February 2001

NASCAR® Racing 4 ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:20 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
There are few things more wearing on a gamer than a high-speed, white-knuckle racing sim, and Papyrus Studios with Sierra Studios has a dandy. NASCAR Racing 4 utilizes a new 3D graphics engine to deliver graphics that are stunning. Ok, the peripheral environmental elements – such as the crowd, stands, and the occasional structure beyond the concrete barrier that encloses the track – are not the best seen. But who cares? What really matters is the track itself, the cars and the way the action is rendered. And that is absolutely amazing. Every time a car crunches a wall, it leaves a telltale mark there. Each time there is a collision, and a car spins, its tires screaming as they vainly try to grab the surface of the circuit, the skid marks remain as a testament to what happened. Each time around you will see the warning signs of careless driving. (More @ the Source: gamezone.com)

GeForce 3 Giants....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:17 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
The official Planet Moon Studios web site has posted word that a special full version of their action-strategy game Giants: Citizen Kabuto will be bundled with the Elsa Gladiac 920 GeForce 3 graphics card. This version will be specially enhanced to take advantage of the new features of the GeForce 3 video chip from Nvidia. (More @ the Source: Blues/Stomped)

Elite Force Mission Pack Announced....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:14 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
This press release announces that Raven Software and Activision will be releasing a mission pack for their recent first person shooter Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force this spring. The mission pack will be packed (no pun intended) with new content, including two new single player missions, 17 new multiplayer maps, 12 new character models, two new multiplayer game modes and the "Tour Mode" which will allow players to check out Voyager's decks. (More @ the Source: stomped.com)

War Games Interview ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:14 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Redmond, WA, February 19, 2001: WildTangent today announced an alliance with TBS Superstation to develop the first realistic, interactive, tactical action combat game to be played solely on the Internet. The new online game will coincide with TBS Superstation's premiere of its action-packed 2-hour television pilot, 'War Games' on March 28, 2001. "Utilizing an interactive combat game as part of the strategy for our 'War Games' special is a natural fit and an added value for both TBS Superstation and our 'regular guy' audience," said Richard Turner, director of online marketing for TBS Superstation. "This game will allow us to push our enhanced television efforts to a new level by putting our viewers directly into the action of a combat scenario." (More @ the Source: gaming-unlimited.com)

To Mod... or Not To Mod....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:12 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Nearly every first person shooter that appears on the market these days boasts about their all-singing and all-dancing software development kit, which will allow you to create the game of your choice using their fantastically configurable game engine. Do we really need every new game to be modable? (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Red Faction Interview....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:10 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
An interview with Volition's Mike Breault is up at fan page RF World (thanks Voodoo Extreme). The majority of the questions deal with Mike's background in the industry, but he also comments on the mod community and their desire to release the tools to allow fans to create their own character models for Red Faction. (More @ the Source: rfworld.net)

AOpen 12X10X32 CD-Rewriter....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:09 AM MST Wednesday, February 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
...I was fortunate enough to be able to meet the people from Aopen America at the 2000 Comdex show in Las Vegas, showing off their new, hot releases for 2001. I recently received the Aopen CRW1232 12x10x32x CD-rewriter. Aopen is known for producing budget ROM drives with their CD-writers being one of the best on the market. The price is great too at around $179.00. This competes with likes of Plextor and Yamaha, without having to pay $300 to $400. I must say that for half the price, this drive packs a punch and can compete with other 12x drives on the market today. Let’s take a look at the specs to see what makes this drive worth owning...(More @ the Source: pcshooter.xrgaming.net)

Pioneer to Release DVD-R....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:30 PM MST Tuesday, February 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
By this May, Pioneer plans to start selling an add-on version of its drive that can play and record both DVDs and CDs. You'll even be able to play back DVDs recorded using the drive on most consumer DVD players.(More @ the Source: Pioneer DVD-R)

The Claw Controller....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 12:10 PM MST Tuesday, February 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Weapon selection can be a tad trickier. In games where you really want weapons at your fingertips (for the old whip-out-the-pistol emergency blast in Counter-Strike, for instance) it's generally a pain to use a mouse wheel doohickey for selection. So Claw users will have to use modifier key combinations. (More @ the Source: dansdata.com)

NVIDIA GeForce3 Preview ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:16 AM MST Tuesday, February 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Let's face it. The past few generations of video cards have been pretty docile. Yes, the ATI Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce chips are great, but they aren't… explosive. We haven't seen a card that has been able to drastically raise the quality of games since the days of the 3dfx Voodoo1 and Voodoo2. Aside from increased fill rates, Hardware T&L and anti-aliasing are arguably the two biggest graphics features made available to consumers in the past two years. These features, impressive as they are, haven't inspired the jaw-dropping awe that turns gamers into drooling idiots (or even moreso than usual). (More @ the Source: firingsquad.gamers.com)

The Tech behind the GeForce3 ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:30 AM MST Tuesday, February 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
What a difference a year can make! It was just nine months ago that I was writing an article to introduce you to the GeForce2 GTS, the follow up chipset to NVIDIA's extremely successful GeForce 256. Their main competitor was the upcoming 3dfx V5 5500. Since then, ATI released the high performance Radeon, and 3dfx's core assets are now owned by NVIDIA. So, it was with great anticipation that consumers anticipated word on NVIDIA's newest offering, code named the NV20. We have seen it perform with the upcoming Doom2000 engine at MacWorld, and we have heard developers like John Carmack and Tim Sweeney say how great it is. Would it live up to the hype, and how would NVIDIA overcome the memory bandwidth problems that have plagued their cards in the past? Today the wait is over, and I bring you the first part of our GeForce3 Preview on the technology behind the GF3. (More @ the Source: 3dgpu.com)

Yet Still More on Gaming Violence....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:28 AM MST Tuesday, February 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
"Cognitive dissonance" is a mental state produced by having two contradictory pieces of knowledge in one's brain at the same time. If you, as a gamer, are feeling a little dissonance these days, you're not alone: February was a confusing and contradictory month on the whole harmfulness-of-game-violence issue. On the one hand, game industry executives were revealed to be working behind the Oz curtain to curtail the access of teenagers to violent computer and console entertainments. On the other, the American Office of the Surgeon General released a major report telling people that violent media isn't really that big a problem after all. A game industry watchdog group told us that sales clerks were ignoring the game rating system; but still praised the industry for having the best entertainment rating system around. Those who follow these issues closely were left wondering: overall, did we gain or did we lose? Perhaps the answer is neither, but we did take a few steps forward. (More @ the Source: avault.com)

On Baldur's Gate II....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 3:47 PM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
has posted another "BioFiles" column taking a look at what went wrong with Baldur's Gate II, according to the people who made it. From what I've heard, there wasn't much wrong with it, but I guess the designers think a few things could have been done differently. Here's an excerpt from the post-mortem: When most people who have played Baldur’s Gate 2 try to describe it with a single word, I don’t think the word ‘linear’ would be one that would come to mind. There are a massive amount of quests in Baldur’s Gate 2, and you can do them in any order. The problem of linearity comes into play when you’re on one those quests. In each of our dungeon quests we have obstacles that the player must overcome if he wants to continue further into the dungeon. Some of these obstacles are monsters, others are special locked gates, or locked doors that can’t be opened using the pick lock skill. One problem is that there is usually only one option to bypass the obstacle. The other problem is that in most cases the obstacle blocks the only path to continue through the dungeon. (More @ the Source: ga-rpg)

Simple Guide to Building a Home LAN....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 3:36 PM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The term LAN (Local Area Network) is best described as a small to medium sized network of computers located in the same area, usually even in the same building (from dictionary.com, "A system that links together electronic office equipment, such as computers and word processors, and forms a network within an office or a building.") I'm sure that most of us have come in contact with a LAN in one way or another, be it in a school, a local library or friend's house. Local area networks are mainly used to offer resource sharing (such as internet and data) and also for my personal favorite, multiplayer games. (More @ the Source: sharkyextreme.com)

