Don't stop now! Don't take rests!,
Matthew Arcilla

 

Just Adventure Status  Randy Sluganski gives us more dish on the interview he's got lined up for JustAdventure. Expect the following day to see the light of Randy's interview with Bob Bates, ex-Infocom writer and producer of the Blackstone Chronicles.  Howling Great News  White Wolf Studios, those crazy pseudo-horror RPG makers of Vampire, Werewolf and others have signed a deal with ASC Games (Sanitarium) to bring a computer port-over of White Wolf's award-winning paper RPG Werewolf: The Apocalypse to us RPG freaks!   The game is quite appropriately titled Werewolf: The Apocalypse and will be brought to us by Dreamforge, those people who developed the pantswetting Sanitarium and is destined to hit us fourth quarter 1999.  To make us drool even more, the official word from the people from ASC is that they have licensed the Unreal Engine! For you adv/RPG purists who don't know, Unreal's engine is killer technology!  So says the press release:   "The game promises to combine action-packed gameplay with all of the dark, atmospheric personality of the hugely successful RPG series." Mike Tinney, VP of Licensing and Marketing at White Wolf had this to say:   "White Wolf is thrilled to have partnered with companies like ASC Games and DreamForge Intertainment. ASC Games maintains a commitment to this genre and a market savvy that is uncommon in this industry these days.  After having seen the initial design... we're very pleased. It's everything we'd hope to have at this stage of our Werewolf computer game design." The storyline will focus upon Ryan McCullough, from White Wolf's fabled World of Darkness, which is the campaign world in which all White Wolf Game Studio Storyteller games take place.  Ryan is a teen who is just beginning to discover his powers as a Garou - a sect of werewolves that serve as the protectors of Gaia.  However, Ryan's lineage is plagued by the wicked scourge known as the Wyrm, whom all White Wolfers know as the essence of evil and destruction.    "Will he join his ancestors and help bring about the destruction of the world? Or will he defy his blood ties and become the servant of Gaia that he knows in his heart he should be?"  The game will take place in a wide variety of locales, from the streets of London to the Graeco ruins and Amazonian jungles literally into the very belly of a mythical beast (!).   What does Epic Megagames (Unreal, Jazz Jackrabbit 2) have to say? Mark Rein states:   "From a game design standpoint, ASC Games and DreamForge have taken on an extremely... tall task for any 3D game engine. However, we're excited that they have the confidence in the Unreal Engine... to make Werewolf: The Apocalypse one of the most anticipated titles of 1999." Yup, I'm excited as hell. Are we seeing the dawn of the high-tech RPG? I do think so. With Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Wizardry VIII, Ultima IX, Anachronox and Quest for Glory: Dragonfire getting ready to hit us, I should be excited.  ---c/o Randy Sluganski  Longest Journey's Journey Has Lengthened  Let's keep this short and sweet so you'll have more time to cry. FunCom's double world adventure, Longest Journey has been postponed to the first quarter of 1999.  Now you can cry. Go ahead, you want to.  ---c/o Randy Sluganski

 

Also, today's news marks a milestone in this page's history. Evan Dickens, he of the Clearance Bin section, has finally made a contribution... Whoo-hoo-hoo!!! And as I always say, "Enough smarm, let's news!"

"It's always punch in, punch out...
Go to work and go back home...",
    ---Punch In Punch Out, American Standard by Seven Mary Three,
Matthew Arcilla

 

