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The Game Archaeologist goes to Earth & Beyond: The vet
Space: the final frontier... except for 4chan, which is a lot scarier to explore. These are the voyages of the Starship Massively. Its five-year mission: to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and blow it out of the sky; to boldly exploit trade routes like no one has done before! Erp, better stop there before I begin infringing on the Captain's Log's territory! In any event, we at The Game Archaeologist Institute for Fuzzy Nostalgia continue to forge ahead with the Earth & Beyond dig, carefully dusting off memories and screenshots to preserve in a blog-shaped museum. It's one thing to talk of a game, but another to speak with one who was there at the time, so I went on a hunt through the dark recesses of the internet to find seasoned Earth & Beyonders. This search took me about two minutes before one of my associates practically opened the floodgates of fanboy gushing to drown me in his enthusiasm for this title. One interview, hundreds of screenshots and an Electronic Arts dev bible later, and we at the institute knew that we hit the motherlode. Join us for a civilized discussion with an Earth & Beyond vet as he shares with us crumpets and recollections.
The Game Archaeologist goes to Earth & Beyond: The highlights
For this month's Game Archaeologist expedition, I deliberately wanted to look at an older MMO that was -- for whatever reason -- no longer with us. After voting on a handful of these titles, Massively readers selected Earth & Beyond for March's focus, and I have to say that I'm intrigued. Personally, I prefer science fiction over fantasy nine times out of ten, even though most of the MMOs that grace my desktop (with the exception of Star Trek Online) are fantasy games. Sci-fi has had an awfully difficult time making headway into the field of MMOs, with plenty of underperforming or canceled titles littering the way. I've heard it explained that the fantasy genre is easier for the common person to grasp because it uses elements of our past -- primarily the medieval period -- to provide a familiar baseline, whereas sci-fi's futuristic setting requires world-building from scratch. Whatever the case may be, Earth & Beyond never really caught on the way that EVE Online did, and its miniscule population (GameSpot reported 20-25K subscribers six months before its shutdown) was not enough for Electronic Arts to keep it running. But between 2002 and 2004, Earth & Beyond reached for the stars and gave its own spin on how a sci-fi MMO could work. Let's take a look today at what made Earth & Beyond unique, what it gave the industry, and how it may help upcoming space MMOs avoid a similar fate.
Command & Conquer games 75% off on Steam this weekend
Now that Victory Games and a new Command and Conquer are official, it's time to be reminded of the series' decline over the years. Good thing Steam is there with deep discounts this weekend on the freefalling franchise. If you're looking for "serious" RTSing, check out Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars ($7.50). If you'd prefer something a little bit more quirky, go for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 ($5). What about Command & Conquer 4? No such thing exists, sorry. But if it did, it would cost $5 right now. Just saying.
Command & Conquer site is back up, Victory Games confirmed as new dev
Oops! After a premature publication of the new commandandconquer.com earlier this week, which spoiled the whole surprise, EA's finally ready to re-reveal the news that its created a new studio – following in the wake of studio rebrandings like Visceral Games and Danger Close – to handle all things Command & Conquer. Victory has offices in Los Angeles – home of EALA, the former studio brand responsible for C&C, following the acquisition of Westwood – Austin, and Shanghai and is led by former Trion CCO Jon Van Caneghem. "Victory Games was created to be the focal point for the creation of strategy games for the Games Label at EA," Caneghem said. "Our current focus is making a AAA Command & Conquer game, which I am very excited to be working on." While Caneghem didn't have much more to add regarding that game – it's "for the PC" but Victory's "not yet at a stage where [it] can go into any details" – he did say that the studio's mandate "the future of Command & Conquer" and that this work on this first game will help "create a stable base for future development." If you're a C&C fan, it sounds like EA's not through with the franchise by a long shot.
Rumor: New Command & Conquer site goes live, disappears
Electronic Arts apparently flipped the switch on a new Command and Conquer website today before intended, deciding shortly after that it wasn't too keen on sharing it with the world. Rock Paper Shotgun spotted the site, which announced the project is being developed by EA's newly dubbed Victory Games, a collaboration between three studios in Los Angeles, Texas and Shanghai. Victory Games will apparently be headed by Jon Van Caneghem, an executive who "transitioned out" of his role as Trion World Networks president and chief creative officer in April of 2009. According to RPS, before the information was pulled, there was an "interview" with Caneghem on the site that noted the new title was for PC and that a formal announcement was coming later this year. We'll likely get more details when EA commands the web team to conquer the publish button.
Next Command and Conquer in production under Visceral label
Next time out, the Command & Conquer franchise will be more Visceral. Although the game, according to EA's Visceral Games label GM Nick Earl, is still "pretty far out," it will be part of the publisher's strategy to expand the Visceral studio as a brand. Earl detailed the multi-studio Visceral branding in a recent interview with Gamasutra, which would explain why the EA Redwood Shores studio that became Visceral has been working on several projects. The Visceral label is a collaboration of EA in the States, the "art-focused" Shanghai studio, EA Montreal and a team in Melbourne, Australia. Earl said, "We're not outsourcing or insourcing -- we really look at it as collaborative development, where everyone is on equal playing ground." Dead Space 2 will be an indication of the result achieved through this new Visceral process.
