Worms
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Worms gameplay video is sheepalicious
Sure, we brought you some screenshots before, but screenshots simply do not convey the true and explodey joy of Worms. Lucky for us all, GameTrailers has posted some squirmy and destructive video of the game in action. Those of you who have been worried by the simplified "pick-up-and-play" description of the game -- now called Worms Defeat by the way -- may be able to relax now. As far as we can tell, Worms Defeat looks like straight up Worms action. There are plenty of weapons, exploding barrels, item crates, and even different worm voices: it looks like everything is there. Of course, there are a few questions we would like answered. Can players still adjust fuse times on items like grenades? Can you still manually detonate sheep (the one in this video runs until the timer expires). Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to wait for the game's Arcade release to find out. Watch the video after the break.
First wiggling screenshots of Worms
Xbox Attitude has the first screenshots of the upcoming XBLA title Worms. Worms is supposed to hit the XBLA next month and as these screenshots indicate, the game looks to be staying true to its roots. Though, it is rumored that the developers are leaning towards an easier to pickup more simplified version of the game. Hopefully the game comes out rocking, because Worms in full HD glory makes tears roll down our collective fanboy faces. Make the jump for more Worms screens. [Thanks, Carlos]
XBL Arcade's Worms HD nears completion
According to a Team17 forum post (registration required), Worms HD, is nearing completion for Xbox Live Arcade. The game is currently being tested on Partnernet (debug version of Xbox Live for devs), and allegedly, only a single bug remains. With some string-pulling, Worms HD could wriggle out of the XBLA pipeline in early 2007. Worms HD will be officially unveiled at CES next month. The XBLA version is thought to be more accessible than its strategy-rich predecessors, but a 'pick up and play' foundation could deter the already waning fanbase (poor 3D sequels have soured the series). Team17 is also supposedly prepping a series of downloadable content packs (a mix of free and premium offerings), perhaps due in part to Microsoft's imposed 50MB size limit. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Rumor: Worms HD wriggles out after CES
Our friends at XBLArcade have informed us that Worms HD -- an Xbox Live Arcade version of the classic series -- is near completion, according to a forum post on the Team17 website (registration required). The post declares that the game is already on Partnernet (a debug and press only version of Xbox Live) and has only one more bug to be worked out. Furthermore, the game should be available "hot on the heels" of CES, which ends January 11. Worms HD will be officially announced during the show. XBLArcade also reports that Team17 is already working on downloadable content -- free and premium -- and that the game is supposedly easier to "pick up and play" than previous iterations. We share their sentiment that this may or may not be a good thing for Worms, as one of the best parts of the series is its depth of strategy. Hopefully, this will remain intact in the Arcade release. At any rate, we can't wait to get a crack at Worms HD in all its 2D glory. With any luck, it may wash out the sour taste of the recent 3D iterations. Anyone else excited to pick this up?
How would you react to a wide-spread Mac OS X virus?
One of the long-standing major appeals of the Mac OS has been its relatively small and low-impact ratio of serious security vulnerabilities and virus attacks. Users wear it like a badge on their shoulder, and even Apple has jumped in by flat-out bragging about Mac OS X's security with their latest Get a Mac ad campaign.While the debate surrounding exactly why the Mac has earned this reputation has raged at least since the term 'trolling' was coined, I'm a bit more interested in bending the space-time continuum and asking you, dear readers, a hypothetical: what would happen if a truly malicious Mac OS X virus were to break out in large scale? I'm talking about something along the lines of the Sasser worm, which grounded some Delta Airline flights, brought many other companies to their knees, and is estimated to have caused billions in damage.I know Apple's machines aren't quite as integral to the various operations of our society and businesses like Windows and Linux are, but it would be hard to argue that a good portion of of the Mac user base doesn't care about the security of their chosen OS. With this in mind, I wonder: would you keep your Mac in a day and age when 3rd party virus and security tools become a basic necessity of Mac OS X? Would you bite the bullet and buy Norton Virus Mega Security Bundle Premium 2007 beta 5? Do you think all those switchers - reeled in by Apple's "We don't have any viruses" Get a Mac commercials - would become crippled in disillusion?What say you, TUAW readers. How large of a hole in Apple's security record would be 'too large'?
