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Boot Disk: IL-2 Sturmovik

Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Features, Simulation

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

Flight simulators are among the most niche of the niche games. They focus on a particular genre (flying combat) and take it to such an extremely realistic level that most players can't get into the game. However, there is one flight simulator that manages to be both realistic and fun to a general audience. Released in 2001 by Ubisoft, it was before a time of restrictive DRM and needless DLC, and even now sits as an example of what continued support can do for a game's legacy. I'm talking about IL-2 Sturmovik, and its attention to detail in every aspect of the game makes it a classic of the flying combat genre.

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GDC 2010: Ensemble Studios' shutdown finally explained?

Posted Mar 15th 2010 8:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: RTS

In 2008, Microsoft announced their plans to shut down Ensemble Studios after March 2009. Fans of Ensemble's games, particularly the Age of Empires RTS series, were in shock. After all, the game were big sales hits, selling millions of copies. Why would Microsoft want to close down the studio behind all of that success?

Our sister site Joystiq attended a GDC 2010 lecture where that question may have been answered. Paul Bettner, a former manager for Ensemble, said that things at the developer were not all wine and roses. Indeed, he said morale at the studio was low when the developer was making what turned out to be their last game, the Xbox 360 RTS title Halo Wars. He stated, "The reality is that every single game we shipped took twice as long as we said it would take, and took twice as much to make it." Because of constant crunch time, he says that the quality of the games suffered and so did the people.

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Splinter Cell Conviction devs answer the burning questions in community video

Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Action, Video

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With the release of Splinter Cell Conviction just weeks away (we hope), developers at Ubisoft Montreal have taken the time to answer some of the submitted fan questions. It's clear that Conviction won't feature the same Sam Fisher fans have come to know, but how extensive are the game changes? The developers provide some enlightenment, but the most important revelation is that a playable demo is in the works. However, there's no word on when that demo will release, what maps it will cover, and whether or not it will be exclusive to consoles. Players can find out how stealth is reinvented for themselves when the game releases on April 13th.

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Gallery: Splinter Cell Conviction

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Next Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC patch delayed

Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Patches, FPS, Multiplayer

PC users are still waiting for a new patch for Battlefield Bad Company 2. There was supposed to be a patch coming today for Digital Illusions recent first person shooter but that plan was pulled at the last minute due to discovering some crash bugs. It now looks like the patch will be released sometime on Tuesday.

In the meantime the game's official blog site has posted up a a general Q&A post-launch update. The big issue is the multiplayer servers which, if you have been following along on this site, have been causing lots of players to not be able to sign on. The post states, "This is an ongoing process but we currently have enough capacity to handle all BFBC2 connections."

Gallery: Battlefield Bad Company 2 Screenshots

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War for Cybertron behind-the-scenes video uncovers the untold story

Posted Mar 15th 2010 6:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Action, Video

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Transformers, like many cartoon / toy properties shaped and influenced the development of many children back in the day. Well, those kids are all grown up now and the artists and developers at High Moon Studios are eager to bring things to an all new level with Transformers: War for Cybertron. This developer video reveals the inspiration and background behind creating the first recent Transformers game that isn't based on a movie, which covers the civil war on Cybertron - an event that's often referred to but never shown in any great detail.

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Gallery: Transformers: War for Cybertron Screenshots

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Nvidia launches new way to put 3D PC gaming on TVs

Posted Mar 15th 2010 6:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Hardware

"3D" is the new buzz term in entertainment these days. Nvidia has been promoting its own 3D PC gaming solution, 3D Vision, for a while now. Today the graphics chip company announced an expansion of those plans with Nvidia 3DTV Play. Instead of hooking up your PC to your PC monitor, this new extension is made for PCs that can be hooked up to big screen televisions.

Of course the technology will only work on TV that are made especially for 3D viewing. They also need to support the 1.4 version of HDMI connections. If you are curious about what all this looks like, Nvidia is teaming up with Panasonic for a 20 city tour to show off how 3DTV Play looks on Panasonic's upcoming 3D-enabled TVs.

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Medal of Honor trailer reveals its violence experts

Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, FPS, Trailers

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We know that the Medal of Honor teaser trailer that came out in December left you wanting more, and here it is. The extended trailer for the Medal of Honor reboot, which brings the game into modern times, expected to release in the fall. We like to think of ourselves as experts in the application of (virtual) violence too.

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GDC 2010 brings in record number of attendees

Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Culture

Even with the battered economy, it looks like the just completed Game Developers Conference can still bring in large crowds. Today the organizers announced that GDC 2010 had 18,250 official attendees. This is the largest ever for the show, breaking 2009's record of 17,000 attendees.

As we reported last week the 2011 edition of GDC will be held once again in San Fransisco but at an earlier point in the year, from February 28-March 4. If you didn't get a chance to go, don't fret. In about two weeks. selected video from many of GDC's various lectures will be available for free at the GDC Vault web site.

