Game Designer Chris Sawyer, the original designer behind Atari's 1999 RollerCoaster Tycoon sleeper hit, has finally seen an end to the lawsuit he filed against the troubled company in 2005. The suit which focused on the Atari failing to pay Sawyer his royalties, to the sum of $4.8 million according to documents, has been settled out of court. Since its release in 1999 RollerCoaster Tycoon has spa
THQ has confirmed via conference call what almost everyone has already reported on, a third iteration into the Red Faction franchise. The aptly titled Red Faction III will be developed by series' creator and wholly-owned THQ subsidiary Volition, the same team responsible for FreeSpace and the more recent Saints Row franchises. The title was confirmed today by THQ CEO Brian Farrell after months of speculation and discussion surrounding the fate of the franchise.
X3: Terran Conflict has been announced by developer Egosoft today, bringing a close to the series' trilogy. The standalone expansion to X3: Reunion marks the fourth or fifth title in the franchise, depending on the way you count each release but who's counting. Despite the -olgy misnomer X3: Terran Conflict is expected to launch into orbit in Q3 2008. The newest title won't go to far from the Milky Way though. Egosoft has decided to keep the space combat inside E
Spicy Horse co-founder American McGee confirmed today that the Chinese-based development studio is working on a second title alongside the episodic American McGee's Grimm . McGee went on to comment that the new project will be Unreal Engine 3 "based, big publisher, multi-platform, twisted tale project". Odds are that the untitled project will be heading to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in the near future, in the meantime hit the source link for information on how to apply for Spicy Hors
Black Lion Studios announces Shadow Harvest , a new stealth-based third-person action game that is expected to release early next year for Windows Vista and Xbox 360. The product page's Vista and DX10 logo make it appear to be a Vista-exclusive. Shadow Harvest is set in 2025 and based around current and future hotspots on the globe. Black Lion has developed a dual character control system to go along with "realistic graphics and a refreshingly different storyline." The game h
Although Blizzard has not officially announced Starcraft Online, that hasn't stopped numerous rumors and speculation from appearing in all forms of media. Although we generally don't deal in rumors the newest has a bit more credibility to stand on. According to TradingMarkets.com Netease.com Inc will be making their western debut by operating Starcraft Online for Blizzard Entertainment. Netease CEO Ding Lei did not confirm that rumor, nor deny it, adding that the company ha
1C Company announces Men of War today which will be the third installment into the company's World War II strategy franchise. The title is a sequel to Soldiers: Heroes of World War II and Faces of War and will be released this summer. Men of War 's story will unfold in three parts, around three different soldiers baring arms for the Soviet Union, Allied nations and German forces. The campaigns will span all the areas touched by WWII's destruction including R
Eidos Interactive announces Just Cause 2 and with it, the return of Rico Rodriquez. The sequel is being created by Avalanche Studios, the same team that brought you 2006's Just Cause , and is set for release this year for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The title will feature the same "sandbox" gameplay as its predecessor and be set in a 1000sq km range of Panau. Rico will also have additional stunts, vehicles and weapons at his disposal, and best of all, a completely revamped gr
Codemasters Online Gaming has announced its next big project is publishing a space MMOG from NetDevil, developers of the recently deceased Auto Assault . The new title is called Jumpgate: Evolution and will feature epic battles between fleets of spaceships, a persistent universe, the potential for thousands of other players to play with and customizable ships for warfare or mining purposes. Althoug
Ubisoft has delayed the PC and DS editions of their hit Xbox 360 and PS3 title Assassin's Creed . The titles, which were originally supposed to ship on March 1 and in early February respectively, will now both see the light of day on March 28. No reason was given for the delays. And yes this appears to be a delay for Europe as well as North America.
Bulgaria-based Masthead Studios has announced a post-apocalyptic MMORPG set for release in 2009 called EarthRise . The new title will run off a custom engine allowing for "stunning graphics and atmosphere in the game, as well as to handle its dynamic combat mechanics." EarthRise will feature PvP complete with "customizable power armor, huge mechanized exoskeletons, and an arsenal of weapons to control contested lands and their resources." "This will change the way we play sc
Electronic Arts has confirmed to Eurogamer that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will not be making its currently scheduled release of February 8. The upcoming PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and PS2 title from Pandemic Studios will instead be available "within the next few months." No specific reason was given for the delay but Pandemic President John Resnick stated bug crushing and polish as reasons for the previous delay. Smart money is that more crushing and polishing was needed to meet the co
Paradox Interactive announces that they will be publishing City Life 2008 in the North American market in May. The expansion to Monte Cristo's 2006 title City Life will bring the total building count up to 360 by adding an additional 60 structures and an additional 10 new maps. The expansion will also come with an updated editor and include access to famous structures such as St. Paul Cathedral and Royal Opera.
