ZNAK SAGITE — više od fantastike — edicija, časopis, knjižara...

Da ne bismo odlazili u konstantni of-topik, otvaram novu temu. Temu o tome šta igram ću koristiti samo za FPE (first-person experience) sa igrama.  

Evo šta ima u novom Edge-u: sa naslovne strane vas posmatra jedna od naj-hiper-realističnijih osoba ženskog pola koje sam imao prilike da vidim. Final Fantasy XIII. I vrlo detaljan, ekskluzivan izveštaj iz Tokija - intervju sa nekim ključnim osobama iz tima i gomila skrinšotova. Kao i podatak da je u stvaranju 30-minutnog odlomka učestvovalo 300 ljudi!    Ali, kakva grafika! Ja sam se davno ložio na takve stvari i moje želje vezane za video-igre danas idu drugim putem, ali kakva grafika! Kao FF film, ne, još bolje jer je živopisnije. Uz skromni komentar da CGI sekvence predstavljaju trenutni vrhunac demonstracije moći tehnologije. Ali Square definitivno ide onim putem koji je zacrtao sa FF VII. U Japanu je skoro izašao demo ove igre.

Dalje: Champions Online, novi MMOG tima koji je radio City of Heroes. MMO igre ne poznajem dovoljno i smatram da se čovek može isključivo baviti samo jednom u određenom periodu svog života, ali ideja o virtuelnim svetovima super-heroja i super-negativaca me je oduvek privlačila. Voleo bih da Meho, kao poznavalac DC-jevog i Marvelovog opusa, kaže nekad nešto i o tome.

Dalje: prikaz 3D tehnologije kompanije Blitz Games. Sa naglaskom na 3D. Znači, ne renderovanje trodimenzionalne slike na 2D ekran, već dodatak nove dimenzije.

Intervju sa Chrisom Avelloneom (to već znamo); "Sony's forgotten console" - ovo sam pokušao da odgonetnem pre čitanja, ali nisam mogao da pogodim da misle na PSP; intervju sa Masayom Matsuurom, u vezi njegove nove igre Major Minor Majestic March; intervju sa Kyleom Grayom, tvorcem Henryja Hatswortha; analiza igre Viewtiful Joe sa jedne vremenske distance (rubrika "Time Extend", meni omiljena); "The Making of...Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards"; Gamebryo LightSpeed midlver (da dodirnem predmet skorašnje naše rasprave), kao i pregršt prvih utisaka i ocena.

Dobro, onda na ovaj topik idu vesti. Razumno.

FF XIII i meni deluje kao da Square zaista ide na to da napravi novi FF VII, no po utiscima koje ljudi imaju posle odigranog demoa, izgleda da su na dobrom putu. Grafika, da, ali mene je više kupilo to što igra ima active time battle system sa nekim tweakovima, PLUS to što je jedan od producenata izjavio pre neki dan (možda je citat baš tu u Edžu?) da će ovo biti najteži FF in recent memory. Možda se ispostavi da je ovo samo marketinška magla, kako to često zna da bude, ali imajući na umu da FF treba da bude mejnstrim, appeal to the masses igra, zaista je iznenađujuće čuti da se autori hvale time da je teška. Da vidimo... Doduše, sekira me što će se u Evropi pojaviti tek iduće godine...

Što se tiče MMO igara sa superherojima, da kažemo to ovako: kada imaš igru u kojoj su licencirani likovi, problem je što SVI hoće da igraju kao dva ili tri lika a niko kao ostalih 50. Napravi Marvel MMO i imaćeš u svakom momentu par stotina Wolverinea na svakom serveru... Nisam siguran kako MMO igre pravljene po Star Wars licenci rešavaju problem toga da svi hoće da budu Jedi i Sith likovi, a niko da bude... nešto drugo. Videćemo kada BioWare uradi The Old republic ili kako se već zove taj KOTOR MMO...

Evo trećeg i poslednjeg dela serijala Bastard of the Old Republic na Eurogameru, gde John Walker igra igru Knights of the Old Republic birajući što je moguće 'zlije' postupke i dijaloške grane, eksperimenta radi. Zanimljivo, mada mu je ovaj nastavak za nijansu rasplinut.

Ođe.

Da, zanimljiva tema za raspravu. Osvrnucu se i na to u dogledno vreme, kao i na Seginu istoriju i FF XIII. Trenutno sam zatrpan tolikom kolicinom stvari za videti, cuti, napisati, procitati da ne znam gde da se okrenem. Mozda ovde: Serebii.net. Proglasen za "website of the month" (standardna mini-rubrika u Edzu), najdetaljniji resurs za Pokemone na netu. Kazu za njega i ovo:

QuoteIf Nintendo were behind Serebii it might look a little fancier, but in terms of content it couldn't do better.

