Starcraft Goes Console
General | 23/09/2002
At the Tokyo Game Show Blizzard has announced that they are in
co-developed with Nihilistic Software on the next in the StarCraft
series “Starcraft: Ghost”. Ghost will be given a multiple consoles
release. It is uncertain that Ghost will see a PC release.
Gamers will play a Ghost operative called Nova in a 3rd-person perspective. It is scheduled for release in late 2003.
Sims Online Gets Fries and Chips
PC | 20/09/2002
EA’s upcoming The Sims Online, an online multi-player version of
the popular PC game The Sims will now include advertisements for
McDonald’s and Intel. This development isn’t surprising as its not
the first game to include advertisements, but it is the highest profile
so far.
Its not the end of the world as it wont be traditional
advertisements in electronic form, in stead EA is going to use the
advertisers products in interactive ways. When players buy and use high
end PCs with a Intel’s Pentium 4 Inside they will be rewarded by an
increase in their logic and fun ratings, using budget PCs with out a
Pentium 4 will not have this effect. Computers will have a wider use
then in the original game, one such use is in setting up a cyber café
as a virtual business.
Another such virtual business will be to operate a McDonald’s kiosk
and as you would expect, eating at McDonald’s will satisfy a Sim’s
hunger and (wait for it) fun needs. So, does this mean we will find a
McDonald’s around ever virtual corner? We will all just have to wait:
Cian Ginty
Sound for the City
Back in May,
Rockstar announced the latest in the now infamous GTA series. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is set in
the ’80s and will be created exclusively for the Sony’s PlayStation2. More
recently Rockstar in co-operation with Sony Music have announced to release
seven (yes seven) soundtrack albums on October 29th at the same time as the
GTAVC launch.
The Vice City
soundtracks will be full of what’s called “definitive 80’s music” (it’s hard to
tell if that’s a good thing). But this co-operation between Sony and Rockstar
will allow the radio stations in the game to feature a larger amount of tracks
than in previous games, with over eighty tracks from the likes of Judas Priest,
Blondie, Kool and the Gang and as we are told many more.
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Condition Zero is a single player version of what is known as the number one
online PC game - Half Life: Counter-Strike.
It will include
six story-driven episodes, three different single player modes and an upgraded
version of the Counter-Strike multiplayer game.
aims to simulate multiplayer game play, which is experienced usually playing
online or through other networks.
items that were not previously in Counter-Strike include M60 guns, LAW Rocket
Launcher, Ballistic Shield, Pistol, Molotov cocktail, gas mask, and flares.
Condition Zero will be a stand-alone game and is set for release in late 2002.
Links
GearBox
http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/
Sierra
http://www.sierra.com/
Vivendi
Universal http://www.vivendi-universal-interactive.co.uk/