Ubisoft has announced a new entry into their revived Prince of Persia series. The announcement came as part of their financial statement for Q4 2007 which also included the fact that they pushed more than $625 million in that time period. Although scarce on details the report mentioned that we can expect the untitled PoP title sometime in the next fiscal year, meaning April 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009. For some reason I think the release may drop in the November to December mix, c
The Adventure Company has announced that they will be bringing a localized version of Lexis Numérique's Experience 112 to North America as The Experiment . The PC title currently does not have a release date but the official website is up with screenshots and a plot synopsis.
Funcom has announced another delay to their upcoming Online RPG Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures . The delay, which pushes the title back a further eight weeks to May 20, 2008, causes the title to be two years overdue. Originally expected as a Q1 2006 release, Funcom delayed the title to mid-2007, then late October 2007 and most recently to March 2008. Funcom did state that the delay was made to "stress game systems and polish the game further," which should be accepted by any
IGN has word that Sierra will be returning Leisure Suit Larry to his roots with the announcement of Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust . The new title will be coming from a different developer after the previous entry, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude , was panned by critics and fans alike for deviating from the franchise's adventure roots. Sierra's John Melchior, the Executive Producer for LSL 9, stated that the title would feature no nudity, commenting "I have alw
Another day, another The Sims 2 expansion. Today, Electronic Arts has announced The Sims 2 FreeTime , which is ironic since this game soaks up so much of that sought after time. The expansion is due to hit the PC next month and will focus on bringing hobbies to the free-form gamplay of The Sims 2 . Naturally, the expansion will also include new careers, objects and the much needed wardrobe additions. Who is up for making our sims play a round Sins of a Solar
THQ has decided to bring Oblivion designer Ken Rolston in-house by purchasing Big Huge Games. Big Huge announced back in May 2007 that they had begun an ambitious RPG project after convincing the 25-year industry veteran to put off retirement. Details for the project are still incredibly scarce but just seeing the project was convincing enough to THQ that Big Huge Games was worth purchasing to obtain the intellectu
Half-Life creators, Valve Corporation, announced today that they have purchased Turtle Rock Studios. Turtle Rock is in the midst of creating one of 2008's most anticipated PC and Xbox 360 games in Left 4 Dead . "We have been seeing very strong growth with Steam and Source, our content distribution and development platforms, up over 150% over the last 12 months. Given our expectations for Left 4 Dead and our long-standing relationships with members of the Turtle Rock team, thi
Illusion Softworks is now under the flag of Take-Two as the publisher has announced that they have purchased the creators of Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven . Take-Two has said that little should change for the company, aside from a new name, 2k Czech, and that they will continue creating a sequel to Mafia for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The title's story will fast-forward from the 1930's to the 1950's with writer Daniel Vavra returning to pen the sequel. It is currently unkn
Microsoft has updated its Games for Windows brand with nine new titles from a handful of different companies. Alone in the Dark (Atari) Bionic Commando (Capcom) Conflict: Denied Ops (Eidos Interactive) Empire: Total War (SEGA) LEGO Indiana Jones (LucasArts) Microsoft Train Simulator 2 (Microsoft Game Studios) Sins of a Solar Empire (Stardock) Space Siege (SEGA) Tomb Raider: Under
Electronic Arts has finished its massive acquisition of VG Holding Corp. which is the parent company of the BioWare/Pandemic super-developer. The purchase began in mid-October of last year and has culminated today with the merger of the companies into the EA Games label. With the acquisition complete and the suits shuffled around the two companies the beefier EA Games and EA in general now has their sights on re
THQ has announced that their wholly-owned studio, Heavy Iron Studios, will be creating a title based on Pixar's upcoming movie WALL•E. The film is scheduled for release this summer, with the game's release coinciding. The title is being created for almost every platform available at the current time such as Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP, PC, Mac and even mobile devices. WALL•E will be the common offering from Pixar, a comedic tale of the last robot on Earth. The title will feature ten
Former Hitman and IO Interactive programmers Brian Meidell and Bo Cordes have struck out on their own by founding Denmark-based The Game Equation. The newly created company announced today that their freshman entry, Deep Blue Sea , is available now for PC and Mac platforms and has very little in common with their past works. The pair decided that instead of AAA shooters, the company would focus on high end casual titles. Bo Cordes, co-owner of The Game Equation explains
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