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Steam Community is out of Beta

Some how I missed this one yesterday. Valve announces the Steam Community is out of beta in preparation for the Team Fortress 2 beta:

September 13, 2007 - After a successful trial period, Valve is proud to announce the public launch of the Steam community features, an expansive set of social networking and online multiplayer features available for free on Steam, as it prepares for the launch of the Team Fortress 2 beta, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, September 17, 2007.

The Steam Community lets gamers create a personal profile-a Steam ID-complete with a photo or avatar, biographical details, favorite lists, and other information. Community members can add peers to a personal Friends List that shows in real-time who’s online and available to chat or play a game. Accessible from within the Steam client or while playing a game, the Friends List makes it easy to invite friends to chat, play a game, or join a group.

Team Fortress 2 is the successor to the grand daddy of class-based multiplayer action games and the multiplayer component of The Orange Box, a unique compilation of new games from Valve. The Orange Box also includes Portal and the full collection of Half-Life 2 games released to date for just $50 on PC and $60 on the next generation consoles.

Starting Monday, September 17, the Team Fortress 2 (TF2) beta opens to those who pre-purchaser The Orange Box via Steam and save 10% of the regular price. The Steam community features will allow TF2 players to track detailed player and team statistics and achievements records.

To explore the Steam community features, install the Steam client available at www.steampowered.com. Click the Community tab within the Steam interface and take a tour of the features and create a profile.

World In Conflict Demo and Release Info

As World In Conflict gets ready to hit store shelves any day now, the Demo is out and can be downloaded from worldinconflict.com or from gamespot.com The demo contains a full Singleplayer level, the Tutorial, Skirmish mode and one Multiplayer map. World In Conflict has a US release date is September 18, and for the rest of the world September 21.

Reviews From around the Web:
- PC Gamer US 93%
- ign.com 93%
- PC Zone UK 92%
- PC Powerplay AU 9/10
- Gameland Russia 9/10
- eurogamer.de 9/10
Current average on gamerankings.com is 92%

Shadowrun developer FASA Has Gone Fishing For Good

hadowrun developer FASA Studio has indeed closed its doors with studio manager Mitch Gitelman confirming the news on the official Shadowrun community forums today. According to Gitelman, today was the last official day of work for employees still at FASA, with many former FASA team members moving on to other positions at Microsoft Game Studios.

Dear Friends,

It is my sad duty to announce that FASA Studio has officially closed its doors. Today was the official last day of employment for those of us who had not moved on to other positions within Microsoft Game Studios. While the rumors have been circulating forever, we chose to wait on an official announcement because we didn’t want people’s attention distracted from our last product, Shadowrun, a game we love.

As a testament to the team’s commitment to Shadowrun, we released three title updates to improve the product even after the team learned we were losing our studio. We have kept our Community Manager and Technical Support Manager on the job to aid and support you and will continue to do so while people continue to play our game. I am pleased that about half of us have found great positions elsewhere in MGS and Microsoft where they can share their experience and passion with the great people there.

But now, as the last of us say our goodbyes to each other, I’m saying goodbye to you on behalf of a group of talented and dedicated professionals who busted their humps for the love of the game. I am proud to have worked with and represented them to you and know that wherever they go, they will continue to kick ass.

Mitch

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts Goes Gold

Available to purchase on the 25th:

THQ Inc. today announced Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, developed by award-winning Real-Time Strategy (RTS) developer Relic Entertainment, has reached the gold master stage of development and is now entering manufacturing. Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is the next installment in one of the highest-rated RTS franchises of all time, building on the success of the original Company of Heroes with two new armies and vastly enhanced multiplayer options. Developed for Windows PC, the game is expected to begin shipping to retail outlets in North America later this month.” delivers the most cinematic and intense RTS experience available on any platform,” said Kevin Kraff, director of global brand management, THQ. “Relic Entertainment’s reputation is legendary among strategy gamers and Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts blasts away all previous benchmarks for brutally dynamic battlefield action.”

“Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is a massive game, featuring two new campaigns with more campaign content than the original, significant enhancements to our proprietary Essence engine, and two totally unique new armies for multiplayer action,” said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. “We’ve consistently redefined the standard for excellence in the RTS genre over the last five years, and Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts represents another leap forward in technology and strategic gameplay.”

