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Oblivion Nude: Storm in a C-Cup

Tue, 18 July 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | source: Game Politics | thanks: to bodacious boozookas

Interview with the modder behind the Oblivion controversy

Naughty bits!

With the games industry still assessing the fallout from the infamous Hot Coffee mod, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's (ESRB) decision to re-rate The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from "Teen" to "Mature" in May of this year took many by surprise. The reason for the re-rate? Pixelated breasts - courtesy of a topless Oblivion mod.

Truth be told, the ESRB's re-rating of Oblivion wasn't entirely about the breasts; it was based upon "more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating... as well as the presence in the PC version of the game of a locked-out art file that, if accessed by using an apparently unauthorized third party tool, allows the user to play the game with topless versions of female characters." Developer Bethesda copped the decision on the chin, responding via a press release, "Bethesda Softworks made what it believes was a full, accurate, and comprehensive submission on Oblivion to the ESRB months before the game's release... Nothing was hidden from the ratings agency."

The point of this little history lesson? Gaming website Game Politics has tracked down and interviewed Maeyanie, the author behind the controversial topless Oblivion mod.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

CM: Do you think that the ESRB was right in re-rating Oblivion, partially based on the content you discovered, or do you think they went too far?

Maeyanie: I completely disagree with them re-rating based on this. As Bethesda said, it was impossible without third-party software. I could post a hardcore sex photo on my Windows desktop even without using third-party software. Would that make Windows deserve an Adults-Only rating?

- Game Politics

The full interview with Maeyanie can be found here. And before anyone even thinks about emailing me to ask where they can download the topless mod, NO, I won't be giving you a link. Filthy little blighters!

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Half-Life 2 : Episode Two Details Emerge

Mon, 17 July 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | source: Gamasutra | thanks: Lamarr

Valve announces details of Half-Life 2: Episode Two including news of Team Fortress 2

Don't keep the fans waiting

Valve founder, Gabe Newell, announced several details about Valve's future plans at EA's summer press event last week. Along with the planned release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Valve will also be releasing the anticipated Team Fortress 2 as well as a new single player mod currently named "Portal".

VALVE REVEALS NEW DETAILS ON EPISODE TWO

Includes Team Fortress 2 and Portal, Heading To PC and Next Gen Console

Bellevue, WA, July 14, 2006 - Valve, developer of the blockbuster series Half-Life and Counter-Strike, unveiled Team Fortress 2 and Portal, two new games to be included in its next release, Half-Life 2: Episode Two. In addition, the studio announced its plans to deliver these products, plus enhanced versions of Half-Life 2 and Episode One, in one tremendous package for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

"By evolving our development process to an episodic approach, we're able to reduce risk from things such as schedule and funding and invest more in new types of gameplay," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "This allows us to produce innovative titles such as Portal and Team Fortress 2 and deliver them in a timely fashion to customers along with Episode Two."

Episode Two advances the 16-million unit selling franchise, as Valve's trilogy of episodic single player releases continues the award-winning story of Half-Life 2. Armed with new weaponry and vehicles, Dr. Gordon Freeman must race through a countryside riddled with an increasingly feirce Combine threat.

Team Fortress 2, an all-new version of the title that spawned team based multiplayer action games, features the most advanced graphics of any Source-based game released to date. Players choose from a range of unique character classes such as medic, spy, sniper, or engineer and must work together to complete a variety of tactical objectives.

Portal is a new type of single player game that changes how players approach, manipulate, and surmise the possibilities in a given environment in a manner similar to how the Gravity Gun changed our approach to how an object may be leveraged in any given situation.

Team Fortress 2 and Portal will be included with all retail and Steam versions of Episode Two for the PC. In addition, these products plus Half-Life 2 and Episode One will be available in one tremendous offering for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

- Steampowered

New videos for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal will be released next week.