Najveci problem mi je necitljivost menija sa strane, ali kolicina informacija i pristupacnost su...zapanjujuce. Ah, to mi bude secanje na onu pricu o tome kako je Satoshi Tajiri, tvorac pokemona, tada u senci Shigerua Miyamotoa, svom glavnom liku dao ime Ash, a njegovom neprijatelju Gary!

Heh, Pokemon... Uvek pomislim na drogu kad čujem tu reč... Prokleti Prti Bee gee...

Elem, Konami je na kraju shvatio da neke stvari nisu za zajebanciju:

QuoteControversial Iraq War game dropped by publisher

by Ben Silverman


Mere weeks after its unveiling, contentious war game "Six Days in Fallujah" has reportedly been abandoned by game publisher, Konami.

"After seeing the reaction to the videogame in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it," a Konami PR rep told Asahi.com. "We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."

Revealed to the press earlier this month, "Six Days in Fallujah" focuses on the Second Battle of Fallujah, a grim 2004 conflict that claimed the lives of over 2,000 civilians, soldiers, and insurgents. Using a combination of firsthand accounts from three dozen U.S. soldiers and thousands of classified satellite photographs, the game attempts to recreate a week-long firefight from the perspective of U.S. Marines making their way through the dangerous streets of the war-torn city.

Despite (or perhaps due to) the game's authentic bend, military veterans, peace groups and bereaved families immediately condemned the title for its touchy subject matter, claiming it was both insensitive and tasteless.

Though the game was initially planned to ship in 2010, "Six Days" developer, Atomic Games, has yet to announce if it will continue to pursue the game's release.

In adr njuz: Little King Stori je istovremeno i frustrirajući i vrlo zabavan. Detaljnija elaboracija za koji dan.

Gamespy je u poslednjih nekoliko meseci potonuo još nekoliko metara niže, pogotovo nakon što su neki od osnivača otišli. Novi prelazak na blogoliki dizajn nije mnogo pomogao jer im je sadržaj i sdalje siromašan, ali ono što cenim je da su počeli da objavljuju neke duhovite tekstove koji ne bi bili nimali neuobičajeni na www.cracked.com

Evo današnjeg teksta: The Five Most Disturbing MMOs a napisao ga je Robert Brockway koji zapravo i piše za Cracked. Zabavno.

Heh... Microsoft su zli korporacijski cenzori. Ko bi rekao.

Doduše, nije mi baš najjasnije kako se prave PG 13 horor filmovi, ali ima puno stvari na svetu koje meni nisu jasne...

I kad smo već kod cenzure:

BioWare (koje, ne zaboravimo danas poseduje Electronic rAts) ne dopušta raspravu o homoseksualnosti na svom Knights of the Old Republic forumu, zabranjujući upotrebu reči poput 'homosexual' i 'lesbian'.

QuoteEven discussions of the ban are being locked. At the bottom of the thread "GLBT discrimination in forums?", community manager Sean Dahlberg wrote, "As I have stated before, these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars. Thread closed."

Pa, da, ipak se to događa u galaksiji daleko odavde, pre mnogo, mnogo vremena, još pre nego što je homoseksualnost izmišljena.

Povlačenje iz Faludže...
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6208618.html

Čuj, ne iznenađuje me odluka Konamija. Japanci su generalno osetljivi na rat od... rata? Ne lože se na te stvari. U domenu fantazije, da, ali čim stupimo u realnost, stvari se menjaju. Na svakog nacionalistu tamo dolazi 99 osoba potpuno degradiranog osećaja nacionalne časti (pogotovo mlađe generacije). I, usput, Pokemoni jesu vrsta droge. To znaju i vlade nekih muslimanskih zemalja, pa su ih javno osudili i zabranili.

Eh, Final Fantasy XIII... Priznajem da nisam bio posebno zainteresovan, sve do sada. Već bio, video. Ali, FF VIII je bila igra koju sam odigrao pre 10 godina i jedna od glavnih poluga koje su me pokrenule u pravcu Japana. Kakve među-scene! Kakav dizajn bosova! Kakvo zaobilaženje očekivanja! Iako sam kasnije našao zamerke, ostaje činjenica da, uprkos netrpeljivosti mnogih pravovernih PC gejmera, FF neke stvari radi dobro. Ali šta kažu za 13. deo?