TUAW's Daily App: SimCity
I probably don't need to explain SimCity to you; it's one of the most classic PC games of all time, and Electronic Arts released it for the iPhone a while go. It's the same game you've played before; you can mark out zones in your city, draw out roads and buildings, and slowly build up your population as a mayor, keeping your people happy, supplied with utilities, and within reasonable distance of work and play. So, why are we spotlighting it today? Along with most of EA's iPhone titles, its price has dropped down to just 99 cents. So, if you haven't picked it up yet, now's the time to do so (and it'll give you something to play on your brand new iPhone this week). Other titles to check out at just a buck, if you haven't gotten them yet, include Need for Speed, Command and Conquer, FIFA 10, Madden 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and the classic Dragon's Lair. Just think, buying them all will set you back $7, the same price as the full Rock Band title.
Xbox Live Marketplace in May: Rocket Knight, Dragon Age DLC and more
You know that dusty piggy bank you've had sitting on the shelf forever? Look, forget the kid's college fund -- she's not going to college for, like, years -- and bust that thing open! There's going to be some solid content on Xbox Live Marketplace this month. In the mood for XBLA games? How does Rocket Knight or Zeno Clash tickle your fancy? Oh, so you want some DLC -- Dragon Age: Origins will have more to offer the tireless adventurer later this month. Want to learn the Secret of Monkey Island? During the week of May 17, the secret will be half-off. See what we mean? Head past the break for more XBLM release highlights for the month provided by Microsoft.
Electronic Arts stable now live on the iPad
As with all of the other approved iPad apps, the full slate of Electronic Arts' iPad titles are now ready to go in the App Store. Mirror's Edge, Tetris and Scrabble are ready for download, as is Command and Conquer: Red Alert and Need for Speed Shift. Those last two are probably the most interesting -- playing an RTS on a larger touchscreen is something that a lot of people have wanted to try for a long time, and Command and Conquer will probably be the biggest budget title of that genre available at launch. Need for Speed Shift will probably be pretty predictable as an accelerometer racing game, but it is notable for the fact that it's selling at $14.99, significantly higher than even the other iPad titles we've seen so far. C&C and Mirror's Edge are both above $9.99, and Tetris is the only EA app to go below that point, at $7.99. So it looks like EA is starting out pretty aggressive on pricing for the iPad -- we'll have to see how sales go for them at those levels and what happens to those prices after launch.
Supergiant Games: New studio of former Command & Conquer vets
A new company debuting at GDC 2010, Supergiant Games is largely comprised of ex-EA LA members -- you know, the guys and gals who made those Command & Conquer games you like so much. The new studio's project is something for "digital platforms," destined for a 2011 release. Sadly, there's no more info to go on right now. The studio is on-hand at GDC with said title, so we've contacted them to try and schedule a visit. [Via Big Download]
Command & Conquer 4 devs show off what's new in multiplayer
With all of the furor around the StarCraft 2 beta going on this week, you might actually have forgotten that there are actually two major, big-budget RTS sequels due out in 2010. Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is arriving in just a few weeks on March 16, and, to remind you of that fact, here are a few of the game's developers telling you about how they balanced the multiplayer component. The main feature is the new class choices -- whenever you start up a map, you choose whether you want to play as offense, defense or support, and your teammates can make the same choice, allowing each of you to choose to run your own units entirely, with their own strengths and weaknesses. There's also some information at the end about the co-op campaign, which will also let you use the complimentary classes to split up the fight against enemies and follow objectives that much more quickly with a friend. Sure, your Marines and your Zerglings and your Zealots are fun to play with, but it looks like C&C4 is ordering up some new ways to play one of the older genres in PC gaming. [Via Big Download]
Command & Conquer 4 won't have LAN support or dedicated servers
Based on the precedent set by your reaction to similar news for StarCraft 2 and Modern Warfare 2, we're guessing you're not going to like the information Command & Conquer 4 lead designer Sam Bass recently shared with Destructoid. According to him, the FMV-filled strategy title won't provide any LAN or dedicated server support to its players. These two features were apparently struck from the game in favor of a server-based character progression system. Bass explained "if you go to another machine -- friend's house, Internet café -- whatever, you can login with your profile and all the stuff you've unlocked is accessible to you there. It all lives on a server so you can't really do dedicated servers with that." He also explained that the game's online networking is "a lot more solid," so you won't be left completely high and dry, as far as multiplayer skirmishes are concerned. Still, we're worried about the future of the LAN-friendly strategy game, which appears to be turning into an endangered species. We've contacted Bono to see if he'd lend his musical support to a charity concert event. %Gallery-67669%
See Kane's sparkly globe in this Command & Conquer 4 trailer
No, it's not a bald joke. There are a lot of things worth highlighting in the cinematic trailer for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, but, for us, it's all about Kane's pretty orb above. We like to imagine it houses the universe and everything in it -- kinda like the one from Men in Black. While you're reading this post (and heading past the break to watch the trailer afterward), some weird space creature is playing a game of marbles with our little blue planet. C'est la vie!
