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New Soldier of Fortune, with new dev, coming via Activision Value
Rumors of a new Soldier of Fortune game have been confirmed by Activision. Speaking to GameSpot, the publisher said that the shooter is "being developed in Minnesota" and would be released on their Activision Value label. You know who's not in Minnesota? Madison, Wisconsin-based Raven Software, who developed the previous two Soldier of Fortune titles. Former Raven employee Kenn Hoekstra posted on Blue's News forums that that there was a new developer. The only clue we have comes from an anonymous source via Firing Squad, who states that it will be developed by Cauldron, who previously created History Channel: Civil War FPS for Activision Value in 2006.No other details are available, though all signs (especially that glowing, neon sign that says Activision Value) point to a disappointing, budget-priced revisit to a quality franchise.
The ridable flightless bird boss
Attention mount collectors! In the process of completing the quests involved in acquiring his or her Swift flight form, any dedicated druid friend of yours will get an item that allows access to a special boss, called Anzu, the Raven God. It behooves you to make this druid like you very very much, and take you to fight this Raven God many many times. Rarely, this boss will drop a very very special mount: itself. That's right! One of the items a lucky few will be able to loot from this dead bird's corpse is the dead bird itself, raised to life as a ridable mount. This may be the only item in the game where you can summon a boss and ride around on him to your hearts content, and look pretty spiffy while you're at it, too. The only odd thing about this bird is that it can't fly; this is a land mount only. At least it doesn't look anything like a penguin. If one wants a real flying raven mount, the only option is to level a night elf druid up and learn how to shapeshift into a raven form. But in the meantime for all other classes (as well as greedy druids who want this mount to go with the theme of their Flight Form), this is the next best thing, or even better, depending on your point of view. This is the indisputable number one top right answer for today's breakfast topic, "Neatest Land Mount." Discuss.
Druid epic flight form is live with patch 2.1
Patch 2.1 brought many treats to the adventurers of Azeroth, but one of the sweetest is the Epic Druid Flight Form quest. Unlike its predecessor, Flight Form, this ability isn't handed out to every high level shape shifter with the appropriate riding skill. The quest to fly at epic speed is long and complex. Revered reputation grinding, Heroic instance running, escort quests, exploding foliage and much more await the intrepid druid. Oh, and they have to pay the 5000g riding skill upgrade before they can even start the quest. When they finish, druids not only get the Swift Flight Form ability, but also a relic that works for any druid spec: Idol of the Raven Goddess - Increases the healing granted by the Tree of Life form aura by 20, adds 9 critical strike rating to the Leader of the Pack aura, and adds 9 spell critical strike rating to the Moonkin form aura.An excellent walkthrough, Wiki style, can be found here at the Servants of Seagis guild site.EDIT: Another reward received in the quest chain: Charm of Swift Flight, Trinket, Equip: Increases speed in Flight Form and Swift Flight Form by 10%. Thanks to Felixia from the Uldum Server for the heads up!
DS Daily: The Suite Life of Zack & Cody & You
We were just wondering how much our awesome DS Fanboy audience crossed over with the "mainstream" audience. And by that we mean people who pick up the Disney Channel tie-in games.We're not making fun here; we aren't judging or anything. We are genuinely interested. Who among us has played The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, or Hannah Montana, or That's So Raven: Psychic on the Scene? We usually pay no attention at all to this stuff, so we'd actually like to hear impressions of it from our commenting friends. Are they bland? Are any of them surprisingly playable? Or hilariously, lovably awful?