30-minutni deo koji su novinari Edža imali priliku da igraju je isti deo koji je posle toga objavljen kao dodatak blu-rej izdanju filma FF: Advent Children, a kako ja sve ovo javljam sa 10-dnevnim zakašnjenjem, mnogi utisci se mogu naći širom neta. Učesnici intervjua su bili veteran serijala i producent Yoshinori Kitase, umetnički direktor Isamu Kamikokuryo i režiser Motomu Toriyama.

1. Postupak razvoja FF igre, za razliku od drugih Square Enixovih igara i spin-ofova, prilično je demokratski proces. Svaki član tima može da da neku ideju i stoga je svaka igra drugačija.

2. Igra izgleda fantastično. Slojevi detalja po kojima kamera može da menja fokus, živopisno okruženje (kada je potrebno), svi likovi su mo-kepovani u svakom trenutku. "Put simply, the best-looking game on the PS3 yet."

3. Dizajn likova je radio Tetsuya Nomura i, kako kažu u Edžu, " even if [his] ever idiosyncratic character designs are not to your taste (često nisu!), the quality of their execution is difficult to deny (ne poričem!)" Glavni lik je devojka zvana Munja (Lightning, prema engleskom, ne japansko "inazuma"), i bivši je vojnik, nalik na Clouda iz 7. dela (he, Munja i Oblak).

4. Priča će imati sličnu strukturu kao i Dragon Quest IV, što znači da ćemo igrati kao nekoliko likova i upoznavati njihove zasebne priče, koje će se potom sresti i prepleti. Tema će biti o ličnom iskupljenju i baviće se pitanjima sudbine i predodređenosti.

5. Borbeni sistem je radio Toshiro Tsuchida, koji je bio zadužen za isti u 10. delu, tako da ovaj predstavlja evoluciju tog sistema. Vraćamo se na poteze ATB (Active Time Battle) sistema, ali nema poena, već je merač podeljen na 3 segmenta i svaka akcija košta određeni broj tih segmenata. Tako da možete u jednom potezu odraditi tri manje akcije ili jednu zahtevniju. Na pitanje novinara Edža da li će broj segmenata rasti tokom igre, Toriyama kaže: "That's a very shrewd observation." Nema slučajnih susreta. Nema ni neke priče o težini igre, a s obzirom da je XII imao primedbe na račun toga, nešto ne verujem u to. (Mada je poslednji neprijatelj uvek skandalozno naporan!)

6. Muziku (sem glavne teme) radi Masashi Hamauzu, i meni je to sjajna vest, jer mi je on jedan od najboljih kompozitora koji pišu muziku isključivo za video-igre. Zbog njega sam svojevremeno naručio četvorostruki CD sa muzikom iz FF X iz Japana.

Za kraj, jedna anegdota. Novinari su bili smešteni u hotelu blizu kancelarija Squarea Enixa u Šinđukuu, u Tokiju. Kada je službenik hotela shvatio sa kim je njihov posao, uzviknuo je: "Ah. Dragon Quest!" Posle objašnjenja da se radi o Final Fantasyju, slegao je ramenima i dao do znanja da ne zna o čemu se tu radi. Kitaseov komentar je bio da je DQ u Japanu daleko poznatiji i da su svi glavni mediji izvestili da je izlazak 9. dela odložen.

Ali ovo je došlo pod paljbu Britanaca i Amera, tj. kojekakvih njihovih organizacija. A megatonka u Betesdinom Folautu je valjda cenzurisana preemptivno? Nisam čitao o vrištanju iz Japana... ili Koreje u Krajsisu... taj lanac se može cimati ohoho. Tih grupica ima svuda, pitanje je samo koliko su razvijene/ostvaruju primat u društvu... starija verzija je da država prepozna nacionalni interes, podavi sve druge uticaje i formira jedan, monolitan.

Ovde je stvar prevashodno, kako ja shvatam u tome da su se i neki real life vojnici pobunili da ovo nije OK.

Da, ali nisam ni mislio na reakciju japanske javnosti. Koliko sam shvatio, igra bi bila namenjena pre svega Zapadu. Mislio sam na reakciju japanskog rukovodstva Konamija. Potpuno je drugačiji slučaj Capcoma i optužbi za rasizam u Resident Evilu 5, na šta producenti ne daju 5 para. S pravom, rekao bih, uprkos onome što nas N'Gai Croal ubeđuje.

A neki su i sarađivali. Atomikovci su tvrdili da su intervjuisali i insurdžentse. Cenim da je stvar u tome ko može bolje da upotrebi prašinarski melos.
Edit: N'gai Croal je odvratni čamuga.
Edit2: odvratni crnac, NWA, ...  su čamuge.
Edit3: odvratni afroamerikanac. To je.

