Game News Archives


	Dragon Wars Due From 3DO 05-18-01 The 3DO Co. announced the fall release of Dragon Wars of Might and Magic, a game for the PlayStation 2 gaming platform. Dragon Wars is the first aerial-based adventure game in the Might and Magic universe. Dragon Wars will introduce gamers to a new dragon character, Cael, who seeks vengeance against the villainous Orcs who have enslaved the dragon race to extract Zeenium, the element that allows dragons to breathe fire, the company said.

	Interplay Readies Excelsior Game 05-09-01 Interplay Entertainment announced the development of Star Trek: Shattered Universe, a video game for the PlayStation 2 platform set about the USS Excelsior in the universe of the original Trek series. Based on the classic Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," the game takes place in a dark alternative universe in the time period just after the events depicted in the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the game publisher announced. The game features the crew of the Excelsior, under the command of Capt. Hikaru Sulu, which finds itself stranded in the parallel universe. Gamers will encounter Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Tholians and Gorn and artifacts--including the Guardian of Forever and the Doomsday Machine--from the original Trek series. Star Trek: Shattered Universe is scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.

	Myst III On Shelves Now 05-08-01 Myst III: Exile, the third installment in the best-selling video game franchise, arrives on store shelves May 8, featuring new ages and a new story set 10 years after the events in the last Myst game, Riven. A trailer for the new game is running in movie theaters or may be seen on the official Web site. The game is designed for the PC. Presto Studios took over game development from Cyan, the Daily Radar site reported. Creators promise that the new installment will feature more video, puzzles that make more sense and a more balanced and detailed experience in general, the site reported.

	Cook Designs For Penumbra 05-04-01 Veteran game designer Monte Cook--one of the three co-designers of the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons--will write an adventure for high-level characters of Atlas Games' Penumbra line. The adventure will be called Beyond the Veil and is tentatively scheduled for December release. The Penumbra line is Atlas's series of adventures for D&D 3.0 and its D20 game system, published under the open gaming license issued by Wizards of the Coast. The license allows anyone to publish material for the D20 system without paying royalties to Wizards. Atlas is the longtime publisher of such games as Lunch Money and Ars Magica. Penumbra books are now Atlas' best-sellers. Cook has been gaming since 1978, and started working professionally in the game industry in 1988, when he took a job at Iron Crown Enterprises. He went to work for TSR in 1994, moving to Wizards when it purchased TSR in the late '90s. Before working on D&D 3.0, he was best known for his work on Rolemaster for Iron Crown and on the Planescape line for Wizards.

	Rings Game Deal Signed 05-03-01 Vivendi Universal Publishing and Tolkien Enterprises announced an exclusive deal to develop games based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books. VU Publishing's Sierra studio will develop and release several games over the next eight years, the companies announced. The first game--based on the first Rings book, The Fellowship of the Ring--is being devloped by WXP Inc., for release in early 2002 for a next-generation console system. The gaming deal coincides with the production of three movies based on the Rings trilogy, with the first, The Fellowship of the Ring, slated for release Dec. 19.

	Xbox Enters The Matrix 05-03-01 Shiny and Interplay's upcoming video game based on the hit SF movie The Matrix will be released exclusively for the Xbox gaming platform for the first six months, the IGN gaming Web site reported. A regulatory filing revealed the arrangement between the gamemakers and Xbox developer Microsoft, which will loan Interplay $5 million. The Matrix game will also feature online play only through the Xbox, and the Xbox version will contain more extra features than other versions, including fight choreography by the film's kung fu adviser, Woo-Ping Yuen, voices by the film's actors and more music tracks from the film's composer. The Xbox will also feature more vehicles, weapons and video, and Interplay will spend $500,000 to develop online features for the game exclusive to Xbox users, IGN reported. The Matrix game is slated for release no more than three months after the Matrix II movie hits theaters in the summer of 2002.

	LucasArts Unveils Galactic Game 05-02-01 LucasArts has announced Star Wars Galactic Battleground, a new game set in the Star Wars universe, in conjunction with the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The game, for the PC platform, is slated for a winter 2001 release. In Galactic Battleground, the gamer is in command of an army fighting real-time strategy clashes, the company announced. Gamers can assume the role of the Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Trade Federation, Wookiees, Gungans or Royal Naboo in campaigns that will determine the outcome of the Galactic Civil War. Campaigns may be waged over land, sea and air with more than 300 different units and structures in single-player campaigns, skirmishes and multiplayer battles.

