A platoon of soldiers, lost in the marshes was late for their appointed duty. Chen Sheh turned to his trusted man at arms and asked him what the penalty was for being late. “Death” responded his comrade. And the penalty for rebellion? “Death” said his friend. The choice became a no-brainer. The rebellion of Chen Sheh swept the nation, bringing down the dynasty. Game designers take heed. What looks good on your white board may not have the desired results when implemented. In this spirit, let us honor the Monday Morning Quarterbacks who, by allowing common sense to take precedent over theory, help keep your dynasties from collapse.
In this edition we look at the election, Star Trek and ear tacos. ---
Full Post
Where have the developers gone?, aka ECTS 2004
Posted Wednesday, September 1, 2004 by Mr. Crick
On the way to ECTS, there was a problem on the London Underground and I ended up having to change tube twice to get to it. Unfortunately, that was the most exciting part of the day. No, really.
When I walked into ECTS, my first thought was that the area it covered was smaller. By perhaps a third. The second was that it was QUIET. Where were all the people? Then, after walking around, I realised what I was seeing. All the same companies which sold middleware where there. There were recruitment agencies, the CD pressing companies, the smaller publishers… ---
Full Post
Return to Index
|
