"And every time you smoke da pot, you kill yourself.
Ya, that's wat you do, you kill yourself..."
Matthew Arcilla

 

Sirtech's Publishing Division Goes Kaput.  Longtime game publisher Sir-tech Software, publisher of D.W. Bradley's famous Wizardry series and Attic Entertainment's Realms of Arkania series has recently announced that it's game publishing division located in New York, has been shut down. Prior to this, GT Interactive had been pushing to acquire the veteran game publisher.  Despite this setback, Sir-tech Software is still pushing to release Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardy 8.  In another report of Sir-tech's predicament, Cnet Gamecenter snagged Norman Sirotek, president and founder for comment:  In an official announcement, Sirotek stated that changes... have made it impossible for small, independent... companies to publish and distribute their own titles. According to Sirotek, small publishers cannot compete with larger publishers that are able to sustain substantial losses on poor-selling games.   He also blamed the retail channel, which he said demands unrealistic price reductions on software that does not sell out the first few weeks on the shelf... this devastates small publishers' profit margins. He also cited retailers' practice of subsidizing their earnings with lucrative premiere placement shelf-space deals. Small publishers cannot afford to buy premiere shelf space, said Sirotek.  My my, how telling of our industry.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Abe's Exoddus: The Movie  As previously announced, Abe's Exoddus is being considered for nomination at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Animated Short category.   The footage which is being considered is actually a compilation of all the cutscenes from Abe's Exoddus strung together to tell the tale of Abe's adventures as he fights to save his race from being ground up for a brewery's manufacturing purposes. Total running time will exceed 15 minutes.   The Academy's terms for such nomination demands that the entrant must be shown in at least one theater before the end of the calendar year. Thus Abe's Exoddus, The Movie will be shown in L.A. only at Laemmle theatres.   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Origin Says Thank You To Ultima Online Gamers  Origin has announced that their upcoming Ultima Online: The Second Age is getting ready to be released, and would like to thank the loyal fans of Ultima Online by offering a cheap seven dollar cost to upgrade to The Second Age instead of a full retail price.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Computer Game Goes To Demo, Renames Self.  A six-level demo of Mordor II has been released by Black Isle Studios, the same schmucks who are bringing us Fallout 2 by the end of October.   Mordor II is the sequel to the less than stellar but highly replayable Mordor released in 1995. However, the game is no longer called Mordor (bad rap association?) and will be titled as Infinite Worlds.   Infinite Worlds will feature editing tools for players to create their own worlds, kinda like SSI's Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures and will ship with client and server software so that gamers can design and play on their own dungeons anytime over the Internet.   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Highest score on his S-A-Ts!... Pharkas, Freddy Pharkas..."  Visit GameSpot right now, and test your knowledge of computer game trivia with their GSAT. This is really for nuts only. The GSAT covers all sorts of stuff, so narrow-minded gamers who aren't trying ALL genres will be in for a challenge.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Gamers Are Really Junkies in Disguise  A British study of the human body's neurotransmitter, dopamine, is believed to be a key element in any physiological addiction... which includes computer games! Human test subjects were monitored while playing computer games, and dopamine levels rose to those equivalent of speed.  The test however, is to be held of questionable value due to the cash incentives that test subjects were given for completion of games.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Websites, Websites, Websites!  Speaks for itself, doesn't it? Visit Mask of Eternity's Website, Dragonfire's Website and The Grim Fandango Network. Also, System Shock 2 debuts its presence on the web here.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Prince Ali, Fabulous He... Ali Ababwa..."  Jordan Mechner's (Karateka, The Last Express) immortal Prince of Persia returns, strong as ten regular men, definitely. In order to prepare for the approaching Prince of Persia 3D, Red Orb is releasing the Prince of Persia Collection Limited Edition.  In it you'll snag Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame. There'll also be a 12-minute "Making of Prince of Persia 3D" movie on CD. The first game was excellent for its time, and I really recommend the second one, with one of the greatest storytelling you'll see, told through in-game sequences and PMV (partial motion video).  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla

 

"I swear to God, I'm a madman."
        ---J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye,
Matthew Arcilla

 

DVD Gone DOA  Well, not the whole industry, but here I refer to Interplay's decision to terminate the DVD version of Bioware's Baldur's Gate.   Interplay reasoned out that the lack of additional features on this version, and cost issues make it unfeasible for such a move. After all, who wants to pay for a DVD version when all ya get is the same thing, albeit less CD swapping? Said Greg Peterson:  "there were risks/costs involved that were simply not justified given the minimal benefit our DVD version would offer fans. There would be no value-added DVD features in the product. It would simply be the 5 Baldur's Gate CD's dumped on a DVD. The only value it would offer consumers would be the convenience of not having to swap CD's." a ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Life.. You've Got A Half-Life, You Low-Lifer... HAHAHA! I Kill Me!"  Since GamesDomain's GDReview's Reservations at The Inn does not carry the release date of the story-based FPS Half-Life, by Sierra and Valve, I'd like to let y'all know that it is set for November this year. I can hardly wait!  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "These are the People in Your Neighborhood..."  eXscape has this really kickass article about Baldur's Gate, entitled "The Men and Women of Baldur's Gate", which spotlights on characters that we'll be seeing in the game. Holy Spoilers, Batman! There's even some cool art in there too, so head on over and check it out!  --c/o Matthew Arcilla  Abe Goes to AMPAS Awards...  Well, not yet. But the people behind the Oddworld action/adventure games (Abe's Oddyssee and Abe's Exoddus) submitted cut-scene footage from Abe's Exoddus to the Academy Awards commitee for consideration in the animated short film category. Go games!  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla

 

"I'm the firm believer in the philosophy of ruling class...
Especially since I rule."
        ---Jeff Anderson as Randal, Clerks,
Matthew Arcilla

 

Interactive Fiction Contest   Interactive Fiction, or text adventures as they are colloquially known, will be duking it out in the Fourth Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. 27 text adventures are being made available for download, to be publicly judged. They can be downloaded from here.  If you're having a bitch starting up the adventures, just click here. To learn more about The Interactive Fiction Competition, just visit their web page.   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "It is a Must That You Put It In A Mylar Bag..."  If you haven't visited Redguard's official home page lately, there's a nifty little comic book there for all to see.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Eidos Preview Party  Eidos Interactive held a party at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel (m'relatives say that's in San Francisco, or something). According to all the press bigwigs who attended, food was good, and so were the games.  Titles that were present at the bash (and important to us Adv/RPG freaks) included Thief: The Dark Project, Omicron, Anachronox,and Deus Ex.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Hey, A Diablo Clone... Why Do All Cloned Games Start With D?"  Take 2 Interactive, those people who brought you Hell and Black Dahlia (which incidentally, both starred Dennis Hopper) announced that they are developing Darkstone, a Diabloesque action/RPG.    Features they've touted include multiple camera angles, and control of two characters at the same time. Oh, and the the obligatory multi-player feature  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Movie License... FMV... Motion Picture License... Deja Vu.  Sound Source Interactive's first ever computer game, The Abyss: The Incident at Europa has just made its way on to shelves. As the title implies, it is based on the movie Abyss, you know that one by James "I'm Really a Romantic" Cameron.   People whp've bought the game say that it comes with a contest to win home video versions of the film. The game itself is set a few years after events which have taken place in the film.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Those Yorkers... They See Things. Things Outside"  Even before the game has been released, Terminus, Vicarious Visions' role-playing game of space combat, will be seen on October 11 at the New York LAN Fest. The LAN Fest is headed by The Gaming Krib. Terminus is due for an early 1999 release.   In GamesDomain's GDReview News, producer Karthik Bala said:  "Terminus is not your typical modern space game. We've gone back to the classics like Elite, and brought together a game that combines action space combat, simulation, trade, strategy, and RPG elements in a cohesive realtime environment. This allows incredible replayability. Our Zero-G Newtonian flight model and simulated ship mechanics will introduce new, never before experienced, elements to space combat." In any case, I'm excited to get my hands on some Elite style role-playing fun.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  They Lied to the Gaming Public... Impeach Them.  Cnet's Gamecenter made a boo-boo when they were talking about King's Quest: Mask of Eternity as the grand finale. For Mask of Eternity is admittedly not the last King's Quest, as they say in their corrections page.  ---c/o Chris Geroux  An NPC You'll Want To Hit (And Are Encouraged To)  It seems that BioWare's own message board has rumors in it about a character called Noober that's been planned since the start in the Interplay-published Baldur's Gate. All these rumors have been confirmed true by none other than  Ray Muzyka, producer. Quote:  "There's a character called Noober (already placed well before these threads started up, incidentally, and no, we're not about to change the name at this point, though the thought has crossed my mind more than once) in the game who walks up to you and says things such as (not direct quotes, but you get the idea--just imagine this guy following your party all over the map and continually initiating these conversations every five seconds):     'Hey, ever been to Baldur's Gate? I've been to Baldur's Gate. Lots of times. Well, actually, I'd like to go there someday.'  'People don't generally talk to me much.'  'What's that sword for? Looks pretty sharp. Sure you know how to use it?'  'You sure have ugly clothing.'  'You look pretty stupid, actually.'  'Last time I tried to talk to people they threw rocks at me.'  'You aren't going to throw rocks at me, are you? Well, are you?'  'What about now?'  'How about now?'  'How about now?'    "And so on, until you leave or, more likely, whack the sod senseless." A great way to vent your frustrations.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  GK3 Postponed No More...   Well, not quite. It's been pre-poned. (Pre-poned, get it? get it? Ahh, nevermind...) Rumor has it that the actual release postponation has been spring. Seems summer is too far off and will get all the fans uppity. As previously stated, this postponation has been made to make significant technological upgrades to the 3D engine.  EB World, according to Sidney - The Unofficial GK3 Homepage, has marked its release to April 2, 1999. So there.   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  7 CDs of Pure Mystery, Suspense and Bad Hair  No, it's not Phantasmagoria... besides I think Victoria Morsell had very nice hair. Anywho, Adam "I'm No Bryan Adams" Bormann revealed that the Gabriel Knight Collection (titled Gabriel Knight Mysteries) will be released this October 11th. Like most of Sierra's games, it will be available for order on their site.  Gabriel Knight Mysteries will be one box chock full of all Schattenjager junk, and compiles both Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1 CD) and The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (6 CDs) and will also contain the paperback copy of Jane Jensen's (designer of both games) novelization of Sins of the Fathers, published by ROC Books. It will also include the beautiful handpainted GK! graphic novel that was originally included in earlier copies of Sins of the Fathers as well as a 16-page graphic novel that sets up the storyline for the upcoming Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned.  --c/o Matthew Arcilla