Odvratni novinar. Mislim, rispekt i sve to, ali ona kolumna o Resident Evil 5 je napisana zastrašujući stilom.

Hm, IGN danas ima dva interesantna teksta... Jedan je first look za igru Dead Rising 2 koji, iznenađujuće (s obzirom ko je pravi) deluje prilično ohrabrujuće.

Drugi je kolumna koja se tiče Konamijevog odustajanja od igre o Faludži koja pokušava da argumentuje kako je ovo poraz za igrački medijum jer se implicite priznaje kako igre ne mogu da se bave ozbiljnim temama, kojima se bave drugi mediji... Nisam siguran koliko je u pravu, ali interesantna teza.

Evo nešto za staru školu. Sajt www.sarien.net omogućava vam da igrate stare Sierrine avanture - u multiplejeru!!! Evo spiska igara:

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel
Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter
Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
The Black Cauldron

A u Sarienu se nadaju (i otvoreno mole) da će Activision/ Blizzard iskulirati činjenicu da je u pitanju korišćenje kopirajtovanog materijala... Baš da vidimo.

Heh, neki dan mi je drug poslao taj link, ali još nisam stigao da probam. U čemu se ogleda multiplejer?

Koliko sam shvatio, manje više samo u tome da srećeš druge igrače koji su onlajn u isto vreme kad i ti i da možeš sa njima da popričaš/ četuješ. No, treba proveriti, možda ima i nešto supstancijalnije.

Nego, igraš li ti onaj Left 4 Dead, nema te na Steamu?

Nego, jedna ista vest je uspela i da me razveseli i da me rasrdi. Stret Fighter IV, kad najesen izađe za PC bi mogao da (ponovo) bude vredan kupovine jer će imati višu rezoluciju, ali i opciono korišćenjegrafičkih efekata (šejdera) sličnih vodenim bojama kakve smo upamtili iz prvog trejlera za SF IV. To je predivno.

S druge strane, igra će za svoje onlajn komponente koristiti Games for Windows. O bože... zašto??? Na Steam bih još i pristao, ali GFW???

SFIV - GFW
Ima smisla.

Dobar ovaj tekst o Faludži, očekivao sam panditsko postavljanje lažnih pitanja zarad nakucavanja slova, autrejdža. No, služeći se primerom povučene igre Tomsen je uspeo prilično da potrefi opasnosti ovakve cenzure, umetnički potencijal uvrede (mada afroamerikancima autorska namera da se uvredi nije neophodna da bi istu uočili). Uopšte, kako labilni žele (i uspevaju) da svoje aršine primene na društvo, a mnoge strukture to prepoznaju kao svoj interes. Ima par loših primera/poređenja (Citizen Kane, Mario...) na drugoj strani, ali dobrim delom u službi izlivanja zdrave doze gorčine.

Quote from: "Meho Krljic"Koliko sam shvatio, manje više samo u tome da srećeš druge igrače koji su onlajn u isto vreme kad i ti i da možeš sa njima da popričaš/ četuješ. No, treba proveriti, možda ima i nešto supstancijalnije.

Nego, igraš li ti onaj Left 4 Dead, nema te na Steamu?

Igrao sam jedno vrijeme dosta često, ali onda je došlo formatiranje diska i nešto veće obaveze na poslu, pa sam posljednjih mjesec dana or so malo otanjio. Ali planiram povratak na scenu vrlo brzo. Dodo sam te u listu prijatelja na Steamu, btw. Kad si ti posljednji put bio?

N'Gai Croal = čovečuljak. Crni ili beli, svejedno mi je, čovečuljak je čovečuljak.   Ta reč može imati i simpatične, dečje konotacije, ali ovde pričam o duhovnoj veličini. Dobro, da ne bude zabune: N'Gai Croal = odratni čovečuljak.

Kada izađe SF IV za PC, treba biti spreman. Znači, imati dobar džojstik. Skoro sam čitao raspravu kako Sanwa Denshi i Seimitsu prave najbolje komponente (palice, tastere, mehaniku) za džojstike na svetu, koje se koriste u japanskim arkadnim kabinetima. Mad Catzov FightStick Tournament Edition koristi Sanwa Denshi komponente, stoga bi mogao biti dobar izbor.

Ovo?

Jes, pregršt dugmića je neophodna stavka, ali meni je ovo prva asocijacija na džojstik:

Eh, zajedno smo Usagija prelazili... ni avionski kvikšot mu slavu nije pomračio.

