Tag Archive

They Hate Apple Pie - Yet More Red Alert 3 Trailers

Written by John Walker on October 24, 2008.

Red Alert 3’s just a week away now, but that’s no reason for EA to stop pumping out ludicrous trailers. Three more now, and I don’t doubt there’ll be others. This time there’s one for each of the playable factions, intercutting game action with hammier acting than a pig-only production of Hamlet. (Yes, I went there).

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Speculative Rumour: Is Syndicate Coming Back?

Written by John Walker on October 18, 2008.

Well, if this is true, it’s a bit of a surprise. CVG are claiming that EA will soon be announcing a new Syndicate game. Yes, Syndicate. Way back in February EA signed a deal with Starbreeze to make an old game from the EA cupboards. Known as “Project RedLime”, no one knew what it was. Kieron madly guessed Archon. We naturally asked you to guess, and kudos to commenters who got it. (Apart from the ones who listed the entire EA back catalogue). If CVG are right, that is.

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Spore: The First Expansion?

Written by Alec Meer on October 4, 2008.

Via VG247, early word on what might be for the first add-on pack for the famously uncontroversial Spore. And it’s… Cute & Creepy Creature Parts Pack? Oh, man. That sounds worryingly superficial, though I guess it embiggens the element of the game that’s been most well-received. Still, there’s only so much creature-tinkering I can do before getting bored. New/expanded stages plzkthx.

EA Wise Up?

Written by Alec Meer on October 1, 2008.

Time to stick my hand into the angry beehive again… The EA/Spore/DRM issue isn’t likely to go away any time soon. In a funny sort of way, the ridiculous DRM on Spore might well turn out to be a good thing for gamers - like it or not, EA’s weight in the industry means they’re trend-setters to some degree. That a company so big attempted the sort of draconian copy-protection that only smaller publishers had hithero dabbled in, and crucially they now seem to realise it was a mistake, may well set a positive precedent for everyone. So, while I initially decried the mass trolling of Amazon reviews, I have to agree now that a game as high-profile as Spore was perhaps an ideal object for protest. I’d still much prefer it was gone about in a smarter way than fevered screaming, though.

Though EA aren’t behaving in terribly gentlemanly fashion towards DRM-complaint posts on their forums, they are gradually backing down from some of the restrictions they unfairly placed upon Spore installs, and it looks like that trend’s set to continue.
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Tiberium Goes Bye-Bye

Written by Alec Meer on September 30, 2008.

I was thinking only the other day that we hadn’t heard anything about that somewhat dreary-looking Command & Conquer FPS for a while, and then I spot news over at Blue’s that EA have unexpectedly put it out of its misery.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the end to all work on ‘Tiberium,’ effective immediately”, sez Ea’s Mike Verdu. “The game had fundamental design challenges from the start.”

Given it really wasn’t looking all that stellar (RPS readers at the time of the first footage certainly weren’t terribly taken with it), it’s probably for the best, what with C&C’s populist profile recently being boosted by all that Red Alert 3 boob-mania. The real sad news is that it could affect some folks’ jobs - here’s hoping they’re all moved onto interesting new projects. Below the cut: the trailer and some in-game footage, for old time’s sakes.
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Red Alert 3: Does It Contain A Game As Well?

Written by John Walker on September 30, 2008.

After we posted EA’s last Red Alert 3 video, featuring a dance remix of the various actors in the FMV, we commented that things were getting a little peculiar. We then received a cryptic email from someone within MTV telling us, “You haven’t seen anything yet…”

While the latest official video doesn’t quite reach the heights of the previous one, it does contain some extremely strange moments. This time it’s all about the boys.

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Spore Buds - EA Backs Down On DRM

Written by John Walker on September 23, 2008.

The good news is this: EA are taking a big step back on Spore’s DRM. From three installs ever and one account per copy of the game, they’re switching to as many re-installs as you want on a maximum of five computers, with a patch for multiple accounts for one machine on the way. That’s a big change of heart. We hinted that there might have been a change from three to five installs last week. This weekend the LA Times reported that EA have “apologised” to customers for the digital restrictions, when issuing their reprise. They report EA Games’ President Frank Gibeau saying,

“We’ve received complaints from a lot of customers who we recognize and respect. We need to adapt our policy to accommodate our legitimate consumers.”

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EA + Steam: Together At Last?

Written by Alec Meer on September 13, 2008.

Now here’s a thing. Rousing myself from hangover horror enough to glance briefly at my inbox, I notice a press release about Crysis: Warhead coming to Steam. “Oh, that’s nice”, I think before collapsing into another hour of semi-concious agony. It’s only later that I have a waitagoshdarnedminute moment - this means EA are now prepared to stick their games on Steam. Which is, y’know, a big fecking deal. I believe this means there’s now no remaining major publisher who hasn’t signed up to Valve’s world-devouring download service. Edit - apart from Vivendi, as Theory observes. I is stupid. Still, it’s a fairly momentous occasion, making it increasingly hard to argue that Steam isn’t the iTunes of gaming.

Additional, post-coffee edit - yeah, this seems more to do with Crytek than EA, but EA are mentioned in the press release, and must have at the very least okayed this. It’s a positive step even if it’s not as big as I first thought.
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Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum 90

Written by Alec Meer on September 12, 2008.

Though we may hide our various lights under an electronic bushel, in the real world an exciting new hobby has proven itself exceedingly popular: foot-to-ball. It’s so beloved of British gentlemen that they will literally kill one other to demonstrate their enthusiasm for it. It’s simply spiffing that modern men are so unafraid to display their passions in public.

Astoundingly, foot-to-ball is not an actively solely engaged in with a physical foot and ball. It has lately also made its way to the personal electronic home computer system, in a form where one’s feet remain entirely uninvolved. I profess I do not entirely understand the logic - why not simply venture outdoors and apply one’s foot to a ball oneself? - but nonetheless I have just now had the curious privelege of playing the demonstration version of the new Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum 90 foot-to-ball simulation program. Read on to discover my experiences of this bad-tempered gentlemen’s preferred pastime.
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Mythic’s Other Project

Written by Alec Meer on September 11, 2008.

It’s all WAR, WAR, WAR around here, but lest we forget, Mythic Entertainment are working on a second MMO. As with Warhammer Online, it’s a project that began in someone else’s hands - Ultima Online. While I’d heard last year’s attempted reboot of the decade-old MMO didn’t go as well as expected - though I had a giggle in it - clearly the old man has enough blood in him to warrant a new expansion. It was originally due last Summer, but now carries a 2009 release date.

It’s to be called the Stygian Abyss, which is a name to send euphoric shivers down the spines of long-standing RPG players. It was, of course, the subtitle to the first Ultima Underworld, so its redeployment here suggests it’s a concerted effort to appeal to older gamers. Or to restore UO’s critical standing. Or to save someone from thinking up a new name. I dunno. Read the rest of this entry »

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