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Gamespot recently posted an article announcing a two-player co-operative mode in Stubbs the Zombie. Stubbs, developed by Wideload Games, is a third person action game that puts players in control of a flesh eating zombie as he battles to consume all that is good in the world. Here's a clip from the article:

Even the undead can benefit from the buddy system in developer Wideload Games' upcoming eat-'em-up. Along with publisher Aspyr Media, Wideload today announced the inclusion of a two-player co-op mode in its upcoming Xbox game, Stubbs the Zombie. No longer will Stubbs have to combat the human menace on his own; now a second player can join in and step into the no-doubt-awful-smelling shoes of Grubbs the Zombie

For more information, click the links below.

Aspyr Media (add to watch list)

Wideload (add to watch list)

Stubbs the Zombie (add to watch list)

Gamespot Article - Stubbs Co-Op

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Inside Mac Games has posted a review of Aspyr's Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2005. Here's a clip from the review:

Graphics in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 merit an excellent score. Player models are extremely lifelike, sporting fluid and realistic movements, and every character can also display a wide range of facial expressions, allowing the characters to react to their shots in very lifelike ways. Despair at a terrible drives and victorious, fist-pumping celebrations after great putts are all a normal part of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. Each course looks extremely attractive for the most part, with great looking tree and grass models that blow in the wind and reflective water that simulates real life very well. On some wide-angle shots, the course can occasionally look somewhat flat due to the fact that the grass and trees cannot be rendered at that distance without killing performance, but the experience during actual gameplay makes up for this minor shortcoming. Attention to detail is apparent throughout the game—even the golf balls are detailed enough to read the logo on the ball as it rolls towards the cup.

IMG Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

Aspyr Media (add to watch list)

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (add to watch list)

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On tonight's broadcast of iGame Radio, the Mac gaming radio program, host Omaha Sternberg talks with Carlos Camacho, editor-in-chief of iDevGames. Also, a review of Dr. Germ by Game Savant.

Carlos Camacho is the founder and editor-in-chief of the iDevGames website, a site dedicated to independent Mac game development. Recently, iDevGames.com has undergone a redesign. Questions about the new site, whether there will be a uDevGames 2005, the future of iDevGames, and more will be discussed.

Dr. Germ is really four games in one. A quartet of puzzle games developed and published by Game Savant, Omaha will review this recently released game as part of her series focusing on small independent developers.

Omaha will also offer Mac gaming news and commentary, and together with her guest will take questions live from listeners in the iGame Radio chat room (AIM/iChat room name "iGameRadio").

iGame Radio

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Gamepro recently interviewed three of the creative minds behind Lionhead Studio's Fable: The Lost Chapters. Simon Carter (lead coder), Mike West (game designer), and Louise Copley (Senior Producer) spoke on a number of issues about the game as well as about some of their competitor's products. The possibility of future titles in the Fable universe wasn't confirmed but the trio did mention an abundance of ideas for more sequels.

Shifting gears, we asked the group what changes the Lionhead team, speaking strictly as gaming fans, might want to see in future iterations of the series. Carter teased us with a little more about their plans. "We have an awful lot of ideas for future iterations of Fable. It's safe to say that when we were originally designing Fable, we had so many ideas for it that it could've taken us ten or twenty years to develop. So we have no problem coming up with different ideas we want to crowbar into future version of Fable...should that happen." Carter went on to explain that "there are some key things that Fable does well, like giving you a sense of ownership over the world," and that any sequels would likely focus on those aspects.

Gamepro: Lionhead Interview

Feral Interactive (add to watch list)

Fable: The Lost Chapters (add to watch list)

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CVG recently interviewed Mark Rein of Epic Games. This interview focuses on the company's progress on UT 2007 and Unreal Engine 4. In addition, Rein discusses his views on the next generation of the gaming industry.

Which of your games are you most excited about? What about Unreal 2007? What's your favourite part of development there?

Mark Rein: I think the big strides we're making are in AI and the ability to communicate with your team-mates, be they AI or human. The seamless background loading is going to be a huge feature and not just because of our new Conquest feature (that name's still work-in-progress), but it'll enable us to have these unlimited seamless maps. When you play online and you're in a lobby, the ability to keep these people together through their experience will really enhance the community quite a bit.

Unreal Tournament, the original, is still our biggest-selling game ever. Because we sell our games now in instalments, no single instalment is going to sell in the same way as a single game across multiple formats. We're really recapturing a lot of the original, with less jumping around - it went a little crazy with the double and triple jumps. It'll be toned down and a little more skill-based.

