AVault News (5-Sep/Thu)
Eugeny Ivanoff
Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios on wednesday released the Halo 2
trailer alongside the launch of Windows Media Player 9. The footage contained
in the trailer debuted last month at the X02 event in New York City. The 31.6
MB Halo 2 trailer can be viewed in WMP9 format by *clicking here* (1). Halo 2
is a sci-fi first-person shooter for Xbox scheduled for a winter 2003 release.
It will be playable online through Xbox Live.
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1) http://boss.streamos.com/download/microsoft/downloads/halo2.wmv
> 8:26am Earnhardt Endorsing NASCAR Thunder 2003
EA Sports on Wednesday announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the official
cover driver for their upcoming high speed racing title, NASCA Thunder 2003.
The DEI Racing team competitor will be featured on the NASCA Thunder 2003 game
cover as well as any other game merchandise. NASCA Thunder 2003 is currently
scheduled to ship this fall 2002 on PS2, PlayStation, Xbox, GameCube and the
PC.
> 8:27am MLB SlugFest 20-03 Hits GameCube
Midway Sports on Wednesday announced that MLB SlugFest 20-03 for GameCube has
shipped to retailers. Officially licensed by Major League Baseball, MLB
SlugFest 20-03 features all of the teams, ballparks and players in the major
league. Game modes include Quickplay, Challenge, 52-game Season and
Customizable Tournament mode. MLB SlugFest 20-03 also is available for PS2 and
Xbox, and is scheduled to ship for Game Boy Advance this fall.
> 8:38am Video Game Sales Report
According to a report released by Bear, Stearns & Co, this year could be just
as successful for the interactive entertainment industry as 2001, at least as
far as sales go. The company reported that $9 billion in revenue was made
during 2001, up 40 percent from 2000. The group also said that this year's
sales could be just as strong, with more games available and console systems
dropping in price. With publishers piling stores with products, the
end-of-year Christmas rush could prove to be the difference over last year's
sales.
> 7:20am AlienDNA 3.0 Coming
Monkey Byte Development on Wednesday announced that work has begun on AlienDNA
version 3.0. The game - which was first released 18 months ago - is being
retooled so that it will no longer be a 2D product that hints at being 3D. It
will instead offer true 3D graphics and new special effects. The 3D engine
will support two graphics Libraries - OpenGL and Direct3D. The gameplay goes
like this: You select colored nucleotide symbols and add them to your DNA
strand. A colored nucleotide symbol will appear in a circular window in the
upper middle portion of the screen. This is the colored symbol you must add to
your DNA strand. Visit the *product site* (1) for more.
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1) http://www.vendornation.com/*ws4d-db-query-QuickShow?fa001
> 7:29am Eidos Hosting Spring Break Contest
Eidos Interactive is hosting an official "Win a Free Trip To Paradise" contest
on the *Spring Break website* (1) in celebration of the game's September 10
launch. Participants can win a six-night trip for two to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
This tropical getaway includes round-trip airfare and accommodations at the
SuperClubs resort of your choice.
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1) http://www.SpringBreakGame.net
> 7:38am Razor3D Releases Chess Bundle
*Razor3D* (1) has released a Karpov Chess bundle that comes with drivers
allowing nVidia users to play the game in stereoscopic 3D. Endorsed by chess
world champion and grand master Anatoly Karpov, Karpov Chess creates the image
of a chessboard that appears to float in space. The game offers skill levels
for first time players as well as experts. The expert levels were inspired by
the original M.I.T. version of the game. Karpov Chess is available now at a
suggested retail price of $29.95.
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1) http://www.razor3d.com
> 7:56am Law & Order Goes Gold
Legacy Interactive on Wednesday announced that development on Law & Order:
Dead on the Money has been completed. The game will be available at retailers
nationwide on September 24. Based on the NBC series, Law & Order, it allows
fans to solve an original Wall Street murder case. Players first join
detective Lennie Briscoe as he scours the crime scene for evidence, follows
leads, interrogates witnesses and arrests one or more suspects before time
runs out. Players then team up with assistant district attorney Serena
Southerlyn to prosecute the defendant.
Law and Order fans will appreciate the extent to which the show's creators
participated in development. The original storyline was written by a Law &
Order writer, while the game stars three actors from the show: Jerry Orbach,
S. Epatha Merkerson and Elisabeth Röhm. The case is brought to life with 25
actors, 30 locations and 200 scenes.
The game will be available at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, GameStop and Electronics
Boutique for a suggested retail price of $29.99. Visit
*lawandordergame.com* (1) for more.
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1) http://www.lawandordergame.com
> 8:13am Got Game Grabs Adam Blaster
Got Game Entertainment on Wednesday announced an agreement with PAN Vision for
the North American publishing rights to Adam Blaster: Atomic Enforcer. The
third-person 3D action game for the PC is expected to ship in November.
Gameplay focuses on Blaster tracking and capturing intergalactic criminals.
With the aid of an extensive arsenal of weapons and technology, he must
apprehended fugitives and return them relatively undamaged to collect the
maximum reward. The environment of each alien system factors into Blaster's
pursuit. Select the thumbnail below for the first of 12 screenshots.
*IMG* (1)
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1) http://www.avault.com/news/avscreenshots.asp?pic=adamblast&num=1
> 8:19am Presto Studios Shuts Down
Presto Studios has been developing games since 1991, but the company met its
demise this week, with chief executive Michel Kripalani announcing that they
are shutting down. By way of explanation, Kripalani said that the video game
industry is changing. Presto used to fund its own products, but now games cost
millions of dollars to make. Companies that can afford to produce them often
hesitate to spend big money on untested ideas. The innovative ideas in which
Presto specialize were therefore viewed as risky.
The announcement was made to the 21 staff working at Presto Studios late last
month. Only days after that, the office was empty. Kripalani also stated that
they handed out severance packages and began trying to line up work for
everyone. Employees will also continue to get royalties from game sales as
well.Presto Studios was known for their top-selling Myst III: Exile, which
sold over 1 million copies in 12 months, and for their upcoming Xbox title
Whacked!
> 9:47am Vivendi Clinging to Game Assets?
A New York Post article published on Thursday reports that Vivendi Universal
has decided to put all of its Vivendi Universal Publishing assets up for sale
- but that the sale won't include Vivendi's software games unit. The report
said Vivendi Universal Publishing is expected to fetch between $5 billion and
$6 billion - and Vivendi wants to have a deal lined up by its Sept. 25 board
meeting. Game companies that fall under Vivendi Univeral Publishing's umbrella
include Warcraft and Diablo creator Blizzard Entertainment, Half-Life
publisher Sierra Entertainment, and Universal Interactive, which just released
The Thing and plans to bring comic superhero The Hulk to multiple video game
systems in 2003.
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Source: http://www.avault.com/news/
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