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Massive Black Legal Action

Mon, 17 July 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | source: 1Up | thanks: unappreciated artists

Former art studio employees accused of takeover bid

A Hellgate: London beast by Massive Black

1Up reports on a civil complaint filed by Massive Black Inc against two former employees at their Shanghai studio. Massive Black is an art studio that works with numerous game developers on concept art, modelling and texturing.

The complaint, filed by Massive Black president Jason Manley, alleges former employees James Xi Zhang and Jenny Chen took money from the company in order to form their own studio, and tried to transfer Massive Black's business. Zhang and Chen were fired in June and are facing a number of allegations:

Among the claims: Fraud, Unlawful Access to Computer Network/Tresspass, Interference with Contract, Breach of Contract and Interference With Prospective Business Advantage.

- 1Up

If you've never heard the name Massive Black, you've at least seen their work. Companies ranging from Sony to Midway to id Software to NCSoft have outsourced art design work to Massive Black, and several employees have worked on blockbuster films like Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix sequels. Their current high profile projects include Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa and Battlefield 2142.

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Pilotable Strider Mod 0.3.5.1 Released

Monday, 17 July 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | source: Strider Mod | thanks: to Stridex pads

Striders ruin Gordon Freeman's block party

Pilotable Caption: Reloaded

A wise man once said, "People are afraid of new things. You should have just taken an existing product and put a clock on it or something". Extrapolating this piece of wisdom to the mod scene, creating an enjoyable game modification can often be as simple as taking a tried-and-true gamemode, then imparting your own twist on it. A good example of this can be found in the recently released "Pilotable Strider: Titan's War Reloaded" mod (what a mouthful), developed by the Strider Mod team.

The "Pilotable Strider Mod" takes the standard Half-Life 2: Deathmatch gameplay, then spices-up the action by tossing a couple of player-controlled Striders into the mix. That's right - Striders! Those big ol' nasty three-legged things from Half-Life 2 singleplayer.

Today we will release 0.3.5.1 with this major bugs solved:
- Solved client resource crash.
- Dropped HL2 models ( Causes client crash sometimes and we dropped them to make stable this mod, we will look in version 4 to added another time or no).
- Fixed Strider and helicopter movement (Now the mouse movement is free. Pilotable Strider and Pilotable Helicopter will follow your aim).
- Fixed Strider and helicopter exit points.

- Strider Mod Website

Okay, I'll admit that pilotable Striders aren't exactly new to Half-Life 2 mods, but this mod definately has all the right elements, in all the right amounts. Limited weapons and ammunition. Enemies everywhere. Helicopters. APCs. Pilotable Striders. Bring it on!

Additional information on release 0.3.5.1 of the Strider Mod can be found here.

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PC Games Dominate in South Korea

Mon, 17 July 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | source: Market Wire | thanks: DVT

Cheap internet fuels online gaming in the democratic South

Lineage 2: addictingly cute

If consoles or Intel ever kill PC gaming in the West, it looks like we can rely on South Korea to carry the torch. A report by Pearl Research says South Korea's games market will be worth over US$2 billion in 2007, with the bulk of it coming from online PC gaming.

All those MMOG and Starcraft fanatics will help make the South Korean online games sector worth US$1.2 billion this year, though 30% of that is comprised of the rapidly growing casual games market. By contrast, console and handheld gaming is worth a comparatively paltry US$160 million in South Korea.

The report findings are summarised in a Pearl Research media release, which lists the major reasons for the dominance of online PC gaming:

South Korea has a sophisticated information technology (IT) infrastructure with 79% personal computer (PC) penetration and 12 million out of 15 million households connected to broadband. More than 20,000 Internet cafes, charging less than $2 an hour, also provide convenient Internet and games access.

- Market Wire

That's probably also responsible for all those people dropping dead in Korean internet cafes, but I guess that's the price we pay for our hobby. Now if only Telstra would roll out some cheap broadband so we can all play Lineage 2 for 24 hours straight.

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