Krondor Once More  We all know that Return to Krondor is already in development (for quite a while, I might add). But in an effort to finally let consumers know something about the game, Sierra has launched a cool site dedicated to the sequel.   The site boasts the usual sceenshots, character bios, team details, and storyline tidbits. The free copy of the original Betrayal at Krondor is also there, which has been out for grabs for a year now.   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Activision Boldly Goes  Activision now has the Star Trek license under its belt, which was previously held by Interplay. To be a little more detailed, Activision will possess the right to produce Star Trek games for the next TEN years.  Not to worry, Interplay is still working on Star Trek: Vulcan Fury. Activision's deal will cover everything from original series to the new ones and the movies. Their first planned release will be based on the upcoming film Star Trek: Insurrection.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Cryogen's Immanis on Ice?  Word about Cryogen;s Immanis has only recently been buzzing about. Unfortunately, it seems that more buzz is getting around that it has been cancelled. Just a rumor, folks as no confirmation has been released yet on the official status.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Cyan and Headspin, Sitting in a Tree..."  No, Al Simmons little daughter is not becoming the lead character in the latest first-person shooter game. Rather, Cyan, developer of Myst and Riven, has had rumors buzzing about them that they will license the Plasma engine of Headspin Technologies.  Rumors are based on the fact that the company mentioned that they had visited a really cool high-tech company. Add to the fact that employees of both companies have been spotted touring together, most likely doing photo shoots for Cyan's next game.  Headspin is known as a company which deals in graphics technology, and the aforementioned Plasma engine is one of their little toys.  According to Cnet GameCenter, Headspin's Mike Reed had said: "We can’t comment on that rumor right now beyond saying that we think Cyan is pretty cool."   ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Okay, So Space Quest 7 Is Gonna Die.  Looks like Space Quest 7's future is a little dimly lit. Taken from the pages of the latest issue of Sierra's InterAction magazine:  "Periodically, Senior Management meets to discuss upcoming development projects. I can guarantee that Space Quest 7 will be one of the titles on our agenda, given the deluge of email that we have been receiving over the last six months.  Thanks for your continued interest. Your opinions do matter and have a significant impact on our development decisions. Unfortunately, there are many other business issues that must be addressed before Space Quest 7 can become a reality."  - Craig Alexander,  General Manager, Yosemite Entertainment Other business issues? Like what? Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. So, don't hold your breath, Space Quest may be on hiatus longer than we expected.  ---c/o Evan Dickens  A Shock to the System... Again.  Looking Glass Studios has been given the okay by Electronic Arts to produce the second System Shock, aptly titled... (hold your breath)... System Shock 2!!  The game, which will be codeveloped with Irrational Games, is the sequel to 1994's cult favorite mainstream bomb System Shock. The game will utilize the Dark Engine, which is being used in the as-of-yet unreleased Thief: The Dark Project (to be published by Eidos Interactive)  For the unaware, System Shock was a great adventure game which utilized the first-person perspective style of interface loaded with even greater features than Doom itself. The problem was, it was released in a time when the seas were filled with Doom wannabes, and System Shock, when taken as a Doom clone, is a very poor one, but rather a very stellar adventure experience.  Expect a cutting-edge 3D adventure sure to knock yer socks off. A release date has yet to be announced, since the production has only been underway for a few months.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla

 

 

I'd Buy That For A Dollar!  Bill Crow, that crazy old loon who's loaded with Sierra FMV loot, has made the props to Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria available for snatching by Phantasmagoria Phreaks all over the world.   Yep, you too can own the BMW, a decapitated teddy, torture devices, and loads more. Just in time for Halloween, too! Get your credit cards ready and visit the site for a complete inventory listing.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Having Kids for Dinner... Oh Wait That's the Other Way Around...  The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), known best for it's age-based rating system stamped all over the boxes of most entertainment software (games!) is hosting a dinner and silent auction called "A Nite to Unite for Kids". This is in collaboration with the Child Welfare League of America. It will be held on October 27, Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Alexei Pajitnov's Partner Found Dead  The lesser-known (but equally great) co-creator of Tetris, Vladimir Pokhilko was found dead in his house in a scene which the papers and the police are dubbing as a suicide. His wife, Elena Fedotova and son, Peter Pokhilko were also brutally murdered.  Pokhilko, 44, was the president of AnimaTek International, a 3D graphics company, which originally started out as a game development studio. It is knwon for its World Builder, a 3D terrain tool aimed at game developers, animators, artists, filmmakers, and architects.  The officials of Palo Alto, CA (Pokhilko's current city of residence) said to the San Francisco Chronicle that they found a note, although what exactly is said in it, has yet to be disclosed. The atrocity was committed with a hammer on his family and supposedly, Pokhilko took his own life by slitting his throat.  Police have yet to formulate a complete explanation on the motive, although all signs point towards the stress of managing the company, which had been trying to raise $10M to expand into electronic commerce. Gilman Louie, board member of AnimaTek, was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle as saying the Pokhilko was distressed about the future, both the company's and his own.  Prior to his career with computers, Pokhilko was a prominent Russian psychologist from the department of psychology and knowledge engineering at the Moscow State University, at which time he met Pajitnov and created Tetris, the most popular and best-selling interactive game of all time, selling more than 40 million units (which they got no royalties for) in its different formats. The most popular iterations of Tetris were on handheld devices such as the Nintendo Game Boy and Taiwanese Brick Games.   Pokhilko was a graduate from the Moscow Radio Technical College in 1975 and the psychology department of Moscow University in 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. in psychology in 1985 from the Russian Academy of Science.   This man will be deeply missed.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Lawsuit Vs. Ultima OnLine on Hold  Judge Judith McConnell decided to give further consideration of the case of gamers vs Electronic Arts and Origin Systems under additional consideration.   This was to be the day when Judge McConnell decided if Ken Hinter, et al. vs Electronic Arts, et al. would be granted certification to proceed as a class action lawsuit. Judge McConnell made the request for more time. This typically means a wait of about a week - at which time a decision will be tendered to both sets of attorneys in writing.  Initially, Judge McConnell rendered a tentative decision against certification when she called the court to order today. In effect, she rejected the plaintiffs' request but allowed for short verbal arguments from both sides,   Both Schultz and his partner in this case, and attorneys for Electronic Arts attended the session in McConnell's courtroom. After their arguments were heard out, Judge McConnell could have then quickly finalized her decision but she declined - obviously influenced sufficiently by plaintiff's attorney's argument to give thought over it. Thus, her decision still remains tentative.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  "Look Ma, I'm in a Computer Game!" "Hon, You Always Are..."  A contest ran online and in the pages of an Australian gaming publication, PC Powerplay, which required contestants to answer trivia questions about the first Fallout game.  The two names which have been drawn out were Kawarski (Poland) and Rapmund (Australia) and now their names  shall be immortalized in gaming history by christening two NPCs in Fallout 2 with their names.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla

 

 

JustAdventure Status  Randy Sluganski gave me a report on what he's coming up with for JustAdventure.  He states that he has just recieved a copy of Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy from Team 17. Which means that we will be the one of the first sites in the world to have a review up on this game soon. It is currently set for an October release in the UK.   Also his Cydonia review has been delayed since he has not yet recieved the final version from Dreamcatcher. On the up side, we will soon have an exclusive preivew of The Longest Journey, courtesy of well, Randy (hey, his report). It will be released this Christmas  And for all you pesty schmucks, we will have the survey results completely tabulated soon and an article about it will be placed ASAP. So there.  ---c/o Randy Sluganski  There's a Party and I'll Cry If I Want To... Cry If I Want To...  Black Isle Studios, those wacky people developing Fallout 2 for Interplay announced through Greg Peterson that they plan to have a premiere night party big bash kinda thingie on the day that the game ships.  "We are thinking about having an official Fallout2 "premiere" on the day the title ships -- perhaps something like a street or block party here in Southern California. We'd have the entire group from Black Isle Studios there, including the entire Fallout2 development team, and probably a large number of people from the other Interplay divisions. For fun, we'd be giving away product, t-shirts, Fallout2 POP, life-size PIP Boy cardboard standees, etc. Perhaps at midnight we'd start selling product (the night before it shows up in any stores), and the development team would be there to autograph manuals, etc.  People who come in costume might get a free drink on me. We might have a band there, radio D.J.'s, etc. The day after, we'd post on our website photos taken at the party."  This of course alienates all us non-West Coast Americans, moreso non-Americans like myself. A funny letter of the month response was posted, you can check it out for yourself at the Fallout 2 website.   Greg also mentions in a later report at the website that yes, the party will push through and be located somewhere within the Orange County area and be held on a Friday, October 30th of this year. Since it will be the day before Halloween, costumes are encouraged.   Greg also states that Dogmeat, that wonder pooch from the original game, will be "present in one form or another". Whatever that means.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla

 

So here I am, working as diligently as I can. I'll try to go through October with at least 20 of the days covered. Also, I'm getting so tied up in this news business, my article that was due last week has been untouched from it's 50% final draft status. I promise to post it, really! In the meantime, I have a lot of real-life duties to attend to. Plus, I'm rejigging my old Gabriel Knight page, Schloss Ritter, and working on my on-line graphic novel script.

Enough smarm, let's news!

"And on that salary, we all four could sleep tight..."
    ---Legacy, Bone To Pick: Full Throttle Soundtrack by The Gone Jackals,
Matthew Arcilla

 

JustAdventure Status  Stuart Yoder and "Cindy Crawford" have joined the strike team at JustAdventure. "Cindy" has a review of Full Throttle up for all of ya ta read. Stuart however has endeavored to bring you his take on Dog Days and also has a new column: Stuck.   As for our semi-veteran monkeys, Evan's Clearance questing, here's his opinion on Guilty. Plus, Craig has changed his email to craig@justadventure.com. Deal with it.  "So Sorry, M'sieur. All Of Your Hard Drive Space Is Booked Solid Till 2001."  GamesDomain's Reservations at the Inn, the huge compilation of Adventure/RPG release dates, points out loads of cool release dates... these may just be rumors. Some of them are awfully specific.  Interesting "unannounced" release dates include Gabriel Knight 3 (January 2, 1999), Dark Side of the Moon (October 2, 1998) Redguard (October 17, 1998), Grim Fandango (October 15, 1998), and Vulcan Fury (March 1, 1999). There are some cool RPGs listed too.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla  Updated for the 98s  Adam D. Bormann (no, not The Boreman, how dare you insult him!), announced to GK webmeisters that the Schattenjager Diaries will be updated into a tres cool HTML, image-included format for the websters to post on their sites. Regular subscribers still get the boring text version for unadulterated, straight info.  ---c/o Matthew Arcilla