John Carmack Q&A....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 3:33 PM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Do you think that the Geforce 3 has reached the limit where we can't get any better in quality? What is the next step? We desperately need more color precision at each pixel. A typical rendered pixel in the new engine may be a composition of 20 textures, and every multiply in a graphics algorithm loses some precision in the final output. It is often possible to get output granularity worse than from a 16 bit image. Moving to 64 or 128 bits per pixel calculations is the most important thing for the next generation of cards. How does the GF3 compare to all other video cards on the market right now? I haven't evaluated other aspects like 2D and video playback, and cost is definitely a factor, but from a pure 3D standpoint, it is just plain better at everything. (More @ the Source: edgegaming.com)

The Ultimate Sexy Geek Girl....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 3:29 PM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Ever since the advent of science (which coincidentally was the exact starting point of geekdom) man has dreamed of creating the prefect geek girl. It took hundreds of years to exploit the scientific method enough to get us to the point where we could actually do it, but thanks to modern technology we are finally here. We apologize to all the girlfriends and wives who get dumped because of the Ultimate Sexy Geek Girl. We realize that she's utterly irresistible, but we must continue to push the limits of science at all costs. (More @ the Source: dailyradar.com)

Making Your Own Networking Cable....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 3:24 PM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Buying pre-crimped, ready-made cable for a home or office can be quite expensive, and hiring somebody to do the wiring will cost even more. For those of us who are on a budget (and who isn't?), there is a simple way to make your own networking cable. Requiring a little skill, and a few inexpensive tools you can be making your own cable in no time. Keep in mind that I'm talking about places that need over 100+ feet of cable, there's no sense in making just a few feet of cable and going out and buying all of these tools. (More @ the Source: speedy3d.com)

Mac Soldier of Fortune Up in Air ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 11:55 AM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Reader Justin Whittington recently got in touch with developers Hyperion Software to find out the status of their Mac port of Raven Software's controversial first person shooter Soldier of Fortune. It would seem the project has been severely delayed and Hyperion hasn't made much progress on it. Here's what a Hyperion rep had to say: (More @ the Source: godgames.com)

A Chat With Front-Line Force....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:14 AM MST Monday, February 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
It seems these days that in the world of Half-Life modifications, Counter-strike gets all the glory. However, FLF has taken the Half-Life mod community by surprise with its large following in such a short time of existence. But again and again, the Half-Life mod community has shown that if it's fun, people will play it. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

K7T Turbo Athlon Motherboard....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:03 PM MST Sunday, February 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
MSI Computer has officially announced their new K7T Turbo Athlon motherboard, which is powered with the VIA KT133A chipset. Along with support for a 266Mhz FSB (Frontside bus), the K7T Turbo also supports 4x AGP, PC133 SDRAM, Ultra ATA/100, and MSI's Fuzzy Logic overclocking tool. The price of this board has not yet been determined. (More @ the Source: MSI Computer)

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:52 PM MST Sunday, February 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
XGR.com has posted up a new hands-on preview of the forthcoming action-strategy game, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. The game is developed by Micro Forte and published by Interplay. The preview comes with a gameplay movie and some new screenshots. (More @ the Source: xgr.com)

Quake III Arena With PlanetQuake - Monday....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:58 PM MST Saturday, February 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
You want to play some deathmatch against PlanetQuake? On Monday, February 26, you'll get your chance. The PlanetQuake staff will be inviting the public to play for fun and prizes at 4pm Pacific time. (More @ the Source: Q3A with planetquake)

New Quake III Arena Alliance Mod....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:43 PM MST Saturday, February 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Alliance Games website has available for download a new version (2.4) of the Alliance modification for Q3A. The new version eliminates the smart grenades, removes the shredder from Instagib, and adds some tweaks and bug fixes. Because the full version 2.4 release of the mod is 134 MB, they are pleased to share the news that the full mod is included in the cover-mounted CD on an upcoming issue of PC Gamer magazine. (More @ the Source: planetquake.com/alliance)

Update - Giants Beta Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:25 PM MST Saturday, February 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Planet Moon Central has posted an update on the upcoming Giants: Citizen Kabuto patch that is currently in development. They give us a status report based on testing they have been doing. It is reported that things have really improved on the net play front of the game and that things run smoother. There are a bunch of tweaks and fixes that should please people, and word of a dedicated server. There is also a new gametype added called "Base Defend." (More @ the Source: planetmooncentral.com)

The Virtues of Being Levelheaded....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:28 PM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Surely the best way to define “level designer” -- for myself and for the hordes of would-be level designers in the game enthusiast community -- is to badger the designers themselves to open a little window into their worlds. So, that’s exactly what I did, contacting five level designers at top-notch game studios. Credit for any wisdom and insight found in these words goes entirely to Mick Beard of Human Head Studios (Blair Witch Vol. 2: The Legend of Coffin Rock and Rune), Davor Hunski and Davor Tomicic, both of Croteam (Serious Sam), Mike Porter of Ritual Entertainment (Blair Witch Vol. 3: The Elly Kedward Tale and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2 among others) and Joe Wampole of Terminal Reality (4X4 EVO, Nocturne and Blair Witch Vol.1: Rustin Parr among others). (More @ the Source: godgames.com)

New Sin2UT Released ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 2:59 PM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Sin2UT version 4.0 public release 2 is now available. This Unreal Tournament mod that pays tribute to Ritual's SiN contains the offhand grapple, 8 tech/relic items, SiN weapons, 11 new maps, and new gameplay. If you're unsure about it, check out the screenshots they have up on their page. (More @ the Source: planetunreal.com)

AMD Interview....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 2:51 PM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Future Technology: Sledgehammer / Clawhammer Amish-Chief asks: What are the Sledgehammer's "battle tactics" to take on the Itanium? Any specifics developed yet? AMD: Essentially we are taking a completely different approach to 64-bit computing. We believe there is tremendous value in the existing x86 code base and potential to go even further with it. In contrast with Intel, our fastest 64-bit processor will also be our fastest 32-bit processor, and vice-versa. Why is this important? A number of reasons, but essentially it means that our product lines will not need to be dramatically fractured with two different processor families addressing 64-bit and 32-bit computing. Our mantra on x86-64 technology is that it provides a high-powered solution for 64-bit computing while continuing to deliver high-performance 32-bit applications. (More @ the Source: sharkyextreme.com)

NASCAR Racing 4 Review....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:52 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
NASCAR Racing 4 simulates the Winston Cup series. Past versions have included both the Busch Series and trucks, but NASCAR 4 (at least until the expansion pack comes out, and you know it will) only concerns itself with the best series around. Finally, we have a NASCAR simulation that includes all the tracks the big boys race on, at least from the 2000 season. The newest tracks for this season have not been included, since they weren't completed or finalized by the time of release. However, 33 drivers from the 2001 season are found, with their new sponsors and everything. This is an impressive number of drivers, especially with all the licensing that must be done. RIP # 3 (More @ the Source: gamegenie.com)

NOLF Update....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:38 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
An update by Fox Interactive's Pezman to NOLF News has word that "Update 2 Final," the next version of No One Lives Forever, may be released as soon as today, though that release may be pushed back if more issues turn up. In addition to word on the update, the post also adds news that a NOLF demo, or as he refers to it, "a nice fat Mega Mix Demo" is also in the works, this is expected "within the next few weeks, maybe days." (Source:BluesNews)

The Wargamer 2000 Best of the Year Awards....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:32 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Here you will find some nominees and winners that may have gone completely overlooked by many commercial websites. In a nutshell, the year 2000 proved that both mass-market publishers such as Microsoft and Interplay and independent publishers like Shrapnel Games and Battlefront can all churn out quality products. A note on categories: Since The Wargamer focuses primarily on strategy, simulation, and war games, we have provided additional categories to help recognize all of the titles worthy of our accolades. Thus we have, for example, separate categories for real-time strategy, real-time tactical, and turn-based strategy; but we also have a Strategy Game of the Year that includes all strategy games. (More @ the Source: wargamer.com)