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GDC 2010: How much did Mass Effect's save games influence sequel?

Posted Mar 15th 2010 4:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: RPG, Mass Effect Series

If you liked the first Mass Effect game, you likely know that your save games can be carried over into the recently released Mass Effect 2. You also know that the choices that you made in the first game might influence certain events in BioWare's sci-fi RPG sequel. But just how much influence does a player have?

During a lecture at GDC 2010 last week, BioWare's Armando Troisi stated that the development team had let 700 plot hooks from Mass Effect 1 carry over into the sequel. While the main storylines could not be changed from one game to another based on player influence, smaller details can change based on player decisions. With the announcement that save games in Mass Effect 2 can carry over into the upcoming third game in the RPG series, it should be interesting to see what BioWare comes up with in that area.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 Screenshots

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GDC 2010: Will Wright makes a surprise GDC speech

Posted Mar 15th 2010 3:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Culture

Near the end of GDC 2010 on Saturday, a mysterious lecture given by a person only identified by the name "Phaedrus". As it turned out the speech was made by none other than Will Wright. The creator of The Sims and Spore has technically been out of the PC game development business for a year since leaving EA and forming Stupid Fun Club.

As reported on by Joystiq, Wright spent his GDC speech time on, among other things, the rise of social gaming. While you may see tens of millions of people playing Farmville now, Wright stated that it may not be the "next big thing" in gaming. He stated, "It gets a lot of attention, of course, because investors, when they're looking to invest in something, they're looking to invest in the steep part of this curve."Still, Wright predicts that social gaming could end up "doing about the quarter of the market, really."

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GDC 2010: Sid Meier talks about (what else) games

Posted Mar 15th 2010 2:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Culture, Strategy

Technically there was only one official main keynote address at last week's GDC 2010. It was given by legendary game designer Sid Meier who has declared 2010 to be "the year of Civilization!" That's not just because of the recently announced Civilization 5, due out this fall, but also the upcoming Facebook game Civilization Network that should start beta testing later this year.

Neither game got much hype during Meier's chat, according to our sister site Joystiq. Instead he talked a lot about players and how they relate to the the games they play. Meier stated that he always lets the player win his games, with just the threat of punishment enough to keep the player interested. You can check out more from the speech at Joystiq.

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Origin PC offers up overclocked Core i7 980x Extreme Edition

Posted Mar 15th 2010 1:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Hardware

Last week, Intel announced its fastest PC processor yet, the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition. The six core, 12 threaded processor is likely going to be the most powerful PC processor for gaming for a while. But now the folks at Origin PC, which launched back in November via a number of ex-Alienware folks, are offering the processor in their desktop PCs.

That would be not so interesting news, except for one thing. Origin PC is offering not just the standard 3.33 Ghz clocked version but one that's overclocked all the way up to 4.3 Ghz. That should put it close to 88 miles an hour territory.

[Via email press release]

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Star Wars: The Old Republic hands-on previews pop up

Posted Mar 15th 2010 12:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic

The fallout from last week's GDC 2010 is still being felt as some embargos are being lifted on some hands-on previews that were handled during the show. The big one is the first real hands-on previews for Star Wars: The Old Republic and naturally our sister site Massively got a chance to get BioWare's upcoming debut MMO out.

The preview, conducted at LucasArts' San Fransisco compound, let the press control a member of the game's Trooper class in some PV3 missions. Massively liked what they played, saying, "This is a BioWare game on a LucasArts property, so you just know it's going to be done right, and from what I've seen so far, it is done right." With the title still at least a year away from coming out, that's certainly encouraging.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Screenshots

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Hunted: The Demon's Forge announced

Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: RPG

As previously rumored, Bethesda Softworks is indeed publishing a new RPG from developer inXile Entertainment, the development studio founded by former Interplay head man Brian Fargo. The game is a fantasy-themed title called Hunted: The Demon's Forge and it will be a third person game with a co-op bent.

Using Unreal Engine 3 as its graphical basis, the game's storyline has its fantasy world invaded by creatures who are taking villiages away. It's up to the two player characters, the mercenaries E'lara, (who liked ranged weapons) and Caddoc, (a master with the sword) to take on the horde of monsters. There are also magic spells in the game that will boost player skills. So far there is no release date announced for the game.

Gallery: Hunted: The Demon's Forge Screenshots

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New Kings and Castles video blog talks about combat

Posted Mar 15th 2010 10:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: RTS, Video

We are really enjoying the video blogs for Kings and Castles, even though they are mostly, well, about Gas Powered Games' head man Chris Taylor being a ham on screen (and we mean that in a good way). In this video blog we learn that the upcoming fantasy RTS game will be dealing with melee combat as opposed to the projectile weapons that have been used in the Supreme Commander games.

There's also a quick trip to the storage room of Gas Powered Games where we learn is the place where every PC video card ever made is located. Oh, and some man-horse lovin'. Can't forget that.

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