	Sierra Prepping Rings RPG 04-24-01 Sierra On-Line has been quietly preparing a massive online role-playing game based in the Middle-Earth of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the Inside.com Web site reported. The site based the report on information contained in a lawsuit filed April 20 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Los Angeles game developer MM3D filed suit against Sierra, claiming that the company breached MM3D's contract to create what it called the ''Tolkien Online RPG'' by trying to force the developer to accept diminished terms and a 50 percent cut in revenue from the project, Inside.com reported. The seven-page complaint offered no details about the secret game project. A Sierra spokesman told the site that the company hadn't been served with the suit and said that Sierra is in negotiations with MM3D. For its part, MM3D posted a statement on its official Web site saying, "MM3D is hopeful about working this out with Sierra On-Line. We have enjoyed a good relationship with Sierra in the past, and we would like to enjoy a positive relationship with them in the future. We hope Sierra On-Line will honor its agreements."

	New EverQuest Pack Due 04-19-01 Sony announced a new expansion pack for its popular EverQuest online role-playing game, called EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin. The new pack is due to ship in the fourth quarter of this year, Sony said. The Shadows of Luclin will take players to a satellite hovering above the world of Norrath. Luclin is divided into a land of light, ruled by Discord, and a land of shadow, ruled by Order. The expansion pack will feature a moonscape packed with new adventure zones, items, creatures and spells and a new playable character class.

	Activision Announces Gaming Slate 04-17-01 Activision announced several upcoming games based on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and X-Men series. Spider-Man for the Sega Dreamcast gaming platform will feature free-roaming, 3-D action and is scheduled for release in the spring. Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six is the sequel to Spider-Man and will follow the webslinger's battles with Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, Sandman, Mysterio and Vulture. The game is also scheduled for a spring release. Spider-Man 2 Enter: Electro is a 3-D action-adventure game scheduled for release this fall. Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace is coming for the Game Boy Advance also in the fall. Among the upcoming X-Men titles are X-Men: Wolverine' s Rage for the Game Boy Color, X-Men: Mutant Academy for the PlayStation game console, and X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse for the Game Boy Advance, all due in the fall. Activision also announced that it has signed an agreement with Hudson Soft Co. Ltd. for the North American rights to Bloody Roar 3 for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Activision will publish and distribute the game in the United States and Canada.

	Tiger Games Uncrouching 04-05-01 The Taiwanese firm Vista Group plans to develop game titles based on the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Daily Radar reported. The game will be developed for PC, PlayStation2, Xbox, Gamecube and Dreamcast platforms. The PC version is slated for a winter 2001 release, and the console versions will likely come out early next year. Vista Group also plans to release an animated movie and TV cartoon series based on the film, the site reported.

	Mission 2 Games Possible 04-05-01 Game publisher Infogames will release video games based on John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2 next year, the FGN Web site reported. The games will be developed for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms, the site reported. The first M:I2 game will ship in the fall of 2002.

	Batman Game In Stores 03-29-01 Batman: Chaos in Gotham, a new video game for the Game Boy Color, is in stores now, Ubi Soft Entertainment announced. The game is based on the DC Comics series Batman and the animated New Batman Adventures television series. In the new game, the caped crusader must battle escapees from Arkham Asylum and Gotham Penitentiary, under the command of Two-Face. Players may assume the roles of either Batman or Batgirl. The game has a suggested retail price of $29.99.

	Ellis Writes Antaeus Story 03-27-01 SF author Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan) has written the storyline for the upcoming action video game Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising, Interplay Entertainment announced. Antaeus marks Ellis' first move into interactive media, the game publisher announced. Set in the year 2032, Antaeus chronicles the battle between chip-enhanced soldiers and a cabal of old-world leaders who seek to spread war. The PC game is slated for a second-quarter 2001 release.

	Activision Wins Spidey License 03-22-01 Activision announced that it acquired the rights to publish video games based on Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Spider-Man is slated for release in May 2002. Activision said it will work with director Raimi, Columbia Pictures and Spider-Man Merchandising to create games that reflect the film's storyline, characters and environments. Activision will develop and publish an unlimited number of games for all platforms based on the Spider-Man film and comic franchise, the company added.

