AVault News (4-Oct/Fri)
Eugeny Ivanoff
The Adrenaline Vault on October 8 plans to release a demo of Emurasoft's
ShadowFlare: Episode One. ShadowFlare is an action-RPG released by Denyusha in
Japan last October. Players take on the roles of mercenaries that help
survivors in turmoil and battle a multitude of creatures bent on stamping out
humankind. As players venture through dungeons and remote cities, their
fighting skills grow, and eventually they choose their own destiny as a
warrior, wizard or hunter. The demo will contain 25 percent of Episode One.
Gamers will be able to download complete episodes from *ShadowFlare's U.S.
website* (1).
*IMG* (2)
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1) http://www.shadowflare.us/download.htm
2) http://www.avault.com/news/avscreenshots.asp?pic=shadflar&num=1
> 6:19am Zoo Tycoon Expansion Goes Gold
Microsoft Game Studios and Blue Fang Games on Thursday announced that the next
Zoo Tycoon expansion pack, Marine Mania, has gone gold and will be released in
North America on October 17. Marine Mania seamlessly integrates with Zoo
Tycoon, allowing players to immediately add aquatic creatures to their zoos.
In addition to offering new creatures ranging from the great white shark to
the giant squid, Marine Mania allows players to enhance their zoos with
customizable aquatic shows. Guests will be able to watch attractions such as
the shark tunnel and the dolphin ride, which enables them to swim with
dolphins. Players can improve their marine exhibits with a variety of objects,
including more than 20 new marine animals, five new animal toys and sunken
treasure.
To hold over Zoo Tycoon owners until Marine Mania appears on store shelves,
Microsoft and Blue Fang have released the North African Theme Pack for Zoo
Tycoon. The Pack includes several new items, such as the African wild dog and
snake pit, and even monuments such as obelisks and sphinxes. It can be
downloaded by visiting the * official Zoo Tycoon site * (1). The Pack requires
players to have either Zoo Tycoon: Dinosaur Digs or the *10.9 update* (2) to
Zoo Tycoon.
*Compare Prices for this Game Now* (3)
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1) http://www.zootycoon.com
2) http://www.microsoft.com/games/zootycoon/downloads.asp
3) http://avault.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=591466
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Source: http://www.avault.com/news/
=) Susi
* * * Cheats(*US*) http://SusiCheats.virtualave.net/
Eugeny Ivanoff
Acclaim Entertainment on Thursday shipped its street racer, Burnout 2: Point
of Impact, for PS2. Created by Criterion Games, Burnout 2 contains several new
features, including pursuit races that allow players to drive a police car and
ram opponents off the road. Crashes are bigger, with vehicles that deform and
car parts soaring across the highway - all of which should look and sound
great thanks to a number of technical improvements, including: new Bloom
Lighting effects, which highlight reflections off of windshields and metal;
realistic weather effects such as snow, rain and fog; and Progressive scan and
Dolby Pro-Logic II support. Another new feature is Offensive Driving 101,
where players learn the ropes at the Burnout Driving School. A new Custom
Series mode allows players to race modified vehicles, complete with body kits
and decals.
Additional features:
- Six new United States locations
- 30 new stages to drive with 14 new vehicles
- Seven secret vehicles to unlock
- Points-based championship gameplay structure
- Vehicles can get air and earn boosts by jumping
- Intelligent traffic system
> 5:24am Lord of the Rings Ships for GBA and Xbox
Vivendi Universal Publishing on Thursday shipped The Lord of the Rings: The
Fellowship of the Ring for Xbox and Game Boy Advance. The new titles are part
of VU Games' agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to develop interactive
entertainment based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, for
multiple next-generation platforms and the PC. The content of the first two
Lord of the Rings games derives from The Fellowship of the Ring, the first
installment of Tolkien's literary epic. Vivendi's Black Label Games also plans
to publish Lord of the Rings for PS2 and the PC in October.
Developed by Seattle-based WXP, Lord of the Rings for Xbox is a third-person,
action-adventure title featuring three members of the Fellowship - Frodo,
Aragorn and Gandalf - as playable characters, each with his own special
abilities. In a storyline said to be faithful to Tolkien's masterpiece,
players perfect stealth moves as Frodo, fight enemies as Aragorn and cast
spells as Gandalf as they journey from the peaceful Shire through the dark
depths of Moria all the way to the River Anduin. Orcs, Black Riders, the
Balrog and more than 20 other types of enemies stand in their way in this
first leg of the quest to destroy the fabled One Ring of Power.
Developed by U.K.-based Pocket Studios, Lord of the Rings for GBA is a
single-player role-playing game with a turn-based combat system. Players
follow the storyline of the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's saga and control
the members of the Fellowship, at times directing the actions of up to nine
characters at once during battle sequences. Gameplay takes place across
backgrounds faithful to Tolkien's descriptions. The semi-linear structure of
the game allows players to experiment and explore the world of Middle-earth
while staying true to Frodo's quest to keep the One Ring from the hands of the
Dark Lord Sauron.
> 5:37am NBA LIVE 2003 Shipping Early
EA SPORTS on Thursday announced it's moving up the ship date for the PS2, Xbox
and GameCube versions of NBA LIVE 2003 to Tuesday, October 8 - a week earlier
than previously reported. NBA LIVE 2003 for the PlayStation will ship on
October 15 and the PC version will ship on November 12. NBA LIVE 2003 features
EA SPORTS' new Freestyle Control, in which gamers use the right analog stick.
Players will hear original songs written exclusively for NBA LIVE 2003 by
hip-hop artists such as Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Fabolous, and can also
choose from a selection of Hardwood Classics jerseys for all 29 teams.