Wolfenstein set for 2008 release
Wolfenstein fans can again rejoice, because the franchise hasn't died just yet. Actually, you'll be happy to know that the next game in the series will be hitting the 360 later next year. In an interview with a Wisconsin new station, who were doing a story on video game development, Raven Software talked about what new tools they use for next gen development and hinted that Wolfenstein will be releasing sometime in 2008. Huge news? Not really, but the Wolfenstein dev team has kept quite mum about their little baby, so any news is rather exciting. Full article and Raven Software interview after the jump.[Via Joystiq]
'Next-gen' Wolfenstein resurfaces with 2008 release
After falling off radar for a little over a year, the "next-gen" version of Wolfenstein continues development with a 2008 release date attached to it. Announced back in 2005, the game was expected last year and just sorta disappeared. Now a random story by a Wisconsin television station about motion capture technology brings news that the game isn't complete vaporware and developer Raven Software (Marvel Ultimate Alliance) is still working on it.The focus of the news piece is the actress Raven Software hired to play "an elite force assassin" in the game. The actress, Carrie Coon, will have her face scanned for use in the game. Femme fatales always make a game better, just ask Ada Wong (Resident Evil) or Mona Sax (Max Payne). Well, we hope that the game will get a real name soon and some screens to go with the official announcement. With any luck the title won't disappear for another year -- we need more WWII based, Nazi killin', first-person shooters!
New Marvel: UA content still MIA
After waiting around all day staring at the Xbox Live Marketplace (what a living), the new content for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance still hasn't arrived. Naturally, we're a little confused, as a trailer was released on Marketplace just to let us know that the content would arrive April 10th (i.e. yesterday). The trailer has now been pulled, and the official Marvel: Ultimate Alliance website says nothing of the content beyond the original announcement that was made last month. Of course, it's possible the content failed the certification process, in which case fans could be waiting a while to get their hands on the new heroes and villains. Was anyone out there looking forward to this new DLC? Update: The sheer magnitude of all the super villainy contained in this post created a time vacuum, thus shoving the post backwards in time an entire day. The evil has since been rectified and the post returned to its proper time.
New Marvel: Ultimate Alliance content soon
It looks like the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance content that was announced last month is nearing completion. The news comes from GameDaily.biz, though it seems the original article has been removed. Luckily, Evil Avatar has captured the important bits. The content pack is set to bring 8 different heroes and villains to the game, including Hawkeye, Magneto, the Incredible Hulk, Nightcrawler, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom (!), Cyclops, and Venom (!!). The Hero Pack and Villain Pack will set you back 500 points each, or you could grab all 8 in one pack for a cool 800. Individual gamer pictures will also be available for 80 points each. No release date has been confirmed.Are you willing to drop the MS Points to breathe new life into Marvel?Update: As awesome as Magneto is, he doesn't deserve to be listed twice. Added Nightcrawler, who richly deserves to be there.
Metareview - Marvel Ultimate Alliance
The ongoing debate over which superhero universe reigns supreme may never be settled, but Marvel Comics is looking like the clear winner in the gaming space with Activision's release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. There's no Incredible Hulk (he's in Vivendi's game), but just about everyone else from the House of Ideas makes an appearance, which amounts to at least 20 playable characters on each platform. Where Ultimate Alliance really shines over Justice League Heroes is in the stronger focus on teamwork, not to mention a more impressive cast of villains. <Your team name here>, assemble! Game Informer (93/100) likes the new transparent rejuvenation system: "In this game, you no longer need to stock potions. When an enemy is slain, there's a chance that the fallen will gift you with a cluster of healing orbs that automatically zoom to your character. This change not only removes the clunky system of healing, it makes you feel more like a hero. Your focus is always on the battlefield, not a meter." GamePro (90/100) appreciates the challenging enemy AI: "The major boss battles are head and shoulders above anything you've seen in the past. The roster of villains changes with such frequency that you never get a chance to get sick of them. Stronger ones boast talents like healing and immunity to certain attacks, while others carry shields that force your active crew of four to work as a team." TeamXbox (88/100) was dazzled by the production quality: "The opening cinematic by Blur Studios is perhaps the finest I have witnessed in a videogame...but it's worth mentioning that the in-game footage cut scenes by Raven are no slouches either. Raven's in-game work is really nice too. Characters all have that comic book look, but have been updated to have their own edge. The backgrounds are just as sweet, flexing a bunch of post-production effects and lots of animations."