	Activision Readies Borg Game 03-06-01 Activision announced a new PC world-building simulator game Star Trek Borg Assimilator, in which gamers can impose order on the galaxy. The game is being developed by Cyberlore Studios for release in the winter of 2001. Players will assume the role of the Borg to conquer and assimilate other cultures, including Romulans, Klingons and Federation humans. Borg Assimilator features a 12-level campaign mode, in which players face races with progressively higher resistance quotients. Players can gain access to more advanced buildings, such as regeneration alcoves, research centers and the Borg Queen hive.

	Earth RPG Coming to Web 03-06-01 Game publisher Westwood Studios announced Earth and Beyond, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in a persistent-state galaxy, which will ship later this year for the PC. Players will be able to compete against thousands of others at EA.com, the official Web site of Westwood's parent company, Electronic Arts. Earth and Beyond is set in the future, when star travel is in its earliest stages. Gamers can explore the universe and assume the roles of fighter, explorer, trader or any combination. The persistent-state galaxy will feature hundreds of planets, moons, nebulae, starports, Star Gates, black holes, capital ships and other areas.

	Activision Offers Trek Add-On 03-01-01 Activision and Raven Software announced an add-on pack for the PC game Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force, which will allow new gaming experiences. The pack will be released in the spring. The pack will feature two new single-player campaigns--a Capt. Proton "holo-novel" and an assault on a Klingon compound. Gamers will also get new multiplayer options and will also be able to explore an interactive 3-D recreation of Voyager's interior in "tour mode."

	Star Wars RTS Game Coming 02-28-01 LucasArts announced a deal with Ensemble Studios to develop a new real-time strategy gaming franchise, based in the Star Wars universe, for the digital interactive gaming market. The initial release under the venture is Star Wars Battleground, to be built on a PC-based technology created by Ensemble and used in the Age of Empires game series. Designer Bruce Shelley will help develop Star Wars Battleground, which is slated for a fall release.

	X-Men Game Aims At 2002 02-22-01 X-Men--a video game for the PlayStation 2 gaming platform--will likely appear at the end of next year, coinciding with the release of the next X-Men movie, the FGN Web site reported. Like the films, the Activision game is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Ashley Hall, chief executive at the game's developer, Warthog, told FGN that the X-Men game is scheduled for release in the second half of 2002. "The game has been in development for a number of months now," Hall said. "You'd expect such a game to draw heavily from [the] movie. It's going to be focused around the major characters." X-Men movie director Bryan Singer recently said he would helm the sequel, which should start filming toward the end of the year and continue through early 2002.

	Myst III Release Date Set 02-20-01 Myst III: Exile, the third installment in the popular video game franchise, will be released on May 7 in both a CD version and a CD-ROM collector's edition. The collector's edition will include a special Squee toy, the official Prima Myst III: Exile Strategy Guide, a 22-minute making-of video, a soundtrack CD and Atrus' journal, a softbound book identical to the one used in the game, with extra space for notes. The DVD version has been delayed to the third quarter of 2001. FGN, meanwhile, reported that TLC has chosen the Xbox gaming platform over the PlayStation 2 for its console version of Myst III: Exile. TLC is reportedly working closely with Microsoft to ensure that the Xbox title is released first in Japan. The project should be released in Japan before the hoidays. Myst III: Exile will be released for Xbox in the U.S. and Europe in 2002

	Starfighter Game Previewed 02-16-01 LucasArts has teamed up with PlayStation @ Metreon in San Francisco to premiere Star Wars Starfighter, a video game for the PlayStation 2 platform, on Feb. 17, according to the official Star Wars Web site. Attendees will get a chance to be among the first to play Starfighter and to meet the development team. The all-day event kicks off at 10 a.m. at the Metreon at the corner of Fourth and Mission Streets in San Francisco. The first 1,000 players will also get a free T-shirt.