> 5:40am SCEA Approves Logitech Cordless Controller for PlayStation
Logitech on Thursday announced that its Cordless Controller for PlayStation,
PS One and PS2 has an official license from Sony Computer Entertainment
America. This Logitech product includes proprietary 2.4 GHz cordless
technology, full functionality across all three systems, Dual analog sticks,
Dual vibration feedback, a range of more than 20 feet and more than 50 hours
of battery life with vibration (4 AA batteries included).
> 5:47am Activision Announces Tony Hawk's Backyard BBQ
Activision is inviting skateboarding and gaming fans to the Tony Hawk's
Ultimate Challenge Backyard BBQ, where they can fuel up on free food, check
out cool music and demo the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 video game at select
Boom Boom HuckJam Arena Tour 2002 stops across the United States. Beginning on
October 9, Activision will donate $5 to the Tony Hawk Foundation for every
player who tests the game at the Backyard BBQ in the two hours preceding the
Boom Boom HuckJam show. The funding will be used to assist the foundation's
efforts to finance and promote public skateboarding parks in low-income areas
nationwide. Consumers can participate at the following venues during the Boom
Boom HuckJam Arena Tour 2002:
- Oct. 9: Portland, OR - Rose Garden
- Oct. 10: Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
- Oct. 12: San Jose, CA - Compaq Center
- Oct. 13: Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
- Oct. 17: Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Arena
- Oct. 19: Dallas - Reunion Arena
- Oct. 20: San Antonio, TX - Alamodome
- Oct. 24: San Diego, CA - Sports Arena
- Oct. 26: Anaheim, CA - Arrowhead Pond
- Oct. 30: Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
- Nov. 2: Chicago, IL - United Center
- Nov. 7: East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Arena
- Nov. 9: Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
- Nov. 11: Philadelphia, PA - First Union Center
> 5:53am New Tony Hawk 4 Trailers
Activision has released two new trailers for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Both
require *Quicktime* (1):
- *Trailer 1* (2)
- *Trailer 2* (3)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 let's players skate as renowned skateboarder Hawk and
13 other athletes as they work their way from amateur to pro choosing goals
and building their skills. The game's new free-roaming career mode allows
players to earn pro status by conquering a skater-specific Pro Challenge based
on each skater's personal history. Additionally, Pro Skater 4 for PS2 includes
all new online features allowing up to eight players from anywhere in the
world to challenge each other in new multiplayer modes like Goal Attack and
Capture the Flag.
Pro Skater 4 will be available for PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and
the PlayStation.
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1) http://www.quicktime.com
2) http://www.electricartists.com//th4/tony_4_final.html
3) http://www.electricartists.com/th4/tony_hawk_4_edit02.html
> 6:06am Top Console Renters
The Video Software Dealers Association has announced the top renting games for
the week ending September 29. Weekly spending on videogame rentals was
reported as $9.9 million, up 14.8 percent from year-ago results of $8.62
million. Year-to-date spending was $534.3 million, a gain of 15.2 percent from
$463.6 million for the same period of 2001:
- Madden NFL 2003 for PS2
- Socom: U.S. Navy Seals for PS2
- Tekken 4 for PS2
- Super Mario Sunshine for GC
- Turok Evolution for PS2
- Medal of Honor Frontline for PS2
- NCAA Football 2003 for PS2
- Kingdom Hearts for PS2
- Stuntman for PS2
- Dead to Rights for Xbox
> 6:23am NHL 2003 Ships
Electronic Arts has released NHL 2003 for PS2, GameCube and the PC. This
year's version offers enhanced goalie AI and puck collision detection, and
introduces Dynamic Dekes and Freestyle Control to give players better command
over their skater and his stick. The officially licensed NHL product features
all 30 NHL teams, 20 International teams and more than 700 face-mapped models
of active NHL players. NHL 2003 also implements EA Sports' TRAX initiative,
with music from artists such as Jimmy Eat World, Pap Roach and Gob. Members of
several of the bands will also be available for use in the game through the
title's Create A Player mode. The PS2 and GameCube versions are suggested to
sell for $49.99, while the PC product has an MSRP of $39.99. An Xbox version
will ship on October 8.
*Compare Prices for this Game Now* (1)
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1)
> 7:02am Government Accuses Sega of Workplace Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday sued Sega of America,
alleging it fired a dozen video game testers because they were Filipino. The
commission, in a suit filed in San Francisco federal court, also said another
four workers were dismissed because of their friendship with an employee who
complained about discrimination. Game maker Sega, based in San Francisco,
denied the charges and said it would vigorously defend itself. The commission
said it tried to settle the suit before it was filed but could not reach an
agreement with Sega.
> 7:08am Microsoft Closes Xbox Hack
Microsoft appears to have shut down one of the world's largest distributors of
mod chips - add-ons that allow Microsoft's Xbox and other video game consoles
to play pirated games, CNET's News.com reports. A representative in
Microsoft's Australian subsidiary confirmed that the company has taken legal
action against Hong Kong-based Lik Sang. Representatives of the company could
not be reached for comment, and Microsoft attorneys were unavailable to
explain the exact nature of the legal action.
Lik Sang was one of the top worldwide retailers of mod chips, devices that,
once soldered to a game console's main circuit board, disable security
components. The chips typically allow a game machine to play legally and
illegally copied discs, run unauthorized software and play game discs intended
for other geographic regions. Lik Sang offered a variety of mod chips for Xbox
and Sony's PS2, along with game consoles with mod chips already installed by
Lik Sang technicians. The company went into the manufacturing side of the mod
chip business last August when it acquired OpenXbox, a mod chip design
intended to allow upgrades.