More On GeForce 3 Specs....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:23 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
NVIDIA's nfiniteFX Engine: The GeForce3 GPU's nfiniteFX engine gives developers the ability to program a virtually infinite number of special effects and custom looks. Instead of every developer choosing from the same hard-coded palette of capabilities and ending up with a generic look and feel, application developers can specify personalized combinations of graphics operations and create an unlimited list of their own effects. Two architectural advancements enable the nfiniteFX engine's programmability and its multitude of effects: Vertex Shaders and Pixel Shaders. (More @ the Source: nvidia.com)

Eminem & Dr Dre EF Models!....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:18 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Holodeck 5 has posted word that you can now frag to your heart's content in Elite Force with The Real Slim Shady and Dr Dre converted to EF by their creator, Richard Owen. People with kids beware however, because like their real life counterparts, these mods use a lot of profanity in their text and voice taunts. They both include 5 skins each, Team Colors, and Bot Support. (More @ the Source:holodeck5:eliteforce)

Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:17 AM MST Friday, February 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Because the average number of PCs per household has recently increased, people have been faced with the question of “How do I get more than one computer online with only one IP address, while stopping hackers or intruders from invading my privacy?” Fortunately, Linksys, a company out of Los Angeles, has a solution for this type of problem. The Linksys BEFSR41 Cable/DSL router was made specifically for this purpose. (More @ the Source: pcshooter.com)

Intel and AMD to cut chip prices on early March....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:01 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Register has got the scoop regarding Intel cutting prices for all the desktop line of processors, P4s, PIIIs and Celerons, all are getting lower price tags by March 4th according to this article.The prices of the PIII at 1GHz, 933MHz, 800MHz and 750MHz will drop 11, seven, 11 and six per cent, respectively. The 733MHz part will also see its price cut six per cent. On a not too impressive move and follow up, AMD will also cut Athlon and Duron prices the day after. (More @ the Source: theregister.co.uk)

3D Blaster GeForce2 MX 32MB DDR ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:52 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
This much spoken of videocard comes with 32MB DDR memory, a huge manual, driver CD, and a free copy of Rage Rally and Midnight GT: Primary Racer. This product is targeted to the gaming community, so there is not a TV-Out or DVD playback software. It is really stunning presently to see how NVIDIA is saturating the market for basically every budget. There's the cheap TNT videocard, the faster TNT2, and budget gamers can go for a GeForce256 or GeForce 256 with DDR memory. (More @ the Source: guru3d.com)

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:42 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
30th Level Characters, 15 more hours of gameplay, amped monsters... It may be winter, but this heart isn't cold. (More @ the Source: dailyradar.com)

Newbies Guide to Online Play....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:41 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
For practically every online game, those with bad connections to the Internet need not apply. Those with 56k or slower connections will find most FPS games unplayable, limiting them to RTS, MMORPG and other styles of play. Those on something like AOL will have a very difficult time with most multiplayer online games, as their connection speeds tend to suffer. Also, because of the proxies and firewalls that services like AOL use to "protect" their clients, many online games are not available at all to them. Those with Cable or DSL (or faster) have the best chance at having fun in the genre of their choice. Because some of these games allow for 32 or more (sometimes thousands more) players at a time, the bandwidth provided by broadband proves extremely useful in keeping lag low and smooth gameplay high. (More @ the Source: dailyradar.com)

OpenGL Texture Mapping Article ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:27 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Texture mapping is simply a function where you fit images onto polygons (a polygon is a 2D shape with at least three sides) in any particular scene. It is very possibly the most significant advancement in PC graphics for the last decade. Texture mapping can enhance the realism of games, providing for very realistic images for anything from the walls of a room to any monsters you may encounter in a game. (More @ the Source: beyond3d.com)

New GeForce3 & New Doom3! ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:26 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
If there's two words in gaming that I love to hear together right now, it's GeForce3 and Doom3. Well I saw a post by Postal in our forums about this page that had keynotes that are updated live from Macworld Tokyo. Well guess what? Both David Kirk, Chief Engineer at NVIDIA, and John Carmack, THE man of id Software, were both there and gave some presentations, including Carmack showing off the new Doom3 and David Kirk showing off the GeForce3. (More @ the Source: maccentral.com)

Keys to Good Game Design....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:24 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Every game designer approaches his or her job differently. Each design stands alone to address the wants and needs of a particular project. Outlined here are a few of the things that went into the design of American McGee's Alice. Some of the basic concepts can be used to create a good game. (More @ the Source: techtv.com)

Zero-G Marines Interview ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:21 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Zero-G Marines also serves as the title of this tactical action game from Canadian developer and publisher Strategy First. Equipped with combat suits of tremendous power, these elite forces must infiltrate various space stations without the convenience of gravity. In addition to battling numerous enemies, players will also be able to issue orders to fellow squad members, access computer controls, explore station exteriors, pilot armed shuttles and more. Having to cope with zero-gravity environments seems like it could introduce some intriguing scenarios as well. In order to find out more about this science fiction title, we got in touch with Designer Dan Hoecke and Technical Director and Lead Programmer Oliver Marsh, both of whom provided extensive information in this Zero-G Marines Interview. (More @ the Source: actionvault.ign.com)

Myth III Interview....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:19 AM MST Thursday, February 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Interview with "Mumbo Jumbo's Craig Goodman (Santa's Head), Paul Callender (fisj), and Richard Cowgill (iggy popped) on Myth III: "The Wolf Age" (More @ the Source: mythwolfage.com)

Serious Sam Box Shot....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 7:49 PM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Personally, I am not too impressed with Serious Sam -- it's just mindless action to me, but many of you internet types seem to love the game. To each his own. Anyway, here's the shot of the box -- remember, Serious Sam is due out next month. (More @ the Source: VE)

Ground Zero 2 - Unreal Tournament....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:17 PM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
CPL's event calendar is listing an Unreal Tournament sponsored by Moshpit Entertainment with cash prizes totalling $25,000! The tournament runs from June 21 to June 24, 2001, at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas. There will be 250 tournament competitors with an expected attendance of 600. The cost is $40 online or $50 at the door. (More @ the Source: mythwolfage.com)

Hired Team: Gold Edition Demo....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:16 PM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
3DGamers has posted the English demo (44 megs) premiere of Hired Team: Gold Edition, by New Media Generation. The demo has capture the flag and deathmatch multi-player support, seven weapons and three levels. The game is a First Person Shooter with a lot of tactics and elements of strategy. Hired Team is kind of a cross between a combat simulator and an arcade shooter in equal parts. There are a series of missions to complete where you command a team of four characters (a scout, a miner, a sniper and even a heavy weapon guy). One of the high-ranking politicians is trying to solve the criminal situation in one of Megacity's areas to boost his rating for the upcoming election. He's hiring a team of high-trained weapon specialists known only as "Hired Team". (More @ the Source: mythwolfage.com)

How To Put Together Your Own PC - Part 3....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:31 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Finally, we have part 3. In the prior two pieces in the series we talked about selecting the right parts for your new system. That was the hard part. You maybe surprised to know that putting the whole thing together is actually easier than picking the parts. Here, I will walk you through from case prep to O/S install, with many pictures along the way. So, read on and get yourself so now, useable, knowledge. * These pages are very picture intensive. If you have a dial up modem be prepared to wait. "Fairly warned be thy says I" Also, are all pictures are enlargeable; just click on them. (More @ the Source: hardwareassassin.com)