Yep, to je to. Ima i isti raspored tastera kao arkadni kabinet.

Mad Katzovi stikovi su 'zvanično' najbolji za SF IV jer su ovi najskuplji actually i pravljeni uz nadgledanje od strane Capcoma i od istih delova od kojih se prave arkadnis tikovi. S druge strane koštaju boga oca. Ja igru na Xbox 360ici igram Microsoftovim kontrolerom koji ima d-pad bukvalno neupotrebljiv za ovu igru ali, iznenađujuće, može da se igra analognim stikom. Ne tvrdim da bih smeo da izađem na crtu iole boljem igraču, ali za solo igranje, može.

QuoteKad si ti posljednji put bio?

Na Steamu sam stalno onlajn ali sam L4D poslednji put igrao pre nedelju dana uoči apdejta kojim je dodat survival mod. Ljudi mi šalju invitacije za igre ali... nemam vremena...

Jeste, sad sam pogledao cenu i FightStick TE je 250$!      

Jebote, bolje da kupim ceo kabinet! Dobro, zato je tu standardni FightStick, samo 90$!  

Ipak, kada mi splasne gnev, i kada bih imao para za bacanje, da znate da bih ga kupio (onaj prvi, to jest).

I ja bih, mada, opet velim, to je za turnirske igrače. Za nas je dobar i ovaj od 90 USD. Mislim, meni je dobar i Microsoftov...

Nego evo Jurogejmer privjua igre Brutal Legend, hevi metal fantazije iz kuhinje Tima Šefera. Moram da priznam da me videi od pre mesec dana nisu baš zagrejali, ali ovaj privju izgleda dobro, a i pomenuta je Zelda, a moj mozak na tu reč doživljava fatalan kratak spoj... Uostalom, i Psychonauts je u neku ruku mogao da se uporedi sa Zeldom... U svakom slučaju, ovaj privju me je baš napal'jo. Mislim, ti je i tuča i pikminovska mini-RTS mehanika i... sve.

Nameće se pitanje može li Džek Blek da uništi igru glasom.

To je dobro pitanje. Američki (i, evo vidimo britanski) privjueri svi misle da je JB kul i zabavan a mene, kao i većinu Srbalja iritira.... Hajde, videćemo.

Hm. Ocekivao bih  da me iritira, ali to, zacudo, nije slucaj. Odnosno, tamo gde sam ga gledao, zabavio me je.

Mislim da se da iskoristiti na dobar nacin, samo da ne bude da slusamo Dzek Bleka kako igra sebe, ne trudeci se preterano da zaodene i ovako tanku odoricu nekog lika u nekoj tamo 'igrice'.

Pošto nije u pitanju fleš igra, stavljam ovde link ka najnovijem članku o besplatnim igrama: One-Dot Enemies. Članak je... jeziv. Brrr.

Heh... Nešto mi govori da ću kad jednog lepog dana budem odlučio da kupim telefon to možda ipak biti ajfoun.

Zanimljiv članak Roba Fehija o pablišingu u eri digitalne distribucije.

Quote from: Meho Krljic on 29-04-2009, 11:36:40
Hm, IGN danas ima dva interesantna teksta... Jedan je first look za igru Dead Rising 2 koji, iznenađujuće (s obzirom ko je pravi) deluje prilično ohrabrujuće.

Drugi je kolumna koja se tiče Konamijevog odustajanja od igre o Faludži koja pokušava da argumentuje kako je ovo poraz za igrački medijum jer se implicite priznaje kako igre ne mogu da se bave ozbiljnim temama, kojima se bave drugi mediji... Nisam siguran koliko je u pravu, ali interesantna teza.

Evo nove IGNove kolumne koja raspravlja o Faludži, ali sa drugih pozicija.

Ooo, Alahu, da li je moguće da je EA vidio svjetlost?

Svašta izlazi iz ovog Buttsa:

QuoteNo one forced Konami to drop the game; Konami simply responded to the critics -- exercising the very freedom of speech that many claim it's trying to quash -- and apparently decided it would be a bad business decision to publish the game. Whether we agree with the decision, Konami has an obligation to respond to the controversy in a way that balances its bottom line against the importance of the game's message. In a world where games are made for a hazy and indistinct market of varied tastes, those decisions aren't always black and white, which is why we have this controversy.

Dajdžest: but sensibilities but responsibility but taste but suitability but acceptable but sympathy but

Quotewholesale tolerance for the idea that games are justified solely on the basis of "art" or "experience" opens the door for developers to justify Columbine mods or the recent Ku Klux Klan game.

