Some more pictures from Vin Diesels visit

Someone paid us a visit at the office today

Unlimited Escapism vol. 2

I don't usually post about WoW movies here (except for my own of course), but I thought this one deserved the little extra attention it could get. This movie doesn't require any prior knowledge of WoW, and it's maybe even more enjoyable if you've never played that game before.

"Again, like part one - there is no plot nor point. Maybe there is something that looks remotely like a plot. The main focus is on the visuality, effects, editing and trying to make cool looking scenes by using multiple game engines."

Be sure to grab the HighDef version of it, instead of watching it through any of those worthless streams.

Download HighDef
Unlimited Escapism vol. 2

Two Gamecubes duct taped together = Profit!

"Nintendo have just announced that they've more than doubled their yearly profit, raking in 226 bilion yen (USD$1.89 billion) last year, which is up from 90 billion (USD$754 million) the previous year. The figure exceeds market estimates, which had Nintendo pegged at "only" 204.9 billion yen ($1.7 billion), and has resulted in Nintendo raising their profit estimates for this year.

Sales were also up 90%, Nintendo reporting sales of 966 billion yen, which is a pinch over eight billion dollars. Main reason for the spike? DS sales, naturally, with more than a little help from the Wii. Show's what happens when your hardwares popular AND profitable."

"Within just five days of availability, more than 1 million copies of Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for the portable Nintendo DS™ have sold in the United States since Sunday's launch; a faster rate than any previous Pokémon games since the franchise's U.S. introduction, almost a decade ago. To date, more than 155 million copies of Pokémon games have sold worldwide."

Nintendo Double Yearly Profits
Pokémon Hotter Than Ever

Knights of the Old Republic MMO?

"BioWare has formed a new online team to create a Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic massively multiplayer online game, EGM reports.

No further details were reported in the rumour section of the US magazine but we've taped our fingers crossed. KOTOR is one of our favourite Star Wars games ever and the thoughts of an online MMO is, frankly, too much to take in."

KOTOR MMO in development?

Perspectives on Japanese Game Development

"The structure and design methods of Japanese developers are radically different than in North America and Europe. Moreover, in most Japanese game studios, there are only a handful of non-Japanese workers.

In addition to the already legendary hours and demands of the game industry, these workers must deal with cultural and language differences, and the demands of their Japanese bosses and peers.

While foreign workers make up only a small percentage of the workforce, their experience with Japanese business culture, work habits, and game development give them a different perspective than their Western counterparts.

In addition to basic cultural and language difficulties, differences in team formation, office hierarchy, and design philosophy make the experiences of these developers unique."

Gamasutra offers some insight with their nice feature about Japanese game development from a western point of view.

Western Perspectives On Japanese Game Development

I AM 8-BIT V2.007

I AM 8-BIT
Kotaku Feature: I Am 8-Bit
Kotaku Picture Gallery - Page 1
Kotaku Picture Gallery - Page 2

Someone paid us a visit at the office today

Oh bummer, I feel like such a fan boy. I usually don't get all that excited about celebrities but it was really neat to meet Vin today, and he's neither obnoxious nor self-obsessed as one might think, but instead a really nice guy.

No more Metronome?

Björn Sunesson: We put Metronome on the back burner about a year ago, and pretty much all of our team are working full time on other projects. We are still tossing around lots of ideas of cool stuff that we can do in the city, and testing some out when time allows. But the actual game we presented at E3 back in 2005 is not in active production.

City of Metronome on the back burner?
Metronome
Metronome is seeking publisher

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

High-definition (31.6MB)

A Harry Potter game that actually looks neat? Blasphemy, madness!

First look at next 'Potter' game

My new mobilephone 3

My new mobilephone 2
My new mobilephone

Project Offset Teaser Site

A new teaser site for Project Offset has crawled itself across the intratubes, and it's speculated that for every 1000 unique visitor it will reveal a new screenshot from this upcoming fantasy crossbreed of a RPG/FPS game. It's nice to get some new updates since there haven't really been any news about it since 2005.

Offset - a storm is coming...
Project Offset (working title)

No Mass Effect in June :'(

"DAMNIT. Just...damn it all to hell. Mass Effect isn't coming in June. Or July. Or August for that matter. It's coming in September. I know we never got a firm promise or release date for June-ish, but still...we all convinced ourselves this was when it was coming! And now we're all wrong! That hurts, just a little."

-Luke Plunkett, Kotaku

Mass Effect Coming In...September
Anticipated games coming in June 2007

My new mobilephone 2

Apperantly, my old subscription with my old number worked with this new phone by just swaping my SIM-card into it. And after some hassle with installation for the drivers, I managed to snap a picture to try the camera, and I'm definetly satisfied with the results :)

My new mobilephone

Paprika

Paprika[2006]DvDscr[EngSub]-CM (torrent)

NotKnytt - Knytt Stories

"Hey! Here's my new report about the current progress of Knytt Stories (working title).