Command and Conquer Classics free to download, tricky to install
The free game wagon just keeps on a-rolling -- our PC-obsessed sister site Big Download recently directed our attention to three classic installments in the Command & Conquer franchise which are currently available to download for nary a penny: Tiberian Dawn, Tiberian Sun (with the Firestorm expansion pack), and Red Alert. Installing the games might exact a price upon your patience -- Dawn and Alert both require a fair amount of tinkering to work on your futuristic computing rig. Still, we'd rather pay for games with patience than hard-earned dollars any day of the week. Download: Command & Conquer Classics
Choose GDI or NOD in this Command & Conquer 4 trailer
There is a lot to digest in the above developer diary for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. Not only does it show the benefits of each class in the game, but it also reveals the new mission and player progression system. This time around, players will not only unlock things as they go along (utilizing a level-based system), but also given a choice during the campaign early on: stick with GDI or align yourself with series bad boy Kane and his NOD forces. Either way you choose to go, one thing is certain: this is the end of the Tiberium storyline. Bass says that doesn't necessarily mean the door to the universe is shut forever, but that this particular story thread will conclude with C&C4.
Combat abounds in this Command & Conquer 4 trailer
EA's latest salvo of media on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight presents us with both the GDI and Nod's task-based units' setups: offense; defense and support. Each is comprised of several different units -- an offensive group on the GDI side is comprised of heavy tanks and walkers; the perfect fit for anyone looking to storm a base. On the Nod side, its air support units let players rain hell from above. It's all very appropriate stuff for the Command & Conquer series, really.
EA teases Command & Conquer motion comic
Those of you who guessed "comic book" along with us when the Command & Conquer team hinted that their universe was headed to a "new medium" were still stuck in the past of 2009 -- here in 2010, comics move like video, and they're called "motion comics." Geez, get with the decade! EA's posted a teaser trailer for the C&C "motion comic," created in conjunction with Ape Entertainment, and almost literally, all it says is that Episode 1 is coming soon. There's also a guy in a truck who wants to know the same thing we do: What he's doing here. Oh yeah, and can we know where "here," is, too, and what this has to do with the game? You can head after the break to watch the entire teaser for yourself. Just be sure not to blink. [via Big Download]
Command and Conquer 4 multiplayer beta rolled out today
Electronic Arts launched the Command & Conquer 4 multiplayer beta today for those who want to kick the RTS game's tires -- or tank treads, as the case may be. To gain access, users will need to sign up on the Gamespot beta page. If the site runs out of keys, EA states: "DO NOT WORRY." There will be a "short waitlist" created, if necessary. For those who don't want to bug-test the game (remember when people got paid for that?), Command & Conquer 4 declares full-scale war on its March 16 release. %Gallery-67669% [Via Big Download]
Red Alert 3 currently unplayable online through Steam [updated]
Those who bought Red Alert 3 during Steam's holiday sale are finding themselves with a partially useless game purchased at an admittedly excellent price. Steam users report that the downloaded copies of Red Alert 3 don't include serial numbers, which the game requires for online play. A similar issue occurred recently through Steam with the digital sale of Spore. That problem seems to have been resolved, and at least one Red Alert 3 player has been able to rectify the current error, though the solution required the game to be re-downloaded directly from EA (complete with SecuROM DRM). Still, EA's eventual intervention in Steam's Spore issue is a possible sign that these Red Alert 3 woes will be alleviated in a more timely manner. [Thanks, Reid] Update: Reader Tom suggests verifying the game cache in Steam (right click in "My Games," and find it under Properties > Local Files), which apparently identifies the files that need to be replaced to enable the game to work properly. Maybe that will help!
Command and Conquer coming to 'new medium' in 2010
click to embiggen The above image could mean a lot of things: that life is fleeting, that every day brings a new challenge, or that maybe you should cancel those plans to visit the Palace of Westminster next year. But according to the official Command & Conquer 4 website, it only means one thing: the RTS series is coming to a brand new medium in 2010, "never created for the C&C franchise before, until now." The image above is a sneak peek, the site says, but doesn't give us anything more than that. Four color us crazy, but we look at the intricate chiaroscuro, inking, and shading above, and the words "comic book" jump to mind. But maybe that's too obvious. We'll be happy to follow C&C into whatever new medium it has planned, as long as it brings Tricia Helfer along. [Via Blue's News]