Čuj, kad se prezivaš 'Dupeta', trudiš se koliko možeš da ljudima skreneš pažnju na nešto drugo.

Oooh, draamtično!! 3D Realms više ne postoji? Ili je pred raspadom?? Da li je uopšte moglo da bude drugačije? Od čega su uopšte finansirali development Djuka Forevra?

http://pc.ign.com/articles/980/980457p1.html

Quote3D Realms No More

Rumors suggest the Duke Nukem developer has closed its doors.

by Hilary Goldstein

May 6, 2009 - Update 6:36 pm PST: Take-Two Vice President of Corporate Communications Alan Lewis returned IGN's request for official comment. Though he would not confirm that 3D Realms was closing, he did clarify one question: Who gets to publish Duke Nukem Forever?

"It is the Company's policy to not comment on its contractual relationships, nor do we comment on rumors and speculation," Lewis wrote in an e-mail. "That said, we can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title. In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever."

It should be noted that Take-Two's ownership of the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever may not mean they have the authority to take over the project and complete its development. It is dependent on how the contract is written, but at the very least it means that no other company has the right to publish the title, even if members of 3D Realms wished to take it elsewhere.

Update 5:49pm PST: A statement was released on behalf of Deep Silver and Apogee Software, the two companies working on Duke Nukem portable titles. "Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms," the statement reads. "Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned." Late last year Apogee Software was launched as a sister arm to 3D Realms.

Gamasutra is reporting that it received confirmation that 3D Realms will close by week's end.




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Message board chatter is suggesting that Duke Nukem developer 3D Realms has closed its doors. Shacknews is reporting that it spoke to a "very reliable source" that confirmed the news. Calls and e-mails to employees at 3D Realms were not returned. A representative at 2K Games forwarded us Take-Two Interactive, but did not deny the report. Take-Two Interactive had not responded to our request for comment at the time this story was published. According to Shacknews, the company closed due to financial issues and all employees were let go. A call to customer support was met with a recorded message stating that 3D Realms and Apogee Software could no longer offer live support of its games. However, online orders are still being honored. If 3D Realms is indeed closed, it's uncertain if Duke Nukem Forever will continue on under the guidance of another developer.

Edit: potrvđeno.

Quote3D Realms closure confirmed, Take-Two retains Duke Nukem Forever publishing rights

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot Posted May 6, 2009 6:06 pm PT

[UPDATE 2] Online accounts finger monetary issues in demise of developer, which still owns IP; Publisher says arrangement "did not include ongoing funds for development of the title"; DS, PSP spin-offs "unaffected."

In the 12 years since Duke Nukem Forever was announced in 1997, the game's ever-shifting "when its done" release date became a running joke in the game industry. Today, though, comes news that few will find funny. According to numerous reports, the elusive shooter's developer, 3D Realms, has informed its staff that it is ceasing operations.

Though it did not explicitly confirm the closure, the recently relaunched Apogee Software and its publishing partner Deep Silver issued a statement saying they were "not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the [portable] Duke Nukem Trilogy [series] is continuing as planned." The Apogee label was relaunched by 3D Realms during last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, and was billed as a portable-dedicated branch of the company.

[UPDATE2] Unfortunately, it seems the rank and file of 3D Realms proper were not so lucky. In response to a flurry of shutdown reports on the studio's official forums, longtime Webmaster Joe Siegler issued a glum confirmation. "It's not a marketing thing," he said, addressing theories the news could be some sort of guerrilla PR campaign. "It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time."

Adding to the clouds above 3D Realms was a report on Shacknews, which has deep ties to the PC shooter community. Citing "a reliable source," the site reports that employees of the studio were told of the closure this afternoon. The report said that monetary issues were the culprit, which has led many to believe that longtime publishing partner Take-Two had cut off funding for Duke Nuke Forever.

[UPDATE] Citing company policy, Take-Two vice president of communications and public affairs Alan Lewis declined to comment on reports of 3D Realms' closure directly. However, he did say the company "can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title. In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever." Lewis also confirmed the DNF IP is still owned by 3D Realms.

3D Realms' closure marks a cruelly ironic end to the Duke Nukem Forever saga. After being completely restarted from scratch using the Doom 3 engine, the shooter resurfaced in December 2007 in the form of a brief teaser trailer (above). After a quickly retracted Dallas Business Journal report said the game was coming to the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, several snippets were shown on the Web show of former Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment vice president (and now movie producer) Jason "Jace" Hall.

