Far cooler than my first impression from the first few minutes - usually these things don’t impress me so much.

Head tracking technology has been around for quite some time (Track IR), though it hasn’t been quite as ever-present as it is now with the Wii’s release.

Don’t get me wrong: this is still a niche hobby, and the live-television market probably won’t ever be effected by this. Additionally multiplayer gaming simply wouldn’t work, which is the lifeblood of the interactive console of the decade: the Wii.

But with all the pieces already being mass produced - this technology will only get cheaper - perhaps there is a niche market for first person games for the PC on your TV, or even a gaming platform to go with it. Since all you’re doing is moving the in-game camera, I don’t see how this puts any extra load on the game engine itself. Games just have to be written with this sort of device in mind.

Short term: the NES had a light gun that came with a game back in the 1980s. Why couldn’t the Wii have a motion tracking hat bundled with a game, too?

So.. back in the day, I wrote a Red Alert patch (by editing the .ini file) and made TURAP: The Ultimate Red Alert Patch.

Well, thanks to the magic and wonder of Google and the Internet, I found the patch, alive and well on Fileplanet.

Here’s some from the patch notes:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
General:

Ore grows faster- Watch out..sometimes it creeps up on you

ORE tucks are faster- I mean Way faster…

ChronoSphere doesn’t kill cargo- I always hated that

Charge time for spy are faster- by a bit

Charge time for nukes is faster- by a little

Charge time for Paratroops is faster- by a little

Paratroops drop 10 troops- makes them more effective

Most Buildings can be spread farther!- not powerplants,
or Teslas or some other stuff, but most..

Silos- I hate them… stupid… dumb. so now they cost $1
and they hold LOTS of ore. Build one and forget them..they suck

Build Tent to get loser soldiers.
Build Barracks to get good ones…

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Soviet:

Subs- have destroyer missiles as well as torps

Attack Dog- There is none (I couldn’t stand to see a cute doggie
get squashed by any more tanks) Also no kennel

Advanced Tech Center- now Soviets get GPS too.

Islamic Fundamentalist- looks like flame thrower. Requires
Advanced Tech.. They are strange, but lethal.
I made them for fun only..don’t expect alot from them.

Spy- A spy with a sniper rifle. What a beautiful thing.
But don’t try to attack infiltrateable buildings, or he’ll infiltrate them.

Navy Seal- thief now has c4, but little gun, so watch it.

Tanya- she’s gone…too powerful.. the two above replace her.

Field Marshall- called General. snier rifle, REALLY fast runner, but expensive.

Civilian- called Delphi, they are cheap, weak, and best of all, expendable.

OK MY FAVORITE CHANGE!!!!

The Badger Bomber- Yes you can drop Parabombs anytime!! Big, Mean,
(aim just beyond target), build several, and the enemy is toast,
Unless they build air defense of course…

The Napalm Fighter- looks like a U2. Flies as fast as I can make it
(any faster and for some reason, won’t land on airstrip)
Drops lost of napalm… you don’t see it…then…
BOOM! Fire everywhere!

Spy Plane- sees as it flies..

Transport Helicopter- carries 10 passengers, shoots Mammoth Tank Rockets

Hind- Carries 5 passengers..(watch them parachute out when you attack!)

Pillbox- you don’t get one

Cammo Pill Box- Vulcan cannon for foot soldiers

Tesla Coil- why mess with perfection.

Hospital- build one, and place your wounded next to it… Watch them heal…

I love the Internet.

Neato! Next Civ is going Console:

I had a chance to play Civilization Revolutions at E for All on Thursday. It looks like a pretty fun game, which adds back in some of the lightheartedness that has been missing from the series lately. Graphics were not yet finished, so the graphic quality was only so-so, but they were fun to watch. If you reach a certain milestone, a minor civ (the Phoenicians, more on them later) will give you a reward of dancers, which jumped around inside your palace (yes, the palace is back). The arctic barbarian chief Gray Wolf climbs or pulls himself into the screen before he starts insulting you. Take away a city of his, and he’ll tell you he did not really want it anyway. The demo only lasted about ten minutes, but it gave a pretty good impression. However, the game was fun to play, although it took me a few minutes to learn the controls (not owning a console).

StrategyCore.co.uk - Core Games for Strategy Gamers

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A bunch of us here make and work on games as well as playing them. One of the sites I really like is Lost Garden - it showcases many new games made from art and code the main author provides. A recent article has free tilesets and how to bootstrap your art needs. And if I can attest to the one thing that after the engine is done - is the overwhelming amount of art and variety of art expected in a game. Having made over 5000+ icons for Lord of the Rings Online - and over 1000 animation sets for Hillbilly Whack! art creation and getting it all done is just killer.

Anyways - check out Lost Garden first and then find yourself lost in the thoughts of people making games.

At Lost Garden

If you’re addicted to the online webgame Travian like we are (picture Solar Realms Elite meets Civilization) then Ubisoft might have just the thing for you. Their classic strategy game series Heroes of Might and Magic is getting a next installment, and it’s entirely browser based against 1,000 other players.

Sweet Mamma Jamma.

The game is slated for a early 2008 beta. Checking our calendar it seems that early 2008 is just a few weeks away. We’ll keep you posted on when it launched. Until then check out the Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms Official Website which includes feature previews and visual tutorials of what you should expect from the game.