Shell head and Stretcho highlight new Alliance trailers
In less than three weeks, Activision will begin shipping Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and there's been a steady stream of trailer updates over the past month. Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic are the latest attractions, and although these heroes are both geniuses, they have their flaws -- one has a drinking problem, and the other spends too many hours in the lab. If you ask me, Reed Richards' greatest accomplishment is bagging Sue Storm, so you have to wonder where this guy's priorities are. Which four heroes will you be using for your Ultimate team?
Ultimate Alliance, not so ultimate screens
It's nice that Activision is even bothering with Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but come on. Look at it. Sure, if it's anything like X-Men Legends it will be a blast, but these screens are far from impressive. It wouldn't matter if the 360 version had the same price as the Xbox version, but do you really want to pay sixty bucks for this?[Via OpenXBOX360]
Activision auditioning voices for Namor
Earlier this month, Activision started its online voice-over contest for the roles of Bruce Banner and Jean Grey in the upcoming Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The Marvel games publisher is no longer accepting entries for puny Dr. Banner, but a new casting call for Namor the Sub-Mariner (the elvish-looking guy with wings on his feet) has just been announced. If you're lucky enough to become the voice of the Atlantean prince, maybe you'll get a chance to woo the Invisible Woman.Activision is also still auditioning voices for Jean Grey, so ladies, step on up to the mic! The contest ends July 23.
Marvel wants your voice for Ultimate Alliance
Attention, true believers! If you've got the chops to be a super hero, Marvel and Activision want to hear from you (literally). The creators of Marvel Ultimate Alliance are currently auditioning aspiring voice actors for the parts of Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner and the X-Men's Jean Grey (a.k.a. Marvel Girl/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix). The top male and female entries will have their voices featured in the game, and will also take home an Xbox 360 and other prizes.Now, before you dust off those old Bill Bixby videotapes and start practicing the classic "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" line, there is specific dialogue you will have to read into the Flash recorder on the official site. Practice up and make Stan Lee proud.[via TeamXbox]
Switched On turns one: The Maven
Every Wednesday Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, an opinion column about consumer technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment. Today's Switched On's first birthday, so as a present we gave Ross his very own banner. Wish Switched On a happy birthday, why don't you? Once upon a midnight madness sale I sauntered, steeped in sadness,Through the shiny piles and aisles composing my computer store.Suddenly there came a rapping. "Skeet skeet skeet." Had I been napping?Energy, it had been sapping from my soul for weeks or more.Yea, those loathsome customers had chilled my being for weeks or more.Back-to-school had drained my core.Soon the winds would bring the winter - time to sell each mouse, each printer."Profit!" said I, "Thing of evil? Nah," applying Avacor.For while came the rare exception, money flowed from deep deception.Ignorance would find reception warm throughout each corridor.From these fools I'd find the dollars flow down every corridor.Idiots I did adore.There I saw him, by the mobos, dressing like those unkempt hobos -Greasy hair atop the fat and pimples that adorned each pore.Mannerisms quite absurd, he stood there mumbling, looking nerdy,Yet I could not find the word he brought to mind inside the store.In that squalid rust of malice did he slither through the store,Saying naught and nothing more.Fate approached him as a customer who seemed at once to trust him."Are these cameras any good? I've never shopped for one before."Glasses thick, stubble unshaven, spewing trivia like Cliff Clavin,On he went, this crazy maven bragging of his Slashdot score."If you read my blog, you'd know my postings rate above a four.'Funny' and 'Insightful' are the words you'd see with five or four."After which she fled the store.Then a man who lacked acumen caused his targeting to zoom in."Windows spyware drives me nuts. Removing it is such a chore."This Mac mini sure looks swell so buying it would end my hell, no?""Apple's switching to Intel so I would wait a year or more"And you'll want new software too if you don't wait a year or more."Quoth the maven, "Leave the store."