How To Put Together Your Own PC - Part 2....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:27 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
In part 2 of the three part series entitled 'How To Select The Right Parts And Put Together Your Own PC' we will farther explore how to select the best parts including sound, HDD, drives, modem/NIC and the case. If you missed part 1, 'Selecting The Right Parts - CPU, Mobo, RAM, & Video..(More @ the Source: hardwareassassin.com)

How To Put Together Your Own PC - Part 1....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:26 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
There are three basic ways to get yourself a new computer, each with advantages and disadvantages. The first option is buying a pre-built computer from a retail outlet like Circuit City. The plus side of buying from a retail outlet is the fact that you get a pretty good warranty, that will save you in the event of a problem, to go along with your new system. On the downside, you will pay the increased costs that go along the warranty and the staff at the store to serve you. Also, you will not get exactly the components that you want in the pre-built system, guaranteed. The next option is mail-order. The pros and cons of mail-order are similar to retail purchase. The difference being a lower cost of the computer with the trade off for a lesser warranty or possibly none at all. The third and final option is building the PC yourself. (More @ the Source: hardwareassassin.com)

AMD in the Xbox ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:24 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
According to Sol at MSXbox, AMD is going to be supplying some of the hardware in Microsoft's Xbox console system. Here's a little more about AMD's HyperTransport technology which will be used in Nvidia's Media Communications Processor (MCPX): (More @ the Source: msxbox.com)

How To Avoid Being Labeled a Counter-Strike Loser in 5 Easy Steps....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:22 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
It is a well known fact that every self-respecting child of the digital age has his/her very own oh-so-cool online nickname. Usually these names take weeks or even months to be developed, going through rigorous phonetic testing and countless Hotmail account rejections. Indeed, once the perfect name is finally achieved it is there to stay. For this reason, your special nickname must be guarded and protected like a weaning baby. You can't just toss it around, for if it becomes tarnished in any way, your online moniker will carry a label of shame for all to see. And we all know an online name change can be more lengthy and draining than the real-life legal process. Remember, you are losing your identity here! (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

GeForce Buying Guide ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:19 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
G256.com has updated their GeForce Buying Guide to include these new changes: GeForce256 DDR's dropped a little after rising big-time. Most GeForce2 MX cards dropped slightly. Added information on the 64MB GeForce2 MX. Most GeForce2 GTS cards have leveled off. Updated warning about the e-VGA 32MB Geforce2 Pro. The VisionTek GeForce2 Ultra is selling for $343. Still expect word of the GeForce3 before March.Very useful page to check out if you plan to buy a GeForce card anytime soon. :) (More @ the Source: g256.com)

NASCAR Racing 4....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:16 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
NASCAR Racing 4 distinguishes itself from competing products in the same way Papyrus' simulations always have--through a faithful attention to realism. But NASCAR Racing 4 is far from just another upgrade. The game features a new and vastly improved vehicle physics model that makes the once impressive but now antiquated NASCAR Racing 2 and 3 cars seem like they were riding on rails. It benefits from a new graphics engine that renders everything prior obsolete. In fact, everything about NASCAR Racing 4 is state of the art, from the improved menu interfaces with pop-up tooltips to the enhanced computer-driver artificial intelligence, the top-quality audio, and much more. (More @ the Source: zdnet.com)

CS Strategy Discussion ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:11 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
This article contains some strategies and tips that we have picked up while playing Counter-Strike. Writing this article doesn’t make us experts on the subject, but the strategies contained inside have proven useful to us in our many Counter-Strike games. Each person can have a different opinion on the subject, so we have decided to write this in a discussion format. Hopefully there will be something in here that can prove useful to you. Before the Round Starts. (More @ the Source: thebackburner.com)

Motherboard Troubleshooting Guide....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:09 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
While motherboards are fragile pieces of equipment, (after all, they are complex electronic devices), you really shouldn’t treat them as pieces of glass that break easily. In fact, motherboards are able to withstand a fair amount of abuse before failing. In all my years working with computer equipment, I have destroyed only one motherboard, and this was after physically cutting a trace on the motherboard. Generally speaking, it would take a big jolt of electricity to make a motherboard useless. (More @ the Source: techextreme.com)

A Gaming Odyssey....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:08 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
If you were expecting black slabs, psychotic computers and docking your ship to the sound of the Blue Danube, prepare to be disappointed because the only stars on view here are the ones we've culled from the gaming firmament. Prepare to dazzled by a positive cornucopia of gaming pleasure and an overload of sensual delight - we've scoured the length of breadth of the PC game development universe to bring you some of the most revolutionary titles that will appearing on your hard drive this year - all carefully selected by our very own ministry of gaming. These are quite simply a full selection of the sexiest PC titles we've seen in development and they'll all be heading your way this year...(More @ the Source:gamespot.co.uk)

A Gaming Odyssey....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:05 AM MST Wednesday, February 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
If you were expecting black slabs, psychotic computers and docking your ship to the sound of the Blue Danube, prepare to be disappointed because the only stars on view here are the ones we've culled from the gaming firmament. Prepare to dazzled by a positive cornucopia of gaming pleasure and an overload of sensual delight - we've scoured the length of breadth of the PC game development universe to bring you some of the most revolutionary titles that will appearing on your hard drive this year - all carefully selected by our very own ministry of gaming. These are quite simply a full selection of the sexiest PC titles we've seen in development and they'll all be heading your way this year...(More @ the Source:gamespot.co.uk)

Fun while it lasted: Is your DSL bill going up?....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 4:31 PM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
At the end of 2000, there were 2,429,189 DSLs in service, according to telecommunications research firm TeleChoice. By the end of 2004, there will be more than 17 million, the firm predicted. Over the past few years, the Federal Communications Commission has promised consumers choice and competition in broadband services, but nothing that it did was enough for many DSL competitors to survive against dominant regional Bell telecommunications powerhouses. "The strategy for telcos in DSL has been to destroy the competition," said Alan Tumolillo, senior vice president at Probe Research. "That may seem bad in terms of regulations, but the people in Washington don't care." (More @ the Source: zdnet.com)

FPS For IT Professionals ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 4:28 PM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Today the Verado Corporation, a public company that specializes in providing managed and dedicated services and fulfilling co-location needs of businesses has released the first computer game specifically for Information Technology (IT) professionals. Yes, you read that right! Verado The IT Security Game is a fun, yet frenetically paced 'first-person shooter' game that puts the player in the position of a harried IT worker with too many responsibilities and too few resources. Featuring constant attacks from a wild collection of eccentric but dangerous adversaries, Verado takes the experiences that IT experts face daily and turns them into a humorous barrage of data threats. ehehe..(More @ the Source: gamegirlz.com)

Palm Pets Coming from Creature Labs....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:18 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Creature Labs and Motorola Inc.'s Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS) today announced that the two companies are to jointly develop and market artificial life pet nurturing games that consumers can play with on data-enabled handsets connected to 2.5G and 3G cellular networks. (More @ the Source: ga-source.com)

Epic Engines....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:15 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
One of the truly great first-person shooters on the market is Unreal Tournament by Epic Games. This game put developers on notice that good graphics, texturing, level design, and artificial intelligence were too important to ignore. The Unreal engine made it all possible, and for that it received the 'Frontline Award for Game Engine of the Year' from Game Developer Magazine. Extended Play talked with Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, about the Unreal engine's concept of negative space, games produced on the Unreal engine, and about developing for the Xbox. Here's what he had to say. (More @ the Source: techtv.com)

Computer Game Print Mags: The State of the Industry....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:14 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
The gaming news these days seems largely to be about online media outlets that are in trouble. Major new players (Gamers.com) and old standards (Gamecenter) have fallen by the wayside recently, and everyone on the discussion boards has an opinion of how long the lean years of online advertising and solid online gaming information sources will last. But while the wakes for online sites continue, few are paying much attention to the "old media" competition. The print PC gaming magazine industry, split for the last year between three titles, is cruising along serenely while their new media counterparts falter. Or is it? The Adrenaline Vault studied five months in the life of the print gaming mags, looking at advertising, reviews, and talking to staff. In this article, we present our findings: both whose advertising offices are thriving, and whose are not. We also tell you who you should look to for game reviews, and if those reviews are being influenced by the advertisements that pay for them. (More @ the Source: avault.com)

