According to this forum thread the LOMAC demo released yesterday was an unauthorised release (Thanks Blues).

The opening statement (from Matt "Wags" Wagner, a Producer at Ubisoft) goes on to say that the leaked code is from beta 5 and they are apparently on beta 10 now.

A impressive couple of gameplay movie trailers from two sources today that are a must see for FPS fans.

The Unreal Tournament 2004 trailer shows off a sharp departure in gameplay style for the popular shooter here with the addition of numerous vehicles.

And the sequel to the hugely popular Battlefield 1942, BF:Vietnam gets its first public airing here.

The LO:MAC demo version is now available showing off one of the most anticipated modern age combat flight sims of recent years (mostly because its one of the only modern age combat flight sims).

Weighing in at 123meg the sim is not for the faint of heart as its one of the more hardcore flight sims. Arcaders need not apply.

Get the demo from 3DGamers.

The bench mark RPG from Bioware has passed another version milestone with the release of v1.32.

The usual mix of minor fixes are included and the game can be patched via the in-game updater.

(article by Media Create)

Total sales for the Top 100 this week amounts to some 480,000 units. This represents 70.53% of the last week's total, and 54.26% of the weekly average, indicating the significantly stagnant software market condition. This is the third week after the third and fourth week in May, which marked the total software sales dipped below half million units.

Though the older titles remained to be stable with their sales amount to some 400,000 units, each of new releases posted sales of 10,000 units or less across the board. And the market share of new releases were also significantly low at 9.23% of the total sales units, and the weak line-ups of new releases have apparently caused the decrease in unit sales over a week before. The market last week was blessed with new releases the likes of "Drag-on Dragoon", however, the market this week completely lacked the prominent new releases.

"Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space" topped the charts this week with some 46,000 units sales, which was released two weeks ago. Majority of the Top 10 ranking titles were composed of older releases, and this also tells the lack of new releases.

Although not terribly surprising the announcement that Half-Life 2 will not make its 30th September release is non the less disappointing.

With the original release date only days away and with no denials (or confirmations) coming from the games developer, Valve Software, rumours were rife that the game would be released first via the just launched (and oh so nearly there) Steam content delivery system.

Alas it seems it was not meant to be and (as of my typing this) HL2's new estimated release date is now so up in the air it's practically orbital.

(article by Media Create)

Total sales for the TOP 100 this week amounts to some 681,000 units. This represents 75.99% of the last week's total, and 75.99% of the weekly average. This week's software market experienced decrease in sales unit of some 260,000 units over last week, and the end of summer vacation effect has now come to surface after a week late. Nevertheless, the software market this week has shifted well, considering the fact that the market last year performed quite poor (some half million units) compared to this year.

The market this week was blessed with a few new good releases the likes of the top ranking "Drag-On Dragoon" (some 122,000 units), "Gekito Pro Baseball: Mizushima Shinji All Stars VS Pro Baseball" (approx. 55,000 units), "Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life" (about 23,000 units), and "Naruto: Konoha Senki" (about 22,000 units). In addition, the software market was driven by the sub-new releases the likes of "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", "Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour", etc, which continued to rank high in the charts, and they have somehow eased the decrease in unit sales. Total sales for the TOP 100 this week amounts to some 681,000 units. This represents 75.99% of the last week's total, and 75.99% of the weekly average. This week's software market experienced decrease in sales unit of some 260,000 units over last week, and the end of summer vacation effect has now come to surface after a week late. Nevertheless, the software market this week has shifted well, considering the fact that the market last year performed quite poor (some half million units) compared to this year.

Activision have announced that European versions of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided will be released in Europe from October 31^st.

You can read the whole press release below, although it doesn't actually say much more, and certainly doesn't make any mention of European-based game servers, leading us to think this announcement relates solely to the boxed game.

(read more...)

There's a great article up on the BBC News Site in which David Braben of Frontier Developments comments on the remarks made by Laura Fryer, director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, when she said that games were still something for "Geeks and Guys" (err... The Sims?).

In the article the Elite creator remarks on what gives a game broader appeal beyond the popular (and inaccurate) stereotypes.

Parlimentary MPs were given a briefing by ELSPA on Wednesday as part of their continuing efforts to "...change the public perception of the games industry and improve knowledge and awareness for the key business messages...".

Apparently the briefing, supported by Peter Luff the MP for Mid-Worcestershire, was well received by the MPs (most of whom admitted to never having played a video game).

In 2002 the UK games industry generated £2 billion and currently employs over 20,000 people.

Gamespaper.com is today reporting that the anticipated Christmas season XBox bundle / price drop may have been previewed by MS to selected retailers at the recent X03 event.

To quote the site:

Microsoft have reportedly told a number of leading retailers that a £149 bundle will go on sale at the start of October, featuring the Xbox console, a copy of Halo and Midtown Madness 3, and two months free subscription to the Xbox Live broadband gaming network.

The CDV Website offers news this morning that the much anticipated fps Breed will (shock horror!) be delayed for a few more weeks.

The release is currently now set for "November".

The release goes on to threaten a further single player demo in October (as was the case this time last year funnily) and a multiplayer demo around the time of release.

On the subject of multiplayer the PR also finally makes the games MP Modes public knowledge:

"The Assault mode in particular uses the special engine feauture of the smooth transition between earth and orbit. A further feature includes the possibility of using the vehicles and characters of the BREED themselves. Their will also be vehicles made particularly for the multiplayer mode - for example, the jet pack."