	Oddworld Site Opens 02-15-01 Microsoft has opened an official Web site for the upcoming fantasy game Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, the third installment in the popular Oddworld video game series. The site features Flash animation to offer visitors an early look at the game and the Oddworld universe, according to the FGN Web site. The site also features a diary by senior game designer Paul O'Connor. The game will follow the 3-D adventures of Abe and Munch, a pair of lab rats that have taken one chemical too many and developed special psychic powers. Munch's Oddysee will premiere exclusively for the Xbox gaming platform for the 2001 holiday season.

	Interplay Enters The Matrix 02-07-01 Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment has been awarded the video-game license to the hit SF film The Matrix by Warner Brothers, Variety reported. The deal is expected to allow Interplay to create several game titles based on the Matrix franchise, the trade paper reported. Laguna Beach-based Shiny Entertainment, which has a publishing and distribution agreement with Interplay, is developing at least one next-generation game based on the license. The Wachowski brothers, writers and directors of The Matrix, apparently visited Shiny's headquarters on numerous occasions last year to oversee development of the game, Variety reported. They are expected to continue to do so now that shooting has begun on the two sequels in and around an old naval base in Oakland. Video games take about 18 months to develop and publish, which would place the premiere of the first Matrix game around the time The Matrix 2 is slated for release, the trade paper reported. It's expected that the first video game will be a third-person, 3-D action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2 platform that will tie in to the plots of the Matrix sequels. The game is also expected to be released for PC and next-generation console systems.

	Nikita Game Coming In Fall 02-07-01 Video game publisher Infogrames said it will release a game based on USA Network's original series La Femme Nikita for next-generation console systems and the PC in the fall. The game will remain true to the mythology of the popular series, which fans helped resurrect for a fifth season this year. The La Femme Nikita game will combine action, cooperative gameplay and a plot-driven story, Infogrames announced. Players will be able to choose to be either Michael or Nikita and track a terrorist group across the globe in six non-linear missions.

	Warcraft III Expected In 2001 02-02-01 Blizzard Entertainment announced that the third installment of its Warcraft video game series, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, will be released this year for the PC. A Macintosh version of the game is expected in early 2002. The game will retail for about $50. Players will be able to control one of four races of creatures in the game: humans, orcs, night elves and the undead, the company announced.

	Dorn Stars In Dune Game 01-31-01 Star Trek: The Next Generation's Michael Dorn is among the cast of actors who will voice Westwood Studios' upcoming video game Emperor: Battle for Dune, the company announced. The real-time strategy game is due out this summer for PC from Electronic Arts. Dorn plays Duke Achillus of House Atreides. He is joined by Michael McShane as Baron Rakan of House Harkonnen and Vincent Schiavelli as Yanich Kobal, the baron's advisor. The game features a non-linear planetary campaign, with 33 different maps to fight on and more than 100 missions. The game is based on Frank Herbert's Dune series of SF novels.

	Farscape Video Game Near 01-31-01 Simon & Schuster Interactive, in association with The Jim Henson Co., will publish a computer game based on The SCI FI Channel's original series Farscape in the first quarter of 2002. The Farscape game is being developed by the Red Lemon game studio for the PC and an unnamed next-generation gaming console, the companies announced. The game will be an action adventure in which gamers can assume the role of astronaut John Crichton, Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun, Chiana, D'Argo, Rygel or Zhaan. The game will find the crew of the sentient ship Moya stranded on a desolate planet in a far-off corner of the universe, caught between warring native factions and the deadly Peacekeepers. Gamers will have to uncover clues to a mystery to stop a threat to galactic stability before time runs out. The game will combine character interactions and fast-paced combat in a third-person environment. The first public demonstration of the game will take place at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May.

	Activision Sharpens New Blade 01-23-01 Activision said it has signed an agreement with the British game developer Mucky Foot to create a sequel to its Blade video game, based on Marvel Comics' Blade: The Vampire Hunter series, the Comics Continuum reported. The game is being developed for next-generation console systems. Mucky Foot created Urban Chaos for Eidos Interactive.

	Fantasy X Pushed To July 01-19-01 Square told the Famitsu U.S. Web site that it will delay until July the Japanese launch of its much-anticipated Final Fantasy X for PlayStation 2. The video game had been slated for a spring release. "We decided to delay FF X's release to elevate the title's quality to an even higher level and fully realize some great features that will push the envelope [based on what] PlayStation 2 is capable of," a Square spokesman told the site. "We are currently making every available effort to get FF X into the hands of gamers by July this year."