First Impressions: Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:09 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is meant as a continuation of the original. The gameplay is meant for characters above level nine. This means the player will either have to import an old character or play through IWD again to build up new characters. Most will most likely opt to play through IWD again just to experience it in its technically enhanced form. All of the additions to the game’s engine, thanks to the work done by Bioware on Baldur’s Gate 2, work to present a much cleaner experience. It’s like watching the original Star Wars video release and then watching the Special Edition release. The difference is quite dramatic really. It is funny how much a little bump in resolution can change things. (More @ the Source: cgi.gaming-age.com)

Driver Comparison With The New Leaks ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:07 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Rivastation has kicked up a comparison to show you where the newly leaked 10.50 drivers stand with the rest. The results? Here are some of their conclusions: v10.50 is a little bit faster in D3D The difference between the drivers grows when Bump Mapping is used v6.50 slows down dramaticly when DirectX 8.0a is used instead of DirectX 7. v10.50 do not show this effect. v10.50 seem to have some Problems in Evolva at the Resolution 1024x768-16 v10.50 are a lot slower in D3D 2x2 FSAA (If 2x2 in the new drivers means the same than 2x2 in the old drivers) With current games and drivers there seems to be no difference between DirectX 7 and DirectX 8Of course your results may vary. Personally I haven't tried them, since I heard it's not big on D3D performance, and lately I've been playing nothing but D3D games. Rumors are, these drivers are for the upcoming NV20 based boards.

Xbox Speed ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:04 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
So even though the XGPU is based on nVidia's forthcoming NV20 chip that will be used in PCs, its performance is considerably faster than its PC brethren because there are no AGP video bus and north bridge in the way. The XGPU and CPU will both be directly accessing each other via the same high-speed memory with no buses in the middle. (More @ the Source: wired.com)

Mech 4 Development Update ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:03 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
"Just a quick update to fill you in on what’s going on. First off, I wanted to let you know that we are currently working on a “Point Release” which addresses some bugs that have been reported as well as adding or changing some features to improve game play. This “Point Release” has already been handed off to test and I’ll put up a list of what is coming in the release as soon as test signs off on it. This release also addresses some hacks, which I’ll talk about in my next update. We have already begun work on the second “Point Release” which will update and add features for the game. This one is really exciting and 100% of it comes from requests we have read on the various fan forums. Simultaneously, we are working on our release of the Mission and Map editor as well as the expansion. More news on those items soon." (More @ the Source: Stomped.com)

Fred Nilsson Interview....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:01 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Kiltron: So Fred, how have things been going for you since being initiated into the id gang?Fred: Things are great.. I've settled in nicely. Texas is...... Different.. =) The job is fantastic.. I couldn't be working with a more talented/friendly group of game designers.. We have a real strong team in place. (More @ the Source: planetquake.com)

Top 10 Gaming Enemies & Opponents....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 8:59 AM MST Tuesday, February 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
When it comes to games, there are always a few enemies that always stick in your brain. Maybe they make a distinct sound; maybe they look really cool. CitizenC and StoneWolf count down the Top 10 Gaming Enemies & Opponents, with their magical commentary that puts Fargo and shaithis to shame! (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

upcoming Quake 3 Mod, Navy Seals....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:45 PM MST Monday, February 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Please explain what type of Mod Navy Seals Quake 3 is.Ben- I would like to render it more precisely: it is a TC, not a MOD. NSQ3 will be a 100% teamplay based game with a realistic setting, high quality models and graphics and a new fresh gameplay. In other words it is creative development of the previous Navy Seals Games for Q1 and Q2. (More @ the Source: onlinegamereview.com)

Red Faction Interview....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 9:36 PM MST Monday, February 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Console Domain has fired up an interview with Volition's Anoop Shekar about the Geo-mod technology (among other things) featured in its forthcoming first person shooter -- Red Faction. Here's some poop: What problems did you come up against when creating the game?Being able to destroy anything and everything made it very difficult. So we had to make decisions about certain objects that couldn't be destroyed. Anything in the game that is metal is indestructible; concrete and rock you can actually destroy. That put down some limitations that helped us design the levels and from there we were able to move forward. So that kind of challenge is definitely one of the big things. One of the other things was to make gameplay that wasn't repetitive, so a lot of the game is broken up with sections where you have to go undercover and actually sneak around and not kill everything as soon as you see it. (More @ the Source: consoledomain.co.uk)

Help Wanted....
Posted by [Blood] @ 5:20 PM MST Monday, February 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
As you have noticed the volume of our news has declined a bit in the past few weeks. This is partially because of the post Christmas lull in the gaming industry, and also a few other events that has left us short handed. If you are interested in becoming a member of the PCShooter news team please contact me

Icewind Dale goes Gold!....
Posted by [Blood] @ 5:15 PM MST Monday, February 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Continue the adventure in the Ten Towns with Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, the expansion pack for Icewind Dale. From the award-winning Black Isle Studios, Heart of Winter uses Advanced D&D rules and is set in the Forgotten Realms universe. "...the ice will look chiller, the ground will look even more barren, and spells will spark with even more detail with its new 800x600 resolution and OpenGL 3D support."--IGN's Heart of Winter Preview.

More at the Source

How To Set Up A Network....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:29 PM MST Sunday, February 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Everyone in the world loves gaming, especialy multiplayer. But when you connect online to play, you suffer a little known fault called Lag. One way of combating this is to get a really fast internet connection, but this can cost a lot. Another option is to set up a LAN (Local Area Network) at home. This way, you can not only play games against each other without the "Lag Monster", but also share printers, files, and por...ahem... (More @ the Source: eavenue.co.uk)

OCZ Titan2 GeForce2 MXtreme....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:27 PM MST Sunday, February 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
What all is different about the GeForce2 MX? Well, the main difference between a GeForce2 and a GeForce2 MX is the memory. A GeForce2 MX's memory bandwidth is usually lower than that of the GeForce2 (in the case of the Inno3D card, the memory runs at 7.5ns). Also, the GeForce2 MX memory is SDR, which is significantly cheaper than DDR, however, also significantly slower. Even with the 32mb, the fact that the memory is SDR is still the crippling factor. (More @ the Source: hardwarepub.com)

On Project Eden....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:25 PM MST Sunday, February 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Project Eden's story follows the same basic near-dystopian outline of other shooters. Earth becomes so overpopulated that there's literally no more room on the surface for constructing new buildings, so preexisting structures continue to grow toward the sky, and massive roads that wind in and out of buildings are constructed to accommodate the population on the higher levels. (More @ the Source:zdnet.com)

Unreal Fortress Interview....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:23 PM MST Sunday, February 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Recently, GU's David Avila and Gary Smirny had a talk with a few of of the Unreal Fotress (UNF) developers about various things. If you have any comments that you would like to convey to us please send us a note. We don't have the time of knowledge to give support for UNF specific-problems, so please don't email us them.The GU Staff names are in dark blue and the UNF Team names are in light blue. This is an edited chat log, person joins and other nonsense has been removed. (More @ the Source: glideunderground.com)

Looking Through the Eyes of Samus....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 5:21 PM MST Sunday, February 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
IGNcube has learned that Retro Studios' forthcoming GameCube take on the Metroid franchise is not a third-person action-shooter as expected, but rather a first-person shooter in the style of Half-Life. Indeed, players will see through the eyes of series' heroine Samus. Evidently the title, which has been in development since shortly before Space World 2000 last August, originally began its life as a third-person game. Interestingly though, product evaluators at Nintendo were allegedly not overly impressed with the direction Metroid was headed in and forced a change of genre to first-person shooter. (More @ the Source: cube.ign.com)