This year, work appeared to be progressing on Duke Nukem Forever. According to 3D Realms studio head George Broussard's Twitter feed, Take-Two was shown the project on January 26 or 27. He made no subsequent updates about the publisher's reaction to the game, the fate of which is now uncertain. As of press time, requests for comment sent to Broussard had not been answered.

Ai evo nečega i da čoveka nasmeje. Robert Brockway oponovo napada, ovog puta govoreći o šest najbizarnijih modova za PC igre... ikad.

Nego, sećate se kad se pre par meseci Richard Garriot vratio iz svemira i napisao otvoreno pismo javosti da napušta svijet igara, odlazeći i iz NC Softa? Sudeći po tužbi za prevaru koju je podneo protiv NC Softa tražeći 24 milijuna dolara, stvari se nisu baš tako odvijale.

QuoteRichard Garriott suing NCsoft for fraud News News by Oli Welsh

Ultima and Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott is suing his former employer NCsoft for fraud, to the tune of USD 24 million.

The suit was filed yesterday at the Texas Western District Court, as you can see at Justia. The legal eagles at Kotaku spotted it.

Richard Garriott left NCsoft late last year after his 2007 science-fiction MMO, Tabula Rasa, failed to perform. Ten days later, the Korean publisher announced that it would discontinue the game.

Garriott and his brother had effectively headed NCsoft's US operations since the company bought their Austin, Texas studio, Destination Games. Since then, NCsoft has restructured its US and European arms into NCsoft West, led by executives from Guild Wars developer ArenaNet.

We'll bring you more on the court case as we hear it.

Međutim, iluminirajuće objanjenje je među komentarima:

QuoteUpdate on Massively.com:

This morning, GamePolitics added their .02 to the mix and upped the ante with the legal documents involved - and boy, are they illuminating. According to Richard's side of the story, it goes like this: Richard & co form Destination Games, and are bought out by NCsoft in exchange for some very hefty stock options. After Tabula Rasa launches, Richard gets tapped for a space flight he signed up for some years prior. After talking to NCsoft higher-ups, he is approved for, and goes on, extended leave to take his space flight. During this time, he continues doing PR for Tabula Rasa, including Operation Immortality. Flight (and PR stunt) successful, Richard touches down to Earth, goes into quarantine in Russia, and NCsoft calls him to drop the hammer - while he's stuck in Russia, decontaminating. No choice, no warning, nothing. "So long, and thanks for all the Bane."

According to the documents, this is where the fraud comes in to play. They apparently terminated him and yet classified him as a voluntary termination - in other words "he quit." This means that all the stock options he had either had to be cashed in (at a significant loss in a craptastic market) within 90 days from his date of departure, or it was gone. To add insult to injury, the "open letter" that was purported to be from Richard Garriott to the loyal fans of Tabula Rasa? He claims it was written by NCsoft - not him. So, NCsoft - according to the court documents - terminates Garriott, sends the Destination Games team packing, shuts down TR, authors a letter they say is from Garriott to the community, then falsifies his termination paperwork stating that he left voluntarily - and was not terminated.

Considering NCsoft is already in a pretty nasty place with the current Worlds.com lawsuit going on, dealing with a series of layoffs and slipping profits, this new action against them by Garriott doesn't bode well. The question now becomes how much merit this lawsuit has - and just what NCsoft's response will be. In the meantime, stock up on popcorn folks, because this drama llama's got some legs, and we're betting this isn't going to be the last we hear about it.

Evo i friškog intervjua sa Timom Šeferom na Jurogerjmeru.

Ako to već nisam rekao, evo sad kažem: da imam matericu rado bih tom čoveku rodio djecu.

Also, Bobanova evisceracija foruma mi donosi mnogo glavobolje.

Report: Duke Nukem Developer Shuts Down
8:20 PM - May 6, 2009 by Jane McEntegart
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It looks like DNF might turn out to be a DNF*.

ZoomRumor has it Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms is shutting down. Shacknews today cites 'a reliable source close to the company' who said the developer, along with the recently resurrected Apogee name, is finished and employees from both have already been let go.

With no comment available from 3D Realms or Take Two, we're left wondering if there's a grain of truth to this one. On the one hand, the news that we'll never, ever see Duke Nukem Forever is not shocking. On the other hand, we sort of don't want to believe this one.

A few weeks back rumors did the rounds claiming the company was 'nearly finished' Duke Nukem Forever. All of this was based around a Tweet from CEO, George Broussard who told fans, "Closing out a milestone this week. 71 more tasks to do and we started with probably 800-900. Been a good push. Next one starts Monday."