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is the next chapter in the critically acclaimed Company of Heroes franchise. Players take command of the German Panzer Elite as they struggle against the might of the Allied forces, or lead the British 2nd Army in the vicious battle for Caen, France. Internally developed by Relic Entertainment, this standalone title does not require the original Company of Heroes to play, features two unique armies with full length campaigns, new multiplayer options when combined with the original Company of Heroes, Microsoft DirectX 10 support, mission persistence, improved vehicle and soldier AI, enhanced physics and a dynamic weather system. Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is fully compatible with the original Company of Heroes, allowing players to wage war with four unique armies.

Unreal Torment 3 Maybe Unreal For a November Release

One of the “Must Get” games of 07 Unreal Torment 3 was set for a November release on the PC and PlayStation 3, but Epic’s Mark Rein has told fans over on the game’s official forums that they might have to wait a little longer to get a piece of the action.

“We do not know exactly when the game will be completed. All we’ve said is that we’re hoping for a November release but as you know we value getting it right over getting it right now so there’s no guarantee of that.”

A letdown, most defiantly but a finished and bug free game is really what we want. Will we see the game even before Christmas this year I truly hope so.

BioShock Highest Ranked Console Game Of This Year

2K Games, announced today that BioShock, secured the position of all-time top ranked Xbox 360 game and the year’s highest ranked game across all console platforms on Metacritic.com, the popular site that aggregates review scores from the leading video game publications and websites. In addition, the title has set a new record on Xbox LIVE as the fastest downloaded demo to ever reach the 1 million mark.

While many games receive high praise for a specific feature, BioShock’s rave reception revolves around all of its key components. This includes the unique art deco design, the eerie ambiance of its full orchestra score and the 40’s era soundtrack, the interactive quality of the environments, dripping and flood-rushing water effects that have set a new standard for realism, a deep and engaging story line, and gameplay that involves moral choices, an array of options for surmounting obstacles and adversaries, and a power-up component that involves biologically altering your character.

With an overall review score of 96 (out of 100) based on more than 50 different critical reviews, the Xbox 360 version of BioShock has earned “Universal Acclaim” status on Metacritic. Among the leading video game enthusiast outlets that awarded one or more versions of BioShock with a perfect score are Game Informer, 1UP, Games Radar, GameSpy, GamePro, Yahoo! Games, Games Daily, and Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Demo Download

Grab the 720MB demo from one of the following mirrors and let us know what you think via the comments:

• 3D Downloads
• FileFront
• FilePlanet *Reported As Slow Even Paid Service
  
• Gamershell
• id Software Torrent *Reported As Fast
• Worthplaying
• Yahoo Game *Reported As Fast

Special note for ATI Radeon owners, you will need an updated driver to run the game.

Quake Wars Demo and Specs Information

The latest Quake Wars Community Site Update reveals further details regarding the demo due for release next Monday:

The Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars PC Demo comes with the final version of Valley, one of the larger battlegrounds in the game. Set in Yosemite, California, Valley has the Global Defense Force on the attack, as they attempt to foil a Strogg contamination plot centering on a water treatment facility. Valley features a great blend of close quarters infantry action, vehicle battles and aircraft dogfights, and the varied terrain combining mountains, waterways, tunnels and industrial structures allows for many different playing styles. To top it all off, there’s a multitude of optional side missions and plenty of opportunities to try out the various defense turrets, artillery and radar deployables - Valley is a prime example of the frantic and diverse action you’ll find in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars.

For those who already played Valley in the Public Beta, the map has undergone further balance improvements based on your feedback. Most notably, the GDF can now capture the Contaminator Forward Spawn before the Shield Generator is hacked, which really cranks up the action around that objective. On top of that, the Demo contains the final XP and weapon balance, player movement, and vehicle handling.