Thermaltake is About to Erupt....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:17 AM MST Friday, February 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
Basically, the Volcano II is intended to be a low-cost alternative to coolers like the GlobalWin FOP and the basic Alpha. A quick look around the more popular cooler web-stores (the ones that had them, anyway) showed that you can get the Volcano II for a cool $20. That is great, even cheaper than the Super Orb! We all know that the Super Orb performs quite well for the price, but there are two problems I had it. Firstly, with the two fans blowing on each other, it was VERY loud for my tastes. Still, I stuck with it because of the price. Another problem many have is fitting it onto their Abit KT7 motherboards. I didn't have a problem bending the electrolytic capacitors out of the way, but many do. The Mini Super Orb (review coming soon) remedies that problem, but it's still loud. (More @ the Source: hardcoreware.net)

Hellfire Arena 1.5 Released....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:10 AM MST Friday, February 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
As promised, i've made Hellfire Arena 1.5 available for download. It includes the following features :- Random Weapon Spawning On Maps : You can randomly spawn ANY weapon on ANY map- Starting Powerup Duration (Upon user request) : You can set the duration of the starting powerup in the next release- 6 Type Of Runes- Telefrag Instagib (you will teleport to your opponent's location when you frag him with a railgun)- Spawn as spectator mode in User Interface- Record Game option in User Interface- Q3Cam spectator camera- New Favourite Maps & New Maps in Map Source (users can customise this by editing maps.txt)- New Grappling Hook Weapon (as requested by many people) - Improved "Intelligent" weapon switching- Option to change splash damage & splash radius of weapons- Bugfix : Ability to playback demos from main menu- New individual weapon scoring method..(More @ the Source: botepidemic.com)

Serious Sam - Hands On Preview....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:07 AM MST Friday, February 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
Last May, an obscure public test demo, curiously titled Serious Sam, made its way from the dark abysses of cyberspace to the hard drives of thousands of greedy FPS fans. We have gotten our hands on the Alpha build. Prepare to be impressed. Seriously. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Get your name in the game!!....
Posted by [Blood] @ 8:44 PM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
Everlasting Enigmas!Sierra Studios and Troika Games invite you to match wits against the wisest minds within many days' journey! Immortalize yourself by being the first to solve the Arcanum "Get in the Game" Contest! The genius that discovers the answer first will become a character in the world of Arcanum!Beginning Tuesday, February 13th, Troika will submit weekly articles to IGN and the official Arcanum website. Each article will offer a behind-the-scenes account that highlights a major feature of Arcanum. At the bottom of each article will be a riddle. To solve the final puzzle, you'll need to combine the answers to the weekly riddles. The first person to solve the final puzzle and send the answer via email to arcanumcontest@sierra.com will have their name added to Arcanum's cast of characters! More at the Source http://arcanum.sierra.com

DirectX 8.0 A Closer Look....
Posted by [Lefty 2 Guns] @ 11:40 AM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
Gamespot has taken a closer look at DirectX 8.0's features and advantages for gamers. Here's a slice of the article, "Compared to those truly plug-and-play consoles, PCs are an absolute nightmare to work with. When Windows overtook DOS as an operating system for games DirectX was developed to help make games run more smoothly. Of course, like most things that get bolted on to the morphing mystery machine that is the PC, this simply meant more chaos." (More @ the Source: gamespot.co.uk)

Serious Sam Interview at Stomped....
Posted by [Lefty 2 Guns] @ 11:28 AM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
Stomped sat down with Croteam's game and level designer Davor 'Tome' Tomicic to find out how close they are to completing Serious Sam. Here's a taste, "Another thing that was noticed, is that there was only one deathmatch (scorematch) level in the full version. Will there be other DM maps included in the shipping version of the game?" " We will surely do a few more DM maps but we are not sure if they will be shipped with the game or if we will release them later on the net. You can expect at least one multigravity map. Regarding multiplay, our main target is cooperative play. Coop was already fun but feedback that we received from our second test helped us to make it even better. We implemented a few more important features, like ammo, health/armor and weapon stays and most important you will be able to increase enemies health (fixed or per player) to make it as challenging as you want. Now, after much testing here in our headquarters, I must say that it's a total blast!" (More @ the Source: stomped.com)

Duke Nukem: Endangered Species Info....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:18 AM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
As Duke Nukem, players will hunt a wide variety of animals in numerous missions that span the globe. True hunting skills and smart use of equipment are required to track down the animals and survive. Each mission will present new hunting challenges, from common prey such as sharks, alligators, lions, gorillas and polar bears, to more unique game like werewolves, bigfoot and rampaging T-Rexs. The prey will exhibit realistic instincts such as anger, fear, hunger and pain, and will use sight, sound and smell to avoid Duke?s rampage. The Gear Duke packs an arsenal with more than ten weapons, including hunting and sniper rifles, shotguns, crossbows, machine guns, and pistols. Duke Nukem: Endangered Species also offers several of Duke?s past favorites, like the shrink ray, freeze ray and rocket-propelled grenade, with weapons supporting a secondary, more potent firing feature. (More @ the Source: stomped.com)

Team Arena Map Pack Mirrors....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:16 AM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
As promised, here are some mirrors for id Software's just released map pack for its Quake III Arena add-on Team Arena: (More @ the Source: 3dgamers.com)

Top 10 Ways To Cash In On The DOOM Franchise....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:11 AM MST Thursday, February 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
Yes, it's true -- id Software is realeasing another DOOM game. (Didn't know that? Tell me, what is the weather like under that rock of yours?) Sure, they're making the game...but why not cereal? T-Shirts? Hats? Port-a-Potties? Hellchick and the rest of the 3DActionPlanet crew have thought up ten ways for id to cash in on the DOOM franchise. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

NBA Live 2001 Review....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 1:46 PM MST Wednesday, February 14, 2001 [Comment on news]
As this review of NBA Live 2001 for the PC is being written, the best of the NBA is gathering for this year's All Star game. Like the All Star game, the NBA Live series is known for its glitz and glamour, but not always for its gameplay. Last year EA Sports made great strides at improving many of the faults that have haunted this series in the past. So, with eager anticipation, NBA Live 2001 has finally hit the store shelves. There has been a lot of speculation as to the reasons for its delay. With the release of the PS2 version coming up short of expectations, minds began to wonder what was happening to our beloved PC franchise. There is no more waiting. The game is sitting on the store shelves for you to purchase. The question is whether it is worth the upgrade from last year's release? (More @ the Source: sportplanet.com)

Quake 3 Server Setup Guide....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:00 AM MST Wednesday, February 14, 2001 [Comment on news]
This guide will talk you through the setup of a Quake 3 server for LAN parties or Internet play. I will include specific instructions to setup a Q3 Server on both Red Hat 6.2 and Windows NT 4.0. I acknowledge the fact that Q3 will run on several other Linux distributions as well as BEOS but for simplicity sake will only cover RedHat 6.2 and NT. This document does not cover setting up Q3 Demo or Q3Test servers thought I may consider putting up demo instructions if requested. (More @ the Source: 3dgw.com)

A Look Into Anti-aliasing....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:17 AM MST Wednesday, February 14, 2001 [Comment on news]
Computer graphics demands have progressed considerably in the past several years. In just a few years we have moved from running games at 320x200 with 8-bits of color to the present day where we run them at resolutions as high as 1600x1200 with 32-bits of color. While computers themselves have advanced to be able to display such detail, monitors haven't been so fast to improve. We've come to the point where we are pushing monitors to their maximum resolutions and refresh rates. Most can display resolutions up to 1600x1200, and high-end models can go even higher. (More @ the Source: firingsquad.gamers.com)