Worms confirmed and unconfirmed for XBLA
File this one under "They took it down so it must be true." According to 1UP, a 2D version of Team17's Worms series is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Furthermore, it's actually complete and awaiting certification from Microsoft. To prove their assertions, 1UP posted a link to the Team17 forums, supposedly confirming the game's existence. It went a little something like this: "Plans for announcements are being discussed with MS next week, hold tight. The game is in final certification stages btw, yes it's pretty much all finished apart from any last bugs they find. MS has a schedule of releases and we'll soon find out how we fit into that" It looks like someone spoke too soon (and presumably outside of NDA), as the post has since been, ahem, altered. It now reads, "Tom has a small todger." So, is Worms coming to XBLA? Probably. Will it come out this year? We don't know for sure, but we'd say not, considering MS has a pretty solid lineup, um, lined up. Worms would definitely fit on XBLA. The gameplay is simple yet addictive, and it's turn based, so you won't have to deal with nasty lag. Anybody else up for some Worms on XBLA? [Via Joystiq]
Worms 2D confirmed for Xbox Live Arcade
Team17 has completed a version of Worms for Xbox Live Arcade, returning the multiplayer strategy franchise to its 2D roots. In a recent forum post, creative and studio director Martyn Brown confirmed that the game has entered the final stage of certification and plans for announcing its launch will be discussed with Microsoft next week. But don't hold your breath for a holiday release; XBLA's lineup is firmly in place. Team17's first downloadable title, Lemmings 2, will be available on PlayStation 3's service later this month. [Via 1UP]
TUAW Podcast #13
This week's podcast involves Dan Pourhadi and the C4 developer shindig he attended, those exclusive Leopard screenshots we nabbed, iPod viruses and the corporate blame game, and we round off with Apple's preliminary 4th quarter earnings results. Dan and I kept things short this time around, as the podcast rounds off at just over 20 minutes and 18.6MB.As usual, you can grab the podcast via a direct link, our podcast RSS feed or in the iTunes Store podcast directory. Enjoy the show.Update: It seems there's a bug in our iTS feed preventing from getting this latest episode, though our other links for accessing the podcast are working just fine. We'll keep you posted.
Symantec: No file infecting viruses for OS X
Every time I write about Mac security the comments fill up with people telling me that I am an idiot (actually, come to think of it, that happens with most of my posts). Therefore, I thought some of you would enjoy this post from Symantec that which states categorically that there are no known file infecting viruses for OS X. Hurrah! Macs rulez!! W00t!Hold your horses, spanky. Todd Woodward, the author of the post, rightly points out that while there are no viruses for OS X there are worms, rootkits, and vulnerabilities in the OS itself. So, it is like I always say, Mac users might not have to worry about viruses now but that doesn't mean that OS X is somehow magically immune to viruses.
HP dons white hat to hack customers' servers
Usually the term "hacking" has some rather negative connotations, so it almost seems counterintuitive to pay someone good money for breaking into your system, but that's exactly what HP is offering to do for its corporate customers with a new service called HP Active Countermeasures, or HPAC. As you'd imagine, HP's hackers won't do anything malicious once they break into a client's server -- propagating a worm, for instance, would seem to be bad for business -- but they will use a combination of buffer, heap, and stack overflows to exploit a system in much the same way that black hatters cause Internet terror on a daily basis. Specifically, the company will employ one of its own servers to launch attacks using eight to ten scanning clients for every 250,000 devices that are part of the program, and offer customers a temporary patch until they're able to hire a dedicated security firm for shoring up any vulnerabilities. Pricing is promised to be "aggressive," with firms using less than 20,000 IP addresses expected to pay only a few dollars per user per year for the privilege of learning how shoddy their security really is.[Via The Inquirer]
Worms: Open Warfare interview
IGN recently conducted a nice Q & A session with Team 17, the studio behind those little gun-toting worms. Since the game is due to hit your local retailer any day now, they aimed to get some final tidbits of information out of them before getting their hands on a final copy and slapping up a review. Team 17 goes on to say that they indeed did have plans to take the game online via Nintendo's WiFi service, yet the development time did not allow for it. They do, however, confirm that they've already begun work on another Worms title, so let's hope they've decided that it will utilize the service.
New Worms Open Warfare Screens
After discussing just how gross worms are earlier today, we have to admit that we've been somewhat swayed by these new screenshots of Worms Open Warfare, the vertebrae-less crew's portable outing coming soon on the DS and PSP. As you can see, the backgrounds are 3D, but the destructible foregrounds are slightly lesser-D. After the so-so reception the 3D incarnation of the series received and the DS' less than stellar proficiency at churning out polygons, this approach is definitely the way to go. [Thanks neil!]
Worms wage war on DS
Worms are gross. They wriggle in unnatural ways, crawl around in your intestinal tract and in some cases, burst forth from gigantic sand dunes and devour your Fremen troops. I may be confusing my fictional and non-fictional worms here, but the fact of the matter is that worms are one of the lesser adored creepy creatures on the planet, slotting in somewhere between tarantulas and Anne Heche. With that in mind, it's rather miraculous that developer Team 17 have made such a success out of their hilarious strategic combat series, Worms. Now under the THQ umbrella, Worms Open Warfare is set to debut on both the DS and PSP, continuing the long-running franchise's wacky traditions that mainly revolve around squeaky smacktalking and exploding sheep. The graphics promise to go with a "2.5D" approach, only rendering the backgrounds in 3D whilst constricting movement to the 2D plane. The DS version will happily support multiplayer combat (which is what the games have always trumpeted) with up to 4 players playing from a single cart...or pak, if we must to use that word. No information on online Wi-Fi capabilities yet, but we'd be very angry indeed if such an opportunity was wasted.