Don’t get your knickers in a bunch. So far it’s still an unannounced title. Any speculation of World of Warcraft 2, World of Starcraft, or even Diablo Online will has no true basis, and crackpots will have as strong of a foundation to argue the game is definitely Lost Vikings online.

The news comes from a post in the World of Warcraft forums where an Admin says that Blizzard is devoting new resources to another MMORPG project.

…it is an unannounced Next-Gen MMO.
And that doesn’t mean an expansion for World of Warcraft either.

That’s it. Still no clues on if it’ll be one of their current properties or something totally new. This news just confirms what everyone already thought they knew.

Knowing Blizzard’s track record, though, it’ll probably be quite polished and quite aways away from release even after it’s officiall announced. At least we know they’re working on something to replace the aging World of Warcraft, which has seriously stagnated as of late.

There is no doubt in my mind, in perhaps many of your minds, that Zero Punctuation is the funniest new reviews on the Net.  A part of the also excellent Escapist online gaming e-zine,  these no holds barred and definitely adult oriented game reviews are as hilarious as they are spot on.  If you have never heard of them, then let me introduce them to you with the latest entry: Guitar Hero III.

Visit The Zero Punctuation Page on The Escapist

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Tags: zeropunctuation escapist

Well its time for another monkeygames PSA about a great game that may have slipped under the radar but deserves your attention. The game in question is a Japanese style Role Playing Game called “Eternal Sonata” for the xbox 360.
Eternal Sonata was released on 9.17.2007 in the USA and may have been overlooked because of the hype and anticipation of Halo 3 being released just one week later.
Eternal Sonata takes place within the mind of Frédéric Chopin in the last hours of his life [Chopin contracted tuberculosis in 1849] This “world” helps to set the stage for one of the most compelling stories I have ever seen. There are several intriguing plot lines going on in Eternal Sonata and if you are a fan of good storytelling this is the game for you. Some of the plot lines include Philosophy of life and death, governmental corruption, revolution and poverty.
All the characters in Eternal Sonata that comprise your party are names after musical references, and the names fit perfectly both in personal conduct and on the battle field.
Eternal Sonata’s strongest element is its story. This may be a bold statement but the integration of music, thought and storytelling is something I have not seen since Cowboy Bebop [Bebop is still better, but Eternal Sonata comes close].
The game play of Eternal Sonata is a lot of fun as well. Much of the game takes place in beautifully surreal areas. The graphics look very good, and have a nice hand drawn 3d feel to them. Areas do seem a bit linear but there are some good puzzles to solve, and if you take the time exploration of each path in a forest, or dungeon it can yield some cool loot. No matter what area you are in most monster encounters are optional. There are no random encounters if you want to fight you can if you don’t just avoid the monster, either way its good to see random encounters in RPG’s going the way of the 8-Track!
When you do fight the battles play out in an active turn based system. The key word there is active, you can move party members around a 3d battle field, attacks are done with button combos, when you are not attacking you still need to be on your toes because you have the ability to block attacks, or counter them with a well timed button press. When attacking each hit goes into a combo meter, if you wait and build up this meter a massive bonus is given to your special moves. The combat system is one of the best active turn based systems I have seen in an RPG.
The list of character powers and abilities grow as you level. In the beginning you are given the option of selecting two special abilities, one light and one dark. The light and dark mechanic some into play on the battlefield. Some powers will only work when you move your character into a light source, others will only work if you are in the shadows [in sunlit areas monster or party member shadows count as dark as well] In outside areas the sun is constantly moving so the light and dark areas are constantly changing. There are also moments in Boss battles where the changing position of the sun, and movement of shadows can quickly turn the tide of a battle or allow you tank to fire off a much needed light based healing spell.
Now there is one issue with Eternal Sonata and this is mainly the long cut scenes, 15 to 20 minuets can be a bit much but they only serve to tell more of the story so its forgivable to an extent. Once you get through the prologue, and first chapter its not that bad. Over all its annoying to play for 15 min and then spend half an hour watching a cut scene.
So far I am about fifteen hours into this game, the story still remains interesting, and I still go out of my way to get into a battle. Eternal Sonata’s strengths lie within its intriguing story, and active combat system. If you are a fan of RPGs, good storytelling, combat, and off beat humor you owe it to yourself to play Eternal Sonata.

Gotta love the Red versus Blue shenanigans. The new content update - which goes live today - includes a new base versus base rendered in a similar pallet as Ascension from Halo 2 - one of my favorite maps. There’s also some new content for use with forge, including some very large soccer balls, and one of the maps even has a small race track stringing along the outer edge of a bunker. I smell new game types!

More information can be found at the Bungie Heroic Map Pack FAQ.

“Download it early and own all the noobs on December 26th!”

The dreamcast was so far ahead of its time.  An amazing system even by today’s standards. 

I don’t know if this is true or not.. but if its true….”mmmm… This is a very exciting time.”

SEGA Corporation has filed a new application to protect the trademark Dreamcast - sparking rumours that the Japanese publisher is planning on making a shock return to the console manufacturing market with the Dreamcast 2.

Dreamcast 2 in the works? - VideoGamer.com

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