OCZ Titan II Ultra....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:31 AM MST Wednesday, February 14, 2001 [Comment on news]
The GeForce2 Ultra is still the fastest gaming graphics chip around. I have reviews two other Ultra cards and they were just basic reference cards. I am sure you can see as soon as you look at this card there is something different about it. The actual card design is basically the reference design, but that there is no reference fan on the heatsink. There is actually two fans, they left the reference fan below. The OCZ Titan II Ultra comes with the DVI flat panel, and S-Video out. I am still hoping someone sends me a Digital Flat Panel to review :). I think that feature should be standard on all Ultra cards, it doesn't ad much to the cost, and if you have that much money to spend on a video card, there is a pretty good chance you can afford a flat panel display. (More @ the Source: iamnotageek.com)

Duke: Nuked?....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:29 AM MST Wednesday, February 14, 2001 [Comment on news]
You wont be seeing this face in Quake3arena Ask any gamer what keeps most games alive in their hearts and on their hard drives, and they will probably tell you its the MOD community. There are dozens of dedicated groups out there who are willing to spend time to make an addon for their favorite game, in hopes that other people will enjoy it. Some groups like to redo maps or models from old games and put them into a modern engine. One of these groups was Duke It Out In Quake!, a team dedicated to bringing the old Duke Nukem 3d maps to Quake3arena. But, as we said back in the Quake1 days, the project was 'Foxed' by 3dRealms. Why would a company destroy a project that could bring popularity to an old game? (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, has GONE GOLD! ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:21 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
Black Isle Studios, the role-playing game division of Interplay Entertainment Corp., announced today that the highly anticipated expansion, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, has GONE GOLD! Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter will be available at retail stores nationwide soon!This expansion pack for the popular role-playing game Icewind Dale, was developed internally at Black Isle Studios and will offer more classic dungeon crawl using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition rules under license from Wizards of the Coast, including new monsters, spells, and areas to explore within the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter will also offer many new technological and gameplay enhancements to the original game including higher resolution support, larger monsters and new interface configuration options.(Source: Interplay.com)

Video games do not promote violence?....
Posted by [Gush] @ 9:51 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
Pocket IGN has posted an interesting article relating violence and video games. Here's a snip:

If you are one of those children who has been directly influenced by a videogame to breathe explosive fire from your mouth and incinerate your friends or neighbors with a cackle resonating through your skeletal fleshless head, the Surgeon General's report may have some shocking news for you: One, you seem to be in the minority for behaving in this way, and Two, you are still indeed at fault for the immolation.

Go here for the rest of the article.

Virus Alert!!....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:39 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new worm VBS.SST.A is spreading through the Internet in e-mails like this:Subject: Here you have, ;o)Hi:Check This!With an attachment entitled AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs. Due to this confusing double extension, AVG is able to warn you about this worm. The worm is simply encrypted & after opening the attachment it sends itself to all users in Outlook address book. The worm creates a file AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs in Windows directory & adds in the following registry keys:HKCU\Software\OnTheFly\Worm made with Vbswg 1.50bHKCU\Software\OnTheFly\mailed.......DONT OPEN!!!

Gravis Eliminator AfterShock....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:35 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
Many challenges face manufacturers of PC gamepads. Not only do their products have to be designed in order to take advantage of the latest advances in gaming technology, but they also have to make a good showing to sway those consumers who adore their consoles because of their excellent controllers. In any case, the Eliminator AfterShock gamepad from Gravis is a big step in the right direction and could easily compete with the PlayStation2 controller. (More @ the Source: gforces.net)

Giants - The Demo Review ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:30 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
There aren't enough fun games these days. Oh, modern games are artistically elegant, and tell compelling stories, and immerse the gamer in fully detailed alternate worlds... but it's been a long time since a game made me spontaneously grin from the sheer coolness of it. That is, until I played the Giants Mecc demo.I knew nothing about the game before I downloaded it - a vague recollection of something about an island, but no more than that. Even after I downloaded the game, I knew nothing. The readme has no information about the background story, and the information on controls was more confusing than helpful ("Disciple mode? Uh... what's a disciple?" I still don't know...). Poor documentation is never a good start to a game, and I loaded up Giants fully expecting to be disappointed. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

The Future Of PC Gaming & Xbox ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:23 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
D128's futurecasting hardware & gaming expert Kraemer has brainstormed an article which will be the first of a series discussing Microsoft's upcoming XBOX and what it means for your PC. Here's a long one: (More @ the Source: d128.com)

No Escape....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:20 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
No Escape introduces its eight starring characters by way of eight cut scenes that are high on production value and low on wit. The rest of the game pretty much follows suit. The black guy has a huge Afro, the Asian is a ninja, and the cowboy chews a match. Juxtaposed with the game's non-violent theme (it plays a bit like a non-violent version of Unreal Tournament... instead of knocking limbs off of your opponents, you knock cash out of their pockets) are cut scenes that show the policewoman character pumping bullets into the chests of criminals and the ex-military character roaring through the Everglades, slaying alligators with a shotgun. Political correctness extends only so far, perhaps. (More @ the Source: cdmag.com)

TRIBES 2 Interview....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:17 AM MST Tuesday, February 13, 2001 [Comment on news]
TNUMA-Tribes: Well, for all of those people out there who do not understand fully, I would like to start off by asking what the role-playing community in Tribes2 will be all about? Blake Hutchins: The roleplaying community in TRIBES (TRP for short) evolved from players and fans who found something exciting in the background story material of TRIBES 1. They created their own backstories and contacted me for more information on the TRIBES Universe. Today, they continue to write interactive stories at the Tribes Roleplaying site (www.tribesroleplaying.com). They stay in close touch with me, but the roleplaying isn't a Dynamix-moderated or created activity. Consequently, there are no plans to integrate the roleplaying into T2. The roleplayers are simply a great example of players taking what they like from the game and having fun with it. *laugh* So the roleplaying community in TRIBES 2 will be about whatever the roleplaying community is interested in doing. (More @ the Source: etnuma-tribes.com)

Napster Moves Into Gaming?....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:09 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
PC: It won't just be music hungry fans that snaffle your bandwidth in the future – the agreement with Bertelsmann looks set to give the notorious file swapping service a whole new lease of life. (More @ the Source: fgnonline.com)

Project IGI Review ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:07 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
IGI is yet another attempt to merge the realism of the Rainbow Six series of games and a typical 3D shooters, much like NOLF, Deus Ex and Hitman before it. That's why you have painstakingly realistic weapons coupled with a health bar and the ability to heal instantly by using a giant hypodermic needle. It gives you the option to be stealthy or to bring the whole base down with your weapons, sometimes as you see fit. It also means you can't save during a mission, which contributes heavily to this title's downfall. (More @ the Source: sharkygames.com)

Weekly CPU-Memory Price Watch ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:52 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
So what exactly is the SystemLogic.net CPU/Memory Watch? Every week we find the lowest prices on processors and memory and put in an straight-forward easy to read chart. You can also view the price change from the previous week on each product. For processors we include prices for OEM and retail (out of the box). Many people find it safer to buy a retail processor, but OEM has a price advantage in most instances. We provide the prices next to each other in order for you to choose the best option. (More @ the Source: systemlogic.net)

NVIDIA Q&A ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:48 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
Humus asks: Carmack has talked a little about a feature he calls "dependent texture reads", which means you get the texture coordinates for the next texture stage from the color of the results of the current texture stage [like (s,t) = (red,green)]. This way you could implement almost every function of two variables (3 with 3d textures) with linear interpolation with a texture as a lookup table. I'm personally looking into it in my development and would really like to see it implemented in hardware. Without necessarily talking about any unannounced products, are you interested in this feature and to what degree? (More @ the Source: sharkyextreme.com)

Broadband Consoles - A Pipe Dream?....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:44 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
Streaming a DVD at the speeds most DSL and cable customers are connected at; 512Kbps, is madness. It’s also an incredible naďve assumption on everyone’s part that a userbase of customers exists, that will be both willing to shell out for an expensive multi-Megabit Internet connection, and a top-of-the-range next-generation games console. (More @ the Source: eurogamer.net)

