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Battlefield 2142 hinted at by Digital Illusions producer
Producer Dan Blackstone of Digital Illusions CE has hinted at the imminent announcement of "something very big" in an interview with Shacknews, which GameSpot presumes is most likely Battlefield 2142, a most futuristic sequel.The senior producer of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the 360 gave that little tidbit at the end of the interview, stating: "We’re about to announce something very big, so stay tuned. One other interviewer asked this and I gave him a hint, so it’s only fair that I do the same for you: 3213/3X2. Or said another way: S.R. 4588164." GameSpot subsequently put two and two together and came up with 2142, the square root of 4588164 as well as the result of (3213/3)*2, so it appears that Call of Duty and Ghost Recon are not the only FPS franchises taking their games into the future.
Man the unmanned aerial vehicle in BF2
One of the minor changes in the version 1.2 patch of Battlefield 2 was the appearance of a visible UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) whenever the commander calls one in. Instead of both teams having to "pretend" that the UAV actually existed in the game world, after the update a little plane actually buzzes around in the sky, giving enemy teams the chance to shoot the drone down. One gamer demonstrated the drone's physical presence by landing on top of the thing, sacrificing his $15 million helicopter in the process.
DICE: Garriotts predict MMO industry's future
Brothers Robert and Richard Garriott outlined their visions of the MMO industry's future at DICE today. Richard, aka Lord British, sees a shake-up on the cards: he predicts that within three to five years, many of the startups will drop out of the market, leaving only five companies playing the MMO game.It's an interesting vision to have, and presumably the Garriotts are hoping that NCsoft will be one of the five. However, with the recent growth of some niche MMOs, it seems there is a place for smaller companies and startups; as players become bored of the more popular titles, they may seek out similar experiences elsewhere, boosting the popularity of titles that may not have the international resources of Sony Online Entertainment or NCsoft.
DICE: AIAS awards to be televised in '07
Some of us, including DICE presenter David Jaffe, are afraid changes in the Ninth Annual Interactive Achievement Awards will compromise the integrity of the award (well, that and not considering Resident Evil 4 for anything). This year's awards show includes: "a red carpet, celebrity host [Jay Mohr], celebrity presenters from film, television and sports, along with musical acts directly from video games." Unlike SpikeTV's godawful VGAs, this show won't be televised... this year. The DICE Summit has enlisted Dick Clark Productions--who are responsible for awards show like the Golden Globes and the Daytime Emmys--to bring their awards show to a major network. No word of who's going to televise the show, but there is some consolation that they aren't planning on running it on G4, or Spike, or MTV. Not yet at least. [Thanks, James]
Best selling PC games: AoE 3 and Civ IV battle for top spot
For the week ending November 13th, here's the best sellers list for PC games in the U.S. 1. Age Of Empires III 2. Civilization IV 3. Call Of Duty 2 4. Star Wars Battlefront II 5. World Of Warcraft 6. The Sims 2 7. City Of Villains 8. The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack 9. Battlefield 2 10. Call Of Duty 2 Collectors Edition As is obvious from the list, Civilization IV and Age of Empires 3 are deeply involved in a strategic battle for getting the most cash out of gamer's wallets. Age of Empires 3 has been out over a month now but is still topping the chart. With Civ IV being out just under a two weeks, has it already lost the momentum required to knock AoE 3 off the top spot?