I'm still waiting for material. Some text, and some music, and a very important extension. Once I add it, the game itself is complete. Although it would only require one or two days of work to add the material, I can't add it before I have it.

However, even if I had that material now, I wouldn't be able to release the game for a while anyway, since I'm planning to sell expansions. I really want to release the expansions at the same time as the game. I need to learn about all those things - and I must redesign the website.

I will probably not be able to release NotKnytt before sometime at the end of the summer."

-Nifflas, April 17, 2007

Show all screenshots

(A screenshot from the level editor)

Knytt Stories - Current Progress
The Unofficial Nifflas GamePage
Knytt - A 2D Exploration/Adventure Game

The 1UP Show: Episode 04/20/07

WMV 640x360 | 552MB

Featuring The Darkness (just the demo), and also worth checking out, Left 4 Dead from the Counter-Strike creators.

My new mobilephone

Apperantly, it's no longer possible to send or recieve any calls from my mobile, and since that's its main purpose, it's pretty much obsolote for failing me. Failure is not tolerated so it will be discarded of immediately.

Say hello to my new family member instead, the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot K800i. Since its predecessor didn't do my cooking justice when trying to depict it, I decided it was about time to get a steadfast one with a proper camera.

Boasting a 3.2 Megapixel with auto-focusing and other mumbo-jumbo features, it's bound to deliver. It was quite a bargain to, since I managed to hassled down the price by 15%, although if I've just had the patience to wait I could've ordered it off the internet for 25% of the initial price instead.

So with my new splendid mobile in hand, I call my old operator subscriber (using a ordinary phone, not the new mobile...) trying to end my old subscription and transfer my old phone number.

But to my demise, the only customer support they have that's not available on weekends, is the one where they let you end your subscription. This means I have to wait until next week anyhow. Bummer...

Steam hacked? "The hunt is on for MaddoxX"

Steam, Punked?
No-Steam Google cache

Elephants Dream, the first open source movie

"‘Elephants Dream’ is the result of almost a year of work, a project initiated and coordinated by the Blender Foundation. Six people from the Blender user/development community were selected to come over to Amsterdam to work together on an animated short movie, utilizing Open Source tools only."

"Elephants Dream is the world’s first open movie, made entirely with open source graphics software such as Blender, and with all production files freely available to use however you please, under a Creative Commons license."

Elephants Dream - Website
Elephants Dream - Wikipedia entry
Elephants Dream - Download mirrors

Bethesda Fallout 3 Forums

Bethesda - Fallout 3 Forums

Haloid - Impressive matrix influenced fan movie

Read FAQ and additional information

New online Worms for handhelds coming in July

The first point of note is the enhanced online multiplayer mode for both systems, meaning not just local multiplayer games, but fully international deathmatches, stats and leaderboards. And to spice up the uniquely compelling multiplayer mode even further, there's a whole host of new customisation options. This time round you can create your own custom landscapes; as well as team flags, modified hats, tombstones, victory dances and more...

On top of the classic deathmatch, there are also new single and multiplayer modes in the form of Rope Race, Forts, Puzzle and Campaign modes. There's even a new Firing Range to try your hand at the 11 new weapons: such as the Bunker Buster, Buffalo of Lies, Super Sheep, Concrete Donkey and Holy Hand Grenades!

The new levels take our warmongering worms across battlefields past and present, from the Spanish Armada conquest in "Pirates" to the laser punctuated skies of "Space War."

THQ Trailer
THQ DS Game Page
THQ Announcement

eSport recognized as authentic work

When swedish Marcus "zet" Sundström joined compLexity, an american Counter-Strike:Source clan, he needed a work visa which had to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. This would appear a bit problematic since zet's work stated that it would be professional gaming.

"Today The Syndicate is thrilled to announce that Marcus "zet" Sundström's work visa petition has been approved by the U.S. Department of Justice! The process proved to be a very challenging one, but with the help of our immigration attorneys we achieved success.

Beyond the great news that Marcus can play for compLexity for years to come, this is even bigger news for E-Sports in the United States. In order for the visa to be approved, our attorneys first had to convince the United States government that professional gaming is a real sport.

In other words, this decision sets a legal precendent that the U.S. has given our beloved pasttime the official seal of approval! This can only mean great things for all professional gamers in the future.

On April 26th, Marcus returns to Stockholm to complete the final phase of the visa process."

Zet's Visa Petition Approved!

Pale Cocoon

"In the far future when the continuity of the history has been lost, it is the world where ruins spread to far away. The sea and the sky have disappeared, and the past scenery exists only in the records excavated in the relic."