Venom interview ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:09 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
Action Trip: Tell us a bit more about the Venom multiplayer maps, and what do you think is Venom's multiplayer strongpoints? (More @ the Source: actiontrip.com)

So You Want To Be An Action Hero? ....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 1:05 AM MST Monday, February 12, 2001 [Comment on news]
Have you ever fired up Quake, and thought to yourself "Hey! I could do that. Running around and searching for keys, blowing away alien invaders... hell, I was born for that!"? Well, if you really want to know how to work your way into that job as a badass action gaming hero, read on! (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Visual T&L In Giants....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 12:17 PM MST Sunday, February 11, 2001 [Comment on news]
I finally got around to checking out the demo of Giants: Citizen Kabuto. My younger son Dave had his friend over to spend the night and I asked them if they wanted to give it a go. You should have heard their reactions to the game as words like "Woah" and "Awesome" described the graphics. (More @ the Source: nvnews.net)

Duron 600 @ 1Ghz review....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 12:14 PM MST Sunday, February 11, 2001 [Comment on news]
Some time ago Ryan from The Overclockerz Store asked me if I was interested in testing one of their latest and most successful combo's containing one of the best motherboards available, the ABIT KT7 RAID and a Duron cpu clocked at 1GHz. Off course I took the offer and a week later the material arrived at my doorstep. The cpu was wrapped in foil to prevent it from being damaged on its long journey towards me. After I unpacked everything I was ready to install it and start testing. (More @ the Source: overclockersonline.com)

AOpen 12x10x32xA CDRW Review....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 12:13 PM MST Sunday, February 11, 2001 [Comment on news]
Faster, Bigger cache, Burn Proof Technology, and of course a pretty face are all features that we want for our CDRW drives. Just one problem. Who's the best at meeting our needs? With so many different CDRW drive manufacturers out there today it's hard to know who to pick. Maybe you're low on $$ and you need a good, but inexpensive, drive. Today I introduce to you the AOpen 12x10x32x CDRW drive. Stating 12x CDR burns, 10x CDRW burn speed, and 32x read speed on the regular old CDs you have laying around. AOpen also states that their drive can rip at a speed of 32x as well. Does this drive meet the standards? Is it the right drive for your specific needs? Read on. (More @ the Source: inside-hardware.net)

The Right Way To Play CS....
Posted by [Luckee] @ 12:12 PM MST Sunday, February 11, 2001 [Comment on news]
It seems that no matter how I play CS these days, somebody bitches me out and tells me what I'm doing is wrong. If I use the AWP, I'm called a sniping whore and I'm told that "only fagot newbies use that gun." If, as a terrorist, I stick close to the hostages, I'm a camper; if, as a counter-terrorist, I smuggle the hostages out while avoiding the enemies, I'm a cheap lamer who doesn't know how to play the game right. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

“The Ultimate Sacrifice™ Map” contest chat....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 12:03 PM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
Interplay Entertainment Corp. and Shiny Entertainment Inc. are proud to present “The Ultimate Sacrifice™ Map” contest chat. Design your own multiplayer map for the critically acclaimed and award-winning RTS game,Sacrifice, and be eligible to win a host of prizes including a fully loaded ALIENWARE® Hive-Mind™ Gaming System. This is an incredible opportunity to extend your creative ability to the outer most limits. Chat with members of the Sacrifice development team from Shiny andutilize the opportunity to ask questions and get tips and hints on how to make your map the winner. WHO: You and members of the Sacrifice development team at Shiny. WHAT: “The Ultimate Sacrifice Map” contest chat. WHERE: Note: You can also access the #ignpc channel with any IRC client. Just point it to host17.webmaster.com and join the#ignpc channel. WHEN: Friday February 9th, 2001 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time WHY: Because if you want to win this contest by creating theultimate Sacrifice map . . . you best talk to the people who developed the game!

Oni Review....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:45 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
When Bungie set about making an Anime-based fighter/shooter, it seemed to be a bit of a departure from what gamers are used to, and it definitely is not a sure thing. After spending quite some time with the game, I can see what Bungie was shooting for, and I can see where they missed the mark ever so slightly. (More @ the Source: pcgamerweb.com)

Windows 2000 -Improving Compatibility/Performance guide....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 11:16 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
Windows 2000 is the future (Well, NT, but anyway), or so we are led to believe at least. Windows 2000 while admittedly great does have a few problems. Compatibility issues happen to be one of them for many users. This guide will show you many tips to improve Application/Game Compatibility in Windows 2000 in the first few sections, while this may not fix all your compatibility issues it should fix many of them. The second section contains tips for Improving Application/Game Performance in Windows 2000 through a variety of different methods. Since it’s initial posting I’ve added in several new sections to this tweak guide & updated many of the other sections. With that, on with the Windows 2000 Compatibility & Gaming guide. (More @ the Source: 3dspotlight.com)

Judge Dredd Game Interview....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 10:45 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
When U.K. PC game developer Rebellion announced their deal last year to buy the long running 2000 A.D. comic book, some people were a bit surprised. Now the developer of Aliens vs. Predator and Gunlok has finally revealed the first game based on those properties: a first person shooter starring the most well known 2000 A.D. character, Judge Dredd. The game will be set in the hugely crowded future metropolis of Megacity One where law is dispensed by the greatest of the city's "Judges", Joe Dredd. Rebellion will use the game to debut a brand new game engine as well. Stomped got a chance to chat with Rebellion co-founder Jason Kingsley where he revealed as much as he could about the Judge Dredd game, which is still early in production. (More @ the Source: stomped.com)

History of NVIDIA ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:25 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
Eight years ago, a small start-up had the vision of transforming the personal computer into the ultimate multimedia platform. Going from a team of 3 to more than 600 employees worldwide, today, the company is a leader in its industry and produces some of the most advanced graphics processing technology in the industry. How did NVIDIA rise from nothing to where the company is now? Read on to find out about NVIDIA's past! (More @ the Source: firingsquad.gamers.com)

Weekly Price Guide by 3DRage ....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:21 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
Welcome to the 3DRage price guide, in which we will provide you with the cheapest prices on a weekly basis for the latest CPUs, motherboards, memory, and video cards brought to you by the IBuyer.Net Price Search Engine. Simply follow the link to get the appropriate information. (More @ the Source: 3drage.com)

The Evolution of Community....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:18 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
The gaming world--especially the action gaming world--seems to change on an accelerated timescale when compared to real world advances. You're considered old if you made levels for DOOM. You're ancient if you played the original Castle Wolfenstein on the Apple IIe. But the profound changes occurring for those of us into action games aren't limited to game technology; we're seeing an equally profound change in the relationship between the gamer and the developer. With the release of a Valve-supported retail version of the mod Counter-strike and editing tools that now ship with games, it's clear that the business of making games is changing. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Neverwinter Q&A....
Posted by [NewsStaff] @ 9:16 AM MST Friday, February 9, 2001 [Comment on news]
Brent Knowles, co-lead designer on the fabulicious (did I make that up?) looking RPG - Neverwinter Nights, recently discussed the title with the folks over at Planet Neverwinter. The chat mainly covers the design portion of the development process:PlanetNeverwinter: How do you plan to implement voice communication in Neverwinter Nights from a designer's perspective? Brent: We are all very excited about the voice communication we have planned for Neverwinter Nights, but the implementation will be mostly technical in nature. On the design side, we are writing out dialog lines for the voice actors, to be used as part of our hotkey voice system. So, if your half-orc needs to shout "Me kill!" before every gnome-splitting death-swing, then all the player has to do is press the appropriate hot-keys, and everyone near the shout will hear the blood-curdling battle-cry. (More @ the Source: VE)