People got all excited and started whispering about DNF milestones despite the fact that the company is also working on Prey 2 and more likely to release that title before DNF because let's face it, they're in no rush with the next Duke game. Official release date remains, "It'll be done when it's done." Because really, you can't rush art.

Shacknews is usually pretty reliable but we hope the lads are wrong on this one. For the record (in case you guys care), George's Twitter drops no hints that the company has gone under. We've tweeted at him to see if you can get a confirmation or a denial and will update when we know more.

*For those not familiar with race lingo, DNF also stands for 'did not finish.' Leave your fond memories of Duke Nukem below.

[UPDATE] Apogee Software and Deep Silver have just issued statement to Shacknews, confirming that there is a "situation at 3D Realms" but stressing they are not affected.

"Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned."

Source : Tom's Hardware US


Malo o developmentu...

Meho, preskrolovao sam tvoj prvi današnji post  Boban je kriv!
Ako ništa, bar je ovaj development link simpa.

Ma, neka, neće da škodi.

Evo IGN-ovog tribjuta 3D Realmsu. Zanimljivo za čitanje čak i ako uglavnom sve znate.

Još malo Duke Nukem Forever čitulja, ovog puta ljubaznošću Jurogejmera.

A koga zanima, može da pročita repostovan tekst Čarlija Viderholda, koji je svojevremeno radio u 3D realmsu i koji je jedan od retkih publikovanih napisa što bacaju malo svetla na development Djuka i način rada u 3D Realmsu uopšte. Naravno, polovina Interneta tvrdi da je ovo sve izmišljeno... Izmišljeno ili ne, zanimljivo je za čitanje.

Xbox Tester Reveals Several Interesting Things: Secret Xbox Suicide Command and Metal Gear Solid 4 is Coming to Xbox 360

Yesterday I had a very long interesting conversation with a recently laid off Xbox 360 hardware/software tester who had some very interesting things to say to me.

1. There is a super secret kill-switch remote suicide self-destruct command that if Microsoft really wanted to they can remotely trigger and tell an Xbox 360 to fry itself and die. This was intended to be a last resort option if a fight against Xbox Live cheaters or major league professional game piracy ever got big. To their knowledge it has only been done in test situation in the lab but if they wanted to they could have the regular system security sweeps over Xbox Live activate a kill command when it found a compromised hacked Xbox 360 system. It works by having the Xbox overload a fuse and "pop" the fuse. The Xbox 360 will then crash and then will get an "Red Ring of Death Core Digital" error when the boot-up test comes back with a major component hardware failure. This is not the same as bricking or crashing a system since this will actually do physical damage to the motherboard.

It is not technically illegal for them to do this since attempting to hack an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Service EULA and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Microsoft's entire business model on the Xbox is based around them loosing money on the cost of the hardware and then to make it up from game publishing royalties. If game software ever got easy enough for mainstream consumers to try it would nuke all chances of the Xbox 360 business being profitable. Likewise the entire idea behind online gameplay on the Xbox Live network is that it is a secured walled garden that is impenetrable to hacking and cheating. If there was rampant cheating it would cause people to loose faith in the network service and not want to keep subscribing to it. This is Microsoft's "nuclear" option. Currently they have not had to show this trump card since they can ban consoles and users from the Xbox Live network but if it ever really got out of hand they have the option of pulling the trigger and causing and Xbox 360 to melt down and kill itself via software. A "popped" Xbox 360 is not really a fire hazard since the BIOS will shut down the CPU and GPU after the boot test fails and the only thing that remains powered is the Red Ring of Death after the hardware failure mode is triggered. Now if you send a "popped" Ex-Xbox to a RnR repair facility they will have no problem recognizing the "popped" fuse and they will not offer to repair your Xbox 360 since they know that you were an naughty boy and they had to kill your Xbox.

Besides considering the fault intolerant design of the Xbox 360 hardware it is not too hard to get them to break. They will never ever admit to this but if they wanted to they could kill and Xbox just by running a self-destruct command over Xbox Live. Think about that the next time you harass a woman and tell her to show you her boobs over Xbox Live. Again Microsoft will never admit this but the back door kill-switch was built into the Xbox 360 system.

2. Microsoft is currently software testing Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360. They might announce it at E3 but Konami likes to make money and Metal Gear Solid 4 was very expensive for them to make. Microsoft and Konami will not admit it before they are ready to but secretly builds of Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360 started being tested late last year. Konami want to make back their software development costs and they need to get it on the Xbox 360 to do it.

Izvor? Meni obe priče deluju kao prvoaprilska šala.