"Everyone in this world knows that to know the past means to know the misery of this world.

One day, Ura restores a strange video."

Pale Cocoon (torrent)

Mythos

"Mythos will be free to download and free to play. Flagship has not mentioned how it will make revenue off the game, but seeing as how Mythos is essentially a test of the multiplayer technology of its other game--Hellgate: London--profits may not come from gamers."

Mythos detailed, will be free

Bethesda acquires the entire Fallout IP

"New filings with the SEC show that Oblivion and current Fallout 3 developer Bethesda Softworks has officially purchased the Fallout series IP from current holders Interplay for $5.75 million, with Interplay now acting as licensee for its own planned Fallout MMO."

That sure is some interesting turn of events. Reading through the article reveals quite a few preconcerted goals that Interplay now must fulfill or immediately lose their MMO license rights, aswell that 12% of the sales and subscription fees will be paid to Bethesda for using the Fallout IP.

To me it sounds like this agreement and IP rights would be worth more than just mere $5.75 million, and I wonder what made Interplay to sell out soo easily. Atleast this is a indication of how much Bethesda cares for Fallout, and hopefully Fallout 3 will live up to its legendary predecessors.

Fallout IP Sold To Bethesda
Fallout goes MMO by 2010

Ideas from the Deep rises from the deep

"Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's
expected to be there, but it's not that important."

John Carmack

Id Software have been dormant for quite a while now, and their latest titles Doom 3 and Quake 4 were mediocre as best. With Carmack seemingly more interested in rocket science and mobile games, the future of the company have been looking a bit towards the gloomy edge.

But now their CEO, Todd Hollenshead, have gone out and shed some more light on their current situation, in a recent interview over at Next-gen.com. Apperantly, John Carmack is working on a brand new shooter that is not based on any previous IP.

The engine is described as 'really unfettering the ability of artists to go absolutely nuts', and that they're going to compete with Epic on the middleware market. Well, don't let me summarize everything for you... head over to the Next-gen site and read the interview for yourself!

The Return of Id

Another PS3/360 Screenshot Comparison

I've seen lots of PS3/360 comparisons, but this one must by far be the worst one yet. Especially considering that Double Agent was released for the 360 in October last year. So, which screenshot do you think is the PS3?

Splinter Cell Double Agent - Xbox 360/Playstation 3 Comparison Shots

The most diabolical Super Mario mod ever...

the most diabolical Super Mario mod ever......

Halo 3 - Multiplayer Documentary

Download (mov)

Halo 3 - Brute Documentary

Pandemic Studios Saboteur

fr-041: debris by farbrausch

I just happened to drop by farbrausch website yesterday, and saw that they had a new demo up for grabs, so I took the opportunity to check it out. I must say, this 117kb demo is among their better ones and if you're interested in procedural content or the demoscene, it's definetly worth checking out.

fr-041: debris by farbrausch

The Darkness - IGN Interview

The Darkness - New Trailer
The Darkness 'Worlds Collide'
The Darkness @ Comic-Con'07
The Darkness @ Comic-Con'07 - Part 2

Bayou - ProFX demo in Unreal Engine 3

Allegorithmic: ProFX - Procedural Textures
Allegorithmic: ProFX - Home

iAudio U2

I'm very satisfied with my iAudio U2 mp3 player, and it felt really good to have something to listen on for once while walking home from the office and cleaning my room. In the package I got a set of earphones (see picture), a neck strap and two different kinds of USB cables. One of them was very short, similiar to a USB memory (which this mp3 player can work as a stand in for) and the other one was a ordinary USB cable.

So the first thing you do is connect the unit to your computer via a USB cable to load the battery, and at the same time it appears as an plug'n play device, which without any additional program you can just copy and paste files onto the memory of the mp3 player. Either files (if you use it as a USB memory) or mp3 files to listen on.

Very easy and quick. The earphones seems great to. So now when I have a mp3 player I better start listening on podcasts, and I've listened to a excellent interview with the lead scripter for Fable 2.

They mostly talk about storytelling in games, branched gameplay (in opposite to linear gameplay), Fable 2, independent development and AI. Even if you don't have a mp3 player of your own, I recommend you to download and listen on it.

Fear the Boot - Interview Mike West
Fear the Boot - Interview Mike West (mp3)

Bought some stuff

:)

Roguelike Magazine, Issue 1 Released

"Most of today’s gamers, when presented with the ASCII-interface of a typical roguelike, immediately dismiss it as old, graphically unappealing, and boring. These sceptics refuse to have a deeper look into the game’s mechanics and its »inner values« and it takes time and effort to convince them to just try to discover the fun roguelikes have to offer."

Roguelike Magazine: The Aesthetics of Roguelikes
Fully interactive, persistent and dynamic world