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In an impromptu sit-down meeting this morning, IMG staffers got a chance to talk with Freeverse Software's president, Ian Lynch Smith, about his company's upcoming titles.

First off, Ian mentioned that Freeverse has secured the North American publishing rights to e.p.i.c. interactive's stand-alone adventure strategy game Northland. The game, which details the story of the Viking God Loki who tried to take revenge on Godfather Odin for his banishment from Asgard to Earth, is currently in publication, and is expected to be shipping by the end of January.

Next, Ian showed us an early demo of Wingnuts 2, the sequel to the popular overhead flying game. Although the game is in its very early stages, it features OpenGL-rendered textures maps above which players soar in their battle through time to beat the Baron.

Also demo'ed was Freeverse's upcoming sequel Airburst Extreme. The gaming engine for this bubble shooter has been completely re-written to take advantage of Apple's OpenGL implementation. The gameplay has also been completely revamped, and we even got a look at the between-level cutscenes, which feature anime-style characters challenging each other to duels. Both Wingnuts 2 and Airburst Extreme are in the works, with no published release date (yet).

On the practical application side, Ian showed us BumperCar, his company's kid-friendly web browser. Built on an OmniWeb license, and featuring the speedy rendering of the Safari engine, BumperCar was designed to cater to the needs of parents worried about their kids surfing the web unsupervised. The browser features several configurable safety technologies, including white lists, detailed filters and advanced security options, designed to keep children away from unsavory websites. The game, featuring a fun look and feel, also includes a number of Freeverse's games that have been built into the browser's interface. BumperCar is expected to ship by March of this year.

Finally, Ian hinted at several upcoming titles in their roster that are too early to talk about in public (hee hee). Stay tuned to IMG for more MWSF news as it happens!

MWSF 2004 (add to watch list)

Freeverse (add to watch list)

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