The Demo also features ETQW’s bots, so you can explore the map and gameplay in single player mode with computer-controlled opponents, or use the bots to fill up empty slots on multiplayer servers. We are also including the standalone server as well as the server launcher tool, so you can host your own online and LAN games. Where You’ll Get It

With Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars finished, we’ve got the system requirements locked down and finalized. Here’s what you need in order to run the Demo:

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista (Windows 95/98/ME/2000 are unsupported) w/ Microsoft DirectX 9.0c

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2800+ processor (Pentium 4 3.0GHz or equivalent for Windows Vista)
• RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
• Video Card: 128MB NVIDIA Geforce 5700 or ATI Radeon 9700
• Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
• HDD Space: 750MB of free hard drive space, plus 200MB for Windows swap file
• Internet: Broadband connection

SUPPORTED VIDEO CHIPSETS

• NVIDIA GeforceFX Series (5700 or higher, not including 5700LE and 5700VE)
• NVIDIA Geforce 6 Series (6200 or higher)
• NVIDIA Geforce 7 Series (7300 or higher)
• NVIDIA Geforce 8 Series
• ATI Radeon 9700 or higher
• ATI Radeon X700 or higher
• ATI Radeon X1650 or higher

America’s Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) v.2.8.2

America’s Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) v.2.8.2. This version includes two new multiplayer missions and a number of new features. The game can be downloaded from www.americasarmy.com.

Multiplayer Missions

Rummage - Rummage takes place in a small urban environment that lends itself to fast paced close quarters battle. In the mission, insurgents are returning to a small town that was formerly their base of operations. Intelligence reports that the insurgent force is returning to the area in order to retrieve vital supplies and materials that were left behind when the 10th Mountain Division first engaged the insurgents in this area. Retrieving these vital supplies will enable the insurgent forces to re-establish a base of operations from which to launch future attacks. Players must follow Rules of Engagement and use force only against positively identified enemies. In addition, they must take care not to harm civilian refugees or cause extensive damage to the local infrastructure.

SF Hospital SE - SF Hospital SE is a revised version of the game’s SF Hospital map and is now much more immersive with the inclusion of dynamic new elements including modified objectives and civilian AI. The mission takes place following an ambush by enemy forces. A wounded resistance leader escaped to the local city hospital for treatment. In order to maintain continuity of resistance leadership, players must evacuate the friendly resistance leader to the medevac helicopter that is landing on the city hospital helipad. Enemy forces are trying to ambush the leader so AA team players must be careful to follow Rules of Engagement while protecting the leader and civilians.

New Features
Other features in the release include:

• Virtual Army Experience - Located just outside the Virtual Recruiting Station is the Virtual Army Experience simulator. The VAE is a traveling exhibit that delivers a high-tech, team-based, action-packed experience where the players must employ teamwork, leadership and high-tech equipment as they take part in a virtual high-value target extraction mission. Walk through this virtual VAE to get a feel for what the real attraction is all about and check out the VAE website (http://vae.americasarmy.com/) for detailed scheduling information. Visit the VAE when it’s in a town near you.
• Voice Activated Control - VAC enables players to use the America’s Army voice recognition system to issue commands to their troops and initiate actions. Now players can speak to other players rather than using the keyboard and cycling through menus. Players can also map any key to a voice command to customize their AA experience.
• Field Dressing - All medic qualified players will now have the ability to treat themselves when injured in combat. They will be equipped with a single field dressing to treat their injuries until a medic arrives to render aid.
• ‘Explore Map’ mode - Users can easily explore a mission in offline mode by clicking on any map. Players no longer need remember the command line console syntax to launch their favorite missions in single player mode.

Tabula Rasa Goes Gold Play For Pre-Order Buyers Starts Oct 16th

NCsoft, announced today that Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa has reached gold status and will launch service in Europe and North America on October 19, 2007. Pre-order customers will begin their three-day head start on October 16.

Tabula Rasa is gaming legend Richard Garriott’s newest title, which combines a vast, persistent game world and rich storyline with fast paced action. Set in a near-future science fiction storyline, players create characters that must fight to save humanity against hostile alien enemies while trying to gain control of the universe. The game introduces several innovative elements to massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, including a Character Cloning System that allows players to explore different character classes without having to create a new character, and dynamic battlefields where players experience the frenetic action of combat in an ongoing war.