dark-reign
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Activision OK's XBLIG; you probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty underground [Update]
After accruing millions of fans and billions of dollars through mainstream blockbusters such as the Call of Duty franchise, Activision is going indie. Dark Reign: Redux is a modern, fan-made remake of the 1997 title, Dark Reign: The Future of War, which was developed by Auran and published by Activision. The revamp is available on XBLIG and was developed by Magnetar (no, that's not a Pokemon) Games to include updated resolution, widescreen, and PC, console and mobile capability.Dark Reign: Redux is $5 (400 MS Points) on XBLIG now, and buying it supports the indie and mega-huge gaming industry in one blow.Update: Activision isn't the direct publisher of Dark Reign: Redux, but it did OK the title in a licensing agreement with Magnetar Games, who self-published it.
Dark Reign: The Future of War marches onto GOG
Do you primarily use the GOG platform as a channel through which you can build virtual armies to destroy neighboring, virtual civilizations? There are certainly plenty of games on the network that will let you do just that -- and today, that list became one entry longer. Auran's 1997 strategy title Dark Reign: The Future of War (and its expansion, The Rise of the Shadowhand) both arrived on the GOG store today for $9.99. So, what sets Dark Reign apart from all the other strategy titles the digital distributor offers? Well, according to its product description, the game has "Many mods and impressively polished unofficial patches created by a still very active community." Also, all those other games? Their reigns aren't really all that dark. They're moody, sure, but we don't think we'd say full-blown dark.
Former Auran producer defends staff, management
The entire Auran staff may have been let go earlier this week, but former Producer David Gillespie has a post up on his personal blog that defends Auran's staff, and the decisions made by management. This is the "Game flopped and the entire team was laid off, but the staff were the best!" law -- a far too frequent occurrence in the gaming industry. This law works in opposites, too. Sid Meier eats babies.David Gillespie left Auran long before it went into administration, but he obviously had a lot of respect for everyone there. I didn't know Auran were the same developers responsible for 90's RTS classic Dark Reign, though. And there's an industry lesson to learn from this -- no matter how talented your team, how great your working environment, how successful your studio has been up till now -- if you make a commercial MMO that's a failure, you're in a whole world of trouble.Maybe now that Fury is free, I should download it just to see what it was really like-- but on second thoughts, I think I'll pass for now.[Via warcry.com]