The new game modes are pretty cool. If you took Unreal 2004, put it in Unreal Engine 3, upgraded all the artwork, I'd be the first one to buy it anyway. Clearly the visual improvements are exciting. That alone justifies the purchase, but there's a whole lot more. Also, there's Gears of War on Xbox 360. There's not really much more to say on that right now, but it's going great. It's going to be a flagship game.

CVG: Epic Q&A

Epic Games (add to watch list)

Recently, Awnee, a Mac exclusive first and third person shooter, has been updated and released as freeware. In addition to the regular game, user's can use AwneeTools to create their own custom content. This update contains the following features:

• New weapons
  
• Binoculars
  
• Sniperzoom (fadeIn/fadeOut)
  
• Environment/light - morning, day, evening, night - depends on your local time, rain, fire, snow, clouds, fog, blood
  
• xPoints, Ranks, Medals,
  
• HUD: compass, MapPlan, PlayerStats, MapStats, GameStats
  
• Mission0: (HoloDeck, PowerPlant, Arena)

Awnee Homepage

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Choose to view the world of a destructive god or a peaceful god in the relaunch of the official Black & White 2 website. Both mini-sites provide the same information about the game, characters, civilizations, etc. However, the contrasting atmospheres of an evil god and peaceful god implies differences in gameplay depending on the god you choose to become.

Black & White 2 will be released on the PC in the coming weeks. We can only cross our fingers and hope this innovative strategy title will make it to the Mac as its predecssor did. Please follow the links below to view the website and to learn more information.

Official Black & White 2 Website

Lionhead Studios (add to watch list)

Black & White II (add to watch list)

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In celebration of the five year anniversary of Bioware's award winning Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Gamebanshee has posted an interview with two of the game's designers. Also available are updates to walkthroughs of BG 2 and it's expansion Throne of Bhaal along with a column discussing the game's success. In the interview James Ohlen and Kevin Martens, Co Lead Designers on BG 2, examine what influenced the game, how its success has impacted Bioware's future products, and why BG 2 itself was so popular.

GB: What specific aspects of Baldur's Gate II do you feel attributed to the game's major success?

Kevin: Well first off, it was enormous. We could guarantee that we had something for everyone simply by the amount of content, which also contributed to the replay value. I started at BioWare only a few months before Baldur’s Gate hit shelves, so I wasn’t involved with the core design of the series or the engine. I would like to take this opportunity to toot BioWare’s horn without tooting my own. The real-time pause combat system on top of the deep roleplaying game is one of the best things that has ever happened to the RPG genre. That extra element of tactics from the realm of games like Warcraft II or Starcraft really opened up the combat experience of the game, and I think it also drew some of the really cool elements out of the AD&D system while keeping combat fierce and action-packed. Any success I’ve had with the engine since then I owe to the core concept pioneered by the Baldur’s Gate team.

It wasn’t just clever innovation and size that made the game a success. At the end of the day, Baldur’s Gate II did well because people worked so hard, for so long, with so much passion, and refused to let the game out the door without those extra little pieces that make the experience so memorable. I am forever indebted to the Baldur’s Gate series teams for making my career and allowing me to live a dream.

GameBanshee: BG 2 Anniversary Content

GameBanshee: BG 2 Developer Interview

MacPlay (add to watch list)

BioWare (add to watch list)

Baldur's Gate II (add to watch list)

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Blizzard has released yet another bonus map for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, their popular fantasy real time strategy title. The small new map, titled Deadfall, is designed for 1v1 or 2v2 play.

For years the mages of Moonbrook have debated, "If a brave warrior falls in a forest with no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?"

Warcraft III: TFT Bonus Maps

Blizzard Entertainment (add to watch list)

WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (add to watch list)

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In Spiderweb Software's latest newsletter the upcoming role playing game Avernum 4 was "officially" announced. Returning to the underground empire made popular in previous Avernum and Exile titles, players face a variety of unexplained disasters plaguing the land and must seek out the mysterious foes assaulting the heroes' homeland before it is too late. The newsletter includes a brief question and answer section about the new game.

Q: Does the game use a new engine?

A: Avernum 4 uses a HIGHLY modified version of the Geneforge engine. It
runs at a higher screen resolution, has nicer graphics, and is very
definitely an Avernum game.

Q: Does the game play like Geneforge?

A: Nope. It's an Avernum game. It is fully turn-based, and has the
Avernum game system. People who like Avernum more than Geneforge will
not be unhappy, I promise.

Q: Is it big?

A: It's enormous. A gigantic world, almost 200 quests, and as many
characters and as much dialogue as anything we've ever done.

Q: Will it be out soon?

A: I sure hope so. If I avoid getting the flu, it should be out for
Macintosh by Christmas and Windows 2-3 months after that.

Spiderweb Beta Test Sign Up Form

Avernum 4 Screenshots

Avernum 4 (add to watch list)

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